>>25555594
>She scared the living soul out of you for shit and giggles. Then she presented to you a bold plan: reach Canida with your help, prove your theory right, thus starting a revolt and ending the war.
>You refused to participate, feeling that your friends and family are too important to you to leave them behind. You and hers ways parted.
>Then you decided to solve another problem that was plaguing your whole group - fleas. You went to hospital only to realize that it's crowded and you need to repay for treatment by doing something for the community. You decided to go and visit the Lighthouse - private clinic with the broken generator you heard about in the radio.
>Rumors said it was generally a bad place to be. It was abandoned and probably razed. However you found a defaced body, somepony made it smile.
>It was a mentally ill lonely pegasus, who was calling the bodies and you his friends. He told you where the generator was located, also insisting that you should not touch it, simultaneously hinting that mentally ill patients were tortured by somepony, probably doctors. You acted against his will and went to the maintenance room.

>>25555606
>Litting up your horn allowed you to see a little bit more than was visible in dim light from the outside.
"Just don't say anything" you whispered to Hran, whose mouth was already opening. "Are you able to open it?"
>>"Of course, most of the necessary stuff should lie on the workbench..." with that, he trotted there, gesturing for you to follow him. "Aha, jackpot."
>You did, allowing him to examine the bench and recovering some tools - wrench, screwdriver, screws hammer, spare wires, rubber isolation, pliers, soldering iron and some things you couldn't even name.
>It was a pretty nice coincidence that this place was spared by looters, you thought that at least one group would try to steal the tools. But they didn't.
>Strange, but eh, lucky you, right?
>Soon you and your orange friend approached the generator. To you it was a mostly mysterious contraption, although you saw one similar in the store you worked for, however that one was definitely smaller.
>Hran opened it and you approached closer, both to give him some light and to gaze into the generator's intestines.
>Not a long time later, after some unscreving, cutting, swearing and asking you to move one way or another earth stallion turned around.
>>"I think it's done. Time to check if it will work."
>With that he closed it and turned it on. It hummed pretty loudly and a lightbulb above your heads started to shine. It exploded right away, sending tiny shards of glass everywhere. Nopony got hurt.
>And this was the exact moment when you noticed something. A faint smell reminding you...
>Is it possible? It reminded you a smell of burning meat, and you know this smell very well.
>It was coming from below. From the basement door.

>>25555645
They practiced shock therapy at this place, guess somebody was still in there when the power went off.

>>25555645
You should have looked for a comb at a pet care shop. That could have helped too. Perhaps you should turn off that generator.

>>25555843
>>25555854
Welcome back.

>Hranchak seemed to notice the faint smell as well, you could tell that when his face turned from focused to disturbed.
"By the love of Celestia, turn that off!" you yelled at him, not caring that you could be heard outside.
>He complied, switching the generator off and trying to stay completely calm.
>>"Spring, if we can... if we can smell you-know-what, it is already way too late."
>He was right, you thought.
>After all, how long you need to be shocked with electricity to get fried?
>Wait...
"But electricity fries ponies pretty fast" you tried to say it without feeling urge to throw up when you inhaled deeper.
>>"If voltage is high. They are dead before they start to burn. I'm more worried about their presence than their death. Don't get me wrong here, okay?"
"Easy. But I think I know the answer. Remember what the crazy guy said?"
>>"I didn't pay attention to his words."
"If you were, you would know that they were probably practicing a shock therapy or something like that."
>>"And they left their test subjects down there without checking on them? That sounds quite bad if you ask me."
>When he put the question this way, you could tell that leaving ponies to die of electricity in some basement was a bad thing. Even somewhat cruel.
>>"If you want to know my opinion, there are safety switches down there. The doctors should be able to turn them off. This power could be easily used elsewhere. Forgetting a pony and letting him be fried is very... unlikely."
>Then he said something you were afraid might cross his mind.
>>"I want to get down there, right after I get something to cover my nose. Are you coming with me?"

>>25555955
Yes.

>>25555955
Yeah, let's go down there. I wish we had someone else up here to keep watch.

>>25556064
>>25556085
>You really, really wanted to avoid getting down there.
>The scent wasn't foreshowing anything nice and after smiling bodies and mad pegasus you weren't too fond of not nice things.
>However you had a friend to care for, and he would certainly defend you in time of need, even if he was racist.
>And staying here alone, waiting for Hran's return while wondering if thee crazy pony will show up was somewhat worse than descending to the basement.
>You just wished that you could be far away from here, but you couldn't, so soon you wished only for a third pony to guard the place.
>There was none, so enough of useless standing and thinking about stuff, you decided and nodded to Hran.
>He was already done with searching for some cloth - it was covered in dried grease but it could do for the time being. You covered your face and trotted down wide beton stairs.
>There was a corridor with three doors: one right in front of you, one on the left and one on the right. Corridor was pretty long, so the rooms on the sides were probably rather large.
>Which door do you choose?

>>25556213
Let's go to the door on the right and then go down the hall way and check that door. On the way out we can check the door that's on the left ( which should be to our right on the way out )

>>25556213
Where's the smell coming from? Do we hear anything down here?

>>25556235
>>25556285
>Before you choose where to start, you tried to determine where the abhorrent smell was coming from.
>You were not able to. Smell of grease on the cloth was to strong to allow you this and you weren't in favour of idea of removing it right now.
>You couldn't hear anything.
>However Hranchak was probably more resistant, or maybe he tried to act more stallion-ly. He removed his cloth and took a deep breath.
>>"This is the place" he pointed at the door in front of you.
>Then, without more words he simply trotted towards it and swung opened it. You noticed that he flinched hard.
>>"I'm not sure if you want to see this, Spring. I'm really not sure..."

>>25556348
Tell me what's important then and anything I need to know. What kind of pony is it? Is the body "fresh" or has it been decomposing for some time? What's in the room?

>>25556384
>Hran was either caring for you, or underestimating your abilities to stomach nasty sights.
>With a sigh of relief you decided to go with the first possibility, cleaning yourself of any inner guilt you could posess if you wouldn't approach.
"So tell me some important stuff, without too many details. What race of pony is there? Is it's carcass fresh or it was here for some time? What is in the room?" you simply asked, being as calm as you could.
>>"Eeeehhh... how to say..." he hestitated for a bit and you could swear his face turned slightly green. "It's not just one pony."
"What?" you asked in dumb way.
>>"Yeah... Well, there are two rows of beds with strong belts. There are... twenty four beds, I think. Maybe more, light is dim. All of them are filled with ponies. Do you know how electric chair looks like?"
"I do"
>>"These ponies weren't forgotten. They were executed. I can't say how long ago, the bodies are more or less fried. They aren't decomposing yet. I can see some kind of control panel and several tables with stuff on them from here."

>>25556441
I guess we should go in there and get the stuff that's on the table.

