"Yes, Poppy, we're going," Ava laughed. "Mrs. Cake, this is my little sister, Poppy. Poppy, this is Mrs. Cake."

Poppy nodded, finally seeming to slow down. "'Ts very nice t'meet you, Mrs. Cake," she said, managing to remember her manners, though she seemed a a bit shy.

Mrs. Cake giggled over the antics of her daughter but then perked up as Poppy came scrambling into the shop.  She sat by passively while the two sisters chattered with each other; her expression was a mix of bemusement and, at the edges, deep sadness.  She hid it well when the little filly's eyes turned on her and gave a fond smile.

"It's lovely to meet you too, Poppy.  Your sister and I were just having a chat." the older pony said kindly.  "Why don't you pull a seat up and join us?  We've got raspberry tea, sugar cookies--"

"RHUBARB~!"

That joyous cry echoed through the shop, gently rattling the teacups on the tables.  Pinkie Pie had reappeared in her usual giddy blur, pinging along in rapid bounces -- she had a platter balanced atop her fluffy head that remained firmly in place despite her bouncing and no visible means of adherence.  Atop it was a fresh, still-steaming pie with a crisp, perfectly browned criss-cross crust.  Without further adieu the pony bounded along to place a slice of the pie in front of both Widget and Fung Shui despite the fact they didn't order any.  It was indeed rhubarb.  Pinkie served up a choice slice of sticky strawberry-and-rhubarb pie; the treat was still warm from the oven, giving of a sweet yet tangy aroma mellowed only slightly by a healthy dollop of smooth whipped cream hoisted atop the flaky crust.

Mrs. Cake, Ava, and Poppy ended up getting a serving too, but Pinkie Pie stopped halfway through setting down the plates to blink at the sight of the two unfamiliar girls.  Her bright blue eyes got bigger than they already were and sparkled with delight -- the smile on her face was so enthusiastic that one would think she'd just found her own long-lost siblings.

"OHMIGOSH~!  New ponies!  HI~!  MynameisPinkiePieandI'msooooo~happytoseeyouwelcometoPonyvillehaveyoubeenherelongIcan'tbelievehowmanynewponiesareintownasoflateisn'titexciting--" she railed off a mile a minute, literally vibrating in glee.

"Pinkie Pie!" Mrs. Cake interrupted.  Pinkie immediately looked to her, silenced for the moment.  "Breathe."

At that command, Pinkie Pie inhaled sharply and fresh color returned to her cheeks.  She'd been going a bit red in the face since she'd begun talking non-stop and forgot to continue breathing at some point during her tangent.  Pumpkin was apparently quite amused over her foalsitter's mannerisms and was squealing with laughter.

"Ava, Poppy, this is Pinkie Pie." the mare introduced the three with a gesture.

"Charmed." Pinkie added in a passive way, strikingly opposite to her previous glee, but still grinning as broadly as ever.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:08, Sat 05 May 2012.

Fung wasn't overly familiar with the kind of creative tunnel vision Widget was talking about, but he recognized it in the way the Unicorn stared at those blueprints.  It was easier to focus on than thinking about Pinkie Pie's hairbrainedness.  Wait, was that even a word?  Even his narrated thoughts were getting all wibbledy wobbledy!

He risked interrupting Widget's little trance to keep his mind off the earth pony.
"So, Widget, how long have you been at this sort of thing?  Is it your job?"
Fung had been curious since this whole ordeal started.  Could his skill at invention be turned towards a trade?  The idea of creating a way for normal ponies to fly seemed quite novel, but a little impractical.

"Ooh - I love sugar cookies. Thank you, Mrs. Cake!" Poppy pulled up a chair as Ava's horn glowed, pouring her sister some tea.

Both sisters were slightly startled, but clearly nonetheless amused at Pinkie Pie's dramatic entrance and presentation of pie.

"We just moved into town a couple of days ago," Ava nodded to Pinkie as Poppy, unencumbered by adorable little foal, reached over to shake hooves.

