The Drought Prospect

Gizmotechnic wrote:

(OOC: Mind if I join in? Looks like this is going to be fun.)

(OOC : (This RP most certainly will be fun! You are most welcome to join in. I just edited the first post again, check it out for the information you'll need for your own first post.))

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream
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Alcheir continued staring at the shop-owner after he finished picking up half a toothpick to scrape his disgusting hooves. Apparently, the shop owner cared about as much about hygiene as Alcheir did. That wasn't a positive trait for a pony who prepared food for others.

"...thanks..." Alcheir mumbled out, looking over at the menu in Logik's hooves. Alcheir frowned as he tried to make out the symbols, but he just couldn't remember what they meant. Alcheir was pretty sure that he didn't need anything fancy, and he knew that he would like just about anything at that moment, so he continued, "...what's the cheapest thing you have?..." as he looked away from the menu, back to the shop-owner.

Almost without a single moment passing after Alcheir finished his sentence, the shop owner said, "...the grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and a bit of hay. Only costs 2 bits per order. Unless you were thinking of side orders, that's the cheapest we got..." he spewed out, grinning at the stranger.

Alcheir grinned back as he heard the stream of informative words, then looked over at Logik. Cheese was especially filling, and he knew that it was more than sufficient for him. Even if the store owner said, 'worms and a boot', he would still have been moderately pleased with the opportunity for something somewhat edible to be served to him.

Logik was still scanning the menu, but it didn't take long for the pony to catch Alcheir's gaze. Outside of the shop, a pony started to approach the door. The pony was a mare, a pegasus with a half-torn wing tendon. She was originally an adventurer, but she decided to start bounty hunting for the time being, because she didn't like endangering herself without a means of immediate escape through the air.

The mare stood right in front of the door, staring at the knob and debating whether or not she should enter. She looked up at the sky and determined that it was going to rain, but the place was a restaurant, and she highly doubted the owner of the place would allow her to stay there for the night.

In either case, she decided to enter. The bell placed at the corner of the door flung up and tapped the wall, making a sudden ringing sound inside the shop. After the door closed again, the mare said, "...hey pops, you got a place to stay in this joint?..." in her accidentally heavy Manehatten accent.

The store-keeper, stunningly quick to respond as always, quickly perked up and shouted back at the mare, "...this is a shop, not an Inn! Try the Prancing Pigglette!..."

The mare stepped in another three steps, now standing a few feet behind the table Alcheir and Logik origionally sat at, then retorted, "...they're full. Too many ponies in town from the job. If ya don't have a place ta stay ye' aignt gettin' ma business..."

The store-keeper then quickly swatted a menu at the mare and grumbled. "...order something and I'll see what I can do..." then looked back at the Logik pony, "...I don't wanna rush ye', but the menu's not gonna change the more ya stare at it..." This was an unfair statement, considering the store owner practically interrupted the Logik pony at every point where he could have ordered.

The mare who stepped in the store caught the menu with her mouth, a bad decision knowing where the menu had been, and trotted over to a table. The mare sat down at the same table Alcheir and Logik sat down in earlier, and she spat out the menu the second she sat down.

The ponies outside lessened in number after she sat down. Only about ten or so remained trotting around aimlessly after her charade. The night was starting to calm down and end, supposedly.
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(Character I'm using will be the one of my own name, and my own start. I just prefer to begin myself, and let things play out.)

A brown unicorn trots from the road, dust covering his body and clothes, with rings around his eyes from lack of sleep. "Finally...I reached Ponyville." The unicorn mutters to himself while checking to see if he has any bits. "Only 10 bits left..." His stomache growls, and he sighs. "Might as well grab a bite to eat..." Seeking directions, he asks a nearby pony for directions. "Excuse me, where might I get some food?" The pony simply replies with "Over there." and points to a restuarant."Thank you." I say with a respectful nod. Trotting over there, the tired unicorn enters the door of the restuarant, sits down, receives a menu, and is scanning it thoughtfully. "This all looks very good..." He mutters to himself, drooling.

Logik nodded as he listened to the grilled cheese sandwich comment made by the clerk. I guess I'll have that. Don't really know what else I'd want to eat anyway...

He glanced up from the menu as he noticed Alcheir staring at him, and put it down the menu, which didn't really bother him. He hadn't been reading it too much anyway, instead mulling over about a million thoughts that had come to his head about the search party that was dissipating outside.

His view then caught the mare pegasus that had entered the restaurant. It seemed one of her wings was damaged, and it looked like she had come in from a long and tiring day. She seemed quite tired to him, though also quite nice at the same time.

