1937 replies and 32 files omitted.
>>152449“Wha” he looks confused and frightened for a moment. But then when he sees Amber, he starts to laugh
“Hahaha”
Then he dives under water, snd grabs Amber’s legs, attempting to pull her under.
>>152450“I don’t know… I haven’t really been pet before.”
>>152452"Well, it feels nice, yes?"
>>152452"Hey!" she exclaims. She kicks her legs, not hard enough to cause inadvertent injury, but to get him to release her.
>>152454“A little.” He says.
White Orchid starts to move closer, a bit less afraid, and more intrigued of the new creature
>>152455Too late. She is dragged under the water, with her head and eyes completely submerged. She’s let go almost immediately, but still.
>>152456Though she has had barely any time to catch a breath, she doubles around and grabs him by the midsection, pushing him back up. When Amber's head emerges she's panting and laughing.
>>152456To help reassure the costumed colt, Silver goes towards Mala, standing by him happily.
>>152457“Ah!” He doesn’t go as far up as she goes down, with gravity and all, but he goes up enough to fall back down. He laughs as well. But he’s not content to leave it at that. Instead, he grabs her around the waist and pulls her up out of the water, before falling down while holding her.
>>152458White Orchid comes up, and extends a black stocked leg outwards, barely touching Mala. Mala makes an expression almost like he’s intimidated by the large costume
>>152460Silver pats the big, fluffy hyena on top of his head.
>>152459
"Blrblrblrb!" Amber is caught off-guard by this but after the splash she wriggles out of his hold, pushing underneath him and reappearing behind him. "Nothing personal, colt," she says, before sweeping her forelegs together to spray him with water.
>>152462For a moment he feels he has overstepped a boundary, then he is confused as to her whereabouts, and then, only then, at the last moment does he realize he has been out maneuvered
"Ahh!"
He is splashed with water, and falls into the water. But he twists his body as he does so, and with a wide sweep of his foreleg, splashes Amber in return.
>>152461He is pat, and smiles.
>>152463"See colts? Mala is very friendly. I am glad to be his friend."
>>152464And both colts start petting him, which he seems okay with
>>152465While both colts double team pet him, Silver attacks from the rear and hugs him at the same time.
>>152463This time Amber takes initiative, taking a gulp of air before diving and grabbing the colt's hind legs, pulling him along in the water.
>>152467Mala lets out a “yelp,” which startled the colts. But he is hugged, all the same.
>>152467“Ah!” Amber starts to pull him along, although his slightly larger size and buoyancy make this just a little difficult
>>152468"It is okay, colts. I am just demonstrating how good he is for hugging."
>>152468Amber tries to see how far she can drag a pony while swimming underwater.
[1d20+2 = (3+2) = 5] >>152470Not. Very. Far.
His turn
[1d20+2 = (20+2) = 22]>>152469Mint Marine in particular looks on in intrigue
“You found him?” He asks, as if for confirmation
>>152470>>152471Mustard Trim grabs her forelegs, pulls her up next to him, as if in a dance in the water, swings her around, and then twirls her, spinning her off in the water.
>>152471Silver nods.
"On our most recent mission, Mala was one of several people we rescued from group of traffickers. Mala personally chose to pick up weapon and save many people from their clutches."
>>152472She goes along with the dance, her hair twisting around her head and body as she spins in the transparent medium. She falls to the bottom and bounces off one leg back up to meet him, grabbing his hips to pull herself up.
>>152473White Orchid expresses horror. Mint Marine expresses horror, but then anger
Mint Marine:
"Did you beat those traffickers?"
Mala lowers his head
White Orchid asks
"Did you save those ponies?"
Mala answers timidly:
"Yes..."
>>152474"Woah! Heh heh"
He smiles, looking into her eyes
>>152475As he peers into her purple eyes, Amber thinks,
He's leaving himself open! Time for an attack of opportunity! She uses her left forehoof in a clothesline maneuver to dunk him on his back. She can't help but giggle.
>>152475"That he did, to both of those. Mala here is hero."
He looks right at Mala from his rear hugging position, and smiles brightly.
"He should be proud that he helped save them."
>>152476Sadly, he's hasn't proven himself a very good opponent, He is dunked with a "wah!"
He submerges, stays under, and grabs Amber by her hind legs to pull her down.
