open Casual stroll

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Fluttershy's attention was entirely on the little drake and the tiny roar made it even more endearing. She rushed out of view for some time before coming back with a small pouch of tiny gemstones of all sorts. She pulled out several emeralds, rubies, and amethysts and put it in front of the drake, awaiting its response. 

"It might like some gemstones. I have a dragon friend who lives with Princess Twilight named Spike and he loves eating these! I usually have larger ones for him but I don't have any use for these. Maybe you could hold on to them in case your little drake gets hungry." Fluttershy handed the pouch to Omen before tending to the birds that were getting ready to turn in for the night. 

"I've been thinking, this place doesn't seem like somewhere Discord would call home." Sen began as he sat down on the sofa. "What made Discord change?"

Fluttershy looked to the male longma and recounted her tale. It wasn't much to go about as it started out slow but it had some moments similar to his own experience. Discord did manipulate Fluttershy once with magic and another when her friends started doubting him. It was fairly long but the mare ended with "... but I guess all he really wanted was a friend. Something in him must've clicked when he realized I wanted to befriend him and his attempts at driving me away would mean losing the only friend he ever had. He's been doing better nowadays even if he is still up to his tricks. Sounds like you all have different experiences with Discord, no?"

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@,

 

"Back where I grew up, we had a saying. *If it ain't gonna hurt you, keep your beak clean.* and since you folks seem like you ain't gonna make trouble, I can't see how it's anypony's business other than your own."

 

He really missed life back then sometimes. Sure, living amongst the griffins wasn't easy, and Griffinstone certainly wasn't very pony friendly when you didn't have wings, but he had the best memories of his life there regardless. He had friends there that he had earned through a long time of proving that he wasn't a soft-skin, a foster family he held in high regards, along with a lot of griffins that respected him for how he did amongst them, and didn't give him much beef as long as he wasn't stirring something up without reason.

 

It was a place he fitted in, and ever since he moved to Equstria he could feel how he didn't anymore. Any friend he tried to make here found him weird, annoying, or a brute for hunting. His business was reduced mostly to dealing with pet food instead of having a straight up meat stall, and some ponies gave him a few chosen words because they thought it barbaric, not understanding that the towns' critters needed meat to thrive. And the low altitude air were still something that irked him at times. Felt heavy, compared to the fresh air of the high mountains.

 

Much as he tried to help and smile through things, he was a griffin in all but body, and he felt as much an outcast as any actual griffins that would come through town. Something which, at times, were close to making him just break down into depression. Frankly, if it wasn't because Giddon came 'round now and again so he had some company he could relate a little to, it was likely that he would've gone that route ages ago. And Giddon wasn't even that good of a conversationalist, as he didn't want to get into personal topics if he could help it.

 

*sigh* How he longed for the day when he had scraped enough bits together to move back again.

 

He suddenly got aware of hos silent he had all of a sudden gone for a while now and cleared his throat a little in embarrassment.

 

"My bad, sometimes the memories gets a hold of me. But anyway, you can count on me to keep it a secret. I just wanted to ask 'cause I was thinking that having some of those health potions on the ready might be a boon for the emergency kit in Ponyville. In case something tried to make a mess of town again, y'know? But if it's a right struggle finding the stuff for it that sounds like a sort of pipe dream."

 

Keeping his focus on the two this time 'round, he gave them both a grand, cheeky smile, and felt his mood rise a bit again in the process.

 

"But eh, no reason t' cry over spilled milk after all. We got ourselves somethin' more imminent on our hooves right now as it is anyway: Trying to see how much of your stuff we can hog unto the wagon without it breaking. It's solid enough, that ain't it, just saying that if you got a rock collection, it's not gonna do it any good.

 

What sorta things are we gonna be taking along though, If I might ask? And please tell me the quarry of rocks are just me being sarcastic, and not somethin' that's gonna be a real deal."

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

Omen listened to every word that Fluttershy spoke when she began to recollect the events of what had happened with her master in recent years.

 

For the most part, it sounded like the master she knew. Toying, impossible to ignore, powerful and more than willing to show what he could do. That he acted to turn the friends against eachother wasn't surprising to her, as that would be much alike other games she had seen him do before, and this was self preservation, as it also helped him stay free, and out of his stone prison. It fitted well what he'd do, though from the sound of things, he had still gone easy on them. She had seen him truly mess with somepony before, and this were more of a beginning game than anything where he truly put his full might behind it.

 

Then came the part about the beginning of his reform, and things changed. From what were told, he attempted to hold back, and used his need for fun mostly on others that nopony mattered happened anything to. He sounded like he were changing... And then the mention of Tirek came in.

 

The Discord she heard of there were confusing. It sounded like him scheming, but teaming up with another? And letting his guard down enough to be drained of his own magic? This wasn't like the master she knew. This was more the sound of somepony that wasn't sure who he were, trying to cling to what was, whilst having part of what he now where interfere with his actions.

 

The story ended well, and the last parts about how he now did his to help, and had seemingly regretted what happened, were a good finish. Still, it made her even more sure that she needed to find him. She had to make sure what had happened with him to make him so erratic - in a different way than he usually were - and how he were now. Not through the words of others, but by seeing him herself, and asking him directly.

 

"The start sounded like when I knew him, but he changed much in your story. To something better for others it sounds like, but for himself too, if he now haves a friend.

 

At times, it were all he spoke about when he were sad, and felt alone. Him having somepony now... I don't know what to expect from him anymore. Master Discord will have changed more than I had first imagined. Perhaps enough to no longer need me..."

 

A tinge of sadness seemed to go briefly over her voice as her eye drew towards the drake that were currently having an interesting time it seemed.

 

When the small gems had been given near it, it hadn't at first been all too trustful of the small bag, nor of the gems that Fluttershy had laid out for it, but as Omen had taken the sapphire up and held it towards the drake, it had begun slowly moving down from Lin's shoulder again so it could get closer to the shiny gem.

 

It couldn't get over to her complete on it's own, being still on Lin, but as it had gotten close enough, Omen had handed it more towards the drake that quickly snatched it out of her hoof before slithering upwards to Lin's shoulder again.

 

She had lost track of what happened after that as there were then a story told by Fluttershy, but when she looked back, the drake were in full swing wrapping itself around the gem, and... Wait, weren't it a blue one she had given it?

 

What she hadn't seen where the drake examining the gem for a little before - about halfway through Fluttershy's tale - gnawing down on the thing and slowly starting to drain every aspect of colour from the stone, whilst his scales and fur seemed to crackle a little with energy.

 

At the end, when Omen had glanced at it, it had not only drained whatever it had hungered for from the stone, leaving it now looking like a clear diamond - albeit with a few teeth marks - but had seemingly also grown a few inches, and were treating the former piece of sapphire like it's hoard.

 

Strange creature, but it seemed satisfied and calmer for now, so that was something good at least.

 

Outside of Fluttershy's house, something began to approach on the sky. It wasn't obvious yet, but whatever it were, it would likely be at her door in a few minutes. Four at the absolute max unless it slowed down it's speed more.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral turned to Chow again, chuckling lightly. "Honestly, I do have at least one rock, and it's in my necklace." She said holding it up. "I protects me with a warding spell, which wards off spirits, and prevents me from being injured." She let the necklace hang down, then held up her hoof showing the underside, which had a abstract shape cut into it, which appeared to have been recently made. "And I have this just in case, which also protects me with a warding spell."

 

"Found it!" Misty yelled out opening the front door to Astral's house before entering. "Are we bringing the furniture?" She asked now standing near a couch, one Astral used quite often for sleeping.

