private Deep Science 1x1 with Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(LP)

The mare looked a bit concerned at Null's strained voice, but didn't comment on it, "For the wheat loaf and habanero butter? $5. It's a bit harder to make than your friend's, but not much."

She went and retrieved the requested bread and butter after taking Null's payment. The loaf was still warm and soft and the butter was fragrant, she could smell the spice in it even wrapped. "I hope you enjoy it, don't be afraid to ask if you need anything!"

If Null didn't ask for anything the mare would go back to her work kneading out dough and moving portioned loaves and rolls into and out of the ovens.

If they remained long enough she'd eventually step out from around the counter to come to their table, or to the dining area if Null wasn't sharing a table with Arcade. "So, how's everything? Good I hope?"

Arcade would nod with a pleased smile, "It's some of the best bread I've ever had." Which, admittedly wasn't saying much, but the bread was very high quality to be sure.

After getting Null's feedback she'd continue, "If you don't mind me asking, where are you two from? You with that group that came in earlier?"

(Troy)

The others were a bit surprised by Void's plan, Vale spoke up first, "If I understood correctly, you want to keep them here until they've grown? That could mean years, a full decade maybe, more in the case of the younger foals. Unless we're locking them down I don't think we'd be able to keep them in this room longer than a year, maybe two at most. None of the specimens lasted longer than two years without attempting an escape when not fully satisfied with their containment."

Selena sighed, "And if I know anything about growing ponies, they'll soon be at that age where they want their independence. Even under guard they'd eventually find a way to escape. Further, one of them, a thestral, was selected as a protege of one of the thestral guards. It's a cultural thing for them, so it'd be difficult to allow him to come and go without letting the others leave if and when they want to."

Pen interjected, "What if we forewent the secrecy entirely? I mean, the reason we're hiding them at all is because they look like the elements, what if we explained why that's the case?"

Vale looked skeptical, "Tell everyone they're clones of the originals? Because everyone took the revelation of what you are so well." Pen looked down and Vale turned apologetic, "Sorry, I just don't want them to get the looks or treatment we get."

Selena looked back over at Void, her eyes pleading for some sort of idea from her, "Perhaps there's merit in coming out with it, perhaps not say they were clones, we could come up with another plausible story for their similarities. Given the descriptions I was relayed, each individually only bears a passing resemblance to the bearers, it was only seeing them together that made the scout think anything of them. Maybe we limit their exposure by not taking them all at once anywhere, only showing them as pairs, doing what we can to distance them visually from the elements, so nopony thinks of them in conjunction with the elements. Sort of a don't ask don't tell deal? We wait until the questions get too loud before announcing anything publically, and if we can avoid any scandals before they become adults or the bearers return we may avoid the issue entirely."

She sighed, "Regardless, we've only got a few hours until they'll reach the city. So best get moving on any final arrangements before they arrive."

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

13 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The mare looked a bit concerned at Null's strained voice, but didn't comment on it, "For the wheat loaf and habanero butter? $5. It's a bit harder to make than your friend's, but not much."

Alright, so she had the dollars for it then. That was something going the right way at least.

Handing over the dough, no pun intended, she'd wait for the wares she had paid for, and gave a glance around, just to see if perhaps they were being watched. Probably not, but in this town, she doubted it were wise to not be paranoid.

13 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

The loaf was still warm and soft and the butter was fragrant, she could smell the spice in it even wrapped. "I hope you enjoy it, don't be afraid to ask if you need anything!"

Null could indeed smell the spice before she even got it, and mentally felt a tinge of excitement over it, actually. It would help calm her down to have a bit of spice in her life, and as she received the full order, she were pleasantly surprised to find that the loaf were still warm. Usually when she had baker's bread, it were fished out of their dumpster, or she'd go in and purchase it when they were almost close, since there tended to be deals for it then. Perhaps not optimal, but Void and her had to get as much our of every penny, bit, etc. that they could. Especially when they were smaller, and unable to pick up any sort of day labor. Which were still not easy afterwards, due to Null being essentially unwanted for most things, and Void being damaged as well, which made folks question what she were able to deal with.

But Void tended to have a way of convincing them that she could pull her share, and then some, if they gave her the chance to prove it. As for Null... Well, turns out there were groups that did have some use for her, long as she weren't all that fussed about things like morality and intent of those who'd pay her. Being small and not bitten much notice in, beyond the usual pity or curiosity stare, she tended to well enough either scouting for shady types who didn't want the cops finding them, or delivering unmarked, sealed up packages.

Of course, since it were shady types, they didn't always pay her, and when they did, it weren't always the promised amount either, but she'd take what she could get. Perhaps this time around, she could manage to have a bit of standards. Though she still didn't feel above robbing her victims. After all, if they were dead, and didn't show any signs of having a family, as well as having been horrible to her, why let valuables go to waste? If there were sign of families to feed, she tended to deposit things at their home, or leave it behind on the corpse, but that certainly didn't mean she were above stealing from the dead. Including good old fashioned grave robbing. Of long dead ones though, like tombs. She weren't wandering around a regular graveyard at night, with a pair of pliers and a shovel, hoping to scrounge up some gold teeth.

14 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

If they remained long enough she'd eventually step out from around the counter to come to their table, or to the dining area if Null wasn't sharing a table with Arcade. "So, how's everything? Good I hope?"

Arcade would nod with a pleased smile, "It's some of the best bread I've ever had." Which, admittedly wasn't saying much, but the bread was very high quality to be sure.

After getting Null's feedback she'd continue, "If you don't mind me asking, where are you two from? You with that group that came in earlier?"

Null were indeed sharing the table with Arcade. She had wandered in with him, so why separate here, right? Sides, wasn't like he was all bad. In many ways, he were probably the one she figured understood her the next best, right after Void. They hadn't known one another for long enough to make him the one who'd get it the best by a mile, but he had some of the same experiences, and a perspective that frankly, Void couldn't understand. And not just due to height.

"Its pretty good. The spice in the butter goes through well, there's a fair after burn, and the bread's nice and warm. A good deal better than what I usually get at bakeries."

It wasn't wrong really, and it wasn't like this was bad either. It actually were rather delicious, but apparently, she couldn't just up and say that, but instead had to try and be prideful about it, and hold back some. What were she, a darn dragon?

Peh, she knew what the real deal were. It were The Grey, lurking in her head now, as he had been brought up several times today now. It made her a little on edge, and when that happened, she got defensive. Not that different from prideful, when it came to doling out compliments, though she still thought it sounded like she gave praise. Especially since this mare, would not know her usual eating habits at bakeries.

"And yeah, we came in with them, from Troy. Going around and checking what parts of town is safe now, since I frankly don't trust anyplace, unless I see it up and close myself. The town's low rung, shady quarter seems fairly tame though. Figured it'd be worse, for a place this size."

Wasn't much point in hiding she had come in from Troy really. In case this one were some sort of spy for The Grey, it wasn't like that was unusual information, not possible to gain elsewhere. The ambassadors were pretty easily made out to be what they were, and as the one seemingly in control of this town, The Grey would know well what their rank and purpose here were. It'd frankly be a bigger issue if Arcade said where he were from, but surely he wouldn't just start blabbering on about that. Wouldn't make sense to do something like that.

"Taking it the law here's effective?"

(Troy)

"I uhm... T-Think you might have misunderstood me. I am not advocating for imprisoning them until they're adults. I'm saying it would be even worse if we kept them too l-locked up, and used this as a sort of argument. I guess I didn't formulate it right. Sorry."

Void felt rather embarrassed at things. Granted, pen and Vale had afterwards gone into a talk that went along the line of thought she were touching on, but it were still awkward to think that they might have believed her want, were to trap the foals. Nothing could be further from the truth. She wanted them to see the world, and for the world to see them. Just uhm... Maybe a little by little, instead of all at once. For all their sake.

"And I think you might be o-overthinking it, with how they look like the element wearers, and the princesses. There's a lot of w-ways that a pony can look like, and I could mention at least five I've seen, that looked something like Applejack, or Twilight. Without the alicorn part, o-of course. Worst case scenario, it's not too hard to give them a haircut, or style their manes differently.

It's worse if their cutie marks ends up looking similar, but I've seen p-places before that did makeup stuff to change how it looked. Not saying it is easy, but it s-should be possible to tweak how it looks to others a bit, with a little will. But that's just if it ends up being similar. I sorta doubt it, even if I have seen the same cutie mark on varied ponies before. They're not as u-unique as we'd like to think.

Honestly, I think the biggest thing should probably be to m-make them promise not to say they're clones, or talk about the facility to others. That'd probably cause the b-biggest sort of unrest.

Also, I think they might get s-scared if we try to split them up, before taking them away from the others. It might look like we're taking them off to do e-experiments or something on. They'll probably feel safer together. The ones who can walk a-anyway. I'm not sure how the toddlers would react."

Okay, that was dealing with the foals then. So far so good. Or well, her opinions on them at least, which were still important, hopefully. Now came the part about what to do before they showed up, and she for one, had at least one important thing to advocate for.

"Regarding preparing for them to show up, I got a good deal of toys repaired,. Didn't really sleep, so I got a lot of work done, though there's still some I need to work on b-back at the workshop."

She'd lay out some stuff. Mostly it was wooden toys, like a train set, some block puzzles, and a glockenspiel. Which had been surprisingly easy to fix, really. Just needed some new screws, and a replacement board underneath, and it functioned as good as new.

There were also some plushies, and a few coloring books, foal's books in general and the like, that she had brought along. She still had some for the younglings to play with at the workshop if it were, but there had been in excess. This way, the love would be spread around, and she hadn't taken the most popular, beloved things. She knew a few would be sad if they had been there with their parents again, and couldn't play with that.

"I also got some mosaic's done, but I could use some h-help to move them. The faster we get them here, the quicker we can get t-them set up."

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(LP)

The mare had a look of pride at Null's praise, "Thanks! I do try to have the best quality I can, it's good to hear you like it."

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

"And yeah, we came in with them, from Troy. Going around and checking what parts of town is safe now, since I frankly don't trust anyplace, unless I see it up and close myself.

The mare nodded to herself, "I figured as much, it does explain... well most of the differences. Say, you think you'd put in a good word to your associates about my bakery? I could cut you a discount if I get a new set of regular customers."

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Taking it the law here's effective?"

She shrugged, "I'd say the debt system is a larger deterrent to crime than the enforcers, as effective as they are. Ponies are all concerned about minimizing their debt as it is, hardly anyone would think to rob, as they'd end up with more debt than if they had just asked to pay with debt. Further, there's a sort of bounty system in place, gather too much debt and the enforcers will pay anyone for your capture. So in a way we end up policing ourselves, the enforcers only needing to get involved for violent or belligerent criminals."

(Troy)

Selena, Vale, and Pen (There's no adequate group word for them that's not too general) looked relieved at Void's clarification

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

Honestly, I think the biggest thing should probably be to m-make them promise not to say they're clones, or talk about the facility to others. That'd probably cause the b-biggest sort of unrest.

They nodded at Void's idea, Selena sighed, "I suppose we may have been overstating the issue, With time and exposure the citizenry should be able to see their differences instead of the similarities and accept that they aren't the bearers themselves. The worry only came up because, well, you know how highly the bearers were respected by the Equestrians, and when they were the first to fall many of those who survived were in quite the denial that they had been defeated so quickly. We'll do what we can to minimize their similarities, perhaps the foals themselves would like to distance themselves? Then we could look into dyeing their coats and such to further distance the resemblance."

Vale seemed in agreement, "Still, it's a good idea to minimize their exposure at first, wouldn't want to overwhelm them with new experiences, and it sounds like they've got quite the list of experiences to make up for. We'll just have to take it slow, by the time they get to full integration with society there'll have been plenty of time for the populous to adapt, or for us to come up with another plan if things look contentious."

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

"I also got some mosaic's done, but I could use some h-help to move them. The faster we get them here, the quicker we can get t-them set up."

They were all impressed by Void's skill in repairing the toys, and excited that some of her mosaics had been completed, when she mentioned needing help moving them they all approached, "Let's get a move on then, we'll want them securely fastened before they get here."

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/10/2020 at 1:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

The mare nodded to herself, "I figured as much, it does explain... well most of the differences. Say, you think you'd put in a good word to your associates about my bakery? I could cut you a discount if I get a new set of regular customers."

"Can't see why not. The foods good, the place seems easy to secure, and neither of us have gotten poisoned, so things looks fine here. I'll vouch for it being worth a visit."

Of course, she couldn't say for sure that this wasn't a trap. But every place, thing, and creature in this town, could be part of a trap for them. And with how close she were to her *father*, she wouldn't truly trust anyone here.

That being said, practically, this place seemed fine, and as she said, it were easy enough to secure. Long as the ambassadors had some help with them, this shouldn't be an issue. If they wanted to go though, depended on them. She could give a good word for this place, but they might not care for that, or reverenter into baked goods, but would rather have like, soup. If that were the case, they needed to figure out some other, smaller scale eating place that they could go to, if it were. Yet for that, as well as getting a chance to scout out several other places, they had to get a move on sooner or later. They couldn't linger here forever, despite the smells and information being enticing arguments as to why they should.

On 8/10/2020 at 1:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

She shrugged, "I'd say the debt system is a larger deterrent to crime than the enforcers, as effective as they are. Ponies are all concerned about minimizing their debt as it is, hardly anyone would think to rob, as they'd end up with more debt than if they had just asked to pay with debt. Further, there's a sort of bounty system in place, gather too much debt and the enforcers will pay anyone for your capture. So in a way we end up policing ourselves, the enforcers only needing to get involved for violent or belligerent criminals."

"I'll pass that along as well. Something tells me they'll be interested in knowing about that."

Null had finished her meal, whilst the mare had talked. The slight singe still sizzling on her tongue felt nice and refreshing, and subconsciously, she ended up licking a small bit of butter,and a few crumbs, from the right side of her muzzle. A subtle, glowing commendation in itself, when you didn't want even the smaller scraps to be wasted. Meant it had been something you really liked chowing down on.

Seeing as she were done, and the mare seemed to have answered quite a few, important things at this stage, Null would get ready to leave the table, though her gaze remained at first, on the baker.

"Thank you for the food, and the information."

She gave the mare a nod, then turned to Arcade, to check if he were just about ready to go on their way as well, or if he were still chowing down his own food.

"Soon as you're done, we should get going. We still need to check out the area more, before we go back."

One good spot were found, but what if they wanted soup? Clothes? Gadgets? Fruit? etc. etc. Basically they had to get a look on what the other vendors looked like. Such as the street vendor they saw earlier, though there were others here, and he didn't seem as if he were going anywhere, anytime soon.

Besides, they still had to find a secure route back too, and then call it a day for now. She wanted badly to grab the head she had come here for, but she had to try and steel herself with a bit of patience, as annoying as it were. Sooner or later though, she'd get to him. There would be no more escaping for that sniveling little worm.

(Troy)

On 8/10/2020 at 1:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"I suppose we may have been overstating the issue, With time and exposure the citizenry should be able to see their differences instead of the similarities and accept that they aren't the bearers themselves. The worry only came up because, well, you know how highly the bearers were respected by the Equestrians, and when they were the first to fall many of those who survived were in quite the denial that they had been defeated so quickly. We'll do what we can to minimize their similarities, perhaps the foals themselves would like to distance themselves? Then we could look into dyeing their coats and such to further distance the resemblance."

"It's going to be strange seeing them again, when they one day return. I h-hope I'm still alive to see them at least. I'd like to thank them for t-trying to be as welcoming to us as they could, back in Ponyville. Despite how tough we made it f-for them at times. Same with the princesses, in whatever way they c-come back. I know she weren't p-perfect, but Princess Celestia helped us a lot, when we came to Equestria, to t-try and find a new home, and when we heard she had died... It hurt. A lot, actually. It would be good to see them again someday.

And the foals... I dunno. They lived together for a long time, that can make it t-tough to be apart, all of a sudden. Big sis and I grew up close, even before the uhm... I-Incident, and it's hard to just go away from someone that's always been there. Maybe I can easier talk with them a-about this sort of thing, since I'd understand that part."

She had more she could say, but with the time limited as it were, they should try and get a move on. The sooner they got the mosaics, the sooner they could start getting them up, and go on to seeing if things were good enough for the little ones, before they had to go and greet them.

On 8/10/2020 at 1:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

They were all impressed by Void's skill in repairing the toys, and excited that some of her mosaics had been completed, when she mentioned needing help moving them they all approached, "Let's get a move on then, we'll want them securely fastened before they get here."

Thankfully, it seemed that they agreed, though she did get a little blush on her cheeks, as they seemed mighty impressed with the repairs. It really wasn't that impressive in her mind, and really, it would've never happened, if it weren't because of Null. Her big sister had made sure to show her some things over the years, when it came to making stuff like the varied legs she were wearing, just in case something happened to Null, and Void would have to repair them herself. It had come in handy now. As had the fact that they often had to repair varied stuff, since they weren't made of money, and as such, they often salvaged things, and made something of it that were useful, or that they could sell. Whatever made things better, right? Nothing overly complicated though. Like, she couldn't repair a piano if it were, but she might able to remake it into a nice couch, or small table.

As they wandered, and eventually got to the workshop (provided nothing happened on the way there), Void would let them in to see her work. Or well, unfinished work, as they could see a half-finished mosaic, around the size of herself, that had a variety of small forest critters in it. Tip of a squirrels head, a pigeons wing were seen, a full hawk, with spread wings, and so on. There were still a lot of work to do here, but this one would be very pretty when it were. At least she hoped so.

As for the ones they were there for, they were all elongated, and around half the size of herself. Which considering her mass, were still some rather fair sized mosaics. Not the sort you could just throw in a saddlebag, and call a day. What they were off though, were a mystery, as they were all wrapped well in cloth that appeared to be refurbished sheets of some kind. Heavily stitched too, so likely another repair project by the sisters.

Null's presence were still a lot of places actually. Some spare tools, a notebooks, her corner, basically untouched... It were easy to see that Void had a tough time letting go. Yet if these reminders made it harder or easier for her, would be tough to say. Probably both, right? It reminded her of her sister, which made it more evident that she were now without Null. Yet at the same time, there would be some comfort in feeling like she still had her big sister with her, in some sort of way.

It was a bit of a mess, though sadly, it probably would be for a while. For the both of them.

"They're a bit heavy, so be careful, okay? They take a lot of time to r-repair, and I'd really prefer if I could work on new ones, instead of accidentally have any of these not work out. I think the f-foals will like them too."

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(LP)

The mare waved as they left the shop, though they weren't outside long before they, or rather Null, was approached by a stallion. He wasn't ugly by any stretch, but he wasn't exactly handsome either, at least he wasn't nearly as handsome as the mares that followed him seemed to think. His clothes were pretty nice though, practical yet high quality.

