[Canterlot] (Not) Facing the Music [Complete]

[Snowshoe]

This was going to be fun. "We can switch on zee verses." Timbre Swing said, knowing just what song he was going to try. He grinned, walking toward the fountain in the middle of the square. With his hoof, he set his hat a little better on his head, looking back at Sapphire Shores.

"Let's see 'ow many ponies we can get to, uh...liven up." he said, clearing his throat and tapping his hoof gently against the fountain to give himself a timing. If the cadence of his tapping was anything to go by, the song was going to be rather lively.

"A-wop bop a-loo mop, a-wop bam boom!" he started suddenly, startling a couple that had been nuzzling a little ways down the bench. He grinned to himself, tapping his hooves to the beat in a sort-of dance along the stone fountain. "J'ai une femme, s'nomme Roux! Elle me fais tellement fou! J'ai une fe~mme, s'nomme Roux! Elle me fais tellement fou!" he sang, a fast, up-beat, and for once, actual words, though in Fancy, not in Equestrian. He was a much better singer in his native language.

"Elle connaisse bien ce qu'est l'amour, et c'est le type que je cherche pour!" he continued, grinning at Sapphire and motioning with his hoof. Her turn.

[To the tune of Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti'. Took me for /ever/ to come up with words that rhymed with each other and fit into the same style in French.]

[Dunes]

(Nicely done with the French! That is some dedication. And I'm finally back, after a month of job hunting, moving, and a car accident. Sorry you had to wait so long!)

Sapphire tilted her head, pleasantly surprised by the bouncing beat. After a night full of soulful serenades, the quick jazz was a delightful change of pace. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to Timbre’s voice echo off the buildings and cascade down the lane, nodding her head to the beat. She wondered what he was saying; she only knew a couple words of fancy. ‘Femme’? He must be singing about a mare. The other words were a complete mystery. Isn’t roux a kind of soup thing…? She scrunched up her nose in contemplation.

She looked around. The ponies around them had definitely stopped to take notice. Some of them looked confused, others looked drunk, but a few of them had smiles on their faces. Bringing music to the unsuspecting townsponies; this is what it was all about.

Timbre’s voice stopped, and she saw him grin at her and motion with a hoof. It took her a moment to remember why the music stopped. Oh, shoot!

“The-eh moonlight, shines just right, in-ah her eyes, leaves me blind –” Her hooves had a mind of their own, picking up the beat that Timbre set. She hopped up on the stone fountain, sliding a hoof forward with each syllable. “She got h’self all up inside my miiind, she's sim-ply beau-tee de-fiiined.”

Ending with a flourish, she spun around, sticking out a hoof as she slid to a stop. Round 2!

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing grinned as she took over, climbing up onto the fountain. She'd seemed a bit slow on the uptake at first, but was soon into the swing of things, literally and figuratively. She sang her bit, and it took Timbre a moment to figure out what he'd do. Well, this was his song, after all, and there was a chorus around this point...he'd figure out a proper verse next time. Besides, she would need to learn the chorus as well if they wanted to have a proper song going. Thankfully for her, it was simple, and not Fancy. Or Equestrian, for that matter.

He grinned and made his way toward one of the mares who'd been walking by with her friends, tapping his hooves along the fountain in front of her and her friends. "Tutti frutti, oh rutti, tutti frutti, hey! Oh rutti!" he sang, straightening up for a moment and throwing his fedora into the air with a shake of his head. He caught the hat in midair with a burst of magic and sent it down toward his left hoof, which he stretched out, letting the hat roll along his leg, free from the magic, across his back, and over to his right leg, which he stuck out. Once it reached the end of his hoof he hit it with another burst of magic to bring it back onto his head. "Tutti frutti, oohoh ru~tti! A-wop bop a-loo mop, a-wop bam boom!" he continued, He turned and grinned at Sapphire. Cheating? Perhaps. But for this to sound right, she'd need it...after all, he started a verse, she had a verse, and he laid the chorus. Next would be her verse, one of his, and then she'd get the chorus. Balanced out, in the end, in his mind.

