A Crystal in Canterlot

A deep blue-coated pegasus with wavy, icy-colored hair sat against a building on the sidewalk, studying the ponies on the streets of Canterlot for a good ten minutes. Elegant, beautiful, with high social status. These mares and stallions wouldn't be entertained by just any kind of air show. No, these were the types of ponies that would enjoy a more elegant sort of dance. Ballet. That's what'll get me a decent thing to eat and a place to stay tonight, Crystal Plunge thought, grimacing. She hated ballet the most out of all the dances. It was so... girly. She had never actually seen anyone doing ballet on the street, so she hoped they enjoyed it.
Crystal sprung to her hooves, spread her wings, and was ten feet above the ponies in less than a second. She landed on a nearby roof and sifted through her saddlebag to look for an appropriate outfit. Not sweatpants, no... Leggings? Too casual... Ah! She located a simple, lightweight aquamarine dress that wouldn't slow her down midair but still added the tiniest dash of class to her show. She tried it on and found it to be a bit tight, but she could tolerate it. "I feel... ridiculous." she muttered to herself as her wings flicked out and became prepared to fly.
Crystal took off and looked down towards the streets. She quickly located the busiest spot in the surrounding area, and made her way towards it. As she landed, she went back into her saddlebags and searched for her radio. The old thing had been a birthday present, and it was one of her favorite possessions. She turned to a classical station and maxed out the volume.
The ponies around her stared at her with confusion. Crystal started out with a few basic moves first, slow turns and tiptoeing gently. A couple ponies watched her as they walked past, but she wasn't enough to make them stop and stare. Crystal didn't blame them; she hadn't even started.
Crystal started to move faster and with more grace. She hopped, twirled, and kicked with an elegance few ponies had seen before. She noticed that a couple ponies had stopped; a couple shiny objects were already in her tin. What? Somepony's feeling generous, huh? I usually never get bits this early in the show... Feeling confident, she began to jump higher and higher, until finally, with one majestic leap, she was in the air. Glancing down for a quick second, she saw that she had already attracted quite a crowd. She spun in midair, leaping and twirling like she was dancing on glass. She dived and shot back up again, spinning. She became lost in the moment and forgot where she was, becoming one with the dance, leaning and diving and twirling and falling and leaping as the music became more intricate and beautiful.

Thundershot grumbled as he re-read the note in his dark gray hoof. I'm busy today, it read, scrawled in messy blue ink. He tilted his head, affectionately thinking of his younger sister, who was always so elegant and poised, hastily writing him little notes. She always had her borders up, her mask of perfection almost too real to be fake, when she was around other ponies. It was nice to think that the flawless Cloudspree would let her walls tumble down and show him her little imperfections. I'm meeting somepony special-- no, not a stallion, I can already tell that's what you're thinking-- and I can't show you around today. But you should get out anyway. Don't forget the location of the suite I booked for you, though. You keep getting lost. Whatever-- just have fun, brother. And if you do anything stupid, make sure the upperclass don't know you're related to me (; just kidding. Maybe. Now get out of my house, you antisocial foal!

He almost smiled. But that trademark scowl of his was still deeply etched into his stony features as he put the scrap of paper away, hidden under a small pack beneath his left wing.

As Shot's mind snapped back to reality, his pair of cerulean orbs narrowed slightly. There was a crowd gathered before him, and the only reason why he could see what the large, bustling crowd was apparently so enthralled by was because it was up in the air. Thundershot's blue eyes widened before he quickly regained his composure. A pegasus. Here, in Canterlot? A pegasus street performer prancing around in the air in Canterlot? That was not a common sight.

Thundershot sighed, realizing he was a bit bored. He turned to leave-- perhaps to fetch something nice to eat with the generous amount of money his sister had provided him-- but his hooves remained planted on the ground as soon as he got a closer look at the blue pegasus's graceful movements. He swallowed. Hard. She reminded him of Cloudspree, reminded him of her effortless skill, the way she had oozed talent. Not that she didn't anymore, but... well, she didn't fly anymore. Couldn't fly anymore. Shot smiled slightly to himself, the gentle curve of his lips a wistful one.

