open Bloodlines (S.O.L./Horror Mystery) [reboot]

[FirstPonySpectre 176]

Bittersweet nodded as Red Cask answered her question. "Alright. Thank you." She said with gratitude.

 

Bittersweet took a pause as she pondered what she was going to do. There were so many options to choose from. "I sort of want to go and set up my alchemy set in that kitchen the steward told me about. But I could tag along with Scribble to the theater and see that magician... or I could go to the library here with Emerald. Perhaps they have some books on herbalism here that I haven't already read." The pony contemplated the possible choices to herself, putting her hoof on her chin while doing so. 

 

"Though I do rather enjoy magic, and I would love to do some alchemy, I think I'd rather check the library first off.... maybe. I mean, I'd like to meet that magician mare. Maybe she's cute." BThe pink mare violently shook her head back and forth for a second in an attempt to erase the thought of the magician being cute. "Bitter. The time for ogling cute mare's will come later. For now, you should probably get accustomed to this place." She scolded herself. Though, upon looking at the crowd her eyes caught the eyes of Emerald looking right at her. Though she looked at everyone Bitter noticed she looked at her for what seemed like only a fraction of a second longer. 

 

@,

 

"Does she want me to go with her?" Bittersweet questioned. "She did look at me a bit longer. Though she might've done that with other ponies too. Though it'd be rude if I didn't go with her if she actually does want me to go with her." The bright blue maned pony speculated in her head. "Yeah, I'll go with her. She's nice after all. Plus they might have some books on the local flora here. That'd be pretty neat." 

 

"Her Em-Emerald. I'll tag along with you to the library." Bitter informed the black coated mare as she trotted up next to her and smiled shyly. 

 

 

 

[Mickey Taker 347]

Cherry Bomb

@@Gloomfury, @Windbreaker, @Scribblegroove
"...and take her to her room, I think. You've got -Oh!"

Cherry squeaked when she noticed her statue friend had finally stood up again on her own.
As the mare withdrew a notepad and began to write on it with a pencil, Cherry looked at her with slight curiosity, what was she doing?

Reading Belle's note however brought a smile quickly back to Cherry's face, giving a slight giggle to Belle's method of communication.

Wanting to make a little fun out of this, Cherry rather abruptly take's the notepad and pencil from Belle before writing a message of her own, holding the notepad between her hooves as she wrote holding the pencil in her mouth.
Understandably, as Cherry holds the message up to Belle, her "muzzle" writing wasn't clear to make out right away, but was readable.

"yOUr VEry weLcOME!!
mY NamE is cHerRy BOmB, WhAT's yOUr NaMe?
wOUld You LikE tOo coME To tHe ThEAtre WItH mE?

Edited January 18, 2015 by Golbez

[Gloomfury 243]

         

        Belle

 

@@Golbez, 

 

Belle let out a muffled goggle when the mare wrote her a note back. At first she was surprised when the mare to her notepad and pencil. But seeing her with with the pencil in her mouth and holding the pad like a cute filly, she couldn't help it. Belle took the pad and pencil back and wrote another note. 

 

"I would love to go to the theater with you, Cherry.  And my name is Belle. It's very nice to meet you."

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@@Gloomfury, @@Golbez, @,

 

By now thoroughly under the impression that Cherry had far too much energy and an extremely short attention span, she sighed and shrugged. But she seemed to be getting along with the other mare, so no harm done in the end. Her tone switched back to the warmer, more casual tone she'd adopted earlier. "Well, I'm heading to the hotel to pick out a room. You girls up for tagging along?"

[Ihei 712]

@@Windbreaker,

 

Dove Marigold

 

"I don't mind," Dove offered. She was a bit dumbfounded by how excited and eager Cherry was. To Dove, all of this seemed too good to be true. This resort looked like it would be a really popular tourist spot - instead, this place is rather empty and it seems like they were the only ponies there. "Don't you believe that this is all very peculiar?" Dove wondered aloud innocently, she asked Poppy when she was a good distance away from Cherry and the quiet mare.

