open Casual stroll

Blitz Boom · November 1, 2018

Berry's grin started to wither away and give place to a look of worry, as Nada's mood fell. Poor new friend had a solution right at her hooves, but she had a point. If you had to stay hidden constantly, what was the point in making contact? Of course Berry did it because she didn't want to be found or connected to somepony who had - unreasonably in her eyes - been put in a mental asylum for a year, but that was different. That was just wanting to hide her identity, whilst the situation Nada were faced with were about hiding her entire species. It'd be like if a pony had to get used to wandering around as a lizard, just to fit in.

Man that were a pretty grim thought... No wonder Nada didn't want to go down that road.

"It's okay, we'll just return to the original plan and find the princess, then ask for a full on acceptance package. You'll see, we'll get you through this and not just back to the lake."

Going a few steps over, Berry once again would attempt to embrace as much as her siren friend as were possible, to attempt getting her out of her slump. They might have to work out something else in time, like some corney jokes or something, but currently this were all that Berry could come up with.

The feeling of Nada's scales against her coat were a sharp contrast to how for example dragon scales felt, but she didn't mind. The softer, somewhat damp/dry scales were kinda snuggly in their own way. Like a rattlesnake or something.

"And Serenade's right you know. Ponyville sees all sorta of varied creatures there that're usually welcome. You'd just be a new sight they'd get used to.

Though it ain't entirely true that no windigo ever got through. There's this weird pony who comes to town sometimes on his route, right? I've seen the head of one of them weird wind ponies poke out behind the counter of his large icecream cart, when I followed him towards Baltimare. I think he uses it to keep the goods cold, though whatever or not the windigo is trapped or there willingly I have no idea."

Berry let go of Nada - if the siren had not floated away by herself before that - and turnes to Serenade, still kinda weirded out by seing the soggy pony disguise.

"You remember him? Bitter Sweet? He always looks like he's bitten down on a sour lemon whilst being kicked in the shins.

Wait... Ooooh nevermind, thinking about a guy I saw in Manehattan, not Ponyville. Whoops. I think you're right then, we've still not had windigo's. Just wait and see though, bet it's gonna happen any day."

Seriously, they had two sirens in and around town now. Everything was possible at this point.

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@Catpone Cerberus

The two of them would get everything sorted quickly, as even though there were a good deal of jewelry in the coffin, it was still only enough for a single pony to wear and walk around with, so it wasn't weighing down like bricks, and the urn wasn't all that bad either. It was just dust in a clay pot. It wasn't exactly a gold bar.

Soon enough they'd have it outside, all nice and snug in the box, and loaded into the wagon. Marley would be well timed in appearing once they were over, carrying two boxes on his back and whistling away all joyfully, though at the sight of the sun, he had to avert his eyes a little, since a certain somepony had left him to deal with this job without any light source.

"Light hurting yer eyes birdie?"

"A minor need for readjustment, nothing else. Is everything set here?"

"Getting there. I'll be needing that section of the wall down there that shows off our toasty pile of ashes living self doing something dumb. You know what to do."

She threw the *controller* for the light bulbs towards Marley without a warning, though he still caught it without any issue. It may be that the light were annoying him a little right now, but that did not mean that his other senses weren't there, so taking something thrown towards his head and grabbing hold of it wasn't out of the realm of his abilities. Perhaps if it had been thrown together with something else to distract him, he might have hesitated in picked for a half second and have a closer, less delicate grip on this thing, yet Spicy wouldn't want her lights to actually be destroyed, so he knew she would not do such a thing unless she were certain that he could deal with it.

"Very well. I bid you both farewell for a few minutes. Do try to not mess things up here."

He put the two boxes with perfume down in front of Spicy, before turning around and going back down, now with the lights floating near him.

It presented Ruby with a choice. Stay out here, and help Spicy pack the sealed perfume jars into the wagon, or go with Marley downstairs again, and have the option to speak with him without oversight.

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@EQ_Theta

On 10/31/2018 at 4:42 AM, EQ_Theta said:

"I don't know, Omen. Maybe they are magic traps, maybe they're not. We won't know until we get there and that's what worries me. You going in first means you'll probably run into something that will set off a trap or two. I've got something in mind though. These rocks here? I think you can use these to set off traps without risking yourself."

Omen took the rock, but she didn't do much else with it beyond that. Since Sen had mentioned that this would work to disarm traps. Though how was it going to do that? Were she supposed to just throw it at the things? But what would happen then?

Glancing around, she saw some of the strong that Rosa had used for the weird things he did every night. Traps he called them too, and there were still a few he hadn't gotten yet. The one she were looking at just seemed like a string strung unevenly between two trees.

So she did as could be expected. Used a gate to port the stone through to Mother's realm, then over where the string were, and saw as it fell. The connection to the string were barely made before one of the small trees it were connected with fell over to where somepony would have stood, had they wandered into it Apparently, as part of the trap, said tree had gotten a deep cut from the bat pony and were basically only held in place by the large tree keeping it pulled in the right direction.

The spectacle were not enough to really hurt somepony, but it would scare away some beasts, and most certainly alert those in the camp if it had been sprung. Lethal traps took longer, and since one of them might accidentally wander into them, Rosa had elected to not go with those sort of things, even if they would have been safer. The noise still made him react instinctively and turn around, dagger in hoof to where he perceived the attacker to be, but there were nothing. Just a dropped rock used by somepony who understood a little of what sort of thing she were supposed to look out for, and activate with the rocks.

On 10/31/2018 at 4:42 AM, EQ_Theta said:

"If I can guess what kinds of traps you'd expect to see there, I'd say either trap doors, pits with spikes in them, poisonous gas, collapsing floors, or a giant boulder rolling down from the ceiling. Hopefully we just run into the kind of things that we could bypass if we're careful. As for magic traps, I wouldn't know where to begin."

As Sen started to explain, Omen began to get a glassy expression in her eyes again, similar to a little before Lin were witness to her shutting down because there were too many things rummaging around her head, when Rosa interrupted.

"It just means you need to be careful not to fall into somewhere, and avoid things getting thrown towards you. As for magic traps, assume simple things like paralysis and fear-inducing illusion magic, which will make you unable to move or will cause you to see things. It's among the more common magical traps, along with fire, though that doesn't seem to do much to you."

He might not be able to see the look in her eyes, but Omen's *overload* mechanic seemed pretty cut and dry to him, all things considered, and required her to have less to figure out on her own to not end up silent and still for hours on end. Certainly this wasn't a full explanation, but it were something, and it seemed to work, as Omen then nodded and locked eyes with Sen.

"I can do that."

"Good, though let's talk more about it once we get there and can have a look at things. Get everything you're doing done everypony, and we'll leave as soon as we can."

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@EQ_Theta @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"I take no offense to that, as I asked for it myself. Were you a dragon, I would have in fact been impressed with it too, especially with the added visual at throwing a book near a researcher or scholar. Effective detail."

Carefully, Nerzhei picked up the book - called *Pet maintenance and you, by Poodle Pip* - and dusted it off.

She weren't sure what she had expected from the mare, yet it certainly hadn't been this. The response were more akin to an irate dragon than that of a pony who acted like Fluttershy did, though smarter, as the book were a touch which most of those she knew had not the brain capacity to know would work in their favor. They were more likely to eat said book than to use it in any sort of meaningful way.

The throw of said book had also been the only point when Nerzhei reacted to Fluttershy's assault, with a twitch going off in her right eyebrow, though throughout the rest she had just kept her mask of pretend annoyance with the mare, and observed what had transcribed.

"As for your situation, it seems like you're having an issue with extremes. An insult being met with an insult is not a bad response, as you should not allow yourself to be stepped upon, but it appears that you can't see the point where you need to stop.

In this case, especially adding the last bit where you insult dragons in general back were not needed. Remember that us dragons tend to be prideful creatures, and there is a difference between being accepting of someone standing up to themselves, and being hit multiple on said pride.

I believe the underlying issue is anger. You have a surprising amount of rage hidden within you, and when backed into a corner, or attempting to show some degree of dominance, you let your emotions control you, and that anger is an easy one to fall back on. Believe me, I know that well."

Nerzhei struggled with rage sometimes too, and she were not as calm and collected as she tended to appear, as she could feel it bubbling beneath the surface more often than not, but she had learned to ignore it, or use it constructively, so she managed to live well with it. Fluttershy may as well, but as a pony, she had less time to work with than a dragon like Nerzhei, which excluded some options here.

"Had I fifty years to work with, I could have helped you use that rage better, yet for the time being, perhaps going at another angle will work better: Snark.

As an example, to my previous retort, you could have answered *I could wait until you cleared your ears and then try again if you'd like* or again put the book down, though gentler, and add *If your ears don't work, I could write it down for you*. It wouldn't make a dragon less irritable with you in the situation, but it would cause you to gain some leeway from standing up for yourself without going overboard.

Of course, the best would be to attack your anger issues first. I'm no shrink, but I can venture a guess and say that perhaps you don't like being so easy to step on most of the time, and the anger you use to try and be assertive come from some degree of self-loathing over that? I've heard of worse reasons, if that's it, though you could also just be hiding all that anger normal beings tend to feel away, to try and seem kinder, and it builds up? Perhaps you're simply just overtly emotional and have issues changing from one extreme to another?

I need to know more to get something out of this. Elaborate on what you think, Fluttershy, and don't hold back from telling me plain and simple that I am wrong if that is the case. I'm a scholar, I'm used to not holding all the answers, though try and keep your emotions in check. There's a limit to how many free swings at me you get."

While that went on, Lotus had jumped over to Angel and patted him on the shoulder to try and get him to calm down.

"Relax, everything is going to be okay. My dragon isn't going to hurt your pony for that. She'll have to say worse things for that."

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@Rising Dusk

8 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

"I hope your stay in Equestria proves there is still good in this world," he offered Null, still needing more information on their experiences in this country.

"Celestia is accepting and kind. The citizens aren't."

"Well, s-some of them. Ponyville was n-nice enough to us, and the g-group we ran into in t-this town can't be how a-all of them are..."

It was easy to hear that Void didn't have too much confidence in her words, though who could really blame her? The folks that had walked into them and found out what they could had been more than happy to not just talk down to the two of them, and refer to them as little more than freaks, but also encourage others to do the same by loudly proclaiming what the sisters could do to anypony near. Rumors had a tendency to spread, so this did not bode well in their experience. It would have boded even less well if Null had actually gotten her hooves on the one shouting the loudest though. That look in her sister's eyes... Void had seen it many times now, but occasionally, it still frightened her. Even if she knew that Null would never harm her.

"That's what we thought about our home too, and it cost me the open sky."

Void winced at the words and looked away, keeping silent now as she attempted to push some bad memories away, gotten on by the poorly thought out words.

Null on the other hoof, looked at her sister and lifted a hoof towards her, though she didn't make contact. For once, the pegasi didn't look angry, but rather distraught as she knew that she had just picked at an old wound that was shared between them. She had lost her wing then, but Void had lost her leg too in the process, and it had started the escalation that led to them fleeing Troy and having to fend for themselves. It was a comment that caused Void emotional pain, and Null hated when she caused that. She were supposed to protect her younger sister from pain, not worsen it.

8 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

Nodding to the kind sister, "I understand. I'll do everything I can," he told her, offering a reassuring smile.

The little exchange caused the mares to not respond to Rising for a dozen or so seconds, though finally, Null's expression hardened again, and her risen hoof went towards Voids, where she gently lifted it up, and away from the bear. Her eyes were locked on the officer as both her and Void were about to exit the range from which their effect worked, and lingered for a few seconds as she gave some final, reassuring words to the officer.

"If it starts eating you, we'll deal with it."

More than that Null didn't give Rising before lifting both her and Void's hooves away, allowing the bear to begin its work.

