open Casual stroll

When the Solar Guard had saluted him, he had bitten down on the lid of his coffee and raised his hoof to do the same, as was standard. Or well, perhaps not As standard considering they were not in the same castle and technically under the same rule, but they respected eachother openly enough to have this courtesy.

There had been a brief period in time when this had not been true. Namely when Nightmare Moon had come down, and some of the guards that were more or less seen as simply a traditional regiment guarding some personal property of the princess that had been gone a thousand years had taken instantly to joining her crusade for eternal night. It had not bred much trust that some of them would do such a thing, but blind devotion could cloud one's mind at times, so he did not blame those who had taken to drag her carriage.

Personally, he had not taken part, knowing that this were not the princess he was bound to, and so had most of the others. Yet for the first few weeks after her majesty returned to sanity it had been.. Somewhat tense for them all, though that were more or less a feeble thing to ponder over these days as that time was more or less gone, and they could mingle enough without any awkward moment. If you ignored the occasional teasing that were, but it was a minor nuisance at worst, and most of them could laugh at it too.

But, there would be time to ponder history another time. As the mare explained herself and went onwards, he instead turned to the two that she had left behind and shrug his shoulders slightly.

"I'm sure she's just a little stressed. Hopefully you will not hold that against her."

He stuck around for a bit more and helped making things seem cleaner and more orderly than it had been when they first met, before he wished them both a good day, turned around, and started to walk slowly back towards the bakery. A trip he didn't get that far on before the mare from before returned and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Yes ma'am. Her majesty wished for a presence of her own that she could trust near the domain of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and believed it would help the local authorities to have a guard more specifically trained to operate at night around too. Considering the happenings of last night, I would think this was a wise decision."

Stargazer took the coffee cup up again and took some more gulps of the bitter substance. It might not be good for you in the long run, but it was something you learned in the Night Guard to depend on for those long days where it would drag out and their presence be needed during the daytime when their kind were supposed to be resting.

"The town seems orderly all in all though. Are this your own work or does the Solar Guards possess a regiment here miss...?"

You could hear at the end that he were wondering who it were that he was faced with here, though he didn't try and pull rank or something like that to just make her say things. The mare was young, but she were still part of the guard and as far as he were concerned that is what counted more than what stand she held in the rankings.

Besides, excluding a few higher ranks through his days, he didn't tend to give much care to the chain of command. They were guards, that should be enough for them to stand on equal footing. Unless there were a war though, but if such an event happened he knew where to turn his eyes for orders. That is, unless the princess were not there to take charge, in which case he would know a few who could co-ordinate with him in getting things done right.

__________________________________________________________

@@Moonlit,

Ziggy would more or less be looming over Serenade, still enthralled, but looking a little bit less dazed than when she had laid down with Serenade before. There were still some way to go, but it was unlikely that most - if any - of them would take much interest in that considering their search of the book.

Over at Omen, a few more books had been pulled out of the shelf around midway that she had not picked on before. One of them on closer inpection, didn't have that many of the letters on that she could see in the first one found, but the other one seemed to have a good deal of it matching. perhaps even fully, but she wasn't sure. For now, she would be contend with simply wrapping her tongue around that, and then keep looking until a few more books were found that she could show the princess.

_________________________________________________________

@@cwhip9,

"I'd rather die trying than being stuck like this for eternity."

Nemo's answer had not pleased her, but then again, neither did the new shift in scenery or the bad weather rolling towards them. It were bad signs from all directions as far as she were concerned, but she stood by the response she had given him. She would take the chance at a second life or a peaceful afterlife over ending like him, and not only having no life, but having lost everything that made him.... Well, him.

Turning to Crescent after that, she shifted some of her focus from what was coming and up to the here and now.

"I don't know how to stop it, but what else is there to do but try? Eventually, some weakness will have to show."

EQ_Theta · January 12, 2016

@@Blitz Boom,
@@Seamore Sandwich,

"I guess we just follow this thing now."

