Blitz Boom

Sorry, not posting until tomorrow. Some stuff happened today and I'm just not feeling up for it right now.

I understand mate. I won't be able to post until tomorrow either, so same boat and all that. Hope things will settle down for you and get you back in the groove tomorrow.

@@Seamore Sandwich,

Let me know if the story with the little creature doesn't fit, but spur of the moment lore is fun sometimes. :3

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@everypony

Heading home to visit family this weekend so I will likely not be able to post again before Monday. I might be able to scrape some time together and make a post Saturday, but the other two days are packed unfortunately, so... Yeah. :/

If I can't post Saturday, I hope that you will all have a good weekend until I return, and stay awesome.

@@Moonlit,

@@Seamore Sandwich,

@@Hazard Time,

Ziggy was about to say something about how she had apparently been Fah'lina's puppet for a bit and that was how she got in here, when the door behind her got destroyed and the booming voice gave her a shock that sent her towards the roof. Literally. She had taken off like her hooves was on fire, and were currently clinging to a roof truss, thinking that something were attacking them.

Fah'lina on the other hand, didn't approach the situation the same way. Certainly, she had gotten a shock when the door had broken, and the combination of the noise that made, along with the booming voice, had hurt her ears, but her reaction to this wasn't to face the invader by running away, but rather to confront.

Within seconds, she had turned towards the princess, and in sight of everypony would arch her back and look at Luna with hard eyes before opening her gaping maw in all it's gloy and let out a deep, guttural hiss from somewhere within the mouth with the several rows of sharp teeth that were large enough to fit over a regular pony's head.

She were pretty much immobile when she did this, but it were to add size and a level of threat to her presence that she did this, and not to hunt down something. If she were hunting, she'd wait until she were close enough to chomp down, and wouldn't have folded out her ears as much as possible to try and give some width too.

It would be... Well, likely rather ineffective, but it was an instinctual, territorial thing, and she hadn't the faintest idea about the princess being anything other than just a tall pony with a larger mane and tail, so there wasn't an idea of an actual threat that should make her hide. She had never seen a princess before and hadn't an clue how royalty fitted into things, nor the power they had, so she were not against trying hers to scare the intruder away from her flock.

As ineffective as the show would likely be - at least towards Luna, Succulent might be another story as she had just seen the cute side thus far - the sight might be interesting to Luna. Not because of the defensive ways of the creature, but because she might know the actual kind of creature this were as they had once populated the rivers around the area that in time would become Canterlot, as well as a few rivers near the Castle of the Two Sisters before she turned into Nightmare Moon.

Why this were interesting? Because this kind of creature had reportedly gone extinct centuries ago.

They had come around some time after Discord had taken over Equestria, evolving alongside the lingering chaos magic in the air to better suit the sometimes more hostile world there was back then, and after he had been defeated had settled down a few places rich in fish and gotten along in relative peace until they were discovered.

They bred slowly and wasn't a species that often moved to find new grounds, preferring instead to nurture where they lived a little so they wouldn't run out of fish and other needed things, so they weren't seen as that bad creatures, although the strangeness of them had gotten some odd looks for a while. They were mostly playful and liked to hang around other beings, such as ponies, long as they didn't get near when there were off-spring in their nests, so for some it was quite the thing to find one of their populated areas and see how they were doing.

Luna might have known of them as they tended to be working on *schedules* so to speak, with there always being some there were awake to keep guard of get things done in some kind of capacity, so there were the *shift workers* that had more or less become completely nocturnal because of it, and with some being close enough to the castle, it might be that she had been around to see some of the few creatures who didn't all sleep under the moon's gaze.

It wasn't really certain what had happened to them though. The ones in the forest had seemingly relocated after the battle at the castle, and the last time they had been seen near Canterlot was about thirty years after it had been build, before they too suddenly went away without a trace. There had been plenty of theories about where the  adaptable creatures had gone to in the time since, but with no trace and no words about them from anywhere, eventually it was just thought they had gone extinct for some reason.

Seems like it wasn't so after all.

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@@EQ_Theta,

"No, I never talked to her. Most ponies run away when I show myself, and if she knew master, I couldn't scare her. He would not want it.

And asking others... Sen and I did that once. It weren't met with answers. The bat pony said something, but it didn't sound like a clue. Advise I think?"

Omen recalled the interaction between the Night Guard whose name she couldn't place right now and them one of the past days, where he had told them about how asking around about Discord likely wasn't that good of an idea. He had taken them to his office afterwards and said a few things about Discord before Sen and him had filed out a search form for Lin. Like Sen had said, they should likely get past him at some point and tell him it wasn't needed anymore really. Perhaps something to do first when they got back?

It wouldn't be that long all things considered before they reached the door outwards, and when they did, Omen would open it for them and let them back out into the ever-shifting world outside Mother's home. Lin would likely feel a little strange out here, with her ability to open gates now being able to work again, though she might not be able to open anytrhing yet, and likely couldn't aim it anywhere. It wasn't as easy as one might think when you weren't created with the tracking Omen's kind had, and it were still a new power for Lin. It'd likely take a good deal of time for her to have it under control, though random ones might happen.

Then again, perhaps she would have enough grasp on magic and the focus of it to give a fair try at opening a random gate? It was hard to say with any certainty, though as Omen walked out of the hallways she didn't think on it, or the possibility. Mother hadn't told her of what Lin might be able to do now, and she hadn't been there when the three others had discussed this prior to them going for the magical destination, so it didn't even enter her mind as a possibility. instead, she just looked around, trying to find a point too go for that would get them where they needed to.

"Time to find Ponyville then."

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@,

"I can cover that."

Chow interrupted before the doctor even had the chance to say something, and the arth pony waves for the zebra foal to follow him until they reached a minor pile of small crates.

"Ain't the highest quality supplies, but it should do the trick. Better than going into town and getting messed up in something for sure."

He rummaged around a few of them, looking in, before he finally took hold of one to the left and opened the lid fully, showing to her a minor crate of apples that had likely been brought from the part of the market that wasn't engulfed earlier.

"I know it could be better, but we have to work with what we have for now. And hey, it's better than pet food at least."

Double Chow grinned slightly towards the foal, knowing well that if there was one here that knew about the bad taste of pet food it'd have to be him, and he could for sure say the apples were better. Pet food - or at least the kind he made - were too filled with meat to be either tasty or edible to a pony, though a griffin might have a go in a pinch. Depended on what sort of cut it were from the beast mostly, and what else had been added. Yet, not important. No griffins here after all, just ponies.

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@@Seamore Sandwich,
@@GingerLightning,
@@Quinch,
@@Lonk Chase,
@@Melke,
@@Denim&Venom,
@@Mentis Soliloquy,

It had taken a bit of time for Last to get up the building with the holes in the roof she were moving up through, but as soon as she got up there and saw Nemo starting to be on the move with a pony in one of his arms, she made the jump and started to strike without thought. She had hoped to get to the neck, and she did have some height that could help that, but she had to help others too in this battle so Nemo wouldn't get stronger, so the arm it were.

The angle she were striking at should hold enough power to either cut through the arm or at least damage it enough so that he'd have to drop the one he were carrying, and if it got through the arm, would keep striking inwards towards his body. It was hard to say how much resistance were in Nemo and therefore, how much the strike would loose in power from cutting into him, but hopefully this would do something. The battle was drawing on for far too long for her taste, and there were only so many times she could do reckless strikes like this before she were eventually swatted like a fly. Though hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Meanwhile, Zhu looked at the barely corporeal Charlie and watching the vague, few clips of a future he saw for the spirit. It would appear that this were the spirit in question that he knew the demon mare had forged a deal with for a new body, which were rather interesting as he had thought they had done that before this started, yet didn't help the current situation much. It was just another thing to handle in the aftermath.

"I know of the impact it can have upon the balance, and I see what future comes if it is not stopped. Something that should be stopped, though for the time being, that is of no concern to you. Conserve your strength, and leave this to us."

(the following only happens if Charlie doesn't tell him to wait)

As Zhu left the dome he were met with yet another sight of random destruction that had occurred in his short time in there. Not unsurprising, as this were one of the possibilities he had seen so very long ago now, but how ot handle it were another deal entirely and relied some on the abilities of the ones that had already taken their own precautions.

The ananasi seemed like they had set up the thing that should trap the being further, which should soon get into power and doing its part to keep the old being here, along with the two remaining ones of its kind that were attempting to slow it down in what ways they could, whilst avoiding the *rift* so to speak, that had been opened.

It seemed the changeling and kitsune had yet to get through with more of their part in this, but it should happen soon enough, and frankly his interest were more on the rift for a little than them. A few beings were visible through there that he knew were victims of the Forgotten One, and even if they had been part of things, he could no longer place them in his mind, yet there were one thing he could: The blade held by the pony aiming for the old being. It were an artefact that he had not been able to locate, no matter how much he had sought, but knew should have been part of this fight. It seemed like it had become after all, just in a place where he couldn't interact with things.

But, it were not his concern for the time being. He could not make contact with that pony as it were right now, so he should focus on where he could do things. Such as raising the winds to be redy to take hold of beings that got tossed around or were attempted to be thrown into the rift. With some luck, he could avoid more casualties or sacrifices from happening until things proceeded to the crucial point. Hopefully, this would soon be, as there were limits to how much any being could keep fighting before they became too drained by the ordeal.

As for Meeko... Well, the wolf had quickly run over to Ginger when the tail got off the bucket and were currently standing next to Ginger, with his front paws on her body and looking at her with some degree of worry. Something which could also be heard in the small barks he gave towards the half-blood changeling.

@@Randimaxis,

@@Mentis Soliloquy,

"Yeeeey!"

