(Hoofington/general beach area) Coming Home (open)

[JaguarCats]

Jace would breath in the sea air as he would exhale with a contented sigh. The pony would stand with his eyes closed as wind from the shoreline would blow through his mane and tail as a light shivered went down his back bringing back memories. The young stallion's ears would flicker as they'd sift out the sounds of tourists and other noise pollution as he'd try and focus on the cries of seagulls looking for hand outs and trash. His eyes would then open and survey the waves that were rich with foam as they washed along the white sandy beach area where he had spent many days as a colt running without a care in the world. The water would reflect the sun's rays as it began to set like nothing else in nature could as it shimmered with it's beauty, it was good to be home.

The hours he had spent along with his other team mates cramped in a single car on the train now all seemed to be a distant memory. It'd been a first class prison, but a prison none the less, with nobody on his team being allowed to venture into the other cars. No they weren't national celebrities, at least not yet. (One had to win a few national championships fore that happened) But some reason ponies became ecstatic and a wee bit crazy whenever professional athletes of any kind were around, and rather than go through the general chaos that might follow, it'd been decided that it would be best that they all just stay there and let their presence on board the train be kept a secret. Yes just about anything they'd wanted to eat or drink had been available to them, but it was still pure liberation when they finally arrived at their home town.

Him and his team's reason for being in town was that their next game was a home town one. Their opponents were the Cloudsdale Trotters. He had played against them before, and for having their wings tied down being pegasus were still pretty good. A spell though in turn had had to of been cast on his coach, the others on his team and him so that they could walk and run on their cloud courts without falling through. And it'd been a close game too, 55 to 57 with his final three point shot being what had sealed it for them with just three seconds left on the clock.

Life in the NPBA itself had been bitter sweet at best, he was playing with the big boys now which effectively made the game all the more challenging, and he loved every minute of it. The constant adrenaline as he tried to out dribble, out shoot, out maneuver and out fox opposing players who had more experience than him had only further pushed and expanded his limits and skills. And the practice sessions with his fellow team mates and coach who had become like a second family to him while hard were all things he'd grown use to and had adjusted with since his days in high school. And that was the fun part!

But what had made this life sour was the press, if life before the big game back in school had been the fire, then he was definitely now in the frying pan. No his face wasn't on every sports magazine that came out, but it seemed that at least once every day some one would cry out his name or ask him if he was well...Jace, followed by a dozen or so questions. Though the worse was when the last buzzer had sounded and the game was over and he'd suddenly find five to seven reporters from various magazines and papers asking him several questions before he could fine a quick yet polite means to escape.

All of this along with the random flashes of cameras from the bleachers and cries of the crowd while he had managed to tune most of it out...still left him with the lingering feeling he was always being watched by some one, that several eyes were upon him at all times, though one might expect that from having his coach throw out a random reporter who always hid in the lockers after the games. But through out it all he had managed to find some mental balance of working it all out without letting the pressure snap him in two.

For the time being however all of that was behind him at least until later on that day when he'd have to show up for practice. While he'd been in town he had visited with his parents, who had both been glad to see him and had bombarded him with even more questions than the press did, though it was to be expected. He had eaten dinner with them and had caught up on all the recent events that had happened to them, him and their friends in town since he'd been there last. Jace had also visited with a few of his old high school friends who still lived and worked in town before he had come here to the beach.

Jace then collapsed into the hot sand, as he sighed in pure contentment, five hours, five long hours he had all to himself. Five hours to just let his mind drift and to let all his troubles be carried away as far as that volley ball that was about to collide with his head. To just let all his cares and worries be-Suddenly his mind snapped back to reality just in time for him to be beaned by that same volley ball followed by several stars. Yep! It was good to be home!

(there x.x....some how this wound up in the questions and answer forum)

[SunsetSombra]

Ah, this was the life - unwinding on a beach hours before she had to do a show for the ponies...Vinyl Scratch was entirely relaxed and in a state of good mental vibes as she lay there on her music-themed towel and basked in the sunlight with absolutely no intention on moving right now. She was quite content to simply catch some rays, laze around on the soft-sanded beach and do absolutely nothing for the few hours she was free to do so. The pony DJ gave a loud content sigh as she rolled over, a blissful grin on her features.

She's been called to take part in some beach celebrations later on - the end of summer was approaching and some ponies were just inclined to celebrate this fact on the beach, just as they were with any single good reason to have a random celebratory event. She mused on that thought with a somewhat amused expression - ponies loved to celebrate, and anything that was worth celebrating usually was taken if given enough ponies, resources, and an inclination to do so. Not that she minded at all, considering she did play her stuff at a lot of the more known regular celebrations or events of Equestria, and was as keen for a party as any other pony would normally be!

The last few days had been fairly intensive, not allowing for much rest as she travelled with other musical ponies and groups to play her stuff in other areas of Equestria, stopping at places such as Appleoosa, Manehatten, Stalliongrad and even a couple of places that she couldn't even pronounce let alone remember the name of...but each of them had been fantastic to visit, if a tad tiring.

For the most part, she was just quietly enjoying herself quietly - a few fans had asked for a hug or an autograph here and there, but other than that she had been mostly undisturbed, and she was totally fine with that...after all, who wanted to be interrupted in the middle of a relaxing time on the beach?

