Blitz Boom
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It's alright. Sometimes it doesn't notify me either for some reason. Usually I find it best to just pop in and check every now and again.
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Tidal's expression froze stiffened as Thunder suggested that she had run into that sounded as ludicrous as land sharks, and a small tick went over her right eye, as a couple of images started to flash before her eyes.
"...Yeah, land sharks."
Her voice were lower than before and serious, as she tried to get those particular images out of her head and get herself situated more in the presence.
"I've been facing a lot of weird and dangerous creatures in my time. Giant squid, kelpies, rogue gang of sharks, golems- Hay, even a stray, irate siren once. But a dozen, three meter long sharks swimming through the sand without an issue... We might've not lost anypony, but we didn't catch all of 'em either, and they did massive damage to property and citizens alike before we got one of 'em struck down, and the rest suddenly took off. They're still out there somewhere, and I'm guessing that they aren't gonna be too thrilled about our kind whenever they run into us after that. The panic and damage that attack lead to, have caused more fear than any of the other creature's we've had to face in recent years.
Been making inquiries and asked the other generals to look into how their kind even got to live on land, or how their scales could get so thick, but it haven't gotten me anything beyond some biologists determining that they were magically enhanced to live like that. Which were pretty blatantly obvious."
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Well then, that sealed it, she weren't going anywhere for the time being.
It were like how some beings were with puppies or kittens. Once one or more of the little rascals had settle down and started sleeping on you, it just didn't feel right at all to move, and disturb their rest.Ziggy it the same way, but that reaction also included foals and other sort of babies, like griffon hatchlings, or changeling nymphs. Sure the later of those hadn't happened yet, but she had seen pictures and knew that if it did, she'd be just as powerless. They were just so cute with their big, pale eyes and cheese legs.
Since she weren't getting away anytime soon, she might as well just lay still and enjoy the sensation, whilst once again thinking that she couldn't wait until one day, she'd have some foals of her own. She just needed to find the right stallion first, and then she might end up being covered in sleepy foals all the time. Considering how she were feeling right now with this lot essentially pinning her down, it made her sure that when it were one day gonna happen, she'd be just as happy as she were now.
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Briar chuckled a little under his breath, took a few steps forward, and gently put a hoof on Velvet's shoulder. It would feel as if somepony were touching him with a wooden log, overgrown with moss, which were about the closest one could come to describing the mossy texture of Briar's coat, and the flexible bark making up his skin.
"Ease yourself. I do not expect you to simply jump into this right away, as clearly, it is something you would wish to debate with yourself first. Something which I could imagine may take a long time until you are certain. So if I may make a suggestion? If you could procure some paper and a pen, I could tell you who I know who could be of help to you in this endeavor, where they are, and how to contact them, and if you then at some point feel the urge to take the jump and seek to advance yourself or simply explore, try and reach out to one of them to set up something, hm?"
He wished to help, but as mentioned, this one were very indecissive it seemed, or at the very least needed to turn this in his mind for quite a while. It were likely for the best that he were simply given the tools to go through with this at a later date, and then eventually have debated it with himself enough to decide whatever or not to go through with it.
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On 8/20/2019 at 3:39 PM, EQ_Theta said:“That’s horrible! What kind of… No! I don’t want to know who does those things or why they do it.”
“Ugh, that’s… Let’s not talk about that anymore.” Sen added, not even noticing the gate appearing overhead or the wicker ball bounding off the top of his head. “This ball is something Lin and I played with when we were young. We’d try to see how many times we could bounce it without letting it touch the ground. Here, we’ll show you.”
"I do not know why the wicker things hunts and attacks. I just saw it happen. The ponies and dogs did not want to tell me why. Never returned to find out. Master was not there."
Omen understood this to some degree at least. The sort of reaction Sen and Lin had there, tended to come whenever most creatures were told about horrible creatures trying to make others go silent and red. Especially details seemed to make most do some weird faces and talk about how horrible it were, or that they were disgusted, and what her siblings here were showing were pretty much the same as them. It were a welcome, familiar reaction to things, all the way down to not wanting to hear more, such as details about what she had seen.
That it had sounded like she meant that the wicker creatures were just being hunted and burned for no reason, whilst letting out screams, went straight over her head though. In her mind, she had made it obvious that she meant that the tree creatures were chasing after the locals and attacking them, which were why the locals were screaming, and they had to burn them to save their own hides. As the conversation on this seemed to end now, as they went on to talk about a wicker thing that wasn't an enemy of some kind, this would likely not be cleared up for a long time, if ever. Yet with neither side knowing the other had said something else, it mattered little.
Moving on to the subject at hoof though, Omen looked on as she saw the two of them demonstrate what to do with the ball. It seemed to be focused around bouncing the ball on your head, whilst also passing it on to others. It seemed similar to what Omen had seen Discord do plenty of times in her own day, just that this ball did not change forms, became alive, or were a pony from the start. She should be able to take part in this, though she had to remember not to use gates when the ball were headed towards her, even though she were used to dealing with incoming whatever that way.
It made her chest feel a little warmer as she saw Sen and Lin run around and play like this, laughing and seemingly having a good time. They seemed to be very happy, as best she could tell. Like small ones playing ball, yet they had after all said that they did this originally when they were small, so it made sense enough that they still had fun with it.
As the ball eventually landed at Omen's hooves, Shrimp would attack it right away and wrap himself around it for a little whilst nibbling at it. He seemed to get bored pretty easily with it though, or at least wanting to see it be bounced around instead, so he unwrapped himself from it after about ten seconds and started to push it towards Omen whilst chirping. He were too small to join in on bouncing it around, but she could do it at least.
Rising it up with her tongue, Omen would slowly put it on her head, and with her tongue still wrapped around it, move it up and down a few dozen times, to try and get the feel for how this were. It were somewhat strange, but perhaps it would work? She wanted to try and join in at least, and see if she too could have fun, as Sen and Lin had. Another elusive emotion that she would want to experience, especially as this particular one seemed like a good one.
When she assumed herself ready, she put the wicker ball up high, let got of it properly, and bounced it once on her head before it were sent in Lin's direction with an upward curve. It had not been intended to do so, but without her tongue adding in as balance, her aim had been off compared to her training attempts.
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Looking at what Ruby were doing, Spicy just observed in a rare moment of silence, trying to see if she could guess what sort of thing were being used here exactly. Which as it turned out, she couldn't, but eh, whatever. This weren't her loot anyway, so she didn't need to figure out what to do to touch it without getting hurt. She just had to remember to tell Marley at some point to not rearrange anything over in Ruby's corner of the vault, lets he'd end up regretting it big time.
"Alright, seems like we're sorted. Been a pretty good day for profits I'd say, but hey, day's still young, and like I said earlier, we should really celebrate it. Come on Ruby, open up a sliver and tell me what you do when you wanna have fun. Can't be my suggestions all the way, or we'll end up in the drunk tank in the Las Vegas prison with a traffic cone glued to our heads.
...Heh, that sure were some good times."
It weren't all bad to be there. She had the chance to sleep off her hangover, were watched in case she got some sort of bad effect from it, and y'know, the prison guard were a pretty nice fellow to have a chat with once she sobered up. Long as she got past all the drunk flirting, but he were a real good sport in just letting that slide, and realizing that it were whatever amalgamation of booze in her system that were making all the talking there.
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"You don't eat bread then? Huh... What sorta thing do you like to eat actually? I know you eat animals like fish and I guess birds and stuff, but now I dunno what else is good. Treats are okay, like cake? And plant stuff's not good, so... No veggies, fruit, bread, stuff like that? What about stuff that's sweet, but made from fruit, like jam?"
Berry didn't think her day were gonna include talking diet with a siren, but today had been her third weirdest days ever already, so sure, time to go down that route, see whatever else were gonna happen, and then review and decide if it could crack into being the second weirdest. Here were hoping it wouldn't include a monster attack, or a band of kitsune coming in to cause a ruckus. Better weird than dangerous, or outright insane.
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Just wanted to make sure that you could see that I had written? Haven't seen you here since we set up things in the OOC, and I made the post four days or so ago. Sometimes the notice system can be a little wonky though, so there's a chance you just missed it. Figured it were worth a shot to poke you and see.
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On 8/19/2019 at 5:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:
"It's not purely Equestria, but more ponies themselves, that tend to simply shun and hate what they do not understand, what is different from the group."
"P-Prejudice is a t-terrible thing. It c-can ruin your entire l-life..."
Void had not thought it possible less than a day ago, but she actually pitied the consul now, and felt sorry for what he had gone through. She and Null could if any, understand the kind of thing he had gone through. It were not for the same reason, yet were the results not the same? Attacks, hatred, exile... Others did not understand that the very thing that they feared, had been tough enough to deal with for both Illiad and them without that outside pressure, and with all of that on top, it weren't easy to get out well on the other side.
Just look at them. Null had become an anger fueled mare wrapped around a deep and shattered core of pain, whilst she had become a nervous wreck who didn't know who to trust, and had to be carried mentally by a sister who couldn't handle that, no matter what she showed. Illiad seemed to be okay on the outside, from what Void had seen of him so far, but even with getting help and support later on, she didn't believe that he were as whole as he seemed from the outside anymore. Being a hated outcast weren't something that didn't leave their mark, though she hoped that she were wrong here, or that it weren't too severe. It gave her some hope that perhaps Null and her could be fixed up as well.
On 8/19/2019 at 5:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:"After everything we've done for you? If it weren't for the simply ludicrous amount of karmic debt owed to your sister..."
Null's eyes narrowed and between clenched teeth, a small growl escaped her.
"You... Are not doing this for me. You're doing this for them, or they'll be stuck in there."
She had another sentence entirely on her tongue. One that spoke of poison and her dislike for him too, but her sister were on the line, so she reeled herself in. Though she could taste the small amount of coppery liquid that came from clenching her teeth so much, in an attempt to keep herself from being aggressive towards this one.
She never asked him, or anything here for anything. If Troy had given some help then fine, she'd thank them later or whatever, but he better not Dare imply that her asking on behalf of his own, darned servant/friend/pet to get her out of Null's mind prison, were a favor to the wingless mare. It were not. It were for the sake of Selana, and more importantly, Void.
She used the time when he were yapping on and calming down himself afterwards, to try and get herself reeled in some more. it worked to some extend, though she let the sword stay were it were. She were still a little... Testy right now, and did not trust herself enough at this point in time. Nor did she trust this guy's talking. Avatar of Vengeance? Was that his alicorn title? Peh, how long before this one then blasted her into tiny molecules for all the things she had done, she wondered? Or well, would try, though she guessed that he could just crush her with a rock. Surprisingly few magic users had thought on that option throughout her life.
Whatever. She could ask into things like this later, if it ever mattered in the slightest. For now she better follow as he started to wander down, since she were likely to be the centerpiece for whatever ritual needed to go on. Y'know, seeing as the two were in her head and everything.
On 8/19/2019 at 5:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:"Though you surprise me, the hatred you bear towards those who have done nothing but help you since you've met them."
"This is the second time I've ever seen you, and the first time you stood outside that monster nest we had been kidnapped and forced into. And you know what I saw? An avatar of Troy. The place that took everything from us. How do you expect me to react to that? Pull a cake out of my flank and sing to you?"
Snarky were not aggressive in her mind. This were fair game to a pretty silly argument from his side, far as she were concerned.
"And this second time, I see you again sporting more wings that any pony needs. Tell me, how would it make you feel if that horn of yours got broken off, and you ran into someone with extras? Would you be happy? Cause I'm not. I were already in a bad mood from being in Troy, hearing Equestria is gone, trying to kill myself, and being stuck in my own head, faced with the memories of my dead and mummified parents belittling me, so frankly, I'm this close to decking someone right now, and getting envious is not helping me contain it."
Her barely contained, enraged honesty were the closest he were going to get to an apology out of her right now. Her mood were foul for several reasons, and though she weren't angry from being belittled per se, now that she were free of their constant words hailing down on her, she were rattled, and the only thing she knew to respond with when she were like that, were with anger. It were something she could fall back on, and then everything else came in and fanned the flames. It weren't healthy whatsoever, but it were all she knew, and a key point in helping her were going to have to be to make her let go of that anger somehow. Without that to fall back on, she'd be a mess for a while, but it were possible that she'd emerge better on the other side.
In the more immediate future though, perhaps giving her a pillow to punch a few dozen times would help vent the worst of it.
Soon as they got down, Null were somewhat surprised to be shown to stay out of the way, as she had figured she'd be connected through this somehow, but whatever. What did she know about magic and all the finicky stuff? Perhaps her just being in here were enough. Long as it worked, she frankly didn't care how, and just stayed out of his way, and observed what were going on.
On 8/19/2019 at 5:35 AM, Illiad Easle said:The tendrils finally met, and with a bright flash the diamond statue regained animation, stumbling backwards out of the circle before falling to its knees again. The Consul too collapsed, breathing heavily as a bit of blood dripped from his nose. His khaki wings remained extended, but the shadow ones had morphed into a second set of legs, moving to stabilize him before he could fall to the floor.
Void would be able to wake up now, with a somewhat severe headache.
