open Casual stroll

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @Dji @Seamore Sandwich @BloodDrops @Moonlit

"W-wait what?! This isn't what I meant by being ready!" 

Fluttershy couldn't act in time, paralyzed by fear and caught off-guard until the box finished constructing around her. Only at the last moment did she try to move but it wasn't enough. The whole sight reminded of her of the exact same situation she found herself when she and her friends faced Tirek, only without the cucumber sandwiches or visibility. It saddened her to know her kindness wasn't reciprocated, or even considered despite wanting to help. Then again, what would she know about the nature of the sphinx to begin with? 

Angel jumped out of the way of the cage as it was constructing but couldn't rush in time to save his caretaker. He only managed to reach out, but barely before the steel box closed around her. He may be abrasive and tough on Fluttershy but he still had a soft spot for her, though his capability to console her was severely limited, only restricted to banging on the walls and chittering. 

"Why would you do this? You asked us to help you figure out what's wrong with your crown and this is how you respond?" Fluttershy asked, clearly distressed about how quickly things have changed from just a moment ago. 

Edited September 7, 2018 by EQ_Theta

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Blitz Boom (Sorry about the late reply. My first year of Sr. High School just started and I’ve been busy with homework.)

 

Mike thought for a second.

”Well I don’t think she’d be in a bar. I don’t suppose they would even let you in. I’m sorry to be rude, but how old are you, Ma’am? If you’re 18 I think they’d let you in.” He looked hopeful. 

“I remember Dad used to say how smart she was before she left home, so she might be at a library. There is one here in this town, right?” Mike said, looking out on the street. He heard that the library was in a large tree, so if he could spy it above the rooftops, that would be great.

”I guess you’ll find her eventually, McGuffin...”

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @Dji @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

Lucid looked over to Fluttershy, who seemed to be a little panicked. He tends to feel bad for anyone in such a panicked state.

"Don't worry, the sphinx already said she'd make us a deal for our freedom! Besides, even if she were lying us, there's still me with my power working in a different way than everyone else and safe from the sphinx due to the whole stick thing, and then there's Discord who is just too powerful to be suppressed and I will admit, Discord is likely more powerful than all of us combined. Good thing he's on our side."

Since Lucid was speaking to Fluttershy, he decided to start talking to her a bit while he waited to see if a deal with the sphinx would fix this.

"Y'know, this adventure so far has given me some insight. Looking at the sphinx reminds me of myself. Egostical and full of wrath, just as me. Maybe not for the same reasons as me, but it's the same concept. With that said, I can see some morals within the sphinx. Perhaps she is reformable. Maybe we could solve this without further escalation."

Speaking of escalation, Lucid chuckled a bit when he thought about the anvil.

"Yea, the anvil thing was a jerk move, even for me. I'll apologize to her later if we can solve this peacefully."

Edited September 7, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Blitz Boom 4,636]

@Catpone Cerberus

Jeez, what was her problem?

Here Berry had come 'round, all nicely and not with any sort of portal or anything, and then this siren were getting in her face about being an invader and stuff? She were just here to investigate a large clue towards exposing the conspiracy, not to play jailer or taking over anyplace. Sure, Berry would drag out the siren and get answers to where the device had to be, but she wouldn't try and chase the siren off or keep this place to herself. What use had Berry of a lake?

Trying something a small bit different this time, Berry once again popped her head underwater, thought he rest of her stayed on the shore, and then she'd try to yell something down through the waves. She couldn't hear what it was that she were saying, but this was a siren. Surely they'd be able to hear something, right? If not, she could always just swim down to the scaled wonder again. Wasn't like the fear-fueled anger from before had gotten Berry to shake in her boots.

"I didn't even know you were here. Now come on and talk, or I'll just keep swimming down until you do."

She had to raise her head out of the water to get some air after that, and in case nothing happened in the next 30 seconds, it was swim time again. No way was Berry just leaving this place that easily.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

Marley started to move closer when the pony grabbed hold of the watch, but Spicy raised a hoof to signal him to stand his ground. She wanted to see where this were going, as the pony went through her own boastful *I'm in control here* moment.

"You got guts Red, I like that.

But you gotta learn how the world works. If you just take things, the law sends their goons after you, so you have to give a little to gain something in return. Now if you're any good at it, you can end up giving quite a little back to gain something you really want, and get out of it without a scratch on your name. Yours truly knows the way around the playing field, which is why I'm loaded, and haven't gotten a chain with my name on it.

You seem to know what you want too, Red, and I'm getting the sense you're not like the chumps I usually deal with. You don't sit and hope for what you want, or ask others for help. If you see something you like, you go out and grab for it. So let's stop beating around the bushes here and get down to it. What is it that you're really looking for? Even if you don't wanna give something back for it, just sling it out."

This mare now had Spicy's undivided attention. Been a while since she had met a non-dragon who acted like this, and frankly, it was starting to get entertaining.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"It have its uses, but the materials can be a big bother to come around. We only have enough for two more now, so we need to use them sparingly. It is not the olden times when we always gathered ingredients and could get ready to do everything. Not yet anyway."

It was good to see Sapphire wandering around again, even if she had let down the pretense this time and had begun to show clearly that something was off with her.

"As for what to do, I believe we should wait with digging up your body and gather the blood for now, so we should begin gathering the other things we need. I'd say that we teleport to the forbidden vale and quickly grab some plants, before tasking a tour of the old shrines, to see if we can find some purified water. I don't know how many of them are still working, but we'll need it to prepare your bones.

As for the slivers of magic we require... We'll need to think on sources to gain it while we move along with the other things. Soon as you're ready to go, that is."

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

Benny grinned at the general.

"It's just a flesh wound. Would've been worse if the sword had hit the mare instead."

Using his tail, Benny opened the door to the forge, where a scorching warmth would emerge from, as well as a lot of hammering,that stopped abruptly when the fresh air got noticed. The twins would pop their heads out soon after, and look at their boss. That being Benny, not the general, in this current situation.

"General Wings would like to see how his armor is coming along. Fetch it, please."

The twins got on it right away, and would soon be back with the armor, and put it down in front of Wings. It were a little warm in it currently, but nothing that'd hurt to touch, and if he wanted, he could try it on. It were made with the specs he had desired, although it still wasn't finished completely, and lacked the helmet. Hopefully it would be ready by tonight.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"Yeah, but hay all that have done when it comes to these magic battles. Ain't easy to kick somepony that have a force field hanging 'round 'em."

That part really got to Chow. A life of knowing how to fight and brawl, made essentially useless by some spells and chants. Made his fighting skills more or less useless unless he could get the target distracted enough to get a jump on 'em.

"And ya know, we could ask the guards, but it'd have to be some good folks. Emerald manipulates with folks. Worst case, she might get 'em swayed to her side with some mojo. We could try and ask the generals if they got some good ones to spare though, if you fancy it. Might be they'd just end up distracting her move than anything, but hey, if we can get the drop on her with some kicks and whatever mojo you'd have in mind, I'm sure it'd be okay. Long as we get her down.

