Pony_Sage

Monty sighed, this little foal was a case beyond his help. She just seemed like she wanted to be left alone. He could not help but feel for her, but realized that he should take his leave. 'Well it was a pleasure talkin' with 'ya, 'Little One'. But I have things to attend to.' Monty said defeated. He got up and shuffled out from under the table. He stretches his legs and trots off. He found a waiter, 'Would you be so kind as to wrap up about six of those lovely sandwiches, some of those rose petal hors d'oeuvres, and would you be so kind as to wrap up about ½ of that cake over there. I am a visiting Zebra dignitary and would like to bring some pony fare back to my home land.' Monty lied to the waiter pouring his accent on rather thickly. The waiter-pony bowed and hurried off. Upon his return there was a cart full of what Monty had pointed out being wheeled over to him. Monty bowed and took the cart, he wheeled it over to the end of the table that the foal was sitting under. He took a business card and scribbled on the back of it, 'Stop by if you want to know more about Zebras. Monty.' Monty then proceeded to take the packaged goods off of the cart and covertly shove them under the table. Every other pony was far too embroiled in their own worlds to notice the strange zebra shoving food under a table anyway. The last package had his business card on top of it. After he was done he happily trotted away from the table.

Monty laughed at the talk of affairs and flings. Monty always loved reading the tabloids and gossip rags. He even rather enjoyed reading trashy romance novels, although he would not admit that openly to anypony. He listened intently to who the tabloids paired her with. 'Oh those must have been some scandals, especially Young Buck Lucky!' he joked nudging her with his shoulder in a playful manner. 'So while your agent scours all of Equestria for a script that is worth your talent, what do you do in the mean time? You have to do something to keep busy.' Monty added after a pause looking at the two mares. "Or are you set for life and just sit out on your veranda and sip mint juleps in the sun." he continued with a chuckle imagining what Glow would look like in a floppy sun hat and glasses lounging in the sun. "What an unlikely combination we have here." Monty remarked, "An actress, a waitress, and a surplus dealer walk into a bar . . ." He laughed at his own bad joke.

Alrighty, since other app was assessed, I have taken the [WIP] tag off and present River! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciatory. ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

Thank you Mane! I did add your suggestions to the app and the do make it more dynamic. Thanks again! ^^ ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

Edited to include description and back story on Firehouse. ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

Coming along very well -- since I have a Unicorn up for inspection I was leaving River as a [WIP] so he would have a lower priority and not put extra stress on the helpstaff ^^ ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

Okely Dokely! I will confer with the other writer on this so we can make the appropriate changes. ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

Well yes during their time of being an active government building they do belong to the local or state Government. After they are decommissioned however, they can be sold to private owners, the same with light houses and missile silos. But yes I will confer with the other writer over this. Thank you ^^. ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

I believe the idea behind it being a so called 'Firestable' was that it at one point was the equivalent of a Firehouse for Equestria. So that it could have a large open floor plan and still be a part of a city. Although I am not sure seeing as I am working on this with another person and that bit was their idea.

Retooled mark and made it just a barn. ^^ ~Sage AkA Freddie Freewings

It finally dawned on Monty that this little foal all alone under the table was an orphan. He felt like a complete dolt for not catching it sooner. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.' he said very honestly. He could not imagine what it would be like to not know where he came from or to not have parents. Monty shifted sensing the foal's unease. 'How abouts we start over huh? I'm Monty and I am pleased to meet you.' he said trying to fix the situation. '. . . I could leave if you wish.' he added after a pause. Monty really did not want to make the foal feel any more awkward than he already had but for some reason he did not want to leave the foal alone under the table either. He stayed put looking at her awaiting a response.

