open Casual stroll

~Phoenix~ · June 25, 2017

"Nightmare... deffinately a nightmare" Phoenix had confirmed with herself. she perhaps had expected a scream, or a loud jarring noise to wake her. such would have been like quickly ripping off a bandage. this, however, was the slower, slightly more pain inducing version.

she watched, eyes wide with horror as these vile masses began to sliver from his mouth. as some of them seemed to approach her, she took a few steps back to avoid coming in contact. after all, who knows what their intention is, or what that gross slime is made out of.

she looked beyond the ones that are extended and noticed that the other ones looked like they were ready to pounce. and just as they were about to, as she was sure, the dream realm began to fade. and then, as if a popped buble, it was all of a sudden gone, and she found herself shooting up into a sitting position from where she was previously asleep in the tent.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" She screamed, as all the air was forced from her lungs. once she was done, she sat there and looked over herself. all the while, trying to catch her breath.

Edited June 25, 2017 by ~Phoenix~

Midnight_Aurora · June 25, 2017

20 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

@Midnight_Aurora

Belladonna haves a raised eyebrow through most of what Cosmic says, but she doesn't outright look on him like she thinks he's lying, Rather, she analyses his tone of voice as he speaks, looks for nervous ticks or any of the subtle signs that a being is making something up on the spot, or outright lying.

"...I see. So essentially, it is a world mainly deprived of magic, where evolution favored primates rather than equines, and you are reliant on technology to an extended state? I can't imagine your environment takes kindly to that, considering what I have seen lesser things here in Equestria produce when not regulated properly.

There were no signs that you were lying, yet considering the topic, I will disclose that I reserve the right to think that you may simply believe in this tale enough to think it true, but that you are also slightly unhinged. Until I am provided with more evidence to the contrary however, I will tentatively believe you, and then see how things goes as we move along with this errand. If you are from another world, I should be able to observe abnormalities that goes against the regular life forms in Equestria sooner or later."

There were plenty of things that Belladonna believed in, but a traveler from another world, that were one of the fabled humans that were little more than myth here? It seemed like it could simply be a lie, but several things seemed odd about Cosmic to a point where she could not dismiss that he were certainly unusual. As such, she would play it safe and honestly, and go with her attempting to believe him, but needing to collect more data before she could say definitively that she trusted in this.

"I believe the presence of some degree of caution regarding your story is not too much of an issue, no? I prefer to reserve some degree of skepticism just in case things seem to not be as they appear."

*Cosmic nods in understanding.* "I didn't expect you to believe me fully, right off the bat. However, if my memory serves me well, I may be able to show you my true form once I find what I need to find in Canterlot." *Cosmic then reads that weird scroll just to memorize it.*

Seamore Sandwich · June 26, 2017

@Blitz Boom

The detective took one of the coins for a closer inspection, "Let's see here... Hold on... Is this real? It can't be real..." He then proceeded to remove the diamond from the coin to inspect underneath it. After scratching at both the outside of the coin and the part covered by the diamond with his letter opener, he put the coin down without taking his hoof off of it. "No doubt about it. This is real. A real fake. One of the highest quality fakes I've seen in a long time. You see here where the letter opener scratched it?" he said using a magnifying glass to show Scarcity the groove he made. "That's what happens with real gold, but here..." he said, moving the magnifying glass to the center where the diamond was, showing that he had scratched away gold to reveal an entirely different metal underneath, "...you can see the coin has a different metal for the core. I'd be willing to bet that if we tested that metal, it would prove to be tungsten. It has a very similar weight to gold, but it's much stronger. The outside has a thick enough layer that it passes a scratch test. Basically, this is a coin designed to pass all the usual tests." He then pulled an evidence bag out of his desk and put the other coin into it, leaving the other on his desk for study. Detective Nickelbits got up, walked over to a filing cabinet, pulled out a form and passed it to Scarcity. "Currently we can only compensate you for half of the total amount of what you turned in. This form will help ensure that you receive the remainder of your compensation when the culprits are apprehended." "I thought the policy was full compensation?" Penny said, surprised. "There have been a few changes. Too many ponies were willing to turn in the fake coins, but not enough were willing to give us actionable intelligence. At least we're not like the Griffins, they don't compensate you at all."

