/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>156224
sigh

Silver succeeds in putting the vehicle into gear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atuFSv2bLa8

>>156225
For once, he does not come errect.

"Well, I have physics... um... did you want to do something together?"

>>156226
She smiles, looks away, and shakes her head
"Oh, Earth Ponies. You feel connected to that stuff? It's a bunch of old dead stallions to me. I just sit here because I have to."

>>156227
Alright, time to get out of there and away from the sirens.

>>156227
"I can help with physics…though I don't know it very well. I'm better learned in the liberal arts." She has a small, embarrassed smile.

>>156228
Frizzle yells out,
"Gotta go to the hospital. Fellow was shot while defending himself. And the colt."

Put the car in reverse, and move back out, turn around, and drive to freedom

>>156229
He leans down, and kisses her on the lips
"It's okay Amber. Do you want to stay here at my house tonight, go home, or go out?"

>>156230
Silver lets out a sigh of relief as they pull away from the sirens and go down the streets.

"Alright. So...hospital. Where is it?"

>>156230
"Mmmm!" she moans as her hind legs jitter suddenly during the kiss. Wow, he's flexible, she thinks to herself.

When it's concluded: "I'd love nothing more than to stay overnight here with you. But even if your ma agreed to it, I have to clean up my room after our…fun. And I need to get a full night's rest to be ready for work tomorrow. Thank you, though."

>>156227
"Yea it might sound Kinda Corny, But i do."
He Chuckles Slightly
"Well if it weren't for them we probably wouldn't be here."

>>156231
"You actually want to go to a hospital?" Frizzle asks.

"I don't know, I thought you had somewhere you went. But that looks pretty bad. Yeah. You need a doctor."

>>156232
He frowns
"I meant the night... for a few hours..."

>>156233
"That's true." She says. "But if it weren't for my father knocking up his mistress, I wouldn't be here either. That doesn't mean I respect the process, or the ponies involved.

Everything in these old books is ponies doing terrible things to each other. Wars and coups. Oppression... I don't care for it."

>>156234
His fillyfriend blinks, incredulous. "But we just…I'm sorry, I don't have any of that energy left in my body. You did a good job using it up." She looks a little apologetic.

>>156234
He Nods
"Yea my Dad, Did something Pretty Similar. I Understand where you are coming from."
"Yea, But that's Life though, ya know? It comes with Being Alive Unfortunately."

>>156235
"You don't want to stay for dinner or listen to Solomare Cane?"
He seems incredulous, like he believes Amber still has not understood his meaning.

>>156236
"Yeah... I know... I still hate having to read so much though."

>>156234
"Well, I do not know where to go, just that we needed to get away from there for a minute, at least."

He ignores his own wounds to quickly look at White Orchid in the car's rearview mirror.

"How are you holding up, son?"

>>156238
"I'm... better now. Thank you" he says.

Mala looks almost as scared, cowering in the back.

>>156237
"Oh! Well…." She thinks about her options. She didn't want to overstay her welcome, but it's already dinner time. Amber still doesn't have anything she can prepare in her apartment so she would have to eat out, which would be expensive. Why not enjoy a meal with the family and make it up to them later?

"I'd love that," she says with a smile, still with her head in his lap.

>>156239
He takes notice of Mala.

"Is everything okay?"

>>156237
"What's your Name by the way?" Mine's Solar, Solar Night."

>>156240
"Let's go tell my mother." He says

>>156242
"Cool Morning" she answers

>>156241
Mala looks like he's just killed someone with the way the blood is distributed on him, and his presence isn't exactly welcomed by White Orchid.

"I'm okay." He says

>>156243
"Alright!" She gets up and straightens her mane out, beaming with joy.

>>156244
Mustard Trim goes downstairs. Dahlia isn't in the living room, and a news broadcast plays.

Mustard Trim goes towards the kitchen, and into it

>>156245
Amber Sunset follows her coltfriend, thinking Dahlia must be in the kitchen preparing dinner.

>>156243
"Thank you for helping, Mala. I could not have done any of that without you."