He listened to the slight debate between the pegasus and clerk, and then turned back to the pony to make his and Alcheir's order, assuming that Alcheir also wanted the sandwich as he hadn't asked for anything else on the menu.

"I don't wanna rush ye', but the menu's not gonna change the more ya stare at it."

Logik winced slightly at the comment, automatically blaming himself for taking such a long time to respond. "Um, yes, sorry. We'll have two of those grilled cheese sandwiches please. Thank you."

He looked towards the doorway again after he made the order, hearing the restaurant's door close shut. He spotted a bronze colored earth pony come in, who looked nearly as bad as Alcheir had when they first met, possibly worse. The pony quickly came to the pair, took a menu, and sat down at one of the tables, looking it over with nothing but obvious starvation showing on his face. Logik frowned. Is it just me or has this just been a bad day to come to Ponyville? He looked around the restaurant as he waited for his order to be fulfilled, observing just about any random object that caught his eye.

The waiter walks up to where the brown unicorn sat, and said, "And for you sir?"
He replied "I'll just have what those two are having." with his heavy Manehatten accent, as he pointed a hoof at Logik and Alcheir, "And some lemonade or something, my throat is pretty dry." The waiter takes the menu, "I'll be back with your food in a moment sir."
The brown unicorn sighs as the waiter walks into the kitchen, his stomache rumbling is much louder. "I'm so hungry right now..."

(OOC (...Gizmotechnic, I'm afraid that you are terribly out of sync with what's going on in this RP right now, and I don't quite think you understand how this RP works.

-The way you disregarded the information I set forth for you shows your general lack of interest in the RP
-You're posting out of the RP order. It is supposed to go Me, Vinyl, then you. Not Me, you, vinyl, you. There's an order for a reason, and that reason is that I can't get on every night constantly.
-If you read the RP, you'd know that there is no waiter and that the only staff member in the shop was the store owner behind the counter, who hasn't gotten up at all yet. I would recommend you read the background information about this RP in my first post before posting again, because it makes me cringe to see insolence of this sort in my own RP.

I don't mean to insult you in any way through these points, and I don't want to sound like an RP-dictator of any sort, but I'd appreciate it if you'd heed my points and decide your next course of action carefully.))

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream
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Alcheir ignored Logik as he started talking, suddenly hearing hoofsteps approaching again. The mumbling in his ears was distorted by the focus he set on the hoofsteps. The hoofsteps were definitely headed towards the restaurant. He found this after a quick calculation that he didn't even know that he remembered, and also by looking out the window. After looking out the window, he saw a very dirty male pony open the door, therebye ringing the bell.

After the pony entered the restaurant, he seemed to have caught the attention of the mare with the broken wing. Alcheir watched as the green-coated mare watched the pony enter the restaurant. The mare shouted out at the shop-owner after a second and said, "...I'll have e' water-crest san'wich n' hay-fries..." She then pulled five bits out from a pouch somewhere in her shirt and threw all five in an ark straight towards the shop-owner.

The shop-owner caught each of the five bits with one hoof, then slammed open the cash register and organized the five metal bits in a slot. "...you two gonna pay?..." he mumbled out, eyeing Logik.

After he said this, the dirty unicorn who just trotted in shouted out to the Shop Owner, "...I'll just have what those two are having..." with a slight Manehatten accent. The unicorn waved his hoof at the two companions standing by the shop-owner while saying this. After putting his hoof down, he continued, "...And some lemonade or something, my throat is pretty dry..."

The shop owner rolled his eyes after hearing this and grinned at the unicorn at the other side of the shop. "...pay first, then food..." he said, starting to get up out from his stool.

"...I pai'd, so hurrey' awp!..." the manehatten mare said, frowning at the shop owner as a squirrel would a chipmunk.

"...I'm waiting for payment from des ponies first..." he replied, frowning back at her. "...It's much simpler to get more orders first and cook em' all at once..." he continued, propping himself up on the counter.

The manehatten mare was satisfied with this response, but she continued frowning at the menu in front of her. She wanted to respond again to remain pugnacious, but she didn't know what to say. She liked being nice, but only to her family. Strangers were always taking advantage of her in foreign towns, especially those traveling salesponies.

Alcheir rolled his eyes after the display was over, and trotted over to the table the mare was sitting at. She looked up with an eyebrow raised as he pranced over, slightly curious as to the reason behind his odd movement behavior. "...what..." she stated, generally retaining an unamused look at the pony.

Alcheir pulled a chair out across the table from the mare and pulled his hood down, revealing his various scars and disabilities. This caused the mare to raise her other eyebrow in surprise. "...wow..." she said, caught up in the moment.

