Unknown Frontier
My Little Pony Roleplay => Ponyville => Topic started by: PLO on February 19, 2017, 03:20:21 pm
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PLO shakily stands up, batting at his face with a hoof, sending up a cloud of soot and dirt. "Right. I suppose...that vhas...a bit too long...ago..." he blinks and waves away a couple of emergency personnel checking on him. He seems incredibly low-energy. "No, no...am fine, am-"
He's interrupted by the owner barging past the others into his face once again. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE, DON'T THINK YOU'RE NOT! THAT WAS MY BUSINESS, MY-"
PLO is having none of that, and puts his hoof over the other pony's mouth. Oddly enough, it works. "Fine. Vhill pay. Vhill buy. How much is price of bowlink alley?" He glances around and spots his purse sitting nearby, then begins walking towards it, seemingly oblivious to the fire still on his mane.
The owner isn't pacified for long, and follows belligerently close behind. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU SAID, BUT NOPONY SHUTS ME-"
PLO proves him wrong once again after picking up the purse, the same way he had just seconds before. "Yes. Vhill pay," PLO repeats, louder than previously, and starts digging out some coins. "How much to buy?"
"OH, REALLY," the owner resumes as soon as his mouth is free again. "YOU REALLY THINK YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH IN THAT-" PLO rolls his eyes and keeps pulling out coins until they form a small mound on the ground. "-LITTLE PURSE YOU GOT THERE? THAT THERE BOWLING ALLEY WAS WORTH-" PLO stares the stallion in the eye and turns the purse opening down over the pile, and coins cascade out of the open mouth, the pile growing until it's practically as large as the two ponies, with their legs partially submerged by the spill. "-MORE THAN you probably...ever..." The owner's rage seems to subside as the pile grows, falling silent.
Having seemed to satisfy the peasant, PLO snorts and stows his purse away in his cape and shoos a pegasus approaching with a bucket. He ambles slowly back into the bowling alley, which has been gotten under control, except Hex is still stranded, unnoticed. PLO spots him through gaps in the rubble and huffs, muttering something under his breath before calling back out to the others tiredly, "Dhere is pony in here." Emergency personnel converge on the trap to free him while PLO walks on through the building, trudging down what was previously one of the lanes until he reaches his nemesis.
His horn sparks and he points it at the center pin, still standing where it was, unmoved. A pitiful jolt of electricity jumps at the pin, having zero effect on it.
He kicks it over with a clatter.
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Lamplight can only shake her head as Hex continues to antagonize PLO, amazed that he could have so little self control. Who thinks it's a good idea to insult somepony who just blew up three bowling lanes out of frustration? She gets up to go try to break them up when she spots the manager heading this way. She sighs and turns to head back to where her patrons were still playing. She would rather not sit through what is undoubtedly going to be a shouting match. PLO does not seem like the type to just accept that he did something wrong and take responsibility. Sure enough, the manager starts yelling behind her. She almost makes it back to her former group when it becomes apparent things are not going well. She turns around as the sky outside darkens and sees PLO's mane glowing brightly, although he doesn't seem to be doing much yelling himself. She barely has time to duck for cover as the massive bolt of lightning blows a hole through the roof and blasts most of the roof and upper walls clear off the bowling alley. Thankfully, the damage seems to be limited to the building itself, and as she gets back to her hooves it seems like nopony is seriously injured. Her patron's game had been at the far end, and they'd avoided even being hurt at all. Without them to worry about, Lamplight turns and makes her way out of the ruins of the bowling alley, coming to a stop a short distance from where PLO is lying on the ground feeling sorry for himself. Well he should be sorry. How somepony with such a temper could manage to get this far in life without learning to control his magic was beyond her. He's just lucky nopony had actually really gotten hurt, destroying an entire place of business over a tantrum is bad enough as it is. Lamplight sighs, shaking her head and turning to return to her own group. Let somepony else deal with him, yelling would probably just make him blow up the house across the street anyway.
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Scared stiff, Hex doesn't have the wherewithal to move when the shouting match starts.
He shields his eyes when the blast hits, and it takes a moment after for his eyes to see more than a dark blur. In the meantime, he can hear crashes echo around him and the floor shaking a bit as the building collapses.
When he can see again, he finds that the shockwave failed to move him, and the structure has left him completely unscathed (albeit a little trapped). Soon he's recovered enough to speak:
"Huh."