Speaking of relaxing on the beach, she could swear she saw a familiar face stumble their way into the sand...but she couldn't recall who it was, not was she going to focus much on it - if she remembered, that was cool, but her priority right now was to destress before her DJ'ing show tonight, and she was going to make darn sure nothing came between her and that goal for now!

[JaguarCats]

Jace would still be laying there in the sand happy and content for the time being. His head had long since recovered from the volleyball incident and the stallion who had lost it had retrieved it...thankfully without recognizing him. The sun would warm pony's back as he would lay there with his forelegs folded beneath his body. Casually turning his head the pony would look at a large clock that was situated just up on a hill for everyone to see. He'd be a bit shocked to see that half an hour had already passed, while for him it had seemed to have only been just a couple of minutes.

There were fewer people at the beach now since the sun was going down, this would be the perfect time to go for a swim. The sand was starting to cool down just a wee bit, enough to where he could trot along it's surface without getting his hoofs roasted red. Glancing back at the clock he could see he still had well over four hours to enjoy the beach before he would have to head back.

The basketball player was in no hurry as he made his way to the shore, he had all the time in the world and as far as he knew, nobody seemed to know-"Hey aren't you Jace?" he was about half way to the water when a pony had spotted Jace as the pony froze in mid step. Turning around begrudgingly he'd manage a smile as the stallion would smile brightly and point "Yeah! Your Jace alright! I- and Jace would think along with him as he spoke 'Recognized me from a magazine you read' he thought having heard that numerous times. What was more a crowd was starting to gather and gradually enclose him in.

Like a pack of wolves the ponies there would make a small circle around him cutting off any chance he had of escape. Biting his bottom lip he could only nod nervously as some would ask him if he knew famous celebrities, the majority of which he himself had only read about while others weren't even athletes to begin with! Others would question him about certain rumors that magazines had proposed, but whatever the question he barely had a chance to respond fore he was cut off by some one else. Still there were some who just wanted his autograph, to these he'd oblige having long since learned to sign his name quickly. Though he knew the worse was still to come, as sooner or later-flash! A camera would go off, followed by another and another.

Jace was in a spot alright, his current coach had always given him this one rule, never push and shove your way past people...even if they are threatening to smother and suffocate you. Jumping and clearing over them wasn't an option as he didn't have enough room to back up to get a good running start. Wracking his brain for more options he could only continue to smile nervously as sweat was starting to become visible on his brow as he wished he'd been born a pegasus. 'Think Jace! what clears a beach fast?' glancing at a young filly who was playing in a inflatable inner tube, he had his solution, sneaky and under handed though as it may be, "Hey is that a sea serpent?!" he asked frantically pointing at the water. That got their attention! People started to fan out a little to get a better look at the water as they searched for something that wasn't even there as the next thing they knew a orange streak would go speeding past the small opening they had given him.

He had never run so fast before in his life! 'If the coach wants to motivate us to run faster! there's his solution! Just let a few fans into the practice court!" he thought jokingly to himself as he kicked up a large cloud of sand. His four legs would carry him as fast as they could across the sand, and with good timing despite how it slowed him down. Still it no matter how fast he ran it was like one of those nightmares where a person would be being chased by a horrible monster, and they felt themselves going slower than they usually could. Some members of the herd of ponies that had gathered had realized they had been duped, as when Jace turned his head back he could see that he had a few pursuers chasing after him. Thankfully he did have two edges, one was a good head start and the other was that he was built and conditioned to run faster, so long as he kept up this pace they would never catch-! During the moment he had his head turned, his hoof got caught and snagged on a towel.

Jace could get out a quick "uh oh!" as the young stallion instantly went stumbling forward as he crashed into the unsuspecting DJ pony who had been laying there, who in turn would probably receive no end of apology later. His foot caught on the towel combined with the momentum would send the pair rolling across the sand and down a hill. Everything had gone from chaotic to more chaotic as the world turned over and over for him and his unexpected traveling companion as they became entangled in her innocent beach towel. It wouldn't last long though as the world would finally come to a stop followed by a explosion of sand.

As the two ponies laid there in a daze, Jace would shake his head as he tried to get his bearings straight as to what exactly had happened to him. Half covered in sand, he'd be unaware for the moment that he and the unknown mare were still wrapped up in the same towel together. As his eyes stopped spinning around in his head he'd see what appeared to be remnants of a sand castle, as a young colt with a sand shovel and bucket would sit there surprised as he looked to the two. Giving an idle shrug he'd smile happily as Jace found his head becoming the foundation for his next project as the colt filled his bucket up with more sand and promptly dumped it's contents upon his mane making a perfectly small sand castle....to add insult to injury he'd add a little flag to it.

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl was relaxing nicely - the warm sun was really making this beach quite comfortable...and the lack of attention was only helping to make her feel all the more comfortable as she lay there, curled up and comfortable in the rays of Celestia's good work. She smiled slightly to herself, mentally thanking the sun Alicorn for providing such fantastic weather at times like these...It really helped just make for the carefree moments during the day that Vinyl enjoyed.

She was currently thinking about just what she could do the beach show later...it was gonna be a nice l'il do to set up and play with considering that all the ponies here looked like they were already pretty good for a party of somesuch. She figured that she'd stick to the upbeat flavours, an alternate selection between chilled out anthems and hyped up explosions with good melodies and BPM's that could wear out holes in both the floor and the eardrums!