He had a bit of a suave expression when he approached, "Hey there filly, want to come to a party at my house tonight? Everyone who's Anyone in NP's gonna be there." he laughed, "I'm extremely rich." With a wing he showed off a large collection of variously enumerated chips before tossing one Null's way. It had an address written on it. If the stallion were to be believed, and if Null correctly understood the address, she had just been invited to the penthouse of the Stacked Deck.

The stallion didn't wait for a response as he trotted off with a confident smile, the mares following closely behind.

Arcade gave a low whistle once the stallion was far enough away, he had quite the impressed look "Dang, I know it isn't saying much, but that may well have been the most handsome stallion I've ever seen. We going to that party?"

(Troy)

42 minutes ago, Blitz Boom said:

"They're a bit heavy, so be careful, okay? They take a lot of time to r-repair, and I'd really prefer if I could work on new ones, instead of accidentally have any of these not work out. I think the f-foals will like them too."

Vale's unique physiology made her much stronger than a typical deer, leaving her about on par with Void, Pen was no slouch but there was a definite limit to what the skin suit could lift, even with the wooden frame within. Selena on the other hoof seemed to outclass them all with her ability, once she saw the size of the finished mosaics she paused with her eyes closed, her mass shifted a bit, her back flattening and spreading until it resembled the back of a cart, allowing Pen and Vale to load a good number of them onto her so they and Void could carry the rest. "These look very impressive Void, I'm surprised you were able to get so much done in so little time."

They'd be able to get them back to the room without much incident, then they were left with the task of affixing them to the walls. Selena had the worker who was installing the kitchen come help with ensuring the mosaics would not easily be removed once they were attached. 

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

16 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"Dang, I know it isn't saying much, but that may well have been the most handsome stallion I've ever seen. We going to that party?"

The only reason, that Null hadn't taken this invitation, and shoved it so far down the snobs throat, that he'd feel her hoof rummage through his digestive system, were that she had been trying to decide on which of the insults she could go with first. How he were a snob, or his flaunting of wealth around others, and how she could make references to what she'd do with that silver spoon he had crammed into his yapper, if she got hold of it. Then of course, there were also what she could say about those gold chasers he had following him around, the fact that he called her a filly - which had made her visibly narrow her eyes, and send metaphorical thunder towards him - and what she could say about him going over to invite a filly to a party. The varied levels of *creep alarm* this set off, should have given her a good, ten minutes of solid mockery of this pathetic lowlife, but he were gone before she had much to say.

When Arcade started talking, she had however, picked up a rock, and looked like she really struggled to not throw it right at his skull. Which were true. Her hoof even visibly shook, as she tried to keep herself from doing something that she knew, would only please The Grey. So much easier to get hold of her, if she had some debt to pay, that'd get her proper into his system. Maybe even taken in by his goons.

"Grrrr, that depends on whatever or not, you want to see me put this invitation inside a pineapple, and forcibly show him were to shove it."

It took much of her willpower, but she finally let the rock roll out of her hoof, though she still looked as if she wanted to crush someone's head with a mallet.

"And you don't think this is suspicious? This gnat wanders up, says I'm a filly, and then want me to show up to his special party, where only select few can show up. You don't see how dodgy that is? Either he likes 'em young, or it's a trap. Never trust rich beings, Arcade. They want nothing more than to flaunt their wealth at you, and remind you why you're worthless in their eyes!"

With that said, she'd angrily throw the chip away, only to have it being caught within a half meter of it leaving her hoof, by a magical aura, that floated it right back down to her again. Where her aura obviously cancelled the magic out, and it fell down to the ground.

The one doing it? A familiar changeling, wandering past, a few meters away from them, with a big, welcome smile on her face. Though there'd be a bit of time for Arcade to come with a response to Null, before she marked her presence, however fleeting, as she were wandering on.

"You shouldn't throw these away miss. You looked like something happened there, but still, there's lots of things you could use that for."

"...Fine, whatever."

Null would pick up the chip, and put it in her bag. If nothing else, then like the changeling said, she could use it to buy something useful for. Or throw at him the next time she saw him, though when she did that, she'd have to try and turn on the vision, and see exactly how much this one deserved to be judged. First impression? A lot.

Unless Arcade waved the changeling down, or said anything to her, Bling would be on her way again, waltzing merely down the street, with others more or less ignoring her presence. A few moved away when she got too close, to allow her passage, but that would be about it.

If he did though, she'd come wandering over, to see if perhaps she could help them in some sort of way. Nothing had really changed from last they saw her, expect that she were missign one of the goo-filled balloons she had wandered around with before.

(Troy)

16 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

"These look very impressive Void, I'm surprised you were able to get so much done in so little time."

"Not as impressive as that were. I didn't think you could do that, Selena.

If uhm... If you can take two of them then, I can take the last. C-Could you please help her put those on her? I don't want to risk getting too close and cause an accident."

Void would speak to both Pen and Vale as she asked for some assistance on the matter. Since she still weren't sure what close contact with Selena might cause, Void weren't risking close contact, to a point where the crystalline pony would be in range of her aura. So the other two would have to load two of them on top of Selena, whilst Void took the last one on her back, grabbed some rope, and carefully tied it around her truck, and the mosaic itself. She had to keep her neck bend for a while as they traveled like this, but it would be more secure that way, as it laid length-wise on her back and neck.

"And well... Like I said, I don't really sleep all that w-well right now, since big sis isn't here. So I had more time being productive in. Gonna be a bit longer before the next one though. I have something else I need to f-finish first, for a customer. I can't keep pushing that off."

16 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

They'd be able to get them back to the room without much incident, then they were left with the task of affixing them to the walls. Selena had the worker who was installing the kitchen come help with ensuring the mosaics would not easily be removed once they were attached. 

Once they got there, they could start unpacking the mosaic, and see what the patterns were in them.

Whereas the big one she were working on, had a more general theme going about it, the three she had brought in here, were focused on local wildlife, so that the fillies would know what they saw, if they ran into it.

The one she were running around with, pictured a Scaled Cackler. A half meter lizard that were commonly found in and around the city they were in. A pretty harmless little thing that were at times, used as pets, since a trained one could be an adorable little thing to have around, and due to their mild nature, it were not the hardest thing to do, long as you treated them right. However, they did have a reputation for exposing abusive, or neglectful pet owners, due to them being able to let out a large distress call, that were more or less impossible to keep down if they truly put their effort into it. Something which tended only to happen as a last resort, as even if they got stuck behind a shelf or something, they'd use more high pitched distress calls for help. Anyone who ever heard one who called out to be saved from its home though, knew well the sort of tone that would come out from it. A deep bass, roaring out like a ferry flute.

For those who had nice homes though, and liked those they were around, the talkative little things could let out nearly musical chirps and if in a really good mood, the signature cackle that had given them their name, which tended to be so adorable that it were hard not to get a big smile on your face. They were clingy things, that liked spending as much time with their owners as possible, so it were not a *buy and forget* sort of pet.

As for the wild ones, they tended to just wander around town, snapping up scraps that were either dropped, or were bulging out from the side of a garbage lid that wasn't properly closed.  They might have impressive auditory systems, but they were as weak as toddlers, and couldn't open a lid, or press open a window by themselves. Anything left out though, were fair game, and the untamed ones tended to shy away from breaking into houses, so they were at best a nuisance. Sort of like a desert raccoon, but less dangerous, as their teeth weren't sharp enough to do much to a pony, beyond nibbling them with the force of a kitten. They were evolved to be scavengers, feeding on desert berries and other soft or broken apart food, not hunters.

In the mosaic, it were shown laying on a rock, bathing in the sunlight out in the desert, with the name of it written beneath on a sort of jagged scroll.

Another mosaic, showed off the main reason that the cacklers did not break into houses: A Pygmy Ghost Vulture.

Despite their names, the vultures were not dead, but instead got their names from their pale, grey and white feathers, dark sclera, and ghostly white iris's. A strange abnormality that made them quite popular some hundred years ago, and resulted in eventual selective breeding, to try and cause them to be more pet sized and friendly.

It had taken a while, but the result were a roughly 2/3'th of a meter tall, very docile creature, that were rather popular as a house pet, due to their docile nature, and ease of training. To a point where you could have a window open that they'd use specifically to go out and take care of their business, before returning home again. Which meant less need to clean up after them, if you ignored the preening that they went through, just like many other types of birds.

They never strayed out of town though. Even if you managed to train one to sit on your shoulder as you walked around town, the second they did not feel surrounded by buildings, and therefor assumes they were in the desert, they would fly back home. This were a defensive mechanism, as the full grown Ghost Vultures were still a thing in the desert, and the two and a half meter birds hated their pygmy cousins. To a point where if they saw one, they would instantly attack and kill it, if they had the chance. As the pygmy variants were not idiots, they had eventually understood the safety in being in a town, and as such, after about the age of two months, they would refuse to leave one again. Only way to get them to another town, were to sedate them, as even covering them would not make them unaware that they were leaving a town. Both due to the sound of other beings, and due to the fact that they were vocally chirping and cooing out of windows, and running a sort of communication network through town this way. Meeting when on a fly or walk would also cause them to converse, and if one were noticed getting close to the border of a town, a particular resonating coo, would come out, alerting them of their closeness to said border.

Smart as they were though, this natural instinct had happened even when the varied towns in the desert kingdom were attacked, leading tro many of them ending up dead, from flying back towards the attacked towns, and getting shot down in the confusion. Most who had made it out were either eggs, hatchlings that didn't know of the systems yet, restrained, or knocked out, which had at least made it so that they had survived as a species, even if it were a slow growth of the population that took place. Barely any of them existed outide of Troy, due to them being poor to adapt to different climates, so they were an endangered species, on the up-rise.

As for why the cacklers stayed out of the buildings they were in, it were simple: The vultures were one of their natural predators. The big ones out in the desert used to hunt them frequently, which were why they had taken to inhabit the area around towns. Once the pygmy variants started gaining traction, they remained in the towns though, as they were more often fed, and the towns provided with more ways to hide from them, than were possible out in the desert, so it were seen as the lesser of two evils. If a pygmy vulture did get the chance though, it would snatch them up. Which were one reason why an important part of training them for being outdoors, were to make them distinguish between pets, and wild food.

The mosaic it were on, depicted it perched on a large tree trunk, with rounded handled at the top, that they would latch on to, and looking around at a rudimentary living room. Making a lot of furniture would have taken too much time, so it were more simplistic and barren in the presentation of the surroundings.

As for the third, it were of a Rose-Nosed Dune Fox. A small, teen-pony sized predator that rarely came to towns, unless they were seeking shelter from something bigger chasing them, or had been tamed. Which were an extremely difficult process, due to their pack behaviors, wild nature, and penance for stealing shiny objects, so that they could use them to attract females during mating season. Or vice versa, lure in suitable males, which had shinies that fitted the female's preferences. Due to this - and their loud, erratic behavior during mating season - it were generally seen as not worth it, by all but a few eccentrics.

They were one of the species that did the best from the crisis, as they were highly adaptable creatures, and thrived in the ruined cities, were they could scavenge varied shiny parts, and left over food. Combined with the new areas they could hide and make colonies in, that were easier protected from some of the creatures that hunted them, the population had been booming over the last few years. Which would have been a massive problem, were they not usually avert to getting near civilization.

When one day the towns had to be rebuild however, there were going to be large groups of these creatures that needed to be chased out, and more than likely neutered or put to sleep, to get the population down to a more rational size, before they had to see other wildlife be wrecked or over-hunted by them, or the about to be build towns, overrun by them in a desperate attempt to find food. They were an important part of the ecosystem, due to them being immune to, and eating, poisonous things, such as scorpions, but it were a balancing act, where the biggest kindness to them, might well be to cull their numbers. Both for their sake, and to prevent a situation were perhaps, they had to start dealing with invaders going into town, and snatching anything smaller than them. Such as a foal, playing in the street, or in a garden. Something they were not doing right now - in fact, they were extremely shy around ponies - but desperate times, were an adaptable creature had to decide between starvation or survival? It would end up being a problem.

It were depicted along with two pups, running around the one sitting down, with a big, doggo smile on its face. As they were currently harmless to ponies, and it were likely they'd see one sooner or later, she didn't think it were a bad thing to give them a positive look on the canine.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Grrrr, that depends on whatever or not, you want to see me put this invitation inside a pineapple, and forcibly show him were to shove it."

Arcade retreated a pace, seemingly worried that she was going to hit him with the rock.

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"And you don't think this is suspicious? This gnat wanders up, says I'm a filly, and then want me to show up to his special party, where only select few can show up. You don't see how dodgy that is? Either he likes 'em young, or it's a trap. Never trust rich beings, Arcade. They want nothing more than to flaunt their wealth at you, and remind you why you're worthless in their eyes!"

He calmed down a bit once she put the rock down, "Now that you mention it, yeah, he did seem a bit suspect. I..." he looked a bit confused "Now that I think about it, there was definitely something off about him, I can't remember exactly what he looked like, or what he was wearing. Not to defend him or anything, but I don't think he said filly in regards to your age, but rather a term of endearment? Not that it's justified. Still, maybe one of the ambassadors would be interested? Seems a social pinnacle event would be a great place for them to meet some of the more powerful ponies in the city."

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

First impression? A lot.

Nine ventured a comment, "Well, not as much as you might think. While he's not on the merciful side of things, he's not that far on the vengeful side either due to, and I quote from the list, Gross Incompetence. He hasn't gathered much debt because he's simply unaware of the effects or doesn't understand what he's doing. It's a valid defence for Karma."

Arcade wouldn't attract attention from Bling outside of a casual wave of greeting, once Null seemed to have calmed down he'd venture to speak again, "So, where to now?"

(Full disclosure, I meant her job from the ambassador as a cover story for her, though I do appreciate her taking it seriously. That being said, I don't have much planned for generic things they could encounter in the city, I'll give you some leeway in what sorts of things they can find in the middle ring, I've got plans for the inner ring once they get there.)

(Troy)

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Not as impressive as that were. I didn't think you could do that, Selena.

Selena smiled, "One of the perks of having a magical body made of magic diamond. I can change just about anything about my appearance, I just like this one best."

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"And well... Like I said, I don't really sleep all that w-well right now, since big sis isn't here. So I had more time being productive in. Gonna be a bit longer before the next one though. I have something else I need to f-finish first, for a customer. I can't keep pushing that off."

They nodded in understanding, though there was a bit of a sad expression on their faces. Selena tried to cheer her up, "I know it can be hard going out on your own. I suppose being away from your sister is akin to how it felt for me when I was first separated from Luna, once whole now half sort of thing? What helped me was to find a new part to fill my missing piece, perhaps your new sibling or these young ponies will help? How is your mother doing actually? It shouldn't be more than a month until  her due date now I think?"

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

It were depicted along with two pups, running around the one sitting down, with a big, doggo smile on its face. As they were currently harmless to ponies, and it were likely they'd see one sooner or later, she didn't think it were a bad thing to give them a positive look on the canine.

They were all quite impressed with the mosaics once they were set up properly, Vale and Pen taking a special interest in the renditions of the local creatures, "I've seen a few of these wandering about town, this makes them look so friendly." Vale nodded, "I like them, I can't wait to see what you'll do next!"

Pen continued, "I can't wait to see how the new ponies react, knowing what they've no doubt been through this may well be the best place they've ever lived."

Selena reverted to her normal shape once the mosaics were all off of her and had stepped outside while they were being installed. She hurried back in with an anxious expression as she looked at the three of them and motioned towards the door, "They're here! Well... nearly. They'll be at the back gate soon, we should be there to meet them."

Selena led the way at a hurried pace, the most nervous and excited Void had ever seen her, to the back gate of the city. The back gate wasn't nearly so large or ornate as the front gate of the city, it was a simple heavy door disguised on the outside to blend in with the rest of the wall so it could not be targeted by invaders. There wasn't a lot of traffic by the back gate, mostly due to the fact that many citizens didn't know the city had a back gate, and those who did didn't often know where it was.

It was in the process of being opened when they arrived, they entered the wall through one of the more common accesses and made their way through the spacious interior of the wall before getting to the gate itself.

If Void wasn't too distracted at the prospect of soon seeing the foals she'd be able to notice that the city side of the wall interior bore the same erosion as the exterior of the outer wall, indicating that the inner wall used to be the outer wall, then they built the outer wall around the inner wall. If she had traveled outside the city much she'd have noticed that Troy had been in the process of building a new outer wall when Discord happened.

Nonetheless, the important thing were the foals, not the wonders of Trojan defensive and expansive architecture.

Two simple golems served as the hinges of the back gate, simultaneously holding up the higher blocks while pivoting the lower block inward, allowing a bit of the wind and sand to enter the interior, and more importantly allow the small group of ponies and guards to enter the wall, having disembarked from their transport stopped outside. The young ponies all looked about in wide eyed wonder from under the hooded cloaks they had no doubt been given by the forward scouts, serving the dual purpose of keeping the sand off of them, and hiding their identities from anyone watching.

Selena saluted the guards and gave a polite bow to the foals, one of which seemed quite interested in her, Selena smiled as she started to lead the way back at a much calmer pace, "Welcome to Troy, I am Selena. These here are Void, Vale, and Pen. We've been preparing a place where they'll be taking care of you while you're here. We're going there now so you can rest, we do hope it is to your liking."

The foals remained quiet as they followed, but they had quite the energy about them despite their obvious weariness from their travels. They kept together for the most part, the slightly larger pegasus carried the two foals bundled above her wings while the remaining three circled around her trying to see everything they could while they walked. The pegasus too was looking all about, but it was clear she was trying to be the mature one of the group while she carefully carried the sleeping foals. None of them seemed to mind that they themselves were being watched by Vale, Pen, and no doubt Void.

Soon enough they arrived at the house, Selena held open the door so they could all enter, all but one of the guards waited outside, the thestral mare removing her helmet as she entered, nodding approvingly as she looked about the space. She seemed to have her focus more on the lone colt of the group than anything else.

Once all the young ponies were inside Selena continued with a motherly smile, "Welcome, this is your new home for as long as you should desire it. I'll leave you to get situated and acquainted with these kind mares, they'll help you with anything you need."

She turned, nodded to the trio before leaving, softly closing the door behind her.

The three more active ponies turned their circling curiosity to Vale, Void, and Pen while the pegasus investigated the crib before finding it satisfactory and setting the sleeping foals down inside and moving the curtain in an effort to dampen at least some of the noise from when the others would start talking.

She turned to the others as she pulled off her hood, revealing her short cut white mane and sky blue coat, "Quietly, okay?"

The others nodded, "Yes Ardee," Then they turned their attention back to the trio each taking off their hoods and sitting in a sort of arc in front of them, the two fillies looked like Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle respectively, the first with straight hair and glasses, the second without wings and a less maintained mane. The colt was a thestral, and seemed to edge closer to the guard mare than Void Vale and Pen.