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PLO turns back around from his failed attempt at clearing the center pin, rounding on Hex and drawing up to his full height. "You think I fhas trying to keep dhat vhone up?" he practically shouts, his mane flashing the brilliant yellow of his lightning. His control on his accent also seems to have drained away with his rage. "You dhink-"
He's interrupted as the owner marches over in front of his face, himself livid. He's flanked by several other customers clamoring for attention and angry at the black pony. "Hey, what's the big idea?? I let you and your friend in, provide you with a nice bowling facility for you two, look the other way when you start your game over, don't think I didn't notice that, and then you- how could-"
"My friend said dhe point is destruction, I provided destruction!" PLO interrupts, not speaking louder than the other stallion but still somehow speaking over him. "And vhat is dhe idea, making pins that vhon't fall over to-"
"Hey, I wasn't done talking!" the owner re-interrupts, even louder than before.
At about this time, ponies start noticing just how dark it is outside. "Hey, isn't it...it's not that late, is it? What time is..." There's some murmuring and most of the ponies in the building break off from the altercation to check outside. Looking up, there's a large black cloud shading the building and a good amount of the surrounding area. There's even a contingent of the weather patrol trying ineffectually to beat it away and disperse it, to little avail.
All of this escapes PLO and the owner, who are locked in argument. "...run a business! I hope you're going to pay for the damage you did to those lanes!!"
"Fine! Vhatever!" PLO shouts, and pulls out a small black purse. His mane and tail are practically a solid glowing yellow at this point, with small arcs of lightning jumping between them across his body. "How much-"
He doesn't have time to finish his inquiry before a bolt of lightning jumps from the cloud through the roof and strikes dead onto PLO's back. The ensuing shockwave sends both him and the owner flying comically through the roof as the building collapses around them, along with anypony else that might have stuck around nearby.
PLO lands not too far in front of the burning remains what used to be the bowling alley, and lies on his stomach groaning. His mane and tail have returned to their jet black coloring, and a small fire is on his mane. The owner lands just after him a little farther away as fire crews and paramedics start arriving on the scene, but he's none the worse for wear, or looks it anyway. He bounds to his hooves and runs back to the smoldering rubble, falling to a kneeling position. "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" he cries, with the loudness of someone who can't tell quite how loud he's being. Or because he just wants to be loud. After the lightning strike, the cloud quickly disperses, much to the chagrin of the weather team who would have liked to use it for rain to help with the fire.
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Overall, Hex isn't having TOO bad a time. Bowling wasn't something he did often, but it was refreshing to have somepony with him that wasn't just bowling him out of the water. It's a tad frustrating that he's being beaten by some backwoods clod. It's entertaining seeing him fail to get the center pin every time, though.
When the explosion happens, it knocks his glasses askew. Taking a moment to fix them up, he glances around the room at the aftermath before staring at the single shining, standing pin. He smirks. "I'll admit, I'm impressed..." this probably isn't a good time for a jab, but he just can't help himself... "...I never thought you'd be able to keep that one up. Way of, uh, controlling your fate."
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Lamplight sits back to watch as the two stallions begin playing, with thankfully no further arguing. While he had grasped the rules fairly quickly, it still took a few turns to PLO to get the hang of it, and soon the scores were just about tied up. Bowling wasn't the most exciting game in the world, but Lamplight was still enjoying herself now that the two had started getting along better, at least for now. She can't help but chuckle as it becomes apparent that PLO is unable to hit the center pin, no matter what he does the ball somehow avoiding that one pin every single time. He does seem to be getting rather annoyed at it though, which might be understandable if he wasn't taking it so seriously. She stands up as he approaches for his next turn with a dangerous look in his eye and his mane crackling with electricity, which she has come to understand means he was upset. Before she can do anything to stop him he's already rolled the ball, now charged with energy, down the lane, which explodes in spectacular fashion and blows over all the pins in several nearby lanes... but somehow missing the one he'd been aiming at. Lamplight puts a hoof to her head as every eye in the bowling alley is turned their way. Talk about taking things too seriously... The owner, not to mention the nearby players who's games had been interrupted, were not going to be happy about this...