Still, there was something of a low noise building up nearby, attracting her attention - she looks up and notices a blur of movement...a bunch of ponies headed this way, before vinyl finds her world tumbling in and around itself...caught up with her towel and what apparently seemed to be another pony, she is barely able to do anything else other than go with it. The world seems to spin and roll for a brief few moments, before finally both her and the other pony spilled out...Vinyl landing muzzlefirst in the sand whilst the other pony wound up the foundation for some kids latest Sandcastle project.

For a few brief moments, there was nothing but a small silence as they lay there in thought.

Vinyl sits up slowly, shaking her head and mane clear of sand...not so much annoyed or irritated as she was amused by the whole experience, a small grin emerging on her features. " Hold on there, bud, usually it's polite to ask for a date or two before ya go for a tumble in the sand! "

the DJ says, sarcasm dripping from voice as she looks at the pony responsible.

It took a moment for it all to sink in - but once she did, the realisation as to whom she was talking to sank in.

" Well hey, aren't you that Basketball pony? " She asks curiously, raising an eyebrow as she now understood things a little better.

" No wonder they're ravenous out there today...you're mister popular! "

the DJ pony stands up on all fours, shaking herself off before realising she'd left her shades back where she'd been sat - but she could hardly go back now because of the crowd up in that direction. " Oh Horseapples...! " She mutters loudly to herself, before raising a hoof over her mouth and flushing immediately with regret...there WERE foals present, afterall.

She canters over the the sprawled out pony on the ground and giggles at the state of his buried and newly-decorated mane, poking him gently on the flank. " Okay, so...looks like we're gonna have to find a way past the horde, Bud - d'ya got any bright ideas or am I gonna have to think of somethin'? "

[JaguarCats]

When the world caught up to Jace, he would become aware of two things. The first thing was, was that he had taken a unwitting pony down the small sand hill with him when he had tripped and stumbled. The second thing was that he had a sand castle on his head.

What was more the same young colt who had decided that it was a fair trade to use his head as a foundation to replace the sand structure he had lost, was now digging a mote around the bewildering Pony who sat there for a couple of a moments taking this all in..

This wouldn’t last too much longer thankfully when the colt’s mother came trotting up to retrieve her son and offering an apology to Jace. Once they had gone he’d close his eyes and give his head and mane a good shake as the castle a top his head crumbled and spilled down the sides of his head. Not long after this Vinyl Scratch addressed him and said something about a..date?!

Had he just escaped from one group of admiring and curious fans only to bump into a more obsessed one? For a moment his eyes filled with a bit of panic before logic would kick in and Jace realized she was just being a bit sarcastic causing him to breath a sigh of relief. Though this relief ended rather quickly when she got a good look at his face and realized just who he was.

Laughing nervously he’d lower his head a bit, his face blushing a little, “heh yeah…that would be me ^^;;; though you can me Jace and um…sorry about all this, I was just trying to get away from that mob and well..I guess I didn‘t look and see where I was going” he replied having not yet realized who the other pony was since she was missing her trademark glasses. Although inside he would admit she was very cute and what was more she wasn’t freaking out like the others had which was a relief.

As he tried to stand up he’d feel something was still pinning him down. After a couple of more tries he’d look down to see it was the same infamous towel that he had snagged his hoof on that had caused all of this in the first place as it pinned his backside to the ground with some of it buried in the sand. Turning his head he’d grip it firmly with his teeth and lift it out shaking some of the sand off before offering it back to the mare, who he found didn’t even seem upset or angry, but rather amused by the whole incident, “Um…I think this is yours”

When she bought up the issue as to how to get past his adoring public, he’d look and stare down at his flanks, “well, for starters this is a dead give away” he said as he’d take some of the wet sand that had been used for the young colt’s castle and idly use it to cover up his cutie marks on both sides. “As for getting past the ponies who have already seen me“ he hadn’t managed to break through various defenses on the basketball court without some wit and cunning. Spying a stand that sold various beach gear, he’d point to some of the diving masks and snorkels they showed, then to the shoreline.

[Dusky Wing]

Today was the day. A day for fun! All of her hard work was for this moment, she was going to have a great time with her friends. . .until they had to cancel on the trip, duty calling and what not. So Estrella found herself arriving at the beach by herself. Still that didn’t mean this day wouldn’t be AWESOME. Her beach umbrella was held over her shoulder by her magic like a blazing spear of glory, her armor two saddlebags full of various items she would need, sun screen, no pony wanted to get a sun burn right? Inflatable inner tube, just in case she wanted to take a dip in the beautiful water, a whole saddle bag full of picnic foods, starving at the beach didn’t sound fun at all. Levitating on the opposite of her umbrella was a cooler filled with all kinds of tasty cold beverages. Now that she thought about it….this was awfully a lot of stuff for one pony. Oh well, no use worrying about it now. A smile graced her features under a comically large beach hat as she made her way onto the beach, searching for a good lounge spot.

The sand was so soft, her hooves sank easily into it, a small squeak of surprise coming from the mare as she almost tipped over. She quickly regained her footing however before something zoomed right on past her, the backdraft of the mad dash tugging her forward a bit. “Whoaaaaa.” She shifted quickly on her hooves least the find herself face dirt in the sand. Well here was as good a place as any! Her horn glowed softly as she planted her umbrella firmly into the sand, making sure it wouldn’t tumble over before levitating a blue beach towel from her saddlebags and unfurling it over her designated spot, planting the rest of her things in the shade of her umbrella. She had her little corner of the beach carved out for herself. With a giant grin she pulled her shades off…only to find that she FORGOT THEM.

