As Dash was circling overhead, she stopped when she heard her friend's voice. "You got it, AJ! Meet you in a few minutes!" Finally, getting a chance to stretch her wings, she took off towards Sweet Apple Acres in a streak of rainbow colour.

To Sweet Apple Acres --->
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

From the air, the officer caught sight of Rainbow rushing back to center. His search hadn't been fruitful either. Rainbow was being sent to the schoolhouse. The little ones would still be in school. Rainbow was indeed faster than him, so it was best that she go searching. If Rainbow were more focused, she'd probably make a fine officer. Instead of following after, he located Applejack and descended to meet with her. "Nice job, Applejack." He offered as he touched down next to her.

Applejack raised a hoof as the officer landed. "Eyup.  Ah figured since ah got a tip the cart went that way, Ah'd send Rainbow to the farm to check there, and we'kin stop at the closer schoolhouse, and she can meet us there." She motioned with a hoof. "Ya' got any other ideas?" she asked, thinking that.. maybe the professional might...

Honestly, it was a good plan. Finding lost things just involved following clues and leads to more clues. By using Rainbow Dash to try and flank the position of the cart, there was a chance to avoid continuing the search. Using her speed like that was only natural. He wasn't too bad at being fast himself, but he'd never broken the rainbow limit. "You got the right idea there. We have to follow any leads we get." Sadly, he couldn't offer a better plan. "You all are used to taking care of your own problems. Pinkie was supposed to be at the schoolhouse, right? We'll be able to catch up with Twilight there too. We should be able to at least get one lead once we get there. After you, Applejack." The officer swept a hoof in the right direction, letting her lead the way.

[To School!]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:47, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

"Awright! We ain't far behind it now! Let's git!" She chimede, and took off at a brisk trot for the schoolhouse, one hoof thrown up for a moment to right her hat on her head.

To: Schooolhouse

--->From Summer Song Cafe

Once outside Rook walked down the street for a distance and down an alley until he was sure that he was out of the public and, more importantly, cafe's line of sight. Once certain, his (relatively) calm facade broke down as he crossed his forelegs over his head and a look of pure hysterical panic swept across his face.

'Oh sweet Celestia I have a date! I've never had a date before! What am I suppose to wear? What am I going to say? What am supposed to do?! I am so bucked!' His feverish mind wracked itself with various doomsday scenarios of himself making a complete and utter tool of himself that evening. This went on for almost a minute until a ray of clarity suddenly struck through the fog.

'Wait. Wait. Quick! Yes! My brother will know what to do! He's been on dates before! Surely he can save me from my inevitable failure!'

Clinging to that lifeline, he bolted from the alleyway, making a beeline towards the Games & Tables Game Shop, sprinting as if Nightmare Moon herself was chasing him.

To Games & Table Game Shop--->
This message was last edited by the player at 02:48, Tue 24 Apr 2012.

 < From Table and Games >

 Ace walks out to the busy marketplace and looks around for an "Easy Mark". Food, cash, or random doodad, somepony's gonna pay. He was in one of his shifty moods, the kind or instinct that kept him alive in Las Pegasus and Manhattan. Ace sees if he can trick one pony or another into giving him some free stuff today.

After floundering for a while trying to keep up with Applejack and the others, Big Mac ends up getting lost entirely in the crowd around the market. By the time they've spread out in their search, the workpony is entirely lost. Patting a hoof at the ground for a moment, he mumbles to himself and turns around to head back the way that he'd come. No sense in wasting anymore time wandering around when there was plenty to do back at the farm.

>> Sweet Apple Acres >>

--->From Games & Tables

Rook was once again on the streets of Ponyville , this time with his head on straight and a straightforward, if somewhat vague, plan of action. It was already some time past noon from the angle of the sun.

'Alright, first order of business. Flowers.'

He made his way down the road past the various stalls that dotted the thoroughfare. To his chagrin, many of them seemed to be closing early. Apparently, news of the Moon Raising had most of the shop owners closing up early in preparation for the event.

He quickened his pace, hoping that the flower shop hadn't closed as well.

To Sprout and Bloom Flower Shop--->
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Thu 26 Apr 2012.

Unfortunately for Ace, there weren't many easy targets around town.  There were plenty of ponies, sure, but none of them were sticking around long enough for him to strike up a conversation or figure out an angle to take advantage of.  Everypony was talking about the presence of Princess Luna in town and the Moon Raising that evening in Town Square.  It caused enough ruckus that everypony was in a rush getting ready -- they were either closing up early to prepare for a personal evening to enjoy the event, or the more enterprising were looking to set up shop later that night to make the most of the upcoming crowds.

