Neoniie

Wrong Note watched with only half-interest as Quillsilver counted the correct amount of bits for her purchase. The mare found herself quite excited to begin her forays into reading and was nearly bouncing with exuberance. She felt like a foal again, discovering something new and interesting. However, now it was just the common joy of the written word, rather than knowledge of some new fashion event or concert. She decided that she much preferred this excitement now, since it wasn't underlain with competition and the instinct to preserve a reputation. This was just about enjoying oneself and that's exactly what the purple mare supposed she would like about reading.

When the pouch of bits was returned, Wrong Note smiled at the earth pony and tucked it away again. Rather than answering, she nodded and widened her grin, silently wishing the same to the shopkeeper. Taking her books in tow, she trotted out of the shop. Hopefully, no pony had passed by the shop in her absence and she'd be able to sink her teeth into this latest discovery. With new relations amongst the ponies of Hoofington and a new-found interest, she figured that the day hadn't been all that bad so far. Maybe she could handle this "being normal" thing after all.

"I'm sure I will," Mirage answered, not even hesitating on such a blantantly optimistic statement anymore. That compounding of failures and disappointments had really done a number on her personality. Now that her doubts had been cleared up, the true personality of the young mare could shine through. If anything, overcoming that stumbling block had increased her desire to be upbeat and more of the free spirit she usually was. The pegasus felt as though this should be the end of their interaction, but she wanted to repay the earth pony somehow. Even so, Mirage wanted to get to know this pony better somehow. After all, if she was going to be a resident of Appleloosa, she may as well practice some of that Western hospitality she'd always seen.

However, she did pause a moment before posing her offer. She didn't want it to seem too sudden a proposal. "So, I figure after all your help, the least I could do is offer you a drink. I mean, if you've got the time." The last part of her short speech was added hastily, as she only considered it halfway through her initial words. The mare glanced back toward Lady, questioning expression clearly visible.

The pegasus adventurer nodded at Brambleberry's answer, having guessed as much from the layout of the room. The tiles were placed carefully in strategic positions, ones that made it almost inevitable for somepony to trip one. Luckily for Daring-Do, she was a pegasus, but her fellow explorers did not have that luxury. Even Silver and Brambleberry, who might be able to teleport over the tiled floor, would likely have a limit to the amount of times they could do so consecutively. Magic was a useful tool, but it was certainly not an end-all, be-all device. So, it seemed that she would have to rely on good old adventuring staples. The main reason that pressure-activation was a trap of choice was that actually disabling them in any way was quite difficult. However, this was no mere pegasus with which they had to contend, she was Daring-Do, explorer extraordinaire. If she was careful, these traps would be disabled in no time.

She extended her wings, lifting off the groundso that she was hovering just above the ground below. Before flying off, she explained herself. "We can't do anything about the tiles themselves, but there must be a triggering mechanism of some sort that activates the painted creatures remotely. Could you-" The mare stopped herself, that odd, bone-chiling sound echoing through the castle again. This time, she was absolutely certain that she had heard something very real and likely not very friendly. Even the very stones around them seemed to be leering toward them, honing in upon the intruders. Blinking a couple times as though shaking off a sudden onset of that sleeping feeling that muddles one's thoughts, Daring continued, "Brambleberry, is there any chance you could locate it with a...uh...spell or something?" She stumbled slightly halfway through the thought, feeling distracted by a sudden wish to proceed onward and deeper into the castle. Unconsciously, the hovering pegasus drifted toward the passageway that led onward, not even really registering any movement on her part.

The black unicorn introduced himself as Ink Soul, a pony of literature. The contrasting unicorn found the name fitting, as it matched his inky coat perfectly. Briefly, the mare considered the stallion. He certainly seemed like a nonthreatening pony, just interested in information, much like herself. Now the world of novels, though a world the visited often, was never one she would have considered for herself. The finer arts hadn't ever appealed to Flux as anything beyond a medium to be appreciated and admired, but never dabbled in. It contrasted so heavily with the world of fact she took comfort in that the unicorn could never put herself in the proper headspace for ficitional writing at the very least. Regardless, the stranger didn't seem particularly noteworthy to the mare, until she noticed a swirl of green in the stallion's orange eyes.

