The City That Lives (IC, Steampunk/Pony/Anthro/Human)

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Shimmer
Shimmer looked at him shyly. She really wanted to ask him about that dance but, what would he say about her. She listened to his reasoning and then glanced at her outfit, it certainly did seem like he would say yes but they had only been dating for a day, maybe two or three she really hadn't been keeping track. Instead she opted to just look down at the ground and meekly ask, "C-could you h-hold my hoof." She said softly, sticking to her Blink side and hiding the other one.

Blink/Sunbreaker
Sunbreaker looked at Grace in stunned silence. She had always thought of Grace as a friend and she had also never thought about . . . You know . . . Dating mares. She stood and watched Grace with her mouth open a little for an awkwardly long time before Blink teleported onto her shoulder and sat there like a lone conscience, "She said please, you have to say yes now." She said and giggled. Sunbreaker looked at Blink curiously and blinked for a while. She then turned to Grace with a shy smile, romance really had never crossed her mind before, "I-I g-guess there's n-no harm in going." She said softly. "I mean, you're a r-really nice mare, and y-you're very pretty too s-so I g-guess it could . . . I mean y-yeah . . . I well . . . Erm . . . " She looked down at the floor and wrung her hands together. "W-well, th-that is to say, I um, yes, I would like to go out with you. I-I think that would be fun." She said with a weak smile, realising how awkward she must have been. Blink disappeared and reappeared, throwing random confetti into the air and landing with a clunk, "YAY! GRACEY'S GOT A MAREFRIEND!" She said loudly.

Malthazar Asbertius Craven
Mac chuckled and nodded, "Yep, imagine how popular it was with the miners. A three year old swingin' a pick with the name Malthazar. Hence why it's just Mac now, but ye can call me whatever ye like Concerto. Oh, fer the recerd, Asbertius came from me pa. Who knows where his folks got it from." He said and shrugged. He sat contentedly toying with the hoofbusters and nuzzling Concerto. "How's the book?" He asked him curiously.

[Morlodania]

Sunbreaker
Sunbreaker smiled sheepishly at Pell and nodded, "I guess I'm making life awkward for you again *sigh* sorry." She said and chuckled a little. "I guess I must have thrown things a little out of whack for you, just rolling up and acting all friendly." She said softly and shook her head. "I guess I should have been a little more sensitive, royalty or not but still. We can still be friends despite the royalty thing right? Like Magrath doesn't have anything against princes having friends does it?" She asked shyly.

Clock
Clock stayed silent for a long while after Jorgen spoke, it acted in a way that seemed similar to disappointment but not quite the same. "I understand. Thank you for make me father." It said and turned to watch the others. Suddenly it wrapped its hooves around Jorgen gently, "I think this called hug. I use right?" It asked curiously. "What magic is?" It asked as well.

"I don't mind at all. It's just new for me is all." Pell smiled to her this time. "Although... Magrath is a Matriarchy, males like myself really have no power... I'm just royalty for marriage purposes." He shrugged. "I can't hold the throne, though. Neither can my father."

Jorgen smiled to Clock. "No need to thank me, Clock." He almost jumped when she hugged him, but hugged her back. "Yes, this is a hug, and you used it perfectly. Magic is something that unicorns can do, although I don't understand how it works."

Trit stared at the boxes at the door for a moment before looking along the path to the door, and shrugged, pulling them inside and toward the Manufactorum.

[New Babylonia]

Snow
Snow looked in her box at the new wrench for her and smiled, it was possibly the best gift nobody ever gave her because, who wanted a wrench? Besides her. She looked at Aurora curiously, "What's wrong? That's a very nice pair of hooflets(bracelets). I've heard of those things, they apparently give unicorns special powers or something like that." She said and shrugged, gesturing to the hooflets with markings of fire on one and ice on another.

"They're weird..." Aurora squints at them. She'd never seen any devices like this, not in magazines, articles, any books she'd written, never heard of them actually. "In all the books i've read they never said anything about magic hooflets..." She puts them on slowly, as if waiting for some sort of fun explosions, which of course did not happen. "I don't feel any different. Maybe they're defective." She taps on them, once again as if waiting for something to happen. "Well somepony is getting a very strongly worded letter for this...this...whats the word i want?" She sits on the floor and thinks for several moments, before coming up with something. "Asshattery! Yeah!"