[ Pony Related Character ] Name:Sweet Symphony Sex: Male Age: Stallion Species: Unicorn Pelt Color: Light Charcoal Mane/Tail Color & Style: All thought he is not old his mane and tale are white. His mane is a tad wild but it still has a little refinement to it. His tail has the same qualities but is kept short to keep it out of his way. Eye Color: Light Violet. Cutie Mark: Conductors Baton with a white stave flowing behind it. It symbolizes his amazing talent for conducting. Physique: Tall and lanky, shows that he has not done much physical labor and comes from a well off family. Residence: Canterlot. Occupation: Until recently was an orchestral conductor. Now is attempting to start his own small business along with his wife. Motivation: To conduct and create music that is as amazing as the sweet things that he loves.Through a recent inheritance they have come into possession of the perfect location for their dream business, an Ice-cream cafe and live music bar. Presently his short term goal is to see the "Jam & Cream" open and ready for business. Likes: The art of conducting, even though he gets tense about it. Sweet things, he has a major sweet tooth. Dislikes: The politics of conducting, dishonesty, sour things. Character Summary: A very good natured Stallion. He is a rather organized and tidy fellow, stemming from his years as a conductor. When it comes to 'work' he is rather single minded and determined. This may make him seem overbearing but it is more passion about the current task at hand. He misses conducting and the lifestyle associated with it, but is /very/ determined to achieve their goal of self sufficiency. Â Having recently inherited a old ramshackle Fierhouse, the couple have set out to forge a business of their own, based around their shared interests in music and food. Of course, it's a big change and there's bound to be bumps along the road. But between the two of them (and with a little help from a few friends) they just might be bring their dream life into being. Backround: Born and raised in Manehatten he always had a flair for music, either playing it or trying to compose his own. He also had, and still does, a massive sweet tooth. His parents insisted the he join all the music clubs that were offered, he eventually gravitated towards playing the piano. In the clubs is where he made fast friends with a filly, she was fun and outgoing and always would have something fun to do, especially when it entailed sweets. At the end of his foalhood his parents decided that his talent was being squandered and that they were shipping him off to a musical academy in Trottingham. He was due to leave at the end of the week, which gave him just enough time to prepare for the schools talent show. The day of the show he was out of sorts and rather tense. He watched his friend go up and freeze, he couldn't help but feel bad for her despite his current predicament. They ran into each other outside of the dressing rooms, he offered her the best advice he could muster in his distracted state; "Everyone freezes up, it happens. You know that you can sing, I know that you can sing, you don't need their validation." When he was on deck for his recital the full weight of his situation started pressing down on him, he really didn't want to play. His friend appeared out of nowhere with a chocolate cinder-toffee. After eating the toffee he felt his tension lessen and wash away. He preformed a very emotional piece of music flawlessly. The next day he was whisked off to the Academy. During his time at the Academy he found his passion for conducting and his cutie-mark appeared. Just because he was a wonderful conductor does not mean he did not get stressed. Whenever he was tense beyond breaking he would calm down with a sweet of some sort, remembering fondly days past. He would always, and still does, keep up with the news about anything and everything sweet related. After his schooling he lived the life of a conductor, but he resented the politics that surrounded the art he was passionate about. About eight years ago, he had booked and engagement in Canterlot to conduct the string band at a convention, for dinners and the ball. While he was poking around the convention before his engagement he ran into his old Foalhood friend, she was there scouting out new and upcoming advancements in kitchen appliances. Old friends meeting for the first time in years entirely by chance? The realisation that absence only makes the heart grow stronger. And with a dance the following evening, if you've seen any cheesy chick flick you'll know exactly where it runs from there. Thus here we are! Five years since the big day and suddenly it's all change. It was his idea of course, he could see how displeased that his wife was with their current state of affairs, so he and his single mined determination put the idea forward. A distant aunt left the old Firehouse to his wife, prime real-estate for the budding business owner (if you can look past the obnoxious woodworm, ghost stories and strange scuttling sounds in the cellar). Located on the old cobbled road of Cliff Street, it overlooks the valley of whitetail wood and just needs a little TLC to breathe some life back into its old rafters. ----- Note: His wife's great-great-grandfather was one of the last fireponies to work in that station before it closed and he purchased the building with the intent of turning it into a museum dedicated to the history of the fire service. Sadly this never came to pass and the building has sat unused for many years.

