LEGEND OF THE HOOVED ADVENTURERS!

"Tis run by the Oranges, tis rather high class. Can't say that I've been there - I'm one busy ass."

"By far," Z-Rock nodded heartily at Bronx's rhyme, "that you are. Would also explain why I can't recall, ever playing there, at all. I can play rock and I can play fancy, but most of the rich think I'm a bit chancy. To bet their evenings on me? They find that kinda' hard to see." Z-Rock slipped the Diamond Dog's card back up his sleeve, "But much like our friend Feldspar, if they took a chance, I might go far."

"Well, lead the way boys." said Outcast cheerfully ignoring the rhyme battle.

The parade was still passing by, a colorful and loud array of people and floats, when suddenly there was a loud grinding noise. From the front of a moving stage, a billow of smoke suddenly started to crawl into the air.... the entire stage stumbled to a halt, leaving Sapphire Shores and Railsong somewhat unamused at the turn of developments.

But musicians are nothing if not adaptable.

Gripping his mike, Railsong leaned into the crowd. "Hey there, pretty ponies, there's an issue with the stage. So Shores and I are going to throw out a concert, and anypony who's good with gears gets a free invite ta help out."

"Come on, now," Sapphire shouted, "this is a chance to dance in front of a crowd! We'll take it easy but we'll be going fast, gotta keep up the pace!"

Ratchet was having a bit of trouble that day. She was having quite a difficult time finding a specific type of metal to work with, and none of the shops in the middle of town seemed to have what she was looking for. Ratchet even had enough bits to spare for the desired metal, but as she slumped down on a bench outside a hoof-polishing salon, she felt incredibly defeated. It seemed that things just weren't going to go her way that day, and the buffalo heaved a gloomy sigh. Nearby, there was a loud gathering of people near a large set-up that looked like a performing stage. In fact, it was a stage. An on there was... was it? It was! That was Sapphire Shores. The buffalo knew the name well, as living in a large city makes it difficult to ignore pop culture at times, but she wasn't the type for music. Her studio was usually silent, in fact... And it was so loud out here...

The smallish buffalo was ready to head back to her studio when an even louder noise caught her ears. Perking them towards the source of the commotion, Ratchet felt as though she could recognize the sound being made. When the pop sensation announced to the crowd that they were having technical difficulties and needed a mechanic right away, Ratchet paused. She really just wanted to go back to her home and continue to work on her creations, but if there were bits involved... well, she could buy plenty of that metal that she wanted. Although, bits were no good if the metal was nowhere to be found.

After a moment of hesitation, the buffalo trotted towards the stage, searching for someone who looked official enough to present herself to. She found somepony promising-looking and inclined her head towards them. "Excuse me," she said in a slightly gruff voice, "I heard you're having issues with your stage?"

((My post couldn't wait for 2 hours, he says. He needs it right away, he says. 3 hours later and no response, I see. Harumph. ))
((Also edit because I need a thesaurus. NOISE.))

Z-Rock had heard the commotion as he and the others started off for the Orangefire Diner, and it wasn't a good, hard rock-sounding kind of commotion by the look of things.

-Was that smoke?

-And Railsong?

-And Sapphire Shore?

Z-Rock lit up like a Hearthswarming Eve Pageant in July.

"Hey guys, check it out." He motioned towards the malfunctioning stage, "Maybe we should see what that commotion's all about? I'm not normally one to pry, but that looks like something we shouldn't pass by. We may be hungry, that's true, but there might be some good we can do. Plus if we help, you heard what they said. I heard free tickets or something. That's certainly worth more than getting fed."

Z-Rock didn't wait for the others to respond. He started rolling his Cannon down towards the stage, already thinking of the possibilities. After all, if he could help out, perhaps he might even be able to convince Saffire Shore and Railsong to let him play a guest performance at one of their concert... And there was a thought that got him excited.

(Well, we need to think of some reason to run into Ratchet - so here's as good a reason as any.)