Ziggy's voice as she were told that Dax wasn't angry with her and that they could likely fix things were so happy and sweet that it sounded like she'd explode into kittens and candy if somepony poked her right now. Dax wouldn't be able to test that out really, as she, at the same time, grabbed him and pulled him up from the floor in a tight hug, resting her head on his for the few seconds she could hold him up and radiate her happiness at the usually shy-looking stallion.

She didn't think about how it might look to Scarlet that she were squishing the boss' son like a plushie, nor how it might be for Dax considering how awkward this likely were. To her, everything were joy for the few seconds she had her grasp fully on him, before she finally put him down and walked to the side of him.

"That was so much better. Been worried about how things would go all day. Well, when there wasn't bad things happening, but you know what I mean, though I guess I have to apologise to Mr. Blackwater too the next time I see him. I'll have to try and remember that."

The zegasus were almost dancing right now. Regardless of how much she usually didn't like the thought of disappointing anypony - especially Mr. Blackwater - it didn't really get to her right now as more than something she had to take care of another time. Dax had been the one she were the most nervous about because he had always looked like he could use ponies around to be there for him when they said they'd be the few times she had seen him, and his mood the day after they were supposed to meet he looked like it had really gotten to him. It had made her feel all kinds of guilty, and knowing that he forgave her washed all the bad things away currently.

It also helped that Mr. Blackwater hadn't seemed to be more annoyed than he usually were, nor had brought this up when they had a meeting before. It were something she had to answer for, certainly, and she'd do that when it was time to do so, but currently at least it looked like he hadn't let it get to him, so the guilt there was lesser currently. Not something that stood a chance against all the happy right now.

Well, that, and the fact that if he checked the timetable on the usual reports she had to send in, he could see what her time had been occupied with at the time she should have been there. She had to write down the medicine used for incidents, the time it were used, and the incidents themselves as part of her report, along with filing the things as well, which she always did at the end of the day after marking down the basic information as things happened. Everything was easily verifiable, and she could imagine that would be a good help when explaining herself to him. Perhaps not something that would've worked with Dax, but luckily, that wasn't an issue anymore, so yey!

"Speaking of remembering stuff, Scarlet? About what you said before? I do know what it's like to have siblings. I'm the oldest of triplets, and they like to make tricks all the time, but I didn't grow up home so I never really got to see a lot of the fake tears and stuff. Plus, I like to think the best about everypony and don't think they'd lie unless it looks really obvious, and Oglevy was in-cred-ible! Seriously, he even had a monologue afterwards! I bet that if he got a little more tutoring he'd make a lot of waves on the theatre world."

it might seem a bit odd to praise a foal that had gotten her glued to a vent, and especially towards his older brother that had gotten on the bad side of the rascal's games quite a bit of times, but as she had said, she liked to think the best of others, and sure, Oglevy was a bit of a brat, but he was a talented one, so why not focus on that part and the front row seat she had gotten to that show? In a half dozen years it might get expensive to see a performance by him if he took up a bit of acting, and especially to get near enough so that you could almost touch the stage. Sure, she were on the stage here technically, but the point still stood. At least it did to her.

Wandering down the hallway, she couldn't help on also thinking that she'd really like if it was big enough for her to spread her wings in here, as it'd help with her not walking on her glued hoof right now, but that was more of a small, side thought that bounced up now and again. She could still walk - albeit slower and a little strange - with three legs, and this way she didn't accidentally crush the figurine that she was glued too, which was a thing that she'd prefer not to ruin. Sure, it might be kinda tough in it, but she didn't know that, so why take the chance?

She might have something else on her mind if she had seen the drawing on her flank, but she hadn't really taken notice of it since it happened. So many other things had started that the part about Oglevy doodling on her got pushed quite a bit back in her mind and was currently stuck somewhere out of her reach.

@@EQ_Theta,

"Mother never lets us come when new children arrives. We are curious as to why, but she says it is better if some things is never learned."

The amount of times when one or more of them got curious at Mother mentioning that new siblings were on their way were more numerous than she could remember, and had likely happened before she had come too as well, yet it was something they were never answered with. Her words that they were better of not knowing would make them accept that and leave her be, but it was still something asked every time, each without an answer.

Sometimes, they tried to ask the new siblings too, but they never knew. Their first memory were always of her face, and then soon after the endless shades of darkness when they were let out to meet their family.

Omen had seen how mothers of several races raised others in Equestria, and knew that this wasn't a normal way for parents to raise their off-spring, but at the same time, she hadn't seen others like them either. Most children came into the world unable to understand, and being barely more than lumps crying out for warmth, yet them? Even if they were blank, they were still able to comprehend things, understand the language and didn't need warmth. They could move, and they could think the same if they were seconds old or eons, so she hadn't thought it strange that they got raised in the playground instead of in their mother's arms.

They weren't like others, and therefore, they could not be compared to the children of flesh and blood.

Why this thought had entered her mind was a little strange, but she had it with over-thinking random things at times. Usually it was nothing important, and as it looked now, currently this wasn't either. Just a random thought that blossomed in an empty field.

"And yes, you confused me, but it looks like I confused you too? I suppose that makes it even then."

Omen turned around again and began to walk through the large hallways, heading towards the sizeable door at the far end.

"As for master, I want to find him, but I don't know how. The yellow mare is my only clue, and it haven't lead anywhere. It have just been sitting in the shades, looking at her house for three days, before everypony began to have a need for me elsewhere."

It might not sound all too comforting that that had been her point of attack, but it were all she really had to go by, even after talking to the princess with Sen, which hadn't left her any clues that she could recall at least. Where she had been for days on her own where still as far as they had gotten before the hunt for Lin began to pick up some degree of pace, though she wasn't sure if she could just go back to checking on things as she had then. Sen and Lin likely wasn't able to sit still and glare at the same spot for days, months or years at a time, and she likely shouldn't leave them currently.

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@,

The doctor raised his eyebrow slightly at the mention of life energy, but he brushed it off as nothing shortly after. Misty was a foal and probably simply misunderstood things, like for example thinking blood to be life energy. or were misinterpreting whatever rescue she had seen her friend do in some other way. It was the only logical explanation he could come up with that didn't include the little one having a concussion, and she seemed lucid enough currently, so that one was out.

The minds of the young ones could be... Difficult, to grasp at times, as well as how they saw things. Hard to make a clear picture, though he had gotten some information that he could use that sounded genuine and simple enough.

"Sounds like she were briefly lucid, and there's no bleeding, so chances are good that this could simply be exhaustion, but she's better off staying here for the time being, just to be on the safe side."

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@@Moonlit,

@@Hazard Time,

(before Serenade returns)

Ziggy rubbed her head and blinked with her eyes a bit more to get her bearings when Succulent started speaking. It sounded like she knew something on how she had gotten into this place to begin with, but who were talking to? Serenade? Had she started to accidentally listening in to one of the siren's songs for the second day in a row and gone zombie-like again?

But why had she hit her head on the table then? And who were Succulent telling hadn't done a nice thing? There were onlt the three of the-

The line of thought got interrupted and she followed the crystal pony's glare to the one she had suddenly remembered were there with them. A fluffy, innocently-looking thing that was slowly munching on a muffin next to her on the table, who she bet had no qualms about playing tricks with her in her sleep. Heck, she did when she were awake, why would her sleeping change things for the mischievous rodent?

"Okay, what did you do?"

Ziggy had gone closer and were looking at Fah'lina closely when she asked her question to the mimic that didn't seem all that apologetic about what had happened, nor really caring about the words and look from Succulent. Though she did look up when Ziggy got closer and... Wait, did she just chuckle? Why, that wasn't v-

(when Serenade returned)

The sound of Serenade behind her made Ziggy give off a small meep in surprise and turn on the spot to look at the returning siren. She were close to zoom over and give her a morning hug, but frankly she was a teensie bit groggy right now from the sleep and the sudden awakening, so she let it slide this time. Perhaps later, when everything were a bit more down to earth.

"Goodmorning Serenade. Oh, and Succulent, too, right."

She waved to them both as best she could and returned her gaze to the mimic.

"Not to you though. Not until you tell me what you did."

The only response she got were the mimic laughing a little more audibly at her now, clearly amused by something.

"Heeeey, what's so funny? Why're you... Wait. you can't talk. Not in a way I can understand, so why am I asking you things?"

As her brain woke up a little more and she finally got why she didn't get any actual response, Fah'lina took her paws off the dropped muffin long for a little and gave a slow clap towards Ziggy for figuring out the obvious.

"Sassy little thing, aren't you? But if you can't tell me how I got in here and why my head went owie... Succulent? Do you know? Pleeeease?"

Ziggy lowered her head to the table until her chin touched the surface, then looked up towards succulent with her best, puppy-eyes expression, hoping that she'd know something about this. She'd likely have answered even if she hadn't looked at the crystal pony like that, but... Well, Ziggy was a little strange.

@@EQ_Theta,

Omen stopped in her tracks and turned to look a the two of them confused.

"I don't understand. Where am I going?"

She couldn't recall saying that she were going anywhere, only that Mother did. Were they confused by her reciting what the reaper had said, or were it her that simply didn't understand? Could it be all of them? Perhaps.

"Mother had to stay, not I. Were I supposed to be someplace I forgot? Back to seeing if the yellow mare have talked with him yet? Another destination??"

It was an interesting start on things after Mother had told her what their status now were amongst Omen's kind, but she had said it earlier too: The two of them confused her greatly, and they were illogical in her mind. She needed to learn more to make them less so as time went by, that she were somewhat certain about, but for the time being it was still a learning experience that could include all sorts of things.

