Otsdarva

Douglas laughed loudly as Silk tossed aside the napkin and began stammering for a reason. He wasn't one to hang on something unintential, but part of him thought it would be better to make light of it before simply brushing it aside. So, giving his flank a visible wiggle Douglas decided to have a little fun. "Oh, but 'surely' you were. Why else would this humble Stallion receive such 'attention?'" Douglas said, his voice with an apparent coy tone. His teeth beaming through his smile. All of which came to an abrupt end, his tone becoming that of sympathy as he straightened himself up. "Calm yerself, no harm was done. Somethings just happen." Silk's struggle to compose herself allowed Douglas time to grab a snack and nibble childishly at it as he watched her mannerisms with light humor. Even sitting back on his haunches as she downed a glass of punch. His smile still present amongst his chewing. A light yawn escaped as he covered his mouth, watching Silk adjust her dress before facing him again. "Feel better?" A simple question, but earnest in it's meaning. "Well, who do think is building the stage you'll be walking on? Or the red carpet you posed on? They sure don't come pre-built, it'd put honest ponies out of a job." He laughed, standing up again. "Honestly though, I am out of place. This certainly isn't the sort of thing I do everyday."

He listened to the mare's laugh at his statement, giving off her own reply to his. She seemed a little more real, showing that she wasn't just the high class airs she spoke with. Although her comment about age struck a mark in Douglas' mind. "I for one wouldn't even think of it in such a way, although I'd say you're hardly much younger than me. And why don't I deserve the same courtesy?" Douglas asked, smiling gently. He could only wonder if this mare would reply as he assumes she would. Slowly putting the paper towel in his collar with a gentle tuck, Douglas felt that he was as clean as he would get without bathing. The mare, on the other hoof continued to dab senselessly as she carried on the conversation. "Hm, fuzzy huh? Well, I can see it hasn't hurt your grammar. Well I'll openly admit I've been on the good stuff an easy half-hour a'fore you 'wiggled' on in. Ah'm buzzed if not inebriated already due to tha graces of Luna givin' me a body with room to stir it." Douglas replied, the effects of his earlier escapades bringing his wild accent out of hiding. "'Sides, when you can't hold down a drink, is usually a sign to stop." Just then amongst the mare's rambling Douglas felt the napkins running along his flank. The sudden change in his face wasn't apparent to many, but at this point he was beginning to wonder if this mare was more to helping herself than him. Feeling this go on a little longer than it should have, Douglas cleared his throat as he looked over the mare. "Silky-dear, I know you're not fully aware, but should you go further this could be a whole different party. I'm fairly sure my flank was dry." Douglas spoke up, hoping to get her attention before this awkward rubbing could go on longer.

Douglas stood still waiting for the mare to respond as she slowly looked up at him. Her delicate face seemed to call out with an allure that ringed strong with a presence he could swear was familiar. Her sense of class and sophistication seemed elegant, yet out of place in such a place, surely there must be some wild reason she had wound up here. A mysterious charm seemed to permeate from her as she looked over Douglas. All of which came to an abrupt end when she suddenly began spitting her whole drink on Douglas' face. Inside his head the little pony on the wheel came to a stop, inside the little pony's head the clock threw an important spring, inside the clock's head gears came grinding to a halt! She...spat her drink all over him. Douglas was at a loss for words, his body didn't move, his mind didn't think. This...unseemly incident brought upon him a near clear sobriety as he began to make the gears turn again. Douglas quickly rubbed away at his mouth so he could let out a sigh. His eyes, while having never left the mare had stopped focusing on her during his mental shutdown. Focusing back in on her, Douglas could not believe his ears...was she really just talking like she didn't just spit on him?! Even wiggling her cutie mark in his face? "Really?...Really?...That just happened?" Douglas stated, his dry tone matched only by the look on his face. Letting his eyes shut and a held breath escape, he reached along the table for paper towel. He slowly began to wipe his face with the towel when suddenly he felt somepony else dab a napkin on him. Letting the towel away from his face he could see it was the mare who spat on him, now apologizing while trying to dry him off. "Well...Miss...Scarf, was it? I will say this is the most outlandish circumstance I've ever met a pony under. The name's Douglas Trotter. I will also say I've had mares throw their drinks at me, and I've caused mares to spit their drinks out...never have I done both at once without even a word of coarse language." Continuing to wipe away at the remaining punch, Douglas brightened up a little bit. "I suppose if you're going to get drunk, it's not worth doing unless somepony winds up a mess."