[brain couldn't think of anything that would work here.

[Dunes]

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, smirking. She didn't know much about Fancy, but she knew that probably wasn't it.

Nice hat trick, she thought. Literally, even.

The ponies around them seemed to be warming to their little duet. Not only that, the sparse nighttime crowd seemed to be thickening, and a few windows had been thrown open. A city guard was bobbing his head and smiling. Sapphire's smirk widened to a grin, seeing the mare Timbre sang to blush as soon as Timbre turned away. She was going to have to step up her game.

She dipped her head at Timbre as he passed off the chorus to her. It might be hard to top fancy hat tricks without her pyrotechnics team and backup dancers, but a pony doesn't need to be a unicorn to make magic happen.

Making eye contact with the smiling guard, she reached a hoof out to him. When he offered his in return, she grabbed it, and she reared up to her back legs, swinging him to her front. She threw her other hoof over his shoulder, and shimmied side to side on every other downbeat. “That ma-are, it's crazy, she's got me seein' hazy. That ma-a-are, so fi-ine, I'm gonna lose my mind.”

She dipped her shoulder in and back out again on the start of each measure. The guard was a bit of a stiff dance partner, but he seemed to be going along with it. She flashed a grin at him, hoping he'd know to brace himself. “I just can't get to sleep at night --” she sung, sweeping forward with him on each syllable. With a hoof wrapped around him, she pulled him in closer, all the while bobbing to and belting out the beat, “-- that girl's gone and shone me the light.” With the last few notes, she spun the guard outwards in a spiral, mirroring the movement herself.

She spun gracefully to land again on all fours. The guard landed less gracefully. She smiled at him and tipped her tiny hat.

Sapphire flashed an eager look at Timbre. Your turn.

((I know I'm not quiiite following the song structure, but I didn't feel like repeating bits for some reason!))

[Snowshoe]

[That's alright ^^ You're doing better than I am xD Hard enough to figure this stuff in English, let alone translate into French. Been years since I last spoke it, let alone wrote in it.]

Timbre laughed, seeing that she'd managed to get a guard, of all ponies, to dance with her. Of course, a guard in armour wasn't the best dancer, but it was funny nonetheless to watch, and the guard would have a great story when he got back to the barracks after his shift.

Because how many of them could honestly say they'd gone to patrol the park, and ended up dancing with Sapphire Shores?

It was his turn, and he now had to step up the game, so he hopped off the fountain to land amongst a small group of people watching. He kept his dancing deliberately easy, encouraging the four other ponies there to start either following his lead, or dancing on their own. "Avant de le rencontrer, y'avait personne a m'aimer. Ava~nt de le rencontrer, y'avait personne a m'aimer!" he sang, wrapping a foreleg around one of the mares in the audience, who had been standing a bit off to the side looking dejected, but curious, and started to dance with her. He smiled brightly, seeing her smile for once.

"Maintenant, et bien toujours, c'est rien qu'elle que je vie pour!" he finished, giving the mare a little twirl and letting her go to hop up onto the fountain, looking over at Sapphire Shores, a grin on his face. Their duet had gone on rather long enough, so he'd let her have the chorus, and then finish off in his own particular style.

[Dunes]

Ooh, so he was getting ponies to dance with him, too. Four of them, no less. How was she going to top that without her crew backing her up? She'd been spoiled by the likes of fireworks on stage and sparklers in her dress. There were times she wished she'd had unicorn magic; it'd make personal pyrotechnics a snap.

She had to make a decision; his verse was coming to an end, then she'd have to pick up the chorus without skipping a beat.