 

Astral approached the house and took a gander inside. "Nah, we can leave that behind, anything else that isn't furniture, we will bring unless I say other wise." She turned to Chow. "Maybe you can help to, since you won't have to carry the wagon until we're done anyways."

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@@Blitz Boom

 

 

"Oh, I've got quite a few of them," the crystal mare confirmed as she finished off her breakfast.  "Though, I don't think it's possible to include peppermint and lemon in the same fragrance since both of them are top notes.  I left my cart back in the guest cottage, so if you want to follow me, we can go through m-"  She stopped short as she identified Ziggy's coin purse, her eyes lighting up in glee.

 

 

"Oh my goodness, that's adorable!  Where'd you get it?  I totally want one!"

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"I... I suppose it might be best to wait and hear the words from Discord himself. This would sound like the kind of thing you'd need to hear from every angle before jumping to conclusions."

Lin stood up from where she sat and moved to join the others at the living room sofa. She sat by Omen and extended her claw toward her and hoped the drake she was playing with would move to her friend. It was something she knew a little bit on but one experience did ring a bell: the one that led to the exile of her brother; it ended as well as she expected and while it could've been avoided, it left Lin continuously second-guessing and ruminating on her decision to leave. True, she was slightly happier because she was reunited with her brother and she wouldn't have met Omen but there is always room for doubt and she indeed doubted and wondered how things would be like if it ended any differently. 

"I'm with your friend here, Omen." Fluttershy added. "Discord must have meant a lot to you and maybe you should give him a chance to explain his side. Perhaps talking things out might give you some closure." The room fell silent after Fluttershy finished as if she was expecting her fellow housemate to drop in anytime but she knew Omen would need time to process their suggestions. Empty talk didn't need to fill moments like these when silence would do just as nicely, and given her time spent around Twilight and her friends, it felt right to pass on a lesson she learned from them to someone who needed to hear it. She'll be ready to lend a hoof when the time comes. 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@Hazard Time,
@@Seamore Sandwich,
@@Moonlit,

"Nono silly. I mean like, either a peppermint or something with lemon."

Ziggy giggled at the notion that she'd want the mixture between the sweet, refreshing smell of peppermint, and the more sour, richness of lemon. Perhaps there were a way to mix those, but the smells were both, as Succulent said, pretty strong. It'd be weird to try and mingle that without ruining either one, and she'd want the distinct smell of one or the other if possible.

When Succulent then went on to mention her coin frog though, Ziggy didn't focus on the past notion anymore. Not when there was a little bit of story to tell from back home.

"I know, right? Mom said I was silly for getting it, but I just couldn't help myself.

I've had it since I was 10. The hospital took me out on one of the rare walks I had the chance to go on and explore a little of our part of Las Pegasus. under supervision, granted, but I didn't care. it was just so good to be outside and see the big worlds beyond the walls again.

Anyway, going 'round, I stumble over this adorable little stand at the side of the road. It was filled to the brim with all sorts of homemade items, and were run by this really intimidating stallion. He had scars, missed an eye, was looking like it was a horrible day for him that he had a reason to be angry at, the works.

I was about to just take off again and follow along with the nurse who were looking at something across the street, when I set my eyes on this coin purse, and go to ask him how much it is, which seemed to really surprise him. More so when I kept talking to him after purchasing it, cause I was curious.

Turns out he really wasn't so bad after all. He had been off in some kind of war and wanted to do something else with his life, so he had turned to making trinkets and such as a hobby. It was something he liked, but not a lot really went over to his cart after he got all the things ready because they found him scary, and the few that did took off fast.

I didn't meet him again for a long time after that, but a few years later, he sent me a package in the hospital with a thank you letter and these."

She poked at the frames on her face, briefly finding a good deal of joy in the memory of when she had opened the package and received the gift. It was a precious memory, just like the frames were, and she kept them both in high regards. Even if some ponies said she looked weird with these on.

"They had some tinted glass in, but it always looked weird to me, so I just removed the glass and kept these. When I met him about five years later he didn't seem to mind, and actually got a kick out of it.

Oh right, Why he sent the gift. Well, he wrote that me having stopped up and given him a chance had apparently made others take notice and do the same, then the domino effect happened and suddenly he had a lot around him finally. He looks a lot more happy these days, and actually runs a pretty great store these days full of random things, or the possibility for ordering. I bet if it was, he'd sew up another like this. If he haven't already really. Some cute things like this get popular in Las Pegasus once in awhile and he tends to have his hoof on the pulse then."

It was so little that she really had the chance to share storied from back home that she few times she did, she could at times put a few extra layers of information on than needed. Not lies, or false information mind you, just more details than *I got this here, some time ago*.

She didn't know why so little wanted to ask things though. Best bet she had were that they heard her mention the hospital and thought it wasn't something that should be dug into, but why not? Was just a part of her life, not something that had to be hidden behind a wall of secrecy. She'd probably not mention the place if it made her uncomfortable or something, right?

___________________________________________________________________________


@,

"Huh, well that's practical."

Chow gave a close glance at the wards on the necklace and rock, impressed on how this were going. Back when he had mingled with magical energy to try and grow a pair of wings or, if things went better, make him into a griffon, he hadn't thought about protecting himself from potential backlash and had just gone for it.

Turned out that messing with cursed magic unprepared didn't go well, and would instead nearly tear your mind in half. An experience which had made him very reluctant towards trying something like that again, even if it made him look like what he had felt like being for most of his life by now, but perhaps if he got a better understanding about wards...

No. No. He wasn't gonna bother her with this sort of thing right now. There'd be plenty of time to talk later when they were waiting on the train, and it'd perhaps have made him learn a few things without bugging the lass about this, so it wouldn't get all sorts of weird early on. Better to just roll with things for now, get a move one, and then make a fool outta himself.

When they reached the house of the two he gave out a small, impressed whistle. It looked really homely and interesting for sure - at least on the outside - though how they had gotten this made without it being common knowledge in Ponyville was amazing. You'd think that somepony in town would've been talking about a place like this, or at least the one's who made their home out here.

Well, former home now. Dang, that got sorta depressing sounding at the end when that stuff came to mind.

"Wha- Oh, moving out some stuff? Sure thing. Just point me at something and I'll get it out here chief."

__________________________________________________________________________________


@@EQ_Theta,

The drake didn't really flinch from Lin moving, It were solidly placed on her shoulders still, and simply followed along when she did. It did clench the clear gem a bit closer though, but it was a minor thing at best, and shouldn't really inconvenience Lin.

As for Omen, she looked Lin in the eyes as she came over and tried to comfort her, but didn't know what to say. Usually she hadn't anypony caring about her problems, and she wasn't sure what to do about this now, nor about what Fluttershy were saying. Perhaps though, she could start by taking the outstretched claw, and tell what she could about how she were about this whole situation with Discord? It seemed like it was what she should at least.

Slowly, she extended her hoof towards Lin's claw, reaching ever closer to it-

"Hello, my little ponies!"

- and then suddenly Discord stood in the room, arms raised high and laughing maniacally.

He had a bag at each side of him and wore ridiculously big sunglasses under his sun hat, though his presence were no less impactful on Omen regardless of his touristy attire, as she were currently feeling the closest she ever had to a complete brain error in seeing him again after this long.

He didn't really notice for now, he just kept laughing, and when he were finally done, snapped his fingers to make the things he had with him disappear, then glided through the air over to Fluttershy and scratched her a little on her head. He had found a small point in her mane that she liked some time ago, and found it interesting to do so, especially when he tried to endear himself to her from, say, being away for a while when they usually had a schedule. A boring thing really, since it was so linear and with little room for spontaneity, but alas, what one didn't have to endure to keep somepony like her in your life.