The pink one went first, "Um, the guards said it was okay to ask them questions... I hope that's the same here?"

The pegasus soon joined the others, turning their arc into more of a semicircle, were it night for the white mane and gentle personality she'd be a dead ringer for Rainbow Dash.

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/14/2020 at 7:33 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Nine ventured a comment, "Well, not as much as you might think. While he's not on the merciful side of things, he's not that far on the vengeful side either due to, and I quote from the list, Gross Incompetence. He hasn't gathered much debt because he's simply unaware of the effects or doesn't understand what he's doing. It's a valid defence for Karma."

"Maybe he'll be more competent if he gets a pineapple crammed up there?"

Null were still cranky as she responded to this in her head, but she still listened. Nine knew this better than her, and would know how to judge that idiot, but it was just... That oaf had combined several of the things she hated the most about rich beings - flaunting wealth, being dodgy, and acting extremely punchable - and reveled in it, and she wanted so badly to wipe that smile of his face. Show him the ugly side of the world, that this entitled, good for nothing twerp had been shielded from in his fancy home!

She had to take a breather after this thought came in. Just sit down, close her eyes, and keep repeating to herself that mauling a snob, would only catch the wrong kind of attention. No matter how much it would please her to do something like that, and have one less over-entitled twonk think that they were above any kind of bad action taken against them. What she wouldn't give to make them all spend a few weeks in the slum, living the lives of those they constantly looked down on, and openly mocked... She bet most of them wouldn't last a day, but that was the harsh reality. Sometimes, the weak didn't make it, and plenty of rich ones she had met were pathetic and weak. 

Let it be said that Null in general, did not mingle well with the higher classes, due to her having met a lot of the worst types of them. She had also met some that really did mean well, and were concerned for others, but when you were overexposed to the wrong kind - as they often tended to be more numerous, and loudly boastful - it started to get hard to see the few grains of gold between. Even when it were right in front of her.

On 8/14/2020 at 7:33 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Arcade wouldn't attract attention from Bling outside of a casual wave of greeting, once Null seemed to have calmed down he'd venture to speak again, "So, where to now?"

Arcade would find that Bling waved back enthusiastically. And as she saw that Null seemed to be dealing with a rage mood of some kind, she'd pull something out of her bag, and have it roll towards them while she went away. Which would turn out to be a little, flat wooden disk, with a smiling changeling face on it, and the text *Have a smile, for a rainy day*. Said face were of Queen Cheshire, whom her changelings had decided would be the best one to depict on these *cheer coins* as they called them. Utterly worthless really, but they tended to sometimes be a good opener for a chat, or actually cheered others up, due to just how silly or absurd they were.

Back when they had a theater, the hive used to give this out to the guests who seemed like they had a bad day, or the little ones of all races, as an inexpensive souvenir. They also used to be enchanted by Queen Cheshire though, so that when you turned it around, she would make silly faces at them, though none of the current members left, knew how to do it as well as she did, and these days, were too busy to put the effort into making some with any sort of range, so it were just both sides with a small painting on it. Her smiling, and then if you flipped it around, the same face making a silly grump face. Queen Cheshire had always been a dutiful, yet fun-loving queen, so things like this tended to amuse her, as much as it did others.

"...Let's get further in. I don't want to be here right now, in case he comes back. I don't think I'll be able to stop myself if he does."

She got up, and ready to get on the way. She weren't a bundle of joy right now, but she were focused enough to keep herself in check, as the fires would slowly smolder, and later, hopefully calm all the way down.

Before she got on her way though, she'd turn to look at Arcade. At first, with an iron-like look, making it clear that she were very much in the mood to hurt someone, and badly at that.

Yet looking at him, thinking of what he had been through, how easy it would be to take it all out of him with no consequences, and yet remember how she had felt when he had actually died in front of her... It made her think. And while at times that were bad, as it left her unaware of what went on around her, it also tended to help her calm down more. Which could be seen, as her features softened a little, and her stance got less tense as a few seconds ticked by, before she seemed to regain her senses from a line of thought that had gone to strange places, which she did not want to touch upon right now.

"...You're right though. And so were she. Throwing this away is pointless. We'll give it to the ambassadors, and they'll decide what to do with it. I for one though, don't care for a high end party. I do not mingle well with entitled rich beings, and mark my words, Arcade: You would not enjoy it either. Even if it wasn't a trap, it would be full of snobbish, loathsome beings, who are so used to being above others, that they think they can do whatever they want with and to you, and can't fathom that anyone would dare to speak up to them. It would be hours of being treated like dirt, or some sort of curiosity, just there to be pointed and laughed at.

Think I'm paranoid if you want, but I speak from bitter, hard earned experience. And I don't want you to suffer any of the humiliations I've been put through. Or worse."

She'd let that ominous, vague statement hang in the air, as she started to make her way further in town, whilst keeping her ears perked, and eyes taking in what she saw. Just in case there were something suspicious going on, or she saw any of the rich idiots, little side hustles wandering around on their own. Considering the amount of brain power it likely took to find him endearing, it were likely that a flashing light could confuse one of them, and make them wander off from the herd, until picked up again.

(Troy)

On 8/14/2020 at 7:33 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"I know it can be hard going out on your own. I suppose being away from your sister is akin to how it felt for me when I was first separated from Luna, once whole now half sort of thing? What helped me was to find a new part to fill my missing piece, perhaps your new sibling or these young ponies will help? How is your mother doing actually? It shouldn't be more than a month until  her due date now I think?"

"Sounds similar I guess, in a w-way. Just less uhm... Physically splitting, like you were. It's more of an emotional thing. I'll manage someday though. Like you say, I just n-need to find something else to fulfill the void she left behind. No pun intended.

Maybe the fillies will help, or the little new one. Whose coming along well, according to the d-doctors. Mom's being as stubborn as always though, so it can be hard to make her keep still sometimes."

Bunsen were a headstrong, focused mare back when she were a foal, and nothing seemed to have changed much there, in the years that had passed since then. She did what the doctors said right now (mostly), but Void kept thinking that her mother needed more rest, whilst she kept insisting that she needed to keep moving too sometimes, etc. Much like Null had been to her, Void were being over protective. Though in her defense, how could she not be? It were a little new sibling, from the parents she had thought she had lost two decades ago, and The Grey were still on the loose, and might try something. How could she not worry and get paranoid about this whole thing? Though it were probably true that she worried too much.

On 8/14/2020 at 7:33 AM, Illiad Easle said:

They were all quite impressed with the mosaics once they were set up properly, Vale and Pen taking a special interest in the renditions of the local creatures, "I've seen a few of these wandering about town, this makes them look so friendly." Vale nodded, "I like them, I can't wait to see what you'll do next!"

Pen continued, "I can't wait to see how the new ponies react, knowing what they've no doubt been through this may well be the best place they've ever lived."

"I've been thinking about getting a c-cackler myself actually. They're very friendly creatures, and I've liked those I've seen others have with them sometimes. I even k-know someone who sells tamed ones down the market.

But anyway, I'd uhm, need to ask someone else to show off one someday, maybe. I know they usually take some time to train before they are good enough to go around with someone, though I don't know for sure how well trained he sells them. Maybe I should ask him t-tomorrow or something.

As for the vulture... I know someone we could probably borrow one from. He showed it off when he were around the shop, and he said he owed me a f-favor, after I helped him replace the glass on his watch. It was a small thing, quickly done, so I d-din't charge him for it. I think I could cash in the favor he g-gave me instead though, when the time is right. No dune foxes though. They're not meant for city life."

Void had actually also considered getting pygmy ghost vulture, but in case she had to leave town in the future, it would be a bad idea. They bonded strongly with their owners, and refused to leave town. So both trying to take it away from here, and giving it to another at a later time, if she had to leave, would be cruel to the poor thing. Plus, with their bad adaptation skills, it would not end well, even if she did somehow get one away from here.

The lizards were more malleable. They were better at adapting, having mostly just a problem with cold, as most reptiles did. They were also easier to carry with you, and really, if one had bonded to you, it were unlikely to leave you again.

There were also some degree of nostalgia to it. She remembered the clingy little thing from when she were a foal, and almost bonded with one that had snuck into the town they grew up in, when she started helping it get into a dumpster it had wandered around, to try and find an entrance. As well as giving it some leftovers and stuff she had on her at times. Though sadly, it had been chased off before it got too close, by some of the other citizens, and she never saw it again. She did hear a shrill, fearful noise about two days later though... Considering what she now knew of the town, it were likely they had terminated it, to prevent it from becoming a problem, or just didn't want to have it interfere with their experiment. She just knew that she hadn't been able to sleep well for a week after that, as the noise haunted her dreams.

But these were thoughts for another day, as shortly after, they'd be informed that the foals were here. It had indeed been a close call it seemed, but hopefully the workers got everything settled in before they arrived here, regardless of the smaller time frame they suddenly had.

As for them... Well, guess it were time to go greet the little ones. *gulp* Here were hoping it'd go well.

On 8/14/2020 at 7:33 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Selena saluted the guards and gave a polite bow to the foals, one of which seemed quite interested in her, Selena smiled as she started to lead the way back at a much calmer pace, "Welcome to Troy, I am Selena. These here are Void, Vale, and Pen. We've been preparing a place where they'll be taking care of you while you're here. We're going there now so you can rest, we do hope it is to your liking."

Void hadn't been paying much attention to the architecture, as they had gone off to collect the foals, so the walls and meaning of what were seen, were sadly lost on her at the time. Instead, her gaze were focused on the cloaked foals, who seemed to have been prematurely given some degree of disguise to keep them from being seen. Probably for the best right now, but hopefully they'd be able to walk without them, sooner rather than later. Poor things shouldn't have to go from being holed up in one place for years, to simply being holed up in another, for even more years.

After Selena had given her own greeting, Void would nervously raise a hoof and give the little ones a smile.

"Hello. It's uhm... N-Nice to meet you."

It weren't much, but it would have to do for now, since Selena had already basically said everything that were to be said.

Little might end up biting note in her now, or perhaps later, due to her uncanny resemblance to the smaller mare who had helped him. Same silvery mane, coal-like coat, and swirling black hole cutie mark (in purple), as the small pegasus, just with the cutie mark inverted. It were not standard for equine siblings to look too much alike, but it weren't unheard of either, and it might seem too much a coincidence for them not to be related. Especially for a young mind, who probably didn't think genetics, as much as *Hey, you look like someone else I've seen.*.

On the way to the house, Void would keep an eye on them, to see if they seemed to be okay, how they behaved, and just in general, if they looked at something out there very longingly, as it might give her some ideas on what to get hold of for them. Interests were something she weren't aware of yet after all, so everything would help.

What she saw so far, were that the pegasus seemed to be the leader of the group, with the others circling her in a way that made it clear, that they saw her as one as well. Clearly one whom she had to be seen well by, for the others to trust, she'd wager. She reminded her of Null actually. Clearly curious and wanting to let her eyes wander too, but she thought of those who relied on her first and foremost, and pushed most of her own curiosity away, to better accommodate that. A strong leader type indeed, though hopefully one who'd fare better than her sister. She would not trade Null for anything, but no one should live with the sort of mental scars she had gotten over the years. Including this pegasus.

On 8/14/2020 at 7:33 AM, Illiad Easle said:

The others nodded, "Yes Ardee," Then they turned their attention back to the trio each taking off their hoods and sitting in a sort of arc in front of them, the two fillies looked like Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle respectively, the first with straight hair and glasses, the second without wings and a less maintained mane. The colt was a thestral, and seemed to edge closer to the guard mare than Void Vale and Pen.

The pink one went first, "Um, the guards said it was okay to ask them questions... I hope that's the same here?"

The pegasus soon joined the others, turning their arc into more of a semicircle, were it night for the white mane and gentle personality she'd be a dead ringer for Rainbow Dash.

It hadn't been a joke, that these reminded of the element carriers. Despite the difference in colors, mane styles, and in one case, the need for glasses, Void were still struck with how much they reminded her of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle. The Dash clone - or Ardee, as she seemed to be called - were even very fittingly, a very leader type, sort of mare. It were much the same that she knew the real Dash were, from the brief interaction, and subsequent stories that she had heard.

The one that were a dead ringer for Pinkie, were more calm and soft spoken it seemed though. Nothing close the the ball of boundless, unexplained energy that the real one were, and just a proof that these might be clones, but that did not mean they were exactly the same. Perhaps they had been imperfect ones, in the eyes of the facility? A dreadful thought, and one she pushed away mentally as soon as she thought it, since dwelling on that would not be a nice way to get through this.

"Of course, please ask away. And if there's anything you need f-for the crib, Ardee, just let me know, okay? You seem to know them the best, so if you think of a-anything that will help keep them happy, please tell me. I'll s-see what I can do then."

Void would answer the filly with the glasses first, and keep her eye on her as she did, before adding the other parts of the whole thing she had to say. At which point she'd look at Ardee. It were more respectful that way in her mind, and showed more attention to them as individuals, than they probably had in the facility. Her own experience with them at least, didn't indicate they much cared for dealing with their *test subjects* as real beings, worthy of respect. Just things to talk over, as if they understood nothing, or were just not worth talking to.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Even if it wasn't a trap, it would be full of snobbish, loathsome beings, who are so used to being above others, that they think they can do whatever they want with and to you, and can't fathom that anyone would dare to speak up to them. It would be hours of being treated like dirt, or some sort of curiosity, just there to be pointed and laughed at.

Arcade smirked, "So, just like being in the facility, only they're not actively trying to kill me? Everything else seems to match up, sounds like a good time all things considered." There was a noticeable air of sarcasm to the last part of his statement, "Yeah, let's let the ambassadors deal with that, it seems more their element anyway. Let's head inward then."

The further inward they went the taller the Stacked Deck loomed over them, they'd eventually reach a ring which was denoted with lines and times, the shadow of the Stacked Deck lining up with the current time, indicating that the tower also served as a massive sundial for the town. The time lines had the appearance of recently and frequently being edited, it seemed like someone was keeping it accurate with Illiad's progress in restoring the sun and moon to their proper orbits.

In addition, with each progressive ring they passed the better maintained the buildings and the ponies within and without looked. There was progressively less broken and boarded windows, eventually reaching storefronts with intact picture windows displaying their quality wares.

However, the closer they got to the center the less general chatter occured, and there was a noticeable increase in the number of grey robed ponies patrolling the area, the others seemed to avoid their paths at all cost. They were careful not to look directly at them or linger in any one place too long. Despite the apparent hesitation no one was approached or accosted by the grey robed individuals.

If they didn't stop sooner they'd eventually reach the central plaza, a large empty circle bearing a massive mosaic of the symbol of the two sisters, it looked lovingly cared for and recently cleaned, everyone taking care not to step on the visage or either princess. Surrounding the plaza to each cardinal direction were large casinos that seemed to set the architectural style of the city behind them. To the east was the Stacked Deck, behind which was the ocean and the majority of the hovering cloud district. To the north was Tartarus Pits, a vary dark style of building with flames as their signature motif, the buildings to the north had spiry black architecture. To the west was the Top Suits, contrasting the elevated nature of the Stacked Deck the buildings were more utilitarian and square, but still had a refined class to them. To the south was the Luxure-Æther, contrasting the black and firey style of the north the south was all white and flowing, not an acute angle to be seen anywhere, it also was the district with the most glass. The embassy was to the west, near the south edge, they had arrived from the southwest.

(Troy)

The foals seemed quite relieved that they were able to ask questions, and further that Void seemed so willing to answer.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

And if there's anything you need f-for the crib, Ardee, just let me know, okay? You seem to know them the best, so if you think of a-anything that will help keep them happy, please tell me. I'll s-see what I can do then.

Ardee nodded but pointed to the other two fillies, "Things look good enough at the moment thank you, it's much better than the cardboard box they had. But I'm just the one that carries them, being the strong one and all without Arcade. Teal and Toupé are the ones that care for Peel and Piecey."

The Twilight looking one and the Pinkie looking one nodded in turn, Teal spoke up with a bit of pride, "Arcade said we'd make good mothers one day, since we take such good care of the foals after Mistress had to leave."

Toupé seemed to want to get back in control of the situation, and so raised her hoof for attention, "Um, if it's okay to ask," she pointed at Vale and Pen, "You don't look like ponies. What are you?"

While some would be taken aback by the question, Vale simply smiled kindly, "I'm what's called a deer, most don't have these metal parts like I do, when I was smaller, smaller than you are now, I was in an accident that hurt me badly, a kind buck, which is a male deer, helped me, gave me these metal pieces to replace the damaged parts of my body."

Pen continued, "I don't think there's an official term for me, I might be the only animate wooden pony, so I guess you could call me a wood pony, just like any other pony but made entirely of wood."

The colt was looking a bit antsy, and the thestral guard came over to Vale's ear, "I'm going to take the colt out for a bit, it's a thestral thing, we'll be back soon enough." She waved the colt over and he jumped up to follow her out, but waved back to the others before leaving.

Teal was the next to ask, "Um, Void? How long are we going to stay here? Are we going to go somewhere else?"

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/16/2020 at 7:46 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"So, just like being in the facility, only they're not actively trying to kill me? Everything else seems to match up, sounds like a good time all things considered." There was a noticeable air of sarcasm to the last part of his statement, "Yeah, let's let the ambassadors deal with that, it seems more their element anyway. Let's head inward then."

"Depends on whatever or not you bow your head like the sheep they're used to, or go up and clock them. Hit them right, and someone will try actively causing you harm. Usually their butlers or guards. Can't have their dainty hooves getting dirty. Peh."

She spoke from experience. It had actually been the reason for Void and her getting run out of three separate towns, in three separate countries. They never pursued it over the borders of a few towns though. Rich, entitled twonks considered it done when the ones who harmed them, had gotten out of their place. Or whoever they had to chase them later, were just really ineffective, or didn't bother. Either or, the rich were a bunch of entitled softies in her opinion. Couldn't even throw their own punches.

Let that be as it were though. They had more of the town to examine, before returning back.

On 8/16/2020 at 7:46 AM, Illiad Easle said:

However, the closer they got to the center the less general chatter occured, and there was a noticeable increase in the number of grey robed ponies patrolling the area, the others seemed to avoid their paths at all cost. They were careful not to look directly at them or linger in any one place too long. Despite the apparent hesitation no one was approached or accosted by the grey robed individuals.

The state of the buildings did not get to Null, as much as seeing Them all over the place. Insufferable goons of her mangled cur of a so-called *father*!

Had she seemed tense before by Arcade, he should be able to tell that it were far worse now. She were walking slowly whenever one of them got anywhere near them, followed them with her eyes, and had her teeth clenched the entire time. Not a single word would escape her, but the closer the got, the more her muscles tensed up, and once or twice, she almost felt a growl escape her throat. It were taking a lot of her will to not start hitting these goons one by one, until the Grey himself came out here, to see what all the ruckus was about. Which he likely wouldn't. If there had been an indication that it would work, she would have likely already started on it, or at least needed to take off before the temptation got too strong. Which it already were.