Then she saw the banner. It was hanging from a metal pole, and was almost short enough to be a flag -- shorter than she was used to, but it was long enough. It would be a risk; she hadn't done this since her last show, she wasn't familiar with the banner itself, and there was no safety net, but... Let it never be said Sapphire Shores shied away from something sensational simply because it was a little risky.

As Timbre finished the final strains of his verse, Sapphire leapt up the pole. Wrapping her legs around it, she only needed to push herself up a couple of times to reach the top. She stuck out a hind leg, wrapped the banner around it, and waited. It was only a few moments until her turn came.

As she took a deep breath for the first notes of the phrase, she swung herself out, supported only by the strength of her hind legs and the banner wrapped between them. “Tutti frutti, oh rutti, tutti frutti, hey! Oh rutti!” She arched her back so that she was still facing the crowd, crossed her front hooves in front of her chest, and closed her eyes as she sang. She tensed her stomach muscles and back muscles in turn to control the tempo of her swinging.

It was a good thing the chorus was easy to remember; concentrating on the movement was almost enough to make her forget the nonsense words.

“Tutti frutti, oohoh ruuutti!” She scrunched her nose; how the heck did the next bit go? There was no time to think; she tensed up as she prepared for her finish. “A-wop bop uh-bop bop,” she started a quick spin, doing a crunch to get her upper body back above her legs, “a-what? BAM BOOM" She grabbed the top of the pole to support herself, throwing out her other hoof with a flourish, and winked.

Unicorns may have had magic, but Sapphire had 30 hours of dance rehearsals every week.

((I figure, if P!nk can do it and still sound good on a trapeze... XD I wish that video still worked!))

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing stepped back up onto the fountain, waiting to see what his duet partner would come up with next. He didn't know what he was expecting, but Sapphire Shores managed to surprise him, quite a bit. He had been expecting just a showy dance move...he didn't expect her to climb a flag pole, swinging from the banner itself that hung from it. He had to admit, even his own jaw dropped, matching the crowd's reaction.

She finished her bit of the chorus, and Timbre couldn't help but stomp his hooves against the stone fountain, joining in the raucous applause from the small crowd they'd gathered. "Mesdames et Messieurs! Zee talented and lovely Sapphire Shores!" he called out, motioning to her and grinning. Not like she needed any introduction...he figured everypony in the crowd at least recognized her to some degree, while he on the other hoof was the unknown here...still, he hoped he might gain some recognition with their little duet...which he had to admit now, she'd won, fair and square.

The crowd was energized, and seemed to be wanting for more. He chuckled, looking up at Sapphire Shores. He didn't know if she wanted to keep walking, or give the crowd what they wanted. A voice over to his side caught his attention, and it was the lonely mare from before thanking him for the show. He grinned and floated his hat over, setting it on the mare's head.

"Are you stuck, Madame Shores?" he asked with a mischievous smile. He couldn't imagine that was a very easy position to get down from without a little bit of help, that he was sure he and the other unicorns in the audience could readily provide. "You 'ave waiting fans 'ere," he added with a chuckle.

[Dunes]

((AAa okay, managed to get some internet connectivity, posting this while it lasts!))

Sapphire clung to the banner pole, still breathing rapidly. The warm fuzziness of the cider had been replaced with the tingling burn of adrenaline, but they both seemed to be wearing off. The ground wavered as she looked down, and she blinked hard to put it right. She was starting to ache.

Timbre was certainly a showpony, through and through. He knew what to say to get the crowd going, and that wasn't always an easy thing to do. She grinned at the crowd, hoping the layers of powder she was wearing were hiding the bags under her eyes.

“Are you stuck, Madame Shores? You 'ave waiting fans 'ere.”

“Nah, I've done this a thousand times --” she started, but realized her limbs were beginning to shake with the effort of holding on. Man, after a few minutes? I am tired.

The foreleg bearing the brunt of her weight slipped a little. She clung on, feeling a fresh sting of adrenaline.