"...I know..." Alcheir said, grinning. "...wow..." He then pulled his hood back up.

"...what in de' hay happened to ya' strang'ah?..." she asked, tilting her head slightly in shock at him. In the land of Equestria, there were hardly any ponies at all even with scars. Alcheir was like a living tattoo of scars to the mare. "...you're lik' da' living dead..."

Alcheir chuckled a little at the mare's response as he looked back at her with his beady grey eyes. "...I assure you it's not that bad..." he said, lowering his eyebrows. "...I see you have a pretty serious injury of your own..." he continued, pointing towards her wing.

"...it's nothing..." she said, grinning slightly as her composure returned. "...jus' a scratch from ah' Kemlock thorn. I'll b'eh flying again ba' Thursday..." she finished, placing her menu on the table. "...and may I ask just wha' in de hay happn'd to you?..."

Alcheir scratched the back of his neck under the cover of his hood and looked down at the table in embarrassment. "...long story. One that I don't even remember..." he said, frowning slightly.

The shop owner was generally intent on the two ponies conversation, but he looked over at Logik, expecting payment after a second. He wasn't rushing the pony, in any sense, but he needed the payment before the order could be made. He did feel like shouting at the dirty unicorn in the corner, however. "...ey! You gonna pay or keep em' waitin?..." he said, pushing his head up using his forelegs.

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(OOC: (...do forgive me if I included too much dialogue in there. I promise I won't use as much normally, but you have the right to interrupt me in that dialogue wherever you wish. Just for you, Gizmotechnic, make sure you re-state the dialogue of other RPers when you use dialogue yourself. It helps to keep track of what you're replying to and it gives us a better reference of time. You can also base your dialogue on actions of other ponies if you wish.

Either way, the dialogue I added here if purely for character development of the mare...))

"...you two gonna pay?..."

"Hm? Oh, yes, sorry." Strange. Aren't you usually supposed to get the food and THEN pay at a restaurant? Logik thought this over a moment, but didn't say anything, as it didn't really change the fact that he was buying food either way. Of course, he wouldn't know much about paying anyways, considering he had had free meals most of his life.

Logik took out a small pouch of bits, somewhat unusually large, and took out four bits, placing the pouch back in his saddlebags and the bits on the counter as the male pony who had just entered came up to the sales-pony. Logik nearly winced at his aweful state, but simply listened as the pony made an order for some food and a drink.

"...I pai'd, so hurrey' awp!..."

"I'm waiting for payment from these ponies first, it's much simpler to get more orders first and cook em' all at once."

I guess that makes sense... Logik slid the bits forward across the counter and then waited patiently for the other pony to pay as he watched Alcheir approach the mare who had entered before. Alcheir started a conversation with the mare, and Logik listened in to the two of them. He was somewhat interested as to what they had to say, but not enough to interrupt them.

"I'm waiting for payment from these ponies first, it's much simpler to get more orders first, and cook them all at once."

My stomache is killing me, the brown unicorn thought. He starts getting drowsy, but keeps himself up. "You from around 'ere?" the unicorn ask Alcheir, "I 'ad to travel a far ways out I had, truthfully, I 'ad no idea where I was goin'." His stomache rumbles again and he sighs. "My luck has gone down 'asn't it?"

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream
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Alcheir stared at the mare for a few seconds as Logik jingled around in his coin bag, then looked over at the unicorn in the corner as he heard speech. The mare followed his gaze, but frowned as she noticed the pony's accent for the first time.

"...You from around 'ere?..." the unicorn asked, looking directly at Alcheir. Alcheir tried to speak, and opened his mouth as if to begin speaking, but then the unicorn immediately continued speaking, "...I 'ad to travel a far ways out I had,..." he continued, making Alcheir wince slightly as his voice cracked slightly due to his accent.

"...truthfully, I 'ad no idea where I was goin'!..." the stallion in the corner continued, interrupted again by a rumbling tummy. Alcheir closed his mouth, expecting the pony to continue talking, but the stallion paused for a second as his tummy rumbled.

Right as Alcheir opened his mouth to start speaking, the pony started up again, "...My luck has gone down 'asn't it?..." the pony said, finally shutting up. Alcheir quickly spat out, "...I don't even know if I'm from around here, and luck isn't the issue..."

Alcheir then looked right at the mare and said, "...the issue is that there are a lot of ponies here who are all searching for something, and I don't know what their searching for..." he then tilted his head slightly in an almost accusing gesture at the mare and finished, "...do you know anything about it?..."

At this point, the Shopkeeper collected the four bits on the counter and shoved them in the cash register, then looked over at the stallion in the corner. "...three bits f'r de' grilled cheese with de' lemonayd..." he shouted.

