Ampharos

Ash looked away again, his gaze turned downwards. He inspected the tiny ponies down below. All their hustling and bustling, never seeming to slow down. It was amusing to watch them all... Oh, Jazz was talking again. Ash found her quote somewhat funny, considering Jazz was smiling at him this very moment. "Having pride in yourself is always a good thing. So are smiles, heh. Anyway, I think we should start getting down to business. I'm not very used to flying for extended durations of time..."

Ash smiled back, looking her in the eye again for the first time in a while. "I thought so. You seem like the kind of pony that would just want to make other ponies smile. It's honestly why I do my job as well. Seeing someone smile after I've fixed something they've broken is all the pay I need. That is, if money were not an essential part of living in modern day society. But I digress," he said, chuckling slightly. Once again, Ash barely caught what Jazz had said, but catch it he did. He was silent now, unsure of what to say. It was best not to say anything, but he had to say something. But what could he say? It seemed parents were a touchy subject for Jazz, and from what she said now one could assume they were still alive, so perhaps they left her? No, it was bad to assume... He had to say something generic, but still meaningful. "Jazz Sonata... I'm sorry. I... Don't feel like I could say anything. I will say that your parents should be bloody proud of you."

Gearbox stood idly as she waited, glancing over all the parts and tools that were out on display. She started humming softly to herself, slowly getting lost in her thoughts (as usual). "I'll take all of it." Gear was immediately snapped back into reality. Had she misheard? Did this mare really just ask to take everything in stock? Even Gear had never come here to get more than a few things at a time. Then again, she hadn't been very successful yet, so a few parts and tools here and there were all she could really afford. Still, the thought had never even crossed her mind. When the mare offhandedly greeted Gear, the short-maned mare gave back a small wave and a shy smile. However, there wasn't much chance for a response as the possibly insane mare quickly turned back to speak with the shopkeeper. "Lektra Bolt," she had introduced herself. 'Lektra Bolt? I guess that's fitting, huh?' Gear thought to herself. Suddenly, the mare had turned back and started talking to Gear again. "Oh uh... Y-yes *ahem* Yes, I am," she quickly replied, forcing herself to start over her reply when she had stuttered just slightly. It was a thing Gear did to help with her stutter.

The plethora of different smells was almost overwhelming for Pat, as well as borderline intoxicating. She had to stop herself from drooling simply at the thought of eating at these places all the time! However much Pat wanted to explore, it didn't seem like now would be the time. A woman came up to her offering a job as a spokesperson. "Huh? Oh I'm not lookin' for a job roight now, love. But-" Suddenly, Pat's personal space was invaded by trays of samples from all of over the world. They were getting shoved into her face, and she was starting to feel a bit crowded. But the chance for free food was a chance Pat would not let slip by! Even as the first girl began to go berserk, Pat popped in free sample after free sample until her cheeks were stuffed full. As she swallowed all the food, Pat caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye and froze. Was that... blood? The little girl had drawn blood from one of the other sales persons trying to service Pat. "Oh no..." The red seemed to magnify in Pat's eyes, boiling up and filling her vision. She was frozen in place, unable to move. It wasn't until the man had covered the wound and the girl had wiped the blood from her mouth that Pat's vision cleared up. She looked much paler than before, and a slight cold sweat had gathered on her brow. It seemed she had just barely heard what the girl had said. "Huh? Oh, I've... I've gotta go... things ta do..." she whispered, crossing her arms as she turned and walked away. Pat closed her eyes... And all she saw was red.

Ash sighed and shrugged. "I'm sure you're great. Again, it's your special talent, so you must be naturally good at what you do. And it's not like you have to be perfect. I dabble into the piano now and then, and while it's by no means my special talent, I'd say I'm decent at it. But I don't play to sound perfect. I play to make someone smile. I feel like, deep down, that's why you play as well," he said, gazing off into the distance. He seemed to be lost in thought, smiling slightly to himself. "Anyways, yes, you're right. Wings can certainly give me more freedom than I have at times."