Currently, that were a notion about her having to be somewhere else when they got out of here, though she couldn't remember saying she had to, or them asking if she would go check on something. She were not above forgetting things, that were certain, but she was somewhat sure that she hadn't said anything, unless they confused what she had said from Mother as what she were doing herself.

To be honest, the thoughts didn't help either as the whole thing felt like it was spinning in circles in her head and didn't always seem to make sense. Hopefully, Sen or Lin could help clear things up somewhat before Omen froze in a loop.

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@,

Chow grinned down to the zebra foal when she asked if they were close to the camp.

"Don't worry lil' one, we're there in a heartbeat and your friend will get fixed up nicely."

He hadn't noticed the foal looked and sounded rather depressed when he had replied to her, but for Double Chow it wasn't unusual to shove his big hoof down his even bigger mouth sometimes. It wasn't something he were all that proud of at times - now being a readily available example - but what was done was done, and he couldn't pull it back that easy. Sure, his intent were to see if he could cheer Misty up a bit, but it didn't really take away from how he had handled it, which he might have to be faced with sooner rather than later.

Hopefully it wouldn't matter though, as the voices ahead of him started to filter through the trees, along with hoof-steppes and as they cleared a few, larger trees, the camp were in front of them in all it's... Well, glory wasn't really the word. Convinience were perhaps more fitting.

It was essentially a few dozen field tables, a few stretchers, and what seemed like four doctors swirling around the place, checking up on the ones escaping the town and examining the extend of their injuries. They didn't have more fancy gear than a half dozen bags of medical equipment mostly used for house calls, but they made due so far at least, though it also helped that it seemed like there were some getting further supplies from the hospital some way from them. Only way really there could be enough supplies here for the increased number of ponies getting through.

From the looks of things, it seemed like as soon as you were deemed able to walk and not bleed/fall down, you'd be moved along down a well stomped path with some volunteers that guided the citizens to the safe rooms. Some that were more seriously injured were occupying the tables, with two getting improvised, temporary casts to keep their broken legs stable, and a third being occupied by one that were knocked out with a heavy bandage on his head.

They'd be met by a simple-looking stallion with glasses that looked overworked, yet he didn't have the time to stand still and have a rest right now. Not whilst there were still ponies coming here.

"Alright, what's the damage?"

"Most looks good, though a bit beaten up, and then there's Astral here who seems to be... Well, not sure, but she might need a proper look. Misty here seems to know her, so you can ask her if there's something."

The doctor sighed and pointed towards a table where Tracker unloaded Astral, before sending them over to one of the other doctors that would make sure that they were fine enough to move onwards. Unless something serious was wrong though, they'd be sent on their way soon, and like so many others, they'd get a proper visit when this was all over and Ponyville were safe again.

He told Chow to stay around as he needed somepony to keep an eye out for things in the camp though, and for the time being he'd stand around this table and look here and there to see if there was a place he could do something. The doc knew that the vendor wanted to get out and help direct more ponies here, but with the looming threat of the forest itself always being a potential issue, he'd really prefer to have the only one here with a proper weapon standing ready to ward things off. The few others they had ready to fight was just farmers with tools and no proper fighting skills, and that wasn't as helpful if timberwolves or something else tried to get in and have a snack.

"Alright then, Misty, I need to ask, have the patient hit her head on anything? Or is she just tired currently?"

The doc wasn't keen on asking these sort of things from a foal, and especially not zebra's as he only had one point of reference with those and trying to understand Zecora at times were... Tiring, yet he had to ask who knew the patient, and right now that were just this one.

@@Moonlit,

@@Hazard Time,

It wouldn't be long after Serenade left before the door would slowly move up and Ziggy would wander into the building with Fah'lina on her head, directing her movements.

Likely, it'd be a somewhat comical sight, with the zegasus slightly snoring and with her eyes closed just following the hayfries that the mimic were holding a little in front of her nose with her tail.Really, it probably didn't help that Ziggy were biting a little in the direction of the hayfries either as she were guided by the resourceful little creature on her head towards the table. That she wasn't hitting any furniture were rather impressive in a way, but if that were up to the controller, or just luck was anypony's guess, though eventually she'd get to her target and... Well, slam her head into said table.

It wasn't an accident though. As soon as they had gotten there, Fah'lina had let go of the hayfries and when Ziggy then automatically followed the smell like she had thus far, impact was bound to happen.

"Huh? Blurgh? No I swear, I'm not sleeping in class."

Ziggy looked confused around her as she tried to get her bearings after the abrupt awakening, though it took her a little to have any idea where she actually were. Not where she had thought she were, that was for sure, or she'd get a ruler slammed down into her table - plus, she'd have a smaller table - to get her attention, but only other thing she could remember were falling asleep on a fluffy cloud and then some sort of smell before Wham! Table to the face.

Fah'lina didn't care much about the confused pony anymore though. She had gotten her in here to help her get some food, but as she had arrived, a muffin got into her sight that had either fallen on the floor earlier when Serenade was baking, or had tumbled down when Ziggy impacted the table. Either way, she were currently down there and grabbing it before crawling back on the table and acting all innocent whilst nibbling slowly on it. It seemed to fall into far better taste than the hayfries before, so that was something at least.

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@@Wolves,

As soon as Golden had expressed a want for the cider, Happy made his way down to hand it to him before taking a long, hearty gulp of his own bottle of questionable liquid. A vague smell of cherries and would waft through the air as the cork was popped, but beyond that, there wasn't an indicator about what this was.

As for the cider, well... It was good, or fine, depending on whatever or not you had tried a brand from the Apple family. None could really compete with them in that certain area, but he tried to do something with it at least to make the otherwise unwanted substance still drinkable, though perhaps it was a little strong in it. Not alcohol-wise, but more like the taste in general of the things he had added in there to enhance flavour. It wasn't the sort of thing every cider drinker liked, but to be fair, he didn't really cater to cider drinkers in shop regardless, so he couldn't personally care much about what a few high enders would complain about.

From in the air, Cyan could see that though a lot of ponies went towards the forest, the majority seemed to be eventually led towards a roughh direction a chunk of way from them, mostly by other ponies from the forest itself that came to get them. Though, a few from town also seemed to do their part, even if it were likely impossible to make out the details about them from this distance.

Still, some ponies might get ovr here eventually. It was hard to say with any certainty at this point, though Happy at least didn't think much on it as he put the now quarter-drunk bottle from his mouth and lifted the remaining bottle of cider up and towards their feathered companion.

"That's a start to calm the old nerves. Hey Cyan, you thirsty up there?"

The last half directed at Cyan were said louder, to get her attention, and he sorely hoped that it'd work and she'd get down here. If she stayed up there, the monsters in town might be able to see her, and he'd rather not have that happen as they had just gotten out of harms way., and he'd prefer if said way didn't suddenly redirect and bulldoze them down.

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@@EQ_Theta,

Omen had moved closer when Lin began to explore her new form a little more, fixaed on what she saw in front of her. Not the more dark nuances that had befallen her, she had seen that already, but the webbing on the other hoof was a whole 'nother deal. That she had only seen really once, and now it increased in size, and expunged smoke? What was this? And what was it for? The webbing might be a cape of some kind that was moveable, though that didn't explain the shape entirely, and the smoke was a complete mystery that she couldn't even fathom yet.

Whatever had happened to Lin was going to take a while to understand, but it likely would for herself too. Mother had told her that at least. As to what else she had said...

"Mother wanted me to say something to you before we leave.

I am sorry that I could not be here, but I have to prepare for the new children that is on their way to join their siblings, and I can't stay and wait any longer. I hope that the next time you come around, that I could properly have a talk with everyone, and have a chance to inspect you a little more Lin, so that I may potentially be able to help you with your new attributes. Until then, please stay safe everyone."

Even for Omen's voice, this sounded more hollow than usual. More lifeless, and recited word for word like she was a living recorder. Thankfully, that tone of voice carried only for the part she were supposed to tell them in exact words, and went back to normal afterwards.

"She also said I should tell you, that since Lin is some of us now, you can't be called guests anymore."

She moved slowly closer to Lin and looked the longma? in the eyes when she got close enough, with a sort of faint glimmer in her own, dim eyes.

"Sister."

Then she turned and wandered to Sen, starring at him with the same look that she had Lin.

"Brother."

More she didn't say before she turned and walked towards the door so they could begin to leave, as Sen and Lin had asked for.

_______________________________________________________________________

@@Frosty Frost,

@@Summer Breeze,

Nerzhei let out a small sigh and shook her head.

"It's impossible to tell unless she can explain it. Dryads are barely found anywhere within dragon country far as I know, and most of those have risen through strange occurrences the last 50 years or so, which haven't been long enough to get much of an idea on them beyond *they grow and control trees* which is the observations of simpletons. There might be other places in this land that holds other pockets of them where there is more information given, but the one place I was able to get some contact too didn't seem promising.

They hadn't gone hostile like ours, but most of them had more questions than answers and could best explain things as them sort of just knowing, without understanding how. Lyriel might know something, or allow some tests to find out things later on, but statistically, the best I will have to work with is a spotty theory for the time being for the lack of concrete information. It is...Annoying, to say the least."

The bane of many a scholar were when they found something fascinating, but had limited ability to observe it, along with no other information to go on, and Nerzhei was no different. She too got bugged when she had ideas about how and why, yet wasn't able to find out like normal with verified information, which essentially felt like were like trying to build something with broken tools and no building plan.

@,

"I'm Tracker. A f-forest guides."

Tracker was clearly frazzled by the whole situation thus far. Monsters attacking their homes were not that unusual unfortunately, but it didn't mean it got any easier to go through, and this time around had been the worst he could remember. Tirek had been brutal, but there had only been one, and at least with Discord's chaos, it was more of a cruel game than actually trying to flatten them all under his cloven hoof. But this? They had several horrors in town, fighting amongst eachother, and didn't appear to care much for the collateral damage they did to the buildings and the ponies there. Not in a good way at least.