>>25556467
>There was a warning, telling you what you should expect.
>Yes, there was one. Orange earth stallion clearly stated what he saw in the room before you.
>You kept telling yourself that just to force yourself forward and thankfully it worked. You felt less bad if you expected whatever awaited you in the room.
>But still the sight was a thing you won't forget for a long time. Unless you will witness worse thing, that is.
>The room was filled with two rows of beds, which were disappearing in the darkness. It had to be larger than you thought, but not much. You could walk around and count the beds if you wished to. However you didn't.
>The sheer sight of pony bodies, twisted in big variety of poses, clenching their teeth or biting the belts bonding them to their beds was enough. Everypony had a device connected to them. Not to the head like in electric chair, but to various places. Some eyeballs melted away.
>You really had to fight with a heavy lump in your somach that wanted to get out.
>Without a delay you turned your gaze away and approached the control panel and tables.
>There wasn't too much to find. Some documents or letters, pencils and pens, syringes filled with unknown substances, hoof gloves and masks, one medical apron, thermometer, two clipboards.
>Control panel consisted of several buttons, two adjusters, safety switch and a lever.

>>25556623
Let's skim what's on the documents and letters. The clipboards too if there's anything on them. We can take the pens and pencils to write with. The gloves and masks will be useful too.

Also put everything on the panel to "off" for peace of mind.

>>25556623
Cut the power

>>25556660
>First thing you did was to check what was written on documents, letters, eventually clipboards. Briefly, of course.
>Documents were just like regular documents for sick ponies: kind of illness, chosen treatment, date of beginning treatment, date of full recovery (always left blank), behaviour notes, treatment efficiency notes (all filled with 'great efficiency') and doctor's signature. There were only two signatures. You couldn't read them due to bad writing style.
>Clipboards were empty, letters belonged to mentally ill ponies and they were filled with good wishes, complains, regrets, gibberish and various drawings. Paper cards usually had a date on them so you could see that drawings were getting more and more disturbing as the time went on.
>It didn't feel particularly bad when you decided to pack gloves, pens, pencils and masks to your saddlebags. They may become useful, plus they probably belonged to doctors responsible for... this.
>After you cleansed the tables you put everything on panel to "off" or lowest position, you simply felt better when you did that. It's like you were putting these poor unfortunate souls out of their misery. One of the button even unleashed the bodies, hidding the belts.
>When you turned down the lever, all beds went downwards towards the floor.
>Is there anything else you want to do here?

>>25556800
No, I think we're done here. Let's not forget that medical apron. We can use the cloth. Let's check other other rooms to make sure there's nothing there either.

>>25556826
>There was nothing left here and you had done everything you aimed for. Including not throwing up.
>So this was it, you took an apron with you, you could always use some spare cloth, especially if it was clean, and then you left the room.
>Right when you did that, you emitted an audible sigh of relief, earning a glare from Hran. Glare that was a mixture of sympathy and mockery.
>The first room, now on your right, was a waterpipe maintenance room. It was filled to fetlock with water and some wires were heading right towards it. Generator was off, but you weren't sure if you want to risk it.
>Other room was maintenance of gas pipes and main gas valve. THere were some regular tools and maintenance documents. Also you found an orange helmet.
>There was nothing more in the basement, unless you want to wait and visit water room again. Hran was against it for some reason.

>>25556905
oh, we can wear that orange helmet. Then again the color makes us stick out like a sore thumb from a distance.
The generator IS off so it should be safe.
We can also levitate the wires OUT of the water and then we can safely go in there.

>>25556952
>This helmet was certainly inviting - it could cover your head from unknown pieces of somepony's house. On the other hoof it was bright orange. It would made you very visible, clear target for any bored sniper eager to shoot some random civillians.
>Deciding to leave this certain decision for later you returned to the water room.
>Generator was off and not working, nevertheless Hranchak wanted you to stay out of the water.
>You turned towards him and with cheeky smile you lifted all the wires out of the water and placed them in safe location, earning puff full of irritation from your earth companion.
>The water room had another orange helmet, some moist maintenance documents and a note.
>It said 'Whatever Celestia will send us, it won't be a victory'. There was also a cutted rope. Nothing more.

>>25557028
That rope could be useful and the helmet as well. Let's take it and then get out of here.

>>25557028
We could find a way to change the color of the helmets later.

>>25557057
>>25557070
>You took a rope and a second helmet. Rope certainly can be used, if not right now, then some time later. And helmets can be repainted one day, when you will find a suitable paint.
>When you packed every single one of your new treasures you were free to go and you didn't waste the opportuinty to get out of the basement as soon as you could.
>Of course Hran was ascending first, he had a gun after all and any possible attack would come from the maintenance room, not from basement of dead.
>Right?
>Surely. Dead aren't a danger to you.
>You were standing by the generator swiftly. Hran was standing by the switch.
>>"Should I turn it on again? You put off all these buttons down there, so it won't fry anypony... but it might call unwanted guests. Who knows who wanted it to be repaired."

>>25557119
We could leave a note on it saying "it works. turn it on when needed."

>>25557119
Leave it off, we should head back to the hospital and tell them about the situation over here since the place is kinda useless without doctors.

>>25557137
"Don't fret, Hran, I have a solution" you said jockingly.
>Then you simply torn away a little piece of psycho letter without any drawings, then you wrote simple message 'Generator works, turn it on when needed' and you placed it on the workbench.
>A feeling of guilt tingled in the back of your head. You dismissed it - you weren't able to do anything more to those deadponies than you had already done.
"So this is it. We should tell in the hospital that we... you repaired the generator. This place is useless without skilled doctors anyway" you announced with your mood slight up.
>>"If they are skilled just like previous doctors I don't think I want to visit the Lighthouse ever again."
>Aaaand it was down again. Damn you, Hran, always ready to spoil the moment.
"I'm sure they won't do such terrible thing again if we let them know this place is secured."
>>"It's not secured, though."
"It will be. We just need..."
>>"It was a joke, I know what you meant. Right, we are going right back to tell them another hospital can be used and to get our anti-flea shit."
"What did I tell you about swearing?"
>>"You swore too!"
"Circumstances are different."
>>"Unicorn blood calling again?"
"What? No! I just don't want you to swear!"
>>"I know, right? Easy there, mare, or you will get uglier."
"What now?"
>>"Konjeslav proverb."
"What proverb? Explain!"
>...
>Lost in your mixture of chatter and quarrel you didn't even notice when you reached starting point of your journey. Not long after you were able to talk with senior registrar and you reported most of the things you saw.
>Do you want to tell basement part, let Hran tell the tale or just keep quiet about it?

>>25557174
Forgot to mention you, but I replied to both posts.

>>25557293
They're going to see the bodies anyway, I see no reason not to tell them.

>>25557293
Tell them everything.

