Post by Derpy on Jun 4, 2012 2:49:51 GMT -5
Welcome to Day 3: Team Hogtie!!
Team Alfalfa: Applejack, Stronghold, Sky Blue (bronc)
Team Clover: Pumpkin Patch, Salsa Dancer, Gunstar (bronc)
Note: Derpy spoofed Pumpkin Patch for the second half of the event.
#=#=#=#=#=# PONYVILLE SQUARE #=#=#=#=#=#
It's clear that something's going down in town square today! The normally bucolic heart of Ponyville is a lot dustier than normal, for one thing. Did they import dust from Appleoosa? There's a big arena taking up most of the formerly grassy space between the Town Hall and the surrounding buildings. It's walled off with wooden plank fences, with big corner posts and ropes adding magnitude and various waving banners and pennants adding decoration. Rows of bleachers six levels high surround the arena.
Meanwhile, vendors nopony in town remembers ever seeing before have taken up the circuit in the marketplace and all the way to the stream. The atmosphere is more rollicking than usual by far, and there seem to be an inordinate number of big, broad-rimmed hats and immaculate white vests, not to mention the occasional lapel flower. And the arena itself is scattered with crates, barrels, coiled ropes, metal trappings, reins, signboards, and other dusty miscellany.
Do you know what this is? The Equestria Rodeo Competition is being held in Ponyville this year--that's what it is! Are -you- on the roster?
[ Firefly(#259PQB), Starfire(#686PB), Fairground(#385PB), ]
[ Pinkie_Pie(#209PBC), Spike(#210PBC), MapleWing(#785PBC), ]
Trot-trot-trot, in comes Pumpkin Patch. He glances around a few long moments, sighing as he doesn't see his younger brother. He had hoped to find him here after the big blow up earlier in the day. He does make his way closer to the crowd, hoping to catch sight of the young pony, and he also gives a light nod of greeting to his neighbors and Fluttershy. "Evening."
PUB >> The Moonloaf includes a photo of the golden miter that used to fit over Celestia's horn and ran down the back of her neck trailing gemstones on thin chains. For two days Celestia thought she looked fabulous rather than ridiculous in it, and for thirteen hundred years Luna has been waiting to show it to the public.
Pumpkin_Patch sighs a bit. He looks around again, hunting his young brother, before just settling in. No sign of him. He's worried, but he knows he'll come back when he's ready.
It's a bustling, partly cloudy day. The weather ponies, with reinforcements from Cloudsdale, are pushing those big cumulus clouds at a good clip across the sky, so it isn't too sunny for long. But the sun does shine here and there, and it really makes those corn dogs and potato fries taste good! (It's up to the imagination what the 'dog' part of the corn dogs is.) Mayor mare steps onto a half-crushed soapbox (there was an accident) and announces to the waiting crowd, which has just finished watching the hot dog eating contest (again, use your imagination): Fillies and Gentlecolts of Ponyville! Strap yourselves in, because the team hogtie is about to begin!!"
There's more than one pony itchin' for the next event, and o'course Applejack is amongst them. She arrives just as the crowds are beginning to swell, offering Stronghold a smile as she trots up beside him, just catching the end of his monologue. "It sure is, partner!" She agrees. "Ah'm glad ya made it out here, iffn' this is yer first rodeo! Why, ah remember mine like it was just yest'rday." She goes all distant-gazed as she flashes back to a memory of herself as a filly in the junior rodeo, which she entered as soon as she was old enough to pick up a rope. She's called out of her recollections when the mayor makes her announcement, though, and her ears perk up as she stands on tip-toe to try and see over the rest of the crowd. "YEEEEEEEEHAW!" She voices her approval noisily, adding one note to a small roar of cheers.
Stronghold blinks and turns to regard the farm pony for a moment, a grin on his own muzzle, "Yes ma'am It's my first one to compete in. But I've always loved watching them. Miss berry Punch was the pony who encouraged me to give it a try. After she found out I was with the Royal Guard that is." He chuckles, "That seemed to get her excited."
There's a bit of bustle and hustle and the sound of someponies working the edge of the crowds, and there he be, the stallion of the hour, the root'n'st, toot'n'st, pony in the West-- Gunstar, all flashing teeth and wide-brimmed hat and fringed vest and swagger. "Now, y'all just give a pony room, no need 't fuss, plenty fer all... Well, howdy do, AJ."
Berry Punch is recovering from the hot dog contest and isn't avilable to compete in this round. She gives a hoof-up to Stronghold from the bleachers.
Inkwell slides herself into a stand, glowing quill at the ready behind her and a spiral pad fresh and wide open as the plains-- sure, she's an editor-in-chief now, and could get another pony to cover the rodeo for the paper, but let's face it, it's a chance to get out and have some potato fries and avoid the desk for a few hours.
"WOO! YAY! GO RODEO!" Not wearing any of her formal or semi-formal outfits, lest she gets mud upon them, a completely bare Sky Blue bounces up and down upon the spot, her defeaningly loud voice shouting straight into some VERY poor pony's ear.
Salsa Dancer suddenly notices that a crowd has appeared around him. Well, this is a most interestign development. Even his guitar strumming, usually playing like a score and easier to hear, might only be heard by ponies much closer to him. So mostly just ponies who may be competing in the event as he turns and trots over to the organizers to sign up. "I... Salsa Dancer! Would like to cohmpete.
