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Post by StarStruck on Nov 16, 2011 9:15:59 GMT -5
"OoooOOOOO...!"
Within the town's music store, an excited gasp had preceded the sudden exclamation as a blurred mix of blue and orange had darted its way from its place near the entrance and over to a display near the counter, halting to reform the proper appearance of a certain young mare with stars in her eyes as she stared dreamily at one of the items in a case.
"The ultra-rare limited edition twentieth anniversary Wild Stallions platinum record with collectible one-eighth scale Billet S. Pastern, Equine figurine! I. Must. Have it!"
She might as well been drooling at this point, her dark blue front hooves pressed against the glass separating her from limited edition glory and probably making the mare behind the counter a bit uncomfortable in the process. There was a bit of a stab to the heart strings, however, when her gaze finally lowered to check the price plate in front of the sought after purchase. Her already pale hide sunk a few shades further towards stark white as StarStruck's hooves slid down the glass and she ended up flopping down in front of it, her mind starting the usual debate which she already knew the outcome of but let it happen anyway to make it seem like she was still being a responsible young adult.
When she'd originally left Fillydelphia the plan had been simple: Get a job and her own place somewhere affordable where she could save up enough money to eventually move to the holy grail of Baleywood. Ponyvillle had been the perfect option! She'd taken over the care of the windmill, practicing her magic by giving it an artificial breeze when necessary, and started saving for the big day. ...And then she'd found out how much trendy swag some of the stores carried. After that it started seeming like she'd never leave.
It...it was okay, though! She would just skip a few meals for the next four weeks! ...Or maybe see if there were any eating contests coming up that she could enter to even things out... Maybe one of the other ponies would have a potluck...except the last time she tried cooking it had ended in sickly disaster for everyone involved.
An exasperated noise escaped as she clutched at either side of her head with eyes tightly shut while the internal struggle raged on. Anyone new to town who stopped by at this particular moment might have found the sight to be a bit disturbing as it looked like the dark blue-maned mare was having a nervous breakdown in the middle of the shop. For residents who knew StarStruck, however...this was just Shopping Day.
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Post by Whisk on Nov 17, 2011 4:39:20 GMT -5
The pegasus' muse was running dry, as of late. It happened more often than he'd like to admit, having such a finicky vein of inspiration. One of the few ways he could manage to instill some life back into it was, without a doubt: music, but that meant taking the long, winding route to Ponyville to find a decent store. Cloudsdale didn't have much in the way of entertaining boutiques, seeing as how most earthly sundries would simply plunge right through the cloud architecture -- an error he would hopefully be able to rectify one day.
This place looked as good as any, and with a redoubled sense of contentment he meandered through the front door, an ear twitching at the faint jingle sounding off above from his admittance. His gratified smile abated, however, when he saw the mare doubled over on the floor and apparently having some sort of visceral combat with herself. That, or she was about to vomit on the floor. Or pass out.
He stared vacantly a moment, his muzzle drawn into a disconcerted pout. Natural reaction took over, and with a hesitant timbre he asked , " Ah--miss? Do I need to call a nursepony? "
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Post by StarStruck on Nov 17, 2011 8:48:40 GMT -5
"Welcome!" The teenager behind the counter chimed in upon, well, hearing the chime. She'd been about to ask if the pegasus needed help finding anything when she noted his question and spoke up again. "Don't worry about her, she'll be fine in a--"
Without warning StarStruck's eyes opened and with all due speed she sprung up from the floorboards and latched onto the front edge of the counter to pull herself up the rest of the way, practically shouting with excitement quickly. "I'LLTAKEIT!"
The employee pony blinked, trailing off the last word of her prior sentence. "--...Now."
It had taken a moment for the initial glee to settle down enough for the mare to better take in her current surroundings...namely the fact that there was an unfamiliar pegasus nearby who looked perplexed. Instantly a bit of embarrassment washed over her features and she slowly and innocently pushed back away from the counter.
"Oh! I'm so sorry... Were you in line? You can go ahead first." A hoof gestured forward as she backed up with a sheepish smile, only to realize something and add to her thought quickly. "Just...please not that, okay?" There was a slight gesture with her horn towards the collector's box in the case and instantly orange eyes took on a watery puppy dog quality of pleading.
The last time she'd been outbid on a poster at the last second? Oh, that had been a dark day...
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Post by Whisk on Nov 18, 2011 12:36:05 GMT -5
The unicorn's exuberance was something to behold, that was for certain. He always did consider them a little bit enigmatic to begin with, but this admittedly amusing mare certainly took the cake. At the very least she had a lot of enthusiasm, something he could admire, and perhaps even sponge off of. Celestia knows he could have used some gusto for his work.