[Evilshy 5,090]

Belinda

 

Overhearing the other ponies talking about going to the hotel to reserve rooms, Belinda decided it would be best to hurry there immediately and get a room, so as not to deal with anypony too much. She wanted a room in the back of the building, so fewer ponies would be walking past her room. She quickly but gently put Ophelia back into her bag and started flying towards the hotel at a brisk pace.

 

About half way there, she stopped and hovered. Buck! I don't know where or when we're supposed to meet for this dinner thing. It's probably mandatory, too. She briefly considered her options, and figured it would be better to get settled and then finding somepony who knew more. She kept on flying until she saw the inn, landed, and walked in.

 

 

(stopping there in case something happens with the inn, and because it hasn't really been described yet)

[Scribblegroove 565]

Scribblegroove

 

As far as he could tell, nopony was interested in joining him to have a look at the theatre. At least, nopony had voiced their curiosity about the place, so he simply assumed he was the only one that wanted to head there. A little dissapointed, but far from discouraged, Scribblegroove made his way to the alleyway that lead to the theatre according to the map. It was straight ahead, and he could already see it, so he would have to be blind to get lost on his way there. The small alleyway made him think of Canterlot's suburbs. Since the not all the buildlings were fully restored it fit fairly well with that comparison. Looking behind himself, he saw the others making their own plans and heading off. Since their host and his servants had already gone through an extensive amount of trouble to get him here and keep him comfortable, he reckoned that if he was supposed to be somewhere at an appointed time, he'd be collected from whereever he was at that given moment. After all, Red Cask should've mentioned it if he were supposed to show up by himself. There was only the curfiew, and that was hours away.

 

Being mostly alone, Scribblegroove slipped back in his usual pattern. Slowly, a song drifted into his mind. Adjusted to his what somewhat sombre surroundings, of somewhat worn buildings, and the thoughts displacement and otherwordlyness. That he was so focefully removed from his day-to-day business by this royal who demanded him to be in this weird ghost-town for some reason. Of course, he'd rather be somewhere else, but at the same time this place seemed interesting. With that thought in his mind, his steps slowly started to synchronise with a morose melody.

 

http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Dear+Prudence/35FsaP?src=5

 

Gently bobbing his head to the beat, he felt the symptoms of his sickness return very slowly and gradually. Again he felt lightheaded, and he had difficulty breathing. "I wish Bittersweet had come along... I really thought she would come along..." A bit disgruntled by his incorrect predction, he wondered what was going on in Bittersweets' head. "She hadn't really spoken with anypony else, and she seemed quite affectionate... But perhaps Emerald's aura had a more powerful impression onto her than onto me..." After all, he too had been tempted to follow Emerald to the library. But he was somehow a little afraid of that mare. She seemed like the kind that could look straight into his mind with the slightest amount of information. He didn't like to be around those who could analyse everything. He himself did it quite often, and to think that others would be doing that with him was terrifying enough. But ponies who were actually good at it, and made it their job... It just gave him the shivers.

 

The rest of the ponies were a strange bunch as well. Ranging from very unapproachable to unavoidable, the last of whom he had encountered up close. He hadn't really gotten the time to meet them though, and making assumptions on such little information was futile attempt at getting a hold on the entire situation. His knowledge on his companions would expand with time. Hopefully some of them were as interesting as Sunset, Bittersweet and Emerald had seemed in the short time he had had the pleasure of conversing with them.

 

Finally he had made his way to the entrance of the theatre. He stood in front of it, observing the outside for a while. Unbeknownst to him, the music that he had been imagining in his mind had started playing through the magic of his horn subconsciously. It wasn't uncommon, but it usually happened when he was alone and his thoughts weren't interrupted by others. He didn't notice it however, immersed as he was with the music. The notes drifted away in the soft breeze that blew through the streets. Not loud enough to be heard from a block away, but significant enough to be distinguished from the general noise of the town from a few hoofsteps away.

[SilverHeart 741]

@@Midnight Scribbler,
@,
@@Evilshy,
@@FortyTwo42,
@@Gloomfury,
@@FirstPonySpectre,
@@Scribblegroove,
@@Golbez,
@@Windbreaker,

 

((OOC:We've updated the map. Please use this one from now on. Ignore the discrepancy about the hotel locations. Use this one from now on. We needed a larger location since there are roughly ten ponies instead of four like last time.))