The mare rolled her eyes as she listened to the shopkeeper talk, then grinned at Alcheir with melancholy. "...it's a search for a journal n' de' Everfree. We're all going t' head out tomorrow 't noon t' find clues, then reconvene 'n two days and see if we can piece together all de' clues..." she said, taking a breath and pausing for emphasis on the word clues.

"...af'er we piece together 's many clues as we c'n get, we're gonna to try to fin' de' 'dungeon' with de' journal 'n it, survive long enough inside t' find de' journal, and book it out of there t' get o'r reward..." she finished, grinning. "...pr'tty simple job. My wing'll be healed before we reconvene, so I'll be able t' take place 'n de' dungeon search itself..."

She then paused to think for a second, and Alcheir waited patiently, expecting her to continue. After thinking for five seconds, she looked back at Alcheir and finished, "...oh, an' anypony who joins de' search at n'y point gets paid ten b'ts per day. That's m'a real motivation..."

Alcheir grinned as he heard this part. Money. Just what he needed. All he had to do was join the mare tomorrow and he'd get paid for being there. "...who do I ask to join in?..." he asked the mare, almost impatient.

The mare replied, "...the may'r..." and crushed Alcheir's hope in just two words. The mare noticed Alcheir's clear dismay and frowned. "...somethi'n 'rong?..." she asked, her melancholy grin gone.

Alcheir shook his head. Maybe the mayor of this town hadn't heard of him yet. "...nah, not really, but is there anypony else I could ask?..."

"...nah, not really, but is there any pony else I can ask?"
The brown unicorn takes out three bits, and gives them to the owner. "What's this about a journal, and what's the reward?" he asks with a sudden interest, but then he notices Alcheir's discomfort from the accent. He clears his throat, "I just arrived here, and I don't believe I heard anything about a journal." His accent has died down a bit, and he shakes his head. "sorry about the accent, when I'm tired, I tend to speak like that."

((So sorry that I haven't responded, there's been some...consistently bad situations recently, and I haven't been able to spare time or resources. Sorry for the wait. Also, for the future: If I don't respond for over 40 hours, then I probably won't respond for a bit because of something or other. Gizmo, you should probably go after me again in order to restore the order.))

Logik watched after the pony that was behind the counter as he left to the kitchen in the back in order to make the various orders the had been given, as he had now received the last payment from the dirty-looking pony also at the counter. After the storepony disappeared from sight into the back room, Logik looked back between the three other ponies inside the restaurant, who were seemingly engaged in a conversation about the search outside.

So they're looking for clues in the Everfree Forest, which I'm guessing is that dark, creepy forest at the edge of town, that should lead them to some sort of special journal... Hmmm... This all seemed quite odd to Logik. Why all this trouble for a journal? He didn't really want to interrupt on the dialogue already taking place, but he really felt the need to ask and put his thoughts at ease. He waited for the pony at the counter to finish speaking before he spoke himself.

He raised a hoof instinctively to indicate that he was speaking, directing his question mostly towards the mare who had entered before, as she seemed to be the most knowledgeable of the search. "But, if I can ask a question, why go through all this trouble for a journal? I mean, not only are there much too many ponies being hired for a simple job like this, but the Everfree Forest seems to be quite dangerous in my opinion: too dangerous to take a search party around the whole area just for a little book. So what's so special about it that would make the mayor go through such lengths to retrieve it?"

Logik thought he sounded a bit too cynical as he listened to himself, but he couldn't really think of any other way to phrase his thoughts. He awaited a response.

(OOC: Just posted earlier to move things along. Anyways, welcome back mate.)

"So what's so special about it that would make the mayor go through such lengths to retrieve it?"

The brown unicorn thinks for a moment, then sighs in frustration. "You do make a good point. Must be pretty important for some pony to resort to this much effort. Why not just go ask?" Then the unicorn thinks again, if he can get this reward, he can probably set up a shop, and get a roof over his head. "Might go after it myself, got nothing to lose anyways." Smiling, he begins to think if his luck is turning around again.

(OOC : (...I am very happy that I am finally able to continue this RP... x3 ...Vinyl, I understand that it's not your fault, but if you could warn us that you at least won't be on for awhile next time I'd appreciate it. I'd prefer to not 'Bot' any of the RPers on this thread, simply because there are only three of us thus far, so I'll be patient and wait for you up to five days in the future if you don't warn us...))

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream:
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The store owner smiled in half-relief, half annoyance as the brown unicorn pulled out his payment. The store owner collected the three bits and retreated back into the kitchen, closing the door behind him after pocketing the bits. The only evidence that he was even still in the building after closing the door was the sound of clicking from a stove's gas chambers being released, and the sound of crinkling of bread packages.