Void barely had the chance to respond to things like seeing Selena being jerked into the wall like she were being rattled around a snow globe, before suddenly she were back in the waking world. It had to be, considering she felt the furniture she had laid on earlier, as well as the dry air of Troy waft in. Plus, the dreaming world didn't make her head hurt this much. The only pain in there had been emotional,
She rose her head and gazed around, trying to find who were here. She'd see Null who instantly started to take a few steps towards her with worry and fear briefly managing to overtake her angered gaze, yet soon enough, they too fell on the consul, who seemed to be leaking blood, and stand around like he were about to collapse, despite the shadowy limbs that were trying to keep him up.
She'd get up and start to move towards him as quickly as she could, though she felt a little woozy, and would motion to grab him and escort him to a nearby couch unless he started to move around on his own, or Selena beat her to it. Hopefully he weren't injured too much, or at all, and this were just because of the strain. Troy needed him too much to lose him because of a couple of Troy's long lost daughters.
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"Sounds grand. Alright, what sorta thing do you specifically wonder 'bout? Cause I could speak all day to cover things, and you might not even care about those sorta things one bit. Gimme some questions that you really burn with, and I'll give you the proper talking to."
Hah, this one were hooked already. Granted, she still had to actually reel him in the last bit of way, but she had an ace up her sleeve, just in case he wanted to actually see what they were all about with his own eyes. But eh, one step at a time here. She put it to him to ask the right sorta questions for him, so while they had a bit of a walk 'round the place, he'd have the chance to find out why the Coastal Guards were number 1.
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Ziggy would be laying on the floor as Sunrise entered, seemingly in a sort of gleeful coma from the cuteness overload. Another tragic victim of the unrelenting assault of the local wildlife, left to warn others on the brutality of the merciless world they lived in.
Regardless of whatever or not she were dragged along when Sunrise moved the foals, she'd be out for a good fifteen minutes or so, before she suddenly started to shake her head and look around her, trying to get her bearings again. Would she escape the predators who had just brought her low again, or were they waiting for her, to land another devastating blow? If they weren't she'd get up and try to make her way outside again, to see if Serenade were alright. If they were, then Ziggy would be well distracted again for the time being.
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"Eh, fair 'nough. Family life ain't for everypony."
Honestly it sounded somewhat boring that Ruby didn't want a prodigy or somepony in her life, then again... She had just said that Stallions were boring, not anything against mares. Might be she had just let out a little secret there, though hey, no judgement from Spicy. Whatever floated your boat, right?
Instead of speculating more on this for now, she went on with Ruby to get all their items, then get the gold to the vault, before finally opening it with a swipe of a card in her pocket over a seemingly bare section of the featureless door, and the clearly spoken word of *Jackpot*, which seemed to do the trick as it swung slowly open inwards. There were nothing special in here, just some valuables like gold, jewels, a statue, and a common wooden box with three chains wrapped around it.
"Alright, not really using the right corner for a lot these days, so let's call that your space and dumb your stuff there, alright?"
It wasn't a massive amount of things in here, as a good chunk of her actual bits were invested elsewhere or in actual banks, but a good, 100 grand or so were there, with one corner with things stabled neatly had about fifty or so. Marley's by the looks of it.
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"Oh right, forgot that you'd been out of the loop for a while.
A toaster's a little metal box that you put slices of bread in, and it makes them all crispy and warm. Really good if you want something with a little marmelade for example. That crunch really gives it a bit of extra zing."
Heh, guess she spoke a bit out of turn before there. Oh well, couldn't be perfect every time. She'd make mistakes like this, as she weren't used to dealing with creatures who were more or less ageless, and Nada here were special, since she had been absent for a whole bunch of development as she had gone into hiding. Sorta like Discord, but with less chocolate clouds and flying pigs.
To prove her point, she'd go find a toaster, then plug it in, find some bread, make a few slices, and show what she meant. She'd make sure to get a new bread out here the next time she came around, so Serenade wouldn't end up losing out of things here. Fair's fair, and the same went for the butter she also scooped up.
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Shrimp were none the wiser about this being playtime or not. He simply went from one berry to the next, chomping down on them one by one with great delight. Perhaps later on he'd be able to think over this, and see the difference between when he were going to play, and when it were time to just eat, yet right now, it were all the same to him. it were good that Lin kept it in mind though. Refractions grew fast long as they had access to enough gems and greens - They'd even be able to see that he had grown about an inch since they had left too, if they were to look closely - and it would be better sooner, rather than later, to keep in mind that he learned the difference so that he didn't accidentally hurt somepony.
Meanwhile, while that went on, Omen observed Sen taking the cuffs on and off, unsure why he would do this, unless it somehow didn't sit right. Perhaps Zo hadn't made it properly to scale after all? Hmm, they might need to go back and have him fix that if it were. Might also be that Sen were trying to see what the old longma had talked about, with the ruby hiding some sort of surprise visage. Perhaps when he found it, he'd tell her how to see it too, as she were curious about what Zo had been referring to.
On 8/17/2019 at 6:11 PM, EQ_Theta said:The second one is right. You’re getting a hang of the language. Maybe Lin could speed up your lessons and get right to more advanced topics.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Lin replied. “Everyone needs to know the basics. It wouldn’t help Omen if we're skipping lessons.”
"I do not know all of what the words mean. I hear others say things. Ponies mostly, and I try to use it. Sometimes it works. Other times somepony shouts."
The amount of times Omen had accidentally used some pretty foul language towards others after visiting countries and areas with more... Colorful ways of greeting one another, or saying thank you, were pretty substantial, and rarely did it go over well. The worst types of responses though, where when they would then retort with another word or phrase before leaving, taking on an aggressive stance, stomping, etc. She'd then incorporate that into her next encounter, and it just got out of hoof. Usually she knew that something had gone wrong when it came to attacks or throwing, as she knew those were not positive responses, and at that point, she'd start over the next time she ran into others.
Hay, with Sen, she had been closed to greeting him with something that essentially made comparisons between him and a certain part of a low rung swamp creature, but she had been distracted by seeing the curious creature for the first time, and just went with the most basic of introductions she knew to work.
On 8/17/2019 at 6:11 PM, EQ_Theta said:“Remember this, Sen?”
“How could I forget? Omen, I think you’re going to love this! A wicker ball, a toy made of strong twigs bent into shape. Lin and I played with this when we were younger. You want to try it out?”
When the ball were thrown towards Omen, a small gate opened in front of her, which took the ball, before closing again. A few seconds later, another gate would open just above Sen, and the ball would fall out of there for him to catch.
"Wicker ball? I have been in a strange place. Harrowmark. They had many things with wicker in the name. Strange creatures hunting others. Made them scream a lot. Is the ball going to do something too? Does it need fire?"
It were a pretty grim, dark place that country, and she hadn't returned since since it were just teeming with magic, and no trace of her master, so she hadn't had the interest in returning. Sure were a lot of creatures doing bad things there, that were for sure. And the diamond dogs and ponies living there were pretty harsh on them. Setting them on fire, cutting them down, all sorts of things. Wicker creatures looked like creatures made of gnarled wood, so maybe that was how they were supposed to do things there? Hmm... Perhaps something to go back and look on another day, though for now, she would just play along and ask questions about this ball, though her way of catching and throwing were perhaps a bit unorthodox.
As for Shrimp, he certainly did look up at the ball as it started to be thrown around, and followed it closely with his eyes, with a half eaten berry still in his small, clawed hands. Best scenario, he were going to chase it if one of them dropped it, and potentially run away with it. Worst case, he'd see it as prey or an enemy, and use his glittering fire on it. It could be beneficial for him to see the lot of them having fun with this, as to make him understand that this were just a toy. He might still steal it though, depending on how things went.
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This were certainly a tough possession to go through. The mind of this thing were so basic, and spread throughout its massive frame. It would be essentially impossible for her to assert any sort of control over it, but perhaps she could find a pattern in how its mind worked, and find some sort of information, or emotions to work from, and she could perhaps understand it enough for them to connect with it.
Sifting through things, she would get a little more understanding of the creature, the more she started to find a kind of thought pattern in it's nervous system. It especially helped as she got closer to the regular area where a heart would be, which seemed to be where the highest concentration of these thoughts were situated.
The insight she managed to glean currently as she rummaged through Razzle's consciousness essentially, were rather positive. There were the understandable ones of food and light, which seemed to be two highly understandable main driving forces behind a creature like this, as a plant needed light, and something of this size and mobility likely needed to eat too. It would not have such a massive maw without a need to feast, right? Likely meat were involved in its diet.
It made her own undead heart flicker in sadness when she ran into a rather familiar sensation too. It might be blurry and not perfectly easy to discern with a hundred percent accuracy, but she knew well the emotions connected with wanting to have friends. Loneliness were a terrible burden that ate at your being, and like most other creatures, this poor thing seemed to just want to have some creature in its life that would be its friend, and stop the loneliness. Though with the unfocused mind here, it were potentially possible that it had eaten some that would have been possible friends, like with how it had gone over with Twilight before. It seemed like the creature did not aim to harm her, considering this. Maybe. It were hard to tell for sure, but Cherish wanted to think the best.
As she dove in deeper though, her heart melting a little were replaced by a disturbed, blurry, and unfocused image of some sort of elongated being deep in the mind of this creature. It seemed... Unnatural, and likely not how it were supposed to look, so she'd guess it were just distorted, yet what were more important were that this likely meant that this creature had been created by some outside force. And right now, she could tell if it had once been a plant, or perhaps some sort of other creature like... Like a pony for example...
Urgh, the thought alone were making her feel a little queasy, and with the want to stop, but she had to dig deeper. See if she could find out what came before that other creature, a better view on said creator, and/or perhaps somewhere deep, deep down there, a link of some sort that she could use to actually communicate with Razzle.
While this went on, Rising were giving the ghost and plant a slightly puzzled look, but keeping her yap shut, as the princess were talking. You did not interrupt royalty unless it were important, and she had no good reason to say anything before she were actually asked her her opinion on something here. So soon as she were sure the princess had finished talking, she would reply to that, as requested.
"My advise, if nothing comes of this, would be to mark the area and then go look for a tatzelwurm for your ritual. Even if this creatures moves, it's large. It can be found again."
She couldn't imagine it were low rung on the food chain either, so they likely didn't have to worry about it being taken out while they were away, so they might as well focus on the task at hoof, soon as Cherish were done and reported her results. Plans might change then, if the princess willed it.
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Enzo observed what happened to karmic, but did not interfere, as he had an inkling about what might be going on here. And sure enough, it were Atzy who had sprung to the forefront. It had to happen sooner or later, considering that this were an area that corresponded with memories that she owned, regardless of her being real or not, though this situation had not been the one he would have thought would trigger it, considering they had talked eggs before, with no response or violent takeover. Perhaps this place were amplifying things to some degree? He weren't sure, but it were possible.
As Atzy finished talking, he rose a paw and lifted her up himself. If she remained limp though, he just make sure her head stayed up, so that she could look him in the eyes as he responded.
"It doesn't matter if the memories are your own. We will need to make a fake egg to grant you a body of your own regardless of where you came from. And if those memories are from another, then it is now your task to get a body, and remember that whoever the first owner of these memories were, they are likely long dead. They belong to you now, and it is up to you what you will end up choosing to do with them."
He'd help her up on his back if she were still limp, and otherwise just stand and wait for Atzy or Karmic to regain composure.
"And if a battle is to ensue, you will stay out of my way and try to escape. Even untrained as I am, I am still far more capable than a pony who carries no magic. I may well survive an encounter."
A few depressing thoughts on how he would still be cut down like nothing, and that he'd fail to do anything worthwhile with his life came in, which caused Enzo to shake his head for a few seconds to try and clear them. This were not the time for him to fall into despair or get melancholic. He had to focus.
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Happy chuckled and gave a broad grin back at Aurora. That mood of hers felt almost contagious in the moment, and he sure didn't mind. Some joy after a weird day were pretty welcome.
"Heh, I'll look forward to see if you can keep that smile going once you see the process in action."
She might have lived among griffons, but a whole load of creatures had issues seeing other beings getting butchered into the right sort of meat for a given meal or purpose. It were going to be interesting to see if she'd get squeamish, but eh, look at the bright side for now. They were still about a half hour from entering the woods again at this pace, and Aurora were smiling. Good to see her being in a good mood, especially after all the stuff that had been happening a'round her. It seemed like it had been pretty rough, and hoh boy, it weren't done being rough today at all, so she were gonna need this good mood to last while she could.
The forest weren't even his biggest concern, it were the meeting with Thorax. Onache had a real bad reputation, even among other changelings, so to go there on her behalf and say that she wished to have a truce and some real talk with him, as a newly reformed changeling? This were certainly gonna be testing how open-minded that one had gotten.
"So, looking forward to see the first of the reformed changelings? I've heard he's a pretty colorful lil' buggy that one."
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The cauterizing slice through the diamond dogs were highly effective, as it prevented them from being easily stitched together again with magic and sent back by the pack leader, which seemed to just infuriate it. Prior to that point, it had kept a rotting eye on Caramel mostly, and see what she were doing with the ones he kept trying to raise up again, just to be stabbed or cut, and drained once more. Yet this last action made the focus go entirely on Minty. If the excessive posturing, voice level, and bright attire hadn't already.