 

 

@@Evilshy, 

 

The inn, just like the buildings surrounding it, looked brand new. Its wood was far lighter and stronger looking than the surounding buildings. The only thing that set it apart from other Inns you had been in was that its design was outdated and rather simplistic. It was apparent that the stylistic design was meant to be faithful to the rest of the village's architecture. Though you imagine that was supposed to be the charm of the building. It was meant to stand out from other high-end resorts by being quaint and rustic instead of overly-luxurious. 

 

Once you walk inside the resort it took several moments for your eyes to adjust to the rather dim lighting. Just like the exterior of the building, its interior was almost the opposite of what one might expect a resort owned by a Prince to be. The walls were made of wood. There was some furniture, fairly new and obviously imported from Canterlot arranged around the room. The whole affair reinforced the feeling of it being purposefully simple. Opposite of the entrance was a counter behind which a very bored looking mare sat. Her coat was a yellowish-brown, which was close to the color of cinnamon bark, while her mane was yellow, almost like a lemon.  The mare had a pencil in her mouth and was idly drawing on a small piece of paper. From the way she was sitting you couldn't see any wings. 

 

It took a few moments for the mare to notice you. The moment she did so she dropped the pencil. "Oh no, I'm so so so sorry, I didn't see you. I hope you haven't been waiting too long" she said, her voice was faint and she sounded a bit nervous. "You must be one of the guests. Is there anything I can help you with?" She smiled at you, it looked a bit forced but was passable. "Oh I'm Cinnamon Song by the way." She added, almost as an afterthought. 

 

@@Scribblegroove,

 

 The Theater was large. Easily one of the largest you had ever seen. It almost rivaled the size of the famous Royal Canterlotian Theater, in fact once you looked closely, you realized that it was almost an exact replica of the two and a half century old playhouse. Almost everything was the same, from the materials and shape of the building to the expressions of the statues that lined its exterior. The only noticeable change was that the weathered look of the building. Like most of the houses and shops you had passed, the theater had been worn down with age. The once bright and vibrant colors were now faded, some walls had even reverted to showing the stone and wood that lay underneath. If you had to make a guess, the last coat of paint was probably several decades old by now. Far to the left you could see that somepony had left several canisters of paint unattended.

 

Once you entered the Theater you were greeted largely by darkness. slowly, as your eyes adjusted to the theater you began to make out the rows upon upon of chairs. The chairs themselves were remarkable well preserved, maybe they had been enchanted or they had possibly been replaced over the years.The only light in the vast room came from the stage at the back of the building. In the middle of the stage you could make out a pony wearing a purple cloak, the pony wasn't moving much, just kind of fiddling with something that sat in front of their hooves. The pony's head was obscured by the hood of the cloak, you couldn't make any further details out though. To the upper left of the stage, in one of the balconies close to the stage you think you might see some movement in the darkness.

[FortyTwo42 1,287]

Shadowhide

 

@@SilverHeart,

She listened as Red Cask answered her question about the hotel rooms. They have sufficient rooms, so whether to share a room or not is up to her. With her and Aero being good friends, she'll probably share a room with him. Although, it also turns out the rooms are allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis. She was already going to go to the hotel first so she could place her belongings in her room, but now she has an additional reason to get to the hotel quickly. There wasn't much else in this resort that seemed to interest her, so she imagined it's likely she'll spend much of her time in her room just reading or something to pass the time. And if that's the case, she should make sure she could get a good room.

 

She noticed Aero seemed to have other plans, joining up with Emerald, Sunset and Bittersweet to go to the library first. Red Cask said they would carry their bags to the hotel for them if they didn't want to visit the hotel first, but Shadowhide didn't entirely trust them. It'll probably be safer for her to take Aero's bags to the hotel for him instead, and it'll be convenient too since they're probably going to share a room.

 

She walked over to Aero, who was still wearing his saddlebags. 'Aero, I'm going to the hotel first. Since we're sharing a room, shall I take your saddlebags to our room for you?'