Pinkie Pie happily leaned over the table and its contents to shake hooves with Poppy, having no concern for how bad her manners were in doing so.  Manners came second to greetings, after all~!  Well, as far as she was concerned.

"Welcome to town~!  Ooh, this is go great!  There's been so many new ponies moving to town lately... too many, actually.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love that there's so many new faces around.  But it's getting hard to keep up with them all... but trying is half the fun~!" she explained at length even though nopony asked.

"Well, there's the Moon Raising event tonight.  I'm sure everypony will be there, so you can make the rounds then, sweetie."  Mrs. Cake mentioned as she dished up some cookies to go along with Poppy's pie.  Unfortunately, in doing so she had her attention off Pinkie and missed the slow yet increasingly broad expression of gleeful scheming that formed across the party pony's face.

Poppy grinned. She had clearly decided that she liked Pinkie Pie. A lot. Well, that certainly boded well for Ava's hope for foalsitter when she had to be in Canterlot. "Yeah," she said, agreeing with Mrs. Cake. "You'll probably be able to see EVERYPONY at the moon-raising tonight!" She dug into her pie, making sure to remember her table manners. "Mmmmm..."

"Your pie is amazing, Pinkie," Ava agreed.

"Ava... do you think we can get some rhubarb to plant in the garden with the vegetables?" Poppy asked hopefully.

"If the garden shop in town carries it, I don't see any reason why not," Ava nodded. "How many kinds does that make, now?" she laughed.

"Let's see... Corn, Carrots, Zucchini, Asparagus, Peas, Beans, Radishes, Strawberries, Watermelons, and Rhubarb," Poppy said, counting. "So, ten - not counting the marigolds to keep the bugs away."

Ava just laughed. "It's a good thing you've got this all planned out, Poppers, because I can scarcely keep a potted petunia alive."

"Yeah, but remember what happened when you let me play with your old foal's chemistry set?" Poppy giggled. "That was a huge mess!"

"You're not even supposed to be able to do that with the foal's sets," Ava giggled. "Point taken."

Poppy paused, with something else on her mind - like many foals, she could switch topics nearly as fast as Pinkie Pie. "Ava... do you think I could dress up for the moon-raising tonight?"

Ava smiled. "Sure - I'm pretty sure I know what box that stuff is in, and it needs unpacking anyways." Just then, Pumpkin started fussing. "Aww, Pumpkin - are you ready to go back to your mama?" Ava cooed, passing the little foal back to Mrs. Cake. "Thanks for letting me hold her, Mrs. Cake - she is a sweetie."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Sat 05 May 2012.

It seemed, however, that Widget was still paying attention to Fung as well, for he answered instantly, without looking up from the plans. "Yes, quite perceptive of you, my friend," he said as he flipped over the plans to consider the copter machine for a moment, before going back to the wing device, which he was clearly far more interested in. "I am an inventor of clockwork and mechanical devices and tools that help make pony life easier or more convenient. And obviously, more fun, too." He smirked, finally looking up at Fung over his square rimmed spectacles.

"My mother was an inventor in Canterlot. She helped build the modern train engine that runs all through Equestria before I was born. I was helping her and learning about invention from the time I was just a bit older than Pumpkin there." He nodded to the infant foal that was currently squealing with laughter at Pinkie's antics. "Ever since I was old enough to tell a wrench from a screwdriver." He looked back at Fung. A bit of sadness had crept into his eyes, despite his smile. "With invention comes mechanical prowess. For a living, I fix things in town. Whenever anything mechanical needs repairing that magic can't do, and that's usually anything with small parts or gears, I'm on the job. This sort of thing, though, I suppose you could call more of a hobby. I can fix anything, from musical instruments to farm equipment, from ovens to automatic juicers." He grinned slightly. "So, I guess you could say, I repair to live, but I live to invent."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Sat 05 May 2012.

