And I'm not what I appeared to be~

It was raining.

Gritt was out and about, in disguise of course, with fake beard and wig, long coat to cover his Cutie Mark and tail, and an exceptionally tall top hat for his horn.

He was soaked to the bone. He cursed the weather ponies, it may even have been a nice day too. Well... for Manehatten.

Gritt stared out into the lake, watching it ripple like a storming sea. His chest held pangs.

And his heart was heavy enough to sink him to the bottom.

A mare sat on a bench in Centrot park, feeding a bunch of soggy ducks with a soggy loaf of bread. The ducks chattered excitedly as the snipped and snapped at the bits and pieces she tossed to them.

Her grey fur and her short, stylish jet black hair were sopping wet from the rain, but she didn't appear to mind. The pony was exceptionally well dressed, for being drenched in the middle of the park, wearing a black suit jacket with a black button down, and a sleek crimson tie. Her eyes were obscured by reflective aviator shades and her coat covered her cutie mark.

She set down the loaf, much to the dismay of the ducks, and chuckled as she fished in her coat pocket. "Pipe down, ya friggin featherbrains. The dough..." She took a second to chuckle at her stupid pun. "...Is comin, Scout's honor." She produced a packet of cigarettes and a lighter, stuck a smoke in her mouth and lit it, careful to keep the delicate flame safe from the wind and rain. She stowed the pack and lighter and returned to throwing bread at the ducks, who zealously got back to chomping down. Her serpentine tail (black, like her mane, but with a vein of red) flicked back and forth.

The mare noticed the strangly dressed stallion looking downright miserable in the rain and snorted. She leaned back on the bench, cupped a hoof around her mouth, and called out to the mystery stallion:

"Evenin' there! Enjoyin a little Manehattan sunshine?"

Gritt half nearly jumped. Nearly.

He put on a sly smile and mischievous face.

"Oh yeah, I love being soaked by the sunshine. You can't go anywhere fancy without being covered in Celestia's nectar, you know." His accent was clearly foreign, speaking in Scouse-Equestrian dialect, and dripping with sarcasm. His grin became cheeky.

He was glad he wasn't in front of a crowd, he would probably be sent "cursed" letters and death threats again by masses of "Fans". Equestria certainly didn't like one of its princesses being poked fun at.

Then again, he did still receive curses and death threat letters...

"And what about you, young filly," Gritt changed his voice to an exaggerated version of a father, or a Guard, "Shouldn't you be at home? And not out here among Celestia's sun kisses?"

Although the mare's eyes were covered, her brow raised at the stallions humor. After a moment, the mare started to laugh, then coughed from the cigarette smoke and thumped her chest a few times for good measure. "'Cus we all know just how much we LOVE Her highness, Princess Sun Butt." She subsided into a few filly like giggles.

"And what about you, young filly," Gritt changed his voice to an exaggerated version of a father, or a Guard, "Shouldn't you be at home? And not out here among Celestia's sun kisses?"

She snickered and took another puff. "You're a funny guy, Mister, but Ah've been breakin curfew since before you were outta yer diapers." She rolled the cigarette from one corner of her mouth to another and slowly blew out a cloud of smoke. "So... Not tah pry but is there a reason yah wearin that beard an that wig? Or d'ya like a little dressup. Not judgin, ya mind. I'z just curious is all." the mare stared at the stallion through her glasses.

"Ah mean. Iz a nice disguise. Real good. Top notch, Guy. You ever been in show biz? Barnway dont have n'uff costume designahs." She nodded sagely.

"To protect me self, because I'm a Luna blasted Power Pony."

The last thing he needed was to find that the mare was a fan, and have her fawning all over him. Not today, anyway.

Good disguise... Sure, that's why she could see right through it. Though, anyone would in the rain, strains of his green mane where showing through the soaked wig, and the fake itself was beginning to fall apart from the water. The beard was starting to drag down and become uneven.


Who was he fooling? He would have to wing it...

Gritt took off the wig and the beard, and the top hat, letting them fall into lake water and mud. This revealed a youthful stallion of a green palette and an unusually, exceptionally long and sharp horn.

"Gritt Artist, at your service," Gritt bowed in jest.

"Power pony? In'that th' Tee Vee show with the..." The mare adjusted her soaked shades as the stallion proceeded to strip to reveal his shock of green mane.

the mare stood up from her bench and shook a little water off her. Thoughtfully she took a few more drags of her cigarette, looking him up and down once more. "Gritt, huh?" she extended a hoof. "Call me Ms. Eyes." She jokingly chucked his chin. "And don't be so down 'bout your get up, Guy. It really was pretty good. On a sunny day you'da fooled most the sheeple on their business."

