Down on Luck (Open to All)

[delavegaprimo]

Manehattan. One of the largest cities in Equestria. One would think with all the ponies, they're would be plenty to make friends with. But for some, true friends were hard to come by. They had all disappeared: Sun Stroke, his closest friend and co-worker, left Revelations Primo after getting a contract with a prestigious theatre company to do musicals; Stray, his number one inspiration in writing left after Gray Shadow incident, longing to travel around Equestria for more before his time passed; and finally...Soul Serenade. The first mare he had ever loved, left him for Quartet String, a violinist who had been a previous client Action had filmed for -- he had hosted the Manehattan Music Festival -- and ran off to Fillydelphia to get married.

Action Shot sat on his rump on the sidewalk of downtown, just outside of his studio apartment. He didn't wear his peacoat, nor his scarf. He just sat there in the freezing night, watching the condensation of his breath. Action took a deep breath and sighed.

"Well...what can I say? I guess I have really bad fortune when it comes to establishing a relationship..." He bowed his head and shook it, letting his long mane droop and brush the powder on the sidewalk. It brushed away, turning to mist before settling back onto the ground.

The night was still and nopony was around, or so he thought.

[mafipulater]

The cold winter night certainly made Sea Swell glad that she had the foresight to leave her apartment with her dark cardinal winter coat and rose-colored scarf. She wasn't one to mind cold weather all that much, but this night in particular was freezing. Plus, it was a good opportunity to try some simple winter fashion. Still, it was a slight bit chillier than she expected, so she pulled and buttoned her coat tight and angled the visor of her black snapback downward to help protect her eyes from wind.

Becoming sick of sitting alone in her apartment, she had set out into the streets of Manehattan. Sea was uncertain what she was looking for, if anything, so she wandered aimlessly until she came upon a black-maned, glasses-sporting stallion sitting on the sidewalk. She had seen that long black mane enough times by now to recognize the stallion as the filmmaker, Action Shot. Though, why he was sitting alone out in the cold without a coat, Sea had no clue.

Still, she was happy to see a familiar face. She approached with a friendly smile and said jokingly, "What's the matter, Action? Accidentally lock yourself out of ya apartment or something?"

[delavegaprimo]

Action heard the sound of the voice of a silver tongue, a familiar one at that. He turned his head to the direction of the comment, and he noticed the urban-dressed pony had her hat at a sharp angle to block out the wind from hitting her face. Action identified as the mare who had aspired to be a star -- Sea Swell.

"Why hello there, fashionista," said Action, amusingly. He couldn't help but smile at her humor...she had a knack for being witty. He got up from the sidewalk and shook the snow from his body.

"No, I guess you could say I'm having an existential crisis of sorts. Although, having locked myself out would indeed count as one...anyway...to put it short, things have been pretty bad on my end as of late. One minute, I'm here, meeting all sorts of fantastic citizens...and within the blink of an eye, bam. They're all gone just like that." Action rambled a bit too long for his own pleasure. He immediately detected the melodrama in his monologue and immediately shut himself up by covering a single hoof over his mouth.

"I am so...sorry Sea Swell, that was a side of me I was hoping you'd never see. Especially from somepony who I've only gotten meet a couple times here and there." Action said as he placed his hoof back onto the ground. He sighed and spoke in a formal tone to try to hide his sorrow, but it was futile.

"You look like you're dressed up to go somewhere nice, what's the occasion?" His tone was still somber.

[mafipulater]

Sea pulled the visor of her snapback around to the side of her head so she could see Action better. ”Don’t need a special occasion to look good,” Sea joked. ”Seriously though, I just got bored of staring at the wall back in my apartment. I just needed a change of scenery, and the weather just gave me an excuse to try a new outfit.”

Sea wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about Action’s existential crisis. She could sympathize at least a little bit, having left her loved ones in Fillydelphia when she moved to Manehattan, and more recently in bouts of self-doubt about her career. But, on the other hoof, she hated seeing others go through crises of their own, if only because it reminded her of her own feelings of weakness.