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"Yes, and let us see if your way of balling can match your way of words, good Hex." PLO is back in full composure, straight-standing and confident, ready to take on this past time of this town and own it. He retrieves a mid-weight yellow ball from the rack and sets himself regally in front of the lane. No deep breath needed, he is already in control. He steps forward and sends the orb rolling rapidly down towards its targets.
It falls into the gutter about halfway through.
At the end of seven turns later, the score is relatively even. PLO, despite his early flub, did manage to recover somewhat nicely, and had overall missed very few of the pins, sitting at a score of 59. When Hex finished his turn, he was left at 56, just 3 behind PLO. The scores themselves would be pleasing to him if that was the whole story. There's nothing wrong with being ahead of one whom he assumed to be a seasoned veteran of the sport, given his masterful expression of the rules and his choice of this recreation in the first place when pressed for it. And for the first few turns, he was good-natured about the whole thing.
What was not okay was that there was one pin of the ten that would simply not fall down for him. He noticed it at five turns in, possibly after the other two ponies involved, and thereafter made it his mission to knock it down. But no. No matter how he threw the ball, and how many pins were knocked around it, it simply would not be knocked over. Because of this, he got no strikes, no spares, no extra points, not even the ones that he would have gotten for knocking over just that pin.
And he is not happy about it. Not in the slightest. Aside from that one detail the game would have become tedious, he feels, but...that. One. Pin!
He tries not to let his irritation show, but that has never been his strong point. His mane also gives it away, though its crackling would have been growing even without that. "You know," he says, force-calmly as he steps once more with his chosen favorite ball, "if dhe point of the game is the destruction of those pins, dhis seems a terribly inefficient vhay to do so." As he speaks, his horn lights up and a shaft of lightning coils down his horn to his neck, then down his hoof, which touches the ball, charging it with electrical energy and drawing eyes.
He hurls the glowing, crackling ball down the lane (making sure to roll it, thank you very much), electricity arcing out, cracking and burning the surface of the aisle as it goes amid shouts of surprise and/or anger from behind him. Upon impacting the lead pin, dead center, it erupts, causing a small explosion that sends ball and pin pieces flying, and by now nearly everypony's attention was directed to the blast which cleared not only that lane but the force of which knocked down all the pins in three lanes in either direction.
...Except for the single one standing in the center of where the formation was, clean, spotless, and 100% not knocked down.
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"I'll admit, you grasped the rules quicker than most. Faster than I did, I know." Not strictly true, but whatever. He does have a habit of forgetting to not get up and bowl again after a strike. It would probably help him learn if he ever got a strike. "Now that the academics are out of the way, let's see how well you handle the application."
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Lamplight just shakes her head and glances over at the other patrons who's attention had been drawn by Hex's "explanation" of bowling. As if this game needed to be any more ridiculous. Of course, Lamplight doesn't know much about the origins of the sport herself; she somehow doubts it involved fortune tellers though. Still, she has to give him some points for coming up with all of that on the spot. PLO, of course, appears to believe every word of it. He even provides his own interpretation of what he thinks the silly history hex gave means. Ridiculous as it is, it will at least make a pretty good story for later, one the regulars would surely find amusing. Lamplight suppresses a giggle, the two stallion's unfriendly attitudes forgiven at least for now. Despite the ridiculous nature of Hex's tale, it seems PLO has managed to pick up on the proper rules of the game, and they were finally about ready to start a real game. She smiles at PLO and shoots a glance over at Hex. "That's more or less it." She can always tell him the truth later, for now, pointing it out will probably just result in the two butting heads again. "So, who's going first?" She asks, "I'll just sit out and keep score for now." Hopefully they don't fight over who gets to go first. Maybe she should have suggested a coin flip...
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PLO listens intently to Hex's exposition, taking it in full earnest. Fortune telling, huh? That would explain the affinity with the game for a pony named "Hex". When the origin story is done, PLO remains quiet for a couple moments, a burnt smell seemingly taking the air as he processes what he has seen of the game and what he was just told, bringing them into some semblance of sense in his head. "Yes indeed," he says slowly after a time. "These origins explain much of the game to me. Let me see if I have this straight.