'That was a business card Miss Jester, although I am not sure of what good it may do you, but if you are ever in Hoffington you should stop by!' he said pondering how a blind pony could ever read. 'She will have somepony read it to her, thats it!' he surmised. His eyes darted over to Glow when she opened her mouth wondering if she would like to be part of the conversation. He felt bad for leaving her out. '. . .Burn her dress. . .?' he questioned himself, then the full force of the question or joke hit him. He laughed, not able to stifle it this time and ended with a bray. For some reason the mare's interpretation of the world struck him as funny. Perhaps it was because she took the very mundane and 'saw' it in a completely different light. 'You have an interesting way of looking at the world for a blind mare.' he replied. 'Fireflies are small insects that have a glowy rump, they light up ever so often calling out to their friends with their lights. And Miss Glow had positioned them all over her shiny dress to highlight her form. It was quite a sight to see.' Monty continued. 'Surplus shops may be interesting, but Miss Glow here is an actress!' he interjected trying to get Glow re-involved in the conversation, even if it was going to get her to soliloquies the unabridged version of her life and times.

Monty stifled a hearty laugh with a hoof as Jessy asked if he and Glow were together. It would not have been polite to laugh but he could not help it. 'No, no, Miss Jester. I have just recently met Miss Glow here while I was admiring her dress. She had it dotted with fire-flies, and it just intrigued me so.' Monty replied glancing over at Glow to see if she was still fuming about being made to apologize. 'Actually I have lead an interesting and varied life, despite its brevity. I left my Homeland and shipped out with an air-ship as a chef but after about five years of that I decided to settle down in Hoofington and open up a surplus shop.' After telling his story he produced a business card and sliped it into Jessy's mane.

'YES! I have found something that this foal wants to talk about, even if she does not know what I am prattling on about.' Monty thought to himself. He turned his head to the side with a confused look on his face. 'Wait, you don't know what the Tribes are or for that matter what a Zebra is? But you are so stripey! It would have been remiss of your parents not to teach you of your heritage!' Monty said a bit incensed that the foal's parents could do such a thing as not teach her where she came from. Monty was a bit thick at times, it had not dawned on him that a lone foal under a table at the Grand Gala was most likely not someone's plus one. 'Well if your parent's were not diligent enough to tell you of your heritage, then as the only Zebra present the duty falls to me.' Monty wove a colourful story of the Zebra Homeland, the tribes inhabiting it, Zebra culture, even his parents and how he left the Homelands to travel Equestria before settling down at his current shop. He hoped that the foal was enjoying his narrative. He even threw some silly stories from his air-ship days. After he had finished he looked over at the foal and asked quietly a little concerned, 'If one of your parents was a Zebra, how could you not know this?'

Heh I am not a fancy art-pony so I have to stick to descriptions. Here goes! Monty is decked out in his best formal attire, a brown tuxedo and a creme coloured shirt with a red bow-tie. The jacket and shirt match his stripes perfectly but the bow tie clashes beyond all belief and that was why he loves it. It is much like his mane which is styled in a permanent mowhawk.

Monty shifted his gaze from Glow, satisfied with her apology, to the new mare, Jessy. He laughed with her at the jokes she told and privately smiled as she called Glow prickly, 'A rather fitting description at first glance.' he muses to himself. He liked this mare, Monty always liked a good joke. 'Pleased to meet 'cha Miss Jester!' he said exuberantly after she introduced herself. He was genuinely interested by the blind mare waiting tables. He pondered it in his head for a moment, he really couldn't figure out she would manage that. 'If she was a unicorn she could use her magic horn to do . . . something. . .I don't know its magic, but she is a Pegasus. How can she carry plates and find the tables, memory can only take you so far.' he thought before deciding to ask her about it, she seemed rather open and outgoing. 'If you don't mind me asking. How do you manage to wait tables, I can see you being a comedian, but a waitress? I just cant wrap my noggin around that.' he asked in a polite tone.

