Shipper Madness (Bake, Scrap, Cross, Bell, Shutter, Starry, Zestari

Zestari slowed and came to a stop behind Happy. “Oh.” She said quietly coming to terms with his actions as he revealed his personal quirk. She looked about the room briefly, trying to work out how he knew how much air they had to breathe before she turned back to him and his gritted look of discomfort as he revealed a personal weakness.

She shrugged and smiled. Everypony had their little foibles; she had some of her own, after all. She gave him a long affectionate kiss on the cheek. “That’s fine, Happy, don’t let it worry you any further. Let’s go downstairs. There is no need for us to stay up here.”

As Winter leaned agasint her stallion she felt something cold and wet pass by her ear. She looked up to see his mane was still slightly wet. She smiled lovingly and pulled a tissue from her saddlebag before she began using it to drain some more of the water from his mane. Using her magic she managed to soak up most of it so it wouldn't drip anymore. "That should do it" she said before returning to her rested position agasint him.

Trails grinned and kissed Zesty, allowing himself to eat up another air. It was totally worth it. "Good let's go then, cause I lied and we only had 10 to start with."

He took the rest of the stairs two at a time, eager to get out of the stairwell. He opened the door and held it for Zesty. He would watch her walk by, and turn to watch the elevator.

Shutter would have remained quiet for a good bit, however, he did give a jump of surprise when Cross suddenly teleported back to the party with Winter.

"Oh, Hi Cross! Hi Winter!"

He said, giving the two of them a happy nod...only to notice Cross' mane was a bit...well...wet...

"Uh...Cross...what happened to you? You look like you got your head dunked in a toilet..."

He asked...the toilet comparison was indeed odd, but sadly, that really was the first thing that came to the buck's mind on seeing a wet mane...stupid stable history...

Cross embarrassingly grinned as Winter, dried up whatever moisture was left in his mane. He couldn't help but blush a bit as she took care of it for him, and simply returned to his side as she finished. It was small things like this that he loved being with her. But as he found himself thinking about her, ...he unconsciously had ended up pressing his cutie mark gently up against hers, for whatever reason. Not even actually noticing what he was doing.

"Uh...Cross...what happened to you? You look like you got your head dunked in a toilet..."

Cross let out a slightly noticeable chuckle as Shutter of all the ponies there, asked him that. Something that would've seemed strange otherwise but with Shutter's diminutive size and growing up in Stable would be familiar with. Cross could call him out on that, ...but he didn't really feel there would be any point....

"Heh, not at all Shutter, I just felt like cooling off so I took a quick shower before we came down here."

Winter blushed a little as she felt his contact against her flank. It was the smallest of blushes that she fought away as she concentrated on something else. She wondered about the contact as it was quite a bold move to make, even on a mare you were partnered with. But from his expression it seemed he was hardly even aware of it, which nearly brought the blush back out again. She didn't move away or show any negative reaction to the move but her tail flickered a small bit as her mind rested upon it. She cast it aside as she rubbed the side of her head against him happily. She watched on as he covered with Shutter about why his head was wet and she had to admit he did a good job at dodging the real answer. She smiled before adding into it, "Our room has a bit of a heating problem... which should be fixed soon" she said with a small blush as she realized what that could have meant.

Scrap stopped leaning against Bakewell and had moved into the elevator with the others except Trails and Zestari, who had opted to to take the stairs. Thankfully the elevator was rather large and the group fit inside easily and comfortably.

Scrap stood in a comfortable silence, enjoying the catchy tune, coming from a speaker in the elevator, that would probably be stuck in his head for days. When the elevator dinged and the doors open Scrap stepped out and walked forward to where Trails and Zestari were waiting.

"That was a slow elevator...but never mind that, shall we move on?"

“Ten?” She looked around again, still puzzled at how Happy would have determined such a number. She shrugged and followed him down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, she nodded and thanked Happy as he held the door open for her and the pair waited for the elevator to arrive.

While the pair waited for the elevator to arrive, she snuck in a few more kisses. Finally, with a resounding ding, the elevator arrived and the rest of the group filed out.

“Yes, let’s move on.” She nudged Happy again and began to trot off towards the stage.

