'Welcome To Harmony'[FINISHED]

You came for adventure, you came for relaxation, you came for the experience. No matter what brought your souls onto the S.S. McJigger Some are you are formally attending Winter's tea party, that she allowed Starry to send invites for. Some are you are hired to guard the cargo, perhaps some are here on business, your own pleasure, or just hitching a ride onboard or as a stowaway, but it is here you begin your slow tale into the descent of a failed dream.

As the morning awoke on the first day of the trip, many of the guards watching for pirates changed shifts and allowed the others to take their R&R, some of the mares were busy getting ready for the "Tea on the High Sea" celebration.

The S.S. McJigger was an old converted luxury Cruiser, but Cpt. Sparrow and Mr. Rum figured out how to make the most caps off it transporting trade goods, traveling passengers, and pleasure trips. Ships in such great condition were incredibly rare but Sparrow managed to keep it in safe repair, or at least Mr. Rum made sure he did. Decidedly on a spur of the moment, Sparrow decided to take a swig of Rum and grab a tin megaphone to do the 'morning announcement'

"Well Lads and Laddies alooks like we'd having a sa- *BURPPPP*........Sorry!! Um yea, so tea leaves and whatnot, if you have any problems please......don't bother me....'what was that?' Oh right, and Winner Belt says for anypony attending the tea party to make sure you wear your fancies and whatnots. Oh and if you're here as a guard, stay on the upper decks" As he finnished with the megaphone he took a step forward missing the stair way and tumbling down onto the main deck, Mr. Rum quickly lept passed him and grabbed the controls... Sparrow looked up and lept up, shaking his head

"I meant to do that...." He looked around himself and gave a sneer for anyone who thought otherwise. He took another swig of rum and wiped his mouth with his sleeve as the boat shifted about a degree, sending him tumbling over to the guardrails....leaving him trying to hold on for dear life while everypony else barely felt anything at all.

A boat trip. That was something new for Lightning. In fact, he had never really seen a boat in his life. But there was a first time for everything...something he kept reminding himself day after day in the wasteland. Formal attire was requested for this little party so Lightning had to get some new clothes for himself. A black jacket, white shirt, a tie. The basic stuff.

In his room, he struggled with the damned tie. "How did that mare tell me to do it? Loop up...no...wait..." After a while, the pegasus eventually got the tie right. It wasn't the best but it was good enough for the pegasus' standards. For a formal party like this, having weapons wasn't the best thing to have so Lightning chose to leave his SMG and his hunting rifle in the room. His pistol, however, he would keep at least. He made sure his jacket had a secret pocket inside where he could slip his weapon. It would take him a little time to draw it if he needed it but it was better than nothing. Besides, if he wanted to keep his weapons on him, he would join as a guard but he already did enough of that back in Stableton. It was time for a vacation and hopefully, a relaxing one.

With his attire all set, it was time to head out of where the party was. Lightning took a deep breath as he would walk out, heading to the deck.

Trails stretched as he fumbled with his bow tie. The captain was a stereotypical Lepricolt, always drunk. He laughed at the drunks ramblings and went back to getting ready. It was his first time back east in months, it felt...odd. The land that was his home for so long was strange to him now. He just wanted to get back to the desert and Red Rock, get back to living the life he was convinced he was meant to.

Even more foreign to him was the suit he had bought in New Pegasus before leaving. He put the cuff links in and fastened them shut. He'd called in a lot of favors to get a Pre-War suit this good, and he had to admit it, he looked good. He pulled on his Khan vest over the dress shirt. It was an odd thing to wear to most no doubt, but he'd spent several hours polishing it to a sheen so it'd be passable. No way in hell was he leaving it off though.

Finally he pulled on his sport coat and finished the bow tie. He straightened both out and checked his pockets. Cigarette case, picture of H, and his .357 in a quickdraw sling, all check. He let out a nervous sigh, running his hoof through his mane, and turned to Kes.

"You ready man?"

