URI:
   DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Roleplaying is Magic
  HTML https://rpismagic.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
   DIR Return to: Ponyville
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 3573--------------------------------------------------
       A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: September 21, 2014, 11:34 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "Let's see... We can put something here... Something there... An
       adjective over here... Oh, what's that word... Harrow! Oh, yes,
       that's a good word. Harrowing... adventure..." Rainbow Dash
       continued to mutter to herself, scribbling madly with a broken
       pencil that she tightly gripped between her teeth. Considering
       the mare didn't write much, it had become rather messy over the
       course of the few pages she did manage to write, but
       nevertheless, it seemed to earn her seal of approval. The mare
       sighed, dropping the half-eaten pencil on her desk, now littered
       with crumpled up pieces of paper. It had taken her quite some
       time, and a good amount of frustration to get something
       started... Perhaps too much time. Dash glanced at the clock
       ticking away furiously on her wall, something that she had tuned
       out hours ago due to its monotonous, almost furious sound as she
       attempted to fly through her rough-sketch of an idea. Two...
       Three... Four? The mare blinked, trailing the clock's hands
       several times to make sure she had read it correctly. "Oh
       horse-apples!" she exclaimed, sweeping off her desk with a mad
       sweep of her hoof before gathering her freshly-written pages,
       stuffing them into a small satchel as she hurriedly latched it
       onto her side. The time read 4:05 pm, merely five minutes after
       she was supposed to meet Marked at the cafe. While it was far
       from uncommon for the self-proclaimed 'fastest flier in
       Equestria' to be punctual and on time for many of her meetings
       and appointments, this particular meetup was one she didn't want
       to be late for.
       "Ohhhh maaaaaan, I'm in for it now! First you don't have
       anything prepared, and now you're going to be late! Well, I'm
       already late, techinically, BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT!"
       Rainbow Dash continued to berate herself as she literally flew
       across several rooms in her house, gathering materials that
       should have already been packed, like extra pencils and paper
       along with various sources, and her own latest edition of the
       Daring Do novels. Once everything was set and in place, the
       Pegasus leaped out her balcony window, haphazardly leaving it
       open as she soared like the wind to the cafe below. Despite her
       speed and her inability to keep the satchel still across her
       side, it would still take a couple minutes to reach her
       destination. The mare flew just above the majority of Ponyville,
       probably provoking some reaction out of the populace below.
       Except... Nopony seemed to be out and about... Rainbow blinked,
       slowing some as she searched to determine the cause of such an
       absence. It was only then that she realized it was raining, and
       furiously at that... The Pegasus scowled, not being able to
       recall a schedule for rain, but resumed to high-tail it to her
       destination nonetheless. As long as she kept moving at this
       speed, she and her satchel would remain dry... Right?
       That is until Rainbow Dash flew right into the door of the cafe
       with a solid thud, flopping to the ground as she started to
       count the stars that were circling around her head. "I... I
       meant to do that. Just testing to see how strong the door was,
       haha...heh..." The mare laughed nervously to herself, although
       nopony was around to witness her crash. Nopony that she could
       see, anyways. A large clap of thunder prompted the mare
       instantly to her hooves, properly pushing the door open to let
       herself inside. Unsurprisingly, Dash was met with several
       concerned faces as she closed the door behind her. Out of all
       the eyes that were now trained upon the cyan Pegasus, none of
       them seemed to be those of Marked... Which was good... She
       thinks. "I, uh... Was testing the door," she repeated to
       herself, watching the patrons as they returned to their normal
       conversations. "Yeah, we're scheduled for pretty strong winds.
       Don't want that door blowing in on ya, haha..." The mare
       frowned, her argument sounding quite unconvincing... But much to
       her relief, nopony seemed to pay attention to her as she trotted
       down one of the isles, making her way towards the back window.
       Perhaps she wasn't as late as she thought...
