Illiad Easle

@Blitz Boom This will be a long one. (Cherish) Seeing Crow pull some bones out of the sand was one thing, but actually touching some with their own hooves was another, so Teal and Gemini were content to stop digging once they had run into more bones even with Cherish's lack of reaction to the discovery or potential encouragement towards further investigation. They were a bit more saddened by the sight of the small dog bones, and so quickly turned their attention away and towards the crate as a far better focus, hoping to themselves that the crate would hold something other than more death. Elef was hardly so patient as to dig out the entire bag once it was clear what it was, and would instead try to cut the bag open with his sharp fangs if at all possible. If he couldn't cut through the bag he'd then dig further to reveal the taloned hand. He wouldn't dig further than that though, as he would resume his efforts to free the bag from the dead grip by whatever means he could, unconcerned with the corpse that held it. That got the others attention, Elef leaving the bag to stand near Crow to see if he could see what she was referring to. He would point out a dark shape in the sky that seemed to be flying vaguely in their direction, "That kind of looks like Miss Ada, she's the guard mare that takes me hunting. Maybe she's watching us to make sure we're safe out here?" He waved towards the dark shape. Depending on how good Crow's vision was she might be able to confirm that the shape was a dark coated thestral mare, but not having met Ada before beyond perhaps having encountered Elef and her while they were out hunting, might nit be able to positively identify her. "Is that... did you get hurt Cherish?" Teal brought some attention back as there seemed to be a bit of red on Cherish's white coat near her forehoof, digging in the sand it was easy to accidentally cut yourself when digging, or to poke the frog or the sole (the soft parts of the bottom of a hoof) enough to draw a bit of blood without noticing. Whether it was her blood or not, or if it was blood at all or just something that had leaked out of a crate or a bone was unclear. As Teal and Gemini drew closer to Cherish to investigate, Elef seemed... off. There was a look in his eyes that Crow might recognize as a hunter viewing prey, looking for a moment to strike, mixed with no small amount of terror, holding him in place. It didn't last long before he shook himself out of whatever it was that held him there, he started to move towards her, his voice a bit shaky, "A-are you al-" *wham* Elef was knocked away from the others, another thestral had swooped down from a nearby cloud at incredible speed to slam into him. He only paused a moment before launching at Elef where he had been knocked back to start attacking him, but it was long enough for those present to recognize him as Nova, who was now wailing on Elef as he struggled to fight back or escape. Teal was frozen in shock and as such didn't try to separate the two with magic. If Crow didn't step in to separate the two (and receive a few swings and kicks from the attacking colt herself) then Ada (who had in fact been the thestral Elef had waived to) would swoop in to subdue the colt, and take a few hits to the face before she could pin him down. If Crow did subdue the colt Ada would land nearby and try to speak to Nova. (The dialogue is the same regardless of who has him pinned) "Nova! Why are you attacking Elef?" Nova would continue to struggle, his eyes focused on Elef, "He's a monster! I have to stop him, kill the vampire, before he kills again!" Ada looked deeply concerned, "Who- Why do you think he's a vampire?" "No one told me, I can see it. His eyes, his fangs, they're wrong. They're the same as..." His eyes focused on Ada, widening as he saw, "Yours!" With an impressive show of strength likely driven by desperation he would escape from whoever held him (If Crow was holding him likely more due to fear of harming the colt than being overpowered) so he could strike at Ada, "You're one too! Same as them. Have to kill, have to keep them safe!" Still, despite taking a few surprise hits (and especially with Crow's help if available) Ada would be able to pin Nova down again, whispering something into her amulet before continuing, "Nova, calm down. Whatever you think is happening isn't true. There are no monsters here, no one is going to kill anyone. Right El-" She turned to look, but Elef was gone. A small pool of blood already soaking into the sands connected to a few drips leading away, and a dark figure quickly growing small in the sky, headed away from the city. Back into the desert towards where they had first come from. Ada cursed under her breath. Two other thestrals landed nearby in full guard attire, one moving to help Ada while the other approached the fillies, Teal and Gemini having moved to stick by Cherish in the commotion. This guard was a younger mare, who did her best to try and keep them calm, "Are you all alright? Are any of you hurt? What happened here?" And so Elef's arc begins (Void) (... Maybe closer than she realized ...) Selena shrugged, "It's possible, I was only directly involved a very long time ago, and very recently, and it was only just before the crisis that I had my own body. So it's unlikely that you ever ran into something I had a hoof in organizing. But most who serve Mercy don't seek out some official sanction first. They just do good for the sake of it, and find themselves rewarded. It's a bit-" She stopped, her eyes moving like she was reading something as her expression fell, "Something happened with the ponies out on the dunes. We need to go." She would move to leave the room when Llambda spoke up, "Oh no! Can I help?" Selena paused, but nodded, "I think you can," she turned towards Void who was no doubt already moving to follow, "If that's alright?" Llambda would stay behind if Void disagreed, but in either case Selena would lead the way at full speed out onto the dunes in the direction of where the other group was. (Null) (I'm guessing you swapped the races on accident, since Arcade is a unicorn, if you didn't though, that's an interesting twist) (We'll hold this one until the Elef arc moves a bit more so everyone can come together. Once the other side is into the next morning we'll move Null ahead again) (Ranger) Ranger shrugged, "Whatever they are, that's where we came from. Or, where they told us we came from. Where they would bring me to remind me that I was expendable, replaceable, whenever I acted out too much." She returned her attention to the machines, trying to work out the controls. There was a small amount of magic running through the machines, and evidence that it was capable of harnessing a lot more magic and had done so in the past. It felt a bit like a stasis spell, holding everything inside the tanks in suspension, which was likely why they were so well preserved in the tanks. Or, there was, until Ranger pulled a lever and the magic stopped, the fluid starting to slowly drain out of the tanks. Ranger nodded, "That seems to have done it then. We can leave now." (Grey) Birdie's expression hadn't changed throughout his speech, though her emotions had some subtle spikes here and there as he had spoken, some anger, some disappointment, mostly hidden by her training. "No, you don't know how things are. Look, I don't mind changelings, but you bugs are so often naive about ponies. Ponies pretend that they're all about peace, about cooperation, but we're not. Blood has bought everything Equestria had. Troy was birthed in blood. The three races only ever cooperated in the beginning under the threat of mutual destruction, and warred for decades before that. Celestia could only keep them together so long as there was an outside enemy for them to fight against. The Griffons, the Umbra, the Zebra, the Thestrals, Empathics, Changelings, because without something outside, they look in for division." She sighed, "The division was there even before the war, before the crisis. Unicorns and their mountains, Pegasi and their clouds, Earth Ponies and their fields, even inside Equestria there was division, and the same is true here. The cloud district sided with Basher when the Grey came in, and when he lost the district got gutted, even now the casino heads ignore that district, look down on them." "Why? Because we're tired of being ruled by the rich and powerful who sit on their thrones while the rest of us suffer. Why now? Because the Grey's out of the way and the oligarchs are scrambling to fill the gaps. Are things so bad? You tell me. You were up there, did it seem like an area where a pony could thrive? Or did it look like a junkyard where all the unwanted items were kicked. Next time you're up there, look down, and see everything the way we've seen it. Where everyone down there has everything you want while you have nothing." There was a bit of concern under the thick layer of resolve though, she seemed confused when he brought up racial superiority, like she wasn't entirely sure what he meant. Maybe thing had shifted since Moth had taken charge, and things weren't as Birdie remembered anymore. After all, she was a unicorn, and Basher had previously employed downtrodden creatures of all types in his gang, not just pegasi.