The tail levitated by way of magic, a kind foreign to him as his clan practiced alchemy; there were no unicorns or alicorns among his own. The instructions were simple enough to follow. Soon enough, the tail slowly floated away from the castle.

"Thank you again for your help, Princess. I think it's time we part ways but should I find my sister, she'll be thrilled to hear about you!"

cwhip9 · January 12, 2016

@@Blitz Boom, @@Seamore Sandwich, Cresent herd nemos comment, he breathed out trying to calm himself "oh come on Nemo, nothings going to get done with that attitude" he said.

The three pony's found themselves on an old colonial ship with the bartender wordlessly at the wheel steering through the calm night of the ocean. On further expectation Cresent realized the ship had a spacious but empty captains cabin, a brig that had 4 cages, and the cannons fully loaded to go, yet there was no crew. Cresent got done explore the ship with a confused look.

"I think we are on the wrong boat" he tried to get the bartender from before to react but he keep his gaze ahead on the ocean

Denim&Venöm · January 12, 2016

The paper crane ascended it's way up the passageway, reaching and exiting the war room. It rounded the corner, gaining the attention of the changelings. They've seen Priestess send out similar creations. Messages were passed along the hive mind to the guards at the door. The one that was fading from reality received the message and gently rapped on the door.

"Mistress. Sorry to disturb you, but you have incoming mail." To which a few of the guards next to them were surprised at his presence. Again.

Priestess halted her chanting at this notification. "Huh. Alright I'll be right out." She looked back to her sleeping queen and the double basket that contained her litter, before exiting out of the room. The drone sent a message to Dr. Xeno.

@@Seamore Sandwich, "She's awake."

Priestess looked around. She saw the paper crane float into view. "Huh. Not often I get mail. There are only a select few creatures that know how to establish correspond like this." She held out a paw for the paper crane to land on. It gently floated onto her outstretched paw, bent it's head upwards to look at her, and said-

""

-at a deep, gravelly, rumbling volume that could rival the royal Canterlot voice. The crane proceeded to unfold itself and gently float down next to the prone body of Priestess, and the drones scattered haphazardly throughout the hall.

"I think I have an idea on who this is from..." She partially yelled out, with a digit trying to rework her ear canal.

Seamore Sandwich · January 12, 2016

@@Blitz Boom

@@EQ_Theta

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm always willing to help a friend in need. Now hurry before it gets away!" Twilight said, waving her hoof as they left. "Bye! Oh, and if you have any trouble with the spell, feel free to come back, I'll see what else I can do!" she would yell as they got further away.

@@Blitz Boom

@@Moonlit

Princess Luna continued on to the next shelf below the one she was searching. She hadn't noticed the book that Omen had pulled out, if she had she would have ended her search, the book having been found.

@@Blitz Boom

@@cwhip9

The storm continued its approach, but the waters remained still. There was an eerie feeling in the air, but none would know why. The clouds continued to block out the moon, casting darkness upon the ship. Lightning crashed, and before their eyes could adjust to the darkness again, another blinding flash of light followed by a loud boom. Rain was pouring down. If Crescent tried to change the scenery again, he wouldn't be able to. The rain itself was what was keeping them there, but they would know nothing about that. CRASH! Another flash of lightning, and the bartender was turned completely around, facing the others, a blank expression on his face. Nemo watched as this all happened, seemingly unphased by what was going on.

@@Blitz Boom

@

@@DwhitetheGamer

@@Officer Strike

After the others had left them there, Ink shook himself off like a dog, a spot of mud hitting Quill in the face. He gave Ink a blank look as he wiped the mud off of his own face. "Well, that could have went better," Ink said. "No, really?. Now come on, Ink, we need to order the snacks for our housewarming party later." "Ooo! Do you think they'll have free samples?" Quill did an immediate facehoof, knowing full well what would happen: another mess. He shook his head then started leading the way toward Sugarcube corner.