It were a relatively simple thing to not fall under the sway off. It wasn't a forceful entity, or had any sort of locomotion to bring it over and bring itself into your hooves. Rather, it was just giving off a kind of emotional interference, which caused the ones within a few meters of it to feel the strong urge to pick it up, and bring it back home. If you knew what you were dealing with - as Rising basically did - it would be easy enough to not fall under the sway, but it wasn't meant for his type either. It were meant to just sit somewhere, and eventually be stumbled upon by some hapless fool that didn't know better.

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@BloodDrops @Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @Dji

Anomaly stared at the picture of Lumen for a while, then went into a big grin.

"He needs a third eye and a tentacle, but he's kinda cute even in his boring base form. And he sounds like a real smart pony too. Flamingo's are a bunch of *bird chirping noises*. Oh right, author doesn't want me to swear. Bah.

Anyway, he looks fun. Can I tag along when you slip back to the booping dimension? I dunno how to work those portal thingies.

Say, when Are you going back? Lucid never said anything, and I dunno if you'e here to bring him back or something? Heh, or are you two gonna have some fun here first before going back where nopony knows what you've done? Sounds fun. I haven't had anypony I know on a wanted poster in years.*

Lucid_Nightlight · November 1, 2018

@Blitz Boom @BloodDrops @Storm Shine @Dji

"I'm not really sure when I'm going back. It could be a few week, maybe a lot longer. You never know with this sort of thing."

Novia piped up.

"We could take her to our world, but I don't know if the author guy allows other universes."

"I could just give him a rude gesture and do it anyway if he doesn't allow it."

Please don't, you're gonna get me in trouble.

"Hey! I didn't give you permission to speak!"

Seriously man.

"Fine, I'll only take her there with the author's permission since you are such a big baby."

I'm not a baby!

"Yea, he's not a baby! He's a chicken!"

Catpone Cerberus · November 1, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom

Nada thought for a moment, there was quite lot of information to consider, her thinking fittingly ended just after Berry had finished her story about Windigo. She was floating close enough to the ground for Berry to be possible to hug her, though her hug was more on the lower part of her body since Nada was floating upright. Nada yet again didn't mind the mentioned hug, though this time it was mostly because she almost didn't even notice it happening since she was thinking stuff.

"Thanks Berry, you're right, we still have the original plan, and..." she looked at Serenade "...I think there might be a change that it will go well, since allowing siren even in pony form to their town is a good sign, and I don't have a reason to not believe you..." she was talking directly to Serenade now "....when you say they're accepting type." "One question though Serenade, would you be willing to help us? since you from sound of it know the princesses well. All I need to is get somepony with any power to listen me before trying to forcibly throw me into an another world."

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@Blitz
Ruby was quiet the whole time from collecting the things from the coffin to putting them to wagon and until Marley had already went back down. She didn't need to think long about her next move, even if she ignored the fact that she wanted to talk with Marley, she would still choose to go back down, because she wasn't going to take the risk of getting covered by the foul poison, which, though small, was possible when carrying said substance if for example the jar broke. She started walking before she spoke "I'll go check of he needs an extra hoof with the wall, because no matter how strong he may be, something of that size can be challenging to get up stairs alone." she then headed back in.

When Ruby reached the room where Marley was, she stopped on the doorway and leaned against it with expressionless face, "Though I appreciate you lying to your boss for me, I'd like to know what you have or think you have figured out about me. " her tone was just as emotionless as her face "And on that topic, whatever it is, I'd like to make it clear that it's in your best personal interest to not try to use it against me."

EQ_Theta · November 2, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Just a few things left for me to work on. Shouldn't take too long now," the longma set some finished bolas and one sharpened spear aside. Two more left and they should be ready to go. "By the way, that necklace Lin made for you? It looks good."

Frankly, it was some of the best work Lin has made in years, if ever. She had an idea of what she wanted, and all it needed was a personal touch. Each one a young longma makes is meant to be special, but they were their own intended recipients. This one reflected a different intention. This one was made out of gratitude from two friends, or rather an adopted brother and a sister who appreciated everything Omen has done for them. Maybe Lin might consider reworking the one she gave to Mother. She did admit it was kind of sloppy when she first gave it.

But while Sen was adding the finishing touches on the tools, Lin noticed Omen seemingly unresponsive while Sen was explaining traps to her. Appears to be more than just an overload like last night. Too many words and it appeared like she needed things broken down to the main idea. Or it might be something else. This was all new to her but it looked like Rosa knew how to handle it. She walked up to him, hoping to clear that up.

"Rosa, thanks for helping out Omen back there but how did you do it? That look with Omen about to go still after explaining something to her? It looked like you knew what was going to happen."

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@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

Fluttershy smiled at Nerzhei's comment, about using the book, but ultimately, she was spot on. It wasn't that she was holding her anger back because of being treated like a doormat. That part was in the past. Now it was simply because she is just kindhearted in nature, being around animals meant she didn't have to exert so much effort in being angry because she didn't see the need. And for the most part, growing up in Ponyville meant she was surrounded by good-natured folk who knew a lot about decency. There didn't seem to be much in the way of being irate and losing her cool. Then Iron Will came and changed that, though her change in attitude was really attributed to her misunderstanding the point. Her friends may have thought the minotaur motivational speaker was the one behind it but it was really just her. It had to start somewhere.

"I guess it's just not knowing where being assertive ends and being a jerk begins. I always want to do the kind thing but I am not used to standing up for myself when things don't go my way, even if it is just asking for ponies to move out of the way. I once came across a pony whose cart was blocking a bridge; I lost my composure and threw the pony and her cart into the river. I just wanted to pass and they didn't seem to notice me."

Ah yes, that cart incident. Angel bunny once heard that from the birds passing by the bridge and couldn't believe it himself. A timid pony like Fluttershy flipping a cart over the side of the bridge? It was the strangest thing.

"I'm sure. Nerzhei is not like the other dragons I know. Spike grew up with ponies so he behaves more like them than actual dragons. And that cart incident Fluttershy mentioned? All true."

But on Fluttershy's end, she didn't seem to get the Nerzhei's idea. What she suggested didn't really sound like standing up and being assertive. It came off differently from saying something like "no means no" or putting her foot down and being firm with her words and actions. Snarking isn't conventional for her. For now, however, it seems as if the pegasus is becoming more comfortable and relaxed around the dragon. Certainly feels like being in the vicinity of Dragon Lord Ember when she came to visit the town.

"Nerzhei, what did you mean by that word? Snark? Is it different from being assertive or am I misunderstanding your suggestions?"

Sekel · November 2, 2018

@EQ_Theta, @Blitz Boom, @Seamore Sandwich

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Oh, it's another dragon," Twilight said in quiet surprise. She had finally made it back to the castle after inspecting the town to see if anything had gone amiss with its reformation from the desert. She had noticed that there had been a couple of big patches of sand left to go but other than that, everything seemed to be right as rain. She took it upon herself to make sure her subjects were cared for, which meant taking longer than she had liked to get back home. Once she did, however, she went straight for the library to sort out the books the Sphinx had left her. It didn't go well when she spotted Nerzhei, and Fluttershy. "Um ... did I miss something while I was coming back?"

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

"Yes, I do fear death. I may not have experienced it, being a sludge puddle for most of my existence, but I do know what it is," Atzy said meekly, cowering at the sight of Enzo. She may have been confident at the start but with each question posed to her, her confidence had been struck to the ground and beaten. She let out a pained growl with her hooves on either side of her face before she gasped heavily.

"Enzo? Was it? Or was it Enzio?" Karmic gasped, looking at the Sphinx with wide eyes. She got back control from how Atzy's confidence and she planned in the driver's for a long time to come yet.

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"I saw a Siren, I believe. In disguise," Aurora told Onache. She didn't feel like she should have kept that information secret but in her case, secrets didn't really mean much unless she was keeping them for herself. "I don't know if that means anything for us but I thought I should tell you about it."

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

"I do actually find it more interesting, seeing what other ponies are up to, rather than telling them about my boring life," Watts found herself nodding and agreeing with Zealous. She was of the mind that if her life was boring enough, other ponies would seem a lot more interesting in comparison. At the very least she didn't have to say anything about her inventions to Zealous unless the topic actually came up. She looked Zealous dead in the eyes and smirked. "Let me ask you again. Would you like me to help, or am I going to force myself to be your companion and chase you to the ends of Equestria?"

Rising Dusk · November 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk was a very patient pony and didn't take any issue as the two sisters shared a moment together about the past. Plus, it gave him more to listen to and learn about the two ponies from Troy. It wasn't their words that was all the stallion listened to though, no it was also their body language that told a story. Their pasts appeared to be painted in tragedy, considering how much it had been brought up in just the few minutes he'd met the girls. Dusk wouldn't pretend to be able to relate with the two here. Sure, he'd seen some really dark things in some of the cases he'd worked, but they didn't paint his life. He even had the added benefit, if it could be called that, to not be able to forget anything about what he's seen, down to the finest detail.

A dozen or so seconds passed before the purpose of their trip to the O.M.I.'s basement was brought back to bare. It was nice enough to know though that Null would jump in if any problems happened. He did wonder through how long she'd wait until she did. Her attitude towards him had been rather icy, but at least toward her sister that heart thawed. It finally looked like the sisters were going to remove their null field from the bear now and reveal the curse to him. Here we go.

As the range of their ability moved away from the bear, Dusk blinked and reached out with his special sense. Like a pop-up book, the weave of the spell work on the bear sprang up and around the small object. Inky purple strands swirled in the air, weaving in and out to make a complex tangled mess of a tapestry. His eyes ran over the weave as if he was reading a book, taking everything in about it. The curse oozed with malicious. A lot of ponies didn't understand how much emotion played in their spell work, even down to the simplest of spells. Throwing one's rage into an energy beam for example, would increase it's power but also make it unstable. When he was younger, he always loved to look up at the Moon before bed. Looking at the most beautiful tapestry of spell work he'd ever seen. The colors, the design always awestruck him, but at the same time, it was filled with such sadness. Only later did he find out that it was the spell Princess Celestia had cast to banish Nightmare Moon long ago.

Whoever put the curse on this bear meant for it to be dangerous and to kill. Working through the spell was like trying to solve a puzzle. Different parts of the weave highlighted a different purpose, this strand here kept the curse bound to the bear, that one there strengthened the spell so that when it was devouring it wouldn't just end the curse. This one over there kept a... count of victims, and then this part was that part Void referred to, the spell work that drove the pony looking at it to want to pick it up. To make matters worse, the weave he was looking at actively moved. Twisting and turning, untangling some areas only to tangle it elsewhere. The longer he stared at it though, the more his eyes kept darting back to the bear itself. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself.

The magic circle craved into the wood of the table flared for a moment before quickly dying out. This curse was too powerful for the general protection spell. His horn ignited with an orange glow. After a few moments of him collecting his thoughts, black wisps appeared to mix in with the glow of his magic. Time to get to work. Solving these types of curses was very dangerous, which is why the O.M.I. doesn't recommended doing this for the untrained. If a pony wasn't careful, one could actually make it worse rather than better. Dispelling one area might open a flood gate of disaster if not accounted for.

A small black wisp slashed in the air near the bear, sniping on of the strands in the magic weave. Another one appeared in a different area by the bear a second later, then another and another and another. A rapid flurry of small wisps danced around the bear. While the sisters could see the black wisps, they likely couldn't see what they were actually doing. Dusk could, of course. The inky purple tapestry was being cut to ribbons, but in a very specific order. His mind raced as he kept pace with the changing and slowly shrinking curse. Unraveling the terror that corrupted the poor bear toy, playing a very dangerous game of Cat's Cradle. The further he went, the bear started to hiss and a loud scream like the steam of a tea kettle filled the basement. Seconds passed before Rising Dusk flicked his horn, followed by a loud pop and sizzle. The black wisps attacking the bear stopped and then slowly disappeared from the orange glow of his magic as well. When the last wisp left, his magic extinguished all together.