And now he and his family was running away from the battlefield along with a few of his friends, a zebra foal that was speaking about life energy used for healing, and on his back, the earth pony that had used some kind of magic to help him, but hurting herself in the process. It was too much for him. Hay, it was too much for everypony he'd think. Only the crazy ones and professionals could remain calm in this, surely, and even then, he couldn't see it. Just like he couldn't see the ones that usually helped them anywhere. No princess Twilight, none of the other previous carriers of harmony, not a single guard... Heck, even Discord would have been a welcome sight, and his apparent *reform* was still not something many he knew believed in, including himself.

Had this been a calmer day, he would have questioned much, and wanted to know more about what the striped foal were speaking about, but right now he had enough weighing his mind so he barely registered it, or the talking earth pony on his back. He just wanted to get to the medical camp that was supposed to be in the forest, and then get everypony here checked up on.

"Look, I don't want to be rude, but c-"

"Holy handgrenade, what happened to her?"

Tracker was stopped in whatever he was trying to say by a early-thirties earth pony stallion carrying a spear, had a tussled mane and half-long tail in black, with a chestnut coat. He had some scars going here and there, and looked like he had been in his fair share of brawls, but the concerned look and tone of his voice marked him as a friend. At least for now.

"Chow? What're you doing here?"

"I'm helping the doc getting ponies into the camp and onwards. Now stop the yapping and get cracking forward, okay? This one looks to be in a bad shape."

Chow's eyes fell on Misty briefly, and you could see the confusion in his eyes over seeing one of her kind around here that wasn't Zecora, but it didn't last long before he turned on the spot and directed them to follow him when he walked back in the direction he had come from at a fair speed, considering Astral.

"We're only a few minutes away from camp. Let's get going. Can anypony tell me who this is and what happened to her? It's gonna help the doc if he knows in advance."

______________________________________________________________________________

@@Wolves,

They would be a few minutes walk into the forest before Happy finally stopped. At that point, the forest would be blocking their view of what they had run from, and in turn, should cover the sight of them from it for the time being.

"Holy guacamole, that was not something I'd want to go through again."

He dried some sweat off his forehead and took the wagon off his shoulders. He wasn't moving away from it yet, but between the panting for air and him trying to shrug and massage his own shoulders to try and get some feeling back that wasn't pain, it didn't seem like he were thinking much about it either. And when he finally did, he only moved far enough away so that he could jump up and unlock the door so he could get in.

"Alright, I think I... Yeah, I need a drink after that."

Happy sounded more like he were speaking to himself than anypony else before he stuck half of himself through the opening and began rummaging around for a bit. A few seconds in, you could hear another lock being unlocked, but beyond that, his rummaging didn't seize.

It took about a minute before he came back, carrying three basic looking flasks with corks holding the lid down. Two of them were easy to recognise as cider, though it was darker than the kind the Apple family tended to produce. Not a liquid that he carried with his good will, but unfortunately, a few times he had to get down to haveing a few of these on hold in case he had to share some drinks with others that couldn't or wouldn't touch hard alcohol.

He'd never sell it, as he wouldn't be caught dead selling this weak drink in his selection, but it did the trick to have around, even if he more or less had it banished to the very corner of the wagon, near the poisons. Though to be fair, most of the time when he pulled this out it were poisoned and used to get somepony subdued. Not right now though, he hadn't the need for that. He just had the need for a drink, and frankly he figured the other two could too.

That was who the cider where for, which left the bottle with a more golden-red liquid inside to himself. There was no telling exactly what it were really, but it wasn't that important right now either.

"Anypony else need a drink? I ain't sure the age of drinking in Equestria that well right now, so cider's is the only thing I can offer until I know more, but it's better than nothing, even if it ain't the Apple family kind, right?"

It wasn't the entire truth, since he knew well the age as it was told him very clearly by the guards when he entered the country, but right now a few things had left his head in favour of panic, and that was one of them. Not that it would have changed anything, as otherwise he'd have to ask for ID. A lot of ponies were easy to see the age of, and it were simple to see if they were big enough to buy these sort of things, but it wasn't an exact science, and with ponies near the edge like these might very well be, he had to take precautions to not eventually end in deep waters. Even in situations like this.

Besides, he wasn't giving booze to kids. he might be somewhat evil, but there were limits.

___________________________________________________________________________

@@EQ_Theta,

Omen wasn't in sight currently,and neither were Mother, though the wall that had separated the room were gone. A small bit were left to cover the orb in the middle of the room, which were likely more a security thing than anything, but as for the inhabitants there wasn't a sight of them anywhere.

That is, until a door near the siblings opened and Omen stepped out, looking at the two whilst her tongue returned to her mouth again. It seemed she had used it to open the door, though why she were that way and what she had done was anypony's guess.

"You're awake. Are things better then?"

She had been observing them for a bit after Mother had left the two of them to sleep before she went out to see what the reaper were doing. It had taken a bit of time to find her as this place was bigger than you might think, and Mother wasn't traceable, but eventually she had managed to find her, about to wander into a room with a lot of runes on the door.

What was in there hadn't been explained, nor really asked about, as Mother had spent a bit of time to let her know a few things that she wanted her to bring on to Sen and Lin in case she wasn't back before they woke up, then sent her on her way. It wouldn't have taken long to return here normally, but the drake had awakened and had slid down from her head to explore wherever it were a bit more, and it hadn't been easy to catch. Without the ability to make gates in here, and not wanting to use her tongue as it might hurt the small creature, it had taken hours and really only ended because the small thing had tired itself out and fallen asleep again.

That was a few minutes ago, and she had returned to see if the siblings were awake as well now, which from the looks of things, they were. Lin looked... Well, still strange compared to the mental image Omen had of her before all of this, but fresher at least, and she supposed that Sen were too. It were hard to tell with him, as she had only seen him sleep once, but he looked better than that time at least.

____________________________________________________________________________________

@@Summer Breeze,

@@Frosty Frost,

Lyriel didn't notice anything as she began to whisper things to the tree again, but Nerzhei had taken some notice of things at least. At first, just the scene with the dryad - which were fascinating as she had only heard about this sort of thing, never seen it - but the confused movements of Summer got in view soon after the tree placed it's branch on Lyriel's shoulder.

It wasn't a big surprise she supposed. Considering what had happened thus far, it hadn't seemed like the ponies even knew what a dryad were before they came here, so the weird behaviour would likely just seem extra weird to them. Though she had hoped that it wouldn't be the case and that she'd be able to find out something about potential dryads in pony country too on the road. Seemed like that wasn't going to happen, but that was just another thing to search up on eventually. That is, if pony country even had dryads. She really didn't know enough about the equine countries to be able to tell, though thus far, it didn't seem all too likely. At least for the part of Equestria these three came from.

Blitz didn't know either, but she did know that Lyriel were crying, which couldn't be good.

"Uhm, Lyriel? Are you okay?"

"Likely is, but I doubt she can hear you. And no, talking louder won't change that."

Nerzhei's impression of this foal told her that adding that last part had to be a crucial part of things before she got very, very loud and annoying again. Something that the dragoness would really prefer to avoid at all costs.

"I couldn't tell you what she's saying, but far as I know, this used to be normal for them before the majority went crazy. They'd heal trees, and for some reason, they'd smile and cry, just like she's doing now. Noone at the camp really cared for why, especially as that stopped when they went violent, but I have a theory, if nothing else.

You need to understand something first about dryads first to get the base of it though. Beings like this aren't like trees, general fauna or something like humans, much as they seem like it. They are part of nature itself, and they connect with the parts of it they are in. As such, one part of my theory is that if it suffers, so do they, so they try to nourish it, and regrow what have been made barren or cut down, such as us harvesting part of the forest.

I believe that it is only when they put down roots that they really feel truly connected enough to know where they are needed the most in the area, but that's not important right now. What is though, is that as you can see, their powers are deeply enough in nature so that they can even make near dead trees blossom back to life, but they need to be connected to do things powerfully enough, and when that connection is made... Well, I was never sure, yet I supposed they would feel everything with the plant. It's pain, it's needs, and currently, the life blooming in it again. Something like that seems overwhelming in my mind, but wonderful in a way. Hence, why they cry and smile when going through it.

I didn't expect the tree's reaction though, or any at all, to be honest, and it muddles up parts of my theory. Perhaps the connection is far, far deeper than anyone had considered? And if so, is the water really the only reason for their madness? Hmmm..."

Nerzhei seemed to drift off and speak to herself at the end before scratching her chin and looking at the show in front of them with a searching eye. Perhaps there were more layers to this than she thought? It was something that she had to find out so she could prepare for a potential issue or five, if there were other factors than the waters in the dryad of the valley's madness, though for now there wasn't proof of anything. Concerns, surely, but nothing concrete yet, so she'd reserve judgement. For now at least.

@@EQ_Theta,

While there was no concept of day in the eternal darkness of this realm, time still passed, and eventually the wall separating the room in half would once again falter and the two familiar shapes of Omen and Mother moved forward. Neither of them spoke, nor made a sound in general, but both of them wished to see if the siblings were awake at this point. Or well, if Sen were at least. If Mother were right, Lin were likely enough of them now so that she could *rest* in a way, but not truly sleep, nor dream.

It was an unfortunate side effect, depending on how you looked at it, though she knew that a few of her children throughout the ages had attempted to get something akin to sleep through meditation. Few had succeeded, but she recalled at least one that had been there several lifetimes ago, that had had some success. Not enough to dream, but some things were simply too far out of reach, no matter how hard you tried.

