open Casual stroll

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom Serenade nods her thanks, takes a few minutes to walk around the MASSIVE Library that Twilight had, "A Brief History of Time....The Rise and Fall of Æternia....Sealed Evil in a Can: The A-Z Dictionary of the Villains of Equestria." She pulled the last book out, and takes it over to a plush seat. She flips it open, puts her saddlebag next to her and flips open the book, taking care to slowly read so her companion, for lack of a better term could read. 

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Astral nodded and chuckled a little. "Okay you aren't wrong." She looked to Misty. "All we can do now is to wait for Iron to get back I suppose."
She stood up and headed out. "I'll go take a rest though."

"So...." Misty went over and sat next to Chow. "Any idea what you'll learn first?"

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

"Well to be frank, you have no body Emerald, so you could find a creature and just bring it to us."

Sapphire looked at Iron and chuckled. "No need to be lazy like that, you could use your abilities."

"Right." He looked around, searching for any creatures in that room.

"Anyway, I'll look for things then." Sapphire said, moving onto do so.

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

General Wing looked among them. "So are we going to get Warlock here or what?" He asked, chuckling a bit.
"Or are we going to interview this guy in his cell?"

=================================
@Dji
Zealous chuckled at her "Ding ding, you win the prize of being right." He paused his step.
"We'll just have to wander since neither of us know."

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@FanOfManyShows

"Alright, you go make sure you're well rested. We'll keep an eye out for your pops."

This weren't exactly how he figured it'd go, but hey, at least Astral were getting some shut-eye now. Considering she were a pretty strong magic user, it were just good that she'd get recharged. Plus she wouldn't be there to see him potentially collapse of exhaustion at some point, so he might be able to save some dignity there.

Once she were gone and Misty started to ask questions, he figured he could lay it off a bit and let out a long, tired sigh before talking back. Felt rather nice just unwinding like that.

"I dunno 'lil one. Is there a spell for summoning a fluffy pillow? Seems like that'd get mighty handy sometimes. Or perhaps one of them fancy wards you two go 'round with? That'd be a good save now and again."

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@FanOfManyShows

"I could, but then I might get sacrificed instead."

He wouldn't find any living animals in the basement, as this place had been sealed up well enough to keep even rats out back in the day, yet the upstairs were an abandoned mess. There might be something up there.

Regardless, she'd leave him to complete this meager task, and floated after Sapphire to be sure that she got the right things. Last thing they needed now were a mistake that'd raise her as a flesh abomination, or worse. Not only a painful thing to go through, but also a rather embarrassing sign of shoddy spell work. Not something Emerald would want on her non-existent coat.

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@FanOfManyShows

"Neither. In cases such as this, it is either the large court room, or the maximum security bunker. The walls are resistant to most magic, which would give us time in case of a breach  and is in my opinion more suitable for a highly dangerous individual like this."

"I'm with Screecher on this one. We can't use the other one in case he gets loose. We can contain the dimwit better in case something goes wrong if he's in the bunker. Gonna say we need a few dozen guards and some backup chains, bolas, the whole nine yards. Prepare for re-containing a dangerous animal basically. Might wanna think of some sedatives too, like sleep darts."

"Agreed. Of we set things in motion now, we could have a trial as early as in one hour. It seems feasible."

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@Dji

Nerzhei took the book and put it next to her. She would have a look when she had the chance, but for the time being, she had some more things to say about the apparently strange political system of Equestria.

"So instead of anything political, princesses are chosen based on being able to do something unique? I can believe that with Celestia and Luna, considering their role in raising Equestria's sun and moon, but what is your deal then? What can you do of importance, that no other pony are able to?

For that matter, does your deed have to be something of importance, or just unique? Would someone who could raise the dead or successfully hunt and kill great monsters be granted a title as equally as say, a skilled diplomat?"

This were in a way Twilight's role as the princess of friendship, as she did go around and craft peace between Equestria and other races like the dragons, who had been enemies for untold generations. Nerzhei did not know this however, as friendship did not register in such broad scopes to her currently, so she were still trying to find sense in what Twilight said before she had to just go and read up on it.

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@FanOfManyShows

"Alright, you go make sure you're well rested. We'll keep an eye out for your pops."

This weren't exactly how he figured it'd go, but hey, at least Astral were getting some shut-eye now. Considering she were a pretty strong magic user, it were just good that she'd get recharged. Plus she wouldn't be there to see him potentially collapse of exhaustion at some point, so he might be able to save some dignity there.

Once she were gone and Misty started to ask questions, he figured he could lay it off a bit and let out a long, tired sigh before talking back. Felt rather nice just unwinding like that.

"I dunno 'lil one. Is there a spell for summoning a fluffy pillow? Seems like that'd get mighty handy sometimes. Or perhaps one of them fancy wards you two go 'round with? That'd be a good save now and again."

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"I could, but then I might get sacrificed instead."

He wouldn't find any living animals in the basement, as this place had been sealed up well enough to keep even rats out back in the day, yet the upstairs were an abandoned mess. There might be something up there.

Regardless, she'd leave him to complete this meager task, and floated after Sapphire to be sure that she got the right things. Last thing they needed now were a mistake that'd raise her as a flesh abomination, or worse. Not only a painful thing to go through, but also a rather embarrassing sign of shoddy spellwork. Not something Emerald would want on her non-existent coat.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"Neither. In cases such as this, it is either the large court room, or the maximum security bunker. The walls are resistant to most magic, which would give us time in case of a breach  and is in my opinion more suitable for a highly dangerous individual like this."

"I'm with Screecher on this one. We can't use the other one in case he gets loose. We can contain the dimvit better in case something goes wrong if he's in the bunker. Gonna say we need a few dozen guards and some backup chains, bolas, the whole nine yards. Prepare for recontaining a dangerous animal basically. Might wanna think of some sedatives too, like sleep darts."

"Agreed. Of we set things in motion now, we could have a trial as early as in one hour. It seems feasible."

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

 

@Dji

Nerzhei took the book and put it next to her. She would have a look when she had the chance, but for the time being, she had some more things to say about the apparantly strange political system of Equestria.

"So instead of anything political, princesses are chosen based on being able to do something unique? I can believe that with Celestia and Luna, considering their role in raising Equestria's sun and moon, but what is your deal then? What can you do of importance, that no other pony are able to?

For that matter, does your deed have to be something of importance, or just unique? Would someone who could raise the dead or successfully hunt and kill great monsters be granted a title as equally as say, a skilled diplomat?"

This were in a way Twilight's role as the princess of friendship, as she did go around and craft peace between Equestria and otger races like the dragons, who had been enemies for untold generations. Nerzhei did not know this however, as friendship did not register in such broad scopes to her currently, so she were still trying to find sense in what Twilight said before she had to just go snd read up on it.

@FanOfManyShows

"Alright, you go make sure you're well rested. We'll keep an eye out for your pops."

This weren't exactly how he figured it'd go, but hey, at least Astral were getting some shut-eye now. Considering she were a pretty strong magic user, it were just good that she'd get recharged. Plus she wouldn't be there to see him potentially collapse of exhaustion at some point, so he might be able to save some dignity there.

Once she were gone and Misty started to ask questions, he figured he could lay it off a bit and let out a long, tired sigh before talking back. Felt rather nice just unwinding like that.

"I dunno 'lil one. Is there a spell for summoning a fluffy pillow? Seems like that'd get mighty handy sometimes. Or perhaps one of them fancy wards you two go 'round with? That'd be a good save now and again."

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"I could, but then I might get sacrificed instead."

He wouldn't find any living animals in the basement, as this place had been sealed up well enough to keep even rats out back in the day, yet the upstairs were an abandoned mess. There might be something up there.

Regardless, she'd leave him to complete this meager task, and floated after Sapphire to be sure that she got the right things. Last thing they needed now were a mistake that'd raise her as a flesh abomination, or worse. Not only a painful thing to go through, but also a rather embarrassing sign of shoddy spellwork. Not something Emerald would want on her non-existent coat.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"Neither. In cases such as this, it is either the large court room, or the maximum security bunker. The walls are resistant to most magic, which would give us time in case of a breach  and is in my opinion more suitable for a highly dangerous individual like this."

"I'm with Screecher on this one. We can't use the other one in case he gets loose. We can contain the dimvit better in case something goes wrong if he's in the bunker. Gonna say we need a few dozen guards and some backup chains, bolas, the whole nine yards. Prepare for recontaining a dangerous animal basically. Might wanna think of some sedatives too, like sleep darts."

"Agreed. Of we set things in motion now, we could have a trial as early as in one hour. It seems feasible."

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

 

@Dji

Nerzhei took the book and put it next to her. She would have a look when she had the chance, but for the time being, she had some more things to say about the apparantly strange political system of Equestria.

"So instead of anything political, princesses are chosen based on being able to do something unique? I can believe that with Celestia and Luna, considering their role in raising Equestria's sun and moon, but what is your deal then? What can you do of importance, that no other pony are able to?

For that matter, does your deed have to be something of importance, or just unique? Would someone who could raise the dead or successfully hunt and kill great monsters be granted a title as equally as say, a skilled diplomat?"

This were in a way Twilight's role as the princess of friendship, as she did go around and craft peace between Equestria and otger races like the dragons, who had been enemies for untold generations. Nerzhei did not know this however, as friendship did not register in such broad scopes to her currently, so she were still trying to find sense in what Twilight said before she had to just go and read up on their legal system to find some semblance of meaning that would resonate with the laws and logic she were more familiar with.

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

 

@Dji

Enzo snorted as the predictable answer came for his question. He had slightly hoped that ponies would be better than this, but alas, it seemed they were still just as flawed as the rest of them. A pity that this had not changed.

"A loss that they could not open their eyes to see the bigger picture, and simply focused on what they disliked. May the sands swallow them whole, and their memory be scattered across the dunes."

It were a fairly popular harsh phrase where he came from, though not often used as an actual magical curse upon other sphinx. Telling someone that you wished they went into the desert and perished along any memory of them, tended to be seen as enough to make your point, and regardless, were mostly only said to outsiders, before they got exiled from the sphinx's domain. Some had likely made it out of the desert regardless of these *best wishes*, but it were well known that the sands had claimed many a victim, and those who made it, would not come back and risk another trip out there. It were a rather effective practise for dealing with undesirables honestly.

The separation of books were coming along well, and at this point, they'd be about 2/3's done with the pile.

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

@Dji

"It's the fastest way to get to Thorax's hive far as I were told. We won't get near the desert though. Nope, totally different direction through, and then we still have quite a walk ahead of us. No worries 'bout the wildlife though. I've been resting in the forest the past few days and I've made sure to show the predators that there's some ponies you shouldn't mess with. These golden sickles ain't just ornamental, you know."

Granted, they were mainly used to harvest herbs and other things he needed for his beverages, but if need be, Happy had gotten quite good at using them as a weapon too. His queen had insisted on it, and since the blades had some small amounts of anti.magic in them, it had sure helped him throughout the years to be able to slice through protective wards keeping him from escaping or a magically charged icicle getting shot at him or something like that. Life on the road weren't always peaceful and full of joy. Darn highway robbers and monsters everywhere, along with guards that got too zealous in detaining any sort of outsider for his taste. Some strange countries outside of Equestria, though the robbers were still here. They were just pushovers in this country, compared to what he were used to, so not really a big deal.

"You any good at fighting if it came down to it by the way? Like, say we got ambushed by some highwaymen. Would I have to beat 'em up alone, or could you hold your own there? And relax, I ain't saying to, y'know, go All the way there. Just roughing 'em up a bit until they bugger off."

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@Moonlit

"I've seen that before."

Last saw the book of monsters and villains that were opened up and read/presented by Serenade, and at first hadn't cared much. That were until she saw some depictions of creatures that she had seen in the line of duty before. The first being a particular nasty Aethersworn Wyrm named Glutton, which were essentially at the time of publishing, a twenty six feet long snake-like creature with fifteen pale eyes, a massive jaw, and a constant, flimsy looking blue aura around it from years of eating magical beings. This hadn't been one of the creatures attacking the shrine thankfully, but she had seen it when she were a teenager, bursting forth on the battlefield from the trees and feasting merely on a particularly large beast the Manetids had released to try and break down their walls. The insectoid ponies had tried to control said wyrm after that, and met with disastrous results, before the wyrm had dragged the remaining parts of the beast away underground. They didn't see it again after that, thankfully, yet the rest of Equestria had not been so lucky, as it were drawn towards areas with high density of magic. Be it in leylines, a bed of magical gemstones, or towns with an increasing population of unicorns and spellbooks. It made no difference, and it were difficult to deal with, as it had devoured enough magic in its abnormally long life to be able to instinctively use some of it's own.

A minor villain in a way, as it were more or less driven by hunger more than malice, but a notable entry nonetheless.

"Have it been vanquished, or is it still out there?"

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@Rising Dusk

On 3/30/2019 at 1:34 PM, Rising Dusk said:

 "My apologies.  I'm told I can go a little far at times," she chuckled, but it was just her nature.  Pointing at the large earth pony with her hoof, "No need for you to apologize darling, I can only imagine what hardships an ability like yours could mean to less than understanding nations.  Sure, we have our fair share of grumps in Equestria, but considering the limited range of your ability and living in a town like Ponyville where everypony knows everypony, I'm sure in a short time the town's unicorns will learn and find ways to interact with this knowledge.  Or I'm pretty sure our Princess of Friendship will be more than willing to make it so."