He would stay here and watch, maybe have a chat with the pegasus after her performance was over. After all, his sister had wanted him out and about the streets of Canterlot, socializing, no doubt. And the fact that the performer was a pegasus made him less hostile toward the idea of even opening his mouth to another pony.

Sarinas was out in the market with Bane, her body still having bandages wrapping around it protecting her still healing ribs. She was still quite tender feeling in the mid-section and too much excitement would quickly cause the injury to worsen and take a toll on her.

After her last trip out, resulting in her getting distracted for some time shopping with a new pony she had met, her father felt that Bane should go with her to both keep her out of trouble and keep her from injuring her ribs further. She hated that they didn't trust her to be out on her own right now. She was a young independent mare and should NOT have her brother along with her.

As Sarinas walked out of a small market ahead of Bane, a large crowd caught her eyes and she cocked her head curiously trying to figure out what everyone was looking at. Finally she saw a lovely blue Pegasus moving gracefully through the air above the crowd. A performer! Here? Amazing! She'd never gotten to see a street performer before. She watched for a moment fascinated as a smile slowly began to form on her face.

"Here, hold this" she said as she tossed the bag of fruits she was carrying to Bane and moved quickly into the crowd to get a better view of the dancer. She did not notice the pain in her side until she was more into the crowd and every so often another pony would bump in to her. The throbbing began to start up again but she pushed it out of her mind as she moved to the front of the crowd watching upwards at the beautiful pegasus.

She smiled brightly watching, like a foal in a candy store. She noticed that some of the other ponies were putting bits into a tin for the performer. She reaching into her saddlebags, which she was keeping as light as she could so not to bother her injury. She frowned as she remembered that Bane had their money for this shopping trip.

Crystal, who slowly was getting tired (she had not had a single break since the show started) decided to steadily bring her performance to an end. While doing a long string of twirls, she pondered what she should do for the finale; she did have a fairly large crowd, after all, and she wanted to impress them; impressing ponies with high status is a very easy way of gaining money and that was exactly what she needed. Not that money was all she was after–no, Crystal loved to perform in general, and appreciated the positive feedback she usually received from her viewers.
Now was the perfect time to finish the show. Crystal flew up high, higher than most of the buildings in Canterlot, and, after hovering there for a few seconds, tucked in her wings and fell from the sky. She was moving extremely fast and looked to have fainted–she could hear distant gasps from the crowd, which got louder and more frequent as she neared them. Peeking out of one eye, she timed her move perfectly. When she was about a hoof above a male grey pegasus's face, she flicked out her wings, angled her body, and shot back upwards with a strong flap. As she soared above the applauding crowd, she spun, and did an elegant attitude. She held it for a few seconds, and then gracefully let it go and slowly dropped to the ground. The crowd cheered, and she blushed furiously and bowed.
"Thank you! You're all too kind!" she thanked them over the noise. Many ponies left after they saw she had finished, and the crowd thinned. Crystal heard a clanking noise slightly to the left of her, and turned her head to see a pony dropping a couple bits into her tin, which was nearly full. "What? Why the hell is it so full?" Crystal muttered to herself. "I mean, there's been a lot before, but never this much!" Maybe I'll treat myself to something nice in a shop, she thought, imagining what she could get... A couple pieces of candy, a couple new hairties (she kept losing them everywhere; her hair was just not meant for keeping them in), maybe even new saddlebags, for her current ones were becoming tattered and dirty.
By the time she snapped back to reality, most of the ponies had left, as they had nothing left to do. Crystal trotted over to her bag, pulled out her water bottle, and took a big swig.

Ah! She had finally stopped-- now would be a good time to say hello.

Wait, what? Thundershot blinked, slightly shocked that he had even made such a ridiculous promise to himself. He had told himself to socialize, and.. oh, damn it all. Why had he even thought of such an idea? He was probably the most unapproachable, socially-awkward stallion in all of Equestria!