[The Flutterlands]

Rouge
Rouge smiled and got out of bed. She approached the box nonchalantly in her naked form and picked them up before bring them to the bed, dragging Pitch along with her. "I like the bed better." She said with a giggle and climbed back under the covers with him. She opened her box first and gasped. Inside there sat two ornate black leather gloves and a matching black leather suit. "Mmm, looks sexy, good timing too, I don't think I can find my last set of clothes after last night." She said and kissed Pitch. The black gloves had metal inlays that enveloped her claws and acted as longer, sharper ones. "Oh, beautiful and deadly." She said with a giggle. Inside Pitch's box were four spherical black powder bombs along with a recipe to make them and a sash which held up to ten of them at a time.

For Clover and Shade
For Clover their was a pack of five pocket notebooks with ornate covers and a velvet backing. There was an ornate, silver ball point pen (one of the first ) with his new name on it. It also had a switch near the top that made a poisoned needle extrude from the tip. Inside Shade's box was a compressed gas powered dart pistol along with a tincture of insanity inducing fluid and a recipe for the poison, guaranteed to drive the biggest person insane in a few heartbeats.

Pitch
Pitch smiled at Roo, and looked at her new black suit. "Can I see you put it on, sexy?" he asked, raising both if his eyebrows. Pitch then brought his attention to his box, and gazed at the grenades, and recipe inside. "They're... beautiful." he said fondly, "A marvelous explosion they would make." Pitch then began to read the recipe for making more bombs. "Thank you, who ever gave us these." he said, bringing his attention back to Roo, "Now let's see you put that sexy suit on, Sexy."

Clover and Shade
Clover lifted his new notebook and pen, from the box with magic. He examined the ornate silver ballpoint pen, with his new named engraved, and it's poisonous needle. A fine weapon for tight situations. thought Clover, Good notebook, too. I should thank the person who gave us these. Shade chuckled. "Cool looking pen you got, eh Clover?" Shade took out his dart pistol, and examined it, fondly. He read the recipe for making insanity fluid. "I love new toys." said Shade with a snicker, "I'm going to enjoy using these."

[Crumlark]

Angel
Angel looked at him curiously as he ate. She observed his odd actions critically. "Well, it would seem you are used to fine dining then." She said plainly. "No commoner would claim this to be a light lunch." She said as he left. She stood up with her own empty plate having probably refused any offer he might have made to wash her plate. She stood next to him at the sink and watched, he seemed to have zoned out before she entered. She finished washing her plate first and began washing some of the pots and pans. "Hey, Athachatelme, are you still on this planet?" She said hoping his full name would break his trance. There was a knock at the door which she responded to by dropping the pans into the sink of soapy water and drying her hands, "I'LL BE THERE NOW!" She shouted loudly and looked to Atha, "Are you okay?" She asked him concernedly.

Atha blinked rapidly, looking about. "Yeah... I'm fine." He struggled to his feet, looking for the pots and pans he could have sworn were still filthy. Bewildered by the passage of time since he stopped paying attention to the world, he offered his hand to Angel and apologized for whatever wrongs he had committed with his withdrawal. "Sorry for being so odd acting, must have been the wine. It reminded me of something I had forgotten."

---------

Athachatelme was walking down the marsh-path, abreast of three other gentlemen, two of them in heavy armor more suited to war than to escort, and one of them in a red vest over a plain white robe, wearing thick leather boots and simple pants. "So truly, our power lies with the fountain." The gentleman finished explaining. "Men chase power to fill the cavern that betrays their mortality, so those in power will naturally bend to our will."
Athachatelme looked at the gentleman strangely. "And why do you share this power with me now? Surely it is best kept to as few people as possible." A name suddenly was attached to the gentleman, 'Athachatelme'. But it is such a strange thing that two men named so strangely and similarly were to meet. On either side of the narrow path was deep mud, haunted by reptilian predators, and the colored lights of the fair still tinted the distance where the path started. Over their heads were branches filtering the pure moonbeams, framing the scene in shadow and secrecy. And suddenly, the four men had reached their destination.
The legendary Fountain of Youth.

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Sunbreaker
Sunbreaker looked from Grace to Pell and paused before she nodded. "O-oh, I uh, I see. That's unfortunate." She said, taken completely by surprise by Pell's normality even after Sunbreaker had just been asked on a date by Grace. "I umm . . I think I'm going to have to say goodbye soon though." She said softly and smiled warmly to Grace. She saw Trit approach with the boxes and raised a curious eyebrow.