"Equestria have b-been very welcoming of my s-sister and me. Princess C-Celestia even w-welcomed us herself, after P-Ponyville got attacked and she m-met us. She uhm... G-Gives hugs. It c-confused us a lot."

It had really been a surprise honestly, as rulers were not something they knew as being that up and personal with their subjects most of the times, and even less so with outsiders. Combine that with the way that they had been raised to look at Equestria, and in particular the apparent tyrant Celestia, and this friendly gesture and kind behavior in general had swiped the hooves away from underneath them. The princess had been nothing like the image they had built up from the stories, and thank the heavens for that, as their residency in Equestria had been dependent on whatever or not they would be able to convince her to give them a chance. Something that she thankfully had, along with so much more, as were evident by for example her wish for the dangerous artifacts they carried to be a burden they could get rid off, by going here and working with the O.M.I.

"Princess T-Twilight were... Different. S-She asked to t-try something with us when we had t-time. The l-look in her eyes were k-kinda weird, but she s-seemed harmless enough."

An interaction that were best not thought too much about, as the brief, yet memorable encounter during Celestia's meeting with them had made the small hairs on Void's back stand tall. There was just something in the princesses whole demeanor as she learned where they came from and what they could do that made her appear more of a mad scientist than a princess like Celestia, though as she were the ruler of their town - far as she were aware - they'd have to comply sooner or later. Hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as her paranoia told her it could end up being.

On 3/30/2019 at 1:34 PM, Rising Dusk said:

"Try to think of it as not bringing our great detective here problems.  You are in fact helping Equestria rid the world of these terrible artifacts dear.  This is one of the main purposes of our agency after all and you brought them to the right place.  So you are in fact, doing Equestria a great service darling,

"Null and I h-have been collecting these t-things for twenty years. S-Seemed too dangerous to l-leave laying around, b-but we're happy to get r-rid of them. It's hard to c-constantly worry about dropping one, and c-cause some sort of havoc. The off- I-I mean, Detective, have been v-very helpful in that, and k-kind too."

Seems like she had been wrong about Rising's official rank then. Hopefully that weren't a big deal, and he could forgive her for only using it now, though it didn't make it less awkward. Though Void still tried to return the smile given by their captain, even if it were somewhat strained and forced. Seemed like it were what she had to do in the given situation.

The news that the Coast Guard were real made the smile somewhat more strained, but she supposed it made sense enough. And again, she had just heard one version of how they were, and this were just confirmation that the agency itself were a thing. Perhaps when there were more calm in things, she could ask about them some more, and see what was the real story with them, though it were currently a very low priority, compared to the issue of Twisted and his inevitable attack on the town.

On 3/30/2019 at 1:34 PM, Rising Dusk said:

"Worry not darling, we have prisons designed specifically for immortals," her expression became more serious as she looked to the detective.  "We'll stay here and protect the city while you pursue the dark wizard.  You have your Too-Too darling?"  she inquired and Rising Dusk gently padded the pouch of his hoodie to inform her that he did.  She nodded and turned her attention to the fluttering and shockingly silent Scarlet who hoovered off the floor.  "Your pocket watch dear,"

Whilst this interaction went on, the evil wizard would make his move once again on the town in three places.

1. The Boom Workshop, where six dozen wickermen with large axes would wander through a rift towards the gates, silently encroaching the building, guided by a grey stallion with a cruel grin, fogged over eyes, and a staff of thorns in his grip. The way his leathery skin seemed sunken in over his bony body, and the various magical runes on his being, would make it apparent that he were either risen, or were a frail, malnourished pony being controlled by Twisted.

2. The largest elementary school. A couple of rifts would open across the building to unleash a horde of hoofsized, emerald spiders who would pour into the halls and capture whoever they would encounter, and spin them in translucent, diamond-grade hard webbing, and then drag the cocooned individuals towards the gymnastic hall, where a stitched together abomination of spider and pony would await near a rift to drag student and teacher alike through to the the other side, which seemed to be an immensely large hive with something huge awaiting in the darkness, sporting an array of massive eyes, each the size of Rising's entire head. Both the abomination and the thing in the darkness would communicate through clicking sounds, and await their minions harvest.

3. Main street. Three ponies wearing thick, leathery clothing and masks of burlap and hay that left no visible parts of a face, nor space for a mouth or eye holes, would emerge from a short-lived rift and start wandering around in a silent group, towards whatever breathing creatures near them. Around each of their necks, were a pulsating thing resembling somewhat a small beehive, yet looking sickened, and sprouting wicker wasps that would sting ponies with a concentrated poison that would quickly subvert the mind of whoever their stinger were embedded into. Long as they were still attached, the being would go around and catch others, dragging them towards the hive masters to be infected. The longer one would wait, the worse of an issue this would become, as a large horde of citizens would soon be converted into servants.

Void knew none of these things, so when the conversation changed into the captain and Scarlet speaking of making a new magic watch, as well as Detective Rising wanting to return Void to the workshop, she would just nod and get ready to leave with him. Unless of course, she would be stopped by him, or somepony else in here taking notice of the sudden attacks and realizing that the next wave had started, and amateur hour were over. It were time for an actual assault.

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@Zephyr / Karou

"No that should be everything. Again, I'm truly sorry about that. I can assure you that I won't be there when the doctor checks you out, so please don't be worried about coming in here."

"We can all get over-excited at times miss Needle. You needn't worry yourself about that, yet for the time being, perhaps this would be our cue to leave for the time being, before this turns more awkward for either party. Shall we?"

He'd gesture towards the door, whilst giving a bow of his neck to Needle. Hopefully with them being gone, things could ease up before a tension started up. Not a violent one, as neither party seemed like they were getting aggressive, yet he could well recognize an awkward tension, and that wouldn't usually get better by simply sticking around and trying your best to make things work. It were better to take some distance, then try again another time, when things had calmed down.

Once they would be outside, and headed away from the hospital, he would start speaking again. Provided they did leave after all, as the following would not happen, if Sun and/or Zephyr decided to stay in the hospital.

"It seems like you have found one fan in town at least, though I do hope that others will be more... Restricted in their approach. As much as she reacted on instinct before thought and regretted things, I could see similar results becoming tedious and somewhat concerning."

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@Catpone Cerberus

"Old coins, huh? Well, some of 'em might be worth a good deal, but I dunno, this here seems like a low auction. The state of those things are a joke. Hey Marley, you know if there's anything special 'bout these?"

Marley came closer and looked, starring through a few of the coins and eventually pointed towards one with a crude picture of a griffon on it.

"I know this one to be one used in Griffonstone when we were trying to establish our own coin, before converting to the bit system the ponies use. It may have a little historical value, though the others I couldn't say. May merely be a collectors item for those who wishes to gain various random coins, and considering the pouch is not laid out, but instead holds some coins within, I have a feeling that most within are likely low rung, worthless coins, with only a few good ones to make one believe that the whole collection are worth something. It would not be the first time we have seen such a thing, though why it would be brought here to this auction of all places, I couldn't tell. Perhaps one of the coins were stolen from a collection? We will see I suppose."

Honestly he weren't sure what caught the attention of Ruby. It could surely not be that these were just shiny, right? Had to have something to do with the coins shown. Perhaps some of those with dragons on them? Marley had no idea where or when that were a currency, but it were the best guess he had at the current time.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

The phoenix kept cooing and chirping for a while after the question of the shadowy figure attacking came up, during which Lyriel kept quiet and listened to what he were saying. It were a few minutes before it stopped again and he rested his voice and feather again.

"It seemed to be about what I had heard from others too. A large creature of shadow came in from the old castle, and amidst a strange weather pattern, came in to attack the ponies of the town. Much were destroyed in the fight, but it sounds as if they managed to defeat it without suffering casualties, and have since found themselves with having to deal with the aftermath. That being their homes ruined, and the town in shambles. It seems as if they have repaired much of their nests now though, so that is good.

According to Agni, it is not uncommon for something to attack the town every now and again, yet avoiding the forest mostly. Still rather peculiar. to me."

Seemed concerning to keep a town in a high risk zone like this, yet focus had not been there to leave her with a chance to ask a local about it, considering the other, more pressing matters at hand. Perhaps they simply felt there were no need to be concerned, as they managed to fight back what attacked them? It may well be.

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@EQ_Theta

"Seen many plants. Do not remember that one."

She would have to find these sorts of plants one day and see them for herself. Pictures and nature could show different things, and she were a curious sort, so at some point she'd go out and look for these, the next time she were near the longma village. Seemed to be a thing specific to their area, from what Lin said. Seeing as how they used it for healing, perhaps she could give it to that strange zebra in the forest outside Ponyville too? Omen had wanted to meet her for a while, but something kept her away all the time. Perhaps with a gift of some funny herbs she would let her get near.

"Will find them one day. Reading now, yes? Want to learn."

This were a thing that Omen would really like to be able to, along with writing, since she could then start to understand more of the world around her. Wandering around at night and just in general and looking at things, she saw tons of letters, but they just meant nothing, so she didn't get far on understand things. Many times she had ended up wandering into one shop thinking it were somewhere else, which had gotten extra weird for most of those who did not decide to just get away from her on first sight, or when she started to *talk* to them. Perhaps if she could read, things would be different. Plus she could start to read the books and such she found in trash cans, or when she ported into a library to see how it were in there. That could help pass the time during some nights, like Lin did.

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@Lucid_Nightlight

*slurping sounds*

Anomaly were currently drinking a large soda through a straw, just admiring the panic and chaos that the evil laugh had caused, and weren't really listening into things, nor thinking much on terrorizing the locals. They looked pretty freaked out already, right? What were they supposed to do about that?

"This could use more battery acid, and a slice of lemon."

Shrugging, she threw the glass at a random passerby, and it turned int a jelly that engulfed the pony in a ball of sentient jelly. His head would be free though so he could breathe, yet the bubbles still running through the jelly as it slurped around trying to draw in more ponies should tickle a lot.

"So, are we gonna do the reforming thing now? And how're we gonna do it? Just slap him and say *Bad bad, naughty boy?*"

Edited April 1, 2019 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

"How about you reform him by asking very nicely."

"Yeah! Then we can start the wedding!"

Lumen stopped them right there.

"Shouldn't we do some sort of double date first?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me! Let's create the most chaotic restaurant possible!"

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom Serenade looked over the entry, "According to this....Vanquished, Imprisoned in Nidavellir..."she blinked, "Why does that sound familiar?" She shrugged, and turned the pages....then stopped...Three names are written along the top, along with a large illustration that took up the majority of the page. 

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom

(Because I lack any knowledge on the Equestrian alphabet, I'll use English as a substitute common language for Omen)

Lin didn't exactly know how to begin this lesson. She doesn't even remember how her mother used to teach her how to read, speak, and write. It all seemed like a natural thing to come to her but she knew that was never the case. Everyone had to start somewhere; Omen's situation is more confusing as she already knew how to speak and likely should have some measure of the basics. Unfortunately, Mother might not have covered that and Discord definitely neglected that part of her upbringing. Perhaps there was a way to break down a word to its most basic components and maybe work from that. 

"Let's try this," the longma picked up a stick nearby and gestured Omen to come closer to the fire. There she began drawing five letters on the ground, illuminated by weak light and hoped they were visible enough. "Basics first. In order to read, write, and speak, we need to learn about words. A word is composed of letters and those have their own sounds. I've drawn five vowels on the ground: A, E, I, O, and U. We'll begin with short sounds. Say I use the word 'Bad,' the A in bad is a short sound so it sounds like 'ah.'"

"The same goes with the other letters here. E for bed, I for bit, O for cot, U for hug. Now you try. And if you need me to help you out, just ask."

With that, Lin proceeded to list the five words under each of the individual vowels they contain. This would then be the part that requires extreme patience, both for herself and for her sister. Sen would probably be involved in this later down the line but that will be a bridge for them to cross when it comes. Right now, it is a lesson on simple vowel sounds: short and long, maybe even moving up to vowel pairs if Omen can quickly pick up on this. 

Edited April 2, 2019 by EQ_Theta

[Catpone Cerberus 23,607]

@Blitz Boom
"That's what I'm counting on." Ruby simply stated, she wasn't going to tell that thanks to her extra sense she knew that the bag was filled exactly what it should be. "Even the seller clearly knows they are worthless since they aren't selling them separately, so I should be able to get it with pretty fair price." the part about the historical value amused her, not because she found the idea of old stuff being worth more stupid, she did think so but it wasn't the reason, but actually it was because of Marley didn't know, she was curious to know how he and Spicy would react if they knew the real age of the coins. There was a one thing she agreed on with Marley, why were they here from all places, or in the same topic, why were they in Equestria?

 

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

"It wasn't that uncommon back when I lived with ponies either, and back then the current town didn't even exist." Nada mentioned "Though I do wonder if the old town still exists or if it was eventually destroyed by something, not that I really remember where it actually situated so that I could check." she would need to figure it out if she eventually would able to catch up with pony history. 