Douglas stood around one of the tables in the staff party, having rejoined now that more of the staff had began showing up. With a groan he brought down a shot glass, giving his muzzle a shake as the surrounding ponies cooed from the sidelines. The pony across from him was also having a hard time keeping his drink down as well. "Come on! That all ya got?!" Douglas erupted, fighting off the intense kick of the latest shot. With a pucker in his lips, the other pony stepped down, leaving Douglas to bask in glory. It was quite short-lived though, as he soon found himself sauntering over to a chair to rest. While he was still in control of his actions, Douglas thought it best to rest before his head rocked with his latest shot. Bringing his hooves to his face, Douglas let out a moan as he fought the incoming vertigo. His eyes shut tightly as he rubbed his face and tried to calm himself down. He was fast approaching his limit and once the drinks he just ingested hit his stomach there would surely be a sudden lack of balance in his future. Lowering one hoof to undo his bow tie, Douglas quickly undid his top button on that nice collared garment he worn earlier. His relief at it's release was only temporary as more symptoms of being a drunken fool hit him. He must have sat in that chair for a little longer before wanting to look around at the party. "A....model? Here?" Douglas spoke to himself, having opened his eyes in time to get a flankful of a purple mare in a fashionable gallopicous dress. His hazy mind took a few minutes of staring at her certain 'wiggle' as she pushed her way to the snack table and began to try a few of the treats. Raising from his chair, there was no doubt about it, it was the mare he saw at the entrance earlier in the day! His buzzed condition gave him a genuine smile of happiness as he trotted through the same ponies she had moseyed on through. "*Ahem* Ma'am, enjoying the 'real' party?" Douglas asked as he came up along side her, he could feel his mind swaying back and forth, but did his best not to show it, allowing himself to lean lightly on the table for support.

While I am not going to that con, I have recently got back from Megacon in Orlando, Fl. Which is an american comic/scifi convention that turned into a general media convention (basically, anything and everything). While I was there, there was a MLP:FiM meetup and while I didn't hang around to get too many pictures I did ask for one group shot with all the bronies that showed up! Oh, someone also did RD and FS in their Gala outfits, but my camera took a dump on me at that time and the picture didn't come out cleanly. T_T Now for the whole what to do while cosplaying that the OP was asking about, just be yourself! People may show up and call out to you in-character and you can choose whether or not to reply in character as well, but that's about the gist of it, usually after the little greeting you go back to just being yourself. Also, be prepared to be stopped doing more or less anything by someone looking for a picture.

Surely there must be a way, but you probably need to work towards it so once you're in you're more or less struck until you can uncover a way home. It would be kinda backwards if there was no true way to ever get back.

That's a shame, still hopefully the problems will let up for everypony. Good luck with the new adventure zone.

Douglas listened to the others talk about moving their little party to a spa of all places. Maybe a soak in a tub would do a world of good, surely it beat the quick showers Douglas currently relied upon. "Maybe a little dip would be nice." Douglas wasn't exactly feeling sore, more fitting would be that his muscles were just strained and tense after the race. That is to say he was still feeling the effects of the race, but his physique had easily helped keep the strain to a minimum. Bramble's giggle fit was certainly something pleasant to watch. He wasn't sure, but Douglas felt the unicorn had been a little hard on himself a few times today and it was nice to see him laugh so boundlessly. That isn't to say that Douglas wasn't having a little chuckle at her exaggerated accent as well. He almost felt compelled to tell a joke of his own although he wasn't all to sure if either pony would be able to handle his rather crude joke. "Shoot, starting to wish ah had a clean joke to share as well." It certainly wasn't something he heard from a gentlepony, no sir, it was one he heard while half fired up in a saloon and it was probably best the joke stayed within the hallowed walls of a saloon.