@Skylight Scintillate Nova thought for a moment, "You'd have to ask him, I'm sure you could find him out on patrol once you're back in Canterlot, but he mentioned going to Spartrot like Scipio did, Canterlot, Manehatten, Trottingham, places like that. He didn't really talk much about how they were different from each other, more how they were different from our colony." Indigo shook her head, "Not directly no, but I was taught by my own mother who learned how to bake from some earth ponies in Canterlot. And those I sold my dyes to before I moved here mentioned that that was what they used some of them for, though most used it to dye cloth for making clothes and things." The zebra mare smiled and nodded at Speckle's answer, "Every place is unique, so far as I have seen. From Zebrica to Mohotma and everywhere in between." Her expression grew a bit more curious and concerned, "Though I sense that something troubles you. Perhaps there's a difference here that makes you so blue?"

@Blitz Boom (Null) "You've certainly been busy, you almost got more done in just this evening than you did the whole time we were here looking for Grey Mane." There was a pause as Nine perused the memories and Null's thoughts on them. They didn't dwell on any for too long as Null didn't seem to have a particular one to bring up. "I met up with Nibiru and Mongoose while I was out. There are a few options available for clearing up the last of your debt, but we can discuss that in the morning." If there wasn't anything that Null wanted Nine's input on, she would be left to sleep peacefully. (We'll hold this one here until Elef's arc kicks off. Should be in my next post.) (Ranger) The button itself was rather firm, it likely was meant to only be pressed in emergency situations, and perhaps had never been pressed before. There was no shortage of other buttons or switches for it to find, though most of what it could flip didn't appear to have any effect. Kozue's efforts to raise the door manually were a bit more fruitful, each small measure the door was raised allowing a bit more light to shine into the room, which made further investigation easier, but still yielded nothing that the fox could interact with to help or hinder. Ranger shrugged, "I've got a lot of numbers here, who knows if any would work? It's hard to make out what the rest of the words on these papers say." If he cared to look he'd see that the documents weren't written in a standard Equestrian script, but rather like the letters had all been compressed down to one side for each word. If he knew of ancient languages, it was akin to a form of Cirrin, the ancient pegasus language, mixed with Terran, the ancient earth pony language, or at least the characters were, they still seemed to represent words in Equestrian. In any case, after a few tries... well, the door didn't open, but something did happen. There was a sound like something was turning, an ancient cable winding, and the already dimmed lights dimmed further. The door moved up barely a quarter hoof before stopping again. Ranger would sigh, "I guess whatever would open the door is long out, it was never this slow or stiff before." If Kozue resumed lifting the door manually, he would find it substantially easier than before! While the code hadn't been able to get the door open, it had appeared to have unlocked the door and moved the counterweight into place. The door fully opened, Kozue would see what the fox hadn't been able to before, with the light from the hallway and his own ability to light up dark rooms. Ranger didn't look surprised to see that the room was full of clones, all of them barely large enough to be considered even premature foals. Instead she looked around the buttons and switches on the consoles before finding the large button by the door that the fox had tried to press earlier, marked PURGE. "Hmm, if the door couldn't be opened, I doubt that will work either." Kozue would be able to detect that there was till a good amount of magic running through the machines connected to the clones, it wasn't a substantial amount, but it was more magic than they had encountered in the rest of the facility. (Cherish) Gemini was happy for the opportunity, "I would like that, thank you!" Gemini and Teal were a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of finding bones or bodies, but weren't fully discouraged from joining in given Cherish didn't seem to mind. Elef wasn't dissuaded at all though, and in fact seemed almost more excited now that finding bones was an option. Gemini and Teal would work closer to Cherish, while Elef would work a short distance away on the other side of the buried wagon from the group. Cherish got the feeling that she was being watched, but of course she was, right? Crow and the others were there with her, if anything it would be strange to not feel watched. Crow would also get the feeling, but it was more predatorial. Something was watching them, cautiously. (That's buildup for the next scene, when the Elef arc starts, I put more details for the event trigger in the OOC in the post before the last one you responded to) (Void) Llambda looked genuinely concerned, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, I hope things are better for your sister and you now?" She looked saddened by that, "Oh, that's too bad. I don't know what I would do if someone I trusted did something like that... There were some of the creatures who came up the mountain, who were selfish or mean to the others, but they didn't stay that way for long once they saw that they were being taken care of. A few did leave though, I hope they made it wherever they thought they were going." She smiled at that, "Oh yes! She's the one who said I should come here, all very smart like she is, she said that in addition to finding Mercy I might find out about my sire. He left before I was born, and my dam died when I was still a cria, so I was mostly raised by Nirvana and some of her smaller changelings." Selena looked thoughtful, "Hmm, so perhaps not through Mercy directly, but by completing tasks for Mercy they square their debt with Karma. I think that could work, since it's like how Vengeance operates but in reverse, doing good to those who have suffered rather than punishing those who have injured. I'll have to speak with Karma on that though." As to how it all worked, Selena nodded, "Usually there isn't too much need for a dedicated avatar or servant of Mercy. Generally ponies are kind to each other and flock together as herds, working to build each other up. It is only in times of crisis when servants of Mercy tend to distinguish themselves, like now, and what they do depends on what is needed." (Grey) He would be allowed to see Basher, as before, but before he got there he would be alerted: After reviewing the contents of confiscated materials there are several missing items since the reformation of the Grey. Be on the lookout for the following items: Most of the items on the list were basic weapons and armor, most likely taken by those who had left in the wake of Grey Mane's death. One item stood out though, 53: Basher's Boon, An amulet seized from The Baltamare Basher after his defeat in the liberation of New Pegas. Enchanted with Chaos magic. If found, Do Not Wear. If anything, he now had another thing to ask Basher about. Arriving at the detainment area the sound of Basher's ball bouncing against the wall, which had become so commonplace when Craven had been on guard duty before, was absent. Basher wasn't known to sleep often (And perhaps was skilled enough to bounce the ball even in his sleep) but maybe he had arrived at just such a time? Still, before he could get to Basher's cell, the mare in the adjacent cell, the unicorn Birdie who had been Basher's second, approached the bars, "Back already bug? Not time to switch the guard rotation yet, and you seem agitated. See something you didn't like up there?" Her tone was hard to pin down, almost devoid of emotion, it seemed to fall somewhere between taunting and curious. What was more interesting is that she identified him as a changeling (albeit with a derogative) despite him being cloaked and potentially disguised. He wouldn't have to ask how she knew that though as she followed up with, "Empathic, so I know a thing or two about being oppressed and rejected. And I know how to read a changeling. You saw how bad things are up there."