"...What's this about a journal, and what's the reward?..." the brown unicorn voiced, clearly showing some interest. His accent seemed to gradually disintegrate after this statement as he continued, "...I just arrived here, and I don't believe I heard anything about a journal..." He then paused and stated, "...sorry about the accent, when I'm tired, I tend to speak like that..."

Alcheir looked at the mare in front of him, who was clearly unamused by the questions as they were asked. Alcheir was thinking the same things, but from the mare's look, he could already tell she didn't want to give a straight answer.

"...firstly, I have ab'lutely n' clue wha't in de' hay thi's journal 's ab'ut..." she pointed out, frowning. "...an' o' course ye' haven't. On'ly recourse hunters n' bounty worker's we're givin' the inf'ermation on this job..." she said, pulling out a letter from her bag and flashing it to the brown pegasus quickly.

Right as the mare finished talking, Alcheir's previous companion butted in and rose a hoof, saying, "...if I can ask a question, why go through all this trouble for a journal?..." he then paused, letting the question soak in as he caught his breath during the awkward thinking moment. "...I mean, not only are there much too many ponies being hired for a simple job like this, but the Everfree Forest seems to be quite dangerous in my opinion: too dangerous to take a search party around the whole area just for a little book. So what's so special about it that would make the mayor go through such lengths to retrieve it?..." he finished, looking straight at the mare for a response.

At this point, both the brown unicorn and Alcheir were staring at her as well. The searching mare felt more like she was in a interrogation room than a peaceful diner. Still, she wasn't quite pissed off enough to ignore the ponies just yet. "...I have no idea what the trouble's for. I was hired for this job to find it, and that's all I'm concerned with..." she said, letting her professional tone do the bulk of the emotion of the statement.

The mare continued by saying, "...It seems like a simple job, but getting clues for a everfree dungeon is going to be painstaking and extremely dangerous work. The more ponies, the more safety they have in their large groups and the faster they can fan out and search important locations in the forest..." she continued, addressing the pony's second point using only her own intelligence and intuition.

"...lastly, I don't care what the mayor wants the book for, all I care about is getting it for her so she can pay me and send me on my way..." the mare finished, crossing her forelegs as she reclined. "...any other questions?..." she asked, looking around with her pugnacious attitude. She only realized after she stopped speaking that her own accent was gone too. It didn't seem like too big a deal, because long conversation was difficult to maintain an accent in anyways.

Alcheir was impressed with the responses, but before he could state what was on his mind, the brown unicorn interrupted him promptly. "...You do make a good point..." the unicorn said, thinking in hind-sight about what the Logik pony said, "...Must be pretty important for some pony to resort to this much effort. Why not just go ask?..."

The mare rolled her eyes half-way through the pony's dialogue, her patients wearing thin. After the brown unicorn finished his dialogue, the mare turned over to him and said, "...if I find the book, I'll open it and find out. If I don't ever find it, what's the point in knowing what it was about? Besides, learning what it's about gives me the possibility of finding a greed for the book and endangering my job..."

"...Might go after it myself, got nothing to lose anyways..." the brown unicorn mused to himself, seemingly ignoring what the mare had to say.

The mare ignored the unicorn and waited some more. Their conversation had taken about three minutes now, and all the ponies in the room were clearly hungry still. "...I wonder where our food i-..." right as the mare was talking, the door slammed open and the store owner returned.

"...ay' yer' suppa'h's serv'd..." the pony said, his hooves sparkly clean as he carried the food he prepared on his back towards the ponies. He placed the three sandwiches on the table with Alcheir and the mare, and placed the fourth sandwich on the table the brown unicorn sat at. After delivering the meals, he returned to the kitchen to clean up without another word, closing the door behind him with a grunt.

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Logik listened intently to what the mare had to say, though found himself slightly disappointed that he didn't learn much more about the book even after the various responses that he was given. He didn't actually know why he was so interested in this book in the first place, actually. Yes, it seemed pretty interesting and mysterious, but why he was so intent on finding out more about the item was unknown to him. However, even with the thought crossing through his mind, Logik still couldn't help thinking out hundreds of possibilities that could explain the situation with the book.

He thought this over for a few seconds before he heard the familiar sound of a door closing behind him, which made him look back to find that the store-pony had just come out of the kitchen again, all of the previous orders balanced on his back.

"...ay' yer' suppa'h's serv'd..."

Logik was somewhat surprised at the sudden change in the pony. His hooves were now nearly sparkling from cleanliness, and he now walked with the posture that could be found in a professional waiter. Quite a change from the pony that had been sitting behind the counter just a few minutes ago.