It were clear to her that they weren't any sort of beloved, or benevolent presence in town either. No one wanted to get anywhere near them, nor catch their attention, and she highly doubted that every last being on this street, were wanted by them. More than likely, they were afraid because they might well put debt on you if you as much as blocked the sun from their path, or breathed the same air as you. Or would flat out beat you up, with no repercussions to them. Could be a lot of other things, but fear were certainly involved. Otherwise, it wouldn't look like this. Befitting of them really, as well as The Grey himself.  Would be good to see these grey robes enforcer's whole internal structure crumble, once she had beheaded him. Fear should not be a tool to rule.

On 8/16/2020 at 7:46 AM, Illiad Easle said:

If they didn't stop sooner they'd eventually reach the central plaza, a large empty circle bearing a massive mosaic of the symbol of the two sisters, it looked lovingly cared for and recently cleaned, everyone taking care not to step on the visage or either princess. Surrounding the plaza to each cardinal direction were large casinos that seemed to set the architectural style of the city behind them. To the east was the Stacked Deck, behind which was the ocean and the majority of the hovering cloud district. To the north was Tartarus Pits, a vary dark style of building with flames as their signature motif, the buildings to the north had spiry black architecture. To the west was the Top Suits, contrasting the elevated nature of the Stacked Deck the buildings were more utilitarian and square, but still had a refined class to them. To the south was the Luxure-Æther, contrasting the black and firey style of the north the south was all white and flowing, not an acute angle to be seen anywhere, it also was the district with the most glass. The embassy was to the west, near the south edge, they had arrived from the southwest.

Null would wander right up to the mosaic as she saw it, and then stop, to look at it, rather than spend her focus on the area around them. Depictions of two that the world had lost, yet would thankfully one day get back. Though it wasn't certain what sort of state they'd return in, Null felt another question nag at her more, as she gazed at the depiction of Lun and Celestia.

What sort of world would they return to?

The crisis was over, and war would likely not be wanted between Troy, and whatever would be of Equestria at that point anymore, but that didn't mean it was okay out there. It were still full of enemies, who'd be more than happy to capitalize on the returning princesses, in some form or another. And these would likely be better than Tirek, and others like him, who had just been oafs, wandering into places and attacking brazenly. The dumb would have more than likely died during the crisis, whereas the smart had managed to succeed, and even thrive. It would be more dangerous than ever, with the likes of The Grey still out there, playing their games in the background, and just waiting for their chance to strike.

"...He's gonna pay, Celestia. All of them will..."

She considered her debt to be paid, with Void and her having helped to close the gate. However, that did not mean that she did not want to imagine the princess one day returning, to find a world where she, her sister, and everyone else who would return, wouldn't be faced with a flurry of issues when they returned.

Still, that were but one of several thoughts that just came along as she tried to get her mind under control. By imagining the time she had met with Celestia, to sort of distract herself from all the grey troops in the area. She mostly just thought of that day, and how warm and accepting the princess had been, and it were frankly painful to think of all that she had been through, after what she had done to help them. A pair of fledgling mares from Troy, whom she had no reason to allow in her country. And yet, they had been welcomed. With open hooves even, in the case of her majesty herself. Sure she hadn't been perfect, but it were hard not to remember what she had personally seen, rather than what she were hearing snippets off from others. Things that she still weren't sure how much she could believe, as it clashed much with the image mare she had seen.

"...I met Celestia once. She's was a kind mare."

 

(Troy)

On 8/16/2020 at 7:46 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Things look good enough at the moment thank you, it's much better than the cardboard box they had. But I'm just the one that carries them, being the strong one and all without Arcade. Teal and Toupé are the ones that care for Peel and Piecey."

The Twilight looking one and the Pinkie looking one nodded in turn, Teal spoke up with a bit of pride, "Arcade said we'd make good mothers one day, since we take such good care of the foals after Mistress had to leave."

"I think it's a l-little early for you to be thinking about that, but I'm sure he's right. I'm at very impressed by your work at least. Al t-three of you. The foals looks like they're very w-well taken care of by all of you, and like I said to her, please feel free to ask me, if there's anything you need for them, okay? Whatever I can do to help e-everyone here, I'll try to do."

It surprised her to hear that these two were the ones that took care of the foals honestly, and she admitted to being slightly baffled for a brief second, and looking at the two very surprised as well, until she managed to get herself under control again.

It were a good thing though, right? The toddlers had one strong enough to carry them around, and a primary caretaker, in case something happened, so they were well taken care of already. Of course that didn't mean that they shouldn't get more help, but it were good to know that they always had so many near them, that they could rely on. It would be important too, here in the first time, when they had to learn what sort of needs the small ones had. Who would know better, than the foals who took care of them after all, right?

On 8/16/2020 at 7:46 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Teal was the next to ask, "Um, Void? How long are we going to stay here? Are we going to go somewhere else?"

Void followed the Thestral colt and the mare with worry in her eye. Poor thing must be spooked about the new environment or something... Hopefully the mare would be able to help him calm down.

Teal however, would soon ask questions, which Void would turn around to answer. A pretty big question too, which she sadly didn't have an answer to. It were a fair one though. In their position, she could see that being one of the ones that would come to mind first.

"You have to stay here dear, but I don't know how long. There's some things you have to be eased into out t-there, so it's going to take some time. But I p-promise you, we'll work on making sure you can come out and get some air soon as we can, and move towards you being f-free to go everywhere you want eventually.

I know it's not ideal, Teal, but it's c-complicated. It's thankfully not like you're used to, here in t-town, but there's thing to get sorted out before you're ready to meet it head on, so it will be a while. We'll make sure to get you educated about what's out there though, so you c-can be more prepared for it in time, okay? Pen and Vale are also gonna work with me to b-bring some things and creatures in for show and tell, so you can be prepared faster, and I'll be bringing in some books one of these days. My sister taught me how to read, write, and things like that, so maybe I can help you with it too? If you need help, of c-course. All of you look like you're smart foals, but I'm sure there's s-something we can help teach you."

She'd smile at them, and trying to present a hopeful sort of outlook. Sure there were issues to tackle, but overall, there were progress to strive for, which had to be better than what their prospects were in the facility. Which were likely just experiments and observations, until the day they died, stuck underground. Poor things might have never even seen the sunlight, had Null not found them.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

While Null was content to ignore their surroundings, Arcade was fairly enthralled by the changing architecture. He wasn't wholly ignorant to Null's shifting feelings however, and started to pay her more attention the darker and more angry she grew. He knew from experience when the one in charge was in a bad mood, it typically meant he was going to die if he didn't keep on the tips of his hooves, sometimes even so.

10 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"...I met Celestia once. She's was a kind mare."

Arcade had a fairly worried expression, though a brow raised in intrigue at her statement. "Indeed? I never would have thought it given what I overheard from the scientists. First group talked about her like she was some unsatisfiable task master, trying to get them to accomplish the impossible and any who dissented were rarely seen again. The second group though... they somehow liked her even less."

He examined the images of the two without any look of recognition. "I never met them myself though, so who knows? I try not to form opinions about ponies I don't know personally."

(Troy)

The foals seemed more relieved by Void's answer than she may have anticipated, their eyes quickly looking about the space with a renewed interest, Teal looked back at Void with a look of tearful hope, "You mean... we get to stay here? For like, more than a few sleeps? W-we don't have to keep moving?"

Teal and Toupé shared a look, happy tears welling up before they came forward to hug Void's legs. She could feel their tears, but it was clear they were happy, the happiest they had been in a long time.

Ardee wiped a tear from her eye as she came closer as well, gently rubbing the fillies' backs with her wings as she looked up at Void, "We've, well, we've had to keep moving for so long, never able to stay in any place long after Mistress took us from the research. We lost so many along the way, each time related to us moving." She sniffled, "If we're not moving anymore... maybe no one else will get lost. We've got you three to keep us safe now."

Vale and Pen were quite touched by Ardee's words, and came to join in the gentle group physical comfort circle.

It didn't take long for Teal and Toupé to calm down from their relief, though perhaps it was caused more by their more obvious exhaustion and hunger. Ardee looked about the room again before looking to the mares, "So, um... does Troy have food? I think we're all getting pretty tired of strange magic bread, especially the foals."

 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

"In Troy, we're all fed the same stories. That she's a tyrant. That she'd a false princess, using shady tactics and mind control to stay in power, and everything else they can think of to throw at her. I heard the same stories, but they're not true."

SHe'd look at the depiction of the princess for about ten seconds, as her mind wandered to what she had heard, contra what she had seen herself. Then afterwards heard on the other side of the border, back when the world wasn't a war zone.

"...At least not all of them.

You said it yourself: Judge on what you personally see, not hear. What I've seen, was a kind mare, who welcomed u- Me, with open hooves. She felt as warm and radiant as the sun itself, and the world is poorer from her being gone.

But I've heard the stories too, and I don't know what's just surface level, and what she did in the background. I don't imagine that she were a saint, at least. The way literature in Equestria talked about Troy, I know there's propaganda on both sides, and the ones in power makes sure how history is written.

I still think she were far less worse, than what others make her out to be, but there were likely still something shady going on in the back, hidden from view. No being exists that are perfect. We're all flawed in some way..."

There were a lot of variation to what the flaws could be though. Could be anything from gambling addiction, to physical imperfections, mental issues, outright evil, being power hungry, etc. What exactly Celestia's flaw were - beyond her obsession with cake - were impossible for her to know for sure, as she had only seen and heard two sides of the same tale. The Trojan message of the tyrant Celestia, and the Equestrian version, of the benevolent Princess Celestia. Both sides were too one dimensional to tell the truth, but somewhere in between, who and what Celestia were, would be.

What did it matter though? She were probably never gonna be able to know for sure. Though perhaps if she were somehow still alive and sane, when the twenty years had passed, she could wander up and simply ask her, and hope for some level of honesty. Maybe even judge her for herself, relatively speaking. Something told her that Karma had likely done so a long time ago, which made her off limits. If not... She'd rather not think about it.

Looking down a few more seconds, she'd let out a sigh, and turn her head up to look at Arcade. She were still on the more miffed side than calm, but she did not look like she were about to stomp on someone. So there were some progress there.

"We should look around here a bit more, than head back. I think we got a fair idea of at least some of the town by now. The slums, how the economy and law works, and some of the locals. Something tells me we should keep an eye out for the changelings though. The ones we saw when we got to town, seem to be going around, considering the amount of bags that female one were lumbering around with. Might be they know what's beneath the shiny surface we're looking at. Or they know someone who does.

Anyway, anything currently catching your eyes?"

(Troy)

On 8/18/2020 at 8:57 AM, Illiad Easle said:

You mean... we get to stay here? For like, more than a few sleeps? W-we don't have to keep moving?"

Teal and Toupé shared a look, happy tears welling up before they came forward to hug Void's legs. She could feel their tears, but it was clear they were happy, the happiest they had been in a long time.

Ardee wiped a tear from her eye as she came closer as well, gently rubbing the fillies' backs with her wings as she looked up at Void, "We've, well, we've had to keep moving for so long, never able to stay in any place long after Mistress took us from the research. We lost so many along the way, each time related to us moving." She sniffled, "If we're not moving anymore... maybe no one else will get lost. We've got you three to keep us safe now."

Void were quite surprised at first about the reaction. She would have thought that the foals would want to find a way outside as quickly as they could, and yet, they were more thrilled about being stationed here for a while?

It started to make a whole lot more sense once they started to talk, and let a few snippets of information slip though. It sounded like someone had taken them out of the facility they had been in at first, then kept moving them around, but moving around had caused some of them to die...

She felt a tear roll down from her real eye, as she leaned down and gently pushed her chest against the poor foals, to try and hug them as best she could, while they were still latched on to her front legs. As for Ardee though - if she would allow it - Void would attempt to put her head on the seemingly oldest foal's shoulder, to provide some comfort there too. Though if Ardee pulled back from it, she would stop, and just look at her with a sad smile, and a track of tears down the side of her eye.

"You don't need to worry anymore, okay? We'll do everything we can, to m-make sure you don't have to go anywhere, before you're ready for it, and we won't let anyone h-hurt you again. I promise you, they won't take anymore of you, without g-going through us."

The poor, unfortunate souls had already known too much hardship, than anyone should in a lifetime. No wonder they were concerned about this place, and how long they were going to be here. When you associated moving with death, stability would be the first thing to worry about retaining. Hopefully that would be over now, that they had others to try and help them, in a town, rather than the underground were likely all manners of monsters had wandered, and been the cause of many of the deaths they mentioned. Most they'd have to worry about here were The Grey's troops, and hopefully, that would soon no longer be an issue. Though she imagined that if Null meant that she were literally going to wander down the streets, with his head on a pike, she were going to have to make sure that she didn't meet them at first. The foals did not need to see more death, than they already had.

On 8/18/2020 at 8:57 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"So, um... does Troy have food? I think we're all getting pretty tired of strange magic bread, especially the foals."

The moment passed, and whilst she were still shocked and saddened by what the foals had been through, they now had more pressing matters to take care of, as Ardee mentioned something that Void had prepared for earlier, would come up sooner or later.

"Yes, of c-course. We're setting up a kitchen even, so that we can cook things for you one of the next days. I'm h-hoping that maybe, some of you could help me then, and you could learn how to cook? It beats c-constant bread. Although, that isn't healthy either. You need things with more vitamins and p-proteins.

Though uhm, I did prepare something that we can do today, and then we can make warm food tomorrow. I brought some varied v-vegetables and fruits, among other things. If you're up for it, we can make a nice salad, some stuffed tomatoes, and some protein bars? The l-last ones are a little tricky, but they're very tasty, and full of energy."

It were also one of the only sort of sweets she could make with them, without access to an oven, or even a regular campfire of some kind. Once she could though, she'd start to show them how to bake, and had a fairly good idea of what sort of thing to make first. That being muffins. A fairly easy treat to make, and there were a lot of variance you could put into them, once they got sorted what kinds of tasted the varied foals had. Though the smallest ones... Could they eat those sort of things yet?

"Just to be sure, can the small ones e-eat solids? Or do they still need milk, or more paste like food? We can still make s-something good for them if they do."

She could of course just go check, but she didn't want to wake them up, just because she were checking their teeth.

Of course, Ardee had said that they too ate magical bread - which were something else to ask about later, as it sounded weird - but it might still have needed to be broken up heavily for them to eat, or downright mushed. So it were best to ask and be certain here.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"In Troy, we're all fed the same stories. That she's a tyrant. That she'd a false princess, using shady tactics and mind control to stay in power, and everything else they can think of to throw at her. I heard the same stories, but they're not true."

Arcade looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it.

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Anyway, anything currently catching your eyes?"

Arcade looked around again, "You mean besides everything? Might be worth checking out some of these central buildings. Given how they seem to influence the architecture behind them it seems likely that if any factions exist in this place they'd be the dividing lines. That one," he pointed at the Top Suits, "Looks the most subdued, and I'm pretty sure the embassy is that way anyway. If there are factions it'd be good to be friendly with whichever one controls our territory."

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Something tells me we should keep an eye out for the changelings though.

He nodded, "They did always strike me as useful, in the facility they were the ones most concerned with our emotional state, after Gemini of course. I'll keep my eye out for them."

[If they decide to enter the Top Suits]

The inside was fairly conservative, as far as casinos went, the front room was dominated by a large pillar and desk which hid from view what the building contained from the front doors. They could hear the tell tale sounds of gambling from behind the pillar. A stallion in a well tailored checkered suit stood at the desk with a raised eyebrow, "Welcome to the Top Suits Hotel & Casino. You two looking to book a room or get on the gambling floor?" He looked around before leaning over the desk to be a bit closer to their height, "Aren't you two a bit young to be gambling? I mean you've got your marks and all, but still... Better off saving your money."

[If Null refuses]

Nine would eventually chime in, "I was looking into that stallion who gave you the chip, there was something dark about him I couldn't place until I really read his list. While he's pretty clear, he's in frequent close proximity to someone with a very high debt to Vengeance. I'm not saying it's your father, but I can't think of many others who'd have that much debt, given how you've described him."

(Troy)

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Yes, of c-course. We're setting up a kitchen even, so that we can cook things for you one of the next days. I'm h-hoping that maybe, some of you could help me then, and you could learn how to cook? It beats c-constant bread. Although, that isn't healthy either. You need things with more vitamins and p-proteins.

Though uhm, I did prepare something that we can do today, and then we can make warm food tomorrow. I brought some varied v-vegetables and fruits, among other things. If you're up for it, we can make a nice salad, some stuffed tomatoes, and some protein bars? The l-last ones are a little tricky, but they're very tasty, and full of energy."

The young ponies seemed quite excited by the prospect of not only getting food that wasn't bread, but also being able to help make the food. They were quick to step back from Void so she could move, then they took off the robes they had been given, using them to claim a bed for themselves and also revealing that despite their size none of them had a cutie mark. Toupé had been wearing a slightly dirty scientist's coat under her robe, and she continued to wear it now.

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Just to be sure, can the small ones e-eat solids? Or do they still need milk, or more paste like food? We can still make s-something good for them if they do."

Ardee looked back at the foals and shrugged, "I'm sure they would have done better with milk, but none of us ever produced any. Regardless they haven't had any issue with the bread before. They're older than they look."

That said, the young ponies were eagerly waiting for Void to show them how food was made.

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/19/2020 at 10:19 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"Looks the most subdued, and I'm pretty sure the embassy is that way anyway. If there are factions it'd be good to be friendly with whichever one controls our territory."

"Dunno if I can do friendly, but you're right. We should see what's going on, and what sorts we'd run into from this area.

Just for the record though, if they start insulting us, you're in charge of making friends. I don't let anyone step on me."

A few exceptions were here or there, but she still tended to have a negative reaction, such as growling at others. A rough stare, actually attacking- All sorts of options. Even in her good moods, a snarky comment still got out of her as a baseline, which did not tend to make her a lot of friends. More than smashing folks in the face with whatever were closest, like she used to do more often than not, but still.

On 8/19/2020 at 10:19 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"They did always strike me as useful, in the facility they were the ones most concerned with our emotional state, after Gemini of course. I'll keep my eye out for them."

"Of course they were. They eat emotions. They were probably cultivating you, so they wouldn't starve.

Not saying they couldn't have actually cared, but it at least probably started out as them, making sure they wouldn't go mindless. I've seen a changeling starved so much that he ended there, and it's not pretty."

She already firmly hated changelings at that point, so it were nothing that troubled Null, when she cut him where it counted, after he started to attacking Void and her in the canyon he were in.