*sigh* It were one of those things that she were sad she had to take from Lin through her meddling. It was a lesser evil, and to some a blessing really, but it was still a part of her that were out of reach unless something happened that Mother had never seen before. Something which she did not rule out, but doubted as she had countless lifetimes worth of experience to tell her otherwise.

Omen didn't think in scales so grand, she just thought of what she had been told as they had wandered around, and wondered how the two would take it when she told them. It didn't seem like something bad for her, but as she had said earlier to them, they confused her, and she were never sure how they reacted to things. That sort of insight would likely take years, and even then there would likely still be times when she didn't fathom what they were attempting/doing.

Still, it would be a welcome learning experience to try at least she supposed, though it would all begin with the two having to be awake first. Not much point in speaking to them if they still laid down on their beds unconscious, and if they were, herself and Mother would leave them be again. Right now, they were simply checking.

____________________________________________________________________

@@Hazard Time,

@@Moonlit,

Fah'lina weren't in a rush to run down to the two ponies currently, but instead stayed up on her high ground and bid her time until finally, she spread her wings and silently swooped down in a curve over the table. She didn't touch the table itself, and she were soon after up on her place again, but she didn't go empty-handed, as in her paws a couple of straw fries were clutched tightly, hastily grabbed from Succulent's plate when she had been sure that the pony weren't on guard.

It had to be that pony too, as she didn't think it smart to try the same trick with Serenade. Whatever she were, the mimic hadn't the faintest idea about, but she were seemingly top predator here, and you didn't take things from the top predator. Not unless you wanted to become the next meal yourself, and she didn't like the idea of going down that particular route.

What exactly she had taken from Succulent she wasn't sure about. Wasn't something she saw in the forest, and it smelled kinda strange, but there were only really one way to find out, which were to nibble on it and see what it was like. Considering her grimaces after the first, small bite, it didn't appear that she were as big a fan of it as she might have hoped.

Putting it down next to her, she scratched her head and tried to think of what to do now. She couldn't swoop down again, as ponies tended to be quick to learn from her interactions with them, unless they were airheads, so that was out of the picture. But what else could she think about?

It took a little, but eventually a small glimmer went on in her eyes and she grabbed the hayfries before flying over to the door and crawling outside, heading towards the sleeping pony out there. It might not be her kind of food, but it were for ponies clearly, so she could use these to see if she could get some life into the zegasus and through her, find something else. Ziggy so far hadn't seemed the type that would be hard to convince to share something if it were, although she'd likely had to go away on her own for a bit soon regardless. She had basically been living on greens and candy since she began travelling with these ponies, and she could use a small fish eventually as she wasn't a vegan animal, and couldn't live without the influx of at least a little meat now and again. Though one step at a time.

First, she had an airhead to wake up.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

@@Wolves,

Oh, there'd be plenty they could do to fight against this thing. They could take up arms and charge in, throw things, attempt some magic etc. It was just that the unfortunate reality were that if they got the attention of this thing they'd likely, oh, he didn't know... Get horribly massacred!

He were usually not one to stray away from a battle, and would take joy in defeating something after months of more or less inactivity on that front, but he would not throw himself into a suicide mission by attacking something he couldn't see them having the faintest chance against. It was foolish, and he would have no part in it. Whatever heroes was attacking it right now were better left to handle this, and preferably, he'd want to be far away before it heated up further.

"Then let's buckle up and get the hay out of Kansas, Dorothy."

It was the only thing he said to the siblings before he went for the door, took a few steppes towards the forest, and then stopped. Much as he didn't want to linger, he needed to get his wagon with them, as without it, he'd be hard pressed doing... Well, anything really. He'd have no income, even less of a cover, no space to store meddling beings or those he found that could be sent back to the hive, etc. He had to get it with him.

Without saying a word he more or less ran over to the wagon and hastily got himself connected to it before moving as fast as he could towards the forest. Not the easiest with this load on his back, and especially not as he hadn't wanted to waste time getting properly set up, which meant that it was actually hurting his shoulders to move this thing right now, but he'd get there eventually. If the others had kept moving already, he'd aim to catch up with them as much as possible as they'd make their way towards a piece of forest where the stream of others escaping Ponyville wasn't. If they hadn't left yet, he'd tell them that they had to get moving, and not stopping until the only thing they saw behind them were green.

It would be curious to see what would happen when they eventually got that far, considering they had seen his disguise ripple before without his knowledge, but this wasn't the time or the place yet, surely. There was greater evil to run away from first.

__________________________________________________________________________

@@Summer Breeze,

@@Frosty Frost,

"I suppose."

Nerzhei played tough and aloof about things, but when Summer got near enough, she should be able to see there was a small smile on the dragonesses face, along with a very slight blush on the yellow cheeks. It would appear she wasn't used to compliments, and didn't really know how to handle it when she got them. Lotus was a bit better at that as she stood as tall and proud as she could with a bit more of a visible smile on her face, but then again, it was primarily her story too.

Lyriel took notice of the slight smile on Nerzhei's face as well, but the way she acted right now made her think that perhaps it was not the best to confront her with it currently. Whatever made her try and hide in her shell, beyond the rage, would have to be carefully exposed over a longer period of time to not just just stir her anger into a storm along with it. It was, however, not a thing that she knew if the ponies would understand. She cared for her new friends, truly, but she had no full idea on how they approached things, and might get the wrong idea on how to handle this, or completely miss it entirely and say something by accident.

Her own experience had mostly been through dealing with a few of the shyer elements of her family, but that, combined with the things she had seen when she observed the Ata- dragons, when they came to the valley, made her have a sort of educated guess on how to handle this. It might be wrong, sure, but she'd rather not take chances. Plus, it gave her a chance to answer the question being given to her, along with a distracting proof, hopefully.

"As to your question Summer, perhaps I can direct your attention to the side?"

The edge of a forest were coming near them, and when Summer would look, Lyriel would lift a glowing hand towards one of the trees on the edge that had seen better days. It was barren, crooked and seemed like it hadn't much time left. Yet suddenly, it would twitch and turn, uprooting itself and spreading branches towards the sky that had previously drooped towards the ground, before moving towards them and being intercepted by Lyriel.

She started to whisper something to the tree as her hand gently touched its bark, and soon after, the glow from her hand would begin to spread on it, along with signs of life. The bark would gain a healthier colour and become thicker, the crooked parts evened out with a noticeable creaking as hundreds of years of structure began to shift, and above it, the barren branched started to grow and carry leaves.

It took about 15 seconds, but eventually, a healthy, blossoming tree stood there whilst tears rolled down the smiling Lyriel's face.

The tree itself, moved a hand of branches down and laid it on her shoulder, which she put her own hand over before tilting her face to touch it with her cheek. It seemed that she were a little lost right now, and in an emotional state of some kind, but her point should hopefully be made. Were for Lotus at least, who looked like her jaw had fallen out of it's socket.

_____________________________________________________________________________

@@Seamore Sandwich,
@@GingerLightning,
@@Quinch,
@@Lonk Chase,
@@Melke,
@@Denim&Venom,
@@Mentis Soliloquy,

"By the earth mother!"

Briar slowly rose up and faced back towards the building that he had almost attempted to go into before something crashed into it. He didn't know what it were, with the whole city being chaotic and the impacted thing being rather deep within the building from the sound of things before, but it mattered little too him. The most important thing were that he had avoided getting severely pummelled by whatever it were as he hadn't been able to get into the building there. Unfortunately, he knew well that there were another important thing in that he wasn't the only one involved in this near miss. There had been another passing him, though he wasn't sure who, and had actually gone inside the building.

Though the world around him started to take shape in his senses, and the shapes he felt were sure signs that he should leave this to those more equipped to dealing with this sort of thing, his morals didn't allow him to just leave a potentially hurt pony inside. He had to get in there and try to see if he could help in some way, and hopefully, take the pony away from this place with him.

So he gulped, opened the door, and went inside, searching for the pony that had gone in there.

"Hello? Are you hurt?"

Meanwhile, Zhu wandered more or less silently into town, and glanced around him, catching glimpses of the beings there and how they did amidst the collected, bleak future that threatened ahead. It were not encouraging, but it were what it was, and so fa they did not need him. Soon likely, yet, he had another target to go to for now as he wandered over to the dome of air that he had made around the stick that the everfree spirit were bound to, increased it's size slightly, and temporarily let a hole stand so he could enter, before it closed, and there would be only the two of them in there.

"A small, but painful part in a greater play. Not a role I have envied you everfree, though I can imagine you must be happy for it to be over."

If Charlie could hear/respond to him or not wasn't relevant to Zhu. He often spoke to himself, even amongst others, and since he could not watch the future of spirits, as their time were technically over and the only future were beyond the limits of any mortal eyes, there would be nothing he could gain from simply watching regardless. So he would speak, see what would happen, and then take it from there.

As for Last, she looked up at the foot with a grin on her face, enjoying that her attacks still did something, even if it had not been a great hit. It were okay though, she'd get him next time, she just had t-

A sudden pain erupted in her side, feeling like somepony had left a blender in her gut and had accidentally pushed the *on* button for a few seconds. Not long, but it was enough to make her almost loose her footing from the agony.

She felt afterwards, just to make sure if she were bleeding or not, though so far it didn't seem like it at least. The only thing she felt were cold sweat, and a lingering thought that she knew well what this meant. For a moment she considered stopping, and sitting this out before it became worse, but... All of this destruction. All of this panic and pain...

She bit hard down on the hilt and starred at the massive form of Nemo with a cold fire in her eye.

"Next time, I'm going for your neck."