Douglas still remained seated for the mare, making sure she was alright even after her smile returned. The added encouragement of the masked mare he saw at the entrance was also something of a help. Surely he hoped the introverted mare would be able to come out of her shell over the course of the Ponywalk, these first steps would probably be the hardest though. "Now, do you want something to drink? Something to calm yourself down? I could get a glass of punch." Douglas suggested, wanting to do what he can to help. Giving another look to the masked mare he was thankfully that somepony was there to help out. Especially with her being a designer as well, hopefully some of the advice she gave would have been some form of comfort for the mare. "Thank you, Miss Ornatia. I can only hope your wisdom is able to ease my friend's nerves. It'll be nice to work with the both of you throughout the Ponywalk." Douglas turned his attention to the table, reaching out for the punch laddle before pouring a small cup on a saucer before placing it near Chemise on the table.

^ Obsidian!

I'd say you might just have to move the building... 5 times is far too many to be coincedence. That particular land is prone to either lightning strikes or griefing. At least build a simple place somewhere else to act as a temp building and just work within that building and see if it continues or not.

...What?! I'd advise either a cobblestone roof or moving the building since obviously lightning has found the place your shop sits to be quite comfortable.

Tis the baddest of all mothers! Not even the Weeping Angel mod gets more scares then a creeper. Case in point: (Warning, curse words are spoken.)

Wow! That's all so awesome! I would have loved to attend an LA con. That said, I'm bound to the state of Florida so it's not so bad. We have Megacon, Shadocon, Metrocon, and more. Hopefully I'll find a few MLP cosplayers at Megacon this year.

I suddenly wish to grow out my beard again. lol Seriously though, some of those hairstyles are cool if not down right lovely. That said, I feel I look my best when my hair is simply combed back out of the way rather than actually styled.

Douglas savored the biscuit to the best of his abilities, not wanting to stuff himself in front of such a nice mare. Truth be told, he could tell she was rather unnerved by him and he did he best to keep allow her space while not being out of vocal range. And while the conversation had mostly been one sided for the time it was nice to see her start asking questions as well. "Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Mostly I'll be doing whatever little tasks need to be done and if that means directly helping designers and models then yes I will. I'm going to guess most of my work will be around the construction of the parties and shows and making sure everypony has their cue on the big night." Honestly, Douglas only knew for sure about a few things. This was a first for him and while he was onboard as general staff, it didn't exactly define every little thing he would be expected to do. Keeping a big smile on his face, Douglas watched as the mare seemed to fiddle with whether she should or shouldn't keep eating when suddenly another pony spoke up from behind them. Douglas turned his head to see the owner of the voice when he caught the mare's reaction in his peripheral vision. He seemed to be drawing something, could it be them or the table? Was he an artist or was it just a hobby. Slowly Douglas could hear the mare start to squeak out her response, finding herself without voice before she could finish. "We're fine. I hope you'll show us the finished work." Douglas finished, bringing his concern back to the mare. She seemed quite jumpy. Letting himself fall back onto his haunches, Douglas looked at her with a smile. "Hay, you okay? Look, he's just drawing a picture. There's no need to get jumpy."

"Never in my life had I ever begged more for a cold bath." Douglas replied with a laugh, enjoying thinking of the old times. "And yes, it's a whoopin'. Mama took me to her knee and made my flank redder than my coat! I s'pose different cultures have different parenting. It kept me outta trouble though. 'Cause pain will give you a memory of what not to do." Douglas shuffled in his seat, thinking about what Ginger said. Odds are he was the only pony there who knew what it was like to get a spanking. Surely, he could have only imagined the trouble he would have gotten into if he wasn't always fearing that chance of gettin' whooped. And with that, they were back on the race. It was interesting how easy they could just go around in circles without a care. "Aye, it's quite the endurance test. I wonder if it was simply one bad coincidence after the next that caused all those crazy things to happen in the race." Douglas said, giving his back a quick scratch. "And yeah, aches and pains are actually nice if you feel you earned them. Just getting up in the morning gives you this weird energy rush. Besides, the more you do them, the less sore you'll get and the more you can push it."

