open Casual stroll

[genessee 535]

@Blitz Boom

Lance read out the address and got on his way, hardly waiting for Alonsus to follow. He just wanted to finish up the route and take a break just to digest what Alonsus had told him and what to think of him now. Lance still kept an eye on the bigger pony, just in case he decided to pull something behind his back.

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Dji & @Blitz Boom

"Well, you are. Don't know what's got you all stupid."

   Watching with trepidation at the mare having left seemingly mid-sentence, Kaltrop had not his guard up physically as much as he was prone to doing so verbally. While a quick, aerial predator enough to keep up with most of the wild birds that he had gotten used to as the majority of his neighbors back in his home canyon, Kaltrop was not one given much to tactics or combat that involved direct contact; instead preferring to scare off ponies. At nearly twice Dawn's size lengthwise and not expecting her to still be wanting to put up a fight, the drake made for a rather large target.

   With a noticeable thump, Dawn Streak lands belly parallel to Kaltrop's neck, situated just above his front shoulders. The force of her leap providing enough of a jolt to knock Kaltrop out of his sitting position on his haunches to neck flat along the ground, he blushes heavily as he collapses both from sudden exertion and the sudden change. Perhaps because of that, the heated panic of the moment and his usual brash choice of wording, Kaltrop loudly blurts out enough for anypony within a block's distance to hear.

"WHY ARE YOU MOUNTING ME!??!"

**********************************************************************

 @Blitz Boom

"...well, should say it belongs to the forest. You do hear tales of how the Everfree reclaims what is taken from it... But, believe the order was six logs so I just left behind what was extra. Wasn't told what to do with any extra pieces."

 Hitched up now to bring the wagon back to the farm, Ambie trots closer to Happy Hour's wagon as he comes out of it.

"...Brandy? Trying to remember it from back when I had those wine tasting classes. ...sounds important, so I guess so. Heh, but I do doubt my mother has even touched a jar, much less even thought about dining out of a roadside wagon. Or even traveled outside of Canterlot for that matter, I think.

  ...So, uh, I'll get along to the farm then, now? Thanks for the, uh, all the help then, Mr. Hour."

*********************************************************************

@Blitz Boom, (and I suppose ~Phoenix~ is out, for now.)

Of course I'm here with best intentions, old boy! Have to do what I can to keep things from blowing up much more than I already have done with showing up here so unexpected.

   With that, Widdershins's sentence is quickly ended by the sound of Grim's daughter from outside, reacting to the vortex the next room over. His yellow-pupiled eyes follow Grim's dash outside the room and for a moment stop to linger on where Smoke Signal and Phoenix sit with each other. Quietly and to himself, the draconequus comments on the situation.

Well, can see I am no longer a part of this plotline. 

   Slithering limbless and upright around the two, he wanders out into the hallway behind Grim. He pauses for a look at the doorway before turning then to Sorrow.

Question then, Miss.     Is this a common occurrence here?

  Another long pause happens while Widdershins once again stares calmly, if somewhat disinterested, at the magical screaming going on contained in the neighboring conservatory room. While understanding the deceased is rather muffled and foreign to him, Widdershins has enough experience to recognize magical schools and artifacts. Without directly looking any anypony and perhaps a look that some might deem "sweaty" he poses another question.

Another, follow-up question if you don't mind?...

   ...What compelled you to think a Communal Phylactery Focus was a good idea? Those tend to have poor results.

 

   ...think the carpets ruined.

 

*************************************************************************************************

@Blitzie again,

   After a slow, grinding halt, a steam train rolls into the dilapidated and abandoned depot without much fanfare other then the screeching of its wheels. After a few minutes of waiting, one pair of doors slide open as a middle-aged mare with hay-gold hair loosely tucked underneath what clearly appears to be personally made sunhat disembarks. Openly, she can be heard gruffly remarking as she steps firmly onto the platform, a rattling sound coming from behind her.

 "Disgraceful."

"Well, I d-did try to warn you Madam. This station was to be closed for repairs; we're lucky the tracks were clear enough." A beleaguered and worried coach-hand tumbles out the door behind her, attempting to carry several sets of luggage.

" A schedule is to be adhered to, isn't it? Any portway into a city ought be the first maintained as the first venue for incoming visitors. This place is hardly fit to house the dead. I shall have to have words with the mayor if I have the chance to."

 "That won't... H-hope you enjoy your stay, Ma'am!"

 "That's Madame. No contractions, please. I'll have to send off a letter to your Grandfather, Sir Steam, to let him know how you're doing with the new job."

".....             Uhm... shall I find your husband f-for you, Madam?"

 "No. That's quite alright. He should be along-"

   A sudden mare's scream can be heard emanating from the train as a dark brown stallion of greyed mane comes tumbling through the sliding doors with a resounding crash as one of the doors swing broken. A hoof reaches out to snag the open luggage that tumbles out beside him.

  "I SAY! Unhoof that parcel, you theiving vixen!!! Stealing luggage is criminal not befitting a lady!"

With nary a reaction but noticeably more lines appearing on her brow, the mare sighs the rest of her sentence out.

"... soon.

  ...Just place them on the concrete there."

   With a turn, she slowly paces over to the stallion as voices raise and the porter places their luggage down before scurrying back inside the train.

  "I told you, Query. I was in charge of the luggage. As always."

   Popping up in one quick and happy motion, Quantum Query greets his wife seemingly having instantly forgotten the fuming mare inside the train still.

"Why! Dear Sweet Victoria Dear! I didn't know you were coming on the fishing trip with me!!"

  "We're not on a fishing trip. We're after our negligent, runaway son.

      Now take that off this instant."

 From behind, the offended mare who's luggage he had stolen whips off the pair of ladies underwear that had been dangling around Query's curved and oddly pointed horn. Marching off in a well-deserved huff back on the train, Query is left attempting to see the top of his own head in bewilderment.

  "Take what off, dear?"

      "The luggage then."

  "Rightio!"

With that, the spry old stallion hops off to magically pick up the four varying bags of luggage having been left behind clear enough to not be confused for anypony else's now. The train slowly begins to pull out of station again behind them, as the brown, odd unicorn skips back after the slowly marching form of the green mare.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Astral shook her head. "We just met and he helped me carry my stuff to a new home, in Canterlot, and then this mess with Warlock happened." She explained. "Nothing really came of it aside from us forming a friendship." She put a hoof to her chin as she thought for a moment. "I still have no idea why he was there actually, far as I know, Misty and him met and carried me and my stuff away, as I was unconscious at the time."

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

Warlock grinned as he stretched out, standing upwards, putting magic into his body to stand upright. "Perfect, this castle is falling apart." He said to himself, pulling is element to himself, but looked to it as it freezes in mid air.