With that, she got on the move again, looking for a tall building that she could use as leverage to gain some height. There wasn't terribly many in Ponyville, and some of them had been destroyed now, but there was one that seemed promising nearby, SHe wasn't sure what sort of building it were, but if Nemo stayed grounded, it might just do the trick.

And Ashta and Ko certainly did theirs to keep him doing that. Though Ko had finally fallen off when the Forgotten One hit the ground, he could see that his toxin were doing some job and found a new flame in his chest to keep going. He were almost out of weapons though, so he had to find something else to use, and soon. Something that went deeper perhaps.

Ashta had the same idea it appeared and dropped the bag of toxins next to him after coating his own weapon a last time, then pointed towards one of the broken buildings. In particular, the clock tower which had such lovely, sharp, metal parts in there, just ripe for the taking. For example those deliciously pointy hands of the ruined clock. Those should do well when he got his own hands on them, so to speak.

So they split up, with Ko heading there, whilst Ashta kept at his job of slashing at the Forgotten One and using his web as best he could to give him some movement options that wouldn't leave him cornered or only able to move backwards. He couldn't afford to be forced on the defensive here, especially not in the last parts of the battle. Or at least he assumed it was, considering everything that had happened the last few minutes.

One who didn't care much about the battle as a whole though, were currently bashing against the edge of the bucket he were trapped in, trying to get out and barked beneath the walls of his prison. The bucket wasn't without it's gaps, so Meeko thankfully wouldn't get a problem with air, but he wasn't happy about being kept at bay like this. He wanted to get over to Ginger, and considering the tail that was there before he knew well who was keeping him in there. It likely wouldn't be that many happy feelings there'd be for Sisilia when he eventually got out, though right now he didn't care. He just kept barking, and scratching at the walls of his prison, trying to get out.

@@Seamore Sandwich,

Thank you kindly. I'll get the post through then.

@@Seamore Sandwich,

Odd, I must have forgotten to press post yesterday, though I could've sworn... Oh well, I will just have to try now.

Basically, I need to know if those that are forgotten, are know visible and remembered before I can post. Since Ink and Quill can see one another, and I don't seem to recall the other brother getting *eaten* as well, it seems so, but I need to know. For if it is, you have made a small error in your post.

See, Vivid isn't forgotten, she'd dead. If they are remembered again, they're likely not in the spirit realm, and cannot see her spirit because of that. And her body is currently hid in a barrel, moved away from the main battle by Zhu, as mentioned in a post some time ago.

Again, can be I just missed the brother being *eaten* too, but still, when it matters this much, I need to be sure, because it also affects how Ko and Ashta does things, along with Last.

_________________________________________________________________________

@@Denim&Venom,

I have a small question for you too. When you speak of the one missing a hind leg, are you referring to a damaged NPC, or potentially Void? I don't want to mess up things here if I have misunderstood things. Better to ask really than messing up the flow.

I'm okay with the assistant too, for sure.

However, @@Hazard Time, if you think for a moment that that little thing can protect the baroness from Ziggy, you're in for a surprise. :3 Muahahaha!

_____________________________________________________________________________

@@Randimaxis,

Nice picture. And have a nice trip, and I hope it will be awesome. See you when you're back.

@@Lonk Chase,

Are you still around Lonk? Gave you an opening some days ago, but not seen anything from you yet. :/

@@Moonlit,

@@Hazard Time,

The two of them wasn't alone for long after Succulent had placed herself at the table, though it wasn't Ziggy that trotted in, wondering where the smell came from. No, the only sound from her were a thump outside indicating that she had fallen down from her cloud again. That, or gotten pushed out by Fah'lina that tried to wake her up, which wouldn't have worked as she were still sleeping, though now flat on the ground.

The mimic herself however, hadn't been so far away in dream land that she music and smell didn't reach her nose. She wasn't exactly sure what it were, as prior to hanging out with these ponies she had mostly been in the forest and kept her distance from the town as she hadn't much interest in the equines - Well, not until she had found out how easy most in town had been to toy with - but it smelled sweet, and she were curious.

So she skittered in the slightly opened door and climbed up the wall, clinging on with her little clawed hands and feet, until she hit a higher point where she could look down on the two ponies. Or well, the pony and the predator non-pony, as Serenade essentially were in her eyes at this point. Not in a way of someone she couldn't be near without becoming a snack, but enough for her to know that it was a very possible outcome if something went wrong.

She smelled the air again, sniffing in the mixture of smells where only a few where kinds that she recognised from the forest, but kept up on her little place, watching, and waiting to see what were going on beneath her.

Serenade would likely have taken notice of Fah'lina easily, but it wasn't easy to say if Succulent had taken notice of the small sounds of claws climbing up on the wall. This time of day it seemed unlikely, yet you never knew if the perfume seller were a morning pony or not. Those that wasn't tended to not have all their senses settled in for the first time after resting.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

@@EQ_Theta,

"We will go when Lin is okay. And I think we have the time to wait for that now."

With that, the wall closed again and the room fell silent.

She wouldn't respond to things more for several hours, regardless if she got called out or not, and neither would Mother. The reaper had resigned herself and her daughter to leave the two alone, and as such had left her home for a time to wander through their uneasy world and hear the many other children out. It would leave the two siblings in the most secure place they could likely be, yet as there was no doors and the gates of their kind did not work in here, they would also be incapable of leaving. They could potentially explore though, yet otherwise, it wouldn't be until 6 hours or so ahead that they would be able to receive any responses again. A good time to sleep if it were, though it were up to them.

If they decided to, at some point during that time, to have a look around, there would be two doors to chose from. The one that they had entered through the first time they came here, and another one on the other side of their section of room.

__________________________________________________________________________________

@,

"Yeah, thank y-Hey!"

The pony wasn't fully restored, but he felt quite a bit better, and could breathe without complications again. Something he were about to thank this mysterious pony for before she suddenly collapsed in front of them and he instinctively went forward and took a grip in her, trying to shake some life back into her.

"A-Astral!"

You could hear the worry in Void's voice well as she took a few steppes closer to try and help, until she remembered what would happen if she actually did and took a step back,turned her head to the side and started biting her own lip and looking... Well, frankly not too good. Guilt, concern, fear and depression was showing on her face, for a little until she looked back at the group in front of her with the things still rummaging in her head, but knowing what she should tell them at least.

"Go to forest... F-Find the doctors, and let them help."

"I'm not sure if she's safe to mo-"

Void slammed the base of her naginata hard into the ground and stopped his words.

"Go. Now."

She had a certain hard look over her briefly, and her voice took a very commanding tone that the pony she were speaking to finally started listening to, and if Astral hadn't gotten up again, the pony she had healed would take her up, put on her on his back and then go towards the forest with the rest of his group.

"That means you too. You're the only one that knows what's happening with her."

Void pointed at Misty as she spoke, before turning her back again and going towards the city to look for others. There was nothing more she could do with the group other than make things worse for Astral than she already had, and she wouldn't do that. She had already hurt her enough.

She'd have to answer for that eventually, like a few questions likely about why she had been like she had been just now, but for now she would try to help what she could. And that meant, for the time being, finding more ponies and send them towards the others. Hopefully, she would actually end up being able to help them at least.

The visage of Void as she walked away looked rather depressed in it, but she went on at least. Though likely, the graveness of what was happening around her would soon overtake the feeling.

@@Seamore Sandwich,

Yey. ^^ Funtimes.

@@Randimaxis,

@@Mentis Soliloquy,

(before Dax showed up)

"Heeeey, I'm plenty smart. Not my fault Oglevy was so convincing."

Ziggy looked up at Scarlet and pouted for a few seconds before she couldn't hold the maska nymore and started to giggle.

Scarlet was by far not the first to think that she, as a doctor, should be smarter than she sometimes acted, but Ziggy just didn't see it herself as being connected. Yeah, she should know her medical training by heart, but that didn't mean that she was above getting stuck places because she were curious, gullible, or got tricked by adorable little rascals who could cry so it seemed real. Reading books and knowing how to patch up wounds didn't mean you were a scholar after all, just focused in some specific areas.

Besides, if she had to act as smart as some said she should be, she couldn't be strange or have any fun in general because she should be *using her brain instead of giving in to silliness and impulses." Boooooring!

(after Dax showed up)

Ziggy didn't react as Scarlet tried to help her up as a familiar face got into view and started to talk to them.

She hadn't expected the green-stripped earth pony to have found them though. Yeah, they might have made a little noise when they tumbled backwards, but if anypony heard that, the odds would be that it should have been a servant, and not the oldest heir of the Blackwater family that was still living in the manor. That Dax had come out were really a thing against the odds, unless they were somewhere around his room. Ziggy at least had gone lost enough to have potentially gotten herself to around there by accident.

That wasn't why she didn't respond to Scarlet, nor Dax though. No, that reason would be to find in her strange facial expression over seeing Dax.

It was an odd mix of high joy, guilt, surprise, and a little worry, which really made for a strange expression, but was what she was trapped in right now as a fuse in her head had popped and she was going through a restart procedure so to speak. She could hear what was said, but beyond breathing, the rest of her body's functions hadn't gotten the light back, and wouldn't until the last few cables had been laid right inside her head and the switch got turned back on, a little after he were done speaking with Scarlet.

"Dax!"

Like a pink and white lightning, Ziggy suddenly went from her place on the floor to being just behind Dax and almost crushing him from a big hug.

"I'm so so so sorry, I didn't mean for you to have worry. Last night I was going, and I know I should've been showing, but nothing went very flowing. An explosion in the mine, where it turned out everypony were fine, but Crescent and Silver, they-"

She shook her head, but didn't let go of Dax yet as she speed-talked her way through this. It had just finally entered her consciousness that she were rhyming again, and she couldn't go serious talk when she rhymed. Nopony took you serious when you did that sort of thing.