But, noting Action’s somber tone, she tried to take a sympathetic approach. ”And, hey, don’t worry about the whole crisis thing. We all got our highs and lows, right? Moments feeling like the world belongs to you, and moments of, uh, weakness.” Sea stumbled with her words slightly, making herself more uncomfortable. Finding words never felt so difficult, but the whole situation made her feel so awkward, especially since she hardly knew Action. Not that she was ever really any good at sympathizing with anyone, anyway, but she hated being put in awkward situations.

Still, there was at least a tiny part of her that was concerned about him. Sure, they weren’t exactly close or anything, but she was familiar with loneliness, and sympathy eventually won out. ”Um... so you gonna be okay?”

[delavegaprimo]

Action looked over and grinned appreciatively. He could pick up her sincerity despite their lack of closeness. It was empowering to know that somepony in this city was a sympathetic one. Just then, an idea sparked. Within the blink of an eye, he ran back into his complex, up to the second floor, unlocked the door, grabbed his gray peacoat and black scarf, and ran back all the down to Sea Swell outside, slamming the door to the complex behind him.

His heart racing from the rush, he panted intensely as the cold air condensed his breath. He took a deep breath and exhaled to calm down. Her words had given him an idea. He trotted toward Sea Swell and let out his hoof to shake, his expression grateful.

"Put 'er there Sea Swell. I thank you for your concern about me and I feel like I should get to know you. I mean...if I have to make new friends, I might as well start with you."

Well, I may still be crushed thanks to what happened to Soul and I, but that shouldn't stop me from trying to meet new ponies. As Action continued to hold his hoof out he added another comment:

"I'm sorry if this seems all awkward, with the gesture and all, but I was brought up by the strangest ponyfolk with an interesting way to show how to commend respect..." Action looked away momentarily, embarassed.

[mafipulater]

Sea wasn’t sure what to make of it when Action suddenly ran into the apartment complex without saying a word. ”So I... guess you’re okay, then,” she said when Action disappeared inside. But it wasn’t long at all until he came back out; this time, he seemed like he was actually prepared for the weather.

Action’s tone seemed much lighter than it was before, to Sea’s relief. She felt much more relaxed and composed in this lighter mood. Taking Action’s outstretched hoof and shaking it, Sea smiled.

”Awkward, huh? Heh, you don’t say!” she teased. ”I think I’d like that though – becoming friends. Luna knows I ain’t got nothin’ better to do tonight. And, awkwardness aside, you seem like a pretty alright guy.” Though laced with friendly sarcasm, her words were sincere, and her smile showed it.

[delavegaprimo]

Action shook her hoof firmly and set his back down. He had a look of seriousness, but not for long. His expression became more appreciative, letting a grin out, but his eyes still reflected his fragile mindset. He readjusted his spectacles and nodded. Her slightly sarcastic comment didn't bother him, Action was just happy that somepony cared at this point. He cleared his throat and looked around the street, trying to figure out where to go.

"Awesome! What would you like to do? Go to the park? Although I'm not sure if you want hang out in the cold, but it appears we're dressed well for it...otherwise, there's a couple of places I know where we can get a bite to eat, or something." Action pondered on what they could do, however fear arose in his mind.

Oh man, what if she thinks I'm hitting on her? She knows I was with Soul Serenade up until a few weeks ago. Please don't think you're a rebound girl...please... His eye twitched as he looked at her, hoping he hadn't said something wrong.

[mafipulater]

Although Sea was aware that Action Shot and Soul Serenade were recently dating, she had no idea how serious their relationship became before Soul left the city. In fact, she was still rather hazy on all the details – she had heard Soul left Manehattan, but she didn’t know where Soul went or why she left. Still, Sea figured, it was probably a good idea to try to avoid any and all conversation about it.

”Ya know, cold aside, the park sounds pretty good. For some reason, I never took the time to check it out for myself. It might be nice to get away from all these buildings every once in a while, though, and just, ya know, hang out someplace more open. Maybe it’ll remind me of home back in Filly.”