>>25557321
>>25557332
>Although you weren't too sure about telling the senior registrar everything, you continued your story.
>Continued, telling him everything. You didn't neglect any detail you could force through your throat.
>Registrar seemed to be appaled, but thanks to your still improving ability of seeing right through other ponies allowed you to see that his disgust was bearing a teeny tiny bit of false.
>>"We will certainly use this knowledge you brought here today, child" he announced with protective voice while embracing you with one foreleg. "You deserved whatever you need from our community. We won't be parsimonious, just tell me what you need."
"I'd like to get an anti-flea liquid and some comb" you said. Your demand was supported by Hran very eagerly.
>>"Of course."
>Soon things requested by you were delivered. The amount of liquid would help all the ponies from your group and eight more, equals 12 ponies.
>Anything more you want from the widely smiling registrar? He seemed to invite you with his smile, but it wasn't totes genuine.

>>25557480
I can't think of anything to ask.

>>25557480
Ask what he's going to do about the crazy pony

>>25557530
>>25557553
"I don't have any more requests, I think I'm good" you stated, much to registrar's relief.
"However I want to know what will you do about the crazy pony me and Hran told you about."
>>"Oh it's simple" he said with his wide and warm smile. "He is sick and we are the doctors. He will get the proper treatment until he will recover from his illness. This is what we do to all the ponies after all."

>>25557617
Thank him for his help and lets go see the soldiers and tell them about Lighthouse and that there are bandits in that area.

>>25557617
What a spooky pony.

>>25557658
>>25557678
>Jeez, his smile sent shivers down your spine. You couldn't exactly tell what was wrong with it, despite some false, but it made you feel uneasy.
>If you were to classify this pony, it would certainly fall in 'not trustworthy' cathegory. Surprisingly, it was okay when you met him for the first time.
>However you had no reason to outright state that he was bad and also you got your liquid, so you simply thanked him for his help and left the crowded hospital.
>Before you went home, you approached some soldiers stationing nearby - their leader was a familiar officer mare, still alive!
>You reported to her that there is a bandit presence nearby the Lighthouse and she acknowledged it, then saying she will sent intel to respective district leader.
>After that you were done. You went straight home, applied some liquid to yourself and all of your friends, waited some time and washed it away with last water supplies.
>There was still some time before night, and you have to wait till morning to see if liquid worked.

>>25557771
Then we can comb out the dead bodies

>>25557793
What dead bodies comrade. You are in your basic basement. Or maybe you want to comb the dead in other narby blocks?

>>25557806
The fleas dead bodies. With the comb.

>>25557771
Lets chat with Hran about that water filter again.

>>25557816
I know you wanted to get fleas out of dead bodies. I stated that there are no dead bodies in your surrounding. I do not understand your command.Sorry if it was a joke

>>25557817
Reply as soon as possible.

>>25557869
The name again. Sorry.

>>25557869
What I meant was that the liquid we got was supposed to kill the fleas we have right?

We would use the comb on ourselves to get their remains out of our coat. I do not wish to get fleas from dead bodies.

>>25557816
>>25557892
Ah. Dead bodies of fleas. I get it now. Sorry. Really sorry. I am dumb Slav.JUST

>You brushed your coat to get rid of dead fleas and possible survivors that could seek shelters among your skyblue hair.
>You didn't want any of them nasty parasites.
>Neither of your friend wanted them too, you judged from their vigor in getting rid of fleas and brushing their own coats with whatever they could.
"So, Hran" you started while you were getting your comb through one of many difficult spots "You said something about the water filter."
>>"I did" he replied while scratching his short mane "I can make a simple one with literally everything we have now. If you want a better one, but still not professional, you'd need natural sponges."

>>25557969
I remember seeing a filter once with rocks, coal, sand and then a coffee filter at the bottom tied at the tip of a bottle with a rubber band. We have any of that?

>>25557969
How about a simple one until we find the stuff for a better one?

And with these suggestions I am saying it is enough for the night. Forgive me.

>>25558066
good night

sleeping is good

Bamp

>>25558004
>>25558047
"Can't we add something like coffee filter on the bottle's neck to make the whole device better?" you asked curiously.
>There was still a memory regarding talking about filters in your mind, so you could grasp basic idea and what it would look like.
>Feeling of being educated about such useful stuff was definitely a good one.
>>"We could" replied Hran while looking at you with little hint of approval "We could, Spring. Good to see you use your brain again. I can find a coffee filter somewhere, I'm sure. We have everything necessary, even too much charcoal if you ask me, so the filter would be up and running in no time."
"No time?"
>>"When I build it, that is."
>His words were absolutely certain and soon you had some little water filters prepared from 5l bottles.
>The Sun was setting when your comrade finished every single one of them. By then you brushed all your coat and most of your mane.
>There were some balls of hair tangled beyond point of fixing it, you had to cut them away.
>Now your mane looks terrible, similar to Clean's.
>You still had some time before utter darkness will engulf the whole city. Anything you wish to do in particular?

>>25561941
Inventory check? how much food we have, weapons we have, any places we can explore?

>>25562032
>Night was creeping closer every single second and you didn't like the idea of walking around with your horn lit too much. Snipers couldn't be able to shoot earth ponies or pegasi, but they definitely would aim for a spark of magical light.
>The time before sleep could be used for something else - you gathered various stuff and you couldn't remember everything. It's time for general inventory check.
"Hey?" you called all of your companions, who abandoned whatever they were doing besides taking care of their fleas. "I think it's a good time to sum up all of our supplies, to know how many food we have, how we are on meds, all that stuff."
>>"Oh look who woke up."
>"Hran!" Clean was of course first to stand in your defence. Even if you weren't attacked.
>>"What? While she was wandering around and getting stuff we were here. Don't you remember yourself counting them potatoes and yelling when you found rotten ones?"
>"My lad wants to say that we had a list of our things, we did it on my request. We lost the list when we fled, but I think we can easily tell you about everything" Kalina took the floor, assuring you with a warm typical granny smile.
"It would be wonderful. I'd like to keep in touch with this, so I'd know what to look for."
>"This is nice idea, Spring" Cushions nodded with approval. "Just showing how you care about our group. Even if some ponies might think otherwise" she added, sending a death glare to Hran, who only shrugged.
>>"I never said she didn't care..." he muttered.
"Let's get back to the topic. How many food do we have?"
>cont

