canterlot A Winter's Reprieve (Attn dragonofruin & Pyro)

[IceStorm]

 

 

 

 

The city of Canterlot. Wind Dancer had heard a lot about this city but she had never been here herself. From the moment she stepped off the train she noticed that everything just... felt a little bit different here. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but there was a certain regalness in the air. Was it from the fact that she was in Equestria's capital? She couldn't really say. What she could say though was that everything here was a lot quieter than it was in Las Pegasus. Even thought she could tell the city was just as large as LP, there was a lot less hustle and bustle. There definitely weren't any casinos and big fancy neon lights. She very much doubted that the princess wouldn't like such establishments in such a place, but she wasn't sure. Princess Twilight was a different pony than Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Not that she knew them any better. Truth be told she hadn't met a single pony that held any major power. At least outside of the ponies that were on the Las Pegasus City Council.

 

As to why the mare was here? Well, mostly she was here to explore and visit some of the sites. However, she wouldn't be lying if she said that she wasn't also looking for fellow musicians, dancers, performers, or ponies that were good with decor to help with an event that her and Sky Sailing were planning at home. She figured that she could help do some of the leg work outside of the city why Sky continued to work on his newest album. There was a few of the songs that they would be using in an upcoming show. They were doing a Hearth's Warming show in Ponyville in a couple weeks so he wanted to make sure everything was recorded properly and ready to go for their performance. She couldn't wait for that night herself as there was more than one reason that she was looking forward to it.

 

Right now, the lilac pegasus mare stood on the platform of the train station looking at a map. Celestia's sun was currently providing the light that she would need to read it, and the high mountain altitude meant it was quite brisk. A contrast to the weather in Las Pegasus, but it was starting to get into more of their colder season. It was a desert after all and at night it could get down right cold there. A pony would have to be made of ice to be able to stay outside for any length of time after dark in Las Pegasus in the winter. "Hmm... There are a lot of sights to see here... the question is... what do I want to go and look at first? What would Sky wanna do if he were here?" she asked to herself aloud not really paying attention to her surroundings. Thankfully after living in Las Pegasus for so long she knew to stand still when she wasn't paying attention. That was the easiest way to accidentally bump into somepony. She knew! she'd met quite a few of her friends from that exact happenstance!

[dragonofruin]

 

The oncoming shift of power left Princess Luna with far less than her meager duties to perform, which also left her with plenty of time on her hooves. It was both a blessing and a curse to her, though out of everything that she was giving up, the only thing that would remain hers and hers alone was the dream realm. It was she who discovered it, and only her magic worked there. No matter what, she could continue to govern the dream realm long after her crown was gone to Princess Twilight Sparkle. Some part of her wished she didn't have to give it up at all, and their retirement was mostly her sister's idea; perhaps because of how much Celestia's life had gone into governing this kingdom while she sat in the icy prison of the moon.

 

Sometimes Luna tried not to be too bitter about it, and sometimes she didn't even have to try- like today. The idea had only occurred to her recently that with her new freedoms, that she had the opportunity to see the town as it was said, and she could do it without Celestia unlike their disastrous little vacation. The only thing about it was that she would have to go disguised in order to avoid exciting any ponies and losing the chance to simply exist in the castle town for the day, doing whatever she liked without so much as an interruption.

 

With her magic she wove herself a simple enough disguise: a slender powdery blue pegasus with a black mane that had a purple shine in certain lighting. The makeup she usually wore was just a darker shade of blue. She kept the cutiemark simple, with a crescent moon and a few, silver stars half hidden behind a puff of cloud. She spent only a moment admiring herself in the mirror before making her way out of the window, her path around the castle towers and to the town a quick and stealthy one to avoid the notice of any of the guards. The cold winter wind bit pleasantly at her coat, and Luna felt her heart soaring as she glided over the tops of the buildings, looking for what she could possibly do here first. Having only ever been a princess living most of her life in a castle or in the moon left her little idea what ponies normally did with their time. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for her to find somepony and ask them for some recommendations.

[PyroBlaze]

Blank Canvas was kinda lost, actually. He had no idea how he had gotten to this part of the city, and at this point was just wandering aimlessly in the hopes he would end up somewhere he recognized. The unicorn artist was not familiar with this city, only visiting for a bit in the hopes it would bring some new inspiration for paintings he could do, so hopefully he would eventually end up on the path from the train station to the hotel at some point. Before he knew it, he was entering the train station and standing next to a pegasus mare holding a map. He tried to get a good view of it by leaning around her. 
 

“Sorry, kinda got lost, can I share your map for now?” He asked before he seemed to realize something and started digging around in his saddlebags. After a moment he sighed and went back to looking at Wind Dancer’s map. “Guess I didn’t pack mine. Just art stuff in those.”