However, as he went around making himself familiar with the merchants and lay of the land, he'd find free stuff to be quite easy to come by.  Everyone in town was surprisingly generous and kindly, even the gruff ones.  He'd get samples from local merchants easily or for an extremely low price since he was new to town and everypony seemed to value the idea of making friends with a potential future customer.  The only flak he'd get was from the out-of-town ponies who were just passing through as they had less sympathy for someone looking to exploit good nature.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:20, Thu 26 Apr 2012.

 Naturally Ace would take advantage of the freebies, and since it suit him thank them for the opportunity. That is interesting news though, a Princess? Royalty coming here? He isn't sure if he can use this to his advantage somehow, but it is definitely something to look into. He was off to the Town square to check it out.

 < To Town Square >

--->From Sprout and Bloom

Flowers acquired, Rook checked the item off his mental to-do list. Next up, he needed to return home and put on something... nice. He glanced down at plain blue vest. He loved it dearly, but it probably wouldn't cut it on his date tonight. He hoped that he still had something that would.

Well, one way to find out.

Checking his watch, he saw that he still had plenty of time before dusk. Nevertheless, he went into a brisk trot as he heads home.

To Games & Tables--->
This message was last edited by the player at 12:24, Sat 28 Apr 2012.

--->From Games & Tables

Once clear of the shop Quick took to the air, flying just clear of the thatched roofs of the neighboring shops.

Alright, first order of business, he needed to visit the bank and deposit the money.

Quick flew over the Business District streets passing over the heads of the milling ponies as he weaved up, over and around the various buildings houses and shops that made up the Business district. He waved to a few ponies that he recognized, but for the most part just enjoyed the wind flowing past him. He'd been cooped up at the store for far too long for his liking.

In the distance he could see the central spire of Town Hall. Flitting over one last building he entered Town Square proper.

To Town Square--->

<-- Enter from Ponyville Residential District

Just south of Town Hall sat a cozy little restaurant nestled up on a dale by the river.  Small and intimate, the location was better suited for limited groups and couples out on dates, so it got quite popular at certain times of year when it was better suited to spend time at somepony's side.  It was also one of the few places in town that hadn't closed up shop early yet, likely due to how close it was to the event taking place already.

"Here we are~!  The Rocking Horse Diner." Red Tape smiled at the familiar image on the overhanging sign; a signature rocking horse in stylish wood char.  "I come here every now and then... it's one of my favorite places."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:39, Thu 10 May 2012.

Quick looked up approvingly at the restaurant. 'This is perfect,' he thought.

"Wow, this is a really nice place. Can't believe I've never heard of it before. Thanks for the recommendation Red."

Quick walked into the restaurant, up to the reception desk at the front and cleared his throat. "Excuse me? Can I have a table for two?" he asked the pony manning the desk.

Red Tape kept in close with Quick Buck as they were seated -- the pony handling the front looked surprised to see her in the company of someone else, but smiled politely and led them along to a nearby table.  All of the seating was outside, so it gave the two of them a great view of the event going on just over the river.

"Quick?" she asked softly as she pulled her attention from the display over yonder and set it back on him.  "Um... thank you."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:47, Thu 10 May 2012.

The venue really was a sight. Quick smiled. And it was made all the better by the mare he was sharing it with. He wish he'd thought of asking her out before. Some of his previous dates had been... less than ideal. (What had he'd seen in that blue valley-pony anyway? *shudder*)

 "You're welcome, Red. Quick said gently. It was the least I could do to repay the favor. Besides, you looked like you needed something special to pick you up tonight. His smile turned into a frown of concern remembering how tired she'd looked when he'd met her at Town Hall earlier. "When was the last time you took a break for yourself, if you don't mind me asking?"

The Earth Pony mulled over that for a moment -- Quick would recognize that look in her eye since she always had a particular way of furrowing her brows when she was doing math in her head.  She didn't even notice when the waiter brought over glasses of water and a complimentary basket of loose hay along with their menus.

"Ah... well, never." she finally said with a sigh and helpless laugh.  "That's sort of the cost of the job, y'know?  You have a Cutie Mark for specializing in litigation and you spend the rest of your life chained to a desk.  Don't get me wrong; I love my job.  But it's too important for me to ignore."

Quick nodded his head and took a quick sip from his water as he opened up his menu. "Yeah, I understand."

"Still, you should think about stepping back from your job every once in a while." He gave a tilt of his head. "Or at least get an assistant to help you with your workload. It'd be a shame if a beautiful mare like you burned out because she overworked herself."

He looked down at his menu. A lot of the items looked tasty but he wasn't sure what to get just yet. "Hmm, maybe we should order an appetizer first?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Thu 10 May 2012.

