So want to help me plan the perfect murder? {open}

[Marceline Abadeer]

"So here's what I'm thinking: we poison them, but not all at once. Bit by bit, just adding a little to their food each day. Something with a strong flavor. Like, say, soda or something. Not the poison," Marceline paused to shake her head, "the poison has to be flavorless, or as close to it as we can get. No, we put the flavorless poison, like, into something with a strong flavor. Let it build up in their system after several days. Then, just as we think that they're about to die from poison, WHAM!" Marceline slapped her hand down on the table, the loud thwack making the glasses set upon it dance. "We smack them over the head! See, the report, if they actually get to the body, is going to show that they were poisoned. So people are going to be all like 'hey, he's totally poisoned,' right?" Marceline nodded, then smirked. "Then, we take the slightly poisoned, bludgeoned body, and we head out into a hog farm. We chop it into itty-bitty pieces, and then we feed it to the piggies. Just a bit, so that the poison spreads out. Maybe even pick something that won't really hurt the pigs. I dunno," she waved her hand dismissively, "I'm not a pig doctor. But then, we grind up the piggie meat, and proceed to sell it to people, so that they'll eat all the evidence that we ever committed a crime!"

Marceline slapped the table, leaned back, and grinned. The poor guy sitting across from her stared, open-mouthed, a bit of pie halfway been his mouth and his plate. After several awkward seconds of this, Marceline waved her hand dismissively, chuckled, said "It's just a joke," and headed over to another occupied table. Without any hesitation, she plunked right down into an empty seat across from someone.

"So, want to help me plan the perfect murder?"

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow Dash looked up from her food with some surprise, a string of cheese still hanging from her mouth. (It turned out that cheese pizza was perfectly fine for humans and didn't have any of that weird meat stuff.) She wiped her face with the back of her hand and thought about the question.

"Are you actually planning to kill someone?" she asked carefully. Aside from the fact that she was absolutely positive that killing someone wasn't a good idea and wouldn't actually be very fun, she was sure that Twilight would disapprove. Especially if she made a mess in the house. "Or are you writing a book or something?" She could probably get on board with that. Stories weren't real, so that was fine.

"Wait a minute," she said, slowly realizing where she recognized this girl from. "You were at that party! Weren't you playing music? I met one of my friends there and I couldn't really talk, but I thought you had a wicked guitar. I play guitar, too, or at least I did. I've had some trouble with it here. But that's so awesome!"

[Marceline Abadeer]

"Maaaaaaaaybe, or maybe not," offered Marceline in a bit of a sing song voice, one that did venture eerily close to her actual singing voice. She ended by clicking her tongue against her teeth and giving that somehow vampire-toothy smirk that seemed to be one of her natural expressions these days. Maybe the teeth just kept getting in the way or something. Didn't interfere with her singing, and that was what really mattered to Marceline.

Apparently it was what really mattered to the rainbow haired girl that she'd somehow managed to plunk herself down in front of. The vampire blinked at the compliment before letting her smirk transform into an outright smile. "Yeah, that was me. Well," she tapped her fingers, looking askance for a few seconds, "either it was me or my totally evil clone who likes to dress up like me and go to parties. She's a pain in the butt though. No taste at all; listens to boy bands and stuff. Really awful."

A beat for that to sink in, while Marceline brought her eyes back around to the rainbow haired girl. She managed to hold a deadly serious expression for several seconds, before sliding back in her seat. "Nah, just kidding. It was me. You play guitar? You any good at it? I haven't met any other musicians since I got plunked here. Sucks that you aren't, like, a base player or a drummer. I had a really math drummer back home," Marceline smiled at the memory of the Ice King hitting away at the drums. That was one of the few times he was actually decent...

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. Maybe she was going to kill someone? That grin certainly didn't look too safe. Was this...a witch?! No, wait, hadn't she thought the same thing about Zecora? That had turned out to be nothing. This was probably a misunderstanding. It was probably nothing to get upset over. All the same, well, Dash decided to keep an eye on the girl. Just in case.

She considered the evil clone idea for just a minute, thinking over the potential problems this would call with any investigation of her choice to murder people. She was willing to bet the whole thing was a joke, though, since whoever had played at the party had had wicked taste in music. She looked at Marcie awkwardly, shifting slightly in her own seat until the other girl settled back against the chair.