Dash tugged a fore hoof at the fancy pre-war formal attire his father had sent him upon hearing what he was going to be attending. He had honestly wanted to just wear his usual Enclave combat vest which had also been his father's, to this. But his father had insisted. Dash sighed as he felt like he looked a little ridiculous in it. The fact that he still had the vest on underneath the suit didn't help the matter, but he still felt safer with it on, and he knew better than to let himself feel unsafe. The mouthgrip for his 'trusty' pistol was still accessible incase the tea party became a blood bath, but unless raiders could swim, he figured they were at least marginally safe.

He looked around and noticed a few faces that he recognized from Stableton. He had been in and around the town for a little bit now, and knew some names, but he still wasn't quite at the point where he particularly felt like he fit in. The dark colored griffon obviously still spooked him, but he had slowly been getting himself accustomed to his aura. Dash and Kestrel had roughly the same skill set, the larger griffon was just simply better than him in every conceivable fashion. He continued scanning, 'Cross Roads, oh joy... Who else...' he thought as he continued looking about, not quite sure what to do now that the actual party this vessel had been set to host was beginning... Until now he had just been content holed up in his suite...

So.


Yeah.

He was invited here. To a tea party. With a couple that he didn't know what he felt about. Wow. Just....wow. At first when he got the invite he really didn't know what to think about it. I mean, seriously, why would a mare want him to be there? He was the buzzkill.

He sighed, and looked at himself. He had a suit, a suit on. It was blue, and his mane was blue, but his fur was still brown. He was thinking about dying it white, but he found out his father didn't have much dye at all. All he could find was this suit and blue dye. Oh, and a tie. It made him look like a tenpony tower pony.

He looked at the pot he held in his hands, a special kind of tea inside it. He rarely had enough for this thing, and this came from his family. His real family. Apparently when he was a kid he snuck the recipe and kept it around. Now....it was being used. Such odd coincidences. His candy/tea drink was a special mixture of some powder and a few other things that helped you heal, it made a excellent brew of a drink. Also, on the plus side, it tasted like pre-war candy. He had heard from his father that it was like laffy-taffy. Whatever that was, he'll never know. He was in the room where the whole tea party was, and he carefully set his tea right beside him. The tea inside looked like rainbows, which sounded stupid but it was a large array of colors, so it kinda wasn't. It was small, but it held a lot more then you'd think.

My character's appearance without his suit.

Spoiler:

Kestrel, the gryphon Trails had been addressing, stood a few feet away just finishing pulling on his own suit. He had picked the thing up a few months back on one of his first big jobs, and to this day it still looked damn good on him. The sleek dark grey fabric meshed well with his own natural coloration, and the fabric was just tight enough to hug to the gryphons rather built physique nicely; namely gripping onto the shoulders and chest.

It felt strange to be out of his armor and holsters, he felt...lighter. The only familiar things he had on his person were his .44, which was hidden nicely in its shoulder holster, and his ever present mask. That damned ever present mask. Seems even in the name of formality it never came off of his face.

Probably for the best considering what that face looked like.

He turned and gave a nod to Trails when he heard the stallions question. Without so much as a word the two left, making their way down the hall and towards the dining hall where most of the other guests were no doubt waiting to begin.

This whole trip was a bit of an oddity for Kestrel. He was far from being the most social type. Still Trails had asked for him to attend, and as the stallions friend Kes did not feel right telling him no. Little did anyone know but Kes had a major liking for good tea, but he wasn't just going to up and reveal that.

It took the sharp dressed duo all of a minute to reach the dining area. Kes didn't bother with greeting the others yet, instead he let his gaze flicker around the room; silently mapping its layout. It was an old habit of his, one that had never failed to prove useful in the end. This was the last room to be added to the gryphons mental map of the boat, having been here for a day already he had long since mapped out the rest of the ship.