Whilst gazing at her, it would rise its empty paw, palm up, to show dark magic danced between the bony claws. The ones who had been cauterized suddenly broke apart and the parts rushed together to create an amalgamation of the varied parts put together to roughly the shape of another, large diamond dog. However, this one seemed to also be empowered by some further magic, as it would raise it's claws towards Minty and fire off a blast on concentrated dark magic. Y'know, if she hadn't just pulverized it at some point before it got fully assembled. Five seconds were a long time to work with, though she might be somewhat distracted by what the pack leader did with its other hand. Namely, swinging its dulled blade down towards her. if it hit her, sharp or not, she were done for. This thing were big, heavy, and swung in a curve with force. It were going to damage whatever it hit. All the while, four more diamond dogs were trying to flank her with their own claw strikes. It would have been more, but Caramel were starting to use her hidden blades to cut some down from a distance, and somehow retracting the blades with the same energy dancing on them back to her after they had struck the creatures down.
Whatever happened, Caramel would soon stand near Minty with three blades about the length of a flight feather shot out like arrows, hitting three diamond dogs in the chest, and returning with the aura dancing on the blades, mere moments before it were drawn to underneath her apron.
"Please, do the honors Minty. An honored guest such as you, deserves to enjoy the main course."
She seemed to wish to say more, but suddenly staggered backward, as a low hissing sound escaped her throat. Her eyes at this time, we settled on a new arrival. Three actually, though they were indistinguishable from one another.
They looked like ponies, though mostly skeletal, with dry skin hanging close to the bones. Their manes and tails hang grey and droopy towards the ground, as if they had just risen out of the water, and though no eyes resides in their eye sockets, pale flames danced within, clearly functioning as replacements for the eyes that once were.
The same pale flame seemed to dance around them too, with a few wisps here and there as they wandered on three legs on the outskirts of the current battlefield. One on each side, with the third slowly approaching from behind the pack leader. They didn't look too intimidating, and more as a kind of spirit infused risen of some sort, yet Caramel feared these creatures that wandered with no sound, where the other beings here were little more than fun distractions for her.
"H-Helhests! Minty, do Not go near them! Whatever happens, let them neither touch you, nor you them. And for the love of Viz'nay, do not attempt to attack them."
Caramel's voice, as well as stance, should clearly tell that she meant it when she warned against these Helhests. No word on what would happen if the slow moving equines touched you came out, but it could not be anything good. So far though, it didn't see as if they had much interest in attacking. More as if they were observing. Specifically, they were observering Minty and the pack leader. It seemed they had some kind of vested interest in a confrontation, and deemed the two of them the most interesting in that scenario.
It should be noted that the risen that were near the suddenly appearing helhests, did what they could to avoid them too, up to and including actually jumping into attacks from Caramel and Minty, rather than getting into contact.
Meanwhile, back with the others, Thistle gave Rising a strict look and a small nod, before glancing towards the citizens of this, the first of many towns that were to hear her words.
"𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟, 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕍𝕚𝕫'𝕟𝕒𝕪, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕦𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕤𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕕, 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕒𝕘𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕍𝕚𝕫'𝕟𝕒𝕪, 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝.
ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟, 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕕."
Thistle were very traditional, and her role in this whole puzzle, would be to give the words of the goddess herself to the ruler of Harrowmark, generation after generation. The light would remain through her actions, yet as for the ruling itself, it would not be something that were in her hooves to decide. She would be asked for guidance and help at times, she had no doubts about that, yet the final say would remain with the regent, as long as said regent did not make a decision that would harm Viz'nay's influence, despite being warned. It would be... Unfortunate, if one were to forget what happened when you ignored the reasonable wishes of a goddess.
Also, as Thistle could physically not leave this country, it put certain limits on her that an actual regent had to deal with, such as travelling to make connections with other country leaders. She could imagine they would be mighty surprised to suddenly hear from Harrowmark again after all these years.
"The queen is still our ruler Dusk, so she have to lead the way, and finally do the job that were essentially denied her. I'm sure that soon as she contacts others outside of Harrowmark, we will start to see and learn things that will be kind of trying, but we'll adapt. That's the Harrowmark way."
Sure, it were mainly meant as adapting to survive monsters and such, but the point still stood, and with the advancements in magical protection, technology, and the reemergence of the priesthood, Harrowmark might end up being the safest it had ever been, within a few years.
Wisp moved closer to Dusk and looked him in the eyes, meeting his gaze with a curious look in hers. Though if he averted his eyes from her for any reason, she'd take a step back and look down a little for a moment, slightly embarrassed at how things had gone.
"What is it like out there? How does the world look now, after all these years? Could you please tell m-Us, about it?"
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"You could chose to stay, and your gift would not be wasted. It would just be unexplored, if you will allow me the humorous phrasing.
Yet, If I may be so bold, I would suggest that more than anything, what you need is a travel companion to help you get past these worries of yours, and help push you forward. I know of a hoofful of adventurers and exploration seeking creatures within Equestria alone who could be of much help to you. I could put you into contact with one of them, and you could try and make arrangements for you both to go and learn things. Several of those I mention would love for an opportunity to see something new, and teach what skills they have learned to survive in the great big world.
I would offer myself, however Germane is still too far to travel for Brittle, and I could not bring myself to leave her again. Ah, but please, tell me, would it not be fascinating to go and see the world for just a little while, and expand upon your gifts? You may well never need to travel more than once, and yet in that one adventure, you would find skills that would enhance your abilities - and by extension your possibilities in your chosen professions - more than you could potentially imagine."
"I-It's i-important to l-learn things..."
Brittle chimed a little of her own, though her voice were still low and shaking. She too wished to try and encourage him to go and do something, instead of being run by his fears though. She knew how limiting it were to live a life like that, and she didn't want others to live with the sort of horrible view on the world as she had. It were a miserable existence to slog through.
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*gasp* Oh noes, the brain violation! Everypony get a tinfoil hat before the mind controlling beams gets you!
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On 8/17/2019 at 1:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:
"You know, that's not too different from Illiad's experience with Equestria, how he was attacked and fled for being different, though it wasn't as extreme a case as it was for the two of you, he'd be able to lend an understanding ear, and perhaps some advice. How he managed to make that distinction and come to terms with those truly responsible, rather than blame Celestia for his misfortune."
Void looked surprised as she heard this last part. The consul too had tried to suffer from what he were, though from Equestria instead? That were a strange parallel to say the least. Especially since she weren't sure what the reason were for him to be excluded. From the sounds of it, he hadn't become an alicorn before Discord were defeated, and she hadn't spotted anything else unusual about him. Were he some sort of outcast for an action? Or... Wait, perhaps she had a vague idea of what might be happening. Or well, not exactly what his issue were, but more a sort of side effect.
"...The consul- I m-mean, Illiad, he asked to s-sit between Null and I e-earlier. Among the r-reasons, he mentioned being an e-empath. Is that w-what caused him p-persecution? We o-only ever met one, and s-she were eager to t-trade for one of big sis's f-feathers, to silence the w-world for a bit. It uhm... S-Sounded like her l-life were a l-living hell because of i-it."
She weren't sure why this particular thing would make you a target in Equestria, but it were the best bet she had, and if it were, perhaps Selena were right. The two of them could understand having something not in your control, which could actively help with many issues, be the cause for a lot of misery by the hooves of others. It would probably still be hard for Null to give him a chance, considering what he stood for, but perhaps this connection could be something she could eventually latch on to. Void would try at least, though she still had a lot to learn about what his condition meant for him, as all she knew about empaths were from the hour or so they had spent at the outcast some years back. Either their kinds were really rarr, or the two of them had just somehow managed to avoid them for twenty years. Or well, some could have just said nothing she supposed. If it were something that could drive you mad, it could fit on a few outcasts they had met over the years. Loneliness tended to do weird things to some beings.
On 8/17/2019 at 1:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:"The Consul just got back but a moment or two ago, given the time he's likely preparing to get the sky moving so tomorrow gets here. You'll find him upstairs."
Null grumbled a little at the message and slacked the sword in her muzzle a little. So much for a little fight to let off some steam...
"Typical. Guess I'll just go find the overgrown sandpaper pixie."
She could have said breezies, but there was a very important difference between the two multi-winged creatures: She hated pixies. The breezies just kept their distance, but the other ones... Hayden and Harrowmark had the worst of them, but every time she ran into those little nightmare spawns, they made it their life's work to torment the two of them. Flying after them whilst singing spiteful songs, throwing things, calling out to others to come look at the freaks, continuously trying to poison them, etc. They could go on like that for hundreds of miles before they got bored, and since they were small and nimble, they were almost impossible to hit with anything. including many of the cursed items they had with them, considering the strong magical protection they could put up when there was a large group of them.
Granted, they had met two that were pretty okay, and had actually helped them out of a bind, but that was two out of about nine hundred. Statistically, it were safer to whack them all with a fly swatter.
On 8/17/2019 at 1:29 AM, Illiad Easle said:Just as the guard had indicated, there was the Consul. Four wings outstretched, the two khaki ones and a pair of shadow ones, and balanced on his right forehoofwith his head towards the ground. Around him were two rings of gem shards that idly floated, before they began to move, each ring had a larger gem in it, which seemed to correspond to the moon visible through the windows in the room, and the other seemed to correspond to the sun as it rose unto view, bathing the room with a soft light.
After finding the Consul - how the hay did she miss the stairs the first time she were in here again? - she were awfully tempted to just go over and suckerpunch the consul. He were so absent it seemed, that it would be very, very easy to just clock him one and then forcefully drag him downstairs. It might not be a good introduction, but neither were it when she had yelled in his open face, so whatever. The first impression were already ruined. What difference would it make?
Currently, that would be to mess up the sun and moon, and much as she really, really wanted to lay a forceful hoof on him while she still had the chance, she weren't an idiot. If the sun and moon got displaced, they were all doomed regardless of what else were going on. So she'd wait until he were done, which would ruin her chance at bashing him. But perhaps she were lucky and he'd turn his back to her at some point. Though, just to not get too tempted, she also put the sword down and pushed it to the side. It might be for the best considering her impulsive rage. Considering he were again sporting several more wings than he needed, whilst she only had one, it were not helping on her want to cause him harm right now. Damn him and his vanity fueled greed...
Once it seemed over with, and she didn't see more light shenanigans, she'd start talking in an annoyed, frustrated voice to the consul.
"Hey you, Desert Fart or whatever you're called. The crystal mare wants you to pull her and my sister out of my skull. Are you done meddling with these things so we can get it over with? I want my sister back in her body before something happens to her, or she seems something she's not supposed to."
It were not a short list of things that Null didn't want her little sister to see, so the sooner she could get back in her own body, the better. Especially as she didn't want to risk something going wrong in there.
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1
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Sorry to read that, but I can't say I am surprised. You did seem to be a bit disinterested a few times. Don't worry though, I can sort things out in the canon here from this point if need be, and if you ever get the urge to return, you know where to find us.
I'll get you incorporated again without a hitch.
There's a few things I might complete off script in case I need to use some details elsewhere, such as having Dew take over his old job again after an unfortunate accident that left Iron unable to take the reigns (at least for the foreseeable future) and get Chow placed in Canterlot properly in case I need him for something, but I'll cover that if need be another time.
I wish you the best of luck onwards for the time being mate. Take care, and hope to see you around again some day.
-
Hah, so this one Did want to join the guards. Well well well, seemed like she had run into a nice little opportunity here to speak her crews case over the other guards then. Who would she be if she were to pass up such an opportunity?
"I don't see any reason why you wouldn't fit right into the guards. You're fit, have a good attitude to things, and you're friendly to the folks 'round you. That's a pretty good start I'd say."
Honestly, being friendly wasn't as big of a requirement as you might think. She had several guards (and knew of others in the other branches) who were about as good at handling a social interaction as a stray brick falling out of a wall, but it were fine. They just made sure those sorts didn't start kicking or yelling at random strangers, and everything were good. Of course, soon as they did, they'd get a reprimande that varied depending on what branch you were talking about and the severity of the incident, yet that were standard stuff, and this one didn't seem like it'd be an issue he'd have to face unless something went horribly wrong. But they had programs for that too, just in case. Active duty didn't always end pretty after all.
"Now, you might be thinking lil' ol me a tiny bit biased, but have you ever considered the Coastal Guard? Sure, you'd have to move some, and it isn't as cozy as what the Solar and Night guards do, but let's be real here: You don't wanna be a guard to stand around in a warm hallways all day, preparing for an attack that's probably gonna be years in between, right? You're a fresh sort. You need some active duty out in the sun, with the fresh breeze of the sea to keep you on top of your game.
Sure, we have ourselves some indoor work too. Paperwork, general guard duty for nuisances we have to jail up for a bit, that sort of thing. But those are regular stuff for all guards, with the difference here being that unless you like that sorta role, you don't have to stay in there. We have folks on rotation to keep it fair.
But, how about you tell me what sort of duty you're really aiming for. What's the biggest thing you want, that makes you wanna be a guard? And lemme just say right off the bat, that if it's fighting to protect Equestria, the Coastal Guard does far more than those up in the Canterlot. They might be busy protecting the princess, but do you know what kind of things gets up from the water or sailing in, wanting to make a mess of Equestria? I bet you don't, 'cause the Coastal Guards keep 'em locked in tight. It's pretty few things that gets past us, and we don't stop chasing 'em if they do."
Sure, she were blowing her own horn a bit here, but she were making a sales pitch here. And she weren't lying. They really did keep a lot of bad things from entering the country from the ocean, as well as help those who got stranded or lost out there. It just wasn't reported on too much in land since 1. They were darn good at repelling things, so there were usually not a lot to talk of, and 2. The other branches tended to have a bit of a superiority complex when it came to them at times, and didn't want to throw some good words their way. The generals were fine, and a lot of the regular guards were too, but there were enough problem ones to either give the Coastal Guard a bad rep, ignored, or for them to claim it was the royal branches dealing with the bad things, instead of them. Man that last one got on her nerves.