Blinking, he reached up and poked the bear toy and it tumbled over, harmless. "That was a rather nasty piece of work," he admitted.

Moonlit · November 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade nods, and settles down to listen to the Siren's story. "Princess Luna got me my job, and I trust her. In fact, she's the one who made my Amulet" She indicates the jewel around her neck.

Emperor Azurailo · November 4, 2018

On 10/30/2018 at 9:20 PM, Blitz Boom said:

"You just need to add some feet and locomotion to your carts. It's pretty easy, long as you set some sensors up here and there. I'll show you how to set it up later if ya want, so you can take advantage of all the passage ways."

It wasn't that Molotov were uninterested in what were shown in the lab entrance in front of him. Not in the slightest. In fact, the touch pad alone had him wandering up and taking a closer look. It was just that this were a small issue in Molotov's eyes that he knew a solution to, and he loved solutions to problems. It were the sort of thing inventors did after all. Solving issues that others hadn't figured out yet, and he could wait a few seconds to go down that route before going straight into the lab itself.

And boy howdy did he want to do that as he saw the door slide open - he had got to try and get the details on this scanner for his own workshop - and revealed a glorious space that any inventor worth his screwdrivers would be thrilled to work in.

And yes, that was a plural of screwdriver, as in his family, you weren't an inventor unless you had at least six, and that was just in the starting kit. Personally, Molotov had fourteen, not counting the ones in his travel kit. Mainly because they were duplicates, and everything else were for each their own situation.

"Now This is what I'm talking about! Oh, I have got to check out that chassis area."

Unless some kind of security system would stop him. Molotov would wander straight ahead and check out the area where the outer shell got put together. The engine was sure something he wanted to have a look at as well, no doubt about it, but a machine was only as good as it's chassis, and he wanted to see what sort of materials this guy were using to get the job done with that before checking what made it all tick. Perhaps something with Deep Iron? Sturdy stuff, albeit difficult to mine, and with a price tag on it that spoke clearly about that.

"And hey, while I remember it, you don't need to get all embarrassed about your man crush 'round me, Blue. Love's a beautiful thing, and I ain't one of them backwards hicks who gets all icky about same-sex partners. Ain't hurting anypony, so what's the point in meddling with their happiness, right? Now go ahead and tell ol' Molotov here what sweet little things goes through this beauty of a workshop, 'cause it sure looks like a place for solid construction."

"Ooh, interesting! I'd love you to show me. Hope your mechanical cart feet will be able to support heavy things though. And when I speak about heavy, I'm speaking about things weighing around ten metric tons at least. That's why I demanded an elevator in the first place."

The Pegasus chuckled when Molotov rushed straight up towards the chassis area. There indeed were security features in his lab, but since the lab AI system knew it was Azure through the touch pad recognition, these would be deactivated. The chassis' two ends had a different shape, as the front end tended to be more aerodynamical whereas the rear end was blunt. And Azure had an explanation to that. "What I'm working on right now is a sun-powered high speed train. I call it Celestial Express 125. Celestial in honor of Princess Celestia who raises the Sun, source of power for this train. Express because it's supposed to be a quick high speed train, and is supposed to run from Appleloosa all the way up to the Crystal Empire with only an intermediate stop on the way: Canterlot. And finally 125 because its maximum in-service speed is supposed to be 125 miles per hour. To make it simple, that locomotive would be fast and clean. I haven't done the cars though, they're coming after and between the two power cars, one at each end so the train will be twice as powerful as a regular train, and won't need the locomotive to go all the way around to hook up at the front when arriving at last stops, gain of time intended. That's why you can see a blunt end on the chassis. This blunt end is expected to be facing the passenger cars, while the more aerodynamical end will have to cut through the air efficiently. As you may know, air is speed's worst enemy. Trains are no exception to that. And I bet my cutie mark that you thought it was steel or iron, but no. This particular chassis is made out of aluminium. Yup, you heard me: aluminium. Pretty cool isn't it? I've chosen this material because it's way lighter than iron. And when it comes to speed, the lighter the better. The same goes for the cars I'll build after."

"Thanks for being that understanding, Molotov. It really means to me." the Pegasus replied with a thankful smile. "Yes, you're all right. Not all ponies seem to understand this though, sadly."

"Well any kind of train can be built here. This place is only for prototypes though, since it's my personal workshop. Once I've built it and got positive test results, I send it to the Equestrian Railway factories for high rate production. I've got the tools to build any kind of train except the magnetic levitation ones. I struggle more with steam engines, considering the fact that these are genuine bombs on rails. The boiler may explode if housing too much pressure. And I could speak about what I do here for days, but I think you don't want me to speak about that, do you?" The Pegasus teased, knowing of course that this was what Molotov was waiting for since they've entered the lab.

EQ_Theta · November 4, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"Oh, Twilight! I did not expect to see you back so soon," the pegasus turned, seeing the princess standing behind her.

She thought she'd be spending a little more time with the sphinx despite knowing she'd be back anytime. Maybe everyone back at the temple was already heading off on their own paths or still hanging around and making conversation. It could swing either way. Although that might mean Anomaly dropped off the dracolisk at her home. Hopefully the animals back at the cottage would introduce themselves. At the very least, Harry could do the honors; Angel normally did that but he can be a little gruff around the edges. It can wait for a while, and the dracolisk might even prefer Pringle's company over the other animals at the cottage.

"Nerzhei is teaching me to be assertive. I still remember that incident with Iron Will and seeing how Pinkie and Rarity were concerned about what I learned, I thought maybe I should ask someone else. Although come to think of it, Lotus and Angel talked me into it."

Off to the side, Angel waved towards Twilight, smiling and nodding. For the most part, she was just drawing attention to himself and maybe to Lotus.

Blitz Boom · November 5, 2018

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

Berry listened with interest as the two sirens talked about things again, and got further and further along towards the path they should take. It was great that they had met Serenade so that these sort of things could be ironed out before Nada even began approaching a princess, unsure about what to do, or whatever or not she'd be thrown head first through a portal to some strange other world, or whatever were on the other side.

"Then we really need to have a sit-down with Princess Luna at some point, that's for sure.

Not because of the amulet, I got the hint there, but we'd need support from more than Twilight on this to make the citizen's less paranoid about all of this. She might've saved our flanks quite a few times, but she's still new to being in charge, whilst Luna - even with her exile - have a lot of experience. They'd trust her judgement on this more if they openly see either of the two biggies support it, and if Luna's this chummy with you, Serenade, she's probably our best bet.

Nut you know, that's just my take on this. You've been through all of this, so you'd probably know the best way to approach this, right? Say what we need to do chief."

The mare made a short, cheeky salute towards Serenade, as she waited to hear what they were going to need to do to really get through with this. Even in disguise, Serenade should know the ins and outs of this process better than either Nada or Berry could hope to guess their way to, so frankly, the best they could do were to listen in on how to step this minefield without setting something off. Hopefully it wouldn't involve anything crazy, but in and around Ponyville? Crazy tended to be the way things worked more often than you might think.

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@Catpone Cerberus

Spicy waved dismissively at Ruby as she said she were wandering off. The mare were far more interested in securing their valuable cargo than to babysit their new business partner, and if she were going down there, then she could have a glance more around to see if there was something shiny she'd missed the first time. Plus, Marley could keep an eye on her, just to be on the safe side. Weren't any reason to spare it much of a thought really, compared to making sure they didn't lose thousand of bits on these jars breaking.

Below the surface, Marley were heard whistling before Ruby would even get to him, and when entering, she'd be able to see him press hard at the stone wall with the tip of his talons, methodically loosening the mortar in the wall in what were going to be a rectangle around the imagery. Long as he were careful to hit around the lines where the rocks were set to begin with, and didn't go too close, it shouldn't crack into pieces, though Ruby likely didn't care about it in the slightest, even if she focused on what he were doing in the first place.

He didn't stop doing this either as Ruby came down there and blocked the way out. The griffon merely let out a small chuckle once more.

"You needn't worry, I have no intentions of using anything I have learned against you. We all have baggage in our resume that we would prefer to not have shone a light on, and I hardly see the point in using it as leverage in negotiations or the like. It would only ruin a perfectly good working relationship, and result in potential scorching of myself.

Though as I hope you understand, my silence on this is reliant on you not starting to try and oust either of us about what we do. If you begin to spout out about the things you will see when we are to sell this perfume, or attempt to dig out some of my past sins, things might become -"

He dug in with his talons and caused a section of solid rock to crack like it were a mere dry branch beneath his grip.

"- regrettable."

A short laughter escape him as he dusted off his talons and turned to face Ruby.

"But I see no reason we can't all get along. We are both intelligent beings, and can surely agree that certain things are best to keep to ourselves, yes? I give you my word that unless you force me to do so otherwise, I will not share a word of this with anyone, and I will not leverage my knowledge to gain advantages over you. My words may currently mean little to you, but you will come to learn that I honor my promises, long as that goes both ways.

As for what I know, it is simply that you hide your scaly form within the frail frame of a pony. Why you do so, or how for that matter, is none of my business. You are entitled to your privacy after all, though I will not lie and claim that I hold no curiosity for the answers. Who wouldn't after all? It is simply not something I have the right to dig into, though it is a risk to leave such an uncertainty as you around Spicy and I. Yet sometimes, one needs to trust their own judgement, such as I am doing with you my dear.

Now then, will there be more, or shall we commence with you threatening me and everyone I know in case I breath a word of this? I have dealt with dragons before, and know the general penance for theatrical, overblown statements of excessive violence for the slightest misstep."

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@EQ_Theta

"Most of what I've done through my life involves a need to be observant, and I heard what you two were speaking of earlier, so I had a theory I wanted to test from that.

From what I can tell, it seems as if Omen is much like a filing cabinet. You keep throwing files in there which have not yet been processed and put into other drawers, and eventually nothing more can be put in. It merely stands open and waits to be sorted through. So I pondered if it would help to not try and shove more information to sort through for her, and *process the file* beforehoof for her. It seems to have worked for the time being, but we must be somewhat careful. I think we will need her to be as unburdened by additional questions as we can in what is to come."

Rosa knew well that the comparison was perhaps not the most flattering, as he connected a object with a living being, but it were the one that made the most sense to him. Omen were by all accounts a creation, and one who had not had the attention to detail when it came to her head as a regular being like Sen, Lin or himself had. Likely even the refraction had a more functional system going in his head compared to Omen, regardless of hos young it were. It were a rather big problem in his mind, because it meant having to be careful about what and when to inform Omen of things she might not understand, for fear of her having to shut down to sort through the worst of it, which could happen at a very inopportune time. If it were up to Discord or whoever Mother were that Omen were build together like that, he didn't know, but one or both of them had messed up big time.

"When all of this is done, I would advise you to leave her be for a while, until she can get sorted through what lurks in her mind, or it may happen with some degree of frequency. Regardless, we'll need to get one thing sorted before the next here, so let's finish packing up and t hen get on our way."

Meanwhile, Omen had shifted her focus towards Sen, whilst everypony else were more or less about ready to get a move on, and wandered over towards him.

"Thank you? Lin said it was special."

She was unsure if this was a time to say thank you, but if that were so, she'd be told she had messed up and could learn from that. Just like she sought to learn from what Sen was working with right now, as Omen had never bit much notice in weapon making before. She had seen the finished work of course, and several times because they were directed towards her back in the olden days, but it were different from seeing it in the making.

"Have you made many weapons before?"

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@EQ_Theta @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

On 11/2/2018 at 5:02 AM, EQ_Theta said:

"I guess it's just not knowing where being assertive ends and being a jerk begins. I always want to do the kind thing but I am not used to standing up for myself when things don't go my way, even if it is just asking for ponies to move out of the way. I once came across a pony whose cart was blocking a bridge; I lost my composure and threw the pony and her cart into the river. I just wanted to pass and they didn't seem to notice me."