@Blitz Boom

The Earth Pony took a moment to get to her feet, but a moment was all the thieves needed to get away. Skye was smart, she knew that her own decisions could be foreseen, so she decided that Brooke would lead the way. Eventually, when they knew they were far enough away, they would open another portal and go through. It wouldn't take them too far away, but it would mean their trail would come to an abrupt end for those that could track by smell (seeing as they left no other evidence of their presence).

"They got away!" the Earth Pony said angrily. "Why did you distract me like that? Now I'll have to find them all over again!"

@Blitz Boom

"They seem friendly. Can't we just go talk to them? What's the worst that can happen?" Charlie asked, completely clueless about the concept of trickery. Charlie wasn't conscious the whole time The Forgotten One was in control, so they never saw him pretending to just be another pony in the dream. In the forest, there was nothing but truth. There were some creatures that disguised themselves to keep from being seen, but the stick bug never claimed to actually be a stick.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Seamore Sandwich

Widdershins · June 26, 2017

@Blitz Boom

What? You're asking clarification from the Spirit of Confusion? Well, it depends on whether or not you'll know soon enough! Oh, look! A convenient distraction!

The draconequus awkwardly dodges Smokey's question and at his last few words of exclamation turns to notice Vivid's magical teleportation into the scene a few suspiciously short seconds short of her coming in. Something one might find odd after looking back and examining the situation sometime later.

Not some few short seconds later after Vivid says her own piece to dismiss the two, Phoenix's scream can be heard some few feet behind Smokey and before he can react to that too, Widdershins gleefully stretches after the retreating newcomer from his standing point in a very rubbery, cartoonish (Read: Pinkie Pie-ish) manner, and in the process leaving before Smokey could press his question, even if he had wanted to.

Stretching after Vivid with what could only be described as a smiling noise of *Ghee!* Widdershins loops around under her in a coiling fashion to land loosely around her, weighing not much more than your average, but weirdly designed scarf.

More Dahhonahknee, you say? Well, I wouldn't be one if I let you go without first annoying the Magical Poof outta you, eh what?

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

At Blitz Boom again!

Getting wearily up on his shaky hooves, Ambie holds one hoof to his head as his coat darkens to match his mood.

"What happened? I don't usually... they just up and left me... did I...? *sigh* ...guess I've messed up again. Guess those etiquette lessons didn't stick as much as Mother said they would. Why does my head feel like it's been gnawed on?... What am I supposed to do now?"

Confused & worried, the plodgy peach pony ambles around to-(Hah! Ambles! Amblin' Ambie! We so witty! Oh, shush you... ) search for anything familiar and immediately sees Happy Hour away in the shadows and begins to walk towards him with a dejected, hangdog look on his face.

"Mr. Hour?... I don't feel so well... What do I do?"

######################################!##############################################

@Foxy Socks & Anomaly, because frankly, what with the way you're aiming to roll her...

From behind the momentarily lifted guarding gaze of the vigilant charcoaling chick, the small box from before lifts up with a noticeably loud clanking rattle of the metallic extensions that trail behind it from out of sight and beyond street corners into the distance. The heavily lidded & unenthusiastic eyeballs speaks up again in its plea.

"While I fail to see the purpose in communicating with wildlife like they had any semblance of sentience, you do seem to to handle the diminutive fowl adequately well. Perhaps you can convince it to direct its possessive attentions away from my self. I do appear to have a wooden casing and, while I doubt its underdeveloped flames can do much damage, I would rather not test such a hypothesis.

Stopping for a moment for its eye to flicker for a moment over to Anomaly and glare with a resigned acceptance, the heavy Trottingham (British, btw) accent continues on.