>>156246
Dahlia is indeed

Mustard Trim:
"Hello, mom. Can Amber stay for dinner."

Dhalia:
"Oh, that would be lovely."

Mustard:
"Is Vivacious going to be here?"

Dahlia:
"I don't think so." he turns to look to him
"So what have you two been doing?"

Mustard:
"Well, Amber took a nap. So I started on my history readings. Then when Amber woke up, she read with me"

Dahlia:
"D'awww, that's sweet"

This goes on

>>156247
He smiles, with his blood soaked mouth.
"Really?" He perks up

>>156248
Silver nods in the mirror, before returning his attention to the road.

"Of course!"

>>156243
"Lovely Name Befitting a Lovely Mare such as you."

>>156248
She grins broadly. When their exchange is over, she adds, "Thank you so much for your hospitality, ma'am."

Vivacious is an unfamiliar name, and she'll have to ask later about it.

>>156249
Mala is in better spirits now. Meanwhile, Silver is in extreme pain, and is bleeding over everything.

>>156250
She smiles, and looks away for a moment

>>156251
"Oh, don't worry about it, dear." She smiles, and goes to stirring a pot. It looks like soup.

>>156252
Pre-marital sex is sinful

>>156255
"Would you like some help preparing dinner, or doing anything else that needs to be done?" she asks eagerly.

>>156255
Silver winces in pain.

"Okay, yes, hospital sounds nice. Can you direct me?"

>>156256
"Oh, that probably won't be necessary. Except maybe setting the table."

>>156257
Frizzle:
"Sure. Keep going. Okay. Down this road. No. This one. Yes. Turn right. And there's a hospital in like, seven blocks."

>>156255
"Say, Do you know where i can get ahold of that book that the professor was talking about? I'm Afraid i don't have a copy/"

>>156259
"There's book store on campus. Or you can buy them from the publisher."

>>156261
"The first drawer on the right... err, left when you enter. And the first cabinet on the left. Next to the sink."

>>156260
Hopefully not Amber

>>156258
"Thank you. Say, have you checked with hospital about your injuries?"

>>156263
"Oh, I'm not injured," He says

>>156264
"I mean bullets that are still inside you, from War."

>>156262
"There's a Book Store on Campus? That makes sense. Thanks for telling me, Its the First Day Of My First Year. I'm Just a Little Nervous"
He Chuckles
>>156262
Dark Star Definitely Wouldn't Do That.

>>156262
"Okay, thank you!"

She gets to work, first making sure the placemats and tablecloth are clean and dusting them off if they aren't, then grabbing a hoof-ful of silverware and placing them down, a fork on the left and a knife and spoon on the right. She then gets a glass and fills it with water from the sink, one at a time for each pony. A question occurs to her.

"Will Veneer be joining us?" she asks Dahlia.

Amber is a wholesome country girl, she would never do it. Surely she's been educated on what sex is and why not to do it until marriage, right?

>>156265
"Oh. No. I haven't checked in since I left Cloudsdale. Haven't entirely recovered, I admit." He answers

>>156266
"Yes." She says

"You don't seem so nervous. You seem excited to learn about old dead ponies."

Dark Star is a good boy, definitely to be trusted around female students and coworkers

>>156267
And the table is set, or almost

"No." She answers. "It looks like she will not be."

Of course not. Religious homeschool parents educate their children to the dangers of the world, what precisely sexual intercourse is, and give clear, logical explanations for their moral prescriptions.

>>156268
"Well I'm Very Good at masking my Feelings, A lot has happened in my Life, Not Much Good."

>>156268
"Okay…" Well, that's three spots, a bit less lonely than two. She tidies up whatever's left to make the table neat and presentable.

>>156265
Fun fact, there is a modern medical device called a chest seal, designed to cover up bullet holes. This is because puncturing the chest cavity can deflate your lungs and make it hard to breath. No American should leave home without one in a medkit.

>>156268
"It may be good idea. You may still have bullets in you, if you have not yet healed."

