open Casual stroll

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Sekel

 "I forgot you ponies pound everything into soft mush first. How is any food supposed to give strength to your body if it isn't rock hard? How am I to eat this? Just lick it up like your pet?" Kaltrops complained openly, titling the plate around in his claw, utterly baffled at what she had given him. It was apparent that the drake had spent a great deal of time far outside the conventions and modern day conveniences of Pony Life as it stood today. A bit of civilization was needed and Dawn was lucky she didn't have to put up with him banging into doorways like a colt raised by timberwolves like the old mares' tales always went on about.

 "Is that want you want? Should I submit myself to you like a pet?" The drake went on, more calm in his tone and expression then his usual harsh words would lend themselves to. "You put the plate down, I lap it up, and you stroke my head and c-call me a go-"  He broke off, blushing through his scales to turn away and place the plate upon the nearby table.

#######################################

@Blitz Boom & @Pastel Heart

 Slimpsy didn't care much for Nature. It was dirty, often pretty sudden and was mighty high up the List. He barely recognized anything he came in contact with by ricocheting off whatever was put in his way like the little panicked pinball he was. While he greatly misjudged his own capabilities... well, there was a fair amount of cushioning to most of what impacted him for as long as it could. His blind rush around the Everfree went unnoticed by much as most small critters who did hear him go by would miss him by the time they turned their heads around.

 The Badger approached the two fillies with malice in its eyes. It was enjoying the fear it instilled in them as it stood up on its rear legs to rear back and make a hissing lunge, its sharp teeth and fangs exposed. Admittedly, this was barely some five inches off the ground as badgers were more designed to hobble and wobble. But this one wanted a fight, some blood shed. It came down, the sunlight glinting off its claws and in its evil eye to strike a blow against Pastel, the nearest of the two as  a sharp cry rang out through the forest!

 ...from the Badger, now sent flying over the treetops in the blink of an eye. If anyone had been watching its ascent would have just seen a waggling, fluffy badger blast off into the sky and becoming twinkle in the sky, it's grunty squeal trailing along behind it.

 

  Having only stopped now for the moment because he had hit the tree to their side at an exact straight-on and ricocheted directly back to stop in place. An adult stallion pegasus now stood in front of the two fillies, as brightly colored as an orange safety cone, with a short mane of yellow pointed over his head as if an exclamation mark. He stood shaking wildly much like an idling motorcycle shedding a cloud of feathers off him, for indeed, from flank to front fetlock, his entire torso stood covered as if by a blanket of feathers. He must have an absurdly huge wingspan, but clearly more inclined for running.

 Slimpsy was so shaken he was vibrating, about three inches in every direction with every part of him all at once. Just like a motorcycle, he began sputtering.

 "H-h-h-h-have-f-f th-th-they g-g-g-g-g-g-GONE?!! EAT ME! THEY'RE G-g-gonna eat me?!! Th-they gone, g-gone, gone, gone?!!?"

 He certainly likely wasn't regarding anyone in particular, as he hadn't directed his question at anypony and probably couldn't see straight from the fact that even his eyes were vibrating. 

[Rising Dusk 27,511]

@Blitz Boom

It appeared like actual magic when a magic sucking centaur came stomping through Equestria and ate it all up.  Crops couldn't grow and the skies became a raging mess when the Earth Ponies and Pegasi didn't do their thing.  Maybe not a flashy as one that wields the arcane, but their magic is just as important to making Equestria run smoothly.  Lily's disappointment was understandable, the division of the ponies races across the world wasn't as far apart as he thought.  Even if Harrowmark had the arcane seep into their ponies and did not for Equestria.  A lesson from Harrowmark can be learned as more and more ponies in his own land come to use artifacts of the arcane in the mix of their technology. 

A wholesome weave appeared before the detective as Lily cast her own spell in response.  Earthy toned threads sticking together a tapestry that spun the arcane into a spell that cause one of the nearby exotic bouquets on the table to grow further.  Attention from the party had wandered their way again as their host lifted the buffet and the mystery guest was making plants grow.  More importantly for them, seeing an Earth Pony use magic without a horn or artifact.  Dawn didn't even have to try and she brought something rare for these high society ponies to witness.  A sharp look over her shoulder from their host cast them away though, after she felt the small wariness radiate from her twin.  Lily wasn't to be a side show attraction under her roof.  Stallion and mare alike appeared most content with this and promptly returned to their previous activities.  

"It sounds like a lot can be learned from Harrowmark," Dawn commented but Rising could already feel his sister salivating over the idea of gaining new knowledge.  In his twin's world, knowledge was true power and for her to stake an early claim was too fruitful for her to pass up.  Rising rolled his eyes.  A lot of things could indeed be learned from Harrowmark, a lot of dangerous things.  The O.M.I. needed to get bigger, faster before those borders were crossed.  The growing use of artifacts created by inexperienced unicorns was already a problem, then having darker things pass into their land of light.

[Pastel Heart 6,466]

@Blitz Boom @Widdershins

Pastel was relieved that the badger was aiming for her first, atleast it would knock her around before picking on Jelly-- a heroine isn't without injury! However... this was gonna hurt.

"Not in the face please."

Pastel shut her eyes tightly and prepared for impact, however... she opened her eye to see the badger flying, a new, older, super nervous looking friend with them! Did he do that? All she could say to herself was "nice." as the badger took flight cartoonishly.

She looked at the shaking stallion. Wait, is this the one who was in trouble!? HE ended up saving THEM. What a twist. He looked to be extremely nervous and talking to himself. She looked at Jelly.

"Woah, talk about an unlikely hero! I was almost a Pastel sandwich!"

...She glanced at the stallion, and back to Jelly with a sympathetic smile.

"Uhh... You wanna try talking to him? I think if I tried, he'd run away."

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Catpone Cerberus

Neither of them would try to interrupt Ruby's hunt, nor alert the moose. Marley knew her enough to understand that he'd - rightfully so - get a substantial slapping, and as such went silently behind the others, whilst Leviathan considered it a matter of respect to not meddle in another dragon's hunt, unless they seemed like they were about to lose, or hunted something they weren't supposed to. Mainly ponies. Her whole point about trying to show Ruby that someone cared wouldn't really be helped if she started to show the lack of respect it'd be to potentially chase off the dragoness prey.

Besides, she were rather intrigued by looking at Ruby, now that she had a chance to fully see the dragoness as she were. Larger than herself, with a color befitting her name, she were an impressive enough dragoness, and as had been brought up earlier, clearly not meant to be inside most pony dwellings in her normal form.

Her way of hunting were a joy to watch too. A little... Brutish perhaps, but the efficiency and stealth right before the pounce were impressive. Personally Leviathan wasn't a fan of making her prey struggle though, as she felt like it soured the meat, but to each their own. It were still an interesting sight.

Not a chance she could stay and watch the show though. Another moose had been nearby, and were trying to get away from the scene. With the distance it had from Ruby, it might have a fair chance actually. If not Leviathan had taken flight and followed after it.

The dragoness were smaller and leaner than Ruby, which made it easier for her to navigate around the trees, and giving off a performance akin to seeing a serpent slither forth on a recording, yet on fast forward. With little effort, she'd make it to the moose, at which point she'd strike from above, and pierce its heart with the spear. A quick, clean ending that didn't make the poor thing suffer, and soon enough, she'd have it dragged back with her, with the slowly melting spear sticking out.

"Now comes the fun part."

She'd have a gleam in her eye as she started to skin the moose, then set the hide on the ground, with the fur side downwards, whilst she began slashing it into small pieces on said pelt. She'd have a few bites here and there, but overall, she wouldn't eat much currently, beyond the heart and liver. The rest were going to be salted, packaged up, and kept in a spare sack she had in her left side bag. It'd take some time though, but still, there'd be plenty of food for another time for her. A rationing thing that Ruby might not like, but perhaps the joy that went over Leviathan's face as she skillfully butchered her prey would be a point in the smaller dragoness' favor. At least it meant she wasn't squeamish, right?

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@Catpone Cerberus

The critter hastily grabbed the bag and piece of wood more firmly, grasping them with a semi-relived expression on her face. Apparently, these were the most important of the things she had in her possession, and the food were more a sort of afterthought.  Came from being a scavenger as part of your nature.

As she were asked whatever or not she understood Nada, she started to nod fervently, and yappered off in critterspeech. Something which of course, Nada wouldn't get, but she were panicking a bit here, so logic had to take a backseat for a few seconds until the moment of realisation came up for the mimic.

Once the penny dropped, she'd grab her head with one paw, trying to think of how to approach this, before pulling the piece of wood forth and putting it in front of her. Once it were there, she'd start pointing at it, then sniff it, before pointing at herself again. After doing this a few times, she started to look into many directions, all whilst holing a paw above her eyes as if she were scouring for something in the horizon.

After that it were basically just pointing at the board and looking up at Nada expectingly, to see if the Siren would get the point of her little game of charades. If not, she'd have to try something else to get her point across, and attempt to smooth things out before she ended up as the larger predator's next meal. A fate which the mimic had no interest in taking part in. Which were also a reason why she seemed to cover somewhat behind the piece of wood, as if it were a shield. Sure she cared for this thing, but she cared even more about not ending up as an appetizer.

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@Catpone Cerberus

Straw scratched his moustache thoughtfully as he heard the explanation about what were going on around the ghostly perimiter.

"Hmm, I've been living in Ponyville all my life, and both seen and heard of my fair share of weird things, but I can't say I've ever heard of something like that before. The animals being able to get through is the oddest part to me though. Makes it sound as if the ponies you're talking about have made a kind of safe haven for them, or at least is trying not to meddle with the local ecosystem.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say Fluttershy could have something to do with it, but I know she have her own sanctuary already... Perhaps there's a second? How does the ponies you're talking about look? Is one of them per chance a yellow mare with a long, flowing hair and mane in rather bright pink, wandering around with a bunny?"

It would be weird that Fluttershy did something like this, but it were the only one he knew off that might have a hoof in this sort of thing. Could be that she were working with Twilight to make another sanctuary out here? Or somepony else? Sounded mighty interesting if it were, certainly. Something worth exploring even.

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@Windy Breeze

WIndy would soon find that a shadow started to loom over her from behind. A tall presence, blocking the sun from shining down upon her, and imposing the height difference between them in a somewhat ominous way.

If she turned around however, she'd see anything but an ominous presence, as she'd be starring right at a rather tall, soft colored mare with a bow in her mane, looking down on her with a happy little smile on her muzzle.

"Are you looking for the Cake's? They had to go and get their foals to the doctor."

She'd reach over and try pushing the door, but were a little dismayed to also find out that the place were indeed closed for the day.

"I guess Pinkie and Glazed Over couldn't take over. That's a shame, I were kinda thinking about bagels.

Hehe, oh well, there's other places to find baked goods in town. For some reason this town have like... Three or four places were you can get baked goods. Kinda crazy, huh?"

