Champions of New Equestria

She piped up, "If you're that int'rested in gettin' to Canterlot, it'd be easiest to take the north entrance. It's a bit o' a long path, but it heads straight to town. It's the safest route, I'd say. There'd be a train, but last I heard it broke down near Whitetail."

Chocolate Flurry looked over the group and asked, "Can anypony here not fly?"

"Mmm... I don't think any of us here can't fly..." Tick-Tock said.

"Damn, I had the train pegged as the best route, too. Oh well, flying works." Phoenix stands up. "I won't bother explaining- you'll call me crazy, then a liar then a crazy liar. My names Ph-Flashpoint. I..." Now the hard part. He had committed to secrecy this time, now he needed a cover. Not a Guard, the Bat's a guard. Back up, back up, what's my back up... "I'm a dress... coach... I'm a flight coach. But I used to work part time in a dress shop. And other things. The point is, don't worry about it. If it's super important, it'll come up again later. I think we gave our mystery number 6 enough time to show his face, though. Let's satisfy Smokey's curiosity and get moving."

"Don't worry dress coach," Chocolate says while rolling her eyes, "I already think you're crazy."

"I normally think all ponies are crazy... To think, you must be insane... And those who think they're such a thing is sanity is real, are the worst cases of insanity, ever." Tick-Tock waxes poetically.

"Well, alright then." The little filly shrugs. "Good luck on your journey, or whatever. Oh, and if you ever come back to Ponyville, come see me again! Ask for Peppermint!"

Perception:

"Well, Phflashpoint, I'm going to skip right ahead to calling you a liar anyways, and probably crazy to boot. But that's not important right now."

She looks around confused before looking at her own back.

"Oh! I don't know why I didn't think of flying, that seems like the easiest thing to do... and a good way to test how well these things actually work.... Thank you for the food and drink, Peppermint. Hope things weren't too crazy here for you. Oh, and if you see somepony else coming in here looking for us, you should probably tell them we just went on to Canterlot without them."

Seeing as everypony seemed to be ready to leave, Smoke Screen exited through the door, muttering under his breath about how Flashpoint shouldn't call him Smokey...

Tick-Tock nods and waves goodbye to the barekeeper and then flies with the rest of the group to canterlot.

"It was nice meeting you Peppermint." Chocolate says with a nod and takes off after the others.

"Well, as long as we're skipping straight to Crazy Liar, then I guess everything's sorted..... oh, dammit, Firefighter! That was my job, I'm a firefighter. Ignore dress coach, that was a lie, I'm definitely a firefighter." Phoenix follows behind everyone else, almost to the door. He then turns back, runs to the counter, grabs a few more fries, and then waves to Peppermint, heading out.

"Ah... Good to know how combat goes with you..." Tick-Tock replied.

"Somehow I get the feeling that I'm the one who will be putting out the fires." Chocolate says with a sigh.

"I'll help when I can..." Tick-Tock offers.

As you exit the Cube, it opens right to a view of the north entrance on the edge of town, which, sure enough, looks like it heads over the hills to Canterlot. The path is lit with blue-flamed torches, most likely of the magical variety.

The town is almost deserted, with a large portion of ponies either at school or work.

Ah, quiet streets. Although Smoke wasn't looking to steal anything, quiet streets are always so relaxing, it usually meant there are no witnesses about. Still, there is work to be done. While the others all seem to have decided on flying to Canterlot, Smoke Screen knew it would be easier just to find a carriage. Besides, the thief doubts that this group would be able to make such a journey. The bat guard? Maybe. The compulsive liar? Not unreasonable. The clockwork pony and the mare in the fake wings? No chance. They'll thank him later...

(Streetwise Roll: 7 + 10 = 17)

The only carriage Smoke can see is a rather small one, being led by a black pegasus mare and a white unicorn stallion down the street. It could probably fit all five members of the group, although it'd be a pretty tight squeeze.

Well, it wasn't ideal, but better than just flying. Smoke Screen slinked away from the group and towards the two ponies by the carriage. "Hey, where are you heading to with that carriage?" Smoke inquired to the pair...

The white unicorn answered. "We've been hoping to pick up a few travelers for some spare bits. Why, you need a ride?"

Meanwhile, Chocolate Flurry goes up high into the sky to make sure they have a good wind for easier flying in the direction they're heading, since she for one doesn't want to cram into a cramped carriage.

---

Acrobatics for Weather-Crafting: 29 + 11 = 40

Any and all clouds near the town drift away, as the wind redirects itself towards the nearby mountain. A gentle breeze wafts through Ponyville.

"Yes, me and my, erm," Smoke paused and turned his head to look at the unusual ensemble of a group, trying to see if he knew any better words to describe them, "...pals here could do with a ride to Canterlot. Can you do that?"

"Sure!" he smiles. "It'll be five bits per pony. How many are you traveling with?"

Smoke Screen quickly counted up the ponies. Five, if you included the clockwork one. Smoke considered arguing that the alicorn doesn't count, as she isn't a pony, but it wasn't really worth the five bits. "There's five of us," answered the thief, as he produced a bag of 25 bits, tossing it towards the unicorn. "How soon can we leave?"