Cloudsdale's Summer Sun Celebration! [Open]

[Jane]

Why didn't anypony point out the error in the title? *smacks self*

Please follow the mane Equestria guidelines for this thread.

Applejane on friendshipismagic.org and I are one and the same; this has not been plagiarized.

I thought it would be interesting to start with the same premise on two different forums to see what the different outcomes might be.

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Each year there is a Summer Sun Celebration on the longest day of the year, on which the ponies gather together to witness Princess Celestia raise the Sun. And every year, this celebration takes place in a different location.

The council members and dignitaries of the city of Cloudsdale have been advocating for the Summer Sun Celebration to take place in their shining City in the Sky, and it looked like for the 1002nd celebration, their request would finally be met! The only problem was that the earth ponies and unicorns disagreed with this arrangement - how would they participate in the celebrations if they were to take place on the clouds?

So Princess Celestia and her advisors came up with a plan. She would gather together all of the Unicorns in Equestria with magical abilities strong enough to solidly cast a cloud-walk spell that would last for three days, as well as Pegasus-drawn chariots and hot air balloons to transport the ponies to the City in the Sky. The centre of these operations was in Ponyville, the earth-town closest to Cloudsdale and with enough space for the small tent-city that would need to be established.

Now it is two days before the celebration, and everything has gone smoothly thus far. Pegasi look on in wonder as Earth Ponies and Unicorns line up, are touched with the magical horn of a powerful unicorn, and transported up into their shining city. The wingless ponies marvel at the softness of the clouds beneath their feet and the beauty of the city's architecture. The weather factory has been working doubly hard in the weeks leading up to the celebration, in anticipation of the crowds of ponies who would ask for tours of their establishment, which would require them to slow production nearly to a halt. The hotels and shops have extra staff and extra space, anticipating more customers than ever before.

Where do you fit into this grand scene? Are you a Pegasus Pony encouraging your friends to visit the finest city your race has to offer? Maybe you're helping with transportation (if you can't pull a chairot, then surely you can at least carry a small filly or colt on your back?) Are you a semi-powerful Unicorn wearied from the spell you were asked to perform time after time, yet excited for the opportunity to visit the clouded city? Maybe you're an Earth Pony who has only ever dreamed of visiting Cloudsdale - now you've just stepped out of the chariot and are eager to explore. Where will you go first? What would you like to see? Who would you like to meet? Rumour has it the Wonderbolts may even make an appearance and sign a few autographs.

Remember, if you're an earth pony or a unicorn, you only have three days before the spell will wear off, so take advantage of the time you do have. Anything is possible!

"Welcome to Cloudsdale. Enjoy the Celebration." Whirligig is wearing her official blue and white volunteer's vest proudly. As the chariots and hot air balloons unload their passengers, she greets each one with a warm smile as she provides them with a detailed map of the city, complete with vouchers and a to-do list of all the best sights and 'tourist traps'.

"Isn't it strange?" she whispers to Eastra, one of her best friends who is also a volunteer distributing the maps. Her smile returns as a green earth pony passes by the gate. "Welcome to Cloudsdale, enjoy the celebration!"

"What do you mean?" Eastra asks, "Hello, Welcome! We hope you enjoy your visit to Cloudsdale." a brown unicorn takes the map from her telekinetically. She stares, unused to seeing Unicorn magic in action.

Whirligig laughs at her friend's awed expression. "Just that. Unicorn magic. Earth ponies, they're all - Welcome to Cloudsdale, we're glad you came! - here, in our home. Usually we have to visit them in theirs. I still can't get over it."

One of the event organizers approaches the girls, clipboard in hoof. "Eastra March? I've got you down for a backup charioteer. Would you mind helping me out for just one loop? One of my steadies needs a rest."

"Of course," Eastra gives Whirligig her remaining pile of maps and follows the coordinator. Whirligig gives her friend a wave before turning her attention back to welcoming the newcomers. With her friend gone for at least three quarters of an hour, she hopes that she'll soon see a face she recognizes from her days spent in Ponyville. And anyways - she's been distributing these pamphlets since dawn and surely she's due for a break soon.

"Welcome to Cloudsdale, we hope you enjoy the Celebration!"