...and perhaps before your draconequus associate decides to utilize me as a further plaything, maybe we can both head to our own domiciles before this night progresses into ad nauseum."

###################################$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$########################################

Aaaand B.B. yet again!

Head still clearly fixed from the side to avoid looking directly at Spicy, the dragon's eye still flicks back every now and again to keep an eye on the pony & gauge her reactions. His front claws now tightly folded over his turned chest more pointed towards the back of her wagon, the dragon huffily retorts once more.

"Fuh. Like I need to explain myself to some stupid pony!

.....

...I take it you're too stupid to have read the undoubted wanted posters that have been put up by now about the Great Kaltrop?!

That's the whole point! Once you get up there on the canyon ledge, you either fall off the edge or go into the deep forest! By the time you're on my stupid bridge you either have to backtrack your stupid way for hours or submit to my demands! We're miles out of nowhere! There's no law out here to stop me! This is my land!

... B-besides, I-it's not like I didn't think of that! I... just... didn't want to... disrupt the local ecosystem is all! I mean, who does that? Ruining the poor animals little homes? Big, stupid ponies building their big, stupid cities all over the place! Like you ponies ever think about anyone but yourselves!"

Storm Shine · June 26, 2017

@Blitz Boom

"Sure Anomaly, I'm sure Sammy would love to meet you." Storm replied with a smile, practically appearing next to her and slinging a friendly arm over her shoulder. "And I'm sure he'd really appreciate the hats too! From what he's said, it sounded like he's a real hat connoisseur."

off to the side, Pinkie giggled to herself. "Connoisseur.. Hehe, that's a silly word." She put a tophat on and held up a cupcake, "I say, these cupcakes are simply divine! Rich flavoring, a silky texture, and a delightful finishing." She shook the hat off and fell over laughing at herself and the silly word which had spawned the silly little skit.

Blitz Boom · June 26, 2017

@Widdershins

Spicy smirks at the antics of the dragon.

"So you're a wanted criminal eh? I wonder if there's a good price on your head..."

She seemed to think it over before letting out a small laugh.

"Don't you worry there big guy, I ain't gonna rat you out. Might be you're wanted, but I ain't a bounty hunter. Too little profit for too big of a hassle you know? One of the reasons why I don't check out wanted posters often."

Stashing away the pile of cards she were shuffling, Spicy gets back on her hooves, though as she spreads her wings a little, several more cards can be seen shuffled in between her feathers. If that was done before or a sleight of hoof whilst she were talking with Kaltrops were anypony's guess, but there they were at least.

"Now then, I got a place to be and a pony to catch up to who's trying to outrun his bill, but I'll spare a few minutes to help you out with your extortion gig. Come on, I'll show you how to collapse part of the trail without harming any of that scarce wildlife you're apparently so concerned about, so you can rake in some real dough."

With a whistle and a twirl, the continuously more shady pony waved for Kaltrops to follow her a bit back on the path she had wandered, aiming to show him one of the narrow spots that'd be possible to get done for the time being and delay any travelers going through here a good deal until they could get it cleared out again, which could take a while if done right. Plenty of time for Kaltrops to lure in some more ponies.

Usually she'd negotiate for a consulting fee for doing this, but she felt pity for the dragon. Might be he looked tough in it, but his shaky words and lack of any physical harm thus far, combined with his pretty childlike excuses and attacks on being confronted by somepony not quivering in their boots, made her think that all in all, he could really use some help, so she'd do a bit of community service here and help him out with his gig before she had to get going again.

Might be that her helping a criminal wasn't too good for the community, but what did she care? She were a borderline crook herself, so it wasn't a big deal in her eyes. Besides, more ponies being blanked off by some dragon wanting passage bits meant that there'd be more out looking for a quick loan, and that was a business she liked to keep running for her own personal gain.

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

@Widdershins @~Phoenix~

Smokey were none too happy about what went on out here, but as he heard Phoenix wake up with a scream his instincts drove him away from really thinking about this and instead caused him to rush away from his tent, and into hers, where he'd look at her with concern.