The lanky mare would take a step back, whilst folding her large wings in again. She had been flying here when finding this pony in her rather peculiar outfit, being followed around by a group, and figured she'd go say hi, once the mare appeared to not go inside, and talking about the bakery being closed. An unusual sight, but stuff happened, right? No biggie.

And speaking of unusual sights, the large rodent skull that she were wearing on a piece of rope around her neck - already something you rarely saw with equines - suddenly had the eye sockets flare up with two small, pale wisps of fire. The *eyes* would seemingly be focused on Windy, and would follow her, even if she moved to the side, though that were the extend of what went on. The skull didn't suddenly come alive and try to chase her or anything.

"Anyway, I'm Sorrow, it's nice to me- Huh? Wonderbolts? This is how they look?"

She seemed to get interrupted by a voice that only she could hear, which might make her come off as a little crazy. Y'know, in case her necklace didn't already make you question things.

"Oooooh, That explains the crowd! I were sorta wondering why everypony were hobbling after you."

Sorrow would chuckle with her eyes closed for a few seconds, before looking back at the mare with big, curious eyes.

"Never seen a Wonderbolt before you. I sorta thought you'd look more... I dunno, purple, I guess? The uniform's are a lot brighter than I thought."

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@EQ_Theta

They'd find that the door wasn't closed, as this were after all, still a business, and closing the doors kept the customers away.

Still, Amethyst would come to them if they did not wander in first, and get a pleasant smile on her face as she saw who her visitors currently were.

"Lin? Oh it's so good to see you again dear."

She went closer to embrace the longma, but were stopped by Shrimp, who rose his head and started to hiss at the mare as she got too close.

"It seems that someone is in a somewhat bad mood. Perhaps he have overeaten? Please, come in come in, one and all."

She'd give Rosa a somewhat curious glance as he passed, yet Sen, Lin and Shrimp would get a pleased smile from the mare, who were more than happy to have her guests back again. She were more or less done with cleaning up anyway, and there were currently no customers, so she had the time to spare. Just had to make sure to keep an eye on the refraction, lest the little thing thought it were time for a snack when he saw the jewelry on display.

Among the jewelry in question, they'd be able to now see several rings, necklaces, and a single broche, embedded with the purified Changeling Crystals. These color-shifting little things should be able to fetch quite a nifty sum of bits, though they might also give a few... Bad memories to the group. Rosa at least, were none too happy about seeing them, but kept his muzzle shut for the time being.

"So what is it that brings you here this day, darlings? I think I heard you saying you were here with something?"

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@Midnight

"Yes, please. And you're staying right here where I can keep an eye on you, mister."

Pop looking up at Benny with a bit of an edge to both her glare and her voice. She did not find this little impulse of him to be funny in the slightest, and judging by the apologetic, awkward look on Benny's face, he well knew that he had gone and done something really stupid there, and didn't have a proper reason or excuse that he could give for his actions. She weren't really angry at him, more worried that it might have actually ended up hurting him, though thankfully, Icy had bounced him out like he were a ragdoll, and now they could test this without potentially ending up sending Benny to the dark ends of nowhere.

As for what to test on this, Icy were free to pick whatever and try using that. A lot of candy around, so perhaps a bag of that, or some pieces from the mixing bowls in the corner would do well? Only inanimate thing off limits were the old timey register, as that were a well taken care of antique that had been hard for Pop to get hold of in the first place, much less get to work right. Still worth it for that satisfying *ding* sound whenever she pulled the lever though. For some reason it just made her happy.

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@Rising Dusk

"There's something to learn from everywhere around the world. Harrowmark have plenty of magical research that might be interesting to others, and with how isolated we have been the past six centuries, whoever gets their stake on some of it first, might be very fortunate."

Lily wasn't blind. She knew the sort of lustful glare that lingered in Dawn's word and look as she talked about there being things to learn from Harrowmark. A hunger that she knew well, having had that be her own goal for quite some time in her original younger years, as well as for many others that she knew.

It would be interesting to see what would happen, as Harrowmark got into contact with the world again, and their knowledge were traded for what the world around them could teach the stagnated country. Likely they had more to offer than her own country did to most, seeing how society had moved along in other countries, whilst Harrowmark had stagnated, yet what others had in technology, they might be able to offer in studies. Her country were a deeply magical one, and she for one, were in possession of some rather intriguing, and disturbing, tomes of how to wield magic. Including primordial magic, which she imagined weren't as prevalent everywhere. Equestria at least, had not stricken her as a country praying to any god so far at least. Their depictions and praise seemed mostly to be towards their regents, though in fairness, she hadn't heard enough to tell for sure. It were a very small sample size she had gotten, though she'd stick to her theory for now, until she knew otherwise.

"I find it curious that with all this splendor, your guests seems to find interest in someone growing a flower. Earth pony casting a spell or not, that seems like nothing, compared to what else the eyes can fall upon in here."

The *audience* here were focusing on the wrong things in her opinion. What about all the splendor here? Or the levitating table? Heck, what were On the table were even more interesting than a flower being grown. How much would it blow these ponies minds to see actual, high end magic if this were enough to draw their attention?

She for one, were more curious about what were going on in the bauble, which were about to turn ugly from the looks of things.

The group had reached the shore rather quickly, likely because the diamond dog driver had been given another spike of energy from the priestess, who wanted this over with as soon she could.

Regardless, they were now at the shore, and they were getting some company, as they approached a large ferry that would have room for all of them, as well as the wagon, yet it were being guarded over by a specter. A tall one at that, draped in soaking wet rags, obscuring the view of the somewhat hunched over, tall creature, hovering in the air.

Chains hung from its back to connect it to an enchanted anchor on the ferry's back, and to it's side, it held a long piece of wood in its obscured hand, where the bottom of the piece of wood were carved into an oar, and the top were given a large, rather nasty looking scythe head that glimmered in the faint sun light.

It appeared that it were floating towards them, limited in distance by the chains which held it in place, and that Thistle were about to approach it. A confrontation between a creation of Twisted, and the herald of the goddess he had tried to help snuff out, seemed unlikely to go well.

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@Pastel Heart @Widdershins

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! They were in so much trouble here if they didn't start to run fast, and run far! Eeep! Nooo, it were too late, the badger were gonna tear Pastel!

Much as she wanted to fancy herself a great protector, and somepony who would one day be the bestest Night guard of them all, Jelly were still an inexperienced filly. She didn't have the muscle to fight a creature like this, and sadly, weren't able to always react on things as timely as she wanted to. So as she were trying to get Pastel away, it left her unable to get her out of the way in time, which meant  that she were going to have to helplessly watch her ge- What the hay?

Normally she wouldn't want to curse, even internally, but seeing the badger suddenly blasting off like a rocket were mind boggling, and there really wasn't anything else she could think of right now than those few words for several seconds.

"We... We did it! We're safe."

She'd let go of Pastel and lounge forward to pull her friend into a giant, tight hug from the back. Praise be the moon, they were okay! They had defeated two enemies - well, one of them wandered off - and a third had suddenly been sent packing, which meant that the pony they had been chasing were safe, and so were they! Everything had turned out okay after all, including her friend not becoming badger dinner! This were amazing.

She'd be clinging on tight for around five seconds or so before the relief roaring through her like an ocean finally subsided enough to make her let go, leaving her with a huge adrenaline rush and a heart that felt like it were about to burst out through her chest. This had gotten way more intense than she had thought it were going to be, when they first went into the forest.

10 hours ago, Widdershins said:

"H-h-h-h-have-f-f th-th-they g-g-g-g-g-g-GONE?!! EAT ME! THEY'RE G-g-gonna eat me?!! Th-they gone, g-gone, gone, gone?!!?"

 

2 hours ago, Pastel Heart said:

"Uhh... You wanna try talking to him? I think if I tried, he'd run away."

"Yes yes yes! They're all gone. We saved you, and I think you saved us after that?"

Jelly would take over, though she were perhaps a bit too hyped up right now for the nervous looking stallion. A pretty weird looking guy too, who looked like he had been rolled in feathers. Were it some sort of coat? Way too many for regular wings, that were for sure. Might be he just grew extra ones on his body, like a chicken. Who knew if that were something pegasi could do?

He also seemed to be about three seconds away from taking a hike in sheer panic, but again, Jelly were a bit too high on the adrenaline to calm herself down to the sort of level he likely needed right now, and were actively jumping in place.

"Are you okay mister? Everything's safe now so you can rela-"

The sentence were not spoken in full, before the sound of heavy paws stomping down on the ground got nearer, and if they followed the sound, they'd find the timberwolf matriarch wandering nearby, with her head held above the trees they were standing near, and sniffing the air. Usually she got nowhere near Ponyville, but due to the desert, then reasserting her dominance over her territory, and unsuccessfully chasing a siren, she had gotten far closer to town than normal, and right now, she were smelling something weird. Potentially the equines, or maybe the broken up timberwolf from before, or something third entirely. Yet whatever it were, the gargantuan timberwolf would likely not be happy to find any of the things she could smell right now, and it would be wise of them to get away before she got nearer then the ten meters away from them she roughly were now. Considering her size - even if they weren't exactly among the tallets trees in the forest - it seemed unwise to catch her ire, or even attention. Opportunistic predators or not, something this huge, which had managed to keep control of her pack and the parts of the forest she dwelled in for as long as she had, were not gonna be taken down by a simple string.

[Chiroptera 4]

@Blitz Boom

[=~ As Pop was looking at Benny, Icy had decided to just use a bit of ice as the object. She used her magic to coalesce a bit of air into a ball, freezing it afterwards. Frozen air wasn't that big of a leap, considering in her more fun- at least for me- state, she had frozen fire before. Besides, its magic, don't know why I'm even trying to give you reasons why it makes sense. It dosen't. Its just magic, deal with it. Anyway, having the ball of ice levitating in the air, she proceeded to levitate it into the expanse and onto the "ground" of it. Walking over to the button on the left, she closed it, then switched and opened into another "version" of the expanse, placing a cube of ice in that one. Then she switched back to the first expanse, where the ball of ice was still there on the ground. She levitated it out, before letting it go back to its normal form- air- and switching back to the second version of the expanse. There, the cube of ice was still waiting, which she did the same as she did with the ball of ice with. Then she switched it back to the first version of the expanse. "Alright, works perfectly fine. Can you come over here and operate the button, Pop, while I go inside and test the anti-trapping lock? Need to make sure it works. And don't tell me its dangerous. I know it is. If I do get trapped in there- or erased- after you press the button, though... Well, can't really think of a better way to die than to die to one of my own inventions."

[Windy Breeze 15,189]

@Blitz Boom

Windy soon see a large shadow of a pony loom over her. Curious, she look behind her, only to see a tall pink pegasus mare with a bow behind her pink mane, looking down at her with a soft smile. 