As she was called beautiful, Red Tape's cheeks glowed as bright crimson as her Cutie Mark.  She quickly hid herself behind her open menu and struggled to get herself back under control as quickly as possible.

"Th-the daffodil crisps are good..." was all she could squeak out for a suggestion, barely able to get her head to work on any more coherent form of reply.

Quick had missed Red Tape's blush as he perused the inside of the menu. "Really? Well let's try those first then." He passed by the veggieburgers -probably not appropriate for the occasion- and went into the pasta-salads. Ooo, maybe the sautaeed dandelions in a honey-pepper sauce with some creamed alfalfa. That sounded fancy enough and hopefully it tastes as good as it sounds.

He took another sip of water and looked back up at Red Tape who was still hidden behind her own menu. "Have you figured out your order yet, Red?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:54, Fri 11 May 2012.

It was fortunate that Red Tape had a chance to keep her head down for a bit and calm herself.  She peeked timidly over the top of the menu and got relief when she found Quick busying himself looking through the meals.  Realizing she should use her menu for more than a shield, she skimmed its contents briefly before settling on an old favorite.  Comfort food would do her well right now, she figured.

"The buckwheat pasta in bitter citrus dressing sounds good." she repeated the order to the waiter when he came along to take their requests and also asked a flute of mulberry wine.

Once their orders were off to the kitchen, then came the part of the evening that made Red Tape squirm with barely suppressed dread.  Silent moments.  Internally her mind raced as she tried to think of things to talk about.  Hobbies?  Gossip?  The weather?  Gah!  All she ever had was her work and there was no way she was going to discuss data management and real estate regulation on the first date she'd had in... oh sweet Celestia, how long had it even been?!

"So... how's your brother doing?" she asked awkwardly.

His brother? Quick's head canted to the side. Well, that was an odd topic to bring up... but he quickly realized that Red Tape was just trying to make small talk and so he obliged her.

"Rook's been doing alright, all things considered. With the large sum of money we got today, he'll hopefully stop worrying about the store. Heh, another couple of days of slow sales and I was sure I'd find him climbing the walls eventually." He smirked from behind his glass at the mental image as he took another sip.

"Anyway, as I said before, he's on a date tonight as well. Probably enjoying himself down in the Town Square right now. I'll be honest, he surprised me when he told me about it earlier this afternoon. Of course it might have also been because he was on the edge of a emotional breakdown at the time." Quick laughed and waved his hoof as if was no big deal. It really wasn't. Although Rook was known for the occasional freak out, he always seemed to bounce back quickly.

"Anyway, I got him sorted out and last saw him getting ready for his date with China Saucer. Quick's eyebrows knotted. I think she's a waitress at that cafe down the street? Have you met her before? I can't say I know much about her, I hope she treats him well." A hint of brotherly concern crept into his voice at this. He didn't want to see Rook hurt by the wrong mare. Celestia knows, he himself endured enough of that in the past.

Red Tape shook her head at the mention of Rook's date -- she didn't get out of the office much and never had a chance to go to the Summer Song Cafe, so she didn't know of its patrons.  She'd met Merriweather when handling the mare's initial arrival to town and the property transfer rights that came with it, but beyond that she was in the dark.

"I'm sure they're having a good time.  Rook needs the chance to lighten up and go have some fun." she sighed, completely missing the hypocrisy of that statement's application to herself.  "What about you though?  I mean, you're in the same boat as your brother when it comes to slow sales and such.  Has life in Ponyville been treating you okay?"

"You're right. Rook has a good head on his shoulders _{-even if he has a tendency to lose it-}, I guess he'll do alright." Quick's concerned face relaxed and looked up as he tapped his hoof against his chin in contemplation as he though about Red next question.

"Well all things considered, life's been pretty good. Aside from the slowdown in business, we've been keeping up financially. When I'm not watching the store, I usually do the odd job around town. You know, run an errand for this stall owner, buy groceries for the old mare down the street. That kinda thing. Keeps change in my pocket and my hooves busy.

"The two of us are doing pretty alright living on our own. Thanks for helping us get through the paperwork buying the place, by the way. Mom and Dad are out and about. Mom's left on a courier job to Appaloosa yesterday. She should be back within a few days or so. And I... actually haven't heard from Dad in a while now that I think about it..." His face creased in worry again. "He's part the local militia and is supposed to be stationed somewhere between Ponyville and Canterlot. He's usually good at keeping touch though..." Quick coughed as an awkward silence fell over the table.

He quickly shook his head. Now was the worst time to be feeling melancholy."Ah anyway, tell me about you, Red. Here I am gabbing away about my life's story and you haven't even told me your favorite color yet," he said, putting on a teasing smile to cover his own personal worries.