Her face fell at the lapse in judgment, today was supposed to be fun times, lollipops and all that other nonsense that ponies do at the beach while here she was, forgetting sun glasses. She gave a small sigh and flopped down upon her beach towel, mood taking a turn for the worse. But wait. . .what was that glinting light over there? She narrowed her eyes a bit, horn glowing once more as she levitated a pair of. . .no way. . .free shades?! What a lucky breakthrough! Wait…She gave a quick search around the beach, ponies were playing a few beach games, some swimming in the water, two ponies were talking further away. No one seemed to be looking for the sweet shades she had found. She gently turned them around through the air, wiping off any stray grains of sand before settling them upon her face, a content grin plastered on her muzzle.

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl smirks at the other pony a moment, shaking her head a little at the suggestion - the very idea that they were about to even consider the idea of actually utilising such an escape plan made her all the more amused.

After all, He wasn't seriously suggesting that they try going underwater for this escape attempt, was he?

" So we're gonna grab a pair of snork's, go swimming and paddle our way around the crazed fanponies lurkin' around over there? Am I gettin' that right? "

She snarks at him lightly, poking the other with a hoof with a small amused expression. " L'il Pony, you're crazy as all heck...but I think I like that idea! "

Considering that she'd probably pulled a few crazy stunts before for fans herself, something like this wasn't really new.,

It actually sounded sorta like fun, in all honesty.

With a small smirk, Vinyl makes a small 'Follow me' gesture with a hoof...trotting along the sand to the small beach stand...Magigrabbing a small pair of purple goggles from the stand and floating them onto herself, glancing in the direction of the other pony and headbobbing to a pretend beat, her familiar grin on her features. " Sweet Beats on the beach, my favourite kind! "

If the colt didn't know who she was before, there was no way he couldn't notice it now...which only would make her grin more. She then magics a couple of snorkels over to the counter before letting the other pony choose his goggles...at which point she'd glance at the store owner and give a small conspiratorial wink, letting the store owner take a look at her all-too-familiar cutie mark..

" Charge to DJ Pon-3, room 213 - Hoofington Plaza. " She says with a small chuckle - having no bits on her was awkward!

" Some extra bits may even come your way later...we jus' REALLY need these right now, 'k? Thanks! "

The stand owner looks somewhat bemused, but accepts with a slight look of confused appreciation...at which point Vinyl glances back towards the other colt with a mischievous grin. Despite losing her goggles and perhaps a few snacks, she wasn't really going to complain at having a little excitement on the beach - sure, she loved her own fans, but this was an opportunity to just kinda take a break and enjoy a rather unusual moment...

It was different from merely laying around on the beach!

Glancing back at the store owner, she levitates the goggles again and winks playfully again. " You never saw either of us, okay? " she says, blowing a small kiss in his direction. " Let's make a splash, heh heh! " Vinyl then says as she looks back in Jace's direction. " Sure beats lounging around, right? "

[JaguarCats]

For a moment it seemed like she was going to laugh at his idea, but then she called him crazy and exclaimed how she liked his suggestion. Which was something of a relief to him as in all out honesty he wasn’t sure if he could think of any other means aside from the pair disguising themselves.

But then a question struck him? Why was she helping him? After all, it wasn’t as if the crowd of ponies had been chasing her or would be even interested in mobbing her like they had him, or would they? Through her motions of acquiring the goggles and snorkels something familiar would start to present itself, but what was it?

“Sweet Beats on the beach, my favorite kind!”

He then got a good look at her cutie mark, the musical note! He’d seen that musical note some where else before! But where? Taking a minute to process things he finally remembered, on a record album! “Your!-” he then hushed himself and kept his voice low, “Your Vinyl Scratch aren’t you?” he whispered, “A team mate of mine listens to your mix albums all the time” thankfully he wasn’t going to bug out on her himself, rather he was just surprised as he only smiled to her, “nice to meet you ^^…now lets get to the water fore somepony recognizes either one of us”

Soon after a pair of snorkels could be seen just poking up past the water’s edge along the shore as the two ponies swam and made their way to a more clearer section of the beach where there’d be fewer people and less of a chance for some one to point one of the pair out, or worse yet point both of them out! Jace though kept his calm, yes the water would more than likely wash off the temporary disguise he had on his cutie mark but for now at least he had some better cover.

[SunsetSombra]

This was probably the single silliest yet the funniest thing she'd ever done on a vacation - after all, most would have probably buried the other pony in sand at the earlier intrustion, but vinyl took absolutely no offence to it...even going so far as to actually assist the other pony with this crazy escape plan.

Most ponies knew her as the DJ that simply did her thing and very little else...but in actuality, Vinyl was a fairly big lover of trying new things every so often - she had a vast array of other instruments at home, took great pride in taking part in whatever activities she could and was a big believer of expanding her own horizons whenever the chance was available - This was such a moment, and right now she was just enjoying every bit of it.

Still, she couldn't really say much or do anything other than tread cautiously to ensure she didn't trip over anything or step on any creatures underhoof. As far as actually getting anywhere, the female DJ figured that if they could get to the hotel without bein spotted by the rabid collective of fans nearby.

She grins a little too herself, before a small growl from her stomach reminded her that it had been a little while since she last ate, and that the time was approaching for her to fix that little detail - which she planned to do once she was free to do so!