[Enter from... The Equestrian Express]

As far as the first stops went for a young dragon, Sugarcube Corner seemed like a good first place to go. It was pretty hard to ignore a building so bright and colourful, after all and, as the small dragon pushed the door just open enough that he could slip inside, the smell of so many sugary things confirmed to Quill that this almost certainly qualified a good idea.

"Wow," he whispered to himself, taking in the sights.

Pinkie Pie sat among the girls and looked back and forth as they chatted, her head swaying from side to side like she was watching a tennis match.  She seemed content in the fact that everypony was having a good time... if a mellow one, at least.  Mrs. Cake took back Pumpkin and cooed to calm the foal, then mashed up a bit of her pie to offer on the edge of her hoof.  That brightened Pumpkin right up and she gleefully nommed away at the tangy treat.

The ringing of the bell over the front door signaled a new entrance, to which Mrs. Cake leaned over and smiled cheerily.  "Oh, hello there Spike~!  Come on in and... ah... huh?"  the mare greeted initially without thought, but paused for reconsideration after she took a second look at the reptile in the doorway.  "D-Dragon?!"

"DRAGON IN A TIE!" Pinkie squealed in delight, showing none of the surprise the other mare had.  In less time than it took for Quill to blink, Pinkie Pie had seemingly teleported across the shop and was right up in his personal space, grinning broadly.  "Oh my gosh, another Dragon~!  Hi!  Did you just come to town?  Where'd you get that tie?  You look really super-duper-dapper~!  Do you like rhubarb pie?" the party pony tittered out in her usual quick manner and ended by immediately holding up the tin of pie she'd been serving to the rest, offering him a slice.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:32, Mon 07 May 2012.

Already somewhat overwhelmed by just the contents of the shop, the sudden exclamation of Mrs Cake followed by Pinkie Pie's incredible ability to say so much, so quickly, Quill just stared at the offered slice of pie for a moment before taking it.

"T-t-thank you," he stammered out, clutching on the slice of pie like it's somehow going to protect him while offering a startled smile, "and, um, the is... a... did I say thank you for the pie? Thank you for the pie."

Ava at last stood up - there were quite a few things she needed to get done before tonight, and she was rapidly running out of afternoon. "Mrs. Cake?" she smiled. "Thank you. For everything."

"Ava..." Poppy began as the two sisters made their way out of the shop. "Do you think I have time to plant my mystery seeds from Aunt Pearianne before the moon-raising?"

"I think so," Ava nodded. "Just make sure you leave yourself time to get cleaned up - I realize that dirt is your favorite accessory, but I don't think it's what you want to wear tonight," she giggled.

"Right," Poppy agreed. "Plant first, wash face and hooves second..."

-->Exit to Town Square

Widget had finished his muffin and was feeling a little better already. He had pulled the wing that Pinkie had accidentally pulled off the brace on his back, and began to tinker with it, trying to at least put the pieces back together, even if the gears wouldn't properly work. The commotion about the dragon, however, drew his attention away from both Fung and his contraption, and he looked up, a surprised expression drawing over his face. The young dragon did look a bit like spike, but his color was off, as were his mannerisms. Speaking of manners, Widget supposed he shouldn't stare, but goodness, how often did a dragon waltz into town?!

"Excuse me, Fung, I think somepony needs a little help," he said, noting how startled and unsettled he looked by Pinkie's abundant friendliness. He rolled up the blueprints with magic, and tucked it behind one of the stiff metal wings. "I'll see you later, yeah? Tonight at the moonrising, I hope." His mechanical wing back on his body, Widget put enough bits on the table to pay for both his and Fung's tea and muffins, before trotting lightly over to the poor dragon.

"Pinkie, you've startled him," he laughed, smiling more kindly at the young dragon. "You look a bit out of sorts, if I may say; even before Pinkie's friendly and abrupt greeting." He leaned down, still grinning. "It happens a lot around here." He gave a small wink and leaned back. "You'll have to excuse everypony's surprise," he offered in a kind tone, nodding slightly to Mrs. Cake as an example. "We don't get to see many dragons besides our resident dragon, Spike, around here, as you likely imagined. I'm Widget Whatsits. This is Pinkie Pie. And you are?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:03, Mon 07 May 2012.