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Ziggy would squeak with pure glee as she saw the little ones line up and looking at her with those big, cute eyes. This were hardly a fair fight when she were aced off against such an overload of adorableness. It felt like her heart were about to explode and leak rainbows and candy.
"Eeeee, you're just too cute!"
Her own assault would be relentless. There would be hugs. Group hugs, nuzzling, and the dreaded, seven foal hug into the air with wings embracing them all. Oh what a sight to behold. What relentless adoration. Surely they were all lost after this, natures most tragic scene.
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She gave it a few knocks just to make sure everything were still grand there, before turning towards her companion again.
"Alright, let's get moving then. I'll open up once we got the loot in here, and we'll sort you a good placement in there, alright? And while we're at it, how about you now tell me what your stance is on family. You ever thinking about settling down and having some of your own? Or what, you're more likely to eat 'em?"
She grinned as she wandered out, unaware of how close to the truth this little joke might actually be.
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"Golly jeez, are you sure? I were about to go check the toaster."
Berry's voice were overly sarcastic as she said this, just to empathize that she were having a but of fun on behalf of what Nada had said, before putting down the stuff she had brought on the table, and went out towards the kitchen. Weren't few, the places where Serenade might keep cups, but after a bit of trial and error, she managed to find some large wooden ones that seemed good. Might be they were small bowls instead honestly, but they looked like the sort of thing a siren would drink from, considering those big heads of theirs. Couldn't be easy going into a normal cup like that.
"Bingo, found 'em. Or something that'll work like it at least."
She'd sit down, and pour up a glass of lemonade for Nada, and hoping that she had added enough sugar for the siren. She still weren't sure what exactly her taste buds were preferring right now, beyond fish of course, but that were a given.
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Omen didn't think much on the hugs anymore, when it came to Sen and Lin. She considered it normal for the at this point, though perhaps once she got more views on the longma society as a whole, she would bite notice in how strange they actually were, compared to their peers, who weren't as touchy as these two. Neither had Sen been at first, when she met him near the old castle, but she were used to others wanting to keep her at a bit of a distance, so that hadn't seemed all that unusual.
It might be a crucial point of view to have if it ever came to the two species communicating, and attempting to get along though. Sen and Lin had been influenced some by pony society, and whilst much of it still seemed strange, they were the closest to a middle ground between the two kinds, and could provide some perspective to both parties when it came to varied aspects such as the longma culture, or pony behavior. It were likely not going to be anytime soon, but one day, these two may be called upon to help smooth out the small details between the species.
However, that were a theoretical future that Omen didn't even think about. She were more focused on trying to judge if her return hug were getting better, and if she could consider Sen to be happy. She would guess yes, which also meant that she had to look at his face and posture as he did that, to try and learn some more. She had seen him smile and such before of course - though not this wide, far as she recalled - but if she wanted to know the many ways happy beings looked like, so that she could identify that emotion and perhaps imitate it one day, she needed to observe as many instances as possible.
As such, she stood mostly in silence and just looked at him, before eventually uttering a small retort to his words.
"Are you welcome?
...You are welcome? I think that one is right."
As for Shrimp, he would indeed chase the offered fruit, getting up and barring his teeth before quickly slithering and lounging towards the berry, ready to chomp down and feast upon his treat. If she were to roll it around, or otherwise toy around with it, he'd happily keep the chase up and try his best to catch the berry.
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"Perhaps there are, but how many of them have your gifts?
I am not trying to tell you what to think. The decision ultimately lies with you, but their knowledge could be vastly important to you, even if you did not chose to aid the guards. And do tell, as a florist, are you not wanting to see what other flowers you may be able to grow? To expand your repertoire with flowers that cannot even normally grow outside of their land, by using your special ability?
Or what of cooking? I know of many exotic plants and fruits that are dreadfully difficult to grow outside of their lands, but with a little care and proper application from you, that could change, and you would be able to make fully organic, unique food that would be hard to gain within Equestria from anywhere but the most high end establishments, who can afford to have those things shipped to them. And even then, they would not be able to compare with the freshness you would be able to offer, hmm?
The life of an adventurer can be... Difficult, I admit, yet where does it say you need to scrape through ancient ruins and seek out thrills? You could simply seek the knowledge you needed, and gain seeds of the things you wish to grow, along with experience from many varied styles of cooking. I wouldn't call that an adventurer as much as an explorer of sorts. Who knows? It may even help you to find your exact calling, if you were to see other aspects of the professions that you seek to pursue. Perspective can sometimes be a rather helpful tool for focusing your mind."
Briar loved adventurering, and experiencing the world for all that it had to offer, yet he could understand Velvet's hesitation. It were not an easy life, and unless you had a travel companion, it could be dreadfully lonely at times too, if you were to wander vast areas where no being of higher intellect resided. Not places he would have to travel though, as Velvet could simply stick to cities and such, whilst taking safe routes and public transportation to ensure that there were no unnecessary risks taken.
"Ah, and whilst I do remember it, you do not have to take part in any battlefield. I have wandered for many years now, and I can assure you that it is a perfectly viable option to hear the rumblings of war, and simply wander away from it. Even if you find yourself in it by surprise, escape is often an option regardless. Though I would still caution that perhaps travelling with one who knows of combat, or gaining some protective wards, can help just in case something unfortunate happens."
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*sigh* Well, it had been worth a try at least.
Cover Up wandered away from the school of friendship, and down towards the streets of Ponyville again.
He had hoped that when he got there, they could help him understand things better, and make him able to connect more to others and understand them, but after three hours there, the principal and him had both agreed that at the current stage in life he were in, the customs of the settler village he grew up in and Equestrians in general, were not impassable, yet he would learn far more from being out in the big world and experiencing things for himself, rather than trying to learn what being a friend were.
It were unfortunate, though understandable. The settlers from Harrowmark were less touchy feely than Equestrians were, and had a more standoff sort of attitude to things, as well as the ingrained paranoia against outsiders that came with their customs. After what happened in Ormenthal though, he had to go out and see things for himself, which meant that he had to try and get past his upbringing and figure out how to best integrate into society.
Yet as he wandered there with his paintbrush-like mane and tail, parchment yellow coat covered in tattoos representing a swirly pattern on his body and on every limb - including his head - a saddlebag on his left, a large melon-and-a-half sized inkwell on his right with a cork keeping it shut, and a large paintbrush around the length of himself - tail included - on his back, it were hard not to feel like an outsider. His scars however meant that he couldn't just wander around without said tattoos, and the tools of his trade had to be walked with, as it weren't like he could have them anywhere else, and he weren't going to throw them away. Especially not the brush, as it had been a gift, and weren't easily replaceable for the unicorn.
Even if his presence didn't attract too many stray eyes, it were hard for others not to, especially because of the tattoos, which were unusual enough in this area, but were really rare to see in excess on ponies, like it were with him. If only they knew what all of these were hiding, perhaps they'd understand, but he didn't know how to bring that sort up with just a large, random crowd. He felt exposed enough as it were without having to draw all of the attention on to himself.
*sigh* Sometimes, he wished he could just run into another one who stood out. One like that might be able to understand his predicament a bit more.
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I'll start off a post, just uhm... Don't be surprised if Widdershins jumps in at some point. He's like the Spanish Inquisition, but with weirdness and pancakes. He cannot be contained. O.o
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On 8/15/2019 at 4:34 AM, Illiad Easle said:
"I don't mean to pry, but I've noticed you and your sister share quite the resentment towards Troy, despite never before, as your memories show, even been in one of its cities before this week. I'd like to help with that if I can, while we have time, if you want? Or we can talk about something else..."
"You h-have to see it from our p-perspective.
I were five, b-big sis were six. The p-part of Troy we l-lived in where all we k-knew, and after e-everyone resented us f-for no reason t-through our entire l-life, we t-then had to run a-away from it. R-Right after they c-caused her to lose her w-wing, and m-me to lose my l-leg. And then... T-Then with what happened t-to our p-parents...
We w-were crippled and a-alone, thrown into a w-world that hated us, w-while what little we u-used to have had been t-taken by Troy, w-when they kil- I mean, w-when we Thought they k-killed our parents.
How w-were we s-supposed to see anything g-good in Troy after t-that? We d-didn't have the p-perspective to think that p-perhaps T-Troy at large were not as b-bad. We just k-knew what they h-had done to us, and that when s-something bad happened, our p-parents wanted to l-leave the country with us. H-How weren't we s-supposed to t-think that meant that the c-country itself were evil, and h-had nothing but more pain in s-store for us? We were j-just foals..."
The resentment were perhaps not rational, but as she had said, they were foals. Pretty young ones at that too, who were forced to go into unknown lands and stay on the run because they were scared what would happen if they stayed put, and Troy came for them. And the more the world at large threw at them, the more they felt the crushing grief and longing for their parents to be there with them, which in turn, also made them remember what had happened in Troy. They couldn't let go because of this, and then, when they were forced back to the deserts, it were with them being perceived as lab rats, which just caused them to think that their idears of Troy were justified and correct.
"I am t-trying my hardest to s-see things in a n-neutral light now, and d-differentiate between the p-ponies and places we knew, f-from the parts we're s-seeing now, but it's h-hard. I still s-see the betrayal and the p-pain it caused, even w-when I know that it were the f-fault of the G-Grey. And Null... B-Big sis are c-complicated, but one thing she a-always have been is s-stubborn. I don't k-know if she can e-ever forgive Troy. I c-can just hope that she w-will see that it's d-different now, and that she s-should try to accept the n-new times."
It were the best way for Null in her mind. Forgiveness were unlikely after all, and any creature she would meet who had once interacted with them as foals in this country, she would probably forever harbor resentment towards, but perhaps she could be convinced to accept this new variant. Void weren't hoping she'd love it though, that seemed too foolish to even dream about, with how things stood right now.
On 8/15/2019 at 4:34 AM, Illiad Easle said:There were guards in front of the Consul's estate though, and they seemed surprised when she left the building, brandishing a sword. They would pursue if she ran off into the city, or they would stop her if she didn't, and ask what she was doing.
Peh, about time.
Null had seen the front door as she went through the surprisingly big, even more surprisingly empty place she had woken up in. How were she going to get any answers, when there weren't anyone here? The answer were simple soon as she had seen the exit: Keep the sword and murder face up, and walk right out of there. It could be Troy, Harrowmark, or the darn blind forests of Saint Hoovesburg- Walk in public looking like you wanted to stab someone, and you'd get attention.
And attention she got, from some sort of guards it looked like. who started to question her soon as she stopped up. Though really, who cared who they were? They could be here to loot the place for all she cared, long as they answered her, and kept their filthy hooves off her sister.
"I'm looking for Sandmane Multiwing, or whatever that consul of yours are called. Selena... Something or other, told me to go fetch him, but he left a note saying buggered off to some sort of attack. So, where did he go, and what's he fighting? Might as well help him carve it up before dragging him back here."
Well, she weren't being the kindest creature this side of Troy, but at least she hadn't cursed or said her honest opinion on the consul. Frankly she were thinking that she were being far nicer than she had any want to be right now.
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1
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Then we'll start off with Cover Up, and then if you end up a villain, you could do worse than to seek out one who historically were not even liked among other changelings, as her methods were seen as a bit too far for most.
Would you like to make the first post, or should I make the setting tomorrow, when I'm set to write again?
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By the way, sorry for it having toned down with the responses, but things have been crazy recently with work and me suddenly getting 4 more people in my own RP to deal with, with a fifth prepping to enter. After 10-11 posts post work, I don't have the energy to be here always. Soon vacation though, so that's gonna help reload.
Just figured I'd explain myself.
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A formal hoodie? The dear stallion needed more dire help than Caramel had at first anticipated.
Smirking a little to herself at the thought, the mare shifted her attention towards her new companion instead. To her delight, Minty had indeed chosen to follow her on her little side adventure if you would, though depending on what were moving towards the town, they may be against something that could actually work up a sweat. She had her doubts though. The worst things from the swamp belonged to Twisted, and with him gone, some of them would fall apart, others likely just seize to function, without the link to his magic, and others still would suddenly be free and deal with things their own way. Hm, they might actually be dealing with one of the last group. She could hardly imagine what would go through the head of a creature that Twisted had corrupted, that suddenly became lucid again. Anger and insanity seemed like it would be sensible ways to deal with it honestly. *sigh* Poor things.
Oh well, one more reason to strike whatever down so that the spirit might be reborn as something more pleasant.
"Excellent. I'd hate to think you wouldn't be entertained here, after all the preparations you went through. I do hope it is something worth our time though. It would be utterly boring if it turned out to just be a minor annoyance, like a few risen or a couple of wicker creatures."
Wandering through the streets towards the sound, another rumbling would course through the ground, and make her question what exactly made this. It didn't sound as if there were more noise, and no towering creature had shown yet, so it were likely not something massive... What a peculiar situation this may end up being.