Her demeanor was relaxed, but then she noticed Action’s eye twitching. Oh, jeez, he’s not freaking out again is he? The whole night better not be like this. I so do not want to be put into any more awkward situations. Guess I should make sure he’s not having some kind of seizure, at least...

”Um. Is something wrong? Your eye’s kinda freaking out a little bit.”

[delavegaprimo]

Action's eye gave a few more twitches before it stopped. He bit his lip out of embarrassment, as she tensed up. Well, she noticed your eye twitching. Please, just try and calm down, you've nothin' to worry about. You wanted to be FRIENDS. The thought swirled in his head as he nodded to himself. He breathed in and looked at Sea Swell as calmly as he could.

"I--Yes. I'm sorry. I tend to do that when my passion tends to build. I try to keep it in and my eye twitches as a sign of my attempt to control it. But don't worry, I won't be like this the entire time. I just need to relax. Anyway, let's go to the park."

[mafipulater]

‘Just need to relax’? Sea thought. I thought the entire point of us becoming friends was ‘to relax’! After all, this was YOUR idea, not mine. She kept her thoughts to herself though. If Action needed to relax, then getting frustrated at him certainly wasn’t going to help. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that trying to become buddies with him might have been a mistake.

Alright, Sea, just be patient. It wasn’t that long ago when Soul left the city, so it only makes sense that Action would still be upset about it, Sea mentally reminded herself. And anyway, it’s not like he’s interested in YOU, so for Luna’s sake, just try to be as patient and friendly as possible, and he’ll relax soon.

”It’s cool, I understand,” Sea said amiably, doing well to disguise her emotional annoyance. She began moving in the direction of a nearby park she thought would be fun to explore. In an attempt to stir up some friendly conversation, she said, ”So, Action, how long you been a movie-making city-stallion? It must be pretty cool, making films, and having the world see your creative vision and all, right?”

[delavegaprimo]

Action took note of what had said Good job...you're a real winner there Action. He could slightly pick up the tension in Sea's voice, but did his best to disregard it. As the two approached the park, Sea Swell had asked him about his job. Well, I might as well talk a bit about it, she's a pony of the arts as well.

"Ah...I would say about a year or so now. I picked up the company from an old pony and changed it to an action-oriented film studio, I guess you could say. But in all honesty, I haven't done too many films. My cast and crew keep disappearing and my confidence can get shaky at times. Even my magnum opus, Pegasus Wings, hasn't been able to get off the ground....no pun intended. However, as of now, I am trying to rake more money in by filming music videos, concerts, weddings, and other events...just tryin' to stay afloat."

The two reached the park, the snow glittered from the reflection of the moon. Windy as it was back at the apartment complex, the flurries danced around the hills and paths, covering the already filled benches with even more snow. The trees were stripped bare of their leaves since the Running of the Leaves in Autumn, as they were now covered with icicles that gave the park a surreal feel. The snow crunched underneath Action's hooves as he took in the beauty before him.

"Well here we are...and by all that is holy in Smoogleberry, its awesome here. If remember correctly, you're also pretty passionate about your music. Can you tell me anything about how your career is goin'? I mean, have you written any songs?"

[portiabuckworth]

Portia pranced about in the drifting snow, the winter night simply reeking with inspiration. Of course, she wasn't much of a play-write. She liked to see things in front of her rather than in her head, but where did plays come from if not the minds of directors at one point or another? She skid to a stop as she spotted a bridge up ahead.
And where there's a bridge, there's water.
Portia giggled excitedly. She hadn't been ice skating in forever. She paused before stepping onto the brook, however, not too keen on the idea of falling into the freezing ice beneath. She tapped the edge, then stepped on, testing each spot in front of her before stepping on it more fully. She went on like this for some time before judging a big enough area to skate on.
Portia lost herself in skating for a while, interrupted only by her rather frequent falls onto the ice, before voices reached her from the path above.
Oh apples! She didn't want anypony seeing her behaving like some overgrown filly. Portia searched for someplace to hide and spotted the bridge. Perfect! She clambered towards it, not hearing the crack before it was too late.
Portia only had time to let out a squeak before she fell into the brook head over hooves. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She thought, trying to determine which direction was up.