"- nearly got blown up! Had to get to them, help them, and then there was all sorts of weird talk about what might have happened and it was an accident and, and... I didn't mean not to show! Everything just got so hectic that it went *honk* *honk* and rode out of my head. Pleeeeease don't be mad!"

Dax likely could feel the piece of vent she still had on her hoof poke into his side, or neck, beyond the emotional, hectic talk of Ziggy that tried to explain why she hadn't been there when she promised she would have been. It likely wouldn't make a lick of sense to Scarlet, but it gave her another chance to see that this doctor wasn't the usual, dusty type that had only seriousness with them, but more of an overgrown filly.

"Then I tried to find you today, but then everything went water and fire in the mine, and then Mr. Blackwater needed the report on it, and then Oglevy trapped me - Ooooh, you should've Seen it Dax! Oglevy is a born actor - and then there was glue and pulling and, and... I'm still stuck to it. And there's a hole in the vent!"

@@Randimaxis,

...That is...

Awesome!!!

Seriously, sounds like a good thing to do and a bundle of fun. I wish you the best of luck there, and I really hope you get pictures. Would be quite the treat to see you there.

Also, 21 years in a row? Dang, nice dedication.

@@Randimaxis,

@@Hazard Time,

I approve. ^^ Looks like an interesting character, and one that would not do well with being surprised hugs. Ehehehehehe. :3 I hope you enjoyed your personal space.

Mind if I ask, what's about the hiatus? Vacation?

P.S. I will respond something tomorrow. Thinking I can at least have my birthday off.

@Everypony

Hello one and all. Happy days and sunshine to you everyone.

I'm just here to say that I will be taking the day off, RP wise. Want to spend my birthday relaxing, but I'll be back tomorrow to get things moving again. Promise.

Also, for the parts that are stalled, I will send some PM's later, and hopefully get things rolling a bit again within the next day or so. I want to have a lot of fun with you all, and no fun to have things stalled indefinitely for some reason. Better to send some PM's and get it sorted.

You're all awesome, and I'll see you tomorrow.

@,

"No, that's impossib-"

"U-Uhm sir? With all due respect, look behind you."

The pony Void were carrying cringed a little at the thought, then gave a painful sigh. She were right, if they were talking impossible it was the thing behind them, and frankly, any help that could be gotten should be appreciated. If it made sense or not wasn't important.

"I'm sorry. Could you *gasp* help? Please? I'm having trouble *gasp* breathing..."

The pony could likely go through the other pains, but he really needed help with some bent ribs that were pushing in on his lungs and limiting his ability to breathe. If Astral could heal that, the group of them would be able to get towards the forest on their own again and the four of them could return to help the next ones they found.

A small scream were heard behind them before Astral would have the chance to react to the pony's pain. The scream came from a mare that had stumbled under a crumbling house some way behind and from the looks of things, one of the larger rocks above her were about to fall down and crush her.

Then all of a sudden, something small flew through the air to their side and towards the rock, hitting it just as it got loose and started to stumble down and... Got reduced to dust. It was a quick process, but from the looks of things, it had been withering rapidly after whatever had been shot at it impacted. Didn't matter to the mare below, who just scrambled to her hooves and started running to the forest again, yet if either of the others searched quickly, they could see it went back towards Null, standing with her blowgun a little further into town before getting on her way again.

It seemed that they had seen a little of wehat her cursed weapon could do, though one could hope that it only worked on non-sentient beings. If it did the same to everything... Well, it would really not be safe to keep existing.

"...D-Do you think you could help him quickly? P-Please?"

Void knew, but she had more important things on her mind as she made sure that the pony she had helped stood somewhat stable, before stepping away from him so that Astral could get to him without her magic being interrupted. She really hoped that Misty had been telling the truth and their forest-dwelling companion here could help this one though. It would save time, and with everything going on in town right now, time was a luxury they couldn't afford.

__________________________________________________________________________________

@@EQ_Theta,

The room was silent as Sen spoke his words. Mother had made sure that Omen would be out of earshot of things, as she figured the siblings would need a little time to themselves - she hadn't expected Lin to pass out as soon as she had - but she on the other hand... Well, she did not want to pry, but she kept a background sort of presence that would pick up if a few key phrases would be mentioned for a few reasons. Privacy were a good thing, and she did want to give that to them, but it wasn't good to keep children completely unsupervised. Not in her experience.

Like when Mother had first spoken to them, a small wind blew gently through the room and carried words from one place to another before a small section of the wall between the groups opened to reveal Omen, looking at Sen, but not moving forwards.

"She wanted to clear your dream of the nightmares. I don't know why she did that instead of hurrying as the guardians said she still had a day though. It was illogical, and would just leave her gone, and you in more pain, but perhaps she had her reasons. Only she knows."

A very slight edge had come to her whispering voice as she had confirmed that Lin had wanted to use her last energy to *help* Sen, without realising that her being dead would just leave him with far worse things than just nightmares. Even she had understood that, in some capacity, and Omen barely understood the concept of death as it were.

"She chose to give it another chance, but it wouldn't have mattered if she didn't. I were about to make her go, if she wanted to or not. I don't fully know why. The feelings when thinking about it is confusing. Uncomfortable. But many thing have been since I met you. Both of you confuse me greatly, and the more I understand, the more questions there seem to be.

You two remind me of him really. Illogical and confusing, yet fragile and needing others to help you when you can't help yourselves. Guess the big difference is that I will do things for you, even if I'm told no."

She tilted her head a little to the right and fell silent for a few seconds.

"That went off topic. Did you have more questions about what happened?"

Omen didn't respond to the thanks as much, if at all, because she still wasn't completely sure how to handle praise. She could have said thank you back, but it would have sounded unsure and doubting again, and she wasn't close to him, so she couldn't try to awkwardly hug him for it, as she had seen so many other ponies do throughout the ages. Seemed easier just to pass by it, at least for the time being.

@@Mentis Soliloquy,

I'm surprised too. I figured this was just a half dozen people playing with horses. Cool to see there are others watching too. I can already see them for me:

_________________________________________________________________________________________

@@-Octavia-,

It's a pleasure to entertain mate, and thank you kindly for the words. I hope we can keep the standards going and give you, and others, a lot more things to read. Frankly, I'm feeling in a good mood after hearing this so here, have a kitten. :3

@@Mentis Soliloquy,

@@Randimaxis,

"Uuurgh... Fnergh..?"

Ziggy's eyes rotated around and it felt like small birds were circling her head chirping. She were at the bottom of the pile, but didn't really notice that either as her brain was scrambling to get back in contact with the rest of her again after having tumbled around like they just did. Sure, she might fly weird and be used to irregular angles at high speed, but that usually didn't include colliding with others, and the floor hadn't really helped either to soften the blow.

She felt that last bit well when she finally got a connection and shook her head to clear her head a little. The feeling of her wings feeling sort of sore along with a small headache and the weight of the earth pony upon her registered well, but thankfully she wasn't really injured, just a little beaten up. Pegasi tended to have an easier time getting bruises, broken bones etc. because of the way they were build up, and not being in that boat was something to be happy about for sure. Like the fact that she was free! The vent hadn't her in it's grip anym-ooooh, rats.

The look of the piece of the vent that was stuck to the figurine, which were in turn still stuck to her hoof, finally registered as well. It wasn't a big piece that were there, but... Any piece of it missing was probably not good.

"I don't think this is good."

She tried to wriggle her hoof a little to see if the piece of vent might plop off, but as could be expected, it didn't bulge. Guess her next point of action wasn't going to be to find Dax after all, but rather a way to fix this, which was a bit of a downer. She didn't want to keep putting off speaking with him. She had already done that too much alread, even if it wasn't her intention.

@@EQ_Theta,

"Six years. Must have happened much."

"And we will hear about it in due time. For now, I believe that we should let the dear child rest. There will be plenty to do and things to find out when she is fresh. Come please, my daughter, and we will find something else to do in the meantime."

"What of Sen?"

"Oh, he haves other things to see to, I'm sure of it. Rest well dear children."

Mother send Sen a knowing smile and a small blink as her and Omen took a step back and a wall grew silently up, separating the room in two, with a pair on each side. Without the globe in the middle that had given some light before, as Mother had kept that on her side, it was darker for a moment before small, pale-glowing orbs started to pop up and appear around, floating in a lazy pattern to give some light to the two. The bed that Lin were in had increased in size at the same time too, leaving plenty room for the both of them to rest separately or closer if they'd prefer, with a blanket laying in a little pile next to the newly added side.

She wished for the two of them to have their privacy to discuss what weighed Sen down, and after that were done, the right to sleep in peace, without her watchful eye glancing over them. Lin needed it for sure, and Sen could likely use some rest as well after the day that they had been through. There were a limit to how much mortals could handle after all without dealing some kind of damage to themselves, and she'd rather not it came to that.

@@Mentis Soliloquy,

@@Randimaxis,

"I'm stuck in some glue. I was trying to help Oglevy, but he ended up getting me really good instead. You should really have seen it."

Ziggy giggled a bit more as she remembered how she had been conned before. She really had to try and get hold of Oglevy at some point and ask him how he did that so convincingly, but it'd likely be some time before she ran into him again. And something told her that the next time, she were gonna end up a bit like this, just not glued in a vent. Perhaps glued to a plate though, she wouldn't rule out the little rascal could make that happen if he wanted to put in the effort.

"Anyway, think you could try and pull me out then? Pretty please? Before the glue hardens too much."

The glue was still sort of gooey, even with the wind from the vent helping the process, so perhaps she could get popped out of there, though she were pretty sure that the figurine would be stuck to her hoof. She had gotten a rather good grip in it and she had the nagging thought that it was stuck to the vent less than to her. Which hey, just meant that she would manage to get the figuring out, so win really, right?