"What's going on? Are you okay Phoenix?"

Might be that it would turn out to just be a nightmare, but the draconequui had gotten involved, which caused him to be less certain that it were anything that simple. Thus far, few things had been what they seemed with Widdershins, so why would now be any sort of change from that?

Meanwhile, outside the tent, Vivid looked at the gelatinous mess of parts with mild disdain on her muzzle, and tugged her thick scarf closer around her neck. Not that the last part were related, as that were because it had gotten slightly loose and needed to be set right again before she froze, but the motion happened at the same time, warranting the inclusion.

"Spare me your foolish games, I have more important things to do here than play with you, brethren of Discord."

Her horn glowed purple and tendrils started to grow from the ground, swinging around the draconequui who apparently found it amusing to try and coil her. They'd see how he enjoyed the experience, though frankly she didn't care. She were not here for him, she were here for another, to which end she rose her voice.

"Briar, come forth! I know you're here, I can sense the magic I left with you. It's time to fulfill my end of the contract."

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

@Widdershins

Happy rises his head as the approaching Ambie - now having changed color to a darker tint for some reason - called him out.

"Well I am taking my cart and getting out of here before the pink dynamo returns. As for you...."

What with Ambie? There was something magical about him, the changing nature over him and the green flames screamed changeling, and yet he hadn't changed form when confronted by the weird mares. Something was wrong about that one, and quite honestly, he didn't like leaving unfinished business like this behind. Especially not when it might be something important. If there were changelings who could not get forced out of their forms out there, surely his queen would know, even if this one were unstable.

"...Follow me and we can talk. Just not here among all of these ponies, alright? Something's off about you and they're not helping."

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

@Widdershins @Foxy Socks @Twilight-Shimmer

Agni were a smart bird all in all, but the big words that the box were slinging against her were not all being understood, and since she didn't know what else to do with it besides burning it - which were out of the question as it were meant as a prize for Stardust - she hopped a few steps and started to peck it, thinking perhaps he could get it to stop talking if she went at it a little like this.

Meanwhile, Anomaly grumbled a little more to herself and looked at the warm bird that she had decided were her nemesis at this point, before giving out a loud enough response to be heard by Foxy.

"I'm fine. Just the stupid bird with its stupid, stupid ways that annoys me. Let's uhm... No wait, I wanna get the box first."

Agni seemed to get defensive again as Anomaly got closer, but seeing as she had Stardust on her back, the bird couldn't try too much as she took a hoof forth and amidst small dosages of flames, took the box from the bird, who started to attack her hoof to get her to let it go. Something which were frankly inefficient as this version of Anomaly were currently metallic.

"Hey, talky box, where is it you wanted to go again? And why were you even here to begin with? Does it have anything to do with the weird voice in my head earlier?"

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

@Seamore Sandwich

"It depends on the situation, as well as which griffins you speak with actually. Some have rather good return policy's, though I hate to admit that you are generally right about their legal system. It is a bit strange at times."

Scarcity took the forms she had been given and started to write down the information that were required, whilst her mind were occupied with how little this meant to her compared to getting hold of the forger. Getting some compensation from this were fine, but it could not near the satisfaction she would have if she got her hooves on that forger herself and started to teach him a lesson about what happened when you started to pass around forged coins.

Or she could just have Brick rough him up a bit before handling him over to somepony that she knew would do a good deal worse, and keep her hooves clean of the matter. Several beings in the black and grey markets had some pretty strict ways of handling it when they met forgers, though perhaps this one could get lucky and get hired somewhere instead to forge legal papers, if he were good at that too. A sort of *community service* to the shadier parts of their world were an option if the right circumstances were met, but they'd see what she were in the mood for when they found him.

Laying down the signed papers, Scarcity kept her focus on the officer with a smile on her muzzle, and a question passing her lips.