Clock
Clock whirred happily, "Hug good, Sunbreaker give good hug. Teach Clock good hug." It said and released Jorgen from the hug. "Thank you for hug. Sister has boxes, I go see what in boxes." It said and trotted over to Trit. It made an odd collection of sounds which Jorgen would interpret as, "What in boxes Sister?"

Snow
Snow's brow creased in a confused frown. "My mother had an obsession with these things. If I remember correctly there should be some sort of . . . Here." She said and gestured to a symbol on the hooflet. She traced it out and instantly the markings on that one, the fire one, glowed bright red. Aurora felt knowledge added to her mind, spells and ways to manipulate fire. Snow smiled and nodded, "There, wanna try some magic?" She asked curiously.

Rouge
Rouge giggled and pulled the suit out before hopping out of bed. She looked around and set the clothes down as she began searching the room. "Now, where the hell did I leave my underclothes." She said as she searched on the floor and everywhere. She lifted the sheets and kissed Pitch's chest as she pulled them out from under her pillow. "There we go." She said and slipped them on before sliding into the suit with a little difficulty. She zipped up the skin tight leather suit and giggled. Her bright red tail stuck through a custom fitted hole and the entire thing hugged her curvaceous figure tighter than Pitch. "What do you think hun?"

[New Babylonia]

Snow
Snow's brow creased in a confused frown. "My mother had an obsession with these things. If I remember correctly there should be some sort of . . . Here." She said and gestured to a symbol on the hooflet. She traced it out and instantly the markings on that one, the fire one, glowed bright red. Aurora felt knowledge added to her mind, spells and ways to manipulate fire. Snow smiled and nodded, "There, wanna try some magic?" She asked curiously.

Aurora looked at glasses of water she had on the table. Curious, her horn glowed as she attempted to freeze them. Not realizing her own strength, they freeze at such violent speed that the glasses explode. "Ooops..." She giggled at the broken shards of glass and magicked them into a nearby waste bin, before curiosity took over again. Her horn glowed again, and the wastebin was quickly turned into a pile of ash. Amused throughly by this Aurora jumped and down giggling and clapping her hooves. "Ohhh this is FUN!" She now had crazy eyes and spoke the sentence as if going insane, looking around for something to vaporize.

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Angel
Angel took his hand in both of hers and shook her head, "Beau, don't apologise, really, there's no need. Something reminded you of something, if anything you should be overjoyed." She said with a faint smile. "I just have to answer the door, back in a few." She said and disappeared out the door. She reappeared a while later with two boxes and held one out to Beau, it had his name on it, "Gifts it would seem. Well? Go on, open it." She said and opened hers, gasping at the shoes inside, they were simple and feminine but the toes concealed a blade and the back of one had been opened to show a venom compartment. She smiled a little and sighed, "I really shouldn't need these . . . But something about you turning up makes me think I might find use for them in the near future." She said with a chuckle.

Snow
Snow looked at Aurora cautiously, "Aura, let's calm down with the burny stuff mkay dear?" She asked and placed a paw on Aurora's mane. "You should save it for the bruisers." She said with a gentle smile and sighed. "Maybe Silv was onto something with this rebellion." She whispered to herself, feeling the anger towards the city for taking him from her.

[New Babylonia]

Angel
Angel took his hand in both of hers and shook her head, "Beau, don't apologise, really, there's no need. Something reminded you of something, if anything you should be overjoyed." She said with a faint smile. "I just have to answer the door, back in a few." She said and disappeared out the door. She reappeared a while later with two boxes and held one out to Beau, it had his name on it, "Gifts it would seem. Well? Go on, open it." She said and opened hers, gasping at the shoes inside, they were simple and feminine but the toes concealed a blade and the back of one had been opened to show a venom compartment. She smiled a little and sighed, "I really shouldn't need these . . . But something about you turning up makes me think I might find use for them in the near future." She said with a chuckle.

Snow
Snow looked at Aurora cautiously, "Aura, let's calm down with the burny stuff mkay dear?" She asked and placed a paw on Aurora's mane. "You should save it for the bruisers." She said with a gentle smile and sighed. "Maybe Silv was onto something with this rebellion." She whispered to herself, feeling the anger towards the city for taking him from her.

