Crystal Symphony

The Crystal Empire hummed. The long, wide streets were packed with life, and lined with stalls selling wares, or ponies plying their trade in front of something to gather bits.

The trade, invariably, was musical. Not that that was especially surprising; whatever banners didn't depict the crystal princess or her husband were emblazoned with song notes, scales, instruments... anything which celebrated the Resonance Fair. it was an old custom of the Empire, and one which it's current rulers had decided to embrace. Judging from how ponies- musicians, dancers, and more- flooded the streets converging on the palace, the princess and prince-consort weren't alone in wanting to embrace the idea.

Of course, most of those who were arriving at the palace were doing so just to look at the crystal heart, spinning and singing at it's base... whereas a few, like the group pushing the tarp-covered cart, were arriving on invitation.
Still, most people might have been surprised that one of those who had received the invitation was a filly

Spoiler:

The train ride had been fairly pleasant, if boring, for the last hour or so. The train was busy with all the last minute arrivals to the Crystal Empire, but there had been enough seats for everyone.

Everyone, because there were a few non-ponies mixed in the group; minotaurs, do kids and cows, for the most part, but with the occasional griffon. The groups kept to themselves, though they shared a common, low-excitability about the affair. In spite the monotonous snow and icy wastes beyond the windows, everything was going fine.

Then a carriage exploded.

The train ground to a halt for a hour as it got things under control. As the conductors, running along the cars, informed the passengers someone- most likely one of the hicks they picked up in Ponyville- had gotten a bit too excited about the coming event. No pony - er, no ONE- was injured, though the party canon did make something of a mess of the compartment. The end result was a mass seating re-arrangement, multiple -and profuse- apologies from the train staff and most passengers finding themselves moved to a different car and new seats.

Spoiler:

"A Canterlot Wedding". It shouldn't be any surprise that a show center end around the marriage of the crystal empires rulers would be a heavily advertised part of the coming celebration. The fact that a pegasus had been cast as the Prince-Consort was, perhaps, a little surprising...  Though not quite as surprising as the age of the foal in question.

Of course, according to anybody who was anybody, this particular foal was a genius, an artist, a rising star, the sort of pony everybody should know... and, according to a few, the illigitamate child of the Prince-Consort, here to win his affection through portraying him on stage.

The last was, of course, rather soundly dismissed as ridiculous, but the rest stood on their own. While many of the "common" ponies were looking forward to the show simply as entertainment, there was a certain class of pony which were far more drawn in by the young star of the piece.

Of course, no one was getting anywhere near said piece at the moment. The royal family had granted the cast and crew an old building behind the palace in which to practice. It had been one of the royal libraries before the empires fall, though now most of it's books and shelves had been moved to other apartments, leaving a spacious, empty hall. It was temporary accommodations- the show itself was set to be shown on a much grander stage- but for auditions away from prying eyes, it was perfect.

Spoiler:

Blitz Load was full of energy.

Of course, this is nothing new for a foal her age - especially her! - but she was also full of questions, a very frustrating combo for all involved: and since her parents had decreed she would be judging the new guy today, this left the pain of answering those questions to the humble roadie: Bonham.

"You said your name was Bonny, right? Are we there yet? What did you say you do again? Do you think Princess Cadence has foals? Will there be coffee? When can we do that Coolness Test I was telling you about? Are we there yet? Is there a bathroom there because there should really be a bathroom there. Do you think Cadence will like the Lightning Organ? Oh, that reminds me!" She stopped to run to the back of the group to talk to the safety suit pony (Sometimes they had dancers underneath the thing getting hit by the lightning bolts, and the safety suits made that, well, safe. Which is always awesome.)

"Hey Steel Stitcher! We can hobble a safety suit for an alicorn, right? Because Princess Cadence totally has to get struck by lightning today!" She had already asked several times, but she wanted to be sure.

Door Kicker leans into his seat back, sliding down even farther. The trip had been painful enough just sharing a car with her, but after that explosion and the seat changes, Whisper had been complaining nonstop- and there weren't even any conductors around to address her concerns. She just kept complaining and making hypothetical demands and blahblablahblahblah...

DK sighs and tries to tune her out (something that hasn't worked yet), and instead looks over the other ponies in the car, who had replaced the other, more fortunate members of Whisper's crew. General, normal ponies, they seemed to be. He wonders if they realize if they were in the presence of Celestia's gift to the world herself.