He had come in from an angle, going right for Void, with a chain dangling around his neck. Something which had at some point, been stuck to a large rock as well, before he apparently managed to tear it out.

They learned later what caused him to act that feral, and at that point, it only served to trouble Null even less. It were more a mercy kill than anything, as apparently, there were no turning back, after you got to that stage. Though she did feel some small degree of pity for him, in the moment when they learned this. It must have been a horrible moment. Suffering through the last days, desperately trying to find any being to feed off, but finding nothing, as the hours ticked by. And then finally, they'd reach the breaking point, and it were over.

It were likely worse for the one they had found, since apparently, he had been chained up, and judged to have to suffer through this. He must have been nearly breaking his own hooves in the end, desperately trying to tear the chain from the wall, or remove it from his neck, but only managing to tighten it instead.

Who had done it? They didn't know. Nor why he didn't just transform out of it, though they suspected it had some sort of nullifying effect, to prevent it. It might have been a punishment, or some sort experiment. Considering they had only been around a hundred and fifty miles from Troy at that stage, she would not rule out the latter. Not anymore, anyway.

Who even knew if the changeling were still in there, locked inside their own mind? Null were no scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but for their sake, she hoped that were not the case. She had seen and heard from enough possessed creatures to know, that there were few she wished that fate upon. It sounded horrifying when anyone talked about it afterwards.

On 8/19/2020 at 10:19 PM, Illiad Easle said:

"Welcome to the Top Suits Hotel & Casino. You two looking to book a room or get on the gambling floor?" He looked around before leaning over the desk to be a bit closer to their height, "Aren't you two a bit young to be gambling? I mean you've got your marks and all, but still... Better off saving your money."

"I'm 27 years old, so bite me."

Well, that did not take long. Null had wandered in, looked around, and felt like it would be a place full of condescending schmucks. Being faced with one acting like it, were not really helping her first impression of the somewhat pompous place.

They'd likely not think well of her either though, considering she said those words with narrowed eyes, and clear annoyance in her voice. A voice that did not belong to a filly, which might at least clue in that her word were true, regarding her age.

As for that, if they counted from birth an onwards, she were technically 30, but she refused to count the three years they had been frozen.

After her... Great opening line, Null would turn to Arcade and shake her head.

"Told you I'm not good at this. You mind trying?"

(Troy)

On 8/19/2020 at 10:19 PM, Illiad Easle said:

Toupé had been wearing a slightly dirty scientist's coat under her robe, and she continued to wear it now.

"Toupé? If you l-like the robe, maybe we could wash it later? It would probably be good if it got cleaned."

She didn't get why he'd like wearing this, considering their experiences, but there were probably a story to that. Maybe she'd hear it one day, and understand it better? Might be related to that mistress they spoke about. Could be they too had a caregiver from the facility, who couldn't bare what happened to the foals in the long run, and planned an escape? There were a story there she'd like to know, but it wasn't the time for that right now.

Maybe when they all knew another a little better. Though for now, she could at least offer to clean the lab coat. It was the least she could do, for someone who deserved a lot more than she could offer.

On 8/19/2020 at 10:19 PM, Illiad Easle said:

Ardee looked back at the foals and shrugged, "I'm sure they would have done better with milk, but none of us ever produced any. Regardless they haven't had any issue with the bread before. They're older than they look."

That said, the young ponies were eagerly waiting for Void to show them how food was made.

"Okay, so they can h-handle solids, but I still think it best if we cut their food up into smaller pieces."

And speaking of food, it seemed the small ones were awaiting their first meal and lesson.

*gulp* Here goes, she guessed.

Going over to the saddlebags she had brought in earlier, she would start to unpack varied fruit and veggies. She hadn't been sure what they liked, so she had brought some varied things. Just in case there were one thing they didn't like, there would be other options.

Starting off, she'd take up a squash, and a small cutting board, made of wood. Null had carved and polished this herself, about two weeks ago.

She'd put the board on the floor, and withdraw a simple peeler.

"Let's start with a nice salad, o-okay? So first off, we peel the vegetables, before cutting them. This is a squash. I'll make s-sure you all get a taste, soon as I'm done peeling it, okay?

Please watch carefully, and remember that kitcken w-work can be dangerous. You have to be mindful of your tools."

The peeling went quick and effortless, as she started from the top, and ran a quick line down the side to the bottom, which left a thin, long line of shell. Then it were turned, rinse and repeat, until it were fully peeled.

After that, she would slowly take forth a small knife from her back, and make sure that everyone saw she had it in her hoof. No suddden movements, just to be on the safe side.

After she cut off the top of the squash, she'd then take the knife in through the side, about two centimeters down from the cut top, and start cutting slowly around, until she'd get a full, round slice.

Afterwards, she'd put it down on the board, and cut out some two cm by two cm blocks out of it. Once she were done, she'd put the knife away, and turn the cutting board, so that the blocks were facing the foals.

"Here you go, please try. And uhm... J-Just to prove it's safe."

Void would take one of the cubes, and eat it herself, with a smile on her face. It was a good fruit. And as they'd be able to see, not toxic. Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken one herself.

It was a matter of showing trust, first and foremost. As one who had lived through feeling like she could trust no one, Void felt like she knew what it were like, feeling paranoid about any sort of kindness. It might not be the same for them, but why risk it?

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

15 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Of course they were. They eat emotions. They were probably cultivating you, so they wouldn't starve

Arcade seemed surprised by the revelation, "Really? Interesting, I suppose they would then have an ulterior motive for keeping us sane, though I suppose it's really a win-win for them and us, as long as they prefer positive emotions."

15 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Told you I'm not good at this. You mind trying?"

Arcade didn't look very impressed by Null's attempt, but shrugged as he headed up to the desk, "We're new in town, came with the Trojan Ambassadors, what's good around here?"

The stallion at the desk changed his tune rather quickly when he heard who they were with, "Ah! That does explain the difference. If I recall correctly they put the embassy just about southwest from here right?" He smiled, "You've got my boss to thank for that, he fought hard to get that space cleared and approved by Grey Mane. We do hope you find the edifice accommodating? If there's anything it lacks don't be afraid to come to us for assistance. Anyway," he reached under the desk and pulled out a damaged map of the city with a number of notes on it. "First off, outside of the immediate vicinity of the Stacked Deck I'd avoid the coastline at all costs, past that I'd stay away from the north and south quadrants as well, not exactly the most savory of ponies there if you catch my drift. Now, your not a pegasus like your... friend there, so I'll skip the cloud district, but over here in the west side the three inner rings are where most of the commercial business are, you've got theaters, a few boutiques, top notch restaurants. Queen Cheshire's old acting school and theater is in this quadrant, though it's in the middle rings like your embassy. The outer rings are mostly residential so I'd avoid those when wandering, though I assure you they're safe to travel. You may find some smaller shops throughout, but the highest quality and security are to be found here in the center."

He looked between the two, "Anything in particular I can recommend? Or would you like a tour of the facilities we provide here?"

Arcade looked back at Null for her decision.

(Troy)

15 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Toupé? If you l-like the robe, maybe we could wash it later? It would probably be good if it got cleaned."

Toupé shook her head as she took a step back, holding the front of the coat closed with a hoof. Ardee comforted her while Teal explained, "That's Mistress' coat, She gave it to her before she left, said it would keep her safe, she hasn't taken it off since." She chuckled, "You'd likely have better luck washing it while she wore it."

Now that Teal mentioned it, while these ponies weren't exactly dirty they weren't the most clean either. It was clear they weren't the most well versed in proper hygiene and likely didn't bathe as often as one should. Combined with their recent trip across the desert... perhaps it would be best to show them the bathroom after dinner, and make sure they knew how to operate the shower/bathtub.

15 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Let's start with a nice salad, o-okay? So first off, we peel the vegetables, before cutting them. This is a squash. I'll make s-sure you all get a taste, soon as I'm done peeling it, okay?

Please watch carefully, and remember that kitcken w-work can be dangerous. You have to be mindful of your tools."

They all watched intently as Void worked, Toupé even bringing out a battered notebook and worn down pencil to take notes.

Pen and Vale helped Void as they were able, Pen took interest in the notes Toupé was taking, while Vale was more Void's sous chef for the salad.

15 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Here you go, please try. And uhm... J-Just to prove it's safe."

Vale also sampled one of the cubes to further prove it was safe to eat, though it was clear that Vale was not a big fan of squash, the face she made caused a small amount of giggles among the fillies. Now that the squash was cut they turned their attention to the other ingredients Vale had brought with differing levels of curiosity and recognition. The more common ones like lettuce and apples they recognized, but anything less than common they didn't seem to recognize.

The foals started to stir, so Ardee went over to check on them, and Vale went along, "Would you like some help Ardee?"

Ardee hesitated a moment before nodding, "If they like you it should be fine."

With that Vale and Ardee ducked behind the curtain to care for the foals, if nothing crazy happened on Void's end they'd return each carrying one of the now awake foals about fifteen minutes later, their wide eyes looking all about the room but mostly focusing on the ponies in the room and smiling. Unwrapped Void could see they were a white unicorn with a pink mane and a purple-black pegasus with a light blue mane. When the unicorn foal met Void's gaze she couldn't help but recognize the eyes as being just like Celestia's: full of love and acceptance.

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/22/2020 at 8:37 AM, Illiad Easle said:

He looked between the two, "Anything in particular I can recommend? Or would you like a tour of the facilities we provide here?"

"A tour... Please. And I'm... Sorry about the comment. I dont like being poked at with my size."

It were strained, but she were trying to apologize. That had to count for something, right? If not, then you couldn't say that she at least didn't try. Which were a marked improvement to her usual, stubborn attitude, before Troy of all placed, managed to calm her down. Or more specifically, it were her parents, her sisters, and confronting some of her own demons that did it. She were still messed up, bitter, and felt alone, but you didn't just flip a switch on someone like her, and fix everything. It would take time. Maybe more than she had left in her.

Though the dice had been tossed, and at least, Arcade seemed to get along better with him. Worst case, it wouldn't be fixable, and Null would go through this, trying to keep her trap shut. It were unlikely to work, but they'd see.

Either way, it were time to follow, and see what the big deal were about this whole place. Might be some valuable Intel in here somewhere. Or if not that, then perhaps him talking some more about the varied factions he were on about, and in particular, a certain stallion he had brought up, whom she wanted to hear a whole lot more about.

"Grey Mane sounds difficult to work with. Stubborn I imagine?"

She almost had to clench her teeth from following his name, with a series of profanity, that involved several things he could insert in various places. Insufferable old prune were going to get this and far more, once she finally caught up to him, and made him pay for all that he had done.

Regarding the places that had been talked about, a thing of notice that had not been talked about, were how Queen Cheshire's old theater, were now less used by her hive as their home, but rather as a shelter for the unfortunate, who needed more space. The few members of the hive, and those who wished to be very close to them, were mostly in a small hut to the side, with a bit of extra space dug out beneath it.

The remaining hive members had deemed that they did not need the full theater space, regardless of the fact that they had been granted it, after the city were retaken. As such, they had instead used it to help the varied injured at first, that there weren't room for in the hospital. Then it would go on to house those down on their luck, then wanderers getting to town, that needed a place to crash, then more of their kind that started to show, etc. It hadn't been someplace they had used for its original intent for a long time now. And due to some how of the sleeping arrangements were these days, they couldn't use it for theater either. They took advantage of some free space here and there, as well as street venues, for that sort, as needed.

Maybe once everything were back in place, there were less issues with wanderers coming in from a really bad experience outside, and more calm on the town itself, they could remake the theater to what it once were. But until that day arrived, Hive Cheshire had found a greater purpose for their grand stage.

(Troy)

On 8/22/2020 at 8:37 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Toupé shook her head as she took a step back, holding the front of the coat closed with a hoof. Ardee comforted her while Teal explained, "That's Mistress' coat, She gave it to her before she left, said it would keep her safe, she hasn't taken it off since." She chuckled, "You'd likely have better luck washing it while she wore it."

"Oh! ...Oh. I uhm... I get it, sorry Toupé. My sister once gave me a stuffed b-bear that I cherished a lot to. I didn't want to l-let go of it, even when it got very dirty, and started to fall apart. It's not easy just p-putting things you got out of your h-hooves, when it's from someone you you care about.

I promise you, I won't force you to t-take it off, okay? We can wash it, when you're g-getting a shower later too. It'll just t-take a bit longer to dry."

Void smiled down on Toupé. Poor thing had indeed been given this by this mysterious Mistress, whom they all clearly cared deeply about. Just more evidence that eventually, she needed to get to know more, of this entity, yet for now, she were more focused on trying to calm the poor thing, who seemingly feared that Void would take her prized possession away from her. Something which now that she knew the story behind it, Void had no intention of doing, at all. She might need to ask for some help scrounging up a few of those low rung fire crystals though, that were commonly used in stuff like blankets that were supposed to keep you warm in most weather, or mittens, etc. They were not strong enough to hurt, but they tended to give off a magical aura of cozy heat. Might help to dry her and the robe better later on when it were.

As for the shower, the lot of them needed it, but she hadn't wanted to push this on as the most important, on this day. Other days, she'd try to put in some discipline, by requiring them to be clean before dinner. Yet this were their first time here, and they were hungry. One had to prioritize in this situation.

Which were also why when the others went and checked up on the stirring foals, Void would keep up with the food making.

In the fifteen minutes it took before they got there, she had taken care of the squash, pulled apart and cut a salad, added some pumpkin seeds she had pre-roasted, and added a light sprinkling of some mildly nectarine-smelling oil on top. Throughout the whole process, she would have showed how she tasted the food, and allowed the foals to have their taste of the varied things as well, if they liked. Including the oil, where she'd offer a teaspoon to anyone who wanted to try. Though she did warn them, that by itself, the oil wasn't the best. The fragrant liquid were mostly there to compliment the rest of the dish. Though that had to be done in a proper amount. Too little, and it wouldn't do much. Too much however, and it would overwhelm. There were some leeway, but still. Might as well teach them about over and under-indulgence, right? Same deal with the spices she added, to counteract the otherwise large amount of sweetness. Not a lot, just to make it less like hummingbird food.

IN the end, she'd have a rather large bowl, that she'd start to serve out on plates, looking somewhat like this.

More rustic, and presented on simple plates, with wooden forks. Though the visual were still important to a meal, so Void did not just splat it out and call it a day. She put in some more effort than that, and were about halfway through mushing up a few smaller portions for the smallest of their guests, when the ones in question arrived, and she froze.

On 8/22/2020 at 8:37 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Unwrapped Void could see they were a white unicorn with a pink mane and a purple-black pegasus with a light blue mane. When the unicorn foal met Void's gaze she couldn't help but recognize the eyes as being just like Celestia's: full of love and acceptance.

Meeting the eyes of t he pegasus filly had been the thing to do it. She could see past these foals being somewhat similar to the element wearers, as they still appeared to be pretty different in how they acted and looked at things, from their originals. It made it easier to just sort of gloss over this whole thing.

This filly however, even looked at her with the same, almost radiating warmth in her eyes, as the princess had, the day they met. Something she could not just simply forget, and now literally were starring her in the face, and it made her space out for about ten seconds, or until someone would rustle her back to her senses. A small shake, or someone asking her if she were alright, should do the trick.

"Sorry, t-their uhm... Their portion is almost done. I was just... C-Captivated by this little cuties eyes. They're very w-warm. Almost feels hypnotic to l-look at them for a while.

W-What're they called?"

She'd ask this of Toupé, as she were currently the only one of the two carriers, that would know such things. Or uhm... M-Maybe Vale did too, she supposed. With the whole setup in the facility, she probably knew a lot of things, about many, varied projects. The clones one too, though considering everything she herself had experienced, all of these foals had likely just been given serial numbers. It were likely the Mistress who had named them, if she had to venture a guess.

As for the mushing, she'd start it up again as she talked. If they needed to be fed by others, she'd let them do this, as she were probably not trusted enough for that sort yet. If not, she'd give them their plate when it, and they, were ready for it. All of t he gathered ones would have tummies that needed to be filled. Including Vale and Pen she reckoned, who would find that there were extra plated set out for them too. Vale's condition meant that Void weren't sure if she ate, but better safe than sorry, right?

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"A tour... Please. And I'm... Sorry about the comment. I dont like being poked at with my size."

The stallion at the desk nodded, he signaled to one of the guards who went behind the dividing wall, "Just a moment, can't leave the desk unattended after all."

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Grey Mane sounds difficult to work with. Stubborn I imagine?"

The stallion shrugged, "Never met him personally, I don't think he's left the Stacked Deck since his golems liberated the town. But from what I've heard he seems more like a shrewd business pony, he wanted to be sure our sector was the best option both for the town and for you. It seems like he truly does care for the city, and just wants what's best for it."

Soon after getting that answer a shorter mare also in a checkered suit came out from around the dividing wall and nodded to the stallion, who let her take his place behind the desk. The stallion walked out from behind the desk and motioned for Arcade and Null to follow.

Stepping around the divider wall the sounds of the casino grew ever more apparent, to both sides of the polished walkway were rows of slot machines, then the room opened up with higher ceilings and a second level that overlooked the lower lever, they could see ponies of all kinds eating but mostly drinking on the upper level while the lower level was dedicated to more involved gambling tables like varieties of cards tables and a few roulette wheels.

"This here is the main hall of the Top Suits, gambling of all sorts takes place here on the lower level, while our top notch dining services and bar area overlooks it. The frequent stairways ensures easy transport between the two layers, often it's easier to navigate between the tables by going up and over them than winding through the tables and machines on the lower level."

Pas the gambling hall they entered a large covered rotunda, the ceiling was easily three floors high. A pair of staircases connected the levels and wound around the room.

"This here is the center, a good place to relax between the gambling and the theater. To the north and the south are the two wings of our hotel, on the third floor of the east side, over the gambling hall, are our top suites, including the owner's suite, the penthouse suite, and the high roller suite."

He continued west, crossing the rotunda to the opposite side from the gambling. "Here we have the Three Piece Theater. Each level has it's own entrance, and through a marvel of architecture it can be arranged to be three separate stages, or all the seats can look down on the base floor's grand stage! Unfortunately at the moment we don't have much in the way of performers lined up, but we hope our cooperation with Troy will attract more performers to our stage."

He opened the door to the base level of the theater, and it was in pretty good repair all things considered. If Null were well versed in architecture she might notice that the upper level's stages were held up by strong cables, and were likely pulled up into the ceiling when the upper levels needed to look down on the base stage.

The theater shown he returned them to the rotunda, he seemed to think about something for a moment before nodding, "Let me show you one more thing. If nothing else has impressed you, then this surely will."