Aurora nodded, calming herself down. Meanwhile, after having run about the city causing minor amounts of mischief, Shadow casually jumped through a window into Mac's house. Aurora jumped at the sound, springing around and blasting a hole in the wall with a fire blast. Shadow rolled to the ground and looked up eyes wide in surprised fear.

"For fucks sake watch what yer doing with that!"

"Ooops, sorry!"

"For the love of all things holy dive through a window these days and some pyscho mare tries to kill you..."

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Snow
Snow looked at Shadow curiously and raised her new wrench, tapping it against the palm of her other hand while she watched him. "Well, you did just break an entering, so she has every right to. Who the hell are you? You part of my brother's rebellion?" She asked and looked to Aurora, "Be ready to blast him if he makes a wrong move." She whispered.

[New Babylonia]

Snow
Snow looked at Shadow curiously and raised her new wrench, tapping it against the palm of her other hand while she watched him. "Well, you did just break an entering, so she has every right to. Who the hell are you? You part of my brother's rebellion?" She asked and looked to Aurora, "Be ready to blast him if he makes a wrong move." She whispered.

"Don't worry Snow, i saw him earlier, he was fighting this spider-robot thingy. I bet it was trying to kill us too!"

"Why else would come in here? If i'm going to invade a home, its going to be a rich one. And that adorable little wrench isn't going to do much against a katana." He looked at Aurora. "Fireballs, on the other hand, will work pretty well i think."

"YES!" She shouts, jumping up in the air.

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

"Don't worry Snow, i saw him earlier, he was fighting this spider-robot thingy. I bet it was trying to kill us too!"

"Why else would come in here? If i'm going to invade a home, its going to be a rich one. And that adorable little wrench isn't going to do much against a katana." He looked at Aurora. "Fireballs, on the other hand, will work pretty well i think."

"YES!" She shouts, jumping up in the air.

Snow lowered her wrench with a smirk. "You've clearly never seen me using a wrench have you?" She asked rhetorically and chuckled. "Well, my brother's dead so it's Mac's rebellion now." She said with a pang of sadness. "Just, do what you want, I'm going to go cry a bit more, I hear that helps." She said and walked slowly back into Mac's room, where her brother lay. A wooden box with Shadow's name on it flew through the window Shadow had leapt through and landed next to him.

[New Babylonia]

"Don't worry Snow, i saw him earlier, he was fighting this spider-robot thingy. I bet it was trying to kill us too!"

"Why else would come in here? If i'm going to invade a home, its going to be a rich one. And that adorable little wrench isn't going to do much against a katana." He looked at Aurora. "Fireballs, on the other hand, will work pretty well i think."

"YES!" She shouts, jumping up in the air.

Snow lowered her wrench with a smirk. "You've clearly never seen me using a wrench have you?" She asked rhetorically and chuckled. "Well, my brother's dead so it's Mac's rebellion now." She said with a pang of sadness. "Just, do what you want, I'm going to go cry a bit more, I hear that helps." She said and walked slowly back into Mac's room, where her brother lay. A wooden box with Shadow's name on it flew through the window Shadow had leapt through and landed next to him.

"OOOhhhh this ones for you!" Aurora teleported infront the box and levitated it to Shadow. "The one with my name had these hooflets in it! They're magical!"

Shadow rolled his eyes at the young mare's hyperactivity and slowly opened the box, expecting an explosion to erupt in his face.

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Shadow's box contained a pair of black sais which seemed to reflect light oddly, sometimes seeming to absorb it and other times seeming to bend it around the weapon. This gave it the impression of only half existing, although the sharp metal points said otherwise to any victims close enough. Along with the sighs were a large collection of smoke capsules.

[New Babylonia]

Shadow's box contained a pair of black sais which seemed to reflect light oddly, sometimes seeming to absorb it and other times seeming to bend it around the weapon. This gave it the impression of only half existing, although the sharp metal points said otherwise to any victims close enough. Along with the sighs were a large collection of smoke capsules.

Shadow took the two small blades and looked at them. "Neat." He quickly sheathed them on two small pockets built into his suit for knives, and strung the smoke capsules on either side. Aurora of course, studied the blades curiously.

"How are they like, dark but reflecting and eating light? That's not how light works! Bad knives, bad! You can't disobey physics like that! How do you even exist?"

"Do you EVER shut up?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You're annoying as hell, just stop talking."

"But i like talking..." She walks away sadly. "You're a big meanie!"