Sapphire looked to him as she pulled it to herself. "Do you still think you're worthy of these things?" She asked as it flung to her, her ears twitching, looking around as if she heard something. "How cute." The element teleported away, Warlock's appearance growing fierce. "Oh did I hit a soft-"

In a split second, Warlock formed a sword and flung forward, slicing past her with it. "SHUT UP!" Warlock yelled as he looked to Sapphire, almost surprised when he realized he just cut off her leg, the ground shaking as he saw her hoof on the floor floating back into place, the blood returning into her with it.

The flesh fused back together as she turned to him, with glowing red eyes as cracks formed around the former cut location. "My sister taught me blood magic Warlock, swords won't work on me." She took the remaining blood on the floor, and formed it into a spear and tossed it to Warlock.

Warlock dodged it as the spear bent around and redirected itself to him, slicing through his ear on the way back as he moved out of the way again, cutting across his cheek too, Warlock holding a hoof to it as Sapphire jumped onto the wall, kicking him off his other leg, causing him to fall over. "Gah!" He grabbed her leg and threw her down the hall. "This changes nothing! If I can keep your sister in submission, I can defeat you!"

As the blood crawled down Warlock's cheek, Sapphire smiled a bit as she held onto her cut leg, wincing slightly. "Yet she didn't want to defeat you, neither do I."

Warlock continued to hold his hoof against his cheek. "You are not going to reform me like every other villain! But at least I can rely on the fact you never reformed you own sister!" Sapphire looked surprised to the remark, Narrowing her eyes before she let out a blast of magic to knock Warlock back, before teleporting away. "Damn it!" He yelled while punching the wall, teleporting out of the castle himself.

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

He nodded as he kept his gaze onto Scarcity. "So shall I teleport us?"

"I think we should anyway, we are kinda in a hurry."

After that, without much warning aside from Scarcity being able to expect it, they teleported with a poof of magic, only causing the liquid inside containers to shake from the force of it. They landed in his household, Iron teleporting in while standing upright, Misty being placed on the bed, and Scarcity would be placed next to Iron Star, who was already searching for the object they came there for. Iron Star grabbing hold of a horn, held up by two metal plates, lifting it off the stand easily. "The Horn of Finding." He said as he held it. "I've had done much research on this, turns out a unicorn used both Unicorn and Earth pony magic to make it." He held it up to his mouth and blew into it, neither Scarcity or Misty could hear it.

With that the Element of Hatred teleported in, and dropped onto the floor, rattling about as it tumbled. "Okay, that is weird, do they normally teleport in?"

"No, I wasn't even calling for that."

Following the Element, Sapphire teleported in in the corner of the room, covered in shadow. "Hello dear, heard your call." She pointed to Scarcity after she spotted her, the crack forming on her leg visible, seeming black and stone like, glowing red in between the cracks, reminiscent of blood magic healing spells that Scarcity might have encountered, but that Iron Star definitely would've. She leaned forward as she pointed to Scarcity, leaving the darkness to show her face and her fractured gem of an eye, and she would certainly look familiar to Scarcity, having seen each other during a less than desirable moment. "Now what is this witch doing here?"

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

Iron Star nodded. "There are plenty of streams on the way there." He said, pointing to a stream nearby the sister's castle, although a ways away from it. "Why do you ask?"

"If we're stopping for anything we need to make it quick, in case Warlock escapes the castle with his buddies."

"Right, we should be ready for fight, in case we spot him near the castle."

[Sekel 694]

@Widdershins & @Blitz Boom

DAWN STREAK

“Yes! The dragon’s down!” Dawn whooped only to realise what Kaltrops had actually said. “What!? No! Why in Equestria would you think that!?” She asked despite not moving an inch from her position on the back of his neck.

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

A black mare with white gradients on her muzzle and ears, along with her mane being all kinds of mixtures of black and white with ever changing patterns of grey. Despite being an earth pony, she looked like she could do with a bucket of water thrown over her head. In the  bed next to Zhu, Karmic was staring up at the ceiling with an entranced look. Her ears flicked at hearing movement and her sightless gaze lowered until it faced Zhu. “Pony ... future requiescent ... all futures are chaotic but yours isn’t really ... I wonder why,” Karmic mumbled just loud enough for him to hear and she leaned forward, eyes narrowing and almost coming in too close for comfort for when he raised his head again.

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Sorry about the door. Seems like the crystal situation here is under control but I hope you don't mind if we help out a bit."

Lin stepped through the door and to her confusion, observed the effects of the liquid being poured out of the vial the covered batpony had. It pretty much had the intended effect she recognized from the Refraction but it could do it faster than waiting for the crystal to burn away. It lacked the charm of the little creature but she'd secretly admit to wanting Shrimp around; the chirping noises made him endearing. She silently encouraged it to clear away the crystals growing all over the shop but stayed close to keep it from trying to burn off everything else, especially the contents of the display cases. They were visitors and they'd very much be responsible if anything unintended were to happen no matter how genuine their desire to help is. 

Sen followed in but struggled to get through the door. He found himself stuck, his stomach wedged right in the middle and needing some form of lubrication to get the last bits of himself through. No matter what he did, it only seemed to make his situation worse until he took a deep breath in and really made an effort to squeeze through. As expected, he tried to hide his embarrassment from the others though he honestly wouldn't know how. Playing it cool and just letting things appear as if they were intended sometimes worked; in this case he really just hoped no one would bring it up.

As for Lin, she thought about just getting things moving along to save everyone some trouble but tried to hide the insensitivity it may imply. "Let's get the introductions out of the way. I'm Lin and over there are Sen, Omen, and Discord. We're looking for somepony named Amethyst? We're here to deliver a message from File Fiddler though it seems like we came a little too late." 

[Lil' Lovebug 1,041]

The sudden voice behind her scared Satin as she was lost in thought. Her wet, sullen eyes looked up to meed Vivid's, tears starting to pool up again. She lifted her head, instinctively flicking her tongue out, instantly recoiling as she tasted the raw mess of emotions protruding from Vivid. She could taste the confusion, some sadness, a little bit of shock and annoyance, but most important and distinguished was the raw, pungent taste of rage. Her eyes turned to saucers, the tears returning. She averted her eyes from the demon mare.

"I'm sorry. I just... I finally found you to tell you I was here... and then... You said you needed to think and left so suddenly, and... I felt like I did something wrong. But...." She took a moment to catch her breath as she tried to stop herself from sobbing. "But I guess I misunderstood, and I'm sorry Vivid. I didn't mean to."

[Blitz Boom 4,634]

@The Resident Brony

"Honestly I don't really c-"

Vivid stopped speaking and opened her eyes wide whilst dark flames began to form around her hooves.