Monty chuckled as the younger mare plowed into Glow. He even chuckled at the obviously blind mare's self deprecating joke. He watched the fireflies scatter and Glow get into a fit of the huffs. He was content to watch the interaction. If there was something that Monty enjoyed it was watching to mares get huffy and act indignantly towards one another, he found it amusing. There was an ulterior motive to his next statement though, not just his playful side showing. 'No my dear Glow. I think you were going to holler at the blind mare that just bumped into you. Shouldn't you treat her as you would treat any other mare that bumps into you? Just because she is blind does not make her special does it?' He said. Then turning to the blind mare, 'I mean no offense of course.' He let his words sink in for a moment before setting into his intended course of action. 'Now Miss Glow if you had just acted politely when she bumped into you, you may have saved yourself from sticking your hoof in your mouth. If you treated everypony with the same amount of respect, this problem would have never arisen. How abouts this, lets all start over. That way we can be properly introduced.' he said in a practiced almost diplomatic tone. After a pause he said, 'I am sure that Miss Glow is sorry for her rudeness towards you and meant no insult by it. My name is Monty, pleased to meet 'cha.' He looked over expectantly at Glow for her controbution.

Monty lowered his hoof away from the foal. She apparently didn't want to shake hooves. Monty was running out of ways to get the foal to talk. This rarely ever happened to him. Sensing that she wanted him to shoo, he came up with an idea. 'How abouts this. Tell me what you want, and I'll sneak it under here for you! And don't worry about me being seen these stripes make me stealthy!' he said playfully and froze completely pretending to blend into a herd of other zebras. He gave the foal another looking over making sure that she was not hurt or in distress. Monty was rather concerned about the foal hiding under a table, he thought about calling some guards to help her then his eye caught something. He noticed that she had stripes, although not as pronounced as his. 'Oh are one of your parents a zebra? You know not many of us get out of the Homeland. What Tribe are they from?' He asked hoping he had finally found something that he could relate to the foal about.

When it came Monty and Ginger's turn to be greeted by the Princess he watched Ginger bow and pay homage to the radiant Solar Princess. Being that Monty was originally from the Zebra Homeland he had a slightly different approach to meeting what he called 'Elders'. He held the Princess' gaze as he took her hoof in his and shook it firmly but not over exuberantly. He then reached up and gave her a peck on each cheek, slyly slipping a business card into her mane as he did so. Even when being polite Monty was ever the business man, he didn't particularly know what the Princess would ever need form him, 'But better to have tried and not gotten a customer than not to have tried at all!' he thought. 'It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Celestia! And may I say what a wonderful castle you have!' He said smiling widely which caused his right ear to flop over. [[ OOC: Sage here! Just figured I would give a note, Monty is not trying to be rude to the Princess, quite the opposite. Coming from the Zebra Homelands he was raised differently from ponies. He thinks that the highest compliment that one can give is accepting them into your 'Tribe' or family. He greets Celestia as he would greet an 'Elder' from another tribe. ]]

'So what brings you down here at such a festive Gala?' Monty asked, unperturbed by the foal's unwillingness to speak. He took another bite of his cookie and a sip of milk. 'Are you hiding from somepony?' He asked, grasping at straws, trying to find something the foal would like to talk about. He scanned the underneath of the table. He saw some saddle bags at the far end of the table. They were out of his reach or he would have retrieved them for the foal. He instead asked, pointing to the saddle bags, "Are those yours?" Finally it dawned on him that he had not properly introduced himself, he could be a little forgetful at times. 'Oh my, where are my manners. Monty's the name, Surplus is my game! You need it I can get it for you . . . for a price of course.' He said to the foal offering her a hoof and a big smile which made his ear flop over. He knew that if he could just get her talking she would notice that he wasn't all that scary and they could have some fun.