"Good to see you again my dear. Did you miss me?"

Toying with her a little were far too tempting to stop with as well, though he hadn't planned at first to simply appear out of thin air such as this. Normally he would've knocked and waited, but he had taken notice of there being others in there, and thought he'd surprise them all. That, and he were a creature who liked to be bathed in the scene lights and be showered with attention, and who were he to stay away for longer from such a fun audience? Or well, at least a lot more fun after their distasteful little elements had fluttered away. The threat of being turned back into stone had really limited his potential for having some fun on their behalves.

As it tuned out now though, it wasn't the ponies like Twilight that were taking Fluttershy's time, but instead some rather strange creatures. One he could identify as a Longma. A rather old-school, boring race that he had tried to introduce to a little fun a long time ago, but like with so many others, they hadn't been all that thankful about it.

Why, sometimes he almost got the impression that nopony liked a little chaos in their lives. *snicker*

"Well, does somepony care to tell me what a Longma does here? Foolishly trying to go after the close associates of the Lord of chaos himself, perhaps?"

He looked at Sen like he were contemplating turning him into a platypus or something similar for being here, but he stayed his claw when he looked at Lin, and a laughter went over him again.

"Love the design by the way. The glowing parts make you look deliciously inharmonious."

It wasn't the only reason that he didn't do something about the Longma, but they didn't need to know that there was a certain pony that hadn't found it funny when he did exactly that to Applejack, and she had made him promise to refrain from doing that in her home. Not a promise he could always keep, but he didn't want to get on Fluttershy's bad side. She could be quite feisty when she wanted to be.

"Come on now, I'm all ears."

He leaned on the top of a chair and increased his right ear in size until it looked like he could use it to fly with, waiting for somepony to tell him what was going on before he started to act out a little too much. Perhaps something he already had by being near Fluttershy and seeming so defensive in both his stance and words, but this were nothing, if he truly wished to spice things up a little. Not in the slightest.

He hadn't really taken notice of Omen at this point, though the arm that he though leaned well on a chair did well on her head. Apparently, he hadn't really even taken notice that she were here yet, or that normally, a chair wouldn't be on the couch, or just didn't find it interesting compared to knowing what these two did in Fluttershy's house.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Blitz Boom

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Both Sen and Lin heard the stories about Discord from this appearance to his mannerisms but they were left speechless at what they saw. This amalgamation of various animal body parts sharing the body of a reputed reality warper was now before them and while Sen had much to say regarding his... unsavory experience with Discord's influence many years back, he looked to his sister who warned him about potentially messing things up with the meeting. She noticed her cue and stepped forward to give a reply. 

"Foolishly isn't the word I chose when we undertook this task, Discord, but your complement is appreciated. We came here to help our friend look for you, and so for every issue we have against you, we won't put those matters forward." She moved closer to Omen in an effort to get him to look her way and possibly jog his memory. 

"Discord, do you remember Omen? We are aware you two have a history and she would like some questions answered." 

 

Sen, on the other hand, remained distant. He knew he could potentially jeopardize the already increasingly tense situation brewing before him but deep down, he wanted to simply burst and let out all of his pent-up anger at Discord. He looks back to an old experience he wouldn't simply let be considering he relived it again not long ago. He would remain silent for the meantime but secretly wishing for Discord to make one wrong move, just one move that will give him a good excuse to lash out. Fluttershy noticed this but she remained silent; she knows what it's like to see someone just about ready to let it all out but then there was the conversation between Lin and Discord. She couldn't pick a side, maybe not yet or not at all. Whatever it will come down to, she'll be ready to break up a scuffle. She only hoped it wouldn't be too big to handle. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by EQ_Theta

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, The whistling caught her off guard. She turned to him, a curious look appearing on her face as she rose one of her eye brows. "Well that's something, you're the first pony I've met that can whistle." She said pointing out a hoof to Chow.

 

Misty turned around, with a smirk. And then made the most horrid attempt at whistling. One that would make even Celestia wince. "I can whistle too!" Misty said with a smile.

 

Astral was still looking at Chow, trying to wipe of her disgusted look before turning her head to Misty. "It's good, it just needs work." She turned her head back to Chow. "I think you can help with the books, there's a lot of them." Astral said pointing out her hoof back out at him. She walked inside the house had a couch laid next to the window, which had a blue curtain hung over it  the couch was set up like a bed, there was also a bookshelf of various magic related books ,and a secondary shelf with potions of all sorts on it, taking a breath of the tangy air, she could literally smell the magic that her house was saturated with. Any pony could, it was a sweet smell, it would make you think somepony was cooking something tasty. But Astral would recognize it as a sign ponies rarely used dark magic here, if they had. It would smell like burnt smelly socks, but there was a hint of that, Astral had tapped into dark magic before.

 

Misty pulled out they book Astral had on the subject off the shelf, now that she was tall enough to reach, Misty glanced down at the cover labeled: 'One's Guide to Necromancy'. "What's this?" Astral took the book away from Misty. "Hey!"

 

She put it back on the shelf. "I tried to use it to resurrect my mother." She said turning to her. "Something I regret, I should've burned that after trying to use it." She said, regretting saying that in front of a stranger who had just found out they were magic users, actually now that she thought of it; She turned to Chow to say:"And don't worry Chow, I don't use them anymore." She looked at the shelf, which had quite a few other dark magic books. "Actually, I had tried a few others to resurrect her. I'm lucky finding Misty was able to distract me from that." She turned to Misty, with a small smile. "Thanks, I don't know what I would've become" She knelt down and hugged Misty lightly.

 

She awkwardly hugged her back. "Wow, I had no idea you tried to resurrect her." She said, lightly crying. "Or that it was me who distracted you from trying any further."

 

Astral giggled and backed away from the hug. "Nah, you provided me happiness when I was in a dark place." She pet Misty's mane back before she stood up right, wiping away a tear and turned to Chow. "Well, I'm not going to miss those books. If anything here has a suspicious title-" She paused to look around for a backpack, pulling one out of her closet. "-tell me, And I'll decide if it goes in this backpack." She said proceeding to scoop twenty books off the shelf- including the one from earlier -and into the back pack. "Once we get to the location. I'll double check, then I'll burn them all." She said putting the backpack on. "So, in short. The books are the first to come with us." She turned to Misty. "Me and Chow will carry the books, you can carry the potions."

 

Misty saluted. "Yes mam'!" and ran off to collect the potions and carry then into the wagon.

 

Astral turned to Chow. "Are you alright carrying the books? Some of them are pretty big." She said taking a book off the shelf, one almost the thickness of her hoof's diameter, and easily carrying it to the wagon.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Frannis

[cwhip9 1,078]

@@Blitz Boom, "that makes two of us" cresent responded looking at the smoke trail he then shighed "well I did put a target on my back, so them doing this would make sense but I just hope they really know what they are doing" the batpony said following the trail his uneasy ness did not go away as what looked like snow falling stopping him stone still. It was cresents turn to curse at the sight of the falling ash that soon began to cover the ground around them

 

"please please not this!" cresent said soon galloping down the trail....

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

"Something against me? But haven't you heard, I'm reformed. Put the old, boring things behind me and became one of the good ones."

 

Discord summoned a shining halo above his head and gave a silly look when it was mentioned that the two strangers had some issues with him. He were even about to make a comment about how he couldn't possibly be held accountable for past sins, as he had changed, when the one talking walked forward and mentioned a name that caught him off guard, judging by the look of somepony that had gotten something stuck in his throat. A look that shortly after went to amusement and a big, chuckling smile.

