silversigil

Bridge looked to Penumbra trying to put on a smile, [colour=#ff0000]“no, nothing really… well, nothing I really have control over. You’ll see what I’m talking about soon enough anyway.”[/colour] They were nearing the backstage entrance were a large stallion wearing blacked out sunglasses and a security vest stood.

[colour=#ff0000]“Here we are.”[/colour] He stated to Penumbra as they walked up to the security guard. [colour=#ff0000]“Hey, I’m with one of the bands,”[/colour] he showed his VIP Card to the stallion. As he examined it his only response was to nod his head in the direction of Penumbra and say, “She with you?” Bridge nodded to the guard and he opened the door for them.

[colour=#ff0000]“Alright, let’s g-”[/colour] he was interrupted by a orange Pegasus wearing baseball cap. [colour=#ffa500]“HEY BRIIDGEE, YOU FINALLY DECIDED TO SHOW UP EARLY I….”[/colour] he looked to Penumbra a smile growing on his face. [colour=#ffa500]“No way. HEY GUYYYSSS!!! GET OVER HERE YOUR NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS!!!”[/colour] with that he ran back to a room shouting for the others.

[colour=#ff0000]“…. Ooohh boy.”[/colour]

Bridged gave a small laugh at Penumbra’s yawn, [colour=#ff0000]“I guess a place to lay down wouldn’t hurt either.”[/colour] It was rather cute, though he’d probably use less embarrassing words to describe it out loud.

Hearing her mention his band mates snapped his mind back to his previous concerns, [colour=#ff0000]“he-heh, yeah. I’m sure my band mates will be rushing to get to know you.”[/colour] he said with a nervous tone, [colour=#ff0000]“That’s gonna be real fun,”[/colour] this last part he mumbled under his breath as he began to lead the way.

Bridge took out enough bits to pay the check along with the tip and gave them to the waiter. He looked to Penumbra, her first statement inaudible and a slight confusion to her blushing, he decided to shrug it off and continue. [colour=#ff0000]“If you’d like to go back stage I could do that pretty easily,”[/colour] he stated with a bit of hesitation in his voice, [colour=#ff0000]“I have a while till practice starts so we’ll probably be hang in a green-room with other musicians.”[/colour]

The other musicians where fine, it was his band-members he was concerned about. The liked to poke fun at each other, especially when they knew they could embarrass the other easily; he could take a joke just as well as the others but they did tend to take it a bit too far. ‘Maybe they’ll just not notice it at all, or they’ll just decide not to take advantage of the situation, or maybe I’ll sprout wings and fly myself to the Cloudsdale concert.’

Bridge was glad that she was trying to help. Unfortunately, he was more frustrated with himself for acting like a nervous foal. [colour=#ff0000]“Thanks for trying to comfort me; I’m just having a really off day. Nothing about how I’m acting is normal for me, granted I don’t know much about talking to mares.”[/colour] He gave a light sigh and looked up to Penumbra, [colour=#ff0000]“you’re very considerate; I’ll try to chill out and just have fun.”[/colour] He stood up and walked to Penumbra his hat and guitar back on.

[colour=#ff0000]“So what would you like to go do now?” [/colour]

Bridge nodded lightly still blushing a bit, [colour=#ff0000]“Y-yeah, ok that’s probably for the best.”[/colour] He felt calmer but still too uncomfortable to say anything else, he simply sat at the table playing with his hooves in silence. He looked down for the most part except for a few seconds of looking around or at Penumbra.

In normal circumstances Bridge could have easily gotten himself out of this situation, unfortunately something was off with him today. With this, it only added to the mental panic he was in from the frustration of having said the wrong thing and his loss for words to save him. At this point any notion of a clever answer had been erased from his brain; he would probably be lucky to get a complete sentence out. [colour=#ff0000]“U-uhhh… I-I-I was. Er… I just… Wow I’m thirsty. Could you excuse me?”[/colour] he jerked up out of his chair and dashed over to a water fountain. He was hoping that his blushing; now apparent to him by his reflection in the water, wasn’t too noticeable.

[colour=#ff0000]“Ok ok… just calm down,”[/colour] he mumbled to himself,[colour=#ff0000] “… I’m in trouble.”[/colour] he finished drinking and walked back to his seat. Not one idea had come to him, granted he hadn’t even attempted to do so. He looked back to Penumbra thinking as hard as he could to say anything but only choking on his words. If she hadn’t notice his blushing she certainly did now. [colour=#ff0000]“O-ok…”[/colour] his voice slowly shrank in volume, not to the point where it was inaudible but noticeably quieter, [colour=#ff0000]“I guess I thought that you were meaning a different thing…”[/colour] he looked down nervously.