Well, perhaps he should go and drop a couple bits into the pegasus's tin. After all, he had watched... kind of. Actually, he hadn't really been paying much attention. His mind had been occupied with thoughts of tonight's dinner and other obscure images of food, and his demanding, grumbling stomach had only continued to remind his brain of his craving for hay spaghetti and alfalfa. He let out a quiet groan, scowl settling back onto his face.

The pegasus stallion trotted over to the tin, standing before the blue mare. He placed a few bits into the decently-sized can, noticing it had nearly reached its capacity. When he stood back up, he accidentally locked eyes with the other pegasus. His body immediately stiffened and he hastily glanced away, cerulean pools flickering back to the tin, then to her hooves. "Um," he coughed awkwardly, "that... uh, you're a good... perfo-- pegasus-- wait, no, I mean..." Thundershot's voice trailed of uncomfortably and he could feel the heat gathering at his cheeks. He frowned and cleared his throat. "That was a cool dance," he finished rather lamely, eyes on the ground. He prodded a pebble with his hoof, beginning to fidget. Agh! This was why he hardly ever spoke to anypony!

After the performance was over, Sarinas waited for the crowd to thin some. After most of the ponies had resumed their daily happenings, Sarinas excitedly hurried over to where the blue performer was talking with a light colored stallion. She was so happy having watched the performance that she didn't even notice the slight pain still in her sides.

"That was so awesome!" she exclaimed as she headed up to the two pegasi, a bit too excited to consider whether or not she might be interrupting something that may be saying to each other, "I have never seen a performance like that before and in the middle of town it was so cool!" she said with her light polite zebra accent.

She blinked at the other pegasus and looked a little surprised as she realized she probably just did something extremely rude, "I am terribly sorry," she said a little flustered as she took a step back lowering her head slightly, "I did not mean to interrupt yah," she apologized.

Crystal Plunge had just set down her water bottle down when she saw him–a slightly larger greyish pegasus with a striking blue mane and tail had tensed up nervously when she made eye contact with him. He began to stutter and trip over his words when he opened his mouth, and finally just blushed crazily and told him she was a good dancer. She had to hold back a slight chuckle; why was he so embarrassed?
"Well, thanks, I guess," she smiled. "I have no ide-"
Crystal was suddenly cut off by an overexcited mare with both black and white stripes on her body. Wait, she's a zebra? Haven't seen one of those in years! Crystal suddenly became extremely interested in her, even if she had never met the mare in her life. Still, she was slightly peeved that she had been interrupted. After the zebra had apologized, though, she decided that she didn't really care too much of the inconvenience, anyway.
"Nah, it's alright," Crystal replied to the zebra. She had to force her eyes away from the mare's natural stripes to finish her sentence.
"Oh, I meant to say I had no idea why so many ponies liked my ballet. That wasn't even one of my best performances! You don't get street performers here often, do you?" she said, turning back to the pegasus.

Shot blinked and turned to the zebra that had just interrupted him. He was too shocked, though, to be irritated-- zebras were a rare sight, rarer than pegasi street performers in Canterlot. He shifted back to the blue mare, tilting his head slightly as she spoke. Her mane was extremely wavy, he discovered upon closer inspection now that he could see her more closely, and her eyes were the same bright azure as her hair. He glanced at the zebra, too-- her accent was warm and rich, her features exotic but lovely. They're both... what's the word? Pretty? he thought absentmindedly. 

"You don't get street performers here often, do you?" her voice took him out of his thoughts and back to reality.

