1816 replies and 21 files omitted.
>>159631To Sorrel
"Yea its a very interesting species, the Griffin."
To Tricky
"Heh seems like you two are out of alcohol"
To Mr Glass.
"Another round over here."
>>159632She turns, and looks to him with a smile.
“We should do that. When things calm down.”
>>159633Sorrel:
“I can’t say I’ve really gotten to know a Griffin before.”
Both mares light up, as they happily await more alcohol.
Glass pours the drinks, and they drink them.
>>159634"They are Definitely.....Interesting."
He sips on his whiskey
>>159635"What's interesting to you?" Sorrel asks, taking another drink.
>>159634With a smile, he replies "When things calm down."
Alright, now the two can part on a good note. He waves goodbye at his friend before slipping it into first, and with his share of the loot (which, if I'm counting right and the others agree, is 353 Bits, ammunition for his shotgun and revolver, ~4 gold coins, the telescope, and maybe the potions) goes to fulfill the other things on his list: namely to get groceries, candy for the colts, make preparations for his date, and maybe see if there's a store that sells items to help Clip achieve sexual relief.
>>159636"Well, I'm in college for political science. but Equestrian History is also Very Intriguing. "
>>159638"You're in college?!"
"Where?"
Both mares are surprised, and Sorrel grabs onto his right foreleg, leaning over with wide eyes and a mouth open in a smile
>>159637The bits should be more. Much more. About 830. The rest is most accurate.
Silver is in a position where he is either going to have to significantly postpone, cancel, or blow off his date, as he has very little time for much else.
>>159639He was not expecting this response
He Chuckles slightly
"Well, I go to Jim haykins university, I actually just started."
>>159639Well, it would have been without the 500 payed to fix his injuries, but Silver wouldn't argue against more Bits.
Hmm...if he cut it down to just making date preparations, getting candy, and some alcohol, would he have time?
>>159640"Oh..."
"That's the nice one in town."
"What's it like?" She asks
"You must be smart."
And now she's definitely hanging on him. Just Sorrel though.
>>159641Depending on the definition of "date preparations," yes.
>>159642"Yea it is very nice. Well it's Amazing if I'm being honest."
"I Like to think i'm pretty smart."
He chuckles
>>159644To Tricky
"The architecture is wonderful, There's a nice courtyard, the staff is a little iffy, Some of the professors are Great."
To sorrel
He Grins
"You're looking at the future mayor of Baltimare."
>>159642Making a reservation and getting Khoi something nice to wear.
>>159645Sorrel
"Oh really?..." She leans onto him with both hooves
"What're you gonna do as mayor?" She asks
Tricky asks,
"What do you learn there?"
>>159646Reservations where?
>buying dressesUh... that normally takes a while
>>159647To Sorrel
"I'm Gonna Clean up baltimare. Help out the ponies who live here."
He grins
To Tricky
"A lot of stuff. I'm taking a few different classes. Philosophy, Hippology, Equestrian History, Myths of Equestria and my major is political science."
>>159648Sorrel:
"It's good to clean it up. This is a very dirty city. It could use a cleaning."
Tricky starts to place a hoof on his shoulder.
"And what are those like? I haven't studied... any of those. Like, what do you do in those classes?"
>>159647>Reservations where?Somewhere fancy that would impress the kirin.
>Uh... that normally takes a whilelooks up at >>159650Um... Well I have another idea
>>159649To Sorrel
"You are absolutely correct. Its filthy, Somepony has to clean it up."
To Tricky
"Well they are all kind of different, but all kind of the same. there are seats that everypony sits down in and then a professor comes in and starts teaching you about which ever subject you are there to learn about."
Are they Both Earth Ponies? >>159652Both are pegasiTricky:
"Are you living on campus?" She asks. "Or with your parents?"
>>159653"No I don't live with my parents. they are no longer with us. I stay nearby in hotels."
>>159654Both of them lean in and hug him, so that Solar is sandwiched between them.
Tricky:
"Awwwwwwww... I'm so sorry"
>>159655"It..It's Fine."
He smiles at them.
He takes a sip of his whiskey
>>159656Sorrel sits up now. She no longer leans on Solar
Tricky:
"Are you atone in the city?" She asks
>>159657"What do you mean by Alone?"