"So not as much internal rage as I first assumed, but the emotional extremes seem to be fitting so far. You aren't seen, heard, or taken serious, so you shift entirely and go too far towards being pushy, and impossible not to bite notice in. Sounds like the big issue here really is to find you a balance in situations like the bridge incident, and have you learn where the right amount of harshness to mix with yourself.

This is... Problematic really. Learning how to even out would be somewhat easy to learn a dragon, but you ponies aren't like this. You don't carry that inherent need for harshness and crude behavior that we do, so finding the harmony is going to be an issue. I don't think snark will work either, as you seem to want to remain a kind being, and snark tends to work poorly with that."

The dragon rubbed two fingers on her forehead, keeping down a weak migraine attack that were bubbling around a little as Nerzhei twisted and turned the problems in her head.

"Tell me if this is about right for a pony. You want to be able to stand up for yourself enough so that, if you end up with the bridge situation again, you can go up with some degree of confidence, poke him on the shoulder, and say clearly that you want to pass? And if that then doesn't work, to be able to just push the cart aside since you weren't left with many other options, but without throwing anyone off said bridge?"

As a dragon it was simply *Get off, or I'll make you* but threats didn't seem to be the pony way from what she could gather, and honestly, it wasn't as if Fluttershy were looking scary at all. She seemed absolutely harmless, which might also add to her problem. It was hard to take one serious and care if you didn't appear to be one who would even raise her voice up to you.

It was about this time that the princess came back, and with a rather strange comment to boot. Nerzhei had explained who she were earlier, right? Then why did it sound as if the princess had not seen her before? Perhaps the bookish pony were simply dealing with other things, or had forgotten, as the meeting were brief after all, so Nerzhei would give the mare some leeway.

"As Fluttershy said, I am focused on trying to help her. And if you're worried about your library, I have sorted through some of the books that somehow ended up all over the place, after following some ponies in there earlier. Your shelves needs a clean up though. Several titles doesn't fit with where they're positioned, based on the sections I could see, though I am impressed with the size of your collection. It's more books than I have encountered in the past three hundred years."

Nerzhei wanted to go through the situation with the book that she carried with her, to see if perhaps the princess would find interest in it, but there had to be handled one thing at a time, and currently, her focus should be set on Fluttershy, who had brought up the bunny duo a little before. Something which could work as a kind of example perhaps.

She pointed a scaled finger towards Lotus, who stood with her arms crossed and stared right back into the dragons face.

"Lotus's situation is somewhat similar to yours. She had to learn to stand up for herself around creatures that saw her as cutesy and defenseless at best, and food at worst. She became assertive, though the issue here is one that I don't want to pass on to you, which is violence. Learning from dragons tends to lead to aggressive tendencies, and by all accounts, that is not where you wish to go. You won't need it either, as your surroundings are kinder than where we are from, which is another issue: Fitting in. Lotus doesn't belong with regular bunnies because of her pride and aggression, which is a route we have to avoid with you, agreed?"

A thing which Lotus responded to by pulling her tongue at the scaled female.

"I'm perfectly normal. It's everyone else that's too scared of everything. Except for Angel. He knows how to act."

Lotus had seen Angel doing things a few times in town that showed he wasn't one of the usual cuddly bunnies who'd scream and run away if you even got close to them, which were just a massive plus. She hated those, always just running off, huddling together and look at her like she were some kind of freak... She didn't belong among those. Never had, never would.

And speaking of belonging, the other dragon in question had come up, which she hadn't even told Nerzhei about before since it just seemed weird, so she wasn't sure if it were actually a dragon, or just a pet in a costume. She had been considering telling her dragon about it, but then everything happened with the zombie, then sphinx and so on... Things just went haywire. Seemed like as good a time as any to address it now though.

"I saw you being after a small dragon once when I jumped through town. Was that Spike? He's tiny."

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

@Dji

"It's Enzo."

Enzo gave off an offended snort towards who he would assume were Karmic. It seemed now the controls had changed at least, as the voice and look on the pony's face were less hardened than Atzy's. A good timing too, as this would allow him to hear the side of the story from the other part without being filtered through the parasitic ooze.

"Your struggle will tear away at the body you share. A solution have to be found, which can allow for you both to live, though what is your true meaning on this? She does not wish to die, and you have no desire to hold her within your being. What problem is there in working towards spawning her into a new host? Fear of what she may do? Simple pride? A want to harvest her powers into your own being? Or perhaps a sadistic want to end a life, rather than save it?

*Sigh* You ponies are enigmas in your way of thinking sometimes. Who can really tell what lurks beneath your innocent appearance?"

His head sunk down again, with his ears followed troop as he had yet another mood swing. Dust whirled up around them when his chin made contact with the ground, though his eyes did not leave Karmic for the time being.

"What is it that you plan to do about it all?"

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@Dji @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Lucid_Nightlight

"Pff, I'm not scared of the author. He'll just cry because he missed me."

Take her, please. I could use the break from trying to stop her from destroying anything in this world. Your world, your problem.

"Hey! Nopony asked you for your opinion!"

They did, and I'm begging them to take you away whenever they're going away. Might actually be able to permanently shield the breezies from you when I don't need to constantly keep you in check.

"Oh sure, you can say that word, but I can't? Hypocrite monkey man.

Bah, boo to him. I'm going when you're leaving, and then I'll return to make a whole lot of mess. And no worries on the time. Unless I go coo-coo and needs to be killed again, I have all the time in the world.

So... What're you gonna do now then? Sight-seeing? House hunting? *unintelligibly screeching noises*? Hey wait a minute, that last one wasn't even bad! I meant it like with crows, not the stabby kind.

Is your author guy kinda stupid too?"

There's no need to be rude here.

While all the fourth wall breaking was going on over with the goof troop, Onache were getting a cold, dark flare in her eyes as the mention of a siren being spotted were mentioned by Aurora.

"Where, pray tell, did you see this unsightly gnat of a being?"

The word dripped with poison, and caused Happy to step in and try to calm things down before this became the start of a lynch mob, or something equally painful.

"Does it really matter, my queen? We don't need to fight over food with their kind anymore, and if the siren comes in here, we can deal with it."

"I am well aware of the circumstances, but that does not make me more pleased with them being within a mile of my vicinity. I want to know who it is that hides among the ponies, that I may personally confront the creature and see if there is a need for a swift strike.

You, tell me where it were that you saw this thing, and it what false form it hides?"

Onache's eyes and words were softer as she addressed Aurora again, but what her plan were now weren't exactly certain. Did she want to attack the siren on sight? Forgive? Just try and talk? It seemed like she may elect to not outright attempt to pulverize the creature, but it were difficult to tell, even for Happy, who considered himself to know his queen as well as he realistically could, considering how often he were away from the hive.

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@Rising Dusk

What in the world were they looking at right now?

It had all started off pretty simple really. The hoof had been risen, the officer stood ready to do something, and Null were debating whatever or not a few life-long scars wouldn't be good for Rising. All pretty standard, normal things.

Then all of a sudden, the officer had begun using his magic to work on this, and things just felt like they stood still.

Dark wisps were dancing over the bear in a strange, almost dance-like pattern, booping at something the sisters could not see, yet which at the same time had them transfixed and silent every step of the way. Anticipating something to happen, good or bad, as the dancing wisps drew more and more of their attention away.

It were hypnotic to them in a sense, to see these wisps attack what they had held on to for several years by now, though neither had any idea if it even did something. The table drawings seemed to react to it, but it barely registered with them, as the process just wandered on in a seamlessly calm and harmless fashion. That were, until the bear started to hiss, though for some reason, they couldn't get riled up about it. Both Null and Void felt surprisingly calm, and instead of Void screeching and Null growling, they just stood there, barely even blinking as the last few seconds of the procedure commenced, and then... *Poof* It were gone as suddenly as it had started, and the wisps vanished from sight one by one.

Void slowly started to raise a hoof as she saw Rising get closer to the bear, but it didn't do anything when he made contact.It fell to the floor, motionless and likely for the first time since it had been sown, clear of any malice that it had been created with.

Somewhere, far, far away from this building, a witch would notice this too, and gnash teeth over losing this spellwork for good, but nopony here would be aware of it, or likely ever impacted. Harrowmark citizens were incredibly rare sights in Equestria, as they overall did not think fondly of the way the country were run, and didn't feel like their customs and traditions were welcome, so they generally stayed away. Only one group of settlers had ever set hoof in Equestria with the intent of living there as a community, and they kept to themselves, which mostly only led to sightings of these kinds of ponies to those who could not stomach the life in Harrowmark, and those searching for rare herbs that only Equestria possessed, who refused to buy them from travelling sellers. Neither of those two examples tended to last long within the borders, and if they did decide to stay behind, they abandoned everything they grew up with and did their best to convert to the Equestrian lifestyle, or became solitary loners.

One thing tended to be for sure though: Where you'd find a pony from Harrowmark, you'd find a zebra within walking distance. The two groups had much in common, and what towns were of the striped equines in the nearby countries, usually had trade deals with Harrowmark to exchange valuable herbs and other ingredients from both sides. Seeking them out in Equestria was kind of a comfort thing, even for those who would never pick up a cauldron again for as long as they lived.

As for right here and now, in this basement, Void looked at the bear, then back over at Rising as his words began to register with her.

"Dark magic thrives in Harrowmark. None of what we took from there are any kinder than this."

Null were the first to snap out of the semi.trance that the two were in right now, and the frown returned to her face, whilst a more calm, collected one remained on Void's. The larger earth pony likely did not want to return from it as much as Null wanted, as moments of calm in Void's life were rare, but it would soon catch up to her. It always did.

"I guess you really know your stuff. Do you want to try a really nasty one?"

Her words were challenging, but far kinder than what she had sounded like so far, all the way down to the tone itself. It may be strange, but it would certainly be better for Rising than the spiked anger and hostility.

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

@Emperor Blu Traincrown

On 11/4/2018 at 10:31 AM, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Ooh, interesting! I'd love you to show me. Hope your mechanical cart feet will be able to support heavy things though. And when I speak about heavy, I'm speaking about things weighing around ten metric tons at least. That's why I demanded an elevator in the first place."

"The mine shaft back home could do that, so I don't see why I couldn't get it sorted for you. Might be simpler to just tear down a few sections of the walls here and there and build in some retractable arms to sort you out instead, but I'll need to see how many parts you'd want to move things in first, and the stairs as a whole. They might need to be reinforced too. I'm thinking Deep Iron, Fahrenweltz plating, the whole works. It's gonna be heavy, but it'll be build to last."

Technically he did have access to a metal that were stronger than Deep Iron, and no, not one of the insanely expensive ones. It was a composition the alchemy lab had mixed up back in Center Zero which made for light metal that could take a beating to a point where not even one of his grandpa's best explosives could make much of a dent in it. However, it were insanely difficult to produce, work with, and once it had settled, there's be no turning back. Not unless you wanted to lob the whole thing in a pit of lava for six days.

Felicia had been crafted with what he had been able to scrounge up, but he still hadn't gotten 'round to finding some braniac that could help him get this sort of thing made. The one the alchemy lab had wanted to take the mantle on this had passed away a year before with no replacement in the papers, so Molotov had to try and scout one out for himself, and that was frankly not easy. Especially since the best alchemists were zebras, and they generally had no interest in the technical terms and technology required for these sort of things.

So no, he'd keep that one on the lowdown for now, though considering what came next from Azure, it definitely sounded like he'd have just the pony to share it with if it was figured out how to mass produce this thing. And one who'd for sure be worth it too, since Azure worked on making Equestria better in the name of Celestia, which were most definitely something the loyalists of the Boom family could agree on.