Well actually, I am a fan of racing. (WoO Sprint cars mostly, but I love all types as long as it gets the blood pumping.) I would always love to do a racing fic, but it's complicated enough to make a racing fic, let alone base it around ponies all the while keeping it interesting without losing the audience's attention or destroying the believablity aspect of it. That said, after suspending my disbelief of cars in the forms that we know and see them as I enjoyed what you've written so far. It's hard to think of something like a modern race car being piloted by a squishy pastel pony without trying to think of some way the chassis and body could be more adapted to fit ponies.

Douglas was fine with waiting patiantly for the mare to reply and as he did he thought he caught a sudden movement just outside his vision. Turning to see what it was only too late to notice who the pony was, he did recognize the tail end of the ensemble as the it's wearer went around the table. With the other pony out of sight, Douglas returned his attention to the earlier mare he was talking too. "Oh, so you are a designer! That's great, I'm sure your work will be spendid! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Douglas Trotter, I'm going to be working on the Ponywalk as a staffer and general handypony." Douglas said, giving a courtous bow of his head. While Douglas was sure there were a few ponies at this party that would look down their snout at him, he could only hope that the actual models and designers would be nothing like that. And after meeting this shy mare, knowing she was a designer it surely put on a good chance that the others would be rather well natured too. "I can't wait to see how you do the day of the show, I'm sure you'll make your friend proud." Getting out the last of what he had for the time, Douglas took another tasty biscuit from the table and happily nibbled on it.

Douglas looked over the mare as she fidgeted around him, he couldn't help but find it a surprising contrast to when she made her entrance. "S'pose that affirms my earlier suspicions." he thought, listening to the mare answer him. He had to tilt his head closer to hear her at first. He could feel a little awkwardness as she began looking at the ground. He realized that she was rather shy which is probably why she wasn't talking with the other ponies. Slowly she looked back to him and began to speak. "By all means, don't stop just because I'm here." Douglas answered, reaching onto the table and taking a small snack in his hoof to taste. He crunched into one of the little crackers with some odd dressing on it, causing a slight change in his expression as his face cringed to get the snack down. "Maybe... I just picked the wrong one." he stated, feeling a shiver go down his withers. Ending with a visible shake he cleared his throat and reached out for a different snack. This one looked like a biscuit with what he could only hope was butter spread over it. Looking back to the mare as he took a bite, he began to think of something to say. "So what brings you to the Ponywalk? Are you designing or modeling?" Douglas asked, after making sure to swallow his snack first. Sure he already knew the answer to his question, but he figured it would be a nice easy topic for the mare.

Scrambling to put on a little black vest over a nice white undershirt, Douglas perked up his collar with a nice bow tie. Surely he didn't look like somepony special, but it would be more than enough to just move around the main party area. Of course he was just a staffer for the Ponywalk, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the main area. Surely several of these ponies will be interacting with Douglas and the other staffers throughout the Ponywalk shows. It was with this justification that he came to the banquet hall, not hoping to mingle or 'elude' to his accomplishments but to simply enjoy talking with other ponies. With one drink already in his system, Douglas was looking for a little food and while the staff party had more than enough to fill him, he wanted to experience what the big shots would be partaking in while their was still something left. Coming up on the table he could see several ponies already crowding the table in mixed chatter about some such thing or another. Seeing his reflection in a mirror behind the table, Douglas quickly ran his forehooves through his mane, pulling it back before giving a wry smile and lift of a brow at his reflection. "Alright trottah, keep on your best behavior and keep that drawl locked away!" he thought to himself, knowing someponies of the upper class tend to be very fast judging over the simplest of things. "Wow, they all look so nice! So fancy! Which one to try first?" Douglas let out a bemused hum as he heard a mare standing alone look over the hors d'ourves. He remembered watching her enter from behind the crowd, she was one of the...designers of he remembered correctly. Douglas saw her look around at the other ponies as she looked if she should try something on the table. She seemed to be one of the few without somepony to speak to, so letting out a calming breath, he approached. "It doesn't look 'that' bad, does it? I haven't tried anything yet either, but I was hoping there would be something nourishing here." Douglas spoke to her, moving beside the table with the mare. "So what do you think of the party? It's not too over the top is it?"