For Oasis, the train trip had been a nice one for the most part. Seeing the landscape past by so quickly, and shift as well, had been a treat for her eyes. She particularly enjoyed getting to see all the snow and ice present as they began to enter the domain of the Crystal Empire. She had seen snow before, when she'd visited some tall mountains, but nothing like this, with the flakes piled up so high it was like seeing a thick layer of cream spread all across the land. She was immediately grateful for the chance to see this at least—her ticket had already paid for itself as far as she was concerned.

Still, it seemed fate had decided that this wasn't meant to be a smooth trip the whole way through. The explosion had given Oasis quite a startle, but she was grateful to learn it was from a relatively benign source. Just a party cannon, thank goodness! With everypony—er, everyone getting reassigned seating, hopefully they would be on their way soon. And not just to get to the Empire proper soon.

No, there was a mare in this new cabin who was talking and complaining at great length about the state of affairs. Oasis could understand some concern, but the mare's complaints were becoming rather... excessive. Oasis looked at the other ponies in the car, wondering if it would be out of line for her to speak up, or if perhaps it was acceptable for ponies to complain this much this far north. The sighing of an earth pony who seemed to be looking away from her seemed to imply otherwise, which gave Oasis a little confidence. She slowly trotted up to the complaining mare, and tried to take the polite approach.

“Excuse me, ma'am?” Oasis softly spoke, her Saddle Arabian accent tinging her words, “I know this hasn't been a good time for anypony, but perhaps it would be best to save some of your concerns for later? The train staff seem extremely preoccupied.”

Silver Tongue sighed a little before he took another sip of his cup of peppermint tea and tired to ignore the barely contained chaos that was a show in rehearsal while the tea helped the stress roll away. Despite it being a break for lunch, ponies were still rushing around the prepared tables covered in food while trying to do the small but very important background jobs that made the magic happen.

Something he had learned very early on was that the theater ran on drama; It was its heart and life blood after all. But much like its literal counterpart it was possible for the drama become... diseased.

Case in point, the leading mare was being...problematic. This wasn't all that strange or anything since leading mares tended to be rather self centered, jealous and envious (The two were different. Jealousy meant you were worried about someone taking what you already had. Envious was wanting what someone else had) but those was often survival traits in show business and were thus fairly standard to encounter and prepare for. The mare playing Princess Candance was... vile was a pretty good word to use. She was passive aggressive, pig headed and so petty about what she deemed to be slights and insults against her that she was single hoofingly turning the production into a toxic environment.

The fact that she had butted heads with the director and producer had resulted in an early lunch break. Silver wasn't quite sure were the mare had buggered off to, but had he given enough of a shit he could have cocked an ear and heard her voice over the background din. He took another sip of his post lunch tea. At least the mare playing Chrysalis seemed easier to work with. Got to count the small blessings where you could.

Bonham for his part was handling the questions without getting frustrated, it probably helped that he was still in awe over how Metal the foal was, not to mention her instrument.

Crystalite wrote:"You said your name was Bonny, right?

"Bonham, Pronounced Baw-Num."

Crystalite wrote:Are we there yet?

"You tell me."

Crystalite wrote:What did you say you do again?

"'m Part of the Road Crew."

Crystalite wrote:Do you think Princess Cadence has foals?

"Maybe."

Crystalite wrote:Will there be coffee?

"For the crew probably."

Crystalite wrote:When can we do that Coolness Test I was telling you about?

"Summat about a little bird and a mountain."

Crystalite wrote:Are we there yet?

"'m waiting for you to tell me.

Crystalite wrote:Is there a bathroom there because there should really be a bathroom there.

"I think so too."

Crystalite wrote:Do you think Cadence will like the Lightning Organ?

"Well she invited you here right?"

Crystalite wrote:Oh, that reminds me!"

Bonham made a slightly questioning grunt as he followed along after the foal and busted out the answer that had been given several times before.
"Fairly sure there'll be trouble if you strike royalty with lightning, even if they have a protective suit."

The filly's head drooped as Bonham answered the last question before Steel Stitcher could. She backtracled through the answers, and focused on one.

"'Bird and mountain'? What does that mean? As far as I'm concerned we just need to stop walking."

Lark had been looking forward to going to the fair. There were so many different musicians and performers, from amazing classical musicians, to the best pop singers of today. She hadn't been expecting to spend her time holed up, double and triple checking all her equipment.

Okay, portable weather machine is primed and ready, Lighting is working, speakers are working, Image inducer is working...as well as it does normally and the storage container is ready holding everything I need in case of trouble.... Of course, there was no guarantee that any of it would be needed, but it was better to be prepared. Lark allowed herself a smile and a sigh of satisfaction.

