Post by Rapid Quill on Mar 20, 2017 12:21:12 GMT
ooc: While this thread is technically open, given all the planning we went through I would like for Frost Moon to respond first.
bic: It was late in Ponyville. Well past midnight to be more precise; a time most ponies that did not have a night gig were fast asleep dreaming sweet dreams. This naturally included Rapid Quill and Free Thinker. Free Thinker was busy dreaming about receiving an award for fixing the unfixable and thus becoming the center of attention. Rapid Quill, meanwhile, had a slightly more antagonistic dream. No it wasn't a nightmare. It was a pretty good dream actually...for him that is, but for everypony else that appeared in his dream not so much. You see he was dreaming that he was a pretty powerful villain who had single hoofedly defeated Twilight and her friends and took over Ponyville. He had even disabled the other princesses as well by freezing them. Inside his dream he was laughing like a nut ordering Ponyville's residents to do what he told them to do. His dream self even began to sing a little villain song celebrating his victory over Equestria's princesses. That was until his song was rather crudely interrupted by a loud, annoying buzzing sound.
The waking world Rapid jumped several feet into the air before falling out of his bed and landing on the carpeted floor below with a soft thud at the sound of his alarm ringing. Feeling dazed, Rapid gave his head a quick shake before using his red unicorn magic to turn his alarm off. Giving out a muffled yawn, Rapid gave his forelegs a nice, good, long stretch. Looking sleepily at his alarm clock, Rapid thought with a tired yawn, 'good thing Free Thinker is such a heavy sleeper or he might have heard that. At least I hope he didn't hear anything. At any rate, I really must find a better way at waking myself up for these um nightly meetings.' The blue unicorn wrapped his lucky green scarf around his neck and put on a long, black hooded cloak.
As he turned to exit his bedroom, he caught a glimpse of his reflection inside his full body mirror. There was something slightly off about his reflection. For one thing he could have swore his reflection wore a sinister smile and laughing evilly back at him. Startled by the image, Rapid fell over backwards hitting the back of his neck against his dresser. Letting out a moan of pain, Rapid rubbed the back of his neck. "Huh? What? What...what happened? Oh yeah, my weird reflection," Rapid thought aloud to himself as he stood back up. Walking slowly back to his mirror he closed his eyes before risking a second peek. He let out a sigh of relief when his reflection looked normal. "Oh, so I was just seeing things after all. Just my wild imagination, I guess, playing tricks on me. Good. That's really good. Means I am perfectly normal. Great! After all, there is no way I could ever become a super powerful, power hungry monster like in my dream. So, I've been having this same exact dream for the past month with only slight variations here and there. So what! Dreams don't mean anything! I could dream about being an alicorn all I want, doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly turn into one. That would be ridiculous! Same is true for my dreams of becoming a super powerful evil unicorn who defeats everyone! Although, I wonder if this means I will be receiving a visit from Princess Luna any time soon. Be nice if I could visit with her and speak to her about all this. Surely she would understand what with her having been Nightmare Moon and all and thus wouldn't judge," he reassured himself.