"I hope it is not a bother, but could you tell us more about this forger? Penny here told me that you were leading the effort to take this being down the last time he or she surfaced, and I am curious as to what happened in your pursuit to catch the criminal. You seem like the kind of valiant stallion who would not let anypony get away with a crime like this if you first had them in your sight, and the forgeries did stop for a time, so you must have succeeded in finding somepony, no?"

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

@Seamore Sandwich

"The girl showed me path upon path in her wake, and this river she now follows, is not one that have escaped me. Even if she lets others decide on their path, she still made the choice to follow. That paints the way to follow, for those who sees what have yet been written."

With the mare seemingly okay, Zhu moved forward and began to go towards where the pair had teleported away from. It had not been the most likely future he had seen, but as he said, it were still there. The choice to outrun him were still one that had been made, and even if she had been sedated, he could still follow that particular way and find her location. Unless the one he had not seen would suddenly change his mind during transportation, but that were irrelevant. As it stood, she were likely still awake considering what he were seeing now, and that path he had seen, though there were a slight issue still. The place he saw her appear at, he didn't know where it were.

It were not an area he knew of, and if it were, it were not in a time that marred it in a way that he were familiar with, which would make this problematic. Yet he could go to where they had teleported at least, that would be a start. perhaps if they were lucky there'd be something to track there.

"For what it's worth, I apologize for startling you. I did not expect to see the pony tied in with her history here. But we are wasting what time we may have on things that does no longer matter. They need to be found, before this flood flows away from the river."

Zhu did not know what the end game here were. There were too many whom he couldn't see the future of properly, and it limited his ability to prepare for things. For all he knew, he might end up failing now, and his siter would be raised as a thief. Not the worst life she would have from what he had seen, but it didn't seem right to leave your kin to such a life. Besides, something told him that whilst he could not see it, his sister may be part of why he saw alicornification in the future of this mare. It seemed too much of a coincidence otherwise.

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

@Seamore Sandwich

"I'm not certain, since I'm not foolish enough to go down to them, but I have seen some who they had caught. A foolish demon thinking himself too strong to follow the road the veil left for us. Perhaps you will be able to see him down there among the shadows now too, begging for passerby's to help them, but wanting nothing more than to make other join their lifeless ranks.

That is what I assume have happened at least. I were not here when this layer were pierced by the veil and the void spread tendrils for safe passage, but I have examined the creatures from a distance at times, seen their differences and how the rest of this world seems dead and barren of other life. Whatever is with them, the way they look and how they speak shows they are nothing anymore. just a part of a collective hungry for more souls to join them, that may have been caused by some of the more sinister of my kind. A potential consequence of breaking through this layer to begin with, though as I said, I do not know. I doubt it used to be like this before the others broke through though."

Vivid were almost positive that this were the work of one of the veil's priests, though how it had come to pass she did not know. She only heard stories and half tales, and she doubted she could trust even half of those. She could learn more by getting closer to the veil, but she had no use or love for their fanaticism.

"You do best in ignoring them. They can't touch this path without burning up, so as long as we stay clear of them, they will stay clear of us. So let's get going. We have a body to check up on on the way too, and I don't want to use too much time here."

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

@Midnight_Aurora

"In that case we are on the same page, and I will await what you may be able to show at a later date. For the time being, if you prefer to read, I will resume with something of my own as well. We still have about two hours and fifty-seven minutes to go in this ride, so we may as well attempt to get somewhat comfortable and efficient."

With that, she would open her saddlebag and with her magic pull out an old looking, wooden grinder set, a smaller bag smelling of mixed herbs and a small triangular flask of a light-green liquid.

After preparing this for the time being, she would pull out the first thing in the smaller bag, which seemed to be a flower-head of a poison joke, which made her grimace slightly and return it to the bag, before withdrawing instead another, rainbow-colored flower in bloom.

"Poison Joke requires certain preparations to be taken before it can be safely pulverized. A stray fiber of it and you could end up being turned into a tree, and I don't carry enough antidote for the time being for two. I did not expect it would be needed."