Wasting my talent working for a filly. Well, Dad, would an ordinary inventor get to meet a princess?

Bonham hid a grimace as he racked his brains for the story, something about a bird rubbing a mountain and the mountain turning into a pebble or something like that?
He settled for avoiding the question, since answering it would get him subjected to the coolness test.
""W-well don't we just have to sit tight here and wait for the royalty to come to us? I mean it's not like they have any rooms large enough for the organ?"

TheCavalry wrote:...whereas a few, like the group pushing the tarp-covered cart, were arriving on invitation.
Still, most people might have been surprised that one of those who had received the invitation was a filly.

"But we haven't gotten there yet! Why would they come to us if we're still going towards them? I mean, we're pretty cool but it's not like we're the ice cream cart," Blitz explained. "Now that I could see running towards, even if it is coming for you already. Othewise they might not notice. But princesses are pretty hard not to notice. Unless they turn invisible. Do you think Princess Cadence is invisible?"

((@GM: the random questions will continue until the plot moves forward.))

Bonham could have pushed his own face in, the cart was right there how could he have missed it?
"Well at least you could probably bum a ride on the cart, it would look bad for the band if you came up all out of breath."
He thought for a moment on the question.
"Also I hear the princesses are heavyweights magically so maybe they do know how to turn invisible."

"Ooooh..." Blitz ooh'd in response. "I'd better ask her to teach me that. As for the Coolness Test..." She stopped to watch the wagon a moment. ""It's not like we're moving super fast. We could probably do it now. It's really easy! All you have to do is try one of my favorite dance moves." She stopped and turned sideways.

"You start by standing up on two hooves, like this," she explained, getting up on her hinds, with her wings and forehooves spread out for balance. "And then you just leeeeeaaaan forward like this!"

She did just that, lowering her body towards the ground until she was "leaning" at well over a forty-five degree angle. Her forehooves and wings came down to her sides as she leaned into it. "You hold it for about a second, and if you don't fall over," she continued, pulling back up straight, "Then that's really cool!" She fell back on all fours. "Sapphire Shores taught me that! Okay, your turn now."

Bonham sighed internally and stood on his hinds, forehooves held up above him as he prepared to do the move.
I feel ridiculous, hope noponyelse sees me
He held his forelegs out to his sides and started leaning forwards.

Roll:

Blitz, Bonham, Lark

...and forwards, and forwards, and-
Bonham stopped before his face kissed the pavement slabs, but not because of his own skill. Instead, he stopped because a light blue aura had wrapped itself around him, picking him up and setting him back on all four hooves.

Though being saved pain didn't necessarily save dignity. Despite the crews slow pace, they were close enough to the palace for guards to begin lining the walkways, and more than a few began laughing. They were quickly cut off, however, by a voice coming from... above?

"Are you alright?"
There was a light sound as four hoofs touched down on the ground in front of Ironherde, their owners face creased with some concern. There was a moment of awkward silence, filled a second later by a quick trumpet blast and a declaration:
"Um... Her Majesty, Crystal-Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

The guard pony sounded confused. Obviously, whatever entrance had been planned for the monarch, saving a zebra from falling and flying from a balcony hadn't been it.


Oasis, Door Kicker

"-I mean really, a party cannon? Obviously someone isn't doing their job right. I mean, who in their right mind would let something like that on board? Who would even pack something like that? When we get off, we need to talk to whoever is in charge."

Whisper stopped speaking as Oasis approached her, glancing and rolling her eyes-goodnaturedly, of course- behind a hoof. Clearly, despite taking the train- or the subway; someone had said that was what fashionable ponies called it- she'd been recognised. Sigh. Adoring fans were the burden of fame.

Instead, as Oasis spoke, her smile dropped, and Whisper stared in shock.
"Excuse me! They're preoccupied? We're the one's running late, so I'd say my concerns are very important. I mean, what if we'd been in the carriage when the cannon went off? Do you have any idea what that would do to your hearing-"

Oh no. That was it, wasn't it. She misheard the unicorn. What if the explosion did damage her hearing?
The Pegasus turned away from Oasis, and towards the one pony who's opinion she could always, always rely on.
"Door, is my hearing off? No wait, does my voice sound funny to you? How's this sound, Door?"

Ignoring the mare for a moment, Whisper began singing the first few verses from ope of her songs. A scale might have done just as well, of course, but Door would probably be able to tell any differences better with one of her personal songs.

Silver

"I thought I was supposed to be the one sucking the love out of the room," Rising Star- the actress playing Chrysallis- muttered, just loud enough for the crew still present to hear.