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

"Soo... There's the Noble's District... If the rumors of Canterlot Nobility are true, I probably want to avoid that part of town..." Wind Dance said to herself as she was looking over the map. Having never been here before herself, she pulled the map down and looked around a bit trying to pick a direction and go, but something told her that wasn't a good idea here in this city. Sure if she needed to she could just fly up and get her bearings again, but she didn't want to be flying up every few minutes. She looked back down into her map. "Hmm... I have the markets over here... the Museums and theaters are over here! That would probably be the best place to find artists and performers!" she said with a smile.

 

At this point, another pegasus caught her attention in the sky overhead, and then another pony next to her was asking if she could share her map with him. He was a white unicorn stallion and told her that he had gotten lost. He added that he hadn't packed a map. "Oh, sure!" she said before realizing that he said that all he had packed was art supplies. "Hey! that's a surprise! I was just planning on trying to find my way to the theater and museum sector of the city. I'm looking for anypony that might want to help out with decorations for an event I'm putting together as well as performer and I figure that would be the best place to start," she said to him with a smile before waving to the pegasus that was in the air. Yes they had a map and they could navigate their way to that district eventually, but perhaps the pegasus in the sky might know the quickest way to get there from here. Provided of course... she was actually a local herself. Being around the train station, that was never really a guarantee. She turned back to the stallion after hopefully getting the pegasus's attention and extended a hoof to the stallion. "The name's Wind Dancer. I'm a performer from Las Pegasus," she said with a smile.

[dragonofruin]

The disguised princess let the wind carry her for a bit in a half circle across the town, her teal eyes trained on the buildings and ponies below. She wasn't even sure where to begin or who to even approach about what she could do. She already knew that there was so much to choose from! She could peruse the shops, or see a play, or even go try out something new to eat at one of the many upscale restaurants Canterlot boasted.

 

Her flight carried her low over the buildings, coming close to where the long building of the train station was with its platform and open space around it where ponies could mingle or wait for their train or visitor. At the moment, there seemed to be two ponies standing next to each other with one holding a paper, something Luna guessed must be a map. Maybe they were as lost as she was..

 

It took her by surprise when one of them seemed to notice her and waved. The fact that they could see her coming had to have meant they were a pegasus; the race was known to be capable of seeing further than the others, with the exception being alicorns and that only included the equine species.

 

Luna took the wave as an opportunity to come gracefully swooping down to land by the pair with a flutter of wings, curiosity clear on her face. Her height was reduced in her disguise, to leave her only a few inches taller than most mares so she wasn't likely to stand out in any particular way, especially not to the two that she approached. "Ah, hello!"

[PyroBlaze]

The unicorn nodded in thanks as the mare agreed to share the map, then focused on figuring out where he was supposed to be going. He idly recognized that she had kept talking, but he was too focused on reading the map to really listen. He hummed slightly, nodding as he tried plotting his course. He looked up from the map just as the mare introduced herself and another mare approached them. 
 

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Blank Canvas, an artist from Vanhoover.” He said, shaking Wind’s offered hoof. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer was happy that she was able to get the attention of the other Pegasus in the sky. Hopefully this Pegasus would be from her and could help them with directions. The pony next to her didn't really seem to help with that. She wondered if he'd listened to her at all. She shook his hoof when he extended it to her, but that was about it. She'd expect that kind of treatment in Las Pegasus, but not here in Canterlot. Still she was a bit relieved when the other pegasus landed and said hello there. 

 

"Hey! Thanks for stopping to help us. We're going to be heading to the art district here," she said pointing onto the map with a wing. She then realized that she might not have heard Wind introduce herself to the other pony. "My name is Wind Dancer, a performer from Las Pegasus, and with really appreciate your help getting there. Both to see the sights and pass it fliers for an event that me and my coltfriend are putting on," she said with a smile.

[dragonofruin]

For the most part, Luna had missed their introductions although she was sure that she overheard the stallion's name on her approach. She felt it best to wait and see if he might re-introduce himself to her just so that she could be certain that she'd heard his name correctly. As the other mare introduced herself, Luna offered her a small, friendly smile and dipped her head to Wind Dancer.

"I'm Spring Serenade," she answered with a name easily enough. It hadn't been too hard for her to come up with the name while she'd been flying over Canterlot, and run variations through her mind until she found something appropriately normal for a pony. It didn't even matter if her fake cutiemark didn't match, either, as some ponies' names were not reflected in the mark of their talents. Which, speaking of.. she guessed that she'd have to come up with one if anypony ever happened to ask and she wasn't sure how often ponies spent discussing their special talents.

 

"So you're from Las Pegasus? How interesting. I'm unfortunately somewhat unfamiliar with Canterlot myself, but I'm sure I might be able to help you get around," Luna offered. She glanced between the two, and knew well enough from their introductions that.. Blank Canvas, was it? was not Wind's coltfriend, but a stranger. From the sound it, from Vanhoover too, another far away city, to the north from where Wind was from.

 

"What sort of event are you putting on?"