       Rainbow wouldn't order anything just yet, preferring to wait for
       her companion to show up. She'd simply stare out the window at
       the torrent of rain, hoping that Marked would show up despite
       the current conditions. Eventually, the mare would pull out the
       contents of her satchel, spreading it all over the table as she
       began to put some 'finishing touches' upon her project. If
       anything, Dash would like to make a good first impression upon
       the author concerning her writing style, which could easily be
       defined as awesome. The mare grinned to herself, resuming her
       work until something tore her away from it.
       #Post#: 3574--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Agilene Date: September 21, 2014, 11:51 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Agilene stood on top of a table by the door. She was enjoying a
       delicious Prance Vanilla coffee until a certain blue pegasus
       burst into the shop. This made her jump onto the table in
       reaction to the sudden entrance. It took a couple seconds for
       Agilene to notice she had spilled her coffee on the floor upon
       leaping up to higher ground. A bit frustrated that her peaceful
       time in the cafe had been rudely interrupted, Agilene faced
       Rainbow Dash with narrowed eyes, as if she was saying, 'you have
       some explaining to do.'
       Agilene dropped to the ground and attempted to grab Dash's
       attention by making a throat clearing sound, all the while
       giving her a serious look.
       #Post#: 3575--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: September 22, 2014, 12:04 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       The rainbow-maned Pegasus scratched furiously along her
       parchment, completely zoned out to the world around her. Nothing
       existed... No sounds, no rain, no random conversations... Only
       the soothing sound of... Somepony clearing her throat? Rainbow
       Dash glanced up at the mare, her cerise eyes darting all over
       the mare's figure as she tried to place her name. Dash may not
       be as good as Pinkie, but she certainly knew most of the ponies
       in Ponyville...
       "Uhh..." the Pegasus started, dropping her pencil as she
       wondered what brought the mysterious mare to her table. And why
       did she look rather... disappointed? "Can I help you with
       something? Autograph, maybe? you don't look too, er... Happy..."
       Rainbow Dash trailed off, pushing some of her papers off to the
       side before flourishing a blank index card. "Just to make sure I
       get this right, what's your name? I don't recall seeing you
       around here before..."
       #Post#: 3576--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Agilene Date: September 22, 2014, 12:19 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Agilene maintained her expression as she kept her eyes on
       Dash's. 'Is this the famous Rainbow Dash ponies speak of? I
       expected better.' she asked herself. This was the first time
       Agilene had met somepony famous. It's not like she cared,
       however. To her, celebrities are all the same: normal ponies who
       are overrated.
       "You made quite the entrance." Agilene softly complemented,
       deciding to start slowly before getting to what she really
       wanted to say.
       #Post#: 3577--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: September 22, 2014, 12:32 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Rainbow Dash blinked, processing what the mare had just said.
       "Whoa... Shots fired. Ooookaaay..." The Pegasus put her index
       card away, scooting over in case the mare in question wanted to
       sit. Even though there was a perfectly good spot across from
       her... She averted her gaze a moment, clearly knowing where this
       conversation was going to lead. Rainbow had heard that
       particular phrase many times before, and what followed was nary
       a good thing.
       "Yes, I'm Rainbow Dash. The one and only, naturally." The
       Pegasus blinked again, realizing that she wasn't helping her
       case if she didn't keep her ego in check. "Okay, look... I
       wasn't paying attention and I crashed into the door. I was late
       for an appointment, and I had a lot on my mind. It wasn't my
       intention to disturb you or any other pony here, so... I
       apologize."
       Ohhhhh man, I'm in trouble now... What if she's the owner of
       this establishment? What if Marked comes in to see this? Rainbow
       Dash frowned a bit as she scolded herself, but otherwise
       remained silent to hear what the other mare had to say.
       #Post#: 3578--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Agilene Date: September 22, 2014, 12:44 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       She sighed, not in disappointment, but in relief. Good news:
       Rainbow Dash at least has some manners. Perhaps she is different
       from the celebrities Agilene has read about in magazines. Bad
       news: She still needs her coffee fix, but it's a minor. She can
       always get another anytime.
       Agilene remained standing, feeling like her legs needed a bit of
       a stretch. She replied to Rainbow Dash's apology, "It's alright.
       Besides, you did not hurt anypony, so it should not be a big
       deal."