Thundershot shook his head, a silent no. "I don't live in Canterlot," he stated bluntly, still fidgeting. He could feel her gaze on him-- great Luna, he wanted to hide under a rock right now. You're only talking to her, he reminded himself. Celestia, if this doesn't make me a socially-awkward balloon, I don't know what will. Shot's usual scowl returned to his face. He cleared his throat, "So, I wouldn't really know, but I'm pretty sure they are. Canterlot seems too uppity and high-class for street performer." He paused a minute before realizing what he'd said. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that," he rushed, flushing an embarrassed pink, "it's not that street performers are low-class or they aren't important enough or anything, I just.. uh..." He couldn't think of anything to say. Thundershot just stood there, mouth dry, cerulean eyes blinking quite aimlessly. He felt rather stupid.

"I think a lot of the crowd was just surprised to see someone performing in general," Sarinas explained to Crystal, "There are few street performers in Canterlot, even fewer that are so-- good." she said with a smile on her face.

Sarinas turned her attention to the stallion and blinked as he stumbled over his own words. She smiled and even giggled a little to herself as Thundershot seemed unsure how to explain himself-- After he appeared to have run out of ideas, Sarinas stuck her head a little bit infront of him, not to interupt, but to help him get out of the hole he had dug, "what he means is that Canterlot ponies think of themselves as too sophisticated to enjoy beauty such as your performance," she explained with an earnest smile on her face.

"Why did yah decide to come to Canterlot?" Sarinas asked, mainly to Crystal, but glancing to Thundershot as well, "it is a hard place to make a living on performing on the streets," she said.

Crystal smiled. This stallion was simply adorable–he couldn't seem to get his words out quite right, no matter how hard he tried. He blushed quite furiously and stared with a blank, slightly confused look on his face, and the zebra took over and acted as a sort of translator for him.
"What he means is that Canterlot ponies think of themselves as too sophisticated to enjoy beauty such as your performance," she said. Crystal admired the fact that she had helped the stallion clarify his words; she was a kind soul.
"Oh, I get what you mean!" She laughed gently, and continued speaking. "Thanks, anyway. I'm a nomad, actually. I'll be staying in Canterlot for a bit, maybe a week or two, until I move onto the next city. I perform in each place to earn bits, and then I keep moving along. It's a humble lifestyle, but I get by." Crystal had noticed that couple strands of her mane had gotten in front of her eyes, and she blew it off, slightly annoyed. "Useless hairties keep falling out in the wind," she muttered to herself as she searched through her bag. She had none left. I guess that's what I'll be spending my extra bits on, she thought.
"You two seem like interesting ponies, anyway. What are your names?" she was curious. Crystal never really talked to anyone she didn't need to, but these two seemed decent.

Thundershot nodded as the zebra explained his words, though he was a bit annoyed that he couldn't speak for himself. He frowned at the thought. His eyes traveled over the zebra's face as she spoke, turning to Crystal to ask her a question. She was so exotic-looking, but in a delightful way. Fresh, exciting. Beautiful. Is that the word? he thought. When her dark eyes returned to him, Shot's jaw locked rather uncomfortably and he froze up. Calm the hell down. She's only asking you a question.

"I come here," Thundershot said, "a lot. My younger sister lives here, but she was busy today and decided to kick me out of the house--apartment. Or suite." He grumbled, tripping over his words again. "Otherwise, I'd still be in Cloudsdale."

He shifted slightly, bright, teal orbs settling upon the pegasus. There was something strange about her-- Shot couldn't quite put his hoof on it-- but she made his breath quicken just the slightest bit. Maybe watching her do all those tricks in the air had made him rather tired himself. "My name is Thundershot. I come from the Sampsonne family-- most of those nobles are in Manehattan, where I grew up. What..." his voice quieted as he thought for a moment. Well, he hardly ever asked for another pony's name before. He didn't often even speak to strangers. "What is your name?"

Sarinas' eyes lit up at Crystal's mention of traveling all over, "Oh I would love to travel all over! I have only ever gotten to live in two cities," she explained of herself, I used to live in Zevera, the capital of Zebrica, and then we moved to Canterlot for-- uh-- my fathers work..." Sarinas said, not really eager to say who she was-- hoping beyond hope that these two were not familiar with her father being the Ambassador from Zebrica itself.