"It is? Oh. He's already...." Outcast wasn't sure why the tickets were worth more than getting fed and was pretty sure even if Z-rock had said why she wouldn't likely agree. But, it was true they needed help. Not that Outcast was sure how exactly she would help, her knowledge of mechanical things wasn't exactly extensive. She looked over to Balthazar and shrugged, then followed after Z-rock.

Omi and Myra walked down the street aside from the parade. Omi was a rather average minotaur of brown-orange color, and wearing a long gi over the upper half of his body. His companion, Myra was a purple unicorn with a vihuela cutie mark on her flank and wearing a mariachi hat.

"I'm missing out on training for this?" he muttered softly to himself

The crowd was too loud, and it was too noisy. Maybe if he poked around a bit he could find a store that sold earplugs or something....

Yet even over the crowd, he could hear a pop followed by a tire screech. Turning his head, he could see and hear Railsong and Sapphire ask for assistance.

"Why don't you help out Omi? You're good with mashines, jefe"

"No I'm not."

"You fix the boiler at the dojo whenever it breaks down.

"Replacing a part isn't that hard."

"You have hans, jefe."

Omi had suspected where this was going to end up. The whole reason Myra had come all the way from Hoofsico was because she heard a there was a dojo run by minotaurs, and that she had some weird fascination with hands. Whatever. She probably wasn't going to let this drop, and she'd probably be moody about it the rest of the day otherwise.

Myra gave a little squeak as Omi marched up to the stage where a buffalo, a zebra and another pony* were already heading to.

"Mind if I help out?"

*Outcast

(??? Why do you have two characters? Did you take Leadership? =P )

OOC: Yeah, I did. Utitlity talent called FanPony.

(Which, btw, isn't officially approved yet - but some version of it will likely make it into the Talent Show expansion; so if MW's fine with it being playtested then I am too)

(Okay, so I thought the singer ponies had said something about free tickets to a concert. After reading over MW's post again, I'm still not exactly sure what they meant to say, but I'll assume that Z-Rock apparently misheard them. Sorry for any confusion guys!

Also, welcome aboard guys!)

((I'm okay with it being playtested, but not with you using Lyra. Sorry.))

The official pony glanced at the buffalo and raised an eyebrow. "The problem's up there. Could you go look at it?" He moved to the side, allowing Ratchet access to the float's machinery.

Meanwhile, Outcast and Z-rock were pulled onto the stage by the ponies of pop, and each of them was handed a microphone.

Ratchet eyed the official pony for a moment before he began to speak, and even when he did it was rather to-the-point. Good. She liked that. Ratchet was merely going to help, collect whatever payment would surely be given to her, and head back to her studio to continue working on her projects. The buffalo stepped closer to the contraption that had malfunctioned and sat down in front of it. To somepony else, it may have looked as though she was completely spacing out or even falling asleep, but Ratchet's mind was taking a minute to examine the machinery behind the panel.

There wasn't anything in there that she didn't recognize, and though Ratchet herself had never made a self-propelling float before, she was sure that she could at least keep it going until the party had reached their destination. She looked around until she found a box full of tools, and nuzzled her nose into her saddlebag for the finer, more intricate tools that weren't present in the box. Sitting back down on her rump, the middle-aged buffalo got to work, doing her best to fix the problem as efficiently as possible.

((Okay, so, this is where my newbie status comes in. I figure I should probably Mechanics check for this, right? How can I do this? >_< Sorry.))

(Mechanics is exactly right. Just roll a d20 and add your modifier to the roll - which should be your Mechanics skill. There's lots of good websites for that, like this one)

Z-Rock took the mic and looked it over quizzically.

"I thought you'd said something about tickets - or did I get it mixed up with crickets? Pickets?"

Z-Rock glanced up at the two pop-ponies, and they just looked at each other and shrugged.