 

[Early Sunsets 2,107]

@Blitz Boom

Sun Fire waved to Needle before following Briar out of the hospital. While she couldn't have called the encounter ideal, it certainly could have been worse. Zephyr glanced at Needle again as he turned to follow his sister. "Learning to think before you speak is a valuable skill," he thought.

Sun Fire nodded in agreement. "I hope so, too. I don't know if I can take many more situations like that right now." She looked up to the darkening sky and sighed, a worried look on her face. "Maybe we should have stayed in Manehattan a while longer. I mean, I'm glad we're here, I just don't think I'm ready for all the questions that are inevitably going to be asked. Constantly reliving everything that happened for every new pony I meet."

"Ponies still would have asked questions in Manehattan, and they would have been rude about it," Zephyr said, shaking his head. "If you had stayed, you just would have become reclusive trying to avoid everypony. You're better off facing them here than there. There's no friendlier place in all of Equestria. Or so I've heard."

[Rising Dusk 27,910]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk had placed his hoof on the front door of the O.M.I. when he felt the hair on his neck stand on end.  It was subtle, but the detective could feel the ripple of dark magic flow through the city.  If it'd been smaller like the flowers earlier, he wouldn't have felt anything.  Like a pony that can feel a storm approaching, he'd never be able to pin point a location, only that outside these doors now felt wrong.  Staring intently at the front door as he reached behind him with his other hoof to put it against the following mare's chest to stop her advance, and keep her field away from the warded door. 

Taking a step forward, The Captain inquired with a concerned look.  "Rising, what's wrong?" she asked, knowing all too well that such things were never a joke to the detective and that his senses were more trusted than even her own.  "It appears Twisted Gear's time table has moved up," he replied, his voice calm, his thoughts focused.  Confident that Void wasn't going to just go rushing out the door when he stopped her from doing so, he put his hoofs back to the floor, turned and ran past the group gathered in the lobby.  Running through the double swinging doors and into the offices, his sights set on the map of the city he drenched in the juices of the World Seed earlier that day.  The Moon hadn't risen yet, the effects of the juices should still be in work.  The other O.M.I. officers looked at each other for a moment before all following into the office after the detective.  Scarlet fluttering down to guide Void to go with them.

When Rising Dusk made it to the map, he could see the juice was already starting to fade from the surface of the drawn city below.  It was just enough though to paint dull splotches where the rifts opened in three locations around the city.  Like before though, the map could provide no details other than the splotch on Main Street was growing.  Another infection type spell?  His ears flicked as he heard the rest join him in the back of the offices.  Bash even shuffling out of the jail room to see what all the commotion was about.  Reporting his findings to The Captain, "Dark Magic present on Main Street, the East Warehouses and Manehattan Elementary."  He knew all too well the splotch on the East Side was by Boom's Workshop, but referred to it was the warehouses, as Scarlet and The Captain would know the likely target, but hopefully not Void who didn't need the stress.  Short of the whole Storm King's army, he was confident in the defenses of the workshop.  Seeing as it was designed for attacks like this, plus his own magical protections added.
 

"A school!?" Scarlet shouted from the air in disgust.  Even villains had boundaries and this was too far.  "Calm!" The Captain corrected the Junior Officer but stamped her own hoof hard enough against the tile floor of the offices that a crackle of magical energy sparked up her leg.  "This Dark Wizard has made a grave error in attacking MY city this day!" she growled and all the agents collectively nodded.  Her long horn glowed with mint magic and her cutie mark glowed.  Not but a second later, the cutie marks on all the agents gathered in the offices started to glow as well.  And not just them, the cutie marks of any pony that carried an O.M.I. badge would glow.  The Captain's call to arms calling back every O.M.I. agent out in the field to the city.

Her voice amplified and echoed out from the cutie marks of the agents, and presumably elsewhere in Equestria.  "To arms my darlings!  Manehattan is under attack from dark forces!" she commanded before displaying why she is The Captain.  "Tussle will coordinate the defense efforts. Rain Storm, Cork and Starbright, report to the O.M.I. for support.  Bash, Black Jack and Gold Mane deploy to Main Street immediately.  Scarlet, Fleet Feather and Orange Glow report for an escort mission.  Flare Blitz and Wind Gale, meet me at Manehattan Elementary," she spouted out strategic orders and the let the spell fade.  Everypony present already in motion to carry out their orders with Bash nearly out the front door.  Facing and pointing a hoof at Rising now, these next orders didn't come over cutie mark communication, it didn't need to.  "We'll ensure the safe return of Ms. Void, Rising Dusk.  You. End. This. Now."  With her initial coordination complete she stepped away from the group and teleport off to the school to meet her team.  Scarlet stayed near Void, giving her a reassuring smile.

He nodded at the emphasis of her orders to him.  Walking over to Void and he held out his hoof.  "I'll need Twisted Gear's pocket watch," he requested from her.  His horn glowed and the black wisps dance about.  A small barrier appeared on his hoof for a safe place to put the watch, "And don't worry, you're in good hoofs.  I'll take my lumps from your sister later," he smiled.

 

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Zephyr / Karou

"I admit to know little of Manehattan, but the time I spent there does support Zephyr's notion that this place is friendlier. The nurse may have had a somewhat... Enthusiastic approach to things, but it were clear that she did not wish to cause any trouble, and I'm certain that when others will eventually recognize you, they will be calmer about it. I most definitely do not think that they will keep asking in to things at least, if you ask them to refrain from discussing certain sensitive topics.

And if I may add my own two bits on this, I would argue that it would be easier to face questions here regardless, as this town are not filled with ponies who were there. It can be a tough thing, to face those who have seen you for a long time and whom might remind you of the situation more vividly. A fresh scene is, in my opinion, possibly the best way to recuperate. Of course, every situation and being are unique, so I cannot say for certain, yet I would still argue in favor of Ponyville. As soon as we have convinced Pinkie Pie to tone down her behavior somewhat that is. She remains a rogue card in this, so to speak."

Somehow, he always assumed that when her name were spoken, that she would suddenly pop out from nowhere, as if she had been summoned, yet once more it didn't happen. She were likely asleep regardless, as the siblings should likely be soon as well. Darkness had fallen upon the town after all, and ponies tended to have a fascination with sleeping soon as the sun settled, more often than not. Personally, Briar enjoyed sitting out and hear the night creatures rummage around, and potentially snack down on a few fireflies if the opportunity arose. Not too often though, as he did need sleep too, yet it were something to enjoy on occasion.

"Would you wish to see more of Ponyville, or do you perhaps prefer to return to your home and rest for the evening?"

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"I wouldn't say worthless. Some of those do have value to certain individuals."

Scarcity - with Brick following closely by - had wandered towards the group as she had spotted them a little while ago, yet hadn't approached at first as she were having a conversation with a Diamond Dog of all things, who had just scurried along towards another section of the large room to scout out some items that would catch his interest. A simplistic race really, yet she found the more intelligent among them to be delightful, if not too brutish to mingle with for longer periods of times.

She had made no attempt to wander more quietly than usual, as she knew that at least two of them were well aware of her presence already. That being the observant Marley, and Ruby, who to put it mildly, were more than she seemed. Besides, hardly a reason to hide yourself among others who in general viewed her favorably, at an auction where all present were aware of the illegal activity they were taking part in.

"Branthor - bless his simple mind - cannot discern it however, and against my best attempts at convincing him to sell these individually, have decided to put them up for auction as a whole entity. Sadly something that devalues the product, yet the choice do come down to the seller after all.

Regardless, I do hope you are enjoying the auction exhibits so far? Which does remind me, that we have a few empty spots for late entries, Marley. I would so wish to see what that blade of yours that Morrow told me about would fetch for."

"I thank you for the offer, but I would like to keep it currently. A little jewelry along with a sharp blade could look quite enticing to the ladies."

Scarcity smirked a little at Marley's words. Such a silly bird sometimes.

"My offer stands, if you ever change your mind. Bejeweled weaponry are rising in popularity again these days."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Perhaps a conversation to bring forth when you meet Princess Twilight? She seemed to be a collector of knowledge, so if one would know, I could imagine it to be her. She appeared to enjoy talking about things such as that too, so it may well be a good way for the two of you to connect if the situation arose. It certainly seemed to help with my friend Nerzhei and her. Hardly possible to tear them away from their tomes."

Lyriel chuckled a little to herself, though really, she thanked the Earth Mother that the two had gotten along so well. Nerzhei desperately needed someone to speak with, and Twilight seemed to have both the spine to say when the dragon went out of line, and the kindness to move past it that were needed to earn the respect of the stubborn creature. That they had a shared love of history and magic were also a great thing honestly, as from what she could understand, most of the other dragons that Nerzhei grew up around were hardly able to read, nor cared to learn, which certainly added to her frustrations. It were difficult to get anywhere when no one had the same interests as you, yet lo and behold, in this town of equines and strange creatures of many kinds, she seemed to have found someone she could relate to.

It would be fascinating to hear how it had gone when the dragon would eventually come back to the forest, but until then, Lyriel should keep focus on her current guest. Heh, or rather, one of the forests oldest inhabitant. You could hardly call the siren a guest in these woods at that point.

"If it is not too much to ask, could you speak some of the dangerous creatures that wandered around in your time? I find myself curious as to what difference there may be in enemies I have heard of that lives now, and what once were."

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

 

@Moonlit

"I don't know the place, but it's impressive that somepony defeated the wyrm. It seemed like a challenge."

One that she were not sure if she could overcome herself frankly, which just made her more impressed that it had been both defeated and apparently, successfully contained somewhere. She would have to find who had done that a day when she had nothing else to do. Might be a pony or other creature worth tracking down and challenge to a fight.

Serenade seemed transfixed on something else though. A trio of sirens by the looks of things, carrying what had to be large gems, considering their apparent size. It reminded Last somewhat of Serenade, yet they seemed larger, sleeker, and considering the book they were in, were likely considerably more bad news than their waiting, elegant depictions would make you think.

"The infamous three sisters, yes? Figured they'd be bulkier."

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

 

@EQ_Theta (They use English far as I know)

On 4/2/2019 at 11:45 AM, EQ_Theta said:

"The same goes with the other letters here. E for bed, I for bit, O for cot, U for hug. Now you try. And if you need me to help you out, just ask."

It took a few minutes after Lin were done before Omen even moved. The information were being churned and bashed around her head for that long until she would finally wander over slowly and cautiously, like a kitten unsure of its boundaries. It were not too far off, though instead of being a case of trying to wander off and experience things under the supervision of a likely nearby mother, it were trying to carry letters into words, under the supervision of a far more knowledgeable sibling. Somewhat related like that, though the ki'nathar were not really focused on that, as much as attempting to learn from this lesson.

She had followed Lin's every movement as the longma carried out her lesson and wrote down the things she said, whilst Omen examined the symbols that ponies referred to as letters. To her currently, it were mostly akin to pictionary, where she combined one thing with a similar one. In this case, the vowels presented by Lin.

"Bit. Bed. Hug."

Omen pointed at the right letters, and tried to write the same ones beneath. It were replicated rather well all things considered, but the spacing of the letters were wrong, and some overlapped to a degree. Things that time and practice might fix, though for the time being, it would be the case that whilst the individual letters would still mean little to nothing, Omen would be able to discern the three words said so far though. Provided that they were written somewhat similar to Lin's penmanship.

"Bad... Colt?"

Of the last two, Bad went about the same way as it had before, however she hadn't understood what cot were, and as such, assumed that Lin had meant colt. It didn't change the writing - though it would be smudged a bit since Omen ended up putting her hoof in the fire for a moment before writing like nothing had happened - but the understanding would be lost on her if she ever were faced with the actual word for colt, and had to compare and see that something were missing.

So far so good though, if Lin's approach were meant to make Omen remember the look of words, rather than learn something else from the current lesson. Could well be, considering Omen retained a lot of the things she saw, even if she didn't understand them.

After the last word had been somewhat copied, Omen would return to starring at Lin, waiting for what else were going to happen next.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

Anomaly nodded, then went over and poked Lumen weakly on the forehead.

"Naughty naughty, be good now, okay?"

Clearly, this were a tale as adventurous and pure as any novel could produce. Stop narrating yourself.

After the... Impressive display of diplomacy and kindness, Lumen would perhaps be inclined to give up his long running, highly dangerous evil ways, and deposit the golden seed to where it came from. That being Anomaly's head, which were likely the only safe place to keep or destroy it. Best to not drop it, or this whole town were gonna be a big trouble.

"Hey don't listen to him. If you want a really chaotic restaurant, I'd say drop it. Engulf the surrounding three hundred miles in lush forest, and turn everypony into tree creatures! Muahahaha!!!

Oh wait, we were supposed to be good, right? Hmmm... We could spike the soup somewhere instead? I'm sure that's totally okay."

Pretty sure that's illegal and dangerous.

"Peh, what do you know?"

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

 

@Rising Dusk

Void were startled by Rising's sudden reaction to dark magic flowing into town, yet she followed him back to the other members of the O.M.I. all the same as he wandered off. She were rather confused about what were going on at that point in time, yet as the conversation started to go along, it seemed that the worst possible situation had risen: Twisted were attacking, and from what it looked and sounded like, he weren't playing games anymore.