 

"Oh I get it, this is a joke, right? Did Celestia send you to get back at me for our adventure?"

 

He gave a healthy laughter and looked down on the... Longma? He wasn't entirely sure. Seemed like a strange mix of creatures, though not in his own league of course. A female of some kind at least.

 

"You can tell her that was a good one. Picking a name from the past like that was good, but she can do better than mentioning a long-dead mare like Omen."

 

"You thought I was dead?"

 

The voice rummaging through his mind made Discord look around in surprise before finally looking down and noticing Omen, standing still as a rock under his claw. At least until he swung his arms down and picked her up, facing towards him with the big, curious eyes that he vaguely started to remember i more details.

 

"Oh, this is simply too amusing! So many gifts today, and now this? is it my birthday already?"

 

He snapped with the hairs of his tail and a calendar suddenly floated next to his face, with the picture of the month being him riding a camel in a strange outfit. He looked down under it whilst still holding Omen in an outstretched grip, and just looking over the dates that seemed a little off. Like for example how the month were 47 days long, with no real order in it and small marks that moved around randomly, making it impossible to tell what day he had something written down in this thing. Or it might just be for looks really, as many things that Discord summoned ended up being.

 

"Doesn't seem lik- Uh, pancake Tuesday is coming up."

 

The calendar disappeared with a pop, and Discord, completely ignoring the two siblings for now, turned towards Fluttershy with Omen in his talon like she were a cat. Complete with holding her in her neck skin.

 

"I ever told you about Omen, Fluttershy? Made her out of shadows and chaos back when I ruled Equestria. The better of my servants."

 

"I was the only one."

 

"Well sure, if you want to get all technical about it."

 

He started to mumble to himself, then took the still, somewhat baffled Omen closer and put his paw on the left side of her head, then pushed down with his palm five times in rapid succession. Something which apparently triggered Omen to loose all control of her tongue, that rolled out of her face and gathered on the floor until no more of it could exit her head. She pulled it back in like it was a long spaghetti afterwards, but you could barely hear any sound from it when you compared it to deep laughter of Discord.

 

"Ahahaha, I never tire of doing that. Such a fun little flaw to add."

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

 

@,

 

Chow got a small laughter going when he saw and heard Misty trying to whistle. He really shouldn't, but it was just too funny to him to stop himself before it got out.

 

"Heh. You might need a bit more training there Misty, but it's a fine start. Frankly I wasn't much better when I were your age, and I can tell you that keeping up the practice will do wonders. Here, lemme show ya."

 

He put his hoof to his mouth and let out a loud, piercing whistle, like he had blown into a whistle.

 

"Growing up 'round griffins make you adapt well. So I made sure to train my own shriek, so to speak. Scars the feather of 'em sometimes."

 

The bit of info came along as he followed into the house that frankly, looked a whole lot less like he had thought. Sure, it was a bit messy here and there, and there were a good chunk of books, but overall, it was pretty normal. For some reason he had imagined it more like several cauldrons, walls lined with mysterious jars, spells written on the walls, a crow somewhere for some reason, and so on. This right here were a good deal away from that.

 

He were about to say something nice about the place, when the scene unfolded between Astral and Misty, and the words withered in his mouth.

 

Not because he were judging them on the usage of magic books that apparently wasn't doing anything good for others, nor felt like he should start asking questions about why she'd want to burn books that could perhaps have a usage in some kind of library. No, it was more that the mention about Astral's mother being dead made it all get swiped away by sympathy for the poor mare. As somepony who had lost their parents at a young age he could understand some of the pain she went through, though not all of it, as he hadn't been more than a year and a half when his parents had died, and he therefore couldn't place many memories about them in his mind. Even their faces went away now and again when he tried to get a grip on it.

 

For somepony that had been older, it would've had to be devastating, and he considered saying his condolences about this... But bitter experience had taught him that some wounds shouldn't be constantly picked at, even for a seemingly good reason, and considering what he knew about his big ol' mouth ratting off sometimes, the chances of adding salt to said injury were too great to take. It was better that he showed his respects for now, by not touching that subject. Another time perhaps, if it seemed like a more appropriate situation, but not now.

 

"...Yeah, it ain't a bother. I'll get started there right off."

 

He gave a sympathetic look towards Astral as she turned her back and started to move out tot he wagon with the big book, before he went over to the shelf and started to get to work himself.

 

Not the worst sort of thing he could carry really. The boars and such he hunted weighed a whole lot more than this, though they were more manageable to be honest, so he couldn't carry the exact same weight out in books at a time, though he still did a fair amount per time.

 

_______________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@cwhip9,

 

Well, that answered that question at least. This wasn't Zinthar's memory after all, but Crescent's.

 

The ash had been one clue, as Zinthar's memory simply included a rather large, crude sort of chimney, and not something that made the ash rain down like it was snowflakes. Yet the more important clues where what Crescent were saying, the way he said it, and his reaction of storming towards whatever happened. It painted a picture, though considering his reaction and the ash falling from the sky, it couldn't be a picture of beauty that would end up being their next destination.

 

*sigh* He guessed he'd see soon enough what this were all about, though hopefully it wasn't as horrid as the look on Crescent made it out to be. Catching up to the bat pony were gonna be a bother to begin with already, and doing so whilst the end destination were not something to cheer about, would just make it worse. For him and the bat pony alike.

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Sen was disgusted at what he was hearing from Discord. As much as he wanted to hear he was reformed in some way, by some miracle he was reformed at all. Seems all that is just talk and maybe Discord didn't really change at all besides toning down the magnitude of his powers. Then again, by what system of measurement could be used to tell the extent of his powers? Regardless of those, he stayed quiet for the meantime but joined Omen's side. One more.... just one more slip-up and he'd make his move but he let his sister continue talking only because he wanted to remain cautious.

 

"After all that time and you just discarded her like that? Like she didn't mean anything to you?!" Lin's patience was dwindling fairly quickly and she could sense her brother's was already at its end. It was difficult for her to keep a straight face right now and hoped Fluttershy would intercede at some point. And soon enough, she did. 

"Discord!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "These three have come all this way to look for you for answers. Don't you think you should show them courtesy by giving them what they're looking for? What is this you're talking about with Omen and her being your servant?" The yellow mare's curiosity was piqued but she wasn't interested in having it told to her in a roundabout way.

Edited September 29, 2016 by EQ_Theta

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@@Lonk Chase

@@GingerLightning

@@Melke

@@Blitz Boom

@@Mentis Soliloquy

@@Denim&Venom

@@Quinch

 

The repeated attacks tore away at skin, flesh, and bone leaving a cavity surrounding The Forgotten One's black, beating heart. The heart itself were protected by powerful magic, but Reverie's attack cut through those defenses due to the Everwood that had imbedded itself into the blade. Breaking free one of its arms, the creature slammed its fist down where Carl had been approaching, but Carl broke into a thousand small spiders to avoid the attack. Continuing his approach, Carl did what he could to tie down The Forgotten One's feet, as Miststalker got the tail. The doppelgänger got the creature's arm back under control. With the heart completely exposed, it was time for the final blow ((the amount of damage done is now under your control, and be sure to include what happens with the blood, such as wether it squirts, sprays, or explodes everywhere, etc. There are many possibilities of what can be done to the heart including stabbing it, cutting it in half, separating it completely, burning a hole through it with magic, or whatever else you can think of)).

 

Penny, still wrapped in Briar's severed vine was thrashing about trying to get herself free. She was all tangled up in it, but she had stopped blasting everywhere with her horn.