And don't go thinking you're not strong, Astral. You've saved our bacon a few times now, and that ain't weakness. We just need you charged up and ready for the right time to strike at her. Then you'll leave your auntie in the dust."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

The walk helped getting Rosa's head more aligned again, though the haunting visuals of what he had seen were still well imprinted into his mind. His posture had risen slowly, the low voice of him telling himself that things would be alright had stopped, and though it had taken a long time, when Sen moved forward after the long day's travel, he'd find his voice again.

"We've gotten far today. Perhaps we can be at the shore before midday tomorrow."

It might not be much, but his voice were calm again, and not shaking like it had earlier. It may return when he had to talk to the siblings about what had happened in the swamp, but he imagined that he wouldn't be the only one if it were, considering what Lin had been through as well. Much as he wallowed in self pity, he had to remember that the longma had been through the same, if not worse than what he had. The things that had been seen in the forest that had to be related to her, were troubling, even for somepony with little to no context about it all.

A little away from them, Sen would find that once again, he weren't alone anymore. Yet this time, it wasn't from some weird critters with over-sized jaws, but rather from a small, reptilian face that narrowed it's eyes towards him, and charged out from a nearby bush with a battlecry befitting it's size.

"Shriiimp!"

The refraction would slither straight towards him, and wrap around his leg, before playfully biting him. Several times in a row.

"Shrimp? Hello?"

The whispering voice would enter Sen's mind soon after, as Omen would wander past from the same direction, looking around to see if she could find the little thing. It had been almost a few days at this point since her and Belladonna had left, thought he later didn't seem to be here, and Omen herself seemed somewhat singed in it. Like she had stood too close to a campfire, or had a huge hairdryer barreling down upon her.

Omen would see Shrimp shortly after, as well as the one he had run off to chase when they had arrived a few seconds ago. She'd be thrilled and grin if she could feel strong emotions like that, but she did feel a brief tingle in her chest. Had to count for something.

"Hi Sen. Everything okay?"

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

 

@Pr0m4NV14

"Hey, I'm 21, thank you very much."

Despite her height, Sorrow had the issue of looking younger than she actually were. it was a great thing normally, but when she tried to enter placed with age restrictions, it just got weird sometimes. Thank Celestia that she didn't drink, or it'd get really annoying.

"And well, there were a library in town, but I think that one burned down. It's probably in the castle now. The new princess is apparently some sort of book worm, so I bet she's got all the books there so she can read all the time, without going out into the rain or anything."

"We want to see the castle too."

Legion chimed in, though it had more to do with the princess inside than looking for some random mare. Some of the collection of souls had always wanted to see a princess up close, and that place were the best option. Might be that it'd cause several of them to finally being able to let go, which were always a positive thing, plus they could be looking for Mike's sister. Everypony won.

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

 

@EQ_Theta @BloodDrops @Dji @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine

One by one, the other ponies and assorted beings were trapped, chained, and given to Onache to hold as slaves. A small part of her deal set in effect by the sphinx, who seemed to have cracked the mystery of her head wear. How quaint.

Honestly, she focused more on the ones she had been given. It were not her usual style, yet still, it were amusing nonetheless, and it got the changeling queen - and in extension, the sphinx - controlled beings. Although Onache would refuse to touch any chain given to her that were connected to Fluttershy. Quite frankly, the fact that that particular pony had been trapped, made Onache grimace more than anything else, as she knew that something wee going to come from this, and that it would likely be bad. Discord would be unlikely to not have something to say and/or do in retaliation.

"Let this be the start of something greater then, sphinx."

She should be thrilled, and pleased that she now had on track a deal that could cause her hive to rise to the top of the food chain for centuries, yet before she had seen what Discord may end up doing, she remained too weary and cautious to really do anything too celebratory. So instead she'd direct her attention back to the changeling who apparently had been one of Chrysalis's drones. Not one of those that Onache had seen, but she had mainly interacted with the warriors anyway. The drones were beneath her.

"I know the fallen queen well, though it surprise me to see one from her hive that haven't taken the offer of mutation that... Thing, Thorax offered them. Seems there is still some changelings from his stolen hive that are not foolish enough to follow him and his abominations."

Meanwhile, Anomaly had laid down on her stomach, and were pouting quite a lot over her new neckpiece. Not only was it ugly, but it also held down everything magical she might end up doing, including changing herself. What was the point of everything if she couldn't be free and fun. Sure, she could try to eat the chain, but without magic, who knew what'd happen? Her teeth might not have the strength for it anymore, if it wasn't just holding casting back, but also latent things, and the draconequus was getting too grumpy to check. What a boring day this were starting to become, even with Lucid boasting around and making big talk with the large kitty. Honestly, this was his fault for yapping off too much. Perhaps she should bite him?

...Meh, if he got close enough, perhaps. Who cared right now? Fun had died.

Lotus jumped up next to Angel as everything went on, though she barely touched the pony before everything went bad, and Angel and her were rushing away for dear life. Angel managed to get out before the cage got up. Lotus didn't, missing it with just a few inches.

"No, no, no! Stupid pony is making things worse. Let me out!"

She didn't care for this one bit. She was a bunny, not some kind of bird. She wasn't meant to have confinements like this, even if she had a *cell mate* to banter with that were as locked up and helpless as she were. Small comfort when she were locked up in a cage! Her kicking of the metal wasn't doing anything to help things either, though what else was she going to do? Just sit around and accept this fate? Never! She wouldn't be kept like this again without a fight.

[Rising Dusk 27,843]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk was actually feeling rather pleased with the amount of progress Felicia was making already.  Holding a conversation with a pony she just met, even if it was though a middle pony like Dusk.  Not really sure how much longer they could keep it up though, sooner or later Rusty would have to get back to work and the pair of them would need to return to the workshop.  No need to overwhelm the newly freed spiderbot on her first outing.

Translating this next bit though was a little more on the rough side, but he felt he could get the gist of it fine enough.  The dynamic of a mechanical being relating to a biological can be a bit confusing at times.  It was going to be rather interesting going from spiderbot translator back to the office at the O.M.I. after these last couple of days.  Moving on to Felicia's new inquiry though, it was time to get back to it.

"She wants to know if you would prevent Glitter Step from doing what she wants."

Rusty looked like she was working through that next question a little longer than the one's before.  Scratching her head with the corner of her clipboard that caused her hard hat to jiggle up and down a bit as she did.  It was, for her, an odd question.  Felicia's mind though was very analytical and Rusty felt that she might have an answer for this.

"Well...  She's already found her calling in life and of course we supported her in getting there.  We would never prevent her from doing what she wants.  Guide her as best as we can, but her choices are her's to make in the end."

Rusty hoped that was able to answer Felicia's question.  She didn't have Glitter Step with a specific function in mind, but to be a mother that could proudly guide and support her daughter to the destiny that she choose for herself.