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

@Shineling

Anomaly seemed to be ready to respond with glee over being told she could meet a being that sounded positively chaotic, when the flower they were in started to shake and then finally stood still. The shake had the unfortunate effect of also getting her to fall and land on Molotov, whom she were not laying on top off and looking down on with a grin.

"Awh, and we haven't even gone dancing yet."

"Oh har har, very funny. Mind getting off me?"

Anomaly snickered for a bit more, but did go off Molotov after licking him on the face like a big dog.

"Anyway, good news, we're here!"

The flower opened around them and the sight were pretty... Well, strange.

They were in the middle of a forest of some kind, filled with trees that didn't seem like they were real since they were all twisted, strangely-colored, moving, sprouted water, etc. etc. basically, the whole place seemed like a petri dish of strange creations from a mad forest god, though the fruit that hung from some of the trees did seem rather delicious. though alien. Itr was likely unwise to eat the ones that had swinging radios, wheels and so forth though, but that werea given, even here.

A bird were heard above them and if they looked up, they'd be able to see a small swarm of tucans that seemed like they were made out of strawberry and cream, as well as being about the size of regular strawberries. Something which got pretty clearly illustrated when one of the trees opened up to show a snake made of sap with three heads pop out and eat a few off them before the rest left, and it returned to its nest.

There were also a cabin here. Likely the inside were special, but from the outside, it had a certain *stranded survivors* look over it, with a well to the side.

"Home sweet home. Come on, it's safe here as long as you stay away from the red trees. I had to make them to control the sugarmoles. Lots of things to keep track of on my little island, but I don't complain. Kept me busy and entertained, plus nopony comes here to ruin anything or say I'm evil. Hidden islands rule!"

With that, she bounced out of the withering flower they had traveled in and bounced over to the well, where she'd put her head down and take a few gulps of water under the moonlight. Apparently, Anomaly didn't want to or didn't know how to mess with the sun and moon here.

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

@Dji

"Well, I would lie if I said I weren't curious. About the ones in the pictures I mean."

Pop took a sip from the warm tea, feeling it pass down her throat and calm her. Tea were like that, though she had to not calm too much. Might be she'd end up saying more about Benny, and that wouldn't fall in good soil here. Just as she imagined bringing up Dawn's mother would be. Best to keep that in mind and not get too comfy, or it might slip out of her muzzle and she would have lost another friend because of her big muzzle.

"Who are they, if I might ask? That foal in particular seems to be a few places. Close friend or sister perhaps?"

She pointed at a foal she had seen in several of the pictures. A cute little rascal it seemed like, and likely important, but how? Brother perhaps? Foalhood friend? ...Early pictures of an ex of hers potentially?

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

@EQ_Theta

Omen were happy to see that Lin came back for her, and from how the drake climbed up across her appendage and went for her hair, so were the little one. However, it did confuse Omen what Lin said to her as she dragged the immovable object of a sister - who were surprisingly light - across the portal and into her home realm.

"Why would I be mad? You came back."

It seemed weird that Lin would think that Omen even could get mad with her, considering she were both friend and family, but she didn't have much time to think on it before the somewhat tired voice of Mother came around to them, addressing the siblings and her before Ghilan.

"You can relax. If it is what I believe it is, Omen is not in any sort of danger. But I willl explain as you arrive."

The voice turned somewhat more authoritarian as it spoke with Ghilan, but Mother did seem pleased with his response from the caring tone that also mingled with it.

"Your answer are well received, as I do not harbor any love for this Salosan, after what they told me he have done, and from what I have seen myself. I will allow you to join us, at the thirteenth pillar. Keep the imposter in check, and bring the souls. I wish to speak with them."

With that, Mother went silent, which presented them with the problem of them not knowing where the pillar they were aiming for were. Omen usually lead the way, but she could do it right now, which could have slowed them down a great deal. If it were not for Mother seemingly having send another embodied one out to pick them up.

