Who You Gonna Call?

Elacular wrote:Rhinestone facehoofed and sighed, looking at Gallows. "Does she always..."

She left the question unfinished, since she figured she already knew the answer. She did give Hallows a small smile though, happier than she probably should have been to have the burden of bits off her back.

Rhinestone, trying to place Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME's, voice, can recognize that he's not a Las Pegasus native. She'll need more to go on than a vague suspicious feeling to figure out anything else, though.

Bronymous wrote:"Hmmm ok." Hallows says cutely. Without warning, she jumps up into Chronos' lap. "What do you want to know?"

Gallows just gives a weak "...uh, yeah...she does..." and then looks away from Rhinestone, blushing.

"Well, where do you come from, for one?" asked Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME. "Did you have good times there? Bad times? I figure that's a good place to start the clock."

The host at the front groans at the terrible time puns.

Rhinestone briefly considers trying to give herself a concussion to make the puns funny somehow, but decides against it. Hey Bell Mare? There's something weird about these timey-wimey jerkoffs. Do you see anything?

Fuck you internet, making me retype this whole thing.

---

"We come from the Wastes of Zebrica, desolate burial grounds and haunted deserts. From our first day we were surrounded by ghosts, tormented by them. We soon learned how to escape them, to fight them- to destroy them," As she is speaking, at the booth Gallows mouths along with the practiced words perfectly. "We exorcised the Night Terrors in Tansk, destroyed the Spectre at Kazaaok Hill, and vanquished the Phantom Army of Foals of Zebra Witchdoctor Zasalamel." Hallows continues with a modest intensity, but she never stops looking at Chronos from her place in his lap. Her tail wags lazily, brushing against him as she settles in closer to him. "We made our names in our homelands, and have come to Equestria to make our fortune."

---

Bluff Check, why not?
Persuasion: Nat20+7=27
Wish that would have happened on a more important check.

Elacular wrote:Rhinestone briefly considers trying to give herself a concussion to make the puns funny somehow, but decides against it. Hey Bell Mare? There's something weird about these timey-wimey jerkoffs. Do you see anything?

"Hmmph?" came Bell Mare's voice, apparently stuffed with food. "Mmph mmmph mmmph MMMPH mmph mmph."

Since the communication between Rhinestone and Bell Mare is telepathic, Rhinestone gets the feeling Bell Mare is messing with her. So, you know, average day.

Bronymous wrote:"We come from the Wastes of Zebrica, desolate burial grounds and haunted deserts. From our first day we were surrounded by ghosts, tormented by them. We soon learned how to escape them, to fight them- to destroy them," As she is speaking, at the booth Gallows mouths along with the practiced words perfectly. "We exorcised the Night Terrors in Tansk, destroyed the Spectre at Kazaaok Hill, and vanquished the Phantom Army of Foals of Zebra Witchdoctor Zasalamel." Hallows continues with a modest intensity, but she never stops looking at Chronos from her place in his lap. Her tail wags lazily, brushing against him as she settles in closer to him. "We made our names in our homelands, and have come to Equestria to make our fortune."

Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME, looks really interested - even the older, more grumpy Pegasus looks up from her almost-finished hay with something of a smile on her wrinkled face.

"Sounds like the perfect jackals to help your ghost problem, eh Tempest?" asked Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME.

"If they are they better get on it," said Tempest, putting down some bits to pay for her meal and slowly getting out of her chair. "I ain't waitin' until I'm gone for those ghosts to leave."

Tempest fumbles along until she grabs hold of a walker, then uses it to hobble out of the restaurant.

"But how did you do it?" asked Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME, turning back to Hallows. "Nopony... or nojackal, rather... simply goes from being the terrorizee to the terrorizer. There's not enough time to pull that off so quickly!"

Rhinestone rolled her eyes at Bell Mare before turning her focus elsewhere. She briefly considered assisting Tempest to the door, but decided the old grey mare could take care of herself. "So Gallows: you and Hallows said that you've been in this racket for a while. Do you happened to know anything about venge...full..."

Her voice trailed off and a look of worry crossed over her face. Bell...where did you get that food from?

In a small burst of light and smoke, a rolled up scroll appears in front of Rhinestone's face, dropping (regrettably) onto her lunch...

Letters to Home (Spike, Take a Letter):

Gallows looks at Rhinestone quizzically, but waits to speak.

Hallows, meanwhile, continues unabated. "Well there's your problem. If there's something you desperately want, something you NEED, you will find time for it, or you will make it. For example, despite these ghosts at the factory, we're finding time to eat... and if there so happens to be something else I want right now... I can show you how I make time for it."

---

The question is, is he clueless enough to take the bait, or clueless enough to press the question?

I bet I can guess.

Elacular wrote:Her voice trailed off and a look of worry crossed over her face. Bell...where did you get that food from?

"Kitchen."

Crystalite wrote:In a small burst of light and smoke, a rolled up scroll appears in front of Rhinestone's face, dropping (regrettably) onto her lunch...

"Also there's a letter in your food."

Bronymous wrote:Gallows looks at Rhinestone quizzically, but waits to speak.

