A Stroll Through Manehattan

Match Box wandered down the path, kicking up dirt as she walked. Her gaze drifted over alleys, ponies and buildings. Her amber eyes were half-lidded, her head drooping a bit as she went. The yellow mare was bored and restless, not to mention penniless. She sighed, craning her neck a bit to see if any stores had wanted signs. Maybe a temporary job? No, she was never good with ponies. Match sighed, lowering her head again. Her parents were bound to kick her out of their house at some point, and she needed to get her life together, fast. Her pace sped up a little.

~~~OC: Suspicious Package~~~

"STOP DIDDLING AROUND AND GET HIM NOW!! I SWEAR, IF HE'S NOT IN HOOFCUFFS BY THE END OF THE HOUR NONE OF YOU WILL GET ANY PAY FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH!!"

Oh jeez, he's pissed. Package ran as fast as he could, going through alleys and pushing aside pedestrians as he sped through the streets of the Manehattan slums. Looking back, the stallion could see that two of the four guardponies that he had ran into earlier were still tailing him, which was somewhat discerning. Looking forward once more, the Pegasus cut a corner and saw a young mare in his way, looking to be probably about his age, maybe a bit younger. In a split second decision, he pushed the seemingly innocent book that he was carrying into the pony's hooves, speaking quickly as he did so.

"Here! Hold on to this, please!"

Without waiting for her to grab the object, Package dashed off once again, the two guards following soon after. With his extra weight gone, the Pegasus was quickly able to lose the two ponies, going from building to building and using up all of his energy to escape them. Once he had lost the two followers, the stallion took a moment to rest himself, and then began to briskly walk back towards the earlier mare, keeping a fast pace. He couldn't risk losing his newly obtained possession.

Match stared blankly down at the book held between her hooves, her eyes wide. She was confused, mostly, and moved towards a bench where she could sit down. She shakily lifted the book with her reddish magic, quickly flipping through the page. She narrowed her eyes, contemplating throwing into a trash can, since the stallion seemed to be in a hurry to get it away from him. Maybe she should turn it in? It could've been stolen (in fact, it probably was, from the looks of it), and being caught with it wouldn't be any help for her already bad reputation. The mare sighed, placing it next to her and glancing around.
"Maybe if I just... leave it here... mm, then someone can just carry it off... Maybe it's valuable?" she lifted the cover with her hoof, trying to find out what to do with it. She almost wished she was given a big bag of bits instead, at least that'd be useful.

Package quickly reached the spot where he had ran into the young mare from earlier. She was not where he had seen her previously, but a quick look around revealed that she was simply sitting in a nearby bench, fiddling around with the book and probably wondering why he had seemed so worried about keeping it away from the guardponies that had been chasing him. The stallion walked over the Unicorn at a casual pace, sitting down next to her once he had neared the bench. He took a second to catch his breath, and then spoke with his usual friendly demeanor.

"Thanks a lot for the help, I owe you one. Now can I have my book back?"

The redheaded mare looked up at him, eyebrow raised.
"Only if you tell me why you were running from those guards. And what's so special about this book. I demand answers- mostly because I've got nothing else to do right now -and you aren't getting this back 'til I get 'em." she had released the book of her weak magical grip and was now clutching it to her chest with her (significantly stronger) hooves, frowning. Her back was curled, as if to keep it closer to her, and her eyes were almost unblinking, glaring up at him.

"Only if you tell me why you were running from those guards. And what's so special about this book. I demand answers- mostly because I've got nothing else to do right now -and you aren't getting this back 'til I get 'em."

The young mare released her magical grip on the book, switching over to using her hooves to hold it instead. It seemed that she was really just bored more than anything else, simply trying to find something to do and not so much trying to accuse anyone of anything or attempting to make a profit of obtained goods. Package simply shrugged to the mare's words. No harm would come from giving some miscellaneous information to this pony.

"Well, I was running from those guards because they were trying to get that book from me, and that book's special because it's a bomb. Kind of. Any more questions?"

Match froze, her eyes widening. A bomb? She looked down at it, carefully handing it back to the pegasus and laughing nervously, inching towards the other side of the bench.
"Ah, okay. Uh, you take it and- and I'll... go do other things." she nodded, hastily getting to her hooves.

