1777 replies and 52 files omitted.
>>175944Conscious of how her sheltered life and poor social skills drove Mustard away, Amber decides to say goodbye to the other staff before she leaves and see if they have anything to say.
>>175946She comes back slowly, holding an entire tea set on a wooden platter, which clanks with its porcelain sound.
“We have this but… do bring it back, dearly. I’ve had it since my fourth wedding anniversary. It was a gift from the in-laws.”
>>175948 >>175947>we have flesh"Oh, that's good you prepared." Posey replies
>>175949With Kira's dexterity and strength, it should be no issue to very carefully take the wooden platter full of fragile porcelain items with a forehoof. Kira looks at it with wonder and stars in her eyes.
"It's so beautiful..." She looks back at the kindly mare. "Thank you so much! We'll return it to you as soon as possible, I promise!"
>>175948Melon Mangrove gives Amber a dirty look... surely there must be some other cause. The helper stallion has already left. Cream Pop is with Price Run in the kitchen. He waves "bye" to Kira as he leaves. But Price Run waits until Cream Pop has left
"Did you place that chili powder in that stallion's food?"
>>175950"I mean we can get it. Quickly. What kind and how much?"
>>175951Indeed it is. Kira has never seen porcelain like this. It's plain in color - all white - yet still elegant.
"I'll see you, Keela!" She waves back at her
>>175952>What kind and how much?Posey looks back at him with a dead-serious expression
"
All of it!"
>>175953He nods sharply, turns to his assistant, raises a paw and points towards the door, then says something firmly and loudly to his assistant, who runs out the door.
>>175952"I'll see you too!"
Kira would wave back, but one hoof is holding the porcelain set and the other has to be on the ground to sell the illusion that she's a pony and not in fact anything else. Instead she smiles and backs up like a pony would until she's out of sight of the door, where she then slithers like normal back to her own dwelling, porcelain set in possession.
>>175952Amber's heart freezes as she questions what course of events are leading to her fellow staff turning on her. She stares back in total shock.
"Wha–how–I mean…that stallion, the red one, kept insinuatin' nasty things about me, I even overheard him mention to his friend how he wanted to fool around with me. I just couldn't stand it!" >>175954Posey nods as she watches the ghoul leave
"Just wait a moment, Agire. Try to find your bearings."
>>175955Kira slithers back, back inside her own home, and sees Neela and Bright Dye are still talking.
"That's so terrible, all of your sheep getting out like that" Neela says to him, though even Kira could question the sincerity of that statement from the tone
>>175956"So you try to
poison him?"
>>175957The assistant is a living Kaftar gnollAgire turns over, and stands up. He - it - tries to, anyways, having trouble keeping stable.
It's a few minutes, but he comes back with the cut-up carcass of a cow on a cart, parking it outside, and needing help to move it inside of the old church.
>>175958Amber looks positively terrified.
"Nuh-uh, not poison! I'd never do that. I never heard of a pony being poisoned by chili anyhow. I just wanted him to leave." >>175959"Okay. So you tamper with his food because he said he wanted to sleep with you?"
>>175958>The assistant is a living Kaftar gnollI mixed up ghoul with gnoll.
Posey helps Agire up with her magic.
>>175958Kira decides not to make too much of a fuss, and unless either of them calls to her, Kira goes to make the tea that was promised with the use of this beautiful porcelain tea set.
>>175961As Posey props him up, the priest and the assistant - and Ideally, Posey's own ghoul - drag the dressed carcass into the church.
>>175962He sighs, and his ears go back
"You can't just sabotage the food of every stallion who tells his friend he wants to sleep with you. You're a young mare. A lot of stallions are going to want to sleep with you. Some will try, and even more will think it. And they talk about mares to their friends. That's what stallions do. They talk about mares, fighting, the latest in sports... Surely you don't expect us all to talk about politics or the weather? Celestia knows both have been depressing recently. Hell, even here I think we had two stallions who had crushes on you, or they acted like it, anyways. Are you going to poison them, too? Don't answer that. Just... I think that Stallion may have been a police officer. You're lucky he wasn't Waterfront Gang, or a Soldier. You don't want to know what they do if they think you're sabotaging their food. Just..." Words fail him at this point. "You can't do that."
>>175963And Kira slithers along. Her stomach is now fully in the process of trying to digest the goat, and she can feel it.
Neela and Bright Dye can see the porcelain set brought in, but don't comment on the oddity.
>>175964digestion gurglesKira tries not to linger too much on that. Instead she has tea to make, and that is indeed what she sets out to do.
