Dark Star starts has embarked in a new venture - infiltrating cells of leftwing radicals at a local university.
>>150842She is silent, mouth partly open, evidently not understanding.
>>150841"Housed in the hotel? in a way. i lost my home just before the war. Social democrats took it."
>>150843"Ah, it is nothing you should worry yourself about. Just old stallion looking back on his life."
He smiles at Khoi.
"Trust me, there are many stallions out there more worthy of you wasting your time on than me."
>>150844He raises one of those tall, fluffy ears.
"The same to you? Huh... Well, I think he'll still be working. Barely, but still working in his back office."
>>150845"Uh... okay then..."
She takes another sip, and moves her eyes forward
>>150846"I hope he's here. which back office?"
>>150847"His. He's here." They go through a door, into a set of hallways, down the left, bending around a corner into the right
"Here." He says
Inside is Seabreeze, carefully going over some typed report
>>150846"...ah...never was good at talking. Just, forget I said anything."
>>150848"Can i go in?" he asks the guard?
>>150849Evidently she does, staring out at the water, and another bolt of lightning
>>150850"Eh, sure" he says
Seabreeze looks up, and recognizes "Solar Night"
>>150852"Good evening? It's evening alright." He leans back in his chair, although with his left legs gone this isn't perfectly easy. He uses his right hoof to cover up some items on his desk
"What brings you here?"
>>150853"i have some information, a pony of interest if you will."
>>150851"There is
one thing I did not mess up, however."
>>150856"And what is that?" She asks
>>150855"June Rising. he claims to know some creatures involved with the last uprising and implied he knows he has/knows where there are a large amount of guns."
>>150861He raises eyebrows
"Guns? A weapon stash? Do you know where it is?"
>>150860She smiles to him
"What is next for you?"
>>150862"Not at the moment. June seems to play his cards close to his barrel."
>>150862"Well, I have been thinking. I have saved ponies, it is not so much leap of logic to advance to saving world."
>>150863"Well, keeping firearms out of the hooves and claws of those who would war against the State is a top priority. While we don't necessarily wish to track down everyone involved in the last uprising, there is no doubt they could be dangerous. I think you should keep pursuing this option. Stay in as long as you can, and ferret out what information you can."
>>150866"Ah, just little bit of funny. In all seriousness, I would like to help others some more. Or maybe just get nice job that pays. I will admit, I am spending lot on everyone here."
>>150867She raises an eyebrow
“What are you saying? That we do not contribute enough? I told Juby that she needed to get a job. You should tell the same to that colt when he heals.”
>>150868"No, no, it is not that. It just took lot to get everyone set up. I can support us, but I just need to find job."
>>150865"Yes.Sir. I Believe his MareFriend Mars Loaf may also know something as well."
>>150763>"Dawnbreaker?"Virgin seems self-concious this time.
"Uhh, it's a self-defense technique some of the elder nuns taught," she says and almost in a hurry fiddles with her pouch. She pulls up the photograph and places it picture up on the bed.
[I'd let you describe it if you want but it's one of those "school-photo" or "organisation" photos that show everyone in a row with the famous person in the middle. A small Virgin looks straight into the camra with a nervous look. Her appearence is tidy and her mane combed.] "Dawnbreaker was originally developed by one of the older sisters that had lived near the Everfree."
>>150874Heather looks at the photo more closely, her mouth openning
Flowercup:
"So are you like ninjas, or something?"
Heather, whose attention is still focused in whole on the image, asks
"What
can you do?"
>>150870He nods
"Good. So you have at least two specific names. But we need specific plans and evidence. And more importantly, we need to know who else - and what else. If these ponies are a part of a larger network, it will help to learn as much as possible. It seems it will be profitable for you to stay on their tails. Continue posing as one of them. Go deeper. Gain their trust, and learn more,"
>>150869And ear flops
"You don't have job? I thought you worked for the police, or customs, or something?"
>>150880"It is more like contract work."
>>150880"What can't I do, is the better question?"
Suddenly, the bass drops and through one of the windows flies DJ Pone3 in on a flying vinyl record. Zecora runs along the spinning disc and raps about zigguha oppression. A pair of sunglasses slowly descent from the heavens and land perched on Chadvirgin's snout.
Okay, so here's the real reply."Well, self-defense," Virgin says as she looks away from the pair with a bit of a bothered grin as she scratch behind her neck. "W-w-we don't ehh... Hurt innocent but you know there have been instances in the past were one of the elders caught a theif for the gaurds. I guess, if you want a more precise list of my abilites: I can back-flip, front-flip, roll, jump-kick, climb steep things, punch, grapple and buck. But my grapple is mediocre at best."
>>150882Flowercup:
“So like, gymnastics?”
“That sounds lovely. Is there anything else we can help you with, dear?”
>>150881“Huh… uh, okay.
>>150883Virgin nods towards Flowercup.
"Yeah, a lot like that. I could teach y-"
She stops herself.