The crowd watches while the bigshots shoot big and the minglers mingle. And they shift with excitement for the hogtie! Meanwhile, Ace and his staff are double-checking the knots in their pre-tied lassoes.
Contestants? Patch ponders a moment, looking around, then shrugs. Why the hay not, right? He trots down to where the contestants are gathered. Sounds like fun to him. He's not been in a rodeo for the longest time, since he was in the junior leagues. "Ah think this'll be all kindsa fun," he grins.
"Well, the royal guard -does- have a heck of a reputation, don't they?" AJ asks rhetorically, grinning sidelong to Stronghold. Gunstar's arrival doesn't go unnoticed -- 'course, he made sure of that! Her grin falters a bit, but is soon replaced by a casual, half-lidded smile. "Evenin', Gunstar." She offers politely in return, without making eye contact. She knows about the pile of blue ribbons he's won already, and is doing her best not to think about them. Her own collection is once again lacking in that much-coveted color.
Stronghold smiles and shrugs, trying to be nonchalant, but then Gunstar shows up and he finds himself struggling with the urge to put that stallion in his place. He really doesn't like the show-off much, "I suppose we do, Oh hello Gunstar, By the way, I wanted to say you ran a pretty fair race yesterday, What happened by the way? Did you trip? I thought you were right there just behind me through most of it, then you just...weren't." There, that was a fair compromise. He wasn't -exactly rubbing the loss in Gunstar's face. But he was bringing it up again, sometimes that was enough for a pony like the showboating stallion.
The mayor says a few words about the nobility of physical exercise and about how about it is to respect the limits of one's body and to know when to stop and basically never to listen to Princess Luna, without actually mentioning her by name. "And now...the teams are assembled! For Team Clover, we have the exotic Salsa Dancer paired up with local Pumpkin Patch, and the notorious Gunstar as bronc! And for Team Alfalfa, local apple magnate Applejack and hurdle racing champion Stronghold, together with junior bronc Sky Blue! On the whistle, ponies! Three...two..."
"Y'know, AJ, I was think'n 'bout look'n up that filly friend o' your'n, Rarity? Figure she can make me a nice vest to wear my ribbons on, what' y'all think?" Oh, Gunstar's full of brag and bounce, and he's aware of the blues AJ's going through from not having any blues. He grins at her and jets a stream of prickly pear chaw into the spitoon that seems to follow him everywhere. *DING* He regards Stonghold with half-lidded eyes and a sudden tightening around the neck muscles. "Never y'all mind-- just count y'rself lucky is all, and that's all it was... and funny thing, luck don't seem to be too consistent." Eyes still lidded, he scans the crowd and favors them with a sharp smile.
Meanwhile, in the crowd, Inkwell is acting like any city-slicker at a rodeo, trying to order an espresso from a chuck-wagon type vendor and wondering why-- where-- how all this dust got here?
"WOO! YAY! RODEOOO!" Sky Blue has been like that all through the mayor's speech, much to the chagrin and soon-to-be hearing problems of the poor fillies and gentlecolts near her. Wait, what was that? Three? That's one of those number thing- Two? That one's familiar... The cyan hayseed's brain clicks into gear and she rapidly scans the crowd. Okay. Patchy and... DANCER?! "Darn it."
Yes, Dancer, Salsa Verde's elder brother. This could mean trouble. But he is still waiting for the organizers to put him in the event. The guitar is now playing slow waiting, yet still relentlessly romantic, music.
One of Ace's assistants goes and shoves Salsa Dancer into the arena. Which is...incidentally...open! Meaning that both teams are competing in the same space. Now who thought of that idea? Ace flips his whistle into his mouth, ready to blow...
Well, Salsa Dancer. Patch looks over at his partner and gives a hopeful grin. "Y'ever done this b'fore?" he questions, tail swishing a bit behind him. Hoof taps the ground a few long moments. He ponders a long moment, getting in the right frame of mind. He can totally, totally do this.
"Ah think that's a splendid ahdea." Applejack replies lightly to her competitor, twitching under her skin at Gunstar's bragging but doing a good job yet of not showing her annoyance, "Then everypony'll already know what a swell-headed show off y'really are, without havin' to hear yer awful braggin'." With that, AJ leaves the conversation to head to the starting place, getting her rope ready and scuffing a hoof as she gears herself up to run.
Stronghold smiles at the other stallion even as he wanders over to collect his lasso, "Well i suppose you must be right Gunstar, you are a professional rodeo pony after all...still that must have been some serious bad luck for you to come in dead last the way you did." Stronghold knows exactly what he is doing, he can read body language fairly well. It comes with his job, he may not be a rodeo pony himself, but subduing others and knowing the signs of when somepony is getting under somepony else's skin...thats what he -does-. He smirks to himself, hiding his impish pleasure at the way Gunstar's neck muscles stiffened. He then turns to join Apple Jack, allowing a small chuckle to rumble in his chest and he whispers to her, "He did ya know Miss Applejack...he was the very last pony across the finishline yesterday."
*PAMF*, a sudden flash of greenish light indicative of a unicorn's teleport appears up by the Mayor, only this unicorn is a guardpony from Canterlot. .. S'not like most other guards though, wearing BLUE armor instead of the gold with Celestia's cutie mark adorning his chestplate. Course the missing helmet's a dead giveaway too! But he's not here to compete, no, Scope's only here to observe for the time being.