"Yah performing is so beautiful," Sarinas beamed at Crystal with childlike interest, "I am sure yah make a lot of bits wherever yah go" she said with a genuine smile.

"My name is Sarinas," she said, hesitating considering if she should say her last name, concerned whether or not that perhaps these ponies might know the ambassadors name but not the fact they were zebras-- she decided if they didn't know her from her obvious stripes, they wouldnt know her by last name, "Sarinas Thunderstripe."

"Zebrica?" Confusion crossed Crystal's face. "I don't think I've ever heard of that before," Crystal still couldn't get over the fact that she was a zebra. Like, a real zebra. And she was talking to her. The mare was absolutely lovely. Such exotic features, with gorgeous deep brown eyes and delicate lashes.
"Anyway, nice to meet you, Sarinas. My name is Crystal Plunge." The last sentence was directed towards the both of them. Glancing towards the stallion, she noticed how... well... perfect his mane was styled. It curved upwards towards the blue sky at just the right points, and it was the kindest shade of blue she had ever seen. His cerulean eyes reflected the light of the gentle afternoon sun beautifully, and she caught herself staring into them for a second longer than necessary. Quickly turning away, she looked at the zebra again.
"Where's Zebrica, anyway? What is it like?" Crystal was a curious creature. Maybe her next trip would be to there?

The pale gray-blue pegasus arched a brow, recalling the name Thunderstripe. He flexed his wings, accidentally creating a small breeze that was slightly stronger than he would have liked-- he still sometimes forgot to put limits on his strength, being the chief of storms and wind in Cloudsdale. He pressed his wings to his back, searching through his mind. 

Thunderstripe, he thought, I've heard that name before... He blinked, eyes settling upon the zebra once more. Sarinas Thunderstripe, the daughter of... The ambassador? Thundershot was almost honored to be in her presence, nearly forgetting that he came from a well-known, wealthy family as well. But the Sampsonnes were famous in Manehattan, not exactly Canterlot. He smiled to himself, the slight, upward curve of his lips a handsome yet rare appearance; his sister was here to change that. Cloudspree had been building up quite the reputation for the Sampsonne family here in Canterlot. He didn't quite consider them his family, since he was only related to them through aunt and uncle, and perhaps a grandfather. Besides, he often thought little of himself as an aristocrat to the point where he would simply forget. Though he didn't consider himself a noble, he didn't often forget the important names-- Spree often mentioned them to him as she prepared herself for dinner parties and banquets. 

The daughter of the zebra ambassador? Here, talking to a lowly Cloudsdale pegasus--oh wait, technically I'm an aristocrat, aren't I-- and a street performer? Shot mused silently, tilting his head at Sarinas. She was a beautiful creature indeed, neat, clean-cut black stripes on a crisp white canvas; her eyes were large and doll-like, her accent smooth and rich, like the round rocks tossed back and forth by the ocean's tide. 

"Zebrica is very far away," he said, voice low and relaxed, "but I have heard it's a very exciting place. Exotic." He turned to Sarinas, hooves clopping quietly against the ground. "You're the daughter of the ambassador, aren't you? I would think that you would be more than capable of traveling." He was somewhat confused. He looked to Crystal, noting that her gaze had wandered from the zebra to him... He checked himself a bit self-consciously. He didn't have anything on him, did he? No... she must have just been looking at my mark. Probably wondering what it's for, he thought, staring at her hooves. He tried to keep his eyes from traveling upward, frowning as they refused to listen to him. Her face seemed so delicate, but so full of emotion; the twisted, icy-blue locks were bright against the royal blue of her coat, tendrils of azure framing parts of her face, complimenting the luster in her brilliant eyes. He cleared his throat and turned his gaze away from her, chest strangely feeling tighter. "I was brought up in Manehattan," he said to Sarinas, "but I live in Cloudsdale now. I wouldn't mind a visit." He tried to grin in a friendly manner, but felt rather idiotic and scowled instead.

