1885 replies and 48 files omitted.
>>130451"Silver Sword. I am pony who cleared undead from quarry and catacombs."
He steps aside to show Mala.
"This is my partner, Mala. I heard bodies leftover from when I cleared this place were going to be recovered, and I came to offer assistance."
>>130453"Did you not have this 'hangover' thing haunting you?"
>>130455"Well yes, that's why I need alcohol. To help my hangover."
>>130454Peer Review looks over at Mala, who raises his head and his diamond shaped ears
"I see"
Then Peer Review looks back to Silver
"We were hired to do an archaeological evaluation of this site before it was dug up for construction, per city ordinance. There are indeed equine remains here that must be interred as well. Tell me, you
cleared this site?"
>>130456"Oh," he pauses, blinking once in mild puzzlement before sniffing slightly "alright then."
Having said that, he turns to Blanche. "That will be all, unless there is more you have to offer."
>>130456"As far as my knowledge goes. Is there issue?"
>>130457She blinks
"Well, if you want an appetizer, or anything else"
White Sands adds:
"Coffee. Get me coffee."
>>130458"No, just... that explains the destruction..."
The green unicorn is walking over. Silver can see that the table below Peer Review has a sketch of what is presumably the below ground facility, and the cloth has on it items like a rusted sword and a hat. The green unicorn must find Mala interesting, because he looks towards him, and Mala looks back
>>130459Iron ponders the offer for a moment before nodding. "Add what she ordered for me as well," he answers "that will be all."
>>130461Seeing Blanche leave, Iron turns to Sands. "So alcohol and coffee make you recover from the ailment that is 'hangover'?" he asks
>>130459Silver rubs the back of his neck.
"Ahm...inside structure or outside?"
>>130462"It helps" She says, placing her hoof to her head again
>>130463He moves his head back, and his ears twitch. He seems to relax
>>130463"Well... Yes. Underground, mostly."
>>130464Iron's ear flicker as he tilts his head. "I see," he mumbles before his ears straighten in a flash "oh, I did not hear you order some food before."
>>130464"Oh! Good! Not destruction I mean, that I was not cause of internal damage. It was likely caused when they started quarrying operation."
>>130465She moves a hoof around
"Oh, no matter. I will eat from some of yours."
Then she widens her eyes, and looks to Iron
"May I have some of yours?"
>>130466"Um hmm" He nods skeptically
"Did you gleam any information about what went on here?"
>>130467Iron nods. "Sure," he answers gladly, blinking once in mild confusion "you do not really have to ask, considering how long I have not seen you eat since back at Hoebuck."
>>130468She holds her pastern up, and angles her hoof down.
"Oh, I'm fine"
>>130467"Plenty. While I do not know exact purpose of this place before it was buried, in 8th century it was rediscovered by Joseph Curwhinny, who owned farmhouse near here. He used it to conduct necromatic experiments on its denizens, zebra slaves, and others in attempt to discover how to bring his wife and foals back from dead, after they had all died of plague."
>>130469"Is it a unicorn thing to have little need to eat food because of horn stuff?" he proceeds to ask, now becoming curious at how nonchalant Sands is currently being "or is it more about keeping under a weight threshold?"
>>130471"Oh no, I just had food after you went to sleep yesterday"
She waves again
>>130470"Hmmm... The record from this region is that there was a dispute over customs in which Joseph Curwhinny was killed. High Chair believes this incident to have been an example of a bourgeois lead attempt at revolution against the old order. That is preposterous of course, as Joseph Curwhinny was a member of the bourgeois class, and I think it was something closer to a peasant rebellion, or even a proto-proletariat rebellion. The crux of the question is of course who the violence was directed against... There are more zombies than I expected..."
>>130472"Oh," Iron utters before nodding assertively "right." He softly rubs his foreleg a little as he looks to the side "I got a bit worried you were not eating for some reason, but that makes sense."
>>130473"Don't be silly" She closes her eyes, and again waves her hoof dismissively
"So... what is this? Zebra food?"
>>130474Iron nods "Igborncs-made, if what I heard recently is accurate. No idea what makes a food that, but it tastes real nice."
>>130475"Right..." She seems skeptical
Blanche comes back, and gives White Sands what looks like a beer, and a cup of coffee
White Sands takes a sip of the beer
>>130476Iron tilts his head. "What do you usually eat?" he asks as he waits on his food.
>>130477"Not Zebra ethnic food, I can tell you that"
She takes a sip of the coffee, and then uses both hooves to hold the coffee
>>130478"Do you have many bad experiences with eating foreign foods?"
>>130479"No, it just seems sort of lower class, you know?"