Eventually the doors parted and Winter trotted out into the open space of the lobby. She waited for the others and Cross to join her before they would all likely look around for Happy and Zesty. After all they had taken he stairs instead of the lift. As she walked she moved far differently then normal. Her steps were more elegant, her pose more majestic as she trotted. Even her tail was arched higher then usual. All of this would go unnoticed by Winter as she simply felt... comfortable. She turned to the side and looked back towards Cross, lifting her left fore hoof as she waited for him to join her.

Cross smiled warmly as he trotted along to catch up to Winter, it felt ...nice... to know she was joyful, and was really glad they had taken this trip, since he had been unsure of it at first. He barely noticed Zesty and Trails somehow managed to rush down fast enough to beat the elevator. Cross couldn't help but be prideful of his mare as she walked out with such elegance and poise. He trotted up to her and walked around around her a circle, gently patting her flank with his tail as he trotted around. Once he was by her side again, he gave a light kiss on the cheek and smiled as he looked into her eyes with the warmest feeling he felt in a long time..

The end of Winters tail flicked as she felt his tail pat agasint her flank. She smiled back as she met his gaze, a warm calm building in her chest as those protective eyes curled around her in a non existent embrace that was felt by a sense greater then the physical world. She rubbed her side agasint his as she moved close before pushing her head up underneath where his jaw and neck connected, the hairs of her soft mane connecting with the rugged edged hairs of his coat. She felt like she was curled in a warm blanket of love and inner peace, like she was invincible... dare she way.. untouchable just by standing next to him. She closed her eyes for a few moments before she looked up and kissed the side of his maw gently.

Trails chuckled as Zesty nudged him along. After a few seconds of standing still, for no other reason to annoy her, he started walking up the stairs to the auditorium. A pony in a checkered suit stood guard at the doors with a 10mm smg. The pony started to say something about "read the sign" before Trails drove his shoulder into the buck's chest, just forcefully enough to turn him.

On the stage sat a cowpony in a black hat with a guitar. Trails took a seat at the table closest to the stage and waved over one of the waiters taking a smoke break. After he delivered his drink order, an old fashioned and a bottle of wine, he'd taken out a cigar and lit it. He looked at Zesty,in this low light she looked even more like a gift from above. He was about to tell her when the cowpony started playing.

Cross rolled his head as Winter kissed him back, he watched as Trails and Zesty left, quite frankly.....Winter and him had spent so much time with the others on the incredibly long journey here and they could always catch up with the others later on. He closed his eyes and nuzzled Winter before pulling back, "How about we go out and explore ourselves? ...we can always meet up with the others later" He wrapped his hoof around her as he looked into her eye for a reply. Either way he'd be happy with whatever she chose.

Winter looked up at Cross, her eyes sparkling as he brought up the idea of them spending some time together. Just the two of them. Sure they were here for Trails but they had plenty of time to spend with their friends. She looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. "I would like that" she said as she pressed her side agasint him again. "I would like that allot" she finished.

Scrap followed Trails into the the theater and found a table near the front for him and Bakewell to sit at while they watched the cowpony play his guitar. Settling into his chair he was perfectly content, for once in his life everything was good and nothing was trying to end his life.

The cowpony started playing and Scrap soon found himself drifting off into the music, a content grin still plastered on his face.

Bakewell glanced apologetically at the guard as she entered the auditorium, but chose to remain silent. She followed Scrap as he found a table for the two, and quickly scooted into her seat with a smile. Cross and Winter seemed to be missing, but it probably wasn’t anything to worry about.

When the music began Bakewell sat politely and listened. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the piece; But Scrap seemed to be enjoying it if the goofy grin on her unicorn buck’s face was anything to go by. Good, just as long as he was happy, she was happy. She leaned forwards onto the table and stared off as the cowpony did his thing.

Zestari frowned at the display shown by Happy towards the guard. That hardly seemed like a friendly action, and after looking at the guard, quickly trotted after Happy, she got the distinct impression that they were not supposed to be here.