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Are you looking for the Cake's? They had to go and get their foals to the doctor” 

“Oh, hi, there, miss” Windy greeted, giving the mare her own smile “I was going to the bakery to buy some pies but somehow, luck seems to swoop away from me” she watched as the mare reach and tried pushing the door. Obviously, the bakery is closed for the day.

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"I guess Pinkie and Glazed Over couldn't take over. That's a shame, I were kinda thinking about bagels. 

 

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Hehe, oh well, there's other places to find baked goods in town. For some reason this town have like... Three or four places were you can get baked goods. Kinda crazy, huh?"

Now why didn't the locals told me about having more than one bakery in this town? Windy thought. She decided to remain silent. She watched as the tall mare took a step back, and fold their wings seriously, this mare's wings is as majestic as the other princesses Windy felt a little jealous for this. She decided to take this jealousy off her mind, knowing what could it effect her life if she ever fought over something. 

She then noticed the rope around the mare's neck... and a large rodent skull tied on the rope. She felt a little scared when she saw the eye sockets flare up and two pale wisp of fire appeared, and appears to be staring at her but she was also fascinated by this.

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

“Anyway, I'm Sorrow, it's nice to me- Huh? Wonderbolts? This is how they look?"

Windy wasn't sure this mare's talking to her or to somebody else. Or both. She just introduced herself and she suddenly find out she's a Wonderbolt.

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Oooooh, That explains the crowd! I were sorta wondering why everypony were hobbling after you"

“W...Well, yeah” Windy uttered, raising an eyebrow at the mare known as Sorrow, who had their eyes closed. Windy found herself under Sorrow's curious gaze. 

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Never seen a Wonderbolt before you. I sorta thought you'd look more... I dunno, purple, I guess? The uniform's are a lot brighter than I thought” 

Purple? Windy felt the urge to laugh, which she tried to stop from coming out of her mouth.

“Um, hi? A pleasure to meet you? My name is Windy Breeze. It's glad to meet you, Sorrow” Windy smiled whilst stifling her urge to laugh “And hey, I'm a Wonderbolt” she decided to let the color talking pass. Windy heard someone behind her faint but she decided to ignore it “It seems you do not heard of the Wonderbolts though you just finally found out about us” she then move her gaze at the large rodent skull “And is that thing alive? I swear I can see eyes in the eye sockets” of course it's not. Maybe she had a unicorn friend who had cast a spell to that thing she thought. 

[EQ_Theta 457]

@Blitz Boom

A door left unlocked and a friendly face inside to greet them. The siblings felt welcomed in the presence of a good friend and with Lin, she presented a simple wooden box, unassuming in looks but neatly arranged and as presentable as it could be. The longma stepped forward and hoped to hug the mare when Shrimp hissed and cut this greeting short.

The siblings followed Amethyst in, Lin approached the mare and showed her the box filled with an assortment of leaves, picked and dried but always ready to be brewed.

“We wanted to give you this. A box with samples of dried tea leaves from our home. After we chatted about tea, I wanted to give you some to try. Osmanthus and Jade Orchid leaves, packed and sorted. Yellow and dark green, respectively, and I’ve added one more you might enjoy.”

The longma opened the box and inside it was one solid, brick-like slab of dried leaves. Or to more accurately put, a mixture of rolled leaves and flower buds. It should appear no bigger than a young pony’s hoof. Black and thin, if pieces of it were sloughed off, it might appear like a mound of grain. Back home, these would be kept as they are before being broken down into smaller pieces and brewed in a vessel over a fire. However, steeping these in hot water like other tea leaves will do just fine.

“This one here is called Qimun, light black in color with a flowery scent. Once brewed, you get this and smoky aroma with the taste to match. Not too sweet but not too bitter as well. It looks black at the moment but leave it in hot water and you’ll see it change to red shortly!”

“I really enjoyed that, just sitting down and chatting, though I didn’t get a chance to know how ponies came to learn about the Jade Orchid plant. Regardless, I think you might like the assortment of leaves here. We don’t have too many options back home or if there are more, we haven’t discovered them yet.”

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby silently observed Leviathan, not showing any of her opinions through her expressions, and even after she had speared her prey, there was no way to tell what Ruby was thinking, only that she was silently assessing what she saw., though Marley would most likely be able to notice that she looked more interested than she usually did about anything, it wasn't a big change of course, but it would be enough for someone who had been travelling with her to notice.

Ruby also skinned her prey, but that's really was all the two had in common, as she then started taking out big chunks and eating them, ultimately only leaving bones and fur which she then buried. Though she didn't do the whole rationing thing herself, she didn't see anything wrong with saving food for later, the reason why she herself didn't so it was because she wasn't able to carry enough food with her without gaining unwanted attention. The amount of food she could carry if she did take some with her, it would only make her hungrier. She herself didn't get much joy from the prey after its death besides the fact that she got food, but she could appreciate Leviathan's joy as she did her thing, because it reminded her of herself after a victory against a challenging enemy, the feeling of taking one piece of said enemy as a trophy, it was related to the joy she felt just before the kill, the joy brought by the feeling of power. 

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Nada tilted her head, too bad her skill in languages didn't help with animals "So you do understand, and are looking for something?" she asked, she probably should have told the creature to just leave, but she wanted to know if she was someone Nada should have known, but she would need to use yeas and no questions for now. "Do you know who lives in this house?" 

-------------------------------------------------------
"No, it's two blue unicorns, mare and stallion, they are also both blonde, with short manes, in fact, I think they're twins, they look so similar." Scarecrow responded  "And I doubt they have any interest in helping the animals, as they seem to be ignoring them at best." "I don't really know much about magic, even though I may have been an unicorn at some point..." he pointed at his very mutated horn "...but that said, my guess is that the barrier is made to block certain things, maybe some kind of certain type of magic or something, something that ghosts and I have but animals don't."

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Blitz Boom

 "Oy, don' pretend ya don' like me on top, Babe! My agility keeps me quite skilled at that!~" The stallion shot back, perched proudly on Berry's head along the way she lead the two of them. Like most birds, it would take alot to dissuade him of anything he hadn't set himself too. Well, notwithstanding newcomers. Flit had great interest in meeting new ponies.

 The moment they had come in the door (Flit's head bobbing down as they came through the doorway) he had completely disregarded anything further she had to say. From on top of her head, he put his head down and wings back and buzzed his way at Chippy like a hawk after a bunny, bucking Berry's head back with a persistent poke. In little much time for the small griffon to react much more than to trip over himself attempting to turn away from the persistently projectile pone, Flit was all over this newcomer. 

 Glomped on to Chippy, hooves wrapped around him and long neck pressed into his side, the griffon was greeted with a wide, toothy, smug grin. "Why hello, yeh Little Morsel~ What's a little thing like you doin' unloved out 'ere in this big, harsh world, huh?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

@Sekel (and also Blitzie!)

 From perched firmly on her back, where he seemed to fit a little too well considering his arrogance, Shortstack grumbled low to Dazzle. "Hmph. She gae a big-  longer stride. T'ain't dignyfied but it saves the trouble, least. Weren't me plan that it turned out the lot 'ah us are stackable horses." "You gotta make others comfy! You let me know Shiny Horsie, if you ever need Mama Flush to help you wif anything! Ya gotta share! Ya gotta care!" The much larger mare chirped in her southern drawl back at the two as they took the next few several moments walking.

 Scarcity made it to the police offices ahead of them from either teleportation or a businessmare's more determined gait compared to the slow, cautious of her two riders, ambling mosey that Sunny Flush was taking. Scarcity had plenty enough time to catch up with her estranged sister before the others arrived and the answer to Dazzle's question of how long they would ride like that would be summarily, and quickly answered.

Not long after Scarcity had finished talking the timbers of the admittedly rather ersatz (makeshift, I like fancy words!) building rang with the sound of impact... As Sunny's face rammed into the trim of the doorway. The resulting sudden stop would skid both Shortstack and Dazzle off at the front door of where they were intending on going.

 "Oowuh-Ow-wuh!"

At the sound of her making contact Blither's head turns to flick towards the door (and Monolith's doesn't) and both bothers say in the same voice "That would be Sunny."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Seems like you two have found yourself with a bonding experience. Although it is somewhat wasteful to simply discard a good pelt like that. It's not all that hard to fetch a fair price for that."

"I agree with that at least. No need to be-"

The sound of bones dislodging rung out, as she removed the head of her prey, and set it besides the pile of meat that she had separated the moose into.

"- wasteful. There's some use for everything."

As she went about taking out wrapping paper, salt, and blowing out a bit of ice to cover some of the pieces, whilst leaving others in jars, etc. the only things that wasn't at the end packaged up and put into both her right bag and the satchel she were carrying on her bag, were the pelt, which had been hastily cleaned with a bit of magic, folden up as best she could, and put on top of said satchel. Everything else were reduced to a neat pile of mostly clean bones, a small bag of intestines, and the head. The first and last of which were buried, whilst the bag were slung to the side. The head seemed to be getting a bit more attention though, getting buried by itself, rather than with the other bones, and with the dragoness mumbling something to herself as she did so. Marley considered asking, but something told him that he'd get a face full of ice again if he so chose to.

"Good moose pelt, some jerky, rations for a week or so... A good hunt all in all."

She'd turn her attention to Ruby after that, and now finally had a chance to look at the dragoness in her entirety, face to face. The look from the other angles had been intriguing too, but there were something about starring one into the eyes that were different. At times it made them feel less important, yet in this one, Ruby felt more imposing. One who were hard to miss, had you first taken notice of her, and that wasn't just by size. It felt like she had a kind of... Aura over her, you could say? It were hard to explain. There were just something that made it impossible to not feel her presence, just looming over her.

"I like your hunting style. It's clean and decisive, and you're a lot stealthier than I expected. It's admirable, as is seeing you as you truly are. This form suits you far better than what I first saw you as."

Ruby didn't seem too thrilled with compliments, so she figured she'd start in the slow end of things. Try to grow on her a bit, before adding something more to it. It'd also give her a chance to get to know what sort of praise Ruby might like more in details, which seemed like it would be important.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

12 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"So you do understand, and are looking for something?" she ask

The critter nodded vigorously again. It seemed like they were getting somewhere after all, and with things not seeming as hostile anymore, she'd even think it were okay to lower her paws again, outside of the charades. Seemed like she wasn't about to be eaten just yet, if the larger predator were this curious about things, rather than simply going over to chomp on her. Might be things would go okay.

12 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Do you know who lives in this house?" 

At this point, the critter were more hesitant with her answer. Yet slowly, she'd reach a paw up, and point towards Nada with a cautious chitter, as if to say *...You?*

It didn't smell exactly like it were Nada, but the smell of something very similar were around here, and there were other strange smells too that might interfere, so this could still be the one who actually lived here. Heck, it could be one of several of her kind that lived in here, and that were why there were varied smells of this sea predator around here. Guess she'd find out soon enough, right?