Winter Bell was in her room, putting on her new dress that she spent a large sum of caps on. It was a beautiful woven silk mixed with a sturdier fabric to hold the material together. It looked like it had been preserved or made with high end materials as there wasn't a spot of dirt to be seen on it. It was a light blue color mixed with a white to match her coat and mane, it also hugged close to her mid section before blossoming elegantly around her flank and parting around her hind legs to complete the look. Then there was the hoof shoes which matched the dress. When she had the dress on, she modified her appearance in the mirror by brushing through her mane before styling it in her usual manner. Finally she added a purple flower behind her ear which also acted as a pin to keep her mane in place. When she was finished she checked herself in the mirror, making sure everything was just the way she liked it. Admittedly she was feeling a little nervous as this was the first time she had dressed up while being in a relationship with Cross. So after a deep breath of confidence she made her way towards the door of her room.

The speech was awe-inspiring... Not. Rodeo stood on the deck and store blankly forward during thew hole thing, and watched with pregnant displeasure and an unchanging expression as the captain tumbled to the floor. Tea and vacationing? Not for Rodeo. He was there as a guard. He was there for the money, and possibly any loot. However; it seemed that he was selected for a slightly higher honor. Undercover guard. Rodeo always figured himself a good one to uphold justice. He'd have to stick to a simple transport ship until a better position arose, however...

The ship started to move, and Rodeo let out a sigh, then proceeded to the edge of the ship to watch the water rush by. Too much more of this, and Rodeo would need to get a little more alcohol in his system as well, in addition to the few shots he already took before arriving. The bottle of 200 year old whiskey bulging from the pocket of his black suit jacket, right next to the holster holding his 9mm pistol hanging inside the jacket, and a sheath housing a blade strapped to his front ankle, hidden under the sleeve of his jacket. Jackets and ties were not his style, but he considered himself blessed to at least have been allowed to continue wearing his rattan cowboy hat.

He knew little about where they were going, and none of the ponies on the ship he had seen so far seemed at all familiar to him. However, Rodeo wasn't one for planning out his steps. More so, with bottle in hoof- he preferred to charge in head first, not knowing what would happen. However, money for booze seemed more important than adventure or riches. He was beginning to think he had a bit of an alcohol problem. How does he take his mind off such thoughts? More alcohol. No way he had a problem.

He turned and looked back to the tea party area. He wasn't willing to sit through some social event... But the pay was decent. Rodeo figured with a little help from the whiskey in his jacket, he should manage to survive. He approached, and waited to find a place to sit. Maybe somepony he knew would appear.

"So we meet again, old friend." thought Arc as he placed old suitcase on his bunk. The suitcase, along with it's contents were few of Arc's possesions he bothered to take with him when he escaped from Stable 113 more than year ago.The locking mechanism struggled a bit, not used for a few months, and then opened. The brifcase contained, with few other minor items, Arc's old formal attire.

The suit was heirloom in the family, passed down since the Stable closed, but as Stable's code dictated to wear Stable-Tec uniform at all times, the suit wasn't used for generations. Still, it looked almost like it was sewn yesterday, courtesy of the preservation spell bestowed on the briefcase, and it fitted Arc like it was made for him. Jacket black as night, white shirt and purple tie.

"Darn it, i look good. So lets go."

Blazen quietly went away, grabbing two other secured pots. He really didn't know why he was really bringing all of these in the first place, because if they were already there, then his efforts bringing it here would be for nothing. Then again, if that certain tea ran out, he supposed his could be a backup. His special tea was the only one of its type here. He knew this because only his family (true family) had access to it. He just felt such.

Blazen put the three pots into a row. He bought the other two from a reliable trader back at the town where the boat docked. He had his special tea 'Rainbow Tea', 'Earl Grey', and 'Chamomile'. All three were pretty good. Now all he had to do was wait for Winter to start the tea party. When he was in Stableton he even got a tattoo of a chain. For him, it looked awesome.

Zestari frowned at the mirror. The dress she'd finally acquired after everypony told her of how important it was to dress to appropriately at this tea party, seemed so... gaudy and garish to her. It was a striking orange colour which worked well with her stripes and contrasted wonderfully with her purple eyes. It was form fitting at the front, with elegant stitching and sharp lines that drew back until it reached her midriff where the dress then billowed out over her back half. Her mane and tail had been trimmed and brushed until they practically shone, then set with silver filigree in her mane just above the ears. A set of matching shoes with tight strapping that went halfway up her forelegs completing the ensemble.

