The Blazing Jubilee [Dead]

[waxworks]

While the guard with cherry-colored eyes scanned over the papers with a stone-faced demeanor, her eyebrows did jostle slightly at Gearshift's comment. She glanced up at him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes in a scrutinizing manner.

"And how exactly do you know POW!!!"

This dramatic exclamation came about as the guard was suddenly blindsided by a shadowy object moving at high speed colliding with her. A large, dark ball of wings and hooves tumbled end over end and into a wall with a loud, fleshy smack. There were various fluttering and neighing sounds coming from the piles, followed by a high-pitched, squealing giggle.

"GAH! GAH! I GIVE BOXY I GIVE!"

"You're darn right that you give," said Fuse Box, standing triumphantly over the curled up Powderkeg. While Powderkeg was fast and nimble, she was also surprisingly ticklish, a fact known well by her sister. Fuse Box wasn't one to let up though, and the tickling assault continued for another minute or so until Powderkeg was screaming breathlessly for her to stop. At this point she pulled her onto her hooves, and gave her a crushing hug. "It iz good to see you Keggy, you competing this year?"

"'Course I am," she said, catching her breath, "an' this here pony's Gearshift! He's competin' too, got him a spankin' load of magic firewooo- aw shoot, his set was last night."

Fuse Box nodded and glanced at Gearshift again. "And this pony iz..." She glanced back to her sister with an appraising look on her face. Powderkeg blushed and roughly whacked her sister's armor.

"Gear's'a pal'a mine from Ponyville, we work'n'live in the same workshop. He's got him a little sis named Mira who's 'round here somewhere, thought she was followin' me."

"It iz nice to meet you Mister Gearshift," said Fuse Box, giving a polite, official nod. "I haff not had the opportunity to meet many palominos."

"Er, pal'a mine," corrected Powderkeg.

[darktobias13]

Gearshifts eyes widened in a instant, his eyes turning white for a second with the shock. "A palomino? Now there is a phrase i have not heard in a very very long time." As he had their attention, his hind hoof was kicking at the covering, trying to hide the guitar from sight. His eyes returned back to their changing as he calmed himself. Bowing to Powderkeg's sister, he grinned, "but it is a pleasure to meet you. As PK said, my name is Gearshift, Master Inventor and metal worker. And Powder, not all of my fireworks went off last night you know." He stomped down as a pair of metal covered spheres shot out of the wall of the clocktower, detonating a remote distance away, each taking on Avian qualities as they became a pair phoenix that flew down and landed on his back. They both shrieked before shooting back into the morning and exploding.

Brushing off his coat, Gearshift looked around for Mira, and sighed. Reaching into midair, he pulled her hat out of midair and put it on the ground. Pulling it back up, he revealed Mira sitting there, wearing his goggles around her neck, and in midbite of a bagel. She looked around, startled for a moment, before looking up into Gearshift's face. She giggled and handed him his goggles, which he immediately put back on. She waved at Powderkeg, and looked at the other pegabat. She looked back and forth for a moment before giggling and tipping her horn. In an instant each of the pegabats had changed to look like the other. Gearshift smiled and turned to the pegabat-turned-Powderkeg, "So are the papers in order?"

[waxworks]

Fuse Box glanced down at her hooves, noticing her armor seemed to be missing. Casting a sideways glance towards her sister, she then quickly turned and examined her rump and wings as well.

"V... vy am I suddenly my big sister?"

"Heh, settle yer fangs Boxy," grinned Powderkeg, glancing over the suit of armor she now appeared to be wearing. "Lil' Mira there's somethin' amazin' with her illusions ain't she?"

"Er... yes... yes. Very good. However I vill be needing my armor back before I can finish my assigned patrol..."

"Heh, well why don't we go with ya? Git ourselves some breakfast, and don't y'all usually work the late shift?"

"True."

"So that means yer about off'a work fur the day. Come on, c'mon, let's hit the square an' git some chow!"

"Very well," said Fuse Box, still looking mildly uncomfortable, trying to brush her sister's bushy mane out of her eyes. "Everything here appears to be in order anyvay, shall ve?"

"Race y'all," she cheered, flashing a grin at Gearshift and Mira before leaping out the window and spreading her wings, still in full city-guard armor.