The pony headed from the kitchen doorway towards the table that Alcheir and the pegasus mare were sitting at, leaving three sandwiches on its surface before heading towards the table that the tired unicorn had been sitting at, repeating the process to leave his last order there and head back through the kitchen door.

Logik pushed himself off of the counter and started walking towards the table he and Alcheir had first sat at as the store-pony disappeared through the doorway leading to the kitchen. He took a seat next to Alcheir as he approached, lifting his sandwich with his magic and taking a bite before his rear even touched the seat. He got comfortable in his seat as he chewed the order that he had made, waiting for someone else to speak as he did not know what else to say.

"...ay' yer' suppa'h's serv'd"

The brown unicorn's mouth waters at the sight of the meal.
"This looks good." he says, and lifting the sandwich to his mouth with magic, he takes a bite, chews, and swallows. "And tastes good too...anyways, name's Gizmotechnic. Came from Manehatten, long trek on foot it is." He takes another bite, and swallows, "Yours?"

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream
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Immediately after Logik sat down, Alcheir lifted his sandwich up and bit just before it reached his lips. The result was Alcheir biting his tongue, but after getting over the quick pain, Alcheir carefully took a real bite out of his sandwich and savored it with a tear in his eye as the brown unicorn began talking again.

"...This looks good..." the brown unicorn said, taking a bite out of his sandwich before continuing, "...And tastes good too. Anyways, name's Gizmotechnic. Came from Manehatten, long trek on foot it is..." Gizmotechnic then took another bite out of his sandwich, the drink sitting undisturbed next to his plate. "...Yours?..." Gizmotechnic finished, looking at the table with Alcheir, the blue, broken-winged mare, and Logik seated at it.

Alcheir swallowed, then quickly said, "...I'm called Alcheir, and sometimes Alcheir Shy..." he then paused and thought for a second before taking another bite of his sandwich. He couldn't even remember why he called himself that. It was just that one, memory, that he couldn't get out of his head.

The blue pegasus mare looked at her un-touched watercress sandwich and said, "...ma' name's Leafy Dream..." she then picked up her sandwich, which ironically seemed to have leaves inside of it, and frowned, "...and this doesn't look like watercress to me..."

The store-keeper quickly slammed the door open and stormed over to the cash register, shouting over the counter, "...well no refunds!..." and sat down in his chair, the kitchen silent again.

Leafy Dream looked over at the store-keeper and frowned. "...what's your name cheap-scape?..." with a slight satirical tone to her voice.

The store-keeper reclined back and itched his scalp, then said, "...the town'ponies call me Tom, but my name's Iron Filet..." followed by a quick snap of his hoof and a tooth-pick flying into the air. The Iron Filet pony caught the toothpick in his mouth and closed his eyes for a second, taking in the air, "...eat up and I'll think about givin' yeh a booth for a bed..."

Leafy Dream smiled and took a bite out of her sandwich after hearing this. It didn't actually taste all that bad, but it sure wasn't a watercress sandwich by any standard. After this brief introduction-spree, Leafy, Alcheir, and Gizmotechnic were all left looking at Logik. None asked, but the looks on their faces as they greedily bit into their sandwiches all displayed the same, obvious question.

Logik kept eating his sandwich as the other ponies around him introduced themselves. He learned the name of all of them, including the store-pony, and once they had all stated their names, they were left looking at him, awaiting his answer.

Usually Logik's shyness would have gotten a bit to high from the group staring at him, and he would have somehow shied away from the situation even though it had such a mundane nature. Instead, though, he chewed his sandwich a bit slower, seemingly thinking for a few seconds before giving an answer.

"My name's Logik. I grew up in Trottingham. Just arrived here today, looking for a new home. And these are good sandwiches." Logik didn't really like the sandwiches. In all reality, he had no idea food items could have such lack of taste thanks to his past experiences. However, he didn't want to offend anyone there, so he simply repeated the brown unicorn's opinion.

"My name's Logik. I grew up in Trottingham. Just arrived today, looking for a new home. And these are good sandwiches."

"Looks like I'm not the only one starting over. Some gang interrupted me while I was working, and..." He shows a look of remorse for a moment, "...made me misplace something and blew my work to smithereens along with my home." Gizmotechnic looks down, "Lucky enough to be able to make it out with my tools, some food, and 10 bits..." The brown unicorn takes another bite of the sandwich, and gets a bright look on his face. "Lucky enough to get a chance at starting above scratch."

