Simplest Things In Life (Jump-in)

[waaaaaaah]

Book Keeper activated her magic. A small, black hole appeared beside her, into which she levitated the two bits.

"This is acceptable," she replied to Act.

[PaintedStar]

"Thank you both a lot! I love snacks." Lollipop said cheerfully. She smiled with her eyes closed at the two other ponies.

[Act One]

As the ponies trot into the local cafe, Act One holds the door for the mares to follow inside. As they entered, he immediately looked around for a spot where there was no window near them, away from most of the other guests. Luckily, the group stumbled in when peak time was over, so there were a few spots. He picked out a corner table so that he can check easy in one direction is anyone was prying into the conversation.

"Found a table, this way please."

Making his way to the seats, he picked the one in the corner, but waited until the other 2 had sat down to take his. At the same time, this allowed him to get the pouch and the mysterious item which was wrapped up and tied in paper and string.

((OOC: I'll be away for a few days after this post, but will come back to this on Sunday earliest. Sorry for such the huge wait.)

[waaaaaaah]

(that's ok )

Book Keeper chose a seat directly across from Act, and sat down. The stallion was definitely not your average pony; that lightning-fast movement of his bespoke a rather interesting career. She called a waiter over, and told him, "An Earl Grey tea, if you please. What will you two be having?" she asked the other two ponies.

[StarrBee]

//I hope it's not too late for me to jump in? If it is just say so and I'll leave you be, I'll wait for an answer before I join in.//

[waaaaaaah]

(sure! the more, the merrier! )

[StarrBee]

//Awesome! Sorry for taking so long to get back//

A young grey mare trot into the cafe. She looked worn out and over worked, when in reality she'd just overslept by a lot. Though it wasn't her fault as she'd had a lot of work to get through the previous night and fell asleep as she was reaching the end of her work. So the over worked description wouldn't have been so innacurate.

She walked up to the counter and ordered a plain coffee, levitating the money out of her saddle bags and dropping it onto the counter before yawning. Once it was done the unicorn took her drink, thanked the barista and went to sit down.

[PaintedStar]

"I'd like an ice-coffee, as sweet as possible." Lollipop smiled at the waiter.
Behind the waiter she noticed some movement, it was a rather tired (maybe sleepy) looking pony. She thought about getting up and walking over to her, but then dropped the idea. She wouldn't know how to start a conversation, and it would be really impolite to just stand up and leave her company. Also, she did not know the grey mare, there was no reason to go talk to her, she just caught her eye with looking so worn out. But she did seem like she could use someone to chat with... Well, to Lollipop most ponies seemed like they could use some cheerful company.

[StarrBee]

Quick Silver noticed the mare looking at her and offered a small, polite smile. She sat down at a table and sipped her drink quietly.

[Act One]

((Welcome, Quill. Happy for the extra company - I hope it's to your liking.))

Following the other member's lead, the stallion makes his choice of treats.
"Thanks, I'll have a Caramel Latte with one of the mixed muffin selections to share."
He puts the menu to the side and nods to the waiter in appreciation for his work.

Happy with the conditions and having everyone present, he starts off the meeting while the food and drinks are being sorted.
"Thanks again for your patience and help with the previous misunderstandings. As I've' already spoken about, I'm looking for maps, rumours and information about a place. I believe my destination is somewhere in the Badlands, and since not many ponies would have more than a general assumption going there, I needed your help to find information - Miss... Erm..."
Before he realized it, Act had stumbled upon something - Even though he'd introduced himself to everyone, he never got the name of the other mare. He had heard Lollipop introduce herself, but not had the chance to ask of the unicorn's introduction. A little bit embarrassed from not knowing this yet with everything else going on, the secretive pony pushes the issue.
"Sorry, but I don't think I ever caught your name yet. With all the commotion, I think we lost the earlier opportunity."

[StarrBee]

//Hello Act, must say it's been quite a while since I've seen you around on the forums //

Quick Silver sipped her coffee in silence, though her ears perked up when she heard mention of the badlands. Though she chose to stay out of it, knowing whatever it was wasn't her business.

[waaaaaaah]

"My name is Book Keeper," the aforementioned mare replied. Although she was famous in Baltimare, it seemed that not many ponies knew of her outside of the city. She would correct that as soon as she could.

[Act One]

"Thank you, Ms Keeper - I'll be sure to remember that."
He then takes a couple of quick looks around and leans more forward and lowers his voice so that only the other 2 should hear.
"The reason I need the information is this."