"The ball is a projection of our wills, to find and arrange our fates." He motions to the pins at the end of one of the lanes. "As an allegory for the points of fate, the goal of the game is to destroy the...'pins' or rearrange them to our desires, wresting control of our destinies for ourselves. Thus each pin knocked aside is a triumph, a force towards an outcome more in line with our own desires." He taps the score card next, with the lined out boxes. "Two tries are allowed, for many seek second chances and offer them to each other, but to seek a third is to tempt the backlash of the cosmos by trying to wrest too much control from its path. Knocking over all the pins grants extra points for the round based on the next rolls of the ball, as such could be attributed partially to the success previously in controlling one's fate, granting a better position to be able to do so again in the future."
PLO paces up to the opening of the lane, peering at the gutters. "And if our wills are too poorly directed, they may have no effect on our fates, or even adverse consequences. Thus the two tracks that lead to no gains at all, as trying too hard or not enough can sour the future. And going too far in changing the outcome," he continues, hoofing along the foul line, "is just as bad as trying to avoid it entirely, rendering a misstep as bad as a misapplication."
He trots back to the scorecard again, tapping at the final round squares. "And doing well enough on our tries to direct fate may very well grant us advantage in the next life, so finishing out with the clearing of the board grant extra opportunity to modify our destiny further, though the lack of knowledge of the far side of the afterlife is enough that the extra earnings supposedly earned in the next life means that knocking the pins down at that point are only granted as an addition to the initial score of the last throw, not getting credited as gains in and of themselves."
PLO pauses at the scorecard, his mane crackling as he tries to think of whether he missed anything. "Did I miss anything?" he asks, tossing his glance between Lamplight and Hex.
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Hex looks like he's about to say something really mean and/or stupid, which he probably was, but manages to stop himself to take a deep breath.
Hfffffffffffffffffffff...
Pahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
"You're right", he says to the mare. "Let's start over." He manages to suppress a smirk, but the tongue in his cheek may be visible for a second to anypony observant enough.
He gestures grandly to the surrounding area. "Behold the mighty bowling alley", he says, drawing a few glances from other patrons that he tries his best to ignore. "Called so because, at its inception, it was carried out clandestinely in the shadowy recesses of cities. For you see, it wasn't always a game; at its inception, it was a divination method.
"Back in the day, before the three tribes came together, earth ponies had a big dislike for magic. Or anything unicorn-related, really. Not a lot of trust for them. But a few of us, desperate souls, believed that they could help us see the future. They would search out these fortune-tellers, who would give them a large wooden ball. Several long metal needles were set standing, point up, next to a map. They would pose a question; where they could find love, where to buy a house, where to plant their crops. Then they would tip the ball out of a bowl, forcefully, knocking the needles flying. Every point where a pin stuck into the map was a place where they should seek out whatever they had asked for.
"Over time, I guess ponies just realized it was a fun thing to do, so they decided to come up with rules and remove the pointy bits that were liable to hurt you."
There. He thinks he managed to keep a straight face through it.
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Lamplight eyes the last remaining pin regretfully and steps back from the lane. She shouldn't have expected to knock down the one way on the other side, of course, but it still feels somehow inadequate. She walks past Hex as the pins are reset, and shakes her head at his snippy attitude. Not that PLO is behaving much better himself with his little tirade earlier. She looks back down the bowling alley at where her regulars are in the middle of their own game, and wonders if she shouldn't just go back and join them again. No, she's being a bit unfair she tells herself as she watches PLO messing around with the scoreboard. Stamping his name on it with a signet ring and wax? Lamplight can't help but roll her eyes at that, it's just a casual game after all. They're not even really playing right, taking turns rather than getting two balls each. She waits for him to finish taking his turn, knocking down the other half of the pins that Hex missed. "You know," Lamplight starts, "We haven't really taught him how to play properly. Why don't we start over?"
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While the green pony takes his turn, PLO walks curiously over to the card he'd been marking. It appears to be some kind of record keeping card, with slots for the numbers of pins that get knocked down, and...names...
Well, that shouldn't be. Perhaps that pony...the card says "Hex" on his, is he perhaps a warlock? It is not completely unheard of for a non-unicorn witch or warlock...regardless, this "Hex" seems to have perhaps misheard his name and marked it as "Plow?", additionally drawing flowers around it. This is not something PLO would stand for. From within his cloak, he produces a dollop of red wax and sets it against his horn, melting a drop off onto his slot on the scorecard.