 

Aero looked to Shadowhide. 'Thanks, Shadowhide, that'll be great.' He paused for a brief moment as he seemed to recall something. 'Wait, have I said we're going to share a room? Shadowhide, I've been thinking, we're both quite fortunate since we're the only ponies out of everypony invited that already knew somepony else invited. Everypony else here met the rest of us for the first time today. I think it'll be a good idea if, instead of the two of us sharing a room, we see if anypony else wants to be our roommates instead. It'll be a great opportunity to get to know the other ponies. Especially since with everything that happened on the carriage, we didn't get good opportunities to befriend everypony... That snake was terrifying...'

 

Shadowhide didn't expect Aero to suggest something like that. She always thought they'd be roommates for sure, and it threw her off that Aero apparently thought differently. Although if Aero wants to find somepony else for a roommate, that's his choice, and she respects that. 'Very well, then. Shall I take your bags anyway? I'll keep them in my room until you come to collect them.'

 

'Sure, that would be great, thanks!' Aero replied, giving his saddlebags to Shadowhide. She nodded to him, then she then the turned around and walked off, straight to the hotel with two pairs of saddlebags. They were rather heavy and it was a bit awkward carrying two, but she didn't have to go very far or carry them for very long, so she should be fine.

 

@@Evilshy,

Shadowhide was surprised to see that somepony has beaten her to the hotel. Apart from the quick conversation with Aero, she went straight to the hotel from the carriage, which would've made it hard to beat her. Although when she recognized the pony as Belinda, it made much more sense. With how much she dislikes everypony, she would've come straight to the hotel too, and unlike Shadowhide, she wouldn't have stopped to talk to anypony along the way. Still, she got there early has all but one room to choose from, so the chances of the room she preferred being taken already are slim.

 

Knowing better than to try starting a conversation with Belinda, Shadowhide gave her a brief nod as a greeting, then silently queued up behind her. She almost felt sorry for the pony behind the counter who has no idea who she's about to deal with, but at the same time, she thought it'll be interesting to see how much Belinda tears into the unwitting pony. At least it'll give her an idea of what conversations with her are like from an outside perspective.

 

---

 

Aero Wind

 

How nice of Shadowhide to take Aero's bags for him. It would be tiring carrying all that stuff everywhere. Although Wagon Wheel offered to take anypony's bags to the hotel, so it seemed a bit unnecessary. Although it's comforting to know Shadowhide is taking care of it, and not a pony he barely knew.

 

@, @@Midnight Scribbler, @@FirstPonySpectre,

Once Shadowhide left with his bags, he turned to the other ponies who were going to the library. 'You all heard that, right? So, I'm wondering if anypony perhaps wants to share a room with me so we can get to know each other better. Anypony interested?' Aero paused for a brief moment to wait for a response, but then realized expecting a response so quickly could put a lot of pressure on the other ponies, so he hastily added 'N-Not that you have to answer me right away. We're all going to the library together, so we'll be spending a bit of time together anyway. Take as long as you like to think it over.'

 

One of the ponies that joined the group was Sunset, the pony he wrongfully accused earlier. That sure got things off to a bad start for them, and he hoped Sunset was willing to forgive him for that. He went over to her and said 'Hey, uh... look, I'm really sorry for what happened on the carriage. I was chased off by a snake and saw my close friend in trouble, and it all just got too much for me and I wasn't thinking clearly. It was wrong of me to do that, and I'm really sorry. Can we just pretend none of that happened and start over?' He held out a hoof in greeting. 'I'm Aero Wind, a meteorologist.'

 

It was then Aero realized something. By giving his saddlebags to Shadowhide to take to the hotel with her, he's now left left no bags or anything else he can use to easily carry any books he wants to borrow back to the hotel. He'll have to spend the walk out of the mansion carrying everything with his mouth. 'Great, nothing like another mistake to make everypony think I'm even more of an idiot,' he thought.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

@@SilverHeart,

@@FortyTwo42,

@,
@@FirstPonySpectre,
((Short post. Still waiting on Cinder))

 

Sunset Glow

 

Sunset was somewhat surprised when Bittersweet chose to tag along with them. She was almost certain she'd have gone with Scribblegroove, they seemed to have hit it off in the carriage quite well. She shrugged the thought off without gesture, and smiled. She was fond of Bittersweet already, she seemed to be quite a generous and thoughtful mare. She might even stand to learn something from her about her profession. Just then, another familiar face showed up next to her.