 

 

@@Blitz Boom

@@Moonlit

@@Hazard Time

 

Princess Luna followed Serenade up to the other room. "Yes, I am here to schedule a meeting with you. It would be easiest if we fit it into one of our already scheduled meetings. She and I have two meetings scheduled next week, one on Monday, and another on Friday. Both meetings take place after sunset. Which would work best for you?"

[Moonlit 593]

@@Seamore Sandwich,  "Either would work, your Highness. Most of my work here usually ends up in some dusty room filled with every other report I've filled. The sooner the better I believe." Serenade takes a deep breath, "Do you think I'm doing the right thing Princess? telling Princess Twilight about my nature? "

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

"Discarded? Who exactly do you think you're talking t-"

 

Fluttershy's voice breaking through things stopped Discord from going on, though he had the look in his now narrowed eyes like he wanted to do something bad. Specifically to Lin, whom he had leaned in closer towards when she started her wild accusations.

 

"Please stop yelling at Master Discord."

 

Omen cut in once the yellow mare had spoken out, looking between the gathered beings from her current position in Discord's grip. It had not looked like this were going well as soon as Sen had started to step forward, and when Lin spoke, then Discord and at last Fluttershy had added their parts, it had seemed like it would end in a ruffle at the very least.

 

Seemed like even if Discord had reformed and changed, his ability to stir an argument hadn't gone away.

 

"He never said he discarded me, and even if he doesn't show it like I have seen ponies do, I know when he's happy about something. Like now. He have yet done something wrong."

 

"At least somepony here talks sense."

 

"You are not without blame, master. I know your tricks. And when you try to poke to others. You wanted to see if they would react."

 

Discord looked in disbelief at Omen. Back when he had last seen her, she hadn't once said that he were wrong, or blamed him for anything. She had been loyal and on his side without question, and now she were questioning what he did? Why, he didn't know what was worse. That his little servant wasn't exactly who he remembered, or that she was right. He had tried to get a reaction because... well, not for much reason really. He could say it were to judge how the two outsiders would react on even the slightest things so he knew what he could get away with,, or try to set up a situation where he could 'defend himself* against two that had attacked him, but honestly, he had simply tried to spread a little social chaos.

 

"Fine, fine. I'll play along then."

 

He set Omen down again and moved himself further away from the siblings, not currently liking them all that much. A feeling that was obviously mutual, from what had happened thus far.

 

"I went on a little trip about three millennia ago and ended up teleporting to this dark, delightfully chaotic realm, full of shadows with eyes and nothing solid. If it had only had a little color it would have been perfect. A few pink clouds, some water, perhaps a river.

 

Really, it would be more fun if you all saw it. Ready for a movie?"

 

He didn't wait for an answer, but instead just snapped his fingers instantly, and before anypony would have a chance to do anything, they'd all be sharing a small illusion that would show them in the time that he had mentioned.

 

It showed the sight that Omen, Sen and Lin knew well, but might unnerve Fluttershy, at the very least: The shadowy realm where no sun ruled, and only the different shadows of black and grey gave any contrast in the ever-shifting world. Well, that, and the many different eyes that were seen here and there, belonging to the unformed.

 

Then out of nowhere, Discord suddenly appeared. Not the one they were sharing this vision with, as he were standing near them and eating popcorn, but the one of the past.

 

Past Discord looked around and talked to himself about what a fascinating place this were, before he were interrupted by a swarm of unformed ones gathering near him, and towering near his sides. It were like what had happened with Sen, but in a much larger magnitude. With him they had been curious,a nd had gathered well in numbers, but this were the matter of a potential master, and Discord's energy was so immensely strong to them that it beamed nearly every last shade near enough, trying to offer their services to him.

 

You couldn't hear the unformed ones speak, but omen knew what they said. This day was still well burned into her mind to such a degree that she could still pick herself out in the crowd. Just a speck amongst thousands of others, clinging near the ground and looking up at the chaotic being in their midst.

 

Discord seemed confused though, as he didn't understand what they were saying, until the voice of Mother rung through the place, though she didn't show herself in person. As mentioned, she did not like DIscord overly much, though considering what he could provide for one of her children, she would have to communicate with him.

 

"They are offering you a deal, outsider. To pick one, share in your magic, an form them, and in return, they will serve."

 

Past Discord looked intrigued by this idea and went around the place looking for one that he could bring back, going through pair of eyes after pair of eyes like he were a child at a candy store, not sure what to pick.

 

"It was too good of a deal to say no too. A willing servant would be fun, and getting to create them sounded even more intriguing. Besides, it would alleviate the boredom a little from all those strange ponies who tended to hide from me for no reason. Ah, here's the good part. Look look look."

 

The Discord they watched finally slowed down and went down a few inches from most others, down to the ground and picked up an unformed blob with eyes looking much like a pony's. It took a few times of him snapping his fingers without nothing changing permanently with this blob before he tried to just let the magic flow from his hands instead of this, and then finally, something happened.

 

The blob bubbled and stretched in many directions as shade mixed with a chaotic green, before it slowly began to take form into the pony that now stood in their midst, though her eyes were filled with even more questions and wonder than she had now.

 

"She was a good servant all the way to the end. And I taught her a lot of things about the glorious chaos world I brought her back to. Such good times."

 

"Until you vanished."

 

"I got trapped in stone, thank you very much. Three millennia in the most boring prison ever, reduced to little more than a lawn ornament, before I finally broke free and spread my glorious chaos around Equestria once more. At least until my fun was  stopped again."

 

He sent a sly look and a small smirk towards Fluttershy. He liked to think of that time after he had gotten loose the second time, refusing to spent much time thinking on the time before that, when he had played around with her like she were nothing. It tended to leave him depressed, as he cared a lot for Fluttershy, so he spent as little time to think on it as possible. Or the time with Tirek, though that one had been an eye-opener at least.

 

The scenario around them changed, as past Discord and Omen left, and with a snap of his fingers, Discord ended their vision, leaving them as they had been before all of this in Fluttershy's living room.

 

"Any questions?"

 

"Why did you think I was dead?"

 

"Because I designed you as a pony, and they really do live miserably short lives. I figured you had died of old age long before the first birds even sat on my statue, or vanished along with all my other improvements to the land."

 

He mumbled something about *accursed birds* to himself, before leaning back in mid air and cleansing his teeth with the tip of a claw. Omen was still thinking about things, and the answer she had been given that frankly sounded reasonable enough, so if anypony else had something to say, this would be a good time.

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"What do you think, Omen?" Lin calmly asked Omen as her seething anger subsided. To her, the reply brought her a mixed feeling of satisfaction and disappointment. Satisfied knowing there was an answer that she could go along with but disappointed with Discord himself. She may not completely put him at fault for his actions given the circumstances but something in her wished she could just fight the draconequus one-on-one solely to give her something else to feel. "Does that answer satisfy you or is there anything else you have yet to know?"

Sen stood from his spot and walked outside to give himself some time alone. He still felt angry but this time, it wasn't directed at anyone. He kept his cool demeanor as he watched the stars in the night sky and thought about just how wrong he was the whole time. He knew he wouldn't know the answers to everything but he thought himself better than to assume the worst, especially with what Discord said. There was no telling what could happen next what with Omen being Discord's servant. Now that he's back, he may end up parting ways with his friend, and he didn't like that thought very much.  

[redaxted 1,765]

@@Blitz Boom, Cyan Flare huffed, all of a sudden thinking of her home and everything she (and her brother) had worked for. She had left behind plenty of things that meant a lot to her, from wonderful figurines from her family to the exclusive posters on her wall (only available in the three-hundred and thirty-third issue of her favorite rock magazine, of which they had only ever printed 1,000 copies). Not only that, but it had, admittedly, been a little difficult for to make a living from selling these fruits and vegetables, no matter how delectable they were, alone.