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Rising Dusk

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

@Blitz Boom

Nada swam few quick laps at the bottom of the lake before she swam up to see if the pony had left her alone, she really hoped that was the case, but to her non-surprise, the pony was still on the shore, and was just popping her head underwater again, This pony is insane, doesn't she have any survival instinct? I could easily just trap her underwater if i wanted to, yet she keeps annoying me. On positive side though, Nada was confident that the pony was indeed alone and that this isn't a trap, because if there was other ponies just waiting to attack, they would have attacked when she was out of the water.

Nada heard the pony screaming something into to the water, it wasn't clear what she tried to say because ponies weren't designed to talk under water, but Nada caught the word 'talk' somewhere in there. She hesitated a bit, but eventually she swam closer to the pony and popped part of her blue head above the water almost like a crocodile and stared at her "What do you want pony!?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know what stealing is, I'm not an idiot. Ruby thought to herself not sure if she should get mad about the pony still acting like she was the adult in the situation, if only she knew how young she really was compared to Ruby. But Ruby decided to keep quiet, sure she didn't like how the pony was talking to her, but she also recognized that she was doing something something better than Ruby, considering the difference in their possessions.

"It wasn't obvious?" Ruby knew she needed to choose her words carefully, she needed to sound like a pony, a greedy pony, but pony nonetheless "I want profit, treasure, wealth, riches, whatever you want to call it." "And based on the amount of bits you're keeping in your wagon, you know how to get it" she then waited for Spicy's reaction, she saw few possible outcomes for her later comment, and they ranged from Spicy ignoring it to her questioning how Ruby would know how much she had there, and though Ruby's 6th sense couldn't tell value wise how much there was, she could tell how much room they took."And that's why we are still talking."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @Dji @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

Lucid looked at Anomaly who didn't seem to be doing too well.

"Once we make a deal with the desert cat, we're free from this place. It'll probably be solved pretty soon."

He stopped to think for a second.

"Maybe Discord might be willing to let us out. The sphinx wouldn't be able to stop him."

 

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom 

Moments kept in silence, it was just simply the way things went. Lin thought about her own insecurities and Sen thought about where to set up camp for the evening. They didn't speak for the time being, having a lot on their mind. They weren't even sure how to discuss them with each other. Well, Sen could but Lin wouldn't be paying much attention to him anyway. That was just the start, and knowing what Lin told him earlier, her nightmarish situation was something her brother had to wrestle with for years. She was nearly broken seeing it once, how much did Sen have to go through knowing he saw similar imagery every night? Despite this, their spirits were lifted, however little it might be, when Rosa said his piece. Any good news was certainly going to give them a diversion from their own troubles. 

"That's good to hear. If you'd like, we can head out early again tomorrow morning if we want to make good time." Lin suggested, her voice perking up a bit. Personally, she would prefer if Rosa got some more sleep that evening. If nightmares could disrupt the normal sleeping pattern, Rosa would probably wake up feeling groggy. They'd be closer to their objective, but not likely to work at their best. 

Just at that moment, the sound of rustling foliage caused the siblings to stop. Sen gestured with one claw up and open, the usual signal to halt and remain alert of their surroundings. Lin knew that sign all too well, having seen it many times back home. The two backed up towards each other and towards Rosa but a tiny roar drew Sen's attention away for a second. He wasn't quick enough to catch the little reptilian Refraction come at him, playfully biting him all over his foreleg. 

"Hahaha! It's good to see you too, Shrimp!"

The longma dropped down and laughed as he played along with Shrimp, giggling as he tried to catch him and give the little creature a familiar stroking. How times have changed when it was a lot more suspicious of him. Even Lin couldn't help but join in and play along, picking up the little creature and nuzzling him. Sen got up and as soon as he heard the familiar voice in his head, ran to the source with excitement.

"Omen! Am I glad to see you! We've... had a long day and we're looking for a place to set up camp for the night. I'll tell you more about it later but what happened on your end? Where's Belladonna?" In Sen's excitement, he began firing out question after question. Even noticing the odd, singed look on Omen and started dusting her off and just doing some general cleaning. Lin soon joined them, placing Shrimp on her head just like old times. For that moment alone, she completely forgot everything that worried her not too long ago.

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

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight @Dji @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

Fluttershy stayed put, not having much of a choice on the matter and likely assuming things going wrong because she said something. The moment has passed and there was no time for regrets with the rest of the group also caught and handed over to the changeling as slaves. She notice Lotus was in her cage as well and while this was no time to pet the little bunny, having Angel outside gave her some semblance of ease. Discord being outside also helped.

"Sorry I got us into this, little one." Fluttershy spoke to Lotus, feeling regretful about what had just transpired. As for Angel, he wasn't sure how else to communicate to the others but kew Discord had to help. He ran up to the side of the cage and chittered to both Fluttershy and Lotus: "I have an idea. Be right back!" 

The bunny then rushed over to Discord and started chattering away, maybe unlikely to get something coherent or understandable to the draconequus but he was certain it would draw attention. He kept on hopping and pointing to the box with Fluttershy and Lotus, urging him to do something.

Edited September 7, 2018 by EQ_Theta

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Lucid_Nightlight

 

Discord looked to where the bunny was frantically pointing and raised a brow, "Well this won't do at all." The entity said with some distaste, having to reign in his temper briefly as he noticed the situation. The chaos spirit promptly teleported over, now dressed in a snazzy suit and monocle, and opened one side of the cage like a door, giving a slightly showy bow to Fluttershy. "Would you care for some tea, my dearest friend?" He asked with a friendly grin, gesturing towards a table laid out nearby.. upside down. the tablecloth situated on the stem under the flipped table somehow supporting the whole table's worth of tea supplies without any noticeable form of support.

 

(Think like a table flipped over, with one of those single center with prongs support systems.. and then a tablecloth over that middle bit, but flat and spread out like it would be on a table.)

[BloodDrops 762]

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

One by one, the other ponies and assorted beings were trapped, chained, and given to Onache to hold as slaves. A small part of her deal set in effect by the sphinx, who seemed to have cracked the mystery of her head wear. How quaint.

Honestly, she focused more on the ones she had been given. It were not her usual style, yet still, it were amusing nonetheless, and it got the changeling queen - and in extension, the sphinx - controlled beings. Although Onache would refuse to touch any chain given to her that were connected to Fluttershy. Quite frankly, the fact that that particular pony had been trapped, made Onache grimace more than anything else, as she knew that something wee going to come from this, and that it would likely be bad. Discord would be unlikely to not have something to say and/or do in retaliation.

"Let this be the start of something greater then, sphinx."

The Sphinx smiled and turned to her, "Hmmm, Do you wish to be something greater? To have as much power as myself perhaps? To change the world with the flick of a tail. I could give you that without any conditions at all. You seem to have earned it with this victory after all and I do reward those that achieve greatness" she added blinking down at her, "unless your too scared to take me up on my offer, I won't make it twice" she remarked.

