open Casual stroll

[GingerLightning 258]

@@Blitz Boom,  Ginger Lightning Was about to fly home when she remembered that Meeko couldn't fly...Or at least she didn't think timberwolves could fly...so she decided to walk home...She walked to her house and picked a tomato from one of the various gardens in her yard...She munched on the tomato while sitting down on the front porch...

[BloodDrops 762]

 

 

It hurts because I am trying to suppress my instinct to take the lot of you and put you in timeout for being unable to act like rational adults.

 

"If I was behaving as a fully rational adult blood drinking pony, you would have came back to lots of dead ponies and a very fully pony" she remarked. She shifted her sitting position, not quite comfortable.

 

 

 

Blood... I don't know what you would say happened, but I am thankful at least that you've calmed down.

 

Blood blinked, her opinion was needed.

 

"I would say, Grab him by the neck, push him down and take a chunk out of jugular. Then you can access his primary blood delivery vein for a nice meal. You also don't get covered in too much mess either, and its relatively painless for the victim" she remarked. She shuffled her sitting position. They were giving her odd looks now, they had asked for her honest opinion. "You shouldn't have asked if you didn't want to know" she remarked. She began to give her coat a good licking, a very nice way of grooming herself.

[Missklang 1,053]

@@Blitz Boom,@@Shineling, @@BloodDrops,

 

 

 

That leaves me with you Missklang, and I would like an actual run down of what is going on here to make you all so hostile, not just a *he did she did* deal, understood?"

 

Missklang scratched behind his ear with his hind leg and assumed a bored expression on his face.

 

Nothing too bad, we were walking, I vaguely remember seeing Blood drinking something with the corner of my eye. That something made her behave like a feral and she showed clear desire to attack Blitz. And so as the practice show, I growled and behaved aggressively in response as diplomacy don't work on wild creatures who understand only the law of the strongest. It worked, and I think Blood regained self-control, but I think in the process, we both scared Blitz. And thus, when the two ponies arrived they assumed, taking everything out of context, that we both were attacking or posed threat to little Blitz. So as fine gentelcoats as they are they rushed to help the "poor little child attacked by mean monsters". 

 

Missklang smiled.

 

I'm glad you came because I am all out of magic because I used it on blocking whatever grenade-looking thing the steam-punk one threw on us. 

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@@Blitz Boom

@@Moonlit

 

Luna was busy moving a few shooting starts in the night sky when Stargazer arrived, but the guards at the door would let him in anyway. Any message delivered by any Guard member directly to the Princess was assumed to be high enough priority that almost anything could be interrupted.

 

 

@@Widdershins

 

"No, it's alright. She should be safe for now," Hunter replied, slightly annoyed that he had to reiterate the fact that he thought Sissilia would be safe. He did well to hide his irritation though. "I'll be on my way then. No need to keep you from your work any longer."

 

 

@@Blitz Boom

 

When Vivid caught Charlie, their stick form was much less solid than expected. Actually, it was soft and a little bit slimy as Charlie slowly changed back to their triops form. "That was terrible. I was trapped by their emotions. I never knew anyone was capable of that."

 

 

@@Blitz Boom

 

"It was a graduation gift from my parents," Penny said, obliviously leaving out any and all information regarding her education. Had she even mentioned her studies yet? She thought she already did, but neither of them had even introduced themselves properly yet. Realizing this, Penny held out her hoof and said, "By the way, if you couldn't guess by now, my name's Penny Buttercup, and this here is my cousin Blossom Buttercup." With a sweet smile and a wave, Blossom gave a quick, "Hi," then went to work taking the largest few of the crystal rings out to the back of the store.

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@@Moon Dancer.

 

The mare didn't seem to register that anypony were even near her at first. She sat relaxed with closed eyes and just enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. At least for the first 10 seconds or so, until something strange happened. Specifically, that a pale light flickered to life in each of the sockets of the skull she had around her neck, and the two small globes seemed to look towards Senvious.

 

"Don't be silly. Male alicorns aren't real."

 

The mare suddenly started to talk, as if somepony had said something to her. Then, after a small pause, she let out a sigh and opened her blue eyes and glanced towards Senvious. Unlike most others that saw him though, she didn't drop her jaw or look suspicious or curiously at him. She just glanced at him with a calm, joyful gaze in her blue eyes, along with a low, pearly laughter as it turned out she had been wrong in her assumption.

 

"Oh, if this had been another day the questions this would bring, but I'm faaaar too relaxed to be shocked right now. Hello there Mr. alicorn, how are you enjoying this spa? Personally I find it amazing. Such a comfy, calm place."

 

The *eyes* of the skull didn't seem to wish to look away from Senvious, but there wasn't any sound from it that he could hear at least, so it could be ignored, if he so chose. The mare didn't seem to care much about it at least, and just had her focus on Senvious like he were a casual. Or well, not entirely. He were too tall for a casual, or she would have been looking down on him potentially, even if she were currently sitting down in the pool.

 

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@@Moon Dancer.

@@Shineling

 

"Thank you."

 

Alonsus had more to say as he turned his head to glance at Transmutation, but he seemed pretty profoundly disinterested in things, so his joke about *She must be speaking to you, let's get you a sparkly hat* might not fall on good grounds right now, or would be ignored/rolled eyes at, which were simply awkward, and he would much prefer not to end up in an uncomfortable situation like that currently.

 

"I will need a few minutes to eat. If you do feel the want for anything, I would recommend a pastry. The Cake family and Pinkie are rather well versed in making some tasty stuff there, but it isn't forced of course."

 

With that, he went for a nearby table and started to eat his soup and bread as fast as were healthy. Going too fast was simply not good for you,and could result in a choking hazard from food not being properly chewed, or soup down your air pipe, which were a couching session he'd prefer to avoid.

 

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@@Foxy Socks

 

"We currently have residence in a cave in the Everfree Forest. It is near a stream so there is plenty of both water and fresh fish to feed on, and aside from the few nuisances the first day, not really a predatory problem. Although it is mostly Brittle that makes use of the cave. I usually sleep on a rock outside, so that I can enjoy the first rays of sun in the morning. I might not be able to see the light, but I do crave the feeling of it after all. A side effect of being somewhat floral I'm afraid, but since it also makes me able to protect the cave better, there is not really an issue as far as I'm concerned."

 

There was a few times when he couldn't stay outside, because Brittle had one of her highly scared episodes or needed somepony there to calm her in general, but he would not mention those. She didn't deserve to have that sort paraded to others, unless she chose to say it herself, or it were crucial in some capacity. Neither of which seemed to be true at this point in time.

 

"In any case, should we follow you to the tents and then see what there is to work with?"

 

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@@Twilight-Shimmer

@@Widdershins

 

"Please be more careful with those things, before somepony gets hurt."

 

It had been over ten seconds now, and the draconequus hadn't done any damage to anything or anypony but himself, hadn't torn something apart and generally seemed friendly enough, though somewhat... Confused. She had to make sure to pick her thoughts right considering he had been in her head once before, and a wrong thought could end up badly.

 

Regardless, as she were getting at, he seemed to not want harm or a takeover just yet, so Amazon relaxed a little bit around him, though not when she were bopped on the nose. The view and feeling of the ear stretching and poking were... Strange for her.

 

"Perhaps it would be better to make them appear on plates another time, rather than come flying? Would make it easier for Stardust to eat them if it were perhaps?"

 

She looked from Widdershine and towards Stardust, slightly concerned about how okay he were with the draconequus and his antics when it involved bleach - which might well be an accident - but not wanting to get anything going by thinking he were a little unfazed by things.

 

"It's good that you two seem able to hit the same wavelength, and find the odd things that happen amusing. As for the pancake shop, there are places like that, but not here. We have one in Port Seven, though they just call it *Full Stomach's Desert House* there."

