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[Zamuel]

Another day in Friendship Gardens was in full swing. The usual hustle and bustle of the town set about under a partially cloud day as a light rain was scheduled for early afternoon and everything was in place. It was the lunch break for Swift Letter and with it being a particularly light mail day, he found himself at Sweet Berry's shop with only the few homes farther north needing letters delivered. Sweet Berry herself was behind the counter. The friendly light purple earth pony greeted him with a big smile but not her usual greeting as she had several letters in her mouth. She also had one tucked behind her ear, partially balanced by the multitude of pink braids in her mane or perhaps the two small green hairbows that matched her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ember Burst also found herself entering Sweet Berry's shop. She was right on schedule for her fairly productive day, and what better way to continue that than to have a meeting and lunch at the same time? While she couldn't tell just what was off about the store, she could smell the delicious scents that were presumably the muffins for tomorrow's big race at the farm's racing field. A quick status report while eating would allow Ember a possible chance to finish work early, pending on how the next stop went.

Spoiler

Wanted to work on a few more things but don't want to keep holding things up. Timber will be ever so slightly delayed in introduction but she'll be introduced shortly.

Edited by Zamuel, 19 January 2019 - 02:31 AM.

[Fnu Aw]

What a slow day. Hardly any mail. Nopony got any interesting magazines. It's lunchtime and he's almost done with his route already. Oh well. This just means he'll have a long afternoon to work on his projects.

As he enters the bakery he gives his standard greeting: "Howdy." He then looks at Sweet Berry very intently, as if deeply contemplating something. Pondering. Trying to figure something out. On the edge of something but not quite able to put a hoof on it. But then he has it.

"You have something in your teeth."

Spoiler

He's referring to the letters she's currently holding with her mouth. He's pretending they aren't blatantly obvious. This is a "joke".

This is the dorky humor my neighborhood pretends to find funny.

[Patch]

Ember Burst enters the shop, humming a tune quietly to herself while jotting notes with the quill and paper she carried with her magic. Her brisk scribbling slowed considerably as the scent of delicious muffins began to impair her ability to focus.

 

"Oh dear, those muffins smell so wonderful that I think my productivity levels just dropped!" She giggles as if she's just told a hilarious joke.

 

She looks up from the paper to see Swift Letter and Sweet Berry with the letters in her mouth. Her eyes suddenly go wide. "Oopsie! I didn't mean to interrupt."

[Zamuel]

Sweet Berry started laughing at Swift Letter's joke. Or she would have if it weren't for the letters in her mouth. Realizing this, she set the stack of letters and said "Good one! You're right on time too. Got a whole stack to send out...as you obviously already saw." Turning to Ember Burst, she said, "You're not interrupting at all. The envelope behind my ear is for you. Didn't know if it was best to mail it or just walk it over but showing up solves that. It's the itener...iten...that list of how well production has been going for the bakery that you asked for. Hope it's what you needed!"

Edited by Zamuel, 19 January 2019 - 08:31 PM.

[Patch]

"Oh, good! Let me just take that off your hooves... or rather, your ear, hahaha." Ember Burst gently floats the letter over and opens the envelope, giving the list a quick look-over. "Yes, yes, this is just what I was looking for! Thank you so much!"

[Zamuel]

"No, thank you. You've been a big help in keeping thing organized." Just then, Timber Glee also entered Sweet Berry's shop. It had been a hard day's work chopping wood and making sure fresh saplings were planted where the old trees were but now it was time for a well earned mid day meal to rest and recharge. Sweet Berry happily waved when Timber entered. "Hey, just who I wanted to see! I uh, need your help with something if you're not too busy."

Edited by Zamuel, 21 January 2019 - 01:22 AM.

[MEDdMI]

"Good afternoon!" Timber's large hooves loudly announced her presence, not that she was easy to miss. She walked a few steps before realizing she was tracking mud inside. She sheepishly stepped backwards to wipe the mud off her hooves on the doormat outside, then walked back inside to the counter. She waved at everyone there.

"Sure, just as soon as you lend me a mop so I can clean the mess I made, and as long as I get home by dinner to spend time with my lill' sis."

Edited by MEDdMI, 21 January 2019 - 07:08 PM.

[Zamuel]

"Oh, I'll handle mopping...and I probably should've asked everypony if they have an order since they're here. But I was wondering what I should do aboooout...that." Sweet Berry pointed at the corner to a table sitting by its lonesome. It was slightly crooked but not for trying as it had perhaps a hundred nails and what looked like a railroad spike driven into it. As she started looking for the mop she said, "The table broke and I didn't want to bug others about fixing it so I took matters into my own hooves.

Or at least, I tried to.


...


It's better than last time, right?"

[Fnu Aw]

Here lies something that was once a table.

"Do you need help? I have tools. I could come by again when I'm done with my route."

[MEDdMI]

"....oh dear. You poor table." Timber edged closer to inspect it, lunch forgotten for the time being."I don't know, Swift-" here she paused to make sure Sweet Berry wasn't listening- "it might not be salveageable this time." She whispered through her teeth, as if announcing a serious illness.