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream
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"...My name's Logik. I grew up in Trottingham. Just arrived here today, looking for a new home. And these are good sandwiches...." The Logik unicorn said, ending the silence. After he introduced himself, the other ponies all looked away, the ones with sandwiches eating their sandwiches, and the one eating toothpicks eating toothpicks.

It didn't take long for the silence to return. It also didn't take long for the silence to end. Gizmotechnic decided to talk again after a few seconds, and Alcheir looked up from his wonderful sandwich to see the pony talk some more. "...Looks like I'm not the only one starting over. Some gang interrupted me while I was working, and..." the pony then stopped, his expression melancholy as he continued, "...made me misplace something and blew my work to smithereens along with my home...."

Alcheir stared at the pony, shocked. He hadn't ever heard of a gang before, but he knew for sure that whoever this pony was, that he definitely didn't deserve to have his house blown to pieces by some random ponies.

Gizmotechnic grinned as he continued, "...Lucky enough to be able to make it out with my tools, some food, and 10 bits..." and then smiled a bit more as he finished, "...Lucky enough to get a chance at starting above scratch..." With a great big bite of sandwich to finish off his point.

Alcheir stopped eating his sandwich for a second to mutter out, "...touch luck, friend..." and then continued nibbling away at his sandwich. The funny, yet interesting fact about the group was that, despite his clear starvation and need for food, Alcheir was eating slowest out of the group of ponies. He felt incredibly hungry deep in his chest somewhere, but his stomach was telling him that it couldn't fit another crumb into itself without exploding.

Leafy Dream ignored the entire dialogue as she suffered through her sandwich. The leaves were actually fairly flavorful. They crunched like watercress, even if they weren't sweet or watery like that particular style of lettuce. The only problem was the unmistakable dirty taste to the leaves. She liked the feeling of food in her stomach, none-the-less, and after processing what the store-owner had said, she realized that she actually had a place to stay that night!

Alcheir looked around at the group of ponies and thought to himself for a minute as silence engulfed the diner yet again. He was half-done with his sandwich, even though most of the other ponies were at least two-thirds of the way done. What he really noticed was the variety of specialties that the group had.

Alcheir looked at Leafy Dream and immediately assumed that she was an agile, quick-witted mare with a thirst for adventure. Logik was clearly a thinker, and would undoubtedly be able to solve puzzles or problems when the crap hit the fan. Gizmotechnic was definitely the kind of pony with the ability to improvise, whether that be some sort of invention on the go, or an engineering feat requiring only what was around him.

It was a fairly rag-tag group, but Alcheir still liked it. If they could stick together, he was fairly sure that there wasn't a dungeon in the world that they couldn't face. Unless there was a dungeon which required bulky, incredibly strong fighters. Then again, Alcheir thought of himself as a pretty good fighter, but only when he was well fed and conditioned prior to battle.

After the thought process, Alcheir smiled. "...hey, I was just thinking..." Alcheir started, looking right at Leafy, then over at Gizmo, "...what would you think if I asked us to group up on the search for that book?..."

Leafy nearly did a double-take after hearing Alcheir say this. Quickly, she spurted out, "...I roll alone..." and took another sandwich, begging questioning.

Alcheir looked back at her and replied, as if in challenge, "...and let you face all the timber wolves, manticores, hydras, cockatrice, ursas, sea serpents, and dragons all on your own?..." he then went a bit more serious as the pegasus's expression changed to conviction. "...I've traveled through the forest plenty of times on my own, and I guarantee that you don't stand a chance on your own in there..."

Leafy then frowned at Alcheir and said, "...how did you make it on your own then, huh?..." as if annoyed at the unicorn's sudden point, albeit it's validity.

Alcheir retorted, "...trial and error. A few close encounters and a lot of tummy-aches were pointers enough of how to make it..."

Leafy then sighed and looked out the window. She didn't like going on long journeys with ponies she only barely knew. She didn't have much of a clue as to what exactly this forest was like, but if there were cockatrice in the forest, she was definitely not prepared to go alone. "...fine..." she said, folding her forelegs. "...but you make one wrong move and I'm out..." she added, staring Alcheir in the eye with an accusing look.

Alcheir ignored this final comment and looked over at Gizmotechnic. "...how about you Gizmo? You interested in joining?..." he then looked over at Logik, "...and you?..."

The store-owner got up and looked at the clock on the wall, then frowned at the group. "...'ey, s' ten o'clock i't night. I'mma h'ed t'a ma bed. I'f ye' need en'yti'n, go t' anoder store..." he said, trotting over towards the kitchen. As he made his way through the door, a clicking sound was heard as the door shut and locked behind him.

Alcheir remembered the pony telling the group that they could sleep on the booths near the wall if they wanted, and was more than inclined to do so after he finished his sandwich. Alcheir wasn't done quite yet, but he felt like closing his eyes and just skipping time already.