On 11/4/2018 at 10:31 AM, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"What I'm working on right now is a sun-powered high speed train. I call it Celestial Express 125. Celestial in honor of Princess Celestia who raises the Sun, source of power for this train. Express because it's supposed to be a quick high speed train, and is supposed to run from Appleloosa all the way up to the Crystal Empire with only an intermediate stop on the way: Canterlot. And finally 125 because its maximum in-service speed is supposed to be 125 miles per hour. To make it simple, that locomotive would be fast and clean. I haven't done the cars though, they're coming after and between the two power cars, one at each end so the train will be twice as powerful as a regular train, and won't need the locomotive to go all the way around to hook up at the front when arriving at last stops, gain of time intended. That's why you can see a blunt end on the chassis. This blunt end is expected to be facing the passenger cars, while the more aerodynamical end will have to cut through the air efficiently. As you may know, air is speed's worst enemy. Trains are no exception to that. And I bet my cutie mark that you thought it was steel or iron, but no. This particular chassis is made out of aluminium. Yup, you heard me: aluminium. Pretty cool isn't it? I've chosen this material because it's way lighter than iron. And when it comes to speed, the lighter the better. The same goes for the cars I'll build after."

"A sun powered, high speed train, named after Princess Celestia? It's... So beautiful."

A tear ran from his left eye, though he quickly brushed it away and went to work examining the thing properly, though of course, his yap couldn't stay closed during this.

"Have you considered baking the carts into the design? A few flexible points to deal with the sways on the train tracks, and it could stand the test of keeping folks safe, and not in fear of some dingus taking off one of the carts. Or are you thinking it'd be done mechanically, via buttons and machines? A robot unit of sorts? Ooooh, are you wanting this to be manned entirely by machines? Some food carts on wheels, robot staff, the entire unit set to drive on pre-installed commands... This baby could be completely automated without adding all that much weight.

Have you properly reinforced the aluminium to make sure it doesn't start to crack under pressure when the speed goes high? It's light, but it's not the strongest metal against pressure. A proper reinforcement the right areas, even with a few layers of alliminium and some proper bolts will do wonders. And please tell me you're not using standard bolts for this. You gotta be using at least a Geo-Vector 9 grade here, right? The regular stuff just ain't gonna cut it for the kinds of speeds you're hoping this beauty is gonna put out.

Say, have you considered adding some radios in whatever carts you have going too? Make it all cozy and stuff for folks, and the right setup can give some really crisp sound from the conductor when he needs to start speaking. I know a few tricks to make it so that you can even hear the nervous sweat going down his face the first time the key's get turned.

But all of that can wait, we need to get to the real heart of all of this: How're you powering it through solar alone? Are you using magic amplifiers, or full on, no magic power sourcing? Because if you got the last one down, I really wanna swap some designs for a taste of that. I can't get the last bit of magic required for the designs I got going, and it'd be immense for my wings if I could. The less issues anti magic brings the better. For this train too."

On 11/4/2018 at 10:31 AM, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Well any kind of train can be built here. This place is only for prototypes though, since it's my personal workshop. Once I've built it and got positive test results, I send it to the Equestrian Railway factories for high rate production. I've got the tools to build any kind of train except the magnetic levitation ones. I struggle more with steam engines, considering the fact that these are genuine bombs on rails. The boiler may explode if housing too much pressure. And I could speak about what I do here for days, but I think you don't want me to speak about that, do you?"

Molotov looked up from his current check of the cockpit area to send Azure a wide grin.

"Don't go try and tease me just to pull back, train master. You know I wanna hear what you got going for you in this paradise, and if you're real nice, I can help you sort your steam engine problem. Believe me, if there's anything that can explode, a Boom have figured out how to stop it, or make it worse. Sometimes both."

Rest in peace, great, great grandpa Magnitude Boom. The memory will live on, even if everything within a 3 mile radius certainly didn't.

Lucid_Nightlight · November 5, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Storm Shine @BloodDrops

"Hey author guy, you still gotta follow us and write down everything Anomaly is doing."

He opened a portal in front of his computer and stuck his head through.

"Did you really forget that little detail?"

"Hey Anomaly, does your author always forget these things like a dummy head?"

Easy on the insults, I'm the one who gets in trouble if you make him mad. Other than that, you have a point...

...unless this whole thing doesn't extend outside this universe, then I'm gonna have to just make you stay here.

"Sounds fair enough, we could also stay here and find Anomaly a boyfriend if that is the case."

Sounds good to me.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Catpone Cerberus · November 5, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Moonlit
"What Berry said." Nada said after Berry had finished, she agreed with her and didn't really have anything to add "You both know more about current day ponies than me, and you Serenade know the princesses better than either of us." "So what do you suggest?" she would have said that they should just go to Luna right now, but she had a feeling that they would need to go through the town for that, because she didn't really think that with the forest being so much thicker, the old castle from her time was still where the rulers stayed, and going through pony civilization wasn't a good idea before she had met somepony.

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@Blitz Boom

So he had found out the truth, Ruby didn't know if she should be impressed of him or disappointed of herself, but she was glad that he knew what was best to him, it would have been a shame to end this mutually beneficial relationship. Marley's act of strength with the rock was nothing else but amusing to her, in this form it could have done some damage sure, but if ever came to it, he could do nothing.

She looked at Marley, looking slightly amused, but her voice still laced all emotion "That tough shell of yours is quite amusing little birdie, but I am glad that we understand each other." "I assure you that I couldn't care less about your past, nor do I have any use to go around telling your doings to ponies, because as I have already stated, I only do things that benefit me, and law has nothing to offer me." "Even in event that you or that boss of yours break our deal, it's lot more beneficial to kill you than bring you to the law don't you think." she smirked "Thought you don't need to worry about those you know, because unlike the local type, I like to deal with my problems directly, and until I I happen to be hungry I have no need for disposing anyone else from your circles." suddenly her eyes changed to those of a reptile "And I do hope you don't become a problem." they changed back to normal.

One could think that she had told more than she needed to, but she knew exactly what she was doing, she wanted Marley to know that he was dealing with someone greater than the local gem eaters.

Her tone then changed back to her usual, just a bit less emotionless tone "I came to see if you needed help carrying that wall."

EQ_Theta · November 6, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"I guess you can say that, but not many I remember using," Sen fondly closed his eyes as he finished tying the last of the stones together. All spears and bolas done, he packed up their gear, stood up and looked up to the sky, feeling wistful about it.

"It was part of hunter training, being able to craft weapons like these. Building them and using them, both important. If you didn't know how to use one, building one was useless. And if you didn't know how to build one, you can forget about using them. I never got to try them all but these were the basics. Seeing these for the first time made me want to build one for myself and got me interested in becoming a hunter. And don't feel unsure about the compliment, you wear that necklace well! You'd be the envy of the village; nobody ever made those to give to another."

Lin noticed the two going about, seeing Sen reminisce about the old days when he was a lot younger but full of spirit. She misses those days when he'd come home, drenched in rain or panting from exhaustion, but full of zeal. He'd teach her about the things he learned, indirectly equipping her with the skills she never knew she'd need many years down the road. It was a exciting all things considered. She wouldn't have the physical prowess to ever fit the ideal of the hunters but she was thankful Sen taught her something.

She had finished putting everything away, and still had time to see a little bit of the younger Sen return in some form. More time to understand Omen now as she needed something to keep her cautious and aware of what she could do to improve her teaching methods.

"I see. I guess simple explanations should be the way to go. And she needs time for herself when things get a little too complicated. Anyway, looks like Sen is about done. I think we can head out now."

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@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"You're right. I want to learn about being assertive without being a jerk. What do you have in mind so I can learn to find balance? I wouldn't want to throw somepony over a bridge because I didn't get my way."

Frankly, the pegasus knew a thing or two about being assertive already. She had a chance to test it out when Iron Will demanded payment for a service the pegasus was ultimately unsatisfied with. A start, but she didn't see much use of those skills after. Maybe with misbehaving animals but that was a different story. She can be firm with them but that was because she was confident around them. Her ability to understand and communicate with a wide variety of them meant she knew how to interact and win them over. Her kind personality was a big plus. With ponies, she was more or less a doormat.

As for Angel, he turned back to Lotus with her question. Spike being a young dragon was a new sight, but one that everyone in town had grown used to seeing. He has a lot in common with them, the attitude, the way he carries himself in and around other ponies. He's pretty much one of the ponies despite being Twilight's assistant and a go-between for the princesses in Canterlot. A royal correspondence messenger is about right for a job title, on top of being a library organizer.

"Purple with green spikes? That's him. He's a young dragon who was raised by Twilight. I hear he'd good friends with another dragon named Ember. When she last came by, I heard she calls herself a 'Dragon Lord?' That's a title in the dragon lands right? Something like a king?"

Moonlit · November 6, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade looks up, "I would suggest a meeting between Luna, Twilight, Celestia, and us. Somewhere quiet, somewhere where nobody can get spooked...how about my place? Luna has been there before, and it's outside of Ponyville proper."

Rising Dusk · November 7, 2018

@Blitz Boom

During the act of removing the curse from the bear, Rising Dusk wasn't able to observe that the two sisters from Troy had been staring in a trance at his work. His focus on the task at hoof had to be spot on for such a complex spell. There were quite a few times in undoing that spell it could have spiraled out of control, as several of those stands in the weave were specially designed to keep the spell from just erupting. When he finished though, he managed to catch a glimpse of the tail end of their trance. Not that he'd be too surprised. Dusk's particular set of magic was unique, as far we he could tell. He had to admit though, the pony that cast the curse on the bear was really talented. And dangerous. Luckily the spell weave was locked in his mind like a signature, he'd have to keep an eye out for this type of magic again.

As a place of dark magic, Harrowmark seemed like a place he both wanted to visit, and equally stay away from. His pride as an officer of the law told him he should, to combat the dark magics that was his duty as a Spell Breaker. On the other hoof though... He'd probably be treated as badly as the two sisters. If nullifying magic in a small area angers the witches, him breaking their spells completely wouldn't be taken to so kindly either. Not too big of a concern though, as it wasn't in his jurisdiction, short of a Princess herself telling him otherwise. Nodding to Void when she brought up the topic.

Null though, seemed to want to up the game. He sort of figure those few short words were about the only compliments he was going to get from her for a while. A challenge too in her tone, but at least it wasn't dripping with the venom he'd been subjected to thus far. Dusk was curious though how the sisters determined which of the cursed artifacts they were carrying was more dangerous than another. The O.M.I. had it's own rating system, mostly focused on how complex the spell itself was, rather than what it could do. Dark magic could curse a jewel with enough power to level a city block with a talented enough caster, but the spell work itself could be undone by Rising Dusk with a flick of his horn. While on the other hoof, a spell that simply locked a door could take him hours to untangle. As two ponies that couldn't see the spell weave of magic, he wondered what they considered nastier.

"I'll do my best," he replied and nodded to Null.

Blitz Boom · November 7, 2018

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

"So now we have a plan and a setting for it to get done? This here's going perfect."

Serenade confirming how they were gonna attack this, as well as offering her place to get things done in, were really a big help. There were still a few quirks to sort out of course, but things were really starting to go the right way, and since Serenade didn't live inside Ponyville, but more on the far outskirts/outside town, they could get Nada there without getting her seen and causing a ruckus. It was about as good as could be.

"Now we just need to figure out the timing. Gonna end up taking at least a day to get the princesses ready, considering they should've gone back to Canterlot, right?"

A stick suddenly began to float nearby, and under wonky looks from Berry, would write into the dirt "Celestia is in Ponyville castle" before the stick fell down like it had never been used.

The strange actions came out of nowhere, and ended without a clue as to who or what had done so. There didn't seem to be a source for it, even though Berry kept looking around in confusion to find if perhaps a unicorn were playing a trick on the group. Who was it that could be spying on them, and at the same time knew where the princess were? Had to be somepony really good at keeping a low profile, because even looking through the bushes, Berry weren't seeing anypony.