"Okay, I'll be right there. Are they all awake?" Miles asked. What was coming next he felt was best done once everyone was awake. That was unless they could find another room that blocked out the sound well enough. The doctor turned around and headed back toward the hall the portal room was in, turning the corner just in time to see Seamore, Briar, Melke, and Brittle entering the portal for the first time this morning. A changeling who survived stopping mid-transformation? Interesting... I'll have to ask her about that later. He continued on past the room and up the stairs toward Celestia's room.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Seamore Sandwich

Denim&Venöm · January 12, 2016

"Priestess is. I don't know about the others." They thought as they got up from the letters loud announcement.

Inside the bed chambers, something caused the Queen to stir, and finally return to the land of the waking...

And then proceed to hiss in pain. "Ugh, what the hay did I crack my horn against?" Allure looked around the room, seeing it decored in charms and flooded with incense. She proceeded to roll off the bed, sensing her kits in the basket and Petey still sleeping on the chair. She walked outside to where the commotion was, seeing the guards reassembling and Priestess in her shrine robes getting back up with a letter in paw. She saw, or rather, heard this happen before. "A letter from Reverie, I take it?"

"What?" Priestess yelled out in response, before turning to see Allure standing in front of her. "Bae, your awake!" Priestess went and nuzzled her. "I was getting concerned there!"

"Concerned? You weren't worried for me at all?" Allure said, mock hurt in her voice. "Worry is for pansy asses. How you feeling? Did we wake you? If we did, then sorry. Well not sorry. It was Reveries fault, why can't that girl turn her letters down!?" "Well, aside from a splitting headache, I guess I'm alright considering what went down last night. And no, somehow I slept though that. Something else awoke me.."

She turned, feeling the presence out. "Another changeling has arrived. I sensed her presence yesterday. A lost ling with out a hive..."

The soldier relayed another message to Dr. Xeno. "Scratch that. The Queen is finally awake as well." At least one good thing happened today.

Quinch · January 12, 2016

"Our names tend to define who and what we are. For some is it joy, for others helpfulness, some greed. It defines our talents and our roles in life, even if some - like myself - have talents more related to the afterlife."

Quinch listened. Well, that said nothing, he thought. Only fair, though. It's either that, or its - their? - given name is their title. Caste society? Secondary, though.

He turned to the side and took a slow step, still watching the creature. Most of his systems recharged, and he didn't want to be a stationary target. That, and he wanted to see its reaction. And he was bored with standing still.

"Interesting choice of words," he said slowly. He flickered his eyes, cancelling the voice filter. Let's see if you react, he thought as he spoke in his own voice, casual, with an intentional hint of chiding and a little bit of arrogance, if still a little tinny. "Certainly an interesting choice of circumstances - one can be either a victim, or an invader. No room for travelers in your domain? Explorers? Ambassadors?"

It doesn't seem to be interested in me, he thought. Rather.... territorial instead. It might explain why it moved to intercept right away.

Melke · January 12, 2016

@@Blitz Boom,

"If your friend knows magic, there should be a strong sorce of natural magic emitting from there, it should be easy to find that way."

Syo took out another paper and started to scribble on it. "Hm, that might be a problem. His magic sense is not as good as mine, he might get lost.... Oh well, I will just write: big clearing." Syo said with a scrunch before sending the paper on its way. The paper flew out of sight in a hurry and it was gone.

Syo headed back to the tree she was working on and started to work on another seed.

"Mind if I ask Syo: Your friend, is he of your kin too?"

"Hm, you can say that we both are since me and him are part of the same race but we are of different sub species. You will understand once you see him and also... try not to mind his negative aura too much; he can't control it." Syo said as she worked on the seed, soon pulling it out.

Blitz Boom · January 12, 2016

@@Quinch,

A low chuckle escaped Vivid as she kept her eyes on the armoured Human.

"Ambassadors travel with company and would not hide their name, whilst adventurers wouldn't be geared like you unless the adventure was in enemy lands. But this is something that could be discussed at length, and I could go into the many things that made you appear as not a simple traveller or other such things, yet why should we waste the time when it will still boil down to a simple question?"