>>156269
"That's a useful lesson to learn. Wear a smile. That's what I was told." She says

>>156270
A little lonely, but Dahlia is happy to have her
"Soup will be ready soon. Do you want crackers?" She asks

>Don't leave home without chest seal
I do not live in Chicago

>>156271
Totally trust with my OCs

>>156272
"Uh... focus on the bullets you, for now." He says

The vehicle does indeed find a hospital quickly

>>156273
"Heh, I Was Told the Same."
He Glances at the Ground for a second the back at her face
>>156273
You Should

>>156273
"Yes please, ma'am!" she replies cheerfully.

>>156273
Silver parks the car at the hospital.

"Alright. Who is coming and who is staying?"

>>156270
Huh. Neat!

>>156274
"Well... goodluck on your book of dead earth ponies" She says to Solar Night, managing a perhaps insincere smile.

>>156275
"Getting crackers" Dahlia says

Mustard Trim walks past, and into the kitchen. He comes carrying an entire plate of bowls of soup, complete with sets of crackers out of the kitchen. He places it by the table, places each bowl (and crackers, as appropriate) where it belongs, and takes the plate back to the kitchen.

Dahlia remarks
"Well I'm glad you've learned something in that job of yours."

Mustard comes back and sits next to Amber, opposite his mother.

The soup's contents aren't perfectly discernable, but seem to include carrot, potato, okra, onion, and... I think that's cheese?

>>156276
Frizzle takes the lead in speaking:
"Well you are going, that's for damn sure. And that hyena probably shouldn't be seen in public. Not like that."

>>156275
>>156280
"Well, he's the best at what he does," Amber says with a strained smile.

She sits between the two and asks Dahlia, "Ma'am, would you like to lead us in giving thanks?"

>>156282
Mustard Trim probably isn’t paying attention to her well enough to reply with a “what is that supposed to mean” opened mouth expression of his own.

She takes a moment, and looks into Amber’s eyes.
“… I do that most nights, and I… I think somepony else should do it tonight. Mustard, why don’t you do it?”

Mustard Trim is about to put a cracker in his mouth when the spotlight is placed on him.
“Huh? Okay…” he places the cracker down

He leads:
“We give thanks for the blessings given to us, for family… and for my family. And for Amber, who I am grateful is here to join us. Thank you.”

Mustard Trim picks up and dips his cracker into the soup.

>>156283
"Amen."

She smiles appreciably at Mustard before taking a spoonful of soup, letting it cool, and trying it.

>>156282
>Mustard comes back and sits next to Amber, opposite his mother
>She sits between the two
I want to get a clip from Call of Duty Cold War where the narrator says "and then you picked up and M16," the player makes an action contradicting the narrator like picking up a grenade launcher, and the narrator says "or... maybe it was a different weapon."

>>156284
He smiles to her, eating the cracker, and then taking a spoonful of his own.

The soup is less spicy by a massive margin than the free soup at Amber's restaurant. It is less creamy than the soup at the restaurant the previous night. The taste is primarily of vegetables, and cheese.

>>156285
It's quite good enough. "Thank you, Mrs. Dahlia, for letting me dine with you. There's nothing like a warm bowl of homemade soup."

Like Mustard, she dips a cracker in the soup and eats it. It adds mushiness and flavor to the cracker and bulk to the soup.

>>156286
Quite unfortunately, as is always the case with soup everywhere, the supply of crackers is insufficient to fill the soup. Dahlia takes a few crackers, Mustard Trim takes many.

With potatoes, carrots, okra and the like in the soup, there is a decent amount of substance to it, besides the broth.

"Oh, don't worry about it dear" she says, with a wide smile. She places her hoof over the table, and makes a gesture as if she would have tapped Amber's hoof, if only it were closer. "It's quite alright."

Both Mustard Trim and Dahlia seem pleased to have Amber there, evidently.

>>156287
Amber eats the soup at a moderate pace, appreciating its taste.

"What sort of music do you like?" she asks.

>>156288
Dahlia answers
“Oh, I liked ragtime, back in the day. Some of the swing music. And the oldies.”

