Continuing, and hopefully introducing new characters.
And on the wrong damn post number
1713 replies and 84 files omitted.
>>177563Well, she’s not on the first level. Better check upstairs. Nope, she’s not there either. In the bathroom? No. Maybe outside? No. Downstairs in the basement? No. Wait. The door is open to the utility room.
Kira hears movement behind the water heater. Then she sees little hooves underneath it. And then finally, the sound of words, probably curse words, spoken in a foreign language.
>>177564Oh right, she was going to check the water heater! Kira peaks around the water heater.
"Hey Neela, do you need any help?"
>>177565“Huh?” Neela is surprised, perhaps even startled, to hear Kira there. She peers out from behind the water heater, and Kira can see her little doe head.
“Uh, yeah. Could you light the heater?”
>>177566"Sure can! Uh...can you show me where it needs to be lit?"
>>177568“Uh…” she twists her ears. “Light… in there, and… twist the knobs until gas comes out. Or oil?” She points vaguely at an opening, as well as a set of valves on pipes.
>>177570Uh… light fire, turn knob? Or maybe it’s the other way around?
>>177571gulpIs it all knobs? Are there any buttons or switches visible?
>>177572There is one switch and two knobs
>>177549Alternating between looking down and looking at Garv,
"Thank you, we try to keep up our reputation as the go-to for high end travel in Baltimare. You said seven nights, a junior suite?"
>>177501They do not stare in one specific direction, neither towards the lake, nor back from whence they came, but stand still, looking in every which direction. "Still" is a relative term, as even at this distance, a bit of swaying and restlessness can be observed. This goes on for a long period of time. Not that long, surely - maybe five or so minutes - but an unnervingly long period of time for what it is.
Then another pony walks up from another direction. And every single pony raises their heads and looks at the new figure.
>>177575Amber keeps watching. The way they are all acting is very un-pony-like….
>>177575Are there any labels or such on the switch or knobs?
>>177576The little patches of fur or tufts of mane that extend from under the clothing stand out against much of the background, save of course from the glowing white snow that covers the ground where it is not covered. Their heads are all turned towards the new pony, though their bodies are not. They do not turn their bodies. They sway almost like trees in the wind.
In some moments, the sound of a pony speaking or potentially singing or chanting, can be heard above that constant static-like crackling sound, which alongside a kind of subjective tinnitus has pervaded the night and made true silence impossible.
>>177577"Well..." She looks back up to him. Her eyes are a deep, ocean blue
"Not so much anymore... But there are occassionally some from nova Griffonia. Well, there were. I think you're the first in, heh, months."
>>177578One of the knobs is red. Another is blue. The switch has the word "GAS" on the small pipe above it.
>>177579That sound is so odd…she simply must find the source. With the night not being quite so silent anymore, she creeps forward a little closer, each step seeming like an eternity.
>>177579The griffon's head bends forward a little as he widens his eyes.
"Is that so? That would be because of the war, I presume." >>177583A little closer, a little closer... She can see more details now, though how much is meaningful is hard to say. She sees that it's the new pony speaking, though other ponies seem to mutter at a lower volume
She doesn't know what the pony says. She can't even tell if it's her language or any language at all.
>>177582"Yes" she nods
"We'd get travelers from some distant locales during the war but... not as many as before. And not even as many now."
>>177584Does it sound at all like what Makea or Kuhlo were muttering?
>>177584A sad look crosses his features.
"You have my condolences. What amenities are available here?" >>177585Amber
thinks the melody of the mutterings is similar to what she heard before, specifically, the portions that were not understood as belonging to a language known to Amber. But then again, she isn't
that close, and she cannot say for sure
>>177586"A pool, a bar, and breakfast in the morning." She says
>>177587How close are her father and the other stallion, and what are they doing?
>>177589The smile fades from her face and is replaced by a look of concern
"Gambling and games of chance for money are not legal in Baltimare" She replies
>>177588Both are behind. Both move somewhat to the right, evidently attempting to move around the group of ponies to the right.
>>177590Cavaliere shakes his head slowly.
"My dear, you have a beautiful city, but that is a sad disappointment to bear. I suppose I'll have to entertain myself in other ways. Do you know which theaters and concert halls are having events?" >>177590Amber carefully follows them, hoping to see what lies on the other side of that ridge.
>>177591"The Hippodrome is the name of the performance theater. Well, the biggest one. The Lyric Opera House will host concerts. While both are hosting events this week, I can't really say what, if anything they have tonight."
>>177592Moving to the right, to the right, to the right... Amber does not see into the lake. But what she does see is something previously obscured by a mound of dirt, a few telephone-pole like tree trunks, and the darkness. She sees a massive grey rock that sits in the ground, probably at least 15 feet tall and maybe 30 feet in length on the longest side, and at least 15 feet at its thinnest. It does have a visible crack running down it, and a large number of cuts that are presumably engraved symbols or letters, though many are likely damage. All around the rock is mud, disturbed and free of any kind of grass or snow, and clearly piled up along a couple sides. Where the rock is glowing blue, or simply reflecting the twilight with its grey surfaces is hard to say.