A clatter of those "pins" (why are they called that? They'd have a hard time piercing anything) draws his eyes up. "You would fail to tell me all of the rules of your game and then presume to accuse me of cheating, Mr...Five Pins?" Of the ten pins, Hex had knocked down half, all on the left side. He puts the wax back into its place and swaps it out for a signet ring which he presses onto the drop on the scorecard, clearly marking his slot as PLO. With perhaps a smidge of an extra letter on the tail end.
When the ring is back in its place, he marks a 5 next to the possible hexer's name and grabs another ball. This one feels a bit lighter than the previous one. "Perhaps I should turn to another to teach me, if you are not up to the task," he says, ignoring Hex's attempt to interrupt him as he rolls the ball down the lane, knocking over the rest of the pins with a smug smirk on his face.
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Hex takes another moment to steel himself. This pony certainly is not un-intimidating. Perhaps antagonizing him wasn't in my best interest... Maybe it could be salvaged a little.
He marks down the score of the mare and the weirdo, a 6 and a 3. "I won't say whether you did well or not, since you technically cheated, a nice thing to do right after disparaging my character, I might add..." Dang it, whatever happened to salvaging this? "...but I'll go ahead and say with her help you may qualify as a beginner. Let's do it like her from now on and maybe they won't kick us out before the night is over."
Shutting up should probably be high on my priority list about now...
As they speak, the pins glow faintly pink as they're moved back into place; no hint manifests itself as to the source, except the glow around the horn of a stallion at the end of the row of lanes whose nose is buried in a book which (mostly) hides the bored expression on his face. "Now if you don't mind clearing the way, I have some stalwart standing pins to lay waste to." Hex walks over to the ball rack and picks out a blue 9-pounder before taking his position.
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, trying to distract himself from the trouble he's surely in, then steps forward and lets loose the ball of bowl.
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Lamplight can definitely see why the green pony would be irritated by the newcomer. His personality certainly seems... interesting. She steps a little bit closer as PLO takes offence at the other pony's remark, his mane sparking ominously. She doesn't really believe he'd try to hurt anypony, and he calms down soon enough and walks over to grab one of the bowling balls and proceeds to hurl it down the lane and smash several of the pins down. Lamplight has to suppress a giggle. "You didn't do too bad with the pins, but uh..." She walks over and takes a ball herself, walking past PLO to the lane. "You're supposed to roll it, it doesn't count if you just throw it at them." She rolls the ball down at the pins, knocking down the remaining three on the left side.
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PLO's mane crackles audibly as he turns, facing the green pony once more, the air around him almost seeming darker. "Off dhe handle, you say?" His voice has slipped deeply back into his accent. "My least sincere apologies to you, good sir, but I vhas merely inqvhiringk as to dhe purpose of dhe strange vhite objects. A qvestion, I might add, dhat you did not answer. But." He reigns himself in, fighting his accent back down as well. "I vh- will play your silly bowlingk- bowling game. Fear not for my mental faculties."
He strides regally to the balls and picks one up with his magic, not sullying his hooves with these large, strange, heavy spheres. That green stallion would probably get an immense amount of satisfaction from seeing him fail. And he might. But no way would he let this...this pleb insult his intelligence. Scowling, he stands at the entrance to the lane and hurls the ball across, where it collides with the pins without ever touching the ground. Six of the pins go down the back of the lane, leaving the one on the right and three in the left corner still standing. "How vh- was that?" he asks, glowering fiercely at the green pony.
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PLO. What kind of ridiculous name is that? Some sort of... accented mispronunciation of Plow? What kind of unicorn would be named Plow, unless perhaps they were a farmer? Hex shook his head. Country bumpkin indeed.
"Yeah", Hex says, stepping forward. "It's amazing what you can learn when you actually use your eyes instead of just, you know, flying off the handle at ponies." His voice adopts a more patronizing tone as he continues. "Of course, I understand that this can be a lot to take in. Maybe you've seen enough for, and you can go home and have a lie down, take some time to process everything."
Of course, Hex has already paid for the... "PLO"... if it is his real name... But he's secure enough in his finances to have wasted a few bits to get this pony out of his mane. And he supposes it wouldn't be a total loss if he gets to spend some time with this new mare. Lamplight, was it? Nice name, at least.
