Imagination

The mare certainly did have a lot of shiny stuff in the store. It certainly wouldn't do to have dirty, rusty cast-offs on display! Then nopony would ever shop there! She had seen some pawn shops... Like that 'New-to-U' in Baltimare... yick! It was like walking through a scrapyard! No no. Inkie Pie took great care in making sure every item she got was repaired and/or made quite presentable. She enjoyed restoring the luster to old things. Like the spade the griffon was holding like a holy relic! When she got it, the handle was splintering and worn, the blade was rusty and bent, and it still had some caked mud on it! But she'd never tell. Though she had to giggle at his mannerisms, watching him enjoy the shovel a bit more than the average pony would... Then again, he wasn't a pony! [colour=#808080]"Well... Normally I would let that go for about... 20 bits. But for you? How does 10 sound?"[/colour] She couldn't really tell if he was new to pawnshops or not... Though he did seem to have the general idea of 'this place has almost everything', since he came looking for a shovel. Or maybe it was the fact that her shop is named the House of Fixin's, and could be mistaken for a hardware store... Oh well! While she awaited his answer to see if the price she proposed was reasonable or not, she returned to the counter. She wondered if he would want to barter for it. She did like to barter. On that thought, she looked behind her and noticed a disturbing lack of a 'All prices negotiable' sign... She'll have to fix that.

Inkie had gotten bored after the first ten minutes or so of waiting for a customer, so she was so busy amusing herself with some marbles on the counter that she didn't even notice the griffon approaching the shop at first! When the door opened and that little bell rang, it startled the mare so much that she accidently scattered her marbles! She frantically did her best to scoop them all up, wearing a nervous smile. But then he spoke, and he introduced himself! She wasn't aware it was customary of the Royal University's alumnus to include their alma mater in their introduction... But who was she to judge? She sure didn't have a degree. [colour=#808080]"Um... Yes! Yes, I do! I have all kinds of tools, shovels included!" [/colour]And shovel accessories! [colour=#808080]"I'm Inkie Pie, by the way, but you can call me Inkie! Follow me, I'll show you my hardware section!" [/colour]The giddy mare emerged from behind the counter and trotted off to an area of the big display room with all kinds of tools! And shovels! There were hammers and wrenches of all sorts! Saws, vices, screwdrivers, and... Was that a nail made of gold in that display case? Just one nail?[colour=#808080] "Here we are! Now, we got all kinds of shovels! What are you looking for?" [/colour]She started to produce all kinds of shovels, seemingly out of nowhere, as she quickly listed off all the kinds she had in stock! [colour=#808080]"Coal shovel? Snow shovel? Sleigh shovel? Grain shovel? Barn shovel? Jeweled shovel? Spoon shovel? Roofing shovel? Glass shovel? Square shovel? Fireplace shovel? Toy shovel? Entrenching tool? Drain spade? Rubber shovel? Silly shovel? Gardening trowel? Giant shovel? Tiny shovel? Double sided shovel?... Ooo! Or maybe a nice spade?" [/colour]Yes, that was all one breath. She held a rather nice looking spade in her hooves out toward the griffon with a grin. It looked almost brand new! The blade was shined, the handle polished... It even had a nice bow on it!

Pops was gonna cry! By this time with joy! Sprite wanted to learn how to use Boom Boom to make things go boom boom?! Well, why not? They did have the perfect targets! She shot back up to her hooves, making sure not to lose her balance and slip off the rock. She probably didn't want to learn to fire grenades while listening to geckos munch of a pegasus. "Sure! We can practice on the geckos right here! And don't worry, they're far enough away where the grenades won't hurt us, so long as you don't shoot the rock!" So she'd have to be careful. She took out the very girly grenade rifle and carefully handed it over to Sprite. It was empty. First she was going to show her how to load it! "Okay! So, Boom Boom fires 40 mm grenades, but it can also fire 25mm grenades!" She takes one out of her ammo pouch to show her the 40mm. "Now, it's pretty easy to load! You see this locking latch below the barrel? You just push that and it'll fold forward!" She pushed it for her to show how the barrel opened up, kinda like a shotgun! She then slipped the grenade into the barrel and pushed it back closed with her hoof. There was a sharp click, and the rifle was ready to go! "See? Easy! Once you close the barrel back up, the hammer is cocked and the locking latch goes back into place so it won't open up again. Then you just aim and fire!" She flicked up a long, rectangular looking thing with a lot of lines on it. "But, aiming is the tricky part. For targets that are far away you need to judge their distance and line them up with a certail line here in order to arc it far enough. Luckily, the geckos are pretty close, so all you gotta do is aim... here" She pointed to the line on the reticle just above the top of the barrel. "Then you shoot! BOOM! Give it a try!"