 

On 9/7/2018 at 12:39 AM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Seeing the Sphinx threaten to drop the moon if he escaped did bother him at first, didn't scare him due to reasons he wasn't dumb enough to tell the sphinx, but he was bothered.

Then suddenly a lightbulb appeared above Lucid's head, which he ate, then a calculator appeared in his hoof.

"Ok, the surface area of the largest continent in the human world is 44,391,162 square kilometers while the moon is only about 38 million square kilometers. All human continents put together should be about 148,998,799 square kilometers, and that's if I'm low-balling it. This would be the size of a supercontinent if I'm low-balling this."

Lucid ate the calculator and a grin appeared on his face. He looked up at to the moon, back at the sphinx, back to the moon, and back to the sphinx.

"Y'know, I really wish I realized this sooner. I could escape now, but the chains kinda make me look cool, so I'll be civil and wait until the deal is over."

The moon started darting around the sky like crazy as Lucid laughed. He had fun with the moon for a good minute before he looked back at the sphinx. For some reason, Lucid seemingly stopped caring about how tense the situation was and he began to talk... A LOT!

"It must really suck for you knowing that my power works a little differently than the others leaving you to resorting to trying to scare me away from using it to escape. Oh! We should fight sometime! Wouldn't that be fun? Not to the death of course, killing you is a bit of a last resort that I'd rather not do, I may be crazy, but I'm not insane. Oh, I also have a draconequus friend with some feline features and she's REALLY attractive! I even made her this weird animal hybrid today to give to her as a gift when I ask her out! Also, I suggest getting a hobby, you seem to have too much time on your paws. Ever tried buying those singing cacti toys at giftshops? I collect a lot of them and they are the coolest thing ever!"

Why was Lucid saying all this? Probably because he likes to talk about things. Besides, it's better than him turning things into mimes and dropping anvils

The Sphinx blinked and frowned, "I don't get out much, whole enslavement to the temple deal. Sort of a buzz kill really" she remarked. She flicked her tail, "oh you can escape, but if you do that you would have earned strike three which is this time" she said pulling out a magical book. "Oh floor is lava, how quaint" she snorted, she hated that and shut her big book of rules. "you stay in the cage, or everything starts melting" she growled.

 

23 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

"Why would you do this? You asked us to help you figure out what's wrong with your crown and this is how you respond?" Fluttershy asked, clearly distressed about how quickly things have changed from just a moment ago. 

She Blinked, "Me? Well orders are orders, I got a job to do after all. If I didn't do it then well, the Temple does it. And it doesn't follow a elaborate set of rules like me" she remarked flicking her tail. "I am more diplomatic then my Temple, if a deal is made within it, then it has be carry it out, If I fail to do so well bad things happen" she remarked. 

 

18 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"Don't worry, the sphinx already said she'd make us a deal for our freedom! Besides, even if she were lying us, there's still me with my power working in a different way than everyone else and safe from the sphinx due to the whole stick thing, and then there's Discord who is just too powerful to be suppressed and I will admit, Discord is likely more powerful than all of us combined. Good thing he's on our side."

 

*Cough* "yeah but you both follow rules, I follow rules, my master doesn't, keep that in mind ya, just pipe down and be a slave for awhile" she remarked.

 

13 minutes ago, Storm Shine said:

Discord looked to where the bunny was frantically pointing and raised a brow, "Well this won't do at all." The entity said with some distaste, having to reign in his temper briefly as he noticed the situation. The chaos spirit promptly teleported over, now dressed in a snazzy suit and monocle, and opened one side of the cage like a door, giving a slightly showy bow to Fluttershy. "Would you care for some tea, my dearest friend?" He asked with a friendly grin, gesturing towards a table laid out nearby.. upside down. the tablecloth situated on the stem under the flipped table somehow supporting the whole table's worth of tea supplies without any noticeable form of support.

 

The Sphinx blinked at Discord, "And you let her out?" she grumbled, she glanced up at her Temple which was now glowing. "Great, Just Great" she growled at his interference. She got her big book out and started reading the back bit. "hmm so shiny temple is bad, great. Lets see, hmmm, Fluttershy back in that cage now" she growled as the sand slowly started to get warmer. She was in a very angry mood and for good reason.

"You got 10 seconds before the temple floor turns to lava, before any of you say we are not in the temple. We are" she remarked.

She then climbed on the floating table since it wasn't on the floor. 

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Lucid_Nightlight

Discord harrumphed as if he were an annoyed noble, "Fine then, we'll just have to have our tea time inside." He remarked before enlarging the inside of the cage to the size of a large room, bringing the tea-table and other tea related items inside, and then slamming the 'door' in a mock huff. "Anyways.." The chaos spirit began speaking to Fluttershy cheerfully, as though he hadn't just been acting upset, "Would you like some biscuits with your tea?"

[BloodDrops 762]

5 minutes ago, Storm Shine said:

Discord harrumphed as if he were an annoyed noble, "Fine then, we'll just have to have our tea time inside." He remarked before enlarging the inside of the cage to the size of a large room, bringing the tea-table and other tea related items inside, and then slamming the 'door' in a mock huff. "Anyways.." The chaos spirit began speaking to Fluttershy cheerfully, as though he hadn't just been acting upset, "Would you like some biscuits with your tea?"

The ground stopped being hot, and the Sphinx sat down "phew, im getting too old for this"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Dji @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"Lava? That stuff goes good with coffee!"

Lucid took a cup and filled it with lava then took a sip. It was pretty good. He then finished it and threw the plastic cup at Anomaly. He felt a little bad for her.

"Eat this, it'll temporarily give you a small fraction of my power. It's not enough for you to escape sadly, but it should be enough for you to have fun while we wait for the deal and we get freed."

He looked over to the sphinx.

"So, how long until the deal is made? A couple minutes? Couple hours? If it's any longer than two hours then I demand at least minimum wage!"

A watch appeared and he looked at the time.

"Also, I got stuff to do the day after tomorrow here in this Universe. Gotta buy some supplies for my standup comedy gig next week, get things for Pringle's birthday for the week after, then I gotta visit a grave. So, can we speed his deal along?"

His ears went down a little at the grave part despite trying to hide any negative emotion.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Blitz Boom

 

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to that castle... thing and check that place out!" Said Mike dashing away in the direction of the castle (He had seen it from the train) with a slight skip in his gate. He slowed down to a reasonable pace and looked back at Sorrow.

"You know, before I got here, I didn't know there even was a castle here. Did the mayor decide he wanted to live large and build one? It takes quite a while to build something like a castle."

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight @BloodDrops @Dji @Seamore Sandwich @Moonlit

So the temple has a mind of its own? Or possibly enchanted to follow deals made within its walls? An interesting way to put it simply, though this kind of magic may be overridden depending on who could've casted it. Then again, maybe it might not and the way magic works in this place is a little different from the rest of Equestria in general. But if going by what the Sphinx hinted at, that the temple is much larger than the rest of the visible structure, then it might be more complicated than that. For now, Fluttershy just looked at the tea set Discord presented, drinking some as she was thirsty but would preferably have their attention on getting out. 

