"Well, it could use a little TLC, but it has potential," Phobia said as she looked at the house. Rosetta and Wild nodded in agreement with the sentiment.
The house in question was a two story building with extremely faded and chipped paint that was once white. The yard was overgrown with grass that stood taller than all of the ponies. It once had a low fence around the yard, but that had long since fallen, with only a few old posts to testify of it's existence. There was a wooden shed in the back that was so termite infested it would be better to just call it a termite mound than a shed.
That was not to say the building didn't have it's desirable traits. For starters the house itself seemed structurally sound, with all its glass windows clearly intact, and no sign of the termite infestation that plagued it's secondary building. There was an attic of sorts, that to a human would have been a mere crawl space, but could work as effectively a third floor to those of their stature. There was one small balcony on the second floor that would make a great secondary entrance and exit for flying ponies. The location also seemed to be somewhere that would be low noise during the day.
"We'll need to see the inside. It looks sound on the outside, but who knows what the inside looks like," Remedy commented to the current owner standing near them, an older dark skinned man who looked to be in at least his seventies if not older who spoke with a strange accent that no one else in town seemed to have.
"We a'can, ma'am. I's assure ya though it's solid. I's grew up here in this here house. I's come a check on it every once and a while, though I'b b'gettin too old to be doing all the upkeep on the yard. Built by my great grandpapi, back when this here was sharecroppin land. I's promise, my great grandpapi built this place well," the older gentleman said with his odd heavy accept.
Phobia raised a brow at the fact that this man who could easily be a great grandfather himself saying this was built by his great grandfather.
"How old is this house?" Phobia asked.
"It were built about ten some odd years after the war between north n south. My great grandpapi been a slave, but had a trade as a carpenter. And he'd done good for himself after becomin a freeman. He knew how to build dis house right. He went and added on to it a few times before he gots too old to work with his hands no more. He'd gone and died before I's was born, but my ma told me all about him," the man, who happened to have the last name Freeman, said with pride for his ancestor.
"How's the wiring in the house? I assume that got added latter on," Rosetta asked.
"Oh, it good miss. Got added back in the fifties. By time my ma passed away in da late nineties it had lines for satellite and such added, though ain't no more dish anymore," Freeman explained.
"How long has it been empty?" Wild asked.
"Bout twenty odd years hereabouts," Freeman said with a scratch of his head.
"Let's see the inside, the biggest concern right now is if it's safe and dry. We can do work on most other things later on," Phobia said.
"Sure thing ma'ams. I's take ya right in," Freeman said as he pulled out a set of keys and started walking up the sidewalk to the front door. The grass on either side the the sidewalk formed walls, at least from the ponies' lower to the ground perspective.
"I like the walkway, you should keep it like this," Wild said as she looked around.
"I think your cutie mark is going to your head," Rosetta said with a shake of her head.
"What can I say? I admit it wouldn't have been my thing before, but since I got to where I can cause wild growth it just appeals to me," Wild Growth said with a giggle.
"Maybe cutie marks really do impact how we think. They're supposed to represent out identity, maybe they reinforce certain types of thoughts as a result," Phobia mused.
"And if that's so I have no problem with it," Wild asserted. Freeman gave the ponies an odd look in response to this conversation.
Phobia wondered if the older gentleman had heard the rumblings on the news about ponies being all mind controlled. Talking about how the marks on their flanks might impact their thinking was probably not something that would sit well with most humans. Ironically ponies saw their marks as greater displays of individuality from one another, rather than a sign of a mind controlled mass. Most humans wouldn't interpret them that way though.
The old man opened up the front door and signaled them to go ahead inside. The three ponies crossed the threshold and came right into a larger empty room. The ceiling would be considered low by human standards, at maybe about nine feet. That was no issue for a pony of course. There was a short hallway at the back of the room that looked like it went straight on to a kitchen and had two doors and a staircase. The hallway was flanked by a brick fireplace. The front room took up the full front of the house's first floor and had three windows on each of the walls facing the sides of the house, and two windows facing the front.
"Definitely will need to invest on curtains for this room," Rosetta said as she looked around.
"Feels like a sun-room. I need to make sure my house has a room like this," Wild said.
"It'll be fine at night for us, but we prefer a bit more dark. We're nocturnal after all," Phobia said as she walked around the perimeter of the room. Listening for squeaks in the floor, locating outlets, and things like that. "Floor seems sturdy, can't find any signs of wood rot. More than enough space to host some friends. Paint in here seems fresher than outside."