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Lamplight can't help but chuckle at the black pony's over-the-top introduction and cheesy greeting. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Lamplight." She withdraws her hoof and gives a little bit of a bow herself. She glances over at the other stallion, who seems to be a bit overwhelmed at the moment. She's not surprised, the newcomer seems to be a real handful. She steps over to the electrically charged pony as he loses his train of though, apparently distracted by a pony nearby taking a shot. "Bowling is pretty popular, yeah. And the pins are for, well, that." She motions to the knocked down pins in the other alley.
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PLO waits impatiently for for the forest-hued pony to make an explanation. When it becomes clear that he will not, and he apparently cedes his control of the conversation over to the newcomer, he rolls his eyes, but smiles for the introduction to the other. "Yes, I am fairly new, naught but a couple weeks spent in your ville. You may address me as PLO." He pulls an elaborate bow, making great use of his cloak, with a forward spin that places him right in front of the mare, ending with him taking one of her hooves in his and giving it a light kiss. "'Tis a pleasure to meet you, fair mare of the autumn hair."
He steps back and turns his attention back to the lines with the white oblongs at the ends, pacing. "This dapper stallion," he says, motioning to the apparently-slow green pony, "has brought me here under the pretense that it is a popular form of recreation, but his faculties seem to have taken leave of him in your presence. Would you be one who could shed light on the purpose of those oblong white..." He stops, his attention pulled to another pony at the beginning of one of the other lines, who rolls a ball down the lane, knocking down a number of the pins at the end.
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Hex isn't going to lie to himself, this pony seems... kinda scary. His first instinct is to find a low area away from any trees and assume the fetal position. It doesn't help that he's avoided confrontation for most of his life.
He tries valiantly (and fails, for the most part) to avoid shrinking from the stallion throughout his tirade. Once he's finished, he stutters a few times until a unicorn mare who looks vaguely familiar comes up to speak to the black one. Hex gladly takes a step back to signal that the new pony is definitely in charge of talking to the foreigner now. In a minute he'll remember that he's not the bumpkin here, and maybe do something to remind him.
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Lamplight stares mournfully at the scoreboard. She'd been invited by a couple of Guiding Light's regulars on their weekly bowling trip, and she had so far performed very poorly. It wasn't her fault she'd only bowled a few times before, while they all had years of practice. At least Soybean had declined the invite, last time they'd done this he'd shown up not only herself, but everypony else in the group by playing a perfect game. She sighs theatrically, but isn't really that upset. Sure, she had ended up dead last every game so far, but it has still been a fun trip. She's probably going to sit this next one out though. She says as much, and earns some grumbles and assorted good-natured teasing. Soon, another game is in full swing, and she's just starting to get into watching when the doors to the bowling alley are thrown open dramatically. Being fairly close to the door, it's not hard for her to hear the black unicorn who had just come through loudly questioning a green stallion, apparently about the local architecture. Normally such an event would rate as a little weird, but fairly innocuous. Normally the pony speaking doesn't have a mane sparking with barely contained electricity. Lamplight is immediately overcome with curiosity, and heads off after the strange pair to the far end of the bowling alley. "Hi there," She greets with a grin, "I think I'd have heard of a pony with a head full of electricity by now, you new in town?"
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PLO follows the strange green pony, trying to imagine the wondrous things he might see in this alley. Surely if it was popular in this village, it would certainly be worth...what's this? When the pony he's following goes into a building, he's a bit perplexed. He said he was taking him to an alley. This is not an alley, it is the opposite of an alley! What sort of building...He backs up to view the building from the front. What an odd-looking building. Why was there grass growing on the roof? And these decorations flanking the entrance, they make no sense. They look like they might be structural support, but poorly placed if they are, and even shaped wrong. No matter.
He pushes the door open grandly, surveying the scene inside. What a strange place. Lines of floor ending in holes in the wall, with ridges surrounding the lines. And at the ends of those lines, by the holes, some of them anyway, there are more of those decorative supports that aren't supporting anything. He hurries without looking like he's hurrying after the green pony, a look of confusion on his face. He speaks to him, not exactly being quiet, and drawing eyes. "This is not an alley, it is a building," he starts. "You claimed to be bringing me to an alley! What would you hope to gain by such deception? And what is the significance of those alabaster columns? They are shaped entirely wrong to be used architecturally, and they support nothing! Are they symbolic of something?" The yellow flashes in his mane and tail grow in intensity and frequency.