The Mayor is distracted and hurries over to consult with Scope. But Ace doesn't notice--he's busy concentrating on the event! He leans up and lets his whistle shrill, and the hogtie is underway! Immediately, four assistants throw lassoes to the four ropers which they can use as they like...or retie the ropes to their own satisfaction, if they prefer.
Tisk, tisk, Stronghold. How unsportsponylike-- one might think you were taking a page from Gunstar himself? At the shrill blast of the whistle, Gunstar's already ready to explode off his hooves, and does, like a blast from Pinkie's party cannon, a blur of dust and spangled fringe and low hat brim and dusty grey legs. Hooves rattle the cracked ground and thunder along the area within the rodeo arena. He's moving like an epileptic sea serpent, clattering over open ground and barely slowing to wink and flash his pearly teeth at his adoring groupies in the stands....
Dancer looks Patch up and down. Well, he doesn't have the look of a dancing pony, but perhaps the fires of *passion* burn within his heart! "You must be quick! For the wind is for us, as is the beautiful arth!" The pony takes his lasso in his mouth and mumbles something incomprehinsible, but the music speaks for him, the guitar deciding to take on pre-duel music.
The grand super mega triple sugar octuple espresso. Last time she took it, she wrecked most of a cafe, knocked out three ponies, and jumped out of a window. Now? Sky Blue is prepared. As soon as the whistle sounds, the cyan hayseed is powering across the arena as fast as her hooves can carry her, trying to put as much distance between Pumpkin Patch and Salsa Dancer as she can.
For some reason, Patch isn't really impressed by the answer. "Well, ah think the other team got ah better hog," he grins, but doesn't seem too put off. As the whistle sounds, he watches the bronc darting off and he scoops p his rope, spinning it around like a proper farm pony should!
The newly arrived guard quickly informs the Mayor of his intentions, he's just here to watch along with a few other reasons (which I'll page whoever's spoofing the Mayor. <.<) and allows her to return to her duties while he sees to his, turning his amber eyes out onto the arena to observe the event..
Inkwell was about to tackle Sky Blue for that espresso! No fair! The unicorn journalist sulks in the stands, prevented from getting her hooves on that coffee by the sudden swift departure of Sky.
The mayor confers with the blue-plated royal guard. She looks concerned, but nods and stands quietly in the end, having nothing to object to.
Salsa Dancer takes off running right after the blur resemling Sky Blue, then he stops, then starts to tap out his hooves rhythmically, twirling the lasso. 1... 2 3... 4. 1... 2 3... 4. "Feel the hungar in your heart. Everything have a rhythm. Everything." He's dancing around the arena... fantastic solo romantic dancing, the guitar is really going now, giving him the sound to which he dances.
Applejack is off like a whipcrack at the whistle as well -- and of course, she's got her eyes on the prize, dashing after Gunstar the Bronc as he thunders off ahead of her. Her rope is already swinging in a skilled arc over her head, though he's too far ahead to make a move yet. She exchanges a glance with Stronghold as she nonverbally makes plans with him, a swing of her head suggesting for the guard to take Gunstar's other side. She digs her hooves in as she picks up the pace, gaining a bit of ground -- but dang, that stallion is fast! How exactly did he lose the hurdle race, she wonders? The thought is reassuring, if hard to believe now. Nopony's perfect! Even someone with a heap of blue ribbons to show off.
Derpy flies happily over the field, cradling her microphone like she did the binoculars earlier. "Team Clover? Uneven start. Too many romance. Team Alfalfalfa?? Very lightning!!!"
Stronghold is impressed by the speed of Gunstar, he's seen few perps run that fast even when several guards are after them, the difference here being the rodeo pony can only run so far before he has to turn to remain in the arena. Stronghold has chased criminal ponies through large sections of Canterlot, He follows AJ's wordless directions keeping Gunstar an equal distance between them and charging after the other stallion, his own lasso work not quite as skilled as AppleJack's, but passable. He's tied up a few ponies before as well. He doesn't have the nigh instinctive ability the farmpony has. But he's capable enough.
"Heh, heh," Gunstar's smug chortle can even be heard over the thunder of his hooves as he banks to one side and then suddenly makes a sharp bend to circle the long way around the weak link in the opposition. Stronghold. AJ's obviously a pro with the lasso, and even Gunstar's trying not to risk letting her get into range for roping. The stallion veers in a sudden, impossibly sharp angle, almost ninety degrees, slashing right across Stronghold's line of movement and even having a chance to tip a wink to him as he passes from between the attempt at boxing him in.
RUNRUNRUNRUNRUN- Sky Blue's legs are into overdrive drive mode as she powers across the arena, and takes a moment to glance behind towards Dancer and Patch, just in time to plough through the wooden fence surrounding the arena and knock over a dozen bystanders. A few seconds later, she powers back into the arena through a second hole, right beside the first, and does her best to try and move in a sweeping circle around her persuers... though, truth be told, she could probably just run at them and flatten them. You get blue ribbons for hospitalizing the other team, right?
After a few moments of silence, Scope's horn is suddenly surrounded by a greenish-hued aura as he conjours up a small spell and he turns his head to look towards one side of the arena, slooooowly letting his eyes take in everything. The crowd, the arena itself, th-- What the? His eyes snap over to the other direction and focus in on Team Alfalfa as they pursue Gunstar, aura beginning to brighten a little.