[JaguarCats]

As the two ponies continued to make their way along the beach under water and past the more crowded areas, Jace would slowly raise his head up out of the water occasionally to gaze about at their progress. With his eyes covered up by a diving mask, his mane wetted and the rest of him submerged up to his neck one would have a harder time realizing who he was now even if they were looking for him.

The area of beach they were currently at seemed more spacious with fewer ponies around. A couple of ponies presumably a mother and father were watching their foals play in the sand, while a few others were simply enjoying the sand and sun. But most importantly they were all minding their own business.

Jace would do one last visual check as the pony would make certain that no one from the crowd that had mugged him earlier had followed him over here or had caught wind of his and Vinyl’s insane escape stunt. Once he was sure that it was safe to emerge back out unto dry land, the basketball player would duck his head back down into the water and motion to the DJ that the coast was clear.

As for what part of the beach they were at, that wouldn’t take too much guess work given that the hotel that Vinyl was staying at was just off in the distance, about a five minute trot from where they were currently at.

Stepping quietly and cautiously unto shore, Jace’s pelt would get goose bumps from the sudden cold breeze having gotten use to the water’s temperature. His legs would feel a bit worn out as well, but that was to be expected due to how long a trek the two had done in the water. His eyes in turn would never leave what few ponies that were there as they continued to ignore the pair of ponies that were emerging from the water.

Breathing a sigh of relief he’d relax a bit as some tension left him once they were back on the dry sand, Jace would flop himself down as he’d smile and sigh a bit, “thanks Vinyl” he said quietly to her, as a thought struck him. Was he going to go through his now every time he wanted to have some peace and relaxation? Was he going to have to use some sneaky methods such as this if he was going to enjoy himself? He sighed at this notion, this is what he had been worried about since day one when his dad had told him about his own career during baseball. All this needless to say left the pony a tad depressed as he slumped down.

[Tempest Rime]

After a long day of travel, Beachnut had finally made it to the mainland. She stuck her head out for a moment to marvel. She'd seen large landmasses, of course, as the Gallopocous Island was visible from her home, but she'd never actually been to the mainland itself. What really shocked her was that all along the beach there were all manner of ponies enjoying the beaches, in numbers she could scarcely imagine. She swam around looking for an area with a more approachably small number of ponies. She wanted to meet more land-dwellers, to be sure, but it was best to start small.

While swimmin, she noticed a pair of four-legs underwater. She shadowed them as they made their way across the coast, curious. They seemed a bit more approachable than the crowds, so she closed in as they stepped out onto the land. Bea paused for a moment, unsure how to approach these strangers. Her father had told her all about life on the mainland, and most ponies were supposed to be quite nice, but there was always an element of doubt. What if they were brigands, sneaking away from a robbery? Their isolation might actually make them more dangerous.

Those thoughts served more to excite Bea than deter her. She slipped up out of the water with nary a drop of water splashing out. She paused for a moment to let the water drip from her mane. Her hair was coated in an oil that kept it from getting waterlogged, so its shape kept perfectly both in and out of the water, and the water drained out in seconds. As soon as her hair was dry, she pushed herself forward towards the two ponies.

"Ahh! Stop right there, suspicious four-legs! I see you trying to get away from the others up on the beach! You are brigands, yes? Ponies of ill-repute! I will put an end to your reign of-" She paused. "Oh no, wait a moment, I do not have proofs yet. You need those first. Let me start again. 'Ail, four-legs, what manners of villainy might you be committing on this fine evening." Her accent had a faint trace of something foreign to it, but it was too mild to be recognizable.

[SunsetSombra]

Well - that hadn't been a complete disaster - they'd at least managed to ecape any direct attention!

Vinyls grin returns as she steps out of the water, wet and overly curious as to know if anypony had noticed the two ponies emerging from the sea in the way they had...and for what it seemed, nopony was alerted at all. " That seems t'have turned out pretty okay, considering our options! "

The unicorn mare wasn't really taking this seriously at all - her devillish grin betraying her enjoyment of the moment far more than the eager in her eyes s telling. Considering she'd taken part in some crazy stunts FOR her fans in the past, this wasn't really anything spectacularly different for the DJ, other than it being in the complete reverse direction. She looks around before slumping down on the sand, waving her legs in the air a little as she rolls in the sand with a midly amused laugh. " Heh heh, now this is definately a lot more fun than jus' doing nothin' out here at least. "

She honestly was having more fun than she had expected to have been out this way, and for some reason it was just tickling her that for once she was playing keepaway from the fans. She loved her fans to bits, and never really ever planned on running actively in the opposite direction from them - but something about this little moment of daring do was giving her quite the enjoyment and thrill factor.

Her attention is diverted when an unfamiliar voice speaks to them...Vinyl vaguely remembered it as a hippocamp - she'd once tried holding a land-sea pony mixed event a while back, and the results had been somewhat mixed at the time to say the least.

"Ahh! Stop right there, suspicious four-legs! I see you trying to get away from the others up on the beach! You are brigands, yes? Ponies of ill-repute! I will put an end to your reign of-" there was an odd pause, before the creature went on. "Oh no, wait a moment, I do not have proofs yet. You need those first. Let me start again. Hail, four-legs, what manners of villainy might you be committing on this fine evening."

Vinyl paused and blinks a little as she looks at the Hippocamp before glancing over at Jace with a playful grin on her muzzle.

" Well, looks like we got ourselves caught, but not quite by what you expected, eh? "

This was getting more interesting, and a little more fun, by the minute...and Vinyl was enjoying every second of this interesting diversion!

