Iron got his ass beat and has pissed off a whole criminal syndicate, Amber is doing some shady shit at the police station, Silver is making friends, and Spark is enjoying Whinnysotan hospitality.
>>145964"Iron? Do you think you can be... my partner? In all of my business ventures? Debt collecting, money lending, leg breaking, potion making... All those things?"
>>145962"Well of course. I can invite them too."
>>145963"Well yes. Report crime and suspicious activity when you see it."
>>145965"I may take a while to properly settle," Iron softly replied, his voice becoming more determined as he briefly ignored the stimulation down below "but we have come so far together for me to say no, Cauldron."
He soon put on a confident smile her way, staring with burning passion. "Count on me," he succinctly summarized.
>>145965"Ehhhhh...Jubilosa may be interested, and Mala might agree to go, but Khoi..."
>>145966"Somehow... I suspect you know." She says
>>145968"What about her?" He asks
>>145967"I can count on you?" She says
"To be there? To rely upon? To come back after your little ventures?"
>>145969"Yes," Iron's final reply bravely exited through his confident lips, staring intently at Cauldron with utmost dedication. "I will give you my all."
>>145969"She is rather staunch traditionalist, and was medic during civil war in her country. I get feeling she would not like meeting very much."
>>145970"Iron... I want to be like this forever with you, but... if you'll count on me to return... I think I'll be leaving for ten or twenty minutes, or a half hour or so." She says to him
>>145971"You've got a decent little list right there, don't you, country girl?"
>>145972He twists his lips
"Well why in Tartarus not?"
>>145973"I suppose so...wait, what do you mean?" she asks with genuine confusion.
>>145973"It is alright," Iron smoothly replied before boldly stealing a kiss from Cauldron's lips, with tongue and all, for about five seconds before disentangling himself from her and standing up, exposing his weapon to the air once again and allowing her to slip away with ease. "I will have the feeling of your lips to keep me happy while you are away."
>>145974"At least not at current moment. You have no idea just how traditionalist she is, and it may take some time and patience to get her to open up about other ideas. She still holds onto many beliefs her parents, religion, and culture taught her about things such as sex."
>>145976"Ah!" Iron plants the kiss, and Cauldron has a slightly disgusted expression, and then a playful one, as she smiles and looks down.
She gets up, off of the bed, looks back, and then takes a bag off her dresser, fully opening the door after the scurrying of hooves, and leaves the room
>>145975"Don't you know right and wrong?" She asks
>>145977"I see... well, maybe there's something that can be done with her" He says
"Uh, how bad is it?"
>>145978"She knew nothing of sex until very recently. At most she was told that entire purpose was for procreation, and that only other acceptable reason for it is for relieving of husband's urges."
>>145978Realizing his wet mouth, Iron couldn't help but chuckle softly as a sheepish smile soon formed, waving her goodbye in the meantime. "Sorry!" he called out in a mix of slight amusement and somewhat extreme embarrassment, relieved to see her playful smile soon after her disgusted one. "I will wait for you here until you return."
>>145981She smiles back to him, "I'll be back," and turns and leaves the room. Her tail is raised, and Iron gets a respectable view before she forces it down as she turns the hallway.
Iron is left alone in the room soon enough.
>>145979She nods
"Do you think it won't?"
>>145980"Heh" He shakes his head at the last portion
"Yeah, it's like that many places."
The short, young mare rubs a fetlock with a hoof. "Well, I don't know. A lot of things have surprised me after I came here. It's hard to trust your heart here, and it seems like a lot of po—creatures—don't do that."
>>145982Predictably, Iron ogled as much as she allowed him before finally letting her leave and sitting down on the bed. His weapon twitched longingly not too long after, eager for a far more stimulating experience that he wasn't able to go for, causing him to grunt softly in need.
>>145983"If you yourself can't tell right from wrong, then why are you surprised this city makes you feel unsafe?"
>>145984The front door closes, and the apartment returns to relative silence
>>145982"Well, it is certainly something...it was little bit like that in Severyana, but some colts I grew up with did not agree with what old conservative stallions said. It was slowly growing idea. Maybe it is part of why Stalliongrad came to be."
>>145985She looks quite offended at this.
"I never said I couldn't tell right from wrong! I was raised right according to the principles of Harmony. Seems to me though that a lot of ponies weren't, so they don't live rightly very well."