Before she could say something to Happy, her focus was grabbed by the figure on stage and intrigued by it; she silently followed Happy to a table and sat opposite. As he called a waiter over and began requesting something, she watched his face, and again couldn’t help but be impressed by his self-assurance; such a bold action would not even begin to enter her mind. She turned towards the stage as the performer began playing, a small smile on her face.

Trails gave the waiter a few caps when he returned, adding in a few 'this never happened' caps on top. He watched the cowpony from behind his drink, contemplating their flow and style. It wasn't Trails' thing, but interesting. Music that could be best described as vibrant. He set his drink down and turned to Zestari, still high off the shock of her being here.

"I missed you." was all he could think to say.

Then it dawned on Cross, New Pegasus....wasn't too big of a city, in fact, it was pretty considerably small compared to it must've have been in its pre-war glory. Cross was trying to imagine what there was to do but truth was this was a small town and there was alot more to do in Stableton if you didn't want to just waste your caps.

"Actually Winter, ...maybe perhaps we should return to the others we should at least eat first before we decided what to do .....besides we'll have the time in the world later..." Cross blushed and signaled towards the restaurant sheepishly.

Winter went a little red also as she responded, "I..umm, Y-yes let's join the others" she said as she walked ahead after the others as they seemed to have gone to a restaurant. They weren't particularly hard to find as they saw them at a table. She trotted forward and took a seat next to Zestari. By that point the redness in her cheeks had died down and she looked relatively normal, well as normal as a mare could look after what her and Cross seemed to be going through. As she sat there she decided to strike up some conversation. She looked to Trails, "So when did you first step hoof in New Pegasus?" she asked politely with a smile.

Trails tracked Cross and Bell as they entered and joined Zesty and himself at the table. He noticed the cowpony changing around a few things in the background, setting up for another musical number he guessed. The waiter was good, brought another old fashioned for Cross and poured Bell a glass, it made Trails wonder if he'd overpaid. Oh well ventured and gained and all that shit. He smiled at Bell's question.

He had first entered the strip two weeks before her party to get the suit he had worn for it. The sights and sounds had overwhelmed him nearly, he wasn't in Bitter Springs any more, that was for damn sure. Far as Papa Khan was concerned, he was there to deal with the drug operation that was starting in Everfreeside. After torching the Megaspell Rustler's stills and beating the senses into the streetside chem dealers that had gotten greedy, the message was loud and clear. Not that Bell and Zesty needed to know that, or how old Derby was still on crutches.

"When I went to get my suit, the Khans don't exactly have the best tailors." He said giving them a warm smile, stubbing out his cigarette. "It was my first time in the Ultra Luxe too. They said it was magnific, it was just plain creepy to me. Everypony in masks, constantly following you with their eyes. And that tailor was just a little too interested in my inseam."

Bakewell wasn’t sure entirely sure how long her mind had been vacant, but when she finally landed back onto Equestria the guitar player cowpony whoever had stopped his playing and was doing… boring stuff.

She hazarded a look towards Scrap to make sure he was still in content spirits, giving a small silent grin as she did so.

Scrap had zoned out somewhere during the song and finally came back to reality some time after the song had finished amd things were being around.

Seeing Bakewell glancing over he flashed a smile before asking

"Cross and Winter seem to have joined Trails and the others, think we should go sit with them too?"

"Sure, if you want." Bakewell said agreeably, getting up from the table, pushing her chair neatly back under the eating furniture before going around to Scrap's side in order to do the same for him. She would then follow him to the others.

Zestari turned to Happy giving him an affectionate look, “I missed you so much.” She then smiled nervously, “Do you think that maybe I could, um, come back to Red Rock with you for a few days? After this, I mean.”

Winter and Cross joined the pair, and as Winter asked Happy a question, Zestari noticed that she seemed slightly flustered, her eyes flicked to Cross who seemed similarly on edge. The zebra frowned slightly, wondering why, before letting the thought slide and focusing back on the conversation. Happy explained where he got his suit, Zestari smiling as he described his less than ideal experience at the Ultra Luxe. “But you stayed to get the suit, I assume?”

“Speaking of places we’ve been,” she turned to Cross, “You’re from Tenpony, right? I’ve only heard of the place, it’s your home, right? What can you tell me about it?”