>>152476He smiles, and wags his tail
"You should tell us all about it" White Orchid says
>>152478
She doesn't directly resist this time. Instead, she doubles over and grabs him by the back, twisting her body as she wrestles him underwater. Her hooves slip on his wet coat but she attempts to retain a tight hold.
>>152480He drags her down and she grabs onto him. He tries to continue like this for some seconds, but eventually pushes himself up above water, with Amber on his back
>>152479"Well...alright. I think I can tell appropriate story about how we stopped traffickers and saved those they captured."
Silver finds a good storytelling seat, sits down, and motions for Mala and the two colts to gather around.
>>152481It's an odd sight, as she is upside-down. She falls off backwards with a splash and flips upright. She pushes her mane out of her face, grinning at Mustard.
"Wrassling is fun, ain't it?"It's a small miracle they haven't been kicked out yet for horseplay.
>>152483"Yeah, a bit" he answers.
Amber can see that the lifeguard assigned to monitor the pools has struck up a conversation with a mare and hasn't seemed to notice the thrashing about in the pool. Multiple other attendees, however, have taken notice, giving the pair odd stares.
>>152485"Sure" He says, moving to the edge of the pool. The lifeguard by this point has been cajoled by a mare into taking notice of the duo, and he belatedly says "No horseplay," only after the two horses have ceased playing.
>>152482Mala sits next to him. Mint Marine prefers to stand. White Orchid would sit, except his costume doesn’t entirely allow it.
>>152486Amber pulls herself out of the water, chlorinated water dripping, shakes herself off, and walks over to an unclaimed chair where she plops herself down. She waits to see if Mustard will take a chair beside her.
>>152490If she sits next to an open chair, he indeed will. He casually sits down next to her.
>>152489Silver starts to tell them the story of how they stopped the traffickers at Hoebuck. Mala perhaps notices that as he tells it, Silver leaves out a few details. For instance, the other gnolls, his position among the group at Hoebuck before being rescued (Silver describes finding him leashed by himself), and some of the more gruesome, not appropriate for foals-kind of details and findings like the garbage chute full of bones. He also doesn't really elaborate any on the cultists they fought, mostly lumping them in with the other traffickers, and describing Boek as just a powerful spellcaster. Instead, Silver's story focuses mostly on the battles the group had, with a bit of embelishment and atmosphere to give the story an almost cinematic quality for the colts' enjoyment. He describes Mala's part in the fights as a very heroic one, jumping into the blows that were targetted towards teammates, using his growl to ward off aggressors or intimidate them into submission, wielding a sword like a heroic knight, and his immense strength to help Silver when even he himself got injured.
>>152491Not her usual posture, but comfortable enough. She looks to see how the other swimmers are doing.
>>152492Mint Marine is horrified, genuinely horrified, and unable to reply.
To White Orchid, however, he replies,
“I think I heard a radio play like that before.”
>>152493Probably a little bit better with Amber and Mustard Trim gone. A few mates and fillies casually loungue in the pool or around it, while several colts and stallions do laps, or lounge themselves.
>>152494"...is my life just radio play? That is not first time I have heard that about my adventures."
>>152497Mint Marine quivers, but does not reply.
>>152499“Y-yes?” He finally answers
Amber leans back casually and turns to Mustard beside her. She remarks, "It doesn't have the same embrace of nature that a classic pond has, but this is much more inviting in the winter. No wonder there are so many ponies here. I'm not seeing any griffons though, is it true they hate water?"
>>152500He bends down to look him in the eye, and speaks in a soft, concerned voice.
"Are you okay?"
>>152501“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe if we stick around long enough, one will show up. The whole Williams society is really more of a pony thing though, anyways.” He blinks
“Though I’ve never seen a Griffin in the water.”
>>152502Mint Marine looks him back in the eye, shaking.
“I’m, I’m alright.”
>>152503She ponders about something.
"I don't know much about the Williams Society at all. I heard they're a charity of sorts?"Amber gets up and picks up a couple of body towels with her teeth. She throws one to Mustard and returns to her seat, draping the other around herself.
"I was sitting careless...and cold," she explains.
>>152503He smiles at him.
"You are clearly not alright. What is wrong, son?"
>>152504“Well, they are like a youth group. I think it was originally religious, or something. Now it’s sort of like a gym, or, well, a pool.”
He turns over and looks to Amber, not understanding her last words
“What do you mean?”
>>152505“Eh…” he shivers again
“It reminds me…”