"What do you think, Silver," she added, addressing him with a smile. "Maybe we should make a last minute re-write. If she acts like that on stage, we'll have the whole crowd rooting for the changelings."

"Well, foo," Blitz commented as somebody saved him from the pavement. Her next comment was silenced by the decent of the Princess.

The filly's eyes widened. If Princess Cadence asked how that had happened! Time to change the center of attention.

"Bonny! Bonny, turn around, she DID come to us!" she said, feigning a slight panic as thought this were a bad thing (It wasn't). "We're doing it all wrong! What should we do!?" she said, hovering high enough to grab the poor zebra's head and shake it slightly.

Yellow font doesn't work.

---

There is a subtle sound of something popping from Door Kicker when she begins to sing- best not ask what it was. He looks over at her, smiling mostly with his eyebrows as he listens. Her voice wasn't bad, actually- but he would never admit that. Of course, he would also never tell her it grinded on him like a belt sander, so after a few notes he pipes up. "NOPE! SOUNDS GREAT! SOUNDS JUUUUUUST GREAT." Another noise, this one of skull lightly smacking glass as he goes back to the window. But he glances back at the mare who had stepped forward, shooting her a look- one that he hoped would be interpreted as "Thanks for trying, get out while you still can."

Bonham smiled slightly and ducked his head, the coolness test had been all in good fun but now it was time to work, then lowered his voice to whisper.
"Don't worry about it kid just greet her like you'd greet anypony else."
From there he raised his head and his voice.
"Let's hear it for Blitz Load everypony!"
Then he stepped away from Blitz load and let her get the attention.

Roll:

Under most other circumstances, Oasis would have been glad to hear some somepony knock out some verses she'd never heard, but this was—oh my—the singing itself didn't seem bad but the pony who was doing the singing was being, oh what was the word... conceited? And it was hard to appreciate even good music is something tainted it's source.

Apparently the exasperated looking pony next to her knew her in some capacity, and judging from his reaction, he didn't seem crazy about this either. Oasis bit her bottom lip for a moment as she tried to think of what to do. This “Door” fellow didn't seem to have much high hopes about anything, and Oasis was about ready to see if she couldn't trade her seat with somepony. But then some other poor soul would need to tolerate this mare's attitude, and Oasis didn't want to add to the wave of complaints being waved towards the train crew.

“Erm, yes, your hearing seems to be working quite well. That is very fortunate. And I hope that if anyway close to the party cannon had any hearing damage that they will manage to overcome it by the time we reach the Empire. Until then, well, um...”

Think Oasis, think! Surely there must be some way to help calm this mare down?

“Perhaps it would be best to try focusing on something constructive, perhaps something else time sensitive, like, eeeh...”

Oasis levitated a small travel brochure out of her cloak that she had picked up while she was at the train station.

“Like, for me, I still haven’t figured out where to go for room and board, so I might try to pick something out,” Oasis innocently suggested, not thinking about how a semi-successful pop-star like the pony she was talking to likely had reservations somewhere. She flipped through the pages, “Ooh, Red Hoof Inn has a coupon for cheap.”

Doc pseudopolis wrote:"Let's hear it for Blitz Load everypony!"
Then he stepped away from Blitz load and let her get the attention.

Roll:

Blitz knew a cue when she heard one. She zipped up to the top of the wagon for the best visibility and struck a pose as she noted that Bonham (apparently) didn't like too much attention on him...

Persuasion:

"To be fair, in order to suck the love out of a room you first have to be able to inspire it. Something I'm sure you'll be more then able to do Ms Star." Silver answered back with a slightly playful tone to his voice, a small smile on his face as he turned towards his co-star, keeping the conversation between them and the crew members that were still around them.

"I suspect that the director wants to avoid throwing her out on her flank out the door. As much of a bitch as she is, she does a really good job of pretending to be Chrysallis while she is pretending to be Princess Cadance... It's just when she tries acting as anything that isn't herself that she seems to have trouble with." Taking another sip of his cup of tea and finishing it off, Silver turned to look at Raising and asked "So how are you finding the role of being queen of a swarm of love eaters? You seemed to be having a lot of fun with it when we were practicing the 'big revel' earlier."

"Speaking of..." Glancing around a little at those around the food table, Silver noticed the faces that were clearly missing from the cast of backstage workers and the actors of minor roles. "Did you happen to see where any of the 'Bearers of Harmony' or the 'Princesses' disappeared to? I haven't seen or heard a peep from them since 'Cadance' started her fit and reduced that poor flower filly to tears." Child actors had a rough deal when it came to show business; Meeting somepony like the 'Star of the Show' really didn't do them any favors. He already had plans to make sure the poor filly got a small bag of sweets to try and salvage her day.