Bridge gave a blank stare as an awkward silence arose, [colour=#ff0000]“… Well, I believe I’ve made a pretty good fool of myself with that.”[/colour] This was Equestria after all, for most ponies that was probably the extent of their definition for a vice. [colour=#ff0000]“Like I said I’m up for most things so you could have meant anything really, I was just playin’ around.”[/colour] He said a little uncomfortably as he rubbed the back of his head, [colour=#ff0000]“heh, guess I got a little carried away.”[/colour]

Bridge nodded in agreement to her first statement, he was looking forward to seeing how she was at a party already. He gave a devious smile in response to the mare's question, [colour=#ff0000]“well I don’t take offense at all, especially since you could be implying a few things.”[/colour] His voice took on a suggestive tone making sure he got the point across, [colour=#ff0000]“I’m actually a bit interested in the types of ‘vices’ you’re thinking of. And to answer your question there are a few I rather enjoy, as long as no pony gets hurt.”[/colour]

He gave an understanding look as he explained, [colour=#ff0000]“I thought the record label was crazy too when they told me but after a lot of practice with a spell it wasn’t too hard to plan for. The gear’s gonna be a bit tricky but they’ve got some pegasi delivery team taking care of it so it won’t be a problem.”[/colour]

Bridge gave a smile. She seemed nice, somepony he could actually go to clubs with and have a good time; I should invite her to one of the parties if things go well. [colour=#ff0000]“Yeah, it’s exciting alright… well unless you’re not into loud music or partying I guess.”[/colour] He gave a slight laugh at the end of his statement; he didn’t know that many ponies that didn’t like to party even occasionally.

Bridge chuckled with Penumbra, [colour=#ff0000]“I don’t see anything wrong with that, we all need somepony to look up to.”[/colour] He thought for a second remembering his tour schedule, [colour=#ff0000]“You were born in Cloudsdale? I’m playing a concert there in a month or two.”[/colour]

The waiter pony came back with their order, [colour=#ff0000]“thank you,”[/colour] he said to the waiter who only nodded in response and left their food at the table and went back to servicing the other customers.

Bridge leaned back in his chair looking up as he spoke, [colour=#ff0000]“Well, I was born and raised in Hoofington, as of right now I don’t a have a permanent home. I’ve spent most of my off-time in hotels or out at a bar.”[/colour] He paused, thinking for a little, [colour=#ff0000]“… I guess I’ll find somewhere I want to live eventually, as of now there isn’t anything that’s made me want to settle down.”[/colour] He said shrugging his shoulders.

He looked at Penumbra curiously, [colour=#ff0000]“So, is there anywhere you want to live or is Canterlot your dream place?” [/colour]

I guess it’s always a little bit the same wherever you go Bridge mentally said to his self. He looked towards Penumbra as the waiter asked for their order, seeing Penumbra motioning for him to order first he thought for a while considering his choices.

[colour=#ff0000]“Do you have any cheesy nachos?”[/colour] he asked hopeful for a yes.

Bridge nodded, [colour=#ff0000]“Well, there was a lot of work between me and the other members. I just figure if something good happens and somepony or something is responsible it couldn’t hurt to thank ‘em, maybe they’ll keep helping ya.”[/colour] He had learned from experience that hard work is what makes things happen; but if believing in luck gives people confidence, then all the better. He followed penumbra to the stall and sat down at one of the tables with Penumbra and waited for the waiter to arrive.

[colour=#ff0000]“So you live in Canterlot? Heard it’s a real nice place. I’ve only been there once and it was on tour so it was pretty much playing then packing back up.”[/colour] he put his hat on the back of his chair and let his hair fall down the rest of the way.

Bridge nodded as he maneuvered through ponies trying to stay with Penumbra. [colour=#ff0000]“Yeah, I was lucky enough to find a bunch of other good musicians and be noticed by the right ponies.”[/colour] He side-stepped out of the way to avoid getting knocked over by a group of ponies going the opposite direction and ended up bumping into Penumbra lightly, [colour=#ff0000]“sorry about that, it is pretty crowded.”[/colour]

He looked around for somewhere with less of a crowd. Eventually his eyes fell on a booth that had music playing along with a food vendor and a few tables. There were only a few ponies at it so he figured it would be an okay place to start. [colour=#ff0000]“Hey, why don’t we go sit over there and wait for the crowds to die down a little while we get a bite to eat?”[/colour] he said motioning to the booth with his head. He had also just realized that he hadn’t eaten anything at all today, thus confirm by a slight growl from his stomach.