She took a step towards the direction he now stood in. Not a large one, and not in a way that she were familiar with meant she were hostile, but he had moved, and so would she. Even if her movement were more directed towards him than to the side like they were circling. That were more the behaviour of animals and fighters in a cage as far as she were concerned.

"Are you friendly, or are you hostile?

See, we welcome those who are friendly, even if they are as alien as your kind, Worker, but we have enough issues with troublemakers at times as it is, and I would hate to inform the princess that I didn't check and ended up letting somepony go that had nothing but battle in his mind. We appreciate our peaceful existence here in Equestria after all."

Her tone had gotten a little darker at the first seven words, but after that had lightened up to how she usually spoke. It wasn't because she wanted to threaten him that she did such a thing, but it was a habit of hers when she had to stress that she wanted an answer, and like so many other habits it was hard to let go off.

Though... The notion of not wanting to threaten would change if he avoided this again, or tried to veer her away from getting even this simple question answered. She might be very old, but that didn't mean that she had the patience for everything, and if she had to force it out of him... Well, it would not be optimal, but perhaps if she got a scare in the metal-clad Human he would stop playing games for a few moments.

Ah, but it would be an action that she shouldn't think of in its entirety just yet. The Human might start to be a small bit reasonable and understand that a being not meant to exist here should probably inform locals that he means no harm. Or at least not unless he were attacked first, in which case it would be fair game really.

She did really hope that he would go that way instead of the first. She were curious about this person, and what his world must be like when he had to wear a suit such as that, but she didn't like to force answers such as that out of beings. She could if she must, but she did not like it enough to wrench for general information best gained from a simple conversation. Even if that conversation would drag out for a long time since neither part was of the most open sort.

_______________________________________________________________________

@@cwhip9,

The flashing lights and the pouring rain was just what was needed here, really. It wasn't bad enough that they were lost inside several kinds of dreams by Crescent, but now they had to be on a big, old style ship too. During a storm. Whilst there was something out there wanting to eat their existence.

"Oh yeah, today just keep getting better and better..."

_____________________________________________________________

@@EQ_Theta,

Following Senlin that were following the tracking tail wasn't hard, but it were somewhat strange. Omen had followed many things and beings in her day, but being led by a floating tail still seemed odd in her mind, though it wouldn't make her stop from doing so. Not when it might help Senlin.

"What do we do when we find the one who cast it?"

Quinch · January 13, 2016

Finally, some exposition, he thought to himself. The fact that it's not gloating helps. But it doesn't make sense. Still, it's getting agitated. Might as well tell it.

He stopped pacing and looked the creature in the eye - despite his face being obscured by the reflective red visor, it was a.... mostly.... universal gesture.

"I'm not looking for trouble," he said, slowly. He emphasized "looking" as he did so. He certainly wasn't looking for it, that much was true - not without support, tactical information and, most important of all, an actual goal - but if trouble had other plans, he wasn't unprepared. But if he was going to intrude, he needed to know where he was. GPS was out, but that piece of trash was usually the first thing to go.

So. Diplomacy. Keep talking and look for rocks. Demonic appearance, safe to assume magic abilities. Possibly alien, but still likely demonic. Talks about an "Equestria". Either the name of their territory, or their name for Earth. Conflicting. Troublemakers pretty much describes the caped rats right there, though Rogue Isles are also suspect. But that would mean they existed for a while, which means I should have heard of it by now. Unless they memory wipe interlopers. I hate memory wipes. Keep going in circles. Or I could be halfway across the globe and they have issues of their own. Just what I need.

He sighed inwardly. If he was going to be questioned, he might as well respond in kind. And following up on some of the conjectures - right or wrong - might as well point him in the right direction.

"So who is this princess?" he asked, trying to hide the tension in his voice. "I wasn't aware of any demonic enclaves around Paragon."