Getting to the area that seemed like the center of the disturbances, they wouldn't find much either. A cloaked figure at the edge of town, faced towards them with the face hidden were all. Whoever it were wouldn't be discernible at all beneath the elongated, droopy, muddied robes, and could be any sort of four legged creature, including a smaller diamond dog on all fours. It were more or less impossible to say unless you looked beneath the layers or heard a voice, as the pups tended to have some discernible tones to their voices compared to say, griffons or ponies, yet no matter if they got closer, neither sound, nor movement, were made by this one.
As any of them would get within a five meter radius, the creature would calmly scrape the ground once, at a spot around the size of a bit. If teleportation were attempted to try and get there instantly, they'd find that whoever cast it would move, but remain at a minimum five meter distance. It seemed as if this one were able to bend magic away from itself to some degree, but a good, physical contact way of dealing with this should function.
However, as the scraping happened, there would be far more things to worry about, as the source of the rumbling nearly exploded out of the ground in a surprise attack, revealing three dozen risen diamond dogs of varying sizes and levels of decay, though all of them highly mobile and moving with purpose. From the looks of it, they were reinforced by some sort of dark magic to empower the reanimation spell that went over them, yet, they shouldn't prove too much of a bother, as Caramel showed when she swung and impaled the one closest to her in the chest, with the sickle on her tail.
If Minty looked, and were not too preoccupied with the three who were attacking her, she'd find that as Caramel did this, a strange aura flowed from the risen, up her tail, and vanished somewhere underneath her apron. Though again, there were some degree of battling going on here that might stop her from focusing or caring about that. Especially as they saw another, rather large one rise from the dirt and stand tall and mighty above all of them, wearing olden armor and carrying a rusty, curved sword, that seemed like it would pummel more than slice whatever - or whoever - it hit. This were likely the pack leader.
"Well isn't this a lovely surprise? Let's have some fun now, shall we?"
Caramel had blades in her wing and some tools to use from, but she enjoyed being up close and personal right now, and with swift strikes would make use of her tail and a few blades from her wings, to make short work of those near her, once again absorbing something every time she shut the light off in their empty eyes. The pack leader though, appeared to hold some sort of magic, and used it to reanimate the fallen about fifteen seconds after one would fall. Obliterating the corpses, or taking the big one out, would likely be the best idea here.
All the while, the cloaked figure said and did nothing, though as one risen charged towards it, claws and knives on the ready, it would suddenly get pulverized without warning, within a meter of the creature. It seemed unsafe to try and interact with this one. At least for the risen.
In the other end of town, where this battle could not be seen or heard though, Thistle wrinkled her nose at the question that had been presented, and looked briefly around, before refocusing on the detective.
"𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕚𝕩 𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤."
Thistle had been in this state longer than Twisted had been a tyrant, and though she had the occasional look at how things turned in the nearby areas, based mostly on what Twisted flaunted in his home, there had not been much in the sense of progress. Some tools changed, the metal and wood got smoother, and the clothing seemed a little less rough in it, yet overall, it all seemed the same.
"Other places like capitol might have changed, but the high priestess is right. Things haven't changed all that much. Twisted did not want it to."
The more things had progressed, the more chances that someone would find a way to use it against him in some sort of way, so Twisted had made sure that generation after generation understood that inventiveness were only acceptable when it came to improving what they did have to make it more functional to their work, but that he would not tolerate ground-breaking things like technology for example. The most high technological thing they had in Oaksbrook were a few water boilers, and that were mostly run by magic anyway.
Still, with his time gone, Bolt Singer should at least be happy. He always had so many ideas, and just no power to actually push any of them true. He were gonna have a field day trying out things once it had all settled down.
"I can hardly imagine how far ahead Equestria must be compared to us. Oakbrook must look like it came from another time."
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So many eyes, starring at her like she were a piece of freshly served meat... She had been lured into a trap.
A trap of Adorableness she bet!
"Hehe, you tricked me, well done. Who wants the first victory hug?"
She wasn't afraid. She had seen foals after all, and those - whilst they could be creepy, which the hair on the back of her neck certainly agreed with them being right now - didn't need her to whimper and scream, but lots of hugs and tasty treats. She could find some treats later, unless they thought she'd be it? Hehe, they'd find out it wasn't so easy getting hold of her if they tried. She were real fast, and in here, she had a bit of wriggle room to move around, though probably best to stay off the walls anyway, just in case.
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"Ah, the sort who wanna learn from his mistakes, eh? I can respect that. Frankly a healthy attitude to have, especially if you wanna be a tough lad later on."
So they had things to work with here it sounds like, but this one chose not to? Nice. She had several recruits who weren't even willing to take that lesson on their down time, and immediately went for the easy way on. This one though, he were hardening himself and trying to set himself some teachable lessons here. Pretty interesting one actually...
Tidal scratched her chin and gave him a once over, before cracking a smile and nodding to herself.
"Say, you ever considered being a guard? You have the sorta attitude to things that I could see getting you some ranks, if you learned the ropes."
She had recruited younger than this one honestly. For more menial things, as their families wanted them to have a good, disciplined attempt at fitting in somewhere important, yet didn't want them to get hurt. She couldn't tell how old this one were right off the bat of course, but y'know, even if he were a bit too young, or had no interest in ever being a guard, could it really hurt to ask? It wasn't a joke when she said she saw some potential in him, and it would be a darn shame to let it go to waste. Or to let it go to the other guard branches for that matter. Unless this one liked to bore himself to tears every day.
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"I think the meat issue's kinda like with treats or beverages. Some changeling can handle it, others can't, and the real unfortunate sods can only feed on love. That used to be my shtick, though I could drink at least. Would've been hard to get my business in motions otherwise, heh. Anyway, you got a deal. Next time I get the chance to make some jerky, I'll make sure a certain changeling's getting the first shot at it."
It could be practical really, so he knew exactly how much to use the next time, so it weren't really all that much of a bother. He just had to find a carcass first, or make one happen. Wouldn't be long before they went into the forest actually, and boars were pretty good for this... He might have to keep an eye out, just in case.
"And there ain't a lot going in. Just some hard work prepping the meat, then some spices and a bit of salt. Been tinkering with the thought of a marinade of sorts to give it a bit more zing, but I'm still missing a couple things. Mostly chili. I keep forgetting to get some of it whenever I'm near a market."
The open fields in front of them were spanning ever outward, with still a good deal until they actually hit the forest. Aurora best enjoy it whilst she could. Soon as they got into that part, they'd be in forest pretty much until they reached Thorax, from what he'd come to understand from the directions anyway. Might've been some exaggeration, but they'd see soon enough.
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"We need an unbroken piece, the size of a changeling egg."
Enco scratched into the ground the size he were referring to, which had about the same size as an ostrich egg.
"It can be carved from a larger one if need be, but I am assuming it must not be made of smaller ones, or clusters. imperfections tends to never bode well when you mess with magic. Especially that of a sacrificial nature."
Considering what they needed to gather, this were a spell of that particular school of magic, which would be a problem to many he'd assume. Pesky ponies were likely too good in their minds to acknowledge the need of certain extreme tactics at times, but what they didn't know weren't going to hurt them. Not unless they somehow made a grave error by trying to go through it using substandard materials, or taking chances with uncertain runework. Many a foolhardy sphinx had been laid low by a misplaced line or crooked rune, and he did not intent to be part of that statistic if it could be helped.
"I think it best if we collect as we are exiting. If something is indeed in here, we will need our paws to be free, so that we may fight or retreat."
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"I'll take your word for it your highness. I don't know your local wildlife enough."
She knew what sort bit and whatnot, and that the princess had to be protected from them, but apparently, this one were different? Looked the same to her, considering the episode before, yet the princesses word were law here. If she said that it wasn't dangerous and shouldn't be attacked, it were clear indicators that unless something new came from it, Last were to stand down. She still weren't sheathing her weapon unless explicitly told so though, just in case. There were a lot of bad things in this forest. Even if this one wasn't going to do something, something else might jump them and try.
As for Cherish, she gulped loudly as she heard the question from the princess. A sort of... Touchy subject this were, but one which it seemed like she needed to provide an answer for. Hopefully they wouldn't dig too much into things right now.
"I don't know. I've possessed a couple of stubborn or lost ponies now and again to try and get them out of the castle, before the other ghost could get to them, but I've never tried something like this. I guess... I can try, y-yes? Though I won't do full on possessions. It feels... Wrong. But I can go and look around this ones mind a bit. Perhaps something's there?"
She could mind alter or anything of the sort, but with the right sort of touch, she were able to sort of... Mind meld, if that made sense? She connected at least and had a chance to observe some things for up to ten minutes. After that, her energy would be exhausted. It was a pretty tiring process, and not one she were sure would work here. Still, she'd try.
Mentally preparing herself, she'd float forward and try to put her hooves inside the plant's head, and make the regular moves she used for this. Hopefully she'd find something in there that could help the princess. Y'know, provided this thing had a brain to interact with, and didn't have some sort of weird response/effect from this sort of connection.
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"Yes. Your grandfather made it with my hair and a shiny rock. There is one for you too."
She lifted the jewelry of sorts towards Sen, hoping that he would like it, but curious to seeing his response. Gift giving were a strange thing, but this were normal to friends and family, yes? Lin hadn't complained at least, so that had to count for something. Unless it were a difference between male and female longma that weren't just based on shape and size? Ponies had differences there too, but Omen had long since just given up on trying to understand the social and cultural aspects of it. Especially as it always seemed to change. Their race were confusing enough as it were without having to draw those convoluted things into it.
"He had many words. I think he is a smart longma."
He had a lot of questions too, but Omen did learn things from seeing him work, and hearing him speak. It was much the same with Sen and Lin, just less, and not with as much impact out in the world at large more than likely. Still, he had a good head on his shoulders, just like his grandson and granddaughter had. That seemed like something she should comment on for a compliment, yes? Beings liked to be told that somepony near them were smart other places, so it was worth an attempt.
"He were coughing. Lin and him yelled about going to the healer. He did not want to, but she did. Zo won. He seemed very stubborn."
Meanwhile, Shrimp went as tall into the air and waved from side to side whilst chirping in greeting, but continued to play around with Sen right now, as he were in a pretty good, playful mood. Though now he had moved on to slither down his spine, aiming for the tail so that he could nibble on the tip there. They might want to get him a chew toy at some point to get something he could use his teeth on that didn't include them. preferably before they grew large enough to actually do damage.
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"I'm not actively seeking, but y'know, if the right sorta stallion comes swinging into my life, I like to be prepared. Same reason I already have my prenup all ready in a drawer. I ain't signing on anypony to my life who can just up and leave, and think he'll grab half my stuff. He wants some? He gotta stick around and earn it."
Spicy were a poker player. She knew the sorta con games you could run, and getting hitched without one of those pieces of documents, were a real bad idea. Now, she might be willing to work out a plan where whoever it'd be would earn himself some dough in case they split, provided some terms and conditions were met, but that seemed like a third date sorta conversation.
"Anyway, let's bounce to the vault, then see if we can't scrounge up some food before we go off. Ain't smart to go celebrating on an empty stomach. Take my word for it, things can get weird."
Beyond some trophies and some minimum effort decorations like a couple of generic pictures and such, there really weren't a whole lot to look at in here, though one of them that depicted Spicy holding one of her trophies did stand out by being a bit bigger and better framed. Looked like one of her earliest, as this were some years back for sure, and she looked mighty proud. Though Ruby likely had more focus on this being fake, with gold and such somewhere behind it, and rightly so, soon as Spicy wandered into the wall, it showed to be an illusion hiding a large, several times reinforced steel door, with no discernible lock on it. Likely magically activated.
"Right, let's get the stuff here, then I'll open up. We good?"
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"Guessing it's the zegasus. Serenade and her have been wandering 'round town for weeks now, and the doc are often here along with that weird lil' pet if theirs, even at night. Don't go telling on me, but I've sorta been thinking those two are... Y'know, a couple. That they're going to see her parents aren't exactly making me think that any less.
Now now, I ain't judging. Celestia knows the mare and dragon couple down the street's a whole lot weirder to look at sometimes. Just saying, I'm not entirely sure that they didn't go to meet up with Serenade's parents to announce it for 'em."
Well, she might judge a little bit now that she figured out that Serenade were a siren, but that were more along the lines of *Dude, how the fudge did that happen?*, than actually being appalled by the inter species relationship. The fact they were both females couldn't get her to care a single bit though. Her best foalhood friend were wandering that same line, and that guy were a real good character. Only one beyond her parents she still had contact with from her old life, and the only one who seemed to understand why she went away and switched her name to escape The Conspiracy's tight grasp. She really had to get his letter into the mailbox one of these days actually, now that she thought about it.
"Anyway, know where the cups are 'round here, so we can pour some of this stuff? It should be good, and I brought some home baked muffins too. If they ain't good, I'm gonna claim I got them from the bakery instead."
She pulled her tongue a little at that comment and smiled. Nada seemed to like a bit of a jest sometimes. Sure she'd be fine with this little thing.
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Having the characters based off you ain't a bad thing. Means that you know how to wrangle it.
4 hours ago, Galaxical Phoenix said:*ahem* ANYWAY, my new and improved idea with your super cool suggestions is this:
What if she could cast a certain spell - if she directed it at a certain artwork, the emotions or message in that artwork would influence ponies, especially the weak minded as you explained, and if she didn’t it would affect her voice so that for the next song she sang, the emotions or message in the lyrics and rhythm would influence ponies in a similar manner?
If that makes any sense.
And of course she could carry around her wonderful drawing materials. Her excuse? You never know when inspiration will strike . . . huehuehue.
