Cirque du Celeste

As he was cut off from giving an answer by the sound of Three Ring announcing that she was ready to meet with ponies, Barkov politely stood aside to allow Hela to have the first crack at meeting his boss since it was possible her business was slightly more important than his own. Considering that when the mare went in Three Ring completely ignored the new mare to give him a somewhat icy reception, he had intended to wait until she had asked her question before responding to her when a loud voice and a small pair of hooves wrapped around one of his legs. Looking down and listening to Upbeat the little Zebra rattle on about being better from his headache, Barkov offered him a grin as he knelt down a little and ruffled his mane. "Sorry Kiddo, but you heard the boss lady and her word is law. Not even Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would be able to override her decision."

Turning his head towards Three Ring after he had ruffled Upbeat up a little, he decided to just get his request over and done with as quickly as possible; If she rejected it, she rejected it. "I wanted to ask you about taking on one of the rousties as an assistant to my act. She has a talent for tying knots and working rope and has a keen interest in being an escape artist but is currently unable to have an act of her own. I'm thinking that taking her own as an assistant will get her out into the public eye and the fact that we're only adding one of our own members to an already existing act means that other then a slight increase in her pay due to becoming an active performer (And since she is an assistant, it doesn't have to be noticeably big raise) it won't cost you anything. I'll ensure that any needed equipment will come out of our pocket, not the yours or the circuses. What do you think?"

Upbeat just tilts his head to the side and pouts before giggling as his mane was ruffled."Whatcha want me to do?" He asked with enthusiasm that only a foal could manage at being told he had chores to do.

"Ok, fine, Karliah." No wonder most ponies avoid her. "Well anyway, I thought I'd let you know. The tents are basically set up, so if you aren't going to help with that, you might as well get ready, I'm sure we'll start setting up acts soon. I think Three Ring has an idea of a big crowd tonight."

---

This is so hard when I have NOTHING to talk about with her.

Hela raised her hoof again, "Uh, excuse me but I was hoping to talk to the pony in charge. I have that they might find interesting."

"Mhmm." Flashpoint stood aside to let her pass. "Well, that's my good deed for the day. Now what." Flashpoint takes off again, flying back to the main camp.

---

I hope I wasn't lying when I told her that, I actually don't know if any of that is happening. Didn't intend to lie, anyway.
So who else can I go hang out with?

Barkov, Upbeat, Hela

Three Ring listened to the quick babble of words from the diamond dog, the pony and the foal. She caught Baekovs eye for a moment, a quick -and quiet- look of frustration... before sighing,mand rubbing the middle of her face with her hoof.

"Yeah, fine, whatever," she said quickly. "You take care of it and bring me the costs later. Right now though, why don't you and Upbeat go see if any acrobats need help setting up, or Iron Throat needs his swords sharpened or something. And close the door on your way out."

She looked back at Hela, and took another deep breath.
"Sorry about that, guess I misread the situation, thought you were... never mind. I'm the pony in charge here; Three Ring. How can I help you?"
---
Risky, Tan
Tan tipped his hat to Knot, who replied with a terse nod, keeping her eyes on Viper as if convinced he was going to bite.

"Nice to meet you," she said dryly. "Hey, both of you, give that rope a tug, will you?"
---
Karliah

At the main tent, most of the other ponies give Karliah a bit of a berth. Most of them didn't understand why Three Ring had allowed a changeling to set up shop in their circus; usually, it was just a quiet discontent, whereas a handful were more openly discourteous.

Funnily enough, the pinto coloured pony who leapt in front of her with a grin, yelling "Think fast!" and throwing a trio of bouncy, brightly coloured balls at her was neither.
---
Flashpoint

From the sky, the camping ground is beginning to take some sort of shape. The tent is finally being attached to the poles by Pegasi rousties, who drape it over the poles like some sort of threadbare blanket, swooping underneath it to tie it into place.
Beneath him, ponies who had been getting meals are starting to push front row seats into place-

Wait, push?
In fact, it's not just the front seats being pushed in; someone else is rolling the telescopic pole that forms part of the tightrope in as well, which is strange.

