Blueblood

"Well I'm pleased as punch to hear you say that hon!" Berry Punch grinned and giggled as she shot a final pun across the bow. Not that, in the words of the more infamous of the town's magical mares, there was ever any doubt. She was proud of her creation, rightly so she'd say. "Both the praise for the drink and your returning custom. I'd return the favor, but little Pinchy hasn't decided what sort of pet she'd like to have yet. I'll probably go around to Fluttershy for it once she does, its good for a little foal to have something to care for, you know?"

"Sure thing, hon!" Berry Punch brightened up at the request, her every attitude and accent that of a friendly country bartender or waitress. She wasn't just a citizen at this point, she was practically a local institution! "And don't worry too much, it ain't that much stronger." She gave Verdant a reassuring wink as she pulled up a bottle of red wine from South of the Equestrian border. Popping the cork with her teeth, she poured it into a large piece of stemware, but only about a third of the way. The rest was filled with an eye-pleasing arrangement of fruit, juices, and ice, and placed in front of him with a "Ta-da! My famous Sangria! It's berry good, in fact, you might say it's grape!" She gave a little giggle that one does at a joke one has told many times, and yet hasn't grown old to them.

Despite the fairly improvised nature of the sporting event, Blueblood would give a cheer alongside his son worthy of the sport of kings. Or even the stadium cheers of certain buckball fan mobs. "Tenebrae Lux! Light up the night with your winning streak!" "Streak!" Little Pax echoed from Blueblood's back, while up above Niil gave a more feral roar of encouragement. The Prince briefly worried that might panic the birds, but apparently they were made of sterner stuff, as that only encouraged an extra burst of speed on the part of the racers. It was going to be close... Closer, at any rate, than the misfired gourd of Moonlight, which careened wide left into the apple-bobbing tub, displacing water and fruit alike in a spectacular splash! "Mmmm... yup, you're definitely getting gobbled first for that shot." Star spouted in a perfect deadpan. "You are awarded no candy, and may the Nightmare have mercy upon your hide." She gave a smirk towards Midnight and Anwir, who were getting into their own characters. "That is, unless my colleagues think the plainest blood still sweet."

"For sure, for sure." Berry nodded, smiling. "The world's become such a... well, interesting place. So many new enemies popping up, but new friends as well. Rulers we'd known for centuries retiring... it's a time of change. You don't want to be left behind by it, and you definitely don't want to let your foals fall behind, either." Verdant looked to be pretty near to finishing that root beer, now that she took a look at it. "Y'all be wanting a refill? Or you wanna branch out with something new?" She giggled at her own affectation. "Heeehee, my father would be surprised to hear me say y'all as if I really was a country mare! Guess I've finally settled in."

Having listened to the house's host give his explanation, Anubis turned to the pharoah on his back. "Well now, your majesty, which parrot will you have to be your champion?" Pax, giggling, pointed out his favorite. "Dwagon, dwagon!" Pointing out the bird with the dragon wings, fortunately not intersecting with Icy's choice. The race was on! ~~~ Relieved to hear that the many relics brought out of TT's cloak were museum replicas, Star had to give a twisted little smirk at the spiel concerning the total grift that was the Alicorn Amulet. "All sales final, no returns I take it." She had to appreciate the elegance of the self-contained rebuke to the conceited and megalomaniacal magic users. As for Moonlight Glitter... she wasn't anywhere near that bad. She was getting into the spirit of the thing, and not making things weird when "Nightmare Moon" threatened to gobble her up. She'd seen it happen before; Princess Celestia may have said there was no wrong way to fantasize, but she wasn't the sister that had to actually go into the dreams of her little ponies... "The pumka-pult is quite simple. You turn this wheel to aim side to side, this one to move back and forth, then pull this lever to launch the pumpkin. The closer you get to the bulls-eye, the more candy you get."