 

It was indirectly said that she did not, but that should be obvious by now. There were too many concerns over what damage could happen for her to think too lightly on this currently, though if it were just pancakes flying for much longer, she guess that would be okay. At least it wasn't something more firm that could make a severe impact.

 

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@@genessee

 

So his parents were lucky gamblers, huh? Seemed even stranger then that he resided in a town where you could get roughed up by bandits then, since they could've tried to rob you of your belongings, but as Lance had said, they had been pretty poor at a time, and that town were likely all they could afford to live in. She had seen that in a few other places outside of Equestria, where the low to no-income areas were riddled with crime, and it never looked well., Likely better for Lance that he had moved out of there, though how his parents fared now were anypony's guess. Unless the cottage mentioned were in another town? Could be it.

 

Void didn't get a chance to ask about this further before the whole thing spun around and landed back on the subject of changelings, with Lance seemingly curious about why their kind made her so nervous as they did.

 

"...My s-sister and I once accidentally bumped into some ponies that turned out to be c-changelings, and blew their cover when their magic stopped working. They got s-so angry, and took us back to the hive where their queen... She said h-horrible things, about what would h-happen to us for what we did, as she punched us around. She even took my o-old wooden leg from me, to stop us from leaving.

 

We had to hurt a l-lot of changelings to get out, but we barely did. The queen though, s-she almost killed my sister with falling rocks. After she f-finally came around again, she said the cackling haunted her. I t-think it still does sometimes.."

 

Null did hers to be the tough older sister and make sure than Void were as protected and cared for as possible, but she were brittle in her own ways, and tormented by her own restrictions as well as the mental and physical scars that had come from their life. She hid it well behind anger, sarcasm and paranoia, but Void knew her sister enough to see the real her, and it wasn't good.

 

"H-Have you ever seen somepony you care for that lingered near d-death? It's not... It's hard to watch."

 

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@@Widdershins

 

"Ah, there it was. Annoying claw belonging to an even more annoying dragon-wannabe..."

 

Last Stand were grumbling to herself as she spotted the claw a few meters from her and wandered over so she could get hold of it and return it to the draconequus, that would then hopefully do something useful and fix the house back that he had taken away. She didn't need more things getting destroyed in Ponyville than already had been, or she'd never be done with repairing this place.

 

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@@Lil' Lovebug

 

"Don't apologize for speaking about your friend. The dead should be respected and remembered, not silenced or summarized, and I will never fault anypony from speaking at length about them. Especially not when it's one that's close and important to you.

 

I do offer my condolences though. Seeing somepony close to you wither away and die is never easy, nor must it have been to continue to live his life once it was over."

 

Vivid were going to say more, but it seemed like it would be nothing but pointless filler at that point, and might diverge into a point where she might miss the mark and have her words be misinterpreted as being rude, disrespectful or something else, which wasn't something she would want to happen. As she had said, the dead should be respected, and she wouldn't risk stepping on a memory like that. Especially not when it came to a sensitive situation like this, which she had to admit, was a rather unique one, and not something that she had heard of before.

 

She knew of death of course, that had been a part of her existence she she were born, but taking over somepony else's life were a beast of a whole other nature to her, and not one that she could think many would have been able to handle without breaking down at least a little during the years. Like looking at your former friends parents and make them believe that you were him, or see yourself in the mirror, and stare at the visage of somepony you watched die and then buried. A few examples in a sea of what were likely hard, testing moments for her, and yet she seemed pretty balanced now.

 

It likely helped that the family had decided to embrace her rather than shun her after they found out the truth, but still, she would have expected somepony going through the things that were both said and could be seen between the lines, to be damaged in some way. Quite a strong spirit you had to go through this she'd say.

 

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@@dragon4111

 

Clockwork got a surprised and hopeful look in his eyes at the mention of the Courier Guild arriving.

 

"The Courier Guild will gather in Ponyville? I haven't heard of them gathering in force outside of their headquarters for years. Not anything that my cousin have told about at least. He's a courier in Manehattan, so he tells me a few things now and again, though this is a surprise. Are they arriving because of what happened to Ponyville? Did the princesses ask them for help?

 

Okay, okay, getting a bit ahead of myself here, no need to fly off my hooves. I'm just thankful that we're gonna get some more help around here, and especially if one of the zebra tribe glassblowers might arrive too. I have only heard of their work, but if it's even half as good as what I've heard, there's a bigger chance the castle will break than their handiwork."

 

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@@EQ_Theta

 

"He won't get any of you. If something happens, I will get you away, and this place can care for itself."

 

Omen were quite a bit faster with her gates than Lin were, and could open a multitude if it came to that, so if something happened, she could get them away from here and into a safe plane. If it was something magical that would happen that started to ail any of them... Well, Mother had known how to help before, so she would trust her to be able to do that again if it came to it.

 

The thought that there had to be something that could be done if things started to look even a little bad made sense to Omen, even though there were likely things that could happen where none of them could do anything, though what situations that would be she didn't have a clue about, and didn't want to think on long enough to perhaps find an answer. There were more important things to think about, like this potion that they were going to feed to Sen, for example.

 

"Do you think that once Sen drinks this and see whatever Salosan blocked, that it will help his sleep, or make it worse? His dreams seems hard on him already, and if this makes it worse, I don't know if it's a good idea to give it to him."

 

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@@Midnight_Aurora

 

Whilst Jelly was looking between the cocoon and the pictures in the room, in another part of the orphanage, Cacora would suddenly start to hear a sound from a room to her right, as if somepony had dropped something off a shelf.

 

"I wonder if that broke?"

 

The voice was barely possible to hear, but it made it's way through the half-closed door enough so that she should be able to hear it, and should be loud enough still to make it certain that this was a voice she hadn't heard before, which meant that somepony, or something, had broken into the orphanage while she wasn't here, and likely done something to the foals and caretakers that were usually here.

 

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@@Handsome Changeling

 

"Just Clayton, if you would please. I am not a knight, and I prefer to keep the formalities at work if possible to not make every encounter to impersonal."

 

Clayton had made a small smirk as Void had made a little joke on Belladonna's behalf, but he found it better to not wander on about it. Not because he thought that his assistant would care, because he could see that she didn't, but more because he had no idea what to say to it in return that wouldn't ruin it a little.

 

"Regarding the stress, let us simply say that I have had a need to rush fairly often to ensure that messages about needed materials came around today, though it thankfully seem like I have reached what were needed thus far, and can breathe a little. It were rather fine after that until I met a male alicorn that somepony for some reason felt like he needed to anger, which weighed on me a little. I would rather prefer not to be near a wrathful alicorn."

 

"Male alicorn? Peculiar."

 

Belladonna had raised an eyebrow at the mention of this particular encounter, and sectioned it in her brain as something to look further into another time. It had been quite some time since she last saw a male alicorn, and having one here in Equestria rose some questions. Though since the town wasn't currently leveled, she would think that the anger said alicorn had felt had dissipated and it could wait until another time.

 

"Not quite my reaction I'm afraid, but yes, that should be a sufficient description of the news."

 

"Something for another time. For now though Clayton, I need to arrange the usage of some of my unspent vacation time."

 

Clayton looked positively shocked by hearing that sentence from her of all ponies.

 

"W-What? You haven't taken a vacation since you started working. You always said that you didn't have a a need for that, even when I practically tried to lure you into taking some time off. What happpened? is it... Ooooh, I see."

 

Clayton gave a funny look towards Void as he began to think that she wanted some time off to be with him, before Belladonna interrupted his line of thought once more.

 

"I know what you're thinking, and it isn't that. I have been asked to assist Void Crawler here in a matter that requires an ability to stay neutral and react objectively to things, which will take a good degree of my time in the foreseeable future. And you don't need to be concerned about the general running of things. I have ensured that Note Scribbler have been prepared to take over at a moment's notice from 18 months ago. I am 92,4% certain that he will be able to fulfill the job adequately in my absence."