Using his red unicorn magic, he opened his bedroom door and quietly stepped out, softly closing it behind him. Taking a deep breath, Rapid crept down the hall and made his way down the stairs, cringing everytime a creaking sound occurred. Once he made it to the bottom of the stairs without waking Free Thinker, Rapid let out a sigh of relief. However, just as he was about to open the front door who should appear right behind him, but Free Thinker himself. "And just where do you think you're going in the middle of the night?" Rapid's mentor demanded. 'Oh shoot! So close,' thought Rapid with a groan. Taking yet another deep breath, Rapid turned around to face his mentor. "Oh hey there, Free Thinker. Fancy seeing you down here at this time of night. What are you doing uo? Me? I was just um going out to get some fresh air is all..." Rapid answered rather sheepishly with the most sincere, innocent smile he could muster. Even so Free Thinker wasn't fooled in the least. The grey Earth pony watched Rapid suspiciously. "Ha! Yeah right! You're up to something, aren't you?" Free Thinker questioned in an accusing tone. Still smiling, Rapid began backing away from Free Thinker until his back hit the front door. "Uh, whatever gave you that idea?" Free Thinker just smiled almost knowingly at Rapid. "Oh no reason. Just call it a hunch or rather that ridiculous outfit you're wearing. Come on, Rapid. You're not fooling anypony with that getup," pointed out Free Thinker snickering. Rapid felt his face turn red as he remembered the hood he was wearing. "Oh the hood. I uh almost forgot," Rapid said with a sigh. Rapid then cleared his throat to explain his plan to Free Thinker the best he could with the hopes he would understand. "So, there's this thing I need to do and it requires lots of stealth. I'm only wearing this hooded cloak so nopony will notice me. I'll tell you what it is in the morning, but right now I have to get going," explained Rapid as he trotted anxiously in place. Watching him, Free Thinker gave his apprentice a funny look. "Oh o-kay. Just uh don't stay gone too long and try not to get yourself tangled up in any stupid, crazy situations. Try," warned Free Thinker sternly. At this Rapid rolled his eyes. "Come on, Free Thinker, have a little faith! Since when have I done anything stupid or crazy?" Rapid asked rhetorically. Although, it was a rhetorical question, Free Thinker appeared to be thinking of an answer. "Well, let's see, there was this one time you got the bright idea to practice your transfiguration spell on a family of geese. Oh that didn't go so well! Then there was this other time when you accidentally teleported that one pony's favorite quill away when you were actually trying to teleport yourself..." To prevent his mentor from continuing, Rapid stuck his hoof to his lips. "Hello, does rhetorical question mean anything to you? Besides, those were um just little uh mistakes that will never ever happen again! This time will be different and not to mention very beneficial, I am sure of it," Rapid confidently reassured with a smile. Free Thinker thought a few more moments before finally giving in. "Fine. Just whatever it is you're up to, it better not come back to me. I've had enough cleaning up your messes," Free Thinker grumbled. "Okay, thanks, bye!" Rapid said quickly as he raced out the door before Free Thinker could change his mind and drag him back inside.
Once outside, Rapid began sneaking around, body low to the ground, jumping from shadow to shadow. If anyrhing, Rapid actually was pretty good at stealth. It enabled him to spy on unwitting ponies and later he would put those with the most interesting stories to share into the paper. Doing so naturally didn't earn him any popularity prizes. Still, he was good at his job and earned some good bits from it.
As he snuck around he could not shake the feeling that he himself was being watched. Going on instinct, Rapid swung himself into a nearby alley only to turn around and spot a pair of shifty looking ponies standing in front of him. The two much like himself were dressed in black. Hoping they were the ponies he was supposed to meet, Rapid cleared his throat as he prepared himself to speak a secret code. "Lazy lake in a skit are miles brighter than the clouds in Cloudsdale." The pair just looked at each other before giving a little nod. "Too true. Also why are there no male alicorns?" one of the two responded thus completing the code. The code was made nonsensical and random on purpose to fool outsiders to better ensure no outsider could ever guess the code.
Relieved it was them, Rapid sighed in relief. "Oh good it's you guys. Was worried there for a sec. Sorry I'm late, but you should really be thankful that I made it here at all because somepony tried to stop me from coming. Not naming names," Rapid complained before being interrupted by the two holding out their hooves expectantly. "Oh right, you want to be paid and paid in full you both shall be. But first I'd like to see the story you have for me." Annoyed, the pair just glare at Rapid. Not wanting to appear so easily intimidated, Rapid bravely stood his ground. "Hey no good story no gems! That was the deal, wasn't it? So, let me have it, to make sure you two did not disappoint." With that one of the two handed Rapid the story allowing him to glance over it. As he read a smile grew on his face. "Interesting. Yes, very interesting indeed and not to mention very juicy. You two more than came through for me. You definitely earned this," Rapid mused gratefully. Using his unicorn magic, Rapid unzipped his cloak's pocket, removing a pair of bright, shiny rubies. "There you are. One for each of you," he said as he handed them both a ruby. Little did he know that he was about to get shanghaied into a crazy situation just as his mentor predicted except this time it wasn't going to be his fault. Just the little matter of being at the wrong place at the right time...