"The damned timing."

She opened a hole between the world and pushed Invictus through with a clawed, purple fist that she conjured out of nowhere, and if he looked through the closing hole in the air on the other side, he'd be able to see her completely engulfed and vanishing, leaving him alone just above the surface of a lake, which he'd likely splash into.

Being summoned were not something that Vivid could ignore or halt in any way, so she had been forced to be a little pushy right here to not get Invictus caught in the unfriendly world. Even if they hadn't reached their destination, Equestria would be far kinder to him than this place.

He were in some luck though. Even if he were not at the shore, if he got into the air and above the trees, he'd be able to see a rather large seaport town in the distance. A few miles away roughly, and if he knew anything about Tidal Wave and the town she had her main seat in, he'd be able to recognize said port town as Shark Bay as he'd get closer. An imposing name considering the usual ones, but befitting, as the waters were absolutely infested with them. Made it ideal for the Coast Guards to train.

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@Lucid_Nightlight

"If I knew where Discord were, I'd be there by now, trying to see how much chaos he could spread."

Anomaly grinned and snapped her tail, which caused the beanbag below her to grow six pointy legs and rise up, ready to move her around quicker than the slow pace thus far.

"Anyway, I'm game. Let the hunt begin!"

The ponies around them got a little jolted when she said that, and the sound of horns came out from... Somewhere... But weird noises with no apparent origins aside, it was go time.

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@Battenberg

Toxen grinned as the pony got on the ground again after the surprise hug and lifted the little bundle up in the air whilst she returned the favor. Taking ponies into the air when hugged were fun to her, as all but the pegasi tended to wriggle around when that happened, and she liked to make ponies feel awkward. Not in a nefarious way though, just for kicks and giggles.

"I swear, you ponies are all crazy and I love it."

In the interest of not messing too much with her brothers friends (for now) she'd let Vicky down on the ground again soon after, and even held back the urge to pat her on the head and go *Good pony*. Which were a hard impulse not to react on frankly.

She heard Felix go off after that, explaining something to Benny about their home,and interrupted her litlle brother before he had a chance to reply something.

"Mom said that she got a proper talking to by some mare with a spine, but the rest...That's kinda weird. Never heard of any foals near where we were. And who'd be nutty enough to drag their small ones near open lava pits? Are you pulling my leg here shorty?"

"You can ask dad when we get there. He usually went around the area, so he might have seen something and just not told us."

"You mean *told mom* right?"

"...S-Shut up..."

"Anyway, the law's clear: We're not allowed to actually hurt or eat ponies, or things will just go south fast, so perhaps these folks just got left alone. Still not sure if I'm buying it though, what with the usual heckling that comes around when ponies are even mentioned and all the lava and steam vents, but eh, I'll wait until I get the chance to talk to dad about that.

And speaking off, we should get going baby bro. They're waiting for you, and it ain't fair to leave dad alone with mom when she's in a mood."

"Just hold on a second. It's not polite to leave a conversation."

"Well ain't you the gentlecolt?"

Benny ignored that last one, which seemed to just increase Toxen's mood. Siblings sometimes...

"Anyway, it's nice to learn a little more about Battenberg. I'll keep that in mind the next time that we see her, and perhaps as you say, when Victoria have gotten settled down, she can help her find somepony too. It'd be fun to help her as well, like a full on, Match Maker play set."

"Foals sold separately."

That one made Benny blush a little, though he really only had himself to blame for that one. Wandered straight into it with both wings.

"Heh... *cough* We really need to get going though, before they start to worry if we've gotten lost again. It was a pleasure to meet you sir."

Benny rose a hand and saluted Felix, whilst Pop next too him just kept on nodding and smiling. She'd gone unnoticed by the two siblings for a bit by doing that, so no reason to stop the peace or the thoughts she had on children for a reply on things yet.

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@genessee

The rest of the rounds were rather easily done. They came, they delivered, some chatting went on, and Lance would get to briefly know a few ponies. Not all of whom were loners or crazy.

After about twenty minutes they'd be back at the restaurant again, at which point the somewhat sullen Alonsus would go straight to the kitchen to deliver the bag to Chop, leaving Lance to do whatever he wished to. Kind of. He weren't allowed to break something.

If he looked around, he'd be able to see that the pegasus they had run into before sat at a table by himself with a mocha, sipping it and not taking notice of anything currently.

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@Widdershins @Dji

Spicy leaned towards Marley as they saw the love/hate relationship take another detour down assault Lane.

"Ten bits says they're married within a month."

"I'll take that bet, and add a twenty on them not waiting until we're out of sight before they get all over one another again."

"You're on."

Neither of them had much confidence in the stormy relationship being anything that would go on slowly, but at least they were nice enough to not just say it to their faces. Granted it was so that they could run bets on it, but that wasn't important right now. There was a pony riding a dragon, and things were looking like they were just about to get interesting.

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@Widdershins

"Well, gives me something to work with then. You better take the cart you left here and get on back to the farm. Leave me to fix up the cart once I get the other pieces from town. I'm gonna be there in like, half an hour or something like that? Less that needs to be done when the wheels, axle and wood are ready. Safe travels until then."

Happy transformed into a changeling form and flew towards town. He had seen others of his kind in the area that had wandered around like this too, so he wanted to see if he could get away with doing that too now. Wasn't like most hadn't seen the side he actually wanted to keep hidden anyway, and he hadn't be staked for that yet.

...Perhaps he should lighten up a little when he got to work, or he'd just end up really ornery for the rest of the day. Perhaps he should take a shot of brandy when he had gathered the parts? Might do the trick, and he had a jar of it to use. Weren't a reason not to.

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@Widdershins

(a half hour later)

Happy were whistling as he wandered down the streets of Ponyville, feeling pretty good about himself. The cart he had set up were done and rolling behind him, and whilst it weren't the best one on the block, it would do the work it were required to, though Ambie might want to sandpaper it down a little at some point. Happy weren't sure if he got all the crannies in his hurry to get it rolling and on his way, and frankly, the halfling should have something to do himself too.

Technically there'd be no rush, since surely, Ambie's parents hadn't shown up yet, but he'd honestly like to be there before too. The orchard seemed interesting, and with Ambie there, he didn't need to find an excuse to snoop around. He could just say the worker lead him around, and that was it. Easy and wouldn't reveal him to scout it out for potential takeover, just in case that ever got necessary.

Barring any interruptions he should be able to reach the farm in what, 6-7 minutes more or less? The streets had gotten a little less densely packed now, but there were still some slowness to it, so that sounded about right.