Hallows, meanwhile, continues unabated. "Well there's your problem. If there's something you desperately want, something you NEED, you will find time for it, or you will make it. For example, despite these ghosts at the factory, we're finding time to eat... and if there so happens to be something else I want right now... I can show you how I make time for it."

Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME, chuckles.

"True enough," said Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME. "Now, from your time and experience, do these ghosts feel emotion?"

...duly noted, and I am very glad I'm not paying for this meal.

Rhinestone shook her head and smiled at Gallows, fishing the note out of her soup and blotting it dry with her napkin as she spoke. "Sorry, was just kind of in space for a minute there. Uhhh," she examined the note, hoping it would distract Gallows from her distraction. "Okay, so good news. We have a place to cool or hooves...paws. Whatever, we have hotel rooms. And we haven't accrued any outstanding arrest warrants yet. The bad news is that WW is still pissed. So anyway, I figure after we eat we head back to the hotel and inform out leader du'jour about our findings. Thoughts?"

"I'm not sure. They wail and scream and cry like they're angry or sad. There's a lot of excitement when fighting a ghost, we don't normally ask them a whole lot about themselves. We just get rid of them." Hallows squirms impatiently, and lets out a yawn. "And if they do, then they are almost always some mix of terrified and angry after we get to them." She then lays back, resting her head against his chest, still watching him expectantly.

---

I'm waiting for the really difficult questions, Hallows can BS for as long as I can.

So did our food arrive, or what? Last I saw we were still waiting, but Rhinestone has her soup?

Bronymous wrote:"I'm not sure. They wail and scream and cry like they're angry or sad. There's a lot of excitement when fighting a ghost, we don't normally ask them a whole lot about themselves. We just get rid of them." Hallows squirms impatiently, and lets out a yawn. "And if they do, then they are almost always some mix of terrified and angry after we get to them." She then lays back, resting her head against his chest, still watching him expectantly.

"You have a hard job," said Chronos, MASTER OF ALL TIME, awkwardly putting a hoof on Hallows as if he's not sure how to touch her. "Does it make you happy, or is there just not enough hours in the day for that?"

The waiter from earlier, cautiously balancing two Rib, Steak, and Shrimp Trios, two BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers, and a plate of Chicken Fried Chicken and carefully laying the plates on the table, which is barely big enough to hold it all.

"Enjoy!" said the waiter, hurrying back into the kitchen.

The food has barely touched the table before Gallows digs in, going for his bevy of meat. He tears into the steak first, table manners left far behind. About half way through it, he has a look of sublime bliss in his eyes as he slows down to really savor it. Once the steak is finished, and he begins eyeing his next options, he catches a glimpse of Rhinestone, and more importantly her meager bowl of soup, he stops. Then, careful as his paws would allow, he does his best to remove the patty and bacon from the burger, leaving behind the bun, lettuce and tomato, etc. Satisfied it is meat-free, he shyly nudges it across the table, offering it to her.

Meanwhile, Hallows has not yet noticed her food has arrived as she ponders Chronos, MOAT's question. "Happy... well of course it does... Look, Jackals don't get fancy Marks that tell us what we're good at, so we just kind of have to know. So yeah, we get to do what makes us happy..." She looks remarkably less contented now, her voice ringing with the barest hint of a quiver as it rises. "Why wouldn't we be happy with it? Me, and my brother, the only one I have to share the world with, we get... we fight... we do what makes us happy, so wh-why wouldn't we be happy about it? Just because we occasionally skip a meal... or ponies think we're weird, or creepy... or just animals... it doesn't matter, as long as we... we..." Her voice cracks, and it's apparent she's holding back tears now. Still, she stares at Chronos, this time more a pleading look than anything.

---

Didn't necessarily stump her, but an emotional trigger works, too. Gallows is too preoccupied with food to pay any attention to her.

Rhinestone's eyebrows arched at Gallows chowing down. She wasn't disgusted or disturbed, bur she remembered that her mother's griffoness friend had never eaten like that. She supposed it could just be cultural, or the fact that her mom and most of her friends were socialites born into wealth. Either way, it seemed fairly pointless to question it. She was much more surprised when the Jackal gently pushed the non-meat parts of his burger over to her. She sputtered a bit at first, unsure of what to say. For one incredibly stupid moment, her father's voice rung in her head saying never to take handouts, but she quickly shook that away. "Damn...Uh, I mean, you sure you don't want it? It is your food. Then again, I don't know if you really eat-do you? Most of what I know is pony biology and-what in Tartarus am I talking about?" She clocked herself lightly upside the head with one forehoof, then gave Gallows a gentle smile. "What I meant to say was thanks, Gallows. There, how hard was that? You are literally autistic."

Even through her mild self flagellation, she was clearly subduing a big grin and happily ate the lettuce and tomatoes before dipping the bun in her soup and munching on that too. She was a bit lost in herself, so she didn't notice Hallows' torment.

Elacular wrote:She clocked herself lightly upside the head with one forehoof, then gave Gallows a gentle smile. "What I meant to say was thanks, Gallows. There, how hard was that? You are literally autistic."