bic: It was late in Ponyville. Well past midnight to be more precise; a time most ponies that did not have a night gig were fast asleep dreaming sweet dreams. This naturally included Rapid Quill and Free Thinker. Free Thinker was busy dreaming about receiving an award for fixing the unfixable and thus becoming the center of attention. Rapid Quill, meanwhile, had a slightly more antagonistic dream. No it wasn't a nightmare. It was a pretty good dream actually...for him that is, but for everypony else that appeared in his dream not so much. You see he was dreaming that he was a pretty powerful villain who had single hoofedly defeated Twilight and her friends and took over Ponyville. He had even disabled the other princesses as well by freezing them. Inside his dream he was laughing like a nut ordering Ponyville's residents to do what he told them to do. His dream self even began to sing a little villain song celebrating his victory over Equestria's princesses. That was until his song was rather crudely interrupted by a loud, annoying buzzing sound.
The waking world Rapid jumped several feet into the air before falling out of his bed and landing on the carpeted floor below with a soft thud at the sound of his alarm ringing. Feeling dazed, Rapid gave his head a quick shake before using his red unicorn magic to turn his alarm off. Giving out a muffled yawn, Rapid gave his forelegs a nice, good, long stretch. Looking sleepily at his alarm clock, Rapid thought with a tired yawn, 'good thing Free Thinker is such a heavy sleeper or he might have heard that. At least I hope he didn't hear anything. At any rate, I really must find a better way at waking myself up for these um nightly meetings.' The blue unicorn wrapped his lucky green scarf around his neck and put on a long, black hooded cloak.
As he turned to exit his bedroom, he caught a glimpse of his reflection inside his full body mirror. There was something slightly off about his reflection. For one thing he could have swore his reflection wore a sinister smile and laughing evilly back at him. Startled by the image, Rapid fell over backwards hitting the back of his neck against his dresser. Letting out a moan of pain, Rapid rubbed the back of his neck. "Huh? What? What...what happened? Oh yeah, my weird reflection," Rapid thought aloud to himself as he stood back up. Walking slowly back to his mirror he closed his eyes before risking a second peek. He let out a sigh of relief when his reflection looked normal. "Oh, so I was just seeing things after all. Just my wild imagination, I guess, playing tricks on me. Good. That's really good. Means I am perfectly normal. Great! After all, there is no way I could ever become a super powerful, power hungry monster like in my dream. So, I've been having this same exact dream for the past month with only slight variations here and there. So what! Dreams don't mean anything! I could dream about being an alicorn all I want, doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly turn into one. That would be ridiculous! Same is true for my dreams of becoming a super powerful evil unicorn who defeats everyone! Although, I wonder if this means I will be receiving a visit from Princess Luna any time soon. Be nice if I could visit with her and speak to her about all this. Surely she would understand what with her having been Nightmare Moon and all and thus wouldn't judge," he reassured himself.