>>25562386
>"Several potatoes that are still good to eat, cans with vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat soups and dishes, some canned rations you brought from the north. We don't have any fresh fruits and potatoes don't count as fresh vegetables as well. All of this stuff could feed us for two and a half week if we'd eat once a day. But I don't think once a day is exactly enough, especially for you and Hran, since you are the ones digging through ruins and all that."
>You nodded, acknowledging green mare's report.
>Then Hranchak started his own.
>>"We have two or three knives, lot's of different tools, majority of them conveniently packed in toolbox you brought to us when we started to live together, three improvised water filters and my Salty."
"Could you convert your salt bullets to be more... you know..."
>>"Deadly? I think I could but... salt is good enough for us now, me and my granny never had to use something else."
>"Oh look, our brave war hero is afraid of..."
>>"Cut it out. I may have said different things, but I'm not really fond of hurting anyone too bad. I saw... things. I heard things."
"It's fine" you weren't sure if it was, to be honest. "What about other stuff?"
>"We have bandages in amount allowing us to treat even severe wounds, real gauzes, masks, gloves, even that one apron. We could tear it for lint if needed. As for medicaments, we have painkillers and some simple anti-fever, anti-flu or disinfecting stuff. We also have some charcoal to eat in case of stomach poisoning. Last but not least, you got us anti-flea liquid."
>cont

>>25562392
"So we're still pretty good when it comes to survival. We are definitely better of than some of the ponies I saw " you summed everything up, recalling conditions in your highschool when you said last sentence. "At least I think so."
>"I think so too" assured you Kalina.
>"We could use some antibiotics, maybe more gauzes - one bad injury would likely consume most of them" earth mare voiced her opinion.
>>"I think we're good. I should have took some tools from the Lighthouse, though, just in case. Spare wires, screws, you know."
>After inventory check there was another thing to do before heading to bed.
>Recalling what places could be explored.
>You had many possibilities, since even if you were in a certain place before, you rarely went through it stone by stone. Your neighbourhood was cleared, that was certain.
>Old Town, industrial district, harbour, airport, northern and western suburbs, modern parts of the city centre and buildings around the Lighthouse remained unvisited by you.

Time to go to work. I don't know if I will run tonight or not. I don't need too much input, Spring will simply wake up the next day, last options are listed for your knowing and decisions.

>>25562399
Old town could have some useful things.

up we go

jump

Sorry to hear about your job Purple. You going to be alright?

>>25562399
Where is the airport? We're going to want to stay a good distance from it as airports are strategically important and therefore will be hotly contested. Let's head to Old Town in search of food and some alcohol.

>>25565724
If it won't sort out, then I might be in trouble. Sorry, sorry for self bump. Most likely not able to run tonight. Please forgive me.

>>25566928
it's alright

>>25566928
It's fine.

>>25562855
I'm down

bunp

O, it's still alive. I'll get to reply soon.

>>25566404
>>25562855
The airport is behing industrial district, almost at the city border in a large open field. It's practically standing in the middle of nowhere. These parts of Fillydelphia are conquered or mostly overrun by enemy forces.

>You were fast asleep, despite earlier thinking about your current situation or next steps you should take to remain in good condition.
>Deep slumber of yours wasn't interrupted by anything and you woke up fresh and ready for the day. The rest of the group was already up and doing various things: Hranchak was pouring water to filters and the mares were discussing the methods of turning your food into something less mundane, using as little resources as possible.
>>"This hospital thing must have mess with you, you slept so deep that even shelling wouldn't wake you up" the stallion voiced his opinion with audible sarcasm. "The filters are working, I had pleeenty of time to test them."
>"Oh don't listen to this malcontent, he wouldn't be happy even if we were sitting on supplies" said Cushions while waving a hoof in nonchalant way. "Do you wish to eat now or you want to do it later?"
>Right when she asked, your stomach replied for you with a loud rumble.
>You patted it and smiled.
"I think I'd like to get a helping. Damn, why it's so cold?" you replied with a shiver, realizing that the basement was much more chilly than you remembered. Blanked defended you from it when you were sleeping, but now you felt it.
>"Our neighbours are gone and their breaths and bodies were warming the place up" earth mare responded while giving you a can of some green vegetable paste.
>>"I thought about bringing our improvised stove down there, but this little thing would consume lot's of wood to heat this room. We could use it to cook stuff and not much more."
>Heated food would definitely be better to eat.
"Would you kindly bring it here anyway?"
>cont

>>25574022
>>"Already did, I waited for you to get up before putting it in place."
>"He didn't want to interrupt your beauty sleep, dear" added Clean with a little chuckle.
>>"That beauty sleep didn't work anyway" Hran said with a hint of blush "Now I can finish my job."

>Soon you were fed, although still slightly hungry. You didn't want to eat the whole can - it wasn't very tasty cold and you wanted to save some for later.
>In the meantime your bucket stove was installed the same way it was, pipe was adjusted and window covered with tarp. Hranchak was proving that he was a proficient stallion again.
>"Any plans for today?" asked Kalina when you put the can away.
"I wanted to visit the Old Town. You see, there might be something to find there in all those fancy restaurants and shops for rich ponies. Plus I don't know what's there, I want to look around."
>"Forever in motion, always doing something, I see. Never resting. It's good that you are a hard-working mare, just remember to not overload yourself."
"Don't worry. I know my abilities."
>"In times like these nopony could know for sure."
>Despite the fact that crippled mare said it with good intentions, her words sounded awfully grim.
>You really wished that you won't be tested more than you already were. That you will not be forced to make some hard choices or decisions.
"I'll take some warmer clothes and I'll be going" you said after a short while. "Hran?"
>>"Not today, Spring. I'm sorry but I'd prefer to stay with granny for once. Not that I don't like walking outside."
>Oh. Oh well.
>So it looked like you will be alone today.
>Maybe you will manage to convince him to go with you or take Clean if she wanted to accompany you?

>>25574045
He can stay, let's take clean with us so that we can carry as much back as possible.

>>25574192
"Clean?" you started and she turned towards you, also perking her ears.
>"What is it?"
"I would like to ask if you want to venture to the Old Town with me" you got straight to the matter.
>"Uhhh... I like our basement. It's comfy and all" she didn't look like she was craving for a journey.
"We can carry a lot more stuff if there's two of us" you stated your first, most basic argument.
>"I know, Spring, I know. It's just... everything is even more dangerous. I don't like when you go outside, however I accepted it as necessary, even if I'm always worried. But leaving the basement myself and walking around, asking to bet shot or blown to pieces or worse..."
"So you just want to stay here in relative safety."
>"If you put it this way. I do. I'm sorry but I don't want to leave unless you have a way of protecting us from harm."
>What do you say to that? She definitely looks ashamed, so convincing is still possible.

>>25574675
>She definitely looked ashamed, so convincing was still possible.
Fix'd

>>25574675
We have a knife and telekinesis. Other then that though we don't have much then our legs to run with and those two very bright helmets which we should paint as soon as possible.

>>25574675
We're strong enough to throw around a pony like a ragdoll and smart enough to turn a well organized and practiced ambush against the attacker.

I will need to type faster.

You will need to type a lot faster.