(Given Lars being busy, we've decided to have Bane run on NPC pilot right now)
(also; http://wtwe.wikia.com/wiki/Zebrica)

Sarinas hesitated when Crystal asked where Zebrica was-- she wasn't quite sure exactly how to explain its location-- as opposed to saying across the sea-- She smiled and looked to Thundershot as he expressed knowledge of it.

"Well-- I do not know about that--" she said in response to his comment about what Zebrica was like-- a smile smile on her face as she scratched the ground with her hoof. Her gaze shot up and her smile disappeared as Thundershot knew who she was. "Uh-- I am..." she said quietly, not horribly excited to talk about her family.

"If I were allowed to travel, I would probably be able to go all sorts of places..." she said a little solemnly, "When yah live under the watchful hoof of the ambassador... yah are lucky to get out to the market without an escort..." she sighed.

"Because yah have proven to be irresponsible!" Bane said sternly walking up between Sarinas and the other two ponies, "or have yah forgotten what happened when you wandered off durning the Princess' wedding." he said in his deeper voice lecturing Sarinas.

Sarinas paled at the sound of Bane's voice. She had actually forgotten about him. She shrunk back a little as he began scolding her.

Crystal's ears flicked towards Thunder's words. The ambassador... She suddenly realized how high the mare was placed in society. Why was she talking to Crystal, a street performer, of all people... A homeless, nomadic pegasus who had to work hard to earn a place to sleep every night? Okay, this has to be some sort of mistake. She must think I'm... some sort of professional athlete or something? Crystal cleared her throat quietly, standing up a bit straighter.
"I...I'm honored to be in your presence," she spoke to the zebra. At least, that's what she thought she was supposed to say. She never went to school or anything, and of course she had never spoken to a pony with such high class as this. She looked down awkwardly, kicking at the stones in the sidewalk gently.
Another zebra approached the group suddenly, speaking with an obvious authority to his voice. Crystal was surprised–where had all these zebras come from? She hadn't seen one in several years, and here were two, right in front of her. While he lectured Sarinas, Crystal studied the new stallion's features– he looked similar to the mare, and she wondered if they were brother and sister. They probably were, after all; it would be very strange if there were coincidentally two zebras in the same place at the same time.
She figured she had studied him long enough, and turned back to the male pegasus. "You never told me your name, anyway," Crystal said with a laugh. He's actually pretty cute, she admitted to herself. Her icy blue locks fluttered about in a slight breeze.

((I'm assuming that it's near evening now, given how often dinner is mentioned? So maybe around 4-5 PM?))

Shot could have sworn he'd mentioned his name earlier, but in all honesty, he wasn't quite sure. He'd taken notice of how much attention he'd paid the two mares today-- after all, they were both startlingly attractive-- and it wouldn't have surprised him if he'd forgotten to introduce himself.

He bowed, tendrils of his cerulean mane hugging the side of his face as the breeze brushed past. "My name is Thundershot, of the Sampsonne household. They, uh, they're from Manehattan."

The gray pegasus couldn't expect her to recognize the name of his family, seeing as their fame and popularity was still mainly in Manehattan, where much of his relatives lived. They were almost worshipped there. He thought to his sister, Cloudspree. Many ponies in Canterlot recognized her first name more often than her last, seeing as she didn't often introduce herself as Cloudspree Sampsonne. Perhaps Thundershot should make a note of it to do the same?

He tilted his head to the other zebra, loudly scolding Sarinas. He had heard of him: Bane Thunderstripe, the son of the ambassador. Older brother to Sarinas, it seemed. Shot frowned disapprovingly of the other male, being a brother himself. He couldn't imagine himself being so harsh on Spree.

Unclear of what any other pony would do in this situation, he cleared his throat rather irritably and pulled Sarinas aside. "It is getting late," he said awkwardly, unsure of what else he could say as a diversion, "maybe dinner? Maybe we should go... you, me, Crystal... dinner?"