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Hmmm, can't say I have an idea who they are then, but their security could maybe a ward against soul magic, necromancy, or some other kind of reanimation? We sometimes get folks talking about this sort at my business, but I don't get enough on the details to call myself an expert. Could be that somepony else in town had some idea though. Perhaps the princess? The young lady fancies herself as being rather smart. Might be it's worth putting to the test someday."

No rush though, it sounded like, but it'd be something to bring up eventually more than likely. Considering what her position were in the grand scheme, and how much she toys around with magic and books, Twilight might know something here, and could share some info on it, rather than get all up in a tip if this actually were some sort of death magic. Some ponies got really upset over that, whilst his thinking were more that he'd like to know the story of the one using it, before he tried judging too much. Sometimes bad things caused you to go to unconventional methods, and it'd be best taking that into consideration, far as he were concerned anyway.

"I could also just go in and ask them, I suppose. Still some time before dinner, and considering the timberwolf matriarch were the one who caused me to get chased off the road, I'm not thinking it's smart to try and move back to town before I know she's gone back to whatever part of the forest she usually lingers around in. I'd wrangle a regular timberwolf all day, but that one's a bit too big for my liking."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

Amethyst were widely impressed by seeing the tea that she got. A rarity in the Jade Orchid leaves that would make for quite the tea to special occasions, along with Osmanthus, which she hadn't had a taste off for years. Not because it wasn't somewhat widely available, it were just not something she had felt an urge towards for a long time. It brought her memories of grizzly days, as it had been one of those teas she had drunk often, back when the mine were still open, so it weren't something she had felt the urge to indulge in again in a long time. Blessed be Lin for perhaps making this bring up a kinder memory now, of a new friend, rather than the loss of those who were thankfully now back.

And then, there were a third one that really made her eyes go wide in surprise.

"I fancy myself as knowing at least about all kinds of brews. Even those who are no longer to be found, ever since the fire. Yet Qimun? I have never even heard of an herb of this name. Not even from Barley Brew, and she can speak yours ears off about all kinds of rare, obscure plants with usage in food or drinks."

Caring little for Shrimp this time, she'd reach forth and embrace Lin's head in a heartfelt smile, whilst the small one kept on hissing and trying to push the mare away with his feeble little arms. This were His longma, not hers.

She kept the embrace brief, before moving away along with one of Shrimp's pushes, as to make him think that he had caused her to go away. It would lessen the risk for her, and she were already rather fortunate that he had not bitten her. Small draconic creatures of all kinds and subspecies tended to be very expressive in that particular way.

"Thank you so much for this wondrous gift, darling. I will make sure it is used at just the right time, where I will have the time to treasure every drop."

Leading them further inside, past the business side, she'd keep an eye on the curious refraction, just to make sure that it didn't feel the urge to go down and have a snack on her wares, but it didn't seem like he cared enough right now. A little too full from all the energy draining he had done earlier for him to care about chasing crystals right now, so he'd return calmly to his little nap.

They'd likely know where she were leading them, as they had a delightful time in the back of the shop earlier, which didn't seem to have changed much since last. It were merely a bit cleaner, that were it.

"I never mentioned how I knew of the Jade Orchid? My apologies for that darling, it must have slipped my mind for some reason.

It isn't much I can tell you though, I'm afraid. Most that have ever tried that plant, have done so through an extremely limited supply made at a specialty plantation that once stood outside of New Hayshire. They had marvelous, curious plants from all over the world, which they claim to have gotten via trade deals, but it's generally a mystery. Nothing I heard of technically disproved it, but regardless, that isn't much of an issue anymore, sadly. The whole place burned to the ground years ago, and the owners allegedly went down with it. All that is left of the Jade Orchid for us these days, are but stories and obscure collectors allegedly holding a minute amount. Occasionally I hear of adventurers who claims to have seen places where the plant grow, but there are no proof to go along with it, and they seem reluctant to try and find the place again. As if something bad happened to them that they wish not to revisit."

Rosa seemed to be tempted to say something as he followed them, and heard Amethyst speak on, but he kept his muzzle shut and focused elsewhere instead. It were probably nothing, and that's why he chose not to speak up, just as there were little reason for Shrimp to suddenly sleep nibble Lin's ear tip. And yet, here they were. Hopefully it wouldn't annoy her too much.

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

 

@Windy Breeze

"Nono, I've heard about the Wonderbolts before. I just never saw any of you, and he never really spoke about what sorta colors your uniforms were. Guess I should've asked.

Hehe, and you don't hafta worry about Legion. They're not alive. All of them are way dead."

That sentence could have more gravitas, were it not said with a joyous tone, a happy smile, and the mare doing both, patting the skull like it were some sort of pet.

"One of them's talking about the Wonderbolts now and again, when he feels like sharing. The others like his stories, and he's really starting to share right now. All of Legion's buzzing with questions for Flight Fright."

Any Wonderbolt worth their education would know that name, as one of the more infamous Wonderbolts in recent memory. A reckless showoff, who had made a point of combining his speed and sense of flair, to do some harrowing shows for the public, as well as making his rescues overtly dramatic, and place himself above others. A rather obnoxious pony really, but gifted enough to get away with it. That is, until the event that cemented his place in their history.

The details were rather... Graphic, but the short of the long were that he had been trying a new show, using a new wind machine, and been too reckless in both handling it and had thrown wind to the safety precautions. The machine malfunctioned, sucked him in, and... Well, the weather had been biblical for a little while.

His memory these days served as warnings to aspiring Wonderbolts, of what happened when you thought too highly of yourself, and disregarded the rules. In fact, he were mentioned in about seventeen counts throughout the rule book, including in warnings about non-acceptable apparel, such as wing streamers, or overly fanciful tail extensions. Turns out that it is a nasty bit of business when that sort of thing get stuck in an untested, prototype weather machine.

Flight had also been dead for about sixty years, which made any notion of him telling others anything a matter of impossibility, unless you employed some sort of seance, or necromancy.

"Hey, do you know if they ever got the wind machine clean again, or did they need to build a new one? They're getting really curious about what went on after he turned the lever and his wing streamers jammed into the gears. Y'know, without the grizzly details. They all know about that part, and I sorta want them to have less grim stories to share."

Sorrow were completely open about what she did if she were asked, but she also acted as if it wasn't really a big deal, and as such, didn't figure that what she were talking about, was maybe a little crazy. At least to normal ponies, who didn't deal with death on a daily basis. Not that you'd think that of her just by looking at her. Sure, she had a skull and all, but the stereotype were cloaks, skeletons, ghoulish faces with no smile on their faces, that sorta thing. Sorrow looked like somepony who had gone into a thrift store on holiday, and had bad taste in jewelry.

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

 

@Midnight

"Could we perhaps not try to consider throwing somepony into the fathomless whatever? I'd really like my shop not to have a death count."

Dear Celestia, both of them were trying to give her a heart attack here, weren't they? Sure the test had to be done she guessed, but wasn't there a safer way to do this, that wouldn't accidentally get her place to become a murder scene?

"I dunno, it sounds like she wants it tested, but I do agree that it sounds a little dangerous... Couldn't we like, catch a squirrel or something? I'd really prefer if I didn't have to go back to Canterlot and tell the generals that I witnessed a real nasty version of a magic trick."

A bit hypocritical of him, since he had been willing to test it before, but he hadn't known of the risks then. He figured he'd just be stuck there for a bit if something happened, until they got the code right. Not actually vanish into nothing. Might be the warning had been said before and he just didn't listen though. He had kinda been in candy mode and missed a few things here and there.

"I'd much rather try to explain that to Fluttershy, than having to worry about you not coming back again. Are you sure we can't just get a critter, Icy?"

If the answer were no, Pop would slowly, and very reluctantly, go over and push the button, whilst Benny held her other front hoof for support. They were both gonna need it in this nerve wracking situation, though hopefully their worries would be for nothing, and everything would go okay.

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

 

@Widdershins

Griffons had many ways of responding to attacks. Most of them included scars that the recipient were going to have a really tough time getting rid off again, or an outright need to go fetch a shovel. At the kindest of times, you could usually count on at least a black eye and some sharp words if you tried you luck pouncing on one of them.

Chippy though, didn't have that sort of instinct. It were why he grew up alone and frail, unable to take part in battles that his heart wasn't in anyway, and ultimately, it were what forced him out of Griffonstone, as even though he weren't technically exiled, the wholesale disappointment that clung in the eyes of his family whenever they gazed upon him, made him feel as unwelcome as if he had been actually thrown out of peak, beak first. There wasn't a life for that sort of griffon up there, and down here? Barely. It had taken him two years of jumping through varied towns and jobs, trying to do his best, but mostly being taken advantage off as a fall guy, or someone who got paid nothing for grueling hours, because they knew he didn't have a choice, nor wanted the confrontation that came from saying no.

That were, until he got to Ponyville. Or well, two months after he got here. The first employer who had hold of him were not kind either, but Straw had found out, and had helped him through getting away from that. Given him another job, which might be meager, but it paid fairly, and he never exerted a dominating position over the griffon. The pony gave him his space, a friendly environment, and it helped give him a little more confidence over time. At some point, enough to face this sort of intruder like a real griffon should. Especially since it seemed like an attack on his turf, and instinct for him should be to defend it.

Sadly, that day were still far off, and the only response to the assault and subsequent forceful questioning he were given, were a continuous whimper, before he'd feebly try to wriggle out of Flit's grip. All the while, whilst tears ran down his face, and he looked as if he were expecting to be beaten at any second. He were a failure as a griffon in many ways.

However, he were not just A griffon. He were Their griffon, and Berry for one were royally miffed when she saw how the poor lad were being treated by this boisterous lightweight, and stomped over towards them.

"Hey! Get off Chippy, or I'll throw you into the coffee grinder, and make you the special of the day!"

There were certain limits to what were acceptable to Berry, and lucky stallion he were, Flit had found one of the buttons and pushed down hard.

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

 

@Widdershins @Sekel

Scarcity looked not towards the door, as the sound made it rather obvious what had happened, but rather at their guests whom had been glided over towards them.

"And this would be Dazzle and Mister Stack, respectively. Only the later part of their extensive line of siblings, whilst Dazzle comes from elsewhere."

Alonsus would reach a meaty hoof down towards Dazzle as he saw her there on the floor, offering it to help her up on her hooves again with a big smile on his face.

"Please, let Alonsus help you up."

Had to be hospitable, as Straw always told him, so seeing somepony on the floor meant that you should offer them a hoof. And he saw himself as nothing, if not the perfect gentlecolt in situations just like this.

Meanwhile, Last would look at Shortstack briefly, and instinctively move away to hide behind Chop, who only gave the midget pony a brief glance before getting back to prepping the last of the food. Both of them had pretty good instinct to tell who looked like trouble, and this one looked like several pony's worth of trouble. The sort who'd be wise to keep in mind that Chop had a meat cleaver on him, and that he knew how to use it.

"This all of 'em? Food's not gonna stay warm forever."

