The Varied and Colliding Cultures of Maretonia (Sponsored)

[Blueblood]

By this point, Heart Stopper would have little trouble inducing Earth Writer to play any sort of game she wished.  In reality, her fellow representatives at the other two booths of the Maretonian exhibit had contributed almost as much as her own wiles to sway the reporter into her court.  Each of the cities was geared to attract one of the three kinds of ponies, and repel the other two.  They could win Equestrian sympathizers, but not a general consensus in favor of one city over another.

 

Such thoughts, however, were only vaguely in the back of the unicorn stallion's mind.  Right now, the whole of his attention was captured by the Kastrotian mare.  "From what I can hear, my fellow-countrypony insists that he lost, and the Acroneighan insists that he didn't.  I'll call the bet a draw for that."  He sighed, taking one last look over in that direction before shaking his head.  "You're right, that's not any way to run a country, and I can quite understand why you'd prefer other company.  I've shared a few drinks with mercenaries myself."

 

He chuckled.  "Speaking of which..."  He trailed off as he folded his notebook, his work done for the day.  That is, if you called spending a day at the fair chatting up a pretty foreign mare 'work'; journalism could be awesome like that sometimes.  "You've got me curious about this... Maretonian Crunch.  And, naturally I'd be more than happy to show you around Manehattan afterwards; there's quite a few good restaurants I've found.  Provided, of course,"  Earth Writer leaned in with a wider smile, "If I may be so bold as to ask similar courtesies of you, when I pay a visit to your lovely home city?"

[Dunder]

Dunder was going to protest, demanding not to get special treatment, demanding the failure. But he decided against it, she was right after all that the day was winding down. "What do I plan on doing next? I'll probably visit Acroneighos and Hippostan next, since I've been to Kastrot and wasn't really fond of it." He said and sighed, looking over at the Kastrot booth. What he saw caught him caught him completely by surprise. He looked back to Sky Crack as if he had just seen a ghost, "Actually the mare at the Kastrot booth almost bought me. Well, less almost bought me and more almost made me into a groupon."

He shook his head, the memories of that place flooding back. "Or did you mean what I'd be doing since the day is coming to a close?" He asked, looking mildly embarrassed, "I'll probably see how the night life is here. Come back tomorrow." He said and shot a smile over to her, "You are free to join me if you want. Unless you had anything else in mind."

[SteelEagle]

Heart Stopper smiled and looked at her latest trap. Oh, what she could do with this one! The real question was always how far to string them along and what methods to use. He played himself as a faux intellectual and she could tell by his movements that she had him wrapped around her hoof mentally thanks to overwhelming thoughts of her attractiveness. She would leverage both later and ensure that long after they separated physically he would be tethered emotionally. Or maybe otherwise- she always had ways of having long range control anyway. “Of course. An even trade if there ever was one. I have many ideas for what I'd do with you if I brought you inside of my city,” she smiled wickedly before winking, “now come! We have a few hours before the class. Maybe you can write a story for it. I always need somepony behind me, taking very good notes...”

 

Sky Crack laughed loudly at the thought of Heart Stopper buying Dunder. “Lucky you!” she leaned in for a whisper, “they don't call her the Succubus of Kastrot for nothing,” she pulled back and looked around as he continued, not replying for a few seconds. Then she caught what he was asking. “Oh! I'm sorry. Maybe if you knew of some sort of formation of evildoers for me to fight I could come with, but after the event is over I've got to pack up our booth, drill some, rejoin the Strategos' formation outside of the city, and then hit some pirates before the stroke of midnight! You're free to tag along. I know good of a fighter you can be and my part in the plan is very flexible!”

(Final post from me)

[Blueblood]

The Succubus of Kastrot... oh, what a nickname, and yet, what a truth!  Everypony knew, in the abstract, that succumbing to the temptations of mares like that was a supremely bad idea.  Earth Writer certainly knew it; more than once across the society pages of the Chronicle had appeared a story of what could happen to the victims.  And yet, when confronted with one in person, he had crumbled, barely showing any resistance.

 

Did he care or worry?  Not a rap!  "Most certainly!"  He replied with an eager grin to her wicked smile.  "It sounds like a story full of, hm, equine interest."  Already, the reporter's thoughts were casting ahead.  Not just to the evening, though that would be an experience worth reporting for sure, but even further.  The Chronicle, to his knowledge, had no permanent pony on the ground in Maretonia.  Maybe he could pull a few strings with the publisher to make himself the first?  Personal interest aside, he felt that there were a great many treasures in this land, that Equestria would be well to know of.

 

And so he went, down a path which Heart Stopper had led so many down before....

 

(Last post for me!)

[Dunder]

[The last pasta]

Dunder shied away as she got close, her breath warm on his neck. "I feel like I may have dodged an arrow with that one." He shook his head, "I've been to Kastrot. It's bad news. I'm not sure if you've ever been there not trying to raid a village." He shrugged. But when she offered him to fight alongside her and her comrades, his expression went to sincere surprise. "You want me to fight? Sure!"

"Just let me slip into something a bit more comfy..." He said and began to strip the armor off, piece by piece. This was a much better plan than walking around town, getting drunk alone, and waking up in an alley somewhere. "I have my own armor and weapons." He said, much more lively than he was a few minutes before. "I'll meet you back here. And I'll follow orders this time." He said and turned, "I'll be back. Thanks for inviting me."