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

 

@Widdershins

"Legion helps themselves. The more calm voices there is, the easier it is for them to relax and start to let go, then new comes in who needs them etc. etc. The collective mindset's really good. Usually anyway. Right now you're making one of them really angry, and he's taking other parts of Legion with him there. He keeps screaming about *draconequui took my village* and *it stole my life. Everypony's Lives! Attack, attack!*

If we don't get him calmed down or vented off somehow, we're gonna end up with more than a ruined carpet to worry about. They might engulf the entire mansion and call for spirits from miles away."

"Can you do something if you get back to the skull honey?"

"I don't know. I need to get them to listen to me, but right now that won't work unless the main soul is beaten down. I think we might need to fight them? I don't know! I'm supposed to help them, not hurt them..."

Years upon years of listening and seeing those who had passed before her grandmother had helped her prepare the vessel, leading to just more years traveling around and taking up the family duty her own way. All the time, she had never once fought any spirits. Talked harshly with? Yes. Gotten slung around by a few? Obviously. But she had never been the aggressor towards them. They had suffered enough in her eyes, so she had never tried to learn how to fight it down like her grandmother usually did.

Not that she would've been able to do it like her too she guessed. Blight were a tough mare whose gifts were more physical and one on one oriented than Sorrow's collective approach, and the way their gifts manifested didn't tend to overlap too much. Sorrow couldn't even touch the dead, which were an issue in a time like this.

"Okay, there's not much of a choice here then. We need to try and either confront the instigator about draconequui, wear him out, or lock him down, so Sorrow can calm down the others. Do you any tricks up your sleeve for this Widdershins?"

Grim looked to the draconequui for answers. The stallion did not have the same gifts as his daughter and mother had, as that only ran with the mares in their family for some reason, so his options here were limited. But Widdershins... He were a demigod. A strange one with likely side effects to the chaos he wrought, but a demigod regardless. Wouldn't he be able to scrounge up a plan or an assault of some kind?

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@Lloyd

"If you wanna believe that, that's on you. I just know the idiot enough to know that he'd either more desperate for attention that I recall, or haves a crush. Only reason there'd be for him to throw himself into the middle of a fight with magic users he can't win against, with fights that he barely escapes unscathed most of the time, and with the same beings who were responsible for cutting Athriel out of his head.

But hey, if you think he'd stick around with ponies using the kind of magic that got him exiled, cursed and ruined his life just for the hay of it, then go ahead. Stay delusional."

She had known Chow for long enough in Canterlot to know how desperate and lonely he could be, though this were a new low even for him if love weren't involved. Yet sadly, it ws likely that it didn't even go to that, but that he just thought it better to get himself stabbed, rather than somepony that cared about him. At least if he perished, he wouldn't have to be faced with loosing the only being that were there for him.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, her mind got occupied by something else however: The large hole in the floor. The edges around the walls seemed to hold up, and the bearing structures could take this hit without the castle collapsing, but the hard shockwave had done a number on the floor above and this one too apparently. Blackbeak couldn't pass it with these two on her back, but Astral might be able to if she clung to the wall...

Thinking on this, Brick suddenly flew up from down below, and the two of them exchanged a glance. It seemed as if something had happened down there since he didn't return with Warlock, but Scarcity would debrief him about that later. For now he knew what to do, and fluttered over to take the griffon off her back, and flew towards the safe entry hallway on the other side of the collapsed floor.

"You can either stick to the wall or wait here for me to come pick you up. Just don't do anything stupid."

If Astral had something to say, she likely should do that now, before the griffon had the chance to flutter off.

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

 

@Lloyd

Scarcity looked surprised at Sapphire for a moment. The eye were unmistakable to her, even if the last time she had seen that, it had not been broken.

Then, she held her head back and laughed.

"This is Sapphire? Ahahahaha, how amusing!"

The laughter went to a chuckle, and the antique owner met the witch's glance with a sly, knowing look.

"Then again, not as amusing as being called a witch by somepony like you, is it? I mean, I am simply a unicorn, whilst you are the earth pony who wandered around black market auctions, hunting for magical artifacts. Quite a strange fascination to have, especially when nopony else knew that the thing we fought over were magical at all, no? Unless of course you're the patron in a family of witches."

Scarcity sent a sly look towards Iron.

"Did you know that I wonder? Four months ago, that is where I met her, though I will leave the details to her. She barely talked the last time, and I so wonder what words may spring from her muzzle when she is given the chance."

Scarcity wandered around a little as she spoke, being a little too theatrical and potentially teasing than she needed to be.

You needn't worry though dear, I'm not here to take from you again, or move in on your husband. He isn't really my type. We simply have a mutual issue in some ponies called Warlock and Athriel, so I have elected to work with them for now."

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@Lloyd

"I'm not stopping. I'm looking for celebratory snacks when we're done. I tire of rat."

The castle came better into view, and the Sphinx frowned. It was still pretty intact, so why were it not in use? At the least they could have used it as a museum? Ponies were more wasteful than he had imagined it seemed, but oh well, at least when there were no civilians here, they might be able to get a little violent. That might be fun.

Either Enzo or Wing would land first, but in either case,t he Sphinx would take a deep breath and bellow towards the castle entrance: "Come forth, carriers of Greed and Deceit. You cannot hide from me!"

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@Dji

"From Ponies to bugs, no future is certain. Some are simpler and easy to guide, where others fly like dust in a storm."

Zhu faced towards the pony that he had heard talking to him in terms that he did usually not hear from their kind. Not any kind honestly, since time were linear in most's perspective, and when they were talking some sense about it, it did not sound this knowing.

His cleaved tongue slithered out from underneath his hoof, tasting the air before it returned.

"Your words are peculiar. Familiar even. Are you one of the storm?"

Slowly, Zhu rose his head and looked upon the pony. His two glowing, yellow eyes being the only thing visible in the shadows of his hoof, though it should be clear that he were not a pony. Even if the long, robed tail didn't give that away, or the striped paws, the slithered eyes and the forked tongue slithered out to taste the air now and again would.

He was a Serpanther. One of the reclusive race with the body and legs of cats, and the tails and heads of snakes. Not one who were known to all, and he were not exactly giving information about him being that either with the robe, but that was the point. He did not wish to be recognized.

"...You are not blank, but the branches are broken. Your time is not your own, is it?"

There were too many things that happened when he looked at her to know it as being just her. Too many unfamiliar faces, paths seemingly not connected, and her staying in places that would not make sense, such as high in the sky or in the dark depths. It was confusing to say the least, and he averted his eyes soon after. Even if his mind were better fortified against this than it had been some centuries ago, there were still things which he did not wish to look at at length.

Besides, he wished to know if what he assumed had merit. That this one were one who saw what had yet to be written as well, and if so, if she were simply a seer, or one cursed with sight. Seers were limited and frankly annoying.