>>145985Iron breathed out as he fell back first towards the bed with a satisfied smile as his rifle flopped on top of him to face the ceiling. "I-I cannot believe I did it," he breathed out in absolute wonder, just thinking about everything they've done together for the last week. "I figured it would have taken longer than this. More gifts to give, more help to provide. All without those lovely lips touching mine."
His heart beat grew in rate just thinking about that final plunge, lightly fantasizing how their first time would be with her in the middle of a Zebrican rainforest as his rifle twitched in anticipation.
>>145987"So why don't you know crime when you see it?"
>>145988"Feels like ages to me"
A familiar white head, with long, straight desire-red mane and a subtly pinkish white horn leans through the door way of the bedroom
>>145986"Oh well yes, certainly. Angel's application of the history of the family that we know from new hippological research to his studies on the development of talents helped form a part of the movement."
>>145989Iron's ears perked up before quickly lifting his head upwards to properly face the white and red mare he knew... somewhat. "Hey Sands," he called out, still on the bed with an overall happy mood and a painfully tough and unholstered weapon "I hope we did not disturb you."
>>145989Silver whispers to the colt.
"Did they have much to say about homosexual proclivities?"
>>145990She moves into the room, her hooves barely making a "clop" on the wooden floors, and her gait almost like that of a stalking cat.
"I've slept through worse," She answers
>>145991"No. It isn't. And yet all the same I think you know."
>>145992He pauses for a moment, his eyes widened
"Anthropologically? Very little. But uh, that it shouldn't be criminalized."
>>145993Iron follows her stalking about curiously as he smiles with joy. "Maybe with some more effort," he half-jokingly offered "all three of us could sleep on this bed."
>>145995She looks at the bed, and Iron's more naked than normal body, and seems unimpressed. She tilts her head
"Does she agree with that?"
>>145994"Well, I am just curious. I must admit, early was not my first type of encounter, like that."
>>145993Amber is getting annoyed to herself.
Why can't she give me a straight answer?"I can tell the difference. I should, anyway. Please don't blame me for feeling unsafe in this city when there's so much crime about."
>>145998"Then don't blame us for doing the best we can under hard circumstances." She answers
>>145997"Early? What?"
>>145996Iron chuckled softly at her reply before shaking his head in the negative. "I am not
that bold," he casually disregarded before lifting himself up a bit "but I am sure after some time we can do so with an even better bed."
He soon started to sit up with a determined grin. "All we need to do is establish your bond with Cauldron's," he offered optimistically "and help her out in her venture like I promised."
>>146000"Her venture?" She says almost skeptically
"Is this that mass potion making thing?"
>>146001"Yes," Iron confirmed with a nod. "Did I not tell you back when we sent that letter towards... that somepony you did not specify?"
He paused a bit, trying to see if he could remember who was it meant for.
>>146002She blinks
"Yes. And that's what you need the waterways open for? What you need to fight griffins for? And what exactly do you think all of this will accomplish? What it will get you?"
>>146003"
Sigh. Why don't you go ask
them? Leave me alone here."
>>146004"Ensure a trade route of items Cauldron needs to jumpstart her venture comes to us," Iron succinctly replied with another nod. "At least, that is what I gathered from the mademare."
>>146006"If she's a mademare then she must surely have some other racket going, or at least one. What do you need the new venture for? More money?"
>>146005"Just go already" The mare says
>>146007"It allows Cauldron to live a better life," Iron replied without hesitation "which will no doubt incur more favors when she is well established."
After a small pause, he couldn't help but grin softly. "The extra money is also nice," the native followed up with a coy grin.
>>146009“Money
is nice.” But she turns her head.
“So is this whole thing based on your devotion to this mare?”
>>146008“We did! They insisted it was their case. Almost forced their way in”
>>146010"She
is being kind enough to let me get my bearings for a week now," Iron pointed out with a nod "so I was not planning on leaving such a diligent, strong diamond in the rough in this predicament if I can help it."
>>146012“Did you
intend to take a knife in doing this for her?” She asks
>>146013"I was born to battle," Iron plainly stated. "From birth to now, all I ever did was fight with my hooves. It is what I excel at."
He proceeded to sit up properly. "That is also how I stumbled into you, Sands," he followed with great trepidation "and if I need to take even more stabs to make you both live at your best, that is what I will pay."