It would seem today is quite the day for unique eyes, Flux commented to herself, wondering how such luck could grace her. Ink Soul's eyes were much more of a puzzle of pony genetics, which was another subject that Flux lacked anything more than a cursory knowledge of. There was truly so much to learn about, that Flux doubted she would ever stop her quest for knowledge. Deciding not to betray her interest too quickly, she just nodded at the unicorn in a friendly way and returned her focus to Lily Dawn, who seemed to trust the stallion as well. Then, she chimed into the discussion between Dagger and Lily to give her agreement. "I have no objections to pressing onward," she stated simply, bobbing her head rather than fuly nodding in a more unconscious reaction to the suggestion

The white unicorn only half-registered the backgroundconversation between Pinstripe and Seeker. After having gained the knowledge thatany injuries sustained could wait, she directed her attentions back toward a subject that she was more equipped to handle. She may have been the foal of a doctor, but medicine was not her area of expertise. Nor were mysterious magical disturbances and painting theft, but they were things to which she could apply to more conventional powers of logic and reasoning, which were her tools of the trade. All of this mystery didn't sit quite right with the scientific unicorn, as most unexplainable phenonmenon did. Even magic had a certain science and system to it and Flux was certain that they could solve this by keeping a level head and a watchful eye. So, she mostly ignored everypony else unless they addressed the condundrum which she was currently working on.

Therefore, her answer to Spectral Desire ended up much less detailed and focused than she would have liked. "It is still only a hypothesis, but I would be surprised if the painting wasn't entirely uninvolved," she murmured, scrutinizing the empty frame as she spoke. From what she knew of magic, if this was a curse of some sort, it would have to have been cast either by a unicorn within a certain proximity to the group or there was some form of remote spellcasting or tripwire type sprll that the thief had cast to draw attention away from his own actions. The unicorn couldn't be certain of either until she had more information and any traces of such a spell would have vanished if this thief was anywhere near competent.

With these final observations, Flux turned to the dark pink mare, attentive entirely to her quarry this time. "I doubt we'll find many physical traces of any tampering, but there may be some residual magical energy of the like. Though, again, merely hypothesis. Additionally, is there some way that one would be able to contain a spell for later use or future triggering, like a glyph or curse of some sort?" The white pony paced back and forth in front of the frame as she spoke, eyes fixed on it once again and intently looking for any clue that it was indeed involved in Seeker's strange magical burst.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he chuckled. Chocolate Tail disliked that idea that he would ever be thought of as a stuffy, old, boring, rich pony by most of the ponies he crossed paths with. It came with the territory, he supposed, and he couldn't exactly help the circumstances of his birth, but he still did his best to distance himself from that side of high society. And so, his reply was entirely sincere. He did take it as a compliment that he was an oddity amongst his fellows. Perhaps it didn't make family reunions the easiest places to make good conversation due to certain differences of opinion between them, but it absolutely made conversation amongst the everyday pony much, much more interesting. He noticed that his attitude had evoked a genuine surprise in the mare and just gave a tiny grin as she went on.

"Oh, I'm certain that ponies are the most interesting part of this city." He glanced around again as he spoke, watching the residents of the district go about their business. "I haven't yet come across a pony who wasn't, yourself included." That particular statement was followed by an inclination of his head toward her, halfway between an acknowledgement and a habitual movement. He paused a moment before continuing, not wanting to ramble on about the interest he took in other ponies, even at their most mundane. "As for your penchant for talk, I actually quite enjoy it. And your normality about all this. Most ponies have this public mask they wear when first meeting somepony. I suppose 'guarded' is the best word for it. But you don't seem to have such a thing. It's...refreshing."

The golden pegasus couldn't help but share Brambleberry's amusement at Sye Klops' reaction. She'd always found it slightly fascinating the way ponies acted around their heroes. From an objective viewpoint, of course, as the famous adventurer often didn't have much time for interest when she was being gawked at during her public appearances. Even so, it was odd and she personally had never quite grasped it. She idolized her foalhood heroes, of course, but it had never really stuck past that point. Perhaps, she mused, when you become a hero, you lose the ability to see others as heroes. The mare couldn't say, but she was still grinning slightly at the cobalt blue earth pony's brief bout of spacing out. "It would seem so," she said, addressing the magical pony. "Regarding the gem, I had thought something similar. After all, help is something I've already needed once." Daring-Do kept her smile, pleased that they had agreed to work together. Having friends was much more preferable to having enemies.