As his hooves grab the paper of the hidden object, Act's teeth grab the string at an end and pulls it loose. Trying to shield any extra attention to it, he covers up and uses his muzzle to unfold the rest of the paper wrapping. Revealing the contents, the package holds a green hexagon stone that has been framed inside a brass circle. Whereas the brass would have some shimmer to it, the stone was more jaded inside the general lighting. Other than that, it was a simple design and probably wouldn't fetch most pony's attention unless they have a particular taste.

The stony coated pony would give some space for the other 2 to look at the ornament.

[waaaaaaah]

Book Keeper allowed her eyebrows to rise fraction at the sight of the object, but inside she was wearing a cold smile of satisfaction. Oh yes, he had definitely had an interesting career.

"This is quite remarkable. How did you stumble across it?" she asked Act.

[Act One]

Focusing eye contact with Keeper's inquisitive pair, he replies in the soft volume he started with.
"Well, it belong to my father - Far Out. He was an adventurer and he told me that found this green stone while excavating in the Badlands. It's call "scale shale," a fossilized material that originated from dragon's scales. It's rare for us to see it because of the obvious reason of giant elemental-breath reptiles defending their domain. Mostly fire."

Act then shifted the object slightly, now giving attention to the brass ring surrounding the green "shale."
"I don't actually know why it's inside this though - I thought it might be just to give it ornamental value, but I don't know anything else about it."

[PaintedStar]

Lollipop, who was lost in the beauty of the mysterious object Act One just showed them. It looked so lovely, somewhat like mint candy. When she heard the stallion say something about his father, she stopped staring at the stone, and started paying  attention to what he was saying.
"My father was an adventurer too!" Lollipop said when Act One finished his last sentence. She was talking a little loud, maybe loud enough to attract attention of ponies sitting nearby.

[waaaaaaah]

Book Keeper reached towards the stone and ring gently with her magic but felt no response; it was somewhat disappointing, but she didn't let it show.

"There is no magic that I can detect in these two items," she said flatly.

[Act One]

"Geh-hee!"
A high-pitched noise escaped out of Act's mouth as panic burst up. His eyes and head were scanning around to see who might of heard Lollipop's last comment and looked at what was now in Book Keeper's hooves. He put a hoof to his lips, role-playing as a librarian would to keep the noise down.
"Shush-shush. Sorry, but I want less people knowing about this as possible - Who knows if there are rivals trying to head to the same thing as I am..."

Calming down, he didn't notice anyone who could of heard except one pony by herself. Act dismissed it as a lucky break and continued the conversation with his peers.

"But you know, that's pretty awesome that there's something in common between us. Far Out did it privately and tried to document all he could. Most of his adventures were just to get somewhere or find something that other ponies or races knew or realized were there.
I was told that when my dad found this stone, he almost never got out of the area because of the dangers. Flame geysers, difficult crossings, the over-sized tyrants and other creatures. Water ran out quickly, but he foresaw the issue and filled already empty bottles with snow on the mountains to melt along the journey and boil it later. Shaded areas were a must to stay inside most of the time to conserve energy and sweat."
He paused for a moment and looked at the dull treasure.
"One day though, he got the scale shale and gave it to a smith in Manehattan to put it in the ring as a gift to my mother. The day after he gave her the item, Far Out went on an adventure again, of which no pony saw him ever again. She waited for a long time, but we continued living as much as we could until she was gone too."

A slightly pained mask was visible as Act remembered those bittersweet memories. But the mask was worn for only a moment until he looked at the 2 mares again with determination.
"But this is what was really left behind by my father..."
He took the ornament from the pony opposite himself without hesitation. The hoof raised the ringed rock to a window with a full beam shining from behind Book Keeper's head. The stone then changed in luster, as the rays penetrated it and passed through, leaving an emerald-like shimmer left behind. It's like it had transformed the dull rock into a beautiful gem.
"Look at the table, friends..."
As the sun forced it's light through the stone, it tinted part of the table bright green. However, there were gaps of lighter green in places. It's as if the lighter markings were making a crude map, with an "X" to mark somewhere in a cave, and a path dotted across the area. a cave swallowed the "X" and there were cliff sides jagged and other pictures of note to look at.

[StarrBee]

Quick Silver heard one of the ponies speak quite loudly a few tables away. Something about an adventure? 'It's not your business, just stay out of it.' she reminded herself, sipping her drink. 'You don't have to be helping everyone all of the time.' she continued reminding herself to about it and enjoy her day.

[PaintedStar]

"Sorry..." Lollipop whispered, then leaned forward to take a better look at the green-tinted part of the table. It looked so beautiful, she didn't even notice the map.
"Wow.... that is so pretty." she said, with her voice kept quiet as possible.