[mafipulater]

The park was even more than Sea had hoped. The moon’s brilliant glow shone through the bare trees, stretching the shadows of the branches across the ice-covered landscape. Like the picture of sparse, winter beauty, it was a soothing reminder of home.

Sea smiled at Action’s pun, but she gave an empathetic nod. ’Just tryin’ to stay afloat’? I know that feel... she thought to herself. When Action asked her about her own career, she wasn’t sure exactly how to answer. Sea was never comfortable talking about it when it was going poorly.

”Well... mostly I've done covers, but I did a few of my own songs. I made a mixtape, actually, but no magazine wanted to cover me. I guess the story of a Filly girl just isn't compellin'.” Sea let out a soft sigh. ”I guess, like you said, ‘just tryin’ to stay afloat’ describes me pretty well too. You know how they always say, ‘It’s lonely at the top’? Well, it’s pretty lonely at the bottom too.”

But a look of embarrassment washed over her face. Wait, did I seriously just complain about loneliness to a guy who just had an existential crisis because his girlfriend skipped town? Sea thought. Okay, quick, gotta do damage control.

Looking Action in the eye, Sea said, ”Wow, I'm really sorry about what I just said. I’m normally not so bad at, uh, words, but the park reminded me of home, and it got me all sentimental, so I wasn’t really thinking...” Sea could hardly believe how quickly she had lost her composure – it was so absurd she couldn’t help but let out a nervous laugh. ”Anyway, maybe we can pretend that I didn’t just come off as an entirely insensitive jerk right now...”

But, not too long after she finished, Sea heard something like the sound of collapsing ice and a squeak. ”Also, uh, did you hear something just now?”

[delavegaprimo]

Action listened as to her words as he took them with a grain of salt. Well, she may be a bit cynical, but she's just trying get through life right now. I can respect that. He tilted his head towards the sky as they continued to traverse their way across the park. Her words seemed to resonate with him, as he was still "at the bottom" himself. Although, her tone had faltered. Sea Swell had transitioned into a bit of a panic, her face cheeks rosy with embarrassment. Action only looked at her with his utmost attention, but was suddenly perplexed by the change in her voice.

"An artist does what they do best: their trade. You're not being insensitive at all. There's nothing wrong with having a goal and sticking to it. In fact, I can probably shoot a mu--" Action's response was cut short by a splash of water.

The trail that they had taken led them to a bridge where a brook had run underneath it. It was wide enough to skate on, however, thanks to the rate of speed at which the water flowed, the idea would have been best avoided. As Action peered over the bridge, he saw the source of the squeak.

Cracks all around the brook, followed by a rather large hole, had exposed the water to gush out onto the surface of the ice. Within the hole it could be seen: a dark-brown unicorn, similar to his own shade had fallen in, struggling to reach the surface. His eyes wided with panic as thoughts raced through his mind at a million miles an hour.

Oh Smoogle, what do I do?! There's nothing here that I can do to save her. She's going to drown and it'll be all my fault. Oh, why wasn't I born a Pegasus, that would have so help--. He snapped his head over at Sea Swell's wings then back to her. He eyed his scarf and looked back her wings. It suddenly clicked. The expression on his face became hardened as his instincts took over. He looked deep into Sea Swell's eyes and spoke with a harsh tone.

"Sea Swell, I'm going after her. Don't worry about me. All I need is for you to trust me. After I jump in, hover over the hole," Action tore off his scarf and gave it to her, "then, when I come up to the surface with her in hoof, I want you to toss me one end of the scarf. Fly to the edge and pull. This scarf is durable." As Action continued speak about his plan, the unicorn began to sink towards the bottom.

"Oh buck me, she'll drown if she keeps this up!" He pulled off his coat and threw his glasses down onto the bridge, breaking his spare pair. He dove off the bridge into the icy mess.

After all my stunt work and training, I REALLY hope this pays off! His head dangerously missed the edge of the ice by mere inches. As his body entered the freezing brook, the sting of the water made him numb almost immediately.