>>25574759
>>25577055
"Knifes aren't really awesome weapons, but they are better than nothing" you said, and when Clean simply gave you the look instead of replying, you smiled widely. "Besides, I am an unicorn and as opposed to Hran's little comments here and there, I can do some work right."
>"How so?"
"I can simply toss ponies around with my telekinesis if they will have malevolent intentions."
>"O-okay, this one thing is pretty assuring, to be honest" she returned your smile, although hers was definitely much weaker. "I think I can recall you carrying stuff around with your magic only. I didn't think about it, though."
"It's fine, everypony can forget something, especially if times are hard. I also wanted to take somepony with me because two heads are always better than one. I outsmarted some well-practiced thugs, turning their ambush against them, but it was pure luck. I am not a superhero, I need others. I need you."
>"I can see what you mean. It's... I'm sorry. I'm just afraid, okay?" last part of the sentence was almost not hearable. "I don't want to get hurt."
>She dropped her head but before you could do any movement or gesture to comfort her, she looked up again.
>"But I don't want you to get hurt more" she said with some determination in her voice. "I'm going with you. Just... when it will be too dangerous, don't play a hero. We can always run."
"I know, Clean, I know."
>With that she gave you a hug. The problem of her participation in your journey was solved and you were proud.
>You keep getting better and better in conversations and convincing.
>There was some preparation to do, but it didn't took long and time passed in warmer atmosphere than before.
>Soon you and Cushions left the basement, equipped with empty saddlebags, warm clothes and sharp knives.

No input needed. I will eat something, take shower and return to writing.

Scary city scavenging is a go.

>>25579119
>When you left your basement first thing you spotted were little snowflakes slowly falling from the sky.
>Second thing you noticed was sound of the pounding, slowly but surely growing in intensity and creeping closer.
>And the last one was that street in front of you was pretty busy with soldiers carrying their wounded towards the hospital.
>Many, many wounded. The walking ponies were silent, most of injured too. Rarely you heard a faint scream, muffled by some hoof swiftly.
>Clean shivered at the sight, but then sent you determined glare, straightened herself and trotted forward. You simply followed her, while realizing, much to your disdain for yourself that you can't force yourself to really care for these wounded.

>Journey was calm, despite the fact that the city, with focus on frontline, was currently being bombed. Most of the shells were falling in pretty safe distances, however sometimes a short stop for cover was necessary.
>To your big surprise, the buildings you passed on your way were more and more damaged after passing a ring of relatively intact ones.
>It looked like center and frontline were primary targets, excluding cases of bombing everything from time to time.
>The Old Town itself was in a weird location - near the river bank. Fillydelphia was funded as a trading depot and docker housing. You were puzzled why they didn't rise it by the seashore near river mouth to have drinkable water, deciding to stay here and build harbour few kilometers away instead.
>cont

>>25580506
>Besides it's location, the Old Town was just completely normal place of it's kind. Narrow cobbled streets, tall and thin tenement houses, tiny shops with folk or richpony kinds of trumpery, restaurants, exclusive clubs.
>Ah, and let's not forget about square-shaped market place, Solarist cathedral and the City Hall. Place was pretty damaged and busy, filled with numerous ponies walking around despite sound of detonations.
>There was also some addition to overall look of this location.
>Row of gallows filled with hanged ponies, all of them signed with plate of cardboard with notes. You spotted twenty two ponies of both genders and all races.
>Where do you want to start your search?

It mightt have been a bit rushed.

>>25580533
Let's read what the notes say so we don't piss anyone off around here for things we didn't know are against the "law"

>>25580617
>There were so many ponies here that you could say it's a street party or other celebration of some sort.
>If there was a peace time, of course. Now it looked somewhat unnatural to you. All these ponies in one place, talking, yelling at each other, trading.
>The Hall was clearly acenter of this commotion, it was guarded by reinforced emplacements held by quite fresh-looking soldiers. All the windows were covered by sandbags to half their height.
>After admiring state of this place and how it had changed over time you trotted right towards most grim decoration - the gallows.
>Clean gasped audibly and you followed her sight to notice a young colt, most likely in his early teens, among the dead. His note said 'thief'.
>Most of the other notes also said that convicts were executed for stealing stuff, however there were three 'deserter' signs, one 'rapist' and one 'assault'.
>You wondered for a second why they were hanged instead of being shot, then you realized there might be ammunition shortages.
>Also it served as a deterrent, you said to yourself sadly.

>>25580914
Deserting what is something I'm wondering. There are better ways to deal with thieves. Let's try to find some paint. Ask a store owner where you can find some.

>>25580986
>Looking around for a hardware store was not giving you anything, next choice was searching for art shop or artistic cafe.
>There were several of various little galleries, caves and shops, you picked one of them and headed straight towards it to buy some paint, so you could recolor your helmets.
>Owner of this certain shop was an unicorn, middle-aged stallion with hint of grayness in straight and nice looking mane. How he managed to stay clean was a mystery.
>He greeted you with a nice smile, but you could see in his eyes that he looked at you with pity.
>>"How can I help you, young lady?" he simply asked.
"I'd like to buy some paint, but not to make pictures."
>>"You came to art shop to look for paint for other purposes than painting itself?" he asked, rising his eyebrow.
"I want to repaint some bright orange helmets we have. They would be definitely less of a sniper invitation if they were dark green, brown or black."
>>"I see..." he hestitated for a bit "I think I can help you, I can sell you some oil paint. It's in teeny tiny containers, though. How will you pay me for it?"

Things that I can enjoy and Spring cannot: mushroom soup with noodles.

>>25581696
Ask what is accepted as payment around here. I guess we can just go to the north or west district with supplies for us and him.

>>25581883
"And what would you accept as payment for the paint?" you asked, wondering what's treated as currency around here.
>"Bits of course. We're not some outskirts thieves or scavengers. We're all civilized ponies who can see value of things we use!" he said in higher tone, looking at you like you were a zebra or something. Then he lowered his voice to nothing but mere whisper. "Meds are also okay. There's never too few meds."

Sorry for long time. Now when board slowed down, I just wait for eventual others.

>>25582275
Oh boy, a place that accepts bits. I don't think we have any on us since we came here with empty bags expecting to scavenge so let's go.

>>25582406
Let's go where exactly?

>>25582475
Exploring more of what old town has to offer. Where does it end?

>>25582475
Old town sounds more like a place for trade than scavenging. We should have a chat with the local soldiers and see if scavenging falls under theft around here.