>That sounds lovely."Oh." Virgin sighs in relief and gives Heather a smile. "You think so? I'm glad there are a few that think that all violence is bad and unjustified. They would even go so far to say that scriptures say... They're wrong obvio-"
Virgins shakes her head.
"Sorry, you probably don't want the rants of a drunkard hobbo. Could I take a shower, perhaps? It's completely fine if you're not okay with it, I don't wanna take advantage of your hospitality. You have already done more than enough and yeah..."
>>150884Heather
“Well, whether you use it or not, it’s a concentration of the powers of body and mind-“
Flowercup
“The shower is this way.”
Heather:
“…Yes. The shower is this way. You can follow her. I’ll get some covers and pillows for you tonight.” She smiles. “Don’t worry dear. It’s no problem at all to help a fellow member of the church.”
Her eyes wonder, and seem to peak back at the photograph, though presumably out of sight by now.
>>150887She gives Heather a serious look and nods. Not the kind of scary serious look but a solemn look of gratefulness.
"Thank you."
She then follows Flowercup and leaves the photograph on the bed.
>>150888Heather smiles to Virgin Flame, if somewhat weakly, and then slowly turns her face down to the photograph as Virgin Flame leaves the room.
Flowercup is very quick and deliberate in her moves, telling her to “follow me,” and exiting the room, into the hallway, down the stairs, and back into the same hallway. Virgin Flame is by now assumed to be capable of walking, quickly, without assistance. The two turn left into a mother compartment with a bed to the left, and another room to the right, in what surely must be the wes-most extent of the cathedral. Entering the small room there is a shower and bathtub combination. While most of the walls are whitewashed, painted, or otherwise covered in mortar, the bath-shower is surrounded by naked brick. This cathedral, though more modern than even the houses in Canterlot, still predates the widespread application of indoor plumbing.
Flowercup turns to Virgin Flame saying,
“Well, here. You have to turn the knob all the way for warm water, and the water heater isn’t great, so you’ll only have so much warm water.”
>>150889"Thank you. Do you need warm water or like how much can I use? I can shower in cold. Do you have some soap?"
Virgin undoes the belt around her midsection and put it on the floor. She hasn't yet removed her cloak though.
>>150890She shrugs, and attempts to pick up a paper container of a bar of soap, offering it to Virgin Flame.
>>150891"Well, then I won't use more than I need," she says and then she undoes the belt around her neck.
She puts the belt down on the floor and then she starts to make sideways shrugs from side to side so the cloak slowly glide off her into a pile on the floor. As she looks back she realizes that the cloak is dirtier than what she thought while wearing it. Mud splatter along the hem near the ground.
Virgin lowers herself down on her front hooves and then bend her back upwards. A loud bone crack comes from her spine. She sighs out in relief. She stands up in a good posture.
The way her body is shaped stands out. She is clearly above average in strength for a mare but her not exceptionally strong either. There are many stronger mares out there, however. Many ponies that practice strength train muscles seperate and in isolation and while they might still actively seek to balance their training, her body is proof enough that Virgin's training regime is full-body in nature. The proportions of muscles are beautiful. They're smooth and flow into each other, kinda reminicent of a fish.
She is still dirty though. Her legs are caked in dry mud. The fur on her back is matt. Yellow or golden rings of some sort of metal (cheap) holds tufts of red mane along her neck that slicks to her fur. Her chin is sticky with dried liqour and she is generally greasy with sweat.
>>150892Flowercup picks up the cloak, holding it, and looks up to Virgin Flame. Her eyes are open wide, and for several seconds, her gaze is stuck on Virgin Flame, lips curled down. After the passage of done seconds, she turns her head away, and asks her without eye contact, “do you want this washed?” Holding up her cloak
>>150893Does virgin notice that she is sad if she is sad that is?
>>150896Okay, that makes sense. Good body langauge, bad read.
>>150893"I-I... Yeah." Virgin nods. "If it's not too much of a bother."
She lifts of her rings with her hooves like a reverse coronation and place them on the floor. She walks into the shower and twirl the knob for the water. At first she jumps but soon her body gets used to the temperature. Her red mane hangs like a curtain.
She picks up the soap between her front hooves and sit down on her huanches. As droplets hit the bar, it starts to foam. She swipes up the foam and scraps it off against her scalp.
>>150898For a minute - probably it is much less than a minute, but it feels like a minute - Flowercup stands around, as if not understanding what to do. Then she turns around, seems to say “I’ll just -“ not completing the sentence, and leaves the room.
Virgin is left to herself in privacy
>>150899Virgin is so focused and thorough in her washing that she doesn't really register taht Flowercup stands there or that she leaves. She uses the nails of her hooves to cut into the caked mud on her legs and breaks them into smaller pieces, which can be washed away. She makes sure the water reaches all areas of her body. Her mane and tail are thoroughly soaked and dripping as she applies a bit more soap. As she washes off for a second time, she turn off hot water and meditates just for a brief minute in the cool embrace the shower provides. In the stillness, she think about Princess Celestia and sends her a thanks for the velcoming sisters of this church.