"Yeah, that would be pretty bad," was all she could think to say in reply to Happy. It was hardly the most creative way to describe such a prospect, but it did the job of summing it up. "I do hope that everything will be okay at my home, too."

"You have lost your home before?" Golden Spell asked Happy once Cyan Flare had initiated an awkward silence. She was quite good at doing that, she thought. "That must have been rather difficult for you; I do hope that things are going well for you, now."

Edited September 30, 2016 by Wolves

[Summer Breeze 2,528]

@@Blitz Boom,@@Frosty Frost,

 

When summer had reached the beach she looked behind her to see that blitz had folowed her, which she had already expected. Shortly after summer the filly reached the beach too. Summer was impressed, that little filly was fast!

 

with an entertained smile on her face she looked at blitz going totally crazy in the sand. Summer giggled and walked along the shore and picked up sea shells. the waves just reaching her hooves and rushing around her ankles before being sucked away again, back into the ocean, untill another wave came to drown her hooves again. The water was cold but summer didn't mind it, the cold water made her feel more awake again since she was getting slightly tired. 

 

when she had walked around in the water for long enough she walked back, further down the beach and back towards blitz, suddenly she got a fun idea. "Hey blitz, do you wanna play tag?" she asked the fast filly with a smile on her face "you're the fastes filly I know, but you're still an earth pony, lets see if you're faster as a pegasus" she tried to challenge blitz so that she would join in on the game of tag, and so that she wouldn't get bored and maybe get in trouble. and summer figured that it would be good for the little filly to get a bit tired so that she wouldn't be so hyper anymore, not that there was anything wrong with being hyper of course.

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@Wolves,

 

"It was a bit at the start, but you learn to adapt."

 

A few images flew through Happy's mind of his former life. Before magic tore him away and made him into what he were now. Frankly, he detested the weakling he had once been, and didn't wish to switch the life he had now with the old, where he were nothing more than a hairless ape, focusing his life around money.

 

This world had taken everything from him, but it had given plenty enough to make him prefer it by lengths, even if he did miss certain technological aspects of his former home. That, and his brewery. Sometimes, the thought of once again having a piece of land where he could safely produce the finest drinks in the lands were tempting for several reasons, but in the end, it wasn't likely tho happen. His queen wanted him on the move, and so, he would, even if at times he stuck around places for some weeks if they were interesting enough.

 

Another urge entered his mind this time though, in wanting to tell his story. It didn't happen often, and usually he ignored it because, you know, he didn't want to share around that he was a freak of nature, but in the current setting... He'd have to obscure a few things, obviously, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to share a little? They seemed curious. Might make better contact with them if he tried this, and he could learn more about them too. Just in case he had to take roles prior to an invasion, of course. It wasn't like he suddenly cared, that'd be absurd.

 

"Had my own little brewery and a fair piece of land to grow my vineyard on once, in a country far, far away from here, where I made some of the best wines in the region. It prospered well and gave me a quiet, fulfilling life for a long time, and i was even in the process of expanding on the business. And then, ten years went down the drain in less than five minutes, all because of bloody magic.

 

Freak teleportation accident is what they told me when I finally woke up from wherever I landed. They didn't even know the name of where I was from, and I had no idea where I got stranded, so there wasn't much else to do than just try to adapt, and figure things out.

 

Made me sad for a while because I had to realize that I'd likely never get back, and that I'd lost not just my home, but everything in it. Only thing I could be somewhat joyous about were that I didn't have any family to leave behind, but that didn't really help, y'know?

 

But, it worked out okay in the end. I got slowly back on my hooves, scraped enough together to buy a wagon and fix it up so it could be used for business, and I began feeling better. The place I got to had some folks that gave me a chance when I was down, and they helped me integrate to the new customs and really, making me feel like I had a shot at life again. Perhaps even a better one, if I put my back into it.

 

Still, little place with a small population, so I took to the road and began touring the world. It's still where I think my home is, and I go back on occasion, but I needed to just get out there to really make a difference in my life. Been a bit strange, but life on the road's done me good really. I meet a lot of new ponies, make a difference here and there, and I begin to enjoy myself far more than I did stuck in a dusty brewery most of my day.

 

I've gotten to the point where I know that I'm likely never gonna get back to where I started, and frankly, I don't really want to either. Starting over was good for me, even if I miss a few objects, but what can one do, eh? Often, to gain something, you have to make some sacrifices after all."

 

Perhaps he rambled on a little too much there, but he had still made sure to not do so in a way that would give away what he really were. Not through lying, but just by being vague about a few things.

 

He did come from a little place with a small population - a changeling hive, where they didn't pride themselves in excessive numbers - and a freak teleportation had taken him from his home - tear in space that had teleported him between worlds - etc. so he'd say that he were actually quite honest about this. Within the limits of what he could safely share, that was.

 

"Sorry, being nervous gets me chatty at times. I hope it ain't a bother?"

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

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

 

There wasn't much to say about what Last did up at the Forgotten One's chest, or at least not something that would be good for any who would listen in later.

 

Trapped in her rage by Zhu, the mare were blinded to any reason or idea about the wounds that were opening on her side as she kept the assault on with the glowing sword, slashing powerful blows against the thing's chest and completely disregarding the ones around her. Which were one of the reasons why Ko still stood on the ready to find a fitting opening without loosing his limbs. Or well, that had been his plan, until he saw the first notion of the heart beneath and figured it better to wait until he could get a clear hit in on that.

 

When the chance arrived, he would plunge the poisoned clock hand into the heart with as much force as he could, then draw back before the crazed berserker over there would pin him to said heart, as she pinned the swords, tip first, into the target, than use her rage to try and force it upwards.

 

It was grizzly business, but it was what had to be done, which were the same that Zhu were thinking as he looked over things and did his to keep the bridge up. Beyond that, he were preparing to take her, and the three that were attacking with her, back from the ancient being when it seemed the battle would be over, as to protect them from being squashed like insects, or blown away by some sort of blast. He wasn't entirely certain how the old thing would perish really, but he were prepared for the two more obvious ones at least.

 

If he had more to share of his focus currently, he would have given some to the twitching Briar, or the flailing Penny, but unfortunately, he could not do much else until this were over. And when it would, he could see where he had to correct things. Beyond the demon mare that were, but at least with her, he had been prepared for a long, long time.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

"I understand his reason."

 

"Oh, goodies. Now then, Omen, what do you say we stop playing around for a tiny, little bit? I have some things you can do."

 

She looked between them. On one side, the life presented that she had once. Her master, though now with a friend of his own, offering her to get back to what she knew. What she had hunted for for millennia, but never gotten as he were hidden away from her senses. It would be everything she had looked for, and a return to at least some of the comfort she had once felt.

 

On the other side, stood Sen and Lin. Her friends and family, representing the new life that had started to blossom over the last few days. One with confusion, pain and horrible things happening, but also with joy, fun and experiences that she would remember for a long time. It were a life of uncertainty, where she couldn't count on what would happen, other than the fact that those two would hopefully be part of it.

 

It wasn't as easy a choice as she had thought, but she had never gotten the impression that it would go like this to begin with anyway. Not after it had been simple for so very long. Why, even after the stranger put doubt in her mind, her goal had simply still been to find master, see how he were, and more than likely join him, but then Sen and Lin had come...