Serenade might've forgotten about the originator too, seeing as how long it had been since Cherish had last done anything, but as the siren still carried the piece of the old castle that the currently incorporeal ghost possessed (I checked, she had it last) the spirit had been bound to follow, and until now also keep passive, as she were asked. She would've stayed that way too, but it were just... She hadn't expected to keep down for so long, and perhaps even being forgotten entirely, so when there had been a question that seemed like it needed to be answered, she had interfered a little. Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue, and would just help a little.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"No need to worry yourself, I have this under control."

Marley returned to crackingt hrough the mortar with ease and begin releasing the section of wall this were tied to. Done right, it shouldn't collapse on either of them, though it would hardly do any damage to the two beings. A dragon had tough scales, and Marley were not taken down by a mere slide of bricks. There'd need to be a greater amount of them to make it an issue, which hopefully would not come into play.

"Ah, and just so you know, I hardly think it possible that I can do much harm to you, depending on your true size, but I'm afraid such... Theatrical responses are a part of the job that is hard to simply not include. You would be surprised how many more takes notice of your words by even a small sign like that. Ponies, am I right?"

He chuckled as dust rolled down his hand, and collecting on the floor in small piles.

"I must say, it is highly fascinating to be around someone else with a flair for the dramatic. The little trick with your eyes especially were a rather delightful detail, though your threats may need a little work. It may just be a personal preference, but I do like some subtlety, rather than bluntly saying that you will murder us both if we get out of line. Ah, but what is a little difference in style between companions of greed, yes?"

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@EQ_Theta

On 11/6/2018 at 5:10 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"It was part of hunter training, being able to craft weapons like these. Building them and using them, both important. If you didn't know how to use one, building one was useless. And if you didn't know how to build one, you can forget about using them. I never got to try them all but these were the basics. Seeing these for the first time made me want to build one for myself and got me interested in becoming a hunter. And don't feel unsure about the compliment, you wear that necklace well! You'd be the envy of the village; nobody ever made those to give to another."

There had been many kinds of hunters that Omen had met in her time, but Sen were the first she understood the basic idea with. Chasing animals or other beings never made any sense to her, and really, with Sen it still didn't, since he didn't seem to eat meat from what she had seen at least. Yet the point in hunting and weapon making being interchangeable did connect with her, so there were that.

As for his compliment to the necklace, it sounded like they were even more special than she had thought before. Strange how things like this were valued so highly. She had just seen this as really valuable because it was from her friends, and didn't think that it was also a new thing to happen, that it were given to an outsider. Strange how things went sometimes.

It made her remember something though, about something she had given that could be used for a personal gift as well, though what Lin had done with the hair Omen hadn't seen, as her incident had happened a little after that. Guess she'd see what would happen in time.

"Why do you hunt? I haven't seen you eat meat before, so why hunt? You need the skins?"

On 11/6/2018 at 5:10 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"I see. I guess simple explanations should be the way to go. And she needs time for herself when things get a little too complicated. Anyway, looks like Sen is about done. I think we can head out now."

"Sounds like an idea. Alright everypony, let's head out. There's a town on the way to the beach, but long as we don't bother them, they won't go after us either."

Spotting a thread, Rosa went over and cut it before somepony wandered into a missed trap of his. Though with that sorted, it seemed like they were about ready to move on then.

"Sen, do you need some help carrying, or do you have it covered? Alternatively, Lin can store them on the other side of the gate perhaps, if she have the energy to it."

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@EQ_Theta @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"I imagine that it all will end up coming down to confidence. If you have the confidence to stand up to someone, you won't feel the need to go too far and begin throwing others off bridges. At least not the majority of the time.

As for how to build it... I will need to find a book or two on the subject to cater things more to ponies, but off the top of my head, I would say a multitude of things would have to be worked on. Praising you for your accomplishments, making you seek out others when they feel down and ask them what you can do, start a speech during a festive gathering, that sort of thing. Basically anything that will put you in a situation where you know there is a lot of attention on you, and your safe space gets challenged, until eventually you feel more and more able to take it heads on. Dealing with rude fools will likely have to come after that.

I want to specify though, that I'm not a scholar of psychology. I'm mainly a historian and research usages of magic-infused gems. I'm going off observations and guesswork for the time being, as dealing with confidence issues as a dragon involves getting it beaten out of you. Literally. The most common method is to get you into fights and force you to stand up for yourself, or get battered. At least where I were from. That will likely not work so well with your kind though.

In any case, I put forth my suggestions. What is your take on it? And try to speak up if I said anything you disagree with. It's part of the process."

This were going to take a good deal of her time more or less, but Nerzhei could see the positives it would give her too. It would help integrate her better to the community, as others would see her help one of them, and it would make her able to learn more about ponies from a casual, day to day study of them, and get a glance of how their minds worked. Books were all fine and good, but the numbers she had been able to gather the past three centuries in Dragon Land that had anything to do with ponies, were laughable. She could quite literally count it on one hand, and it wouldn't involve even half her fingers.

On 11/6/2018 at 5:10 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"Purple with green spikes? That's him. He's a young dragon who was raised by Twilight. I hear he'd good friends with another dragon named Ember. When she last came by, I heard she calls herself a 'Dragon Lord?' That's a title in the dragon lands right? Something like a king?"

Lotus in the meantime, focused more on what Angel were saying. It seemed like the tiny dragon she had seen were indeed the one he were on about too, and that he were named Spike. Kinda fitting, considering his *hair*, though it could also have something to do with him being raised by a pony. A pretty weird thing that made her give Angel a look as to guess whatever or not he were messing with her. How would a pony even get hold of a baby dragon, much less start to raise one after all? He didn't seem like he were lying, but quite frankly, she couldn't even focus on that, as the next part made Lotus's ears stand up straight and her eyes widen.

"She knows the Dragon Lord? Wha... How?! Ember is the ruler of all dragons in Dragon Land, and dragons doesn't like ponies all that much. How're they friends?"

It was quite baffling for the fluffy bunny, though for Nerzhei - whose ear vibrated as she bit notice in what were being said between the critters - it carried quite a bit more weight. Though she had little want to return to Dragon Land, not having the option at all were unnerving, in case something suddenly happened politically that meant she had to get far away from the pony controlled Equestria. Yet as the elders in the area she had been in had made her go here to keep an eye on Lyriel - fancy way of tossing her out - she'd need approval from someone higher standing to get back. Either other elders from different areas, or in this case, the Dragon Lord Ember herself. Mingling with one of Twilight's friends, and the princess herself, might end up being more beneficial to her than first expected...

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@Dji @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Lucid_Nightlight

At the sight of the pooqus, the author in question would use his pen to draw a quick mustache on the other-worldly invader. It wasn't really gonna do anything effectively, but it made him feel better. It also didn't show a lot of respect, but what could you expect when it came to things like this?

I know I need to write the adventure, but I mean I get a break from worrying about her destroying my own story world. Your world is your author's problem to defend against her escapades.

"Hey, why does everypony thing I'm just gonna cause trouble?"

Because it's what you do. I can't even write in any breezie characters because you keep trying to eat them!

"They're crunchy and delicious."

See what I'm dealing with here? It's a nightmare that never seems to end.

"Hey! Keep to the story, puppet thing, or I will make you into a melon. And not a good one either."

The author got the hint and kept his opinions to himself for the time being, as the draconequus starred back at the other two triumphantly.

"Authors, right? Weird things.

Anyway, I wanna try to do all sorts of things, but I'm not important right now, you are. You're dating now. You're gonna need to do something special for your first night out. Gonna paint a town red. Literally or figuratively, who cares? It's just gotta be special and something you'll remember.

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@Rising Dusk

Thw two sisters looked at one another after Rising rose to the challenge, before once again, one of them picked out an item. This time, it were Null's turn, who rummaged deeper into her saddlebags and eventually pulled up yet another, unassuming thing. In this case, a magic 8 ball of all things, to which Void responded by letting out a meep, and put her hoof in the way of Null before it could be placed on the table.

"N-Not that one. We d-don't have a s-sacrifice for it."

"I wasn't going to give him this one. It was just in the way and I needed it out of the way. Relax sis."

The larger sister let out a sigh of relief as she saw Null continue her motions and place the thing on top of the other saddelbags, before getting back to business and finally withdrawing the actual thing she had in mind, yet this one weren't as subtle as the last few items.

It was a small pouch in rough linen, heavily inscribed with varied runes that were currently inactive, but if free would begin to dance across the surface in a seemingly random pattern for the uninitiated, who couldn't see the way this worked. A heavy smell of varied herbs not native to the region would come from the top, where a rough piece of rope had it tied up and keeping whatever were inside therein. By all accounts, it seemed like a rural herb pouch, but one who had clear ties to either a zebra, or potentially another witch. If it were the good or bad variant seemed hard to say, but the spatter of dried blood on the side of the pouch did not exactly give off a sense of kindness at first glance.

"We found this in a weird section of a forest in the Northern Haylands, surrounded by weird looking vegetation and decaying buildings. We didn't think much of it until we found a few diaries around and found out that it had been dug up, and put on display without anypony knowing what it did.

They said it had just started to open up after a short time, and from it, spores had erupted, filling the air and gradually... Well, let's just say the vegetation wasn't as originally plant based as we first thought. I doubt you could handle the grizzly details.

Soon as I let go off this, it's gonna work on untying the string. You have until it starts loosening to get it fixed, or I'm stepping in to keep it grounded. I don't want to get executed for releasing a hostile spore thing across your town."

Once again, the item were placed on the table, and a hoof remained on it to keep it detained.

"The things we have get far worse than this. What you've been given so far is things that you either need to touch, or won't react until it's close to somepony. Some of the other stuff you'll need a sacrifice to distract it with to have a chance, like a pound of meat, or a small critter you don't think all that fondly about. That sorta stuff is what we're dealing with.

Enough yapping. You wanna try your hoof at this or not?"

She'd be ready to move her hoof off the second Rising green lighted it, though if he took this challenge and got it fixed, he might want to ask for a pause and for them to fill out an inventory list, graded from least to most horrifying item. It could be easier to get to grip with how to deal with this whole thing with a bit of information to work on from the start.

If at any point, it seemed like the string around the top of the bag would loosen enough to let anything from within out of there, Null would interfere right away, not caring about how far Rising had gone or not. Releasing the magically enhanced spores wasn't an option she'd even joke about.

Lucid_Nightlight · November 7, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Dji

"Time to continue the story in my world because of how handsome I am."

Lucid opened a portal to his world. If anyone looked into the portal, they'd see a sign that said 'Welcome to Ponydale!' In the distance was a town that looked just like Ponyville.

"Anomaly, just be aware that you could get booped a lot."

FanOfManyShows · November 8, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sapphire just held the book to her side. "No good comes out of you either." She said with a chuckle.

"Hey!" Astral cried out. "He's done good this whole time!"

She turns around. "The one time he helped you was when he bled out. I've witnessed every event from within this gem so far. Has he done anything more than get injured?" Her form phased for a moment as Astral tried to hit her, passing through her body. "Thought so."

Misty threw a rock to Sapphire, which also passed through her. "Why must you insult Chow like that? He's our friend!"

As she turned around, Astral grasped the book as Sapphire looked back with an unimpressed expression. "My sister needs this book, and whatever else you may have stolen."

"Hang on! How can I tell you are the real deal?"

The moment of the book speaking did startle Sapphire, who hadn't really considered that it was the one that spoke Which made her lose grip as Astral managed to take hold of it, She sighed. "I destroyed my sister with you." She said, looking to the ground, Astral dropping the book suddenly after hearing that. Sapphire smirked a little and teleported the book over to herself. "My sister will get her body back, so am I. If you want to end this, don't interfere." She said, before teleporting away with the book.