Aero Wind offered to share a room, directing the question openly to get to know everypony better. What he meant by this, was unclear to Sunset, who'd developed a rather unsavory relation with this pony so far. She glanced at the other two mares who stood with her, and gave him a somewhat questioning look. Just then he opened up and apologized to her. Sunset had not anticipated this, especially right in front of everypony. She blushed lightly, feeling somewhat confused, but was flattered that he'd thought to make amends. "Of course Aero" She chuckled "but I'm sure we don't need to reintroduce." Smiling warmly, she felt much more comfortable being in his presence once again. Before now, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to spend much time around him without feeling awkward. She continued, hoping to bring some semblance of relation together "I'm not too fond of snakes myself." She admitted, internally quivering at the thought of having one draped over her shoulder, like that other mare.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Emerald Gaze.

 

"Oh, well that's excellent! I suppose if it's no inconvenience then, my companions seem ready to go now. Would that be quite alright?" Emerald was a little surprised that the library had proven such a popular choice - and that the one called Aero had been the first to offer to accompany her - but wasn't about to complain. Instead, she glanced briefly back at her case. "If someone could take my case ahead for me it would be most appreciated. I'd hate to lose it while wandering around."

 

Inside said case was mostly more jewelry and gemstones, but also her cloak - disguised as the cases very lining. She doubted that either would be useful in the library in broad daylight however.

 

"As for rooms, if it's all the same to yourselves, I would prefer one to myself. Not that I'm adverse to company of course - but I do like some time alone in the evenings." A sly grin flashed across her face - considerably less 'proper' than anything she had displayed so far. "That, and I have had occurances in the past where such dealings have led to some... shall we say inappropriate rumors? All unfounded of course, but the masses love their stories."

[Mickey Taker 347]

Cherry Bomb

@@Gloomfury, @Windbreaker, @Scribblegroove

 

"YAAAY!!" Cherry abruptly exclaimed, and just as abruptly pulled Belle into a hug, slightly squeezing the mare briefly before letting her go again and turning her attention to Poppy, inviting them to go room hunting with her.

 

"Hmm, she has a point," Cherry rubbed a hoof under her chin in thought as she turned back to Belle, "...if you waited, what if all that was left was the broom cupboard?...You wouldn't want that would you?" Cherry placed her fore-hooves upon the masked mare's shoulders, "Tell you what, why don't you go with...with...with...with...with...with...-" The pegasi continued to repeat herself, as if somehow stuck in a loop until remembering she never actually knew Poppy's name, either that or she forgot it.

 

Cherry finally simply opted to point a hoof at Poppy Seed instead, "-..with...with that mare who's name escapes me!" Her ears drooped as she sheepishly smiled in Poppy's direction.

"Anyhoo, go with THAT mare and go find yourself a room, ok?..I'll be waiting for you at the theater when your done! ok?" 

Cherry smiled widely as she began to hop up and down on the spot expectantly.

[FirstPonySpectre 176]

@@Midnight Scribbler,

@,

@@FortyTwo42,

 

"Perhaps I should've gone with Scribble..." The pink mare questioned her choice. "Don't doubt yourself, Bitter. You made a choice, now stick with it! You'll probably see him later anyway and you can apologize then." She assured herself. "For now, let's focus on the ponies here now." 

 

Bitter took a moment to look at the ponies who were going to accompany her on this little trek to the library. Aside from the stunningly beautiful Emerald Gaze there was also the crimson coat Sunset Glow, and a stallion that Bittersweet hadn't been introduced to yet. The timid mare probably would have introduced herself to the bright green Pegasus, though seeing as her last attempt at saying hello went as poorly as it did, she decided to wait until he engaged in conversation, if he ever did. 

 

Looking at the gang around her, Bittersweet tended to stick closer to Emerald, seeing as she was the mare that Bitter had conversed with the most out of the three. Though she listened carefully to the conversation, looking for a chance to jump into it without looking like a fool. Though thankfully she didn't have to wait long as the conversation shifted from sharing rooms to the subject of snakes. 