"I believe from the previous descriptions that Blither gave, that there's still some missing. 2- Maybe 3."

"Hmph. Gonna get cramped then."

"I am certain that we'll be fine, Chop. Worst case scenario, a few of us may simply wander outside, whilst this diverse family have something to eat. I expect this banquet to be in their honors at least, no?"

She'd get a short nod in response to that, as he kept on working, and Stare sent a few worried glances towards her sister. She knew enough of her sister and what she really did to be concerned what her end game were in all of this, and so far, she didn't see it. Probably above her head, as most things Scarcity did were.

Not that she were jealous of, nor envied her sister. Stare were somewhat aware of what that balancing act on a knife's edge she dealt with had cost her, in many senses of the word, and she wouldn't want to trade places with her for anything. She enjoyed her life being mostly simple and generally safe, long as you looked away from the monster attacks, but she had a bunker build under her house for situations like that. Not legally at first, but Scarcity had pulled some strings, and gotten it done. No expense spared, nor moral boundary obeyed, in the pursuit of keeping her sister safe, which made her shudder with a thought that had crossed her mind ever since she had seen her sister here, face to face for the first time outside of their arranged meeting spots.

What had she done, to suddenly make it safe for them to meet openly?

[Chiroptera 4]

2 minutes ago, Blitz Boom said:

"I'd much rather try to explain that to Fluttershy, than having to worry about you not coming back again. Are you sure we can't just get a critter, Icy?"

 

[=~ She tilted her head, looking at her, legitamately confused. "Did I not explain how it works? I apologize for that. The detector specifically looks for the magical signature of one of the common sapient races on this world. For example, a dragon, or one of the types of ponies, or a changeling, or... Well, you get the idea. It wouldn't lock for something it didn't recognize. If something it didn't recognize was inside, it would just light up the panel. Therefore, I need to enter to ensure that it does in fact recognize what I tried to set it up to recognize." In no way did she say any of that in a offensive tone. More just as if she was explaining it for the first time to somebody, not as if she was having to explain it again. ~=]

[Windy Breeze 15,189]

@Blitz Boom

Windy raised an eyebrow and frowned but she didn't think Sorrow is crazy, for she had believed that ghosts are real and true. The only reason why she frowned was because of the mention of Flight and the wind machine. Unfortunately, Spitfire hadn't said anything about the wind machine.

“Sorry, don't know about the wind machine thing. Everypony in the Wonderbolts haven't mention any wind machine so I really had no idea what the machine is, let alone it's design” she told Sorrow, or probably Legion, or both of them. Her gaze then went to the rodent skull “Can they speak? I really want to hear them speak!” she asked cheerily.

It was very glad, Windy didn't fear Legion, if she do fear him, she would be as afraid as seeing Spitfire plummeting the the land from the sky that could cause her to faint. 

[EQ_Theta 457]

@Blitz Boom

“You're welcome, Amethyst! If you ever want some more, I can always stop by and give you some when the orchids are in season. I suppose it isn’t too hard to imagine the Jade Orchid grows in places outside the forest. Maybe some of those ponies who claim to have seen the orchids got lucky once because those are hard to find and even harder to pick. A shame about that plantation outside New Hayshire, though. That sounds like a place I’d like to visit.”

“Maybe we would’ve found some nice plants to talk about to the folks back home. All we see are trees, more trees, and the occasional fruit-bearing bush. It would make for some good stories to tell around a fire; seeing things like flowers with crystal-like textures or trees that grow no larger than a young foal… those are the things that leave impressions! Everyone'll be talking about it for days!"

Sen wouldn’t openly admit that tensions were still fairly high back home between him and anyone who doubts the possibility of actually forging good relations with, well.. anyone who isn’t a longma. It runs both ways if asked but he couldn’t just turn his back on anyone curious and not everyone back home is hostile to the idea. Some are even open to the idea of simply exploring the world and seeing sights they could never imagine. That was incentive enough to give the idea of leaving home a chance. It wouldn’t ease every fear stemming from the outside but curious minds can be nudged to try something new. 

Lin, meanwhile, picked up Shrimp and stroked him across his little head. Maybe it is high time he gets acclimated to more than just the longma siblings and Omen. That display earlier probably means this could be a good time to get it done while there is time to spare.

“Shrimp, no need to get testy with Amethyst. She’s our friend and you can be at ease with her.”

“Amethyst? If it is alright, could I introduce Shrimp to your scent? I’d like to get him to know he can be calm and relaxed around you.”

Edited March 30, 2020 by EQ_Theta

[Sekel 692]

@Blitz Boom

ATZY & KARMIC FATE

"They seemed skittish," Atzy couldn't help muttering at the quick entrance and exit of the staff. She flicked her ears and tail in mild annoyance, still feeling some drool stuck on the gems in her hooves. "Cooperation between our races would be heavily desired, yes. I'm not all that familiar on the laws the gemlings have, honestly. I slept through all that talk," she chuckled nervously. It wasn't technically a lie, she was just never given any credence to what kind of laws the gemlings want when she agreed to become one of them. "Us gemlings though, there is something you should know. We are like changelings in the way we want to get hosts but not in the way you expect. We wish for cooperation, of course, but there's another way we can get that. We tend to unify with our hosts. Two souls, two beings, two minds, one unified body, working in harmony."

"All I'm doing is acting as an on-again-off-again warning signal for Atzy. I help provide her company along with Enzo here. I'm willing to go along with whatever either of you decide, I don't exactly care one way or the other," Karmic told the ambassador even as she eyed the tea leaves, her gaze flitting back and forth between them and the ambassador.

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

Twilight summoned her magic and a test tube from her left saddle bag. It clinked with more empty test tubes as she walked closer to the ectoplasm. With a neutral expresion, she scooped some up into the test tube and corked it.

"Queasy ectoplasm. This is going to give some insight into how ghosts form and what they're made of," she said with a hint of excitement. She wiped off the excess goo with some more magic and placed the filled test tube back in her saddle bag. She turned and quickly caught up to Last after making sure Cherish's stick was still with her. "Have you made ectoplasm before, Cherish?"

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"The voice sounds a lot better, Queen Dia'Thiz," Aurora nodded in gratitude. She pranced in place in slight agitation and being asked another question and she took a breath before answering it. "I've always been like this. In fact, I never lived within a Changeling hive. I was taken away so Queen Chrysalis wouldn't kill me. Ever since I could remember though, I've lived as a griffin in Griffonstone. It was only recently that I've grown to become a queen, rather than a royal nymph. I had no idea I was royalty either. Everything about being a queen is completely new to me."

@Blitz Boom, @Widdershins

DAZZLE GLEAM

"This is a big family," Dazzle breathed, staring at the multitude of ponies crammed into the room. She accepted the help to stand up and gave herself a shake. "Alonsus, was it?" she questioned, looking at the pony that helped her up and decided to focus on him for a bit. "Are you a part of whatever is going on here?"

@Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

"Good boy, Kaltrops! There you go!" Dawn said giddily, unable to help herself. She even patted his head for good measure. "You will have to get used to eating like this if you're going to stay here, you know. No, I don't think of you as a pet. I think of you as a friend," she said seriously, surprising even herself by her choice of words. She'd never had a friend before but Kaltrops seemed like he fit the bill. Even if he was a bit over the top. "Or maybe more than that. Who knows?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby just rolled her eyes and ignored the talk about the pelt, the two could dig it up if they wanted to, she could always just hunt more if she wanted to get into the pelt market.
She noticed Leviathan's extra attention towards the head, but she didn't think much of it because she figured it was some kind of ritual, and though she didn't necessarily respect such things, she knew enough to not mess with them in case there was a real unnatural being that could get mad about it...she may have a superiority complex, but even she had her limits.

"Finally something I can agree on." She simply replied, referencing mostly at the last part, it wasn't that she didn't like compliments, in fact, she enjoyed having her ego stroked, the wording just was important, because if there was any implications that the one giving the compliment had doubted Ruby at any point, she wouldn't show anything more than acknowledgement of the words, if even that. And of course any kind of compliment that implied her superiority was greatly appreciated. "Your hunting was...passable." "It is good to see that you could get your prey without magic, even if you used it this time, and though I don't agree on using weapons either, I do realize your physical inferiority and understand that it may be a requirement for now, but I still don't support it, not that it should matter to you." this was the closest thing to a compliment she would get out of Ruby for now.

---------------------------------------------
So it didn't know Serenade, figured, it was just a thief that had happened into this house...Nada knew she should have just thrown the creature out but at the same time, even with her negative feelings caused by the previous trouble, she felt the need to help the creature if she could. "You're partly right, I'm a temporary inhabitant." "Now, unlike you, I can't understand anything you say, so, keeping that in mind...why did you come here to steal these?" she pointed towards the stolen items she had taken back.

---------------------------------
"I don't think it's important enough to go bother them about it, and at the end of the day, what would I even do with that information?" Scarecrow argued "Besides, as far as we know, it could be dangerous to go near them, after all, they have build lot of traps, and that usually means they want to be left alone." "And if you are worried about the matriarch, I can escort you to the edge of the forest, I may not be big enough to fight it, but I can be annoying enough to keep it away from you." 

 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Sekel

4 hours ago, Sekel said:

"They seemed skittish,"

I assure you, that our staff does their best to be professional, which to them are synonymous with simply entering, doing their job in silence, and then leaving as quickly as they can, to not disturb. If it did seem otherwise do, I offer you my sincere apology, and my word that I would have a word with them about this for another time, if need be."

He'd sit still and try to keep silent as best he could, despite the occasional low, pained breath of air that came when he moved around in angles that he should not have done. He did his best to keep it low though. Both to avoid his esteemed guests to feel worried, and because things were starting to get quite interesting as Atzy kept on talking, and he had to be able to focus on that as much as possible it sounded like.

"Mutually assured peace between our kinds are something which we as a nation, would gladly like to pursue, and there would be no qualms in sending ambassadors ro speak with your rulers, about the laws which you yourself might not be aware of. As well as share with them, what ours are, so that we may stand on equal hoofing.

Yet pardon if I focus on this part a little much, though... Unifying you say? It sounds like a troubling process."

"One which I have doubts about being true."

Enzo raised his voice briefly, to ensure that he would gain the ear of those around him, lest his works would be spoken in vain.

"The queen of queens among the gemlings, are united. In a way, so too are Atzy, but to a far lesser extend. As the drones whom I've met though, I have doubts of this claim. They seem to have been birthed, rather than fused. I want to think that it is only those royals whom I know of, who may have been offered the choice to be more than one, to ascend. A result somewhat akin to your alicorns, but with different responsibilities, and path to attain it."

"I see. And this process, does it require a specific kind of host to be formed? I apologize if it seems rude to ask this, but I simply wish to know if-"

"-It requires ponies? It does not."