Instead he were hitting either key or weak targets, with the most vulnerable likely being the elementary school. It wouldn't be filled with soldiers or anything of the like that could counteract whatever the wilderness witch were doing to the place, and who knew what he would do with the students and teachers? Considering what she knew of Twisted, Void could venture a guess, but she really, really didn't want to. It weren't a pleasant visual, and frankly just having the thought sickened her just as much as it enraged the otherwise calm and collected captain. Not that anypony could blame her. To take foals hostage like this... Usually villains had some degree of line that even they wouldn't cross. Sadly, it seemed like Twisted were not one of them.

The other locations were troubling too, with the main street attack seemingly spreading itself on the slowly disappearing pattern on the map, and the other being in some industrial quarter. Thankfully she didn't know this town's layout enough to realize what that part of town actually were, or she would've taken off immediately, so for now she were left thinking that perhaps some goods would be poisoned or cursed, so that shipments of things would devastate not just this city, but several more.

Void frankly felt helpless as she looked at the attacks somewhat unfold on the paper, and listened to the disgust and anger from certain ponies near her. And then... Something strange happened to the others. Their cutie marks suddenly started to glow, along with the cutie mark and horn of the captain. From what happened next, it seemed like she were relaying a message through them? Void had never seen magic of this kind before. Usually with long range communication like this, it were through magical objects, letters, or an enchanted mirror. But actually sending words through a cutie mark? It were something she had never thought were actually something that anypony could do, and it left her in awe of the captain. She must have even more immense power than the trojan had thought at first to be able to do something like this, no matter how she were actually able to do so in the first place.

The captain were a mare of action too, as her orders were swift and precise, not wasting more seconds than needed to send out others to deal with the dangerous situations at hoof. Her last action before leaving the room, along with everypony else besides Void, Scarlet and Rising, were to give what to the trojan honestly sounded like an order of execution in regards to Twisted, but were likely just to get him in at all costs. Equestria didn't do executions far as she had been told by the several guards that had looked rather puzzled that she even asked it.

When Rising asked for the pocket watch, Void hesitantly reached it forth, and dropped it in his hoof, ready to scope it up by the smallest look of it started to try and feast on his time. As it likely wouldn't, she could soon enough just look at him with concern and a tinge of fear. Not fear of the detective himself, but rather of the one he were sent to face.

"Don't t-take any chances, p-please. If you l-lose to him..."

She didn't have it in her to say more, but he likely knew what she meant too. The sort of thing that would happen to an enemy as meddling as Rising had been for Twisted, were likely going to end up with his husk drained and possessed, his time stolen, and his spirit bound to something for the foreseeable future, until Twisted could find some way to torment that too.

"T-Take care detective. I'll s-see you later... H-Hopefully..."

She saw Scarlet's reassuring smile, but only mustered to counter it with a small, hollow one as Void turned her back ion Rising and started to make her way to the door. May whatever deity the Equestrians prayed to keep him safe.

Out at the affected areas:

1. Main Street.

The infectious wasps had spread fast, as the slowly moving hive carriers made their way down the street where everypony in a panic tried their best to get away from the horde of mind controlled ponies moving quite a bit faster than the carriers, in an effort to catch more victims. Every time they had one, they would be dragged back towards the carriers, where the flock gathered around them would part to give a bit of way for the new victims to come and join in. A few had tried to fight against the ones doing so, but even when they beat away the grabbing hooves, the ones hurt would just get up again and not react to any injury gotten from being pushed, kicked, or punched.

It wouldn't just affect ponies either, sadly, as a few griffons and a smaller dragon had been engulfed into the growing flock that were growing larger and faster with each infected victim. It would at the time that the captain had sent ponies away be at sixty members, and could have risen to well beyond a hundred depending on the time it would take for the others to show up to deal with not only that, but the inevitable, widespread panic this also caused. This weren't subtle after all, like the pollen. This were a very tangible threat that could not be swept under the carpet or ignored.

2. The Elementary School.

Over half the school had already been webbed within the first two minutes, with stragglers trying their best to hide or attempt to fight away the gem-like creatures, but to no avail. The most lucky were just delaying them, but as they could chew through even steel doors in reasonable time, it were just a matter of minutes before there wouldn't be anypony left without being covered up, and dragged towards the hall. The first ones dragged had yet to actually arrive at the rift, yet the first dozen or so - all students - would be there within the next twenty seconds after the captain had taken off, and unless she ended up in the main hall itself, she would have to fight through this horde of relentless creatures who would do their best to web her in just as much as anypony else, whilst others dragged their victims along to the commanding abomination.

The workshop were getting under siege rather relentlessly too, but had yet to break through. They would see the mess the whole thing would end up being when they eventually got there.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

"Ok, I'll be good."

Lumen looked over at Lucid.

"Can I date her now?"

"Yeah, since you're reformed."

"We should go to the fanciest and bestest restaurant ever!"

Novia pointed at a nearby burger place that seemed to get have half a star on reviews.

"Ooooh fancy!"

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom "Yes. The Three Sisters. Adagio, Aria and Sonata." She turned her head toward Last, "Not all Sirens are alike. Like Ponies, there are subspecies. Lake, River, Sea and...Deep Sea" She shivers while saying the last one.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,607]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby indeed had sensed Scarcity and her body guard before she had spoken, but due to the amount of creatures in the same space, she hadn't pinpointed her exactly. "It is true that one's trash is other's treasure, but worthlessness too is subjective." she stated after the short interaction between Scarcity and Marley "One bit to a poor can be more worth than thousand to a rich, and I'd say next to everything else here, these are relatively worthless, especially considering that their rarity reaches the point of losing their value due to nopony knowing what they are." 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I keep that in mind." Nada said "But I'll need to make sure I won't be banished by the first unicorn I meet before going to meet a princess in middle of a town." she then added, now sounding bit more casual about it than usually. "And for your question, I don't really remember any specific creatures, because it was common enough to not really be worth paying attention to, but they weren't anything too dangerous, as there never was any casualties and they never destroyed more than few houses." "Only ones that come to mind now are the wendigos that were defeated before my time, and of course the three of my kind that also caused the exile of my kind"

 

 

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom

The tension, the silence, it was nervous. Moments like these often left Lin wondering if she had done and adequate job explaining an idea or if it wasn't good enough to let it come across properly. Omen's silence, though expected, was still nerve-wracking; she knew he had to be patient with her but it was a trying experience that needed to be tempered. Fortunately, hearing words, seeing gestures, all that coming together to create a simple learning experience brought her relief. It is good to know they come together to see progress and they shall move forward no matter their pace. Even that one misunderstanding between cot and colt didn't damper her spirits; it was proof enough to know they can go far.

"It's cot, a bed that can be carried around by travelers who don't prefer to sleep on the ground. You're doing great so far so let's try a few more words with short vowel sounds to help you become more familiar with them. Say 'cot' again so you'll be familiar with what a short O sounds like, and then try saying these new words to reinforce this lesson."

Once more, Lin drew another set of words beneath each vowel: Cat, Egg, Dig, Odd, Cup. Again, simple one-syllable words to make it easy early on but underneath them, a third set that only seems like an innocent group just like the last. Short words still sporting one syllable: Name, We, Line, Colt, Use. Lin didn't say anything about these but Omen would likely notice something is up when she sees the fourth word. She'd see if slowly introducing the next lesson could complicate things. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by EQ_Theta

[Early Sunsets 2,107]

@Blitz Boom

Sun Fire scratched the back of her head, "Probably. I guess I'll be fine as long as I keep all that in mind." She stopped when Briar mentioned sleeping. She hadn't realized it until now, but she actually did feel quite tired. Between the long trip, unpacking their belongings, and now walking around town, she felt exhausted. It was hard to believe they had only been in Ponyville for half a day. Sun Fire blinked, her eyelids suddenly feeling heavy. "I actually wouldn't mind heading back. I'm feeling pretty tired."

Zephyr nodded. "I'm fine with that." Truthfully, he didn't feel all that tired. He tended to be a bit more of a night owl, working on instruments late into the night and waking up a few hours before lunch. This allowed him to maintain a schedule in Manehattan that most of his customers enjoyed, but he'd have to see how well those hours worked here. "Thanks for showing us around today."

Zephyr frowned. That same faint feeling that he recognized the name Pinkie Pie came up again. Going off of what he had heard about her throughout the day, he couldn't imagine he'd forget meeting somepony as excitable as her. Zephyr shook his head. He'd remember at some point, either when he met her, or at some random point in time that had no relation whatsoever to what was going on now. His mind tended to work like that.

[Rising Dusk 27,910]

@Blitz Boom

Void wouldn't need to worry about having to snatch the cursed pocket watch away.  Inside the little barrier the unicorn created around his hoof the small artifact sat what appeared harmlessly.  Out of her field it was a different story for the detective who could see the spell matrix stretching it's legs so to speak.  The tendrils that serviced as the means to steal time from the pony holding the watch, tried to dig into his hoof but were blocked effortlessly by the black wisps.  "I'll see you soon," he told the mare before turning away from her and Scarlet who was leading her out.  Sparing the detective a worried look over her shoulder but said nothing and joined Void in the lobby.  Sighing a little as he levitated his saddle back from his desk and draped it over his back.  He was a support pony in the true sense.  Rising Dusk couldn't move mountains or even teleport, but perhaps this was for the best.  He needed a vacation.

The O.M.I. became a buzz with activity not long after The Captain called her agents to arms.  Zaps rang out in the office as two mare and a stallion unicorn teleported in.  Rain Storm, Starbright and Cork, respectively, answered the call and came reporting to Tussle who had already pulled a couple desks together to set up some maps.  The secretary pony marshaling orders to the ponies called for support for plans in getting injured ponies to hospitals and magically hurt ones into the O.M.I. basement.  Cork already heading down into the basement to start setting it up to take patients.

In the lobby, two unicorns were waiting for Void and Scarlet.  The bright orange mare, Orange Glow, was in the middle of casting a spell on the dull gray mare, Fleet Feather.  Each wearing their own saddle bags. With the conclusion of the spell, translucent bat wings sprouted from Fleet Feather.  Orange Glow then went to work casting the spell on herself when Fleet Feather greeted the new comers.  "Our Mission?" she inquired.  "We're to escort this mare to her family and then deal with a Code 3, ma'am.  Her name is Void and she's a friend of Detective Rising's.  Void, this is Officer Fleet Feather and Officer Orange Glow," the junior officer replied and introduced.  "A Code 3?  Ugh!  We were in the middle of a stake out," she complained.  Orange Glow own set of wings sprouted from her back, a more clean set of pegasus wings before she responded.  "Tut tut, The Captain wouldn't call us back if it wasn't important," Orange glow voice and tone much sweeter, considering what was going on.  "Stand still dear, we'll get you a nice pair of... Oh I think you'll look lovely with some bright butterfly wings," she admired and began casting her spell on Void.  Which failed of course.  Orange Glow looked puzzled but tried it again.  "Uh, ma'am~," Scarlet tried but the unicorn raised her hoof, "Tut tut."  She tried a third time and then let the glow of her horn extinguish.  "Ma'am, magic doesn't work on her, or a hoof's width around her," Scarlet informed the unicorns.  "Oh my," Fleet Feather exclaimed and the two unicorns shared a looked.  Then to her false leg.  Orange Glow cleared her throat while Fleet Feather moved to open the O.M.I.'s door as the pair took flight, "Can you gallop, love?" she inquired as the group could leave the agency.  The trio taking formation in the air just above Void, but distant enough to keep from her field.  Scarlet ready to lead them to the Boom Workshop at a quick pace if Void could keep up.

The O.M.I. wasn't on Main Street, but it wasn't all that far either, but the opposite direction of Boom's Workshop.  The sound of thunderous hooves pounding against the road as the large Ivory stallion quickly made his way to his deployment area.  The large strong earth pony easily moving through the panicked ponies running the opposite direction.  Usually a good way to tell when one was heading the right way.  Until he found a large mass of ponies not behaving all that civilized.  Even among all the screaming of frightened ponies, he could hear the buzzing of wasps that swarmed around the infected ponies.  Stopping a fair distance from them to catch his breath a bit.  A black and red portal appeared on his left, a second later a swirling gold portal appeared on his right.  A black coat red maned unicorn wearing a fedora stepped from his portal and whistled, "Whoa, what a mess."  Bash grunted an affirmative just as a well, gold maned unicorn stepped out of hers.  "A little less admiring and a little more work Black Jack!" Gold Mane scolded before casting a barrier around a pony couple about to be assaulted upon by a swarm of wasps.  Removing his fedora, he bowed his head apologetically in Gold Mane's direction.  Igniting his horn he cocked his head in Bash's direction.  "What do you got for me Big Guy?  Sleep?  Paralytic?  Confusion?" the unicorn asked.  Grunting, Bash stuck his snout into his saddle bag and removed a large vial of some yellow liquid.  "Oh, good choice," Black Jack commented.  Bash tossed the vial up into the air and Black Jack struck it with his magic.  The vial burst into a heavy yellow cloud that expanded and expanded into a dense wet mist.  The yellow tinted mist fell upon the infected army of ponies and swarming wasps.  His main target, getting the wasp's wings wet, which insects wouldn't really fly with.  Secondary, was dousing the covered army in a potent mixture that should make any creature that breathed it in go stiff as a board.