"Vait! Come back," cried the other pegabat, leaping out after her, "I don't vant anyone thinking I'm running around before I'm done vurking!"

[darktobias13]

Gearshift and Mira both grinned at the mention of a race, and looked at each other. Giving the simultaneous nod, Mira jumped on Gearshift's back and he stepped off the edge of the tower, turning in a split second and saluting the guard. "Come on Powder-box, can't let her win now can we?"

As they fell through the air, Gearshift hit a hidden lever disguised as a gargoyle and a chute opened up outwards, scooping them back into the tower. A clanging noise rang out down the side of the tower, eventually reaching the bottom. Another chute opened as a ramp extended out from the side, and Gearshift and Mira rocketed out, each wearing something different. Gearshift had his motorwheel horseshoes on, wore an odd cloak, and his goggles were part of a full face mask. Mira had her hat, cloak and a masquerade mask on. Her giggles rang out as she reversed some illusions and returned the two sisters to their original identities. But to have some fun, she reversed their colors.

As they shot down the road, Mira directed them towards the market, when she realized that Gearshift was heading straight for a solid stone wall. As she went to get his attention, she thought that he had truely gone mad again, when he jumped up and spiraled, grabbing Mira and throwing the cloak over both of them. As they drilled forward, the cloak shined and then became translucent along with the two ponies within it. They flew to the wall, and then went straight through it, into the street behind it. As the cloak dimmed again, Gearshift slid to a stop and put Mira back on his back, a satisfied smile on his face. "Intangibility spell-cloak. Check. Sorry about that Mira, had to go full speed to make sure we wouldn't stop and hit the ground. We would have sunk through the ground like a stone. Now, back to catching up to Powder." They zoomed through the market, until they found her. Gearshift was startled, and then started laughing. "Greetings Negative Powderkeg, seen the normal around here?"

[waxworks]

"Saaaargent Tinderbox, reportin' fur duty," said Powderkeg in her Fuse Box appearance. "Lookin' fur any pony that's lookin' ta cause problems!"

"Very funny," came a voice from above them, as Fuse Box came in for a somewhat awkward landing. She shot a stern glance to the two siblings. "I really must insist now, fun is fun but I am a Canterlot guard, and I am on duty. Please restore me to my normal appearance."

"Aw sis, they're just funnin' ya," said Powderkeg, smiling and nudging her sister.

"I can appreciate that," she said, in a no-nonsense voice, "when I'm off-duty and not responsible for making sure everything is safe and sound."

"We git it, we git it," said Powderkeg sighing and nodding, "right, y'all wanna pull off yer quick change trick?"

[darktobias13]

"Well....if i have to." Mira sighed, before grinning to show that she was just being silly. She put a hoof to her chin in thought, she could do this simple, but where was the fun in that? She got an idea, and ran over to a nearby shop, leaving all the ponies there just staring in bewilderment. When Fuse and Powder looked at him, Gearshift just shrugged. "It will take just a second i swear." Mira shouted over her shoulder to the shop-keep as she dragged a large body mirror behind her.

He looked on in concern as she positioned it between the sisters, and directed their attention to the mirror. The mirrors showed their original forms, but Mira took one look and shook her head. Jumping up on top of the mirror, she took a deep breath and started spinning the mirror around vertically. Eventually it came to a rest, where each was looking at the opposite sister, Powder looking at a reflection of fuse, and vice versa. Mira jumped down and stumbled a little bit, her brain jumbled by the spin. She stopped and looked at the reflections again, and nodded her head. Picking up a nearby stone, she hurled it at the mirror, where it shattered into a million pieces. The sisters still saw each other, each restored back to their original forms. The shop-keep ran up, distraught, but Mira held up a hoof and showed him the rock she had supposedly thrown, and showed the Mirror sitting to the side, unbroken. She looked at the sisters, and cocked her head. "So, that better? Cause i can change your hair color if you want, make you a lunar guard with neon hair." She giggled at the thought.

[waxworks]

((If anyone wants to jump back into the RP, this is a great place to do it. It's morning of the second day, and everypony is slowly waking up to grab some breakfast before the next wild round of festivity and celebration, and our current setting is the Canterlot Plaza))

Fuse Box nodded curtly, "thank you, but no. It is important for guards to maintain a respectable appearance at all times. After all, in any sort of emergency, it is vital that ve have the appearance of a pony you'd immediately see as help, order and safety in Eqvestria."