"I figured it was you," she said, trying to prove that she had been right. Rainbow liked being right. "Math?" she asked, her face wrinkling up in confusion. "Haven't heard of that one. I'm not one to brag, but I'm basically the best guitar player in Ponyville, along with...other things. If I started playing drums, I'd probably be awesome. Drums are cool, but guitars are cooler, so that's what I play." She wilted from her proud position and frowned, looking down at the table. "It's too bad I haven't really gotten to play since I got here. I mean, these hooves are totally different from what I worked with before." She held up her hands and flexed her fingers.

[Marceline Abadeer]

"Best player in... Ponyville?" repeated Marceline. She grinned wide, raising her eyebrows. "Isn't that kinda like being the best artist in Blindburg? Or like being the fattest dude in Skeletontown?" she couldn't help but smirk. At least it did sound like the rainbow-haired girl knew what she was talking about: the guitar was definitely the coolest of instruments. Marceline had been saying so for years. Though at least part of the reason for her own choice of instrument was the whole inheriting an ax from her father, still, she probably would have drifted toward the guitar eventually. Though, if Marceline were being truly honest, that was probably because she'd been around for so long.

"Yeah, I'm still getting used to having five fingers," admitted Marceline, holding her hand out, fingers splayed. "But it sounds like not having hooves would be a lot rougher. Look on the bright side though: you turned out to be one hot human," Marceline winked, before sliding back in her chair. She reached for the glass that she'd totally brought over to the table and was not just pulling out of no where, staring into it. She generally drank so much cherry cola here that she pretty well floated on her way out, but still. She looked up at the girl, considering.

"So you still up for the whole murdering thing? I could trade you guitar lessons for it," there was something conniving in Marceline's smile as she gave it. Might have had something to do with the fangs that were starting to show. Not that Marceline ever purposefully showed fang in a smile like all the time or anything.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying? You think I can't play guitar just because I used to be a pony?" The last thing she needed was someone judging her musical ability without even hearing her listen. "We had some rocking music, and I had the coolest guitar. I am the best guitar playing, fastest flying, coolest pony, probably in all of Equestria. And I'm gonna be just as awesome here." She sighed and looked at her hands again. Fingers were strangely difficult to make move just the way they needed to.

She looked up at the girl across from her and blinked. "Uh, thanks...I think." She was almost positive that being hot was a good thing, and she was also pretty sure that it was something referring to wanting to be in a relationship with someone, based on what she'd seen on television. She was so confused by the idea that this girl might consider her hot that she sort of spaced on asking right away what sort of transition required moving from less fingers to five.

"Um," Rainbow said, still a little discombobulated. "Sure...I guess." She shook her head as a sort of reset button to get her back up to full speed. "But I don't really need lessons, you know. I'm already pretty good at guitar. All I really need to do is figure out how to move my hoo--hands in the right way." She looked around the room, then looked back over at her new dinner companion. "But no actually killing someone. Even if they seem like they totally deserve it. And no trapping someone in the moon or in a statue or anything for a thousand years, because it's always a problem for someone else later on."

She threw her hand out for a handshake. "Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you. I mean, I sort of met you at the party, but you never knew my name and I didn't know yours. But now we've met. So nice to meet you."

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline was about to suggest that yes, that was precisely what she was thinking. Ponies, in Marceline's experience, did not make good guitar players. It was just sort of the way things worked. Though the way Rainbow carried on definitely shifted Marceline's opinion on the matter. Also made her arch her brows slightly, and shift in her seat, and consider. Rascally girl with rainbow hued hair and a tendency to rock out from time to time? Marceline could definitely dig that.

"You think?" asked Marceline, showing teeth again. "Man, you better be used to compliments. Rocker chick like you? With the hot haircut and the take no crap attitude? You'll have groupies pouring over you in just a few shows. I'm already all atwitter," she blinked her eyes, giving her best "atwitter" look, before chuckling and sucking at her straw. Marceline maneuvered it to stick a fang into it, picking at her teeth. It felt darn good, and she very nearly moaned at it. However, judging by how much the girl was already squirming, Marceline figured it was best to leave the noises for later.

