In High Spirits and Higher Altitude [open]

[ClockworkSeagull]

The train ride to Canterlot was a marvelous thing. In between the tunnels that found themselves periodically built around the tracks, one could simply look out the window and be awed by the view -- and to a certain extent, a little humbled by the view. This was certainly the case for a certain red-velvet coloured stallion, who let loose a small gasp at the city so far off in the distance, steadily drew closer and closer. This might have drawn a little attention to the unicorn, had he not been rare enough to board one of the emptier trains; as it stood, he was the only one in his cabin to enjoy the view. If it were less spectacular, he might have been a touch lonely.

As the train gradually shortened the distance the excitement for the unicorn simply grew until he was convinced it was tangible in the air. "I'm going to Canterlot" he thought. Indeed, little else could be on his mind, and time seemed to slow down and speed up simultaneously until, dramatically, the train slowed to a halt at Canterlot station. The unicorn resisted the urge to bound out the doors and dash off to go sightseeing. Despite practically beaming with joy, he had heard all kinds of stories of the more judgmental upper class in the city. It was important to maintain composure.

Stepping off the tracks, the first thing he noticed was a slight breeze. The second thing he noticed, was, well, he couldn't help but voice his thoughts: "I am standing on a castle, literally carved into a mountain." If one listened closely, one could even here a slight squee punctuating the sentence. Taking a happy sigh, he started forward.

And then he promptly stopped. Looking down, he noticed a hat. Not realizing he was still thinking aloud, he continued, "Hmm... the breeze must have taken some pony's hat." He stared thoughtfully at it, before his horn glowed and levitated it into his outstretched hoof. Dusting it off, he examined it before adorning it over his steel coloured hair. Content with his souvenir, and deciding that its owner must not miss it in such a high class society, he rounded a corner into the street.

Ten minutes later, he was hopelessly lost, and enjoying every minute of it. As he wandered about, he must have looked very much like a tourist struck with sightseeing syndrome. He couldn't help but look with awe at every building. The care that was put into each one boggled the mind. As a budding architect himself, he practically stood and applauded a particularly regal looking house. Caught up in all the joys of the moment, he practically didn't see the staircase in front of him. He fell down the flight before you could say 'Equestria's funniest home videos' before landing in something resembling a sprawled out snow Pegasus mixed with that pose you end up when you fall backwards into bed.

Chuckling at the mere thought of what he must have looked liked, he joked aloud "Ten out of ten for the landing. I'd say I stuck that. Wait... how did this hat not fall off?" Standing himself up, he brushed his coat off, straightened his tail a little, then chuckled again, albeit more privately. At this point, he was enjoying himself a bit too much to remember that bit about the high class society.

[Snowshoe]

Ah, Canterlot. A great city, if there ever was one. Rain Maker had flown in a few days ago, and while she'd visited Canterlot before, the blue pegasus always liked coming back. There was always something else to see and do there, and you would never be bored, really. That day, she was just on a walk around the city, looking for a place to have lunch if she could find a nice looking place.

She trotted along, taking in the alabaster buildings that rose up everywhere. Canterlot was an absolutely gorgeous city to be sure, and she'd yet to find one so nice. Even her home of Cloudsdale wasn't as interesting as Canterlot, and Cloudsdale was made of, well, clouds! But that was average for a pegasus, while incredible, high-reaching buildings were something new, particularly if they were carved into the side of a mountain. She stopped every now and again and fished out her notebook from inside of her saddlebags, holding the pencil between her teeth and making quick notes about particularly interesting sections of town before moving on to the next.

She'd just turned a street when she saw a stallion fall from the clouds! He tumbled right past her face before sprawling onto the ground. She blinked in surprise, and looked around. Ah, so he hadn't fallen from the skies, but instead, down the stairs. When Rain Maker finally clued into that, she turned to look at the red stallion who'd gotten up and started dusting himself off, and began to clap her hooves together. "Bravo! Well done! Give you two bits to do it again," she teased with a grin.

[ClockworkSeagull]

Keystone blinked for a second as he registered the voice that most decidedly was not his thought process. Then he noticed the pegasus standing fairly nearby. He also noticed the grin, and decided she probably wasn't serious. Probably. He shared the smile for a second, as he thought of a few options he could use as a retort before deciding on one. "Two bits?" he raise an eyebrow, "Why, for two bits I'd fall down and back up!