"Oh come on," Patch says, though comes out more like "Mmh hum ohm." The rope swings in circles a few moments and he tries to lead Sky toward Salsa Dancer. If nothing else, he hopes they distract each other or trip or something. Of course that plan goes to pot when Sky darts through the hole in the fence and he ends up roping a fencpost. He's managed to get his rope back by the time Sky returns. He digs in and kicks off again, launching forward after her again, rope once more sailing in the air in a wide, lazy loop as he runs.
Ace blows his whistle sharply. "Team Alfalfa!! Fifteen second penalty for leaving the arena! Carry on!" Now in order to win, AJ and Stronghold need to not only rope Gunstar before the other team gets Sky Blue, but they need to beat the spread by at least fifteen seconds!
Plot wiggle. Plot wiggle. Plot wiggle. Hoof clophoofclop. He's actually a really amazing dancer, too bad this isn't a dancing competition. Suddenly, through some divine inspiration or providence or *something.* Maybe he thought of the color pink, who knows? With a dramatic guitar strum heard all through the rodeo grounds, the dancer tosses the lasso right toward Sky. "You must not just watch, you mahst *feeel.*"
Scope intensifies whatever spell he's using as he peeeers across the way but eventually the glow around his horn returns to it's previous brightness and the guard resumes just looking around.. though some of the unicorns in the crowd should feel an odd sensation of being watched as the guard's gaze sweeps over them.
Derpy flutters excitedly over the 'little' end of the arena, where Sky is getting targeted. "Sky Blue? Is Sky-blown. Blown through fence!" Like a chipmunk Thanksgiving, she giggles. "And Salsa Damper? Very strange. Is putting LOVER into Team CLOVER!" The mailmare-turned-announcer grins broadly at her own verbal cleverness.
"Without Salsa?" Derpy clarifies unnecessarily. "Only Team C." Her voice is a little sad at the thought.
'Now, how in tarnation?!' AJ thinks to herself, only just able to keep herself from skidding to a stop out of sheer surprise when Gunstar turns on a dime, evading their trap. "ROPE THAT VARMIT!" She hollers to Stronghold as Gunstar cuts past the other stallion -- and in her hollering, she has to drop her own rope for a second -- not that she's in range to use it yet, but it does slow her down a pace since she has to scoop it back up again before she can get back on Gunstar's heels.
Gunstar only wears heels when nopony is watching, AJ. *a-hem*
Stronghold rather expected this, he knew he was the chink in his team's armor so to speak. And knew Gunstar was most likely going to exploit his inexperience. But instead of backpedaling, he sidesteps and turns his body trying to use his own momentum to turn. He almost drifts in his run to try and keep Gunstar between himself and AJ. His ears cant backwards when he hears his team penalized, but it can't be helped and fretting about things only ever made situations worse. It was the pony who kept a cool head and a steady nerve that usually came out on top. He would try to use Gunstar's penchant for targeting his side of the formation as an escape route to his team's advantage. He threw his lasso. Intentionally making it go wide, he had a plan. If Gunstar just did what he expected the other stallion to do and disregard his lasso as a bad throw. He furrowed his brow and watched Gunstar's midsection, one could usually see a body turn and change direction first in that area, he couldn't predict exactly what their Bronc would do with this tactic, but it would help him make an educated guess.
There's a squealing of breaks and a sudden cloud of dust as thick as a prairie fire, as Gunstar digs in all four hooves and goes from full run to flat stop in about three feet. The furrows in the ground are like plow-marks. Stronghold and AJ would get one fleeting glimpse of the dusty grey stallion as he vanishes into the swirling cloud his stop has kicked up, and then there's a blank patch in the middle of the arena, and Gunstar could be just about /anywhere/ inside it.
"FIFTEEN SECONDS?!" Sky Blue exclaims at the top of her naturally impressive voice, her ears slicking back as a striken expression crosses her- oops, opposite fence. The earth filly manages to wheel about just time to stop herself from ploughing through the fence /again/, pauses for a second, then shoots off like a rocket once more, making a bee-line towards Salsa Dancer. If this works, not only would it be a big bonus for her team, but she can laugh about it with Salsa Verde later!
Derpy dives into the top of the cloud of dust and emerges, coughing. "On bigpony side?" she announces. "Bad weather. Very bad. Who knows what will bring."
Inkwell's like a lot of the crowd, on her hooves and trying to peer into the sudden smokescreen that obscures a good chunk of the roping contest.
It seems like Patch is on a team by himself. He hopes his team's bronco's doing better than they are. If only he could work as a team...if..oh wait> An idea strikes the pony. His rope spins over his head a few times then sails over to snag around a pony! Oddly enough, it's his own partner, Salsa Dancer that he ropes. He tugs his rope tight and moves away, taking out the slack in hopes Sky plows into it. Sneaky trick, but nothing against the rules.
Derpy flapflaps in amazement over the 'small' end of the arena. "Unbu-reathable! I mean leavable. Punky Patch has roped Dancer! You have confus-ed game!" She rocks back in mid-flight and laughs heartily at the spectacle of somepony else being derpier than her. Then she spins head over heels a few times while crying: "Whoo-ooo-oooa!"
Dancer is still talking. He talks a lot. "You see, the lessawns of th-- URK!" The romantic stallion nearly loses his balance, and therefore his rhythm, when his partner lassoes him. Hey! Who's he supposed to be lassoing here? Him or the bronc? Dancer glares at his partner. "My heart does not belong to you!"