Her getting close did not bother him in the slightest so far, so it really would go down to how aware she were for him to address how little he may enjoy being around this one. He were far more dangerous than she were if he had to be from the look of things, even if he were to simply use physical strength and not his wind magic.

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

 

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"I'm Amethyst, and let me guess: Filigree is Rose, and she's out for vengeance? Could've used that information a few hours ago,"

Her leg softened enough for her to start wandering around again, and she looked at the ensemble of beings, though first and foremost at Shrimp.

"Keep your Refraction in check. It can eat the accursed gems all it wants, but if I see it gnaw on one of my custom jewelries, I will swat it."

The one who assisted her came afterwards, walking silently as a cat and went towards Sen. A mostly indifferent look were in the dark eyes behind the tinted glasses, though some small degree of amusement could be seen over the longma being stuck in the door..

"I am Sub Rosa. Please refrain from wriggling."

Rosa took his hand to his belt and pulled forth one of the throwing daggers he carried there. With it, he began to carve away at a section of the hole Sen were stuck in, not hitting him, but aiming to cut off a few pieces just short of hitting the strange creature and then hit the gaps so he'd have the space to get through. He could also just use some power that he also carried, but he'd prefer to spend that himself. Getting into his outfit could sometimes be a hassle without it.

Shrimp were gnawing away at the gems around the door, draining them of the parasitic nature and energy, so it wouldn't be an issue to be at or near the door currently, though the layer of diamonds would still keep the door tightly shut. Hopefully that would be fixed so that Sen wouldn't keep reenacting Winnie the Pooh for the entire city.

"Mind directing the thing towards my workers when it's done with the door? I'd prefer to save some of the mixture when this is an option. And try to aim it at said door when it needs to let off excess energy from its gluttony. It should free your companion faster, and I don't want holes in my walls or roof.

In any case, Fiddler sounds like he's safe, but what about the others? Are Clayton and Spelt attacked, or did she not find them yet? And what about this Sub Rosa one? Is he with you? He came barging through my window and said that he were looking for Filigree too."

Amethyst sounded like she were in a rather foul mood, but it was hard to blame her for that really. Getting encased in crystal and your store made into a mess were exactly the sort of thing that ticked off the perfectionist mare, and if she had a chance, she would have knocked Filigree into next week for doing it. Thankfully, the bat pony had come around and started to free her, so she were not stuck like the others in the mine were... Grrr, to think that they were still bound, but Filigree were free almost made her blood boil.

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

 

@Lil' Lovebug

"Quiet you fool."

Vivid said this somewhat gently as she drew closer and put a hoof on Satin's shoulder. She considered trying a hug, but her awkward attempt would likely not make things better. Besides, as she were sure that the changeling could taste by now, she were feeling far too much shame and slowly receding fear over how her mind had gone before to feel comfortable trying.

"I'm not good at explaining myself sometimes, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. This is my fault, and I'm sorry about that.

When I said I needed to think, I was still following you. I wandered between planes, where time crawls slowly and no regular being can step hoof. Your small walk were around an hour and a half for me, and I should have told you that before I did it."

And she definitely shouldn't have reacted the way that she did, but she kept that part to herself. She'd rather not confront the part about her demonic side's influence right now, but if she had to, she at least hoped that Satin weren't able to feel her emotions from before. She weren't sure how good changelings in general were to sense out other things than love, but in case it was well, it would make defending herself towards Satin harder. Or perhaps easier, if the mare had sympathy towards Vivid's emotional issues, but she just didn't know.

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

"I'm an honest pony Toxen, I cannot tell a lie. Victoria and I have indeed been to the dragon lands, though I would never take a small foal there even if she were as stubborn as Victoria, Victoria is and was a full grown mare, one who knows how to handle herself. No dragon's gonna mess with this duo."

He ruffled Victoria's mane and she laughed, quickly smoothing it down again after her father pulled away.

"I'm not afraid of a little bit of lava. Or the dragons that enjoy it's steamy depths."

 

Felix tipped his hat to Benny as he saluted him.

"It's been a pleasure my dragon friend, I move around a lot so it may be some time before we meet again. But who knows? Maybe we'll run into each other somewhere else in Equestria some day."

"A-are you guys going too see your parents now? I'd love to meet the rest of your family... but I think I'll sit this one out... maybe another time."

Sprinkles shivered at the thought of having to encounter more dragons, potentially more like the scary Jade.

"What about me? Are you no longer in need of my assistance? Is this where we part ways for now?"

Victoria seemed saddened by the idea of leaving her new friends so soon, she had reverted to her old way of speaking too perhaps due to the darkening of her mood thinking about having to say goodbye.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

Lucid was totally ready to get his revenge, but just like himself, Discord was very unpredictable. He had no idea where to look.

"I don't know what will be more difficult, fighting him or finding him?"

Lucid lifted his stick, summoning a giant picture of the pony version of Bill Gates. He hopped on and began to use it as a hoverboard.

"I just can't figure out where someone like Discord would g-"

A lightbulb appeared above Lucid's head

"Maybe he's having one of his tea parties with Fluttershy!"

The yellow pegasus proceeded to throw the lightbulb as it grew wings flew away

"Alright, we are off to Fluttershy's cottage!"

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Not like I could speed up travel by changing time since Rose already had a head start. Four days ahead to be exact. Clayton's with us but that other pony, Spelt, we were going to deliver the same message after coming here" The longma stayed close to the Refraction, crouching down near the crystals growing around the shop.

"And Sub Rosa? He's not with us. How'd you know about the Refractions? This one here is very young and I'd like to know more about them."

As for Sen, he watched as the Rosa set to work on the door and getting him out of it. There was enough to be embarrassed about at the moment. Even the sight of the shop's interior deflected his worries, seeing something fairly familiar from his travels though everyone back then used to shoo him away from even looking at the displays. One more thing to add to his time as a vagrant. Most of the time, he was given a stern warning but on the rare occasion, he was angrily chased away by guards, sometimes armed with a weapon. He didn't understand why. The latter reaction scared him so much he ran back to the slums to hide his face for days, sometimes even forgetting to look for food. Now here he was, unsure whether to be relieve to see what the inside looked like or scared he'd be asked to leave again. For the most part, he had Sub Rosa to thank. 
 

"Thanks," Sen quietly said. "You seem to know about these changeling emeralds since you have that vial on you. How did you know about them in the first place?"

[genessee 535]

@Blitz Boom

Lance trotted over to the nearest seat and sat down, just to go over mentally what just happened. 

It looked like Alonsus was about to rob me out of nowhere, but had second thoughts.

Lance glanced around the diner as he thought.

Wait...

He noticed the Pegasus.