>>25582520
>>25582586
"I'll return home and get something for you, then" you said waving a goodbye.
>The owner simply nodded and almost immediately returned to his back office, paying no more attention to you.
>So you and Clean simply left the shop, heading to the marketplace again.
>More looking around revealed that your current surrounding seemed to be pretty battered, however you did expect worse, judging from some farther buildings you passed.
>You wondered how this was possible for some time, heading towards military posts to ask soldiers about rules here.
>Getting hanged by the neck for unaware law breaking wasn't a thing you wanted to experience.
>"What do you want, citizen?" barked one of them without any greetings before you could say a word.
>"Wow, rude" replied Cushions. "Can't you say at least hi before jumping on us for no reason?"
"Clean, please" you interjected, wanting to prevent possible quarrel even if you also thought the mare was not nice. "I'd like to ask about the place and it's laws. I wasn't able to visit the Old Town since the siege began."
>"You are smarter than you look, citizen" soldier responded with a faint smirk. "Definitely less stupid than your friend."
>"Rules are simple" she continued in more professional manner. "Don't steal, don't attack anypony, immediately obey military orders, don't violate the curfew, don't spread defetismus, report any suspicious activity, and if you want to live here you need to get the ticket. Then you will be assigned to a quarter."
"I don't think I can fully understand the stealing part, could you elaborate?" you tried to ask if scavenging is allowed, playing it both cool and suave.
>cont

>>25583163
>"You came from one of the farther districts, it seems, citizen. So I will explain in a simple, easy to grasp way" she said in ironical way, then her voice turned to one of a teacher trying to explain something to mentally challenged foal. "You take something that doesn't belong to you, whatever this could be and werever it could lie, and you die. Simple enough?"
>A nod was your only reply. You could see that your green earth friend was internally boiling from anger and you wanted to leave before she could explode.
>"Good, now get lost."
>After such a warm and polite goodbye you had nothing else to say, so you complied and trotted away to take a look around.
>"Oh Celestia and her sister, I want to get back there and punch that bitch in her face so hard that she would reach lightspeed" Clean ranted for a bit in enraged manner. "And I thought soldiers were the good guys here, For the most part."
>At these last words she cringed a bit.
>You partially agreed with her.
"Don't get too angry" you tried to calm her down. "I don't want you arrested for badmouthing a soldier or whatever."
>They seemed rather strict and you remembered that you heard 'defetismus' was a flexible term nowadays.
>"Fine, fine. Don't worry, I'll calm down. I think scavenging isn't an option here, so what are we looking for?"

The Old Town is completely on the southern bank, it isn't too big area. It ends four blocks before the Lighthouse.

>>25583179
Let's see what kind of food they're selling. Then we can leave the city and get that medicine we can spare.

>>25583179
Since the only thing that can be done here is trading lets browse the shops. I'm really worried about this area, if they refuse to accept goods as trade and only deal in bits they're going to be in a lot of trouble in the long run. Currency only has value when it's backed by the government, which we're cut off from, whereas goods have a value that increases as they become less available and without scavenging that price will skyrocket. I'd rather have a clean bottle of water than a large sack of money in a situation like this.

>>25583294
>>25583390
"We can always see what they have to offer in exchange for money" you replied, heading towards nearest little shop.
>All of the shops here were pretty small, recalled. Every single one of them. Just like tenement houses. For some odd reason you remembered buildings here being bigger, you don't really know why.
>"Aren't you a bit surprised that they still prefer bits over consumable goods here?" asked green mare all of a sudden, stopping. You also stopped and turned around.
"I am, but what can I do with it? Nothing. They state the local laws."
>"Yeah but..." she tried to reply, but then waved a hoof "Whatever. We don't live here, there's no need to care too much."
>You hummed an approval and finally entered the shop, Cushions following closely.
>It was one of these food shops which selled healthy or foreign food. Or Equestrian food assumed to be of highest quality. It was well displayed in clean, polished shelves made of dark wood.
>cont

>>25583866
>Pineapples, lichi, canned tomatoes with fancy labels, dried tomatoes in jars, rice, rice cookies, spelt bread, wholegrain bread, chestnuts, oat and oat flakes, spices, various kinds of pasta, pesto, passata... everything you could imagine.
>And there was also some more mundane everyday products, but prices on them still were higher than prices in stores.
>Owner was a fine pegasus mare, just above your age. She also looked at you with hint of pity.
>"Anything I could help you with?"
"No, no, I'm just looking" you said, fully aware of how bad that sounded.
>"Oh, okay. I will assist you in case you will change your mind."
"There's no need, we are leaving already."
>When she heard that, she looked at you with intense suspicion, then she eyed yours and Clean's saddlebags.
>"Can I...?"
"Of course, we have nothing to hide" you got the meaning instantly and let her see inside the bags.
>Cushions snorted at the mare but complied without a word.
>Then you left the shop, going to other ones but this time instead of entering them you were just taking a peek through the glass.
>There weren't many food shops, not counting restaurants and cafes.
>You noticed two apothecaries.
>After your sightseeing session you were free to do whatever, for example get bits for trade or medicines for barter.
>In which direction do you wish to go? Do you maybe want to take some medicaments from your home?

There's only simple stuff back home. You cannot be sure it will do.

>>25583884
Lets go back to that first shop keep and ask him about the bits situation.

>>25583884
We can head to the west suburb and start looking around there.

>>25583978
>>25584009
>Getting to suburbs, or at least parts of Fillydelphia farther from the Old Town with its rules and overpopulated centre sounded good in your head.
>Without wasting time you headed westwards, picking the direction you didn't use too much before. In fact, you don't think you ever visited those western districts.
>On your way you returned to the art shop, you wished to ask it's owner a simple yet important question.
"Excuse me sir, are you aware of current bits situation?" you asked right when he appeared again to greet you.
>>"What do you mean?"
"Are bits easy to stumble upon? Are there big price fluctuations? What value is represented by one bit nowadays?"
>>"You really didn't leave your suburb shed or wherever you live for a long time, did you? Eh... listen. Bits can be found, but not here. You'll get beaten if you'll pick up a dropped one and don't return it to it's owner. It's as... harsh as it sounds, and you can't even complain loudly. You need to scavenge outside of the Old Town with it's rules. There aren't price fluctuations since the military tells us the prices. We are literally ordered to sell for pre-made prices. And bit is still one bit" he explained, lowering his voice progressively while he did so.
>"What kind of place is this?" Clean almost yelled.
>>"Shhhhhh! Do you want to be arrested? Keep it down!"
"Thank you for telling me all that, sir. I'm sorry I took your time."
>>"It's not like I have many other matters to attend. Good day to you."
>cont

>>25584771
>With that the unicorn swiftly turned away and disappeared in his back office without any more words and you left at once.
>"Sweet Celestia, this place sounds as bad as Canida right now, if not worse" muttered your mare companion. "I regret that I came here."
"You came with me, remember?"
>"I regret that we both visited this place."

