>>143859He looks up at Amber from his position with his head almost laying on the table
"I'll trust you..."
>>143860Amber winks.
"Your secret is safe with me."Once she settles down, her expression becomes a little confused.
"So what were we talking about?"
>>143861He blinks, with both forehooves before him on the table
"I don't know... something about music, and me coming here, and you being jealous of Salt Lick's features."
>>143862She pulls her head back, scrunching her snout.
"Me? Jealous?"
>>143863"Like you don't wish you had that gravitational pull."
"I mean...my rump might look skinny next to hers, but I ain't jealous! I could be just as shapely if I ate right, then you'd be falling head over hooves for me instead."
>>143865He keeps his lips closed tight in a smile, before opening them to take a sip from his water.
>>143836Silver tilts his head at the deer.
"What do you mean?"
>>143867"Was it our weakness that let this happen? Did the gods abandon us? Did they think it just? Did we abandon them?"
>>143868"Ah. Olenian gods. I admit, I am not so familiar with them."
>>143869"Well... How long will you be here? I
could spend some money, though I've been trying to save it..."
>>143870"I could not have expected you to be."
"I was told to relax and make myself familiar with the night life..." With lessened mental clarity she has to concentrate to remember what Dark Denizen said, but once she does she lightens up. "Have a drink, which I did, listen to music-yep, done that-let a stallion make a pass, whatever that means, but you're here so maybe that counts...and have a dance. I...erm, haven't danced here before."
>>143871"You seem to be rather pious. Tell me about them, if it pleases you."
>>143872"I don't suppose..."
>>143873"Pious? I don't call myself pious. Not any more. To have piety is to have reverence. To give what is due to that which is greater than you. Now I am not sure sure of what is due, or how much greater they are. But they are there. Do not let yourself be fooled. There is Tiapo, of the Forest. Vellamo of the seas and storms, Tursas of War, Kuu of the Moon, and Pellervo. These and many others. Above them all is god of the sky and thunder, Ukko."
>>143874"I'd really like to, if you don't mind." She smiles with a slight blush on her cheeks.
>>143874"Does Ukko reign over sun as well?"
>>143875He has a great smile
"Sure"
He stands up. The music is a bit more cheery now, with notes that go back and forth. It'll do for dancing
>>143876He has a small smile
"The goddess Päivätär lords over the sun, and with its rays crafts silver jewelry. But the sky is above the sun."
>>143877Amber likewise gets up to join him. She hasn't had too much to affect her motor skills, at least.
"Do you know how to dance to this?" she asks.
>>143878He looks up, and around
"I don't think I've heard it before..."
>>143882He moves his right forehoof forward with a tap, then pulls back and moves his left hoof with a tap, then his left again, then his right again, and then he rotates to his left by 90 degrees and repeats the process again
>>143877He smiles back.
"I do not suppose she also crafts Silver Swords?"
>>143883Amber imitates his movements flawlessly while managing to keep facing him.
>>143884"No. She is a maiden, and like the maidens crafts clothes and jewelry. But Väinämöinen, he has his sword. Ukko even, sometimes strikes the thunder with his sword.
>>143886>>143884He looks up at her
"... You're really good at this, heh heh"
>>143888Smiling back, she replies,
"Oh thank you. But I wouldn't know where to start without you."
>>143889Still, he tries to keep pace and dance, though it seems he feels the need to watch his feet
>>143887"Is joke. She crafts silver jewelry, my name is Silver Sword...well, I thought it was good, at least."
He offers himself a light chuckle.
"I find it interesting, hearing about different faiths. From what I learned, our chief Goddess was ruler over sun and rains, before Severyana adopted Celestialism. It makes sense that Ukko is God of Sky and Thunder, with Deer being mostly sea people."
>>143890Emboldened either by the events of the evening or her drink, she adds a little bit of flare to this simple dance. She raises her hooves higher than necessary, swings her head with its curtain of hair from side to side, and raises or lowers parts of her body as she shifts her weight in time with the music.