Questions on how they were gonna live was better than demands to leave a friend behind! Pops even seemed to relax, laying on her back on the rock and yawning. "Well... Geckos stink at climbing stuff, and they get thirsty real fast, so they'll probably leave eventually and forget about us... If you don't wanna wait that long, I still got some grenades for Boom Boom..." True, she could blow them away. But then what would they have to fend off anything else? Pops probably knew how to improvise... But did she know how to get back to Chapel? Back to the Crusaders? Should they move at all? What if they sent a rescuing party and they weren't there? The adults would be worried sick! "I dunno... We'll get outta this, Sprite. We'll be okay. I promise! And we'll get back to Chapel, and maybe we'll find some eggs on the way! So we can have some omelettes!" Gotta have your priorities in order.

The little pegasus, for the first time, seemed insulted. Just fly off and abandon her friend?! She wiped the tears from her eyes, hugging her friend tight. "NO! I won't leave you!" She hugged the filly tighter, a new determination in her voice. "Where would I be if Mr. Priest had just abandoned me, after my parents walked the path?" She didn't like thinking back to that day. It made her ask questions... She never really got to know her parents as well as she would've wanted to, but she still remembered she had never cried harder than when she realized they were gone. Forever. But Priest and the Crusaders were there to pick her up and remind her that everything was okay, and that other ponies were there for her. That was what she had thought about when she first met Sprite. She was all alone, scared, in a dark place. Pops wanted to take care of her like the Crusaders did for her, so she could live better and happier. "You're my friend, Sprite. I found you, I promised to take care of you..." She decided to end on a lighter note. "And I promised you omelettes" After another nuzzle, she was all smiles again. All they really had to do was wait for the geckos to get bored and go away.

Sketch understood well enough how this was going to work... And knew he probably shouldn't do anything to brash. Not at all. This was his first game, so he wasn't going to risk something like attacking the DMs character. Goodness no... He head his note and proceeded with his turn... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solemn Vow came to... a rather confusing scene. A young man being tripped up by a pony who must be this taskmaster that left the note in his room. Ever the peace-maker, he approached the scene. He could understand the fire that burned in some stallions' chests. He had that same fire before he committed himself to the church. [colour=#ffffe0]"Come now, gentlecolts, there's no need for this senseless violence. We're here under common circumstances, are we not?"[/colour]He could only assume that was the case, anyway. Once the mysterious pony stated he intended on giving them such a task, the priest spoke up once more, having examined a peculiar thing around his neck.[colour=#ffffe0] "We would be most honored to be of assistance... But... Surly you and your... associates... are far more able than us?"[/colour] He didn't want to make a fuss by naming the sect this stallion must be a member of, as he knew they valued their secrecy. But, he was VERY curious as to why a member of the Order would be asking them to undertake something that he seemed sure was so important. Didn't they have ponies for that? ​

Aubergine song? :3

Pops was just an optimist. Or crazy. Or optimistically crazy. But, she could see even trying to be upbeat in this situation wasn't helping her friend at all. Not one bit. She hugged Sprite close, tears welling up in her own eyes. "D-Don't cry, Sprite! It's okay... The geckos can't get us up here. We're safe!" But what about everypony else? Taking a peek at the surrounding area, all she saw was dirt and burnt out plants. No bodies. Well, except a couple of geckos. The Crusaders cleared out of there pretty darn quick! "And it looks like everypony got away! But... They left us here. And we're all alone, and surrounded by geckos..." After reflecting more and more on her mistake, Pops started crying herself, hugging her friend tight. "Oh Sprite, this is all my fault! It was a dumb idea and I never should've dragged anypony out here! Now we're out here by ourselves with no food, I don't know how to get back, Mr. Priest doesn't know where we are, the Crusaders left me behind and-and-and-*ACHOO!*" a tearful sneeze made the filly jump a moment, wiping her muzzle. One could've sworn one of the geckos sneezed in return. "It's all my faaaaauuuult! AAAAAA-!" #cryeverytime