A particular thought probed at his brain as he exchanged a wary glance between StarStruck and the item she was fawning over. It wasn't something he would consider having a conniption fit over at any point. She clearly wanted this thing beyond all measure! His cautious frown phased into a somewhat coy smile, and the pegasus shut his eyes merrily at the unicorn.
" I wouldn't feel right cutting in front of somepony, but, " A hoof lifted, gesturing vaguely at the item which had caused so much activity. " I won't take long. This looks really interesting. How much for it, exactly?" Whisk asked, more or less to the shopkeeper than Starstruck.
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Post by StarStruck on Nov 18, 2011 16:09:16 GMT -5
StarStruck had hesitantly moved back a few steps to allow the pegasus access to the counter, though the moment he mentioned an 'interesting' object her eyes had immediately darted toward the direction his hoof pointed and a cold chill ran its way up her spine. Ohnononononono...When he asked the clerk about the price, however, there might as well have been the sound of glass breaking as the unicorn's jaw dropped in something akin to terror. In the meanwhile the otherwise apathetic salespony reached down to pick up the box and set it on top of the counter with the tag prominently displayed putting it well over 200 bits; for an albeit rare record and figure it was somewhat obscene. It was all the unicorn could do to collect herself as quickly as possibly, clearing her throat with a quick cough then turning her head to the side with an idle 'waving the situation off' gesture of a hoof. "R-Ridiculous, isn't it?! Haha! ...Hah... You'd think it was diamond-encrusted..! Definitely not worth the effort for such a simple, trivial...intricate....collectible......insanely rare.......amazing...........piece of musical history..............."...Nope, she hadn't been able to keep up the charade (if there even was one to begin with), her lower lip quivering and eye twitching slightly as she'd tried to play down what she considered to be the worth of the item laid out on the counter and eventually could no longer keep up such a monumental farce, words getting softer and eventually trailing off altogether. See, this was the reason StarStruck was made for being talented behind the scenes. Her acting was rubbish and when it came to this sort of thing the poker face was nonexistent. With her faux blasé exterior shattered, the mare abruptly drooped, head hanging as she sunk back to the familiar level of Mr. Floor and apologized internally. Forgive my cruel lies, Wild Stallions, your melodic brilliance will never be simple, trivial nor rediculous..!
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Post by Whisk on Nov 20, 2011 6:56:31 GMT -5
Whisk pensively caught his lower lip between his teeth as he looked at the price. That was basically his budget after a successful gallery showing, something that rarely occurred now due to his suffering inspiration. Despite the hesitation, his sense of charity was a bit overwhelming presently. Celestia bless him, he was too altruistic for his own good. Maybe he could pick up a shift at the weather factory to compensate for this loss...
" I'll take it! " He exclaimed with ample zeal, curving his head around to his saddlebags and fetching his lone bag of bits before plopping it with a rattle of coins on the counter. As soon as the nonchalant employee swiped up his money--all his money-- and fetched the rare item from the casing, the teal accented pegasus bladed his stance and tossed an entertained look down at the cowering mare.
" But, now that I think about it...I probably don't have enough room in my saddlebags for this, " An artful lilt touched his voice as he scooped up the album in a hoof, then extended it outward in offering down towards StarStruck. " Maybe you could hold onto it for me, Miss?" The pegasus shot off a cursory, insinuating wink, coupled with the faintest curve of a smile on his muzzle.
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Post by StarStruck on Nov 20, 2011 21:09:47 GMT -5
"I'll take it!"
The unicorn immediately went rigid, stuck in a moment of frozen time so-to-speak before somehow managing to droop lower than before (quite the feat at this point). There was a quick glint of bright yellow around her horn and in an instant a miniature dark cloud had magically formed directly above the mare and began pouring Rain of Despair™ over her form only. It was something of an involuntary magic spasm that occurred during situations such as this.
.....W-Wild Stallionssss...... StarStruck knew it was her own fault for taking so long and knowing good and well the store didn't do layaways, but a defeat was a defeat.
"But, now that I think about it...I probably don't have enough room in my saddlebags for this,"
..........What?
"Maybe you could hold onto it for me, Miss?"
A normally hanging ear perked momentarily, citrine eyes blinking open as she slowly lifted her soaked head only to come face-to-box with the record held her way by the pegasus.
...Whaaaaaaaat?!?!