>>143891"Ah" He raises his head
"And so that is who I am speaking to"
"I think I have had enough experiences with 'different faiths.' What is 'Severyana'?"
>>143892Mustard Trim pulls his head back from the wild, bucking mare in front of him, now placing his eyes firmly on her."
>>143893She meets his gaze, grinning back.
>>143894He smiles, then spins and moves to the side. The notes, higher and lower at points, invite smaller and greater movement of the body, depending on the note played. Sometimes a small step, sometimes a leap.
Amber perks her ears up and listens carefully to the music and tries to interpret it into a dance.
Listen: [1d20+3 = 15]
Dexterity/Balance: [1d20+2 = 9]
>>143893"It goes by different, less honorable name these days. Stalliongrad. At one time it was great northern empire that could boast to rival even Equestria, holding control over lands of penguins, yaks, and polar bears. Now it is...well, most people in Equus know what it is now."
>>143896Her ear for music doesn't fail her though as she moves away from a simple box step she's less certain about her movement. At one point she falls back onto her rear, and so she slows down a bit to avoid embarrassing herself any further.
>>143896Definitely spin spin spin, move position spin spin, move position tap tap. Execution could use a little bit of work though
>>143897He nods
"Yes. I've heard. I suppose the same could be said of our nation. Our once great nation. But Stalliongrad has a special infamy."
>>143899"I could definitely use some dancing lessons," she says, almost laughing, to Mustard.
>>143899"Yes...Steel Stallions and King Johans. There are too many of them in this world I am afraid. But forgive me, I am not sure if politics are what you want to talk about."
>>143901"Johan was better than he was given credit for. But his faults were
not made up for by those around him. Not at all..."
>>143900"Consider this a lesson." He hops over, once, then again, then to Amber's side
>>143902"I will admit, all I know of him are from stories. I get idea he was weak king who let those around him do as they please so he could remain in power, to detriment of Olenian people."
Amber is a natural-born dancer with these rolls, but watch me roll consecutive 1's later and end up abducted by pirates
>>143904She hops up into the air, does a twist, then turns on her hind hoof, and ends perfectly with her legs on Mustard Trim, who looks very much surprised
>>143905"And those stories are mostly true. But he knew to fight when the nation was threatened. Whether surrendering when he did was right... The peace is hardly tolerable."
>>143906Getting abducted by pirates must be caused by truely terrible dancing
>>143907Silver nods, and is silent for a moment.
"We should have intervened. We knew what was to come after Olenia. Had Celestia ordered our armies to march on Changelings when they declared war on your people, we would not have had to deal with them now."
>>143908There is a subtle hint of a smile
"And
that, was no fault of Johan. No fault of ours, either."
>>143909"Yes, this fault rests squarely upon us...and upon Celestia. I would offer my apologies on behalf of ponykind, if it was worth anything to you."
>>143910"I'll take the liberation from those
griffins... Though I have to wonder why they got as far as they did."
>>143911"Deception and bribery, most likely. Fear also played small part. Last time police raided they found nothing but sweatshop and they gave Sweet Boek fine for it. When New Mareland invaded they found more of same. Police wasn't willing to commit to another raid for fear of large casualities among their numbers, so Baltimare government asked for us to do it instead. None of us expected to find Maarists."
>>143913".... That was amazing!"
>>143912"So that's what they call themselves. That doesn't sound much better than the old world. And we didn't have griffins." "
He pauses, then adds,
How did they capture a parasite anyways? Or was it working with them?"
>>143915>>143916He pulls her into a closer dance, mostly making the right steps, but missing a step and bumping into her at one point
>>143914"There is evil everywhere. What matter is that we work to root it out.
"She was captive as well. They kept her in cage, and fed others they captured to her in order to make changeling honey. I suppose they were selling it as drugs."
>>143917Hooves resting on the colt's withers, Amber follows along and lets him lead. She's distracted from the dance itself by how fast her heart is beating.