 

As her eyes searched between them, it fell on something at her hooves, that had dropped when Discord had made her tongue roll out before. A glimmering scale, beautiful and full of colors that seemed to change depending on the way you gazed upon it.

 

Feeling it in her hooves, she remembered when Lin had given this to her. The moment when, after all that had happened, she gave this special memento to a being that she barely even knew, and told her what their kind usually did with this. An importance she hadn't thought much of then, but now...

 

"...No."

 

She lifted her head and looked at the surprised, chaotic being hovering over her. Her master, that had granted her this life and been the constant in her life that had been missed sorely ever since his first defeat, and whom she had now refused to serve as before.

 

"I wanted to, for so long Master Discord. I wished with every day that I was back where chaos reigned, and the world didn't need to make sense. For three millennia I searched for you, and everything that was gone, but I don't think I can go back anymore."

 

"But... I am... Why? Because of them? What are so important about them?"

 

Discord were not exactly taking this well. He were not much of a fan for sharing the few things he had willingly in his life, such as Fluttershy, and now once again, Omen.

 

"Because they're my friends."

 

The air seemed to go straight outta Discord, and he opened his mouth to say something... But he didn't really have something to counter that with. Not when he kept in mind everything that had gone on with himself and Fluttershy through the times since he had been released the first time.

 

Still... Perhaps he could say something that would let him have some of the proverbial cake, and be allowed to eat it too?

 

A sly smile went over Discord face and he moved closer to Omen, almost touching her with his own forehead.

 

"Then how about we strike a deal? Remember how you used to mostly be a messenger, hmm?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"How about you just keep doing that then? You can saunter around with your little friends, and then once in awhile, I'll call you to deliver something. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

 

Omen didn't know what exactly were going on. Back in the days, she would take this as a giant reed flag that Discord were trying to lure her into a trap, but... Would the reformed one do the same? Or was this genuine?

 

Guess there was only one way to really know.

 

"...Okay."

 

Discord chuckled slightly under his breath, then patted his little, somewhat-servant on her head with his paw.

 

"Good, good. I'm sure nopony is going to have a problem with that, would they? I can't imagine her friends would at least. Not when she gets everything she wanted."

 

Okay, he were planning something. It was impossible to say what exactly, but considering he poked to the siblings currently, potentially he were after them in some capacity. Though, what could they really do, when he hadn't exactly threatened them, and had, as he said, given Omen a chance to get both of the things she wanted to?

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral dropped another book into the wagon, she went back inside, she took a moment to give Misty a smile. It comforted her to know Misty was her tether to not falling to dark magic, she wouldn't know what she would do without her. A few moments later she noticed Misty struggling to carry a small box. She walked over to her, pausing to stand nearby. "Need help?"

 

Misty dropped the box and nodded. "Yeah, it's really heavy."

 

Astral picked it up, helping to carry the box, trying to not carry the full load as it was actually pretty light to her. She could carry it on her own, but she was only helping Misty, not taking over. She and Misty placed the box into the wagon, Misty proudly smiled as if she was the one carrying the load. Astral snicked. "Misty, you know you weren't carrying the whole load right?"

 

She sighed. "Yes, You probably thought it was lighter than I said it was."

 

Astral walked back inside. "Don't worry about that!" She yelled out to Misty as opened up her closet. "You're just as strong as me!" She said pulling out some folded up boxes. "Here." She said handing some over to Chow with her mouth, waiting until he grabbed it until letting go. "Should allow us to carry more books at once." She looked at the potion shelf. "I mainly use them for storing my potions, but we can use them for the books."

[cwhip9 1,078]

@@Blitz Boom, As the batponyand cresent traveled down the path they found the structure of a burnt down log cabin with a little colt its back turned towards them. "you...you guys didn't no" he stopped taking a few steps back bumping into the cat he jumped turning

 

"sorry we just" he looked at the young pony it looked a lot younger then the mirror image but had the similar features and even what looked like....a mark on the ponys flank? The pony who had its back to them said in a rather innocent but a bit creepy voice "I...did this...I was too slow...." the voice seemed calm but tired from the pony facing away from them

 

"don't tell me they can" cresent slowly approached the young colt....

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"Whoa whoa, wait a minute! Pardon the interruption but can someone please tell me just how that is going to work? I mean, it's good all this didn't have to descend into a scuffle but I'm definitely out of the loop."

In reality, Lin's fears and anger subsided and planned to run out to get Sen but at the same time, she wanted to hear all of the details first. There is so much to Omen's history with Discord that it admittedly piqued her curiosity. Sure she still couldn't remove that bad memory of Discord's magic affecting the clan but just having things cleared up made things a lot more sensible. If only her brother would give all of this a chance. She doesn't blame him but maybe it's about time to get this lesson into his thick head.

Fluttershy remained silent just like how a young filly would listen attentively while it is told a story during kindergarten. There was so much she didn't know about Discord and wanted to know more. 

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@,

 

"Gonna be easier to stack things there with some boxes. Good thinking lass."

 

Chow smiled at Astral a little wider as he got a box in hoof and started to fold it, then carefully fill it, just in case one of these books turned out to be some kind of dangerous. When the first box were full, he'd haul it out to the wagon that were starting to get filled a little by little, then rinse and repeat as things went along, and trying to scout out how to place things the best. So far, if they weren't taking furniture, it seemed like it'd both fit in there and be possible to move around, though he might need a break now and again not to break his back. He might have some good strength to work with, but he wasn't Mr. Muscle himself here.

 

It was rather nice to be moving around things like this, not getting any weird looks or told to bugger off was a new experience, but one he liked for certain. Sure, the times he had been literally told to just leave weren't that many, but there were many ways you could end up being excluded from things beyond being literally told that nopony wanted you around. Unless there were trouble and there wasn't any guards around, in which case he was all of a sudden good to have around. Minor pro of having a weapon and knowing how to use it in a predominately farming community.

 

Another grand thing about this was seeing the usual family stuff up close. Sure, it sounded likt hese two were just friends, and that Astral were a caretaker of sorts for Misty from what he gathered, but it looked like a real family to him for sure. Like with Applejack and Apple Bloom sometimes. Carried the same vibes of *big sis, lil' sis* they had going when he saw the two of them wandering around together on occasion, down to the oldest of 'em toying a bit around in a good manner with the kiddo.

 

A box more went on the wagon and the line of thoughts broke off as he allowed himself to stand still for a bit and have a small breather, looking over the work they'd gotten done thus far.

 

"Man, almost forgot what a pain in the neck it is to move. But we're making good headway at least, right?"

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@cwhip9,

 

Zinthar put a paw on Crescent shoulder as he started to move forward, looking at both him and the colt with his back turned to them with narrowed eyes.

 

"Crescent, don't trust... Everything you see."

 

Perhaps he was just cranky and paranoid, but Zinthar hadn't felt the same sympathy for the colt with his back turned as Crescent seemed to have. After what happened before, it was abundantly clear that this wasn't just a dream apparition that was randomly in one dream for no reason, but rather a clue as to what were going on, and one they couldn't trust. No matter how heartbroken this might seem, and even if this really were a living pony's dream self, and not just a part of the dream realm, they should rather grab hold of the colt while they had the chance and make him speak rather than play into things this easy.

 

A little cold perhaps, but Zinthar were even further beyond caring than he usually were at this point. He were in pain, they were either lost or dragged through a maze of dreams - which one wasn't abundantly clear to him yet - and after having one dream implode on him already, not much in this world right now felt like something that he'd care just slashing his way through for the principle of it.