Golden nodded in silence, pondering for a little, whilst Enzo went down and grabbed a fish from the bowl with his teeth and slowly bit it in him with a slight purr escaping the side of his mouth. How long it had been since last he had been able to eat this... Blissful ocean, may you never again hold back your bounty.

4 hours ago, Sekel said:

"All I'm doing is acting as an on-again-off-again warning signal for Atzy. I help provide her company along with Enzo here. I'm willing to go along with whatever either of you decide, I don't exactly care one way or the other," Karmic told the ambassador even as she eyed the tea leaves, her gaze flitting back and forth between them and the ambassador.

"... Mr. Binder, would you please reach the tea leaves and warm water towards our guest?"

His medical assistant did as he were asked, and moved them a little closer to Lin, as to encourage her to test it, and not wait for others if she were thirsty.

So Gemlings are creatures were at least, the royals are more than one? They are united with another, be it in mind, spirit, and body I will admit to have never met creatures such as this before. Might I ask, how does it feel?"

Atzy did not get a body that had previously been used, so she wouldn't end up like Dia'thiz, yet she could probably still give her perspective on what it were like to have taken this body, or simply try to lie of it. Potentially derail it, or share more than she originally cared for too. It were hard to say, yet Golden here intrigued and hopeful that he would get to know more of this whole thing with the gemlings and unity. It sounded as an important, potentially religious part of their society, which were going to be a tradition that he were best versed in if it were.

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

 

@Sekel

"Y-Yes. Not queasy before though. That's a new one.

She had followed closely what Twilight had done in scooping up a sample of this thing, whilst being able to seemingly not get affected by the usual effects that came from ectoplasm. Either she had dealt with this before, or she had a stronger mind than it looked like. Wasn't like it could have been a spell after all, right? Her horn hadn't glowed, and that were still a requirements for it to be a spell... R-Right?

"Ectoplasm happens when there's a lot of high emotions, and it tends to show different ways too. If it's sadness, it falls from the ceiling like droplets. Anger it seeps from the walls. I've tried fear, and best I can tell, it shed off whilst I were trying to run away. It's a very emotional substance. Kind of uhm... S-Surprised it didn't affect you actually. Whenever somepony ran into any of it in the castle, they started to act strange."

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

 

@Sekel

"This false queen whom you speak of, holds a name which we will remember. We would have words with her, were we to cross her path."

The tone were still harmonious, but there had come a small vibration in their current communication, which felt like anger. Whatever Dia'thiz wished to *talk* over with Chrysalis, would likely not be a kind thing to witness. Even if neither of them knew who Chrysalis were, they both believed that it were unforgivable to be the sort of queen whom others had to whisk their offspring away from, lest they kill them. This had not been directly confirmed to be the case, but it fit the narrative in their mind, so this is what they would stick with.

"We know not what this *griffin* form you speak of are though. Yet if it makes you feel more comfortable to wander in that hide, you needn't feel obligated to stay like this.

Now then, king among changelings, we wish to parlor with you."

Their attention went away from Aurora, and towards Thorax, who suddenly felt a good bit nervous again. Being in the spotlight like this were not his strongest suit, but... Guess this were part of the job, right? Just had to muscle through it the best he could.

"Uhm... Yes, about working relations between our hives, or?"

"Yes. Our hive yet holds little, but we can find much out there, and our area are deserted and safe. There is shelter to offer, are your hive ever in need of it.

While there is little we can give beyond that though, we do not wish for much either. Our deal have been made with the guardian, so we will remain located on that isle, which hold what it is that we need. Yet we long for wisdom of these new ages, for oursevles, as well as our children. We would wish to trade knowledge for what we can procure. Including diamonds in any quantity and shape. We saw the weapons your troops hold, as an example. They could stand stronger, with spears and shield of diamind.

This offer we extend to the other hives too. The one which includes this human, and yours, young queen, when you eventually find a place to settle your hive.

Unless you plan on merging your efforts with this king? A royal couple among changelings are unheard of to us, yet so too were a king. Perhaps times have changed enough for this idea to hold merit now?"

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

 

@Sekel @Widdershins

"Alas, Alonsus is but the caterer, ensuring that this family have food on their table as they gather. A thankless job so far, yet who are to tell if they have simply not been too focused on other things yet? Certainly they will soon see the great feast before them, and appreciate the hard work put in by our esteemed chef, and his helpful coworkers."

He sure liked talking an earful, and the boastful nature he possessed nearly oozed from his pores, yet perhaps Dawn were able to not find it that obvious, or see past it, and find a stallion that did not look around with a hurtful expression that he weren't the center of attention. Merely somepony with a bit too much air around his head, who still gave credit to the one who did most of the work. Egoistical beings tended to refuse to acknowledge that, so it were a point in his favor, yet one that not too many looked upon as much as his boastful nature, which caused them to find him annoying to be around for a long period of time.

"And what of you, miss? What part plays you in this grand symphony?"

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

 

@Windy Breeze

"Awh, that's a shame. Oh well, guess I'll just ask around Cloudsdale when we go there another day.

I sorta doubt you can hear Legion though, if you can't hear them talk already. Not a lot of ponies that can hear the dead talking, but.... Oh what was it grandma used to say..."

Sorrow patted her chin, looking into the sky and thinking for a bit, before the light finally went off above her head, and she looked back at Windy.

"Right, I got it. She said that sometimes, some beings can hear them if they touch the skull. Wanna try?"

The mare leaned forward, giving Dawn full acces to putting a hoof or two on the skull. If she so chose, she'd find that regardless or not if she could hear anything, she'd feel a chill that would reach further down than even her bones. Not a massively freezing feeling, yet a deep rooted chill regardless, that were impossible not to bite notice in.

Beyond that, one of two things would happen. Either she'd head nothing, or all of a sudden, she'd find that a chorus of voices would speak as one, calling out to her in an otherworldly, curious tone.

"Does the pony hear now? If it can, know that we are Legion, for we are many."

Didn't really matter how many were in there, at least some parts of Legion kept liking to present themselves with that quote. Might honestly just be a ghost thing at this point.

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

 

@Midnight

"But what if-"

"If this is the only way to test it, then go ahead, but try and be careful, alright?"

Benny could practically smell how worried Pop were, but in the end, this here seemed to be the only way to get it tested right, and Icy were both willing and wanting to be the one to go through, and see if her invention worked. He didn't like it any more than she did, but it were Icy's decision, and if she were insistent, they should respect that.

Pop looked like she wanted to say something more, but in the end, just resigned, hung her head a little in defeat, and got closer to Benny as they both watched Icy.

"Just be careful, okay?"

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"I appreciate the thought, but the little one will not accept me on a day like today. He appears to be rather protective of you currently, which I assume have something to do with there being as lot of things happening, and his primary caretaker not being present, yes? Times like that, you can't make a youngling like this take in new experiences that easily. Especially not if said experiences is trying to accept one that appears friendly with their current caretaker. They can be rather jealous, clingy little things when the mood is bad."

She'd look at Shrimp from a distance, at which point he didn't seem to care that much, but just kept on staying on Lin, and looking at her with big, worried eyes and a few small chirps of endearment, to try and avoid getting scolded. If Amethyst got closer that this, he'd likely start changing again, but with less snapping. More than likely he'd just get more clingy, and refuse to touch or smell her.

"He have accepted Sen because your smell is akin to her primary caretaker's, as well as his, but I am an unknown entity. I can imagine in this mood, Rosa here is not too welcomed either, no?"

"..."

Rosa wouldn't answer, but would nod as he kept to his own thoughts for the time being, waiting for the right time to interject something which seemed to be somewhat important to the conversation.

"Case in point, I think that currently, it is best to ease the little thing into these sorts of endeavors, and that would be best done at a time when he is more relaxed. Likely when his primary caregiver is present, or he feels more relaxed. You won't get good results by forcing him into things, I can assure you of that.

As for the plantation, it is indeed a shame, but things happens. Perhaps one day it will be remade and you can see more, though I could still suggest several other gardens with quite the delightful varieties."

"Six point five kilometers north-east of the Galderan tower in Keggington."

Amethyst turned with a confused stare in her eyes, and a risen eyebrow, to look at the so far silent bat pony, who suddenly came in with his own input.

"Pardon?"

"The location of the plantation for the past three years. They don't advertise it since they don't want massive flocks of tourists or legal oversight constantly. Arrive at the gates with a willingness to lay down your weapons, and with a good bottle or two of malt liquor, and they might let you have a tour."

He's raise his head and look around, between the ones that he knew, and the confused, surprised Amethyst.

"What? They run a rather large scale money laundering business to support the adventurers they hire to get them varied plant samples, and New Hayshire had too much oversight to make that easy to get through. A little fire for the insurance money, some shady deals, and they were back in business in a better place. I'd be doing a bad job if I didn't know of a soft target that's open for a little trade in bits, the right words, and the owners favorite drink, to offer somewhere to lay low for a few days."

"So you've... Been there?"

"No. A colleague of mine have been, and I'm going by his notes. It also mentions that if you hit the alligator ranch, you've gone too far, so keep that in mind."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Appreciated, but I would counter that by saying that I do not have the physical size to take on larger prey as comfortably as you. My assets are a nimble body and magic, and I wield them as proficiently as you do your teeth or claws when it comes to hunting."

"I'm sure that with enough time, you will grow large and can compete without it though, yes? It is merely a matter of time."

Leviathan rolled her eyes and looked over on Marley.

"You think this much magic potential comes without a trade-off? I'm 974 years old, this is likely not far from being as large as I can naturally get. Gigantisme or stunted growth are common side effect when mixing elemental breeds."

Marley looked as if he had been slapped hard in the face by that rather blunt comment, as this basically made it out that he had just teased a dragoness about what many might consider a handicap of sorts, among their kind at least. A mighty awkward situation that quite frankly, were worse to deal with, than if he had simply gotten a tail to the face. At least then it would be over quickly.

Seeing as the bird were put in his place, Leviathan would return to focus solely on Ruby, and look up at her with some degree of admiration in her blue eyes.

"You I doubt are anywhere close to your greatest size, Ruby. You seem young, yet already of such an impressive physique... I shudder to think what you might be able to hunt, if the millennia treats your appearance as kindly as it has so far."

Kind of an indirect way to compliment Ruby that also included calling her... Well, *pretty* weren't often something she'd use, nor hear, when it came to dragons describing another's appearance, but she would not mind calling Ruby out for being a physically impressive dragoness. Surely she were proud of her strength herself, judging by all she had heard so far, no? As such, it should be fine enough.

"Then again, genes are one thing, effort is another. You don't get to be a good hunter by sitting on your rear and reading a book. Training and experience comes above all else, just like it does with magic.

Can I ask, what is the largest thing you have so far struck down? A bear seems trivial so... Minotaur? Ursa Minor? Potentially a Hayzanian Howler Yeti?"

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

The mimic scratched her head before she just sorta pointed at the things and shrug her shoulders dramatically. She were trying to get across a message close to *I figured: Why not?* but she didn't know how to express it other than this, so hopefully the siren would understand it.