After we ran into that guy, Alonsus started acting weird. Why is that? And didn't he say something about 'parolees together'? Why would Alonsus be on parole?..

It felt like a big puzzle to Lance,  and he had just found a piece-- not that it was useful right now, but still! 

Huh. Maybe it was more than I thought. I'll have to talk to Berry about this, I'm certain she'd know more about this than I would.

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2018 by genessee

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@Blitz Boom 

@Moonlit 

@Dji 

 

“This is very strange.  It doesn’t seem to be night time anymore.  What hour is it, Twilight?”  Luna asked.  “I believe the more important question here is, ‘What day is it?’  I believe I may know who was involved with this, though I have not seen him around for a very long time.”  Celestia had her suspicions of the Traveller, as she had seen him before, but not since she had banished her sister to the moon.  The two of them seemed not to care that there was a ghost and a siren in the room.  They trusted Twilight, and believed that she would have a situation like this well under control.  Besides, if either was a threat, why wouldn’t a guard such as Last be trying to fight them off?  Clearly these two were friendly.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Seamore Sandwich

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich @Dji Serenade was confused, Day? What was Dawnbringer talking about? At least she wasn't being imprisoned in the Moon or banished to Tartarus or turned to Stone and used as a birdbath in the Castle Gardens. Deep breath, don't panic. Just let the Alicorns talk amongst themselves. Serenade took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She was a predator in the presence of three more powerful 'prey'. 

[Blitz Boom 4,634]

@Battenberg

"Yeah, that makes more sense too I guess. Still a bit odd, but weirder things have happened, eh?"

Toxen shrugged, thinking that this was one of those times where she had to try and trust that she wasn't getting yanked by her chain until she knew better. Some ponies did come to Dragon Land after all, despite how hostile most of the locals tended to be, so it wasn't impossible if the ponies in question had guts and could stand the heat. Perhaps her dad would know the answer, but they'd find out soon.

Meanwhile, Benny lowered his hand again, but kept his grin going whilst replying to Felix. A strange pony, but in a good sense he'd say.

"If you're ever in Canterlot, you can usually find me at the forge near where the guards train. I'll let the others know to look out for you if you come around someday."

"Same goes for Ponyville, though I travel more than Benny does, so I might meet you elsewhere.

And Sprinkles? You don't need to worry, we understand. Meeting a whole bunch of dragons, including Jade, sounds pretty intimidating when you're afraid of them. We'll see you around for sure though, right?"

"Well, duh. First time we're stumbling over Fillydelphia, we'll be there. Unless you come to Canterlot or Ponyville first. The offer stands for all our friends.

It's been a pleasure to meet you both, and I look forward to seeing you again.

Oh, whoops, almost forgot."

A slight tint of red went over his cheeks as he looked at Victoria.

"If you wanna come along you're welcome. I think Pop could use the moral support of another pony honestly."

"I uhm... Wouldn't say no to that. One of two so far have been intimidating, and there's still his dad to go."

"Hey, you don't find me intimidating?"

Toxen hissed and clawed the air, though it might've carried more weight if she didn't chuckle afterwards.

"...No."

"Hah, that's more like it. Now let's get a move on, alright? I don't wanna grow roots here."

The dragoness took to the air and slowly flew off towards their destination. She figured it'd be easy for them to follow her if she just snailed down a little.

"Yeah, we might as well get this over with. It's been nice meeting you all. May our paths cross again."

Pop included Victoria in this for now, just in case she wouldn't go with them. She sorta hoped the mare would, since like Benny said, she could use a friendly face around for this that wasn't covered in scales. She might not be frightened like Sprinkles were, but there were a good deal of nervousness regardless, especially after meeting the disapproving Jade.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Alright, let's go see if she's home. Onwards my steed!"

The long-legged beanbag beneath her gave off a gurgling sound and started to run, following after Lucid. Anomaly could've flown too if she wanted to, but she liked the comfy thing she had now, and didn't want to make it weird with awkward air wobbling. Better as a ground mount in her opinion, and she had made it, so she decided.

They got some funny looks on the way there, but this town really had been jaded by draconequui before it seemed, since they didn't go into a panic or try to attack. Some foals were moved away and nopony approached them at all, but duh, one of them.were hovering on a large picture, and the other had a skittering beanbag underneath them. If they hadn't been cautious, they'd frankly be crazy.

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

 

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Clayton is here?"

Amethyst seemed to lighten up at this message, and rose her hoof to check her mane. It was not perfect, but with the current situation, surely he'd forgive her for that. The dear colt were always so considerate.

"Such a mess for him to see, but alas, what is a mare to do? Hopefully the door breaks down soon so he can come in.

And I know the refractions well. I stumbled upon one of them when I were a teenager, and he taught me greatly about gems. It's because of him that I could make the Changeling Emeralds stable and wearable, rather than consuming. The elixir that softened me up again is just a concentrated dosage of that.

I've never seen a small one before though, but I always figured it was because they had gotten diluted by mingling with the regular dragons. Have to be a reason they haven't been seen by most beings for a while. Beyond them being insanely reclusive."

She deliberately did not mention if the one she had met were still alive, or if she still saw him, as she did not trust these enough to share much information currently. They might be hunting Filigree, and that was nice and all, but they were also running around with Discord. It took away some points, considering the stories she had heard.

"Now I want to he-"

"I came here looking for information about Filigree. The information I gathered stopped ten years ago, and I needed a fresher lead."

Rosa interrupted before Amethyst asked him her full question, just as he cracked the third small hole around Sen.

"And what is your interest in her? You're another one of her victims?"

"In a sense."

It was frustrating for Amethyst to hear so little being given back from him. They just had a name and a purpose, and quite frankly she were getting tempted to go over and beat more information out of him. But first off her leg was still softening up, and secondly, she did not wish to be seen as hitting somepony when Clayton came in. What would he not think of her?

Rosa largely ignored her, but kept his ears straight to hear what was going on around him. As a bat pony, hia increased hearing were well suited for this, though he wouldn't have to go at this much longer. A minute or two more, and he should have damaged the door around Sen's right side enough to make a hole and either get him loose, or make it easier to apply some sort of soap to slip him out.

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

 

@genessee

"Hey, you're back. How did the delivery go?"

Berry bounced over to Lance and put down a small cup of coffee in front of him. She figured that serving him what he got the last time was okay, just in a smaller amount, so she had brought him a little cup to get his energy boosted up again.

She looked over at the pony that Lance seemed to be glancing at. She didn't know who this were, but with all the tourists, newcomers and workers outside right now, that wasn't a big surprise. There were tons of new faces, and for all she knew, this could be one of them. Or somepony the conspiracy sent to monitor her, and see if she found the brain control robots in their sugar. So far she hadn't, so they wouldn't get a result, but she weren't stopping just because Chop called her crazy. If that was the sort of thing that would hold her back, she would've never went to the loonie bin in the first place whilst they tried to have *therapists* get her over her *delusional fixation*.

"Berry, Alonsus wishes for a moment of your time."

She jumped a little as the hulking mass of stallion suddenly stood behind her and attempted to get her attention.

"Sheesh man, you're out to scare my mane off? I'm gonna have to retaliate from this."

"Not right now Berry, today have been testing."

She were surprised at hearing - and seeing now too, as she leaned her had backwards and starred up at him - how down he seemed to be. She had never seen him like this before. Not at work, not in town, not at home when he thought that nopony were looking in through his window, nowhere. He had always seemed either happy, grandiose, or relaxed about everything.

"We'll just let that one slide then. What's up?"

"Could you inform Straw that I will be back in about an hour? A personal issue have arisen that cannot be avoided by this stallion."

"Yeah sure, count on me."

"Thank you."

Berry's eyes followed closely as he went directly over to the lanky pegasus' table and started speaking with him in too low a tone for her to hear it, before they both left. It seemed like the pegasus had left a tip on the desk though, so even if this seemed off, she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Tipping the waitress tended to be a thing good ponies did.

"So... That was weird. Did something happen, or have the mind-controlling substances in his drinking water finally made him loco?"

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

 

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

"It's Thursday your highness, and roughly 16:35 in the evening."

Last had spend a lot of time glancing at the clock as she had wandered around Ponyville for the last 30 hours or so, to estimate by the speed things went at how long it would be before they were done, or to see when the next shift of somepony would be there, how long travel routes for materials were, etc. It had become a necessity for her, and on her way here from the hospital, she had looked up again out of habit.

"The Siren an the Specter in the room have been invited here by Princess Twilight after we discovered them at the river near town. They have both arrived without being noticed to avoid panic, and so far  appear to be friendly."

She heard a sound behind her and turned to see a crystal looking like it was about to break off, and the unnamed ghost looking like something was bothering her. Enough ghosts had been there in Last's life for her to know roughly what was going on, and she couldn't have that.

"Hey! Snap out of it. The royal princesses are not your enemies."

The crystals started to vibrate slightly less, as Cherish heard the words and found some small amount of comfort in them, but she still wasn't talking. She had always been a very emotional being, and being dead did not mean that it was easier to just calm down or relax when told to. In fact, she had found it to be worse now, since it was ever present that things could escalate and she'd be engulfed in emotions, leading her to lash out rather than just look confused or act irrationally.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Sekel 694]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

”No no no, I got it wrong. Your future is all over the place,” Karmic tutted to herself. She shook her head from side to side and levelled her gaze at him, now slightly fourth step away than before. She saw that he had done a lot of things in his life, and will continue to do them. “Then again .... maybe not. I do not know of what storm you speak of,” she murmured and seemingly had her gaze driven towards the ceiling. “Shapes ... sizes ... fogs ... destruction .... all these things I see,” she breathed in a whimsical way, laughing airily. “You don’t know the half of what I ssssee, Sssserpanther,” she added in a giggle, hissing in imitation of a snake.

@Blitz Boom & @Moonlit & @Seamore Sandwich

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

“Last is right on the time and day, but I thought you would know that, Princess,” Twilight said in confusion. She glanced at Cherish and the vibrating crystal. “Poltergeist. That is a new one,” she admitted but her gaze was drawn back to Celestia. “Are you sure you know who or what brought you here?”

@Blitz Boom & @Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

”Hey! Don’t you dare place bets on this relationship!” Dawn yelled out to Spicy and Marley and was uncaring for the most part about admitting what was happening. “Wind carries voices you know!”

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

While Lucid was floating on a picture of Bill Gates on the way the to the cottage, he had a question.

"Is Billy Neighs still making those cleaning product commercials or did something change while I was gone?"

Edited January 29, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich @Dji "♪ THURSDAY!? ♪" Serenade shouted before clamping her forelegs against her muzzle. But it was....oh no. Her eyes contracted to pinpricks as she rapidly looked between Luna, Celestia and Twilight. 

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

“Seems we all have some interest in Rose, or Filigree if you’re insistent on specific names.” 

Lin didn’t expect this, seeing how many others would cross paths with Silky Rose one way or another. The same could be said about the refractions being able to talk. If Shrimp could have lengthy conversations with her, that would be a very interesting thing to experience. Now that they’re all on the forefront and racing to stop her, it may be wise to get some perspective. On that note, she decided get everyone else in, if they could fit inside the store without tripping on the changeling emeralds, that is. A gate opened next to her but just out of reach from the parasitic crystals. Lin walked over an stuck her head through to the other side just where she last saw Omen, Clayton, and Discord outside.

“Come on in. Watch your feet though; there are plenty of those crystals on the floor.”

“Back to what we came here for,” Sen added, seeing what Lin was up to and not wishing to leave the conversation just stuck there. “Other than Filigree and Rose being one and the same, she’s also looking to use a jeweled beast heart with the changeling emeralds to take over Equestria. Fiddler told us those things but that was when Rose came for him. Did she say something to you that could help us, or at least point us to another lead?”

With Sen just standing at the door, he figured he could also try to learn about how Rose would likely fight with magically charged crystals. He would need to remain on the move and hit fast just to make sure he wouldn’t be encased and trapped. It was worrying but he wouldn’t know how to really put that thought into practice until the real battle commenced. Whatever plan he came up with relied on hypothetical scenarios he shared with Lin back home and they didn’t have time to test it. Perhaps he wouldn’t need to use it but if it ever became necessary, he would have let Omen know about it too, lest their movements become sluggish and uncoordinated. Maybe he’ll let her know later or if she asks about it. 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

"Until we meet again my fine fellows!"

Felix tipped his hat once again and began to trot the other way beckoning for Sprinkles to follow.

"Come on Sprinkles, I'm sure you intended to drop in on Lemon if you haven't already, she'll be glad to see you."

Sprinkles nodded and gestured to him to wait a second.

"We'll meet again for sure, this little family is spread all across Equestria."

She patted Victoria's head playfully to which Victoria responded with a smile and a roll of her eyes as she adjusted her mane again.

"You'll definitely see me if you are in Fillydelphia but don't be surprised to see me in Canterlot either, that's where my colfriend is from, Sky Scraper. If I'm not there and he is, look out for him, he'll probably be working on one of his buildings, making sure every detail is built just as he planned it. And as for Ponyville, Battenberg's aunt Raspberry Drizzle works in Cloudsdale so she's often around that area, lovely mare, a pegasus like me, super competitive. I'm sure she'd be happy to chat to you. Anyway I guess I'll see you guys around, good luck with the dragons!"