Berry stopped to think, seriously considering the question, though she had to break off to give some of her regular customers their refills. "I'm not sure... she's a little unicorn, and doesn't seem to have inherited my green hoof. She helps out a little in the vineyard out back, but I don't think that's where her talent is. She's pretty good at magic, but I'm not a real judge of how much better she is than other colts and fillies her age. She gets on with folks pretty darn well... maybe she might become a diplomat. I've been thinking about whether to apply her for Twilight's School of Friendship; that would be the best possible preparation for that kind of life. She'd meet so many folks from so many places; and if she can get on with them at school, she can get on with them in life, you know?"

Either Dunder or Dusty

Any potential embarrassment was quickly papered over by engaging in the subject of little Ruby Pinch, the absolute cutest and best filly (according to her mother) in the world! "Oh, she's doing great! She gets along so well with all the other foals in her class, she's just a joy to be around. She hasn't found her special talent yet, but I'll be so proud of her no matter what it is!" Berry was gushing, to say the least, but it was clear this little filly was the most important thing to her in the world.

"Hm... I think I'll go with the cold soba, then. It's a warm day outside, after all. And since no one else here has had it before, I'll order an extra-large helping so you all can try it!" Beaming at this little bit of culinary adventurism, Sky set down the menu, chuckling a little at Windy's remark. "I wonder if little Glimmy might do even better at pronouncing the names; they say that foals are quicker in picking up new languages. It'd be nice, I think, if she could learn Neighponese; I wonder if any of them would be willing to act as a teacher?" He knew it could be a bit of a tall ask, but he was pretty sure he'd heard that Icy had a Neighponese mare in her herd as well. "I wouldn't mind actually learning the language myself; I know bits and pieces, and the katakana and hiragana syllabaries, but the kanji still confuses me."

Berry Punch chuckled at Verdant's tale of the baby bear. "What more impressive is how she managed to get the mama bear to trust her with the cub. But that's a special talent for you. She couldn't do as much with fruit as I can, after all!" Her buoyant mood and smile seemed to dim, a little bit, when he asked about Canterlot, though. "Hum... depends on what you mean by the stories, I suppose. Most stories you hear are about the upper class and nobility, but that's only part of the city. Can't expect the duke to sweep the streets and be shop clerks, after all. My family were grocers, not grandees." The look on her face suggested these were not pleasant memories, but she still smiled a little; whatever pain there was there had at least healed by now.

"Well, nice to meet you at last!" Berry replied brightly, turning around briefly to fetch a bottle of the sweet sasparilla-flavored soda. "Not much for the harder stuff, at least at this time of night, eh?" Pouring it into the glass with dextrous skill that a fellow earth pony could appreciate, she slid the mug over to him. "And you the pet salon? Bet you see a lot of Fluttershy then." The resident animal lover was a well-known fixture of the town, though a glance would show she wasn't a regular here. She gave a little laugh at hearing his question about her, but didn't show offense. "What, little old me? Well, funny you should ask, I'm actually a Canterlot transplant, believe it or not." She'd hardly blame him if not; she had much more the air of country hospitality than Canterlot airs. "I moved down here because it was a better place to raise a filly after having Ruby. More friendly and supporting neighbors, you know?"