[PyroBlaze]

Blank frowned a bit as Wind mentioned the event, rubbing his chin in thought as he went over what he remembered hearing. He was pretty sure there had been something like that. Once the two were done talking, he looked over at Wind apologetically. 
 

“Sorry for earlier, I’ve always had trouble focusing, so it’s either all or nothing, basically. Meaning I can’t really multitask very well, so things such as reading a map and listening to others at the same time is difficult.” He explained, hoping that cleared things up. He didn’t want to come off as rude just because he couldn’t seem to focus on multiple things at once. 
 

“Nice ta meet you both, I am Blank Canvas, an artist from Vanhoover.” He said, not sure Spring had heard his earlier introduction. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

It appeared that Blank Canvas, she believed that his name was, had realized how he had come of too her and apologized for practically ignoring her a moment ago. She was thankful that the other pony had landed to speak with them as well and she smile as she introduced herself as Spring Serenade. Oh! With a name like that she had to be a singer! that would work out perfectly! She nodded when she confirmed that she was from Las Pegasus. "Yup, Las Pegasus is definitely an interesting City. If you can't find anything to do there, you either live there or you're blind," she giggled.  When the pegasus asked what kind of event that she was putting on Wind got a bit excited herself. She also added that she herself was also unfamiliar with Canterlot... but hey, that meant that they could learn together!

 

"Well I'm a performer there and My coltfriend and I are trying to put on a performance festival for various ponies to come and perform. We're primarily leading towards dance and music, but anypony that wants a shot and wowing an audience and is looking to make a name for themselves are eligible. I'm also trying to get a few more headliners as well. Sky Sailing and myself will be the main headliner with our duo act of song and dance, but I'm also trying to get Coloratura and Octavia to join as well. Try to draw the big crowds in so that the smaller bands and performers can get the most exposure possible. That's part of why I wanted to go to the artist district. I imagine that there are theaters there as well as artists. I'm going to need plenty of those to for decorations and helping get everything looking nice for the event," Wind Dancer explained to the other pegasus.

[dragonofruin]

The other mare's giggle drew a smile out of Luna, or Spring, as she would be known to these two. "It sounds like quite the wild party in every description I ever receive about that city, if it can be called a city with the attractions it boasts." She tilted her head and glanced to the stallion to offer him a nod and a friendly smile. So she had heard his name correctly then as Blank Canvas, and from Vanhoover. Maybe she could ask him about his city in a moment as she hadn't been out that far to it either. Any diplomatic visits to cities was usually Celestia's forte.

"A performance festival, hm?" It sounded like it would be something fun to watch and to see ponies showcase their talents. It sounded like it would be a musical one, but it might involve other talents.

"It sounds like it would be fun to see, although I've heard it can be difficult and somewhat expensive to book famous performers to take the stage. Your idea to help draw attention to smaller musicians and the like through them sounds rather admirable, I think, and a lot to prepare for." She tilted her head, thoughtful. All the decorations, and planning that would go with it.. To some extent it was like throwing a party.

[PyroBlaze]

Well, seemed there wasn’t much response to his apology or explanation. Fair enough, he supposed, plus there was no reason to dwell on it. Moving on, he listened to Wind’s explanation of her idea for the show, nodding a bit at the talk of getting artists to help with decorations. That might be a good project for him to take part in. 
 

“I could probably help with decorations. I mostly do paintings, but I’ve been known to do other mediums as well.” He said, looking at Wind. “I’d be glad to help smaller artists get attention, musical or otherwise.”

[IceStorm]

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

 

Wind Dancer nodded when she heard the Pegasus say that Las Pegasus sounded more like one giant party rather than a city with all the attractions that it boasted. "For the ponies that come for the attractions, it basically is just a giant party. However, for those of us that live there, well let's be honest, most of us live in the surrounding area. We like peace and quiet as much as anypony else, and with where it's at, there's a lot of natural beauty around. The mountains in the area really make the outskirts shine. In the city though, yeah. It's a giant party. The casinos never close and ponies will throw bits at them day or night in hopes of winning big. Then there's the cuisine. Every stands alone restaurant has to be amazing or it can't compete with the ones in the casinos," she said explaining a little bit about the city itself.

 

When she also heard Spring say she find the idea admirable to try to pull attention to smaller groups by using famous ones to pull in the crowds, she smiled. She also nodded when she brought up that it would probably be expensive too. "I am anticipating that actually. But I'm fairly certain that I can foot the bill for them myself. Myself being one of the more popular acts in LP, I make way more than I could ever spend in a lifetime in a single show. Most of the time I just put it back into the local hospital and party for the treatments on those who can't afford it. I call it the Windy insurance," she said with a smile. 

 

When she heard the unicorn say that he would be willing to help with decorations, she clopped her hooves together lightly. "Oh that is so good to here. I imagine that there is a lot that is going to need painting, and doing so with an artistic style will help so much!" she finished with a smile. She hasn't even made it we the art district yet and she already found somepony that could help.