"As for the traps, I might have something that could give you a hoof with that." She glanced over to the walls, not having noticed the painted creatures until they were mentioned. The pegasus wasn't exactly sure how they worked, since it was likely magical technology that had been disused for centuries, but she noticed the tiles beneath the hooves of the group were covered in symbols. Always with the tiled floors, the mare thought. "In most other situations, I'd try to set them of pre-maturely, but in this case that's not the best idea. I'm guessing pressure-activated by those tiles, right?" The adventurer didn't want to make a guess without all the details, since that almost always led to trouble. As she paced and wondered, possibilities juggled around in her mind, Daring thought she heard a sound. Something like a whisper, but it was so very faint that nopony around her could have said it. Her brow furrowed at the sound, wondering if she was just imagining things. However, the traps were her main priority and so she pushed any ponderings of the call to the back of her mind.

The sandy mare was surprised to find her own grin mirrored by the earth pony. She expected some sort of reaction from Lady, probably more of a pat-on-the-back sort of gesture than the smile that she gave. The pegasus had known that this mare was an oddly kind one, almost suspiciously so upon reflection, but it was just surprising how helpful she had been. Her parents had always warned her before she'd left that not everypony in Equestria was the nice kind and that she'd have to be a fair bit less trusting of them when she was on her own out there. Mirage: 1, Parents: 0, she thought with a little smile. Regardless of any other facts about this pony, she had managed to knock some sense into her rather deflated state and for that she was grateful.

The mare's answer evoked her curiosity again. For as much as she was grateful, she knew almost nothing about the enigmatic mare. She was clearly a pony well-travelled, but there was something else about her that made Mirage wonder. She clearly spoke from a personal experience that the pegasus couldn't quite pinpoint. Even so, the knowledge that she'd somehow helped out another pony made her feel less as though her brief moment of self-doubt was a burden for the mare. She'd always tried her best to help others if she could, though her tendency for rush made some attempts more successful than others. "Well, I can only hope I'll end up as wise as you someday. I mean, I've got a lot to learn, but I suppose I'll get through it. Don't let the little things get you down." Mirage wasn't entirely sure if she was speaking for her benefit or for Lady's, but she spoke anyway. The pegasus got to her hooves, stretching her wings idly as she did so.

((OOC: Just our own OCs, my good sir! (excuse that last part if you are not, in fact, a sir) ))

The purple mare was interested to find a possible friend in this stallion. He seemed fairly quiet by comparison to other ponies, though with her somewhat forced silence, Wrong Note wasn't exactly one to compare on terms of talking versus quiet. Regardless, he seemed less peturbed by her odd condition than any other pony she had met, perhaps due to some form of sympathy or understanding on his part. She had never been a master of reading the motives and emotions of other ponies, which was likely part of the problem that had led to her self-imposed exile to a more simple life. At any rate, her musings on the subject were only of secondary importance; he had offered his company in the future and the mare was not about to turn down his offer. Mentally noting the location he had given to Quillsilver, the mare trotted toward the table, bringing the bags of books she had purchased aong with her.

Rather than answer with some likely horrendous lyrics, Wrong Note merely withdrew a small pouch that held the bits she had earned through her fishing-based business and gave a nod toward the shopkeeper. She was satisfied with her choices so far, guessing that she would certainly have enough books to keep her occupied for quite a while. Her first foray into the reading world was a fairly large one, but she spent very little on frivolities anyway, ensuring that she would have enough for a larger purchase of such items later. It seemed that now was that 'later', as she had selected quite a few books. She briefly wondered exactly how she would transport all these books back to her home, but settled on focusing her attention on Quillsilver and awaiting whatever price the unicorn would give her.

((OOC: Alright folks, as we have a couple of new joiners to our thread, I shall repost the post order for general clarity on everyone's part. I tried to group it as best as I could based on the groups that our characters are currently in, just to make the flow of RP a bit better. Anyways, here's Mojo's original order, with a few changes.

1) Thrylos

2) Greed

3) Tyler008bon

4) Neoniie

5) Mojo

6) Boss Hoss

And, I'll be marking this topic as 'Closed' now, since any more than 6 of us is likely to get out of hand, so to speak. But, enough of my rambling, let the RPing recommence!))