Team Alfalfa: Applejack, Stronghold, Sky Blue (bronc)
Team Clover: Pumpkin Patch, Salsa Dancer, Gunstar (bronc)
Note: Derpy spoofed Pumpkin Patch for the second half of the event.
#=#=#=#=#=# PONYVILLE SQUARE #=#=#=#=#=#
It's clear that something's going down in town square today! The normally bucolic heart of Ponyville is a lot dustier than normal, for one thing. Did they import dust from Appleoosa? There's a big arena taking up most of the formerly grassy space between the Town Hall and the surrounding buildings. It's walled off with wooden plank fences, with big corner posts and ropes adding magnitude and various waving banners and pennants adding decoration. Rows of bleachers six levels high surround the arena.
Meanwhile, vendors nopony in town remembers ever seeing before have taken up the circuit in the marketplace and all the way to the stream. The atmosphere is more rollicking than usual by far, and there seem to be an inordinate number of big, broad-rimmed hats and immaculate white vests, not to mention the occasional lapel flower. And the arena itself is scattered with crates, barrels, coiled ropes, metal trappings, reins, signboards, and other dusty miscellany.
Do you know what this is? The Equestria Rodeo Competition is being held in Ponyville this year--that's what it is! Are -you- on the roster?
[ Firefly(#259PQB), Starfire(#686PB), Fairground(#385PB), ]
[ Pinkie_Pie(#209PBC), Spike(#210PBC), MapleWing(#785PBC), ]
Trot-trot-trot, in comes Pumpkin Patch. He glances around a few long moments, sighing as he doesn't see his younger brother. He had hoped to find him here after the big blow up earlier in the day. He does make his way closer to the crowd, hoping to catch sight of the young pony, and he also gives a light nod of greeting to his neighbors and Fluttershy. "Evening."
PUB >> The Moonloaf includes a photo of the golden miter that used to fit over Celestia's horn and ran down the back of her neck trailing gemstones on thin chains. For two days Celestia thought she looked fabulous rather than ridiculous in it, and for thirteen hundred years Luna has been waiting to show it to the public.
Pumpkin_Patch sighs a bit. He looks around again, hunting his young brother, before just settling in. No sign of him. He's worried, but he knows he'll come back when he's ready.
It's a bustling, partly cloudy day. The weather ponies, with reinforcements from Cloudsdale, are pushing those big cumulus clouds at a good clip across the sky, so it isn't too sunny for long. But the sun does shine here and there, and it really makes those corn dogs and potato fries taste good! (It's up to the imagination what the 'dog' part of the corn dogs is.) Mayor mare steps onto a half-crushed soapbox (there was an accident) and announces to the waiting crowd, which has just finished watching the hot dog eating contest (again, use your imagination): Fillies and Gentlecolts of Ponyville! Strap yourselves in, because the team hogtie is about to begin!!"
There's more than one pony itchin' for the next event, and o'course Applejack is amongst them. She arrives just as the crowds are beginning to swell, offering Stronghold a smile as she trots up beside him, just catching the end of his monologue. "It sure is, partner!" She agrees. "Ah'm glad ya made it out here, iffn' this is yer first rodeo! Why, ah remember mine like it was just yest'rday." She goes all distant-gazed as she flashes back to a memory of herself as a filly in the junior rodeo, which she entered as soon as she was old enough to pick up a rope. She's called out of her recollections when the mayor makes her announcement, though, and her ears perk up as she stands on tip-toe to try and see over the rest of the crowd. "YEEEEEEEEHAW!" She voices her approval noisily, adding one note to a small roar of cheers.
Stronghold blinks and turns to regard the farm pony for a moment, a grin on his own muzzle, "Yes ma'am It's my first one to compete in. But I've always loved watching them. Miss berry Punch was the pony who encouraged me to give it a try. After she found out I was with the Royal Guard that is." He chuckles, "That seemed to get her excited."
There's a bit of bustle and hustle and the sound of someponies working the edge of the crowds, and there he be, the stallion of the hour, the root'n'st, toot'n'st, pony in the West-- Gunstar, all flashing teeth and wide-brimmed hat and fringed vest and swagger. "Now, y'all just give a pony room, no need 't fuss, plenty fer all... Well, howdy do, AJ."
Berry Punch is recovering from the hot dog contest and isn't avilable to compete in this round. She gives a hoof-up to Stronghold from the bleachers.
Inkwell slides herself into a stand, glowing quill at the ready behind her and a spiral pad fresh and wide open as the plains-- sure, she's an editor-in-chief now, and could get another pony to cover the rodeo for the paper, but let's face it, it's a chance to get out and have some potato fries and avoid the desk for a few hours.
"WOO! YAY! GO RODEO!" Not wearing any of her formal or semi-formal outfits, lest she gets mud upon them, a completely bare Sky Blue bounces up and down upon the spot, her defeaningly loud voice shouting straight into some VERY poor pony's ear.
Salsa Dancer suddenly notices that a crowd has appeared around him. Well, this is a most interestign development. Even his guitar strumming, usually playing like a score and easier to hear, might only be heard by ponies much closer to him. So mostly just ponies who may be competing in the event as he turns and trots over to the organizers to sign up. "I... Salsa Dancer! Would like to cohmpete.