       Suddenly, thunder boomed outside the shop, which just adds to
       the bad news. Agilene dislikes getting wet, so what better way
       to wait for the rain to diminish than to have a conversation in
       the cafe? She pulled out a chair and sat facing Rainbow Dash.
       "So, why were you in such a hurry?" Agilene asked, for she
       needed a reminder.
       #Post#: 3579--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: September 22, 2014, 1:09 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Rainbow Dash was rather shocked at the mare's response, fully
       expecting some sort of tirade against her as many have done in
       the past. She blinked a few times, shifting her gaze back to the
       table as they eventually wandered upon the Daring Do novel that
       sat upright near the various condiments by the window-pane.
       "Well..." she started, spreading out her scribbled notes once
       more across the uneven length of the table.
       "First, I was trying to get out of the rain. I think the weather
       team skipped a day ahead again, which is odd because they tend
       to only skip a day when it means less work. Or they simply
       brought too many rain-filled clouds again... But that's besides
       the point. Second," the cyan mare paused, working her cerise
       eyes back to the mystery mare who had now pulled up a nearby
       chair to sit in. "I scheduled a meeting with an author to help
       fine-tune my work in progress. I was supposed to meet him here
       at four, and I really didn't want to make a bad impression by
       being late. I got so wrapped up in my work that I almost was,
       but it seems he hasn't arrived yet. I do hope the weather didn't
       stall him or change his mind..."
       The Pegasus trailed off, shuffling the papers in order the best
       she could before lightly tapping them against the table. "I
       don't have much, but perhaps it will be a good start. Who
       knows?"
       #Post#: 3583--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Agilene Date: September 22, 2014, 10:30 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       The first thing that Agilene thought of as Rainbow Dash spoke
       were the papers she carried. Taking a quick glance at them, they
       appeared messed up, almost as if the pegasus had 10 gallons of
       coffee while she wrote. Was this really the stress speed-driven
       pegasi witness every single day?
       The next thing Agilene realized was the 'work in progress' that
       was mentioned. "Is this author asking you to fine tune your
       chaotic entrances?" Agilene asked jokingly.
       #Post#: 3586--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Marked Twine Date: September 22, 2014, 11:32 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "... Uhhhhmmmm..." Marked, having gone home to prepare for his
       meeting with Rainbow Dash at the cafe, once again found himself
       humming indecisively as his eyes hopped from the cover of one of
       his books to the other. WOW, was this turning out to be more
       difficult than he'd ever imagined it would be. After
       resharpening his pencils and making sure his saddle bags were
       restocked with a fresh notebook or two to use for jotting down
       ideas that could then be used to assist the mare, he'd started
       the impossibly difficult task of deciding which of his books to
       take with him for Rainbow to borrow. He had made no progress yet
       and it was starting to stress him out as he could feel time
       ticking away like a chisel chipping away at his nerves.
       Another scan of the three books currently laid out on the desk
       before him, starting with the horror story to his left, the art
       on the cover - it being one of the few of his books to have the
       chance to get such a bonus - being of the entrance to a large
       and foreboding temple meant give a spooky impression as it
       peered menacingly out from the surrounding jungle thicket.
       Rainbow had mentioned being a sucker for scary stuff, right?
       This would be a good choice for bringing along then, wouldn't
       it? Personally Marked felt that it wasn't really a bad book on
       it's own, just felt risky since it was outside of his usual
       genre of choice. Or, well, not entirely free of it he supposed
       as the setting itself was pretty adventurey with the main
       protagonist being a treasure hunter of sorts looking for some
       goodies. Marked went through a number of facial expressions as
       he ran the idea through his head, it ranging quite vastly from
       hopeful to worried to confident to wanting to just bash his head
       against the desk.
       Refraining from bruising his forehead darker, Marked gave a less
       worried but also less interested shift of his attention tot he
       book in the middle, it being one of his normal adventure focused
       novels that he, of course, was proud of was not as excited over.
       It wasn't a bad story, he'd have never tried to get it published
       if he didn't think it wouldn't be enjoyable to read, but he just
       felt that it was far too within his comfort zone as a writer.
