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.
>>146764"Oh. This? This was built seventy three years ago as an expansion of the Zizka Reformed Church on Andausian. It's in a fairly austere style of the time, but still built of stone and built to last."
She smiles
>>146765It's clear thus far, and Spark is undisturbed
>>146766"But this is fun" She says, and takes a drink directly from the bottle
>>146767"Hmmm..." She twists her beak
>>146768"But, maybe few more jobs, I will get there. We can live in lap of luxury."
>>146768Such a response caused Iron's eyes to widen before quickly turning his head back towards Cauldron to see if it was indeed true or not.
>>146768Ah reformed
"I see... Are you the one in charge here, or is there another?"
>>146769"More... jobs?"
>>146770She looks almost confused by this scene
>>146771"Yes, I am the main shepherd of this branch" she says
>>146772Seeing the contradiction present, Iron soon turns back towards Sands with a bigger snout scrunch and, with renewed efforts, started to gently take the bottle away from her hooves/magic, to the point of pressing his body against hers in his quest for the magic sleepover liquor.
>>146773White Sands scrunches, trying to keep hold of the bottle
>>146772"It is nice to meet you."
Midnight gestures to the seat beside her
"My name is Midnight"
>>146768Spark tries to keep from nodding off.
>>146774Iron grunts softly as he attempted to both take hold of it while also being extremely careful so as to not damage any furniture or, even worse, Sands herself in his quest.
Hurting mares needlessly is wrong! his currently sugar-filled mind firmly asserted.
>>146775"My name is Chipper Chalice" she says
"What brings you here?"
>>146776If Spark is super eager for someone to come...>>146777But if it's necessary to hurt a mare in the pursuit of alcohol, that's another thing.
Iron slowly grasps the bottle, and pulls it away
>>146778"I was wandering the town and the church caught my eye. I thought I might come in for a while.
How about you, how is the church doing?"
>>146778Finally obtaining the bottle in question, Iron soon lifted it up with a foreleg while proudly posing at nopony in particular akin to a heroic figure celebrating his most recent accomplishments. "I have done it!" he cheered in an admittedly foalish manner before glancing over to Cauldron to see if she wanted some more liquor.
>>146778Well, I don't know. Maybe there is a couple of other things I can do first? I am just having trouble thinking of them.
>>146779"Well... This church was built for the Earth pony inhabitants of this city. There are now migrants from Severyana, from further south, and from across the sea. The make up of the neighborhood has changed a bit, and the younger generations... well, they aren't as enthusiastic. But we are doing okay here, given how things are."
>>146780White Sands scrunches, and crosses her hooves.
Black Cauldron is somewhat entertained by this spectacle, it seems, trying not to laugh.
>>146781Roll die
>>146782With that in mind, Iron quickly and (hopefully) gracefully scurries over to Cauldron, sliding softly into a kneeling position while presenting the liquor bottle with a foreleg. "I have obtained the sleepover activity," he proudly yet respectfully offered with an overly royal tone.
>>146782"I am glad to hear things are going well at least, but I am sorry to hear about the younger generation."
Midnight sits in silence for a little bit
>>146786Iron quickly lowers his head while softly jiggling the bottle in question, almost as if he had just brought back the most beautiful flowers from the pits of Tartarus itself for a fair maiden. "Please," he continued on with his royalty accent "do not privy yourself."
>>146772"Like when I was hired to go into Hoebuck. Jobs such as that."
>>146788"But that was.... You'd want to do
that again?"
>>146783Spark is met by more quiet in the night
>>146787"That's okay, Iron." She says
>>146789Feeling the bottle still on his grasp, Iron soon creaked a confused eye open looking up at Cauldron. "Wait," he uttered in astonishment "really?"
>>146790"Well, I don't need
too much to drink." She says, with a sly expression
>>146789"Perhaps not
want, but it helps others and makes us plenty of Bits."
>>146792"But it's.. dangerous" She says
>>146791Iron's vines started to swing at the playful reply, slowly turning his head towards the shot glass before a fire of realization set his mind ablaze.
Of course! he exclaimed in his head.
The native stallion acting like a knightly colt soon trotted over to the glasses to serve it before bringing it back to the striped princess with the same flair as the last time.
>>146794She takes a glass with her hoof, and swirls it around,
"Hmmm..."
Then she takes a drink from it
>>146793Silver nods.
"I know. It is what I have been doing for much of my life."
>>146796"Uh.... how many fights have you been in?" She asks
>>146795Iron eagerly awaits Cauldron's response, still kneeling down in respect for the fair maiden
>>146797"More than I can count. Many of them have been forever marked on my hide, underneath my winter coat."
>>146798She lets it linger for a moment, before swallowing. Then she looks down to Iron.
"It'll do." She says
>>146799"That explains the scars..." she says
"Aren't you scared though?"
>>146785"Well, fortunately the return of the elements gave a bit of a revival some years back. It is that revival that sustains us."
>>146801"But then... why do you do it?"
>>146800Iron's chest puffed out in further pride at the rather lukewarm remark, all too happy to please in such a foalish, noble sugar-rushed state. "I am most elated," he dramatically offered Cauldron with his pompous accent while steel kneeling over. "Would there be anything else to satisfy our sleepover?"
>>146804"Well" She looks up, and bats her eyes
"I'm curious as to what
you would like."
>>146803"Because it is what I am good at, and because if I do not, no pony else will."
>>146806"You mean... fighting things?"
>>146807"Fighting things, saving people..."
>>146808"I suppose.. I appreciate it." She says, kind of smiling
>>146809"You are worried for me?"
>>146805Such question caused Iron's ears to swivel softly as his eyes looked up to meet her own. "You mean my sleepover activities?" he asked, a little dumbfounded, yet still kept his pompous accent regardless.
>>146810"Well.... Yeah." She answers
>>146811"Sure." She says
>>146812"That was mostly roughhousing and sparring," Iron replied with a hint of hesitation as he lost a tiny bit of his steam "and I doubt we should do such things at the present time."
Soon enough, he decided to rise himself up and looked at Cauldron properly. "I do not think it is a common thing here, right?" he continued.
>>146802Midnight nods knowingly.
"Has the church had any trouble from unrest?"
>>146812He smiles at her.
"D'awww. I appreciate that concern, but...I can promise you, I
will come back to you, after job."
>>146814"You mean like the Anarchists? Well... they've passed by this church. Mostly... We had fire damage in the uprising of 990 though, and some shrapnel from the most recent one. There's been some misfortune for some of our members, though."
>>146813"Depends on the roughhousing and sparring" She answers
>>146815She places a claw on his hoof
"Please..."
>>146816That caused Iron's hope to rise just a smidge if his growing grin was any indication. "You got any kind that we can do?" he proceeded to ask, eager to see his fighting tendencies satiated into a nice sleep.