The only item she did not do it with, were the piece of wood. Arguably the most worthless thing here. yet the one that she seemed to have actually come looking for with purpose. However, she had issues trying to explain why it were that she had this one with just paw gestures and the like, so she'd try something else. Carefully though, as to not make the predator feel threatened, so that she'd get eaten or pummeled.

Reaching into her tail, she'd pull out a rather large sowing needle. For a creature her size, it might as well be a small spear, or sword perhaps, but it wasn't what the stainless steel tool were for. It had several good uses, and i this case, it were used for her to slowly run the sharp point over the piece of wood, and starting to scribble something down with quite a bit of effort behind it.

After a few minutes of this, she'd put the needle back into her tail, and make sure it were nicely stuck with some hairs tied up around it in there, before turning the piece of wood, and showing a crude picture of two mimics. She pointed at one of them, that being herself, judging by the bow on the head. Then at another with no accessories, before sniffing the air, and pointing around her. Hopefully that one would be somewhat self-explanatory.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"It'd be very much appreciated, though don't put yourself in danger for me. I've been in some tussles in my day, and still got a few tricks up my sleeve in case it gets harrowing."

Of course, nothing that'd win him a fight against the matriarch. That were just crazy talk. But he did know a few distraction methods, and how to run so it mattered. He had managed to get away from the last bunch she sent after him after all, hadn't he? Of course, he had then fallen into a pit, but that had not been part of the equation, and he would have made it out of there. Eventually. He wasn't as young and spry as he used to be anymore, so it would have taken him a little while longer, but still. He were sure it would have been fine.

...That being said, it never hurt to have a helping hoof now and again. You know, just to speed things up some.

"As for the others, you're probably right, they can likely handle things themselves. If they need help, the town's not far away, and we have a few residents out here, so there should be some help to get if worst comes to worst."

If Scarecrow wished to go now, Straw would be ready to follow, and keep his eyes and ears perked up, just in case there'd be some tussling in the bushes or something, indicating an ambush attempt from somewhere. Never could be too safe when you were off the beaten path in the Everfree Forest.

[Chiroptera 4]

Just now, Blitz Boom said:

"Just be careful, okay?"

 

She laughed at that. "Trust me, I know how to be careful when it comes to my inventions. The blizzjets in my wings?" She raises one of her magimechanical wings as the "feathers" open up vertically to reveal an icy blue glow, alongside a humming sound and snow forming behind the wing. "First time I tested how fast they could go when I'm overcharging them with my magic, I was almost incinerated by the friction with the air. Barely managed to redirect a bit of the magic I was sending into them to myself in a cooling spell," she lowers her wing back down to her side as the feathers close, "Don't really need to be told to be careful... Plus, when has inventing ever been an entirely safe thing to do, anyway?" That last "question" was said in a manner which showed it obviously wasn't a question. As well, this should have indicated that fact, she walked through the device as soon as she finished. "Alright, ready to press the button?"

[Windy Breeze 15,189]

@Blitz Boom

When Windy saw Sorrow have leaned forward, she reached out a hoof to touch skull, smiling as her hoof comes nearer to it. She could feel some strange chills throughout her body, her outstretched hoof got the worst of it but she decided to fight it back to make contact with the skull. 

4 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Does the pony hear now? If it can, know that we are Legion, for we are many."

 Windy's eyes widened. She let go of the skull, rearing up and letting out a whinny.

“Oh, Celestia, I can hear ghosts!” she exclaimed with joy “I got so many questions for them but i only got one important question” 

[Rising Dusk 27,511]

@Blitz Boom

If his sister was putting her hoofs on the kinds of things he knew she was salivating over, his little visits might end up being on the end of a badge rather than a hug.  Dawn was smart and knew when something was a lost cause luckily.  All too well aware of the position the one pony in the land that her charm and power didn't work on, stood opposed to her more... shady side of life.  Not that he usually had to do all that much really.  Three words.  Three words Dawn had greater fear of than any spell Rising could back fire or wrath Minty could summon.  I'll tell mom.  As the possible bridge between the two countries, whether he likes it or not, could assist in ebbing the dark artifacts from leaking into Equestria.  He knew deep down though, if a pony like Dawn existed in Equestria, another like her existed in Harrowmark.  To think just days ago he was showing a mechanical spider around the city.

Rising looked over to the party ponies going about their business after receiving just a look from Dawn.  Ponies laughing in conversation in pools, dancing to music and probably making behind-the-back business deals.  Rather bold considering the company they were in and home they were surrounded by.  Something that wouldn't escape his sister's notice for long, even if her attention was on the inquiry witch of Harrowmark.  Dawn believed she had a simple reasoning to that, "My guests might have become use to my... Eccentricities," Rising finished for her.  No need to sugar coat it.  The mare waved her hoof dismissively in her brother's direction, "Displays."  As if proud of herself, a rip of rainbow radiated out from her hoofs across the whole floor the ballroom.  "Making a flower grow with magic might seem small, but it's new," she concluded with a flick of her hair.  "High society problems," Rising added.  "Yes, high society prob~ Hey!" she scoffed at her brother.

The detective's attention had be drawn away from his sister.  The unease that tingled at the very edges of his already saturated sense being in this mansion.  Drawn to developments happening two the remaining Harrowmark guests on the other end of the scrying bauble.  Stretching his senses along the spell threads that passed through the aether to bridge the tunnel between here and the dark country.  Still stretched thin Rising was limited and the magics at work were a deep haze.  However, he could never forget the signature of a certain dark wizard.

[EQ_Theta 457]

@Blitz Boom

“Wait… what?”

“I mean… given your line of work, I suppose… but… I’m stumped. I’m stumped that you just said all that.”

The siblings just stood there, quiet, surprised, speechless. Lin was stroking and calming Shrimp but she stopped there and looked at the thestral. Their train of thought cut short and unable to come up with anything, it’s as if their brains stopped working for a second. Confusion gripped them for a moment but now about a minute had passed before they could return to reality. Lin was looking for an upside to hopefully getting Shrimp to stay calm around Amethyst but she’ll have to save it for another time. Perhaps on another visit when things have calmed down and everyone has settled into a routine.

Right now, the longma caught on to the refraction chirping and looking at her as if he’d done something wrong. She took it as a look of distress and wondered if she was in the wrong earlier. Suppose there was no undoing what happened, only what’s next. Lin took this opportunity to calm down the refraction and cradle him.

It’s alright, Shrimp. Everything’s fine. No need to worry.

“Well, this just got awkward. So, uh, alligator ranch? What’s an alligator? And, about that plantation? Is it, you know, safe for common folk to go visit or is it off-limits for now?” 

At this point, Sen was looking for anything to break the ice and move past the awkward pause. He didn’t mean any malice with the sudden silence and would try to steer the conversation back to the plantation. With the way Rosa talked about the place and the rather shady dealings happening to keep the place going, it seems like anyone unaware of what’s going on there could be asking for trouble. 

Edited April 1, 2020 by EQ_Theta

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Windy Breeze

Sorrow were all smiles as she saw that the mare actually could hear Legion after all. Sure it required physical contact with their vessel  but even that hadn't been guaranteed to work.

"Ooooh, that's great news! Not a whole lotta beings can hear the dead, even when doing this, so that must mean you're pretty special."

The response from Windy were nice too. It didn't always go well when Legion got contact with others, due the whole *being dead* thing, but Windy here were all excited and happy about it. Sounded like she even had questions, which were kinda cool, though the silly mare did a small whoopsie.

"Hehe, you forgot to ask the question. What sorta things do you wanna know from them? They're usually pretty honest about things, and I know lots too, if it's ghost stuff in general."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

On 4/1/2020 at 4:02 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“Wait… what?”

“I mean… given your line of work, I suppose… but… I’m stumped. I’m stumped that you just said all that.”

"My job is... Were, to know things, and be prepared. It requires me to know things like this in advance, though I wouldn't envy this knowledge if I were you. Researching all of these sorts of things takes weeks, if not months at times, and happens frequently enough that I have had little to no time for a personal life. Even hospital stays and laying low had to be used efficiently to study up on things, to avoid potentially not coming back from my next assignment. To put it into further perspective, the time I have spent with you in the recent few days? The closest thing I have gotten to a vacation my entire life. Even with King Thorax, I had to spent most of my time educating him on the political aspects he needed to know, or preparing for the next time."

Rosa could understand why they might be surprised and amazed at what he knew, but quite frankly, he often wished that he didn't. Knowing how the world turned and the few creaks in the wall you could move through to gain an advantage were useful, but the sacrifice of his own chance of much of a life, and not being able to stay ignorant to the ugliness beneath the surface of society were not worth it for him personally. When you then included the alarming high risk one in his former line of work partook in, it were a high risk, ugly job that consumed his life. If he were able to go back and chose, he would've left the town as fast as he could, and become an accountant or something instead.

"I were not aware that King Thorax had a teacher."

"It's more a matter of amnesty in exchange for knowledge. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that traitors cannot be beggars."

Amethyst wrinkled her nose at this, but kept her tongue, which Rosa frankly appreciated. The courtesy of not telling him off for being a traitor, even though she seemed to have issues with that, spoke of her being if not open-minded enough to think there were nuances to the story, then perhaps at the very least, some common decency in not saying it to his face.

On 4/1/2020 at 4:02 PM, EQ_Theta said:

Right now, the longma caught on to the refraction chirping and looking at her as if he’d done something wrong. She took it as a look of distress and wondered if she was in the wrong earlier. Suppose there was no undoing what happened, only what’s next. Lin took this opportunity to calm down the refraction and cradle him.

It’s alright, Shrimp. Everything’s fine. No need to worry.

Shrimp didn't understand what the larger creatures were talking about all that much. Too many big words and things he didn't know what were for his small brain to grasp it. But he understood what Lin meant at least. Not all her words, but being cradled and spoken to softly made him understand the gesture, and he's wrap himself around her leg as best he could, embracing her in a snake-hug. Just without fangs in her skin, and instead with his scaled head resting sideways on her skin as he let out a long, drawn out happy chirp.

On 4/1/2020 at 4:02 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“Well, this just got awkward. So, uh, alligator ranch? What’s an alligator? And, about that plantation? Is it, you know, safe for common folk to go visit or is it off-limits for now?”

"You'd have to sign an waiver I can imagine, but they're mostly concerned with potential Equestrian police forces. You're not equines, so that makes you far less likable to be with the guards, and long as you do not raise suspicions by asking how they finance things, I doubt you'll have any issues.

As for the alligator... Imagine if you will, a lizard. Now give it a huge maw full of teeth, a predator's instinct, and make it several meters long, as well as weighing roughly 400kg. That is an alligator, and I would strongly suggest to stay away from the swampy areas they live in. If you do find yourself with no option though, they cannot climb trees, so that is an escape route, and while they have the strongest bite of most creatures, their muscles to opening their mouths are weak. If you can tie their maws up, they lose most of their battle prowess. Though I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to try. They could easily snap off a leg."