I see no issue with this, long as it doesn't go in and just flat out controls everyone's OC's. But it looks like you're actively thinking on this sort of thing, so I ain't feeling too worried about it right now. The approved mark still stands, and I think we should try and talk on how to get her into the RP, unless you wish to discuss some details further before that.
Which reminds me, quick advice: When your spell in some fashion affects another, try and formulate things less like *They were instantly enthralled* and more towards *They should feel their mind swayed, as the spell intended*. Words like Should, Would, and Could, helps cover your rear against what might be perceived as a simple take over of their characters actions and thoughts. It implies what Should happen, without explicitly saying that it Must. Hope that makes some sorta sense.
And just a small notice while I remember i, who's to say that she were a villain for affecting others in a negative way? She seems emotional, and vindictive or vengeful is an emotion. She could simply want to say, humiliate someone who had acted poorly towards her, or whom she perceived to be a bad being that had it coming. Or you know, to have the upper hoof/sway things in her favor, which isn't villanus as much as simply looking out for #1.
Anyway, what sort of character would you wish for her to join up with? I have like, twenty currently, and while some are of course bound to others right now, there's still a good chunk to work with. Like... I have a sixteen year old colt called Cover Up who uses his magic - along with a large paint brush - to paint tattoos on others, paint surfaces, or to drain the added color from a surface. Such as previous tattoos, ink spills, black paint, etc. He's currently limited to only interact with inky dark colors, since I wanted him to have some room to grow, but things will change as they go along likely.
He might fit well here, as he's sorta feeble minded as he's rather nervous around others mostly (he comes from a pretty isolated town that got destroyed, so he's not too comfortable out in the great open yet) and he also sticks out like a sore thumb, since he covers himself in a large array of a swirly pattern tattoos to cover up the large amount of scars he's got. Turns out having a building fall on you can get nasty.
Anyway, my point being that A: They might have some things loosely in common to talk about, and B: He's easy to affect usually, which depending on what Eventide seeks, could make him a target for some manipulation in her own favor, or someone she figures could use a hoof calming down, to mention a few examples.
He have faded-yellow parchment covered coating, with a white mane and tail, both pound at the end, where he have then painted it black to make it appear as if they are the heads of paint brushes. I don't have a proper picture of him, but I do have one of the one I have that affects minds, which is this one:
(reformed changeling form on top, disguised pony form bottom)
Recently reformed changeling queen Onache, *lovingly* known throughout her life as The Slaver Queen. She's a fun sort, she entices other creatures with mind altering magic and can affect their state of mind and memories. It's what gave her her title, as she preferred to get the ponies and such she used as prey to be twisted into thinking they were willingly serving her, while she actually used them as manual labor and food until they, y'know, couldn't anymore. It helped squelch any sort of rebellious behavior.
She have gotten through the process and have gotten reformed less than a half day ago in RP time, and are still struggling with concepts such as ponies being equals and not just food, how to behave, etc. If you're looking to have some sort of help improving Eventide's mind altering process (which could likely be improved over time, as she trained and got naturally more powerful throughout the years) this wouldn't be the worst one to run into. Ad wadda ya know, she's in the Everfree Forest, in a semi-small area that have been turned into a desert.
It's uhm... A long story, but another player used a sphinx for a time and one thing lead to another, so... Yeah, desert area within, which were then given to Onache after her reformation. She's a natural desert dweller anyway, so it fits her. And it would have been pretty easy to see the process of said desert happening from Ponyville, as it did include a large, sandy tornado that reached above the trees.
Anyway, to not make this much longer, these are some suggestions I have. It is of course up to you if you wish to interact with any of them, though if not, lemme know, and I'll see what else I have to work with. Some pointers on personality types at that point you'd like to interact with would help narrow the field.
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Gosh darn it a day. -,-' Alright then, let's get ya sorted mate.
Point by point below, let's go for it.
1. The mark seems like a cool idea. Run with it.
2. It's a pretty cutie mark. Wondered what it meant.
3... Okay, I got bored with this idea. Let's take broad strokes here instead.
Her emotional state is a good thing. It adds depth to have something not visibly shown about your character. And speaking about shown, I will agree that she is rather unique looking, and would stand out. I think it's good that you acknowledge that in your summary. There's a lot of good depth here actually. Emotions, behavior, preferences, all the good stuff that really makes for an interesting character. And there's a ton of details to the very well made picture up there too. Seriously, this is top end stuff.
Definitely still approved far as I am concerned. And I am the one in charge here, so that means you're in.
Anyway, the mind altering thing I mentioned. It will sort of depend sort of what kind of thing you're after, be it full on control, altering memories, or just behavioral. Regardless, you do have an in on how to make said spell work, and you set it up in her specialties: Writing, drawing, and singing.
My suggestion via those is that she is able to create magical text and drawings that have messages or full on mind control spells weaved into the ink/paint. When observed for long enough, it will start to have an effect depending on the strength of the mind it is attempting to influence. The stronger the mind, the longer time, or total immunity will have to be considered. Any weakened minds by being conflicted, sad, or just generally feeble, will then coincidentally be swayed faster.
As for singing, it is more a siren thing to be able to sway others by that, so you could have it be that her singing would incite a different reaction. Potentially she would have the option of focusing her songs on causing unrest in the minds of others for example? Instead of the mind control of the sirens, her tunes could be having an unnerving effect, or make the ones the tunes directed towards (not a siren, so likely better to have it limited to currently a target at a time, to keep it focused) more skittish or nervous, which would help her paintings and writing have a higher chance of success, or faster infection? Of course, it is up to you if she could also be using said magic tune to ease the mind of others, but you could potentially have some fun with the notion that she could only cause negative effects on others mental stability by singing, and it happened whenever she sagn, regardless of what she wanted. She would just be able to direct what kind of effect it were going to be.
Of course, that last bit were just a suggestion. As is all of this, but is it something like that you had in mind? If so, she may need a saddlebag of pens and brushes on her, so she's able to make something on the fly.
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On 8/13/2019 at 2:41 AM, Illiad Easle said:
She shook her head and stood up, "Alright, this is how it will work: Null, I'll send you back to the waking world, and you'll tell Illiad it's time to bring me out, Void, you and I will wait in your mental room until he pulls me out, then you'll wake up."
"Illiad? Who the hay is that supposed to be?"
"The uhm... The c-consul we ran into y-yesterday."
Null's attention went from looking at Selena to focusing on her sister with wide eyes.
"The alicorn? You're actually dealing with That one?"
"It's T-Troy or nothing, big sis. We h-have to accept that and try to a-adapt."
"...Fine, but I'm not happy about this."
The two gave eachother a small hug, before Void left the room, which caused Null to suddenly open her eyes in the real world.
Sort of a fancy room she found herself in, and- Yep, there were that diamond dog of a mare she guessed, though this one looked more like a hunk of rock than anything. She should just kick this one right away for that wing comment... Grrr. No, she had to focus here. Where were that insufferable alicorn?
Looking a bit more on the statue, she'd notice a note put there, and upon reading it, would loudly proclaim a curse phrase best not spoken near anyone. Ever.
After getting it out of her system, Null went over and poked to Void, but no luck there. She were out, and probably would be until she had found that annoying alicorn...
"I'll get you out lil' sis. Even if I have to drag that creature back by his mane through the damned streets."
Grabbing the sword that were among the weapons that Void had on her - the very same Null had stabbed herself with yesterday - the small pegasus grabbed the hilt by the teeth and start running out, determination mixed with the anger in her eyes as she looked for the first the best pony, griffon, changeling- Any creature that could talk really, who could tell her where that attack were going on. She had to go there and force that alicorn to come back with her, so that she could get Void back again.
This were something that she could set herself into. No matter the setting, the situation, or the details, she had Void to try and save now. That were all the motivation she needed to keep focused and ready for whatever battle were going on. Something told her that she'd have to help there to get what she wanted. Urgh... Annoying, but whatever.
If only she had some sort of ranged weapon right now, this would've been so much easier...
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1
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Hey, I'm sorry for no response so far, but today were hectic. Hopefully I can properly review things tomorrow. At a glance though, it seems fine, and I have some suggestions about the mind control. We'll get this sorted soon.
Again, apologies for the delay.
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Tidal Wave hadn't been knocked over, but she had dropped a pair of cuffs that hung down her side as the pegasus had wandered into her, and she had bent down to pick it up and put it back on. She really should get the strap for this thing fixed once she got back home, or she'd have to make improvised cuffs again the next time she were to make an arrest, only to find she had dropped these.
She'd take the outstretched hoof though, and give it a solid two-shake before letting go, with a big grin on her face.
"Well ain't you a polite sort? Nice to metcha Thunder, I'm general Tidal Wave of the Coastal Guard, but just call me Tidal. All that miss and ma'am stuff's for the stuck ups."
She wasn't a big fan of that whole thing herself, and while the generals of the Coastal Guards tended to be more laid back than those in Canterlot regardless, she were still seen as one of the most chill ones they'd had in around two hundred years. Try as she might, she'd never be able to beat good ol' General Water Jelly. That stallion had been so mellow that nopony ever expected him to be anypony of importance, or a threat. It had made him one dangerous lad for sure, but you didn't become a general of the Coastal Guards if you weren't. Not with how their order of succession happened.
"You look a bit frazzled kiddo. That wing of yours messing up? Doctor's round here must be trying to give you a lesson when they haven't just healed that up. Or wait, is this place so out in the boonies that you folks don't have regular magical remedies? Or even a healer? Only heard of this place, so not sure what you folks are lugging around down here."
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Meeting Widdershins like this were... Unnerving to some degree, but count his blessings, the painting hadn't eaten him. That was the good part, however, it were only one good thing among a hoofful of bad ones.
"It's been better. Phoenix, she... *sigh* Look, I'll tell you later, we have to go, and fast. Sorrow got a strong dosage my rejuvenation powder, and with that level of energy going, we need to take the statue containing most of your essence before something bad happens from what I guess will be her forcing it into whatever things holds more of your essence. I don't know what will happen with that amount of force, but I don't want to risk it."
Pulling himself from the painting, he kept his eyes on it as he picked up his hat, and with the painting pointed forwards over his head via magic, prepared to run, before Grim interrupted him.
"How bad is it going to be for her?"
"Long as she keeps running around and expend the energy, she'll just be sore, but we can't restraint her. She'll have a seizure, and we can't exit the building right now. She have to be able to move unencumbered.
I promise you, I'll get her out of this safely."
With that - and a concerned nod from Grim considering what he just heard of his daughter - Smokey would force himself to give chase, with the picture hanging above him. Hopefully Widdershins would still be able to see something.
He wouldn't be the only one making chase, as Rose had too, soon as the shock of being bashed straight on by Sorrow in a really crazed mood had gotten a few seconds to pass. She had no idea what were going on, but she liked the strange mare. Whatever were going on, she had to get hold of her, and try to calm her down before she ended up getting herself hurt.
As for Sorrow herself, she were currently running in a small circle like a dog, before bolting off to the left, towards the foyer, looking for more ensouled things to catch. She had not noticed how the interaction with the statue and Widders had gone, and only started to realize that she had heard a voice just before at all.
"Willgetdraconequusspirit! Talkytalky, runrunrun!!!"
This were probably going to end badly.
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"I don't understand this creature. Does it not understand what is going on? It seems to react so strangely to all of this..."
Cherish were confused to say the least. Something getting stabbed or struck should likely get angry or something, right? But this one had just gone back into the light and gone docile, right after reacting like some sort of pet. Were this actually an enemy of theirs, and this were just a trap? Or could it be that the poor thing really didn't have the sort of mental fortitude to understand what were going on, and whatever instinct kept it running didn't make it react the normal way from getting injured? Hay, perhaps it didn't even feel this? How would she know?
This was a mysterious creature for sure. Hopefully neither it, nor them, would end up dead from this. Or in her case, deader, if that were possible. Something told her it somehow were.
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Oh, the one with the tongue pull were gonna get So many huggles for that!
If this were how they were going to play, then fine. Ziggy might not be able to fly in here, but she'd certainly pick of the walking pace so that she could keep up or overtake this one sooner, rather than later. You didn't easily escape somepony with long legs like her, and soon as she got her hooves on this little trickster, she would make sure that the foal were gonna get the biggest hug this side of Las Pegasus. Maybe. She weren't sure how big their hugs were. It just sounded good.
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Before the healer left, Omen would respond to something that she had said about the ponies.
"Ponies sometimes fight. They can be mean. Some makes big monsters to hurt others. I do not know why they do this, but Master Discord knew. He said that no creature was perfect. Not even him. He said it was important to revel in our differences, and accept we were all flawed. I still do not understand that, but he said it often."
Discord had sort of used that as an excuse to his behavior more than anything, but he had spoken truth in the fact that no creature could stand on a high horse - he loved puns like that - and proclaim that they were flawless, and therefore better than others. He had liked to take those who acted like that and bring them down a peg or two, sometimes far more, in case they annoyed him or he were in a particularly mischievous mood. As he would have said, sometimes he got tempted and took it too far. He weren't perfect after all.
After the healer left, Omen just stood and looked in the general direction she had gone in silence, until she saw the gate that Lin were working on opening up. It were still strange to see that Lin were able to make these direct transports, when Omen and most of her siblings had to pass through their regular realm to get anywhere, but Lin appeared to just be luckier, or more skilled than them she supposed. Probably the second, as Lin were the sister Omen considered the smartest.