>On your way westwards you passed through one checkpoint, clearly improvised, and then you had to take cover way more often than in the Old Town.
>Shells fell closer or farther, but they were present around you all the time and one time you realized why the marketplace and buildings close to it were nearly intact.
>There was a barrier over it, it was invisible but projectiles were exploding on it instead of on somepony's head.
>It took some time to reach regular, wide streets, familiar blocks of flats, large stores and all regular city landscape you used to see everyday around you.
>On your way you found the train station.
>It was damaged, but not too severely and you could see a train. It was abandoned, stopped when it tried to leave the station by a bomb or shell.
>There was nothing to indicate if it was occupied or not, you got interested only because Clean said she saw a blink of light in there.
>Pass it, avoid it, ignore? Maybe do something else?

>>25584794
I fucked up. Ignore was supposed to be 'investigate'.

>>25584845
investigate it, but first examine the surrounding area just incase we need to run.

>>25584794
Ask where she saw the blink of light and stare at where she saw it. We should keep walking and then hide somewhere and watch the spot for a bit and see if anything happens.

>>25584921
>>25584931
>Station's surrounding is rather unstable, covered in many smaller or bigger loose stones, shards of glass, pieces of wood. Several low buildings around it were damaged, some of them figuratively grinded to dust.
>Running around here wouldn't be dangerous, but it certainly was risky. One misstep and you would be laying on the ground defenceless or worse - get injured by sharp things or twist a leg.
>It had some cover in ruins but nothing too astonishingly good.
>After this brief examination and estimating the risk you brought Clean closer to you.
"Could you point where exactly you saw tha light?"
>"Sure. It was riiiight... there" she responded while pointing a hoof towards left part of the building, upper floor.
>You got down and found yourself a quite fine cover, later began to observe the place and see if something will happen.
>Time passed, you waited. And waited.
>And waited some more.
>Oh! There it was again!
>A blink! And some more of them!
>It looked like it was light reflected in a mirror.

>>25585288
Yeah, there are ponies in there. Though what kind of ponies we can't be sure of. They might be nice since they're hiding. Let's try to sneak in then.

>>25585288
Could just be shards of glass in the windows catching the light.

>>25585331
>>25585430
>Clean nodded to you when you turned to her, whispering your confirmation.
>There was some light, so there could be ponies in that building.
>Hiding ponies. It wasn't sure they are friendly or not, however bandits would more likely walk around looking for new victims, or leave some of them to guard their hideout if they were sitting in one place, right?
>With these thoughts you began to carefully sneak towards the building, Clean by your side.
>After quite a time you were close to it and you stopped, listening.
>You couldn't hear anything. Maybe the light was coming from shards of glass reflecting Sun?
>Nah, the blinks appeared in the upper floor, there was no way that shards could reflect it in a way visible like that.
>You came in very slowly, cautiously and with your knife ready.
>Then you heard some steps on the upper floor.
>This and silence. That mysterious pony either was alone here, or you are walking right into an ambush.

>>25585865
Listen a little more. Let's try to find a way to peek in and then actually go in ourselves.

>>25585932
>Some more listening gave you nothing more than usual ambient sounds of explosions in the distance.
>It was quiet and calm here in the train station. Some more sneaking around later you peeped through the window being fully careful and silent, but there was nothing to see. Place was empty, at least the respective part of it you were able to see.
>Then, after these preparations, you prepared yourself mentally and physically and entered the train station.
>There was a large lobby, registers on the right, behind a plastic pane, some shops with books, magazines and snacks for the travellers on the left, toilets. There were also some staff doors, one of them swung opened.
>Quick peek allowed you to see that there was a staircase behind open door.
>Whole place was in mess, however you could see that one bench had been cleaned of rubble or whatever.
>Also snack shop was looted clean. Some empty packs littering the place clearly indicated that somepony lived here.
>What now?

>>25586262
Check staircase.

>>25586262
We go up the stairs.

>>25586307
>>25586328
>You picked the most obvious choice and only way to get fully sure about who in tartarus was here.
>It was like somepony would want you to get upe there and you felt uneasy when you decided to do so, thus getting on levels of cautiousness bordering with paranoia.
>Better safe than sorry, you thought to yourself while straining your nerves.
>Up the stairs was a corridor with three doors on the left and three on the right. It looked just like a regular office corridor.
>Except that one pair of saddlebags lying by the third left door.
>Unguarded, but in the open, it was certainly visible from the room.
>There was a sigh coming from mentioned room, it almost made you jump to the ceiling.

>>25586432
Levitate the saddlebag and pull it towards you. Yank it if they notice. We'll return it but we have to make sure that whoever is there doesn't have a weapon and it'll be easier to talk to them.

>>25586486
Funny how 'Yank' also counts as pejorative name for American in my dictionary.

>There was a thing you needed to do before you would try to talk with the pony in there.
>Make sure that he didn't have any weapon on him.
>Thus you slowly enveloped the saddlebag belt in your magic, aiming to telekinesis them towards your position and then go through them.
>Your plan resulted in two things.
>One was a fearful gasp coming from Clean.
>The second was "Oh shit what the fuck" said in a mare voice, followed by commotion.
>You yanked the bags towards you just in time.
>A pegasus mare went through the door and turned to face you.
>She was unarmed and pissed off.
>"Hey give that back!"

>>25586626
Just making sure you couldn't grab a weapon so we could have a peaceful chat.

>>25586626
I will. I also come in peace. I just want to talk with you and know that you aren't a threat. Are you ok with that? Who are you? Tell them our name as well. Ask how long they've been here.

>>25586653
"I was just making sure that you won't hurt me. We can peacefully chat now" you explained your actions.
>The initial response was an angry snort.
>"I won't talk with thieves! Better give these bags back or you'll be in some deep shit" she threatened you, almost yelling.
>"Oh who's talking?" Clean mocked her slightly. "We just want to talk, and we need to know if you are not trying to stab us in the back."
>You simply ignored the two for the time being, digging through the saddlebags.
>There were some basic supplies: food, water, meds, bandages. You found also a flask with unknown liquid, a map and lots of paper pages filled with dots and lines.
>Under these dots and lines were some letters you couldn't read. Maybe because the light was dim in the corridor.
>"Give that back. Now. This is the last warning."

>>25586694
Well that escalated quickly.

I need to autoupdate my fucking brain.

>>25586740
Morse code? Is she a soldier?

>>25586740
Give it back then.

>>25586781
>>25586872
I tried to salvage it. I tried to cover my unforgivable mistakes. But it didn't work. Now I ask you. Go with the flow and place my reply again[I have it copied] or write new, less violent one according to nice approach of >>25586872

>>25586964
>>25586872 is an action while >>25586781 is a thought.

>>25586964
Just throw the bag.

Ok don't THROW the bag. Levitate it and then place it down at her hooves.

>>25586999
Thanks, trips.