Quill looked a little more relaxed after the quiet comment about Pinkie Pie, feeling slightly more at ease having discovered that her behaviour was in fact normal. Still, he clutched on the slice of pie while the battle between nervousness and hunger continued to be fought between his head and his stomach.

"Widget, Pinkie," he repeated to himself, "it's nice to meet you both, um, I'm Quill. I.. well, I'm sorry about the surprise. I thought about wearing a disguise, but I think, um, my things are half way to Trottingham by now."

Quill cast his eyes down to the slice of pie and, finally, crammed the whole slice in to his mouth.

"Well I couldn't have startled him that bad.  The building isn't on fire~!" Pinkie defended her position in the affair as she promptly refilled Quill's claws with another slice of pie as soon as he'd finished the first one.  "Are you from Canterlot too, Quill?  Do you know Spike?  OHMIGOSH are you his long-lost brother?!  'Cause that would be awesome!  A while ago Spikey got all mopey about his origins and where he belonged in the world and all sorts of really heavy introspective stuff that's really a huge downer and then he went on an adventure that sorta solved his problems but he still doesn't know anything about his past and I kinda forgot where I was going with this and don't know if I actually had a point I was trying to make but oh well that's okay and hmmbpb--!"

Pinkie Pie's tangent was thankfully silenced as Mrs. Cake joined the bunch and suitably stuffed a sugar cookie into the pony's mouth.  Pinkie instead switched gears to devour the treat without hesitation, giving everyone's ears a rest from her chatter.

"Yes, seeing another Dragon was a bit of a surprise.  Sorry if I was rude, dearie.  Would you like to come in for some tea?  You must be tired." Mrs. Cake was far more sensible in her greeting as she gestured for Quill to come in and get comfortable if he liked.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:05, Mon 07 May 2012.

At first, Quill opened his mouth to try and reply to Pinkie Pie's questions, but there was seemingly no end to her loquaciousness, at least until the cookie was introduced. While he thought it might be a bit rude to thank Mrs Cake for the cookie based intervention, he tried to make his relief shown with a smile and a nod.

"Tea would be fantastic! Although," he looked up at Mrs Cake, then at the slice of pie he was holding, "I... well, I've already eaten more pie than I can afford. Oh, and.."

Glancing down at his second slice of pie, he reached up to put it back in the pie tray, smiling at Pinkie.

"...I just got off the train from Canterlot, and, I know about him, and," he nodded his head, trying to work through the questions that she had asked him, mentally checking each off one as he went, "and the tie was a gift, and, no, I'm not his long-lost brother, and.. yes! I do like rhubarb!"

Pinkie Pie finally swallowed her mouthful of cookie with a satisfied gulp, licking her lips to clear them of any stray traces of sugar.  "Don't worry about it~!  I baked the pie myself, so you can have as much as you like!" she reassured Quill with a giggle.

"Think nothing of it.  Besides, it seems like today is a special day in any case, so I don't see any harm in hoofing over a free cup of tea and some snacks here and there." Mrs. Cake gave a careless wave of her hoof, which her daughter playfully mimicked from where she sat atop her back.  "Do you like gemstone powder mixed with a brew?  Spike's the only one in town who can handle that sort of thing, so it's not like I could sell it even if I wanted to."

Widget glanced between the pie, Pinkie, and the little dragon, taking in everything was said, his metal wings twitching up and down slightly with a gentle creak of metal and gears. His expression had slightly softened, a thoughtful look coming over his face as he watched Pinkie serve the dragon more pie and Mrs. Cake offered him tea. "Am I to understand then, Quill, that you have inadvertently come to Ponyville with nothing?" He reached up and adjusted his glasses, looking all the more thoughtful. "I don't mean to sound forward, but may I ask why you came to Ponyville in the first place? What exactly do you do?"

Smiling brightly, he took the slice of pie he placed in the tray back and, just as he was about to try and cram it into his mouth, he stopped.