[JaguarCats]

Unlike Vinyl Scratch, Jace was what one might call a reluctant celebrity. He hated the spotlight and avoided it as much as he could. He didn’t mind talking one on one with a fan or two, or heck four…but an entire crowd just flat out made him uneasy and would make him bolt at the first opening. It wasn’t that he was phobic of large groups of people, it was large groups of people who were focused on him that he was starting to grow weary of. For now though at least it would seem that he had managed to escape from it.

What ponies that were here weren’t paying any mind to him or Vinyl as they continued on with their activities. None of them either didn’t know who they were or were just too absorbed in what they were doing to pay them any mind. Whether it was barbequing, playing in the sand or just enjoying the beautiful sunset that Princess Celestria had provided for them all they were all too distracted to notice the pair. To add further relief to the situation some had even looked in their direction and hadn’t even given a second glance.

In the back of Jace’s mind, this would puzzle him. He wasn’t that well known yet, but Vinyl herself was a well known DJ famous for her mixes. Why was nopony mugging her? Unaware that she was missing her trademark sunglasses, this would be something of a odd mystery but not one that he would look too far into.

From what he had seen of the girl she was probably just the opposite of him, she enjoyed entertaining others and didn’t mind having all eyes and ears on her…though to be fair she had a booth to hide behind! And at the same time seemed more at ease with and more adjusted to her fame than him. This was probably due in part however to her having been better known by the media longer and had had time to get use to it.

All that aside, all that mattered to him now that he could finally! Sit and relax for the next few hours without-Beachnut’s voice suddenly rang out like a hero catching a villain in the middle of a dastardly deed. Jace instantly stood up as a thousand alarms would sound inside his head. Some one had spotted them! And was accusing them! Wait, accusing them?!

His eyes would dart around on the beach, as no one had thankfully taken notice of the incident, though he would fail to find the owner of the voice never thinking to look towards the shore until Beachnut spoke again. His eyes would glide over the water briefly passing the hippocamp that floated there accusingly for a brief instance fore instantly darting right back over to where she was.

Nodding in agreement to Vinyl he’d laugh nervously, “Yeah…um hi there. Relax…we’re not thieves, me and my friend here were just going for a little swim ^^” he would explain to Beachnut as he trotted up to her, “We didn’t wanna swim out too far though since the sun was setting and it gets harder to see under water afterwards” he would explain leaving out the fact that they were also trying to avoid the potential mob of fans that might come after him.

[Tempest Rime]

Beachnut's expression grew more determined. Clearly they were thieves. Why else would they be so steadfastly denying it? But that wasn't acceptable as proof in any of the stories she'd read. She'd have to shadow them and catch them in the act.

"Well than 'Monsieur Not-A-Thief,' you would not mind if I keep a close eye on your villainy, then would you." It was not a question. She paused. "Are all four-legs as shadowy as you? My father would tell me all about this land, but he always said most of you were 'onest folk. But he also told me all about the pirates and brigands and adventurous four-legs as well. I am afraid I am not sure what to expect from your land." After rambling for a moment, realized it would be better not to tell these suspicious characters too much, lest they catch on that she suspected them.

"Uh, nevermind that, is this the way to 'Oofinton? I was told to meet up with some family around 'ere, but they may 'ave moved, my father has not been here in many years, and 'as not kept in touch. Tell me, do you know of nuts?"

[SunsetSombra]

" I know of THE nuts, and I think I've met a Pegasus once who claimed to be one at a show I played once... " Vinyl says, trying to memorise the brief moment that she'd met one particular odd pegasus at one of her more intense parties. " She was a crazy young thing - my kinda party animal, really! "

The unicorn paused for thought, finding that this particular avenue of thought was really reaching nowhere further - she'd only briefly met the young girl, and hadn't actually had a long enough talk to figure out to which particular place or family within the Nuts she'd belonged...it was pretty much the opposite of helpful at this junction and thus the unicorn shook her head and resumed trying to converse with Beachnut.

" If ya have any info that might help us find your dad... " She reasons, rubbing her head with a hoof as she tries to get to grips with the situation.

" Maybe we'll be able t'find him and reunite you guys - me and my buddy Jace here... " she says, nudging jace with a hoof " Aren't all that busy, right? "

The DJ looks to the Basketball player pony with her full patented DJ Grin...her aqua blue eyes giving a small flutter, just to add to the convincing look she gave.

" You don't have a problem with that, do ya? "

[JaguarCats]

Jace had been thrown for a loop that was for sure! Were all hippocamps like this? The young stallion could only listen as the random hippocamp would go from accusing him and Vinyl of being villainous to oddly rambling about her father and what he had told her about land ponies. It was confusing and a tad bit hard to follow to say the least.

When the conversation shifted to members of the mysterious sea pony’s family things got even more confusing for him, especially when Vinyl bought up running into a Pegasus with the same last name as their new acquaintance here and suggesting that she was related to the said Pegasus ….this led to even further confusion. Hippocamps and land ponies (Pegasus included of course!) couldn’t have offspring together….could they?

Before he had a chance to ask about this though Vinyl bought up the idea of helping the girl find her father. Oofing slightly from the light nudge and giving a faint blush to the DJ pony’s eye flutter all he could do was smile and nod.