The mare turned around, gesturing grandly to the city. "Iz the wonder of Manehattan, Mack. You got one of the most densly pap-ul-ated cities in Equestria, and yet everypony is too busy livin to notice ya."

Mare after his own heart, it felt great not to be recognized.

"A pleasure madam," Gritt put on a false gentlecolt voice and extended his hoof in greeting and shake.

"Sounds like home." He couldn't help but smile knowingly, too dense to notice? He wished most of the world was like that. The Mania that had been unintentionally spread by him and friends had caused a severe uproar.

"You like music miss Eyes?" Gritt lost the actor facade, "Bit of a fan of rock me self."

"Rock?" Snake eyes dramatically gagged and blew a raspberry. "Never touched th'stuff. Gimme some Delta Blues or some classic Standards and I'm a happy filly. But Rock? Leave that to the fillies and colts. And... uh... I don't do well with crowds." She nodded, satisfied with the last bit.

She took another drag and took her cigarette, throwing it to the ground and stamping it out. "But hey, far be it form me t'judge tastes. I'm just more of a Frank Sinatrot gal, not the..." she snapped her tail a few times until she remembered. "The whaddyacallems... The Beatle-Buns? Naw that aint it... damnit what was it? Ah nevermind." she waved a hoof and fished in her pocket for another cigarette. "You smoke, Guy?"

"The Beat-Bugs?" Gritt was hurt, though he didn't let it show. He contented himself, and sat next to the mare on the bench.

"Yeah, I'll take a smoke." In the pocket of his long coat, Gritt brought out a small lighter with his magic, "Frankie eh? I like All-Wise Presneigh me self."

The mare finally found her original packet and withdrew a cigarette, keeping it unlit in her mouth as she held it out to Gritt. "I like some bluesy stuff too. Somethin about that slide guitar..." As he took one the corner of her mouth briefly curled into a grin.

"You play alot of guitar, Mr. Artist? Ya certainly got the calluses for it." She asked as she lit up and let out a couple smoke rings that quickly dissipated in the cold rain.

((Sorry for the short posts! -_-llll))

Gritt took one of the cigarettes with his magic, lit it and hers.

"Been a good hoof of years since me last skiffle, I haven't played blues in a while."

At the comment, Gritt looked at his hooves. Because of how guitars were designed, most Ponies needed a good feel for it and practice. The closeness of the strings makes it difficult for hooves to play, and their metal is strong enough to wear down the nail quickly. Gritt's own, while polished and primed because the manager egged on him about appearance, showed years of practice.

"Yeah, I play a lot. I can sing too. And write songs."

Gritt puffed smoke and chuckled. "Count your self fancy, you can make smoke rings. You aren't one of those wizards in disguise are ya?"

((So sorry for the late reply!))
"Wizard? Naw, kid. Leave that magic stuff to the unicorns like yaself. I jus do tricks and little slight o' hand, ya know?" She jerked a hoof, and a deck of playing cards appeared. She attempted to shuffle them, but the cards were so soaked they just bent and tore. She slumped and sighed. "Aw hell with it."
She chucked the cards into a nearby bush and returned, sitting wearily on the wet concrete. "Naw, I'm just a... a show pony. sort of." She looked up to the sky for a moment, pondering, then returned to earth "Yeah. Show pony."

Gritt grinning face turned sour and dark.

"It isn't what its cracked up to be," Gritt breathed out smoke, "Never left alone, no respect of privacy and everybody is trying to steal your things. And the journalists twist your words.

"Heh, I'll bet that you've heard of that uproar about some band being bigger than Celestia."

((So sorry for the late reply!))

Ms. Eyes' namesakes widened behind her shades and a grin broke over her face. "Aaaaaah! thas why you were trying t' bring up yah band! You must be a part of them... uh... Bit Bogs?" She bobbed her head and shook a hoof. "Yeah... yeah... Sorry buddy, I've been a little shut away from society this past month, but I've definitely seen posters and dung. And even on some o' my more lesser known radio stations have started playin your junk. Not implyin that your music is junk. Iz certainly... ah... catchy."

She shrugged. "But it looks like you guys got a pretty good gig goin on, thas pretty nice."

Gritt grinned, though there was a certain feeling of unease that surrounded his manner. It was difficult to tell if he was faking it or not.

"Beat-Bugs." No pony could imagine the relief Gritt felt from simply not being recognized as a rock star who seemed to be loved and wanted by all, to a nobody singer on some radio.

Oh, he liked Miss Eyes. He liked Miss Eyes a lot.

Something caught his attention. The rain had stopped.