Monty kept his eyes wide and bobbed his head along with the story Glow was weaving. He interjects an 'Ohh' or 'Ahum' every so often so that he seems interested in Glow's ramblings. 'How. . .How can she talk for this long and not breathe!!' he thought to himself. He watched her mouth move but after a while all he could hear was a drone that matched her vocal tone. One of his eyebrows went up about halfway through when she looked to be slowing down but was just ramping up for the second half. When she had finished Monty was almost surprised he thought that she would go on until the Gala had finished. Monty briefly contemplated bolting as soon as she had finished. He was watching her face – 'Wait what was that? Was that a pang of sadness. Yes I saw it even if it was for a split second, it was there, unmistakable. . .' Monty thought as Glow made her insect friends flash out her name. He began to rethink his initial impression of the mare. She may have come across as a bit . . . well pretty much completely self centered and insipid, but there was more to it. Years of interacting with ponies from all walks of life had afforded Monty with a keen sense of other ponies feelings. Monty brayed at the spelling of her name, not wanting to make it to obvious that he saw her sadness. 'That right there is a pretty neat trick!! When it comes to magic I am completely lost.' He smiled and his ear flopped over. 'And I do have to agree that the theater is not what it used to be, I mean I don't remember the golden days, but some of the pictures and stories it sounds amazing.'

Monty held back a full laugh opting to put a hoof to his mouth and chuckle at Ginger Mint's comment about the Princess' mane. He often wondered that himself, it looked to him as though her mane was alive and had a mind of its own. He whispered back to Ginger, 'Ah well, magic I suppose, not that I'll ever understand how that stuff works.' He ascended the stairs along side of his new friend. Well at least he thought of her as a friend. Monty thought of everypony as a friend. He lived by the motto of, 'Strangers are only friends that you have not met yet.' He looked over at Ginger and answered, 'Why thank you, I just love how the bow-tie clashes with everything. It seems to bring the whole thing together.' He chuckled again. He was right this place was far more fun than Hoofington. Their chance to be greeted by the princess of Equestria was fast approaching. He glanced over at Ginger, she seemed a little nervous to Monty. 'Don't worry so much! Stick with Monty and you'll be fine.' he offered Ginger with a wink trying to soothe her nerves.

[[ yup yup ^.^ I read her app and was playing off of it ]] As Monty took a closer look at the foal he realized that it was a girl, he felt silly for being confused. Although she did keep her mane rather short for a girl. He saw that the foal was apprehensive so he made sure not to make any sudden or what could be perceived as threatening movements . 'Thank 'ya!' he said taking a cookie. 'Be back in a jiff.' Monty added before darting his head out from under the table. He trotted over and got two glasses of milk, quite a feat for a zebra with no magic to help him. He placed them on the floor and nudged them under the table. He then crawled under the table himself, trying not to crowd the little foal. 'Hay it's pretty cool under here! It's like a tent, OH no more like a secret hide out!!' he says playfully. Monty always had liked foals, they were just so much fun. Some ponies had surmised it was because Monty had never really grown up. Monty just liked to have fun, there was nothing wrong with that in his mind. He munched on the cookie and took a sip of milk. 'Oh these are tasty cookies!! I can see why you snuck them under here.' He tried to strike up a conversation with the foal, she just looked so nervous.

The tune that Freddie was playing picked up in complexity as Klondike began to move about more. He chuckled "That's it keep it up! This is getting good." Freddie's harmonica really started to hop to the syncopated beat. Runs blended into verses as the old pony started to dance a little himself. He was used to ponies looking at him strangely, so wandering down the street while playing music wasn't something that phased him. The song had an old jazzy edge to it but followed the worker's march beat. Freddie was enjoying himself, it was like having a conversation with no words. The music wafted across the silent little town, anypony within earshot was more than welcome to listen to the tune. The tool's sounds complimented the harmonica and vice versa. They were still walking towards the inns but Freddie was far more interested with the song at the moment than the inns.