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

 

@Rising Dusk

"With all due respect, I am not a fan of high society. When you live scrounging together what little you're allowed to keep, and have to make it last, the idea alone of overwhelming opulence becomes... Taxing. Dramatic flair on the other hoof, is at least entertaining. Brings a little entertainment to the dreary day to day life."

The rainbow wave before were a nice touch, and she wouldn't say a word against it to Dawn, but the sort of high means beings she had here were something that'd likely always make her skin crawl out of sheer principle. Perhaps also some degree of jealousy too, when seeing how much they had, when she could pool together the entire net worth of everything, and everyone, that existed in Oaksbrook, and likely not even be able to scrounge up what Dawn had given for that seat of hers. Even with Twisted now gone, it were going to take time for their economy to stabilize, though at least they'd be able to harvest lumber to repair their homes, and could stockpile some grain for a bad day. That were about the best thing they had going for them for the time being.

*sigh* But the situations were different, and she were sure that Dawn had somehow earned her riches. Opulence were just something that irked her, and it weren't easy to make an old dog think in new lines of thought. It would take time.

She would say more, but it seemed like something were happening, which made Rising fixate on the orb, which in turn also madet he old witch give it a glance, and grimace.

"One of the ferrymen. This is the sort of work which my old master did, and I hope he suffers eternally for his deeds."

She'd rise the orb so that Dawn could also see better, instead of it being solely for Rising's entertainment. Felt like he were meddling against then. Something tingling in the magic... Urgh, felt wrong on levels it were hard to describe.

"Observe what happens, when the creation of a god's servant, faces the herald of another."

There would sadly not be sound, but the visuals should provide plenty to see, as the ferryman slowly floated more towards the high priestess. When it got within a few meters, a minor assault of glittering, pale moths started to erupt from the air around Thistle, which would start to assault the ferryman. You wouldn't think the small things would do much as they swarmed it, but the way the creature started to swing around and attempting to crush the insects, you'd think it were being stung by a herd of bees.

Rising could likely feel what were actually going on though, if his senses already felt the influence of Twisted. The moths weren't simply there to annoy, they were causing the creature pain by biting into the energy that kept it animated. Not enough to destroy it, but there would definitely be pain involved in this distraction.

And a distraction it were, as whilst this went on, the large diamond dog if their group suddenly came lounging forth, skipping to the side of the creature, and jumped upward. His claws glowed with the same energy that made for the priestess's moths as he struck down, and shattered the chains connecting the ferryman to the boat. It wouldn't cause it to stop existing though. As a matter of fact, it seemed to more or less just anger it, as it rose a hand surprisingly fast, and used it to grasp around the diamond dog's throat, seemingly not as focused on the moths anymore.

He'd likely be in trouble, had Thistle not then used the time to jump directly into the ferryman, and apparently disappear. An action which made the ferryman drop the diamond dog in surprise.

Then a crack suddenly appeared across the ferryman's chest, reaching from from where its heart should be, and rapidly increasing until it reached the top of its head, all the while whilst the moths started to swarm more and more, and it reached up to its head in an attempt to stop what was happening. But there were no way of stopping it, as the crack reached the top, and it cracked in half, falling off like a torn piece of clothing. An apt description, as it seemed to only take away a small layer, like a shirt or sheet would be. Nothing physically interesting, as it looked the same, minus the chains, but it should be evident to Rising that the corruption of Twisted within it had been lessened, and filled up somewhat by the essence of Viz'nay instead.

Floating above it, Thistle would get herself to ground level, and place herself in front of the spirit, whom grabbed hold of its sickle/oar once more, and slammed the ore part into the ground. Afterwards, it'd start to kneel in front of the high priestess, in a fashion that made it seem as it were pledging its services to her.

"From the tool of one god to the other. I hope for it's sake, that High Priestess Thistle will be a kinder master than Twisted were."

It had been too much to hope that Thistle would have released this creature from its likely miserable existence. Much as she might be more benevolent than Twisted, it were clear that she either had no intentions of dismissing a useful servant such as this outright, or that she were waiting to do it, until they had reached where they needed to go. Call her a pessimist, but Lily doubted the later to be true.

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

 

@Midnight

"That doesn't really sound like you're careful though, miss. Kinda more like you got a lucky break and almost got into real trouble."

"We hope you're lucky here too, just with less of a close call, and more just proving that there's nothing to worry about."

Icy were seriously not helping them get less nervous about this whole thing, with that story of hers. Neither were the reassurances that she were trying to put out, by more or less saying that inventions took risk. Something were true, but that didn't mean that one shouldn't worry about safety precautions regardless. Taking a risk were one thing, but dying for your invention seemed to be taking quite a big step too far.

Soon as Icy were ready, Pop would reluctantly put a hoof forth, and push the button, grimacing as she did so. She were expecting something bad to happen, though she prayed to Celestia that it were just her paranoia talking here. Icy seemed like a kind pony, who didn't deserve a tombstone going *She vanished into the aether, whilst making a hole for gumballs*.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Blitz Boom

[Chiroptera 4]

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

"That doesn't really sound like you're careful though, miss. Kinda more like you got a lucky break and almost got into real trouble."

 

[=~ She looked at him, tilting her head, "I never said that was a time that I was careful. I was mentioning that as that was when I learned I should be careful. After that I started trying to learn pretty much any shield spell I could find. Even the wierd ones." As soon as the button was pressed, the hole closed. For about one whole second, before opening again, showing Icy looking out the hole, while she was halfway in a hole to her own expanse. She proceeded to go back into- fully- the machine's expanse before walking out of the machine. Though it did close behind her a bit too quickly, taking the very end of her tail off. Looking behind her, a bit annoyed, "Why exactly is it always my tail that gets hurt when something goes minorly wrong? Not my mane, or my, well, me, but always me tail. Kind of annoying. At least it didn't do much to it, unlike that one time with the plasma cannon... That one almost incinerated my entire tail..." ~=]

Think they deserve a bit of explanation, Void?

[=~ Probably. I know that Midnight told you that she can't cast anything heat related, correct? Well, despite that, she did find a way to bind heat related spells to objects, though only relatively weak versions. Said plasma cannon uses multiple plasma generation spells bound to a pattern of needles inside a tube of ice- the unmelting kind- and then those plasma generation spells were in turn connected to a magigen, something she invented entirely on her own- with a bit of help from studying timberwolves- to generate pulses of magic to power bound spells. The pulse sent to the plasgen spells causes them to do their thing, and then another spell, a pushing force spell, like a monodirectional levitation spell, is activated to send the plasma out of the tube. Good enough of an explanation for you, Midnight? Or should I continue to bore them with irrelevant information like this? ~=]

Yeah, thats good enough. Hopefully. And yes, magigen is supposed to be a combination of magic and generator. It is a magic generator. No, she is not willing to give it to anyone, because of the fact that one can create things like her plasma cannon with it.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Blitz Boom
Almost 1000 years, that explained a thing or two Ruby had been wondering but hadn't mentioned, but it didn't really change anything as age by itself didn't mean anything to her, sure for her kind it could be seen as sign of strength since it meant you had survived lot of fights, but with Leviathan living among ponies, that didn't really count. 

"I am only two centuries old, so yes, this is just the start." or well, some decades under 200 to be exact, but she didn't count it that precisely, after all, decades were meaningless for a creature that could live several millennia. Though her response was as cold as always. it wasn't hard to tell that she enjoyed the praise "And for your question, I haven't yet had the time to take on the local creatures, so no Ursas or such yet..." clear  emphasis on 'yet' "...but I have taken down plenty of dragons, mostly my own kind but also few locals, and the size has been everything from bit bigger to several times bigger, biggest one probably being bit under three times my current size, but it was some time ago so I was smaller back then." she had also managed to injure quite badly a dragon that was big enough to crush her with one leg, but she didn't tell about that because..well, it had also been one of her worst defeats, being the defeat that ultimately brought her here, and she felt quite humiliated by it still. 

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

 

Nada didn't necessarily get the exact message, but she did get the the mimic had no real reason to steal, and thus she looked at her with very disappointed look, not htat she really expected anything else. She observed the mimic's 'explanation' and moment of realization visited her face "Oh, you looking for Fah'lina?" "She's my friends pet, a creature like you." "They aren't home right now, and I'm not certain when they come back." she didn't remember if Serenade had mentioned it in the paper, but if she had, could anyone really blame her for forgetting after all that had happened?

------------------------------------------------
"Don't you worry about me, I don't feel pain and can't die, worst that can happen is that I move bit slower for some time." Scarecrow assured, starting to lead Straw back on to the road "Besides, based on the reactions of normal Timberwolves, I taste quite bad even for a creatures made out of wood, so I doubt the matriarch would bite me long enough to do any real damage." "I actually didn't even know they could taste anything before the one of them took a bite of me." 

[Pastel Heart 6,466]

@Blitz Boom

Upon hearing the stomping steps of the matriarch, Pastel would peer ahead just enough to see what was there... What the heck was this forest!? There's like, a bajillion level 99 bosses in here! If they could barely handle a badger, that would like, crush them in one sweep. For once, Pastel stepped back, giggled to herself and counted her blessings, smiling awkwardly at Jelly.

"Ahaha... I think we should put that quest on the backburner for now."

[EQ_Theta 457]

@Blitz Boom

“I guess that is something to keep in mind. Wouldn’t want to run into one of those alligators. Why anyone would want to keep them around in ranches is beyond me…”

Though Sen and Lin appreciated the information Rosa provided, likely giving them something to look out for when they ventured into swamps, the two appeared to have grown worried. Looking back and forth between themselves and to the thestral after hearing what he mentioned about their travels together. They had no knowledge of the spy life and probably wouldn’t want to know more about it but this is their friend and to learn he didn’t exactly have a life outside of it… They didn’t know where to start. 

“Rosa… I… I-If we only knew-“

“We could have, I don’t know, done something to help. Even if it is just giving you some semblance of what having a personal life is, that’s still worth a shot. I mean, we aren’t exactly living an example of normal but we’d still try however we could.”

It is true neither Sen nor Lin could ever hope to explain what having a personal life was like. If Omen were to ask them, they’d likely give a half-formed answer that leaves the Ki’Nathar confused. Even their past experiences point to nothing being ordinary. Moving from place to place, scavenging for food, hoping they’d be able to survive the night… none of those describe having time to do anything else that isn’t mandatory for survival. But what they do know is that they can still offer to help. Throughout their journey, that’s pretty much all they can remember. The miners, the victims of Filigree’s madness, they could sum up their adventure as going somewhere and helping who they could. They can do the same for their friend while there is still time.

“You know what? Let’s work on that. Feel free to join in, too, Amethyst! We'll start with one question: what do ponies like to do with their spare time?” 

Edited April 3, 2020 by EQ_Theta