In an instant the dark cloud had dispelled along with all the water (revealing the entire thing as nothing more than an extremely realistic illusion) and the unicorn bolted back up on to her hooves, looking between the coveted item and the pony holding it several times.
"You-- What--?! Are you serious..?! I mean that-- You-- I--!" Her mind was going a bazillion miles an hour and she couldn't help but stutter. The pegasus would have to consider himself special, because it was rare for the usually extroverted and talkative StarStruck to be rendered speechless.
Eventually her mind caught up and with relative certainty that she wasn't caught up in a cruel episode of Candid Pony she gingerly reached to take the box and cradle it like it was the Holy Bale, eyes returning to their starry state as she beamed and nodded several times in gratitude. "...Of course! I'll guard it with my life! Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou~!" A bit dramatic for a record and a figurine, yes, but to StarStruck it was a history of talent in box form. It wasn't her fault almost everypony else didn't see things like she did. It was their loss.
Ahem.
"You, sir, are a gentlecolt and a scholar! It's an honor to meet a fellow Wild Stallions fan." Emotional 180 back to relative normalcy complete, she grinned and carefully reached to shake hooves. "I'm StarStruck, and I am at your service. I owe you big time--and I won't allow any thoughts to the contrary!" A fervent nod was given before she looked him over and pondered a moment. "...Are you new, or just visiting? I don't think I've seen you around Ponyville before. I mean I'm fairly new myself but not that new."
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Post by Princess Luna on Nov 21, 2011 13:28:34 GMT -5
Ten whole centuries of a exile, frozen upon the very rock she was named to, with nothing to keep her company except a fleet of moon rocks. Sure! Her interactions with her subjects needed quite a bit of refining, but did her sister really need to send her out bi-daily in an attempt to win over the hearts of them? She had ruled this land alone for the past millennia, why did she have to put her dear sister through such an uncomfortable experience! Did many ponies come out at night anyway? Perhaps she wouldn't have minded nearly as much if Celestia wasn't always so insistent, but at the same time, she was fully aware this was the best way to earn acceptance among the denizens of the land. With Canterlot mostly having mostly taken her in happily as a new second monarch, outlying settlements were next, and thus she decided to start small; Ponyville was but a few wing beats away and most of it's citizens had the honor of meeting and even partaking in this "fun" with her. Though the day she is honored for had come and gone, she could only hope the citizens would still treat her as they had on Nightmare Night when understanding between herself and them was finally established.
Now, on a chariot driven by her nightguards, she waited patiently upon the padded seat for them to drop her off at her destination. But that's all they would accompany her for, advised by her sister to go in and socialize alone; not too mention her envoy might look a little terrifying to the ponies of the quaint little hamlet. Touchdown, her vessel and it's drivers hit the ground with but a gentle skid, and with a composure conducted of grace and elegance, she allowed one slippered hoof to depart the frame of her vehicle...followed then by the other three. Though she'd been at this whole "socializing" activity for a while in Canterlot, this was the first time she was on her own, and to be honest, she had wished she had arrived earlier. The streets were a little busy with the ponyfolk doing their daily routines; some vendor carts had been deployed, workers with yokes were hauling things from place to place. A scraping of wood against gravel was a telltale sign that her chariot had departed and that she was now alone truly, but she wouldn't let that unnerve her! She was the Lady of the Moon, she needed not to be afraid of her subjects! Her swan-like neck tall in the air, flowing navy blue hair waving breezily behind her she ventured forth!
To her surprise, most of the townsfolk didn't give her any odd or startled looks, and all of them dropped what it was they were doing to bow graciously, until she had informed them to carry on. This wasn't so bad...perhaps there was nothing to worry about! The town square was again back to business as usual, a glance or two often locked on the navy blue alicorn as she made her way around, offering greetings and hails to them all. A building caught her eye! It was adorned in musical notes and the sign hanging from above had one. Clearly it's theme was music, and the Princess mused that perhaps it would be a first big step into getting her cultural sense up to speed as well. A bell rang as the Princess made herself known within the structure. "Hail and well met, patrons of of this cultural establishment!" Her voice wasn't booming, but it was a bit loader than an "inside voice" as it were. "Thy Princess wisheth to inquire onto thee a few questions of thine..culture. So as to better understand this world I hath awoken too." Her eyes scanned from pony to pony, trying to decipher expressions regarding her little outburst..
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Post by Whisk on Nov 27, 2011 10:34:58 GMT -5
Whisk was excessively pleased at StarStruck's commodious celebration, despite the fact all of his currency had been drained. It was his choice though, and truth be told seeing another pony caught in the throughs of bliss so hysterically was much more gratifying than a song or two to kindle his imagination.