>>159660They enter through a threshold, into a large, wooden themed room. In some ways it isn't terribly different from the one Amber was in earlier, with a fireplace on one end, wooden floors, upholstered furniture, and book shelves. It is, however, even larger, and though it too has many windows, the angle of the sunlight and preponderance of walls lined with rows of books leaves the room in relatively dim light. On the walls are portrait paintings of griffins in armor, a suit of armor on the opposite side of the rectangular room away from the fireplace, and so many rolls of books. There are many griffins there, including several in dress vests and several female griffins, though most seem paired to some other male griffin. Two griffins stand out - an old griffin in green dress, standing and with a glass of presumably some hard alcohol in claw, and near him, an even older, fatter griffin in full black formal wear, still wearing his top hat.
>>159658"Well, are you living with a wife, I mean." She clarifies.
>>159659Well... Silver can return home, and find out.
>>159662A noble house, perhaps. Best to wait for Helder to introduce Amber to these fine folk. A mere musician cannot simply go up to them and talk casually, after all. Isn't that how it works?
>>159664Ah, but Amber
does know who these two griffins are. The gentlegriff in the green is Monteirter Helm, owner of the home, and a member of their social group. The griffin sitting down in the white chair with green floral pattern is a professor Emeritus from the Rectorate, a griffin by the name of Weit Grünerhügel. Amber doesn't know him well. Still another griffin, standing on the other side of Weit, is a much younger griffin in a striped vest and a bowler hat, whom Amber knows to be named Mason.
>>159665Who is the griffon in the formal wear?
Amber goes up to the gathering. With a polite nod, "It is good to see you again, Herr Helm. Hello again, Herr Grünerhügel, and Mason."
>>159666Weit Grünerhügel, the professor, is the Griffin in full black formal wear. He is the only one sitting down.
“Gutentag.” Mason replies, though one briefly looks to Amber, and nods.
>>159667"It's briskly cold today, isn't it? How are you faring?"
>>159668Weit does not answer, but Helm does.
“We have the fireplace going. That helps keep the room heated, or it will. We will have lunch served soon enough.”
>>159669Evidently they don't want to jump straight to the crux of the issue.
"Ah, very well, that will be good." Amber tries to start some small talk, bringing up a recent orchestral performance or somesuch.
>>159670Now Weif speaks
“And what does it mean to you?” He asks
>>159671"It speaks to the soul, its motifs a cry to be resolute and true to oneself in a disordered age."
>>159672He nods
“Continue. What does it mean to be resolute, why must we be resolute, and how does the music help?”
>>159674"To be resolute means not to cower in the face of history's caprice. Great creatures are not driven by history, they drive history themselves, and although we cannot all be great creatures they are models to follow. As for the music, it's a message from a composer, not simple but designed to be uplifting and inspiring."
>>159675“Tell me, have you read much philosophy of history?” He asks
>>159676"Only a few tracts, here and there. I can't say I have any serious academic understanding of the
philosophy of history," Amber confesses.
>>159677“Well… nevermind that. For now, at least. What
is music?” He asks
>>159678"Is this a trick question?" Amber asks flatly.
>>159679He smiles
“Not one for the abstract?” He asks
>>159680"Well…music is auditory art. It's an expression of emotion, or some deeper truth, with the use of unique sounds from instruments played to unique notes and chords. The variety is endless, from soloists to orchestras, concertos to arias, tonal to atonal…."
>>159681“Good, good.” He nods. “Yes, yes.”
“Now tell me… how much do you care for… ‘deeper truths’.”
He forms a wide, almost malign grin.
“But I suppose you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t care for deeper truths. Truths deeper than any school teacher or priest cares to tell.”
>>159663He laughs
"Not exactly, No I Don't have a Wife."
>>159682Amber raises an eyebrow, or the griffon equivalent of that.
"I care quite a bit, which is why I'm a musician. A symphony can convey as much as a thousand-page tome, and much more eloquently for it. Music speaks far better than words."
>>159684“And why is that?” He asks
>>159685"Words are ponderous and have to filter their way through one's eyes and then the brain before one can think about them. Music reaches the soul directly, it has a power underestimated by many, yet because of its tendency towards beauty it has been cynically used by only a few."