Nopony was busier than those in the postal service today! Hearts and Hooves day was a nightmare! Love notes, packages, express mail, parcels and papers galore! But Aubergine didn't think it was all bad. It gave him an excuse to woo the ladies under the guise of being festive. But other than that, it WAS nice to see everypony happy and spending time with eachother. But he didn't need a steady gal. Not so long as he had his fine aubergine garden back home. In fact, the sandcat griffon was in the middle of getting the last of his deliveries for the day done, when he spotted a rather tantalizing opportunity? A kissing booth? With a Zebra behind it? How exotic! That, and how could anypony(griffon) say no to free kisses? He descended immediately, landing in quite the suava manner in line, behind the fashionista pony. Though he knew better than to try his luck. Most others had crashed and burned. He wasn't even sure she was into griffons... Maybe someday. One mare at a time. Right now, he was focused on the lovely zebra at the end of this equally lovely line. Ah, Hearts and Hooves day, you bring out the best.

Ruby had been recovering from her last little ordeal, shaking off the collision, when she noticed Cheerilee saving the day again. How did they even get IN the vats? Of course, Pinchy could only watch as Cheerilee saved even more lives... Only to be put into misery yet again. Under normal circumstances, Pinchy probably would've giggled about what was happening to her poor teacher, but it seemed like everything that could go wrong was... And she had spoke so fondly of this trip, like it was going to be just as magical for her as it would've been for her students! Pinchy kept thinking of ways she might be able to make this up to her... Maybe write a report? A real one? Or make her a thank you card! Or bring her an apple! Or - or- Wait, was that...? It was! Not much escaped the watchful eyes of the all-powerful Pinch, and a tear in the eye practically set off a radar in this filly. She didn't like when ponies were sad! Not once not never forever never! The pitiful sight of her beloved teacher sparked a pang in the filly's chest, drawing her over to the mare. She just walked on over and attacked one of her legs, giving the teacher the hug of her life. Big ol' green eyes looked up at Cheerilee, the filly who owned them not seeming likely to release her hug anytime soon. [colour=#ee82ee]"I'm sorry, Miss Cheerilee..."[/colour] she said to the purple educator in quite the sincere fashion, even nuzzling that leg trapped in a hug. [colour=#ee82ee]"You smell like apples..."[/colour] Yes she does, Pinchy. Yes she does.

Pegasus power! Being the only pegasus of the group, she had the only cop-out escape from the hellish geckos: Flying! Pops kept lobbing her grenades at geckos when she could, but it seemed like all the other Crusaders have turned tail and bolted. But where was her friend?! Sprite was not going to be abandoned! She frantically looked around and she was about to be baked/mauled by some of the fire geckos! In a great display of super-duper heroics, she swooped down and grabbed Sprite as tight as she could. Her little wings started to flap so hard they were practically buzzing to get the two of them off the ground. She had never had to carry another pony before, and it was putting a lot of strain on her. Of course the geckos gave chase as the two remained just barely out of reach. Pops spotted a high rock not too far away, grunting as she flew (or hovered, really) toward it. It was slow progress, and it almost seemed like she was going to drop out of the air to their certain, crispy deaths at one point or another... But they soon made it to this rock, surrounded by hissing geckos who couldn't reach them. Believing herself safe, Pops let go of Sprite and lay on her back, panting hard and trying to catch her breath after this great display of bungled excitement.

Thanks to Sprite's enthusiasm, Pop Rocks got an idea! "Hey yeah! And I bet I know how we can do this too! Everypony with explosives get up front!" This ended up being Pops, a pony with dynamite and a pony with a metal apple. "Okay, now when I give the signal, we hit em with explosives, and maybe they'll scatter. If not, try to hit them so everypony else can finish them off! Ready?" The other two nodded and got themselves ready, the unicorn filly with the dynamite charging up her horn to prepare to light the fuse, and the other earth pony colt holding onto the pin with his free hoof. The other ponies all got their weapons ready, silently picking targets and getting themselves ready for some epic Crusader action! The wait was almost torturous... Time seemed to slow down, the Crusaders all taking deep breaths. "...NOW!" Pops cried out, the *thwump* from Boom Boom sending a grenade toward two geckos standing close to eachother, blasting about a foot away from them. Though the pain clearly registered. The metal apple and dynamite soon followed, the explosions kicking up a little bit of dust. When it cleared, there were about half a dozen bigger geckos, the smaller ones scattering for safety. The adults started to charge... And they could swear one of them was breathing fire! The Crusaders immediately opened fire, but the fire geckos were closing in fast!