The crowd watches while the bigshots shoot big and the minglers mingle. And they shift with excitement for the hogtie! Meanwhile, Ace and his staff are double-checking the knots in their pre-tied lassoes.
Contestants? Patch ponders a moment, looking around, then shrugs. Why the hay not, right? He trots down to where the contestants are gathered. Sounds like fun to him. He's not been in a rodeo for the longest time, since he was in the junior leagues. "Ah think this'll be all kindsa fun," he grins.
"Well, the royal guard -does- have a heck of a reputation, don't they?" AJ asks rhetorically, grinning sidelong to Stronghold. Gunstar's arrival doesn't go unnoticed -- 'course, he made sure of that! Her grin falters a bit, but is soon replaced by a casual, half-lidded smile. "Evenin', Gunstar." She offers politely in return, without making eye contact. She knows about the pile of blue ribbons he's won already, and is doing her best not to think about them. Her own collection is once again lacking in that much-coveted color.
Stronghold smiles and shrugs, trying to be nonchalant, but then Gunstar shows up and he finds himself struggling with the urge to put that stallion in his place. He really doesn't like the show-off much, "I suppose we do, Oh hello Gunstar, By the way, I wanted to say you ran a pretty fair race yesterday, What happened by the way? Did you trip? I thought you were right there just behind me through most of it, then you just...weren't." There, that was a fair compromise. He wasn't -exactly rubbing the loss in Gunstar's face. But he was bringing it up again, sometimes that was enough for a pony like the showboating stallion.
The mayor says a few words about the nobility of physical exercise and about how about it is to respect the limits of one's body and to know when to stop and basically never to listen to Princess Luna, without actually mentioning her by name. "And now...the teams are assembled! For Team Clover, we have the exotic Salsa Dancer paired up with local Pumpkin Patch, and the notorious Gunstar as bronc! And for Team Alfalfa, local apple magnate Applejack and hurdle racing champion Stronghold, together with junior bronc Sky Blue! On the whistle, ponies! Three...two..."
"Y'know, AJ, I was think'n 'bout look'n up that filly friend o' your'n, Rarity? Figure she can make me a nice vest to wear my ribbons on, what' y'all think?" Oh, Gunstar's full of brag and bounce, and he's aware of the blues AJ's going through from not having any blues. He grins at her and jets a stream of prickly pear chaw into the spitoon that seems to follow him everywhere. *DING* He regards Stonghold with half-lidded eyes and a sudden tightening around the neck muscles. "Never y'all mind-- just count y'rself lucky is all, and that's all it was... and funny thing, luck don't seem to be too consistent." Eyes still lidded, he scans the crowd and favors them with a sharp smile.
Meanwhile, in the crowd, Inkwell is acting like any city-slicker at a rodeo, trying to order an espresso from a chuck-wagon type vendor and wondering why-- where-- how all this dust got here?
"WOO! YAY! RODEOOO!" Sky Blue has been like that all through the mayor's speech, much to the chagrin and soon-to-be hearing problems of the poor fillies and gentlecolts near her. Wait, what was that? Three? That's one of those number thing- Two? That one's familiar... The cyan hayseed's brain clicks into gear and she rapidly scans the crowd. Okay. Patchy and... DANCER?! "Darn it."
Yes, Dancer, Salsa Verde's elder brother. This could mean trouble. But he is still waiting for the organizers to put him in the event. The guitar is now playing slow waiting, yet still relentlessly romantic, music.
One of Ace's assistants goes and shoves Salsa Dancer into the arena. Which is...incidentally...open! Meaning that both teams are competing in the same space. Now who thought of that idea? Ace flips his whistle into his mouth, ready to blow...
Well, Salsa Dancer. Patch looks over at his partner and gives a hopeful grin. "Y'ever done this b'fore?" he questions, tail swishing a bit behind him. Hoof taps the ground a few long moments. He ponders a long moment, getting in the right frame of mind. He can totally, totally do this.
"Ah think that's a splendid ahdea." Applejack replies lightly to her competitor, twitching under her skin at Gunstar's bragging but doing a good job yet of not showing her annoyance, "Then everypony'll already know what a swell-headed show off y'really are, without havin' to hear yer awful braggin'." With that, AJ leaves the conversation to head to the starting place, getting her rope ready and scuffing a hoof as she gears herself up to run.
Stronghold smiles at the other stallion even as he wanders over to collect his lasso, "Well i suppose you must be right Gunstar, you are a professional rodeo pony after all...still that must have been some serious bad luck for you to come in dead last the way you did." Stronghold knows exactly what he is doing, he can read body language fairly well. It comes with his job, he may not be a rodeo pony himself, but subduing others and knowing the signs of when somepony is getting under somepony else's skin...thats what he -does-. He smirks to himself, hiding his impish pleasure at the way Gunstar's neck muscles stiffened. He then turns to join Apple Jack, allowing a small chuckle to rumble in his chest and he whispers to her, "He did ya know Miss Applejack...he was the very last pony across the finishline yesterday."
*PAMF*, a sudden flash of greenish light indicative of a unicorn's teleport appears up by the Mayor, only this unicorn is a guardpony from Canterlot. .. S'not like most other guards though, wearing BLUE armor instead of the gold with Celestia's cutie mark adorning his chestplate. Course the missing helmet's a dead giveaway too! But he's not here to compete, no, Scope's only here to observe for the time being.