Usually Dust Down and Top Grip, the rival Strong Mares, float everything into place with their magic; telekinesis is kind of the point of their act after all, but neither of them are present.

---
Tale Spinner

The stallion stared at the zebra, looking torn between anger and indignation. His foal, however, practically bounced.
"I can really have the shines ticket?" Candy asked, her eyes lighting up. It was an innocent, innocuous sentence, but it prompted a snort from her father.

"Fine," he said, accompanied by an almost un-pony like growl. "I accept."
---
Flare
"Cool! I'll see you after the show then."
The reporter pony stepped back from the table with a smile, holding up a card with a crude drawing on it which, if one squinted, might resemble a pony with a mane that looked a little the reporters.

"You guys take press passes, right?"
---
Newton
The mother took the tickets with her child grumbling...until, once they were a few feet away, he let out a loud cheer; he must have gotten the message.

The next sales went much smoother than the first. In fact, with the filly reporter holding up Flares line, most of them were jumping ship to Newtons, or even just to watch what was happening with Tale.

Nodding his head as he accepted her blessing, Barkov grinned as he bent down to scoop up the young zebra and place him on his shoulder. "Thank you Three Ring. You won't regret this, I promise. Come on little one, we have to go and tell a lucky mare that she will now be performing in the circus." With a final wave to Three Ring, Barkov exited her wagon while closing the door behind him, a small zebra now perched on his shoulder.

"Now we just have to find the lucky mare..." He said aloud, looking around to see if he could spot his new assistant.

Perception Roll (Been doing a few of these lately.):

"Yes, I'm sure we do, I'll be sure to see you there." Flare said quickly. She hadn't realised how much they'd been holding every one up.

UpBeat nods at this from his position on his uncles shoulder,giving a quick bye to three rings before as they exited the wagon.
closing his eyes he mentally linked his mind to his uncles, as he had many times before 'what does she look like?' he asked telepathically and upon getting a description suddenly points in a direction 'she's that away!'

OCC:

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Héla Prose. I was hoping to talk to you about a proposition I have." She pokes at the floor with her hoof. "Well it's more like a dream of mine." Suddenly Héla became very nervous. Taking a deep breath, she decided to just say it all at once. "Since I was a filly, I've been practicing a certain type of magic. Unfortunately, regardless of my interest in it, many ponies have very poor opinions about it. My dream is to travel around Equestria displaying my magic and teaching everyone that it's not as bad as they think it is." She paused, waiting for the inevitable question that would make or break this opportunity.

Flashpoints drops to there the benches are being pushed into place, and questions one of the ponies. "Hey, where are the heavy lift sisters? Why are you guys doing this?"

Newton took a few more deep cleansing breaths, servicing the customers as they came. None of them needed special attention like the foal, which was nice. And the foal seemed happy enough at the end, which was even nicer. In fact, he was starting to get a sort of rhythm going, and as far as he could tell, the customers were appreciative. Today was a good day, he thought. Of course he'd probably still end up bolting back to his trailer as soon as the job was over, but still.

TheCavalry wrote:
Tale Spinner

The stallion stared at the zebra, looking torn between  anger and indignation. His foal, however, practically bounced.
"I can really have the shines ticket?" Candy asked, her eyes lighting up. It was an innocent, innocuous sentence, but it prompted a snort from her father.

"Fine," he said, accompanied by an almost un-pony like growl. "I accept."

"Splendid!" Tale Spinner exclaimed in an almost giddy fashion. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in memory. "To fully understand my challenge, I need to confess something." He opened his eyes with a grin. "Because I was afraid to speak when I was just a lad, my father gave me nose a tweak and told me I was bad. But then one day I learned a word that saved me achin' nose. The biggest word I ever heard and this is how it goes, oh"

Tale Spinner pulled out his singsaw and bow out of nowhere and started playing a frantic tune. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

He glanced at the father from beneath his eyebrows as he plucked a couple of notes out of the saw. "Now, you can say it backwards, which is?"