"I've, um, never danced with a colt before," she confesses.
Just dropping some inspirational pics poners.
See ya.
>>143919"Me neither" He says
>>143918"Incredible" He says
"Nothing is worse than how those parasites will eat your soul, stealing all that is good from you. But to use that as a tool... This is something else. Something new. Even the West did not have that kind of evil."
>>143920Nice!
>>143923"Yeah. Heh heh. They couldn't dance so well as you anyways."
>>143922"Yes. Sadly not first time I have seen captive changelings used in this way. But they are dead now. They can not hurt anyone anymore."
>>143926"I'm glad you did. And I hope you'll do it again." He says again, smiling and looking into Amber's eyes
>>143925"And again, I thank you for that. You have done me, and the world, a great service."
>>143927She looks back into his purple(?) eyes and smiles.
"Yes, let's definitely dance again soon."
>>143927He nods again.
"Unless you have anything to say or ask me, I think this will be goodbye for now. That stallion who was with you at that altar, I want to meet with him as well, see how he is doing."
>>143929“I am surprised you came to see me. That was not expected. Or perhaps it makes the fighting more tolerable. I cannot say.”
But then he turns his head more directly towards Silver
“Until we meet again.”
>>143928The question is: do they dance more?
>>143930As much as Amber would like the night to stretch on long, she suddenly feels tired and with a yawn asks to return to the table. She looks to see if the same griffon is still busy playing.
>>143931He continues sawing away, having no notice of what Amber and Mustard Trim - or any other pair of ponies, for that matter - are doing
>>143930"I wanted to make sure you were okay. Did not feel right if I did not."
He bows his head to the deer.
"Until we meet again."
Silver turns and leaves the room, heading for the room with the young stallion.
>>143935He gives a nod, and Silver leaves the room.
Up the stairs, down the hall, and Silver finds the room supposed to contain the recovering pony
>>143937Silver knocks at the door.
>>143939Silver tries the door to the room.
>>143940He opens the door, seeing a set up similar to the previous room, but with the bed on the mirror opposite side. This means that the bed faces towards Silver, standing nearer the entrance of the room, rather than away from him, as was the case in the previous room.
There, in the bed, and covered in part by bed sheets, is a white - or rather, a light grey - unicorn male, with red-auburn mane. His eyes are wide
>>143941"Hello? My name is Silver Sword. I was part of group that raided 33 Hoebuck. I just wanted to check up on you."
>>143942His eyes are wide, and he sits up, pulling the bedsheets up high
"Uh, hi"
He has an awkward smile
>>143943Silver enters the room properly, closing the door behind him. He smiles back, with a greater sense of sincerity.
"It is good to see you alive. I am afraid I did not get acquinted with your name, last we met."
>>143944"You're... you're with R&M, right?"
>>143945"Erm...I am afraid I am not familiar. R&M?"
>>143946"Revenue and Migration services? I guess that's a 'no.' Who sent you?" He asks
>>143947"Ah, that makes more sense. I think R&M was involved, all I know is that we were tasked with breaking up trafficking ring at 33 Hoebuck from Baltimare Government."
>>143948waves backHello!>>143949"Oh. You're... with the city."
>>143950"Not really, I was just with group asked to stop bad people."
>>143951"Uh... that's... good." He has an awkward smile
>>143936"Uh. Yeah. That would be neat." He answers
>>143954"It's uh... Popper Nick."
He is sitting upright as best he can - he is moving around more than the stag dared - his teeth are showing, and his lips are pulled all the way back in something that was presumably intended to look like a smile. He speaks with a young sounding voice with a noticeable Dominion accent
>>143936Amber smiles at Mustard, adding,
"Music is one thing I am very passionate about, and it's such a terrific surprise to find somepony who plays an antiquated kind of instrument like I do.
This is the last sort of place I'd expect it, actually."
>>143956"Well, that's- that's really neat. I wasn't expecting it here either. What kind of instrument do you play exactly?"
He places a hoof on the side of his head