@Skylight Scintillate Indigo looked thoughtful, "Nothing happened per-say, it has simply been struggling to keep up. Between the pony settlements expanding and cutting down the forests, more members leaving or marrying into other clans, increasing isolation due to being surrounded by Equestria, it is difficult for a clan to expand under those conditions." She shook her head, "It's not something to worry about, there's very little any one of us could do about it." Nova spoke up, "It's an experiment I did in one of my lessons with plants a few weeks ago. There are certain flowers, like snapdragons, that come in different colors. If you bring two different colors together then the seeds will make flowers of different colors between the first two," he looked to his mother, "Right?" Indigo nodded, "It depends on the flower, some can form a spectrum of colors while others are more rigid, and sometimes colors can hide for a generation to come out in the grandchildren. It's similar for ponies, where a child of two ponies will often be some color between their parents, or among their parents and grandparents, though some unique colorations do appear from time to time." "Like Miss Seinei? She's all white." Indigo shook her head, "Not quite, although, well... Yes, but for different reasons. Miss Seinei is an albino thestral." Nova nodded, "I bet my dad would know, he's been all over Canterlot, and a bunch of places before then!" Indigo nodded, "I think that's very likely, especially if its an earth pony bakery. They tend to use plants and natural colors when they can. Unicorns though are more likely to use magic to color their goods since its easier for them." She would give indigo some tips on how to operate the pestle, having her sit with her hind legs holding the mortar in place while her forelegs worked the pestle, leaving her wings free for balance if need be. The powder itself wouldn't stain her fur unless it got wet and was allowed to dry, and even then would wash out in a few days, so Indigo wasn't worried about it. If Speckle looked closely she'd see that the fur around Indigo's forehooves was faintly stained with many different colors. The older zebra turned towards her with a kindly smile, "Welcome child, you've come so far! What do you think of our grand bazar? Many things here, trinkets and tomes, so very different from your mountain home?" Looking around the market there were indeed many things for sale that Speckle hadn't seen before, but the zebra mare seemed to be speaking more generally, asking how her experience here was compared to what she was used to.

@Blitz Boom Uh oh, you left me thinking too long! Now I have new lore and ideas! No spoilers, but a character from the AEther Project is coming to play, one you didn't get to interact with much, along with some more deep lore tie ins! That said, everything alright? You've been quiet for a while now.

@Skylight Scintillate Indigo looked saddened by the news, "Ah, I feared something like that might happen. Turing, like many of the older thestrals in the clan, have a rather dim view of ponies, or any that aren't pure-blooded thestrals. I had hoped he would care more about making a good impression." She sighed, "In my home clan, such rudeness would not be tolerated, but the Eclipse clan has not been doing well for a long time, and it's hard to argue with the strength the Fastar clan has, despite its troubles." Nova looked over at the ponies as Speckle mentioned them, "Oh? I hadn't really noticed, I mean, they're all still more colorful than thestrals. I guess the ponies up in Canterlot were especially colorful, now that you mention it. Maybe pony color depends on where you grow up?" Indigo smiled as she added, "It has more to do with what color your parents are, and that their parents were. You remember the flower experiment? But it could be that ponies with similar colors tend to go to the same areas." Indigo nodded, "Well, most of these come from flowers and plants, different parts can be dried and ground into a powder that can be used to make paints and dyes. Other colors, like these blue ones, come from crushed rocks and stones like lapis. Some of the ones made from plants are safe to eat, so can be used to color food like in baking." She pulled out a mortar and pestle along with some dried yellow flower petals, "Here, you can try grinding some yourself if you want?" Soon they would start to have some customers, mostly zebra, and most of them spoke in a language that wasn't familiar to Speckle, though it was easy to pick up that the phrases they spoke seemed to rhyme. When Indigo spoke it in response it was clear she wasn't too good at it, and her phrases didn't rhyme as often as the zebra's did. One of the zebra who approached, an older mare, spoke in standard Equish, "Ah, so big already little Lilac has grown? Oh so quickly the time has flown." Indigo chuckled, shaking her head, "No, no, Madam Zeroni, Lilac is still quite young. This is Speckle, she's visiting us from Canterlot for a few days."

@Blitz Boom (Null) After a pleasant evening together the two of them would return to their new hotel room, courtesy of the hotel given their old one had been tampered with by the mysterious kitsune. There wasn't any sign of Ranger being back yet but Arcade wasn't worried yet. Null would find Nine waiting for her there and would quickly re-enter her mind, the feeling of his presence washing over her, now a bit more noticeable given his absence. "So, did I miss anything important?" (Ranger) Ranger sighed, "It's... fine. This place is just... getting to me is all." It was fairly dark in the room, but that might not matter to the paper fox if it saw things by other, more magical, means. As to the door, it seemed like it operated similarly on this side to the other side, with a keypad, though there was a large red button next to it that might be useful, depending on if the fox could get up to it and press it hard enough to make it work. If the fox decided to examine the room itself though, it was a large room. Similarly sized to the flight area that they had used to get down here, but full of complex machinery and scientific equipment. What stood out especially were the rows of large glass tubes, each large enough to comfortably contain a young pony, and most of them not empty. It looked like there were dozens of them present here. More clones. The trace revealed a somewhat random assortment of numbers being pressed, and no number being used too much more than any other, it seemed like the code was changed often and might depend on the user. It also seemed like there wasn't much energy in the keypad, it may well be that there wasn't enough power left in the facility to run the door even if they had the code. As to the door itself, it appeared to be designed to lift straight up, like the doors at some fancy carriage depots. Likely to remain shut if the facility lost power. Depending on how strong he was he could lift the door a bit, but it was quite heavy. There was no shortage of things he could use to brace up the door, so he could theoretically lift it a little bit, brace it, then lift again, incrementally lifting the door until there was enough room to get through. By that time Ranger would get back with a stack of papers with various numbers to try. (Cherish) Gemini shrugged, "Maybe? I do like reading, and learning. If you still have one of those books where you saw the symbol, can I read it sometime? Maybe it explains something?" (I meant for the questions to be spread out as they traveled, not all coming at her at once, but we can go with this. They're excitable children after all.) They were all attentive listening to Crow's answers, and eager to get started given what Crow had described to pique their interest as to what was out there. Elef looked a bit less sure when Crow mentioned hunting, "Well, Miss Ada says I shouldn't go hunting without her, but it should be okay to go with you, right?" In any case, they were ready to follow Crow's lead and get started. (Void) Llambda tilted her head to the side, which given the length of her neck made it a much bigger gesture than if she were a pony, "Oh? That's too bad. About the curse that is. I know that magic is really important to ponies so to not have it..." She sighed sadly, "Oh, It's too bad you never made it to Himallama, it's a very beautiful place, wonderfully cold, unlike here." As Himallama was on the same continent as Zebrica and Cervidas, they would have had to travelled for a long while through the area that had made Null so sick before, and she would be in no state to climb the mountain up to the Himallaman plateau like that. Llambda nodded, "Oh, of course! It's further east than Zebrica and Cervidas, up on the steppes and the plataeu of the mountain. Pretty cold for ponies but perfect for alpaca and llamas. Before the shaking, it was mostly just us up there, the zebra, deer, and reindeer mostly left us alone, only coming to buy our wool and bring us food we couldn't grow ourselves or other trinkets in exchange. There was this one really big changeling, Nirvana, who was like the leader there because no one else wanted to, plus she was very old and knew a lot about being peaceful. She taught me all about being charitable, how helping others can help your soul. After the shaking, we got a lot more zebra, deer, and reindeer than usual, said a creature named Disk Ord was breaking everything? But they were safe up there because all the llamas on the mountain meant that magic didn't work, so he couldn't do anything to them there." Selena returned with an odd expression on her face, looking to Void, "That was a member of the Grey out there, the Grey Mare wants to discuss how those in the Grey could serve Mercy to earn their penance. Any thoughts on that? The service of Mercy is usually reserved for those who have nothing to gain from it." (Grey) It didn't look like they were being followed, not like Null had been on her first visit up here at least, but they did attract some attention as the new ponies on the layer. Most of the pegasi and griffons that they would see here were younger, very few over 20, though none younger than 6 or seven, at least that they could see. The few adults they found had clearly seen combat by their scars and demeanor. All around, there was a feeling of slight anger, like they were owed something they had been denied. In the younger ones the feeling was more of a desperation, a hunger, to belong and to achieve. In short, the perfect ingredients to be whipped into a frenzy with the right charismatic leader, or to turn into a disaster with poor organization. No wonder the Grey wanted this bomb diffused.