>>159687“Good. Then if seems like you’ve reached a conclusion it took the philosophers centuries to understand. All that our consciousness receives is experience, pure and simple. Reason, logic, words, forms - all are inventions of our reason, forced onto that which they are unlike. Mere symbols. And our perception? Representations, but not the thing itself.”
He smiles, still somewhat malignly.
“Do you want to continue, or shall I?”
>>159686"Yea I have a Job, I can't really get into what it is i do though. Top Secret"
He Grins
>>159688Nodding, Amber says, "Go on."
>>159689They take his words seriously, both staring at him, as if waiting with bated breath.
>>159691"It's all very, Hush Hush. I can't really say anything about it. I can say, It Does involve helping ponies though."
>>159690"Well, as we've both come to understand, words cannot convey truly new information themselves. Rather, our reason distills a portion of our experience, and matches to that experience a symbol, a word. And that word is conveyed to another, who, with luck, has experienced something similar, and has matched hopefully the same word to a similar enough portion of his experience.
The logical conclusion is that I cannot tell you what is 'true', I can merely tell you my interpretation of my experience, and hope that my symbolic representation of that interpretation allows you to distill your own experiences a bit better.
You will not believe me unless you already know what I am saying to be true. I hope that you have enough experience in such matters that you will, if not believe me, at least understand me.
So though I hate to waste your time with rhetorical questions, they are asked for a reason. So I shall ask: all of those arias and orchestras. Sound, generally. Are there not those who cannot hear sound at all?"
>>159692"Is that where you are getting your money from?" Sorrel asks
Amber has never heard of this line of thinking before and cannot come up with a response other than, "Well, that's…interesting."
"Yes, there are griffons who are sadly deaf and are unable to experience the same."
>>159695"Yes, yes. You hear music that they cannot. And likewise, are there not wide ranges of sound that certain other creatures can hear, that you cannot?"
>>159696"And you're paying for that all by yourself?" Again, Sorrel asks.
Sorrel either can't or doesn't want to sit upright, and instead leans over, and physically grabs onto Solar Night, pressing against him. Tricky sits upright, but she also has a hoof on his other shoulder.
>>159697"Certainly. Bat ponies are capable of hearing much higher pitches, and they say they have their own peculiar form of music."
>>159697"It's Hard Work."
He nods as he sips his whiskey.
>>159698"Yes, good, very good. I think it follows that your view of music, your experience of it, your knowledge of it, is always going to be less than total, as there will always be more out there that you cannot experience and cannot know. Does that sound right?"
>>159699Tricky:
"But uh, what is the work, exactly?" She asks
>>159700"The Dangerous Kind, The Kind I might not walk away from if things go wrong."
>>159700"Perhaps, though music has reached a stage where all discoverable forms have been found, and there is now merely refinement and experimentation with these forms."
>>159702"Perhaps my larger point has been lost." He says. "Knowledge of music and sound is only an example."
>>159701"Oh..." Tricky leans in, and almost whispers,
"Care to tell us any stories?"
>>159703"You are saying it's possible to meaningfully communicate with others only when they have had the same experiences as yourself?"
>>159703He Smiles
"I can tell one or two."
He Whispers
"What do you know about changelings?"
>>159704"Unfortunately that is true, probably, but it isn't where I am going. It's... well, let me say this.
Have you heard of the Cloudbury Interpretation of physics? Probably not. No matter. You see, well, you probably already know that scientists have long considered that the matter that we see is not solid as we see it, but is made up of much smaller particles with much space between them. Recently, based on new evidence, physicists have come to the conclusion that these particles are themselves actually waves. Matter isn't solid at all. It were as if it were made of sound." He says, smiling, and giving Amber a chance to respond."
>>159705Her ears perk up.
"I know a little." She answers
>>159706"Matter? Made of sound? Next you'll be telling me how the ponies are right to worship their 'Tree of Harmony.'"
>>159707His tone and face turns stern and serious
"I've Found and killed a couple of them. If I didn't react quick enough it would have been me they would be talking about taking down. the bastards scared me."
He shows off one of his bullet scars
He sips his whiskey
>>159708"Ha! No. No not at all. Most likely you've heard of the other famous physics theory of our time. That of Noble Stone, that time and space are not really distinct, but are integrally related. Indeed, he comes to the conclusion that time doesn't exist in the way we experience it. But rather, everything that has every been, and everything that will ever be, is as real as the present."