The Captain's entrance into the school was less than subtle.  In the school's main hall there was a flash of mint light, a boom that caused the whole school to shake and a crackle of energy that danced around the large unicorn's body.  Of course, she wanted to get the attention of any creature that was attacking the school.  Not having all that much time to take in her surroundings before a green unicorn came bursting out of one of the classrooms and stumbled into the main all, a horde of spiders in tow.  Wind Gale shrieked and sprinted down the hall, her a horn aglow.  Beams of energy shot out every which direction as she fired wildly at spiders that had been trying to catch her.  The Captain had been eyeing the large abomination guarding the large rift that ponies were slowly being taken toward when Wind Gale noticed her and dove to hid under the larger unicorn.  Casting her gaze down the hall full of spiders that had been perusing her officer, caution to keep an eye out for cocoons or students.  Her horn ablaze with mint light, she stomped the floor with her hoof.  Mint fire erupted from the floor out in front of her and blazed down the hall, consuming the gem-like spiders in magic fire.  "Wind Gale!  The children!" The Captain shouted to the cowering officer.  "R-Right!" she recovered a little and cast her magic at the cocoons.  Green tendrils sprouted from the floor and anchored the dozen cocoons in a game of tug-a-war with the spiders.  "Where is Flare Blitz!? she asked while cutting down several approaching spiders with a beam.  "B-Bath...room!" she grunted in struggle with keeping the cocoon's pinned in place.  "You've got to be kidding me!" The Captain growled.  While that probably sounded strange, the last unicorn O.M.I. agent was recusing some students that were trying to hide from the spiders in the bathroom.  A cascade of BOOM BOOM BOOM, grew louder and louder toward the battle.  The wall near the abomination exploded as a yellow and orange unicorn came barreling through.  Flare Blitz's horn was aglow and his whole body engulfed in fire as he slammed into the abomination with the force of a wrecking ball, "YEE-HAW!"

Back at the O.M.I., Rising Dusk had found a quiet corner where he worked his magic, well, counter magic, on the pocket watch.  The object floated before, having dealt with the whole time stealing part of the spell first.  Disassembling the tapestry to find what he was looking for.  That green gem he'd seen in the rift magic Twisted Gears used with the flowers.  Pulling it out of the matrix, he started to take the mess of weaves he created and put them back together, but in a different way.  Targeting the part of the spell that whisked the stolen time off to the dark wizard for whatever purposes.  The detective sent out a magical ping of sorts, tracing through the aether the cord of magic that attached the artifact to its creator.  Levitating Scarlet's pocket watch out of his hoodie pouch, he started to splice the spell works together.  A whirl of wind started to kick up around him as he stood up.  When the spell work became thin, he stole power from the green gem to reinforce the matrix.  A snip there, attach this to that, adding a little entry cushion annnnnnd...  An orange barrier appeared around the stallion and black wisps whipped around it like a raging storm.  Target locked.  His alterations complete, he should be appearing, well, really close to the original caster of the spell.  But he needed that extra cushion, because he was coming in like a cannon ball.  

"Knock.  Knock."

Teleport. 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Rising Dusk

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Value is indeed subjective, and the dear boy could do well with some coins to sweeten his existence. We will see how well his endeavors will pay off soon enough, but alas, I will have to leave you for the time being. The auction are soon starting, and I have some preparations to see to before it. Do please consider spending as well as selling, if you find something tempting on offer."

Scarcity offered a gentle wave before turning away and wandering towards other parts of the auction. Towards Ludvig of all beings it seemed, yet as he were having a talk with a few other creatures, it may well be any of them. Who could tell if she weren't more interested in the ashen pony who carried a feathered hat, or the evergrown plant pony, who sported several bones of animals on her being, generally attached to to her gnarled bark with spikes, like primitive piercings. The straw-like hair that ran to her shoulders flowed out through the eye sockets of a bird skull that she carried like a hat, yet from what avian this came from weren't obvious. Nothing local at least.

In the meantime, back with Marley and Spicy, they looked at one another and shook their head in slight amusement.

"Just like her to try 'n sell us on the selection. Go figure."

"In fairness, we shall son have enough bits to use from, if we so wish to. I would not be averse to the idea of gaining something of value by spending some of it, provided the right thing shows up for the right price."

"Yeah, let's just hope it gets some bidders rolling. The higher we can get each jar for, the better."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Sadly, I know not of the wendigo that you speak off. Another of this country's peculiar enemies it sounds like.

Back in my home, we had little in the way of attacks. A few times, one of the great dragons would descend and cause trouble before a group of their fellow kin would subdue them, yet other than those, the dragons that lived around our valley and depended upon the boundless supply of wood and produce that were to be found among us, kept us safe from outside forces. I have heard of a number of dangerous creatures since arriving at your shores though, and while you all persevere, it is sometimes alarming to hear of the threats that you all face, yet I wish to be aware of those who I can, to at least know what to stay clear off.

But be that as it may, it is good at least to know that no one perishes in the attacks. It makes me somewhat more at ease knowing that your dangers are at least not as severe as that."

Lyriel could understand the apprehension that Nada felt in regards to meeting the princess, considering the troubled past between their kinds, and as such weren't going to push things and attempt to arrange something herself. The meeting would happen when it were suitable for both parties, and with some enlightenment about how there are good sirens hiding among them, the princesses may all enter said meeting with open eyes and a willingness to look past their troubled history. It could not be right that individuals had to pay for the crimes made by others long past, simply for being part of their species.

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

 

@Zephyr / Karou

"It's been my pleasure to do so. Please, allow us to escort you back home."

Briar would begin to backtrack where they had gone to get up to the hospital in the first place, though keeping in mind the placement of the sign, so that he wouldn't end up making a fool of himself yet another time. Highly embarrassing to go through this a second time so close to the first honestly.

Whilst moving along, and enjoying the night air, which were being filled with less and less noise of beings as the night were when most went to rest, Brittle would glance around less too, not as afraid that somepony nearby were going to do something to her. There were always the fear that one were hidden, or that she'd suddenly open her eyes, and find that this had all been a dream, and she were back in the cage at the circus, but she were at least a tiny bit less anxious at night. Before meeting Briar again, she had tended to use this time to wander into settlements and gain some things, like books, or search for discarded items. Since she had never been given anything, this were how she always found a few things that could prove useful, as well as the grey, somewhat tattered bow that she wore. Only thing she had ever dug out of a trash can that she kept for long periods of times, and considered it to be her only actual possession.

"...The s-siren were s-scary..."

The low voice shivered out from her as she briefly glanced up into the pale moon, before bowing her head towards the ground once more.

"Their kind most certainly can be, Blitz. Yet I hold some faith in this one not being here for nefarious purposes. The sirens I have met prior did not show a tendency to be subtle about their deeds. They were rather brazen and proud about it in fact. I believe it have something to do with their behavioral control magic. Less of an issue being secretive when you could turn everypony against themselves. Such subtlety is more befitting of certain hives of changelings."

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

 

@Rising Dusk

2 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

"We're to escort this mare to her family and then deal with a Code 3, ma'am.  Her name is Void and she's a friend of Detective Rising's.  Void, this is Officer Fleet Feather and Officer Orange Glow,"

"H-Hello."

Void looked at them with a raised hoof and cautious, yet curious eyes going over what they had been doing when Scarlet and her had approached the two. Seeing that they could make wings of their own somehow were pretty interesting. Magical ones that were, so it wouldn't really help everyone, and likely had a limited time to work in, but it were still impressive. Both that and the teleporting watches had to really be helpful when moving out to emergency situations, like the ones happening right now, where every second likely counted.

It got a little awkward as they tried to cast said wings on her though. Void wanted to say something to them about this, and were trying to find the words to explain herself to the confused unicorn who couldn't get it to stick, when Scarlet interjected with an explanation that seemed to still puzzle Orange. It took a few tries before the mare got a word in, but once she did, it seemed to clear up the situation for Orange and Fleet, who seemed to adapt to the situation well. Looking at Void's physical injuries - or well, the leg at least. Her glass eye were pretty well made so not everypony noticed that - they concluded that she'd have to run, asked her whatever or not she could, and kept at a safe distance so that her nullification field didn't mess with their wings. It were pretty impressive honestly, though what else could one expect from the O.M.I.? They had shown to be up top of many situations so far, so a singular mare who couldn't be affected by magic were likely not the weirdest thing to adapt to for them.

"Yes, I c-can run. Just uhm... S-Show the way."

She had to use a false leg for over two decades now, and Null and her often found themselves in situations where they needed to make a run for it, so she had some good training doing this. It would still be somewhat uncomfortable, but she'd be fine. It were staying near the ground alone that were more getting to her, but for the sake of Void, she had to come back and wait with her, out of trouble. Long as nopony would be after her, she'd follow from the ground, with pretty good speed too, as it should bear mention that she mostly ran whilst carrying over thirty pounds of cursed items. It helped with the speed when that burden were no longer on your back.

Once they got to the workshop - Void would have sped up a few minutes before that, as she heard noises in the distance - they'd find that the assault on the building were relentless, but it were not going in favor of the attackers. Between the various traps outside the workshop snatching up wicker creatures in various ways and the additions on the walls doing things such as lob glue and streams of fire towards them, they were not having an easy time even reaching the building. And then were the fact that Felicia were outside, jumping from creature to creature with victorious screeches and tearing them apart with her knife-like appendages. The one controlling them however, seemed to be preparing some sort of spell behind the ones that were struggling against the defenses here, yet his back were to the others, and unless the fliers were faster, would find Void tackling him to the ground and cancelling out his spell entirely. If it were the others, he might continue on casting it, depending on the measures they took.

2 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

Stopping a fair distance from them to catch his breath a bit.  A black and red portal appeared on his left, a second later a swirling gold portal appeared on his right.  A black coat red maned unicorn wearing a fedora stepped from his portal and whistled, "Whoa, what a mess."  Bash grunted an affirmative just as a well, gold maned unicorn stepped out of hers.  "A little less admiring and a little more work Black Jack!" Gold Mane scolded before casting a barrier around a pony couple about to be assaulted upon by a swarm of wasps.

The couple of wasps that had exited the hive to poke the couple, would try to do so a few times regardless of the barrier, poking down with as much force as their physique allowed, but not getting further than wasting their poison on the barrier itself. An almost clear, orange liquid dripping down the side, until the wasps simple stopped trying and flew back to the hive. The couple would still be scared out of their minds, which didn't lessen as a half dozen infected started pounding away on the barrier to get to them. This sadly still left a whole bunch to pummel towards the three detectives, who'd try to overpower them and drag them back towards the hive carriers, who were slowly making their way towards the ponies. There were still a big guard of infected creatures around them, and more victims to come from all sides, so the longer this took, the worse things would get.

2 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

Bash tossed the vial up into the air and Black Jack struck it with his magic.  The vial burst into a heavy yellow cloud that expanded and expanded into a dense wet mist.  The yellow tinted mist fell upon the infected army of ponies and swarming wasps.  His main target, getting the wasp's wings wet, which insects wouldn't really fly with.  Secondary, was dousing the covered army in a potent mixture that should make any creature that breathed it in go stiff as a board.

The spell would work to a certain degree. The infected would breathe in the mixture and end up looking paralyzed where they stood, yet still with a blank look in their eyes that showed they were still being controlled by the wasps on their necks. Creatures who did not leave their infected hosts regardless, which at least ruled out new additions getting to the army currently.

However, the wetness effect itself were going to do little against any wasp still in the hives. It would slow them somewhat, but these weren't regular insects. They were twisted creations of a sickened nature, and the gnarled, wooden creatures weren't as easy to deal with as a regular, flimsy insect. Neither were the carriers themselves, who just kept silently walking towards the three ponies, unfazed by the mist. Their clothes were getting wet and would smell moldy, though that were hardly an effect that would stop their march.

If they were to try and attack them, they would find that there were a reason for this, as they weren't actually ponies. They were constructs, put together with dirt, branches and straw, covered in the first threads that could be found to make them look realistic from a distance. They were also each filled with a rather nasty concoction that upon bursting them open, would explode out and spread through the mist, and if having the chance to do so, would start spreading an aggressive fungal growth over every surface it hit. Including any pony who were currently locked in place. It would carry some similarity in function to one of the cursed items that Rising had cleared out so far.

As for the hives, one might wonder what would happen to them, without carriers, yet that were a find for them to add to the big list of wrong that would come from dealing with enemies who were frankly going to be mindless pushovers.

2 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

Wind Gale shrieked and sprinted down the hall, her a horn aglow.  Beams of energy shot out every which direction as she fired wildly at spiders that had been trying to catch her.  The Captain had been eyeing the large abomination guarding the large rift that ponies were slowly being taken toward when Wind Gale noticed her and dove to hid under the larger unicorn.  Casting her gaze down the hall full of spiders that had been perusing her officer, caution to keep an eye out for cocoons or students.  Her horn ablaze with mint light, she stomped the floor with her hoof.  Mint fire erupted from the floor out in front of her and blazed down the hall, consuming the gem-like spiders in magic fire.