 

"I'm okay with snakes, to be honest." She said softly and with a bit of confidence in her voice. "I have to be, really. Some of them give really good ingredients for alchemy and such. Especially the poisonous ones." Bitter took a brief pause to think of how she'd follow this up. Then, a spark of genius struck her. "Perhaps if I tell a joke or something it'd break the ice a bit better..ish." She told herself before saying in a semi-serious tone, though still with her typical soft-spoken tone. "With this snake poison you can make some really... killer medicine." Bitter said with a sheepishly confident smirk. She took another second of silence to let what she thought was a pretty great pun sink in before continuing. "Like, literally, it can kill you if used wrong..." She smiled nervously at the gang of three. "Bittersweet, that was really bad." She scolded herself with shame. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by FirstPonySpectre

[Evilshy 5,090]

Belinda

 

Belinda was pleased to see that she was the first t the hotel, and even smirked when she saw another pony from the carriage arriving after her, despite probably having come here directly from the carriage as well. Too slow, Shadow...

Belinda walked up to the counter without returning the clerk's smile. "Great service." She said, voice dripping sarcasm. "Do you have a room in the back that is a ways away from the rest of the rooms? I don't want to deal with anypony more than I have to, and I don't want a bunch of noisy ponies walking past my room all the time."

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@,

 

Poppy raised an eyebrow at Dove as she asked her question. "Aside from the relative lack of people, not really. Looks like an old-fashioned place, quiet. Why's that, Dove? Got a bad feeling?"

 

She had to admit, now that Dove mentioned it. It did seem a little peculiar that it looked so empty. Still, probably nothing, right? That thought didn't really make Poppy feel any better. Only that the more she thought about it, the less comfortable she felt about being on her own. "Say, uh, you up for having a roommate?"

[Ihei 712]

@@Windbreaker,

 

Dove Marigold

 

"Ah, that sounds wonderful! I've always dreamed of sharing a room with somepony!" Dove smiled, a bright twinkle in her eyes, even though every thought in the mare's head was screaming it was a bad idea to share a room. "It'll be like, um.. what was it again? Oh, it was a sleep party! I just know that we'll have a good time telling spooky stories," she nodded, the bad vibe she got from the resort having slipped her mind.

 

"Is this it?" she questioned, staring at a tall building across from the cafe.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@,

 

"Slumber party?" Poppy asked as they walked, half-dreading the inevitable spooky stories as they approached the building across from the cafe.

 

When Dove asked if this was the place, Poppy glanced at the building, taking note of any signage out the front. "Think so. Let's get ourselves a room, then. Are you much of a drinker, Dove?" She asked, preparing to enter the building.

[Ihei 712]

@@Windbreaker,

 

Dove Marigold

 

"Ah, was that what it's called?" she asked with a slight chuckle. "Oh, sorry if scary stories spook you. Not many ponies seem to like them," Dove frowned. "It wouldn't be mare-like for me to do something without your consent.." she nodded, turning away and entering the hotel.

 

It didn't look like there was a receptionist anywhere -- oh, there she was. Dove hardly noticed her because it was so dim and quiet. "Excuse us, um, do we require permission to find a room?" Dove asked the mare.

[Gloomfury 243]

@@Golbez,

 

Belle looked over to the mare Cherry was pointing at. Who already started walking off. For some reason Belle really  wanted to hang around with the very charismatic mare more. So she thought she would. After grabbing her saddle bags she walked over to Cherry Bomb. Next she wrote a note and old it up to her.

 

"I really don't mind what room I'll end up in. Besides, I'm sure if they invited all of us, then they must have enough rooms.  And also, why not come go find a room for yourself?" She then thought about it and then wrote something else under the first thing. "Well I guess because your a Pegasus you can sleep on a cloud, which I'm sure is a lot softer then a bed." She let out a muffled  chuckled.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Poppy Seed

@,

 

"I prefer to call them sleep-overs, though. Mum and I had a different way of saying things." She said. Though when Dove frowned, Poppy gave her a smile. "Oh, no. It's alright. I'd be a horrible roommate if I rained on your parade. Just as long as you don't mind me drinking while you tell stories. I like my booze sometimes, and this is my holiday, you see."