The mare's eyes widened, and she looked down at the book she was holding, slowly giving it back to him after a moment of observation while laughing nervously. She inched back away from his side of the bench once he had his hooves back on the object, and the Pegasus simply laughed, finding her reaction quite funy. The mare got up to her hooves, and he followed suit.

"Ah, okay. Uh, you take it and- and I'll... go do other things."

The stallion's laughing subsided, and he spoke to the mare once again. "You're pretty funny." He looked around. "Which way you goin'?"

She frowned, thinking for a moment.
"...I don't know, actually." she shrugged. "I've got nothin' to do. I'm mostly just looking for a place to earn bits." she glanced around, then back to the stallion, unsure if she should have anything else to do with him. "Uh, name's Match Box." she smiled at him nervously, her amber eyes darting around again. She seemed hesitant to look him in the eye (though she certainly didn't have trouble with it when she was demanding what the book was about).

The young mare took a moment to think before responding to Package's words. "...I don't know, actually. I've got nothin' to do. I'm mostly just looking for a place to earn bits." She glanced around a bit, and then spoke again. "Uh, name's Match Box."

Package nodded once. "Cool. My name's Suspicious Package, though lotsa ponies just call me Rex. Nice tah meet ya!" The mare smiled somewhat nervously at him, and then looked around once more, seemingly avoiding his gaze. The Pegasus chuckled at this, and acknowledged the unnatural behavior. "Do I make you nervous?"

"More the fact that you seem to be a criminal, and getting in trouble for not reporting one won't go down too well with my folks." she frowned, looking back at him. Her head lifted a little, and he noticed that she had fairly bad posture. Match shuffled her hoof.
"...Rex, hm? Why do they call you that?"

"More the fact that you seem to be a criminal, and getting in trouble for not reporting one won't go down too well with my folks."

Package simply shrugged at this, responding with his usual casual demeanor. "Nah, don' worry. I'm not an 'official' criminal, so you can't really get in trouble for that. Then again...guess I'll probably become one after that little scene, huh? Shoot. I hate that..."

"...Rex, hm? Why do they call you that?"

The stallion thought about the mare's question for a moment, and then shrugged once again. "Dunno, really. Guess people jus' started calling me that a while back and it ended up sticking. Sucks about the bits. I could probably help you out with that, but I'm guessing you're not one to take part in anything illegal, huh?"

Match thought for a moment. Illegal? If I can get away without being caught...
"Well, depends on how many bits you can get me. And how dangerous it is." she laughed weakly. "I don't think there are many jobs made for ponies who can only set things on fire."
Her eyes darted around again as she suddenly remembered they were in public.

The mare seemed to think about his question for a few seconds, and then responded. "Well, depends on how many bits you can get me. And how dangerous it is. I don't think there are many jobs made for ponies who can only set things on fire."

Package grinned after she had said this. He liked the way this mare thought. "Well, you'd actually be surprised..." The mare's eyes darted around again, and Package remembered that the two ponies weren't completely alone at the moment. "Hey, you wanna talk about this someplace else?"

"Yeah, sure." she shrugged
I'm going to regret this, aren't I? Match thought, glancing around again. No pony seemed to pay any attention to them, at least.
"Maybe I can finally put my talents to good use..."

((Thank you for le patience))

"Yeah, sure. Maybe I can finally put my talents to good use..."

Maybe not good use, but... "Tell you what," he takes out a piece of paper and a pen from seemingly nowhere and writes something down, handing it to the mare once he finishes, "Go to this address, go through the alley to the left of the building, and then take a right. One of the city's...organzations is based there. Tell them what you need, what you can do, and they'll find you work. Just make sure to let them know that you don't want anything to do with anything high risk or dangerous, and that I sent you. Sound good?"

Match nodded, levitating the note and read it. "I can do that, yeah."
She began to walk, searching for the 'organization'. I'm getting into some shady business, that's bad... but, I'll make money. That's good. she frowned, glancing around at the ponies she pushed past.

"I can do that, yeah."

Package nodded once, waved a little, and then watched the young mare for a few seconds as she walked away from him and towards the location that he had informed her of. After a few moments of observation, the stallion also turned around and started walking back home, his newly acquired 'book' already hidden from sight.

She had found the building she was looking for and gave a quick nod, taking a few deep breaths. "I'm doing this for my own reasons... no one'll find out..." Match muttered under her breath, walking inside. She looked around, taking in her surroundings.