[Das Metro]

Shimmer
Shimmer looked at him shyly. She really wanted to ask him about that dance but, what would he say about her. She listened to his reasoning and then glanced at her outfit, it certainly did seem like he would say yes but they had only been dating for a day, maybe two or three she really hadn't been keeping track. Instead she opted to just look down at the ground and meekly ask, "C-could you h-hold my hoof." She said softly, sticking to her Blink side and hiding the other one.

Oddity smiled. Lover's intuition wins again! "You don't have to ask Shimmer!" Oddity said, giggling, and took her hoof into his. The Cabaret was just around the corner, and Oddity couldn't help but be excited. They rounded the corner and Oddity whistled seeing his building, despite having seen it a bazillion times. "That's it right there, the big fancy black building with lights out front!" Oddity said happily pointing. He stopped outside and looked at the sign. It wasn't quite closed yet, but Oddity could close down early, he didn't want Belle to walk in, and be scarred for the rest of her natural born life, and them some. "You wait out here, I'll close down so you don't see something... lewd," he assured her.

Oddity trotted inside and clopped him hooves, "Attention please! The Cabaret will be closing early today, please, get your clothes and come back tomorrow!" he looked at one patron who didn't seem set on leaving, "Hey, buddy, she'll be here tomorrow, come on, get out." The patron begrudingly left and Oddity trotted over to his room at the back of the club. Sometimes, it'd be used for dances... He just wanted to make sure it was clean. Oddity pushed the door open and was greeted by Opium, laying on his bed, reading a book. "Hey Oddity, it's about damn time," Opium said with a smile.

Oddity paled, "Why are you here?.."

"What, I can't see my brother?" Opium asked, hopping off the bed. He trotted over to Oddity and smiled. Oddity frowned, he didn't like the look in Opium's eye. He glanced over his shoulder, the Cabaret had finally been cleared out, even the dancers had left... "Is there a problem Oddity?" Opium asked.

"N-No, I have... company over, and I need you to... t-to leave."

Opium snickered, "Oddity's got a marefriend huh? That's cute... Is she outside?"

Oddity turned, "Yeah."

"Good," Opium said and flexed his hoof, the blade of the hoof clasp darting out. Oddity felt a burning rip through his left foreleg, and looked down. Opium had opened an inch deep gash in the soft coat, and Oddity collapsed forward with a yelp. Turning, Opium bucked Oddity in the chest as he crumpled, and sent him flying back several inches. Oddity coughed profusely, his back up against the door. "This is a long fucking time coming..." Opium growled as he approached him.

Oddity knocked the iron door open and tried to get up, though Opium stomped on his left hindleg, and Oddity saw stars as he felt bones break. Oddity shouted in pain and dropped back to the ground. As he tried to crawl through the doorway, Opium stepped over him, and blocked the way. "Normally, I would just shoot you, but I want it to be slow..." Oddity tried turning and, and Opium grabbed him by his broken hindleg and jerked backwards. Oddity wailed in pain as he was dragged backwards away from his room a foot. Opium watched as Oddity resumed crawling again... He was literally standing off to the side, watching as he inched his way to the door. Finally, Oddity's right foreleg extended forward into the room, and Opium grinned manically. With a hefty push, Opium rammed the iron door shut... Right on Oddity's foreleg.

The sound was ungodly. First a horrifying crunch and snap, then the horrible wailing of Oddity. Opium smiled and kneeled down to the look at the foreleg stuck in the door, jammed between the metal frame and iron door. It looked like it was about to fall off... Opium stood up, and left for the backdoor, he was very happy with his end results... Oddity however, was hanging onto conciousness by a thread. "Shimmer!" he wailed, and struggled slightly against the door, "Ugh!.. I CALL FUCKIN' HACKS!"

[The Flutterlands]

Rouge
Rouge giggled and pulled the suit out before hopping out of bed. She looked around and set the clothes down as she began searching the room. "Now, where the hell did I leave my underclothes." She said as she searched on the floor and everywhere. She lifted the sheets and kissed Pitch's chest as she pulled them out from under her pillow. "There we go." She said and slipped them on before sliding into the suit with a little difficulty. She zipped up the skin tight leather suit and giggled. Her bright red tail stuck through a custom fitted hole and the entire thing hugged her curvaceous figure tighter than Pitch. "What do you think hun?"