[FallenStargazer]

Terrain panted a little as he cast the cloud walker spell again for the Celestia only knows the number time. A few days ago he had been sent a letter from Canterlot, requesting his assistance in preparation for this year's Summer Sun Celebration. He had been quite surprised that the planning committee deemed him a good enough magic user to assist in getting the earth ponies and other unicorns into the pegasus city for the next few days. He panted and closed his eyes, casting the spell again on the next pony in his line. Though after a few moments, another Unicorn came over and thankfully gave him the signal for his shift to be over. He had spent several hours casting the magic that would allow many of the earth ponies, as well as many younger unicorn colts and fillies who were not strong enough to cast the spell on themselves, to walk amongst the pegasi.

He cracked his neck a little, reaching up with a hoof to rub his horn a bit, it actually hurting a little from how many times he did the spell. He gave a sigh and cast the spell once more on himself as he walked over to one of the pegasus drawn chariots that would bring him and a few others up to the city. He slowly got off the chariot, testing the resistance of the clouds as he walked off. He went over to grab a pamphlet, part of him wanting a map of the city as well. As part of the group of unicorns that was casting the cloud walker spell, he was given a room at a local motel near the drop off point so he could be back down on the ground within a few minutes if needed. As he walked over to the volunteers giving out pamphlets he thought he heard a voice that sounded a little familiar.

He walked over and chuckled as he recognized the orange and yellow mane of the pegasus handing out maps. He focused his energy a bit and when she reached to grab the next map, it levitated up in front of her face and moved around her head a little before floating over to him. "well well, there's a sight for sore eyes. How have you been 'gig?" he said, remembering the pegasus from several occasions, the most notable being one of vinyl scratch, aka DJ PON-3's raves a few weeks ago where he had been the (un?) fortunate pony to catch her after a failed stage dive attempt.

[MidnightRain]

Midnight Rain glanced up and down, deciding what to do. In front of her, she could see unicorns casting cloud walking spells and Pegasi pulling chariots and hot air balloons full of ponies up to Cloudsdale. Flexing her wings, she turned and nearly jumped out of her lavender coat. Standing next to her was a pale purple earth pony. Her cutiemark was two red cherries, her mane was dark red and wavy and she seemed so confident she might be a superstar. Oh no, Midnight Rain thought, stumbling backwards. "Hi, Cherry Cake," She managed to say in a soft voice, shaking her head as if it would erase bad memories.

"Rain!" Cherry cried, flashing a fake looking smile. It was clear she wasn't in any mood to see her old friend.

"Hey," Midnight Rain greeted absently, glancing around. "Need a ride up?" She asked, though it was the last thing she felt like doing, she might as well give Cherry a second chance.

"The unicorns haven't zapped me yet, stupid!" Cherry knew her words hurt, but she didn't really care. She pranced toward the line of unicorns with the air of a model, not caring if ponies go out of her way, and pushing them aside if they did.

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Sorry if it's not the best, since it's my first try at pony roleplaying. Please tell if I do anything wrong!

[Jane]

Whirligig was very confused for a moment as the map she was reaching for levitated out of her reach. Then she heard his voice. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the noise, the crowd, the dimmed lights, the drunkeness, and the foolish the jump from the stage that would have landed her in the hospital for sure if he hadn't caught her. Her head ached thinking about the calamity - and the hangover that followed. For a brief moment, she was entirely unsure how to procede.

"Terrain, it's so...good to see you!" she managed. Their friendship had certainly never been awkward before, and she decided it needn't be awkward now, either. She replaced the painted smile to her face and tried to act as natural as she could.

"I've been just fine. Got plenty of overtime hours at the weather factory this week, so I've been busy of course," she paused to momentarily turn her attention to another new arrival, "Welcome to Cloudsdale, enjoy the show!" She motioned for the Unicorn to move closer to her, so he wouldn't be in the way of the traffic still pouring into the crowded city. "What about you? Have you been to any good raves recently?"

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((OOC: Midnight Rain, that looks fine by me. I'm already curious as to what sort of history is causing the evidenced friction between the two.))

[MidnightRain]

Midnight Rain strolled away from Cherry Cake, trying to keep a composed face. No, Cherry hadn't changed. She cringed as she heard the barbie voice behind her again. "Hey, uh, Rain," Cherry pronounced the Pegasus' name like it wasn't something she particularly enjoyed saying. "What about that ride?"