Officer Strike · January 13, 2016

Strike had replied.

"I see. Thank you sir. I was just wondering." Strike answered.

With that she bonked her head and sighed.

Sometimes she could get carried away with her imagination of stories. As soon as her shift had finished she would go racing and then go back home and begin to finish her story. Which she would of course, publish in the future.

EQ_Theta · January 13, 2016

@@Blitz Boom,

"Nothing drastic. We just want to know why they did it. Who knows? Maybe we can find out more about Lin's whereabouts, maybe save Stargazer some time and energy as well."

The tail floated through the town, drawing even more attention from the townsponies. Eyes from every direction fixed on the tail, then the longma following it. If there weren't enough eyes drawn to him, it would be too soon. Still, the matter of juggling two different tasks at hand concerned Senlin. As much as he wanted to find Lin, there was still Discord and Omen to worry about. Sure, Omen could wait but it wasn't right for him to focus on his own matters when someone else's could be attended to. If the tail led close to Fluttershy's, maybe it was a chance to hit two birds with one stone, so to speak. For now, the tail simply floated through the main street, past a furniture store.

"Omen, I've been meaning to ask you something." Senlin slowed his pace; enough to catch up to the tail and walk alongside Omen. "I'm sorry if this comes off as offensive to you but what would you have done if you didn't have a master? Like you had one but not anymore?"

Blitz Boom · January 13, 2016

@@Quinch,

Vivid's stance eased up as the Human told that his intentions weren't looking for danger. The emphasizing on the *looking* part were perhaps not the most comforting for everypony, but Vivid had not thought that this was the sort of man who wouldn't react if the fight came to him, and as far as she were concerned you reaped what you sowed. As long as the degree of retaliation weren't excessive, such as shooting somepony for accidentally bumping into them.

She were still not 100% certain on whatever or not the Human would hold true to his words, but she hadn't heard lies in his voice, and though she could not see him as perfectly as she would want through that helmet of his, the fact that he had faced her whilst saying it and not avoided looking at her was a good sign. She would take that for the time being.

"The Demons have long since given up on trying to get a foothold in this world. They gave it a try around 2000 years ago, but they lost and have since refocused themselves on other planes. A fact I frankly rejoice in, as I have little want to put my home in danger from an outside force again..

As it stands now, the most Demonic you will find here is essentially me, and I am not even a bloodborn one of them. I'm simply... Corrupted, so to speak.

Yet, perhaps I should answer about the princess before I ramble on. The one in particular I were speaking about is Princess Cadence, the princess of love. I guess that's an odd title to your ears, but I hope you can believe me when I say that it is very descriptive. She is essentially the embodiment of love, just as Princess Luna is of the night, Princess Celestia is of the day, and the newly-sired Twilight Sparkle is of friendship."

It was a lot of information that she were suddenly giving the Human, and rather straight forward ones too all things considered, but if he were not here to attack them then why shouldn't she? And especially when it came to something that was concerning their rule, so he knew who were the grandest of powers in their world, and the mention of Demons. Considering what she knew the general demonic horde that went to other worlds acted like, she would want to hear how many and how great an influence they had too in his stead.

"Now, perhaps I can ask you something. What is Paragon? Is that the name of your world?"

_______________________________________________________________

@@EQ_Theta,

"...I don't know."

Omen had taken a few seconds to think on the question before she answered it.

"Mother says all masters eventually pass, and that we do not return to what we were because of that, but we still need to find our place. Our purpose. Mine is sometimes finding master, but if he were gone..."

She went silent again as she walked alongside Senlin, ignoring the stares of the ponies around them as she tried to think over what it would be she would want to do.if she hadn't Discord to focus on. It was a weird question to her, but one she had tried to think about before after the stranger had met up with her and made her question others things as well. Yet like with most of those things, she never had the same answer to this, as she were never sure what to make of something she had never thought about would happen.

"...Perhaps I would try and find someplace to belong. A home, and this life Mother speaks off."