The magical bursts of Wind Gale would make the spiders smash into whatever surface that the force would direct them into, but not destroy the tough creatures whose fellow spiders just got more relentless in their pursuit of the pony who were harming others of their hive. A sound like gravel being churned would come from them as they launched attacks and more bodies after the mare, yet before they could get to her properly, she ended up with help. And this one, had been able to crack some of them open from the sheer force of the all consuming, magical fire.

Each of them who had their shells crack, would let out a high pitched screech, then explode like a small bomb from the pure energy releasing from within, leaving holes in whatever surface they had hit, and making the hallways pretty unstable to wander in as a result. With the floor cracked open in several places and large sections of wall missing, one of the hallways even collapsed, trapping six cocooned students and a teacher, who might frankly be more safe here, as the shell were too tough for some rocks to do anything against, yet the load meant that it became harder for the spiderlings to move them anywhere. The survivors had to waste time now to try and gnaw through the rocks, which were going to be a somewhat tedious thing that might have just bought the ponies a few more minutes before they'd even get to the first cocoon.

The shrieks seemed to cause the unseen creature on the other side of the rift some distress, as it started to skitter around and focus its many eyes on the long-horned captain.

2 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

A cascade of BOOM BOOM BOOM, grew louder and louder toward the battle.  The wall near the abomination exploded as a yellow and orange unicorn came barreling through.  Flare Blitz's horn was aglow and his whole body engulfed in fire as he slammed into the abomination with the force of a wrecking ball, "YEE-HAW!"

If the thing were annoyed or angry before, it certainly didn't lessen when the abomination were crushed against a nearby wall with enough force to smash it right through it. From the rift, an earth-shattering, thunderous shriek escaped and threatened to break any glass object within a reasonable distance.

"₮ⱧɆ ₥ł₴₮ⱤɆ₴₴ ₵₳ⱠⱠ₴ ₣ØⱤ Ʉ₴..."

From the wall, the abomination started to crawl out, whilst letting out the words with a guttural, bubbling voice. It were clear that the impact had done damage, as it were scorched and wandered poorly on malformed legs, where three were seemingly intact on the outside, but wobbled and gave under in a way that suggested that they were broken. Furthermore, a good part of it's chest had caved in, and a sickening green ooze poured out from the inside and unto the floor. The eyes it still had left untouched looked towards the ponies with a milky stare in its peepers, and reached out a clawed hoof towards each of them.

From that, a barrage of ravenous dark magic would pour out and try to engulf the ponies in a corrupt darkness that would leave them twitching on the floor, and facing quickly spreading wounds if it managed to get to them. If they did get hit, there were a safe period of about ten seconds of the magic trying to take root where it could be cleansed, but after that, it would start to escalate into cuts, bruises, and so forth, and it were going to be imperative that they were cleansed as quickly as possible, lest they'd end up severely injured from the concentrated wounding spell..

All the while, they'd had to also content with a continued stream of spiderlings coming from the rift and everywhere else in the room, trying to assault them whilst also attempting to pull the victims they had webbed into the rift itself. Some also jumped on the line tethering the cocoons to the floor and would start to try and gnaw through them. They were going to have their hooves full with this until the bitter end, though long as reinforcements kept coming, they were not going to make much of a dent in the monsters.

2 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

Target locked.  His alterations complete, he should be appearing, well, really close to the original caster of the spell.  But he needed that extra cushion, because he was coming in like a cannon ball.  

"Knock.  Knock."

Teleport. 

Rising would indeed find himself at the caster, but would also find himself hitting a barrier that would protect the pony in question, and though sliding Twisted back on the floor of the stone building, it would ultimately repel the detective away ion the opposite direction. Potentially right through a wall, and into the darkened swamp outside, though regardless of that happening or not, there's be a mess in the building that seemed sparsely decorated with hides and a few chairs, along with a long table filled with some pretty nasty-looking stuff.

"I were wondering how long it would take you to come to me. Welcome to Harrowmark, little Equestrian."

The bat pony looked at the pony with a triumphant smirk going over his face at the impending victory he were going to have over Rising.

"Let me guess, it were the school attack that forced your hoof? So pathetically predictable, but then again, that were the point. To get you out of your little stronghold, and over to my country where your little wards can't help you."

This felt like a good time for a maniacal laughter, but there were no reason to savor that particular victory fanfare just yet. Perhaps once Rising laid at his hooves, begging for his life, he might indulge himself. Who knew? Perhaps if the pony gave him what he wanted quickly, Twisted might not end up doing all the many, horrendous things to the detective that he had in mind. Some of them, but not every single one. He couldn't let troublemakers just go away scotch free after all now, could he?

Rising would likely be able to feel a stark contrast between Equestria and Harrowmark just from the surroundings, as the earth itself seemed rich on untapped magical potential of mostly the dark and twisted-elements variety. Some glimmers of light could be felt between the darkness, but what you often found in Equestria, like harmony, were nowhere to be felt. Not in the way that Rising would likely know it anyway, depending on the amount of outlandish and corrupt objects he had gotten his hooves on throughout the years.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"Cot."

So that were a bed you went around with? She always thought those were called sleeping bags, but apparently she had been wrong, or they changed the name. That sometimes happened, though why didn't make much sense. Why change something that had been the same for a long time? Seemed like a silly thing to do, when everypony knew it by one thing.

Omen thought little further over this, as she went on to dealing with the next batch of words, where she wrote all but one of them down.

"Cad, Eehg, Dig ...Colt?"

While she could replicate what were written, she didn't know what these things actually said, and were trying to compare it to the things before. That helped with some words, but not too many of them right off the bat, though she did get a few right at least, so there were some degree of progress. She tried saying some of the others she didn't understand as well, just in case. It ended up more or less just gibberish.

"Oose, yes?"

If there were anything wrong with the word Colt, or those around it, she didn't see what it were. There were enough focus on her just to write things down somewhat correctly on the ground and trying to understand what some of these things even were, and how to use this sort of thing later on. Lin were doing a good job learning her something so far at least, so what she missed aside, there were tangible process going on.

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

 

@Moonlit

"They're deep sea it sounds like. I'll remember that."

She had no idea when she might ever actually get a usage out of information like this, but you never knew. Back at the shrine, if anything resembling a siren showed itself, they would have speared them and mounted them on the wall without listening to a word that came from them. They had no choice but to generalize back there if they wished to survive and keep the shrine intact, and that had been their sworn duty to do, ever since Princess Luna ordered the first of her loyal subjects to do so a few mere years before getting banished to the moon.

"If they came back, what kind of damage could they cause? We never dealt with sirens at the shrine."

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Yey! Come here hubby."

Anomaly grabbed Lumen and pulled him into a big hug, leaving the golden seed to fall towards the floor, where it suddenly vanished from sight before hitting.

"Hey wait a minute, where'd it go?"

I sent it away to somewhere desolate of life.

"...Oregon?"

Just... Go back to your date.

"Whatever Mr. Grumpypants. Where were we eating again?"

Turning her head 180 degrees with Lumen still in her grip, she'd see the burger joint and let out an excited screech.

"Sweet! It might have rats in the food if we're really lucky. Let's go before all the gruel gets stuck to the plates."

Finally letting go of Lumen, she'd bounce over towards the burger joint, licking herself around the mouth. Horrible bottom tier joints like this were great. All sorts of extra flavor from dirty plates, random critters rummaging around the place, and of course, rude personnel. An adventure in every way. Or well, their cook might just be sleeping and nopony bothered to wake him up, but y'know, details. Who needed them?

I do.

"Nopony asked you."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

Lumen looked at Anomaly for a second. Eating a rat? Dirt in the food? To Lumen, Anomaly was... EXACTLY HIS TYPE!

He looked over and whispered to Lucid.

"She's amazing."

"I hope we get worms in our food!"

"Yeah! I want to eat worms too!"

Lucid, Lumen, and Novia followed Anomaly into the burger place where a really rude cashier was waiting to serve them.

"Buy something or get out."

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom "They are not...They are Sea Sirens. My mother was a Deep Sea Siren, and so I am." She looks around then flashes into her Siren forum. "Deep Sea Sirens are Luminescent, our scales shine in the dark as we hunt in the darkness of the deep sea." She flashes her sharp teeth, "We are also meat eaters, preferring fish and muscles." She turns back to the trio, "Sea Sirens are similar, except their hunting grounds are the kelp forests and shallow waters.  They also eat meat. River Sirens are longer, but their bodies are smaller. Like stretching a piece of toffee". She flashes back to her Pegasi form, "They mostly eat river kelp, but can eat fish. Lake Sirens are the smallest, and can be confused with Sea Ponies. They eat Kelp and other greens." She pauses and thinks "If they came back from where Starswirl the bas....*cough*..Bearded sent them, it would depend on if their pendants are still active. If they are, I'm imagine the Elements of Harmony would be needed, otherwise....ear plugs and a Bass Cannon? Or if you can get together three other Sirens and have them sing counter songs and have the Guard beat them up."

She smiles imagining the three getting blasted by Vinyl's massive bass cannon and sent into space. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by Moonlit

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom

Maybe it was a bad idea to introduce the new lesson this early. As much as she would want to get things moving along, there's some work to be done for short vowel sounds. Omen is on the right track and this slip up is more of Lin's mistake than the former. It is uplifting to see Omen try hoofwriting and even if it isn't the most good-looking penmanship, she was trying and that much mattered to Lin. 

"Let's stick with the second group of words for now. Repeat after me: Cat, Egg, Dig, Odd, Cup. We'll work on short vowel sounds first so each vowel will sound like this: Ah, Eh, Ih, Oh, Uh. I'll tell you a little bit about these words. A cat is a kind of animal that ponies sometimes keep as pets. To dig is to move the earth to make holes. Odd is a word that has a similar meaning to strange. A cup is a container that ponies drink out of. And if you remember that rock-like object that Shrimp hatched out of? That is an egg."

It was a spur of the moment kind of development but she knew Omen would need to realize that speaking, reading, and writing wasn't just about remembering what a word looked like and knowing how to say it but to understand what it meant and how they form larger ideas when put together. This is the most important thing she could impart with her lessons and each one would build into another. 

"The third group of words I wrote on the ground have long vowel sounds. We'll get to that once you understand how short vowel sounds work so you won't be confused. We will work at your pace. Now, let's try again."

Edited April 6, 2019 by EQ_Theta

[Early Sunsets 2,107]

@Blitz Boom

Zephyr glanced at Brittle as she spoke. The poor thing seemed like she was terrified of everything, even her own shadow. "It's a good thing she has someone like Briar to look after her," he thought, glancing at the evergrown before turning to face forward again.

Sun Fire yawned, making her eyes water. She was worn out from the events of the day, and she hoped whatever tomorrow brought wasn't nearly as exciting. "It got dark fast. Night time always tends to sneak up on me," she thought. She peered down a street as they turned onto it. It was hard to tell with what little lights were still burning, but she thought she recognized where they were. If she remembered correctly, their new home wasn't too far.

Sun Fire scratched the back of her head. "I thought the changelings became peaceful. Did some of them rebel? I guess it would make sense for some of them to."

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

"I am pretty sure we gave you one of those a while ago, but that book should have something about it."
Misty said while pointing to it. "I'm not exactly well read on this stuff, that's why Astral does it."

She pulled a book and opened it up, reading it. "So like, look for what you want to do." She said with a soft chuckle.

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

"I was more thinking you'd leave it before we used it." Iron said, walking back and heading back upstairs. "I'll check to see what is up here."

Sapphire looked around "Sister, how do you suppose we'll collect the other types of magic?" She asked, looking to Emerald
"Dark magic and soul magic is easy, but those other ones... I'm not well versed on."

============================
General Wing chuckled, breaking the tempo of the room realizing that he didn't know too much about this court stuff
"This guy is missing two legs, and from what I understand, is basically useless without magic."
He stepped forward, standing confidently, still wearing a bit of nervousness.
"The court will do fine if he has some kind of anti magic thing on at least, right?"

[Rising Dusk 27,910]

@Blitz Boom  

The trio escorting the large earth pony were impressed enough at the speed she could keep and for such a distance.  It still made Orange Glow feel a little bad she couldn't give Void a beautiful pair of butterfly wings and make the journey less tiring for her.  Scarlet led them along routes that supported a pony that had to run, yes it would add time, but it couldn't be helped.  As they closed upon the workshop, the sounds of battle could very easily be heard.  Picking up speed as well to bring the workshop quicker into view and the results of the fortress that it was had on the axe wielding wicker creatures.  More beautiful a sight though was the spider bot tearing into them like the grand warden she was.  