He led them back into the gambling hall, and turned down one of the rows of slot machines until they came upon a rather different kind of machine. It looked more like an arcade machine than a slot machine, it had arcade controls instead of a slot arm, but above it was a jackpot total that was rather impressive in size. Cabinet Mare was the title painted on the head board. "That there is Cabinet Mare, or old Cabbie as the regulars call her. No one's ever won the jackpot since it was first brought in before the Summer War. Some say it's haunted, some younger ponies went insane trying to beat it, so they stopped letting foals onto the gambling floor. I've paid in a good portion of my pay trying to beat it myself, I'm sure I've gotten close on occasion." He shrugged, "The game's different for everyone who plays it. Though if you do feel like giving her a spin I should warn you... those who don't treat her well, tend not to walk away unscathed."

He'd walk away leaving the ominous tone, "Enjoy yourselves, if you'd like to cash some chips the bank's just over there, if you want to book yourselves a room feel free to come back by the front desk."

Arcade seemed generally impressed by the whole show, but was wary when they were shown Cabinet Mare. Once the checkered suited stallion was out of earshot he whispered to Null, "That machine, it doesn't sound far off from the kind of thing the facility would investigate. I'd be careful if I were you."

(Troy)

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

I promise you, I won't force you to t-take it off, okay? We can wash it, when you're g-getting a shower later too. It'll just t-take a bit longer to dry."

Toupé seemed to relax at her promise, and resumed her place at Teal's side as they watched her make the salad.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Throughout the whole process, she would have showed how she tasted the food, and allowed the foals to have their taste of the varied things as well, if they liked. Including the oil,

While they were a bit wary at first to try what was offered to them, even after Void tried it herself, they warmed up to the idea soon enough and enjoyed the small amounts they were offered, after trying the lettuce Teal remarked, "It's... it's like the food we had before. Before Mistress took us away." This prompted Toupé to try her first bit, who nodded as she chewed, "Just... different. It crunches more, has more water in it."

They weren't too impressed by the taste of the oil, but weren't put off by it, each giggled at the other's reaction to it.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Sorry, t-their uhm... Their portion is almost done. I was just... C-Captivated by this little cuties eyes. They're very w-warm. Almost feels hypnotic to l-look at them for a while.

W-What're they called?"

Toupé responded, "This one is Piecey," she pointed to the one who had captivated Void's attention, who was being carried by Vale, "And that one is Peal." She pointed to the midnight blue pegasus foal that Ardee carried.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

As for the mushing, she'd start it up again as she talked

After Ardee got a good look at what Void had made she spoke up, "They should be able to eat the greens fine as they are, should be good for their teeth anyway, but as long as the fruit isn't too sweet or sour they should like it fine. Th... thank you for doing this for us."

She spared a glance at the other two, who quickly caught on and gave Void, Vale, and Pen, a short Equestrian bow, "Thank you!" they said in unison before accepting a plate each from Void, as well as a plate of the softened food each for the foals. They stepped back a bit before sitting with their food, Ardee set Peal down with Teal and Vale set Piecey down with Toupé as well as accepting a plate for herself.

Pen waved Void off when she tried to plate something up for her, "No no... It'd be sort of like cannibalism for a wooden pony to eat plants wooden it?" she smirked at her pun before whispering in Void's ear, "I just eat dust, and there's plenty of that to go around here, but I appreciate the thought."

Once they were all sat down the fillies did their best to corral the wiggling foals who wanted to attack their plates while they looked at Void, apparently waiting for something. If Void didn't pick up that they wanted her to eat first Ardee would explain, "Um... it's... well... Mistress taught us it was rude to start before the host, so..."

Once Void took her bite they would start to eat themselves, first slowly then ravenously as they truly experienced the flavors. Toupé and Teal helped Piecey and Peal to eat slowly, giving them individual pieces of lettuce and small portions of the softened fruit at a time, cleaning them up as they went so none of the food went to waste. Despite their age the foals were remarkably clean eaters, it seemed they had been taught early to eat all the food and not waste any.

Soon enough they'd finish off their plates, almost leaving them cleaner than they had started before eyeing what was left in the serving bowl. They didn't seem familiar with the concept of leftovers. Ardee spoke again, "Um... could we have more? Is that allowed?"

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Never met him personally, I don't think he's left the Stacked Deck since his golems liberated the town. But from what I've heard he seems more like a shrewd business pony, he wanted to be sure our sector was the best option both for the town and for you. It seems like he truly does care for the city, and just wants what's best for it."

"Maybe I'll go there and see if he have a free minute to talk then, one of these days."

She felt strained as she said this, and a dark cloud seemed to form in her mind, as the talk went very close to Grey Mane again, and revealed something very important: A narrowing down of his location.

The Stacked Deck were going to be her end location for her hunt then it seemed. Unless the coward retreated to a safe house or something similar, which she would not put beyond the tyrant. Though at least for now, she had a somewhat safe idea of where to go and look for him. Might save her a few days of scouting, though of course, she still had to find out how to get to him.

Yet that were where these powers she had bargained for would come in, if she recalled correctly. Hmm, perhaps she would be able to get her task done sooner, rather than later, and end his miserable existence? Something to discuss with Nine later on, though for now, she'd focus on the tour, and then make her plans later.

As for where Arcade figured into it all... Ergh, might be best if she didn't involve him too much, if it could be avoided? He might have a stake he wanted to stab Grey Mane with too, but this action would likely mark her a traitor or something, or at least make her wanted by certain factions. If he assisted her, he'd end up down the same river, and he shouldn't have to throw his life away for her crusade. Enough creatures had done that already.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"This here is the main hall of the Top Suits, gambling of all sorts takes place here on the lower level, while our top notch dining services and bar area overlooks it. The frequent stairways ensures easy transport between the two layers, often it's easier to navigate between the tables by going up and over them than winding through the tables and machines on the lower level."

"So it's set up to encourage guests to have a drink, or get something to eat with easy access? Then get right down to sit at a table again, once they're sated? Seems practical."

And not just for the guests. Any gambling place would probably want the ones visiting to feel as good as they could, whilst also staying and spending more and more money. So having easy access to food and drinks on the upper level, with frequent points of entry both ways, would be convenient for the guests. Keep them happy and tend to their needs, so they didn't have as much a want to leave.

Also, it were pretty smart in her eyes, to make sure that you could not go near a bar, any place serving food, or out of the place, without going near the gambling area. Reel the guests in, make them feel pampered, and then just watch as the sheep were drawn to the tables. If ever she had an urge to gamble, she could see herself falling for that too, though perhaps she were just being paranoid about this. Might just be set up solely for comfort and convenience.

...Because any large establishment bent on gambling, thought mostly of their customers, over cash. Riiiiight.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Pas the gambling hall they entered a large covered rotunda, the ceiling was easily three floors high. A pair of staircases connected the levels and wound around the room.

"This here is the center, a good place to relax between the gambling and the theater. To the north and the south are the two wings of our hotel, on the third floor of the east side, over the gambling hall, are our top suites, including the owner's suite, the penthouse suite, and the high roller suite."

She had nothing to say about this room, but it were pretty big. Felt like you could fit a rather large dragon in here, if you tried to. Not that a lot of dragons liked gambling, since it tended to require you to offer up some of your hoard, but y'know, it was an easy size comparison to draw upon.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

He continued west, crossing the rotunda to the opposite side from the gambling. "Here we have the Three Piece Theater. Each level has it's own entrance, and through a marvel of architecture it can be arranged to be three separate stages, or all the seats can look down on the base floor's grand stage! Unfortunately at the moment we don't have much in the way of performers lined up, but we hope our cooperation with Troy will attract more performers to our stage."

He opened the door to the base level of the theater, and it was in pretty good repair all things considered. If Null were well versed in architecture she might notice that the upper level's stages were held up by strong cables, and were likely pulled up into the ceiling when the upper levels needed to look down on the base stage.

"The changelings out there... Hive Cheshire, I think it were? They acted like performers. Not up to the taste of most folks around here, or too busy?"

She knew that changelings were a sore spot in many places, so far as she were concerned, that could well be the case for this fairly impressive stage to stand empty right now. Though again, it could also be they were busy, tending to the other changelings, like they had been on about. Or perhaps they were too low brow, preferred smaller stages, didn't feel right doing it without a queen, etc. There were likely a variety of reasons, though something told her that even if they weren't welcome for some reason, they would've still been on stage here. Changelings were good infiltrators, and tended to find a way in where they weren't wanted. Sort of like ants.

"And I think there's some performers lingering around in Troy. Not too focused on it, but you hear things when you wander around enough. I'd be surprised if they'd say no to a stage like this."

She were relatively sure she knew of three. Tentatively four, though it depended on what your requirement were for one as a performer. For some reason, not all places considered a singer a performer, in the theatrical sense, though she still didn't get why. It were a big stage, for folks with skills to show off. Why not a good voice, like Harmony Cube? Maybe because she were a gryphon, and tended to throw stuff at hecklers, as she were as prideful and easy to agitate as their kind tended to be. Though that were more about this individual, and that were only if she were heckled, which were rare, from what Null had seen. She really had a rather beautiful, overpowering voice, far more befitting a stage like this, than the streets she had been performing on for a few coins here and there, to ease the day.

As for the other three: Two were a magician act, involving two earth pony teens. Cocky little things, but considering that neither she, nor any of the unicorns who they actively had bets going with, knew how they did what they did, they could certainly impress. And as for the bets, it were sort of a con job, to use their skills to trick some even cockier than them, to bet a few coins, some bread, or something else, on whatever or not they could figure out the trick performed before them. So far, she only heard of one being figured out, and they hadn't used that since.

And the last one were a zebra. Pretty unusual sight, but she had barely seen any of him either, as he had only arrived two days before she took off for this. He were a very... Hard equine to miss though, once he got his pot up bubbling, and the whole area he were in began to overflow with whatever illusions and concoctions he stirred to life. The one time she had stumbled over it, he lured a wild Cackler into his grip, dipped it in the pot, and cracked it in half like an egg. And from within, hundreds of small spiders poured out, rushing towards the audience, whom were reeling back in shock. Only for the spiders to suddenly burst into bubbles, and the zebra standing there, looking at the all with those pale, grey eyes gazing at the audience, from the shadows of his hood, and the Cackler on his head, chomping on a piece of melon.

Folks tended to like a good fright now and again, and zebra concoctions were rarely unwanted, in harsh areas, so something told her that if he wanted to go here, he'd make a mint. And considering the disturbing look in his eyes, and the laughter as he saw his captivated audience react to his little game, she doubted he'd say no to a chance, to terrify a large room like this.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Let me show you one more thing. If nothing else has impressed you, then this surely will."

He led them back into the gambling hall, and turned down one of the rows of slot machines until they came upon a rather different kind of machine. It looked more like an arcade machine than a slot machine, it had arcade controls instead of a slot arm, but above it was a jackpot total that was rather impressive in size. Cabinet Mare was the title painted on the head board. "That there is Cabinet Mare, or old Cabbie as the regulars call her. No one's ever won the jackpot since it was first brought in before the Summer War. Some say it's haunted, some younger ponies went insane trying to beat it, so they stopped letting foals onto the gambling floor. I've paid in a good portion of my pay trying to beat it myself, I'm sure I've gotten close on occasion." He shrugged, "The game's different for everyone who plays it. Though if you do feel like giving her a spin I should warn you... those who don't treat her well, tend not to walk away unscathed."

He'd walk away leaving the ominous tone, "Enjoy yourselves, if you'd like to cash some chips the bank's just over there, if you want to book yourselves a room feel free to come back by the front desk."

The clerk were right. This piece did indeed interest Null, though maybe not for the glamorous presentation, and warnings he gave it. Rather to her, it were sounding like what she were used to deal with: A cursed object.

In her experience, ghosts tended to walk pretty much in the same patterns. Not all of course, but there were generally something similar over what they did, so if this machine kept changing, it would seem weird to her. Plus, it driving young ponies insane? She found this happened more often with cursed objects, as they were often meant to captivate and ensnare/affect specific groups, and well... Some were sadists, who wanted their stuff to especially attract younglings. Others just specified it to be those who were easier to affect, and manipulate in general. The less smart ones, if you would. And kids weren't exactly the smarted beings you could run into. Not often at least.

An arcade machine/slot machine sort of mixture, also fitted a cursed item pretty well. If you wanted to lure in the weak willed and kids, then why not make use of something that were assured to lure them in, like moths to a flame? She had seen this sort of thing before, with stuffed bears, a seemingly innocent bag containing gold, etc. etc. Great minds knew their audiences, and that included when it came to the sadistic sorts.

"Interesting piece."

Far to big for her to take with her, which were what she usually did to these sorts of things back in the day. Or if not that, try to destroy them, but it would not look good if she started to hammer this one as hard as she could right now. Plus, she were fairly curious now, as to how it worked.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Arcade seemed generally impressed by the whole show, but was wary when they were shown Cabinet Mare. Once the checkered suited stallion was out of earshot he whispered to Null, "That machine, it doesn't sound far off from the kind of thing the facility would investigate. I'd be careful if I were you."

"Sounds like a cursed item to me. Dealt with things that worked the same way in my day, but I'm not sure if it's that, or the sort that'd be locked up in those prison camps, they call *facilities*. I'm gonna have to test it to see at some point. If it works, it's the latter. If it doesn't affect me, it's more like what I'm used to."

Null would whisper back, as she went closer and inspected the machine more closely, before tentatively running a hoof gently down the side of it. Such an odd contraption this were, though question remained: What function did it serve? And if it were made, what kind of curse had been put on it? And with what intent? Intent meant a lot with curses. Tended to define how strong it were, how focused, and with what degree of malice it did it's thing. If it were even malicious. Some cursed things were more akin to pranks, though it were rare. Curses tended to be more dark in nature, and meant as ways to cause dead and despair, or garner revenge of some sort.

"I wonder what mindset made you..."

(Troy)

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

While they were a bit wary at first to try what was offered to them, even after Void tried it herself, they warmed up to the idea soon enough and enjoyed the small amounts they were offered, after trying the lettuce Teal remarked, "It's... it's like the food we had before. Before Mistress took us away." This prompted Toupé to try her first bit, who nodded as she chewed, "Just... different. It crunches more, has more water in it."

"It p-probably weren't entirely fresh then. Still good for you, but I'm just guessing it weren't fresh and washed. Maybe it h-had been packed up for a while? That takes some out of it."

So this were a clue that apparently, at whatever facility they had been rescued from, they had been fed some regular food? It sounded like it. Though as could be expected, not exactly the freshest thing. Quite honestly, it would not surprise her at all, if it turned out that they just had a mass storage in some cooler somewhere, that they then took into use when it were. It'd make it last, but the taste and texture would end up as rather bland, and subpar.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Toupé responded, "This one is Piecey," she pointed to the one who had captivated Void's attention, who was being carried by Vale, "And that one is Peal." She pointed to the midnight blue pegasus foal that Ardee carried.

Void would give a nervous, yet warm smile towards the two small ones, as she were properly introduced.

"Hey there,, Piecey and P-Peal. My name is Void. I'll uhm, be helping you for a while."

She had no idea how much they actually understood, but sure she had to try and communicate with them, right? It felt like she should at least, and the other foals had said that the two of them were older than she expected. Maybe they understood more than she thought? Guess she'd see soon enough, even if they did not respond to her right now. Might be they were shy after all. She couldn't blame them if it were. She had been too, when she were small. Before it got replaces with a general nervousness, and terrified paranoia of others.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

After Ardee got a good look at what Void had made she spoke up, "They should be able to eat the greens fine as they are, should be good for their teeth anyway, but as long as the fruit isn't too sweet or sour they should like it fine. Th... thank you for doing this for us."

"It's no problem, Ardee. Try to keep in mind that he squash can be a bit sweet on its own though, but that's o-one of the reasons for the other things, and the oil. It sort of balances the tastes, if you mix up the b-bites some. I could b-bring some more varied things another day, and we could work on teaching you how to do that too? There's some tricks I could show you, that my m-mother used to teach me, back when I was a small foal. It's surprisingly effective with other ingredients, once you g-get a hang of how to work with the extremes."

She didn't know if Ardee were wanting to, nor had it in her to be, a good cook, but Void would be happy to teach any of them, whatever she could. And there were a few she could pick from, ranging from cooking, to cleaning, rudimentary first aid, glass work, close combat fighting, weaponry with long weapons, such as spears or staffs, etc. The combat thing were perhaps not the best thing to start with, but if any of them started to show signs of being pent up and aggressive, it were something to keep in mind. Via Null, Void had found that it were often possible to get the worst out of your system, with a good spar, or by beating up something mercilessly. Like a sack of sand for instance. So it might be that this skill set wouldn't be lost, when it came to helping out these poor things acclimate, and expand into learning some things they could use later on.

All for the future though. For now, she had food to hand out to the others, though she wondered why it were that none of them started to eat. Beyond Pen that were, whom made Void blush in embarrassment, after pointing out something that she honestly, should have been able to remember herself. She had talked about that in the facility too/she had told Null, who then told her.

IN regards to the foals bowing to her though, before she blushed up, she'd go on to bow back to them. Doing otherwise just seemed wrong to her, for some reason. As if she didn't respect them enough or something.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"No no... It'd be sort of like cannibalism for a wooden pony to eat plants wooden it?"

"I uhm... F-Forgot. Sorry. I'll k-keep that in mind for another time."

Okay, on from here, on from here- Why weren't the small ones eating? It would be easier to move past this if they did, and didn't just look at her, as if they were expecting something.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Once they were all sat down the fillies did their best to corral the wiggling foals who wanted to attack their plates while they looked at Void, apparently waiting for something. If Void didn't pick up that they wanted her to eat first Ardee would explain, "Um... it's... well... Mistress taught us it was rude to start before the host, so..."

This were not helping on her blush, which just increased on her dark face, and she ended up rubbing a hoof on the back of her head. A sign that she felt a little awkward about things. As were her eyes shifting away for a moment, so that she could gather herself, before she ended up with a head just blushing so much that it'd catch fire. Which seemed impossible, but still... She had seen weirder in her time, so anything were possible.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't... L-Let's eat, okay everyone?"

She'd put a fork in her food, and take the first bite, which finally allowed the foals to dig in. Tentatively at first, but then they got ravenous, which brought a smile to Void's face. Might seem a bit ill mannered on their behalf, but the poor things were hungry, and this clearly meant that they liked what they were given. So much so in fact, that Void were only halfway done, when they were just about finished.

Peal and Piecey were surprisingly good at eating without spreading mush everywhere too, which were a good thing. And seemingly, they did not mind the food, so a balanced taste of mush, with some crunch to it, long as it were in small pieces, seemed to be the way to go with them. She could work with that fairly easily, and hopefully teach some of them how to do the same. Perhaps Ardee? Maybe Toupé? Either one of them, struck her as the more likely to be interested in kitchen work. At least right off the bat.