Seven years ago... Patil Aoife was on another one of her excursions through the forest. She made her way to one of her favorite places in said forest: The massive, sparkling lake smack dab in the middle of the woods. She smiled to herself as she walked up to the shore and looked out to the water. Sighing a breath of relief, she took a quick look around. "Hm?" Now what could that be? There was something over near the dock, but Pat couldn't quite see it from where she was. Without a second thought, the tiny girl trudged over to the dock to see what was there. Her eyes lit up immediately when she saw what was there. A canoe! Oh boy! Now Pat could actually go out into the water! Whoever owned the boat surely wouldn't mind if she took it for a quick ride around, right? Giggling endlessly, Pat jumped into the canoe, undid the rope keeping it anchored to the dock, and set up for the middle of the lake. She was laughing endlessly, occasionally leaning over to try and touch any interesting animals she saw in the water. There were swans in the middle of the lake. Beautiful, elegant creatures that didn't even mind when Pat's canoe came up into their group. Pat's eyes were sparkling more than the stars would in a few hours, and she leaned over to touch one of the swans. It moved away slightly, making Pat huff and pout. She reached out again, but the swan moved away once again. Getting frustrated now, Pat leaned out as far a she could... But Pat had leaned too much. She could feel the canoe tipping, and her previously bright face quickly turned to one of panic and intense fear. Pat couldn't swim. A million things raced through Pat's mind in the one second before she would inevitably hit the water. She was in the middle of the huge lake. There was no way she would survive this. She'd be leaving Van all alone... What had she done? If only she hadn't always been so reckless! Maybe this wouldn't have happened, and Vanice would still have his little sister and Pat would still be alive and... Hey, shouldn't she have hit the water by now? Pat opened her eyes, which had been squeezed shut with incredible intensity. They fluttered open and she blinked several times as she looked around. It looked almost like she was on top of the water. Pat looked down and saw ice had formed where there had absolutely been water before. Her hands were against the ice, and icy vapors were coming up from beneath where her hands were. Pat quickly brought them up away from the ice and looked at where she assumed the vapors were coming from. Instead, she saw they came from her own hands. She screamed and stumbled backwards, miraculously falling back into the canoe with a thud. This was insane! She was alive! But... how? Did she really make that ice? How was that possible? Pat paddled to the shore as fast as she possibly could, anchored the boat back to the dock (She was a considerate person, after all), and ran home. She told Vanice, her brother, about what had happened. He didn't believe her, naturally. Not only was the story itself unbelievable, but Van knew Pat had quite the imagination in the first place, so he didn't even second guess that it had never happened. She pouted and yelled at him that she wasn't lying, and told him she'd prove it. Van thought this was rather amusing, took a seat, and waited for Pat as she got a glass of water. She looked a bit nervous and was hesistant, but eventually she stuck her finger in the water and closed her eyes. For a while, nothing happened, and Pat strained harder, concentrated harder. Finally, the water became visibly colder, the sides of the glass getting foggy. It wasn't frozen, but that was proof enough... Pat was a cryomancer. Now "This place looks wicked, Van! Thanks again fer lettin' me stay at yer place, bro! I'll get there as soon as I can! Yea, I know. Yea, I will. Alright. Alright! Alright! Kay, see ya soon. Love ya." Pat shoved her phone in her pocket, a wide smile on her face. This was it. This was Atarashi. She'd wanted to go ever since she first heard of the place, and when she found out her brother was moving there, she begged him to let her go with him. He said no, but only because he wanted to get situated there first. Once he was all set, he would buy her a ticket to Atarashi as soon as he possibly could, which he did. The 2 months had felt like 2 years, but finally Pat could see her brother again. The short girl, who looked much younger than someone who was turning 18 relatively soon, walked around and looked at all the people here. Everyone looked so different! There were a lot of Japanese looking people, which made sense, but there were also a plethora of other nationalities strung about, which was also expected, Atarashi being a new, man-made island, after all. While it was rather cold, Pat's jacket was pretty light. The blue jacket was her signature piece of attire, and something she felt very close to (It was a gift from Vanice). Pat's hair was a pale blue, and her eyes sparkled just like a child's. "This is gonna be awesome!" she cried in excitement, gaining her a few looks from those nearby.