The Mayor is distracted and hurries over to consult with Scope. But Ace doesn't notice--he's busy concentrating on the event! He leans up and lets his whistle shrill, and the hogtie is underway! Immediately, four assistants throw lassoes to the four ropers which they can use as they like...or retie the ropes to their own satisfaction, if they prefer.
Tisk, tisk, Stronghold. How unsportsponylike-- one might think you were taking a page from Gunstar himself? At the shrill blast of the whistle, Gunstar's already ready to explode off his hooves, and does, like a blast from Pinkie's party cannon, a blur of dust and spangled fringe and low hat brim and dusty grey legs. Hooves rattle the cracked ground and thunder along the area within the rodeo arena. He's moving like an epileptic sea serpent, clattering over open ground and barely slowing to wink and flash his pearly teeth at his adoring groupies in the stands....
Dancer looks Patch up and down. Well, he doesn't have the look of a dancing pony, but perhaps the fires of *passion* burn within his heart! "You must be quick! For the wind is for us, as is the beautiful arth!" The pony takes his lasso in his mouth and mumbles something incomprehinsible, but the music speaks for him, the guitar deciding to take on pre-duel music.
The grand super mega triple sugar octuple espresso. Last time she took it, she wrecked most of a cafe, knocked out three ponies, and jumped out of a window. Now? Sky Blue is prepared. As soon as the whistle sounds, the cyan hayseed is powering across the arena as fast as her hooves can carry her, trying to put as much distance between Pumpkin Patch and Salsa Dancer as she can.
For some reason, Patch isn't really impressed by the answer. "Well, ah think the other team got ah better hog," he grins, but doesn't seem too put off. As the whistle sounds, he watches the bronc darting off and he scoops p his rope, spinning it around like a proper farm pony should!
The newly arrived guard quickly informs the Mayor of his intentions, he's just here to watch along with a few other reasons (which I'll page whoever's spoofing the Mayor. <.<) and allows her to return to her duties while he sees to his, turning his amber eyes out onto the arena to observe the event..
Inkwell was about to tackle Sky Blue for that espresso! No fair! The unicorn journalist sulks in the stands, prevented from getting her hooves on that coffee by the sudden swift departure of Sky.
The mayor confers with the blue-plated royal guard. She looks concerned, but nods and stands quietly in the end, having nothing to object to.
Salsa Dancer takes off running right after the blur resemling Sky Blue, then he stops, then starts to tap out his hooves rhythmically, twirling the lasso. 1... 2 3... 4. 1... 2 3... 4. "Feel the hungar in your heart. Everything have a rhythm. Everything." He's dancing around the arena... fantastic solo romantic dancing, the guitar is really going now, giving him the sound to which he dances.
Applejack is off like a whipcrack at the whistle as well -- and of course, she's got her eyes on the prize, dashing after Gunstar the Bronc as he thunders off ahead of her. Her rope is already swinging in a skilled arc over her head, though he's too far ahead to make a move yet. She exchanges a glance with Stronghold as she nonverbally makes plans with him, a swing of her head suggesting for the guard to take Gunstar's other side. She digs her hooves in as she picks up the pace, gaining a bit of ground -- but dang, that stallion is fast! How exactly did he lose the hurdle race, she wonders? The thought is reassuring, if hard to believe now. Nopony's perfect! Even someone with a heap of blue ribbons to show off.
Derpy flies happily over the field, cradling her microphone like she did the binoculars earlier. "Team Clover? Uneven start. Too many romance. Team Alfalfalfa?? Very lightning!!!"
Stronghold is impressed by the speed of Gunstar, he's seen few perps run that fast even when several guards are after them, the difference here being the rodeo pony can only run so far before he has to turn to remain in the arena. Stronghold has chased criminal ponies through large sections of Canterlot, He follows AJ's wordless directions keeping Gunstar an equal distance between them and charging after the other stallion, his own lasso work not quite as skilled as AppleJack's, but passable. He's tied up a few ponies before as well. He doesn't have the nigh instinctive ability the farmpony has. But he's capable enough.
"Heh, heh," Gunstar's smug chortle can even be heard over the thunder of his hooves as he banks to one side and then suddenly makes a sharp bend to circle the long way around the weak link in the opposition. Stronghold. AJ's obviously a pro with the lasso, and even Gunstar's trying not to risk letting her get into range for roping. The stallion veers in a sudden, impossibly sharp angle, almost ninety degrees, slashing right across Stronghold's line of movement and even having a chance to tip a wink to him as he passes from between the attempt at boxing him in.
RUNRUNRUNRUNRUN- Sky Blue's legs are into overdrive drive mode as she powers across the arena, and takes a moment to glance behind towards Dancer and Patch, just in time to plough through the wooden fence surrounding the arena and knock over a dozen bystanders. A few seconds later, she powers back into the arena through a second hole, right beside the first, and does her best to try and move in a sweeping circle around her persuers... though, truth be told, she could probably just run at them and flatten them. You get blue ribbons for hospitalizing the other team, right?
After a few moments of silence, Scope's horn is suddenly surrounded by a greenish-hued aura as he conjours up a small spell and he turns his head to look towards one side of the arena, slooooowly letting his eyes take in everything. The crowd, the arena itself, th-- What the? His eyes snap over to the other direction and focus in on Team Alfalfa as they pursue Gunstar, aura beginning to brighten a little.