She flattened her ears against her head, and tried to keep the worry out of her voice. She smiled. “Uh, actually, sweets, I wouldn't mind some help down...” She felt her back legs starting to slide down the banner. The smile disappeared as she grimaced. “Since you're so kind as to offer,” she added, quickly.

[Snowshoe]

All the joking kinda faded away when he realized that she was actually slipping, and probably about to fall from the flagpole if he didn't lend a hand. He chuckled a little and his horn glowed with bright blue light, an identical light wrapping around Sapphire Shores and gently depositing her next to him among the crowd, who immediately cheered when her hooves hit the dirt.

"Per'aps climbing to zee top of zee, uh...flagpole, was not zee smartest of ideas," he offered with a teasing grin, as a few ponies that recognized her tried to get her attention for some autographs and the like. Timbre Swing, for his part, felt rather good. He'd made ponies happy, entertained them for their evening, and had met somepony he would easily consider an idol to him. All in all, not a bad night...and to think, he might have decided to stay home that evening.

"Zat was very...impressive," he said after a short beat to hunt for the right word. "Somes'ing used in your shows?" he asked.

[Dunes]

Sapphire sighed with relief when she felt solid ground beneath her hooves. The crowd closed in around them, cheering and clapping their hooves. She beamed.

“Thank you kindly, Mr. Timbre,” she said, bowing and tipping her tiny hat at him.

"Per'aps climbing to zee top of zee, uh...flagpole, was not zee smartest of ideas.”

“Ahah, well, maybe not when I’ve been up so late, no.” She turned for a moment upon hearing the familiar clamor for autographs. “Just a sec!” She pulled a pen out of an inner jacket pocket, and started feeling around on the other side for the tiny pad she kept in case of autograph emergencies. “Alright, honeys, I can sign…” she pulled out her notebook, which was already missing half of its pages from similar encounters, “this, or anything else you got!”

She signed several pages in her little journal, a couple of articles of clothing, and one cutie mark (which was an awkward thing to do when you had to sign autographs with your mouth). She grinned, waving at her fans as they wandered off.

"Zat was very...impressive. Somes'ing used in your shows?

“Yeah! Haven’t done it since last tour, though. I might be a little rusty.” She yawned, feeling her legs quiver. “Or just tired. But I think I’m gonna be diplomatic and blame the flag pole for me getting stuck up there,” she laughed, sticking her tongue out at it.

She stretched, hoping to prevent some of the soreness she knew would be coming later. “Some ponies accuse me of being more about the show than the music. But the real secret is, all music’s a show. From a fancy orchestra to, well, me. My music’d sound about as right coming from a dressed-down pony in a bow-tie as a symphony would sound coming from an orchestra wearing sombreros and glitter.” She winked. “Which, coincidentally, was my outfit on the second leg of the Southern Strand tour last year.”

“I gotta say, though, you’d a pretty good hoof at keeping the crowd entertained. You do this kinda thing much?”

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing watched with amusement as she was mobbed by the crowd, excited to get her autograph. He even couldn't help but laugh at her having to sign somepony's cutie mark. That had been rather funny, and probably rather awkward for the musician.

"Ah, oui. If anypony asks, I will say it was zee flagpole," he teased. Despite getting stuck it had been rather impressive. He sat on the edge of the fountain while she spoke, nodding. "Zat is true," he agreed. Music was always better when there was a bit of a show to go with it, though maybe he was a bit biased by being a fan of energetic, expressive shows while he performed.

"Oui! When I, uh...preform, I make sure to always be, uh...plein d'energie. Full energy," he explained, smiling. "I 'ave never liked just sitting around. I 'ave to get up, move, and get l'audience dancing too," he continued. It was just part of who he was as a performer. He liked to make ponies smile, and be happy, like the mare standing not too far away with his hat still on her head.