"It is miss. I'd ain't able to keep up with the outside too much no more, but I'd still come by and attend to the inside. Won't find no rot any dern place here," Freeman said.
"Mind if we walk around the house freely?" Rosetta asked. As she started walking towards the hallway.
"Feel free, feel free. Get'cha a good look a'roun. The two doors there be a washroom and a closet. Be'yon that be the kitchen and dining room. Ain't no 'pliances in there, you'd be getting those yourselves, but rooms in good shape. Upstairs be three bedrooms and a bathroom," Freeman explained as the three ponies wandered around.
The three ponies continued to walk around. Phobia found the kitchen and dining room in good repair, with all the cabinets intact and painted white. What looked like another closet in the kitchen opened to a small cupboard, also in good repair, though some spiders had taken up residence. She noted a spot in the wood that seemed just slightly sunk in that she assumed a refrigerator once sat. The kitchen also had the backdoor to the house and a window that looked into the very overgrown backyard. It looked like the backyard would need to be trimmed down just to open the backdoor from where she observed.
She wandered upstairs where Rosetta was already at and Freeman and Wild followed close behind. The upstairs consisted of a long hallway with five doors. A panel in the ceiling marked an entrance into the crawlspace above. One of the doors was open already and she wandered there finding Rosetta within.
It was a smaller bedroom, but unlike most the rest of the house had some faded wallpaper on the walls. The wallpaper looked grey but she could tell it once was a baby blue, and pictures of anthropomorphic rabbits playing were spread along it like a banner. There was nut one single small window. Rosetta was gazing up at the rabbits with a small smile on her face.
"Like this room?" Phobia asked as she came up to Rosetta and nuzzled her.
"It feels like a nursery. I'm picturing it with a crib and our foal here. I already looked at the other rooms up here, they are all serviceable, though the bathroom might need a new shower-head," Rosetta said as she looked around the room.
"So are you satisfied with this house? It seems perfectly fine for the two of us and a foal. Needs some furniture and a few things to make it home, but it's in good shape downstairs too," Phobia asked.
"It will be more than enough. I can picture us here. We need to check the breaker box and make sure we have no problems with the power, but if all checks out I say we tell Wild to pay the man whatever he's asking for it," Rosetta said with another happy look around the prospective nursery.
"I's glad ya like it," the heard Freeman say as he entered into the room. "I's assure ya the power box's good. I's asking sixty thou."
"Sixty?!" Rosetta said in shock.
"If the price be to high..." Freeman started.
"No! You're undercutting yourself too much is the problem. This place is worth at least twice that," Rosetta said, stomping her hoof, surprising all of them.
"Sis, you do realize that's my money you're spending," Wild said with annoyance.
"I's grateful ya think so ma'am, but I'don need that much," Freeman said with wide eyes.
Rosetta looked at the man with disbelief, everypony else stared at her in disbelief.
"How many houses in this town are this old?" Rosetta asked Freeman.
"Um, guessin maybe the Hobskin's house is older, but not by much," Freeman answered with a scratch of his head.
"Exactly, this place is a historical landmark. If this was in Charleston it would be selling for a large sum of money. I don't feel comfortable going below a hundred grand," Rosetta asserted.
"Okay, now I get the thing about cutie marks impacting our thinking; Rosetta and her history," Wild groaned as she shook her head. She then turned to Freeman. "My sister seems to think I'm just made of money since I'm green. Will you accept ninety thousand and we consider the extra thirty thousand you didn't ask for something to get us at town hall today turning over the deed rather than wait?"
"Ya ponies deal kind'a crazy like," Freeman said in disbelief.
"Yep, apparently so. Ninety thousand?" Wild offered again.
"I's ain't crazy. Ya gotta deal," Freeman said with a big smile.
"This counts as your wedding gift by the way. What last name did you two finally decide on anyway?" Wild asked.
"Taking each other's second part of their name onto the other," Phobia explained. "I'll be Phobia Remedy-Stone and she'll be Rosetta Stone-Remedy."
"So a stone that's a remedy and a remedy for stones then? Stones are the remedy for stones?" Wild asked with a giggle.
"It's not that funny," Rosetta said with a roll of her eyes.