"Sis'll talk yer ears of all day with that sorta thang," said Powderkeg, leaning on a table and grinning. "So y'all ready to git some vittles in ya?"

"Shortly," said the guard, nodding politely, "as I said, I have to finish my round and meet with my shift replacement, I'll come back aftervards."

The pegabat nodded and gave her sister a friendly hoofing in the armored shoulder. The guard pony nodded to those gathered and fluttered into the air, heading off into the distance.

"Don't git the wrong impression," said Powderkeg, grinning a bit sheepishly at Gearshift and Mira, "sis ain't always a stick in the mud, but when she's workin', ain't nopony gonna git her to shirk her duty."

There was a distinct smell of awakening festivity in Canterlot that morning, ponies opening their carts back up and starting their cooking ahead of time for the later rush of herds looking for something to munch. Pyroponies that had their stalls packed up for the wee hours of dawn while they slept were now busily reorganizing their shelves and making everything look as attractive as possible.

Powderkeg was looking slightly more anxious today as she guided the others to a table at a small outdoor cafe, ordering herself a plate of biscuits and a fruit salad for breakfast.

[Loops]

((OOC: So, its not great but I ain't so good with this yet... Is it too short?)) 

Mercury Lupus had missed the first day, having spent his time working up the courage to be able to speak to the ponies that may approach him. He wasn't too good with crowds but when they were populated with large amounts of the opposite sex, Loops didn't fare so well at all. In the end, Loops had thought it be better to brave his fears in order to document the rest of the Blazing Jubilee, and see all that was there to offer.

He had not long been in Canterlot when he had caught sight of a lovely small café, it was populated by small groups of ponies, all sat at tables, easting their breakfasts. One noticeable group was sat at the back of the outdoor café, and was made up of some interesting ponies, all of them were female, except for one; a dark grey unicorn. Loops turned his attention to an empty table, where he walked to sceptically, desperately trying to avoid contact with the mares for that group.  

Once he was sat down he asked for a small glass of water to quench his thirst and sat at the table thinking about how the course of his day would go. He wasn't sure on where to start with writing about such a large event.   

[waxworks]

((OOC: It's very good Loops! ^.^))

Eagerly devouring a plate of fruit, Powderkeg loudly told her gathered friends about all of the things they could expect that day. So loudly, in fact, that most anypony sitting nearby would not only overhear, but possibly get fruit juice on them.

"Well y'all'r in for some big en'ertainment t'day! 'Course this evenin' is my slot in th'fireworks competition, but 'til then I suggest we gather us up a big batch'a 'works from the vendors and hit the field where everypony'll be firing off everything they're selling on the streets. Lessee, then there's the concert just before the competition, and I think they got some kinda pie eatin' contest goin' on too!"

A young pony galloped by with two sparklers held in her mouth happily, chased by a parental pony of some sort who had even more sparklers. Powderkeg grinned and sank her fangs into a biscuit happily, watching other ponies slowly trickling back into the plaza.

"So whady'all two have in mind fer t'day?"

[darktobias13]

"I don't really have any plans, do you Mira?" Gearshift looked down for her, but her seat was empty, and he looked around rapidly, trying to spot her. He eventually saw her running over to a nearby firework stand, and order something from the mare running it. She came running back, with a bag of sparklers hanging on her side. She gave an innocent smile when Gearshift raised an eyebrow at her antics, before ordering a bowl of fruit and a chocolate shake. She sat back as the food arrived, and scarfed it down quickly, with the chocolate shake simply vanishing, leaving a empty cup spinning on its edge. She looked around and spotted a pony sitting nearby by himself. She decided that was no way to spend a holiday, and went over to try and make a new friend.

Gearshift watched her, before turning to Powderkeg, shrugging. "I guess she has a plan of her own. But i'm up for blowing up stuff any time. And i know for a fact that i can whip up an appetite to beat anyone in the pie eating contest."

Meanwhile, Mira popped up behind the pony sitting by himself, and poked his ear. Before he could turn around, Mira vanished, and ran around the front of the table, so that when he turned back around, she would be sitting across from him. "Hi!"