She didn't like it. It felt too constrictive. The shoes felt weird. The fabric was odd. And she was terrified she'd trip amongst the clump of dress cascading over her back. Sighing, she gave a final judgement before deciding that she'd spent enough time agonising in front of the mirror, and reached over to grab the aged wooden container containing the series of tea mixes she'd spent so much time putting together for this special occasion.

She turned towards the door before casting a glance towards the mirror again, and gave a short prance. She raised an eyebrow. From here, she did look rather pretty in the dress, perhaps further appraisal was needed, Winter seemed to know a lot about this stuff, and besides she was the one who wanted to help prepare the tea. Zestari decided she would seek her out first.

Watching in the mirror as she elegantly paraded over to the door. Enjoying the effect, she allowed a slight grin before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

Scrap was fiddling with his suit, trying to get it too look right. Obtaining a decent suit wasn't as hard as he had thought and he was satisfied with what he had gotten. The tie on the other hoof was pure evil to find, he had spent forever trying to find one that didn't look stupid.

He left most of his stuff in his room but somehow managed to find a place to put his lightning pistol where it was only mildly visable. Satisfied with his appearance he headed out towards the main deck, catching the end of Cpt. Sparrow's speech, an then heading toward where the party was.

Looking around at the occupants of the room Kes could see that there were quite a few others that were attending the small get together. A few of the others he recognized. Blazen, Lightning, Arc. The typical assortment it seemed. Kes could not say he knew the other buck that was with them though, he would need to watch him to see if he could be trusted.

The gryphon made note of the Teas that Blazen had brought in, he would have to try those later. For now he kept to his beak shut and his eyes moving around the room.

"Damn," Trails began, looking over the other stallions, "I look better than all of you. Shit Cross, hate to show you up in front of Winter. But let's be honest, Kes and I, rock this shit." He walked over to the tea tray and tried some from one of the pots. After a moment of, well savoring wasn't really the right word, he spat it into a potted plant along with the rest of his cup.

"That was the single worst thing I ever tasted." He thought aloud to himself. "Kes come over here and taste this will you?"

Rodeo took his seat just in time for the loud stallion and the big griffon to come out. He watched their display for a moment, then couldn't help but let out a chuckle. If there was a pony who cared about how good he looked, it sure as hell wasn't Rodeo. He turned forward and pulled a cup of tea toward himself, and retrieved the bottle of whiskey from his jacket, uncorking it and pouring a gracious amount into the cup, filling it to the rim.

The loud stallion apparently did not like a few of the other pots. Thankfully his was right beside him, not with the others. His other pot, the rainbow one, would be restricted for others. It took a lot to make that brew (a few days) and to make it taste just right (a hour). So now he just had to wait for the mares and possibly Cross to join in the tea-tasting fun. But the stallion he didn't really like. Made a bad first impression.

Kes silently turned and walked over to where Trails' was standing, taking a sample of the tea that he had offered. In a surprising bit of sophistication the large, war hardened gryphon carefully sipped the tea, letting the flavor run over his pallet, and judged its quality.

It was not acceptable.

Kes calmly spit the tea back into his cup and stealthily poured in into the same potted plant that Trails had emptied his own cup into just moments before.

Kes smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, attempting to rid it of the flavor that now seeped into its depths. Maybe it was the gryphons refined taste for Tea, or perhaps it was just that bad, but one thing was certain. Kes would not be sampling those pots that were sitting against the wall.

The tea had best get better than this, or else Kes would not be sitting in this room very long at all.

Cross waited in his suite as he woked up....he was nervous, this was really the first time everyone would really know he and Winter were officially together, he spent the majority of his time just staring into the mirror trying to pysche himself up...this was a social situation after all... Still he couldn't help but feel like he had gotten soft with Winter...he shook the thought out of his head. That was a good thing.