@Skylight Scintillate Indigo smiled at that, "Ah, that's good to hear! I'm glad you're having a good time here and learning from our clan. And I'm glad to hear that Nova's being helpful and a good example." Nova enjoyed the praise, but his smile wavered a bit, "Turing was a bit hard on us, at least at the start after Speckle mentioned being from Canterlot." Indigo looked more concerned, "Oh? I'm sorry about that. I hope he wasn't too hard on you?" They were just about at the edge of the forest, and from there it was a bit of a walk along a dirt road into the zebra village. There weren't too many zebra up and about just yet, as the sun was just starting to shine over the horizon, but there were a few who waved as they passed through to the marketplace where several other ponies and zebra of various kinds were setting up their stalls. The ponies all seemed to have darker coat colors than the variety Speckle had seen in Canterlot, more stone and gem colors compared to the bright pastels common in central Equestria. Speckle would be allowed to help Indigo and Nova set up the stall, which was mostly arranging the various colored inks, powders, and dyes that Indigo had brought to sell, there was still time for them to chat.

@Blitz Boom Yeah, per what I said in my last post here: The plan was to wait on continuing this one until we hit the next major milestone in Deep Science, as the next storyline in Æther Project is the alternate New Pegas that emerged after 25 years of Discord instead of just 2. Llambda was one of those two characters I wanted to appear first, since she'll be very different in this storyline, and the second is still to come towards the climax of Elef's arc, which is just about to begin. I'm sorry if I made you think I had forgotten about this thread, I am still plotting out where this one will go and am still excited to continue!

@Blitz Boom You've very good at giving me ideas, you know? Hadn't planned for it, but now I'll think of something along those lines. Also, per that, I'm going to need Cherish to get hurt in your next post. Nothing major, just like a cut or something, so long as there's a small amount of blood, I think a few drops would be plenty to get the ball rolling. Maybe while digging in the sand she accidentally finds a dagger and gets poked by it on accident, not even deep enough to scar. Yeah I ended up going with the idea that the gifts of Mercy are earned through sacrifice, and sacrifice not done with the idea that the gift would be earned as a result. The gifts that Llambda got as an example, you give away your money, expecting nothing in return, and would be willing to continue giving your own money away, so you're worthy of Mercy's coinpouch so you can keep giving away money without bankrupting yourself. But you can't then use the pouch to profit yourself. Stuff like that, in essence Mercy rewards sacrifice, first being the sacrifice of ego. The servents of Mercy act solely for the benefit of others, and their gifts are only able to benefit others and are given to those who would have sacrificed those items anyway, but now are able to continue for much longer. I'm not planning to have her as a constant character, or I wasn't, but considering your idea above it looks like she'll be present for this arc.

@Skylight Scintillate As tall as the oldest trees were, they weren't nearly so tall as the trees surrounding the clearing, and weren't quite as wide. They looked like they had been trimmed extensively to keep them growing straight up and to not crowd the other trees that were growing so close by. The canopies themselves weren't all that wide, and bore no evidence of any creatures living in or on them. It was like how many of the few trees that existed in Canterlot outside of the palace gardens were enchanted to keep the birds off, but how the thestrals here managed it without magic was a mystery even to Nova if Speckle asked. Nova nodded, "I mean, probably. I don't know what it all ends up getting used for, I just see them sending it away out of the forest. As to interesting things though," he looked thoughtful, "Hmmm, I guess we don't use it for all that much here. I mean, some of the houses are held up by shimmerwood trees, and we have some as signposts on the forest trails, but outside of small lamps inside the houses I guess we don't really do much with it." He seemed disappointed in that answer, "Maybe they do more with it up in the central colony? We do send a bunch of it up there. And they do have the shimmerwood tree with the clan history carved into it." Nova nodded, "Alright, let's go meet up with my mom then!" They would encounter his mother just as she was leaving their house, her back strewn with several bags. "There you two are, I was starting to think you'd changed your minds." She would start to lead the way out of the colony, allowing Speckle to carry a bag or two if she asked, Nova volunteering to do so. Once they were outside of the colony and walking in the forest Indigo asked, "So how did hunting class go? I smell a bit of blood, did it go well?"

@Blitz Boom (Null) Arcade looked thoughtful, but smiled, "I think I would like that. " Unless Null had other things to bring up, or other questions to ask, Arcade would be happy to leave the deep talk there and enjoy the rest of the evening with her. (I think that's a good ending for that scene. We can pick them back up in the morning once Ranger and Kozue are done and build into the Elef arc since I want those three threads a bit more closely synced up for the arc. We can have Null and Nine reconnect in the evening if there's something you want Null to ask them.) (Ranger) As conflicted as she was, Ranger had enough sense to not comment here, even if his story seemed to argue more to her point than Kozue might have intended. Something small but thowable, maybe a beaker? was flung at high speed against a nearby wall when he said her name. While it hadn't been thrown in his direction, it was clear that Ranger did not like having her name mentioned, especially not in this context. She didn't have the words or the energy to refute his arguments, nor to comment on them. It took her several shuddering breaths before she calmed herself enough to even continue her thus far fruitless searching. She had mostly calmed down by that point, and so wasn't about to lash out at him, but she did shove off the stuff she had been looking through with a bit of a huff before coming over to see what he had found. Her expression grew curious as she lifted one of the figures, "Hmm, what's this? I don't..." She looked over at where he had found it. "Did Arcade? No... he didn't spend that much time in here. Gemini..." Her expression finally softened after all the time she had spent here, "I would guess Mistress made these for us, and hid them here. Maybe she showed them to the younger ones while I was training. Even if she didn't, I think this is something worth bringing back. We can see if they remember them, and if they don't we can say it was from her." She would gather them up into a small satchel she had found, wrapping them in some of the discarded papers to help against damaging them, which allowed her to get a better look at them. It looked like there was a miniature, albeit rudimentary, representation of each of the elements, the princesses, and a few other ponies in the set, though to be more accurate they were all vaguely pony shaped with some color painted on, they didn't have marks or wings or horns, likely beyond the creator's ability to carve or paint, but as a set that was the likely conclusion. Ranger didn't have an issue handling them. Once they were packed up she looked towards the door, "I want to leave, but there's one last thing to check." She would leave the room and head further down the hall to a large doorway with a keypad. She started pressing a few numbers on it, without success, before sighing, "Looks like I forgot the code, or I never knew it in the first place. I'll see if they maybe wrote it down somewhere, unless you have an idea as to how to get through?" The door itself was about twice the size of the other doors here, and solid metal. It looked like it was meant to open upwards. The walls around the doorway weren't especially reinforced, not compared to the rest of the walls here, nor were they any thicker than the rest, in case he had any abilities that could break or move through either. It also wasn't airtight, in fact there was a gap about half a centimeter high at the bottom of the door, like something was keeping it from fully shutting. (Cherish) Gemini would nod and show off her mark for Crow to see, since it wasn't covered by how she wore her lab coat now. It was still the open book with a magnifying glass showing a capital Pi. "I'm not sure exactly what it means yet, but I got it while we were all in the library. Cherish was there, she actually saw it first!" They would watch silently, and with a bit of hesitation, as Crow fed the vulture, and would be relieved when it didn't seem interested in them after being given food. They all paid close attention to Crow's guidance as to what they should and shouldn't do while out in the desert, and they seemed excited by the idea of scavenging, Elef only a little disappointed to not be going hunting. They didn't have questions that couldn't also be asked while they were traveling to wherever Crow had in mind, but they would ask along the way things like: "What sort of things do you usually find?" "What's the coolest thing you've found?" "Is it dangerous to scavenge?" "Do you get lonely out here?" "Does the sand bother you?" Among other things. (Void) The llama looked slightly amused when Void bowed, "Oh, you don't need to do that! I'm not that important... anymore." She would scoop Void into a hug, one of the few creatures that actually had a height advantage on her allowing for a more encompassing hug, combined with the warmth and softness of the llama's coat. Which, at this distance, gave Void a very familiar feeling. Wrapped in the llama's embrace, Void felt, or rather, couldn't feel, the magic around her. It was like she had been before, cut off from the magic field, only not quite as completely. The llama let her go soon enough, "Oh, sorry! I should ask first, I know ponies get uncomfortable when too close to llamas, and even though as a llamare my wool isn't quite as strong..." she trailed off, "...It's good to meet you Void." There was a soft knock at the door, which puzzled Selena, but she went out of view to see who it was. Allowing Llambda and Void more time to talk, "Oh, I wish I could be friends with a shiny pony like that! We don't get many ponies in himallama, not before the shaking anyway, and even after it was mostly deer and zebra that came up the mountains." (Grey) The new pegasus's expression would shift as they shared a bit of their histories. She was fairly neutral towards Craven's story, but both impressed and disappointed by Yannit's, "Really? A Blacksmith from a smuggleden interested in carousels?" She snorted shaking her head, "Casinos were always here, down below. The cloud layer used to be what everyone came to see, 'family friendly' and all that, the ground was where the residents lived, and where the adults went when the foals went to bed." She waved dismissively with a wing and another pony left the bar, "But history's a bore, we're worried about the future. There's a chance here for a real independent flock to emerge finally unbound by that racial unity crap. We've more in common with griffons than those ground ponies anyway, why should we be left with the scraps up here while they get all the good stuff left over? It's in the name, that they're trying to change, Las Pegasus is our town." She left a paper with some directions deeper into the cloud layer, "The flock can use any able wing willing to fly with it. Especially if you're still any good at smithing. Think about it and come talk to us." With that she would leave the bar.

@Skylight Scintillate Nova looked a little reassured by that, and smiled, "Oh, um, thank you for saying so." Nova led the way down another path out of the central clearing which went a short way out before opening to another clearing, they could see the river running along the far side of it with irrigation lines running away from it towards the orderly rows of crops. Most of them were pretty standard, like you'd see in any rooftop or balcony garden up in Canterlot, just on a larger scale, and to one side there were rows of shimmerwood trees at staggered heights. Nova led the way over to them and explained, "Each year they plant a line of trees, so all the trees in a line are the same age." There were a good forty lines of trees, and each line had maybe a hundred trees in them. The trees got taller the further down the lines they went until suddenly they were saplings. "They cut them down once they get big enough, then clear the line so the next set of trees can be planted. So these here are the oldest trees which will be cut down at the end of summer, and these are the youngest trees which were planted at the beginning of spring." As tall as the oldest trees in this field were, they were much shorter than the trees that made up the forest. If Speckle moved to get too close to the saplings, Nova would stop her, "Sapling shimmerwood trees are really delicate, they take a few years before they get strong. That's why they're so infrequent in the forest itself. But once they're really old they get really strong, there are some trees so big and strong that only the bark can be cut. There's one like that up in the original colony, they carve the clan history into it."

@Blitz Boom Hmmm... I tried for an hour to write the next section of the Void story, but I can't seem to get it quite right. I want it to mirror the Vengeance event but I am struggling with the feeling and tone, as well as the gifts and tools. I want it to represent sacrifice, and that power in Mercy comes with costs, but it feels like there is too much sacrificed which would turn Void off of wanting to follow Mercy. Also, I keep second guessing myself as to who it is that is bowing to Mercy, I was originally planning for it to be Epsilon, and thus have Void meet her there, but also I think it would be the perfect introduction for another character instead. That brings its own complications of how the new character would then be integrated to the Grey to bring in the Mercy aspect to the organization. Any thoughts on that? I could use suggestions as to how the ceremony might go, what the gifts and abilities could be, and whether it should be Epsilon or another that seeks to serve Mercy. (The more I think about it the more I think the other character would fit better, but your suggestions for that and the other things would still be greatly appreciated.)