"Thank you very much for the free pie, and.. tea, tea would be really nice as well, especially with the powder, that'd be," finally, the pie found it's way in to his mouth, and within a matter of moments, only crumbs remained, "it's... wait, as much as I like?"

His attention was momentarily interrupted as, turning to look up at Widget, he caught sight of the mechanical contraption on his back. A moment later, his attention turned to some errant pie crumbs that were still on his claws, which he picked off and ate.

"Well, I didn't mean to come with nothing, it.. there was a.. well, I didn't expect the train to leave so quickly. I guess I sort of came out here because," he cleared his throat a little, speaking with a deeper voice, presumably in imitation of somebody, "it's not right for a young dragon to stay in the archives all day, and.. what if he sets fire to the books? and.." Quill coughed.

"But I like working with books, and numbers, I.. guess that's what I used to do. Did you know there are six hundred and twenty seven table legs in the Royal Archive?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Mon 07 May 2012.

"I didn't know that, no," he replied Widget, obviously interested. However, he shook his head slightly -- this was not the time to be concerned with how many legs there were or how many tables those legs held up. "Well, do you plan to stay in Ponyville then? Even if your things are recovered? Or will you be on your way to Trottingham, or some other big city?"

"What happened to the last table leg?"  Pinkie asked idly as she pulled a slice of pie from the tin and stuffed it into her own mouth, chewing noisily and with much obvious enjoyment of the treat.  There were still a few slices left and, true to form, she offered the tin to Quill just as she'd said.  Mrs. Cake, meanwhile, just trotted off to go clean the tea set left behind by Ava and then head into the kitchen to get some gem-infused drinks brewing.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:21, Mon 07 May 2012.

Accepting the tray with a smile, he sat it down on the floor in front of him before sitting down himself, looking as happy as a dragon with pie. Which is to say, very happy.

"Oh, no, I... I was probably going to stay here, I just need to find a place to stay, and that means having a proper job. I'm, um, well, this.. it's my first time really outside of the Royal Archive, so, I don't think I'm ready for a big-city-life yet."

Quill looked a little bit surprised by Pinkie Pie asking about what happened to the missing table leg, as perhaps unkindly, he had assumed she wouldn't even have noticed it was one leg shy of a full set. Carefully, he split the remaining slices of pie in to two, pushing half of them around so they were closer to Pinkie Pie.

"Sneezing accident," Quill stated matter-of-factly.

"I see, I see," said Widget thoughtfully. "Well, Quill, if you've worked in the archives of Canterlot for so long, perhaps you have heard of my mother. Gadget Whatsits? She invented the train you came in on, before I was even born. She invented a lot of things." He didn't care to mention that the most famous thing she was for, was getting killed... "Well, I'm an inventor as well. At least trying to be." He leaned back his head slightly. "It may not be ideal, but would you be interested in being an assistant? I know Twilight Sparkle keeps busier than I do with her research, and she would be lost without Spike, her assistant. I've tried to build one of my own, but I'm afraid Tik-Tok is only fit to tell me the time... Which leaves me, still in need of somepony, or some dragon, to help."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:50, Mon 07 May 2012.

"Ah."  Pinkie nodded in complete understanding.  She waited until the last portion of Quill's serving of pie had been taken, then stomped her hoof down on the rim of the pie tin to send it flipping airborne.  The pony tilted her head back and caught the last pieces of pie in her mouth, chewing away gleefully even as the tin smacked down atop her head with a sound like a cymbal crash.

"I can be that somedragon," Quill quickly stood himself back up, offering a pie-crumb-coated-claw up towards Widget, happy that he can tick "find a job" off his list of things to do so quickly, "although I might not be so good at the inventing bits, like the wing-thing and the Tik-Tok thingamajig, I can at least make sure you... well, I can help. Just tell me where to begin!"

"...well, um, if you could just tell me where to begin once the tea is taken care of, and then I'll be ready."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Mon 07 May 2012.