>>156290
“They’d play it on the radio. At gatherings, or some clubs. It was made to dance to. I remember it.” She says

>>156291
The younger mare looks a tiny bit confused. "They don't play it anymore?"

>>156292
“They do.” She says. “They do. Not as much now, with both slower music, and more exuberant jazz music. More folk music on the radio now too. But I remember it from back then.”

>>156294
Kek
“Well, yes. They play it other places too. At restaurants, at dances at school and church. There aren’t so many stations, and you don’t always get to hear the song you want, but it is lovely. Did you not have radio?”

>>156295
She shakes her head with a dour expression. "No, we were saving up to get one, but then the War happened." She cheers up a little. "But I love music and one thing I like about Baltimare is how much of it there is here."

>>156296
“I see” she says. “We didn’t have one until more recently. Indeed, we only heard the music in the public places. But when we got one, I loved it.

So, where in Baltimare do you want to go to hear music?” She asks

>>156281
Silver looks at White Orchid to see what he wants to do.

"Did you want to come inside with me, or stay with Mala here?"

>>156298
“I don’t know what to do…” he says, still somewhat in shock.

>>156299
"Would you like to come with me inside the hospital?"

>>156300
“I don’t want to leave you” he says. This is about as much as he can manage for the first few seconds, until a torrent of questions come out. “Are you okay? Are you going to be alright? Are you going to die?” His tone is exasperated.

>>156301
He shakes his head, and smiles at the colt.

"I will be fine, do not worry. Just couple of wounds to get patched up. Let us go inside."

>>156297
"Well…there are some concert halls here that play gorgeous music, but they can cost quite a bit to enter. I heard nightclubs in town also play good music," she says cautiously.

>>156303
Her ears slowly go down, and her eyes begin to narrow.

“They do much more there than play music.”

>>156304
A bit frightened, she asks, "What else do they do there? I know they serve drinks."

>>156305
“Drinks? Drunkenness. Promiscuity and philandery. Gambling. The snake dens of all manner of crime.”

>>156306
just realized nightclubs are this setting's version of taverns

She thinks back to her experience at Club Maurice. "I suppose they have a lot of unsavory characters. I heard they also attract adventurers, spies, nobles and other highfalutin types."

>>156307
There are also literal taverns and bars in the setting

“‘And this is romantic to you?” She asks incredulously

>>156308
She blinks, unsure if she's being accused. "Well, the books tend to present them that way…," she replies, her ears folded down.

>>156309
“Pray tell, what books are you reading that romanticize city nightclubs?”

>>156310
She has read a number of young-adult novels that are a bit more modern than the rest and which feature nightclubs. Or, rather, the characters who frequent nightclubs, who tend to be more worldly, suave, and decadent in their spending, but are not necessarily evil and may be the protagonists of these stories. Now, what were their names….

>>156311
Daylight Dahlia does not wait for Amber to reply. It doesn't seem like she intended for there to be an answer.

"And, pray tell, what is the fate of the young maidens in these stories? Does it show them used and cast aside like unwanted puppies by those who had their fun with them? Does it show them alone, without love or support at a young age? Does it show them taken advantage of, and taken against their will, by the unscrupulous while under the intoxication of alcohol? And what does it show of those who play pool, or cards, or dice? Does it show these gamblers indebted by the thousand-bit to mobsters? Does it show them with their legs bashed in and blindfolded on the dock with a gun at their heads? And of alcohol, tell me, does it show drunkards collapsed in a pool of their own vomit on the side of the road, with all the world walking by and trying to ignore the pathetic sight at their feet? Does it show the colts who lie dead in the alley, killed in gang disputes, or the young fillies who sell their bodies to make enough money for the next hit of soul killing opium? Pray tell, does it show any of that?"

>>156302
White Orchid walks beside Silver, who is still bleeding. Frizzle helps Mala secure the vehicle, although it seems Mala will be the one actually guarding it. It's a short enough walk from the nearest free parking space to the entrance to the emergency room, although any distance is far when you're in as much pain as Silver is now.