"Hey, I was just thinking...what would you think if I asked us to group up on the search for that book?"

Logik didn't respond to the question, still eating his sandwich at a medium pace. He did take note of it though, thinking it over while Alcheir and Leafy argued for a minute. This does seem to be an interesting search, but is it worth it? Better question, do I have anything else to do? Hmm... Logik thought about it for a moment, and came up with an answer just a second before Alchier directed his question towards him and Gizmotechnic.

"How about you Gizmo? You interested in joining? And you?"

Logik lifted his head to face Alcheir, giving a small smile. "Sure, I'd be willing to give it a go, if you think it's a good idea." It was somewhat strange, really. Logik barely knew this pony, but was already starting to get attached to him, like old friends or distant brothers would.

"How about you Gizmo? You interested in joining? And you?"
After hearing Logik's answer, Gizmotechnic grinned widely. "I'm in." Thinking, though, he realizes what could happen if any of them decide to take the reward for themselves, but quickly dismisses the idea. He believes that none of these ponies would do that, that he can put his faith into them.
He simply finishes with "You won't regret it."

It was dark there were sounds of rumbling everywhere. Wait that was just his stomach... It was night and the foggy yellow pony was stumbling around. Comical was his name, and joking was his game. Only, he couldn't. What was the good of making others laugh if you couldn't make yourself do so? If anything, the only thing worth laughing at was the state he was in. "Come on Comical, did you really have to make fun of those street toughs?" He asked himself, remembering what got him into this mess. He lost all his money, which lead to food, a home, and lack of inspiration. With none of that, comedy clubs rejected him, for use of old material.

He could not see much, due to horrible vision, but while wandering around town he saw a closed shop. Through the window, were a couple of ponies talking. Slowly, he edged open the door and asked, "Hello? Can anybody lend a helping hand?"

Chapter 1:
-The Living Dream
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Alcheir stared at Gizmotechnic for a second, expecting an answer from him first. To Alcheir's pleasant surprise, the first words uttered after he posed his question a second time were from the lips of Logik.

"...Sure, I'd be willing to give it a go, if you think it's a good idea..." Logik said, his last statement open-ended towards Alcheir. Alcheir was about to reply, when he heard Gizmo start speaking.

"...I'm in..." Gizmotechnic spurted out, grinning widely as he finished, "...You won't regret it..."

Alcheir thought to himself mentally, '...we'll see about that...' with a slight grin, but then replied to Logik by saying, "...I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea, but it's one that'll keep us busy and fed..." After this statement, the whole group went back to silence and ate. Leafy Dream wasn't interested in talking anyways, having been psychologically pushed by Alcheir's will.

"...Hello? Can anybody lend a helping hand?..." Said a dark yellowish pony at the door. Alcheir spun around quickly, still chewing on his sandwich. He hadn't even heard the door opening, and was expecting to hear the bell on the door ring before the door opened. Leafy was equally shocked, but she only looked up, not moving her body in any 'shocked' manner.

Alcheir swallowed his sandwich after a second, all eyes on the newcomer, and smiled invitingly. "...what'dya need?..." Alcheir asked the stallion, placing his sandwich back on his plate. Alcheir was starting to not feel quite as hungry deep down in his chest any more, but he still had a third of his sandwich left.

Leafy Dream was just finishing up the crust of her sandwich as the stallion peaked into the store. "...don't be shy, we're not gonna eatch'a..." Leafy murmered out, slightly amused by her own voice as she spoke. She may not have been in the talking mood, but that one line still was worth saying.

"...I'm not entirely sure it's a good idea, but it's one that'll keep us busy and fed..."

Logik nodded once after Alcheir said that. I can't argue about that. I have enough money to keep myself fed, but I am still looking for something to do in this town. This job might even help find some information about my new home.

Logik noticed some movement from the corner of his eye, at the door that marked the entrance to the small restaurant. He turned his head slightly and saw a nearly olive-colored pony entering through it. He looked towards their group of four and spoke, somewhat somewhat timidly. "Hello? Can anybody lend a helping hand?"

Alcheir was the first to respond to this question. "What'dya need?"

Leafy Dream also responded to the pony's dialogue, but Logik sat their silently, awaiting to see what would be said next.

Gizmotechnic nods in agreement to Alcheir's logic. Sure, he thinks, makes sense. "Hello? Can anybody lend a helping hand?" Gizmotechnic was turning his head to answer the new visitor, but both the mare and Alcheir responded before he could. Shrugging his shoulders, he says casually, "What they said." He just sits there aiming for a response.