He kept on playing the same melody and switch to humming along to the song to give the father some time to think. "Um diddle, diddle diddle, um diddle ay. Um diddle, diddle diddle, um diddle ay..."

Risky tugs on the rope as requested. Noticing the grinning diamond dog returning, he says, out of earshot of the magician and with contained enthusiasm for Knot Landing, "Looks like yer pup's coming back, 'nd 'e seems a little excited for someone who jus' suggested somethin' to Three Ring. Though tha' could jus' be from the littl'un on 'is shoulder."

Hela

Three Ring listened carefully. When Hela had finished, she was silent for a moment... before frowning.

"Listen, Prose... joining a circus isn't as simple as that," she said, slowly but gently, as if trying not to be unkind. "I'm guessing you haven't had an act before. I can't just let some stranger... Look, you saw all the ponies on your way in, right? Even if I was hiring- which we aren't- they'd get first shot at it, since they've got seniority. And besides, we already have a bunch of magicians, and that's not counting acts that use magic. What I'm saying is, you'd have to have something real special to even make me consider signing you on."

For a moment, she looked guilty, as if aware she was crushing Hela's hopes.
"But, look, maybe you do have something special. Something I'd want to sign you up for before any of the competition does. What kind of magic do you do?"
---
Barkov, Upbeat, Risky, Tan, Viper

"Heh- wait, seriously?"

Knott looked at Risky, then towards the approaching Diamond Dog. She might have almost missed the zebra, if Risky hadn't pointed him out.

She stared at the approaching pair, looking back at Risky.
"No, but seriously. You think he's just grinning cause he found some foal to play with?"

Spoiler:

---
Karliah

The changeling caught the balls easily, stopping them just an inch from her face, in showmare style. It elicited a laugh from a pair of ponies approaching her.

"See?" said the taller one, who evidently had been the one to throw the balls. "I told you, she's a great juggler, not so good at taking a pie to the face."
"I said that," the shorter one grumbled. "You said she'd probably have a splat pie cutie mark if she could."
"Oh, details," the other pony said. He grinned at the changeling.

"Nice catch Karly," Minty said. At his side, Giant grumbled. The two ponies made up the rest of the circuses clowns.

--
Flashpoint

The ponies grunt in response, half collapsing once they get the bench into place. It's a single, heavy, sturdy piece; that's why the strong mares do it.

One of the ones who didn't turns to Flash, scowling.
"You're guess is as good as mine," he said, kicking the ground. "Dusty pulled these things off the carts, put 'me together, then said she needed a bathroom break. Ten minutes later, Grip says she's going to grab some lunch. I haven't seen either of them since."

---
Newton, Flare

The rest of the customers go by pretty smoothly; a tad grumpy on Flares side of the table, maybe, but it still doesn't take long for the show to be sold out, leaving quite a hefty bag of bits behind as the crowd, more or less, disperses, chatting excitedly among themselves about the upcoming show...

Except for the small knot that got drawn to Tale Spinner, Candy Coat and her father.
---
Tale Spinner
Thick Coat stared, a look that was somewhere between affront and shock. He made a few garbled attempts at speaking it, words which were virtually incomprehensible. His daughter frowned, trying to wrap her tiny mouth around the complicated syllables.

"This is stupid," Thick Coat finally growled. "How is any pony supposed to say a crazy zebra word like-"

"Suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus!"
The tiny pink foal's face lit up like a beam. "Is that a magic word?" she asked excitedly. "Did I win?"

At the sight of the ponies he and uncle barkov where looking for, upbeat suddenly points straight forward as the sound of blaring trumpets echo from around him, complete with three rings voice shouting "Charge!" towards the end.

TheCavalry wrote:
Except for the small knot that got drawn to Tale Spinner, Candy Coat and her father.
---
Tale Spinner
Thick Coat stared, a look that was somewhere between affront and shock. He made a few garbled attempts at speaking it, words which were virtually incomprehensible. His daughter frowned, trying to wrap her tiny mouth around the complicated syllables.