 

"I did wonder why he seemed to improve drastically back then... Well, can you give me a rough estimate of how long you will be gone? You have five months, three weeks and three days saved thus far, so you do have plenty of time."

 

"Not possible to determine currently, though I will stay in contact through letters and inform you within certain limits of what is happening."

 

Clayton looked like he thought hard on things for a bit, before letting out a small sigh and looking over at Void Crawler.

 

"What you two are up to sounds serious if it makes Belladonna request leave for a time, and not something I should stand in the way off. I'll fix the paperwork when I eventually get back to Canterlot, and you two can be on your way when you so wish to. And Mr. Crawler? Please, both take care and beware of Belladonna."

 

It was slightly ominous that he also told Void to beware of Belladonna, but that's how it were when you took into context that he knew a lot more of the mare than most other ponies, including a few examples of what happened to those on her bad side. He had no idea how she had learned the things she could do to those sort of beings, and he didn't ask either. Such things were best not known by him unless she felt the need to tell him, and thus far she hadn't.

 

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@@Lloyd

 

"Pretty much what she said. You gotta remember that cats and dogs for example are carnivores. They can't live without meat, or a proper synthetic attempt at it, and quite frankly, I wouldn't feed the synthetic stuff to my pet if I had any. It's full of a lot of stuff that I don't think is good for the small ones in the long run, and most of it doesn't have all the right proteins, so the poor things needs either supplements or gets weird from the lack.

 

I, and other griffins I've met in my days, figure that it's simpler and healthier to just follow the natural order and feed prey to the predators. Not anything that's getting extinct though. Real hunters stay clear of endangered species at all costs. We're not out to destroy the ecosystem here after all. Except for poachers, but those dirt-scrubbing scum can quite frankly get eaten for all I care."

 

Poachers really were the bane of everything in his mind, but unfortunately, there was a market for everything out there and always somepony with morals that weighed less than a bag full of bits. Those sort got punished under pretty much any law he knew of - Equestrian and Griffin - but it wasn't always easy to find them. Filth like that didn't last in that business if they didn't cover their tracks.

 

"And thanks for keeping her in check Misty. I'd really hate for either of you to get behind the door since... Well, before you can carve you need to skin, y'know? Let's just say I'm halfway through that and leave it at that so i don't have to describe it. It ain't a pretty sight for most veggie eaters and animal lovers."

 

He barely even got concerned about the whole magic thing from these two as they bantered for a bit over at the door that Astral had looked like she wanted to pass, which bothered him a little really. Not the door, but that he were getting used to these two and their antics, and he then couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing. Likely wasn't too bad since they hadn't hurt him yet - even though he knew they could if they wanted to - but perhaps something to think on later as he started chopping and carving. His mind tended to wander when that went on anyway.

 

"As for your dad, I ain't sure what a warl is, but long as it's not warlord I'll give him a shot. Your call on when that goes down though. I ain't gonna push for things if you two think it's better to leave that slice of joy and sunshine for a later time."

 

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@@GingerLightning

 

Timberwolves could not fly, just as Ginger predicted. They could split into several, reform as a massive one and survive getting chopped into, but they were animals of the ground. Otherwise you'd see them chase pegasi more often, and the forest would be required to have a net running over it to keep 'em down there a bit.

 

All the way back to her home, Meeko didn't leave Ginger's side once. The attack that had happened, along with being inside the town which he thought could be dangerous, made him pretty nervous about being without her again, and not until they were at her home and she sat down did he began to go anywhere else. Though he would be everywhere at that point, wagging his tail like he were trying to propel off the ground and sniffing everywhere in this place that had her scent plenty of places. Something which he considered were the sign of a safe spot.

 

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@@BloodDrops

@@Shineling

@@Missklang

 

Nerzhei really should have known better than to think that Blood had suddenly become all well behaved and rational, but her suggestion on what to do with the loud mouth was still harsher than she had expected out of her. Thus far she had just considered the blood-hungry mare as being controlled by impulses which were somewhat harmless, even if the results weren't. It seemed like she needed to put violent tendencies into her evaluation too now.

 

"Your suggestion is noted, but I am not going to kill a pony. There's laws in both my country and yours about not starting a potential war by doing something as idiotic as killing or eating eachother, though the last one is mainly for us. And as I am not a complete idiot and I much prefer to not be chained to a wall in some dingy prison, I am most certainly not going to start throwing that first stone."

 

And out came the rock jokes. Usually she managed to hold these back, but it seemed like one slipped her tongue.

 

As she listened to the actual rundown of things from Missklang, who seemed able to keep is head in the game here, Molotov spent the time to mentally scrub himself of the filth he felt when the strange looking pony had gotten near and started to sniff in his and Blitz's general direction. He wasn't letting anypony here pass the entrance right now, and especially not her, so she was not going in to Blitz, who had started to peek around a crate after hearing Stormy was out there too. He was strong and could do weird things, so he would protect them if the other ponies did more mean things, right?

 

"Hey Blitz, are you okay?"

 

"Uhuh. Scary ponies out there, but Stormy and grumpy dragon lady is here to help, so everything will be good."

 

"Hey, I'm here too you know-"

 

Blitz hugged his leg, which brought a few flashbacks into Molotov's head of her doing this constantly. She could reach higher if she wanted to, but for some reason, she always went for the legs.

 

"Three against two is the bestest."

 

"Alright, that explains things then. Thank you Missklang.

 

Now then, as for you, did you try to throw a grenade? Tell me the truth."

 

She looked directly at Molotov as she said it, who couldn't avoid getting his attention back on her. She had quite a presence if she wanted to.

 

"...No, it's just a stupid toy. I left my explosives at my camp. I hoped they'd take the bluff and get away from her."

 

"With that out of the way, I assume that we're all sorted and I won't need to do something to anyone here? It sounds like an unfortunate mistake that were about to escalate, but I presume that now that everyone knows what's going on, it will be the end of that?"

 

"Pff, fine. I'll play nice."

 

Blitz would have said more, but with all going on right now, she had sorta forgotten the part where Missklang and Blood had spoken about Blood killing lots and lots of ponies with her disease, and just figured that she had been scared because of the growling and wanting to bite. A pro or a con of being a bit scatterbrained were hard to say, but likely a pro for the overall calm of the group.

 

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@@Seamore Sandwich

@@Moonlit

 

Good then, it seemed as if the princess' meeting were over. It would ease things when he didn't have to try and get access to that room, or wait for her for an undisclosed amount of time.

 

The fact that he had a letter directly for the princess helped him get through the front gate, though his stand as one of the Night Guard likely didn't hurt either, and soon enough he'd be in whatever room or outside parlor Luna were currently standing in and doing her work with the night sky, that had barely fallen over town. Or well, it was evening, but the sun didn't stand high until midnight after all. There were an evening period like this, and... Why was he thinking over this again? He had something important to deliver to his friend.

 

He knocked on the door three times before announcing "Officer Stargazer here to bring you a message your highness. it seems urgent."

 

Sometimes he really hated having to be all official around Luna, but this was a job thing right now with the message, and at least when he had to announce himself he had to use official terms. Both in case she were speaking with somepony behind the door whom she did not wish knew of her friendly terms with the guard, and in general because it was the rules. Plus, she might not wish to speak with anypony at a given time. Everypony had moments like those.

 

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@@Seamore Sandwich

 

Well then, guess she wasn't going to eat a dry stick after all, as Charlie began to come back into shape after his little adventure of standing still and growing roots. Literally, that had been what he were doing, but enough about that.

 

"I didn't know dreams could do that, but emotions are powerful things that can trap you and drag you along like a puppet. Something we need to be wary about in this dreamer's mindscape it seems like."

 

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@@Seamore Sandwich

 

Scarcity bowed her neck gallantly at the two of them as she were introduced to Penny and Blossom, in her own way of greeting that didn't involve shaking hooves. Bowing truly like it was a ball simply wasn't much her style, and she wasn't snobbish enough to not give others the time of day, so this seemed an acceptable middle road, and one that Brick followed suit with shortly after.

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you Blossom, and to known your name properly Penny. My name is Scarcity, and this is my faithful worker, Brick Wall. He can be a bit quiet, but he is lovely, I assure you."

 

Brick acknowledged it with a small grunt, then started to let his eyes wander over the things in here. Usually he didn't use his pay on sweets, but this place had a rather impressive amount of things. perhaps someplace he should give a look on his break one of these days.

 

"I must say, the variety and quality of your wares are rather impressive, and well set up. I can imagine your parents must be quite proud with what you have made of their graduation gift, hm?

 

Ah, and while I remember it: Seeing as you have such a variety, do you by chance carry anything with Saddle Arabian butter milk? It carries quite the rich aftertaste in especially their chocolate that is hard to get elsewhere, and with the current storms they have suffered the past few weeks, I haven't gotten a shipment lately. It is understandably of a lesser concern for them compared to other goods they need to receive when there are holes in the storm, yet it does leave me longing after a minor taste now and again."

Edited March 8, 2017 by Blitz Boom

[Twilight-Shimmer 151]

@@Blitz Boom,

@@Widdershins,

 

As Lily continued to converse with the draconequis, Stardust continued noming on the pancakes, while making a mental note to check out the desert house Lily had mention. Soon though Stardust was covered in pancake crumbs and looking quite content, though he usually liked to have maple syrup with his pancake, at the time he had been too hungry to care, and was now looking a bit sleepy now that he had a full belly. This was reflected by the yawn escaping his muzzle making him vaguely wonder if there was a place nearby he could rest that would not ask questions about his appearence.

[Foxy Socks 2,599]

@@Blitz Boom,

 

"Ah I often go to the Everfree myself, despite it being known for it's dangers. I often don't wander too far, though I have had quite a few close calls."

 

Foxy has been exploring forests all her life, and the Everfree was no exception. It was dangerous, as it is one of the most feared forest around, but that didn't stop her from going in. After all, even the fearsome creatures fascinated her. It was one of her favorite things to do.

 

"I guess we should go to the tents then. North side you said?" Foxy said with more confidence now, walking toward the direction Briar said. As she walked, she wondered why they couldn't see. She shook it off, feeling it rude to question a personal thing.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom,

 

Astral giggled at his mention of that. "I was going to say Warlock, which isn't exactly a good thing. But he's not that much of one, more like the kind of sorcerer who uses dark magic a bit to often." She thought over his next bit of speech, very briefly. "I'm not in a rush to visit him, so he could wait, especially when he has no idea we might visit him." She did remember moments after, that her father was able to see whatever he wanted to, he didn't even have to be there, an odd ability, but useful. "But there is always the chance he does." She said with a sight smile, a rather awkward one.

 

"He always does, it's more of the chance that he doesn't." Misty corrected her, knowing Astral's tendency to go against her father's 'omnipotence' of sorts. She wandered around for a while, looking for a seat if there even was one, starting to wonder when they were leaving, but also not wanting to rush it, staying silent as she waited.

 

Not as much as Astral. Who tapped her hoof against the floor impatiently for most of the time. Humming the theme to a show she shouldn't know exists to occupy herself. Deciding to mention her thoughts aloud. "I think we're ready to go when you are."

 

Misty looked at Astral briefly. "Yeah, I am." She said, not quite ready, but she knew how impatient Astral could get if time went on for too long.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Lloyd

[EQ_Theta 457]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"I don't know," Lin sighed, still looking at the village illuminated by the moonlight. "Even if it does help, I don't think it will change anything. Sen will have nightmares, but we can be there when he has them, assure him we aren't going to leave him. We find out, we know more, then maybe we go after Solasan again. But I agree with your suspicions, and we should at least hold off on giving him what Solasan left. I'll hold on to it for the meantime in case someone tries to get smart and switch the concoctions."

She was ready to turn in for the night, however she tried to do so before. Her methods and the time spent waiting for the hours to pass by felt like a blur despite the difficulty in finding something to do pass the hours. Lin bade Omen a good night and tried to assume the meditative position Sen taught her. Whatever comforts and assurances this gave her brother, it was just a good idea as any to try and find those for herself. It was difficult at first but Lin eased herself into it, taking in the sounds of crickets and the draft blowing by, the cool breeze of the night contrasting the heat emanating from her body. And mind filled with thoughts, happy ones where she, Sen, and Omen could resume lives free from looking over their shoulder, free from threats, free to do what they pleased.

The next day arrived and the sounds of the forest birds chirping spurned the village into waking action. The first were the hunters who assumed their posts with the nightwatch, releasing their flock to the winds and hoping to hear of news from the others in the field. Elder Ghilan woke and approached his guests.  

"Did you all sleep well? I hope nothing startled you during the evening. I'm looking forward to finding out more from our patient in the healer's hut. From what I was told, the concoction is made of simple ingredients and it wouldn't take long to make if the proper proportions are used." 

Edited March 8, 2017 by EQ_Theta

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@@Blitz Boom

@@Moonlit

 

"You may enter," Luna said as she continued her work from the balcony outside her bedroom. She opened the door with her magic while still moving the stars. She had quite the meteor shower planned for that night. Levitating the letter away from Stargazer's possession would be rude, so she would wait for it to be presented to her.

 

 

@@Blitz Boom

 

"I only use imported ingredients for a select few items that need them, aside from the magical herbs needed for the enchanted chocolates. Though I do use Saddle Arabian buttermilk, I only use it in the cookies and cream flavored chocolate products, as the flavor really revolves around it's creaminess. I don't have much left in stock because I haven't received a delivery in a while, but I do have several malted milk pops and a few bars. I did have a couple chocolate swans made with it, but I believe they sold yesterday," Penny answered. "That was three days ago. We're down to two pops and one bar now," Blossom added, returning from the back room with twice as many crystal rings that were half as thick as the ones she had just brought out back. "Oh, right. The pops are two for a bit, and the bar is four bits," Penny said as she went behind the counter then pulled the chocolate bar out of the display case under the register, as the two pops. The bar, which was big enough to charge five bits for, was wrapped in gold foil with a paper label wrapped around it and the lollipops were a creamy white with some dark brown specs in them wrapped in clear plastic with the Penny's Candy logo on them labeled with the following:

COOKIES AND CREAM

Creamy chocolate flavored with Saddle Arabian Buttermilk

around a chocolate cookie flavored malted milk ball

 

 

@@Blitz Boom

 

As Charlie got back to their feet, the mysterious changeling reappeared, this time bringing new emotions. In this changeling's eyes Vivid would likely see the eyes of someone close to her that she had lost. Again, this was Xeno's emotion attached to an entity of the dream. This changeling looked exactly like the changeling form Charlie had selected, before changing the eyes and the horn. Charlie didn't notice however, being too busy getting back to 'normal.' The figure ran through the crowd, never leaving Vivid's line of sight until turning and darting down a dark alley right next to Penny's Candy.

 

...and then it would hit... a feeling like you were about to lose someone close, but you had to do all you could to prevent it.

 

 

@@Blitz Boom

 

"Who... Who are you?" Zhu's mother asked. Although the answer seemed clear, she still had to hear it aloud. Tears filled her eyes. "Tell me, are you my son?!" She sounded desperate for an answer. Her husband put his paw on her shoulder to console her, and to hold her back. He said nothing. Instead, he waited for Zhu to answer, glancing over at the one the texts referred to as Grandfather.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Seamore Sandwich

[Midnight_Aurora 571]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Cacora's worry for the Orphanage's foals fillies and colts was far greater than for the caretakers but she still worried about them none the less. She approaches the door and waits to hear more. If she doesn't hear more, she steps through with loud heavy steps. Her form aglow with her power. However, her power is limited to pegasus level abilities and passive weather magic. She calls out loudly, knowing of the echo that will be made to warn her newest friend of the trouble,*

 

"What are you doing desecrating my home?! Where are the Orphans and the Caretakers that live here?!"

 

*While foalish to engage a potential threat, her need to protect her home and her desire to know the status of her fellow Orphans and Caretakers compelled her to act swiftly.*

Edited March 8, 2017 by Midnight_Aurora

[Lil' Lovebug 1,041]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Satin bowed her head. "Thank you. There were times when I felt like I was going to lose myself or that I was destroying what legacy he'd had, and I thought of leaving on many occasions, but I forced myself to stay for his sake and mine. I'm glad I stayed, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today, but I don't know what would have happened if his... our parents didn't accept me, and, to be honest, I'd rather not think about it." Satin placed a hoof to her necklace. 'Best not to think of it, he wouldn't want me to dwell on it.'

"I guess we should be on our way then, yes? These dark topics have really put a damper on the mood, and I think I could go for a good drink right about now. So, where is this inn?"

[BloodDrops 762]

@@Blitz Boom,

 

Blood Drops blinked at Molotov, still learning from his violence actions. She was easy to imprint onto, she picked up the newcomers violence and decided that was the acceptable norm. She blinked thoughtfully, this newcomer had brought something that Blood hadn't seen before. Deceit She liked that trait and decided to adopt that as well. Adding it to his already violent nature trait. She decided to use her newly acquired skills and put it to good use. "No I won't eat him, he wouldn't taste good anyway" she lied smoothly to Nerzhei, she looked at Nerzhei and blinked, she didn't get metaphors, she was a literal pony.

 

"Your not holding a stone though, you would also have issues picking up stones as well, since well claws" she remarked to the dragon. Nothing got past Blood, not metaphors, not jokes. Nothing. She then turned to the filly of the 'herd' Or what she classed as the herd, of  course the dragon was the leader of the herd, the two new arrivals didn't shift the balance or anything, nothing beats a dragon.

 

She did see a hugging going on between Blitz and the other strange pony. A welcome hug? Her well known herd instincts took over and she moved towards them responding to there 'hug' trigger, she was also going to give the newcomers a hug, or at least a nuzzle, formally accepting them into the group. She was about a meter when she paused re-evaluating her natural procedure. She blinked at Nerzhei "No touching right?" she asked. 

[Widdershins 9,959]

@@Seamore Sandwich,

   Squirming a bit more from getting nervous again on missing out on something to learn about, Ambie raises a wavering hoof.

      "But,uhm...h-Hunter? Well, there's far too little known about the Everfree. Gosh, didn't even knew that anypony even lived in there... or could! From what little I know kitsunes have only been known in Neighpon and... i've certainly never known any dra-... half-snakes. S-so... uhm...

 

  Could I maybe see your magic?"

 

 

$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%

 

@@Twilight-Shimmer,

     Excited & giddy from having an appreciated audience, Widdershins pats Stardust's cheeks with his ears as he giggles onward:

  Gee-heehehee! Syo Cyoooute!  Have another one you adorable little butterpat!

Another pancake gently plashes down on Stardust's head, this one bright blue, yet smelling faintly of maple.

    Maybe I'll tuck you in to some pancake bed with pancake sheets or something!

 

  His attention turning to the older mare as she began talking; Widdershins's ears fall back down to the sides of his fuzzy head.

    Hoh, Fliff & Fluff. Pancakes are pure good! They can't harm anybeing! Well... there's the Buzzsawcake... and the Doomcakes. But the latter one there doesn't really count as foodstuffs even but...

 

   Well, I can't DO plates. It's not quite the same sort of magic, you know. Besides, those are breakable, they'd just shatter into pieces if I threw them at you. They're also not pancakes. Maybe porcelain flavored pancakes could work for that...

Widdershins trails off in thought as Amazon Lilly picks back up with the topic of directions again. At the mention of the thought of a business that sells pancakes, Widdershins begins to get jealous & huffy.

    Oh bosh! I carry a much wider array of flavors than any store can! All this spinning through the air & magikikal sum-mom-ining only makes them fluffier to boot! Can this "Desert House" make bleach flavor? Hmm?!!?

   Piffle, typical mistrusting grown mare again! Why, I don't think you've even tried your pancake! I would be offended at such! I would take more drastic measures, like!... uh, like summoning another pancake! Th-that you might like then.

  Pah, tough crowd, you guardsmares. Like that Last Stand Lady. Why, you two are practically written from the same cloth!

   Huh. Haven't seen her in a while. Wonder how she's doing now?...

 

After a pause, Widdershins's head flops over to one side to stare sternly at nothing & quietly yell under his breath.

    Quick! JumpCut to the next scene!!

 

              :;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:

                              

  

    @@Blitz Boom,

          As Last Stand begins walking away with her newfound item, the claw begins to rumble a bit. Suddenly, andwithoutwarning! the claw jostles off of the mare to very quickly clamp shut around her muzzle, pinch her ear, grab a few times at her mane, then tumble to the ground a few paces in front of her. Giving off a series of menacing clacks the claw points itself at her, the larger section of it on top. If this claw had eyes, it would be giving her a death glare of a challenge to her, daring her to a fight.

 

    While this fight gets underway from clawhicular gymnastics, the discarded light-pink pancake that Last Stand disregarded earlier comes flopping up to her unseen, end over end. It very gently attaches itself, like some very small, very caring bear, to one of her back hooves. Itty-Bitty little hearts rise from the top end of the pancake to make tiny, barely audible popping noises. It appears to be hugging her. Somehow, despite it lacking appendages or sentience.

[genessee 535]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Lance was speechless. Usually, if he didn't say something, it was because he was choosing not to. This time, however, he just couldn't reply. He didn't know how. Finally, he said,

 

"Whoa... that's... that's a new level of horrible. I can't even remember some long, irrelevant story to reply. I mean..."

 

He searched for a statement.

 

"I didn't know that levels of such bad treatment were even a thing. Then again, I've never come into any close encounters with changelings, so how would I know?"

 

He paused again.

 

"Well, this conversation has taken a dark turn. How about we talk about something a bit nicer? Uh... when did you move to Ponyville? Was it recent?"

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@@Moon Dancer.

 

The mare giggles a little.

 

"It is a skull silly. I don't really remember of what anymore though. Ir's been soooo long since I got this. Some sort of big rodent perhaps?"

 

She scratched her head a little before shrugging it off. Wasn't that important really, long as it wasn't from a dragon, a griffin, a pony, or - Celestia forbid - a kitsune, she were a'okay. It'd just get all sorts of complicated if it were one of those.

 

The *eyes* of the skull moved upwards towards her and she let out another small giggle.

 

"Hehe, you should hear what they're saying. They think you're all sort of trouble, buuuuut... I think you look like a nice one."

 

She scooted a little closer, leaned herself further down into the water, and looked up at Senvious with a peaceful smile on her face.

 

                              ==========================================================================

 

 

@@Moon Dancer.

@@Shineling

 

"I believe you misunderstood me. Pinkie Pie is the one at the counter that seems like a drop of pink sunshine, and the Cake's are likely in the kitchen, baking. You would simply need to ask Pinkie for a pastry if you would want to. She's a delight to speak with too if it is. Quite non-judgemental from what I know."

 

                             ============================================================================

 

 

@@Widdershins

 

"Why you little-"

 

Last were responding to the annoying little thing that had dared to try and harm her with it's pitiful little attack, after it had jumped out of her saddlebag, when the feeling of something around her back leg got her attention, and she turned around to see the weird thing she had shaken off her before... Hugging her leg? Seriously? Where this the sort of things she had to deal with now?!