"Hey!  Hoofs off my Awesome Shinny Friend!" she shouted at the group of creatures.  Beating her wings hard she zoomed far ahead of the rest of the group until she became a streak through the air.  Removing two glass orbs from her saddle bag and doing a flyby to smash them against the wicker creatures.  A pink cloud came out from the shattered orbs and expanded until it engulfed the two beings in what looked like large wads of bubble gum.  Well, a very strong sticky bubble gum that didn't allow more than an inch of movement before the rubber like substance snapped it back.  It was shortly after that Fleet Feather and Orange Glow arrived with their horns ablaze.  Violet missiles of arcane energy formed and quickly shot out in erratic patterns homed in on several of the constructs to explode with enough concussive force to blow branches apart depending on our sturdy they were.  Orange Glow moved into a position of support when she saw Void making a beeline for the older pony behind the constructs.  Casting a wall of fire between the wicker creatures and the spell caster.

Back on the Main Street, the trio were analyzing the affects of their first attempt to settle the situation.  Mixed results at best, but hey, The Captain wouldn't have called them off their current cases if this was suppose to be easy.  "Huh, these little buggers are tough," Black Jack commented as the water wet wings barely slowed down the wasps, or paralyze them from breathing in the mist.  "Ha!  Little Buggers, you get it Gold Mane~" the stallion laughed as he directed the mist into the air where it slowly dispersed.  Those ponies that breathed in the mist should still be paralyzed for the next hour or so before it wore off.  "Har har, you're very funny.  Focus!" she growled back at her partner.  "Why didn't the potion work on those three?" she asked while taking to the fruitless effort of shooting down individual wasps with her beams.  "They don't breath," the quiet stallion grunted and stuck his snout back into his saddle bad.  Plucking a seed from a pouch, cracking the shell with his teeth and wetting the precious meat with his saliva.  Spitting it quickly at the slowly marching constructs.  Alright little Hydra's Snare, round two.  Vines erupted from the little seed and reached to tangle up the three enemies.  Black Jack directed his magic to wrap the hives with his telekinesis and try to remove them from the fake ponies.

The result of the little spider exploding upon being destroyed was distressing to The Captain.  When a group of cocooned ponies were covered in rubble, she immediately levitate the debris, and spiders, off of them and tossed the dangers effortlessly back through the rift.  With Flare Blitz's grand entrance out of the way and the large abomination sent through the opposite wall, the trio had to flatten their ears to the high pitched shriek that came from the other end of the portal.  "How rude!" The Captain expressed annoyed and cast a powerful barrier around the portal to block out the sound and any further reinforcements from arriving.  A pity she hadn't brought Rising with her to close the thing, but there was too much to deal with at present to divert her attention to more than just a barrier.  As fruitless as the spider biting at her magic would prove, with the barrier around the rift now, Wind Gale let go of her spell holding the cocoons in place.  Reaching up to cover her ears and close her eyes, she put up a green barrier around the trio as the barrage of dark magic slammed against it hard enough to make he teeth jitter.  It wasn't going to last long.  "Flare Blitz," The Captain she said calmly even as the barrier took a pounding.  "Yes ma'am!" the stallion stamped in place for a moment and teleported out of Wind Gale's barrier.  Appearing above the abomination, engulfing himself in fire again and using the same spell that gave him that wrecking ball force needed to run through all the walls from the main hall to the bathroom, directed down on the creepy thing's head as he fell.  "Stay... DOWN!" he roared.  Prepared for the possibility of the abomination have the same self-destruct annoyance as the other spiders, The Captain wrapped a second barrier around the abomination and connected it with the barrier around the rift.  Creating a tunnel for the explosion to follow, and erupt out on the other side.

Rising Dusk found himself on his rump after colliding with a barrier on the other end of his teleportation.  Good thing he thought to add in that extra cushion upon entry else he'd be a bug on a windshield.  Rubbing his head out of reflex as he barely even felt it.  Getting back on his hoofs to finally come face to face with the bat pony of the hour.  Harrowmark huh?  He was expecting to find the dark wizard much closer to Equestria considering the threats of his arrival.  Probably another wench in his plans that the detective caused.  Taking a moment to orient himself to his new location, he would indeed feel the difference between the two countries.  Where in Equestria light magic reigned with only a little of dark seeping through, this was quite the opposite.  Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

He heard whispers in the back of his mind, whispers the called upon memories of his nightmare the other night.  They were slightly more clear, but they weren't directed at Twisted Gears.  No, there was something else that made them restless.  The detective cast his gaze to a corner of the room for a moment, reaching out with his extra sense for anything.  The dark wizard seemed like talking though.  "Thank you.  Could use a welcome mat and maybe some new drapes, but it looks homely," he replied to the welcoming with a nod of his head.  "Sorry I took so long, your business card didn't include an address," he sighed as if finishing a long journey.  It was time to get down to business though.

Turning his focus to the bat pony in question, he took in the magical tapestries of the spell works that might have been put in place.  To include that nasty barrier that the detective bounced off of.  "Mr. Gears, I'm here to rescue you," Rising Dusk informed the dark wizard.  Reaching into the pouch of his hoodie and removing a pair of hoof and wing cuffs, "And then arrest you for your crimes."

     

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Zephyr / Karou

"Far as the story goes, King Thorax does not have any rebellious changelings under his command, but it is a somewhat common misconception made around Equestria that his is the only hive.

Former Queen Chrysalis commanded the largest changeling hive in Equestria, and perhaps even beyond, yet there are many others out there, and Thorax's is the only well known one that have so far gone through to the next stage of their evolution. Changelings as you knew them before, most certainly still exists.

That is not to say that they are all inherently bad. Some even here in Equestria, whilst unwilling to take the leap into evolution currently, are following the new king as he tries to make diplomatic ties to Equestria. War is not good for them either, and it is likely that they believe that if they can find some kind of compromise with Equestria, it will serve both parties better.

Other hives that I have encountered are also just more friendly and welcoming in general. In Equestria, love seem to be the only emotion feasible for them to feast upon, but in other countries I have seen some who feeds on other things, such as anger, pain, or grief, and they make use of their abilities to absorb these unhealthy emotions from others, helping them immensely whilst providing food for their hive. I will not lie and claim them to be in the majority, yet it does bear mention that one needs to look upon the regent to know what a hive is like, and some are far more interested in peaceful relations, such as King Thorax.

There are then of course also others going in much the opposite direction, and making Chrysalis appear like a kind soul, but I doubt you wish to hear about the more depraved and vile of their species this close to bed time. They're far away extremist groups too, so it should hold no bearing on your lives regardless."

Whilst he kept babbling on about this topic, the group would have just about reached the residence of Sun and Zephyr. A few bat ponies looked down on them from a nearby rooftop they seemed to be patching up when they passed by, and gave a friendly wave, but this were the only interaction that seemed to take place between the locals and the two newcomers. Unless something had occurred while the lot of them had been gone, the siblings should be able to rest peacefully.

"Ah, it appears that we have reached your homestead. I thank you for allowing us to show you around Ponyville, and hope that your rest will be undisturbed. Would you have any further need of our assistance tomorrow? If so, please don't hesitate to ask."

Briar made a deep bow before the both of them, whilst Brittle raised a hoof and gave a weak wave to them both. If the siblings wished to simply go to sleep now, they could, and the two oddballs would return to the forest to sleep in their own dwelling.

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

 

@Rising Dusk

23 minutes ago, Rising Dusk said:

"Hey!  Hoofs off my Awesome Shinny Friend!" she shouted at the group of creatures.  Beating her wings hard she zoomed far ahead of the rest of the group until she became a streak through the air.  Removing two glass orbs from her saddle bag and doing a flyby to smash them against the wicker creatures.  A pink cloud came out from the shattered orbs and expanded until it engulfed the two beings in what looked like large wads of bubble gum.

These wicker creatures were designed for dealing with physical, and partially magical threats. Strong creations of gnarled wood that were prepared to deal with most threats their homeland tended to have for creatures like them.

That however, did not include this kind of assault where entrapment came over destroying them, and the near mindless things would soon be helpless in the grasp of the gum-like substance. An action that seemed to make the one in charge of them gnash his teeth, but didn't discourage the spell he were trying to cast to turn the tides in this so far failed attack.

Taking notice of the rest of them after this one made so much noise, he spotted Void charging towards him from one angle and soon after she'd find a wicker creature standing tall above her, and reaching down with a hand more then big enough to hold her in with little effort. It did slow down Void some alright, but the creature would unfortunately also be in the path of Fleet and Orange, which caused some unfortunate effects as much like Timberwolves, wicker creatures tended to burn easily unless they were of the swamp variant, and these were dry as bones in a desert, so being right between the main force and the caster himself made it so that Void couldn't move on, but that they'd also now have a large, flaming wickerman on their hooves, who were now starting to strike wildly around itself in confusion and pain.

37 minutes ago, Rising Dusk said:

Violet missiles of arcane energy formed and quickly shot out in erratic patterns homed in on several of the constructs to explode with enough concussive force to blow branches apart depending on our sturdy they were.  Orange Glow moved into a position of support when she saw Void making a beeline for the older pony behind the constructs.  Casting a wall of fire between the wicker creatures and the spell caster.

The ones hit ended up with huge patches of their tough bark exposed, and a few who had already enjoyed the hospitality of Felicia and were missing bits, had parts of them just blasted off, leaving them either motionless in a pile, or trying to still move with what were still attached to their cores.

"You don't know what happens if you fail him! Whikurshio!"

He managed to finish his spell as they got near, and hammered his hoof into the ground, where dark tendrils would begin to form from the impact zone, regards of whatever or not they'd remove him from there afterwards. The tendrils reached out to any wicker creature within reach, except for the one on fire, and all who were touched stopped all movement. Then... Hell broke loose.

More or less at the same time, with the sound of roaring thunder, the lot of them exploded, and their parts would hammer towards a central point, where the tendrils had risen a pony-sized, dark seedling. A large core for what would end up being an immensely large creature, standing at double the height of the workshop, and bout the same width. This one would be far harder to inflict damage on, and it would take a lot to burn through the many layers of the creature. That is, if it were allowed to assemble. The construction would take time, and the seed would have about ten seconds of complete exposure. If the core were removed, all of the wood that were meant to enlarge this creature, would fall inactive on the ground, leaving only the caster to whatever fate the detectives saw fit.

They could also just use a blast to push the one on fire into the middle and burn the core, but that might have side effects.

50 minutes ago, Rising Dusk said:

Spitting it quickly at the slowly marching constructs.  Alright little Hydra's Snare, round two.  Vines erupted from the little seed and reached to tangle up the three enemies.  Black Jack directed his magic to wrap the hives with his telekinesis and try to remove them from the fake ponies.

The constructs had just kept walking towards them, no faster or slower than before. They weren't made for complex thoughts or anything of the sort, but simple to walk, to infect, and ultimately - as were evident from what they carried within - to fall. Getting trapped in vines however, were a different matter, and as could be expected, they would simply stand as ragdolls and be pulled into the air. There would be no struggle from their sides to this, nor the hives getting removed from their necks.

Were this a kinder enemy, it could likely have just ended here. Unfortunately though, Twisted were a cruel pony, and as the hives got removed, the enchantments keeping the constructs animated would fail, and they would start to fall apart. The hive itself were harmless if handled carefully, though when it got near the detectives, it would try to send out wasps to infect them. An automated response from these things, which were why there had be be constructs carrying them, rather than a thinking creature. The queen within each hive would not tolerate uncontrolled breathers near them.

If they managed to destroy the queen, all the wasps spawned from that particular hive would wither and die within seconds, including the ones on the citizens. They were going to have some nasty side effects like dizziness and vomiting until the toxin were fully out of their system, but they'd be alive and well. Potentially scarred for life by how a small insects had subverted their mind and made them see themselves trapped in their own bodies, unable to stop what were happening, but it were better than the alternative. Unless of course they'd end up covered in mushrooms soon, at which point they'd have a whole other nightmare to content with.

1 hour ago, Rising Dusk said:

 "How rude!" The Captain expressed annoyed and cast a powerful barrier around the portal to block out the sound and any further reinforcements from arriving.

More and more spiders would be on the other side, trying to bite through, but to no avail. it were far stronger than what their small fangs could deal with, even though metal hadn't been the biggest issue before. Their matriarch however, were not going to just lay down, and would start to move around in the shadows in there, ready to make a move on the barrier soon.

It would not halt the assault from the abomination however, who kept on it's spell towards the meddling ponies. The long horned one were strong, but eventually, even the captains barriers were not going to be enough to stop this, unless the spell would end first. It were going to be a drawn out fight on who had the most magic to spare it seemed, and the spiderlings were still an ace to be used, who still tried to bite away at the magic, and as the barrier were in their way, that as well. They'd attack the ponies first if they got told so, but they had no orders, so the current one of bringing back the victims as the most important part were what they followed, which made the barrier top priority.

1 hour ago, Rising Dusk said:

"Flare Blitz," The Captain she said calmly even as the barrier took a pounding.  "Yes ma'am!" the stallion stamped in place for a moment and teleported out of Wind Gale's barrier.  Appearing above the abomination, engulfing himself in fire again and using the same spell that gave him that wrecking ball force needed to run through all the walls from the main hall to the bathroom, directed down on the creepy thing's head as he fell.  "Stay... DOWN!" he roared.  Prepared for the possibility of the abomination have the same self-destruct annoyance as the other spiders, The Captain wrapped a second barrier around the abomination and connected it with the barrier around the rift.  Creating a tunnel for the explosion to follow, and erupt out on the other side.