 

Once they found the receptionist, Poppy let Dove do the talking for the most part, taking in the sights of the hotel for the most part, noting that it looked like a quaint old inn. She kinda wished one of her friends was here, though. He'd be running out of paper and ink by now.

[SilverHeart 741]

@@Evilshy,@@Windbreaker, @, @@FortyTwo42,

 

Cinnamon stared at Bellinda for several seconds, her smile slowly morphed into a slight frown.The mare breaks eye contact and lowers her head to the floor, the only sound you hear is a faint sigh. Another moment passes before she suddenly looks up, absolutely beaming at all of you. "That is such a relief, thank you! I am so glad we're up to snuff. Your group are the first ponies to visit us in....gee, I really don't remember. Its been a long time. A very long time, I'm not even sure if I was born before we last had a visitor." The apparently relieved mare lifted her left hoof to tap her muzzle. Now that you've had a few minutes for your eyes to adjust the dim level of light, you can see that Cinnamon is still pretty young. She's pretty short, so she might not even be fully grown. "I got pretty nervous while waiting for you lot."

 

"But listen to me babble, you're probably tired. I've been told the trip through the forest is pretty long. You said you wanted a room in the back? Hold on just a moment!" Cinnamon said as she turned around and looked at the desk behind her. A few seconds of searching combined with a few mumbled sentences later Cinnamon had found the key, which she placed in front of Bellinda. "Here it is! You'll want to go up the stairs and take a left, follow the hallway until you come to the kitchen, which will be on your right. The door you'll want is directly on the left past the kitchen. You don't want the door on the right, it gets jammed real easy and can be pretty hard to open. If there's anything I can do to make you feel welcome feel free to ask!" Cinnamon ended her sentence with a smile, which was much more sincere than her first.

 

"Who's next?"

[Ihei 712]

@@SilverHeart, @['Windbreaker'],

 

Dove Marigold

 

"Thank you! If you ever feel uncomfortable though, please just tell me," she said with a polite smile. While she waited, she wondered how long she could keep this act up. She usually got a headache or a terrible case of the hiccups if she doesn't take a short break. Right about now, Dove could just use a nap.

 

"Ah! I'm next," Dove trotted up to the counter. "It doesn't matter what room we get - as long it's in good condition and well-kept, please," Dove smiled, then looked behind her. "And uh, *hic!* two beds if you can," she said with a hiccup.

[FortyTwo42 1,287]

Aero Wind

 

@@Midnight Scribbler,

Aero was relieved Sunset forgave him. He's pretty sure he's already made enemies with that snake loving pony, he sure doesn't want another enemy if he can avoid it. Although He felt embarrassed when Sunset pointed out there's no need for them to reintroduce. 'Right, of course, of course, no need to introduce ourselves again,' he responded with a sheepish grin, putting his held out hoof back onto the ground. Upon hearing Sunset's comment on snakes, he replied 'Yeah, snakes are scary. I have no idea how that pony can have one draped over her and not freak out.'

 

@,

So Emerald doesn't want to have any roommates. That's fine. The other two ponies with them haven't responded about that, but Aero thought he'd wait a bit to give them time to think about it rather than pressure them. He'll bring it up again when they're leaving the library.

 

He couldn't place it, but for a split second there, he thought there was a weird expression on Emerald's face. It was probably his imagination. What she said next was rather intriguing to Aero. 'Inappropriate rumors for sharing a room? That's happened to you before? Is that something that happens with diplomats? It sounds like a diplomat's reputation is far more important than it is for most ponies, so it kind of makes sense. Is that the case?'

 

@@FirstPonySpectre,

Hearing Bitter is okay with snakes was a huge surprise. It's a huge surprise to hear anyone's good with snakes. It seemed like she just tried to tell a joke, but given it was about snakes and deadly medicine, Aero just couldn't bring himself to laugh at it, even though he thought it would be rude not to do so. He quickly responded to her comment about snakes to prevent a long, awkward pause. 'You actually like snakes? I guess that's good, but I just can't think of anything but how scary it is if I see one. If it could potentially kill you, I think it's very reasonable to be scared of it. Maybe it wasn't a deadly snake, but if I don't know for sure, I'm just going to assume it's something that could kill me.'