"Not a bad political move," Blueblood would reply to Niilaavin, indulging in a bit of adult talk before returning to the serious business of foalishly frightening delights tonight, "Though do wait until little Icy's grown up... again, before you do that." He wondered how different his friend's experience was from his own, back during a brief period of magical age regression. That had been a complete regression, leaving no adult memories or development, if he recalled, meaning that not everypony involved showed their best selves. He knew he didn't. But Ice Storm seemed a much happier filly than he knew she'd been at that age. Probably why Luna, or Twilight, or whoever had done this to her. Let her have memories of a happy fillyhood before the literal eternity of adulthood that would follow. And he had to admit, the pony that had decorated the first house the party were going to had definitely gone all out to ensure that any foal would come away with memories! Coming up behind the small alicorn, who gave the traditional greeting, Blueblood nodded with regality at the 'Timberwolf' hosting the game. "And what is this? A sport for kings, wagering sweet treats?" "Game! Treat!" Pax called out from atop his father's back. ~~~ Meanwhile, at the Castle Grounds, Star Crusader was attempting her best try at a smirk in five years. "I am sure the Night Lady is well capable of handling even the great spices of Whinnydia. But the question for you is... can you handle gourd artillery?" That... didn't come out as impressive as she would like, though the dramatic sweep of the wing towards the pumpking trebuchet was on point! Fortunately, her fellow guard was better at putting on a spooky show, backing her up with some offered candy, and of course the Princess wouldn't let such a challenge go unanswered!... Though, she did give a much more sincere glare at the mention of the 'alicorn amulet'. "Don't tell my husband you have that. Either its fake, and he'll be disappointed, or its real, and I'll have to reign in his Imperiousness. Again."

There was a mild amount of noise coming from inside, mainly the chatter of all the "regulars" of this little bar parlor. They were mostly talking with each other as Verdant entered, leaving the proprietress free to wave hello and greet him personally. "Well hey there stranger!" A burgundy-colored mare called out in a friendly tone, waving him towards an open seat near the bar. "Sweet to see a new face even after all this time. Welcome to Berry's Punch Parlor for Parched Ponies!" She giggled at her own alliteration, clearly feeling buoyant tonight. "Why don't you sit down, sugar, tell me your name, drink of choice, and life story?" A few of the 'regulars' paused in their conversations to turn and look at the stallion. Not unfriendly, just interested to see how he'd react to what was likely the same ritual they'd all gone through when they first came to this little watering hole.

Yù Xīn's pair of encouragements and affirmations were welcomed with a happy little chipr from Kahz, who grinned as he took up his own pair of chopsticks. "Like I said, I'm sure they won't mind, but we'll make it a short tour, just in case something comes up. Just for a trial, you know?" It wasn't that the changeling at all lacked confidence, but he valued his relationship enough now to exercise a little caution in getting it right. For the first time in his life, he really did have a lot to lose by screwing up... Pfeh! Enough negative thoughts, time to feast on tasty love and tasty sushi! He was a little less delicate than his marefriend in his dipping and muncing, scattering some rice grains in his obvious enjoyment. "Mmm-mmm, really good!"

Sounds good to me, it would make a nice stop for the trick-or-treaters in the thread.

The reel, as it usually did, brought the whole party together. There was magic in the dance, as there was in all dances, a celebration of life and community in the literal darkest hour before the dawn. That they had all been joined by changelings was significant, in its way, though Blueblood himself couldn't say that he knew how much. "I'll take red velvet, Auntie." "Yellow for me." The Prince and his wife took their cake, bowing to the Princesses, and then to the general. "It was good to spend some time with you, Anwir. May we meet again, in less... frantic occasions. And same with our new friends." He gave them smiles, seeing Erzats and Midnight getting along quite well. Perhaps something might come of that, perhaps not... but in either case, he wanted a little time with Star, alone together to watch the sunrise...

Some feedback: We would prefer that each app have a 'canon' age; you can host time-skip threads where a colt is grown up, or a throw-back thread to where a stallion is young, but we do try to keep continuity as consistent as possible across threads, since one of the main joys of a shared RP space are shared storylines and character development.

Hello there! I'm PrinceBlueblood, friendly neighborhood admin. If you want to get started with RP here, a good way to do so would be to post a character profile on this board: https://www.canterlot.com/forum/416-character-applications/ Using this Format: You can apply for an OC of your own creation, or as a canon pony. We only have a limit of 1 character instance per thread (No double Rainbow Dash's in one place, but no limits on who can play RD!) We also currently have a site-wide Open Nightmare Night RP, once your character is approved and site permissions are granted!