On 8/24/2020 at 8:04 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Soon enough they'd finish off their plates, almost leaving them cleaner than they had started before eyeing what was left in the serving bowl. They didn't seem familiar with the concept of leftovers. Ardee spoke again, "Um... could we have more? Is that allowed?"

"Of course it is. Let's make sure to s-share what's left between you, but try saving some room. I uhm... B-Brought a little something to mix up for desert, I thought you might like."

She'd portion out the leftovers, which were about a half plate more for everyone. She had brought plenty, since she weren't sure how hungry they were, and it seemed to have been a good thing. Though now came the other part: Her making some desert, as she promised.

She'd go through it quickly as they ate, and took a little of her own food in the meantime too. It wasn't too hard to get it done in time, as it wasn't a massive amount of cutting or mixing she had to do here, compared to say, if she were baking, though she'd have to show the others at some point, how to do this in details. Just so they could learn a little something.

She should roughly be able to do it, and stand ready with some treats once they were done with the rest of their salads, and could present them with some small, pressed together protein bars, with chocolate and nuts, mainly. Not as good as a brownie, but the oven were still not connected. And this were still fairly sweet, though balanced with some bitter, as the chocolate were on the darker side. The fully sweet ones were more suited for baking, while this were for these bars, in her opinion. Besides, the peanut butter added enough sweetness in her opinion.

"These are uhm... P-Protein bars, with peanut butter, chocolate, and nuts. They're healthy treats, but a little s-sticky.

 When the oven g-gets turned on one of these days though, perhaps y-you'd like to try some baked treats too? They're usually sweeter, but we can m-make something work if it it's too m-much,. Haven't baked with others in y-years, but I think you'd enjoy it."

Okay, she were starting to turn into a grandmother, whose family were on a visit. Or a witch in an old fairy tale. Either way, the foals were gonna have a lot of varied things to eat in the next few weeks or months, unless something happened.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(Quite the response!)

(NP)

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"The changelings out there... Hive Cheshire, I think it were? They acted like performers. Not up to the taste of most folks around here, or too busy?"

The stallion shrugged, "They used to perform here, both before and after the royal wedding. They were known for one of the best renditions of Stalliongrad ever performed! Nowadays though... I assume they've been too busy, there aren't too many of them left anyhow."

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"And I think there's some performers lingering around in Troy. Not too focused on it, but you hear things when you wander around enough. I'd be surprised if they'd say no to a stage like this."

The stallion looked intrigued, "Well... don't spread it around, but the owner has offered a handsome finders fee to any talent scouts that bring in popular acts. If you were to convince some of these performers you know to come perform here you'd be entitled to that reward."

If they were ever lacking for money it'd be something to keep in mind.

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Sounds like a cursed item to me. Dealt with things that worked the same way in my day, but I'm not sure if it's that, or the sort that'd be locked up in those prison camps, they call *facilities*. I'm gonna have to test it to see at some point. If it works, it's the latter. If it doesn't affect me, it's more like what I'm used to."

Arcade was hesitant, but seemed to calm knowing that Null had at least some experience with this sort of thing. "If you're sure, I suppose we should see if it's safe for the ambassadors to interact with before they join the list of those driven to madness." He'd watch from a safe distance as she went to inspect the machine.

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"I wonder what mindset made you..."

Looking around the machine she would find it lacked a number of things most commercial machines had, like serial numbers and registration plates. The only identifying mark it had was a logo: a puzzle piece with the words Jigsaw's Puzzles & Games written underneath.

The machine must have had some sort of motion or proximity sensor as when she got back up from inspecting the machine the screen had turned on. It was a cartoonish image with some text: 'You can't win me, I can't be beat. Try anyway?' There was a number dial labeled Credits that rolled to 1 with a ding as if she had inserted a coin. She had the unshakable feeling that she was being watched.

(Troy)

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Hey there,, Piecey and P-Peal. My name is Void. I'll uhm, be helping you for a while."

They both, at the very least, recognized their names as they turned to look at Void when she said them. Piecey was the more bubbly of the two as she giggled at the attention and pointed a hoof at Void and said "Vahda!" before babbling to herself as foals do. Peal was a more reserved foal, shying away from the attention and trying to hide her gaze in Teal's care.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"It's no problem, Ardee. Try to keep in mind that he squash can be a bit sweet on its own though, but that's o-one of the reasons for the other things, and the oil. It sort of balances the tastes, if you mix up the b-bites some. I could b-bring some more varied things another day, and we could work on teaching you how to do that too? There's some tricks I could show you, that my m-mother used to teach me, back when I was a small foal. It's surprisingly effective with other ingredients, once you g-get a hang of how to work with the extremes."

Ardee was quiet for a moment, looking away. She turned back with a bit of a happy/sad expression, "Mistress told us something like that. That she wanted to teach us how to make food... I'd like that, if you could teach us." The other fillies looked down at the mention of Mistress, but turned their attention back to Void with a bit of hope in their eyes.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Peal and Piecey were surprisingly good at eating without spreading mush everywhere too, which were a good thing. And seemingly, they did not mind the food, so a balanced taste of mush, with some crunch to it, long as it were in small pieces, seemed to be the way to go with them. She could work with that fairly easily, and hopefully teach some of them how to do the same. Perhaps Ardee? Maybe Toupé? Either one of them, struck her as the more likely to be interested in kitchen work. At least right off the bat.

The foals' personalities were made more obvious as they ate, Piecey being the more energetic one who kept trying to take the food from the plate herself and ending up making most of the admittedly small mess between the two, while Peal was more restrained, sitting upright next to Teal looking to mirror her as she was fed, crewing the food she was given and doing her best to not make a mess. Piecey was wholly focused on the food, while Peal was looking all about the room, though she looked mostly at Void she looked away whenever Void looked her way.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Of course it is. Let's make sure to s-share what's left between you, but try saving some room. I uhm... B-Brought a little something to mix up for desert, I thought you might like."

The fillies all looked confused when Void said dessert, they looked between the food and Void and seemed to conclude that it was some other form of food but didn't ask about it just yet as Ardee helped divide the remainder of the salad. Vale refused any more for herself, and Ardee only set a small portion for the foals as they shouldn't eat too much more being so much smaller.

They all watched Void closely as they finished off the salad at a bit more restrained pace than before. Once the foals were done eating Teal and Toupé returned them to the crib before passing through the toy area and finding a small soft animal for each of them and putting them in the crib with the foals to entertain them for a bit. They were quick to return to watching Void work.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"These are uhm... P-Protein bars, with peanut butter, chocolate, and nuts. They're healthy treats, but a little s-sticky.

 When the oven g-gets turned on one of these days though, perhaps y-you'd like to try some baked treats too? They're usually sweeter, but we can m-make something work if it it's too m-much,. Haven't baked with others in y-years, but I think you'd enjoy it."

The fillies were impressed by the sweet smelling thing that Void set before them, it was clear by their expressions they had never seen something like it before. Toupé looked to get Void's attention before speaking, "Um... you said these are protein bars, do you think Elef would like them? The guard mare said that thestrals like him need lots of protein, more than other ponies, which is why they have to go hunting."

Teal on the other hoof had a simpler question, "Is, uh, is this dessert? Or, uh, what exactly is dessert?"

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"They used to perform here, both before and after the royal wedding. They were known for one of the best renditions of Stalliongrad ever performed! Nowadays though... I assume they've been too busy, there aren't too many of them left anyhow."

"Looked to me like they were focusing on helping some of their own. Maybe that's what's keeping them sane, whilst trying to keep hope up about their queen?"

Null were not the most sympathetic being there were, but what she had so far seen and heard at least, this hive seemed to be doing the best they could, all things considered. And in a way, she could really imagine that they were trying to distract themselves to some degree too, about thoughts on their queen, by helping the others. They might really care, she wouldn't rule that out, but she could relate to wanting to keep busy, to keep the dark clouds out of your head.

Honestly... She hoped they'd get good news one of these days. It seemed unlikely, but it appeared as if it would hurt a lot of others, if they ended up with crushed spirits. They seemed alright, so she didn't currently want that for them.

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Well... don't spread it around, but the owner has offered a handsome finders fee to any talent scouts that bring in popular acts. If you were to convince some of these performers you know to come perform here you'd be entitled to that reward."

"I know how to lure them in. It should be pretty easy."

Seriously, it'd be simple. Singer? Tell her that she could make a good living, rather than work her voice on the streets, and she'd be game.

Zebra? He liked scaring folks, so just tell him that she knew where they'd let him do that, day in and day out, and he'd be in a big town. Which meant access to more ingredients for his cauldron.

And the magician? Peh, they were con artists. Tell them that there were a bunch of suckers who'd literally throw money at them for scamming them with their tricks, and they'd jump at it. If not, she could always just ask them if they weren't up for the challenge. They were pretty prideful about their work, so she were sure that'd do the trick.

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

The machine must have had some sort of motion or proximity sensor as when she got back up from inspecting the machine the screen had turned on. It was a cartoonish image with some text: 'You can't win me, I can't be beat. Try anyway?' There was a number dial labeled Credits that rolled to 1 with a ding as if she had inserted a coin. She had the unshakable feeling that she was being watched.

So, it were challenging her then, were it? Even giving her a freebie, just to lure her in?

"Challenging me, are you? Alright then, let's see what you got to offer."

She didn't grab hold of anything just yet, but rather, turned to Arcade, and pointed towards the machine.

"If it looks like it's trying to drain my life away, or I get obsessed, get me away from it. If you have to, knock me out, and drag me away. I dunno what's gonna happen here, but something tells me that there's something important to learn from this. If nothing else, a cautionary tale."

After that, she'd turn, and crack her legs and neck a little, before approaching the machine properly, and look right at the screen.

"Challenge accepted. Let's see what you got."

As for the feeling of being watched, she didn't bite much note in it. Primarily since she expected to be watched already, from the second she stepped hoof in this town. And it had only gotten worse after they started to see the Grey's enforcers wandering around. That it were buzzing around in here too? Seemed to be pretty much the same.

Besides, something else were nagging her more than this. The feeling that the marker on this machine, were something she had seen before. She couldn't place it in her head right now though. Yet there were just something over the branding of Jigsaw's Puzzles & Games, that poked at her mind a little. Like somewhere deep down there, she had a memory of it, that she just couldn't get hold of, and it were frankly bugging the hay out of her. Mostly since, y'know, it were probably important to the situation.

Might be she were just imagining things though. Wouldn't be the first time her paranoia had lead her stray, or imagining things.

(Troy)

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

They both, at the very least, recognized their names as they turned to look at Void when she said them. Piecey was the more bubbly of the two as she giggled at the attention and pointed a hoof at Void and said "Vahda!" before babbling to herself as foals do. Peal was a more reserved foal, shying away from the attention and trying to hide her gaze in Teal's care.

She couldn't help get a bigger smile on her face, as she heard the little one speak up. It was just so adorable. Peal though, were even more so, as she tried to shy away, in Ardee's grasp. These two were going to melt hearts all over town, in due time. She were sure of it.

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Mistress told us something like that. That she wanted to teach us how to make food... I'd like that, if you could teach us." The other fillies looked down at the mention of Mistress, but turned their attention back to Void with a bit of hope in their eyes.

"I can't guarantee that y-you'll all be able to cook well, but I can try and teach you the best I can. Don't get discouraged if it d-doesn't go well though, okay? Some are just not suited to be in a kitchen. My sister for example... Well, the stuff she m-made were hard to describe as edible. Or anything related to food, once she were done. Honestly I don't know how she m-messed up some of the things, but the point is that everyone have their own talent. Of cooking's not yours, m-maybe something else is, and there's other things I can teach you too. Like uhm... W-Well, we can discuss that after you're done eating, and have gotten a shower, o-okay?  I think you need to see what I mean when it is."

It were a little painful to see them get down, as the talk went on the mistress, but it went on to become encouraging, once she saw the hope that had glimmered into their eyes. She'd never be able to replace their mistress. Nor would she really try, as their relationship were something else. But seeing the little lights in their eyes, she did hope that perhaps she could if nothing else, help to pick up from where she left off, and get them the last bit of way, that she undoubtedly wished to have been able to do herself. Cooking were but one way, though she had other things to chose from too. Such as glass work, or perhaps woodwork. Might be that one of them enjoyed what Null had done, and she could offer some pointers there too.

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

They all watched Void closely as they finished off the salad at a bit more restrained pace than before. Once the foals were done eating Teal and Toupé returned them to the crib before passing through the toy area and finding a small soft animal for each of them and putting them in the crib with the foals to entertain them for a bit. They were quick to return to watching Void work.

Void would wave a hoof, and smile at the foals as they were taken away, to lay down once more. Piecey seemed to have warmed up to her presence quite well so far, so that were a win in her book, that'd make things easier going forward, hopefully. Peal on the other hoof... Well, she were gonna take her time, but much like a cat would, she had bit notice in a small look here and there towards her, when she thought Void weren't looking. Really were a shy little imp this one, but eventually when she got more used to Void, she'd hopefully try and step out of her shell a little. Even if she didn't though, that were just who she were then, and there were no need to force her to step over her boundaries, if she didn't care to. Void had met several shy ponies, who still did well in society. Like Fluttershy. She did admirable, and she were so shy, that it were even part of her name.

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Um... you said these are protein bars, do you think Elef would like them? The guard mare said that thestrals like him need lots of protein, more than other ponies, which is why they have to go hunting."

This question gave Void pause, and she just sorta... Seemed to look through Ardee, at something further away.

Void had run into her fair bit of thestrals in her time, and a few things stuck out to her. Mostly that the notion of them needing more protein could at times be true, though they were still vegetarian, like most equines. They wouldn't need to hunt.

...Unless...

No, no. This... She were just unaware. That's all it was. There were other reasons a thestral could have a need to go hunt for protein, other than them being a vampire.

...Even if he had acted pretty odd, and had seemingly been rushed out of the room relatively fast by the guard.

"...Oh, sorry, I uhm... My m-mind were elsewhere for a bit there.

Far as I k-know, some thestrals do need more protein in their diet than others. Though I don't know how much e-exactly. How about we save a few for him, and then the nice g-guard can make sure he have them ready, when he needs a bit helping, alright?"

She'd put a couple to the side, and wrap them up in some paper. In due time, she'd have a chat with the guard and him. Maybe uhm... Check his teeth, if she had the chance. It wasn't because she wanted to be exclusionary, but vampires were dangerous, and she had to think of all the foals here. Including him. Which meant that if there were this issue, it were best that she could take some precautions, just in case.

It were for his own good, as much as it were for the others. Hopefully though, she were wrong about this. Probably were, y-yeah...

On 8/26/2020 at 7:22 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Teal on the other hoof had a simpler question, "Is, uh, is this dessert? Or, uh, what exactly is dessert?"

"You don't... Well, it's k-kind of best to understand, as a treat you get after a meal. Not every time though. It's usually only for dinner, and not e-every day, since too much sugar isn't good for your health. And it's mostly sugary t-treats, like this, of muffins. Doughnuts too. Sometimes c-cake, or ice cream. Candy- Basically, there's a l-lot of things it can be. I'll try and have you experience a bunch of things over time, long as it d-doesn't take over. Too much sugar isn't g-good for anyone.

This isn't going to be the sweetest of the o-options, for what desert can be, but I hope you will still enjoy it. So uhm... Dig in?"

She'd offer the plate of the bars, then take one of the smaller ones herself, and munch down on it. Judging by their manners before, they wouldn't do this, until she had started, so she had to.

They weren't massive, but there's be a good amount of them. Enough for a couple for each of them, packed with lots of energy. It seemed better to give them smaller, yet more plentiful portions of this, rather than big ones. Especially is she miscalculated. What if one of the foals had to share, to get anything of this? That wasn't okay. They had to get even amounts if possible. Excluding Piecey and Peal, for obvious reasons.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

6 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"If it looks like it's trying to drain my life away, or I get obsessed, get me away from it. If you have to, knock me out, and drag me away. I dunno what's gonna happen here, but something tells me that there's something important to learn from this. If nothing else, a cautionary tale."

Arcade nodded, "Just... be careful would you?"

6 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Challenge accepted. Let's see what you got."

When she pressed the play button the screen went blank for a moment, it may have looked like it was off were it not for the blinking green line at the top corner of the screen. After a minute or so some text started to scroll across the screen, 'Hmm... I can't get a read on you, there's been a few like you lately. We'll do this manually then.'

The screen flashed white before the colorful and cartoonish motif returned. On the left was a pixelated version of a pegasus with a black body and white mane and tail. It looked like Null, except the pixel mare was smiling. On the right were a series of normal options including Name, gender, type, and difficulty, as well as a few strange options like spiderbite and 'option'. At the bottom of the list was a question: 'Cheats?' with a simple yes/no button.

(Troy)

6 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"You don't... Well, it's k-kind of best to understand, as a treat you get after a meal. Not every time though. It's usually only for dinner, and not e-every day, since too much sugar isn't good for your health. And it's mostly sugary t-treats, like this, of muffins. Doughnuts too. Sometimes c-cake, or ice cream. Candy- Basically, there's a l-lot of things it can be. I'll try and have you experience a bunch of things over time, long as it d-doesn't take over. Too much sugar isn't g-good for anyone.

This isn't going to be the sweetest of the o-options, for what desert can be, but I hope you will still enjoy it. So uhm... Dig in?"

They only looked further intrigued at each newly named 'dessert' that Void told them about. It was clear that the fillies had not heard of, and likely had never had, any of the things that Void mentioned. Teal seemed most interested, "Those all sound fun... could we try them sometime? Mistress never let us have much sweet things, she said it wasn't good for us."

Nonetheless they were quite ready to try the bars that Void had made for them and, after setting aside a small pile of them for Elef, they each tried one, their eyes going wide as the sugar and honey hit their tongues.

Ardee didn't seem a big fan of the sticky nature of them as after each chew she did her best to rub the honey off her teeth with her tongue. The other two were not so concerned, happily chewing away at the treats they had been given. Toupé looked at the pile reserved for Elef with a hint of jealousy, "is-ot fair. He gecho many when-e only getch on."

Ardee gave her a stern look, and Toupé quickly swallowed with a sheepish expression, "Sorry, shouldn't talk and eat. Never really had a chance to before."

It was about then that the thestral guard returned with an obviously tired and slightly sandy Elef on her back. The fillies were excited to see him and came around to embrace him once the mare set him down. Teal and Toupé were immediately asking what they did and what it was like outside, Elef simply shrugged, "It wasn't much different than when she took me out while we were traveling here, just with the wall in the background." A bit of excitement came to his eyes and voice as he continued, "There's more ponies like me here though! With wings and eyes like mine."

The two fillies looked a little disheartened until Elef hugged them close, "Don't worry, you're my family. I won't leave you behind."

He sniffed the air and spotted the protein bars, "What are these? Are they for us?" He turned to Void, "Did you make these for us?"