>>159709Both mares move off of him, and move their heads around to look at the scars, clearly surprised.
"How?" Tricky asks
>>159710"How what? How did it feel to get shot by one? Not Great."
He grimaces
>>159711"No no. Well, yes. I mean.. how did you find and kill them?" Tricky asks.
Sorrel:
"Really? Are you sure?"
Sorrel moves in so close to look at the wound left behind by that police officer Changeling that she almost falls onto Dark Star.
>>159712"There's a trick to finding them, Not sure if i can say what it is or not."
He Says to Sorrel
"Yea its quite the wound ,almost did me in."
>>159713Tricky tilts her head
"But you've... killed them?"
Sorrel rests her forelegs on Dark Star's lap, as this is necessary for her to maintain balance.
"Wow. How long ago was this?" She says
>>159714"Yea, It was them or Me. You shouldn't be afraid, I made sure it couldn't hurt anypony else."
To Sorrel
"A week or less."
>>159715Sorrel:
“Good. Fuck the Changelings.”
Tricky says meekly:
“They are living creatures…”
Sorrel is still leaning over into Dark Star’s lap
>>159716To Tricky
"So are we. They are Predators."
To Sorrel
"What do you think of them?"
>>159717“Well, I’m sure we are to plants.” Tricky says. “It just seems a bit, I don’t know….”
>>159717Sorrel looks up towards Dark Star. She has orange eyes.
“They should get away from our home.” She says
>>159718"I Don't Take Joy in it, Tricky. It's a Dangerous Job. But Somepony has to protect everypony."
To Sorrel
"I Agree, if they weren't here there wouldn't be any problem."
>>159719Tricky nods, and she has a more solemn expression on her face
“I see…”
Sorrel moves forward, and presses her muzzle into Dark Star’s belly.
>>159720He flinches slightly from her pressing her muzzle into his stomach
"Hey whats going on down there?"
He says in a surprised tone
>>159710"That is quite interesting. Sadly I cannot wrap my head around that quite the same as I can a sheet of music."
>>159721"Huh?" Sorrel starts to get up. She has to physically press against Dark Star to sit back up.
"She likes the drinks." Tricky says. "And your fur."
>>159723He Laughs
"Yea, Drinks are good. She just caught me a little off guard."
"Yea my fur is pretty nice."
>>159722"That's alright. All you really need to understand is that The physicists have come to the conclusion that the world as it really is, is not as it appears to us.
But really, why would the scientists have the best answers. Everything they know is based off of the five senses of perception. But you know just as well as I that our senses do not tell us the full story. We cannot see nor hear everything there is to see. Did you know that Changelings can smell magic, and see emotions? There could be entire realms of form and matter that are invisible to us, as we could never experience it. All of this could be unknown to the physicist."
>>159724"It's not bad." Tricky looks at his shoulder, and begins to rub it.
"Solar... I hope you wouldn't mind if I..." She looks into his eyes, and smiles
"Got another drink?"
Sorrel, meanwhile, starts to lean again against him, and starts to rub her right hoof along his lower chest.
>>159725"Fascinating…." Amber is still trying to digest what the professor has said, and can't quite formulate a response.
>>159726"Of Course."
"Mr.Glass Keep the Alcohol flowing."
>>159727“Scientists are only just now coming around to what the philosophers knew 200 hundred years ago, and what the ancient mystics knew for far longer: that there is no such thing as fork and space in the way in which we naively understand them. That time and distance are, to put it inelegantly, mere constructs of the mind.”
>>159728Sorrel jumps up and off of Dark Star, looking over fur a glass of alcohol. Tricky grabs her glass, and takes another drink.
“You help ponies?” Tricky asks
>>159729"It's my Calling in life. Yea."
>>159730“Well… maybe it’s rude to ask… you’ve been so nice to us already…”
>>159731He Raises an eyebrow
"Is there something you need help with?"
>>159732“Well…” she looks down, but places both hooves on Dark Star’s shoulders.
“My friend and I… could use a place to stay. At least for the night.”
>>159733"Yea I can do that. It's not safe for two mares to not have a roof over there heads for the night."