 

Personally, he'd let Crescent do what he meant he had to for now, and removed his paw shortly after touching him to begin with to let him, but as his claws were now showing, it was abundantly clear that he expected trouble, and were done running away from it.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

"Master and servant is connected. We can hear them, and they can call us through a strange link. It doesn't work when we're home, but outside, in Equestria, I will be able to hear him. It is something like feeling energy."

 

Discord didn't say anything as the explanation went on, but he did put his talon behind his ear and rummaged around for a bit with some random things flying about before he pulled out a flute. It was build rather old fashioned and were in multiple colors, but that wasn't really as weird as when he put it to his mouth and started to play it, but no sound came.

 

Omen looked as if something were though. her ears vibrated slightly and she looked between the others and Discord until he stopped, and looked at her expectantly.

 

"...No, I don't think they'd want that."

 

It seemed like it did work, though Discord had hoped that Omen would voice out what he had said. She sometimes did before, but perhaps she had gotten smarter in the time that had gone since then? Or perhaps, he should just try to formulate it otherwise? Something to think about for the next time when it was, but not yet. Playing this thing made him thirsty, and he didn't want to use all his tricks on the first meeting. Otherwise, what fun would he be able to have on the behalf of Sen and Lin later?

 

Summoning up a big glass to drink, literally, Discord floated to the ground and summoned a comfortable couch beneath him to stretch out on. Usually this would be it, but since Fluttershy kept telling him to be nice to guests...

 

A snap of his fingers, and a tray of cookies making strange faces and four glasses of chocolate milk appeared on the table over at the others. It were standard oath cookies with some more sugar in, as most o the things he made were because of his sweet tooth, and though it may seem like something he'd so, nothing were poisoned. They'd be perfectly healthy touching these things. Such as were shown when Omen went over and stuffed her muzzle down into the nearest glass.

 

To put it in less strange terms, it seemed like she drank out of glasses like a cat would, and about as slowly. Considering how Mother were about wanting her children to move onwards in the world and fit in well, it wouldn't be hard to tell who had taught her to do something like that. Especially not as he sent a small glance and chuckle over towards the scene unfolding.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Blitz Boom

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Before Lin and Fluttershy was Discord's spread of cookies and milk, an addition to the cucumber sandwiches and tea that the latter thought was strange. It wasn't normal for her to see such a display but then again, there was that one time Pinkie brought over a bag of assorted sweets to complement - if that was the most apt description - an Apple Family reunion meal. She didn't attend it because she was away but there were stories of Pinkie's treats suddenly causing a lot of ponies to pass gas. She didn't bother trying to ask for the details of that event. Fluttershy wanted to dig in but excused herself from the group to tend to a few mice who were looking for a roomier place to sleep.  

 

Lin, on the other hand, was perplexed at what was before her. A strange food items and beverages with matching colors; the strange faces didn't bother her in the least but the objects themselves did the opposite. It was all new and she didn't have any idea what these were, but went about her way and held one in her claw. Deep brown, crumbling but just firm enough to be held whole, Lin examined the object with an eye firmly fixed on it.  

"So... what is this? Not exactly sure if I'm supposed to be disturbed by the faces or something. And are those drinks safe? This is all new to me and I don't really know what to do with these."

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@EQ_Theta,

Discord smirked, and chuckled lowly to himself when he heard that Lin did not know what he had put in front of them.

"What, don't you trust me?"

He sounded almost hurt for a moment, but you could see on him that he wasn't as he stretched his talon all the way over to them, lifted up one of the cookies, and flipped it back, catching it with his sharp tooth.

"It's just chocolate milk and some cookies. Oath variants really aren't my favorite, but you know how ponies are about their plants. I suppose I could ask if there was something else though. Oh, waiter!"

Discord snapped his fingers and a copy of himself, wearing a tacky waiter's outfit, opened the door of a nearby closet and wandered over to the table.

"You called?"

"Yes. My little new *friends* here wonders if we can spice the menu up a little. Oh, and I need my glass refilled."

Copy Discord took hold in the table and spun it around for a few seconds before stopping it dead in its tracks again. Nothing had fallen off, and nopony had gotten hit, including Omen who had wandered a step backwards when she saw the copy wandering over to the table.

On said table now, the things that Fluttershy had put there remained the same, but there were a more generous spread of things including warm blueberry cupcakes, cold milk, the chocolate milk from before, though now with taller glasses, the same cookies, and a variation of a few other things. Including a snack that Discord remembered seeing some longma eat before. Nothing that were, or used to be, alive, as he knew what sticklers ponies were about even seeing those kind of things, but beyond that it was free game.

All in all, it looked safe, abundant, and fresh. At which point the *waiter* wandered over and pulled out a fish from behind his head, turned it downwards at Discord's hand, and just watched as a glass was poured into thin air like there were invisible walls holding it to the form.

"I'd suggest trying the muffins before they try to run away. Tricky little things."

Afterwards, the copy ran a talon through his mustache before wandering into the closet again and closing behind him, vanishing out of sight.

"There, much better. And you don't need to worry about it being poisoned. After all, I have reformed, haven't you heard?"

He took the cookie still stuck to his tooth and started to gnaw it down, whilst Omen - who seemed to be rather indifferent to the weirdness of the situation - just returned to the glass of chocolate milk she had been at, and began drinking again in silence. For now, the others weren't trying to go for eachother's throats as much as before, and she wanted her friends and Discord to at least try to get along a little, so that it wouldn't be a weird situation of being around two sides that hated one another. And despite his big mouth, it seemed better to let Discord and them speak for now instead of playing mediator between the three, and then hope that things wouldn't turn into a battle. Literally.

___________________________________________________________________________


@@Summer Breeze,
@@Frosty Frost,

"Hey, I'm a unicorn, not an earth pony."

Blitz popped her head out of the small hole she were making in the ground and looked with joy-filled eyes towards Summer, still giggling and smiled as she clarified what sort of pony she actually were.

It was the first time she remembered that she had seen somepony mistake her for an earth pony actually. Even with the tip of her horn being currently broken and it meaning she hadn't access to an outlet for her magic, it still drew the eyes of most that dared near enough *The crazy fire-foal* as Silver Spoon had once called her.

Now, being thought of as a pegasus before, that she had tried a few times. The wings she had made looked rather convincing from a distance as the framework were detailed and the feathers on it plentiful, though unfortunately, looking the part was the only thing they did thus far. She really wished that she could find a way to make them, or another design of wings work, and soar through the sky like the pegasi, but without a light and durable material to make a new frame of, along with an energy source, it'd remain a dream for a long time. She might have an idea how to make it work with magic, but that wasn't gonna do it. She wanted to make something that anypony, even earth ponies, could use.

However, that'd be for the future. For now, she had a pegasi to catch.

Blitz got into position, wriggled her flank like a cat before it started the hunt, and then ran towards Summer as quick as she could. Like always when she had speed in her step, she had the movements of a rhino, in the sense that it took some to stop her momentum compared to some others who could seemingly turn on a dime. With that in mind, it might be she'd miss a lot of time, and leave some traces in the sand from her attempting to break, but she barely even registered it. She was far too focused on running and jumping around to try and catch Summer to really care about that.

Edited October 3, 2016 by Blitz Boom

[redaxted 1,765]

@@Blitz Boom, "Wow, that sounds pretty crazy," Cyan Flare said after hearing Happy's story. "Good to hear you're doing better for it now in a way, though... I s'pose."

She flashed a small smile.

"No, no - it is no issue whatsoever, Happy," Golden Spell said in reply to their companion's concerns. "At the end of the day, what else is available for us to do but delve into a conversation?"

Cyan agreed reluctantly, with a sharp sigh and a glance back at Ponyville again.