 

It felt like she were finally gonna snap as she withdrew her flaming blade and focused on the claw- Only to plunge it halfway into the ground instead of swinging at the thing.

 

"Grrrr, accursed draconequus and his misfit parts."

 

Her eye almost burned with a cold flame as she starred at the claw, and her voice nearly trembled with promises of violence, but that was exactly why she had grounded her blade the way that she had, so to speak. Attacking this thing would only spell trouble for her health, and she wasn't going to risk finally having enough and just go for it anyway, so she had given herself a little time to breathe now. Which were exactly what she did as she sat down, and tried to calm herself.

 

If the little thing got close to her though, she would smack it away, until she were more rational in her thinking and could plan what to do now that this thing were moving.

 

The pancake on the other hoof... Frankly, she wasn't going to touch the weird thing, sos he let it stay where it were for now. At least that thing hadn't bitten her yet.

 

                                  ======================================================================

 

 

@@Twilight-Shimmer

@@Widdershins

 

"With all due respect sir, I prefer not to take food that might have bleach in it. I've already been enough to the doctors for my liking."

 

She sent a glance towards Stardust, who seemed fine with what he had eaten, but the bleach one had been taken away from him too. If she had taken one, who knew if that wasn't just another that wasn't removed? She might be somewhat paranoid about this, but come on, look at her. She were a mess of stitches and healing wounds. Did she really need potential internal damage as well? Might be that it would not end that way, but she would much prefer to not take the chance.

 

Besides, she wasn't the biggest pancake fan as it were. She enjoyed a few at times back home, but generally speaking, it was bit too sweet in it for her. She preferred things that were more bitter in it, like dark chocolate or coffee.

 

Then again... It sounded like he wouldn't be too happy if she did not try a bite... Oh dear.

 

"If you can assure me that it's not, I could try a bite perhaps? I just don't want to end back in hospital again."

 

                                       =================================================================

 

 

@@Foxy Socks

 

"Yes. Please, allow us to escort you. I would like to listen in on what happens there anyway."

 

Briar and Brittle walked with Foxy as she began to wander, and kept up well with her speed, regardless of the fact that the floral pony couldn't see anything. Though he did seem to be close to hitting a metal sign as they passed it, which ruined the illusion of him being aware of where he wandered, but that was a minor thing. At least that was his opinion on it, though Foxy might have another.

 

"The forest really can be a fascinating place, but it does have a few dangers that needs to learn their place at times. You wouldn't believe the sort of issues that the timberwolves wanted to make the first time I met them for example, but from what I hear, they are quite a common issue at times in this area."

 

"T-They're scary when they howl..."

 

It wasn't much, and the tone was pretty unsteady and nervous, but Brittle had finally said something instead of just covering and listening. It surprised Briar a little, but it made his smile a bit bigger as well to see her trying to take a small step towards being more social. There were still a long way to go of course, yet small attempts like this showed him that she were trying, just careful, in case the ground she metaphorically stepped on would be mined.

 

                             ===========================================================================

 

 

@@Lloyd

 

Chow scratched his chin for a bit before getting closer to Astral and waving his hoof in front of her.

 

"If you're looking or listening in: Hey there you old geezer, I'm Chow."

 

The grin on his face told a long story about how amusing he found this, though if Astral's dad actually were looking in and hearing him, this wouldn't be too bad too. No need to worry about sticking your hoof down your throat when that bridge had already been passed by calling him an old geezer.

 

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I think I got all I need except... Nah, this is Canterlot, what're the odds I'd need my spear? It'd likely just cause issues from the guards. Let's get cracking gals, and set our sail towards the garden you got so intrigued about wanting to see. I reserve the right to halt a bit though if I hear anypony calling out discounts on spices. We'll have to pass through the market to get to the garden the fastest, so there's a fair chance. Oh, and while I remember it."

 

Chow went over behind the desk and pulled up a coin purse that he tossed in a arc towards Astral.

 

"Ain't nopony gonna say that Double Chow doesn't keep his promises."

 

With this out of the way, and his saddlebag sitting well on his back, it was time to get a move on. Ladies first though... because he needed to lock the door after them, but hey, it still counted, right?

 

                            ==============================================================================

 

 

@@EQ_Theta

 

Omen turned her head away from Sen's sleeping body, and looked over towards Elder Ghilan.

 

"I don't sleep."

 

She had been standing motionless for hours before Ghilan had approached, and just observed Sen as he slept through the night, though there no big episodes happening to him again this time. Still, it had given her time to think on a few things and got some sorted, as well as try to understand what concern she had for Sen's future, considering his nightmares and the former Elder Solasan's words about needing to give up something important. Not much progress in either really, but everything helped.

 

Before she had the chance to say something about what plans he had for today, small claws on her forehead made her focus and eyes shift upwards instead, to the little white and golden, eastern-inspired drake that had crawled out of her mane and made small hissing noises at both her and Ghilan.

 

"I think it's hungry again."

 

Omen took one of the dried fruit from the bag that she had gotten last night, but it didn't seem interested in that and just kept on starring at her expectantly for a time, before a small light went off in her head and she started to cough. This kept on until a few things fell out of her muzzle, which were first the scales that she had gotten from Lin prior to her wandering into the well, a few bits that she had thought might be worth saving, but actually had forgotten she even had, and finally, a few gems that she had taken along from Fluttershy's place. The small one seemed to like them when it were, so she had hidden a few, then accidentally swallowed them along with the other things.

 

The logistics of why these were intact, not wet, how she had even been able to swallow these things without getting seriously damaged, or how she then ate and digested other things normally, but not these, were something better left for somepony smarter. Quite frankly, she didn't even know how she wasn't digesting these, and to be more honest, she didn't think to question it. It was likely something Discord had done, though she didn't overly enjoy it, as it actually hurt a bit on the way up again.

 

In any case, the small drake seemed excited when it saw the gems and let out a few happy roars when a small jade were reached up to it, where it then clamped down on it and started to chew ineffectively on it whilst looking like it enjoyed itself quite a bit. Perhaps it was going to drain the color from this too eventually? She had no idea, and didn't really think much on it. She had gotten it what it needed, and could collect the other things with her prehensile tongue again, though she didn't swallow these this time.

 

"Do you have a bag and some string? Could be better that way I suppose."

 

A few seconds ticked by before she added a little to that.

 

"...And good morning. What is our plan for today again?"

 

                          ==============================================================================

 

 

@@Seamore Sandwich

@@Moonlit

 

Stargazer entered the room silently and saluted the princess on sight. Friend or not, there were still protocols to follow when meeting the princess of the night, and his guard training stuck deep in his being, even if it might make him feel somewhat of a fool at times.

 

"I'm sorry for making the night longer for you Luna, but the seal on the letter marks it is one of the important ones, and from what I were told by the mare that handed it to me, it needed to get here with some urgency."

 

He held the letter forward, with the unbroken seal up so that she could see both that he had not read the letter, and that it was from a sender that to him was unknown, but would hold meaning to Luna as being from Serenade.

 

There was a small urge to ask his friend how she were doing, and if the meeting had gone well, but he had seen and heard before how she tended to get busy when receiving these letters sometimes, so he couldn't see the point in starting something currently. It would just make it seem pointless if she had to leave all of a sudden, which he had the feeling that she might need to, considering that this message needed to get to her fast. Trivial information were unlikely to need a rush.

 

                            ==============================================================================

 

 

@@Seamore Sandwich

 

Scarcity got a brief glaze of sadness over her eyes at the mention that they hadn't gotten supplies from there for a time either, but when it were mentioned that they still had a few things with the asked ingredient, she perked up a little again.

 

Granted, it wasn't many things, but at this point she'd take what she could get until she could get a new shipment from Saddle Arabia herself. Perhas she should take a few days to travel there and pick some up herself to ease things? She'd have to make sure it was in one of their brief periods of no storms - or better yet, that this dreadful thing had stopped for the time being - but it were possible, plus she could show Brick Wall quite the interesting place there too. He could use some sights of places outside of Equestria.