"Discord, I appreciate you putting this here but isn't getting out of here and solving this problem with the Sphinx a more pressing matter? I wouldn't know where to start." 

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Lucid_Nightlight

"Oh don't worry about that Fluttershy." Discord grinned as he began to quietly explain, "We just need to let the Sphinx complete her deal. Until that's done, her magic binds her to do so. And trust me, breaking a deal or oath enforced by magical means can bring.. Unpleasant consequences, even for one such as me." He chuckled, "That's why I rarely bind any deals with magic- though I believe such a thing is simply part of a sphinx's nature."

Discord munched on his tea, the tea within the cup defying physics to stay within the cup despite the chunks being taken out of the porcelain. "And once she's done whatever she promised, she'll no longer have to help or see to anything beyond that. So, for example.. Say she promised to provide all of Equestria as slaves for that changeling." He gestured vaguely, "Once she's put every pony in collars or confinement for the changeling, she'll likely no longer be bound to help- Any who would escape or free others would no longer be her concern." Discord winked at his friend conspiratorially. "So all we need to do is relax and wait. And if I'm wrong..." The draconequus shrugged, "Well, I'll still be here for you." 

[Blitz Boom 4,636]

@Rising Dusk

"𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟."

Despite the rocky start, Felicia were starting to feel somewhat calmer around Rusty, as the talk went on. Seeing the mare as a creator eased the process for the large spiderbot, and by all accounts, she were a good one too.

Of course, beings of flesh had other codes and conducts than mechanical ones - so far at least - but as Molotov had clearly shown her, ponies were not above restricting others, even of their own blood. She could see it constantly when it came to the interactions between Blitz and her creator too, with Molotov trying to keep her inside the building, and wouldn't leave her alone if they did wander outside, often going on to keeping her on a leash.

He had his reasons for his control issues, yet Felicia still considered them too illogical to count towards everything in his life, including her situation, so seeing a more sensible creator were pleasing to her. Rusty seemed to have gotten over their initial bad encounter and embraced things well too, so all things considered, this were going positively.

"𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦, ℝ𝕦𝕤𝕥. ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕪 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖.

ℂ𝕒𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕡 𝕪𝕒𝕣𝕕? 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝? 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝."

Three outsiders had entered Felicia's life now, and though Blitz had not fallen in her best grace, Dusky and Rusty had both shown themselves to be good, generally accepting ponies. The positive experiences were making Felicia feel great curiosity now, instead of the high level of awareness she had entered this scrapyard with, the more she spoke with Rusty, and made her want to stay out here and interact some more. At least until Dusky would have to leave. Without a translator  Felicia would be seen upon as a threat to ponies, and not one who were likely to be allowed to web a response before some negative response came her way  forcing her to defend herself. Not a good outcome, as she were definitely a threat to ponies if it came down to it. She had been build to handle things stronger and sturdier than them after all, though she didn't want it to get to that.

Dusky had told her to follow the law, and though she didn't know much of it, hurting ponies were likely against it. After all he had done for her, she did not want to dissapoint him by becoming something that had to be taken down. It would go both against her want to see this world, and the trust he had put in her.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Heh, nice gator impression."

Berry shook her head clear off the worst water and grinned at the siren. Considering how big these things were in the stories she had been shown when she grew up, this one were almost cute in it. Not dangerous at all either, or Berry wouldn't be drawing air into her lungs right now. So why not try to be friendly for the time being? At least until she found out if the siren was a robot, or another slave of the machine she were sure were out here.

"Lots of animals and ponies get drawn to some sort of song out here, so I've come to figure out what it was. Everything points to it being a mind controlling device put there by... The Conspiracy..."

Berry glanced from side to side as she said that, seeing if somepony were gonna try and jump her as she said that. Agents of The Conspiracy were in a lot of places after all, and this were a supposed site for one of their monstrous machinations.

"Buuut then you're suddenly here, so you know, is it you singing instead? Do you protect the machine? I don't care unless you're a robot or collect ponies for trophies really. Sirens aren't that scary compared to them. Believe me, I've seen their grip on everything, and that's something to Really fear.

So come on, tell me what's going on. I'm not dangerous."

She looked to the side and saw the hammer  then pointed and giggled.

"That's just for robots. You don't hammer living beings. That's something crazy ponies do."

Yeah yeah, this was a siren and *Oh, but they're so dangerous* and bla. bla. bla. Phooey to that. The three old ones might've been, but this was a little one - by their kinds standards - that sounded more scared by Berry's presence before than the other way around, so what was there to be afraid of? Their race in general? Pffff, that were just silly talk. Nopony were evil just because of what they were. Ponies had done lots of things that were technically horrendous, and they weren't all evil.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"So you want anything of value that's not nailed down, eh? You sure you ain't a dragon, Red?"

Spicy looked at the mare with a smirk on her face, glancing over the greedy gal she had just accused of being a dragon, as if looking for some kind of flaw in her defenses. Analysing her every look with a trained scrutiny as the sevonds passed slowly by.

Then, after about six seconds, Spicy's smirk went into a grin, and her look eased up.

"Heh, that'd be a first if you were."

Spicy had been around the block for a good chunk of her life now  and she had seen a whole bunch of crazy stuff, yet a dragon changing forms? Not in her expertise, unless the scaled wonder in question had some help from an array of cursed or enchanted objects, but the odds of that were on the low side. This were more likely just a mare with a want for a quick cash grab to line her own pockets. A mare after Spicy's heart.

"You know, if you don't mind getting your hooves dirty, we do have something on hand."

Marley wasn't the one in charge, but he had walked with Spicy for a long time, and knew when to spot an opportunistic, greedy being who looked for that big score after a while. Usually he stepped in there to then get them to scram, but this one seemed different. Potentially useful even, but not if the boss kept playing with her and she scurried off.

"That ain't none of her business."

"Are you sure? Because from where I'm standing, it sounds like she's game for just about anything, long as she ends up loaded with gold and other assorted riches. I'm sure she wouldn't mind a little detour and a bit of legwork for wealth and opportunity. Isn't that true, madame?"

Marley gave a nod toward the unknown mare, while Spicy gave him the stink eye. Wasn't the first time, and wouldn't be the last either, yet he felt like the mare were snailing this along too much. They were clearly dealing with a morally questionable female here, and that could well prove profitable for all of them. Less so if she wandered off out of boredom, which were likely something Spicy knew was true as well. Otherwise she would've been threatening him about cutting his pay again. She were predictable like that.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

So they had a plan then, that was good. Exactly what they needed upon the day they just had were a routine and a plan to get them back on track, and cool their heads. They just had to gather their strength first.

That seemed to not be a kindness bestowed upon them, as a nearby bush rustled and the siblings got into a fighting stance. Rosa hesitated, but followed suit and grabbed hold of one of his smaller knives. To think that he had been unaware and unprepared for an attack longer than the siblings... He really were off his game right now for his training and reflexes to be beaten like that. Sen and Lin were good at sensing things out here too of course, but he had been trained to react on something like this with an instantaneous response, and not this delayed mess. He should have at least been ready along with them.