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/28/2020 at 5:54 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Arcade nodded, "Just... be careful would you?"

Null would nod at this comment, but not comment it further. It were interesting to hear another than her sister, seemingly care for her well being like this, and she did appreciate it. She just wasn't sure how to respond to it. Smile? Fling herself around his neck and hold him close?

...Okay, that second one made the lower part of her spine tingle weirdly. Why had that one showed up, around her usual sarcastic comments? Usually they just involved options for her to get hurt, or something dumb. Then again, it were a pretty dumb thought... Whatever. This town were messing with her head, and seemingly, even her sarcasm. It were probably nothing that a good trashing of some sort later couldn't deal with. Depended on what this machine were gonna end up doing to her.

She did like the start, where it seemed like some sort of mind reading option had been going on for it, that didn't work on her. She weren't above being petty, and laugh at this, but... The warning of the clerk kept in her head. Don't treat it badly, or she'd feel it. So a low rung chance like this, she'd let slide. Big ones later, there were no guarantee. Especially if it actually started to get into her head, and display some things she did not want the world to see. Some things were private. Currently, those things being around 90% of her life.

On 8/28/2020 at 5:54 AM, Illiad Easle said:

The screen flashed white before the colorful and cartoonish motif returned. On the left was a pixelated version of a pegasus with a black body and white mane and tail. It looked like Null, except the pixel mare was smiling. On the right were a series of normal options including Name, gender, type, and difficulty, as well as a few strange options like spiderbite and 'option'. At the bottom of the list was a question: 'Cheats?' with a simple yes/no button.

So, representing her, huh? Considering it were smiling, it wasn't a good effort. She rarely did that, though it were fair enough beyond that. A bit weird looking at herself in a game though, but she'd likely find there were some reason for that soon enough. Potentially one of those deals where if the character got hurt, so would she? Voodoo tended to work that way, among a few, varying sorts of sacrificial magic. Never affected her before, but Troy had done a good job of making her paranoid about the unusual things she hadn't faced before. Such as this machine. She'd best be careful.

Going over the options, she fill them out if it were possible, with her fake name, age of 27, and the type being pony. Specifically, pegasus.

She were not gonna touch the other things, that seemed like it would cause issue, like the spiderbite one. if this were a tranfer spell of some sort, that would not go well. She would check under difficulty though, and if there were a normal setting, she'd go with that. Not too easy, and not to a point where it were only for the hardcore gamer sorts. Though more than likely, it only had one difficulty. That being *You cannot beat me*, or something of that sort.

Looking over the options next, she wouldn't touch anything, unless it seemed wonky, and would stay silent until she reached the last one.

"Something tells me you don't appreciate cheaters. I'm going no."

She'd press that button right after, and prepare for what would be next. Whatever it were, at least she didn't go into something she considered to be a somewhat obvious trap. Either it were to see if it should just be cruel to her, as she'd try to win through unfair means, or it were meant as if It was allowed to cheat. Either way, no seemed the only right answer.

(Troy)

On 8/28/2020 at 5:54 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"Those all sound fun... could we try them sometime? Mistress never let us have much sweet things, she said it wasn't good for us."

Nonetheless they were quite ready to try the bars that Void had made for them and, after setting aside a small pile of them for Elef, they each tried one, their eyes going wide as the sugar and honey hit their tongues.

Ardee didn't seem a big fan of the sticky nature of them as after each chew she did her best to rub the honey off her teeth with her tongue. The other two were not so concerned, happily chewing away at the treats they had been given. Toupé looked at the pile reserved for Elef with a hint of jealousy, "is-ot fair. He gecho many when-e only getch on."

Ardee gave her a stern look, and Toupé quickly swallowed with a sheepish expression, "Sorry, shouldn't talk and eat. Never really had a chance to before."

"It's not good if you get too much, but it's g-good with a treat now and again. I'll see what I can do in introducing you to a varied sort, and see if you all can't h-help me in the kitchen, while we do that. And don't get discouraged if it isn't p-perfect right away. The most important thing about beginner cooking, is that it is edible. The rest are what you r-refine on.

Looking at you now, Ardee, I'm thinking muffins will be a g-good next choice. They're less sticky, and you don't seem to e-enjoy that part of these too much. I'm sorry for that, but it's some of the o-only thing keeping it all together. Uncooked t-treats like this are a bit more difficult to m-make work without some sort of binding ingredient."

She still seemed to enjoy the taste at least, if not the stickiness, so that were good. But she'd have to remember for the future, that Ardee were not a big fan of things that stuck to her teeth. An understandable thing really. It could be annoying. Like eating something with small seeds on it, that then got stuck between your teeth, or in your gums. It could be an annoying nightmare sometimes.

They had a bit of time, just enjoying this meal in peace after that. Void ate slowly her bar, not wanting more than one, as she weren't feeling all that hungry anymore right now. She had a bit to eat a few hours before showing up here to begin with, so there were still something to digest, going around her stomach.

Then suddenly, Toupé added something that brought a blush to Void's cheeks, and a bit of a strained, sad look to enter her eyes briefly. They thought that... Oh, poor dears, that wasn't how it were at all. She best correct this. And no, not Toupé eating and talking at the same time. She shouldn't be doing that either, but that weren't as important right now, since Ardee had already corrected her, and solidified her position as the de facto *leader* of the foals. She were probably used to taking charge, and make sure they kept in line. An important thing, judging by how it sounded like they had lost quite a few of their friends, and potentially family members. Including the mysterious mistress.

"T-Those aren't all for Elef, Toupé. I don't want you to think I'd play favorites, and give one f-far more than the others.

I made sure there'd be enough for a few for e-each of you. If there's any left, we'll pack them up, and use them again another t-time, in case some of y-you need an energy boost, maybe. You all deserve equal portions. Well, m-maybe Piecey and Peal technically gets s-smaller portions, but you know what I mean. Right? H-Here, have another one. But only one okay? Remember what we talked about, w-when it came to treats."

She'd push one towards Toupé, and make sure to spread the others out, so that they could all see that there were an extra for each of them. There'd still be a few left, even after Elef got his portion, but she'd just pack them in. Might be best if they were eaten right away, but they could last a bit, and there wouldn't be fighting about who got extra, this way. It were best to keep it fair and equal in her mind. She'd prefer not to start an sort of rivalry between them. At least not intentionally, though in time, she were sure there would be a thing about perceived favoritism. It were hard not to, as they'd all likely want attention, but there were only so much to give at a given time.

Hopefully Vale and Pen could help to shoulder it well, and they were able to properly do things, as best as anyone could.

On 8/28/2020 at 5:54 AM, Illiad Easle said:

He sniffed the air and spotted the protein bars, "What are these? Are they for us?" He turned to Void, "Did you make these for us?"

"It sounds like you had a lot of e-excitement things happen out there, Elef. Hopefully nothing too d-dangerous though. It'd best if you're all safe and sound.

And these are protein bars. I figured a-after the day you all had, you could do with a treat, but with the oven not on yet, this w-were the best I could do. I made two for each of you. Would you like to t-try? See if you like it?"

Void were pleased to see that Elef were back too, but stayed where she were, as the others went to greet him. It seemed a personal thing, and he were a bit on the shyer side, from what she had seen. Much like with a cat, she sorta expected it were best if she let him come to her, rather try and push her presence upon him, before he were ready for it.

He were mighty sandy now though, so she would push him to get a shower, just like the others. They'd see who had to go first, but might be him, before he spread sand all over the place. Probably best if she swept the floor later, after having cleaned the other stuff up, when she were at it.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Something tells me you don't appreciate cheaters. I'm going no."

The pixel mare winked with a sly smile when Null hit 'no' on cheats. Once all the options were filled out the game began, the text and background disappeared to be replaced by a rendition of the casino gambling floor. It was organized exactly the same as it was in reality, the arcade cabinet was next to the pixel mare that represented her, there was a pixel stallion standing about where Arcade was standing behind her.

On the top there was a point total and a coin counter as well as some text that said Main Objective: Win the game. Secondary Objective: Win at slots.

As she moved her character around she'd find that the map included all of the casino, including all of it's gambling machines and patrons as they were in the present.

(Troy)

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Looking at you now, Ardee, I'm thinking muffins will be a g-good next choice. They're less sticky, and you don't seem to e-enjoy that part of these too much. I'm sorry for that, but it's some of the o-only thing keeping it all together. Uncooked t-treats like this are a bit more difficult to m-make work without some sort of binding ingredient.

Ardee blushed at being called out, and tried to be less conspicuous about cleaning her teeth going forward.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Remember what we talked about, w-when it came to treats."

Teal and Toupé were happy to take another piece while Ardee refrained from having another.

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Hopefully nothing too d-dangerous though. It'd best if you're all safe and sound.

Elef calmed a bit at that, "Mistress used to say things like that." He shook off the revery and returned to his excitement, "Miss Moonbeam took me out on the dunes with a few others from her clan and we caught some of the wildlife! They tried to hide in the sand but we could smell them and had to dig them out of the sand."

The other fillies seemed a little repulsed at the idea of eating other creatures, and Elef noticed, so he didn't go into detail, "It was fun."

8 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Would you like to t-try? See if you like it?

Elef nodded, "Yes please," He'd hesitate before grabbing one and trying a small bite. Void would be able to notice that Elef did have some very pronounced fangs. Similar if she looked to the fangs the guard mare had.

Treat finished the fillies were starting to look a bit tired, they looked between the beds and the mares, Ardee spoke up, "Um, is there something we're supposed to do first? Or do we just pick a bed and fall asleep?"

[Blitz Boom 4,626]

@Illiad Easle

(New Las Pegasus)

On 8/30/2020 at 5:47 AM, Illiad Easle said:

On the top there was a point total and a coin counter as well as some text that said Main Objective: Win the game. Secondary Objective: Win at slots.

As she moved her character around she'd find that the map included all of the casino, including all of it's gambling machines and patrons as they were in the present.

So... This were a real time, sort of game? Definitely a magical object of some kind, and if she were to guess, this were a full on representation of what went on in the casino right now. Down to there potentially right now, being a copy of her going around, whom she controlled. That or some random one, who were being controlled all the same. A bit paranoid maybe, but with things like this, one did best in assuming the worst, and work up from there. Or down, in case the thing you assumed, were deemed woefully lackluster, by a truly devious entity.

"So I have to win the game, and play slots, whilst wandering around this place? Hmm... Let's start by seeing if I have any coins then, I guess."

She'd check, and depending on what were there, she'd do one of two things.

If she had coins: Null would control her in game character to approach a regular, low rung slot machine. It seemed simpler than starting at say, a poker table, where she'd be lost, as she had never played poker before. She knew the basic rules of it fine enough, due to some of the reading material she had *found* over the years, but actually playing it? Never had the opportunity. Which meant that better players would rip her off very quickly, if she understood things right. And the machine would likely immitate that too.

One of the more low rung, little coin to play, and therefor little coin to win - penny machines, she had heard them referred to before - seemed like a better way to start this, and try to get some sort of feel for what it would want her to do, more specifically. She could work up to the bigger tables later, if it were.

If she did not have coins: Null would direct her character to wander around the casino, observing the place, and seeing if there were perhaps stray coins laying around, which she were supposed to use. If not that, she'd just be using the time to explore, and get a feel for the casino, as well as the upper level were folks ate, if possible. Had to eventually run into something she were supposed to use in this game, right?

(Troy)

On 8/30/2020 at 5:47 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Elef calmed a bit at that, "Mistress used to say things like that." He shook off the revery and returned to his excitement, "Miss Moonbeam took me out on the dunes with a few others from her clan and we caught some of the wildlife! They tried to hide in the sand but we could smell them and had to dig them out of the sand."

The other fillies seemed a little repulsed at the idea of eating other creatures, and Elef noticed, so he didn't go into detail, "It was fun."

"Maybe you should have some h-hoof protection on, for digging for prey like that? There could be scorpions. Or you might hit a Fartmite. You r-really don't want that sort of stuff on your coat."

The Fartmite were not an especially glamorously named creature, but it were a very aptly named one. One of two in fact, with the more scientific, technically official name, being the Yellow-Striped Tzankeenian Dung Bettle. Named after Tzankeen Shzempl, a researcher with a pronounced speech impediment, that eventually made him just legally change his name, to being how he tried to say Sunken Temple. It didn't make him easier to say, but he had apparently, found some degree of amusement, in seeing others having to pronounce it the same way he did. Or if they failed to, promptly correct them on the pronunciation.

As for the variant of dung beetle he had found, the official name were mostly only used in books, and among the high rank scientists. For the general populace, it were referred to as a Fartmite, as the monstrous, meaty thing, also had a sack of gas that it used to give itself some more forward momentum, in case it were attacked. A defensive mechanism, which were used both for the momentum, as well as the vile stench it left behind. A true skunk of the desert, it were seen as best to avoid them. Something which they too did, as they did not like being around equines, and would either try to scurry off, or bury themselves, if they encountered them.

If some unfortunate soul did go after them though - their meatiness, and surprisingly succulent flesh made them an attractive ingredient in certain dishes - they would either bury themselves, or take off, if given the chance. If neither worked, they would let out the gas as another way of trying to defend themselves, as most races could not stand it. Were it not for the ghost vultures in the desert, not caring one small bit about it, and the dune foxes being quick enough to strike to kill the bug, before it made use of this, it would not really have any predators, due to this.

Much like the dune foxes though, a good hunter could kill them off before the gas were let out, and cut away the bulbous part, leaving the twenty cm bug as the tasty meat it could be. If the sack were punctured though, it were worthless, as it destroyed the meat. Unless you were one of those who tended to lure the bug into using the gas, before killing it. Which due to the smell, few did. And those who did, tended to wear special gear for the occasion, as well as attack from specific angles/at range, to avoid the worst of it.

As for the dune foxes, they tended to just eat the front half, and then stop before they got too far. They knew well what happened, if they got too greedy with these things.

And regarding the scorpions... Well, they were scorpions. They were venomous. Nothing more really needed to be said.

"Though I'm sure that she k-kept you safe out there. I'm just... Thinking it might not h-hurt to be safe, right? You've all been through enough hardships already."

She didn't get revolted, like the foals did, at hearing he went after meat. She were sort of jaded to the concept of meat eaters, and were more worried about potential vampirism. As he seemed fine right now though, and spoke about hunting animals... Well, if he were a vampire, at least he had options there that didn't include hunting for higher sentience beings, like ponies. That were a relief, frankly.

That the guard mare had the same pronounced fangs as him, made it somewhat easy to think that she had a hoof in helping him to acclimate to this too. Maybe this were why they wandered together? More than likely really, and that mare shouldn't be someone to worry about. As she lived here in town, the Consul would know of her, and Illiad clearly hadn't judged her. Which lead her to believe that the mare were safe, and likely a good influence for Elef.

"Thank you for k-keeping an eye on him, miss."

Void would give a big smile, and a bow of the neck, to the guardsmare, whose name she honestly didn't know/remember right now. As she were clearly meant to hang around Elef a lot, it were probably best to get to know her better. Maybe after the foals had started to rest, she could have a chat, and try to connect a little. It were likely wise, just so that they could all be somewhat on the same wavelength, when it came to the foals.

On 8/30/2020 at 5:47 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Treat finished the fillies were starting to look a bit tired, they looked between the beds and the mares, Ardee spoke up, "Um, is there something we're supposed to do first? Or do we just pick a bed and fall asleep?"

"Shower. You wouldn't want to r-ruin your nice, clean beds that easily, right? So one at a time, though uhm, not y-you at first, okay Toupé? Just so that we can try and find some soap that w-works on the lab coat, without it also being a little too rough for you. We wouldn't want you, nor your c-clothes, getting damaged, or not cleaned enough. I uhm... Think we have something that should do the trick."

It was a somewhat weak soap on ponies alone, but Toupe´were likely fine, when it came to her torso. The coat had likely shielded her from the worst stains, and regarding that... Well, she might have to stand around and sorta air out a little, once they were done. And she were probably going to need a hoof with her shower if it were, but if that ended up being the case, she'd let Ardee, or another offer to help. She were more than happy to help, and were used to group showers, due to Null and her being so close as they were. Yet she were still new in their lives, and that this might get a little too close for their comfort. Best to approach them with patience, and try to accommodate them the best she could.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Blitz Boom

(NP)

According to the coin counter she had a few coins to her name, nothing impressive but enough to play the slots a few times.

Once her character started moving, if she also looked around at the state of the casino, she'd find that while the ponies on the screen all started in the same place they started to drift from their live counterparts, the digital ones moved around more.

Whenever she was near something she could interact with there would be a button prompt floating above her digital head indicating what she should do to interact. Upon interacting with the slot machine the view on the screen would change to be an almost first person view of the machine. On the first pull she seemed to win a sort of minigame as the reels ended on a scene of a mare galloping across a field. The image froze mid gallop and the machine was unresponsive for a moment before it suddenly backed up a frame, she was once again just standing in front of the slot machine, her coin count unchanged.

If she played the slot machine again it would behave normally, no sign of the scene that had previously appeared. She'd win a small payout on her third pull, it wasn't much more than she had spent to get there but it was enough to pass the secondary objective which now read: 'Get the key to the safe.' There was also, briefly, a hint that read 'The owner probably has the key, why not ask to borrow it?'

It was certainly a change of tone from the first objective.

(Troy)

6 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Thank you for k-keeping an eye on him, miss."

The guard mare nodded with a smile, "Happy to help ma'am, us thestrals have to stick together after all." She didn't move to leave, keeping a watch on Elef from where she stood by the doorway.

6 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Shower. You wouldn't want to r-ruin your nice, clean beds that easily, right? So one at a time, though uhm, not y-you at first, okay Toupé? Just so that we can try and find some soap that w-works on the lab coat, without it also being a little too rough for you. We wouldn't want you, nor your c-clothes, getting damaged, or not cleaned enough. I uhm... Think we have something that should do the trick."

They looked like they had herd of the term at least, Teal and Ardee seemed actually excited to hear, "It's.... been a while since we were last able to really clean ourselves. I think It was when Mistress took us out of the lab that we last had proper facilities to do so."

Toupé would be less eager of course, looking down at her coat as she followed behind the rest to the shower area. Vale and Pen stopped to coo at the foals who were playing with the soft toys the other fillies had gotten for them. While Piecey was in her own world of play, not noticing that she was being watched, Peal simply held the stuffed anteater close as she looked at Pen and Vale with eyes full of curiosity and wonder.

Ardee would let Void show her how to operate the shower, the four ponies ecstatic to discover that it was not just a shower, but one with warm water. Once they knew how to operate it Ardee would nod, "Um... if it's all the same to you, I think they'd be more comfortable if I helped them. I might be able to get Toupé to take off her coat if there's no one around to take it. Thank you again."