@Blitz Boom (Null) Arcade thought about that, then nodded. "I think that could be a good idea. It might help the others more, since they never saw them again, not like I did." That was something she'd have to bring up with Nine once they got back together. Nine likely knew what options were available to them. Arcade seemed partially eager to move on to a different topic, and partially eager to eat, so he took advantage of the situation to take one of his slices from the tray. "So, um, what comes next? I mean, we put some plans together for when we get back to Troy, about seeing a doctor and all, but is there something more we should do or plan for, in terms of us? I'm not saying we need to plan everything right now, I just don't know what to expect, and I'm curious what you think about when you think of our future." (Ranger) Ranger's expression was strange as Kozue retorted, part of it was incredulous, and mostly confused. It seemed as though she hadn't really questioned the maxim she'd shared, or rather, she didn't have reason to disagree with the statement that parents could kill their children, and was confused when Kozue presented it as a counter-argument, or as though to believe such was incredulous. Her expression was a bit more resigned when he asked the hypothetical, "Loyalty... often means giving up something you care about for something more. Of all of them... I don't think they'd disagree." There was a conflict inside her, given what little she knew about the world having been taught to her from birth, and exclusively having been taught here in this lab. She wanted to reconcile what she had been taught with what she was hearing, but she couldn't find the words or arguments to make them make sense. Her entire world-view had been called into question, had everything she been taught been a lie? If so, what did anything even mean? In any case, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. It was a closely guarded open secret among pegasi, at least in pure-blooded communities like Cloudsdale, which hearkened back to the very ancient days, before the unification of the races. 'Everything for the good of the flock.' The weak among them were pushed out, culled, or made useful, never to be seen or spoken of again, to maintain the collective strength and purity of the flock. As strict as thestrals were about their racial purity, they were at least open about it. The pure pegasi held it even stronger than the noble unicorn houses, and no one ever spoke about it. Which is to say, it would come as no surprise that the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation had signed off on this project without a second thought. Ranger calmed down a bit as she tore through the room. Mostly kicking papers about though the odd thing she would find she would pause and consider for a moment before setting it aside. Eventually she sat down and sighed, "It's no use. Everything here is tainted with the memory of this place. How do you find something to remember them without remembering them? We all suffered here, some more than others, and these things... just hold those memories for me." There wasn't a lot of color in the objects she had considered. No proper toys or comfort items to be found, mostly just improvised facsimiles or what was obviously testing equipment like weighted blocks and bands. There were some things though, small and roughly carved, that had some color to them tucked away in a corner, as though hidden in a secret compartment, that Kozue or the fox might be able to find. If they did find it, it would reveal a box of small toys that had been made by hoof inexpertly. (Cherish) (That's a nice callback, I'm glad you remembered that part!) The young ponies kept a respectful distance as Crow warmed up to coming outside to see them, and nodded in turn as she remembered their names. Gemini not minding being called by her old name, though she did speak up, "Toupé was my name before, yes, but I got my mark and changed my name to Gemini, after the pony who kept us safe until we got here." She hoped that that wouldn't cause Crow any embarrassment or issue. Elef would also speak up, "Cherish told us that we might do something with you out here? Like scavenging or hunting?" (Void) Selena nodded at that with a smile, "Of course, I think some time on their own will do them some good." Vale was easy enough to bring in, as she was just upstairs in her apartment dealing with paperwork in order to stay close by in case Void needed her for something, like this. It took a bit to get her attention though, as engrossed as she was in her work, but Void was able to convey all the important information to her and feel confident that the deer had a good handle on things. That all settled, Selena would lead the way to the court building where she worked and where Molotov had first met her. Instead of going to her office she went up some stairs that seemed to be rarely used into an upper chamber of the courthouse. It was a simple room, like a slimmed down version of a courtroom having space only for a judge and the one being judged, with some seating along the back wall for observers. The room itself was brightly lit, almost like the sun was shining down on them, though there was no obvious source of light and the sun was approaching the horizon. Along the walls of the room were some dusty tapestries, the figures on them faded and hard to make out. But that might all go unnoticed by Void, given the mare, or rather, llama, that sat waiting at the dais of the one to be judged. Her wooly coat was almost entirely black, though it shifted to white around her face, a face which seemed distinctly equine. Were it not for the long neck and thin legs, she would almost look like a pony simply disguised as a llama. She sat still, eyes closed, a faint smile on her face like she was perfectly content to wait, or had fallen asleep. Selena would have Void sit in one of the chairs against the wall before moving to her position at the judge's podium. As she approached, her form shifted, elongated, sprouting horns upon which hung scales. When the transformation was complete she looked like the reindeer version of an alicorn, or a reindeer with alicorn proportions. The glow coming off of her was almost brighter than the rest of the room. When she spoke, her mouth didn't move. In fact, did she even have a mouth? Still, Void heard it, like Selena was speaking directly into her soul. It felt warm, not uncomfortably so, but still noticeably. "llambda, you've presented yourself at the high court of Mercy. To what end have you approached?" The llama's eyes opened slowly, like she was in no hurry, her smile growing slightly, "Oh! Queen Nirvana told me to seek you out, to improve my ability to help others." Selena nodded, "And so you shall, until you feel fulfilled. To give Mercy requires sacrifice, nothing good came without cost, but for many the cost is easy to bear. What are you willing to sacrifice?" "Oh, I don't have much. I never made much money selling my wool. I liked to give it away to who needed it, the money too." Selena nodded again, "Indeed, your heart is pure, and your sacrifice will be rewarded. First, we give you this." From the light coalesced a shadow, then a cloak emerged that seemed to shimmer and float like it were no more permanent than a morning frost. It settled on the llama and disappeared. "The shroud of Mercy. Mercy's acts can never be for your own gain or fame, so it will conceal your identity. When you wear it, others will see only what they need to so that you may accomplish your goals." Another item appeared, this one a saddlebag which appeared at her side. "As you have so freely given of your resources, Mercy grants what you may require. You'll never lack for a good to give, but only for the benefit of others." Finally, a small coin purse appeared at her neck. "Similarly, as you've surrendered your coin Mercy will not leave you lacking. You will have enough to help others as they need, but no more." The llama's smile grew with each gift, and at the end she bowed, "Oh, Thank you, I will see them put to good use." Selena nodded in response, "See that you do. If you find others worthy to bear the gifts, you may share them as well. Those unworthy will not long possess them." The llama rose from the dias where she sat, the gifts disappearing from view, as Selena returned towards Void, the transformation reverting as she did. The llama took notice of Void sitting there as a result, and waved, "Oh hi! I didn't hear you come in, did you come to see Mercy too?" (Grey) (Given sand dollars are a relatively new currency, and almost only spent by Trojans, it wouldn't be a good idea to try and use them at the bar, and Watch would advise against it. The Grey usually provided Equestrian Bits to agents that needed to spend money, as they aroused the least suspicion.) They were given their drinks without a word, and found a place to sit easily enough, though they weren't alone for long before a mare sat at their table. "So, new in town?" The tone made it clear that it wasn't a question. She spoke softly, not out of secrecy, but rather to preserve the quiet atmosphere of the bar. "You came to the right place. The Flock could use some new blood. What's your stories?" She didn't match the description for Moth, but Basher had proven decent at disguises before, so it wasn't out of the question.