>>25586872
>>25587019
>After her words you froze in place for a second, then you began to slowly put all the stuff back in her saddlebags.
>She simply stood there, looking at you expecantly and waiting for her equipment to get back to her.
>A thought to simply throw the bags at her went through your mind, but for some reason you thought it was not a really good idea.
>So you levitated it towards her and gently placed her belongings at her hooves, wary of her reaction.
>She was looking at you with suspicion, then she turned hergaze to the bags and to you again.
>"Good filly. Now, what do you want from me?"
>You didn't fail to notice a round pocket mirror sticking out of her - guess what - pocket.

I am sorry I have failed you, my players. It was not intentional, I'm just forgetful sometimes. Now I'm, hitting autoupdate. Any quality issues besides that one mistake? Anything I should be aware of?

>>25587125
Failure continues.

>>25587125
Just wanted to know what you're doing here. Do you live here? Do you know the area well? Any dangers that I should be aware of? Can I know your name?

>>25587125
We were passing through the area and noticed your mirror. We were checking to see if we were walking into an ambush.

>>25587220
>>25587225
"Me and my friend here were just passing nearby" you started your brief explanation "She hasa good eyesight and she noticed the light reflected by your mirror. We wanted to make sure that there'ss no ambush waiting for us."
>"Don't worry, there's no ambush here. If it was, you'd be already captured."
>You forced yourself to chuckle at her 'joke'. Clean didn't.
"Do you live here maybe?" you asked innocently.
>The mare eyed you suspiciously.
"No, I just stopped for a bit to rest, thinking that this area is desolate enough. Then you tried to rob me."
"I didn't try to..."
>"Oh I know, I'm just kidding. Stop being so paranoid, laugh a bit more! I want to see your happiness!"
>Strange words coming from a mare that already threatened just minutes before this statement. Maybe she was just mad you took her saddlebags.
"O-okay then. He he. He" you tried your best, but you earned only a muzzle twist from her, like she tasted something really sour. "Can I ask you some more questions?"
>"Shoot."
"Do you maybe happen to know about any threats present in the area? Also, what is your name? Mine's Spring and my friend here is Clean Cushions."
>"I'm Last Wish. There are no dangers nearby, area is inhabited by ponies like me, just trying to get by, wandering around. Some of them are in their basements. Fun stars in the suburbs, closer to the city borders. You know, frontline and all that."
>She sent you a weak smile.
>"Sorry for my overreaction. I just... I met too many bandits on my way, I like to keep my stuff close to me. Also, pray tell, did you find any notes when you went through my bags? I swear I haad a paper with safehouse addresses, but I didn't have time to look for it recently."

One, maybe two replies and I will need to sleep, for I have to get up early. When I go to sleep, write all your complains, suggestions, wishes.

>>25587530
Yeah, bandits are terrible.

We try to avoid them when we can. I didn't see any notes that I could read but I saw pieces of paper with dots and lines. Does that actually mean anything? Would you like to travel with us?

>>25587530
We even ran into a group of bandits lead by a soldier.

>>25587596
>>25587658
"I know, right?" you said when Wish mentioned meeting the bandits. "They are terrible, I wasn't even aware that ponies could turn that evil."
>"So you aren't aware of quite a good amount of things then, Spring" she replied to you, nodding to herself. "Every creature will fight for it's life and try to save it by all means necessary. That's how nature works."
"Yeah... You know, we even ran into some bandit pack led by regular soldier once" you judged that mentioning Thorn wasn't abad idea. "She was a mad mare, enjoying torture and whatnot."
>"Okay, that kind of ponies are way beyond simple care for their lifes. They are jusst plain evil."
"This is what I thought back then. Like, really, tis kind of ponies existing was a shock for me."
>"Too much 'friendship solves everything' propaganda" Wish chuckled to herself. "But you didn't answer my question. Did you see any notes?"
"I saw some pieces of paper with dots and lines on them. Does it even mean anything or there wwere just some drawings made to pass the time?"
>"Oh it was nothing" she replied. "Some frawings I keep as a souvenir."
>Quick look to Cushions allowed you to see that she was trying hard to hide her mistrust and suspicion.
>Her eyes met with Wish's and you could see how they looked at each other.
>Suspicion and hidden aggression were the feelings you could read from your friend. Wish seemed to be cold. Emotionless even.
"Would you like to travel with us? You know, two heads and all that."
>"I don't suppose I would feel good in your little group, especially with the looks your friend is giving me all the time."
>"I just don't like her" whispered Clean. "Something's fishy."
>"If there's something fishy, it's your behaviour. Appearing out of nowhere, acting like you did..."
>"Says the threatening one!"
>You felt an urge to step in and stop the quarrel, but... part of you wanted to see it evolving.
>The choices, the choices.

>>25587913
We are kinda the aggressors in this situation.

>>25587913
Now now. We're not enemies. You have secrets and I don't care what they are. I just want to raise my chances out there. Don't you?

>>25587996
>>25588054
"Whoa there nelly" you said, interrupting the duo of mares before quarrel could escalate further. "We're not enemies, even if my actions were quite aggressive this time.
>"That's actually really good to know" Wish rolled her eyes and sent a death glare towards Clean right after.
"I just want to raise our chances of survival, okay? I suppose we both wish to do so. Thus I don't really care about your past and whatever you might keep secret and I hope you won't mind our internal business too."
>The mare looked at you in a strange way, making you feel uneasy.
>Like she could see your very soul and read through it with those piercing gray eyes.
>"You shouldn't be concerned about anything really" she said "If you really want that, I could team up with you for... a time being."
>Clean tried to say something, probably voice her disapproval, however she refrained from it when you stared at her for some time. It wasn't a bad stare, you just really wanted to avoid more arguments. She probably understood that.
>"So now what, I will have to follow you, lead you somewhere?" Wish was going straight to the matter. "And who will be the leader? I suppose you are experienced as one, you friend doesn't talk too much..."
>"Hey!"
>"... however I think I could do the job just as well as you."
>Yes, you heard right. The mare you just met was saying that she would be capable of leading your group just like you did.
>She was able to take all the responsibility.
>All the guild for mishaps would fall on her back.
>But... it was your group. Your friends who believed you.
>What do you say?

And this is it. Bedtime. I don't know if will be able to reply tomorrow at day, I will certainly try. As I said, you can share your opinions.

>>25588396
She knows the area better than us so she could be the guide.

>>25588825
I agree with this Anon, she surely know the area better than us.
>>25588396
I'm starting to dislike Clean, I have the feeling we shouldn't have brought her with us.
She is sooo annoying

>>25588860
She's a lot more paranoid than I remember her. I think it's our turn to return the favor for assigning us a foalsitter.

>>25588396
I think that we should take the lead because clean is going to give us shit if we don't. Even if she does know the area she can just tell us what we need to do and where to go. We have to keep the peace between these two.

we should also ask her if she's looking for something in particular. I want to know if she'll leave as soon as she gets it. i would to explore and then head back to this train station. Then we part ways.

good night