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

@Dji

"Remind me what you'd be helping with exactly? Since I have said I have nothing to do today." He chuckled a bit, looking around. "Your interest in what I do is going to be limited." He looked back to her. "I can't really make something up right now either." He started walking off, gesturing for her to follow, because why not? He really had nothing better to do, and no reason to do his plans soon.

Catpone Cerberus · November 8, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom

Nada was going to say something but was interrupted by the stick starting to suddenly move, but she wasn't as surprised as one might think, after all, she had been deep in the Everfree forest for millennia, she had seen the Everfree's magic doing weird things, hay, there was wolf species made from sticks, and she had seen a ghost of a pony once too, but she wasn't sure if it had been real or just her imagination (For info, yes it was real, not that it really effects anything.). "Um...so, that floating stick aside, I'm okay with the plan." "But does either of you know what was with that floating stick? I can't smell anything so I doubt it was another pony messing with us."

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@Blitz Boom

"Suit yourself." Ruby simply replied to Marley telling her he can handle himself, she didn't really care if he needed his help or not, at least she was far away from the poison.

"Glad to hear you're not a total idiot." she calmly stated "And though I agree with you on your statement about ponies, don't give your own species too much credit." "And when it comes to threats, I don't see what's the need for subtlety when you already know what I am, and probably know that I'm not playing around." "Besides, this was already second time I told you I'm efficient with getting rid of my problems." she referenced her comment some time ago about ponies 'moving out of town' after trying to use her sense to their advantage. "But like you said, such differences don't matter, let's just hope two greedy creatures can come along."

Moonlit · November 8, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade does her best not to laugh out loud, but soon dissolves into giggles. Catching her breath she stands up, "Thanks Cherish for the info, I forgot I still had the stick." She turns to the pair, "That was Cherish, a Ghost Pony.." She looks at a space "Ghost Pony? right?" Then she turns back "She's a friend, and quite helpful."

EQ_Theta · November 8, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sen nearly began his explanation but upon hearing the rest getting ready to leave, it was about time for him to come along. There was a lot of things to go through and it might be a good idea to explain things as he went along. No need to hold everyone back now and it might be a good idea to put these newly constructed items elsewhere for the moment. It is going to attract a lot of attention what with the bizarre creatures carrying implements looking like they're off hunting wildlife.

"Lin, let's keep these tools with the rest of our things," the longma waved to his sister who promptly opened a gate beneath the tools, dropping them off somewhere easily retrievable. With that, Sen turned back to Omen and picked up from earlier. "How about tell you about the hunters as we walk."

That was pretty much all the signals Lin will get to convince her to start walking. She took the lead this time, walking towards there destination but not before picking up Shrimp and letting the little refraction ride on her back. This one was a little bit of an experiment for her, wanting to see if it still preferred sitting on her head or if it was fine with staying elsewhere. She does admit it is fun to have the little creature on her head and letting out a cute shrill. That is an endearing thing she'll never grow tired of seeing or hearing.

"The old hunters used to go after all sorts of threats to the longma of old, on top of hunting for food. There was a system to this, hunt for food in the day, hunt the threats at night. Ever since we became isolated, we adapted to consuming food that isn't meat, slowly becoming used to eating berries and plants. We technically could still eat meat but there isn't much in the forest. The hunters were still called as such because we kept to the mission of protecting our village from threats of all sorts. Dangerous beasts, monsters, hostile outsiders, and more. Being isolationists just made everyone more paranoid about the outside world."

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

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"I guess bargaining at the market is one way to go about learning how to be assertive. Looking for the best prices is always about working out what the buyers and sellers agree is a good thing but what counts as a fair price is where two ponies will disagree. The same goes with trading goods but that usually only happens at the Rainbow Falls trade fair, and that will not happen for a few more months. It's about being firm and believe what I ask is fair."

A fair assessment of her own take on Nerzhei's suggestions. As much as she is already making some progress on teaching herself some of these skills and seeing how it helps her become firm and assertive, it will likely take more than that. There was the possibility of stand-up comedy but Fluttershy isn't used to cracking jokes and churning them out one after another. And as for speeches, there weren't enough reasons to go shouting about in a public location. It just didn't seem to fit with the idea of being assertive. Probably more of keeping wild ideas to herself.

As for Angel, this conversation was hinging on hear-say from the birds who fly by the cottage and rest up in the evenings. When Fluttershy is away, the animals would gather and speak about the things they've been hearing in and around town. Sometimes this applies to the animal sanctuary as well but it was mostly just correspondences and checking up on the other group and vice versa. This topic is just about as factual as it could possibly get unless someone would ask Spike himself. Frankly, they would come off speaking unintelligible gibberish and would need Fluttershy to translate.

"From what I heard, he went to the dragon lands and met her in some contest. They called it a gauntlet and it took place in a volcano. I don't know the rest because no one knew what went on in there. Maybe he won her over by teaching her about friendship? It's pretty much how Twilight and her friends do things around here."

Angel shrugged at that last part. No animal would ever set foot in the dragon lands lest they become food. How Lotus toughened up around creatures that could eat her is a feat might try to replicate. Alas, he still has his role to play back at Fluttershy's home. Perhaps another time if his caretaker would consider a trip to the dragon lands.

Edited November 9, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Rising Dusk · November 9, 2018

@Blitz Boom

The mention of a sacrifice made Rising Dusk's eyes go wide for a brief second while he registered that they two sisters carried such an artifact with them. This is some very dark magic indeed. He was starting to wonder if the Princess knew the kinds of things they were bringing into the city. Either that or her faith in the sisters and the detective were far greater than he initially thought. He'd have much preferred to be looking at these kinds of cursed items somewhere not in a city with so many innocent ponies. His faith for now would just need to rest in the Princess, and perhaps the fact these two sister have been carrying these around for some time. Without issues? He couldn't say.

It wasn't hard to read between the lines when Null brought up what had become of the ponies in the village this next item came from. The spores had turned them into plants. A rather nasty fate, depending on how one looked at it. Not that he'd enjoy being a plant himself though. Dusk watched as the rune etched pouch was place upon the desk next. It was going to be rather interesting to get a look of how the cursed worked, as it was definitely a new one for the young detective. Time seemed more of the essence this time around, so Dusk went ahead and ignited his horn with the orange glow of his magic. Nodding, "I am ready, Null." he confirmed and waited for her hoof to be lifted.

Once again, as the pouch left the range of her nullifying aura the midnight blue colt blinked, letting the magical weave of the curse spring forth from the item for him to read. This time two inky weaves interwove together to make up the spell work of this curse. One, a very pleasant evergreen that pulsated with life. The other, an oozing black tar that looked most unpleasant. It seemed though that Rising Dusk didn't have much time to get to understand the harmony the two strands wove together. Almost as it sensing it was being observed, the inky black stand riled and coiled. The serpentine dance it performed seemed to coax the slower, less active green strand into motion. Made all the more evident by the strap keeping the pouch closed starting to slowly loosen.

The black wisps sprang to life and mixed with the orange glow of his magic. Already they began to dance around the pouch, slowing the strap to a point it looked like it was struggling to move again. What the two sisters couldn't see, were how the black wisps worked to unravel the two weaves away from each other. It was difficult to keep up with his work in dispelling the cursed artifact while always analyzing it as well. From what he could gather, the green weave was ancient, very old, very potent with primordial magic, a force of nature. The tar like weave, was newer, bending and manipulating the older magic into something much more than it was intended for.

Dusk's breathing remained steady and his features calm while the black wisps he commanded attacked the pouch. A rune on the side of the pouch flared an ethereal blue and his jaw clenched before a group of wisps stabbed the rune and it extinguished. Somepony did not want this pouch tampered with. The weave of the spell work riled and quivered under the heavy assault of the Spell Breaker. While the black strand resisted, the green did little to defend itself from him. To a point that it was almost sad to remove such a beautiful weave.

With a few more snips and tugs from the black wisps, the strap around the top of the pouch pulled tight and closed. With a flick of his horn the rest of the tapestry unraveled, fizzling out with no structure to hold them together anymore. He let out a breath and the wisps faded from his magic before letting his own spell work disappear completely. Offering another smile, although a bit more drained, he nodded to the sisters. "The spores will need to be burned, but the curse is Dispelled," he informed them, keeping the part of the beauty that was half the tapestry to himself, as they probably wouldn't understand.

Blitz Boom · November 9, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Adventure!"

Anomaly didn't even wait long enough for Lucid to finish talking before she had jumped through, and with a stomp in the ground, made a patch of half meter tall, purple grass sprout beneath her. Already a mark had been made, but so far it seemed to not be poisonous.

She spun around herself, trying to see if there was anything there that she could see that wasn't the same as Ponyville, but beyond the name, there didn't seem to be anything. Well then, perhaps she'd have to make a few things happen then as they went along. *internal evil cackle*.

"Come on you two, I wanna boop the snoots. With a tentacle! That should be fun."

The draconequus didn't have a nose on her face, so it were harder to do on her, though to make it fair, she made a red clown nose grow on her face, that would make one of several sounds when booped. It added to the entertainment when you could end up getting anywhere from a squeak or a giggle, to a gut-wrenching banshee scream. At least to her.

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

@FanOfManyShows

On 11/8/2018 at 6:03 AM, FanOfManyShows said:

"The one time he helped you was when he bled out. I've witnessed every event from within this gem so far. Has he done anything more than get injured?"

"How about actually helping her getting out of this danger zone, settled up in the safety of Canterlot, and going straight into the fray for her, even knowing I'd be a distraction at best against you witches and your shenanigans? Something that you, as her mom, should've done instead of putting Astral through an emotional hell, you self-righteous spawn of a frogs egg."

Chow were getting really freaking sick of this one. Not only were she still toying around with Astral, and treating her like some sorta dummy that should just stay away and not mingle in the grown up's affairs, but now she were going and try to paint him as some kinda useless dolt? He had uprooted his life, gone back to a place he left because he hated it, and gotten closer to death more often than he cared to think about the last few days, all because he wanted to make things right. With Astral, who now had a good home in the Equestrian capitol, as well as Emerald, who he was partially at fault for letting escape.

Yeah, he might not be worth much in the fights they actually had, but saying that he was completely useless were a slap in the face, and he darn well knew that it was meant to get to him. The worst part? It worked! Sure it helped that Astral and Misty stood up for him, as ineffective as it now were, but that didn't mean that this witch hadn't managed to get nice and comfy on his nerves.

On 11/8/2018 at 6:03 AM, FanOfManyShows said:

The moment of the book speaking did startle Sapphire, who hadn't really considered that it was the one that spoke Which made her lose grip as Astral managed to take hold of it, She sighed. "I destroyed my sister with you." She said, looking to the ground, Astral dropping the book suddenly after hearing that. Sapphire smirked a little and teleported the book over to herself. "My sister will get her body back, so am I. If you want to end this, don't interfere." She said, before teleporting away with the book.

Chow wasn't able to do anything before the book was retaken and Sapphire - with a last *warning* - teleported away. Where to? Well, back to Emerald would be a solid bet, in the house they'd been in, but them going there now would probably be a very bad idea, now that she knew they could come. He'd bet a handsome amount of bits on her having set traps by now, or at least working on it, so that they'd get scorched or something if they set hoof in there again.

"I know she's your mom and that this here'd complicated Astral, but I swear, I really wanna deck her one. Right on the side of her noggin."

Back with Emerald, Sapphire would rightly find that the witch were setting trap spells, in case the others came back. They wouldn't hit Sapphire as she were exempt from these more specific triggers, but if any of the others felt like following, they'd soon enough find themselves with a red chain around them, paralyzed and unable to do much else than move their eyes and breathing.

As she were still finalizing a few runes, Emerald didn't even look up as she heard the guest arrive, somewhat certain that it were Sapphire, as none of the runes had yet reacted.

"Have you fixed it?"