Bridge gave a small chuckle, [colour=#ff0000]“I guess you’re right about that.”[/colour] He remembered back to when the band’s drummer and bassist had an argument. They refused to talk to each other for days; what they were arguing about wasn’t even that big of a deal.

He followed behind Penumbra eyes widening a bit at the number of booths. He rarely saw these areas of concerts so he never got used to it when they were really big. [colour=#ff0000]“Yeah, our record label wanted to get us a bit more attention since we’ll touring in Canterlot in a couple months.”[/colour] He smiled as a thought popped into his head,[colour=#ff0000] “maybe I’ll see you there and we could hang out at the party they’ll be throwing.”[/colour]

Bridge felt pretty stupid, [colour=#ff0000]“sorry. I don’t spend a lot of time around mares, and the ones I do tend to all act like divas.”[/colour] Penumbra wasn’t some mare he met at a club who thinks she’s all that, she’s a Weather pony; and in this case a security guard. [colour=#ff0000]“I guess I thought you’d take what your boss said a little too harsh. I really need to find other places to hang out at besides bars and clubs.”[/colour]

He smiled at Penumbra, [colour=#ff0000]“well I usually don’t get to see the places I perform at except for the stage so I guess we could go look around at all the booths and vendors for a while, if you’d like.”[/colour]

Bridge breathed out a heavy sigh. [colour=#ff0000] “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you.”[/colour] He took a quick breath and began took speak. He told the entirety of the conversation word for word; or at least as close as he remember, leaving out no parts. After he finished repeating the conversation he looked to Penumbra hoping for the best reaction but prepared for something as bad as getting smacked and having her storm off. Granted, he didn’t expect something like that from Penumbra but you never knew how ponies would react.

Bridge was a little hesitant with his reply, [colour=#ff0000]“… well, I didn’t say anything much aside from asking about you being my security.”[/colour] He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof an uncomfortable expression on his face, [colour=#ff0000]“so, anything else or should we find somewhere to go look around?”[/colour] He was hoping she would except his answer and move on away from the topic.

He looked to a clock overhead. He still had several hours before he was needed for practice. A good bit of time to kill, he wondered if there was any place that served drinks at this expo.

Bridge nodded to the stallion as he trotted away. At least some things never changed; ponies always wanted music, the sun rose, and he could always annoy any manager into submission. Satisfied he watched the manager leave with a smile on his face. He turned to Penumbra as she spoke,[colour=#ff0000] “The short of it is your good to go. The long, I’ll keep that to myself.” [/colour]

He wasn’t exactly sure how she would react to what her boss said, so he felt it best to keep his mouth shut on this one.[colour=#ff0000] "So, were'd you like to go?"[/colour]

Bridge’s face changed to a solemn expression, whether he was telling the truth or not this subject was no matter to be insulted. [colour=#ff0000]“My condolences for your loss, I too know the feeling of losing a loved one. Might I ask what she had?”[/colour]

Bridge was slightly teared-up at the thought of losing loved ones he understood how upsetting it is for most, especially since ponies tend to bottle up their emotions about these things his self included.

Bridge was grinding his teeth. He knew it was best to hold his tongue but he was really tempted to give the stuck up stallion an earful. [colour=#ff0000]“Well there are a few things I’d like to say, but that wouldn’t be a gentlecolt of me to do so,[/colour]” the last part had a bit of venom in it. If there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s ponies who think they have a right to treat others like dirt without even knowing them.

[colour=#ff0000]“On the matter of the VIP entrance that’s my mistake, I was unaware of it at the time,”[/colour] he gave back a similar sneer, [colour=#ff0000]“I’m sure you of all ponies know what it’s like to make mistakes.”[/colour]

Bridge gave a slight smile at her for what he would take as a complement. When directed to the expo director he got up from his leaning position and walked past Penumbra to the director. [colour=#ff0000]“You may want to cover your ears just in case,”[/colour] he spoke softly so that only Penumbra would be able to easily hear him. Turning his attention to the director he began to catch his attention,[colour=#ff0000] “excuse me, I was hoping I could talk to you.”[/colour]

Bridge was polite but made his self seem distressed. [colour=#ff0000]“You see, I’ve been having a bit of trouble with the crowds outside. It took a good while to get in and only after one of your employees was kind enough to escort me too you. I was hoping that I could get Miss Penumbra to stay as my escort for the rest of the expo.”[/colour]