"Oh come on," Patch says, though comes out more like "Mmh hum ohm." The rope swings in circles a few moments and he tries to lead Sky toward Salsa Dancer. If nothing else, he hopes they distract each other or trip or something. Of course that plan goes to pot when Sky darts through the hole in the fence and he ends up roping a fencpost. He's managed to get his rope back by the time Sky returns. He digs in and kicks off again, launching forward after her again, rope once more sailing in the air in a wide, lazy loop as he runs.
Ace blows his whistle sharply. "Team Alfalfa!! Fifteen second penalty for leaving the arena! Carry on!" Now in order to win, AJ and Stronghold need to not only rope Gunstar before the other team gets Sky Blue, but they need to beat the spread by at least fifteen seconds!
Plot wiggle. Plot wiggle. Plot wiggle. Hoof clophoofclop. He's actually a really amazing dancer, too bad this isn't a dancing competition. Suddenly, through some divine inspiration or providence or *something.* Maybe he thought of the color pink, who knows? With a dramatic guitar strum heard all through the rodeo grounds, the dancer tosses the lasso right toward Sky. "You must not just watch, you mahst *feeel.*"
Scope intensifies whatever spell he's using as he peeeers across the way but eventually the glow around his horn returns to it's previous brightness and the guard resumes just looking around.. though some of the unicorns in the crowd should feel an odd sensation of being watched as the guard's gaze sweeps over them.
Derpy flutters excitedly over the 'little' end of the arena, where Sky is getting targeted. "Sky Blue? Is Sky-blown. Blown through fence!" Like a chipmunk Thanksgiving, she giggles. "And Salsa Damper? Very strange. Is putting LOVER into Team CLOVER!" The mailmare-turned-announcer grins broadly at her own verbal cleverness.
"Without Salsa?" Derpy clarifies unnecessarily. "Only Team C." Her voice is a little sad at the thought.
'Now, how in tarnation?!' AJ thinks to herself, only just able to keep herself from skidding to a stop out of sheer surprise when Gunstar turns on a dime, evading their trap. "ROPE THAT VARMIT!" She hollers to Stronghold as Gunstar cuts past the other stallion -- and in her hollering, she has to drop her own rope for a second -- not that she's in range to use it yet, but it does slow her down a pace since she has to scoop it back up again before she can get back on Gunstar's heels.
Gunstar only wears heels when nopony is watching, AJ. *a-hem*
Stronghold rather expected this, he knew he was the chink in his team's armor so to speak. And knew Gunstar was most likely going to exploit his inexperience. But instead of backpedaling, he sidesteps and turns his body trying to use his own momentum to turn. He almost drifts in his run to try and keep Gunstar between himself and AJ. His ears cant backwards when he hears his team penalized, but it can't be helped and fretting about things only ever made situations worse. It was the pony who kept a cool head and a steady nerve that usually came out on top. He would try to use Gunstar's penchant for targeting his side of the formation as an escape route to his team's advantage. He threw his lasso. Intentionally making it go wide, he had a plan. If Gunstar just did what he expected the other stallion to do and disregard his lasso as a bad throw. He furrowed his brow and watched Gunstar's midsection, one could usually see a body turn and change direction first in that area, he couldn't predict exactly what their Bronc would do with this tactic, but it would help him make an educated guess.
There's a squealing of breaks and a sudden cloud of dust as thick as a prairie fire, as Gunstar digs in all four hooves and goes from full run to flat stop in about three feet. The furrows in the ground are like plow-marks. Stronghold and AJ would get one fleeting glimpse of the dusty grey stallion as he vanishes into the swirling cloud his stop has kicked up, and then there's a blank patch in the middle of the arena, and Gunstar could be just about /anywhere/ inside it.
"FIFTEEN SECONDS?!" Sky Blue exclaims at the top of her naturally impressive voice, her ears slicking back as a striken expression crosses her- oops, opposite fence. The earth filly manages to wheel about just time to stop herself from ploughing through the fence /again/, pauses for a second, then shoots off like a rocket once more, making a bee-line towards Salsa Dancer. If this works, not only would it be a big bonus for her team, but she can laugh about it with Salsa Verde later!
Derpy dives into the top of the cloud of dust and emerges, coughing. "On bigpony side?" she announces. "Bad weather. Very bad. Who knows what will bring."
Inkwell's like a lot of the crowd, on her hooves and trying to peer into the sudden smokescreen that obscures a good chunk of the roping contest.
It seems like Patch is on a team by himself. He hopes his team's bronco's doing better than they are. If only he could work as a team...if..oh wait> An idea strikes the pony. His rope spins over his head a few times then sails over to snag around a pony! Oddly enough, it's his own partner, Salsa Dancer that he ropes. He tugs his rope tight and moves away, taking out the slack in hopes Sky plows into it. Sneaky trick, but nothing against the rules.
Derpy flapflaps in amazement over the 'small' end of the arena. "Unbu-reathable! I mean leavable. Punky Patch has roped Dancer! You have confus-ed game!" She rocks back in mid-flight and laughs heartily at the spectacle of somepony else being derpier than her. Then she spins head over heels a few times while crying: "Whoo-ooo-oooa!"
Dancer is still talking. He talks a lot. "You see, the lessawns of th-- URK!" The romantic stallion nearly loses his balance, and therefore his rhythm, when his partner lassoes him. Hey! Who's he supposed to be lassoing here? Him or the bronc? Dancer glares at his partner. "My heart does not belong to you!"