"This is stupid," Thick Coat finally growled. "How is any pony supposed to say a crazy zebra word like-"

"Suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus!"
The tiny pink foal's face lit up like a beam. "Is that a magic word?" she asked excitedly. "Did I win?"

Tale Spinner beamed. 'Most interesting.' He thought to himself. He continued playing his saw but added in some dancing steps as he twirled around Candy Coat.
"I traveled all around the world and everywhere I went, I'd use my word and all would say: there goes a clever gent. When Dukes and Maharajahs pass the time of day with me, I say me special word and then they ask me out to tea!"

Tale Spinner really started to get into the act, almost forgetting the fact that normally ponies had to pay to watch him sing, dance and prance around like that.
"So when the cat has got your tongue, there's no need for dismay. Just summon up this word and then you've got a lot to say."

Zazi peeked out of his mane and handed the shiny ticket to the excited foal.
"But better use it carefully or it could change your life. For example, yes, one night I said it to me girl. And now me girl..."

Tale Spinner stopped for a beat as a memory drifted into his mind. It was almost unnoticeable for those listening as he promply went on with the song.
"is me wife. And a lovely thing she is too."

He stopped hopping around all over the place. "Guess I'll see you at the big tent then." He winked at Candy Coat before giving Think Coat a smile. "It has been a pleasure. I do hope you'll enjoy the show."

And with that said, he turned around once more and quietly sang to himself as he trotted off back to his original company.
"She's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious..."
He stifled the lump in his throat. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." He whispered with a sad undertone. He didn't have much time to contemplate as Zazi began poking him in the ear.
"Yes, I know she spelled it backwards when I asked to say it backwards, which is 'dociousaliexpilisticfragicalirupes', but that's going a bit too far, don't you think?" He smirked. "Besides, it was the father who had to say it so it's still our victory."

He looked down the road. "Now let's go back and see how our friends are handling the situation."

---

Is the aforementioned knot anything special? And does Tale Spinner notice it or should he roll a Perception check? In the case of the latter: Perception = 8 + 11 = 19

Lead In:

Risky jostles the rope a little, and gives Knott a look as she neglects the rope in favor of watching the diamond dog approach. He says, "They'll be here soon enough. As fir the foal, lil' Upbeat's a parta th' Cirque too. 'S good t' see him on 'is hooves again. Or over a neck'd be more apt, I s'pose."

Dream Axis's post:

The earth pony smiles at the colt, and says, "Feelin' better th'n?"

While Barkov would never say it to the little guys face, he found the idea of ponies reading and speaking into his mind rather... unnerving. Still, fighting the shuddering that was crawling up his spine he was able to inform the little zebra just who it was that he was looking for, providing name and appearance in order to get the most out of his abilities.

Offering Risky, Knott and the weird snake owning pony a grin (Even if it was directed more at Knott than the other two... and he was keeping a bit of distance from the snake pony), Barkov put little Upbeat down before turning to Knott fully. "I just had a word with Three Ring. We'll have to pay for things like an outfit and other needed equipment from our own pocket, but if you want to do it you're in my act. Odds are you won't be performing for a little while so we can work out how our act is going to go, get things we need in order and rehearse it a lot before we present it to the public but you're in."

"Well" Hèla shuffled her hooves a bit. "Culturally it's a bit of a touchy subject. Umm... How bout I just show you."
She closes the door to the wagon. "Ok, here we go." Her horn glowed for a second. "Ok now promise you won't freak out right away."
She opens the door. A earth pony skeleton stood there with its head cocked to the side in a questioning manner.
"You called Miss. Prose?"
"Yes Jeeves. I think we might have found someone to help us."
"Very good Miss, do you need me to do any thing?"
"I think just standing there is good enough for now."
"Very well Miss."
Hèla looks back at Three Ring "Well, what do ya think?" She asked with a hopeful look on her face.    

Persuasion:

Abilities: