Slice of Night

Ok, here we go:

It's a quiet afternoon in Luna's Retreat, and townsponies fill the town, ambling back and forth. The lunabelles are closed, almost slumbering as they wait for the night.

There is a quiet strumming coming from a side street off of the town square, and at first glance you would think your eyes were deceiving you, for the music is coming from a small baby dragon, tuning a very small lute. Ponies walk to and fro, occasionally stopping to listen and examine the young one. He gives a start and messes up the tuning at the sound of power tools. Very loud ones. Coming from the town square.

Unknown to the young dragon, the noise is the competition setting up shop. A pegasi moves back and forth across a small platform, unfolding banners and wood and all manner of things. He has attracted a small crowd, wondering what exactly he's doing. In the back, but moving forward, is another pegasi, wielding a camera and wearing a scarf.

The photographer is here on an anonymous tip from a friend, who said a new magician was going to be setting up in town square for an afternoon performance. He grabbed his camera, kissed his girlfriend goodbye, and strode out the door, curious about the new performer.

Meanwhile, an earth pony prepares to leave for a secret meeting that will change her home forever: She's going to visit the local handymare, an earth pony who happens to live in the clouds, to pick up a birthday present for her recently adopted daughter. She sneaks downstairs, and quietly slips out, preparing to leave.

High above the earth, in a home that appears to be constructed entirely from clouds, the cloudsmith is idly chatting with her friend while waiting for her new customer to show up, a pegasi who is going job hunting in a bit.

The pegasi chats back, in an extremely pronounced Prench accent. This pegasi is rather new to Luna's Retreat, and is going out today to seek out a job suited to her passion: baking. She needs this job very badly, as quite a few of her possessions were destroyed or ruined in an unfortunate crash landing.

((And we're live, folks! RP at your pleasure!.))

And to get us started, here's the last 2 pages of IC:

Quietkal wrote:Heartfelt shrugs, and suddenly remembers that she has a filly not yet introduced on her back. "Oh! Heart and Smoke! I completely forgot! This little filly is one Quilted Crafts." She leans down so Quilted can move off of her back and stand besides her. "Quilted, this is Heart Blossom and Smoke Screen, my cousin and...cousin-in-law. Kind of." She nods towards the pair when she says their names.

SubjectZ wrote:Heart Blossom snickers a bit, then says to Lyre, "Your playing was fantastic! How do you do it?"
Meanwhile, Quilted smiles and gets off Heartfelt's back, saying softly, "H-hi."

Drago765 wrote:He nervously laughed. "Well... I kind of just... played. Practice helps though."

Quietkal wrote:Heartfelt playfully nudges Quilted with a leg and smiles encouragingly at her, before turning to the dragon.
"That was you playing the music?" Her eyes go wide, "That last bit?!" She pauses and shudders dramatically. "So dramatic! I almost leapt into the air when the sword went into the box! Critical success, am I right?!"

Drago765 wrote:"Thanks! It really wasn't all that big though..." He said, obviously flattered.

Paper Shadow wrote:"Not big? It was one of the best parts of the whole show," replies Smoke as he rubs his neck and scarf. The stallion then turns his attention to Quilted and leans down to the little foal. "Hello there, aren't you a cute little filly? Although you do have something in your ear." With that, he brings his hoof near Quilted's ear (although not too close, she was obviously shy), and then puts it between him and Quilted, revealing a coin in his hoof, which he gives to her. Of course, he had the coin all along, but with slight of hoof it appeared that he had pulled the coin out of the filly's ear...

(Stealth Check: 14 (Roll) + 20 (Bonus) = 34)

"Hey, tell you what," Smoke says to the group at large, "I was gonna grab lunch after the show. Would anypony like to join me?"

Paper Shadow wrote:"Not big? It was one of the best parts of the whole show," replies Smoke as he rubs his neck and scarf. The stallion then turns his attention to Quilted and leans down to the little foal. "Hello there, aren't you a cute little filly? Although you do have something in your ear." With that, he brings his hoof near Quilted's ear (although not too close, she was obviously shy), and then puts it between him and Quilted, revealing a coin in his hoof, which he gives to her. Of course, he had the coin all along, but with slight of hoof it appeared that he had pulled the coin out of the filly's ear...

(Stealth Check: 14 (Roll) + 20 (Bonus) = 34)

"Hey, tell you what," Smoke says to the group at large, "I was gonna grab lunch after the show. Would anypony like to join me?"

Drago765 wrote:"Does that offer include me? Because I'm coming if you're buying!"

SubjectZ wrote:Quilted looks at the coin in shock, then tucks it away and asks, "Does anypony have a mirror? My ear has money in it! I'm paying for lunch!"

Paper Shadow wrote:Smoke chuckles at the filly's response as he puts one of his fore legs around Heart Blossom. He faces the dragon and replies "Well, it looks like somepony is gonna pay for lunch, but don't you have your own money? Didn't the magician pay for your music?"

Drago765 wrote:"Actually, not yet. I'm also in a pretty tight spot regarding money, I barely have enough to get food and I'm trying to save up towards a goal of mine, so you can see how that's going." He said, a bit dejected but still trying to keep a pleasant tone. "I have high hopes though. After all, I've survived this long right?" He said, chuckling a bit.

Paper Shadow wrote:Smoke keeps a neutral face. It's not the first time he's met someone living on the streets, heck he has even worked with one or two during his early days. Still, the dragon was in tough spot. "What's the goal?"

Drago765 wrote:Lyre stared at Smoke for a bit, before sighing and looking away. "It's... a stupid goal anyways, just forget about it." He sighed, looking a bit downtrodden. He obviously wasn't comfortable with telling what it was.

Paper Shadow wrote:"Well, if you ever change your mind, feel free to tell me about it, I've had some stupid goals before," Smoke responds before turning to face Blossom and continuing with "Some of which I still want to do." He gives a quick kiss to the mare before facing the group once more. "So, are we ready to go?"

(Streetwise Check (to know of or find a nice affordable cafe): 10 (Roll) + 11 (Bonus) = 21)

Drago765 wrote:Lyre gained a small smile. "Ready whenever you are!" He said, eager to get a good meal for once. He also seemed to loosen up a bit, relaxing and seeming glad that Smoke didn't press the question.

SubjectZ wrote:Cloudcast and Eclair show up to the Food Barrel, and see... ((Insert drumroll)) A giant barrel. Ta-da. A small sign lies on the door.
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Smoke Screen recalls a decent cafe near here, by the name of Hobby House, a local diner where all kinds of groups meet up. Heart Blossom giggles and nods.

Ramsus wrote:As they reach the Food Barrel, Cloudcast stands up on Rei's back and dramatically pulls Diamond Dust out of the cloudforge. She lifts it over her head, spearhead pointing towards the sky. The shaft looks perfectly cylindrical, free of any blemishes and imperfects, and is easily held sturdily by the hoof. The head is sharply defined despite its cloudy nature, in fact it looks sharp enough to cut through any mundane armor you could test it against, and it trails chill vapors as it moves through the air. When the head touches the upper edge of the windless barrier Cloudcast had made, it almost seems to pierce it, and the barrier bursts into a flurry of snowflakes that blow every which way, sparkling as Cloudcast holds the masterwork in the air triumphantly.

Spoiler:

Quietkal wrote:

SubjectZ wrote:Quilted looks at the coin in shock, then tucks it away and asks, "Does anypony have a mirror? My ear has money in it! I'm paying for lunch!"

Heartfelt gently noogies the filly and smiles at Smoke, before saying. "Lunch sounds good. It'd be a nice change from the excitement of the afternoon so far, at least." She chuckles lightly, attempting to cover how nervous she actually is about what happened earlier.

Meta:

"Alright, I know a little place, follow me." And with that, Smoke lead the way to the Hobby House...

Everyone heads down to the Hobby Horse, a nice, cozy little coffee place, almost themedly rustic. You head inside, and a small bell rings over your heads. A mare dressed in a green apron uniform leads you to a table and sits you down, asking you all what you want to drink.

Smoke Screen asks for just water, but with only a few ice cubes, one or two will do...

Heartfelt gives a gentle smile and says, "Heya, Lemon Wedge. I'd like a house coffee for myself," before looking to the filly. "What would you like, honey? Orange juice?"

Roll:

"Well zey are honest, oui?" Eclair says in a slightly amused tone as she takes in this new shop. She blinks noticing Cloudcast suddenly brandishing her hoof-made spear, backing up in the air for a moment before taking a closer look and clapping her hooves together.  "C'est magnifique!! A, how you say, work of art non? Though perhaps a bit much for haggling, oui? I would not resort to zreatening somepony with a spear for simple ingredients." She says with a giggle to herself. "Would you like to come inside zis time? I'm sure it would be more interesting zan standing out here." She says as she glides down towards the entrance of the food barrel.

"What? No, ah wasn't gonna threaten anypony with Diamond Dust here. She's jus' for protection... and ah guess display of ma' fine craftponyship. Might attrac' som're buisness neigh?" Cloudcast replies, flourishing the spear.

"Yeah, ah'll come in with ya since ah'm done now." Cloudcast says and hops off of Rei to follow Eclair inside.

You both walk into the food barrel and see a nice, rustic interior, sort of like a log cabin. You can see rows upon rows of groceries, and it's absolutely packed. Neon fluorescent lights shine down on you highlighting the well stocked produce section.

"Do you have any gemstones? Or at least meals that involve gemstones? Because if you do that's what I'm getting, if not I'll just have a sand- Oh you're talking about DRINKS! Oh okay, I'll just have some juice or something." Lyre said, trying to look at the menu.

Quilted and Heart Blossom chime in, Quilted getting some fruit punch, and Heart Blossom ordering some iced tea.
Lemon Wedge smiles at Heartfelt and says, "Howdy Felty! I'll let Golden know you're here while i get your drinks." She turns and leaves.
((RP time))

"You know this place?" Smoke Screen asks Heartfelt...

Heartfelt shrugs. "I come here every now and then. The owner's a nice guy, and they've got good coffee. Can we go back to that part where you said you were stabbed?"

Smoke Screen looks to one side. "Well, Heart Blossom and I were heading to an engagement party," recalls the pegasus, making motions with his hooves as he talks, "When a pair of cloaked ponies approached us, telling us to come with them or else. I figured there's no point to risking things, so I said sure. Turns out they were just some cut-throats that didn't actually want us to follow them, they were just trying to get me to play hero and try to fight them, so they kinda just rushed at us with their knives anyway. We fended them off together for a while before making our escape, but, well..." Smoke moves into a position where Heartfelt could clearly see the faint scarring from the event, "I weren't as lucky as I thought I was."

Heartfelt leans in to get a closer look at the scar, before settling back concerned. "Ouch! I'm glad you two got out of there...the whole situation just sounds so bizarre. Who'd have thought, thieves jumping you mid-night in Luna's Retreat?"

Meta:

"Well, fortunately for me, the brother of the groom-to-be is a very talented doctor," replies Smoke as he ends the story. Something he has noticed is that, whenever somepony finds out or tells the story, they always refer to the cloaked ponies as thieves. This irked him, half because it was relating him to the ponies who tried to kill him, and half because the pair weren't even thieves. They were muggers at best, and even then muggers give you the option to give up your gold or give up your life. The ponies from last week were just looking for blood to spill. Still, he kept his feelings to himself. "But enought about me," he concludes, "Why don't you tell us how you met your little friend here? Are you foalsitting her?"

Heartfelt smiles slightly. "Not quite. This little lady is Quilted Crafts. Adventurer, arts and crafts master, hogger of blankets...adopted daughter." She looks at Quilted with a proud smile. Being able to call the filly her daughter felt weird, considering she's only a couple years younger than Heartfelt's sister. "She wandered into my store and we..." Heartfelt stops briefly, fighting her urge to say 'cried together in the store for effectively no reason,' "...shared a moment. I headed over to the sheltered care center where she was lodged as soon as I could, and we've been together since."

Smoke, with a look of surprise, faces Heart Blossom to see how the mare reacts to this revelation...

Heart Blossom's eyes widen and she says, "You adopted her? Heartfelt, that's... are you sure..." She falls silent, noticing that Quilted has shrunk back a bit.

Heartfelt nods emphatically. "I have never been more sure of anything. I know it's rash, and a huge responsibility to jump into, but I know," she turns to the shying away Quilted, "I know, in the very core of my being, that adopting you is the best decision I have ever made, or will ever make." Heartfelt tears up slightly at the passion she just displayed. After a moment she dabs at her eyes with a napkin before chuckling apologetically. "Sorry for dropping this drama bomb at what's supposed to be a relaxing lunch."

Heart Blossom nods, saying, "It sounds like you two really hit it off."
Before you can respond, Quilted says, "Y-yeah!", and smiles, leaning in closer to you.

"Well, as long as you both are happy," adds Smoke. "Have you two done anything fun together?"

Heartfelt leans her head down and nuzzles the filly, taking care to not poke herself in the eye on the small but pointy horn. "Yeah, we've done this and that. Playing with dolls, hooficures, until-it-gets-dark raves. You know, girl stuff." Heartfelt shrugs and smiles. "More recently, we saw that magic show you and..." She scrunches her face and turns toward the dragon. "You know, I don't think I caught your name."

Meta:

"I'm Lyre, performer extraordinaire with out the "extraordinaire". He said, faking grandeur and chuckling a bit. "I'm mostly just your average baby dragon with musical talent and on the run fro-" He shut himself up, eyes growing wide like he didn't want to say that last part. "...I'm nothing more than your average beggar, really." He gained a bit of a nervous chuckle.

Heartfelt scrunch-faces, unsure how to respond to that.
"Well...I really enjoyed your music during the show!" She pauses for a moment, before adding, "What, uh...what was that middle part? Something about...running?"