>>175965Simple enough, put water in the tea pot, put the lid back on, turn the gas on, light it (thankfully Neela bought matches), and wait for the water to boil...
In the meantime, Kira may want to engage in conversation with her guest.
Kira is surely grateful she doesn't need to move much right now.
>>175966Indeed! As she makes the tea, she begins to converse with her guest.
"So what was that about losing your sheep?"
>>175964Amber droops her own ears and rubs a fetlock. She had to admit he was right. Red Scabbard may have been the worst of them, but she
had noticed other stallions getting flirty towards her. Who was she to determine at what point she could inflict physical distress on them, without them getting touchy?
Inwardly, though, she was relieved she hadn't given into the temptation of more precisely explaining Red Scabbard, that he claimed he
already slept with her, but she hadn't, but she did let let him kiss her (regrettably) at one point. That would undoubtably undermine her story far more and beg questions of why she let him kiss her.. Darn it, why does being honest have to be so self-destructive! She wants to be an honest mare but it's so hard.
"You're right and I'm sorry. I need to be more patient. Even if this sort of thing gets me upset, it doesn't justify that…." There is an awkward pause.
"So what now?" >>175968Perhaps it's worth stopping and asking
why the truth about your actions is so harmful.
"You're very lucky his friend there kept taunting him so he couldn't look into it any further. You could have been fired, or Mustard Trim. Wasn't he your coltfriend? You really should have. I didn't say anything to Salt Mixer. I'd say she'd understand, but she doesn't want to take any chances with police." He scrunches, and keeps his ears down
>>175967"During the revolt, the Republicans set up camp on my farm. And they cut down several of my fences. Many of my sheep and other livestock ran off."
>>175964Posey watches as the meat is presented to the Agire.
The ghast is probably writhing in jealously right now.
>>175969If this is what comes of accepting shady work for money–tension with one's coltfriend, anxiety over being found out, and being forced to lie to not implicate oneself deeper–Amber wants no more of it. She's glad at least that nopony got hurt by her actions or else she'd feel
really awful.
"He still is…if he got blamed I'd be devastated. Goddesses, I can't believe I didn't realize how badly this could have turned out." Amber shakes and starts to silently cry.
>>175969"Awwwww. Did you get any of them back?"
>>175972"I got most of them back but... some of them got run over by trucks, or eaten by alligators, or just lost... At least Manticore and Chimera don't come so far north and" he looks over at Kira's form "We don't have massive snakes..."
>>175971"Don't do it again. My lips won't be as tight the next time." He says, and then turns around and back to his work, which is nearly over
Between the facial expressions of Scabbard, still trying to air out his mouth, and Trakr, still holding back laughter, Amber probably will never need to do it again.
>>175970Agire runs forward and sinks his teeth into the meat, ripping pieces off and swallowing it, or trying to. He does this at a great rate of speed. Judging by the reaction, or lack thereof, from the two Kaftar, this must be completely normal.
>>175973"I won't. Thank you, and goodnight," she mumbles out. She wipes at her eyes and heads back home.
>>175973Posey watches wordlessly, taking notes.
Gloomy appears to be trying to get a closer look, but his little hooves tread air as Posey holds him away from the scene.
>>175974The warm air blowing in from the sea that dominated the night has been replaced with a cold breeze from the northwest. It mixes with the moist, sea air, causing clouds to block out the light of the moon and stars and threaten more rain. It does at least keep ponies off the street, which means Amber is not harassed. Amber walks back perfectly alone.
>>175975It eats, quickly and intensely. On the other side, the assistant tries his luck, walking up to it and ripping off a rib, eating both the meat and bone.
>>175976Posey waits for the presumed-ghoul to finish eating before she attempts to speak to it again.
I guess I'll roll religion to see if I know any useful information
[1d20+11 = (8+11) = 19] >>175977It is indeed undead. But truly resurrected? No. Posey has never seen that. It's talked about a lot, sure, but not confirmed. Surely if it were possible, it would cost more than a mushroom grown out of a single squatter.
>>175978Well, Posey has seen ghouls before, since they make up most of Magehold, so does she recognize this?
Posey would consider her endeavor successful if it resulted in a ghoul. Ghouls are contributing members of society (sometimes).
>>175979Yes, Posey has a permutation of a ghoul before her.
>>175980Posey nods, seemingly satisfied.
She gives Agire as long as he needs to feed to grow back his vocal cords and get his body back into an acceptable state of preservation. She scribbles some notes in her book to gauge his progress.
>>175973"Awwwwwww..." He ears fold down. "I'm really sorry to hear that. I like sheep. They're nice and fluffy. I guess it puts into perspective how powerful trucks really are, I didn't know they could run over sheep like that."