"Marceline," she said, extending a hand and sliding her palm across Rainbow's. Just when her fingers were about to slide, Marceline snapped her fingers, slapped Rainbow's hand, and gave her a solid shake. "Ex-vampire queen, total rocker chick, and the second coolest chick you'll ever meet," she winked, giving Rainbow the obvious compliment there. Marceline scooted forward slightly and leaned to add a truly conspiratorial air. "So what's this about trapping someone on the moon for a thousand years? Because I could totally get behind that action."

[Rainbow Dash]

"Well, fans, sure," Rainbow said, allowing herself to remember performing in Ponyville and grinning. "Because I'm awesome, and the music is really awesome, too." She wasn't really sure what 'atwitter' meant, but based on the fluttering eyelashes she guessed it was something to do with all that relationship stuff. "But really, you know, it's great just being with my friends." Her attempt to appear humble was undercut slightly by her purposely sitting up straight and flipping her hair back, clearly liking the idea of a lot of people adoring her.

Rainbow held her hand still while Marceline moved through the complicated handshake, trying to copy the movements to use later. She shook hands and then looked at her fingers again, wondering how Marcie had managed to get sound to come out of hers. That was a cool trick. The compliment flew over her head, less because she didn't understand it and more because she accepted it as general fact. "Good to meet you, Marcie." Wait, vampire? Was that why she wanted to kill someone?

"Uh, Princess Celestia got upset because Princess Luna was being greedy and not letting the sun rise, so she trapped her in the moon for a thousand years and she became Nightmare Moon and then my friends and I had to stop her using the Elements of Harmony," she said distractedly. "Vampire? Is that why you were able to do that sound thing with your fingers? You're not going to eat anyone, are you?"

[Marceline Abadeer]

Oh, this girl was definitely awesome. Marceline was already having a blast just talking to her, grinning that toothy grin of hers. The shake seemed to have come off better than Marceline had expected even, seeing as Rainbow looked almost too interested in the complex motions. Marceline was soon sliding back into her seat, eyeballing the other girl perhaps with a little more interest than was strictly healthy. She just stretched her grin as the vampire thing started to actually slide into place. This, she was used to. Way used to.

"Nah, the finger thing's a snap," Marceline repeated it, "and it's something that most people with fingers can do. Don't get too worked up if you can't manage though. Some people are just Fated not to be able to do cool stuff like that, so they gotta work out the coolness other ways," Marceline shrugged, then opened her mouth slightly, moving to the next bit. She pointed at her elongated canines. "Yep, vampire," she closed her mouth, "but most of that got taken in the whole Shifting thing. I mostly just have the whole sexy goth chick thing going on. And I'm, like, super pale. Though I'm thinking about getting a tan. Not exactly my thing. You though, you would look hot with a tan," and now Marceline laughed slightly. Might as well prod a little, see what sort of things get stirred up. Marceline laced her fingers behind her head, sliding back slightly.

"And c'mon, I haven't eaten anyone in, like, years. That's totally behind me. Honest. You won't even have to banish me to a moon or anything. But you said Elements of Harmony, right? So what are you, fire?" she couldn't help but grin at that. Hey, the more hints about Rainbow being hot Marceline could slide in, the more fun she was having.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow watched Marceline's fingers as she snapped again, and she tried to copy the movement. Her brow furrowed, and she tried sliding her thumb from her finger just like she'd seen, but it just wasn't working. She was determined, though, to learn how to do it properly. Maybe when she got home she would practice, just like her bartending. She was the coolest pony in Ponyville; if anyone could learn, it would be her.

Her eyes widened when she saw Marcie's fangs, not having seen teeth like that on something other than a dragon or manticore since last Halloween. She wasn't sure what it meant to be a goth, but she did agree that Marcie was unusually pale, compared to some of the people she'd met here. "I don't know about getting a tan," she said slowly. "I mean, if that's your normal color, there's nothing wrong with that. Some people go through special treatments to look like something they're not. But it's more important to just be what you are." As long as that thing wasn't a bloodthirsty vampire. She wasn't so sure about wanting to stay like that forever. Maybe there was something to be said about changing... "But you probably shouldn't eat anyone here," she said cautiously.

Marceline quickly reassured her on that account, though. Rainbow was glad to hear it. She didn't want any of her new friends here to actually be killers. "No, fire isn't even one of the elements of harmony," she said, raising an eyebrow. Who didn't know about the elements of harmony? "The elements are loyalty, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and magic. I'm loyalty, 'cause I'm always there for my friends." It was a really good thing that humility wasn't a requirement for representing an element of harmony.