"Let your wonderful little sister who is spending her full first regular week's paycheck on you have a laugh," Wild said with a smile.
"You get paid ninety thousand a week?" Phobia asked.
"Well, think it was like sixty something thousand after the taxes, and like one hundred forty something thousand before, something like that anyway. Didn't pay attention to the exact figure. Still have most my bonus anyway," Wild said with a shrug.
"Well, we do appreciate it," Phobia said.
"You know your going to regret this place though, right?" Wild said with a sly grin.
Phobia and Rosetta looked at one another in confusion.
"Why?" They said in unison.
"Well, you are moving into a century and a half old house with lots of history, and if you have a night pony foal that foal will be invading your dreams. You two are going to be having haunted nursery nightmares. Have fun with that," Wild laughed.
Been thinking a person with Dwarfism could show up to sell the ponies quality of life items.
There are a lot of tools and appliances modified or built to help little people. Such items would be useful to Ponies who would suffer similar size limitations.
I wonder if ETS fixes the dwarfism condition. Maybe that how they learn of the pony community moving to Riverview. A former dwarf turned pony told them.
Woof, Equestria should be sending in people who can do pony biology 101 if this kind of thinking starts to spread. If only to calm down the humans. Ponies define their cutie marks, not the other way around.
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Except for the fact ponies really don't understand cutie marks themselves. That is part of why Twilight and Starlight had determined cutie marks were the point that reverse transformation was impossible. And we do see that removing or switching a cutie mark does have impact on how a pony thinks and acts. In Magical Mystery Cure switched cutie marks caused ponies to behave very differently. In The Cutie Map we saw that the removal of marks impacted a pony's abilities and personality as well. Cutie marks might be born out of a pony's personality and skills, but I don't think Phobia is wrong in saying that they are reinforcing those. Like "okay you have established this as your identity, let me enhance that for you"
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Magical Mystery Cure and Cutie Re-Mark actually argue against them directly affecting personalities. Their abilities are affected, yes, but their personalities stay intact. Rarity still tries to do the weather fabulously in MMC or dramatically laments over her lack of ability to decide whether things are fabulous in Cutie Re-Mark, Fluttershy is still kind and shy, Rainbow Dash is still a go-getter, and so forth. The only pony whose personality seems to be affected is Pinkie Pie in Cutie Re-Mark, and that can be argued to be because her talent is making ponies happy, which would include herself.
Now the two aren't completely unlinked. After all, finding your talent is bound to influence how you see yourself and your future, but it doesn't seem to be a direct magical influence.
i can see the house in my mind, yes i am from the north PA to be exact but my family is from SC x moonshiners and i do love the older style southern buildings.
The tax withheld is seventy percent? Whoa, that's insane. I looked up the tax rate for the highest bracket, which was over $500,000 annually, and it was thirty-seven percent. Is Wild in a tax bracket all on her own? I have a feeling the IRS would have something to say about this; I think an audit would occur in very short order.
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She's actually unsure about both figures, but she has other deductions in there other than just federal tax. She has state tax, social security, Medicare/medicaid and a 401K. It all adds up.
Actually 60K out of 140K is about 58% taken. So 35% federal, 7% state, 6.2% social security, and 1.45% Medicare, and 5% for 401K and that's about right depending on how far off her figures she is.
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On the plus side she has pretty much met her social security tax cap for the year after her first paycheck (assuming the max cap is raised slightly in the next few years). So going forward she should have 6.2% less withheld from her paycheck for the remainder of the year.
(Discussing tax rates and codes why everyone reads mlp fan fiction lol)
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O.o You learn something new everyday about America
So... what's up with the tax brackets in this story? Did the Bernie supporters finally get their "tax the rich" initiative through Congress or something? Okay, jokes aside, though, IIRC my tax bracket dings me for I wanna say about 17%, which even then still calculates out to a shockingly large number for a dude barely making better than minimum wage
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If you missed the comment on the chapter explaining taxes on Wild Growth
Actually 60K remaining out of 140K is about 58% taken which is about accurate only overtaxing a small amount based on current tax brackets. She should give 35% federal (current top tax bracket), 7% state (SC effective flat tax bracket), 6.2% social security, and 1.45% Medicare, and 5% for 401K. It isn't end of the year and she can write off anything yet so this is pretty close to accurate especially if there is any tax increase inbetween now and the time of this story.