       Another adventure story, one he was sure Rainbow would enjoy
       based on her opinion of his other book, but... He didn't know
       how to describe it. It was too safe of a choice? Meh... He
       wanted to impress her with something cool and new, not just go
       with a possibly sure thing that could still very well not go
       over all that well.
       One sigh later and he was inspecting the third and final book in
       the line up, his sci-fi novel about gadgets and junk. Blegh.
       He gave a shake of his head, releasing himself from the sudden
       grasp of his own self doubt and pity and giving the book another
       more serious look. Certainly would have plenty of action for
       her, the main character making it his job to get into the
       business of eeeeeverypony who was important and rich enough to
       earn his interest and afford his services, and the technobabble
       sprinkled through out wasn't so heavy as to come off as dumb.
       And all of the toys! Oh, Marked had had quite a bit of fun in
       imagining up the many devices and machines through out the
       entire story! Fancy space fairing airships, stealth suits,
       advanced displays, instant bakeries. watches that could do
       pretty much anything if you programmed them right... The book
       would most definitely keep things fresh with every turning of
       its pages at the very least.
       "Auuugh! Come on Marked!" he commanded himself with an
       exasperated moan, bonking the side of his head with his hoof,
       "Just pick one! You've been at this forever now! You've only
       got..." a glance back at the clock he kept around for the
       occasions when he actually had an appointment to keep or a place
       to be to shake up his normally open schedule, "... Fifteen
       minutes to get this done an- fifteen minutes!?" a double take so
       hard that he risked snapping his own neck. Only fifteen minutes
       left until four!? This wasn't good! Not at all! His house was
       located much more further out on the outskirts of town than most
       others, so fifteen minutes left to get to the cafe basically
       meant he was late already! How could he have possibly got so
       focused on choosing a book so as to lose over an hour of time?
       Maybe even more??
       "No no no no no no no!" Marked began to repeat over and over,
       hurrying to buckle his saddlebags back onto his body and give a
       very rushed double check of its contents then just deciding to
       stuff all three of the thick books into either bag to sort out
       later. He didn't have anymore time to be indecisive about it, he
       just had to go! And go he did, right out the door with his mind
       set on dashing off to the cafe as if his life depended on it.
       Then he splashed into a large puddle, causing him to gasp in
       surprised as he was hit with water. His surprise only doubled
       when he heard a clash of thunder and realized that it was, in
       fact, raining, causing his brain to screech slightly as it took
       in this new information. Something about it was bad... and
       Marked couldn't quite place i-
       "The books!" His hooves flew over his saddle bags in a desperate
       attempt to protect their contents from nature, his desire to
       keep his promised books in as pristine a condition as ponyly
       possible fueling a rush of thought. He needed to go back to get
       something to protect the books from the rain, but he was already
       going to be who knows how late to their meeting! What if his
       spending a minute to get a better coat would be the minute where
       Rainbow would get tired of waiting for him and split? Was it
       worth it? But! But! What if his books got ruined on the way?
       What would Rainbow think of a completely soaked and illegible
       book being hoofed off with an awkward smile? Marked felt a bit
       of panic come on as his head kept looking back and forth between
       his front door and the path leading back to town, his hoodie
       becoming rapidly soaked as it was useless in protecting him from
       the falling water.
       No matter how badly he wished he could, Marked had to go back
       and sacrifice those few extra moments to redress himself more
       appropriately for the sake of his books. Hoping to Celestia that
       Rainbow wouldn't get bored waiting for him, or even worse start
       thinking he'd decided not to show up at all and just leave her
       there, Marked bolted back into his home, first trying to pull
       off his hoodie right away but then realizing he'd buckled his
       saddle bags over it and only managing to tug himself to the
       floor in a face plant. Grumbling as he picked himself and
       rubbing at the small bruise he knew he'd be sporting later that
       day, he just said "To Hay with it" and left the hoodie where it
       was as he was not willing to slow himself down further with
       taking off his bags just to put them right back on, the writer
       instead trotting to his closet to retrieve three items: a better
       jacket - obviously - and two pieces of thick wool cloth that was
       normally used to wrap his books up in during this exact type of
       weather for protection from water.