It was the best answer she had. It was a backup more than anything, as it was vague to say that you just wanted to find your place in the great puzzle, but what else could she answer when she had no idea what she wanted? She was picked to serve, and she had done so even when her master wasn't there because he had told her that he was ageless and immortal, so she didn't think she'd need to worry about there being any after.

"Mother says everypony needs a purpose or they are nothing. Like when I look for master, or you for your sister. But what it will become after, or when the meaning of it fades, I don't know."

She looked towards him, moving her eyes from the road they were walking on for a time.

"What will it be for you when we find her?"

Seamore Sandwich · January 13, 2016

@@Blitz Boom

@@Melke

"It looks like we're almost done. We'll be able to get to the clearing quicker if we use the portal. We'll have to go back through the Grove. It looked like the clouds haven't quite moved since last night. Does anyone here know a way to get rid of the clouds?" Seamore asked the others as he removed the last of the seeds. "That should be the last one. If nopony here can get rid of the clouds, hopefully they'll pass by soon."

Miles approached the door to Celestia's room in his changeling form. "It's Doctor Xeno, I'm just outside the room, may I come in?" he brodcast to Queen Allure and the guards at the door.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Seamore Sandwich

Denim&Venöm · January 14, 2016

Allure hissed & rubbed her horn as she received Dr. Xeno's message. "Bae, what's wrong?" asked Priestess. "Fine, fine yes, you can come in, just stop yelling!" She broadcast over the hive. "I may have to resort to just talking to my subjects verbally, great maker Luna is going to be in a world of hurt when I find her."

Seamore Sandwich · January 14, 2016

Miles opened the door with his magic and walked in. "So I take it you didn't get a good night's rest? You should be feeling much better if you did. I'm surprised though, last I saw, you were with that Everspirit. Usually they'll make sure you're well rested." He then turned his attention toward Priestess, "And you look like you didn't sleep at all, but it's understandable with a stick going right through you. Now, I must warn you, in order to safely remove the stick, I have to do it slowly. Having you awake during the process is ideal due to the magics involved. The stick could still react negatively once we try to remove it and your feedback could be vital. I must ask, how is your pain tolerance?"

Denim&Venöm · January 14, 2016

"Well I can hear fine though the hive. It just hurts to do so. And this splitting headache isn't helping. No, I guess I didn't sleep well at all. Wait, last you saw I was with a... what? Wait, when was I with an Everspirit?"

"Hmm, all good questions. You looked like you were sleeping fine up until about two thirds the way through. The you started tossing, turning and groaning. And no, I didn't sleep at all, but that wasn't due to the stick. One time I managed to sleep fine for three days after being set on fire. You'd be surprised at how comfy a stack of dragon corpses can be. But that wasn't why I stayed awake. I was up[ all night warding off a presence. A disembodied spirit attempted to seek entry into this room, but thanks to the vigilance of your's truly, I managed to ward it off, though it feels like... yep, yep it's still in the castle. Also, it may have cast a curse on one of the guards. And how's my pain tolerance you ask? I've been impaled on a stick for the past 18 hours. How do you think it is?"

Edited January 14, 2016 by Denim&Venom

Quinch · January 14, 2016

What the hell is this thing on about? he thought. Barring.... well, translation errors, he figured most supernatural entities would have heard of the so-called City of Heroes by now. It wasn't talking any sense.

"No," he said. "Not world. City. Paragon City, specifically, Rhode Island, United States of America. I know it sounds a little ethnocentric, but I'd have assumed someone like, well, you, would know the City of Heroes, misnamed as it - "

He trailed off as a thought wormed its way to the front of his consciousness. He was aware of it from the start, but it was... well, implausible. The power alone to do this would be enormous, and if the Circle of Thorns really engineered this... this...

He stared at the creature in front of him, flaming eyes, forked tail, his mind reeling with possibilities.

"Excuse me...." he said, slowly crouching, hand reaching down to the ground. "...a moment."