Z-Rock grinned. "Well, alrighty then," he plugged his amp in, "let us begin!" This was going to work out better than he'd imagined. He put down the mic, put on his head-set, then turned back to his black-furred friend, "You ready to rock, Outcast? 'Cause this one promises to be - a blast." He cranked up his Cannon's volume to max. "Just please follow my lead - then I promise, we'll get some feed." Z-Rock nodded to the pop-star ponies, pausing a moment to wonder where the ass had gone off to - but then he raised his voice to the gathered crowd.

"GOOD MORNING, MANEHATTAN! TIME TO HEAR MUSIC AS SMOOTH AS SATIN! NEVER FEAR! ZEEEEEEEEEE-ROCK IS HERE!"

Z-Rock bowed his head, and started to play...

Time to see what my new friend can do... Was his final thought before the music overtook him.

(Z-Rock is going to start the intro for this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaSYvvfzYaE

He's expecting Outcast to help with the vocals. Heh heh... Performance check! With Cutie-Mark bonus and Freaky Knowledge, Z-Rock got a 30 on Mechanics - guitar playing. Let's rock!

BTW - Stairc, are you still playing? I liked the rivalry that was brewing between our characters. Also, lyre, if you have questions, feel free to ask. It's all cool.)

((Thanks, Dan.

So 12 + 12 (Mechanics) = 24 for Mechanics.

Also, dragonforcelol))

(Just for the hell of it, and I know this is silly but it's way too fun not to do...)

Balthazar reared back as the music blasted.

This was... Strange.

Very strange music. Not at all fine of taste or propper entertainment for a court.

It was absolutely...

... Fantastic!

In that moment a rush of respect for the zany Zebra electrified him. He would not let his new friend down.

"Let us dazzle the crowd!" He exclaimed, leaping up onto the stage and vaulting high into the air - tumbling backwards in several flips before sticking the landing. "And that's just the beginning!"

He exploded into a series of athletics that would suit the exciting music the Zebra ripped out.

(12+11 Stunts, then *double* Magic Points on the Yee-Haw to add +40. That's 64 to wowing the crowd.)

The following is what passed through Outcast's mind. "Oh deer gods! WHY!? What do these crazyponies expect ME to do up here with...with THIS. This....THING! Oh no no no. Can't escape. Can't run. Can't change. Don't change! Don't change! Must...not. No! Ok. Calm down Outcast. They want what? Song? They want me to sing. Sing WHAT!? Argh, I am so going to give those two the bear hug of bone crushing friendship after this! Ok Outcast. Think. You know songs. Sort of. Well....what the dis. This can't possibly be worse than running or standing here paralyzed. I hope."

Outcast gave Z-rock a look that said, "This is what you're getting. Too bad if it isn't what you wanted." and began to sing.....in birdsong. Trying at least to match the tempo of the birdsong to the music, she hoped nobody would notice the lyrics were, "Hey little friends, could you help me out here? I can't possibly sing as well as you all and I'm sure other boy and girl birds would be able to hear your wonderful song over all the ponynoise this way. Besides, it's fun right?" She followed those "words" with the thought, "Note to self: Inflict 'fun' on Z-rock and Balthazar later."

(Edit: Out right. Rolling. Persuasion for the singing and attempting to get birds to come sing. 12+17 = 29.)

(Wow, Outcast is a Disney princess!)

(ROFL. Lost and needs help from conveniently placed male heroes? Check. Sense of style that doesn't match anyone else at all anywhere she goes but still manages to work? Check. Talks to animals with obligatory animal musical act. Check. Mind control powers with frightening implications that are never explored? Check. Yup, I'd have to agree Stairc. =P )

(That is all kinds of win.)

(^I am greatly amused by all this. Can't wait to see what Outcast calls up too. If it's a Dragon, I'm gonna pit in my shants =)

Masterweaver wrote:((I'm okay with it being playtested, but not with you using Lyra. Sorry.))

Can I user her south-of-the-border Hoofsican counterpart, Myra Cadena?

(I think what he means is "no ponies" though, not entirely sure.)