"Lin? When my head is clear, I can go back here? Many things pressing now, but I want to observe. See what you do. Learn things. One day I can do that, yes?"
Omen would calmly wander through the gate regardless of Lin answering or not, as she'd still be able to hear it if one came, and would end on the other side to find that Shrimp were playfully nibbling on Sen's left ear, whilst making happy little chirpy sounds. The smile on the little guy's face were one of absolute delight, likely from how much of the gem it had so far consumed, which seemed to be a good hoof's deep and three hoof's wide already, before he had to pause. The nearby scorch mark would also show that he had already let out some energy from this.
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"I grew up in a raggedy shack with sour siblings, our parents, and grandma. So yeah, once I got older and some cash, I figured that I'd get a nicer place, so that if I ever had foals, they'd have some wriggle room, and get some privacy. My neighbor in that new-looking mansion up there's kinda from the same cut, coming from some run down place in Dodge Junction, but he went real big. He also gots himself some friends and family living there though, and he's the sort who likes making the place full of stuff. Kinda cute too really, but that cousin of his weirds me out. She keeps giving me funny looks whenever I go over there to chat."
She still tried hitting on him from time to time, but Smokey and her were probably never gonna happen, not even for a short fun run. Still, she liked having him as a friend, and that butler of his - Grim something - were a riot sometimes too. Rose though, nooo way those two got along, though it were usually easy to distract her by having Marley wander around the garden with her. She liked talking about all the work she put into it, and he liked the smell of the flowers. Frankly, if Rose had been a griffon, he'd have hit on her big time, Spicy just knew it.
Anyway, time to get to the garage and park this thing,t hen get the gold out. Said garage were pretty basic really, though there were several wards lined up on the walls that'd be visible once they got inside. What could she say? She hated thieves and folks putting their noses in places they didn't belong, so she took her precautions against 'em. The two of them would be fine though. She turned the alarms off as she had entered.
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As Nada would get to the house, she'd find that neither the mimic, nor Serenade were there, but a note would have been left telling describing how they had taken off with Ziggy to see Serenade's parents, and that they'd be back within a week. It wouldn't be long before somepony would knock though, and it would hardly be surprising who.
"Hey, your're in there yet? I brought some lemonade. I would've gotten coffee, but I ran outta filters back home."
Berry had been around once, as she had hurried back, but hadn't knocked as she wanted to make sure she remembered something to drink for 'em. This wasn't perfect, but it were what she could do scrounge up on a short notice. Hopefully the chocolate chip muffins could make up for it. Weren't from the baker, but she had put some real effort into 'em, and she considered them to be pretty good nonetheless.
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"Have you considered potentially lending your aid to the guards at any point? This talent of yours to heal is quite impressive, and could be sorely needed on the fields of battle, or even at their station in their main city itself. Or perhaps you seek to empower yourself further before taking on a more advanced role such as those? I have been far and wide, and met a variety of beings which may be able to offer some degree of assistance, if even in memory.
If I may be so bold as to offer my take on things here, have you ever been to Germane? The reason I ask is that once I were there, I met ponies of which most were earthen by birth, who worshiped nature, and were able to cast spells related to their practices. Healing tends to fall within the realms of nature and light primarily if I am not mistaken, so would it be out of the question to consider that perhaps they could help you elevate your substantially beneficial gift? As witches of nature - or Druids, as I recall them calling themselves - they do have a close connection with the wild too, and if not for the healing, perhaps they could further aid you in your quest for plant growth or cooking with all natural ingredients? I am not trying to force your hoof of course, but I do wish to share what knowledge my years have gained me with those who could make use of it. If for nothing else, then to be more informed of the lands beyond Equestria.
And Velvet, you needn't apologize for focusing the talk on you. The subject did touch upon a topic which you clearly think about often, and I know well that sometimes, the best ways to gain help in regards to what wanders in your mind, is to air it among others, and see if you can gain another perspective. You have no reason to apologize for being a normal, sensible being."
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Zhu looked carefully on from a distance at what were happening, as Gaea had entered the camp wearing the piece of clothing she had returned with. He would admit to have felt a bit of longing in his chest at seeing the crest emblazoned upon it, yet sadly, now were not the time for questions about how she knew this family, and who Amrite were. Though he would certainly try and find one in that family line with that name at some point, and see what it appeared he had missed. It had likely been before his time, judging by how everything were playing out.
Considering his sight, reading lips were not a trait he had been able to gather throughout the years, but wind his wind magic were useful in many ways, including at this time, when it helped carry their words towards him on a gentle, yet deliberate breeze, and what he learned of this were interesting. From Gaea's side, the name Amrite, who seemed to be a mare of some contention, judging by the response coming from the noble, and from said noble, he learned that he did not only want to not obstruct anything that were going to happen in his future, but actively cause misfortune to befall him, were Zhu to have gotten the chance. This were one that were clearly further up his own flank than at first expected, and were not just a parasite, but a direct insult to the kind, warm blood that flowed through his veins. This stallion were nothing but an embarrassment to the line of his foster mother. Such a waste that it were to have one so selfish and dismissive of the need of others pollute this land.
Sadly, his fate were not for Zhu to decide currently, and once he returned to his own time, this one would have been dead for a long time. The only thing he could currently do, were to wait, and then eventually find what had happened to this one. Hopefully it would be one of the worse options that were seen among the potential threads that unfolded before Zhu's eyes.
As hours passed, the thieves would eventually show themselves. Gaea had been correct that they could not let a bountiful fortune such as this escape them, and as Zhu's glowing yellow eyes focused on them, he caught himself in a smile. The anger this stallion would feel from being robbed were likely to be taken out on others, but any degree of misfortune that befell him seed to make it worth a small amount of insults and such. Especially as this may lead to the servants snapping and taking matters into their own hooves. It hadn't been the most plausible of futures he had seen, but it were there.
Observing them as they went on their way, they had likely shielded themselves to make sure that he could not glance anything from them if he were to look again, like he had the last time, though regardless of whatever they had done this or not, Zhu would remain inactive in his tree until they would start to make their way out of the camp, at which point he would rightfully follow them. Feline legs, paws and reflexes were a good thing when you were following others, and him being able to jump on the air by manipulating his magic certainly helped too in pursuing them. They should not be able to take notice that he were following them, jumping between trees a little from the ground, as to not impact any branches or the like on the ground. If they were to look behind them, he would have hidden, and if they attempted to do anything that looked like a teleportation spell, Zhu would instantly attack, starting with a strong gust of wind to interrupt them before going in, fangs barred, and ready to poison one of them if needed be.
His poison were not lethal, but be it due to his flawed egg or something related to his family that he weren't aware of, it would cause severe sensory and auditory hallucinations, preying on the fears of the infected individual, with the time lasting between ten minutes to half a day, depending on how much venom got injected, and there were no cure. The only relief would be to keep eyes and ears closed, and sit still in the dark as the venom ran its course.
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While others gave Minty a weird look for the spotlight appearing on top of her again - she were not helping the perception that Equestrians were sometimes crazy - Caramel let out a delighted chuckle and clapped her hooves together at the sight.
"Splendid, marvelous! Far too few think of how they will be depicted in their final moment, fighting a great foe that will forever be immortalized by the witnesses. And what a sight your stand would have been. Soon as as I hear there is a beacon sorted for the correct locations, I simply Must go and see what clothes and materials are sold in your country. For all the good there can be found for an alchemist here in Harrowmark, it is decisively low on any soft clothing or color. It's all rough or as dull as the dirt. I've done all that I can to at least add a little color to my own clothing, but looking at you, it just seems as dull as the rest here. Oh dearest savior, please let this mare save you as intended. If not from a great monster, then at least from your choice in clothing."
She had turned and teased Rising as she said this last bit. She did appreciate everything he had done for Harrowmark, and had a great deal of respect for him, but how could she not have a little fun, even on the behalf as one such as him? Besides, she didn't lie. She really did wish that Minty would help him to get shined up such as herself. It would make the statues or other depictions for his next great deed somewhere look absolutely breathtaking, and one as important as him, should really carry himself as such.
It seemed like Minty enjoyed poking to him a bit about this sort of thing too. Caramel most definitely had to seek out the captain when she eventually took advantage of a stable portal to visit Equestria. Something told her that they could end up having quite a bit of fun, and oh, just think of all the fun stories they might have to share. Battles, hardships, glorious conquests. Ah, so many topics, and those were just the first off the top of her head. Why, she looked forward to it already.
That being said, she did notice the high priestesses stare at her as she teased Rising once again, and got the distinct impression that she should potentially tone things down a little, before they were going to have words. *sigh* This mare just hadn't changed, had she? Just as the stories said, she were nothing but a downer.
As for Rising, if he could truly see what emotions had run through the one who had cast the spell, he would find that there were a great deal of sorrow and grief in the one who had made the cloaking spell for Caramel. Something had deeply saddened the caster, though as this were Harrowmark, and it were well established that horrors and risen former loved ones weren't hard to find, there could be many reasons for this sadness. There were no guarantee that it had anything to do with Caramel herself.
"Where she could most certainly improve your appearance, Harrowmark could feed your curious mind, if ever you had the time to delve into it. Alchemy is a particularly delightful profession here as we have plants that can only grow in earth nearly brimming with the sort of magic we have running through the very ground here, and the schools of magic, whilst often dark in nature, holds many secrets. I'm sure your country have much magic that would awestruck quite the harvest witch or unicorn in our lands, but when it comes to the many levels of darkness and death, I don't sense your country have much of that. At least not enough to truly be delved into.
Though again, I could be wrong. I'm no sensor after all. Perhaps you would be interested in talking about the many layers of highly advanced necromancy for a little while, and see who knows the-"
A rumbling came from the north of town, and Caramel stopped her words. The party nearby seemed to be too occupied to have noticed it, and simply kept on having their fun, with some clearly being well in the party mood - the elderly stallion that had brought them the tome of maps before seemed to have gotten tipsy and had dragged Sickle into a clumsy dance, to name an example - yet both Wisp and Caramel had become keenly aware of anything that signalled trouble, and this one came from the direction of the swamp. Nothing good came from that place that could make this sound.
"Now, of all times? Okay, I'll go find Bolt Singer and wake up Fence Hopper."
"Bolt Singer is having some long overdue fun with his family, Fence Hopper deserves his rest after yesterday, and I know a certain mare who have been explicitly ordered to stay near our dear savior and tend to his every need."
Wisp blushed a bit and averted her eyes from the choice of words that Caramel had used, and the tone she had taken near the end of said sentence. Something which made her smile and give off a little chuckle. The pyromancer were simply adorable to her like this.
"Leave it to me dearie, it won't be long. You're most welcome to follow if you want to see some of the fun things we have to deal with here too Minty, though you will stay here."
She pointed at Rising and got a short, strict look on her face before it went back into a warm smile.
"We can't have you risk yourself after the day you have had. Now, let the grown ups have their fun, and rest your weary self. You don't want me to whack you with a spoon now, do you?"
She made sure to be walking away as the last thing were said, and the laughter escaped her again, before the high priestess could say something about her behavior. Whatever Minty would care to follow or not, she would keep on her way. She simply wanted to be polite and since the mare had made such a big thing out of herself, it just seemed a shame to not let her at least taste a little shred of battle, no? It were up to her though of course. Caramel just thought she'd make the offer.
"ℍ𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕣, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕣."
"Caramel is a... Special mare, but she's mostly adored. Most tends to just get used to how she acts."
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I hope this covers it right. I tried checking several pages for any notion of memories and a cave, but found nothing, so... Correct me if I am wrong here.
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On 8/11/2019 at 6:12 AM, Illiad Easle said:
She sighed as she looked over at Void, "While I know, it isn't for me to tell you, and while you might not believe me, I am sure that they wouldn't love you to any less."
"I k-know they love us, and I t-think they will accept what h-have happened. It might just... T-Take a little time. That's a-all."
Void had hope for the future, as she had seen that their past were not as full of blood as she had thought throughout most of their lives, but she would admit that she had gotten a moment of doubt as Null had brought up that she hadn't shared their own stories with their parents yet. When this were all over, and they had gotten Null back to a somewhat stable manner, she would take her to them and start talking about this. Her big sis needed to see for herself that their parents wouldn't abandon them, just because they had done things that needed to be done to survive, or help others. At least she hoped that this were all. Null hadn't always been around her, and as she had seen a few times now, she had a habit of hiding some... hurtful things from her little sister. Void couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps, Null had done some things that were less ethical, and didn't have to be done for their survival, and just didn't tell anybody about it, though she certainly hoped not.
And speaking of Null, her reaction to what the crystal pony were saying were more of a silent scowl to the side. She remained unconvinced about how things would go before she saw it with her own eyes, but at least she didn't try and insult Selena over this, as she could see that she mare had a point. She were just too stubborn to admit it right now.
On 8/11/2019 at 6:12 AM, Illiad Easle said:"Just a little hope is all I'm asking for, I know it will be hard, to dare to hope after all this time."
This time, holding her muzzle wasn't enough. Void physically had to restrain Null to stop her older sister from jumping Selena and attempt to beat her senseless. Not a huge deal for Void, but it still pained her that she had to do this.
"I-I'm sorry, it's just... A very t-touchy subject for her. It's k-kinda- Whoah!"