>>175981It's slowly rebuilding. Milyaketan slowly approaches the ghoulified Agire, saying "Agire? Agire?"
>>175982Neela:
"You like to eat those too."
Bright Dye:
"Yeah, it can damage the truck. But the truck is heavier. So truck versus sheep, the truck wins."
>>175983Posey watches with a neutral expression
"You can keep eating for as long as you like, but you'll never, ever, ever feel full. It's something you learn to get used to..." she says to Agire
Posey reaches down to stroke Gloomy's mane. She picks up the colt and kisses him on the neck, which at first gives him a shudder before he giggles.
"You'll also find that you can fast indefinitely, but it's not recommended, as you'll grow increasingly feral until you're able to feed, or are destroyed in the process." she continues, with a casual demeanor like a mare giving mare-care advice to one of her friends
>>175985Agire stops, looks over towards Posey. He has his hindlegs on the ground, and both forepaws on the dressed meat. His expression suggests concern.
Milyaketan sighs
"Not such a great difference from what life was like before..."
>>175983Kira scrunches at Neela.
"Plus sheep have all of that wool. Creatures usually forget that they don't just have it so we can harvest it, wool is actually very effective at stopping predators. All of that extra cushion and distance between the surface of the wool and the surface of the skin, a lot of predators like wild dogs will simply give up if they can't bite through. That trucks still harm the sheep even through all of that wool is...poor sheep..."
>>175987"If it's going with any kind of speed, yeah, a truck will kill it. These are the bigger trucks that could carry cargo, mind you."
He pauses for a moment, and then raises an eyebrow
"Would wool stop
you?"
>>175986Posey shrugs
"Like I said, you get used to it."
"Eating never really brought me very much pleasure when I was alive as filly, it all always tastes like ash and urine; the life of a katane. Being dead didn't make a huge difference in the end; in fact, I would say it was liberating."
She kisses Gloomy 's neck again, in a eerily deliberate fashion
"But as you shamble across this world, you'll find things to keep writhing for, those bits of sweetness in your seemingly doomed existence." She continues, her jovial tone betraying the nihilistic message to her words
"Like my little Sundae here."
I think I forgot to mention that Gloomy's full name is Gloomy Sundae, like the song Gloomy Sunday
It's midnight for me. I have to sleep now.
>>175988"Hmmm...well, it can. Wool is very,
very slow to digest, and it just tastes like...blegh. This isn't even to mention how bulky sheep can be with a full wool coat. But, it can be done. Probably though you'd want to sheer the sheep first, that way there's no wool to get in the way
and you get the wool to use to make things with."
>>175991"So you've tried it." He says
The kettle begins to whistle.
>>175992"Well...once, when I was younger." She goes to check if the tea is done. "I don't like to think too hard about eating other animals. That's the only real difficult part about it. Thinking about it."
>>175993Now, to place the tea bags into the kettle, or into each cup, pour the water, let it sit for a few minutes...
Neela:
"Yeah, that goat was bigger than me, and you didn't have any difficulty."
Bright Dye:
"Why not? Why is that difficult?"
>>175994Kira puts the tea bags into each cup, and pours water into them.
"It's like, like a conflict between our primal, carnivore instincts and our sapient minds, or maybe our souls. I'm not stupid, I know I'm a carnivore. My sense, my physical characteristics, even my digestive system, they're all built for consuming other animals, and I literally can not survive on anything else forever. But I know animals have souls too, and feelings and thoughts and everything else that comes with it. Maybe not as advanced as ours, but they still have them. They're living beings, the same as us. And if I take the time to see an animal, and see its feelings and all, see it as another living being, then...well, I can see where the herbivorous species are coming from, when they say something like 'how could you eat another living being?'"
[1d6 = 3]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 1]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 6]
[1d6 = 6]
[1d6 = 3]
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 5]
[1d6 = 5]
[1d6 = 3]
[1d6 = 3]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 5]
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 1]
[1d6 = 5]
[1d6 = 6]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 5]
>>175995Now, it's a waiting game, until the tea has been absorbed into the water.
Neela, for once, is silenced. She lowers her head slightly
Bright Dye says,
"I don't think they think and feel. Well, maybe they feel. But they live in the moment. They can't reflect on it. It's kind of just how nature is, and I don't feel bad selling animals off to griffins, gnolls, and diamond dogs."
>>1759967, 16, 14, 11, 15, 9
>>175997"Heh, maybe...maybe it's just different, being the one to do the eating. Or it could be I'm just soft-hearted, which I know I am. The tribe would ridicule me for it if my mother wasn't head huntress."