Or well, would be when she got out, but perhaps now would be it.

@@EQ_Theta,

"...How long were you there, Lin?"

Omen hadn't said anything for about a half minut after being addressed, but had just kept her unblinking gaze on Lin's face, noticing the changes and tilting her own head slowly from side to side whilst she tried to go through what were different. She looked older somehow, and with the things she said about time flowing differently it fitted, but exactly How much older? It usually took years to see differences in age on ponies, but Longma wasn't ponies, and likely didn't age the same. Could be that this was for a few weeks, or it could be centuries.

Regardless, it seemed important to ask, so she had, whilst Mother towered behind her and chuckled a little under her breath at the interaction.

"She is happy to see you in her own way dear, and so am I. I would show you a little affection if it were, but you still seem so very tired, amongst other things. Are you sure that I could not convince you to rest a little before answering questions?"

It wasn't everything she wanted to do. She wanted to have a closer look at how she were put together now, so to speak, and see if she could identify which traits from her old self and this realm she had with her, and perhaps a glance at what were added. She didn't speak to minds like Omen, so that was a good thing at least, as it made it unlikely that they had killed her in there to rebuild her from scratch, life energy and all. Not impossible, certainly, but less likely.

Still, as curious as they likely all were, she would still prefer that everything waited whatever time it would take for Lin to get some more energy into her system first. Whatever she had gone through seemed to have taken its toll, which were one of the reasons why she had manifested the bed that Lin now were in beneath her. Though, she couldn't force Lin to sleep. Or well, she could, but it didn't seem like it was needed. Not yet anyway.

_________________________________________________________________________________

@@Wolves,

"Demon sounds about right yeah... Hehe-he."

The nervous, vague laughter at the end was not hiding in the slightest how close he were to just turn around, run, and then never come back again in fear of facing this thing again.

Now, he had been faced with a lot of stuff in his time in this world. Chimeras, Timberwolves, the whole *changeling army that turned him and made him love the atrocities he committed in his queens name* and so forth, but even the worst kinds of experiences hadn't involved a beast that looked like it had risen from hell to wreck havoc. Not enough to make him think there was nothing that could be done about it at least. Not before now.

"So uhm... W-Who's up for leaving town and hide in the forest for awhile? Or anyplace that further away from that thing in general? Please?"

Happy hadn't the faintest idea that his disguise had briefly flickered and that the others in the room likely had an inkling to the fact that he were a changeling now, but all in all, that would be a minor issue anyway. Heck, he'd likely let them take him to Canterlot in chains if it were if they just got far, far away from this place, and more specifically, the demon within.

____________________________________________________________________________

@,

Null looked at the hippo-thing that was seemingly leaving the town right now, then looked at what else was happening, before giving a sigh and returning her gaze to Astral.

"Look, Astral, I don't know what the deal is with that one, but it's going away, whilst these other ones are causing mayhem. It might be getting away, but it's not a current issue anymore. We gotta stay focused to actually help here.

I'd suggest we help with the citizens too. There's all sorts of creatures fighting eachother right now -"

She pointed towards the demon, and the creatues that seemed to be fighting it like the large fox, the changeling queen, the spiders and so on. There wasn't any telling if all that fought the demon was enemies or they were just fighting between eachother to get more of the spoils from the battle, but it was better to just leave 'em be as it looked right now.

"- And there's no telling if the big monster is the only problem amongst them. We should let them fight it out until the big one's gone, then take if from there, Right now, we need to get everypony out of this place though, before they become collateral."

Null had pretty much the same idea about thwat to do as Void did, minus the fact that the later didn't exactly know what to do at first when Misty was suddenly over at her. She had hoped that the filly would have stayed in the forest, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to be that simple.

"W-Well, uhm... D-Do you think you could find a doctor amongst t-the others that have run o-out already? I need somepony to h-help this one, and I think there w-was a doctor a little time ago. Please?"

Void pointed towards the section of the forest she were headed towards, and where a chunk of other ponies had gone towards too. If she went forward, she'd eventually find a small portion of ponies, with a few rummaging between them to check wounds before sending them further along the outskirts of the forest, which would eventually lead them to the hospital and some safe rooms near it. Seemed like there were a few doctors near after all.

______________________________________________________________________

@@Summer Breeze,

@@Frosty Frost,

Blitz didn't say anything when Frosty started to wonder what she was doing, trying to grab his tail. She just began speeding around again, jumping a little and such between the group, but not getting in the way really. For all intents and purposes, it seemed that she, as many foals, just had a low impulse control. However, coupled with her scatterbrained personality and hyperactivity, it made her a little more random than was normally healthy.

Lyriel just smiled at it and turned her head to face Summer as she asked if the dryad could tell a story of her own.

"I'm afraid I don't have many tales to tell. Most of my time have been in the valley, and the only story of the past I know of tend to involve my family..."

Lyriel seemed to dim a little as the associated memories that always came when she thought of her family started to lurk at the edges of her mind. The memories were demons that she had to confront eventually, but right now was not the time. Especially not as most of her tales involved the one who grew up the closest to her, and the feeling of betrayal from what he had done would gnaw at her bones too much when telling that.

"Most others involve me simply watching, though there was one time when I began to toy around with a small gathering of ata- No, dragons. I have to try and remember that.

Regardless, at some point a group of them were in the woods searching for good trees to harvest. I were still too scared of them to go near, but as I saw them eye a certain tree and pull forth an axe, I couldn't help myself from having a little fun. So I used a little magic and every time the axe came near for a swing, the tree would bend some, making them miss.

They began to argue a little, then picked another tree, same thing, and so forth for a little while before eventually, surrounding the tree and each taking a swing. At which point I made it uproot itself and sway it's branches around vaguely to seem menacing. It wasn't long after that that I let them have the lumber that had come for in eace, but I had some fun toying around with them, even if I felt somewhat bad from seeing the paranoid looks on their faces while they went for more trees."

She chuckled a little to herself. it wasn't much of a story, nor much of a memory really, but it had been one of the few that she could point towards bringing her some joy without also bringing sorrow in its wake. A good deal of her past were like this, which were why she looked forward to write some new, happier stories in a forest far from here.

Nerzhei didn't say anything to the story, nor the question from Summer, she just went onwards. Until Lotus started to poke her on the side of her face that were.

"Forget it Lotus, my stories aren't for this sort of company. Not kid friendly."

The bunny visibly rolled her eyes, slowly, just to rub it in, then started to point at herself and jump up and down.

"Fine, I can tell them that I guess.

Look, most of the things I can tell involvesa good chunk of violence, or tedious paperwork, and I'm not much for sharing the personal ones beyond that. Lotus here on the other hand, seems to want me to share one of hers.

Some years ago, I were looking for ruins of the coast we're headed towards now. I had just found my book there a few months before that and were trying to find more clues. After a handful or hours with no luck, I started to go back towards the camp I was then in, when I stumbled over a vendor.

He was one of those that travel between pony and dragon country to sell wares of the other sides for high prices, though most of it was trash. Amongst them though, were a small cage with this pink little thing in it. He didn't want to say where he had gotten it from, but he seemed eager to get rid of the cage and the bunny within, so he made me a deal with a book he had and Lotus here to sweeten the deal.

I wasn't really interested in the book though. Storybook with little to no facts that I didn't see much of a point in, but I felt sorry for the bunny. She were scrawny, didn't look like she got fed much, and from the looks of things, whatever he had been trying to feed her, he hadn't the brain to see that she wasn't old enough to consume that.

So I took her off his hands, and went a bit away before I opened the cage and took a hold in her. I didn't want a pet and where I was wasn't suitable for small, furry things to live in on their own, so I figured I would do the humane thing and make it quick."

Lotus punched Nerzhei when she reached that part of the story, clearly being a bit miffed at the thought that she had been destined for a short and rather abrupt end.

"I couldn't do it. Much as I had aimed to do it, I just felt too much pity with her. I mean, she had been taken away, sent to another country in a cage and were badly treated on the way, and I was going to just make it end with noone haven given her a chance too? Where was the humane part in that?

So I put her in my bag, and crushed the cage into pieces before getting back to camp. and began trying to nurse her back to health. I didn't want to others to try something, so I kept her a secret until one time, when I came back after a small dive, and the leader of the camp stood outside my tent.

Turns out he had found out when he heard the noises of her the night before when there was a little accident, and apparently, he wanted her for himself. Gave me an offer that if I would gift her to him, as a sign of good faith, he would let me have something I wanted. What it was isn't important, but let's just say that it could have been crucial to my research. I don't know if it would, but I do know that it made a satisfying sound when I broke it on his thick skull.

Hadn't thought much about it before that point, but I was getting quite happy with having Lotus around. She was, and is, a nuisance and a troublemaker, but for some reason I like her company. More than I liked the chance at getting to the bottom of my research, or the valuable papers I left behind, which to that point where all I told myself I wanted."

She rose a claw up and scratched the little pink nuisance on her head, which made Lotus' left leg tap a little.

"We've been through much since then, and I've even tried to set her free in some forests a few times since then, because I thought that she'd lbe happier around other bunnies instead of me, yet it never was something for her. Don't know if me raising her have messed her up or something, but she feels as much of an outsider around the other bunnies as I do the other dragons. I can see it in the way she and they act, and eventually, she didn't want us to try anymore.

I'm happy she didn't go away really. Much as we get on eachothers nerves at times, I can't really imagine what it'd be like without her. Except for quieter, but i could always just put a muzzle on her to fix that already."

The last words were clearly meant to tease, and it got the response from Lotus that she expected as the pink bunny began punching her on the side of the head rapidly whilst giving off some small critter-noises.