 

Aero then recalled that she mentioned alchemy while she was talking. His voice suddenly gaining a lot of enthusiasm, he continued 'Hold on, did you say you do alchemy? That sounds amazing! It's like another area of science, right? I love talking about science, so I'd love to talk some more about alchemy if you're interested!'

 

---

 

Shadowhide

 

@@Windbreaker, @@Windbreaker,

Shadowhide saw another two ponies enter the hotel shortly after her. It's a good thing she got here so fast; the rooms are going to be taken very quickly at this rate. Just like with Belinda, Shadowhide silently nodded to them in greeting, then turned to face the front of the queue again. Not that she thought these two ponies don't want to talk, but this time Shadowhide was the one who didn't feel like talking. She was about to be served, and before that she wants to observe the interaction between Belinda and the receptionist.

 

The receptionist said a lot of strange things, which sure makes Bloodwell sound a lot like a ghost town, but Shadowhide considered most of what she said irrelevant nonsense. There was one thing Belinda said in particular that got Shadowhide thinking. 'I don't want a bunch of noisy ponies walking past my room all the time.' Sure, hearing ponies pass by your room would be something most ponies wouldn't want, but Shadowhide sees it differently. Considering how suspicious this whole 'vacation' is, Shadowhide still doesn't trust anypony here apart from Aero. Having a room next to a busy room or corridor, especially if it’s close to the entrance, could allow Shadowhide to essentially monitor when ponies are coming to or from the hotel. If she notices an abnormal number of ponies passing by, or somepony passing by at an odd time such as during the curfew, it would give her something to investigate about this very odd 'vacation'. However, this requires a room very close to the entrance to exist, and since Shadowhide doesn't know the layout of the hotel yet, there's no guarantee that's the case. Even so, requesting a room close to the entrance should at least allow her to monitor a good portion of the ponies staying there.

 

@@SilverHeart, @,

She saw the receptionist give Belinda a key, which probably means they're done. When she asked for the next pony Shadowhide approached the counter, but suddenly the pony with a white coat cut in front of her and quickly told the receptionist what she wanted. Shadowhide gently pushed her, not enough to make her lose her footing, but enough to make a point and get her attention. 'Excuse me, this is a queue. I was here first, so I get served next. Go to the back and wait your turn,' she said forcefully.

 

She then turned to the receptionist. 'I request a room as close to the entrance as possible,' Shadowhide said. The real reason she wants such a room would likely be frowned upon, but it's easy to come up with a simple excuse. 'I sometimes have a habit of coming to and from my room many times, so a room close to the entrance will be very convenient.'

Edited January 21, 2015 by FortyTwo42

[SilverHeart 741]

Cinnamon

 

@@FortyTwo42,@, @@Windbreaker,

 

 Cinnamon looked between the three ponies in front of her, she was pretty glad that the problem of who to help next had sorted itself out. "Alrighty, the closest room to the entrance is just up the stairs and directly to the left. You really can't miss it." the mare said before she turned around and produced three more keys. She pushed the key on the right forward with her hoof. "Here you go."

 

The mare turned her head toward Dove and Poppy, "And for you two, your room upstairs and halfway down the hall on the left side."

[FirstPonySpectre 176]

@@FortyTwo42,

 

Bitter was taken a tad bit off guard at the stallions intense interest in alchemy, though when she took a gander at his cutie mark she could see why. The bright green stallion did have a rather nerdy aura about him. Bitter smiled softly at the thought of being able to talk about her work to somepony a bit more. 

 

"Well there's a lot to talk about when it comes to alchemy." Bittersweet informed the glasses wearing pony. "Is there anything specifically you'd like to know about?" She asked, looking at the pony with a curious gaze. 

 

(Pardon the short post. I'm in the middle of class but I felt the need to post something. Haha.)

Edited January 21, 2015 by FirstPonySpectre