Douglas sat back in his chair for a moment, taking in the interchanging speech that continued throughout the group. He felt, at peace to just sit down and enjoy talking as much as they had. It had been quite a while since it's happened, he wondered if he could always look forward to this kind of activity should he finally settle down in Hoofington and stop moving around so much. He could feel how animated each of them became as they talked, from slight facial movements to full flailing limbs. They touched on several topics from simple stuff like work, cutie marks, and hobbies to the serious matters like what they want to do with their lives and the social stigma certain ponies imposed on themselves. "Not at all Bramble, it's fine." Douglas said in agreement with Ginger about his varied family bloodlines. As far as Douglas was concerned it didn't matter what you born as, so long as you could help when needed and were kindhearted you would be welcome in his company. "Did... How did you find your way back? Did your folks come looking for you?" "How did we get back? Oh, well that was easy. Once the sun started to drop below the horizon we started one last game of hide and seek and our parents literally searched the area just as we were hiding. Whoo boy, was I happy I wasn't the one they found first. They grilled that poor colt for minutes about where we were hiding and he didn't know because he hadn't started looking for us! Soon enough we 'ad half the parents searching the ridge fur us and we were all too afraid of the whoopin' we'd get to come out of our hidin' places. They did find us all though, and of course they paddled us good fur doing that to 'em." Douglas laughed, remembering how hard it was to sit after that night. "A Green pony kite, and goggles" Douglas rambled, making a mental note of the features he figured would be most important. "I'll be sure to do that. That reminds me that I should go visit my parents sometime." Douglas couldn't help but think of them with all this family talk when suddenly Bramble straightened up in his chair with a holler! It took Douglas a moment to realize what topic Bramble was on, but as soon as he remembered he erupted into a fit of laughs at the sudden enthusiasm showed by the Unicorn. "Darn tootin'! That's the spirit." Watching Bramble nearly take off without a moment's notice only to sink back into his seat caused Douglas to burst out into a bigger fit of laughs! "I'd of told ya had I knew ya before the start. Even I'm feeling the strain deep within!"

You know you're a MLP fan when: - You believe every other show you watch would be so much better if it was ponified.

((Can't wait till this party kicks off, so much more enjoyable than those stuffy upturned models! )) Douglas trotted his way to the beach house after finishing his current tasks, he wanted to check out the staff party area quickly before every staff pony was relieved of their tasks and the staff party started. As the building grew closer in his sight he could feel himself getting a little jittery to see just what was in store for them. Celestia knows he was too busy setting up the grand entrance to check out the staff beach house. "I hope whoever set up our little party at least made it more enjoyable than that ritzy, show and tell social." Slowly pushing open the door Douglas could feel himself lick at his lips as he gave a crude huckster's grin. The mustang set his sharp eyes upon the table with the finely aged spirits and could feel that wild rush starting up. Ignoring pretty much every other feature in the beach house he made his way to the spirits and eagerly began sifting through them. Picking out two particular brands, Douglas is fast to mix them into a fine glass with ice and punch before finding a nice spot to sit in the peace of the room. Drink at the ready, Douglas brings it to his muzzle. It's wild scent almost burns at his snoot, his back tingles in sharp reaction. Now more than ever did he wish the staff party would get underway as he takes his first sip of the fine drink. The familiar sensation hits the back of his throat as he enjoys his drink. Time out on the trails and settlements in the Painted Pinto Desert have long accustomed him to the sharp bitterness. "Ugh!" Douglas spouts, feeling his teeth clench. "I'll say! It's better than any rotgut I've ever had! It's a shame I'll have to wait till the actual party starts before getting another glass..." Letting out a slight sigh, Douglas lays back in the chair, wanting to savor his little concoction before making the party rounds again.