"You're literally a whole bunch of other things."

Bronymous wrote:She looks remarkably less contented now, her voice ringing with the barest hint of a quiver as it rises. "Why wouldn't we be happy with it? Me, and my brother, the only one I have to share the world with, we get... we fight... we do what makes us happy, so wh-why wouldn't we be happy about it? Just because we occasionally skip a meal... or ponies think we're weird, or creepy... or just animals... it doesn't matter, as long as we... we..." Her voice cracks, and it's apparent she's holding back tears now. Still, she stares at Chronos, this time more a pleading look than anything.

Before Chronos, BODY OF WATER SURROUNDING A CASTLE, can answer, the waiter comes by with the check.

"No rush, just whenever you're ready," said the waiter, running back to the kitchen.

"There, there," said Chronos, DUG-OUT WATER MEANT TO KEEP OUT INTRUDERS. "I can see you need time to heal."

Chronos, WATER-BASED OBSTACLE THAT MIGHT HOLD CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS, pulls out some bits and lays them on top of the check - but they're only enough to pay for Hallows' meal.

Gallows swallows another bite and smiles back at Hallows. "uh...welcome..." he mumbles, and then continues on his bunless bacon burger. He doesn't make more than a few seconds of eye contact at a time, though, and he rushes eating again.

Hallows just whimpers a bit, and then sucks in a calming breath. "I... will you help me? Can you make me happy?" The question comes off in a confused tone, like someone speaking another language would ask it, thinking it means something else.

Bronymous wrote:Hallows just whimpers a bit, and then sucks in a calming breath. "I... will you help me? Can you make me happy?" The question comes off in a confused tone, like someone speaking another language would ask it, thinking it means something else.

"That depends on what kind of happiness you want in your lifetime."

He still doesn't seem to know what to do with his hooves.

For the first time since speaking to Chronos, Hallows looks away from him, unsure. Reflexively she looks to her brother for support, but he still hasn't paid any attention. He gives her a little wave and points at the table. "Food's here" is all he contributes to the conversation before going back to his meal, slowing down as he begins to get full, with only the ribs left. Hallows looks back at her cushion, and puts her front paws upon his chest, supporting herself as she raises her head above his. "I don't know. At all. Maybe you can show me? But first... I'm starving." She gives him a friendly lick on the cheek and then dismounts, returning to her table to begin eating.

Upon returning, she scoots in extremely close to her brother, and begins picking at her food in a delicate ladylike manner, just before tearing into it like a Jackal.

---

If he leaves this will be very anticlimactic.

Bronymous wrote:She gives him a friendly lick on the cheek and then dismounts, returning to her table to begin eating.

Upon returning, she scoots in extremely close to her brother, and begins picking at her food in a delicate ladylike manner, just before tearing into it like a Jackal.

Chronos smiles before checking his watches and returning to his own meal. Speaking of meals, according to the check this meal is relatively expensive.

Rhinestone gobbled up the last of her bun happily and drank down what little was left of her soup. She glanced at the check and cringed somewhat, trying and failing to hide it.

Gallows looks at Rhinestone, and then pulls the check towards her. She looks it over once, and then produces the bag of bits, and slides it over to her. "I was never that good with money, can you hang onto these? My meal is paid for." She shoots a glance at Chronos, TASTER OF ALL FOODS. She eats a bit more and places her head on her brother's shoulder. He coughs. "Eat your food. Rhinestone's waiting on us."

Rhinestone gawked at the money and flubbed wordlessly for a minute. "Uh...wow, I...damn. Th-thanks. I...uh, I think I'll give part of what's left to everyone after this is paid for. That way we all have a bit of something, you know? Uh, if that's okay I mean."

As Hallows ate, she counted out the appropriate number of bits before putting the rest of them in her bag.

Hallows snaps out of her lazing when Rhinestone speaks. "What? No, no, don't give away my money! I just was asking if you could carry it for me, since I don't have any bags. It's still mine... I mean, I'll share it with you, if you carry it... and I guess the others, if you think I should... but it's still my money..."

"Oh-OOOH!" Rhinestone clocked herself upside the head with one hoof. "Sorry, sorry. Completely my mistake. Uh, you have to speak clearly around me because I'm really not that bright. But I'll just hang onto it."

Bronymous wrote:She shoots a glance at Chronos, TASTER OF ALL FOODS. She eats a bit more and places her head on her brother's shoulder. He coughs. "Eat your food. Rhinestone's waiting on us."

Chronos, DINER IN ALL RESTAURANTS, smiles.

"Whenever you're done, I'd be happy to show you a good time around town..."

The host pony at the front hurls a menu at Chronos, MAKER OF ALL PUNS, without even looking up.

Elacular wrote:As Hallows ate, she counted out the appropriate number of bits before putting the rest of them in her bag.

The waiter comes by to pick up the check right as Hallows says "no", pauses, and stands there awkwardly before reaching for the check.

Gallows shrugs at the waiter, grinning. Hallows finishes off the majority of her food, and looks over at Chronos, SPEAKER OF ALL SYLLABLES. "Oh, what, so now you want to get to know me a little better?"