Sky nodded. "Even outside the medical realm, theoretical research can have applications that are very far reaching. There was probably a bunch of scholars long ago who studies the harmonic resonance of crystals, and how different shapes could be charged to emit different tones, and thanks to that, I was able to find the old synthesizer parts that led to me becoming a musician! You just never know." Sky smiled at Raven as he chimed in after Icy, before the hostess came in to guide them to the low table in front of the hibachi grill. Taking a seat beside his wife, he asked the ones who'd been here before. "You said the noodles were good... there's quite a few options with them, though. Udon, Ramen, Yakisoba, Cold Soba... Any recommendations?" Picking up on the conversational thread from earlier, he asked Windy, "Who are your Neighpon friends, by the way? I've been looking to see if I could arrange some collaborative work with some musicians over there, or at least produce some translations of their popular music. I've liked the tunes of what I've heard, but its hard to get an audience on this side if you don't speak the language."

Pax babbles happily as his family sets off towards the first house, until his mouth is stopped up with one of the candy corns. The colt is still small enough to hold only one in his mouth at the time. Blueblood chuckled indulgently, as he helps Niilaavin fix the snow-sphinx on his back. "This would make a fine decoration for your sleeping-spot in the back garden, as long as it didn't melt." He remarked, as the Sphinx nodded. "Craftstallions such as you were well-regarded in my homeland... though, given we lived in a desert, we'd have sought a diplomatic pact with an Ice Queen specifically *because* the ice would melt, water being so precious... Though, Peanut butter would be a most desireable exotic good as well; those legumes were not grown in our lands." It was just as well Pax was too little to call the lecture boring; Blueblood for his part found it fascinating, and it occupied the group right up until the point where they would knock upon the first door. He'd let little Icy say the magic words, as Pax was too young to. However, he would take point, just so the adorable little colt could aid in charming some tribute from the houses... Meanwhile, back at the Castle Grounds, Star Crusader was getting into character herself, the more stoic counterpart to Anwir's energetic and cackly guard. She fixed her eye on the approaching Moonlight, recognizing her as a young pony that Blueblood had given some good counsel and advice to some time ago. That had led to many changes in her life, mostly for the better. She thought that worthy of special attention, as she fixed the 'spice mare' with a grin. And for a stoic pony unused to expressiveness, that could show up as something rather unsettling crossing her face. Which was just in the spirit of the evening! "I don't know... this one seems already dressed to be a tasty treat for our mistress, much more so than launching pumpkins for candy prizes... And as for this merchant behind her, well, perhaps she might have some exotic wares that would aid her in such a task, hm?"

For a little bit, Blueblood would just stand aside and stare at his wife, admiring her dance. Sure, it wasn't the epitome of Canterlotian grace, but it had something else, something he realized a few years ago that he craved in a mare. The spirit of the Valkyrie, the flying warrior powerful enough to swoop him up and have her way with him... and yet, in her heart, as loving and caring to any she would wrap in her wings. The air of love and affection would have been visible (and rather tasty) to any changelings hanging about, or any other being sensitive to emotional auras. Once she was finished with her dance from the princess, sweating slightly at the effort but inwardly euphoric at the exercise, Star Crusader would welcome her husband with a wing hug, before turning to the rest of the party. "It is good to see my Prince's efforts with hosting and diplomacy have turned out so well; I had been worried for a moment that he would need to use my expertise. Things rarely turn out for the best when that is necessary." "Indeed." Blueblood nodded, and smiled to the General and Erzats. "I hear you are leaving now? I do hope you can stay for the last dance, it is a reel, so the entire floor will be dancing one big group dance." He nodded towards the dancing grounds, where already noble and commoner guests alike were gathering into two rows. The band was warming up, as was Star's smile as she accompanied Blueblood to the foot of one of the lines. There was a thrumming of strings, as a jig-like tune began to start up. Everypony would be joining the dance, including a certain solar Princess who got up early to dance with her little sister before Sunrise...