 

"How splendid! I will be purchasing all three. As well as this one over here, if you could ring it up please."

 

Her attention had gone towards a display where bags of several different lollipops were in, in what appeared to be a fruity flavor themed ensemble, and as she had taken notice that Brick had send a few views there now and again too, she thought that it wouldn't make for a bad purchase. No reason for only her to have a good day here after all, correct?

 

So she grabbed one of the sizeable bags and placed it gently on the counter as well, before withdrawing her purse, prepared to pay for it all, as were custom.

 

"You know, it really is good to see that you have a fine enough palate to appreciate the richness of Saddle Arabian butter milk, instead of thinking it adequate to use common Equestrian milk like the majority of vendors I have met. Most would have been perfectly okay with settling for less, and never thought on using magical herbs in their products either. Quite the drive you must have to differentiate from the herd, hm?"

 

Honestly, she would much rather get to the gist of things and ask where she might have found places that sold magical herbs, and a few other things that intrigued her thus far, but rushing things would get her nowhere. Everything of worth was a matter of patience and choosing the moment after all, and considering the subject of magical spices, she highly doubted that she would get an actual answer to her question if she tried to get to it now. That would be for another time, whilst today, friendly small talk and a little curiosity would be far more suited.

 

                         =====================================================================================================

 

 

@@Seamore Sandwich

 

Vivid were frozen for a moment as she saw the pony they were likely here for loook at them, and finding something familiar in his eyes. Something that made her almost erupt into pure fury as he sprinted away.

 

"How dare you to bring them up?! I will destroy you, do you hear me? I will end you for this!"

 

She ran after him, not caring about Charlie or anything around her. There was just her anger with this... This thing that had the guts to bring up the lives who weighed the heaviest on her mind, and wasn't for others to see. This was her own pain, and throwing it at her like this made her furious.

 

That is, until she reached further in and the feeling of dread began to fall over her, at which point she slowed her movements and with tears of blood running down her face, stood with shaking knees and a slight whimper.

 

"Stay out of my head! Please, I can't do this again..."

 

Her words fell in volume and then stopped, along with her will to wander forward.

 

                      ===================================================================================

 

 

@@Seamore Sandwich

 

"i am, mother."

 

Usually when he met others, the lives ahead of them and the futures they might hold went over the vision, and sometimes made it hard to focus on the being in question specifically over the images, but with his parents, he saw them clear. There was no future left for them, just the afterlife, and that was a domain he could not gaze into.

 

"In the nearly thousand years that have passed since I hatched from that egg, I have wondered where I truly came from, and why my birth parents were not there. Not until now have my eyes been open to the truth about what happened, and the sadness I feel over knowing you perished rivals my joy from finally meeting you both. I truly wish that this had not been your fates."

 

He glanced over at his father, then slowly moved closer to them both. He wasn't sure if he could even touch them as it were right now, but he felt like he had to at least try, with the one chance he would ever have of doing such a thing. Normally his way of doing things would stop him from even attempting, but there was nothing normal about this situation, and he couldn't remain neutral when it came to them.

 

                              =============================================================================

 

 

@@Midnight_Aurora

 

When she entered the room, the only thing she would find was a doll that had fallen down on the floor, and a voice from behind her.

 

"Orphans?"

 

There wouldn't be anything but a gust of wind if she moved around, along with a small, almost childish giggle.

 

"I see. The foals and the others? I know where they are."

 

Further in, at what would turn out to be the head office in the orphanage, a door clicked open with a noticeable sound and the voice drafted down towards it.

 

"Come to me, and I'll tell you where to find them."

 

If she would go there, there would indeed be somepony in here this time, standing in the shadows of one of the corners and looking at her with pink eyes. Whoever it were didn't say anything right now though, and the shadows didn't seem like they were going to move, so either she needed to step into them to get to this intruder, or she had to try and get the likely female (judging by the voice) lured out of there.

 

Meanwhile, further inside the orphanage, Jelly heard how Cacora was yelling and got a little nervous at the sound of that, since nothing good could come from that sentence, but unfortunately, with the wards around the orphanage, it was unlikely that she could get out right now. Her best bet were likely to wait it out for the time being here, where it seemed safe for now.

 

                           ============================================================================

 

 

@@Lil' Lovebug

 

"Respecting the memories of those lost are important, but you are right, one should not linger on death too much."

 

Vivid couldn't say that she respected or were impressed by many beings in her time, and especially not since she had been freed by Cadence and Shining Armor, but Satin so far were doing a good job of changing that somewhat. She had a healthy respect for the dead, but did not get consumed by the grief that would come from it, were comfortable being what she were, even if it would likely have others starring at her and not all interactions going over too well - especially after the attack on Canterlot - and overall seemed like a pony that tried to be open towards others.

 

Perhaps the mare was right. There might be something that could work towards a friendship in this, though she were still hesitant to jump the gun there. Vivid had been burned enough times to not stick her hoof towards that fire again that willingly.

 

"As for the inn, it should be... Ah yes, here it is."

 

Rounding a corner, they would find themselves face to face with the inn, who stood with an open door currently. Likely to get some fresh air into the establishment, but that wasn't all that important all things considered.

 

"I don't know if you will find much to drink there though. This town seems mostly bend on apple cider, though I do think I saw somepony at the market yesterday that had a stand where they sold things. I remember the word *wine* at least, though if this is one of the shops that managed to get through the storm unscathed I don't know.

 

Yet, one thing at a time. Shall we see if there are any rooms available before anything else?"

 

                         ===============================================================================

 

 

@@BloodDrops

 

"Correct. And I think it's better if you don't try and get too close to Blitz in any case currently. This one seems protective, and still needs to let some steam out from what I can see."

 

Quite frankly, she hoped that Molotov and Blood would keep at least a leg's distance from one another right now, but it was unlikely that she could get as lucky as that. For now she should just be thankful that she had a small amount of impulse control instead of the randomness that have seemingly guided the mare thus far, or things might flare up again all of a sudden, and quite frankly she didn't want to have that happening again. it was distracting.

 

When it came to the rock comment though, she did chose to respond by bending down to the ground and picking up a small one there with her claws, then throwing it up and down in her hand.

 

"Evolutionary speaking, it makes more sense that I can grab things, rather than you being able to, considering I have opposable thumbs for example."

 

                         ==============================================================================

 

 

@@genessee

 

"I-It's okay, we tried worse than that."

 

There was a clue in what she had said with what the worse thing had been, but it seemed like Lance had missed it. It was okay though, he likely thought the story was bad enough without asking how she had lost her leg in the first place, which were a horrid memory that still haunted both Null and her.

 

"Null and me, w-we got to the city yesterday, just before the attack. We m-managed to get out of town before the worst happened, but we got back to try and help with g-getting ponies out of there."

 

She let out a small sigh and halted momentarily to help a pony that wanted some soup, before returning to him again. Talking with him were actually a rather effective distraction from how nerve wracking it were to help ponies with their food right now. A singular point that she could return to for a sort of comfort rather than just new faces constantly, which she appreciated for certain. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to make it for long otherwise, no matter how confident she had tried to be about trying.

 

"We heard that E-Equestria would be a good place to go. Somewhere we might finally be able to f-find a home, rather than keep running, and I guess... I just thought we should try and f-fight for it when it came to it. It was silly, and I don't think we managed to help that many, b-but everypony seems to be nice here so far, so I guess it was an o-okay thing to do after all. Perhaps?"

 

They had actually managed to help a bunch, and some of them had come around later to thank them actually, but she just didn't see herself like they did. They saw somepony who wanted to help, whilst Void kept thinking that others could have done a far better job than they had done, and saw Nulls and hers actions as something selfish. Like they just wanted attention instead of doing something good for a change.