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

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

"A ghost? Okay, I'm pretty sure you're just messing with us now."

"No, I'm uhm... Real."

The air flickered in front of them, and then suddenly, a small'ish mare that were currently somewhat see-through appeared out of nowhere.

"Hello. I'm Cherish Sky, please don't be alarmed. I'm not a dang- Whoah!"

Before the introduction even ended, Cherish suddenly found herself with a hoof going through her, as Berry had gone over to poke at the spectre just to make sure this wasn't just some sorta weird looking teleport spell. It wasn't, and she now currently had her hoof in something that felt like slightly resisting cold air, or for onlookers, Cherish's chest.

"Vauw, this is sooo cool. It's like a chilly evening wind."

"Please stop doing that. it's weird."

Berry's hoof had currently been through her head at the time she said this, and thinking it best to not keep this up, she took a step back, and made herself fully corporeal, though she were still floating a few inches off the dirt, in case somepony looked.

"Oh... Oh! Heh, sorry, I just had to try."

The barista grinned at the ghost, the sniffed her hoof just to see if any smell had been left behind, like gravestone, but nope, nothing new there, though Cherish did give her first funny look to a pony in years. Even the dead seemed to think Berry wasn't all there on the top floor, so to speak.

"Just... Please don't do that again.

And uhm... Nada, right? I hope I got that right anyway. Just wanted to say that you don't have to worry. The princesses saw both Serenade and me earlier, and they were nothing but kind. They wouldn't do you any harm."

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

@Catpone Cerberus

"I suppose we each have our own style then my dear, though who knows? We may see that we have more in common in our approaches than first thought when danger eventually comes our way."

Such a delightful little conversation this were. Everything was on the table, the lines had been clearly set, and a vague level of trust had been established. It would have to be proven from both sides before it were more than just a fickle little flame, but Marley for one intended to do his part, as he saw this as a good working relationship. One with death threats and insults, though if that were a line he didn't want to be broken, he would've taken another line of work.

"As for your less than kind words about griffons, I can assure you that I am not blind to the idiocy and primal emotions that guides more of my kind than I would prefer, but make no mistake, some of us are far more than mere beasts. As a dragon, you would surely not be blind to that being true of your own, scaly kind as well, no? Be it feather or scale, we do share some less than stellar stereotypes if you think about it, and not without reason.

But why dwell on the idiocy of others, when we have plenty to focus on ourselves?"

With a final, crushing pinch, the last of the wall he wanted loose came off, which meant that he could grab hold in the block around the same size as him, if his wings were fully extended, and... Nothing collapsed. That was a relief, though they should likely still get out of here before things suddenly changed. So with the thing lifted firmly on to his back, Marley turned to Ruby with an amused look dancing in his eyes.

"Before we leave though, I wonder if I may ask: What is your actual size? I know females frown on that, but I am simply curious as to how much larger a creature than myself I am ironically gazing down upon currently."

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

@EQ_Theta

""So longma hunters are guards? Okay."

It made sense really. If there was nothing more to hunt, what did you do with the ones who were good with weapons? You made them protect your home against bad things. That was simple enough for Omen to grasp, and were something she'd remember for the future, along with the notion that longma could eat meat. Perhaps that would come into play one day? She wasn't sure, but she knew so little about them since she couldn't remember the village that she had apparently been in with Sen and Lin, so this would help her to understand the siblings a little more, which considering they were friends and family, were important to her.

"Do you want to eat meat now? Many animals around here."

While this was going on, Rosa wandered over to Lin, to lead the way along with her. He had a few questions for the hour or so it would take before they passed through or near Ormenthal, which he thought she may be able to answer. One in particular had come up after he heard Sen explain a little about his kind, and his role as hunter. The longma male was quickly adapting to dealing with the difficult way you had to handle information and Omen it seemed, which were rather impressive, as it had not been long since things had seemed a little haywire in that regard. Either the longma in general were just very adaptable creatures - which he would not rule out, considering the story - or Sen and Lin in particular just knew how to adjust themselves on a whim. It were likely a mix, but how much of each part remained to be seen.

"Might I ask you something, Lin? It's about what Sen said, in regards to you being isolationists.

How bad of a case are we talking about? Does outsiders get caged or worse to keep the location of your town hidden? Are wards in place to shield you? I'm wondering how much of a traditional problem it is for your elder to work with the town if he spout ideas off that goes against that of a heavily regulated, isolationist society with generations of strict rules against exactly what he'd suggesting. I cannot imagine it being easy."

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

@EQ_Theta @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

"I've read about markets before. I weren't aware that there were anything of the sorts in the area though. It could make for a good exercise if we could find one who were active and begin there."

Whatever that Rainbow Falls fair were, it wouldn't be ideal, as it were so far away, though perhaps it could work as a kind of finishing exam, to see if it had helped the mare stand more up to herself? Potentially a plan, though what to do before that then? Considering Fluttershy had not responded to the other suggestions, Nerzhei would have to assume that she were simply too polite to point out to the dragon that those things would not work, which left them with only the idea of travelling to a market to go with so far.

It seemed though that what Fluttershy considered working, would be an interaction where some regular back and forth had to happen. Haggling for something would be a good example, though what else could there be there? Her knowledge of the pony world were far from extensive, and Nerzhei could currently feel it working against her, whilst she were trying to help. This were potentially going to get problematic, but there were no need to give up hope. They had barely started.

"I want you to tell me your honest opinion about the other things I mentioned however. Ignoring them may be kinder, but confronting someone when they're wrong takes guts, and I believe you could use that. It's something you can do without going too far into your less pleasant state likely, depending on how you formulate yourself.

And as for you two-"

She pointed towards the two bunnies, where she had just heard Angel speak about a tournament that she were well aware of, as like with many other dragons, she had been called towards the event. She were not one to care about competing in it though, but she were aware enough of their history to know what it were all about. Quite opposite of Lotus, who just stood there with a hanging jaw, trying to figure out how the ruler of dragons had gotten to know ponies better via a tiny dragon there to partake in a tournament.

"- What you're talking about is the Gauntlet of Fire. It's called when the dragon lord believes it is time to pass the leadership on to the next in line, and involves a large portion of dragons selected for reasons that only the current and former Dragon Lord's knows about, as it is tied to the scepter itself. My best assumption is that it have some degree of consciousness to do so, but it is impossible to say without testing the scepter, and that will never happen.

As it is, former Dragon Lord Scorch passed it on to whoever could get to it first, at the end of a long trial, which ended up being his daughter, Dragon Lord Ember. If the majority of dragons on that island were aware of the term *nepotism* it would have caused a stir, but let that be what it is. I was called there too, though I only stayed to see who the new ruler would be. I am not a ruler of dragons, and owning the position would have left me preciously little time to do my research in, so it were not much of a consideration to simply give up from the start.

How a dragon raised in Equestria of all places were chosen though, surprises me. Perhaps there was something special in this Spike character that made him eligible? Perhaps I could meet him and find out one day."

Meeting a dragon raised by ponies would make him special for certain, but in what way that made him chosen? That were a far more interesting mystery, though perhaps it could have something to do with how he influenced the new dragon lord? The power that be may have wanted the dragons to finally start to get over ancient grudges, and connect to former allies again.

While she were thinking about this, Lotus got her jaw settled again and looked at Angel with kind of a shrug on her shoulders.

"I don't remember it, but my dragon probably hid me, so that I wouldn't get eaten. There's a lot who threatens with that in Dragon Land.

How would Twilight teach them friendship though? Doesn't that just sort of happen? Is it a pony thing to teach it?"

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

@Rising Dusk

The sisters once more followed closely what were happening, with Null standing like a hawk above her prey, ready to strike. Things were looking to be close for a while too, as the pouch began to slowly loosen up and prepare to let out the horrors within, but Rising managed to handle it before it got out of hoof, and a show of dancing wisps later, the bag would be neutralized. The spores inside would likely have to be destroyed, as it were simply too risky to let it go just in case, but that sounded like it was the officers plan too, so that wasn't a concern.

"Good. One less twisted thing in the collection."

"I-It's a shame, kind of? It h-had a lot of nature m-magic. If it had b-been made by somepony b-better, it could have been u-useful. The E-Evergrown might have d-done well with it t-then."

Null cringed at that word. Evergrown. Ponies made of nature, grown on immense, magical trees, and about isolated from ponies most of the times as could be. Considering the centuries ago that farmers hunted them and harvested them for their *blood* as it worked as a hyper-efficient fertilizer - an action highly condemned by Celestia, which had led to several arrests in farming communities - nopony could really blame them for taking a step back from mingling with most of pony kind, though she could blame them for being hostile monsters. The second the two had been found to be able to meddle with magic, the party that had originally found them and had meant to just escort them far away from the village, suddenly got a lot less friendly.

How Void had gotten them away she didn't want to say, but Null knew that it hadn't been something too bad. Every cursed item had still been there, and Void were kinder than her. She didn't carry the sins of her big sister, as she didn't have it in her to go too far.

"Yeah, or they would have covered everything in a thick jungle in revenge. They can't be trusted.

Anyway, let's get on with this. I'm not getting any younger."

"N-No."

Null glanced towards her little sister, with a quizzical look in her eyes.

"I-I know you want to get t-this over with, b-but... He looks t-tired. It could b-be dangerous then, and I-I don't want anypony to be h-hurt."

It might not be many signs of it, but the smile just looked like things had taken a lot out of the officer so far, though it might just be something that Void were imagining because she just couldn't see how this wasn't taking it out of whoever did it. Rising clearly put a lot of work into dispelling these things, and he hadn't even gotten to the truly malicious and cruel things yet. If he didn't have the energy and accidentally slipped up... What horrors couldn't this unleash on this town? And it would all be on them. She couldn't live with that. Not after how nice Equestria in general had been to them.

"...I guess. We'll need to get something alive and wriggling anyway for the next few ranks."

"T-Thank you big sis. And u-uhm... Officer D-Dusk? Do you w-want a break? We could t-talk about the other things w-while you are? I guess you m-might have some questions, considering t-the uhm... W-Well, I saw your eyes when we m-mentioned sacrifices, and w-well... It g-gets worse than t-that."

Lucid_Nightlight · November 9, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Lucid and Novia stepped through the portal.

"So, what now?"

"Well, I'm sensing some chaotic energy."

"There's always chaotic energy."

"There's more than usual though. It's seems a little bit... destructive."

Lucid remembered the ear and looked over at Anomaly.

"That ear is going to the animal shelter."

Catpone Cerberus · November 10, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom
Nada was going to question Serenade's statement, but Berry beat her to it, and then the ghost showed itself. Nada looked mostly just surprised, and she was slightly amused by Berry's reaction, but when the ghost talked directly to her, she looked bit unsure, she wasn't really sure what to think about the ghost-pony, since since she was a pony, but she was also technically something that ponies might have feared...but there was also the fact that she wasn't the first one she had seen, but unlike the last one, this one seemed friendly "Um....Hi?" "And yes, you got it right." "..and...thanks for the assurance?" her tone made it clear that she wasn't really sure what to say.

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

@Blitz Boom

Ruby replied to Marley, ignoring the size question for now "Though I agree that my kind prefers our natural ways, that's not what I look down upon, in fact, I embrace my nature, my reasons for my view on your kind and ponies are quite different." "But just so you know, I have nothing to do with those local rock eating dragons, so I ask you to not even compare me to those creatures." she left it to that, then was time for the question "And regarding your question, I'm still small and young." "My back goes little over my current highest point, head can reach twice that, and the distance between ends of my head and tail is over twice that." "But don't let my small size fool you, I could easily crush you if I so wished." the question didn't bother her at all, she didn't see the questions of age, weight and such inappropriate, because the whole manners thing was invented by creatures like the ponies and griffons, in fact, for her it was just another opportunity to brag about herself, since size and age usually meant you were more powerful.

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