Finally adjusted his suit the way he wanted, he left his mask and hood in his pack, he had no reason to believe he needed them. But...his mane felt all exposed with the air running through it as he marched down the hall to the other stallions, and as tradition Trails mocked him with a petty insult about showing him up, Cross disregarded that, Trails wasn't high on his priority list at the moment....He just wanted to make sure the stallions didn't cause any trouble for Winter's tea party.

In truth Cross wasn't a big fan of tea, so he would just later drink whatever tea he recieved.

"Sure Trails, sure"

Twisted Vision sat down at one end of the boat talking to herself like normal, giving her weird smile and pupil-less stare Oh Twisted! This is boring! The voice in her head whined but Twisted just kept watching the other ponies "Please Friend, As much as I like Chaos I would like to make other Friends! As much as your my bestest friend in the whole wide world I still need other people to talk too!" She said, her happy look quickly turning to sad. "But!" She said becoming happy again "I know that if people here are nice they will see that Chaos isn't so bad! Maybe even decide to listen" She said, her eyes almost bugging out of her face.

She was sitting right at the front of the boat, staring at all the party goers, staring with a smile on her face. Several of them she remembered as the ones she led on the other day, oh what glorious Chaos that brought upon. They didn't even know what was going on! She sat there giggling to herself before she made eye contact with one of the cleaning staff. The second they made eye contact he seemed to turn to butter and start giggling like a school girl. She looked away from him but kept the magic flowing, for it would be fun to see how people react.

As for her dress, it was only described as different. It was a bright yellow with black swirls along the tail, and pink swirls around her body. She managed to find a cheap little tiara made out of coated metal to put on her head just above her horn.
She continued to enjoy the party, waiting.

The ship was huge in Sky's mind, how something of this size survive and still run was only something she would love to know. She came to the ship as a guard for hire, taking the job for the caps and for the adventure. If there were to be any here at all, might as well just go with it being a guard. Easy pay, nothing else for Sky to do.

She heard Sparrows speech, how can a drunk drive this thing? She would love to ask about this one, But for now she stayed to his word. Stay on top decks patrol a bit. And maybe go visit the Tea party, as was her first reason why she came. Even bought a Dress for the occasion, a light blue color Dress. Found in town Where Sky had her first mission, Ponyville. Sky still brought the dress, keeping it in her saddlebags in her small room they provided.

"First patrol, then party." Sky wispered to herself as she walked the upper decks, in her security Vest and helmet. Leaving the jumpsuit out of the uniform, Seeing as it had no real protection at all.

Dash maneuvered his way around the other guests, ruffling his wings a little as he heard lewd comments here and there about different ponies, occasionally. Being born and raised in Friendship City had done him well to develop a more personable attitude about some. However, the downside to him was that he didn't really like it when others didn't display the same amount of respect. He finally found himself at the life of the party, at least, that was what he could only assume that it could be, the tea itself. He put a fore hoof through the holding rung on the pitcher and poured himself a cup before returning it to the apparatus that maintained its temperature. He put his fore hoof into the gripping rung and allowed himself a drink.

'How exciting...' Dash thought as he tasted it. To him it wasn't much more than water with some slight hints of some spices which made hard liquor seem extravagant. He sighed, "Better than nothing..." he told himself and took a second sip.

He looked over and saw that creepy hunter-or-whatever griffon, Kestrel, wasn't enjoying the tea very much either. Dash still felt intimidated by him, but what was the worst that could happen in a setting and atmosphere such as this one? Dash made his way over and smiled, looking slightly sheepish, "Nothing but hot leaf juice, huh?" Dash said Kestrel.

Starry squinted to see herself in her mirror. She had learned a thing or two about formal dress from her mother, who was a real socialite back in the stable. Still, she spent most of her time exploring science with her father. This was her first time actually putting on a dress, and she wasn't quite sure her mother would approve of her performance.

'Your mother never approved of anything you did.'

The voice was right, why should she worry about her mother's opinion? That's a foregone conclusion. Starry would be the bells of the ball, no doubt about it! Still, it was difficult seeing while Starry wasn't wearing her glasses. No matter, her vision may be fuzzy, but that won't stop Starry from having fun and making friends!