Pitch gazed at Roo in her new outfit, and grinned. "You look hot, in that outfit!" he said flirtatiously, "I love it already!" Pitch then wrapped his forelegs around Roo, and hugged her tight. However, Pitch remembered what happened yesterday, and frowned. "I'm not sure, when they're actually going to hold the funeral." he said, "Let's have some breakfast before we do anything else, though. I have muffins, if you want some."

[Sungai Pusat]

Blink/Sunbreaker
Sunbreaker looked at Grace in stunned silence. She had always thought of Grace as a friend and she had also never thought about . . . You know . . . Dating mares. She stood and watched Grace with her mouth open a little for an awkwardly long time before Blink teleported onto her shoulder and sat there like a lone conscience, "She said please, you have to say yes now." She said and giggled. Sunbreaker looked at Blink curiously and blinked for a while. She then turned to Grace with a shy smile, romance really had never crossed her mind before, "I-I g-guess there's n-no harm in going." She said softly. "I mean, you're a r-really nice mare, and y-you're very pretty too s-so I g-guess it could . . . I mean y-yeah . . . I well . . . Erm . . . " She looked down at the floor and wrung her hands together. "W-well, th-that is to say, I um, yes, I would like to go out with you. I-I think that would be fun." She said with a weak smile, realising how awkward she must have been. Blink disappeared and reappeared, throwing random confetti into the air and landing with a clunk, "YAY! GRACEY'S GOT A MAREFRIEND!" She said loudly.

Sunbreaker
Sunbreaker looked from Grace to Pell and paused before she nodded. "O-oh, I uh, I see. That's unfortunate." She said, taken completely by surprise by Pell's normality even after Sunbreaker had just been asked on a date by Grace. "I umm . . I think I'm going to have to say goodbye soon though." She said softly and smiled warmly to Grace. She saw Trit approach with the boxes and raised a curious eyebrow.

Grace blinked briefly at Blink's words and lightly laughed, hoping to cast away some nervousness. "That's Blinkey for ya... just sorta a really random pony." She rolled her eyes with a small smile as the heat slowly rose to her cheeks. "S-s-so... um, yes it is?C-cool then..." She squeaked the words out as she looked at her, briefly entranced in Sunbreaker's eyes before tilting her head over anywhere else but them, shuffling her hooves weakly about as she saw the wheels roll, the birds chirp and the sun burning bright above them.

"Just like her namesake..." Her mind internally hummed and she let out a soft, blissful sigh. At this, she shook her head furiously and gave a broad smile to Sunbreaker, which, upon realisation of what was going on presently, grew noticeably more crooked as time went by. Plainly, she gave a slow nod and her smile faded away a little, much to her relief. "I-It's okay if you have to stay, Sunbreaker..." She whispered hoarsely. "W-we can go at any time: I-If this has something to do with the rebellion, it's more important, after all... I-I mean, I guess I could take you out to dinner or somewhat... I don't mind..." She let out a weak sigh before looking up expectantly at Sunbreaker, her eyes wandering into hers as she strained for her face to stay just as serious as she had hoped she'd looked from before, which is something she could be sure of that probably wasn't the case.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Malthazar Asbertius Craven
Mac chuckled and nodded, "Yep, imagine how popular it was with the miners. A three year old swingin' a pick with the name Malthazar. Hence why it's just Mac now, but ye can call me whatever ye like Concerto. Oh, fer the recerd, Asbertius came from me pa. Who knows where his folks got it from." He said and shrugged. He sat contentedly toying with the hoofbusters and nuzzling Concerto. "How's the book?" He asked him curiously.

Concerto

Concerto giggled a little and smiled. "Well, it's nothing that I don't already have tons of. I have many dozens of songs in public circulation, and I don't exactly need to plagiarize somepony named Octavia's music." Concerto said, picking up the book and flipping through it. "It has good music and all, though, so I suppose I could play through this when I need to practice..." Concerto pondered aloud. "Although, it's not really my style...My songs are fast-paced and energetic, this Octavia mare's songs are much too slow paced for it to match my tastes..." He thought aloud, barely paying attention to anything around him. "But, then again, it never hurts to practice a little bit of everything...Hmm..." He thought aloud before realizing that he was talking to himself and snapped back to reality with a light blush. "You know, just a vinyl record or, even better, a new gramophone would've been a wonderful gift; after all, being able to listen to music without having an orchestra play for you is a great gift. I wonder whom it was that sent us these gifts, now that I think about it." He said, thinking back to his destroyed house and regretting the fact that he didn't bring his gramophone with him.