Mirage's brightened perspective was only reinforced by Lady's words. This older pony, who clearly had some measure of experience in the world, agreed with her conclusion, which made her feel much better about it. The pegasus' inexperience was likely her greatest weakness, which made experience an effective salve to her wounded ego. The metaphorical cloud that had settled over her when she had first landed had all but dispersed, returning her to much better spirits. She was now certain that even despite the fact that some days may be terrible and disheartening, she would be able to gain experience from the matter and end up a more knowledgeable pony than she had started out as. Or, as her mother had always said (but she had never quite believed) 'mistakes are the best teacher's we have.' So, when Lady asked her question, Mirage responded confidently. "I can't say there are," she grinned, no longer glancing sadly at the skies. Instead, she focused on the earth pony. "But, I could ask the same of you, just for politeness' sake," she said, extending the same courtesy that Lady had offered her earlier.

The white unicorn was quite pleased that the earth pony had agreed to allow her to travel with the two to Lily's destination. In discovering the filly's profession, she had developed a very genuine interest in it. Though it was only a secondary pursuit, she found herself focusing more intently on it than her original purpose for accompanying the filly. Herbalism was a dying art, from what the scientific unicorn understood. Books on the subject were both uncommon and out-of-date, as it was not a subject often researched by those who found themselves in the position to write novels. As books were Flux's only consistent way of obtaining information on most subjects, the lack of them on this subject had left it a mystery to her since her discovery of it. So, in light of her newly discovery source of information, Flux quickly placed any thoughts of Lily's eyes on the metaphorical back-burner.

She noticed Dagger's gaze lifting from her in favour of another pony, which she was grateful for, as the stallion was quite intimidating, but she found herself following his line of sight. Anything that the clearly military stallion thought worthy of observation would be something she would not do well to neglect study of as well. It was a black unicorn who watched their procession closely, scribbling down what were likely notes as he did. Flux found it odd that two ponies so far had taken interest in Lily Dawn, but she remained silent about it. Dagger and the unicorn could work that out for themselves. Instead, she focused her thoughts on herbalism once more, eager to compile as much foreknowledge as she possessed before asking Lily anything more than cursory questions on the subject.

(OOC: I'm going to have to bow Firefly out as well. She's not quite the visiting type. Thanks to you all for an awesome RP though.)

After the pegasi had brought Cloudius safely to the hospital in Ponyville and been promptly shooed out my nurses and doctors, Firefly had stepped out of the waiting room and into the crisp air of the town. She had lingered far too long already, as her schedule-oriented mind continually insisted. The colt was in good hooves and Cloudsdale had been saved from that cloud creature; she had no reason to remain with the group of pegasi. The pink pony was a solitary one by nature and, though they had been a nice group, she couldn't help but feel slightly alienated from them. They were just so open with their feelings, so young and full of dreams. It made her think too much of the past, which was not something she wanted to do. Even just their brief meeting had changed her in some indescribable way. It was far too dangerous for her to let down the walls she created when she became a Shadowbolt.

Before taking off, she trotted back into thehospital and left her apologies with the group, saying that she really had to be going and to give Cloudius her best when he woke. With that taken care of, Firefly returned to the spot where she had been pondering moments before. After a moment's hesitation, in which she considered that perhaps she could afford to lower those walls and that she could stay with these dreamers and be one of them again. Then, the moment had passed and she was in the air, speeding back toward Cloudsdale. They're a brave bunch, she thought, I hope they get what they're looking for, they certainly deserve it.

Don't worry about it, it's still all there.

Good to see you return. : D

It's good to be back. I certainly missed y'all while I was gone.

The dark brown unicorn almost chuckled at the earth pony's obvious pride at the mention of her alma mater. He wasn't surprised, as that particular brand of pride was one he himself had expressed. That aside, her description of the academy recalled vague discussion of the school to his mind. It seemed that he had in fact heard of the school before, though it was likely that he hadn't entirely been focused on listening to that particular discussion. The unicorn very rarely was invested in any way in the more vapid aspects of the social class into which he had been born. Unlike most upper class ponies, he'd never cared for the forced etiquette of discussion that they practised. It had been one of the things that pushed him more toward the common colts when he was younger.

In fact, this seemed to be a fact noticed by Argenta, as she enquired on it only moments later. "Well, that is certainly their loss. The ponies outside the business world are always the ones with the stories to tell. If nothing else, it does wonders for marketing that even the most snobbish pony should be able to recognize. Personally, I always take time to other ponies. It's the most interesting part of life, and certainly more interesting than just occupying my time with business. It may be my work, but this," he gestured widely at the general area around them, "is my passion."