Much as Null's response to this outward were being furiously angry, it were a defense mechanism more than anything. Inside, she always felt some degree of hope once the prospect of getting back into the sky came up, but she had just been broken so many times in this regard that she tried to shield herself from disappointment by attacking whoever brought it up, or at the very least yelled in their face.
As such, the process went through as Selena would expect, and a shard manifested out of nowhere that plunged into Null's missing wing frame like a dart, attaching itself to a place near where her longest flight feather would have started, and in the process, would hit Void, so she saw the same memory attached to it that were suddenly making Null's eyes go wide, and her facial expression appear as if she were being impaled.
It were six years past this point in their lives, and the two were standing in a forest that had little in the way of recognizable features or plants, besides an overabundance of oak and the sound of cawing, young phoenixes somewhere nearby. Sadly a couple of things that could be said about most forests in Equestria, and whatever country were not situated far to the north or south, where the flaming avian had a smaller interest in nesting. The oak ruled out some further away lands, but this could still be too many places to narrow down.
Null stood alone here, with no sign of Void anywhere, and looked with narrowed eyes at a band of griffons, standing in front of a large cauldron oozing some kind of pink smog. The smell of something overbearingly sweet wafted through the air, but Null for one didn't care. She were looking at them with tears going down her angry face, which try as she might, she were unable to hold back.
"You're all going to regret this. Mark my words you insufferable chickens."
"Awh, did the little cripple get hurt thinking about how these *chickens* can still fly better than her?"
Null lounged herself at them, and were bashed back by the one who seemed to be in charge, whilst the others around him laughed at his little taunt, as well as Null's pathetic attempt at hurting them.
"But alright, you wanted this so badly? Here, go fetch."
He ripped a necklace he had off, and threw the small vial of a rainbow-colored liquid at Null. Upon her grabbing it, it instantly started to go erratic in its colors, and eventually went through a smaller explosion, causing her hoof to get burn marked. The physical pain she felt were pretty rough compared to the one of betrayal she had just went through, as were the sinking feeling of dread and hopselesnes that were starting to go over her from seeing this result.
"Oh, I suppose we forgot to tell you? Ah, how silly of us. You see, the magic is the only thing that holds it together, and makes it stable. Without it, there's little difference between it, and a bomb. I guess you'll just have to remain a freak."
They started laughing again, before the leader signalled a few of those behind him, who took hold of the cauldron and prepared a magical stone that would hold a spell to summon a gate towards a predetermined destination. As they lifted said stone, it would start to become visible that all of them, somewhere on their body, had a tattoo or mark of some kind, of a red claw slashing in a curved motion. The design of said claw would indicate a draconic connection of some kind, though the ones carrying this were highly obscure, and mostly only known to those on the old black market, who were aware of La Perinne's cult-like followers.
"Start getting it back. As for you... La Perinne said I could chose what to do with you."
He withdrew a dagger as he looked towards the younger Null, holding her scorched hoof with her eyes towards the dirt.
Instead of striking at her though, he scratched himself under the beak with it, and looked up into the air.
"I think I'll let you live. It seems so much crueler than just offing you. *sigh* If only I had more time, I could've done it worse by taking that sister of yours as a trophy though. I bet her coat would make for a nice bathroom rug."
He smirked victoriously as Null ran towards him again, and he held the dagger out, ready to slice her leg after the obvious taunt. What he did not expect though, were that after he had done that, and deflected her good hoof with his free talons, that she'd then use her injured leg to kick him hard with, which would sent a jolt of pain through Null, but also have the effect of causing the griffon to fall back with some force in surprise, and with blood spattered on his face.
He'd stop his descend once he were at the cauldron, clinging to the edges before accidentally falling in, and would open his beak to order the others to attack, when Null came bashing through, jumped up awkwardly, yet determined, and stomped him in the chest. He had a small second to think of what were going on here, and had a look of horrific realization glimmering in his eyes as it passed, but there were nothing he could do to stop the momentum from causing him to fall further back, and whilst he instinctively shifted to cling to the sides of the cauldron, his wings still plunged directly into the elixir. The amount of pain in his scream after that were saying that whatever were in this, certainly weren't comfortable, and it rattled the others around them, who drew their weapons, whilst also holding the griffon down, not allowing him to pull his wings out, no matter what were going on, and how much he struggled.
They would have attacked too, had the now opened gate not given off a feminine voice, telling them to get to her that instance. An order which they followed.
The only thing Null would see as she fell down on the ground and tried holding her bloodied leg in pain, before the portal closed, were the center of a massive, green slit eye, focused directly on her, and the same voice from before warning her that this would not be forgotten. A surprisingly low one, considering the dragon behind it seemed to be one of the very large varieties.
Void would find Null a few minutes after that and Null would hide this under being attacked by someone who had run off, which made it sound like some sort of hunting accident. She hadn't known that she had actually been elsewhere, making shady deals with shadier beings, whom seemed to have taken advantage of her desperate want to fly again. This time, apparently with some sort of elixir, which she imagined they had shown work on something else to make her enticed. Potions were not inherently magical by nature, so she had assumed that if there were a way, it would be through one of those, just one with more focus on biology than magic. That they had tricked her and used sleight of hand to make it seem as if this worked even when anti-magic were in place, were sadly something she had realized too late though.
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Well, we welcome folks of all levels of experience with this sorta thing.
Do you have a character you wish to enter with, and if so, which one? Some details helps to make sure everything's alright, especially if they have some sorta special power.
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"Ponies are strange.
Friendly to one another, takes time to accept others. Then one does, many follows. Saw it with changelings. Dragons. Master Discord.
They smile a lot. Dance, sing, play. They hug when meeting others. Strange thing to do. Trying to learn.
I have been many places. Ponies are more welcome than most I have seen. No fire, no talons. Normally no kicking. Can be scared of strange magic, or large creatures. Longma are not big. No magic it sounds like. You could get along, maybe."
Omen told the things she could say about ponies off the top of her head, though if the healer wanted more details on this, she'd perhaps be a little disappointing. This were more the sort of thing that Rosa could answer in details, and more fluently, though if they'd even talk to him if he were to see this place, were hard to tell. Omen had some history with this village now, regardless of her ability to remember it, whilst Rosa were an outsider. Perhaps it would be better to get some books of Equestrian history to start this off with at some point?
"I miss how Equestria used to be. Always changing, full of chaos.
It changed. It is stable now, many laws there to keep order. Still see ponies act chaotic sometimes. Very strange. Not the princesses yet. Celestia and Luna, not seem them since Master Discord ruled. Others talk about them like they are good. Few badly. Sounds like they make it a good country.
New princess in Ponyville. Twilight. Princess of Friendship. Her friends and her does many things. Fights off monsters. Helped Master Discord reform. Heard she takes contact to many creatures. Changelings. Dragons. Griffons. Many creatures they speak with now. All welcome in Equestria. Longma wanted to make contact with the ponies, should speak with her. She does that, they say. Also helps with many things. Not seen her much, mostly heard things.
Hard to explain them. Their country. Many things happen there, but they smile a lot. Means they are happy, yes?"
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Oh phoey, saved by the sudden presence of dad pone. Well, they were not going to keep escaping her, she'd catch them both! Just as a lesser quick pace, since yeah, he told them not to run in the house, and if she tried bouncing around like she did when she got some speed on, she'd end up pretty much hitting everything on the walls and have them end on the floor. So she were down to walking with speed now.
"Come back little foalsies, I just wanna snuggle you!"
The others were probably out of her reach by now, but gosh darn it, she weren't gonna go through this day without foal hugs!
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"That can end up kinda funny. Once saw it cause a stallion to stumble over himself, end in the punch, which then fell over and yada yada, the hostess got knocked out. Chain reactions can be well fun."
It sounded kinda bad, but in Spicy's defense, that hostess had been a real snooty, annoying mare to even look at. One of those types who just oozes an aura of thinking they were better than anypony else. Urgh, whatever it took to bash those like that down a few pecks were welcome for sure.
Anyway, better get them back to her house so that they could stash things, and figure out what else to do.
Leading them on for about twenty minutes, they'd end up at a rather large house. Not as big as some of the mansions nearby, but it were pretty close. She could honestly have gotten one of those huge places, but she didn't care much for all that wasted space, and the garden regulations were ridiculous. Like this, she could get away with a few minor bushes and just getting somepony to cut the grass every few months.
She did like to decorate the outside and inside a little, but it were more practical than wasteful. Minus the large sign over the gate declaring her name, poker champ title, and her profession as a loaner. Folks could submit their requests in a box out there if she weren't home and then meet up with her later, but she'd check it later.
"Ah, home sweet home. Let's get in and get this thing emptied."
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"Then we best sneak you into Ponyville again all quiet like, so that you don't have to also deal with somepony saying they saw a siren. Though heh, who'd ever say that without proof? Ponies would think they were crazy.
Anyway, want me to come by in the morning with some more baked goods and a sample rack of coffee? Thinking we can find something that really speaks to you. And y'know, send your little flying monster or something if ya need to get hold of me before that, yeah?"
It were kinda her saying goodbye for now, as she couldn't swim in like Nada did, so the siren were probably going to split and make her way back soon. Best to make sure that the basics were covered before that, right?
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"So this here's Ponyville, eh? Well ain't this a nice little slice of the mainland."
Tidal wave wandered into town, accompanied by a single Coastal Guard unicorn, who stood with a scrying orb of some sort in front of him, and looked between it and the varied ponies and such around him nervously.
"Are you sure it's smart to go here, general? The auras of this place tells stories... Dangerous and recent stories."
The somewhat smaller than regular height earth pony mare chuckled at this and gave her accompanying party a little tap on his shoulder.
"Bah, you worry too much lieutenant. Worst comes to worst, I trust your spellwork, and I still got my trident. It'll be fine. Just let Salty Breeze know that she'l have to deal with the small stuff for a day or two more while I go check out things."
She clapped the trident that rightly so hung on her back, attached to a small clasp in her armor that allowed her to pull it off with ease, as well as getting it back on. Annoying to have to lumber it around otherwise, and this had long since proven to be the best option the Coastal Guards had easy access to, from quite a number of years ago.
"As you wish general. You know how to contact me as soon as you need transport."
She gave him a blink and a grin as the unicorn teleported away. A good lieutenant that one, but a little too worried about the small stuff sometimes Though granted, she had promoted him exactly because that viewpoint could sometimes be a real help. Couldn't go into everything all reckless now, could they? Folks would just get hurt.
"Alright then, let's see what Ponyville have to offer. Thinking that castle might as well get a lil che- Hey neat, a bakery. I wonder if they got something with sea salt in it."
She weren't actually that easy to distract, but she liked to play it up sometimes, mainly to have a bit of fun. Plus this were a good excuse to wait with the castle for a bit, and get a little snack. It had been a long meeting after all.
Shed stand out like a sore hoof in this town as she wandered along. Not just because of the trident, but because of the torn parts of her official uniform, and the wounds in several, varied stages of healing. She could've perhaps gotten a fresh wardrobe before even going to the meeting, but frankly, she preferred it this way. The long cape otherwise could be really annoying to lumber around otherwise.
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Just the regular plans to take over world domination.
How may we help you?
Deep Science 1x1 with Blitz Boom
in 1x1 RP
@Illiad Easle
Null's right eye had a small tick as she saw Void rush towards the consul and as he fell down, grabbed him and held him up. Getting this chummy with a leader of Troy were not something she could condone, but she kept herself from going over and trying to pry her from him right away. Mainly because she wouldn't be holding the consul for long before he seemed to wish to be set on the floor, rather than taken somewhere else, and as such, their interaction were brief.
Void's perspective on this were more that he had helped them, and that he seemed to have needed help himself, so she hadn't thought much on it as she stumbled over to offer what strength she had to give. It didn't seem wise in her eyes to have him just go down to the floor like this, rather than being dragged or lifted to a couch or bed - she could do that easily, as he were surprisingly light, compared to the cursed items they usually lugged around - but she would respect his wished for the time being, and even stepped back to not block his magic anymore, in case he needed it.
"...Nothing important is ever gotten without a price."
It weren't obvious whatever or not Null said that she'd take the wings regardless of the price, or if perhaps she acknowledged that the consul had a burden of some kind that came with these. All things considered, her tone were relatively natural, and didn't lean heavily towards either thing, and she weren't elaborating more. She just wandered over to Void and joined her sister in observing Selena being told to go and soak sunlight. A strange situation, but if plants could get energy from the sun, why not ponies made of crystals? Weren't the weirdest thing they had ever heard.
"So uhm... C-Consul? Are you o-okay? You look a b-bit uhm..."
"You look like a buffalo used you as a doormat."
"Big s-sis, that's not a v-very nice way of p-putting it."
"Yeah well, it's honest, and I'm sick and tired of lies.
So, what's gonna happen now, consul?"
Her tone here spoke well that she expected something bad, like say, a prison sentence of a public execution. Something bad at the very least, as that were what she expected from Troy. Even if this guy looked pretty deflated, his orders could still cause all sorts of bad things to start for them.
Sure she could try and care for his well being like Void did, with her worried glances towards Illiad, but if he wasn't dead yet, chances were he wasn't gonna snuff out from this process either, so she'd just move past her pretending to care, and right into what his big scheme were when it came to the two of them. He probably just needed a nap and some pain meds to be back on top anyway. Or a Galtherian Pulseflower, but where'd they get hold of that in Troy?