[Stalliongrad] Crossings [Open]

[korok132]

Scoundrel was getting impatient. These two kept talking about going to buy taffy, but they have yet to actually go and get it. "Yes. Food. Sounds great. So, Verity, was it?" She turned her head towards the zebra. "You said you know this place. Where's the best place to get that taffy?" Just a little longer. Hold out just a little longer and you can get some food. The thought of food made her stomach rumble again.

[RarityDash]

"Sounds cool to me," Verity said in response to the griffon, glad that she'd been invited along. She really might be able to collect some valuable intel through this.

"I could really stand to eat something myself," she added. This was also true. She hadn't eaten in a while and could really stand to have a decent meal.

She looked back at the filly and nodded. "The candy shop I like is straight ahead," Verity replied, pointing a hoof down the street toward some shops. "Right there, in fact," she pointed toward a small shop with a colorful sign.

[Xiee]

The three entered the candy shop and Grandya was just amazed that there were actually shops that specialized in candy. She made a mental note to tell Tinkerbox later where to get his candy. He'd probably be like a little foal when he saw the crazy amount of candy in this shop. Grandya made her selection and filled a bag full of taffy enough to last anypony for a week. She just hoped that Tinkerbox didn't down the whole think when she returned to the airship.

"Well that's settled...." Grandya said as she paid the shop owner. "Now how about we go to that little restaurant that I saw across the street earlier. It looks like a cozy family restaurant."

As they entered, one of the waiter ponies greeted them. He was an elderly yet energetic pony. She later learned that he was the actual owner when he shouted to his wife who was in the kitchen to get ready. They were show to their seats which had a nice open view of the streets. Grandya had remembered that restaurants like these were a bit expensive, but that was in Ostrov. Surely, it would be cheaper here. She hoped. The old stallion went to get some menus and while they waited, Grandya stirred up some conversation.

She turned her attention to Scoundrel.

"So... Scoundrel. That's an interesting name. Are you native of this city by any chance?"

[korok132]

It was nice to be able to sit at a resteraunt in the open for a change. Considering she just came to town not too long ago, there was almost no chance anypony could recognize her, and she hadn't done anything wrong yet, so it's not like anypony was after her. "Are you native of this city by any chance?" Huh, never really had to talk to others much. Should I tell the truth to her? Eh, why not, she's getting me food, pretty sure I can trust her. "No, I actually just got here not too long ago. Just been kinda wandering across Equestria for a while now, from Fillydelphia. What about you, where you from?" Scoundrel didn't really care about where Grandya was from, but it was the polite thing to do. What she was really curious about was the crew the griffon was part of. That sounds like a fun job. Maybe even better than being a thief! Let's not get too excited. We'll get to that in conversation later.

[Xiee]

"No, I actually just got here not too long ago. Just been kinda wandering across Equestria for a while now, from Fillydelphia. What about you, where you from?"

A kindred spirit. Grandya knew the moment she saw her that this was yet another soul who was trying to find their place in Stalliongrad. Perhaps she had made the right decision to take that fateful walk in the morning. Being able to meet new friends like these were almost impossible for her considering the nature of her job.

"Like you, I'm not from here either..." She replied with a tone of familiarity letting the filly know that she felt the same way as she did. "My family moved from Breakbeak City. We had hoped to change our fortunes by moving to Stalliongrad. And so far, it has..."

She then turned her attention to Verity.

"What about you my good Zebra?" She asked. "I haven't met many of your kind until now. Though I see a lot of you around in Stalliongrad, you always seemed pre-occupied unlike the Ponies who take notice of everything."

[RarityDash]

Verity nodded as she listened to the conversation. The filly was from Fillydelphia, eh? It'd be harder to get further away from Stalliongrad. Wandering from city to city was natural for a thief. Spend too much time in one place doing that and you get caught.

The REIN agent was more interested in the griffon than the young thief however. She listened even more intently to her words. Breakbeak, eh? Makes sense. There were probably more griffons there than Stalliongrad or anyplace else in Equestria.

Verity was surprised then when the griffon turned the questions back toward her. Meh. Just as she was getting to the good parts. Zerity had wanted to hear about her changed fortunes and what they involved.

"As I was saying earlier, I'm Stalliongrad born and raised. I've traveled just about everywhere though," she said with a warm nod.

"And as for others of my kind, most zebras you see in Equestria are still fresh over from the Unyasi savannah. It makes sense I'd be a little different from them, as they're all still struggling to become acclimated to Equestrian culture," Verity explained in a steady tone.

[korok132]

"My family moved from Breakbeak City. We had hoped to change our fortunes by moving to Stalliongrad. And so far, it has..." Yes? "What about you my good Zebra?" Dang. Kinda was hoping she'd talk about her crew. Oh well.As the zebra began to talk, Scoundrel went back to what she does; scanning the crowd. Once again, not for any purpose, just a force of habit. Besides, it's good practice to see how the crowd flows during certain times of the day. Makes it easier to get away if they don't know which pony in a crowd just snagged their money. "...struggling to become acclimated to Equestrian culture." At this Scoundrel suddenly jerked alert. Zebras, not used to living in Equestria. Meaning they aren't expecting thieves like her. A grin spread across her face. Perfect!