As the two other musically-inclined guests and Dunder Blust spoke amongst themselves, Dazzle was focused on the Captain's words. She was truly quite interested in gathering as much knowledge of her future destination as possible. Canterlot was not a place to which one should travel without at least minimal knowledge of the city. Especially not for one much as Dazzle, for whom competition and observation were as much a part of the job as the singing itself. However, she was quite surprised by the appearance of a pink unicorn whose entrance she had not noticed. Falling silent and merely watching the conversation between the two unfold, Dazzle had to admit that even the unfinished advice he had given was quite sound. Scouting sucessfuly require appearing much less accomplished than one truly was, but aiming quite high on the 'celebrity ladder'. Deciding that she would certainly take his advice to heart, Dazzle returned her attention to Fletcher as he announced his leave. "The honour was all mine, Captain Fletcher. May your own travels be just a fortunous," she ended with a bow of the head as the two military ponies exited.

Now with one less table guest, she focused upon the two newest arrivals. The zebra and pegasus were in her element, which made the conversation far easier for her to partake in than the previous one had. The unicorn had personally never visited Marelem, but her parents had always expressed a certain fondness for the place that had rubbed off on their daughter to a degree. "I can't say I've visited either, but my mother had always enjoyed Marelem. Perhaps I should travel there once my visit to Canterlot is concluded." She leaned back as she spoke, feeling much more relaxed around these less formal patrons. It felt more as though she could slip out of her stage persona, though she never really did, even without anypony around her. It had melded to her to a degree, meaning she could only lessen its influence on her behaviour, rather than entirely lapse into her naturally casual way of interaction.

Flux was fairly sheepish after realizing just how foolish her question must have sounded. As Spectral Desire had pointed out, it was quite clear that she would have suffered injuries from being affected by the spell in such a manner. It seemed that even her fallbacks of logic had managed to fail her in this situation It only reinforced her belief that their escape from the archives was top priority. If nothing else, she wasn't going to enjoy their forced stay much more if even her most basic tendancies were being thrwated by it. She mumbled something along the lines of an 'of course' and stepped back slightly as she moved forward to examine Seeker. Spectral Desire's answer did perplex her slightly, though she was glad to hear that the dark pink mare had not been seriously injured. The travels that she spoke of must certainly be dangerous ones, she thought, lagging behind the unicorn in order to determine Seeker's state as well. Curiousity had still not abandoned her, though unfortunately that was a character trait of hers that usually was more trouble than it was worth.

When Seeker's eyes flickered open, Flux had reached his side as well and was quite pleased to see that the magical collision hadn't left long-lasting effects besides his brief loss of consciousness. Then, Pinstripe also was roused from her rest, drawing her attention momentarily. Assuming that the two unicorns would be mostly alright, even despite whatever physical injuries they may have sustained, Flux said, "I cannot say whether either of you are entirely 'fine', but Seeker's words do give us an interesting possibility." She trotted carefully over to the picture frame which Pinstripe had originally called her into this section of the archives for as she spoke. "It is quite possible, from what he has said, that this painting's disappearance and Seeker's odd magical state are connected somehow." The white unicorn titled her head minutely as she observed the frame, trying to notice anything peculiar about it and leaving the other three ponies to sort out what needed to be done about the possible repair of their injuries.

Daring grinned modestly as Silver introduced her to the two other ponies. She'd never particularly liked the meet & greet portion of getting to know other ponies. It was mostly a by-product of the fame she'd gained through her novels, to the point where she had become something of a household name. However, Daring-Do had never really enjoyed the celebrity part of her status. Of course, she wrote in order to tell the stories and make a couple bits, which is why she'd engineered most of the stories to be more than merely boring archaelogical reports, but she supposed that her greed didn't particularly add to her comfort factor with being so adored. Regardless, the other adventurers seemed to take well to her, which she was certainly thankful for. Luckily, when Brambleberry and Sye Klops mentioned her adventures, she managed to ease quite naturally back into a more confident persona.