She gave Pop and Benny a tight squeeze each and Toxen a gentle and slightly shaky hug before whizzing off to join Felix. Victoria did not follow suit, instead she skipped around to face Benny.

"You're letting me come! Thank you. Maybe I can help keep your mother calm in the presence of ponies!"

[Amanita 6,826]

@Blitz Boom

Mirage thought a bit, then answered Stargazer’s question. (I swear I almost put Blitz Boom instead of Stargazer. Wow me.) “Maybe the tents first? So we could get settled a bit? If we aren’t disturbing anypony of course. As to you’re question (I don’t remember whether or not they introduced themselves to each other or not) Jelly, I’m not completely sure.“

Amanita thought on Jelly’s question now, she had never really thought of eating anything else... “I don’t know the answer to that honestly. Maybe? It would be interesting to find out!“ She looked happy with being able to start a new, and hopefully better life here. 

@Dji

“That sure sounds interesting! Must take a lot of practice though, even if it is a special talent. I bet a lot of ponies, and others, are interested in your inventions!“ Mistletoe smiled a goofy grin at Watts, and then just followed her as she led the way to her stall. At times tripping over his own hooves, but thankfully never falling. (Clumsy child o’ mine)

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@Blitz Boom 

@Moonlit 

@Dji 

 

“For us it was Saturday night.  This must be the Traveller, but why would he bring us here?”  Celestia paced back and forth as she tried to figure it out.  Meanwhile, Luna turned her attention toward the siren, “Surely you must still have the necklace I gave you.  For you, that should have been two nights ago.  Why then do you not wear it?”

 

@Blitz Boom

 

“It’s very bold of you to speak out in such a way.  I like that.  It shows me that you have a brave heart and will likely stand strong in the face of danger.  Also, your skepticism is welcomed, as it tells me you won’t be easily fooled, another good trait for a hero.  What tales have you?  Surely your accomplishments must be many?” Marcus seemed genuine and sincere in his questions.  He did however shift the attention of the room toward Brute Force. The question now would be how she would react under pressure.  This was a test, and if she passed, she would definitely become a part of the team.

 

@Blitz Boom 

 

“Wait, am I the only one here who’s not a doctor?”  Charlie didn’t manifest a form while speaking, just simply glowed with each word.  “Charlie?  How can that be you?  It’s not possible.  Aagh,” Dr. Xeno said, grabbing his head in pain.  This confusing situation wasn’t helping him recover at all.  “I’ll be fine, it’ll pass.”

 

 

@Blitz Boom 

 

Penny quickly pulled out another coin, unwrapped it, then reshaped it around a ball of frosting just like the others and rewrapped it. She put the chocolates into her saddlebag that was sitting on the floor, and put on the saddlebags.  “Do you want anything specific for the trip?” she asked as she began to fill up a bag with various candies.

 

@Blitz Boom 

 

“What we’re looking for is made to look like a stone, but it’s slightly darker and much more jagged than most of the stones you’ll see on this road.  I’ll worry about the traps, you just focus on making sure we’re not discovered as I search,” Gaea said as she began to follow along the road, doing her best to keep herself hidden behind the bushes.  She would poke her head out of the bushes every few yards to look at the road.  Each time she poked her head out, she ran the risk of being seen, but it was necessary if she wanted to see the road well enough to find the traps, hence asking Zhu to keep a lookout.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

She looked down as the griffon spoke, taking the time they had to consider the words, she already knew that Chow probably crushed on her, although hadn't really considered it considering their age gap. But then there was the gap in the floor that was in front of them, exchanging a glance at Blackbeak, letting out a soft chuckle. Her legs lifting off the ground as she floated slightly, not going far up before she fell back down, kicking dust up from the floor. "That should've made me float over." She looked to her hooves, glancing at Brick, then to the Screaming Path. "Oh, right." She said to herself, realizing the magic for it was sucked up by the Path. "Yeah I'll wait here for you to pick me up."

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

A smirk crossed the mare's face as Scarcity acknowledged the situation. "I had interest in magical artifacts for quite some time." She stood up and walked over to Iron, stumbling slightly on her fixed leg. "Although, quite a few I discovered long after I could use them." She said, taking hold of the horn from Iron and placing it back on the stand. "Such as the horn, I tried to sound it to draw my sister to me, but she never came. Not even to just chat."

"I know a few who can resist the call of the horn, but it only postpones their arrival." Iron Star added, Sapphire nodding. "But at least you came to its call on the first sound."

She smiled slightly. "Well, Scarcity, do you have a plan? Because both Warlock and Athriel are still free, and all of us are too weak to fight them. Your Screaming Path is even preventing us magic users from fighting them too."

"We have the element of hatred to help us."

Sapphire looked to the element that remained in the corner. "We shouldn't use it, it only causes what it embodies, we'd end up with hatred towards the enemy without reason for it."

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

He nodded as he landed next to Enzo, hearing the echoing sounds of his speech as they went throughout the castle, birds flying off from the castle, and even some rats running out of the castle as well. "Well, at least they know where here." He drew out his wings and trotted forward. 

With several minutes to recover, and the lack of a threat to hold him back, Warlock blasted out of the castle at high speeds, looking up to Enzo with surprise as he flew straight up into the sky. "Why do I trust anypony?" He mumbled to himself, putting his hooves together and charging up a ball of magic, and while it wouldn't seem as powerful, it'd be something that Enzo may recognize from last time his traps were obliterated by it.

[Moonlit 593]

@Seamore Sandwich @Dji @Blitz Boom "♪It failed, Ziggy and I were exploring the Castle of the Two Sisters and it overloaded. I....♪" She bows her head, "♪I may have also used my full powers against a group of Timber-Wolves. I will accept any punishment you believe I merit♪

[genessee 535]

@Blitz Boom

Lance didn't speak up until he was sure Alonsus had left the diner, and even then, he spoke in a low tone. Just in case.

"Something happened... I'm not quite sure what it is, though. Hey, quick question; was Alonsus ever on parole?"

He felt a bit bad for talking about this behind Alonsus's back, but his curiosity outweighed the guilt. 

[Lil' Lovebug 1,041]

Satin didn't know what to say, so she just got up and brushed the dirt off her lavender fur. She slowly walked over to Vivid, and leaned against her, sitting there for a few moments, just trying to think.

"I guess we both overreacted," she finally whispered, thinking of the emotions she'd sensed. "An explanation would have been nice, but I'm glad I at least know now." Satin pulled back, assuming the demon mare was probably getting a little uncomfortable by now. "So what happens now?" 

Edited January 31, 2018 by Lil' Lovebug