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline shrugged. She actually thought she looked pretty hot with the whole Gothic chick thing, but she wasn't about to go fishing for compliments. Like many things, that was behind Marceline now. That sort of happened after several elongated centuries of life. Though things were most definitely different here. Sure, the whole eating people thing was still an issue, but people seemed to believe it just a little less here than they did back in Ooo.

The elements bit though, that was actually somewhat interesting. As Rainbow listed them off, Marceline found herself nodding. "So it's like an Elements of Virtue type thing," she offered, gesturing toward Rainbow. "Like, you're supposed to be the representation of one of the virtues or something, and you use that power to do good stuff? Yeah, totally sounds like hero stuff," Marceline nodded. That was one leftover from Ooo that she hadn't quite shaken: they had a tendency to apply labels to people, put them in boxes. Which, really, Marceline only did here to make people squirm; she hadn't fit in a box in centuries.

"So clearly humility isn't a necessary requirement," Marceline continued, offering a toothy smile that suggested that at least one person had no problem with that. "So, what, was awesomeness taken? Or do they have super-strict, totally by the book requirements or something?"

And Marceline was totally thinking that loyalty was definitely something you wanted in a friend, which was really only further incentive.

[Rainbow Dash]

"Uh, duh, I already said that," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "Except it's Elements of Harmony, not Elements of Virtue." Then she straightened in her chair again. "And yeah, I guess we do some pretty cool stuff. But I tried to be a hero once and, uh, it didn't go too well." She rubbed the back of her neck and grinned awkwardly at the corner of the table. "These days I just try to stick to what I'm good at. Which used to be flying and playing guitar and generally being awesome, and now is learning how to mix drinks and do fancy tricks and still being pretty awesome." And with that recovery and the banishment of bad memories, she replaced the awkward grin with a confident smile, meeting Marceline eye to eye again.

The thing about humility laid her low again, at least for a moment. "Er, well...I'm getting better about that." And she really was. She really felt like she had matured from the time when she first met Twilight. "Awesomeness isn't one of the elements, at least not one I've ever heard of. Because if it was, I'd totally have that. But the whole thing about the Elements is that they have to work together, you know? If even one person is in trouble, everyone is in trouble. It's all about being there as a team, helping one another. Friendship comes first, and just talking about how awesome I am all the time doesn't help that. Because they're pretty awesome, too." See, look how mature. She could brag on her friends as well as herself.

"I'm actually really lucky, since I've got some of my old friends here to talk to. Twilight's here, and she's trying to get us all home and help me get my wings back. She's going to do it, too. Twilight always figures it out in the end. You could probably get home, too!"

[Marceline Abadeer]

Tried to be a hero but it didn't work out? Boy, did somebody look like they needed a hug. Marceline seriously considered suggesting it, but figured that was more of a third meeting suggestion as opposed to a "just randomly bumped into you" suggestion. The listing of talents was met with a very wide grin though. Yeah, they were definitely destined to become the bestest of buddies ever, if not, well, possibly more, though Marceline wasn't about to put the cart before the horse or any other odd metaphor.

"Twilight?" repeated Marceline, raising a brow. Well, she guessed that if your name was Rainbow, you probably had friends named Twilight. Marceline was betting that the other Element of Harmony Rangers probably had matching names. Stuff like Licketedy Split or Starlight or Bright Eyes. As for the last bit, Marceline waved a hand dismissively. "Who wants to go home? I'm completely chill here. One of my bestest buds already ported on over, and I'm betting I'll see the others soon enough. Plus, my dad's not here running around and killing the mood, ya know?" Marceline smiled her fangy smile and rapped her fingers on the desk. She beat out a quick little tune, humming under her breath before leaning back.

"So guitar, huh? I'm guessing electric, right? Because that's the coolest? Hmm, I used to be okay at bass. You sing at all? Could look into putting a band together or something," Marceline was also considering her earlier offer of lessons, which totally happened. Hey, any excuse to get to spend more time with cool people was cool with Marceline. Though it did occur to her that she wasn't doing a great job of the whole murder planning thing. Maybe she should try to get the conversation back to that...