The battering of his own competence levels came to a halt as he saw the white and golden refraction charge out of the bush, screaming off the only word he knew, and playfully attacked Sen. The longma in turn began to play along, which Shrimp responded to in kind by hissing at any extremity reached towards it, and slither around the longma's legs some more to avoid getting caught. Not a playful attitude the little thing had always had towards Sen, but the days without Omen before all of this started had gotten him closer to him, and as he had been the closest, Shrimp had gone for him. He still preferred Lin or Omen, but that had to do with the smell of Omen's kind, who he imprinted on first.

While that went on, Omen came wandering through said bush too, looking somewhat worse for the wear than when last they saw her, and apparently looking for her pet, who had slithered off Sen again as it looked like Lin wanted to pick him up and put her on her head. The little thing weren't the tiny creature that had once been able to hide completely in hair anymore, after all the gems it had eaten from, but it was still pretty small, could fit easily on Lin's head, and barely weighed anything.

Omen in the meantime, tilted her head to the right as Sen talked, trying to soak in what he were talking about.

"Days are longer now? Have Master Discord changed it again?"

"No, he means it have felt like a long day."

Normally he'd consider having to deal with Omen again to be part of it, but frankly, she were a sight for sore eyes. As much as she were intelligently problematic, her gates provided some strength, and her lack of need to sleep provided them with a second night guard, to make things safer. They were truly gathering their strength now, though much as Sen had asked: Where were Belladonna? Rosa had felt his heart skip a beat in anticipation for her arrival, when Omen had shown, but there didn't seem to be anypony following her.

"Strange feeling."

So now days could feel longer too? They'd always felt the same to her, ever since Discord had first been turned into stone, and time became fluent. A disturbing development she frankly didn't like, but had gotten used to over the years, and now it seemed like time didn't have to be long to feel longer... She'd have to think about that later.

"Belladonna went to Canterlot. Said she had things to do. Told me to give you something."

She turned towards Rosa and just stood still, making him unsure what she were on about as the seconds ticked by. He were almost saying something about it when her muzzle opened, and her prehensile tongue carried a small, well used book, wrapped in cloth, out of her open maw, and held it towards him. It were the first time he recalled seeing this side of her, though it honestly wasn't the weirdest he had seen from her. Still strange, but he found himself questioning how the cloth were completely dry more than the tongue, and apparent ability to store a book in her stomach.

Taking hold of it, her tongue released, but took the cloth back, which she began to slowly chew on. Like a rabbit eating a salad leaf in slow motion. Rosa ruffled through a few pages, them grimaced and closed it again.

"It's another of Filigree's diaries."

"We were in a strange place with many beings. Some said they were heroes. Remember seeing the muscle unicorn there. Didn't know anypony else.

Belladonna said a lot of big words to somepony. Pale one with glasses she called brother. Other one with a sword, and weird hair too. Talking happened, and Belladonna left with family pony. Told me to wait for her there. Ate warm rocks when she left, until the others said no. They said flaming coal were dangerous.

Belladonna came back lots of later, and we went to a strange room. Dusty, lots of books. Like the old castle, but small.

She looked for a book, and told me to look at the door. She didn't want family inside. Didn't tell me why when I asked. Strange thing.

Book was found, and she wanted to go home, then I look for you. Was close, but Shrimp ran away. Had to find him. Found you too."

It was a bit of a mess, and the details were scarce, but it were likely the best they could get from Omen without asking for specifics, and even then, it may well be the best regardless. It got the gist through though, that Belladonna had run into her brother, an argument of sorts seemed to have gone on, and then she left Omen for an undisclosed amount of time, before she came back and they looked for the book. If looking for the book or being away took the longest were uncertain, but either one or both had been the cause of this taking so long it seemed.

It also covered why Omen looked so singed, as she had been eating flaming coal, though knowing how didn't make it anymore sensible.

"You need help making a camp?"

Omen's response to being dusted off as she were were at first nothing, as she didn't know why Sen did that, but eventually she thought it to be some kind of greeting and began trying to dust him too, and otherwise attempting to mimic what else he did. She were bad with brohooves, hugs, waves, and generally any other kind of normal ways to greet others, so perhaps she could learn this one.

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

 

@Pr0m4NV14

The stallion might have a run up, but Sorrow had the benefit of being taller, and with wings, so keeping up with him through the busy streets were surprisingly easy. Not that he ran far before slowing down though, which had surprised her some. She had assumed he'd bolt as well as he could towards the castle.

"The mayor, building a castle? Hehehe, that was a good one Mike. It was the princess. You know, Twilight... Something. I haven't seen her, but I've heard that she had a hoof in getting this crystal palace made without anypony building it. Kinda weird looking place, right?"

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

 

@EQ_Theta @BloodDrops @Lucid_Nightlight @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Dji @Storm Shine

This was getting insane for Lotus.

First the mare and her had been locked in here, Angel left from the other side of the door, and then said mare apologized for getting them in there. Something which did cause the bunny to stop kicking the door, but only so that she could turn around, and look up at Fluttershy with a *are you serious?* look on her face. It wasn't the mare's fault they were locked in here. It was Pumpkin Head and her sidekick, Admiral Doofus, that had gotten them into this mess.

Then all of a sudden, there were a hole in the box, opened by Discord, and Lotus ran out like there was no tomorrow. None to soon either, as suddenly, Discord and the mare ended up alone in a now-closed box again, and the bunny resorted to punching the upside of her own head and jump in frustration whilst chittering as loud as she could, with some of the worst profanities she knew of. Everything about this was stupid. Not just those two, but the others as well.

Firs the large winged cat talked to the mean-looking changeling about granting her more power, which the changeling in question had politely declined, stating something along the lines of *Nothing comes for free*, which were pretty true, but she still deserved several fluffy kicks to the head. Didn't matter if she were smart enough to know that she'd be paying for such power one way or another, she were still a meanie, and glanced at Lotus like she wanted to stomp the bunny.

The sphinx then talked about lava on the ground and the temple being her master, which caused some reaction from the others, but little from Anomaly, that just kept on her belly in the sand and looking all sullen. Sot he clown had gone from annoying to useless, just because of a stupid necklace. Why didn't she just smash that big pumpkin and slide it off or something? Stupid plant head.

And Lucid... Don't even get her started on that mess of irresponsibility. The only reason Lotus wasn't currently trying to kick everything not nailed down into his face, from everything that he had caused, were the sheer annoyance and frustration made it difficult for her to find a point in doing anything but standing around and venting off into the air. Wasn't like anyone listened to her anyway, because no one ever listened to the bunny. Not a single one.