@Skylight Scintillate Nova looked a bit ashamed, "Well, whenever I messed something up, or failed to catch something, he would say it was my fault. That I didn't try hard enough. But for you, he said it wasn't your fault. Then again, you actually caught something." Nova sighed, then nodded. "I usually don't catch anything because I'm too loud. Or that's what they tell me. When I'm alone, its hard for me to keep quiet, but I find it easier when I'm with you? I think it's because I'm trying to give a good example." Nova smiled at that, at least at the last part. The thestral that was working on breaking down the hare gave them a look, and Nova led the way out before responding. "There's a lot of sharp knives in there, so they don't want us loitering or distracting the cutters." Once outside, he continued, "That's the cold house, where we keep meat and such until it can be cooked and either served or preserved. It's lower than the others so it can stay colder, but still off the ground so that the creatures cant get to it. Our clan mostly likes to eat the meat when its fresh, so not a lot is stored, and any remains are quickly smoked and dried so it can last without being kept cold. The cutters break down anything that gets hunted or caught, they have really sharp knives to cut the bones, which we can use to help grow the fruits and vegetables." There was just a bit of sun coming up on the horizon, enough to distinguish the sky from the canopy of the trees. "Do you want to see where we grow things? Or do you want to just meet up with my mom? She'll be leaving soon for her stall in the Zebra town, but we should be able to see the fields if we hurry."

@Skylight Scintillate Turing didn't respond to that comment, more focused on preparing to more the hare back to the clearing. Nova simply nodded at Speckle's comments, but didn't speak up. There were eyes on her for a brief moment when she spoke up, but the attention quickly retuned to Turing. Turing softly snorted before continuing, "You two are dismissed, take the hare to the cooks so they can prepare it." Nova nodded, and would carry the now dead hare if Speckle didn't want to. In either case he wouldn't speak until they had a good distance from the clearing, where he let out a deep breath. "Oh, wow! I've never seen Turing act like that before... And you did your first hunt! I..." he sighed, looking away, "I'm sorry he put you on the spot like that, I think he was trying to punish me and you just got in the way. I thought he'd do something back there..." he shuddered, "Anyway, what did you think?" They would have some time to talk before they got back to the main clearing, where Nova would lead the way into one of the structures a bit lower down than the rest. When they entered it was clear that it served as a food storage and prep area, low enough to be easily accessible, but high enough to keep most of the forest creatures from wandering in. They would be able to present the hare to the thestral there, who silently appraised it before nodding and proceeding to break it down quickly and efficiently while they watched, the parts being cleaned and sorted according to what they could be used for with minimal waste. Then the thestral there moved on to other tasks as Nova led the way out (Or sooner if Speckle didn't want to stay to watch)

@Blitz Boom Alas! No worries though! I know how that can be. That's why I keep a spare keyboard and mouse just in case. I hope it comes in soon!

@Skylight Scintillate Turing's expression softened, just a bit, as she crumpled under the pressure, "I see, it seems you lack instruction on this part. That is not a failing, at least not on your part. You did well to not lose hold of the prey. Do you think you can carry it back to the clearing without losing it?" If she nodded she'd be allowed to carry it as Turing led the way back to the clearing with Nova in tow. "The others have not yet been taught how to kill their prey, your capture will provide an excellent demonstration." Otherwise he would come closer, use a wing to stretch out the hare's back legs before pinning them with a hoof, then instruct Speckle to let it go. Pinned as it was it couldn't escape. "I'll carry it back to the clearing, and there I will instruct you and the others on how to properly kill prey that is caught." He would then grab the hare's neck with his fangs to carry it back to the clearing. Once back in the clearing the others were already gathered, each holding the small creatures they had caught, mostly mice, and quietly waiting for further instruction. If Speckle was carrying the hare herself the others would look impressed. At which point Turing would have her pass it over to him as above, pinning it to the ground before having her let it go. "Our guest has done well for her first hunt, having caught this hare almost entirely unassisted." Turning nodded towards Speckle, and the others did likewise, it seemed to be a quiet sign of respect. "Now, I will use her catch to teach you all how to kill what you have caught. While this hare is bigger than your prey, the process is mostly similar. First, you will go from the catch position to the pinned position like this." He picked it up by the neck again, and demonstrated using a wing to extend the hind legs and a hoof to pin them before releasing. "Your grip must be firm or they'll escape. Don't be tempted to pin the tail, many small creatures will bite their own tails off to escape if they can." He pressed a hoof to the base of the hare's neck on the back, right on the spine. "For smaller creatures you can press with your hoof here, down and forward, until you feel a pop and it stops moving. For larger creatures like this one though." He put his hoof under the head and lifted it backwards, the hare struggled, then stopped. "You can pull the head backwards to achieve the same result." He lifted the hoof pinning the back legs to reveal it was dead, as it did not try to escape. "Now, you do likewise." Turing would leave the hare to approach Speckle, "You did well for your first hunt. It would seem being raised around ponies has not left you so ill-equipped as I had supposed, or you are a quick study, and Nova an excellent guide." He nodded a bit deeper than before to the both of them, "In either case, you have exceeded my expectations."

@Skylight Scintillate Catching it was one thing, it started to move as she lunged for it, but she was able to correct for it in time, biting hard at the skin behind it's neck. It started to try to escape, twisting in an attempt to get away. She tasted something wet, and very warm, in her mouth. It was bleeding. If she maintained her composure enough to turn to Nova for instructions, she'd see that he was impressed, "You caught it! Now you-" "Kill it." Nova was cut off by Turning landing nearby. The teacher also seemed slightly impressed, but it was clear by his expression that she was being evaluated. Nova seemed cowed by Turing's presence, so he couldn't give her advice on how to do it.

@Skylight Scintillate Nova nodded, the rabbit had shown surprising strength and flexibility as it had wriggled free from her grip. Still, he spoke softly, "Your approach was good, and you actually managed to grab it, but your capture was bad." He held up a hoof, "Hooves are good enough for holding things, but they don't have much grabbing power. If you want something to not get away, you need to use your fangs." He bit the air in demonstration. "If you get them with your teeth, they'll only hurt themselves trying to get away, though you'll have to be careful, or they'll kick you in the eye or the neck." He thought for a moment, then approached, "You're supposed to kill one, but if you wanted to bring one back alive, you would try to grab them here, at the back of the neck." He touched the back of her neck, where her neck met her withers, showing that there was some loose skin there. He turned his attention back to the forest, "Come on, let's try and find another one quick." Nova would let Speckle try to find a trail on her own if she wanted, or point another one out for her if she let him, or grew frustrated. In either case they would follow it as before, this time finding a hare. It seemed to be breathing heavy, like it had just been chased. Maybe one of the other young thestrals had tried to catch it?