“Oh well…no! No..I don’t have a problem at all with that ^^…so um….where do we start looking?” he’d ask unaware of the fact that Beach Nut’s father was in fact a earth bound pony and was thinking they had some swimming ahead of them.

Like Vinyl this hadn’t been the afternoon of relaxing he had pictured, though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t find it interesting to say the least with all the recent developments.

[Tempest Rime]

Bea blinked quizzically. "Oh, no no no, you misunderstand. My father is not missing. Well, I mean, 'e is, but not to me. I know where 'e is. I am looking for the rest of my family, so I can meet them." She paused, then to clarify she added "They are four-legs. Like you. Well, I mean, not like you, they are 'onest ponies. Well, mostly, from what I 'ear. My uncle Brazil is an adventurer, so that's not the most 'onest profession, but it is quite exciting, yes?"

A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Oh, but I 'ave been rude. I 'ave not yet properly introduced myself. My name is Beachnut. You know, you are the first four-legs I 'ave met other than my father. You must excuse me if I say anything a little funny, I am not used to speaking like this." She stuck out a hook to shake, as she'd heard was the custom when meeting new ponies, but she accidentally offered the wrong hoof.

[Dusky Wing]

The beach was nice, the warmth around her while she stayed under the shade of her umbrella almost made the unicorn want to doze off. Until somepony started to chat pretty loudly about thieves and villains. Her eyes popped open behind the shades as the mare stood up, searching for the source of the voice. If there were trouble makers about...well...she wasn't just gonna stand around and let ponies do bad stuff. Ah ha! Over by the water, two ponies talking to....another pony? She stretched slightly and galloped across the sand, trying not to lose her footing and fall over. Whatever those obviously bad ponies where scheming.

"Alright I heard you talking about thieves and villainous ponies!" She let her voice get kind of gruff, like a stern teacher scolding some students, horn glowing a bit as she made the semblance of a pony police hat appear upon her had. Maybe if she looked like an authority figure then any rising threats would be dissolved before they started.

[SunsetSombra]

Jace and the hippogriff seemed quite keen to discuss the situation, and Vinyl was more than happy to roll with it...after all, if they could do anything at all to help her out, then she'd have no trouble at all finding out just where they planned to find this individual.

Still, Vinyl needed to disguise her flank, 'lest she drew more attention to them than they needed...which led her to look around briefly, finding an unattended towel which she used a little telekenesis on, floating it over towards her before tying around her midriff carefully, making sure that it hung over her cutie mark in order for the disguise to have any actual effect - for the time being, she was merely a white unicorn with aqua blue eyes and that was a perfect temporary disguise for now, so long as the towel remained around her tightly.

" Okay, so-... "

However, she was barely able to get any further words out than that when an odd unicorn appears out of nowhere with what seemed to be a rather odd looking 'helmet'...

She was, however, also wearing a VERY familiar pair of shades, which Vinyl immediately pointed out without thinking first.

" HEY, you're wearin' my shades! " the female unicorn pointed out with a distinct grunt of annoyance. " Give 'em back, or you're gonna regret it! "

Vinyl glared at the other female with a bold determined grin she wanted her glasses and was going to get them back, one way or another.

[JaguarCats]

So hippocaps and ponies could have fowls together? This was new to him though to be fair it wasn’t exactly a subject they had taught back in school. But it wasn’t too big of a shock to say the least, hippocamps and ponies weren’t that different from one another. Now that she was out of the water he could get a better look at her. It was now all too clear she was part land pony given she had hooves where she should have had fins.

When Beach Nut explained that she was looking for other members of her family he finally understood. That! he could definitely help with, it shouldn’t of been too hard at to look up her father’s name and use that as a starting to point to find her other relatives who lived on land. What was more he had grown up in this area and knew full well where she could easily find such information. But then there was the problem of getting her there..

He’d probably have to help carry her, as she didn’t have any back legs just a tail fin. But before he could think more on the subject, another voice popped up.

Apparently some one had picked up their conversation about Beach Nut accusing the two of villainy. Now a authority figure, or some one coming to place them under citizen’s arrest was approaching. Trotting forward he would try to straighten this out with the girl, “listen it was all just a misunderstanding, the hippocamp over there , you see she-” he’d be cut off by Vinyl mentioning how the new mare was wearing her shades.

And that’s when he realized it, her trademark sunglasses. No wonder nobody else here seemed to know her! That and she now had a towel wrapped around her flank hiding her cutey mark. But even with her cutey mark covered up, if she got her glasses back they could very well give her away just as easily. “Um….Vinyl, maybe you ought to let her keep them ^^ “ he said nervously.

[Tempest Rime]

How rude. She'd gone and given a proper introduction, just like her mother had told her to do when she met new ponies, and they hadn't even acknowledged her. Truly she had not misjudged them, they were clearly scoundrels. But then again, perhaps her introduction had been too informal. She hadn't given any of the pleasantries her mother had always tried to drill into her, mostly because she could never remember them.

She resolved to try again, if not for the crooks, at least for the sake of the new pony who had showed up. She cleared her throat. "Ahem, may'aps I was too informal. I am Beachnut, of the nut clan. Um... it's a fine... pleasure to be seeing you?" She bungled it. They would never accept her now. What a disgrace. She glanced between the ponies around her. They seemed not to have noticed her faux pas.

She coughed and quickly changed the subject back to what they had just been talking about. "Wait, if those are your glasses, why does she 'ave them? I thought you were the thieves. Or, are they 'er glasses and your are trying to steal them?" Bea was getting very confused.