[Loops]

The sudden contract made Loops jump, his mane practically standing on end. He spun his head around to see who had poked his ear. No one was there. Loops relaxed and turned forward where he was greeted a mare, sitting in front of him.

"Hi!" She said, smiling at him.

Loops began to panic, a mare was sat in front of him, starting to shuffle on the spot he felt the blood rush to his face. His check were surely redder than a tomato. Loops was unsure of what to do; he was unable to communicate with the opposite gender, so talking back was out of the question. He continued to shuffle in his seat.

"What to do, what to do?" He thought.

He smiled weakly back, trying to show that he could beat his fear. Although he was finding it hard not to run away, but he didn't want to be rude, after all she had been nice enough to greet him. He tried to muster all his courage and attempt to say something, anything.

"H-h-hello..." He said, trailing off slightly with the barely audible whisper. He awkwardly waved his hoof at her.

[waxworks]

Powderkeg looked fairly amused at the image of a teenage stallion being intimidated by a filly. True, Mira's habit of suddenly appearing tended to startle some, but the stallion she was talking to looked like he'd just swallowed something down the wrong pipe. She glanced at Gearshift with a smirk and raised an eyebrow, "looks like yer sister's scarin' the horseshoes off'a that feller over there. Y'all been lettin' her hang 'round with Waxy?"

The pegabat waved her hooves at the pair, "hey! Mira! Y'all let that nice young feller alone, he looks redder'n'a beet and he ain't even had his shredded wheat yet!"

[Loops]

The sudden out burst of noise distracted Loops' attention away from the problem at hand and brought his gaze to the group he tried to avoid on the way in. Not that he'd done it out of negative feelings towards them, girls just scared him for reason even he did know. He stared across at them, although they had eased the situation a little, Loops felt that he was going to be dragged into an even worse one, if they all came over he'd most likely panic and run away, or just not speak and blank them; he didn't want to feel rude. He wanted to have more friends, and they all seemed nice enough. He bit down on his lower teeth and tried to see how this would play out. His cheeks were still red and he turned back to the filly in front of him.

She continued to beam at Loops, and this made him relax a little. He felt more at ease, she wasn't scary at all, maybe a little hyper, but most certainly not scary.

"Hello..." He said again, this time more obvious. He could still feel the flushed cheeks that made his face red, but he felt a little more calmer.

[darktobias13]

"I can't leave him alone, I haven't done anything yet." Mira complained. "Hmm, if i already scared you, that takes out a large amount of my tricks. But i guess the easiest trick still is.." Mira giggled and her form wavered and shifted into a spitting image of the pony across from her.

"Mira, don't be mean. You already scared him someway, so cut it out." Gearshift called over. He turned back to Powderkeg and shrugging at her statement about Mira hanging out with Waxworks too much. "To be honest, how would i know if she has been. I can barely keep track of her," He said laughing, "And i couldn't keep track of Waxworks if i had a tracker on her. Think we should go introduce ourselves?"

"Fine, Gearshift, sometimes you can really ruin my fun." After sticking her tongue out at him, Mira turned back to herself. Returning her attention to the pony in front of her, she grinned again. "Oh hey, so you Can talk! My name is Mira, sorry to scare you." She frowned, "Even though i have no clue what i did yet. Nice to meet you, whats your name?"

[Loops]

Loops was still a little scared of the filly, and the little mimicking trick hadn't helped the situation. He continued to smile in his awkward fashion and tried to open his mouth to tell Mira his name; the pony was scared but most certainly not rude.
"Lupus..." He stammered. He didn't want to give them his nickname, it was something he reserved for friends. He was yet to even know them properly, so he left it out. "Nice to meet you too..." He was speaking slowly, carefully and rather quietly, as if the young filly were the scariest thing he'd ever seen. Of course this wasn't true, there wasn't anything particularly scary about the pony.
Loops gingerly extended his hoof towards her, hoping that he'd show that he wasn't being rude at all this panicking. He liked to make good impressions, and so far he wasn't doing so good. His need to bolt and make a run for it had left his body. He really wanted to talk to the nice people, and he wouldn't let his fear get the best of him this time.