...why did she leave Fillydelphia again? One of the closest big cities to Unyasi? Oh right, she was run out. That's beside the point. She had a sudden urge to leave Stalliongrad and go back to Fillydelphia. Eh, it can wait a bit longer. Besides, I haven't gotten my food yet, and this town doesn't know me. Give it a few days, get some travel money here, then you can head back. She relaxed and went back to sitting normally.

[Xiee]

"And as for others of my kind, most zebras you see in Equestria are still fresh over from the Unyasi savannah. It makes sense I'd be a little different from them, as they're all still struggling to become acclimated to Equestrian culture,"

"Ah that's nice..." She replied in earnest. "Unyasi... if I'm correct, our crew had planned to fly the airship over there out of curiosity."

Grandya wanted to make sure that what she told about her crew and her line of work wouldn't arouse suspicion. She paused for a moment, gathered her thoughts and carefully formed her words.

"Well, my crew... let's just say we do things the average airship doesn't do. We deliver things for clients and sometimes acquire difficult-to-get items for them. I guess you could say we're couriers in one way or another."

She paused and looked at both the filly and the zebra. She wasn't sure what to make of what the Zebra thought. There was something about her that she just couldn't read, its as if she knew how to hide her emotions from everypony else. As for the filly, she knew that she had every interest in her line of work as she clearly saw how her eyes widened at the mention of what she did.

[RarityDash]

Verity watched the filly's expression. Her eyes were constantly seeking, searching through the crowd, analyzing it all, no doubt looking for picks. Verity smirked. The pony might not be bad agent material if she wasn't just a touch too obvious. She probably didn't take orders well either.

Verity was glad to finally hear what the griffon did. Oh, so she was a courier? A bit of a disappointment considering some of the possibilities. Or so Verity would have thought if she sucked at her job. "Let's just say", "things the average airship doesn't do", "acquire", "one way or another": the line was delivered with so many suspect words and phrases that made the intended meaning cloudier and more muddled. Grandya was both telling them what she did and not. It was vague; open to interpretation.

Verity's own interpretation was that this griffon she was sharing this table with was some manner of pirate. It made sense. Why speak so vaguely unless its something you don't want known, and why not want it known unless it's something not entirely legal? If she was right, that definitely made this an interesting assortment of characters. A pirate, a thief, and herself, a trained spy. That thought amused her for some reason.

"I see," Verity said, giving a calm smile. "It must be an exciting life, on an airship,"

"My father works at a factory in town that makes a lot of parts for airships. Ever since seeing all that with him as a foal, I've always kind of found them fascinating," the zebra added, not just to make natural conversation, but because it was genuinely true that airships and other forms of machinery interested her. "It's rare that I actually get to travel by airship though."

[korok132]

"... I guess you could say we're couriers in one way or another." Couriers? That's lame. Scoundrel turned her attention from the crowd back to the two she shared a table with. The crowd was being boring and flowing like it does in just about every other city. Who knows, they might be interesting. "I see," Verity said. "It must be an exciting life, on an airship. My father works at a factory in town that makes a lot of parts for airships. Ever since seeing all that with him as a foal, I've always kind of found them fascinating," the zebra added. "It's rare that I actually get to travel by airship though." Okay, that is kinda interesting. "Now that you mention it, I've never been on airship either." The mare began thinking aloud. "I just always thought it would be the same as being on a boat, except in the air."

Looking over the griffin, she began to question why she thought stealing from her would be a good idea. She seemed like a nice griffin, but ponies usually don't react well to being pick-pocketed. Flight plus claws plus not a happy griffin equals a bad day for Scoundrel. The zebra would have been a better target, even if she doesn't appear much better off than the griffin. At least zebras can't fly and don't have claws.

[Xiee]

"I haven't been working that long on the Airship." She replied, a bit worried that she gave away too much in her last statement. "I only recently came to join the crew by chance and took the job when it was offered to me."

Their food had arrived. Grandya had ordered something that she had seen one of her crewmates eat a while back when they were touring the city. Something called Borscht, which was apparently traditional Stalliongrad cuisine. It was a stew mostly of vegetables and it had a distinct red mushy soup mainly due to the beetroot in it. Topped with whip cream and dipped with bread, its taste was divine. Being a Griffon, she was accustomed to hunting game in and around the snowy woodlands of Stalliongrad, but living with Ponies has taught her to adapt to their food choices.

"Dig in guys!"

[RarityDash]

Verity continued to make observations of her two new acquaintances. The pony seemed to be studying the griffon pretty closely, reassessing her. Was she reaching the same conclusions Verity had or just realizing how foolish selecting Grandya as a target had been? Verity couldn't tell. Grandya showed signs of concern on her face, though Verity wasn't sure of their origin. It was about then that the food they had ordered arrived.

The zebra was still hungry too, so she didn't mind putting her observational skills to rest for a moment. She nodded and took some bites of her food, a colorful, though fairly simple, bitter herb salad. She had no complaints with the taste.

"I'd never been to this place before. Food's not bad," Verity commented, backing away from her plate for a moment.