C'mon Action, just stay focused and SAVE THAT PONY. His passion peaked as he swam as fast as he could, tearing the water apart like dirt in the ground. The water got colder as he got deeper, feeling his body slowing down.

I am NOT ABOUT TO LOSE! This thought was so profound he grabbed the flailing pony around her around the body and tore back through the water upward as fast as he could. However, the darkness of the water creeped up, as if to swallow him whole. He shut his eyes violently and felt himself getting closer and closer to the surface. Suddenly, the pony got heavier. She had passed out. He began to sink as well, losing all the ground he had worked so hard for.

THIS IS NOT MY NIGHT!!!!!!!!! Action screamed the thought and burst through the water breaking to the surface, making the hole bigger.

"GRAAAAAAGHHHHHHH," his scream pierced throughout the park, "SEA SWELL, NOW!" He held the mare close to his chest, fighting not to let her go as he tread through water simultaneously.

[mafipulater]

As Sea listened to Action's response to her apology, she began to think, Okay, well, that's not what I was apologizing for at all, but hey, as long as we're cool, I'll take it. Unfortunately, the awkward moment was replaced by a life-threatening one.

Sea Swell listened intently to Action's instructions as she gripped one end of the scarf with her teeth. So when he told her to "hover" and "fly", her mouth was too full to argue, resulting in only a few muffled protests. Not that it mattered anyway, because with hardly another moment's notice Action had thrown off his coat and glasses and jumped into the black water below.

As Sea watched the stallion disappeared into the depths, panic immediately began to settle in. I’m not a flyer! I won’t be able to pull them out! she thought to herself. My stupidly weak wings are going to give in and then all three of us will drown. The police will find our frozen bodies and the newspaper headlines next week will read, 'Three Stupid Morons Go Swimming In Freezing Water: Spoiler Alert! It Was Cold And They Drowned'.

Sea took a deep breath to calm herself down. No, Sea Swell, you need to get serious. Both their lives are in your hooves now... Gulping, Sea peered into the water and prayed her wings would be able to carry the weight of two adults. Your personal record for staying airborne was, what, 13 seconds back in grade 6? And that was without the weight of two others... Well, that's why I’ve been working out, right?

With no more time to waste on worrying, she took off her own coat, scarf, and hat to help lighten the load on her wings, and lifted herself into the air above the hole in the ice and waited for Action's head to pop back up from the water. Almost immediately she could feel the burning sensation in her wings, and the cold did little to ease the pain.

Fight through it... come on, Sea, if he jumped into freezing cold water to save someone, the least you can do is pull them out! Air started to bubble just below the surface as Action burst through the hole, breaking apart more ice as he surfaced.

"GRAAAAAAGHHHHHHH! SEA SWELL, NOW!"

Without a second to waste, Sea threw one end of the scarf towards Action, and waited for Action to tug on the end. When she felt it, she immediately started to pull them up and out of the water and towards the shore as hard as she could. With adrenaline coursing through her veins, she managed to fight past the burning sensation that told her that the muscles in her wings were being torn apart.

Sea stumbled through the air, waving her limbs frantically as she continued to pull. The water sloshed as she pulled them up from the hole. She glanced down to make sure the two were safely over land before she gave into the fire in her wings and started to spiral downward towards the earth.

The pegasus landed with a thud on her left side, with the impact of the full weight of her body crushing the wing underneath. The pain was nearly enough to make her pass out, but with adrenaline still rushing through her, she managed to stay conscious with only a loud grunt of agony.

At least I didn’t pass out, Sea thought. I think I’ve had enough of looking pathetic for one night... Then, she remembered that she just unceremoniously dropped both Action and the mare he was carrying onto the snow-covered grass, and prayed that she didn’t accidentally kill either of them in the fall. It couldn’t have been a HUGE drop, but it worried her.

Lying on the ground, she couldn’t see where she had dropped either of them. It hurt too much to move, so she continued to lie still in the snow as she said ”Hey, Action, are you still alive? Please tell me I didn’t kill you just now.” Sea paused for a moment, panting from exhaustion, before taking another breath and adding, ”Is that mare okay?”