Bane's eyes went wide with anger as the pegasus pulled Sarinas away from him. "She is coming home with me!" he said forcefully as he stepped up to Pegasus, "I am to watch over her on this trip and yah will not be going anywhere with her!" he growled.

"Brother!" Sarinas cried as she stepped up some to Bane, "yah are not in charge of me, yah forget we are the same age and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, my injuries are not at the point where I can not take care of myself," she lectured him.

"These pegasai are my friends," she said of the two she had actually just recently met, "and I will be staying in their company for a while longer and I will not be in need of yahr company, if father asks tell him I am with friends and will be arriving in short while" she said, asserting herself a little bit to her brother.

Bane looked a little taken aback by his sisters behavior, he glared at her as she lectured him, but afterwards he took a step back and turned away from her, glancing over his shoulder partially expecting her to have come to her senses and prepared to follow him. "father will be very displeased with yah when I inform him of yahr behavior..." Bane mumbled as he walked away from the ponies.

After Bane had walked around the corner, Sarinas, he had been keeping up an authoritative appearance, gave an exasperated sigh and sat on the ground looking completely exhausted.

Crystal watched in silence and surprise as the male zebra raised his voice at Thundershot. She opened her mouth to say something to him, but remembered she was trying to get out of the habit of doing things without thinking. He's extremely high class; I could get in a crapload of trouble if I spoke against him. Sarinas is probably the only one here who could do something like that–and look, she's already doing it. She closed her mouth, thankful she had stopped herself. Sarinas was doing a pretty good job of standing up to him, she had to give her that.
After he had left, she turned to Thundershot. "Dinner sounds pretty good right about now," she said. As if on cue, her stomach rumbled quietly. Crystal didn't mind too much, though–most of her life she had spent with a very small amount of food in her belly if not none at all. But she wasn't about to deny a real dinner. "Sure, I'll go. I don't have anywhere else to be, anyway," she said with a smile. Turning to Sarinas, she spoke again. "You're coming, too, right?"

Thundershot growled in Bane's direction, utterly ticked and irritated. Was that a challenge? Silently, the pegasus hoped it was-- he never turned down challenges, and being the chief in Cloudsdale, he knew he would be more than strong enough to take on the damned zebra. Son of the ambassador, was he? Well, Thundershot had come from the Manehattan family of Sampsonnes, and they had always had strikingly powerful influence and made many of the big decisions there.

Not that it mattered.

"No one should ever be treated like that," Shot hissed, voice low as he remembered the surge of fear and helplessness when he had been a little colt in Manehattan, bullies surrounding him-- and then there was Spree, who snapped at all of them and went off with so many colorful words that Shot hadn't even known to have existed. He scowled as Bane left, irritated. "You don't have to live with him, do you?"

Sarinas sighed and looked at Thundershot, "He is my brother, of course I have to live with him," she mumbled, "my father treats my like a foal, yet my brother is treated like a stallion, yah wouldn not know from the way he treated me that we are twins," she grumbled.

"I would love to accompany yah to have some dinner," Sarinas said, a smile coming back over her face. Her face snapped with a realization as she paled-- which isnt very noticable as she was white already, "Bane... has all my bits... I have no way to pay for dinner..." she said in a state of shock.

Crystal laughed and kicked her huge tin of bits behind her leg jokingly. "And I don't have any money, of course not," She pulled her tin back out and looked to Sarinas. "It's alright, I'll pay for you, Sarinas." She turned her head to face Thundershot.
"Did you forget your money too?" She said with a sarcastic grin. "Just kidding. Did you have any special place in mind? I'm up for anything; my belly's pretty empty," she said. Anywhere she suggested might be too low-class for them; after all, they were both pretty wealthy, and were probably more adjusted to fancy restaurants than the taverns and bars Crystal usually dined at.