[Dunes]

Sapphire nodded, fighting harder than she ought to have needed to keep her head upright. “[colour=#000080]Energy...[/colour]” she yawned. “[colour=#000080]Energy's important. Without energy, the audience'll...[/colour]” She felt herself squinting against her will, and every time she blinked, the lights around her seemed to flicker. “[colour=#000080]Audience'll just... fall...[/colour]” Her eyes started to close and her head started to sink, as she felt a soft, falling sensation in her chest.

Catching herself, she bolted upright. She shook her head. “Fwuh! Um.” She shook her head again. “[colour=#000080]Long day. Think I need some coffee.[/colour]” She yawned again, leaning against the fountain. “[colour=#000080]You wanna...[/colour]” she yawned again, resting her head on the stone wall for just a moment, “[colour=#000080]get some coffee?[/colour]”

“[colour=#000080]I like the onesh with mocha[/colour].”

And she was asleep, mouth hanging open and snoring like something between an angry bear and a lumberjack with a hacksaw.

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing chuckled a bit when he noticed her starting to to doze off. She seemed barely able to keep her head up and her eyes open, in fact, she practically fell asleep midsentence. It was all quite amusing...until she actually did fall asleep, midsentence.

Timbre laughed softly. "You zere, keep 'er company," he asked of the mare that was still wearing his hat. "I will be back." She nodded and sat at the stone fountain, while Timbre walked over to a small store, a little 24/7 stop-and-shop for those on the late shift. He walked in, and came out with two coffee's levitating next to him. Nothing fancy, but he didn't know this area of town too well, and didn't exactly know any place to get a mocha-frappe-whatever.

Not to mention, he actually liked just basic coffee.

"Merci," he said to the mare, sitting next to Sapphire Shores. He waved the coffee playfully back and forth underneath her nose, while sipping at his own. "Allez, on reveille. Not zat late...and I cannot carry you 'ome," he added with a chuckle.

[Dunes]

The smell of the coffee wafted up to Sapphire’s nose, stirring her synapses. [colour=#000080]Coffee[/colour]. Her eyes opened to a sliver, reluctantly roused by the heavy scent of it.

As any performer knows, there is no replacement for plenty of rest and a good meal to recover from a show. An as any performer on the road knows, there’s no way that’s ever going to happen and caffeine is your friend. Blearily, she grabbed the lip of the cup with her teeth, and tilted it back, a little faster and a little higher than she meant to.

[colour=#000080]Too fast, too fast!! [/colour]Her mouth was full of hot coffee, rather than the tiny sip she’d intended. She winced, dropping the cup, which splashed in an impressive arc for such a small container… on to Timbre.

Sapphire’s ears flattened against her head, her eyes widened as far as they could go. “[colour=#000080]Oh. My. I am tho thorry![/colour]” She sucked in a stream of cold air, trying to cool off her stinging tongue. It did nothing for her tongue, nor did it do anything for the hot, caffeinated embarrassment that was currently soaking her musical companion.

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing chuckled as he brought Sapphire Shores back to a state of sorta-living with the coffee alone. "Salut!" he said with a laugh when he saw her starting to wake up, and eventually take hold of the cup of coffee. He figured he'd just walk her back after this, as she was obviously rather out of it.

Of course, that wasn't going to happen, not that easily. She took a sip too fast, and dropped the cup, which caused the coffee to splash onto him.

He let out a little yelp of pain as the coffee splashed up his left foreleg and most of his front, "Ah! Voyons..." he shook out his leg, hopping a bit on the spot to try and shake the hot coffee out of his fur. It didn't help, so he just took the next easiest way out, and hopped into the fountain.

He looked up out of the stone fountain at Sapphire Shores, and Timbre Swing chuckled a bit. "It's okay. No permanent 'arm done," he pointed out.