[The Republic of Greater Appalachia]

The street was for the most part empty except for the fact I was being chased by several armed thugs. I didn't want to leave bodies in the open street if I could help it. I found a alley and ran into it. I was only wearing a suit, but I had the bracelet that had my hidden blades in it on, just in case this happened. I run to the end of the alley and see seven slightly armed thugs, they were carrying bats, pipes, wooden boards, all that fun stuff. "So I take it the plans have changed then?" I asked them, I was recently working a negotiation for a local criminal to leave a poor family alone, looks like he had different plans. "Yes, now he wants you." One of them said back to me. "Sorry, but he has to make a appointment with me first." I replied, I always had a knack for taunting those I fought. It helps my mood I guess. They then rushed in and formed a circle. I smiled, they had no idea I had my blades and that I was good at martial art. They came at me and I dealt with them, I left one survivor to send a message back to his boss that he would be next if he didn't back off. "Who are you?" He asked me, "I'm a ghost." I replied back. I then walked out of the alley calmly and fixed my suit and made my way down the street.

(I'm doing this in first person, figured I could get more information out doing it this way.)

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Shimmer
Shimmer blushed as Oddity held her hoof, mostly because she couldn't believe she had almost asked him about that. She looked up at the building in amazement and simply nodded before looking down at her hooves shyly when he said to wait.
After a rather long, uncomfortable wait, what with some passers by cracking out a cat call or a wolfish grin for her, she heard Oddity wail her name in agony. She charged into the building and found Opium torturing Oddity. "NO!" She screamed and charged into Opium's side. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She bellowed, her voice hitting an insanely high pitch as she shouted.

Rouge
Rouge's mood seemed to drop when he mentioned the funeral and suddenly she wasn't so thrilled with her new outfit. She released a heavy sigh and nodded. "Y-yes a muffin . . . A muffin would be nice." She said softly and took a moment to hug Pitch tightly, burying her face in his mane for a moment. She let go and smiled a little. "L-lets go get those muffins then hmm?" She said with a sigh.

Sunbreaker/Blink
Sunbreaker looked up from her hands at Grace with a shy smile. Grace had an odd look on her face, as if she were trying to look serious. Sunbreaker shook her head and smiled, "W-we were just talking about Pell and Trit's origins . . . And I was making him feel very awkward . . . It . . . Erm . . . It'll probably be a good thing if I go." She said softly. She looked at Pell in alarm, "I mean not that he explicitly said to leave . . . I . . . I just think life might be a little less awkward for him if I left . . . Can we go now?" She said at which Blink nodded. She teleported the three of them outside without warning and smiled to them. Sunbreaker looked at her in surprise, "Umm . . . Blink, y-you really should tell people before you do that. Did you ask Trit if you could come in first?" She asked softly and gently. Blink looked down at the ground sadly and shook her head, "sowwi." She said softly. Sunbreaker felt her heart shatter thanks to the filly and immediately knelt beside her. "No, no, its okay, just remember for next time okay?" She said softly. Blink smiled a little and nodded, then she waved to them. "Loveponies need 'lone time!" She yelled spontaneously and hugged Grace before disappearing. Sunbreaker looked around in shock, "W-wow, sh-she certainly is special." She said and looked at Grace suddenly realising they were on their date now. "I . . . Erm . . . So w-where should we go G-Grace?" She asked with a shy smile, unable to fathom why she was acting so shy.

Mac
Mac chuckled a little and trotted to Concerto's side before nuzzling him. "I'm sure it'll sound amazin' when ye play it." He said with a smile and nodded to the book. "I guess who ever sent these thought that would be more special to you than a gramaphone. It is very unique." Mac said with a smile as he put his gift back in its box for later. He wrapped a hoof around Concerto's neck and smiled before kissing him out of the blue. "Ye gonna play somethin' now or later?" He asked curiously.