Bonham, Lark, Blitz
It took a moment- a sudden arrival by a princess did tend to overshadow most things- but Blitz leaping to a pose seemed to crystalise the moment. The few, scattered stamps of approval intensified, accompanied by a few cheers.

Oddly enough, some of the guards joined in. That might not have been so unusual, if not for the fact that the ones who grinned and cheered were the ones with wings, or plain coats; the guard ponies drafted from the crystal empire seemed, almost unanimously, unamused.

Cadence seemed to lean towards the former.
"Well, it looks like you are every bit as energetic as I'd heard," she said. The stamping of hooves died down as she spoke, though she shared most of her subjects entertained expression.

"There was something I wanted to discuss with you but... it looks as if you've gained something of a audience. An audience which, I think, I speak on behalf of when I ask if miss Blitz and Ironherde would mind giving a public show."

Oasis, Door
"You're sure," Whisper pressed. "Positive?"

Well, she'd blown any cover now, obviously. That was a shame, especially since it meant she had just declared, to an entire compartment that yes, Lady Whi5per really was on board.
Of course, at the moment the entire compartment consisted of herself, Door-obviously-, some of her entourage, the silly mare babbling about red hoofs in front of her, and another unicorn, who was staring out the window. Probably so Whi5per wouldn't think she was "squeeing"... though the unicorn in front of her was rambling enough for both of them.

Actually, that made sense, didn't it? She was probably so stunned, she was prattling about anything that came to mind. Poor mare; Whisper suddenly felt sort-of sorry for her.

"I don't think it's going to matter how cheap it is if there aren't any rooms. If you didn't notice, things are pretty busy right now. You picked a bad to go sight seeing in Equestrian."
Well, of course she was a tourist, what else could she be? The accent gave it away. Though that did spark a different idea entirely.

"Oh! When this is over, we should tour Equestria,"she said excitedly, turning to Door Kicker. "Oh! Or how about a world tour? We could even announce it when we get to the Crystal Empire, so once it's finished we can just go on to Manehatten, Canterlot, the Griffon Kingdoms, Saddle Arabia-" she nodded in Oasis'. direction- "maybe even Zebrica. Think about how many new ponies would hear m- us!"

Silver Tongue
Rising frowned at the memory.

"I think they took her out for ice-cream," she answered, shaking her head a little. "I wouldn't want to hang around here if I were her, either. Heck, I don't really want to stick around here period. I was supposed to meet my parents to show them around before the festivities this evening but..."

She shrugged, the action shaking her "wings" in the process, a pair of gossamer-silk constructs.

"Still, being 'in-character' has benefits," she added after a moments thought, suddenly gesturing impiously at one of the crew "Drone! Your Queen requires refreshment! Fetch her a beverage!"
The coffee boy "drone" laughed, probably at least a little because Stars voice sounded less like Chrysalis and more like the leading lady.

"Yes, in case you can't tell, I'm enjoying the role," Rising Star decided. "A duet with her majesty isn't...great...but "This Day Aria" is the best song. Fact," she added, grinning for emphasis.

"What about you? I mean... a villain is one thing, and Chryssie is a pretty creepy villain. But you're going to be playing Shining Armor in front of Shining Armor. But you don't seem worried at all about it."[/color]

Blitz was a little disappinted by the lack of enthusiasm from the crystal ponies, and she resolved to find out why that had happened later: right now she was busy being shocked by the Princess' request. "Wait - right here?" Blitz looked down from her perch. "Right now?" She zipped down to Lark, the special effects pony.

"Can we actually do that? It usually takes a while to get everything set up," she whisered.

"Oh, I have all my things right here.Lark pulled out her portable storage container, which carried everything Lark could possibly need. Just tell me what song you want to perform, and give me a few minutes to set up."

Meanwhile, Door Kicker rolls his eyes behind Whisper's back. "I think that would be fantastic." He says, leaving out the part about leading her into a Zebra jungle and losing her in quicksand. He looks over at Oasis, and smirks a bit, giving her a sarcastic "kill me now" motion. "Your voice and your hearing are fine and that's a great idea and stuff. I'm gonna go see if I can find some refreshments." He stands up and makes his way to the door of the car.

"Oh! The magic box!" Blitz responded with a facehoof. "I keep forgetting about that. Yeah, let's do it!" She zipped to the Princess.

"Just a few minutes now. I forgot about Lark's Instant Stage tech! You may wanna back up a little bit."