His hand closing around a rock.

Seamore Sandwich · January 15, 2016

"Okay, so we're going to have to do this without anesthetics of any kind, as they might interfere with your senses. We need to know everything you feel as you feel it. If you could please lay down on your side, we'll begin shortly. My Queen, if you will, please hold her still as I remove the stick," he said before pulling up the mouth guard he had hanging around his neck. He took a surgical kit out of his saddlebag and undid the seal on the plastic bag he kept it in, then pulled out and unrolled the kit onto the bed. Hopefully he wouldn't need the kit at all, but it would help to have the tools in case something went wrong. Before he could get started, another paper crane flew in and landed on the bed. "Hey! Listen!" the crane said in a high pitched voice that was slightly annoying but you couldn't tell why. "Oh, just ignore that, I'll It can wait until we're done."

Blitz Boom · January 15, 2016

@@Melke,

Briar nodded to what Syo was explaining to him about the friend she were messaging.

"I shall keep that in mind, though I'm not the best at sensing auras as it is. That is more for the Lotus of my kin, so I doubt it will be something of concern. And even if it does, I shall endeavour to be at my best behaviour towards him."

Just as he were done, the last seed in the tree he was handling got nudged out and added to the pouch that Seamore had with him, ending this first stage for him at least. Considering what Seamore said afterwards though, it would appear that their task were now indeed finished, and it was time to move on to the next part.

"I'm afraid that I cannot do such a thing. Clouds are a business that I tend to leave the Pegasi to understand."

_________________________________________________________________

@@Quinch,

"I'm not actively able to run between worlds that well, so I have not seen this city you speak off. I would think that that would be... Ooh, I see. Heh, you don't know how far away from home you are, do you?"

Vivid took little notice of the Human picking up the rock. Considering he knew at least some about Demons, and how the metal he was wearing would be harder if he intended to hit her with anything, she didn't find it likely that he were doing this as an act of hurling things at her. That were the action of fools, and he didn't seem like that much of one at this point, though a bit confused.

"The home you know? The city, the country, the world and the universe? You are not there anymore Worker. You stand in another world, separated from your own by a few layers of existence where Human have never evolved."

The tip of her horn glowed a deep purple and three small balls around the size of her hoof manifested and floated in the air in front of her. Then one of them were taken a little bit away from the others.

"Imagine if you will, this is your world, and the others are this world, and a random one. As it stands now, you can look on it as different galaxies, planets or the like, separated but easy to take notice off and impossible to reach by accident as so much space diverts them. This however, is how it actually works."

The balls changed into small plates and layers on top of eachother, separated only by a bit of free air between them so it was possible to differentiate from the same-coloured teaching subjects.

"Layers of existence, each containing their own lives, but separated by only a thin layer of space that can be torn through if you know your magic. Such as the case were with you."

A small stick figure appeared on one side, then fell down and crashed through the layers before disappearing into the last one. The one representing this world, where the mark of Humanity weren't natural.

"Either you did a rather poor spell yourself, or someone wanted to get you very far away from them. Perhaps they even tried to erase your existence? An impossible task really, as energy must go somewhere, but it can eject you through the layers and make you lost in another place such as this. A place where the city of heroes never were, and never will be."

Truth be told she did not understand everything fully herself, but just wandered by what she had heard others that had traversed the layers said, along with a few personal observations about how easy it were to pass through them. Hopefully though, it would be explanation enough for the Human. If he hadn't attempted something rash in the meantime. Something that would have made her take action, though not stop her from what she were saying.

EQ_Theta · January 15, 2016

@@Blitz Boom,

Senlin thought long and hard, though it was difficult to do so while keeping his attention on the tail floating in front on him. There was that nagging feeling that he had always attended to: finding Lin and holding on to hope that they'd be reunited one day. But beyond that, he hadn't thought about it. It somehow made him insecure, perhaps even frightened at what the future would bring. They'd go home together but they might not be welcome. It was common to believe that they'd be left in the wilderness to fend for themselves as those who had done so before them, or possibly deemed no longer alive and should be forgotten. Then again, it may open up the possibility that the longma could possibly coexist with the ponies of Equestria. Until that day came, it kept the longma gripped in fear.