"What about it?" Rain tried and failed to raise one eyebrow.

"You promised me you'd take me up!" Cherry's voice started as a whine, changing to a cutesy one as she realized Rain wasn't looking impressed. "Besides, you wouldn't want me to stand in a line, would you?"

Rain gave Cherry a disbelieving look before vanishing into the crowd.

When Rain was quite sure she was away from Cherry, she let out her breath. Why couldn't Cherry just leave her alone? It wasn't like there weren't lots of other Pegasi to annoy. Sunny had been right about her. She had been right all along, Sunny was usually right. Why hadn't Rain listened to her best friend?

[FallenStargazer]

(OOC: sorry about late response jane, work kept me busy over the weekend)

Terrain chuckled as he moved out of the way of the incoming hoard of visitors flocking to Cloudsdale for the celebration. He decided to help Gig out, levitating the pamphlets up to the ponies that she greeted. He noted the hesitation in her voice and gave a chuckle. "Nah, no good ones recently. Though I hear DJ PON-3 has been hired to work with Octavia Philharmonica to provide music for the celebration. It should be pretty awesome. I've heard a few things they done together before." He smiled at an earth pony that walked by and acted like a fellow greeter as he continually levitated up pamphlets. It wasn't all that difficult since most unicorns knew basic levitation from the time they were young foals. "My shift for casting cloud walker spells just ended a little while ago so i've got time to kill. When do you get done?"

[Jane]

"Oh, I heard DJ-P0N-3 and Octavia would be here, though I'm pretty sure they're not due to arrive until tomorrow," Whirligig commented, quickly getting over her embarassment as the conversation carried on. "And I've been here a few hours, so I'm due for a break pretty soon I would think," she paused, looking around for one of the organizers. Confident that Terrain would ensure nopony missed out on a map, especially with that handy telekinesis ability possessed by all adult unicorns, she approached him and requested a break.

The pegasus nodded, and said that due to the abundance of volunteers, Whirligig could take the rest of the day if need be. Cheerfully, the young mare returned to her friend with a smile.

"I can take the rest of the day if I want to. Is there anything you'd like to do?"

As usual, Stormwing was late.

He wasn't a charioteer, thank goodness, and his name wasn't on any official list. But he had agreed to give some ponies rides up to ponyville on his back, and he would always, eventually, keep his word. He landed softly near the crowds of earth ponies and unicorns awaiting transportation up to the sky city, trying not to draw too much attention to himself or his wings. He looked around for an official, but saw nopony who would be able to talk to him. Instead, he decided to approach one of the waiting ponies and assist her 'off the record', so to speak.

He saw an earth pony mare with a pale purple coat standing aside, looking as though she was uncertain as to whether or not she should join the queue for balloons or chariots. Despite seeming out of place in the crowd of ponies, she seemed to carry herself with the confidence of a supermodel. He plastered the most charming grin he could muster on his face and approached her with confidence.

"Hello there," he said, extending a hoof in greeting, "you look like you could use a lift. Name's Stormwing, by the way. And you might be?"

((OOC: Psst, Midnight Rain, this one's for Cherry Cake ))

[FallenStargazer]

Terrain watched her head over to find someone in charge of the guest relations committee and chuckled at her. He turned to the next incoming pony and gave them a quick smile. "welcome to Cloudsdale, enjoy your stay." he said, handing them pamphlets each time one walked by, giving two if they asked in case they lost one. He continued this routine for a few minutes until whirligig came back over. He thought for a minute then waved his hoof towards the city. "You're the local if anything. the motel room they gave me is just a few blocks from here if anything so anything further than that is beyond my knowledge." He said with a chuckle, handing a pony one more pamphlet before another pegasus came over and took over the station from them.

[MidnightRain]

(I'm so sorry, I haven't had a chance to get on here in ages! Any chance of reviving this?)

The purple earth pony turned with a smile. "Thank you, my name is Cherry Cake." She tossed a bit of hair out of her face. Perfect!

Midnight rain flew over Cloudsdale, looking for somewhere out of the way to help. She glanced around, puzzled. Not handing out pamphlets, not showing the unicorns and earth ponies where to go.... Her eyes fell on some pegasi putting up decorations. Gathering as many bows as she could, she set to work putting them up around the city.

[hinata2000100]

(oh! This RP sounds cool! Can I join? )