Ash snickered a bit. "I find that a bit humorous. You say 'not really', but you yourself just said it's your special talented. If that's what your cutie mark is for, then, in theory, you're talented at playing the guitar," Ash said, still snickering a bit. He had barely caught what Jazz had said, but he was able to make it out. She reminded him of his cousin, Hush, when she got like this. At her second statement, he nodded in agreement. "My wings can help me stay away from others when it gets too crowded, so I suppose that's a plus. Then again, if I was a unicorn I could just make my own little bubble." ((Have you watched any of Your Lie in April, by any chance?))

The parts shop was in sight, and there was little traffic around the small store. Barely anyone ever came here. It was an amazement the place was still open for business. Then again, Gearbox alone was probably the one keeping its owner on his hooves. Gear was in her own little world, as per usual, so she didn't hear the ponies speaking of this "unicorn with wings". However, she saw the shadow cast over her and took a glance upwards, figuring it was a pegasus. However, she immediately noticed the mechanical look of the wings and her eyes brightened. They were so well made! And they actually worked too! Oh that was simply incredible! A smile made its way onto Gear's face now. She thought the "pegasus" would just fly off and she'd never see them again, but the metal-winged pony stopped at the parts shop Gearbox was heading straight for. 'Is she an inventor?' Gear wondered to herself, although it was pretty obvious the pony- a mare by the looks of it- had to be some sort of inventor or engineer, seeing as how she was at this place. Gear tentatively stepped up behind the mare, waiting for her turn in line.

OOC A white unicorn woke up with a start. Her alarm was going off, but when her eyes had cracked open, the sun had already been shining through the shades. But she got up at 6 AM every day! It couldn't be sunny out! She shot upwards, casting a quick, almost reluctant glance at the clock. "8:47!?" she cried out, jumping right off her bed and rushed to gather her things in her saddlebags. She used her magic to pile them all in as she ate a stack of pancakes much faster than one could think someone of her size could. She gulped down the breakfast, threw the saddlebags on her back, and raced out of the house. She hadn't bothered to brush her mane, although it was something she often forgot to do anyway. Still, it looked decent enough to not attract too much attention, but it was certainly a bit frazzled. "I was supposed to head out at seven today! I can't believe I overslept! I never do that! Stupid, Gearbox, stupid!" she was mumbling to herself, her eyes glued to the pavement below her. Gearbox lived on the very edges of Ponyville, so there weren't a ton of ponies walking around as she made her way into the main part of the city. She always tried to get here early, to avoid the crowds of ponies that arose during this part of the morning. "Just got to get the parts and go home. No dilly dallying today. Ugh, and I wanted to go sit in the park for a bit, too! But I need to get that commission done soon... *sigh* Maybe tomorrow..."

Ash nodded as he listened to her. "I would imagine. You must be very talented if you can play as well as you can with hooves," he noted, despite having never heard Jazz play. "Best of both worlds, huh? Yea I don't know about that. I'd be a-ok with just a little horn on my head. Honestly I'd be fine with being an earth pony as long as I can work on my machines." He kept relatively near Jazz so they could speak easily, but there was definitely enough room for the both of them to fly comfortably.

"I highly doubt it..." Ash muttered under his breath, but made no other indication to the comment on how uncomfortable Jazz touching him made her feel, or at least one that could be easily seen or heard. Ash was borderline Haphephobic, and Jazz being that close to him, with not just her arm but a good portion of her body as well touching his, he had started to get a bit nauseous. Ash flew over next to her and matched her lazy pace. "Honestly I could do without these things," he said, gesturing towards his wings. "I'd prefer to be a unicorn. Would make my job a whole lot easier."