 

It was a pretty bleak and poor view on things, but she had been broken for too long to not look at it this way initially, though perhaps she'd think of it otherwise another time, if the two sisters managed to get citizenship in Equestria, and a place where they could finally try and get on in life rather than escaping angry mobs. Might be she'd have the time to start trying to seek help with her self worth then, amongst other things.

[Foxy Socks 2,599]

@@Blitz Boom,

 

Foxy briefly smiled. At least tings were looking better, and while she really didn't know them that much, they seemed nice enough. It is rare she trusts someone she first meets this much.

 

"I come across them quite often, I learned it's best to avoid them. Unfortunately due to my frequent work with foxes it's not hard for them to find my scent. I've seen worse anyway, though the timber wolves gave me quite a few close calls." Foxy wasn't one to fight back anyway, not that she would last long against them. Still, despite them being dangerous and not well liked, she wouldn't be one to harm other creatures.

 

It was quiet for a few seconds, before Foxy heard a quiet and shaky voice, it took her a few seconds to realize it was from the Changeling, Brittle. They seemed quite shy too, but even more so than Foxy. Not wanting to be rude, she agreed with "Yes, they sure are aren't they. They sound far more scary than even some of the noises the foxes make." She hoped she didn't scare Brittle off. She decided to just give her space as Foxy was quite familiar with being shy. Being a Changeling probably made it worse, with all the hate against them.

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@@Blitz Boom, 

 

"aww, thanks you~!" Pinkie chirped gratefully from out of nowhere, popping up and pulling Alonsus into a quick friendly hug before quickly disappearing back to the counter to continue her cheerful order-taking as if she'd never left; the only evidence of her presence at the table being a single strawberry cupcake, with just the perfect amount of frosting and a yummy cream cheese filling, that she'd left behind.

[Twilight-Shimmer 151]

@@Blitz Boom,

@@Widdershins,

 

As Lily and Widdershins talked, Stardust yawned again and laid down on the ground between the two  absently using one of the remaining pancakes as a pillow and  listened to Lily and Widdershins talk closing his eyes as he did so 'maybe just resting my eyes a bit won't hunt' he silently mused to himself, as he cutely snuggled the pancake he was using as a pillow. The scene making it hard to imagine the pony in front of them was actually over six hundred years old

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, 

 

Astral chuckled a bit, possibly her father too, there was also the chance he wasn't spying on them too, he wouldn't normally do that unless he was worried about Astral, probably why he knew about her attempts to resurrect the dead quite well. "I'll have you know he's not watching us." She lifted her hoof, as if casting a spell in her hoof and-. "Oh, well not all the time." It was green smoke, indicating he was. She blushed slightly. "He's joking dad." She threw away the smoke shortly after saying that, dissipating it, but it turned red almost right before it finished dissipating, Astral watching it as it did. "Anyways. I'm sure he'd enjoy the show if he stayed."

 

Misty chuckled walking to the exit. "Shall we start the tour?" She asked pointing to the door.

 

"Yeah." She opened the door, catching the bag of bits with some telekinesis before the hit her. she wasn't the most reflexive pony. She shrugged i off, knowing it was her fault and not Chow's. "Thanks, although thinking of it. We didn't need to bet on our silence. Probably would've stayed silent out of nothing to do." She walked a bit out the door, almost a bit too fast. She was anxious to see the landmark of sorts.

 

"We're not in a rush, we need to take our time." Misty said, calling out Astral's current walking speed. "We can't enjoy the place without time to do so." Astral paused her walking. "Chow, you take the lead, again."

Edited March 10, 2017 by Lloyd

[genessee 535]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Lance actually had noticed the lost leg, and was dying to ask something about it, but he thought that that would be extremely rude.

 

"I think that was an amazing thing to do. I mean, I probably would've booked it and tried to save myself."

 

Lance paused and thought about something to say.

 

"So you came yesterday? Funny, I also came very recently... like, today. Or yesterday, I don't know if I've stayed past midnight or not. Anyway... uh... so what about Null?"

 

(Also, I just got Null and Void. I feel so smaaaart)

[EQ_Theta 457]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"We are going to find some answers from the hunter recovering in the healer's hut. The healer should have the concoction ready for us by then. Whatever we find out from him, we'll use that information to ask for a reconsideration from the council. No need to worry about that one; I will personally bring up the matter to them so you and your friends can begin tracking down the former elder."

 

Ghilan walked over to his quarters to look for a bag and some string. The little drake caught his fancy but he was afraid it will try to nip at him; he liked small animals but drakes were an oddity. He rather keep his distance out of concern he'd be sidetracked and delay the day's activities. Sen had just woken up from his slumber feeling slightly better and noticed Lin meditating in the corner. He smiled to himself and thought about how she's taken up the practice but the mere act also secretly tipped him off to something bothering her. He taught her about the process and the tells, after all. Lin also just broke from her meditative trance and gleefully greeted both Sen and Omen. Ghilan walked back in with Omen's requests as well as some food. Dried berries, a few picked fruits, and some watercress picked from the day before.

 

Sen took some of the watercress and handed it to Omen with a slightly questionable look, on the plants to be exact. He knew little about them but hearing the stories of those who tasted it came down to two words: it depends. Whatever he knew of their taste was limited to the time they were picked. He thought he should let her know.

 

"Watercress... this one you need to be cautious. The taste differs depending on when they were picked. Young ones have a mild flavor, not too strong on the tongue but the peppery taste is still there. The mature ones have much stronger, bitter flavors; those are the ones you want to avoid. You'll quickly find yourself running for water, develop an aversion to these, or both."

 

Ghilan chuckled at what Sen mentioned but immediately stifled himself. "One cloth pouch and a ball of string." Ghilan said as he handed the objects to Omen. "I wasn't sure how much you wanted so I decided to give you the whole thing, and in case you need it for anything else, it's there. We should eat, keep the strength up for the day."

 

A figure was waiting outside the elder's home and from the slits on the curtain, Ghilan could see a familiar elderly figure trying to grab his attention. He walked out and had a chat with her before coming back with a clay vessel, the concoction he requested the night before.

 

"We have what we need. Let me know when you're all ready to go."

Edited March 10, 2017 by EQ_Theta

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@@BloodDrops,@@Blitz Boom,  @@Missklang, 

 

Storm looked at his hooves thoughtfully, "I always wondered why hooves could grab things, but I usually chalked it down to magic. Dragons get those cool claws and opposable thumbs; it's pretty cool really. I bet you could do some pretty great card tricks!" Storm smiled, "I have a couple of dragon friends, but only one of them liked card tricks so far..."

[GingerLightning 258]

@@Blitz Boom,

Ginger Lightning walked into her house and talked to her mom for a bit...

She came out of her house carrying a collar in her magic ...

"Meeko! Here doggie,doggie!"Ginger Lightning called for Meeko hoping that he would come over and allow her to place the collar on him... 

[BloodDrops 762]

 

 

When it came to the rock comment though, she did chose to respond by bending down to the ground and picking up a small one there with her claws, then throwing it up and down in her hand.

 

Blood Drops gave her the dumbstruck zombie look. She didn't know how the dragon had picked up a rock. It was very confusing, Blood herself had trouble picking up stuff, so she used her mouth most of the time. She moved super close to the dragon and examined her claws, she firstly thought some sort of magic was involved, though this wasn't the case. She followed the stone with her eyes as it jumped up and down. She was easily entertained and this was first class zombie entertainment. She wanted to have a go herself. She needed to pick something up with her hoof and then practise.

 

She picked up a small rock with her mouth and tried to catch it. It didn't work. She then tried to pick up the stone by hoof and ended up kicking it along the floor. Getting fed up she picked it up with her mouth therefore contaminating it. She dropped it at the dragons claws "Throw That Again" she demanded.