       Normally he would wrap each individual book up with their own
       piece of cloth, but with how stuffed full his bags already were
       this would be impossible as his alternative, just shoving the
       two pieces into the bags with the hopes of squeezing them both
       onto the outer sides while covering them at the top,  already
       caused his bags to look near to bursting, Marked experiencing a
       fair amount of difficulty in forcing them to close once more as
       he hoped beyond hope that they wouldn't explode on the way into
       town. Speaking of looking bulky, Marked's decision to keep his
       hoodie on was now causing his new jacket to look a bit off in
       size. It was small, but noticeable as his hoodie's hood, for
       example, caused a silly poof of his jacket around his neck,
       something he had no time to care about as, once ready for the
       rain, he sprinted back outside, his tail slamming his door shut
       behind him as he fully galloped down the path.
       Marked was not a fast pony, but that day he may as well have
       been a professional sprinter as he hit the ground with
       everything he could muster, the effort helping in staving off
       the growing chill he was getting from the soaked hoodie being
       hugged against his body keeping him wet beneath his jacket. It
       also wasn't all that comfortable to run with a hoodie pressed
       tightly against his body with the straps of a couple of very
       overstuffed saddle bags weighing it down... but here he was...
       There was no way he had made it in time. Marked knew that he had
       to be to late to catch Rainbow even after the cafe came into
       view, the stallion readying himself for another round of kicking
       himself as he neared the door and threw it open, it making less
       of a commotion than an earlier slam but still earning a few
       surprised looks as other ponies in the cafe took note of the
       shivery stallion at the door who seemed to be tasting air for
       the first time if his gasping was any sign and apparently
       carried everything he owned in his saddle bags.
       "Uh... Sorry." Marked apologized in between gasps and with a
       forced smile before immediately looking around for the distinct
       multi-colored mane of the mare he'd come to meet. No... no...
       no... Ah! There! There are no words to properly describe
       Marked's relief in finding Rainbow still present in the cafe
       even after who knows how long she may have been waiting for him,
       but... She seemed to be with another mare? Oh... Wait, why oh?
       Marked felt like maybe he'd taken too long anyway and his
       meeting with Rainbow may have been converted into something
       else, which... seemed pretty silly of him to think really. He
       didn't know how late he was, but surely he wasn't so insanely
       late as to have caused Rainbow to go find a friend of hers to
       have meet her there? Blah! You're being paranoid again, Marked!
       Just remember what Rainbow said. Be cool. Like her.
       Taking another breath to try and stop his heart from threatening
       to explode, Marked took an exhausted trot over to Rainbow's
       table, him standing on trembly legs from his sprint, dripping a
       little bit with rain water, struggling not to topple over from
       the weight in his bags and having his jacket look bulky in
       random spots from his hoodie under it as he tried to put on a
       smile and look cool.
       He did not look cool.
       "H-hi, Rainbow! Sorry I'm late. I.. er... got tied up..." he
       tried to explain before deciding it best to leave his
       embarrassing story up to the imagination for now. Wanting to be
       polite, Marked turned to the new mare and offered a shaky tip of
       a hat he only now realized he'd forgotten to take. Hm. So that's
       why his head and mane were so covered in water. He'd been
       wondering how that had happened... "Hey there. My name's Marked.
       How's it going?"
       #Post#: 3592--------------------------------------------------
       Re: A Quiet Evening at the Café
       By: Agilene Date: September 22, 2014, 2:36 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Agilene faces the new guy who had just greeted her. It was clear
       that he too was late for his appointment with Rainbow Dash based
       on how shaky his legs seem to be. And looking at the water
       dripping from his coat gives Agilene more of a reason to wait
       inside the cafe longer. Otherwise, she would have to walk in the
       rain, which she wouldn't normally prefer.
       "I am Agilene Flow. You must be the author Miss Dash here was
       speaking about earlier," she replied.
       *****************************************************
   DIR Next Page