If they had, perhaps she would have screamed some more at Lucid when he threw lava towards the draconequus that were partially made of plant matter! And what happened? She caught fire. Because out of everything here, what they needed were somepony catching fire now too! It might have not lasted long and didn't do too much damage, as only a little had been left in the cup/Lucid put it out (either one), but on what planet did it seem smart to throw fire at plants? Or plastic for that matter? She was a bunny from a brutish island inhabited by dragons, and even she knew that plastic were bad for nature. Anomaly didn't even touch it, but just poked to it with her tongue, whilst letting off a few puffs of smoke from her maw. The later part seemed to amuse her slightly, but not enough to detract from the chain. She did start to laugh a little though, when a bowl came towards Lucid's head from Lotus kicking the mostly empty water bowl she had been bathing in before straight at him, as she finally had enough and wanted to vent at him in particular.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Dji @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

Lucid watch as a tiny drop of lava got Anomaly. He glad it didn't do too much damage. He still felt a little bad about that since he considers Anomaly a friend. The bowl hit him in the head, but he wasn't too bothered. He turned the cup into a some a banana peel to see if she'd eat it.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't think there was any lava left in it!"

To lighten the mood, Lucid stomped his hoof and it began to snow inside the temple. He then threw a snowball at Anomaly knowing she'd be looking for something to do.

"Snowball fight!"

A little ball of light appeared over Pringle to keep him warm, he was taking a nap next to Lucid, who was in the same cage. Even creatures with the hardest of hearts would see the lizard as the cutest little thing.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

@Blitz Boom
Nada listened everything the pony had to say before even making a sound, some things she said confused her "Firstly, I'm the only one singing around here, and to my knowledge I have lost my mind control powers long time before even coming here." Nada didn't even try to sound friendly, at this point she was still mostly careful...and annoyed "Secondly, and most importantly....." ".....I have no idea what you're talking about." "Besides water and the bottom, I'm the only thing in the lake, there isn't fish or plants here, in fact, there is not even a single stone or piece of wood in here, and...." "....I have no idea what a robot is, and I don't think machines can be made to brainwash anything, how would you do that with gears anyways?" she could tell that this pony was.....special, and maybe it was a good thing, but she wasn't sure how to think about her talk about robots and a mind control machine, how long have I been here?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though it didn't show outside in any way, Ruby was worried for a second after Spicy asked if she was really a dragon, she just smirked like Spicy had made a joke, hiding her emotions and other things that could reveal her was the first thing Ruby had learned after the transformation itself, after all, it wouldn't be too good of a disguise if she went to panic every time she heard word dragon. 

She didn't show feelings at first when Marley mentioned about the possible deal, but when Spicy said it was not her business, she became visibly curious, because naturally Ruby wanted to make it her business, she didn't want to be left out, especially if there was a change to get some treasure, or well treasure wasn't necessary the right word, she didn't give a crap about the value of things, she only cared if it looked nice and shiny. "It indeed is..." "..Marley" Ruby agreed, she almost called him bird "As long as I won't get banished somewhere for rest of my life because of it, I'll do anything to grow my....personal value, if it's worth it of course." the key part was rest of her life, because little banishment of some tens of years wouldn't be but a blink of time if she gained something from it.

[Sekel 694]

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

“Oh, we can, this invention I’m working on is more for the Unicorns and Earth Ponies who use the cloud walking spell,” Watts explained with a smile. She rubbed her cheek in her hoof before beginning to look through her saddlebags for something.

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

“I didn’t even know that Queen Chrysalis had fallen,” Aurora replied in quiet. “She seemed so unstoppable to me. And no, I didn’t take Thorax’s offer because I had no idea that it existed either. I’ve been living in Griffonstone up until six months ago,” she told Onache, her voice growing slightly with each word, despite fearing that she could be enslaved like the others.

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

“Is the future where I tell you, or the one I don’t?” Karmic asked Enzio simply, sitting down. She flicked her tail to wrap around herself and thought on it. There was the complete possibility that Enzio didn’t care, that Enzio was just hiding his time, or simply bold. After a few moments, she gave a shrug. “Turns out it is. I bonded with a changeling slime thing that had been trapped in a box for Millenia.”

@Blitz Boom, @BloodDrops, @Seamore Sandwich, @Moonlit, @EQ_Theta, @Lucid_Nightlight, @Storm Shine

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

“Why...” Twilight trailed off even though her wings were fluttering in a panic. “What kind of deal makes you lose power and gain power depending on whether you enslave ponies!?” She took a good look around where they were and groaned. “Never mind all that. How can we get out of this?” She muttered more to herself than to the Sphinx. She watched the floor and the other trapped ponies of the group. ‘Is that a ... I need to think. Stop getting distracted!’

Edited September 9, 2018 by Dji

[Pr0m4NV14 839]

@Blitz Boom 

 

Mike raised an eyebrow at Sorrow’s answer. 

“There’s another one of those princesses? I thought there were only two. Of em’ you know, the sunny one and the dark one. Not real great people. I had go chase after one of their precious gems at one point. Not a fun experience.” He said, shaking his head slightly. He looked up to find the castle in front of the two, it’s vaguely tree-like structure shining in the sunlight. He stopped in his tracks. 

 

”I’ve only seen buildings like this in the Crystal Empire when I was younger. You say that this didn’t take years of work? This is amazing.” Said Mike, with a big grin on his face. 

“And it’s just open to the public, eh? What are we waiting for? Let’s get inside!”

 

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight @Dji @BloodDrops @Seamore Sandwich @Moonlit

Having Discord around for comfort isn't exactly a bad thing, more so right now. She enjoys his company, and right now with them trapped, that was making things a little more bearable. But how long would they have to wait until something more positive happens? Fluttershy is generally unable to do anything that can lead to some form of progress, what with magic in the temple being influenced externally, the sphinx being bound by a magically-binding agreement and being more inclined to follow the restrictions to the letter. If anything, it was a waiting game for her, and so far, the slavery part looks more like an extended prison sentence. Not a bad thing in perspective but that isn't saying much. 

"Discord, I don't think any of us would want to wait until the terms of the deal are complete. Isn't there something like a loophole that could meet the terms of the deal? Or am I thinking into this too much and something bad might happen?"

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

@Blitz Boom

Sen chuckled as Omen was dusting him off, not that it was a bizarre thing to do but it was one of those quirks that made her endearing. Of course, he probably should tell her it wasn't necessary but he decided against it for now. Somehow, it might be a nice thing having a method of identifying her, in the possibility of someone making clones of them. A very unlikely thing but after seeing the kinds of things they get themselves into, who knows what could happen? It's a thing just for them and what better to do than to bask in the bizarre. 

"It's good to hear Belladonna's safe. Let's find a clearing before setting up camp. I think there's one not too far ahead. We'll settle there for the evening and I can tell you more about what's been going on."