>>156313
Silver does try to keep a brave face for Orchid, though with the adrenaline from the fight that was keeping the pain away fading it's becoming a steadily harder job to keep up. He winces in pain as he opens the door to the emergency wing, trots up to the reception desk (assuming there is one), and somehow keeps a straight face as he says to the person there:

"Excuse me, but I have been shot couple of times. Is there doctor available who can patch me up?"

>>156314
>Excuse me, but I have been shot couple of times
This line

The unicorn mare at the front looks terrified
"Oh my. Somepony, we need a doctor, quick!"
She runs over, and two assistants come and place Silver in a stretcher. He is taken back into a room where nurses try to cover the bleeding. White Orchid runs alongside Silver for as long as he can, though nurses separate him. White Orchid finally starts to come down after Frizzle comes and takes him. Silver has to wait actually a couple minutes before an actual physician arrives. The nurses do however, clean the wounds, cover the bleeding and insert an IV. It's honestly not the worst injury Silver has ever experienced, and frankly, not even the worst this week. But there is nothing pleasant about it. The nurses ask uncomfortable questions like "how did you get shot," "who shot you," and "why," besides more actually relevant questions like "where were you shot," "from what angle," "with what kind of gun," and "how many times?"

A physician comes in finally and begins his work. He removes a bullet - one went straight through to the other side - applies some kind of zebra goop or something, and applies magic. He begins to stitch Silver up.

>>156315
Silver does his best to answer their questions, though he does try to frame the attack as a robbery/mugging gone wrong. Which, in a way, could be an accurate way of describing it. The rest of the questions are easy enough for him to answer such as angle of the gunshots and the type of firearm used. If his composure and familiarity with this injury and situation give any of the doctors and nurses any pause, Silver doesn't know.

>>156316
One shot is through his upper left shoulder. The bullet went rather deep, which concerns the physician. Another shot went through his lower belly. This is the one that went through. There might be damage to Silver's intestine, which also concerns the physician.

[1d20+2 = (13+2) = 15]
[1d20 = 5]

>>156316
>>156317
Well, good news and bad news. The good news is that the physician is able to use medical tongs to remove the bullet in his shoulder. The bad news is that Silver's colon is cut.

[1d20+2 = (12+2) = 14]

>>156318
>>156316
With the help of a second physician, the doctor cleans the area of the second wound, and stitches up Silver's colon. He applies zebra gook, a potion, and some of his own magic, but advises Silver that he should *not* consider the wound healed, and should be careful on his diet, as well as take a set of antibiotic pills for the next several days.

>>156317
>>156318
>>156319
"Thank you, doctor. Any specifics on things I should avoid eating?"

>>156320
"Any foods that 'disagree' with you, or tend to give you digestive problems or colic, you don't want to be eating now. Eat plenty of fiber, and avoid any food that could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria. You are vulnerable to infection, and you do not want to be infected. Also, avoid serious strain on your belly, and on your left shoulder. These stiches can rip."

>>156321
"Alright, I will try. May I return to my little one, now?"

>>156322
"Wait, one more thing." He holds Silver down and gives him an injection of what is presumably a pain killer. Then, a nurse removes an IV.

"Okay, you can get up and leave, but you may want to have assistance walking, like with crutches, and avoid operating machinery. You need to get pills for antibiotics and pain killers. Here, let me write you a prescription."

It's questionable as to how legally binding the document the doctor manages to write in 20 seconds is, but it's good enough evidently. He gives it to Silver.

>>156323
Regardless, Silver takes the prescription, inspects the stitchwork, and gets off the table. He keeps most of his weight off of the injured shoulder.

"Thank you doctor. This is good work you have done."

>>156324
"Thank you" the doctor says. It's a brown unicorn stallion, somewhere in his 30s, for what it's worth. A mare wearing a nurses uniform comes up to Silver asking for more details about the shooting. She says she is looking to file a police report.

>>156325
Silver looks side-to-side at the nurse's question, then motions for her to come closer.