It iiiiiiiiis, lol Aussie's definitely up there for me. Aussie, English, and Scottish (Karen Gillan oh my lord) are some of my favorites.

Ash chuckled to himself as Jazz shot into the air almost immediately. With a lazy takeoff, Ash slowly flapped up to her, taking his time to get all the way up to where Jazz had stopped. He hovered idly once he finally made it, listening to what she was saying. "I can see that. And don't worry about it. I understand," he said, flashing a small and quick smile. He was going to say that, in the future, he'd prefer if she didn't touch him again, but he ultimately decided against it. He felt like it would make him sound a bit pretentious or something. This was actually kind of weird, since normally Ash just said whatever came to mind. Hm.

Anything not American XD Nah, but I find a touch of cockney to be extremely cute. Tracer from Overwatch has one of my favorite voices of any character ever.

Ash noted the forced smile and the saddened tone, and Ash noticed this was the second time she'd done this when he spoke of his parents. He made a mental note not to mention his parents very often in the future. There was likely some bad memories lying with Jazz. Ash decided it would be better if he didn't even comment on the matter, and moved on to the problem at hand. "Oh my, you're really not a fan, hm? I suppose we could fly if you'd like. We'll get a better view of the sights as well," Ash noted, finding flying to be a good idea. She'd also stop touching him if they flew, so that was a plus.

Ash shrugged. "I'm just not one for sight seeing, I suppose. Neither were my parents. We were all rather secluded, keeping to our own devices. Literally, mind you. Our family time was a group project. Whether it be a commission or one of my mother's ideas, that was when we all got together," Ash said, making a face when Jazz locked legs with him. He was looking away, so Jazz wouldn't see. Ash wasn't a huge fan of physical contact from other ponies, but he made no verbal signs of this. He just kept walking, and when Jazz got closer, he cast a glance over at her. What was she trying to- Oh, she looked rather... scared? "Not a fan of crowds, I presume," Ash commented, his face showing a little concern.

Ash shrugged. "Dunno, really. I've never really gone to any major landmarks or anything 'round here. Actually, I've never really been around the city at all. I ah.... Don't get out too much, believe it or not," the pegasus said, snickering a bit at his own cheeky comment. He looked up and down the street again, a pondering look on his face. "I suppose we could just wander around and stop at anything that catches your eye. Wandering's always fun... Heh, ask my cousins." Ash seemed to find what he said to be a bit amusing, although only ponies that knew his family would understand why.

Korrasami is my OTP. I didn't even ship until it actually happened and then I was like, "This is it. This is my one true pair." Other things I ship: Gajeel x Levi (Fairy Tail) (I need to get back to that show at some point...) Ren x Nora (RWBY) Jaune x Pyrhha (RWBY) Felicity Smoak x Ray Palmer (Arrow) Barry x ANYONE BUT IRIS GOD DAMN IT (The Flash) Can't think of any others off the top o' my noggin. I'm not a huge shipper, but these are pairs I either really want to see happen or I'm really glad have already happened.

Ash cast a look backwards at her sudden silence and slightly solemn tone. He saw her looking down at her hooves, her mane covering her face. He already guessed several things, but didn't ask any questions. It wasn't his place to prod (usually, sometimes it was his job), especially not with someone he just met. "I haven't the slightest. Anything you were planning on seeing?" he asked her, turning his head back forward when she looked up.

Ash shook his head as he followed her. "Don't worry about that. My parents own a shop on the other side of the city. I opened up this one over here for ease of access to the residents, but if it's an emergency they'll probably be willing to head over to theirs. Now, shall we get going?" he explained, going through the door way and keeping the door open with his back hoof as he looked up and down the street.