Bridge nodded and followed penumbra to where she motioned. He was surprised at the fact that she was the only Pegasus working night-shifts. [colour=#ff0000]“I can’t believe you work all alone. You’d think they’d have hired other ponies for such a large city.”[/colour] Bridge shook his head, [colour=#ff0000]“well, that’s an interesting job and I guess someponies gotta do it.”[/colour]

He rested against the wall closing his eyes for a second. He heard her voice; she asked the one question bridge didn’t like answering. Not that it was upsetting for him as much as it was a downer on the people he talked to. He thought for a moment looking for the right words.[colour=#ff0000] “That’s a rather long and not really happy story. I’ll tell it later on today, I’d rather not ruin the entire expo[/colour][colour=#FF0000] for you.”[/colour] He sighed slightly.

((That's fine you would no how he would act better than me in this case. P.S. the colored text in apostrophes instead of quotes was meant to be his thoughts. I've recently improved my writing style so there won't be any confusion anymore. ))

Bridge took a quick mental breath to get his thoughts in order, just calm down that’s all I need to do, relax and be myself. He re-focused and got back to looking for Penumbra’s boss. It seemed a bit easier to focus now and he had already scanned through half the crowd certain he wasn’t in that section. He stopped searching to take in the beautiful music of choir, [colour=#ff0000]“aahhh… reminds me of my school days.”[/colour] He turned to Penumbra as she began to speak, focusing on her words intently over the sounds of the choir.

[colour=#808080]"No kidding, rock?" [/colour]He nodded confirming his previous statement. He listened to her speak about her interests in music, it sounded like a familiar story for Bridge. He had spent many nights alone after small gig’s when he first started out. Sometimes he would have a hotel other times he would have to deal with what life gave him. It was a rough start, in fact getting in this band was his first big break. Now thing were going smoother; he still didn’t have much to do outside of practice and after-parties, but he was happier. [colour=#ff0000]“Mhhmm,”[/colour] he smiled, [colour=#ff0000]“from the sound of it you either love the night life or you’re a kindred spirit. Either way I guess I can empathize with you on that… heck, I guess you could say music saved my life.”[/colour] He was silent, deep in thought with look of serenity on his face.

Prime was sitting in line re-running his plans for today; he was almost completely oblivious to what was going on around him. That was until a pink mare hopped past him and began speaking with the griffon behind him. After the griffon’s bout of shouting had snapped him out of focus completely he turned to look behind him at the situation.

He shook his head slightly grumbling to himself and turned his attention back to the line. He saw a variety of ponies none of which he recognized; aside from the princess, with nothing to do he tried to go back to his mental planning. [colour=#daa520]‘Alright so after this I need to go over my notes visit the town hall and…’[/colour] he froze for a moment, [colour=#daa520]“AHHH!!”[/colour] he had forgotten everything he had planned past that entirely. Slightly upset at himself he just look to the ground and waited brooding.

[colour=#ff0000]"Ah...Applejack...could ya...get it off...meeeee..."[/colour] he looked up to see a yellow filly struggling with a load of pastries. [colour=#daa520]‘Poor thing… I should go help her,’[/colour] he looked to see the line behind him, well aware that he would have to give up his place he huffed and mumbled to himself, [colour=#daa520]“I really go out of my way for ponies too much.”[/colour]

He walked up to the struggling filly, [colour=#daa520]“here let me give you a hoof with that”[/colour] he said carefully lifting the load of treats off of the young fillies back and sliding them onto his. He was used to the weight of caravan loads; this was nothing compared to those dreaded things, so he barley even flinched at the weight. [colour=#daa520]“So where do you need these?”[/colour] he said motioning to the treats on his back.

[colour=#ff0000]"Oh, uhhh… ok?”[/colour] he said a little confused. [colour=#ff0000]‘Geez, what’s up with me? I’m usually not this uptight.’[/colour]

Bridge would probably be the first to admit he didn’t have that much experience talking to mares. In fact the only knowledge he had was what his father told him, not the most useful advice as it would seem. He looked around for the person he had been introduced to a few days ago. He would be in charge of security and announcing.

Hearing her question he responded still looking for her boss, [colour=#ff0000]“mostly rock but I’ve done a few heavier songs, along with some classical training that’s about it.”[/colour] He scanned the crowds but it was near impossible to spot the pony they were looking for. [colour=#FF0000]“so do you play anything, or do just like to listen?”[/colour]