"The pleasure is all mine," she said, the smile on her muzzle fairly less modest now. Now that she got a better look at Silver's companions, she noticed that they seemed like a rather odd bunch. Texas Tilly had stripes, which weren't something she'd seen on any creature in Equestria thus far, much less a pony. Sye Klops also had a fairly unique appearance, which initially suprised the golden pegasus. However, she saw strange sights on many ocassions of her travels, even if a couple of them were fairly exaggerated. Instead, she focused on the treasure that lay in the depths of the ruined castle. "Silver tells me you're also after this gemstone. And, it looks like we've already had some misadventures on our quest. As I have suggested to him already, I propose we search together." As she spoke, Daring extended a hoof in a friendly guesture, hoping that they would take to her idea as their mechanical friend had.

So, I find myself returning here once more to apologize for a most unexpected absence. I had to deal with some personal and health stuff during this past month, which I kind of why I dropped off the face of the Earth for a while there. For that, you have my deepest apologies. I'll try to catch up with any RPs that any of you are waiting on me for today, and if I happened to miss one that you're in with me, feel free to shoot me a PM about it.

Flux noticed Colton's amusement with her strategy, almost bringing a grin to her own face. She still honestly could not believe that the two were truly exchanging such overly-romantic sentiments at all, much less surrounded by as many ponies as were certainly crowding the restaurant. It wasn't that the mare looked down upon such things, she just couldn't see why they were necessary. As far as she was concerned, if such sentiment couldn't merely be perceived between the two, it wasn't worth just stating. Actions were far more revealing of one's true character. However, now was not quite the time to wander into philosophical thoughts. Instead, the mare focused all of her attention on trying to unnerve their fellow table occupants.

She nearly grinned when their idea succeeded and the couple vacated the table. However, that grin was mirrored by the pegasus who was kissing her softly. She noticed that the white stallion opposite her didn't pull away immediately, almost bringing another grin to Flux's face. Oddly enough, when he had begun the kiss, the unicorn's slight feelings of embarassment melted away. She didn't really care that they were surrounded by ponies and the serving staff. It was Hearts and Hooves Day, after all. She could let go of her logical insistence just this once, for Colton.

When they did pull away, Colton called over the waiter and Flux glanced around idly. Each of the respective couples seemed to have been far too caught up in each other to particularly noticed Colton and Flux. In fact, it was as though each table was surrounded by some sort of bubble that limited the occupants awareness of the other patrons. Regardless, she just leaned into Colton's shoulder and awaited the arrival of their waiter.

Tesla had been having a similarly calm time since losing the pursuit of the ponies. He'd not bothered to remove the coupon from his collar and had instead merely kept out of view of any passing ponies. He had almost memorized the Canterlot Park, as it was the place that he would often travel to during his more native time of awakeness, nighttime. The ferret had reached a cluster of trees and noticed that a twittering sound emitted from the nearby hollow knot in the tree to his left. Figuring he may as well see what it was about, he began to climb up the tree's bark, glad to be back in his element of nature for once.

At Colton's, admittedly grudged, reply, Flux followed the waitress and her pegasus companion to the only open table. She sat beside Colton tentatively, watching the other two ponies with mild interest. She could tell that the situation would be rather awkward by the expression that her special somepony had worn at the prospect. In honesty, the unicorn wasn't particularly bothered by it. She did recognize that such an opinion would be a strange one, but it did give her a detached example of the odd phenomenon that she was still working to explain.

With this thought came another, more of a memory than an idea in actuality. She remembered what her mother had said regarding magic, 'Sometimes, we just can't explain things, Flux. It's a mystery to all of us, a wonderful one.' Even as a younger pony, Flux had scoffed at the notion. In her eyes, everything could be explained by science. She was determined to do so, even if she had to search for 1000 years to prove it.

However, now was not the time for such musings, as Colton leaned over to her and spoke in a conspiring tone. His plan was vague at best, causing the unicorn to give pause. She had never liked not being entirely clear on what was happening in any given situation, but this was Colton. He was a special case for most things, in the mare's experience. So, she watched him closely as the plan was put into motion.

His idea did startle her initially, unable to see how this would help them rid the table of its other couple. However, it slowly dawned on her what Colton was attempting. Though it was far outside her expertise, she did try to lend a hoof in his idea. She thought back to what she had seen in regards to couples in her fillyhood, wondering what she could do to move the plan along. And idea hit her, almost grinning mischievously as it came to mind. Nuzzling Colton's cheek, she said, “You're my special-wescial, lovey-dovey, pony-wony!" Inwardly, the scientist rolled her eyes, unable to believe that she was the one saying such ridiculous things. But, if she had calculated right, it would work to displace their table-mates.