Spoiler

Roll(1d20)+0: 9,+0 Total:9

Edited by MEDdMI, 21 January 2019 - 11:34 PM.

[Zamuel]

"I should have some tools available somewhere. Other than a hammer, I mean." Sweet Berry said as she pulled out a mop. However, she dropped it an looked forlorn upon hearing Timber Glee's not completely silent comment. "Oh no. I'll need another table by tomorrow when visitors start arriving. What am I going to..." She then lightly facehoofed herself. "I just realized I have a spare easy build table kit. You want to help me with it real quick...or should I work on it?"

[Fnu Aw]

Swift Letter ponders the situation, for real this time.

 

"I think the rest of my route can wait. I don't have much left anyway. We have a table to build."

[Zamuel]

"Be right back!" Sweet Berry said as she rushed into the back. She then walked out carrying a box on her back. It had a photo of happy ponies having a good time playing a board game that was just fuzzy enough in the picture that the exact game couldn't be discerned. In bold, bright letters it called out 'Simple Steps! Instructions included!' on the front and sides. After the box was opened, Sweet Berry separated out the wood, some sort of latches, and instructions.

Spoiler

Group skill challenge for building the table. First is a General Knowledge DC 15 for understanding the instructions or perhaps already knowing how to build similar tables.

[MEDdMI]

"I'd appreciate the help, Swift. Ember, think you could spare a hoof?" When Sweet Berry set the box down, Timber laughed. "Oh, this'll be a piece of cake! I've made things way more complicated than this for my Cuddle Button-" Timber got a far off look in her eyes as she grinned, a look her friends knew all too well. She was going to start rambling about her little sister again.

 

Spoiler

 Roll(1d20)+8: 18,+8 Total:26

Edited by MEDdMI, 23 January 2019 - 11:43 AM.

[Zamuel]

Timber Glee easily set the pieces in place as each leg had pegs for a dedicated spot instead of being modular. The hinges would allow the table legs to fold in for easy storage. Steady hooves or perhaps some magic would get this done in no time.

Spoiler

Timber Glee automatically passes Might DC 15 for the main table mass.
Group Dexterity DC 20 for attaching the legs.

[Fnu Aw]

Swift Letter looks over the instructions.

 

"Hmm, there's moving parts here but they're just simple hinges. They shouldn't make this difficult. We'll be done with this before lunchtime's over."

 

Spoiler

Dexterity

Roll(1d20)+5:
10,+5
Total:15

[Patch]

"Done before lunchtime is over? That sounds very efficient, I like that!" Ember picks up one of the parts with her magic. "Let me just- whoops!"

Spoiler

Dexterity check:
Roll(1d20)+7:
1,+7
Total:8

Wonderful. First roll of the campaign and I get a nat 1.

[Zamuel]

A fairly unpleasant snap was heard as Ember Burst attempted to insert the leg with her magic. The angle was off and the attachment broke. It might be salvageable but would take more traditional carpentry skills.

Just then, two ponies walked in the door. Well, the first wasn't actually a pony but was Post, Swift Letter's helpful carrier pigeon. Post landed on Swift's shoulder and looked at the table Sweet Berry tried to fix with worry and confusion. The second was the head of the weather team, Light Heart. The white pegasus mare had fluffy hair of yellow-orange and magenta and a big purple bow that could potentially remind one of a sunrise. As she calmly trotted in, she nonchalantly said, "Oh hey. You might want to finish that before the lunch crowd shows up. Got a crowd coming this way. But don't mind me, I'll get that mud mopped up for you."

Spoiler

Made sure Post got noted since he hadn't been directly called out. A companion is always with you unless you have them do something else or something happens to them.

Can the new table be saved? Here's your chance to role play what you think can solve the problem. Do well and the nat 1 can be circumvented. However, time is of the essence.

[Patch]

"Oh no!" Ember whimpers as she looks at the broken attachment. "I'm so sorry! Maybe I should let you two handle the assembly while I read the instructions..."

 

Spoiler

General Knowledge check for reading the instructions:

Roll(1d20)+12:

12,+12

Total:24

[Zamuel]

While the instruction booklet wasn't very thick, it did have a troubleshooting section. It noted that in the event that a peg broke, there were ways the peg could be removed and the leg nailed in. The table would lose collapsability but would still be stable. Sadly, the book lacked pictures for the troubleshooting and the box didn't provide spare parts.

Sweet Berry jumped a little upon hearing the peg snap and looked about as downtrodden as Ember seemed to feel. Then both found that they had been pulled into a big hug by Light Heart. Not just with her forelegs but also with her wings, for as she often said 'wing hugs are twice the hug'. "Don't sweat it you two, we got this. In fact, Sweets, you take care of lunch for the four of us. Whatever the house special is, I'm buying. I'm sure Glee and the rest of us will have this table fixed."

Edited by Zamuel, 24 January 2019 - 09:12 AM.