"I... I don't know. When we find her, I could introduce you to her. She's a curious and naive one and always interested in meeting everyone and I bet you two would get along. Beyond that, I don't know. Maybe I'll make peace with my family and clan before finding out what they'd do with me and Lin. They don't take kindly to desertion."

Edited January 15, 2016 by EQ_Theta

Quinch · January 15, 2016

@@Blitz Boom

Quinch straightened himself up, extended his arm, and let the rock drop to the ground. Colored graphs sprang to life in front of his eyes - velocity, air pressure, acceleration, spin.... gravitational constant.

"Oh," he said. "God."

"Heh, you don't know how far away from home you are, do you?"

Inside his skull, the universe suddenly noticed it was missing its center, checked its pockets, frantically checked under the couch cushions and, in a desperate bid not to be late for work, panickedly tried to rearrange himself. A Kansas joke peeked its nose out from the hallway, only to have the phonebook hurled at it by his sense of dignity. The creature's lecture was white noise in the back of his head, news channel overheard over the sounds of a burning house.

"Dammit."

Not on Earth. Not on an Earth. How exactly did he get here? This wasn't Portal Corp's doing, that was for certain, slipshod as they were, even they could only open portals to alternate Earths. But how did the Oranbegans pull it off? Why? Oh, hell, how am I going to survive here, the suit isn't a - oh, thank god, the atmosphere's breathable. Maybe an edible ecosystem isn't too much to hope for. Maybe.

"Either you did a rather poor spell yourself, or someone wanted to get you very far away from them. Perhaps they even tried to erase your existence? An impossible task really, as energy must go somewhere, but it can eject you through the layers and make you lost in another place such as this. A place where the city of heroes never were, and never will be."

God dammit, god dammit, god dammit.

"I'm well aware of the nature of the multiverse, thank you so much" he snapped. It wasn't warranted, probably, he realized, but right here, right now, he didn't care. If this entire experience wasn't an elaborate illusion - an equally unlikely proposition since, all of their magical prowess aside, the Circle of Thorns was somehow unable to craft an illusion that included actual, physical pain - then he was marooned. No exit area, no.... sufficiently advanced technology to backtrack back to Earth - the right Earth anyway - no base of operations, no support, no... well, anything. He glanced at the contents of his belt, bits of salvage, a gem or two, weird.... magical.... whatsits.

He swore, out loud this time.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't friendly," he said, in an actual response. "Ejection sounds like it, God knows trying to actually kill a cape is worse than trying to get rid of roaches. I should have figured. Of all the traps I waded into, sooner or later one had to stick."

Denim&Venöm · January 15, 2016

"Oh so you know somekit else who can communicate via C-mail, which reminds me..." "I still haven't read Reverie's letter yet." She said as the paper crane landed on her head and started to peck at it. "Are you sure we should be doing this here? Doesn't this castle have a medical wing or something?"

Seamore Sandwich · January 15, 2016

"I didn't think you'd want to leave this room with the wards you set up here. From what I've been told, it's easier for spirits to effect you when you are in severe pain. If you're comfortable here, then I have no problems with doing this here. As far as the medical wing goes, I doubt it's as clean as this room appears to be," Miles said. He then levitated his message over to himself, unfolding it with his telekinesis. "It seems your message is quite persistent... And loud. We might as well get these out of the way now." He then read his message. "Lightning?!... According to this, little Sissilia may be somewhere in this forest. She could even be hurt." The doctor seemed a little worried. He'd met the poor little cat/snake before, the last time he was in the White Tail Woods. He knew it would take a lot for her to be chased from her home.

Edited January 15, 2016 by Seamore Sandwich

Denim&Venöm · January 15, 2016