For Mactavish
The messenger Ghost had left didn't get far before a bruiser crushed him into oblivion. Elsewhere, the street MacTavish was walking down seemed strangely deserted. A window nearby opened and a hoof beckoned him to the door. "Psst! Y-you, come inside quickly, before the bruisers come." The feminine voice said.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Mac
Mac chuckled a little and trotted to Concerto's side before nuzzling him. "I'm sure it'll sound amazin' when ye play it." He said with a smile and nodded to the book. "I guess who ever sent these thought that would be more special to you than a gramaphone. It is very unique." Mac said with a smile as he put his gift back in its box for later. He wrapped a hoof around Concerto's neck and smiled before kissing him out of the blue. "Ye gonna play somethin' now or later?" He asked curiously.

Concerto

Concerto giggled a little and wrapped his hooves around Mac, happily nuzzling him. "I'm always happy to play for you, anytime you want. Tartarus, I'm always happy to do anything for you, anytime you want." He said, merrily, before getting up and opening up the case of his antique cello. "Oh, dammit, I knew I should have brought my music stand. Mac, could you hold this up for me?" Concerto said, realizing that he didn't have a stand to put the music book on, holding the book up in front of Mac. Damn, I left a lot of things back at my old home. Oh, well, nothing that I can't replace. He thought as he looked up cheerfully to Mac.

[Pinki3 Pon-3]

Mac
Mac smiled broadly as Concerto hugged him and returned the nuzzle happily. He picked up the book from Concerto and gently held it by the top of the cover in his lips, convinced it wasn't poisoned, just really, really old. He nodded gently to Concerto to begin and waited patiently.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

Mac
Mac smiled broadly as Concerto hugged him and returned the nuzzle happily. He picked up the book from Concerto and gently held it by the top of the cover in his lips, convinced it wasn't poisoned, just really, really old. He nodded gently to Concerto to begin and waited patiently.

Concerto

Concerto smiled happily and stood up his cello, standing on his hind legs and using the instrument to balance himself. He took a very brief moment to read through the music notes before picking up his cello bow and started playing it. Shining Diamond smiled and sat down in a comfortable chair as she listened to her little brother's music. Of course, Concerto's music was generally orchestral and he had played very few solo pieces, but that didn't stop Concerto from playing flawlessly. He played every note of the slow paced, seven minute song perfectly, without breaking a single sweat, and finished with a smile. "Well, this Octavia mare certainly isn't a bad composer." Concerto said, cheerfully, gently setting down his instrument.

[Sungai Pusat]

Sunbreaker/Blink
Sunbreaker looked up from her hands at Grace with a shy smile. Grace had an odd look on her face, as if she were trying to look serious. Sunbreaker shook her head and smiled, "W-we were just talking about Pell and Trit's origins . . . And I was making him feel very awkward . . . It . . . Erm . . . It'll probably be a good thing if I go." She said softly. She looked at Pell in alarm, "I mean not that he explicitly said to leave . . . I . . . I just think life might be a little less awkward for him if I left . . . Can we go now?" She said at which Blink nodded. She teleported the three of them outside without warning and smiled to them. Sunbreaker looked at her in surprise, "Umm . . . Blink, y-you really should tell people before you do that. Did you ask Trit if you could come in first?" She asked softly and gently. Blink looked down at the ground sadly and shook her head, "sowwi." She said softly. Sunbreaker felt her heart shatter thanks to the filly and immediately knelt beside her. "No, no, its okay, just remember for next time okay?" She said softly. Blink smiled a little and nodded, then she waved to them. "Loveponies need 'lone time!" She yelled spontaneously and hugged Grace before disappearing. Sunbreaker looked around in shock, "W-wow, sh-she certainly is special." She said and looked at Grace suddenly realising they were on their date now. "I . . . Erm . . . So w-where should we go G-Grace?" She asked with a shy smile, unable to fathom why she was acting so shy.

Grace's face completely dissolved into soft laughter as her face softened considerably, a warm smile now on her face at Sunbreaker's awkwardly minced words. In a blink, though, she noticed how Blink had teleported them outside and smiled to them. The entirety of Blink and Sunbreaker's brief conversation flew past her as she felt Blink's hooves around her before disappearing for good. She turned to look at Sunbreaker swiftly and chuckled with a nod, a blush forming on her face as the same thought ran through her mind. She smiled just as shyly and laughed weakly, her own eyes now wandering to the ground as she rubbed her chin a little with her foreleg. "...erm... w-well..." She sighed and shrugged. "M-maybe we c-could just w-walk first? I-I mean if you wanna..." She rubbed her own hoof and looked up to meet Sunbreaker's eyes halfway. "I-I'm not very f-familiar with the place... m-maybe you know w-where to go?"