[Dunes]

Sapphire leaned forward, squinting at where the coffee had hit Timbre. “[colour=#000080]You sure you’re alright? No burns or nothin’?[/colour]” She groaned, rubbing her eyes with a foreleg. Her leg muscles tremored occasionally. “[colour=#000080]Oh, sug, I have been up entirely too long.[/colour]”

Straightening up and nodding her head in a sort of salute, she smiled. “[colour=#000080]Well, Mr. Timbre, it has been a wonderful evening, but I think I oughta get some sleep before I manage to hurt anypony else.[/colour]” She offered a hoof to shake. “[colour=#000080]It was a surprise and a delight to meet a talent like yourself![/colour]”

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing climbed out of the fountain, still soaking wet. He nodded, shaking himself off a little. "Oui, oui, I am fine," he assured her. Nothing permanent, and it had hurt but not actually burnt him. He'd be fine.

He retrieved his hat from the mare who'd walked over to see if he was okay, and smiled. She wandered off a bit and he set the hat on his damp mane.

"Et vous aussi, it 'as been an 'onour to meet you, Madame Shores." And an even bigger honour to get to sing with her. He smiled and shook her hoof, then went full Fancy and kissed the back of it.

"Per'aps I can walk with you? Just to uh, wherever you are staying?"

[Dunes]

Sapphire's cheeks flushed as Timbre kissed her hoof. Sure, she'd get declarations of undying love, or have articles of clothing thrown at her, or asked to sign various body parts without eliciting more than her usual grin. But somehow, dignified politeness always surprised her.

“[colour=#000080]Why, Mister Timbre, I'd love some company on the walk back![/colour]” She beamed at him as best she could, trying to keep her eyes open. She could feel the bags under her eyes.

She pointed a hoof at an elegant structure a few blocks away, a middle note in the architectural crescendo that ended at Canterlot castle. “[colour=#000080]I'm stayin' over there, not too far.[/colour]”

Yawning, she leaned forward to ease herself into a stride. Her hoofbeats reverberated up to her hips and shoulders. Hard stone on tired hooves. Yes. Yes, it was time for bed.

As they neared the hotel entrance, a thought occurred to her. “[colour=#000080]Hey, I dunno if you're into my kinda music much, but if you happen to be around next time I have a show, you're more than welcome to pop backstage.[/colour]” She rested a hoof on the door, ready to push it open. “[colour=#000080]If nothin' else, there's usually free food![/colour]”

A swift breeze pushed past, ruffling her mane and making her shiver. Time to go inside. “[colour=#000080]I hope you had as much fun as I did! You have a sensational night, sugar.[/colour]” She pushed the door open and went in, waving as it shut behind her.

[Snowshoe]

Timbre Swing walked along with her, nodding. He followed her hoof with his eyes, to the elegant structure that rose through the air. Well now, that was an impressive place. But, he figured, once you reached her level, you were at the top and could afford places like that, unlike Timbre's slumming it in cheap hotels and motels along his travels.

"Quite zee place," he commented out loud as they walked over to the hotel. It wasn't a far walk, which was good...from what he could tell, Sapphire Shores was about ready to pass out on her hooves.

The two reached the hotel and he smiled while she spoke. "Merci, I might just 'ave to take you up on zat offer. Per'aps zee next time we meet, you can 'ave your uh...mocha, sans falling asleep on a fountain," he offered with a grin, one to show he was just messing with her about the falling asleep part.

When she asked if he had fun, Timbre Swing laughed. "One of zee funnest night's I 'ave 'ad. Bonsoir, Madamme Shores," he said, sweeping his hat off his head with a burst of magic while she went in. The door closed behind her and he smiled, setting his fedora back on his head.

That was something to remember. Meeting Sapphire Shores, and more than just saying hi, he'd managed to preform with her. That marked highly as one of Timbre Swing's best nights. He looked up at the hotel, trying to imagine himself in a position to stay at a place like this, recognized by ponies everywhere, instead of just a handful of dedicated fans.

"Peut-etre un jour," he said quietly to himself, turning around and disappearing into the Canterlot night.

[And exit, stage left. Quite a fun little RP ]