"O-of course not--" Thundershot clamped his mouth closed when he realized the pegasus was merely teasing him. A warm flush returned to his cheeks and he tossed an embarrassed glance to Sarinas. "Uh. My sister recently bought a restaurant," he said, "it should be close to here." He thought for a moment. What would Velra say...? Holy Celestia, Thunderpoo, you're seriously pimpin' out! His face turned a furious shade of red. The crazy unicorn would no doubt say that-- probably really loudly, too-- if she saw him with these two mares. They were both strikingly beautiful, though. He pondered a little longer. Unsure of what else to say, he merely shrugged, "We probably won't need to pay for anything there. Follow me."

He began to trot at a leisurely pace to his right, turning at a corner. He looked up, a familiar sign above him, the name of the restaurant shown in smooth silver script. Déchirure Phénix, it read, but Thundershot had no idea what it meant. He slipped through the door and into the warm building, nodding his head politely to the doorman. The clerk before him stood rather grandly, probably trying to keep himself from looking down his nose at Thundershot. Shot had to admit that he didn't look at all like an aristocrat-- his hair was wild and he didn't have the finesse that Cloudspree did-- Oh! Speaking of Cloudspree, here she came now, descending the stairwell. Her hair pulled back into a high ponytail and her light, silken dress flowing around her,-- almost wraith-like, Shot noted-- she smiled brightly at Thundershot. The clerk immediately straightened himself up (Thundershot thought it was impossible to look any more impeccable or stiff than he already was, but he was shortly proved to be wrong) and greeted Cloudspree rather nervously. His sister was as elegant as ever, smoothly nodding.

"You're visiting my humble little restaurant?" Cloudspree asked her brother, mirth sparkling in her eyes. She turned to the clerk, "Table for two."

"Actually," Thundershot cut in, "table for, er, three. Or four, if you're joining us, sister."

Her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, but Thundershot was oblivious. Cloudspree easily regained her breezy nature and chuckled. "You've made some friends, then?" Her brother nodded.

"They should only be a step away," he said quietly, turning around to wait for the familiar figures of Sarinas and Crystal.

"I can not!" Sarinas said in a generous tone when Crystal offered her money, "Yah worked so hard for those bits, I can not take them from yah," she told Crystal, shaking her head.

Sarinas blinked when Thundershot lead them to a restaurant. Sarinas was a little surprised when she saw the restaurant, it was one of the fancier more elegant ones in this part of Canterlot. Infact, she had actually eaten here once before with her family. It was one of the first places they had eaten out in upon arriving in Canterlot and she found it hard to find something on the menu that appealed to her. She had gotten a little more used to Equestrian food now having been here for a few months.

She stopped staring up at the sign to see Thundershot had already entered the restaurant. She quickly ran into the restaurant after Thundershot, realizing it a bit impolite to be running upon seeing the scowl of the doorman. She slowed to a casual trot and came up behind Thundershot, looking about the entranceway as she came up next to him. She turned her attention to the pony Thundershot was speaking to and was a bit taken aback by her beauty. She pushed that out of her head and smiled to the pegasus.

"Yah must be Thundershot's sister," she greeted Cloudspree, "My name is Sarinas," she introduced herself, bowing a little with her front legs.

Crystal shrugged when Sarinas declined her offer. "Suit yourself, then. Thundershot said we wouldn't have to pay; maybe he knows the manager or something." she said, placing the tin in her saddlebags. Noticing that Thundershot had already started to trot off, and Sarinas was following them, she picked up her pace and started walking alongside the zebra.
They entered a restaurant and Crystal was immediately wowed by the luxury of the place. The walls, the tables–even the floors looked too beautiful for the mortal world. Looking back to Thundershot and Sarinas, she noticed that Shot was speaking to a beautiful, red-maned pegasus, and upon closer inspection she noticed that the mare's eyes and Thunder's were exactly the same. They must be related somehow... Is that why we won't have to pay? To prove the point further, Thundershot had just addressed her as "sister."
Crystal watched as Sarinas introduced herself. Stepping forward, Crystal offered her hoof to the mare.
"My name is Crystal Plunge. Nice to meet you." Crystal said with a warm smile. Well, she had executed that pretty smoothly. Points for a good first impression. I think.