Tesla had a much more difficult problem on his paws, nothing quite as easy to deal with as unwanted table guests. He was certain that by now half of the market must have been destroyed by the chase. Even though a considerable portion of the crowd had given up on the pursuit, at least five very persistent ponies were still galloping after him through the streets. Even climbing up to the rooftops hadn't slowed their pursuit, though it had reduced his immediate danger of being caught. The ferret needed some way to deter the ponies, some way to convince them that the prize was no longer worth the effort. Spotting a nearby gardener in Canterlot Park, he jumped back into the streets and led his unwitting pursuers toward the park. With a quick pounce atop the head of the gardener, he managed to startle the pony enough to flail about, moving the hose he'd been wielding with him. Just as the ferret had hoped, the water had sprayed in a neat line, right across the faces of his five followers. With wet hats and manes, they were finally convinced that the ferret and his 'coupon' were far more trouble than it was worth.

As they left, Tesla gave a sigh of relief. His only other plan would have been to throw himself into the nearby duck pond and hope they wouldn't follow him in. Quite far from home, he decided he may as well enjoy his time in the park and began to wind his way through a nearby cluster of bushes.

Flux had to admit, the idea of a nighttime stroll was a rather pleasant one. After all, whilst working on particularly frustrating problems, she would usually leave the clock tower in a stormy huff and make her way to the forest trails that dotted the edges of the mountainous city that lay just below the treeline. It never failed to clear her mind and calm her more manic phases enough to work through the problem that had triggered them. The thought of such a walk with Colton could only be an enjoyable one.

After Colton's rather surprising gesture, the two trotted into the main section of the city. The pegasus was right, the restaurant would likely be crowded with couples and families. After all, love was not restricted to couples. She caught the attention of a waitress, asking, "Have you filled all your tables?"

"We've got one left, but two other ponies are sitting there as well. You don't mind sharing, right?" The waitress jerked her head toward a corner table at which sat two unicorns sitting making googly-eyes at one another. Glancing back at Colton, she wordlessly communicated her lack of opinion on the matter. The choice was now up to her pegasus companion.

Tesla was in the chase of his life. Those ponies just would not give up on their search. He had spotted a nearby fruit vendor in his panic and quickly jumped upon the cart. Knocking over a few apples with a well-placed bump of his side, the ferret created an obstacle for his pursuers. However, the apples only tripped up a few of the ponies who followed him and even so, the rest did not give up on their pursuit. With a sigh, the ferret's expression once again portrayed annoyance. If he could speak, he would have shouted to the heavens that both Sparks and his master had better thank him for this.

Flux also blushed as the kiss ended. This whole idea of dating and love was still something that she had not quite settled into yet. After being so opposed to what she had determined a 'frivolous waste of energy and time' for much of her life, it felt much like a confusing idea even now. However, that wasn't to say that the unicorn didn't enjoy her present company, just that it was different. She turned after Colton, allowing her head to complete it's following of that of her companion. It seemed so incredibly natural, causing the mare to question why she hadn't ever noticed it before.

She took his hoof, a light laugh accompanying the action. The unicorn had to admit, his mock accent was almost spot on each time he did it. The idea of the travelling pegasus being a stuffy Canterlot noble was so ludicrous that she couldn't help but find the irony funny. Copying his accent, she replied, "Why yes, Mister Clockicker. Perhaps afterwards we shall have a moonlit stroll through the gardens and a spot of tea." It was suprisingly easy for the unicorn to emulate the nobles, having been around them with some regularity due to her father's position amongst them.

Tesla was not having such a relaxing time. First, he'd gotten a rather sudden hug from the bird. One which he met with a raised eyebrow and unamused expression. Then, the little bird had managed to get every pony for miles chasing after him. As soon as he'd realized what had happened, the first few ponies were already diving toward him. He shot off through the open doorway, leading the ponies away from the store. The ferret glared back at the slowly disappearing sparrow with a look that said 'You are so going to get it later.' With the ponies gaining speed, he took off to the east, hoping to lose them in the crowded business district.

((EDIT: *Facehoof*, just after I post, I remember that it's Ashton's turn. So sorry. ))