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Fortuitously, Ponyville Lanes was only a few minutes away, so Hex was spared the potential awkwardness of trying to make conversation; he guessed from experience that would only end badly. He does sneak a few glances at his guidee on the way, curious of his outlandish garb. He's also sure that exotic coloration marks him as not native to this area.
Hex doesn't hold the door open for the other pony as he enters, but he does ensure to open it wide enough that he doesn't need to hurry to follow. Provided he isn't gawking at the giant stylized pins decorating the front of the entrance.
It's not a particularly busy day at the parlor; only about half of the 20 lanes are taken up, mostly by regulars, some in uniform representing their bowling team, but a few just out for an afternoon of relaxing fun. He approaches the counter and hoofs the bits for a twofer, lane 20 on the end. He then leads the way to said lane, watching Mr. Bumpkin there to make sure he isn't overwhelmed by all this.
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PLO rolls his eyes at the Earth Pony's nonsense mumbling. "Vel- Well of course it's not with a ball, of course. Why would name be bowling if it v- was with a ball?" he agrees with the other's seeming syntax, saying it's not with a ball, regrasping control over his speech. He stands taller and walks after Hex, once more with a commanding and regal bearing. "Yes, good stallion. Bring me to this alley of recreation."
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Hex watches the unicorn pacing back and forth, his discomfort lessened now that he isn't looking back at him, and forgotten almost entirely when he hears the nonsense he's spewing. At first he thinks that the other pony is joking. But when the V's for W's come in, he just has to wonder what backwoods this pony came from.
"Um", he says, trying to decide how to say it. "Bowling... it isn't... it's not... with a ball, and..." He gives up. "Uh, I'll just show you, I guess? It's this way." He begins walking, somewhat tentatively as he makes sure the black stallion is following.
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PLO regards the stallion before him impatiently for the eons it seems to take for him to respond. Is he just being rude, or is that what ponies do in this town for fun? Well, he could stare at least as long as the other could return it, and he will not leave until he receives an answer or wins this contest of patience and wills!!
"A bowl-ing alley? What manner of locale is this...alley of bowl-ing?" He turns around and starts pacing, breaking eye contact to muse to himself, head down. "By the name, it sounds like...a dinnerware manufactory? But that makes not sense. One can think of any number of places better suited to the production of bowls than a crowded alley. And why would that be a recreational past time?
"Ah!" He turns back to the green earth pony, his mane flashing a bright yellow to match his mood at supposedly figuring it out. "Or perhaps you mean not a bowl-ing alley, but instead a bow-ling alley? Vhere small ribbon-like homunculi dance for the amusement of the onlookers? Yes, that does sound delightful. Vhere might one find vone of these...alleys?" he asks, his accent slipping through.
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Hex doesn't know where to look. He always heard you're supposed to look a pony in the eye as you spoke, but he was honestly too intimidated to do that. He understood that you could sort of cheat by looking at a point behind their left ear, but that was honestly pretty distracting what with the yellow crackling (was that lightning in his mane? what even...), it might be rude to just stare at that fancy brooch (is he a royal of some sort? should I be bowing?)... There's just too much to draw the eyes.
After a moment he regains his faculties enough to realize he should shut his mouth and stop gawking (must have been at least five minutes, sheesh) and remember that he was asked a question. "Oh, uh... I think the bowling alley is pretty popular?"
Unable to decide, his eyes just dart around almost spasmodically as he shifts his back left leg in discomfort.
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With the unpleasantness concerning his living arrangements dealt with, PLO exits the city hall and walks down the street. It having been a semi-official visit, he isn't in his full regalia, but he is wearing his black mantle with the sapphire clasp. His jet black mane and tail occasionally crackle yellow to match his eyes, and everything about his bearing is regal, from his posture to his walk. The sky is a clear blue, without a cloud in the sky...except for a solitary small black one that seems to migrate around above him. A pair of pegasi from the weather patrol are watching it curiously and wondering if they should be doing anything about it.
He has no other engagements, so he's free to do as he pleases, at his leisure. Well, his leisure is now, strutting around like he owns the place was only fun for the first few days he was here. What else could he be doing around here? He approaches the nearest pony he sees, head held high, eyes focused. "Pardon me, but what would be a predominant form of recreation in the fair town of Ponyville?" he asks, his voice strong and commanding.