He then took the opportunity to assess his adoring crowd. Definitely a mare, and definitely blue. That much was obvious. A shame he wasn't more of a detective, otherwise he could probably deduce a bit more than the obvious. Well, that wasn't quite true. Now that he thought about it, her comment didn't seem like something coming out of your stereotypical Canterlot elite. So, having assumed the pegasus was a local, he figured he had been tragically misinformed about the Canterlot populace. Well, that or she was visiting too. Keystone reckoned he had a fifty-fifty shot, but he'd put his money on both, to be safe. With that knowledge safely concluded, he continued on talking.

[colour=#ff0000]"So, I assume you're not here for the stairs, what with the wings and everything. I don't suppose you're from around here, are you?"[/colour] He asked in an inquisitive tone, though he still had the slight grin. Hadn't really vanished from the previous one, despite a fair bit of thinking. He might as well attempt to start a conversation. He probably needed directions, anyhow.

[Snowshoe]

Rain Maker grinned a little wider. Good to see somepony that could take a joke. Most would have been offended, but this stallion seemed alright, and that was alright by her. She looked him over. The red stallion looked pretty average, nothing telling about his appearance really. A unicorn, so she guessed his job involved something with either heavy lifting or delicate work that couldn't be done by a blunt hoof. A glance at his cutie mark, she would have guessed architect, or perhaps a stonemason or something of the sort. Maybe one of those types that put gargoyles on all the old buildings!

"You kidding? Canterlot has like, the best stairs," she joked, trotting over to extend a hoof. "I'm not. Name's Rain Maker. I'm an author, from Cloudsdale. I'm just here on a trip, that's all," she explained. "You don't seem like a local either, or from the Heartlands... gawking around like that," she added, ribbing him gently with her wing.

[Shinygear]

Shinygear stepped out of the train station and onto the street of Canterlot. "Augh...why did all the interesting ponies have to be on the train before mine?" he questioned, as he stretched himself out. "Oh well, it's not like I'm entierely here for conversation." he continued as he brushed himself off, took a swig from his canteen of water, and trotted off. As he looked around, he spotted a fellow Unicorn who appeared to have fallen down a flight of stairs, yet he seemed to still be laughing and enjoying himself. "Seems the tourists haven't gotten any less cheerful, heh..." he said to himself, before looking back. "Ah, it appears that's the shop I've been looking for." Shiny realized as he began to trot towards the two ponies...and the shop. Of course.

[ClockworkSeagull]

Keystone nodded as he listened. An author, that certainly explained the pegasus'- Ms. Rainmaker's, as it were - cutie mark. Then again, a winged book couldn't mean much else. He did find himself a tad put out that she wasn't from around the area, what with his lack of knowledge regarding the layout. Still, she still might know one or two things. She certainly seemed an expert on stairs, anyway. He also noted that she hailed from Cloudsdale, a city which he would personally give a hind leg to go visit. Shame that such a visit would probably end with a decent amount of plummeting, but he that was neither here nor there. What was present was the question Rain Maker had asked.

[colour=#ff0000]Shaking the hoof, he happily replied "Pleasure to meet 'cha, Ms. Rain Maker! Name's Keystone, and no, sadly I'm not a local. Shock, ain't it? I'm from all the down in Manehatten. Well, I was. I'm an architect by trade, see, and a lot of towns have need of new buildings. I've been around the map a few times."[/colour] He smiled with the expertise of someone who planned a day-to-day introduction before adding [colour=#ff0000]"Gawking simply happens to be a hobby."[/colour]

Then, to his surprise, he saw another figure approach in his peripheral. Turning his head, he saw a red stallion approach. Keystone heard something about a shop, but he figured the unicorn was talking to himself. Hmm... another red unicorn. Why, if he knew that it was a trend, he mused, he would have grabbed a blue coat! Luckily he still had that hat he picked up from earlier. Anyways, he turned to the stallion walking towards the pair and spoke.

[colour=#ff0000]"Errm... Hello?"[/colour]

[Snowshoe]

Rain Maker snorted in laughter. Ms.? Such a fancy title. She shook her head, while she shook his hoof. "Just Rain Maker, or simply Rain's good. And, well, welcome to Canterlot. If you're an architect with a hobby for gawking, you've come to the right place. Canterlot's probably one of the most beautiful cities in all of Equestria, second to Cloudsdale, and with Hoofington bringing up third place in the top three. Sucks that you can only see Hoofington and Canterlot, though," she said with a shrug. Cloudsdale was fun, but good luck doing anything up there without some serious mojo or some wings of your own. It just couldn't be done!

"It's a nice enough city, really. If you're lucky you might see a celebrity, or even the Princesses themselves! And sometimes..." she kept on talking, not noticing that the stallion was looking off to her side somewhere. She stopped midsentence and turned around in a circle. "What, I got something on my- oh, hi there!" she said brightly to the newcomer, Shinygear.