Using his red unicorn magic, he opened his bedroom door and quietly stepped out, softly closing it behind him. Taking a deep breath, Rapid crept down the hall and made his way down the stairs, cringing everytime a creaking sound occurred. Once he made it to the bottom of the stairs without waking Free Thinker, Rapid let out a sigh of relief. However, just as he was about to open the front door who should appear right behind him, but Free Thinker himself. "And just where do you think you're going in the middle of the night?" Rapid's mentor demanded. 'Oh shoot! So close,' thought Rapid with a groan. Taking yet another deep breath, Rapid turned around to face his mentor. "Oh hey there, Free Thinker. Fancy seeing you down here at this time of night. What are you doing uo? Me? I was just um going out to get some fresh air is all..." Rapid answered rather sheepishly with the most sincere, innocent smile he could muster. Even so Free Thinker wasn't fooled in the least. The grey Earth pony watched Rapid suspiciously. "Ha! Yeah right! You're up to something, aren't you?" Free Thinker questioned in an accusing tone. Still smiling, Rapid began backing away from Free Thinker until his back hit the front door. "Uh, whatever gave you that idea?" Free Thinker just smiled almost knowingly at Rapid. "Oh no reason. Just call it a hunch or rather that ridiculous outfit you're wearing. Come on, Rapid. You're not fooling anypony with that getup," pointed out Free Thinker snickering. Rapid felt his face turn red as he remembered the hood he was wearing. "Oh the hood. I uh almost forgot," Rapid said with a sigh. Rapid then cleared his throat to explain his plan to Free Thinker the best he could with the hopes he would understand. "So, there's this thing I need to do and it requires lots of stealth. I'm only wearing this hooded cloak so nopony will notice me. I'll tell you what it is in the morning, but right now I have to get going," explained Rapid as he trotted anxiously in place. Watching him, Free Thinker gave his apprentice a funny look. "Oh o-kay. Just uh don't stay gone too long and try not to get yourself tangled up in any stupid, crazy situations. Try," warned Free Thinker sternly. At this Rapid rolled his eyes. "Come on, Free Thinker, have a little faith! Since when have I done anything stupid or crazy?" Rapid asked rhetorically. Although, it was a rhetorical question, Free Thinker appeared to be thinking of an answer. "Well, let's see, there was this one time you got the bright idea to practice your transfiguration spell on a family of geese. Oh that didn't go so well! Then there was this other time when you accidentally teleported that one pony's favorite quill away when you were actually trying to teleport yourself..." To prevent his mentor from continuing, Rapid stuck his hoof to his lips. "Hello, does rhetorical question mean anything to you? Besides, those were um just little uh mistakes that will never ever happen again! This time will be different and not to mention very beneficial, I am sure of it," Rapid confidently reassured with a smile. Free Thinker thought a few more moments before finally giving in. "Fine. Just whatever it is you're up to, it better not come back to me. I've had enough cleaning up your messes," Free Thinker grumbled. "Okay, thanks, bye!" Rapid said quickly as he raced out the door before Free Thinker could change his mind and drag him back inside.
Once outside, Rapid began sneaking around, body low to the ground, jumping from shadow to shadow. If anyrhing, Rapid actually was pretty good at stealth. It enabled him to spy on unwitting ponies and later he would put those with the most interesting stories to share into the paper. Doing so naturally didn't earn him any popularity prizes. Still, he was good at his job and earned some good bits from it.
As he snuck around he could not shake the feeling that he himself was being watched. Going on instinct, Rapid swung himself into a nearby alley only to turn around and spot a pair of shifty looking ponies standing in front of him. The two much like himself were dressed in black. Hoping they were the ponies he was supposed to meet, Rapid cleared his throat as he prepared himself to speak a secret code. "Lazy lake in a skit are miles brighter than the clouds in Cloudsdale." The pair just looked at each other before giving a little nod. "Too true. Also why are there no male alicorns?" one of the two responded thus completing the code. The code was made nonsensical and random on purpose to fool outsiders to better ensure no outsider could ever guess the code.
Relieved it was them, Rapid sighed in relief. "Oh good it's you guys. Was worried there for a sec. Sorry I'm late, but you should really be thankful that I made it here at all because somepony tried to stop me from coming. Not naming names," Rapid complained before being interrupted by the two holding out their hooves expectantly. "Oh right, you want to be paid and paid in full you both shall be. But first I'd like to see the story you have for me." Annoyed, the pair just glare at Rapid. Not wanting to appear so easily intimidated, Rapid bravely stood his ground. "Hey no good story no gems! That was the deal, wasn't it? So, let me have it, to make sure you two did not disappoint." With that one of the two handed Rapid the story allowing him to glance over it. As he read a smile grew on his face. "Interesting. Yes, very interesting indeed and not to mention very juicy. You two more than came through for me. You definitely earned this," Rapid mused gratefully. Using his unicorn magic, Rapid unzipped his cloak's pocket, removing a pair of bright, shiny rubies. "There you are. One for each of you," he said as he handed them both a ruby. Little did he know that he was about to get shanghaied into a crazy situation just as his mentor predicted except this time it wasn't going to be his fault. Just the little matter of being at the wrong place at the right time...