>>130472"That I figured out, as well, thanks to letters I found on militia ponies and Curwhinny's own notes. He fell in love with mare, Wood Hill, who was betrothed with prominent sailor named Whipperwhill. He broke off their engagement and married Wood Hill, even having foal with her. Whipperwhill's anger, combined with one of Curwhinny's friends, Cinnamon Corn, betraying knowledge to him that Curwhinny had been performing necromancy and had supposedly achieved lichdom, caused him to raise milita to attack catacombs. Curwhinny was sealed away, but his experiments were released and none of attacking militia ponies survived. Wood Hill and her foal with Curwhinny escaped, however. I still have many of notes and letters that document this, if you are interested."
>>130480Iron tilts his head as an ear droops. "Eating certain foods are signs of somepony being of lower class?" he asks in mild disbelief.
>>130481"Well, that's quite a story. I suspect the Tall Sails shipping company will not want this story to get out, all the more reason why we will. Yes, I would like to see these notes and letters"
>>130482She moves her head back a little
"Well, I had just sort of thought of it that way."
>>130483He tilts his head to the other side, drooping the opposite ear instead. "How did you reach that conclusion?" he asks, plainly curious.
>>130484"Well... Zebras are mostly poorer, and the recent immigrants are the poorest of the zebras. The more closely connected to the Zebrican cultures, the poorer."
>>130485"Zebras are usually poor?" Iron asks once more, surprised as his minds goes back to the painting Obere had made with all the fancy sights he drew. "...did you ever get to visit Zebrica?"
>>130487"Do you know anypony that has gone to Zebrica that told you this?"
>>130483Silver nods, and gives him all of the notes and letters he had acquired looking through the catacombs...minus those he had given to the Black Hooves previously, but he doesn't mention that. He particularly points out the letter Curwhinny left behind to Wood Hill when Whipperwhill attacked, the correspondance between Whipperwhill and Cinnamon Corn, the account of the 8th century plague, and Curwhinny's own retelling of the events that lead up to him marrying and having a foal with Wood Hill in his final letter to Cinnamon Corn.
>>130488"I mean... I mean the immigrants, especially in Manehattan. I have met some ponies who have gone to Zebrica. They tell me many things."
>>130489Peer Review looks down at the letters, and then looks over to the other stallion
"Mr. Loans, come over here. Look at these."
He starts moving the letters with his own yellow magic
>>130490"...how peculiar," Iron surmises as he pokes his chin "perhaps the ones you asked did not really have the best experience there."
One second passes before his ears straighten up in realization, blushing lightly as he meekly shrinks into his seat "Wait, I did not make you uncomfortable by asking all these zebra-related questions, did I?"
>>130492"Oh," Iron replies as he relaxed his posture. "I figured I asking a lot of questions you did not know how to answer."
>>130493"I just haven't been asked those questions before" She answers
>>130490Silver is actually interested in hearing what they will talk about, so he stays to listen.
>>130494"Does nopony you have ever met ask you about that?" Iron mutters aloud as his ears droop lightly "...do you not have others that may be curious enough as to ask them?"
>>130496"Well, I've only been offered Zebra food like... twice, before. Once I didn't say anything, and the other time they didn't say anything when I said it was lower class"
>>130497"Ooh," Iron can't help but coo in wonder "What were your first impressions when you tasted it?"
>>130495Peer Review says to Mr. Loans,
"This pony says that he found these letters down stairs. He says they prove that Curwhinny was a Necromancer, and that there was a dispute over a mare."
The Unicorn repsonds
"I know, I heard him"
Peer Review:
"Then help to check the dates and put these in order. If these are real, they could cause controversy. And that would help to boost the publicity."
>>130498"Well, it was from Colthage. Some of it was just rice, and there was this jelly like substance I don't remember the name of. That tasted sweet, it was alright."
>>130499"I see," Iron replies, nodding "so who invited you to eat zebra food in the first place?"
Sorry I'm late
Amber uses the toilet (which presumably was designed with quadrupeds in mind, and hopefully is not too dirty) washes her hooves and face in the sink, perhaps struggling to figure out how it turns on. She goes into the "kitchen," unlatches her saddlebags and pulls out a parcel wrapped in waxy paper. Unwrapping it reveals some brown bread, cheese, and a couple of tomatoes. What kind of cheese would be common for the area?
She retrieves her knife and washes it in the sink, which hopefully is also not too dirty. About a third of the bread and cheese is cut off into thin slices and one of the tomatoes is cut in half. These she eats slowly, savoring the flavor of each bite. When Amber is finally finished she carefully wraps the remainder of the food, including the tomato half, in the paper and puts it into a cupboard if she has one. She washes the knife and decides to test the taste of the water from the faucet.
>>130500"A stallion in Manehattan. Met him when I was a waiter in a different restaurant."
>>130502"Ah," Iron muses as he scratches his chin "why did he do it?"