>>177596He collects 900 bits with his talons and places it on the counter.
"If possible, I would also like newspapers from Baltimare, Weter, Marehattan and Canterlot delivered every morning." >>177595The rock! Finally she gets to see it! She was expecting a small boulder, but this is far larger…
She has to resist the urge to gallop down and touch it. Maybe when the others move away….
>>177598Judging from discoloration, the rock probably had lichen on it recently, but not anymore. All around the rock, whatever organic matter there was is (mostly) burned away.
The ponies are gathered near the rock, but they are not gathered directly
by the rock. From the other side, for instance, no ponies are known to be gathered at all.
>>177597"Baltimare, certainly. Weter, probably not. Manehattan and Canterlot... Maybe. If you don't mind the papers being a day old, we can have them mailed in."
>>177555Wait, so Posey was carrying around 3000 bits in gold? I don't know if money in Modern lines up with bits in Occupied Equestria, but they've been heavily inflated as a result of moving to fiat and because of the war. So it's definitely not 150 bits. Earlier the stated conversion was 1100 bits for a kilogram for gold, but there's no way of knowing if it's accurate.
>>177599Amber decides to leave the sled here. She motions for Jakala to stay where she is, while Amber circles around to the other side of the rock.
>>177600>Wait, so Posey was carrying around 3000 bits in gold?I've been measuring my wealth in gold pieces. I have no idea how that translates to bits, but considering a bit looks like a gold coin I assume they were the same.
I had ChatGPT decide that 150 gp was an appropriate amount of loss for losing her coin purse. In total she has a lot more stashed back at the manor.
But Posey is a spy from an archaic society of mages, who would carry gold on her for bribes and whatnot, so I consider that a reasonable amount of money to be stolen from her.
>>177579Really? The switch is labelled as being for gas? This is hurting the poor lamia's brain...
>>177609Well, Kira can either mess with it, or not.
If she doesn't get the boiler working, they will be forced to cuddle together for another night.
>>177613Well, Kira supposes she should at least try the switch to see what it does.
>>177614And
low hissIt really isn't clear what it just did
>>177615Kira flips it off. "Okay, so that definitely controls gas flow. Weird. I would have thought these valves would control the gas flow, you know? And this switch, I thought it would ignite the gas or something. Unless...maybe this switch turns the gas flow on or off, and the valves control how much gas is actually flowing through the system? Hmmmmm..." The lamia turns to Neela. "I'd like to think I'm at least a
fairly intelligent lamia and that I can figure this sort of stuff out, but I really have no idea what I'm doing to be honest. Maybe we can ask for a maintenance pony? He can show us how it works, and as a bonus maybe you can flirt with him and see if he's interested in you at all."
>>177618>Kira is tricking unsuspected ponies to come over so that Neela may prey upon themI thought Kira was Chaotic Good or something?
Neela wags her small tail
"Sure. This apartment was so expensive, it ought to have Maintenace for free, right? Someone who actually comes down and doesn't just tell us to go fuck ourselves when the water won't come on for two weeks."
>>177619Hey, she's just being a good roommate, looking out for Neela's interests.
"Heh, definitely. I'm sorry that that's your previous experience with these sorts of things, that's extremely rude of that creature. Let's go check in with the office, maybe whoever is in there knows how to contact maintenance."
>>177620"Yes, let's go."
The creatures slither down to the office, and the mare behind the desk
"Ah!" She ducks down below the counter, and then peaks up
"Oh. Uh. It's you." She looks back up. It's a mare Kira saw yesterday
"What can I do for you?" She asks, her lips pulled back and showing teeth
>>177601"Sweet Design" She smiles
"Welcome to Baltimare." With magic, she gives over the key. A light green Kirin stallion walks up
"Let me take your bags."
>>177623"Thank you, Miss Design." He gives a polite bow and, putting his hat back on, follows the kirin.
>>177624He walk over to the left, to a marble-walled elevator bank. A colt in the elevator in a red uniform operates the elevator with a lever and takes Garv up to floor fourteen. "Follow me." He says, walking to the right and then forward. He arrives at room 1457, and opens it with a key
He opens the door and turns on the light
"Your room."
This area has a couple couches, lamps, and paintings on the walls in what is clearly a living room area. The kirin places the bags down
>>177621Kira waves at the silly mare. Once again,
if Kira really was a monster there to eat her, why would she let the desk stop her? Thankfully, she is not there to eat the silly mare, and hopefully the silly mare will get used to them.
"Hello! Do you have maintenance ponies here? We'd appreciate if somepony could turn on our water heater, and could show us how to operate it for future occurances."
>>177626Ponies can be adorable with how they think they are safe from Kira
"Yes... The unit you have had its heater turned off. Looks like we forgot to light it again. We'll have a Maintenace pony over shortly."
>>177627"I am... You could say,,, 'Spring Water'" He answers, with a heavy accent