[Dusky Wing]

So the perpetrators were a unicorn, an earth pony...and was that a hippocampus. She momentarily forgot she was supposed to be acting like law enforcement, hat dissappearing off of her head as she moved forward to introduce herself...well...before she herself was accused of stealing some shades! The rounded on the blue maned mare, taking drawing herself up to defend her non thieving nature!

"Excuse me...but I found these shades over in the sand." Ha! What an excellent excuse, never did it cross her mind that the shades actually could have been the mare's...she found them and as far as she was concerned...they were her's. Well....unless the other unicorn really wanted them back...she could always find new shades...

Her mental rambling was cut short however as the earth pony stepped forward, informing her that it was all a misunderstanding! Well ok...that was...embarrassing. She had to silently agree with the male though, this shade were just too good to pass up and she DID...kinda sort of feel like she deserved them. Jeez she was the one that found the shades! She could have sworn she heard that name before somewhere. Vinyl....hmmm...Her ears flicked as the pony in the water.

"Hello. My names is Estrella. It's a pleasure to meet you as well." She nodded to Beachnut. "As I said before I found these glasses carelessly discarded in the sand!" She said, turning back to stare at the other mare.

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl glances at Jace with a slightly aggrevated look - Estrella was wearing HER shades, and she almost felt like this was a personal slight...but the more she thought about his words, the more she realised that her glasses were fairly noticable...and if Jace was hinting that it was a good idea to let them be for now so that they weren't as easily exposed, then perhaps his words were probably best adhered to for the time being.

" Oh...Sorry, I thought they, uh, may have been mine - maybe I was wrong, heh! " the unicorn says, relenting with an inward sigh - she really didn't like the idea of just letting the mare get away with her prized shades, but given the situation there really wasn't a great deal of choice!

She looks at the hippocamp, deciding that she wanted to escape from the subject of the shades quickly, 'lest she say something she might regret to the bold-faced unicorn currently wearing her most prized sunglasses. " Anyhow, ignore that...sorry if it looked like we were ignorin' ya, Beachball, but me an' my Friend Jace here are having something of a weird day right now! "

Vinyl wasn't exactly sure on how to handle this crazy situation - she just wanted to make it back to her hotel room and crash for the night.

Both the heat and all of these crazy circumstances were starting to slowly wear her down somewhat, but she did her best to wear a smile. After all, she wasn't exactly a pony who usually buckled when things didn't go to plan, and she had no intentions of betraying that personal image out here in public...

Certainly not if she could help it at all, anyway!

[JaguarCats]

When Vinyl shot Jace an angry look inside the athletic pony would panic a little until it had appeared that she had taken his hint after all. He wasn’t aware that she was so fond of those glasses having figured that she probably had several just like them. And while unaware that he was technically the cause for her losing them in the first place. This didn’t change the fact he still felt guilty that she might be losing them for his sake of maintaining his temporary cover.

When Beach Nut reintroduced herself again it was only then that it occurred to him he’d been less than polite to the poor hippocamp. Even if her behavior was a bit odd, though that might be expected since she’d never met other land ponies before except her father, it was still no excuse to being rude. He’d trot back up to her and exhale a bit, “Sorry for not giving you my name earlier it’s-” he wouldn’t realize what he had done until the words had escaped his lips, “Jace” he said as his eyes grew as wide as saucer plates. His expression not unlike a pony who just realized he just might of triggered a string of land mines as he covered his mouth in a bit of panic.

These land mines would come in the form of other ponies who had come up to chat with the others that were already there causing that section of the beach to become a bit crowded. And when the name Jace hit them, a few would look over in their direction. While Vinyl had taken the necessary measures to hide her identity with a simple towel and lack of glasses…Jace sadly hadn’t had much of a chance to do so yet. Other ponies would immediately start to take notice as they would discuss amongst themselves as to whether or not he was the actual rising basketball star.

A repeat of earlier, that’s what he kept seeing in his mind as his heart started beating a mile a minute. Looking over to Vinyl, Beach Nut and the newly arrived Pony he’d gulp then get something of a determined look on his face. Vinyl had done more than enough already having stuck by him through out all of this and there was no point in having her and the other two getting swept up in the inedible mob. He would make a simple motion of his head for Vinyl to take Beach Nut and the other pony away from here. “Just go Vinyl” he said in a really low whisper, “Nopony here except me even knows who you are, it’s me they’re after” he said still keeping his voice good and low.

[Tempest Rime]

"Well, Monsieur Jace, Mademoiselle Estrella, and 'omever you are," Beach said, giving a mildly reproachful glance at Vinyl, "Shall we 'ead into town? I am in no real 'urry to get there, so if you wish to do something else, I am open to suggestions." She reached into one of the pockets on her wetsuit and pulled out a canister of moisturizing cream, which she rubbed into her exposed fur with a hoof.

"I am eager to learn more about the ways of you four-legs. I mean, I 'ave 'eard many things from my father, but never 'ave I been in a real four-leg city before. May'aps we could go into town, and you two could find some form of equitable arrangement to rectify your disagreement on 'om the glasses belong too. After all, if you did simply find them on the ground, it's possible that this one 'ere dropped them earlier without realizing it." She was certain that a reasonable approach would win her the friendship and respect of the four-legs, and from there she was bound to find some kind of adventure up here on the land. There was adventure all over the place, if the stories she'd heard were anything to go by.