Lin smiled and handed Shrimp back to Omen while Sen started walking ahead, having likely spotted a fairly suitable spot for them to rest. Sizable, fairly simple to place traps and wards around to keep intruders away, a nice view of the moonlit sky for stargazing if anyone is into that. There wasn't much for them to want other than having some ample supplies needed to start a fire and maybe build a fire pit if there were some rocks around. He led on and kept a steady pace until he found a fairly open clearing matching the kind he had in mind. It was a fair bit further away but it was a promising choice. But on Lin's end, she slowed her pace and hoped to take Rosa aside for a moment. With Sen and Omen ahead, she could use this time to let him know about her plans after this matter with Filigree. 

"Rosa, I know I'm getting ahead of myself right now but if it is alright with you, could we help you look for your brother? I mean, I understand that we need to settle things with Filigree first but after that.... Ok, maybe there's time to discuss that later. What was in that diary Omen brought? Could it help make a case against Filigree?"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @Blitz Boom @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

Lucid overheard Fluttershy and Discord talking. He assumed Discord was doing alright, but he did notice Fluttershy who seemed to not be doing as well.

"If it helps you at all, we are getting out of here soon. I'm hoping to solve this peacefully without anyone getting seriously hurt, but if the deal isn't made soon, has bad terms, is broken, or isn't made... we may have to resort to violence."

He looked to Discord.

"She is right, you know. Looking for a loophole would be a good idea. Another idea is that maybe we could take her crown. Remember before I ate the stick? You said there was a loophole to it's rules. Of course, the stick has nothing to do with this, but the crown may have a similar concept.

He looked at the crown as if he were thinking about something. He then looked back to Discord.

"She said if the crown goes completely dark, she will be powerless. If my theory is correct, that crown could be a source of her power. This is just a theory, but if I'm right, perhaps you could absorb its power since it's a physical object. Chances are, you are likely more powerful than the sphinx, so you could probably absorb her crown. But this is only if the crown is the source of her power."

Lucid had the power for this, but he lacked the experience. He did not know how to absorb power that did not belong to him, he could only take back power that decided to temporarily lend to someone, so if anyone was gonna do this, it'd have to be Discord.

"Of course, we could wait and see where this deal goes before trying this."

Edited September 11, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Lucid_Nightlight

Discord hummed, "Well often magically enforced deals do still have loopholes for the determined and the clever." He allowed, carefully chewing a piece of marble. "How easy that is depends on the wording and the type. Typically, a written contract enforced with magic will follow the word of the agreement as it is written, allowing one to potentially complete the contract by following the words on the page. For example, a written contract to a racer. The stipulation to end the contract is that the racer must cross the finish line, but if it's not written how many times they must cross, or if it must be at the start or end of the race, or other details often taken for granted, they could technically cross the line once in a moonwalk, then run off into the sunset and still come out of the contract alright."

 

Discord took a few sips of salt to wet his throat, "Meanwhile a verbal deal often follows the spirit or intent of the agreement." The chaos spirit continued, "Which can make it easier or harder to get out of, depending on the deal made. In order for the deal to complete, one or both parties must complete or receive whatever was agreed upon, in the manner originally expected by the party that the portion of the contract is being done for. The how doesn't matter if it's not agreed upon, but the end result is the most important thing in a magically reinforced verbal contract." He then turned over his teacup, allowing the tea to rise up and fill it. "Unfortunately in either case, often there are consequences to be had should the magic not be satisfied with the result, or should the terms of the agreement not be met. In a written agreement, it's simply a matter of twisting the wording to your advantage. In a verbal agreement, the result is judged by magic and intent, meaning that it must be as agreed upon. Once the terms have been met in either case, the magic upholding the deal dissipates and neither is bound by it any longer unless they had put their own free will or services as either collateral or part of the agreement. If there was collateral, it depends on whether or not the contract was upheld."

 

Discord coughed and retched a bit before quickly beginning to wash his mouth out with hot sauce, sugar, and rainbows, "Blegh, so much exposition I could taste it. So bland!"

 

After a few moments of this, he turned to Lucid. "It could be a sign of losing power, or it could be a sign of corruption." He stated simply, "The rules of magical deals don't always affect Sphinxes and certain other creatures the same way as most. In her case, it could be twisting her as a consequence of stepping out of line for the deal. There's so many reasons it could be, it always astounds me when someone draws a conclusion with a permanent irreversible solution and thinks it's a good idea to follow through." Discord transformed  into a viking looking outfit complete with axe. "There's a magical doohicky that's keeping us sealed in our village! Let's destroy it!" he changed back, looking unamused. "And that's how that village was removed from existence due to the magical backlash of energy originally meant to protect their no-so-little village from danger until said danger was far enough away. You need to understand the nature of some magics before you start messing with them, even if you mean well."

Edited September 11, 2018 by Storm Shine

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Dji
"Right, that's why you wear it too then?" Enigma said, chuckling a bit, figuring she was using it herself and it wasn't just for other ponies. "Though I could understand somepony not learning to fly early enough, and developing balance sickness as a result."

Crystal looked over, seeing Zealous in the distance, she rose her brow at the sight. A bit strange to see the that pony close by like he was earlier. She shrugged it off though, only time to assume he was following her would be if he was like this more than just these two times so far. She sipped her coffee as she thought, nopony was close to her that'd want revenge, except Velvet but they were friends, and she was likely off somewhere in Canterlot and seeing as Crystal had no immediate contact with her, it was unlike it was her. Only a fan would be responsible, she pulled out a book, her journal she carried in her saddle bag, and wrote this down.

================================
@Blitz Boom
Sapphire smirked a bit as she floated off the ground while she walked to the door. "I know some locations to find blood for this, I can take us there" She said, placing her hoof against the door frame, runes around the sides of the door glowing; they had a long history of using these as a portal, turning their front door into a exit anywhere they desired, Sapphire making it lead directly into the blood bank rooms of a canterlot hospital, though a one way journey, it'd be helpful to save their magic reserves by not spending it on the way there.

================================
@Blitz Boom
He chuckled a bit and rolled his eyes a little as Benny spoke, his eyes lit up as the armor was carried in, stealing his attention and now the only thing he focused on then. "Impressive." Was the only word he found suitable for the work as he looked over it, almost unaware that it required a helmet. "I assume it has the enchantments that my wings do, or are those not etched in?"

================================
@Blitz Boom
She looked down at the ground. "I'd rather not follow their steps now, Emerald only deserves imprisonment, not to be turned to dust and seeing as she's a soul now," She looked to Chow, a rather serious expression on her face. "We'd have to do more than just remove her from the body, we'd need to remove her from this entire plane of existence."

"I don't think he meant kill her." Misty added, giggling a bit.

"Just know I won't do it if you did mean that Chow. that captain made it clear what the punishment would be." She looked ahead, sighing again. "What do we even do until she gets here?"

"Nothing." Star blurted in pretty suddenly, Astral turning her head to look at him pretty quickly, his eyes glowing, making it pretty clear he was looking elsewhere with his vision. "Sapphire's going to be in one of the Canterlot blood banks any moment now. If you want to do something, we catch them there." after saying this his eyes returned to normal. "If you want to catch them once they get there, we teleport."