The abomination fell with a heavy thunk, and the sound of crunchy parts when Flare hammered down upon it and made a good deal of it start to cave in. He'd get a hoof of foul-smelling goo on his leg for it, but it'd be singed before making any real contact, and fall harmless like ash.

The creature's spell ended, and cracks started to show where it had the same shell as the spiders, yet it could still move a little, and raised it's malformed head to look at the two ponies. The look that came to them from the few, milky eyes that were still functional though, were not one of anger, pain, or further want to mindlessly destroy them. Cut off from the shrieks of the matriarch and at the end of its existence, there were a moment of lucidity, and if this creature could still cry, it would have let some flow from the feeling of finality and peace that had been denied it, ever since it had been twisted into this thing.

"₣ł₦₳ⱠⱠɎ... ₣ⱤɆɆ..."

Far from Harrowmark, Twisted could not capture its essence or spirit again, and with a broken attempt at a smile, the abomination let out a final, loud shriek, and exploded in energy and lumps of mostly dry meat.

The explosion would have a wanted effects on the matriarch, who briefly were shown in the light of the energy blast to be but an enormous, crystalline spider, before the blast would smash her far back, and from the sounds coming from further in, would also result in her demise from the impact. All the spiderlings inside the barrier would rush backwards towards the sound to start the long process of infighting over who would now rise up and become the new matriarch, whilst those still in Equestria, would shiver and have the light snuff out from them without causing more explosions. Without the power of either their matriarch of their place of origins, they couldn't remain alive anymore.

The battle for the school had been won, though they still had a structurally unstable building, and a lot of students and teachers wrapped in gem-like webbing around the halls and rooms of said building now that they had to take care of.

1 hour ago, Rising Dusk said:

He heard whispers in the back of his mind, whispers the called upon memories of his nightmare the other night.  They were slightly more clear, but they weren't directed at Twisted Gears.  No, there was something else that made them restless.  The detective cast his gaze to a corner of the room for a moment, reaching out with his extra sense for anything.

The voices would try to direct his attention at countless objects in the room, wherein some of their essence were once taken so long ago, before the sisters took the cursed item with them. It were annoying for Twisted to have only incomplete samples of those who had been harvested here, yet those parts had still been viable in all sorts of things, such as several new items, vials of life energy, toxins, and of course, fun little side projects, such as the abomination he had send to entertain the school. That one hadn't been made by the energy of anypony present, but it did serve as a great example of what he could do, and he had in fact gathered the raw essence of quite a few beings into something special, somewhere in this room. That might be what got their main attention. Or it could be the creatures hanging just out of sight, clinging to the shadows and starring towards the intruder with needle-head like eyes.

It were unclear what'd happen if Rising were to release the energy of the lingering presences, but it would at the very least annoy Twisted, which could be seen as a win in itself.

1 hour ago, Rising Dusk said:

 "Mr. Gears, I'm here to rescue you," Rising Dusk informed the dark wizard.  Reaching into the pouch of his hoodie and removing a pair of hoof and wing cuffs, "And then arrest you for your crimes."

Twisted however, were far more focused on two things. That being to mentally prepare himself to put a different barrier up soon as things would start to get physical, as Rising had proven himself an annoyingly effective magic dispel specialist, and laughing at the bizarre response and subsequent request of Rising.

"You think to arrest or save me? I am her most loyal subject. The herald of the screaming void. I need no saving from my calling, and nopony holds the power to defeat those whom my mistress have bestowed her favor upon."

Twisted's face went into a smirk, and he took a step closer.

"That's the kind of thing you'd expect me to say here, yes? Sorry, it won't be that simple to get truth from me, unless you prove yourself worth it. And those little toys of yours hardly makes that the case. Take them away from him."

Gnarled hands of stone and wood would start to ride from the floor and grab towards the cuffs. If he kept focus on that, as were expected, more would come from the wall, whilst a little ashen pixie in crude leather armor, would sneak towards him from a nearby shelf, aiming to snatch these from the detective. it were unlikely that any of the things would work, but it were a fine enough distraction for now, and would allow for Twisted to speak once more, likely without being smashed with some sort of magic blast just yet.

"All I wanted were the siblings, and now you've put your town and your friends in harms way, just because you wanted to pick outsiders over them. Tell me, does it seem worth it, little one? For two that have no business in your country in the first place."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

As before, Omen repeated the words given to her. These were things that she had heard of before, and for the most part, knew what were, though since this seemed a part of the lesson, she had to follow what were being told. She saw teachers and students behave that way when she had bee wandering around schools sometimes, and it had struck her as somewhat similar to how it were between Discord and her at the time. One giving the orders, others listening and doing what were told. Except the foals sometimes didn't for some reason. It were pretty strange, and not something she could see a point in doing here with Lin, who were trying to help her with one of many things that her master had not had the time for back in the day.

There were something that she learned from what Lin said that she weren't aware of though: That what Shrimp had come from were also an egg. Usually when she heard that word being spoken, it were about things birds laid, griffons fiercely protected, and dragons started to breathe fire at you from being within fifty meters of. An egg like the one Shrimp had hatched from didn't look like any of them, so she hadn't been sure if it wasn't actually just a rock and that his kind came from that somehow. She'd try and remember that for the future, just like she had to about the dragons, that time she wandered into one of their nests to see what their eggs looked like. It had been a warm experience.

In any case, right now it seemed to be on the lesson about the first set of words again, so going by what she had seen in the schools, Omen would brush away the words she had already done, and try writing them down again, whilst saying out loud what it were. She took a little more time doing so now to make the letters look closer to what Lin had made, and to try and remember the sound each letter made when written down. Hopefully Lin would be happy with that, before Omen moved on to look at the last row of words, where she halted.

Tilting her head as she glanced at the words, she tried to take into consideration what Lin had said. She said the vowel had to be long, yes? Lin used that word before when mentioning the middle letters, O, I and such. Those were vowels then. When they moved on to this, she would have to try and remember this, but not before Lin said it were time. For now, she would return her gaze to the longma, and await what the next lesson would end up being.

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

 

@Moonlit

While it might have been the intention of Serenade to get a reaction out of Last, she wouldn't get much of it from changing back into her siren form, beyond the mare narrowing her open eye a little further and clenching her teeth, awaiting the first attempt at an attack from the siren that never came, as it were apparently a show of features, and not of strength that the large sea equine wish to present.

"Where I'm from, we would have filleted them. The princesses and Starswirl will likely just want to banish them again if they ever returned, though for your kinds sake, hope they won't. They have already caused enough trouble for both sides."

So one of the best ways to fight the sirens were with the elements of harmony. Shouldn't be an issue then. Y'know, if it weren't for the reason that all of the elements were currently gone.

Not that she would say this out loud. The princess told her to not be as confrontational towards the siren, yet Last did not trust Serenade enough to relay damaging information about Ponyville's safety measures like this. If some cruel creatures kept away because they thought the elements were still here, then that bluff were something that should be maintained. Besides, as far as she were told in town, this castle were built from the essence of said elements in one way or another, though the details were flimsy at best. It might still have some of the power in it that once were in the stones, and regardless should prove a sturdy bastion against an attack, though it were still woefully unguarded in her opinion.

"Do normal ponies know there are different siren types? I imagine Starswirl should, but still don't."

She assumed at that it were size alone that differentiated between the 4 siren varieties threat level, with them all still having access to their song powers, as that seemed as stable a thing for their race as transformation were for changelings. Another stable would likely be a burning, mutual hatred for and from Starswirl, so him being back again were likely gonna throw a lot of tension into any talk between the ponies and sirens.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

On 4/5/2019 at 11:25 PM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"She's amazing."

"Hah, I'm totally gonna save that."

Anomaly snatched a piece of cardboard with what Lumen had just whispered out of thin air, and started folding it together so that she could put it in her pocket. Didn't have one? No problem. That's what kangaroo mutations were for, so one two go *SNAP* Instant wallet space for a good memory. She were so gonna frame it when she got home, or raised some sort of island out in the ocean in this dimension to live on. She weren't picky.

After that she'd lead the others into the dirty, foul smelling diner that were likely only allowed to be open to be used as a study in how long it would take for mold to become sentient. Judging by the smell, they were about three weeks away from getting some results.

"Hey, your foulest rotgut times four please, and don't clean the plates."

Anomaly would pull her right eye out - Hah, psych! It was a plate of gold formed like a contact lens -  and put it on the desk as payment. She could find some bits too if it were, sure, but meh, who cared? Gold were gold, and broken down into bits, this would be around three times what the food would cost. They better get some really bad service with tips like this!

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"Yeah, I had it, but Warlock took it off. Could be grand to know how to set a new one up on the fly in case this sorta thing happens again."

Well, seemed like he had to get a hold on Astral for this sort of lesson, but that was fair enough. Misty were a strong little gal, and Chow were sure that in time, she'd be one impressive witch that would be hard to ignore for anypony, but she couldn't have everything. She were still just a filly after all. She'd need time, just like he were, though the difference were that she had youth and a young mind to really grasp at this, so she'd no doubt be better than him. But hey, when she got older, perhaps he could show his own meddle and teach her how to wrangle down a charging boar in five seconds flat. That'd be fun.

Anyway, let's see what were in this here book... Hmmm...

"Hey, check this out. A spell to draw a rabbit out of a hat. I always figured they just used a hole in the table and kept a box beneath it or something. Waddaya know? Anyway , let's smack up on a random page and just pick the first the best thing that pops into view. Which is gonna be... *Summoning an automated manicure box.*.

... I take it back, I'm flipping it again. Come on, let's get something cool... Elemental effects on a weapon. Oh hay yeah, now we're talking."

Chow put his hoof in front of his muzzle and cursed a little inside his head.

"Ergh, sorry 'bout that lil' one, I didn't mean to swear in front of ya. Just finally found something that looks like it could be useful."

The spell would describe dealing with elemental weaponry, which were not exactly a beginner study, but it were still a good chunk beneath summoning fresh weapons from scratch. This would just describe a spell to cover something sharp in a temporary magical aura of say, fire, or ice. He might end up freezing his face to a knife during this, but it could be pretty useful anyway, and more up his alley than a makeover box.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"I don't trust you Iron, as you don't trust me."

It were the closest to seeing eye to eye they were likely to do currently, and were one of a few things they had in common. Another being that they only worked with one another because Sapphire were part of the equation. Had she not shown, the two would be right back to trying to end the other. May still happen one of these days, but for the time being, he had his menial task to deal with, and they had theirs.

"Now, the crystals you ask for, should be out there in Equestria. If we find some who sells the minor gems that are used in hoof baths and the like, we should find others who are willing to part with the slightly stronger that we need. We will need to find some gold first though, unless you ever got hang of that Midas spell you once worked on?"

It had been woefully incomplete back then, and had at best managed to turn Emerald's cane from oak into copper, but it had been a long time. Perhaps Sapphire had managed to find time in her busy schedule of playing hero to finish it. If not, they'd have to sell something of value - a lot of old things in here, so not too unlikely - or steal them. Something which Emerald would prefer, but would likely not fall into good grounds with these two.

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@FanOfManyShows

"That's all mighty fine and dandy Wing, but what then about that friend of his out there who might swing around to get him out? I don't want another situation like we had with Caramel Rodeo."

Tidal Wave averted her gaze and started to look at something else as a grizzly memory came to her. Apparently, it were also shared with Screecher, as the bat pony let out a small sigh from just hearing the name.

"I had joyfully forgotten about that one. That we did not have casualties that day still astounds me."

Caramel Rodeo had been a mare accused for several counts of kidnapping and running what were thought to be a small scale crime ring. Nothing major, and the gang had already been caught, so she had gotten a ring on her horn, and sent to face trial in the regular courthouse. It seemed to go well until some members of said gang that had not been known about, had broken in and attacked the court room. It had taken 40 seconds from entry to exit, and they left a lot of judges, civilians, and even guards severely hurt from the explosives and weapons they used before they just vanished, and Caramel had not been seen since. That were three and a half year ago, and had been a pretty big deal at the time. Tidal Wave's first big time trial in Canterlot too, after she had taken over the mantle of general in that years competition.

"Regular court works well when you know it is a simple matter, and that you can keep it safe. I'm speaking in favor of the bunker because the only way she's getting down there is through a half battalion of guards, and if she gets down there, it'll be easier to ambush her. If it ain't, and the ring somehow starts failing, it'll be easier to detain him. I've seen the mess Warlock leaves 'round him once, and I ain't keen on getting a second helping regardless of how we go at it.

If you wanna go with the regular courtroom, then fine, I'll let it swing, but we still gotta make sure the security is up top, and prepare for him breaking out. Can't have that."

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom "I don't know, to be fair, when Ponies see Sirens, they usually run away. Starswirl never bothered to see if their were others. Also, There are differences between Sirens and Hippocampus" She holds the book up, showing the SPECIES: HIPPOCAMPUS. "Hippocampi are like your Alicorns, I know of only two. And you needn't worry about them" She flashes back to her Pegasi form, and fluffs her wings. "They died, long ago"