The pegasus was about to speak further when he found his hoof captured within hers, applying a sturdy shake that rippled up through the winged stallion and tempered his grin into a wiggled, unsteady line. " I-it's fantastic to meet you, Starstruck!" Whisk replied with a shudder to his voice, still recovering from the surprisingly powerful hoofshake. " I'm Whisk, and, really, you don't owe me anything." Once re-situated his hindquarters found the floor, and he bore a wide, toothy smile! " I'm just visiting, really. Thought I'd stop into town to see if I could nab an album or t--"
Princess Luna's regal announcement gave him immediate pause, tapered ears shooting upright as he swung his head around to gaze at the voice's owner. His stomach twisted taut, and his lower mandible dropped open in a soundless stammer, pupils shrinking into pinpricks. Royalty!? Here!? Right now!? Whisk was an absolute mess around any kind of Canterlottan figure, even a pious noble who was undeserving of any praise. But the Princess of the Night, Luna, herself?
He would now proceed to be an absolute mess, to the point where he forgot the customary bow!
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Post by StarStruck on Nov 27, 2011 13:07:18 GMT -5
The mare grinned knowingly, putting his name to memory under the 'amazing ponies' file in her head and giving it a light shake as he tried to say she didn't owe anything right after she'd just explained how she wouldn't accept that sort of talk. They always did, didn't they?
"Oh fun! I take it you're from Cloudsdale, then. Well you came to right place for good albums, this is the best store for music in Ponyville and--"
And then came another chime of the door, followed by a just slightly less than booming voice that was instantly recognized. StarStruck almost gave herself whiplash turning towards the regal figure in the doorway with an audible gasp, making sure to carefully set down the collector's box so it wouldn't get hurt before ducking into a deep bow. She most certainly wasn't going to put the item in danger of being damaged, not being one of those ponies to just forget everything and go ADD. She could multitask her passions with the best of them, thank you very much.
In mid-bow she'd seen Whisk frozen in place out of the corner of her eye and, being well-versed on this particular phenomenon, stealthily reached a leg out to sweep his front two forward and 'assist' him into the momentarily forgotten respectful gesture.
After remaining there the proper length of time, the once again starry-eyed mare sprung up to address the monarchy's request. "Ohmygosh! Good afternoon, Princess Luna!"
Bliss! This was pure bliss! Had time collapsed upon itself and ran together every single holiday in the year where she was allowed to make a wish?! Perhaps if Princess Celestia was also leading a parade of Baleywood icons through the town square at this moment, though since she couldn't hear screaming from outside she decided to reject the temporal paradox hypothesis.
"It is an honor to meet you. I'm your biggest fan--ah...'supporter'! Biggest supporter," she quickly added, remembering from what she'd read that the Princess might not recognize the more modern term just yet. "I don't know about my new friend here," a quick gesture made towards Whisk, "but I'd be happy to help in any way I can! "
Best. Day. Ever!
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Post by Princess Luna on Nov 27, 2011 17:25:05 GMT -5
Little commotion spreads through out the little shop of music as the Princess makes herself known, the reverse of what she recalls happening on that faithful Nightmare Night. All things are taken into consideration within the Princess' mind and the result is something along the lines of "This is stupendous!", all of her subjects are warming up to her!
Conducting herself with grace and poise before the unicorn and the pegasus that was assisted in properly bowing, she thrusts her hoof outward and waves it twice in an ascending motion, a gesture to rise. "Tis I that is honored, Biggest supporter, thou hath pleased thy Princess so! Confide unto me then, what tis thy name?" She fires a look then at the still prone pegasus. He appears afraid of her, but there truly is nothing to merit such a response! She must show him how friendly she is! Her horn lights up in that navy blue aura that matches her own hew, one of similar make up enveloping the cowering male and she lifts him off the ground to bring him level with herself. Afraid of losing the respect she has garnered this far, she acts quick and brashly, to erase all negative thoughts from this colt...unfortunately for her, she panics and speaks with more urgency than comfort.
"Mine loyal subject! There is no need to fear thy Princess! She wishes not to spread consternation, only joy and happiness! And today, she only wisheth to learn!" Exasperated breaths leave her lungs once finishing her statement, staring the likely now mortified pegasus in the eyes. However, she has yet to realize her rushed actions may have worked against her, bringing him close to her still that their foreheads nearly touch. "Thy Princess loveths all her subjects!"
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