@Blitz Boom (Null) Arcade listened attentively to everything Null had to say. There wasn't much he could comment on, not ever having had parents like that, but it wasn't a bad thing, it was good to listen and to learn more about her. He smiled at that last part, "If all works out, I suppose I will." It was bout then that their food was brought over, set up same as before with a small holder keeping their pizza elevated and out of the way so they could continue talking while they ate. Arcade looked thoughtful, then sighed, "For those that survived... yes, I think she would be happy to know that any of them made it through, given what we discovered after she left us. But I also think she would be sad for the ones who didn't make it." While the other young ponies had detailed to Void about Ajay, Effs, and Rare, and Null had been present to know the true fate of Rare, Void had likely not shared the particulars of the other two with Null, and if she had, Arcade was unaware. "There were more of us before you saved us. Ajay and Effs, they were from the same batch as Ranger, or just a bit younger, but older than the others. The four of us were the main protectors once Gemini took us to that facility. Ajay got hurt pretty bad on one excursion, it was the same one where Elef got that scar over his eye. She was starting to turn into some sort of monster, like the one that got her, so, I had to..." He shook his head, but carried on, "Effs, she went down keeping Teal and Toupé safe. Real strong and protective one she was. I found her remains a few days later, luckily I didn't have to..." He sighed, "And Rare, well, you already know about that." He closed his eyes for a bit, "I wonder, sometimes, if we could have done better. I know we did the best we could given the circumstances, and I'm sure she would understand and be proud of us for surviving at all, but I know she would be sad to hear that not all of us made it. She was sad when only Peal and Piecey (I always forget how to spell her name!) were the only ones of the youngest that could go with us." (Ranger) Ranger simply shrugged at that, "Well, they made us, so they could unmake us, and they often did. Before me, there were dozens of others that didn't make it. That came out wrong or grew up wrong, or simply died. Mistress told me that they had had good intentions in making us, and... from what I've heard about the ponies we were cloned from, they were rather important ponies." She shook her head, "No use dwelling on that though, even if that's part of why I even wanted to come." She simply snorted at that, "Do what you want with them, not like anyone's going to have this level of resources for a long time." Something about this place seemed to be getting to her, she was getting angrier, snappier, the longer she spent here. Ardee didn't pay much mind to her paper fox as she pushed ahead, flower lighting her way as she held it in a wing. She muttered a bit to herself as she moved purposefully down the hallways, pausing only for a moment at each turn or crossroads. She stopped at a door, in faded text next to it it said Duplimancy Research The door was stiff, but she pushed through it to reveal a moderately sized room. On the walls were doorways without doors into small sleeping quarters, more like alcoves or recesses to the room to be honest. The central area had several desks and scattered books, like it had been used as a classroom, along with a dividing wall and observational windows from above. The contents of the room were scattered, like the occupants had left in a hurry, which seemed reasonable. Ranger started digging through the stuff in the alcoves. As with the previous observation room, Kozue would find more documentation paperwork, going into a bit more detail as to the cloning process and their growth over time, many papers signed off with GP at the bottom. (Cherish) Elef nodded at that, having gotten the same lesson from Ada, but the other two were not surprised and agreed. As they followed along after Cherish Elef was more focused on the path ahead while Teal and Gemini were looking all around. Teal did ask though, "Will Crow be alright with us joining you today? I don't want to surprise her." Gemini followed up, "I hope she's willing to share, I've read that some dragons can get really possessive sometimes, but she seemed nice when you introduced us last time." As to the cave itself, while the desert around Troy had plenty of natural caves, they did tend to get buried and uncovered relatively frequently. Great places to hide away from the sun for a day or two, bot not great for long term residence unless you enjoyed digging yourself out of the cave every evening. So Crow would have better luck building a shelter on a tall rock or a clay plateau. (Void) Soon after the young ones had left, there was a knock at the door, which, if Void went to answer would find Selena, "Sorry to pop in unannounced, and I meant to come by with more time before the young ones got back from school, but it looks like I've still beat them here. Anyway, I'll be quick." "You remember our previous talks about Mercy? Well, another pony has chosen to accept Mercy's offer, and I was wondering if you would want to be there when it happens? I could arrange for Vale to take over for you here, it'll only take about 30 minutes, an hour at most. I understand if it's not the most convenient time." (Grey) As dull and depressing as the cloud layer had looked before Basher had been taken out, it seemed someone had further reduced the saturation in his absence. It was quiet up here, the few winged creatures hardly looking or addressing each other as they passed on the streets. The only place with any sort of atmosphere left was the bar that Null had visited on her trip up, and even there the only noise was the sound of glasses moving and the occasional order. There was a distinct anxiety and uncertainty in the air. The changelings could tell that much. The creatures here weren't depressed, they hadn't given up, but something was keeping them on edge. Either something big had just gone down, or it was just about to. Their disguises didn't arouse any suspicion, and only mild curiosity came their way from the few who bothered to look. They didn't look like easy targets nor out of place. Everyone was content to ignore them, for now.

@Skylight Scintillate Nova grimaced, "Well, a lot of thestrals here don't like being compared to ponies, or interacting with ponies. Still, I've seen worse. If we manage to catch something I think he'll be impressed, especially if we can do it before he comes to check on us." Nova would give her pointers as they went, first suggesting that they get some distance from the clearing they had started in before starting to search, then by spotting a trail for her to start down. Nova indicated that it was a rabbit trail, and after just a few minutes of slow quiet tracking Speckle was able to spot the rabbit just a short distance ahead, drinking from a puddle of water. Nova silently motioned for her to go ahead, not wanting to say anything as at this distance any sound would make it run.

@Blitz Boom No worries! Though I was just about to send you a message asking if things were alright. What you've written sounds good, though for the Las Pegasus section I think it would be worth it for me to write the first section so that you don't have to guess as to the state of things around your characters. That said, there are two characters I want to use in the Las Pegasus section that haven't yet appeared in the Deep Science story, and I think they would be more impactful if they appeared there first. So I'm thinking we put this story on hold until those characters appear in Deep Science during and at the end of Elef's arc. Also because I'm really excited for Elef's arc to play out and to bring Ardee home to the others now that she has her mark.

@Skylight Scintillate Turing didn't look terribly impressed, "Hmm... It seems that living so close to the ponies has made your clan soft. You lack confidence, and despite your age it's clear you only have theory of hunting. I would surmise you've never actually killed something before?" Turing snorted at that, "Ponies don't exactly do much hunting at all. But we are not ponies, we are thestrals. To hunt is in our nature." He seemed proud of that, then continued, "Well, I'm not sure there's much I'll be able to do to get you back on track, but I'll do my best with the time we have. Nova," He turned his attention to Nova standing beside her, "Perhaps we'll start with a test? Accompany her out into the forest, try and teach her what you've learned. Help her track, catch, and kill something bigger than a mouse, then return. I will check on the others then come help you if you haven't managed it by then. Dismissed." Turing would then leave the clearing, taking to the sky over the trees in search of the other young thestrals.