It was a dress that her mother had worn. Starry could remember clearly bringing it out of the stable... she carried quite a lot of luggage with her, she wasn't quite aware that leaving the stable was supposed to be a 'run for your life' sort of scenario, it was a wonder she made it out safely.

Regardless, Starry had the dress, and it was her mother's dress. It was apparently a huge fashion trend back in pre-war Equestria, created and worn by some fashion designer who was apparently very important in politics. It was a velvet dress, with yellow stripes and a dark red scarf. There were plenty of gems encrusting the outfit, which were apparently quite valuable in the wastes, but Starry was pretty sure these gems didn't have any magical charge left.

Starry felt pretty awkward wearing her mother's old jewelry, but the situation called for it, and truth be told, Starry had never felt so high-class. She trotted out of her room, and hopped down the hallway toward Winter's, to meet with the other mares.

When Winter Bell was outside her room she would wait for some of the other mares before proceeding to the party. The first to arrive was Zestari wearing an Orange dress that complimented her stripes very well. She smiled as she saw her, "You look amazing Zesty" she said happily as she smiled to her, "And I like what you did with your mane" she said as she saw how she had made it shine. Starry then joined them a few moments latter. She smiled at the Blue mare and saw she too had made a great effort with he appearance with a lovely gem encrusted dress. She took in a deep breath before flashing a toothy grin, "Well, lets not wait any longer" she said before she would lead them away down a long corridor towards the deck.

The deck itself which held the party was located at the back half of the ship and had a big open floor space for dancing or 'mingling'. Winter was excited about today as she had never had the chance to organize a high class event like this where every pony, and griffin, would dress nicely for. She and the other mares trotted through the last set of doors which led to a stair case. This stair case would lead them up into the open space on the deck where the stallions would be waiting for them. The three mares ascended the stair case and as they did, Winter could feel the nerves building in her chest. They would smell the faint aroma of tea as they reached the top of the stairs and as they all reached the top they could see the stallions all dressed in black suits. Winter smiled as she saw how they had all made an effort.

Blazen was awe-struck. Zestari and Winter both looked beautiful, and so did the others, but the two just stood out. They wore amazing dresses, and for a short time, Blazen wondered if this was how it was like back then, when the Ministries were up and there wasn't a wasteland everywhere you go. This must've been how the mare's looked when they went to parties such as the party he is in now. But what troubled him at the same time was how much Winter had spent on the dress, as it looked quite expensive, but he pushed the thought aside. Why think about economy? Zestari's looked quite nice herself, especially with her dress. There was another mare, and even she was strikingly beautiful. All three of them was.

He stopped thinking about other ponies troubles, and thought about his teas. He wondered if anypony would like them, he really didn't care much about the other two but the Rainbow Tea was a very special brew. He remembered he didn't grab his gun, but he had his hoofs to choke if a certain manipulative pony was here. "You two look beautiful, you know." He said directing it at the two, smiling, but that quickly faded. It wasn't often he smiled. The reason his smile faded was probably the look of him right now.

He probably looked really dumb. In fact, Winter's boyfriend probably didn't want him complementing her at all. But the two simply reminded him of his relationship with his girlfriend. Good times. He knew the look when two ponies are together. He wondered if his girlfriend was still alive. Well, he would find out soon. Someday. And there the chaotic mare was, where he could barely see her. Great. If she causes something bad, this will provoke him to choke her to death. He hated her, and one little illusion more he will do something worse then choking.

Blazen opened his tea pot and put a spoon inside, scooping a small part of his special brew in the spoon, and put it in his mouth. He was very sanitary in this regard, as he wont be putting the spoon back in. And the tea was amazing, so delicious, so candy-ish, so...awesome. He couldn't believe he had done this right.

Trails turned his head to look as the mares entered. He then felt his jaw go slack and his heart skip a beat when he saw them. If he hadn't caught himself he knew his jaw would be on the floor. He joined the other stallions and Kes in their little gaggle, nervously checking his breath.

"I thought we rocked this, Kes. I was wrong, Zestari rocked this." He whispered to his friend.