Personally I think the history section and character summary could use some work. The history section should be telling the abridged story of your pony's past, rather than what's happening at the present time. Things from foalhood-present day, and everything in between! Also, the summary could use more detail. It's one sentence, pretty much. You could go into detail about what she does in her spare time, how she feels about work, what she contributes to a circle of friends... A lot of things can be described here! Mo things is mo better!

Alrighty, two more added!

Alrighty, I tried to expand on it a bit and add a bit more to her palate. Also decided to use your suggestion for the shop name, cuz you're awesome Lemme know if you need anything else!

Chocolate or fudge?

That's true. I actually did something like that in Highschool. Teaches military values, leadership and personal responsibility without having to dedicate yourself to a uniform... That sounds good to me. I'll still need to find a way to get the word out for this change though. EDIT: Alrighty, it's been changed. Civilian ponies can now participate as well!

The setup was too perfect. He just couldn't wait! Miss Rarity of Ponyville, meeting somepony ALONE, for a mysterious pick-up! He had an extremely reliable source who had given him this information when he had called upon her. It sounded too good to be true... But oh-so-juicy. A covert pickup in town? By herself? And she had been looking forward to it? His publishers have been drooling over an opportunity to get pictures of Rarity, and this was his chance to make some serious bits. Quill Pressgang was ready for anything! He had picked out his favorite black polo (out of a closet full of them) and gotten his best camera. On the train-ride, he did stretching exercises, repeatedly testing his camera. It had to work. Everything had to work out. But of course, this was the first of many photo-ops he had to conduct today. They wanted to close out the winter with a huge celebrity blow-out! Something big for the annual subscribers of P3 magazine. After what seemed like an eternity, he had gotten into position. He hoped he wasn't too late! That, and he hoped he wasn't recognized too soon. Nearly anypony who's anypony had a poster of him in their homes, warning them about him, and the face to fear. Or he liked to think so. The reality was, he was just a face. A particularly annoying one to some ponies. After asking around, he found the place he was looking for. A place run by a stallion named Cashmere. Oh my, what could this possibly be? He found the residence, immediately going Secret-Squirrel. He had to get a picture of the both of them together... But he doubted they would have this meeting outside if Rarity was traveling so far. He'd have to try inside... He creeped around the back, putting on a classic burglar's mask over his eyes. He couldn't risk being identified, and covering the area around the eyes totally protects identity. With the Con Mane theme playing in his head, he rounded the corner of the house, clinging to the wall. He had to check the back door first. Looking around to make sure nopony saw him, he tried the knob... It was unlocked! AH-HA! He leaps inside, landing graciously on all four hooves, wings spread. He starts tiptoeing along the stallion's house, trying to find the best place to lie in wait. He sees a rack of clothing that was just perfect. He knew it was easy, and foals did it all the time in clothing stores. Making sure he wasn't seen, he parts the clothing and buries himself behind them, getting comfortable and bracing himself. No sounds, no moveme- wait... Oh horseapples, he forgot to take the lens cap off. That was a close one! He fumbled with his camera, making everything would be absolutely perfect as he waited for his moment to strike. Payday, here he comes!

She tried to think, hovering with her wings to hold Boom Boom in both hooves. "Uhmm... A couple more miles?" MILES?! Maybe Sprite should've asked how far it was before they left. They were already a good distance from town... What if they got lost or separated? How would Sprite find her way back? Or what if they got in trouble? Did anypony even know they were out there? The Crusaders seemed confident, but tey could be just reckless! Cyclops was likely just out here with something to prove, and the rest likely because they were hungry! Luckily it wasn't going to get dark for awhile, but still! After awhile more of walking in the beating heat of the Wasteland, the group came to a halt! "Uh... Those don't look like the geckos that come into town..." one of the Crusaders up front commented, taking cover behind a dune. They were still at a distance where they could not be seen, but these geckos sure could be seen. They were a darker colour, almost purple, and had spikes coming out of their backs! "So... Now what?" asked Cyclops, everypony looking to Pops, who seemed to be the leader of this little hunt. Hey, she organized it afterall. "uhh... I dunno. I've never seen geckos like that... We can still take 'em, right?"

Sign me up for anything! The last one was so much fun