The shadows spread and the being showed itself as a sort of lanky, brown and grey werewolf with five eyes on hiss face, in a crosshair pattern. He wasn't much taller than them, and didn't seem to have imposing fangs or something like that showing, but the canine sibling of theirs didn't have a reason either. He didn't think Mother would send him to troublemakers, so he met them with a warm smile on his face and in his eyes, like he would any guest where he came from.

"Me... Karganoth. Follow... To Mother."

It seemed hard for him to talk their language, and usually he wouldn't have thought it necessary, but he knew that only Omen knew the language their kind spoke, and he wanted to be polite.

"Long time since last Karganoth. Hope you're okay?"

"Me fine... Talk later."

With that, he would swipe his right arm and make the floor rise beneath them to a surface with legs, which then started to carry them towards the thirteenth pillar, whatever that may end up being.

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

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"I'm gonna have to buy pups first muzzle then it sounds like."

She giggled under her breath at the mental image of a flock of hyena-behaved baby sirens floating around and trying to bite her, but not being able to because of the small bit of plastic on their muzzles. She'd never do such a thing of course, since that would be cruel to the widdle little pups, but she could still tease with it a bit. Worst case she'd just get a handful of pacifiers dipped in suga. Worked like a charm for every toddler she had never met.

"Kidding aside, I'm sure you're gonna find a siren sooner or later. Have to be others living around the land. Or you know, your mom will have taken a boat out to catch one and present your future husband to you in a fishing net."

Now that mental image she could just get out of her head as relatively easily as the one before. A siren in a tuxedo, being presented to Serenade on their first date with her mom next to the poor victim like a grizzled sea captain were... Interesting to say the least. So much so, that after rotating it around a few more times, she had to go and put her head under the surface of the lake to contain her laughter at the imagery. All sorts of fun pictures she got the more they spoke about Serenade and her dating prospects.

After some time and a good deal of bubbles, she took her head up again and shook it free of the worst water.

"Sorry about that. My imagination sometimes goes crazy. Though I'm gonna have a hard time not thinking about your mom as a grizzled sea captain for a time I think."

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

@Contrast

Blitz looked at the offered device with curiosity and wonder in her eyes before slowly grabbing it with her hoof. With her horn still having a broken tip - it were healing slowly - there wasn't much she could do to magically interfere with the object.

"For me? Awh, thank you pretty robot!"

Blitz patted Uno since she were too small for a hug, and then started to examine the device in her hooves. It seemed to be akin to the little robot, but inactive or not finished yet. She wondered if she could figure out how to turn it on...

Whilst Blitz tinkered with the item, looking for buttons and slightly twisting to see if it were a sort of wind up system that would do something if she tries this, Molotov were completely focused on Witty instead, and not really noticing what his little sister were doing.

"Your brother, huh? I can imagine its a bother to have to ask him for help with this...

If you want, I can take my notes about AI with me? It's somewhat difficult to cultivate a functioning AI that haves the capacity to properly learn, but it's very satisfactory when you get it right. Perhaps we can compare some notes on design too? Arachnids are a good way to train flexible limbs, but wings are something else. Especially ones as lifelike as the ones on Uno. Only ones I have been able to make functionally are my own, and they lack the finesse your work holds."

Molotov spread the right of his metallic wings, showing the patched, light weight metal that he used. It worked certainly, but it wasn't that pretty, and he could use the opinion on one like Witty who seemed to be good at finesse.

"I can give you a quick bit of info on the AI though. Difference between self learning and automated tends to be easily seen in responses. Automated ones don't really think for themselves and just follows protocols, so presented with a scenario they weren't programmed to deal with makes them go still.

If they have been programmed to deal with it though, you can try to do the same thing a hoofful of times, then see the response. If it's the exact same, you unfortunately got a stunted robot. If it changes or evolves, you got yourself a real, self learning AI.

As an example, Carmen here underwent a test where I put a clown head toy with spinning lights down, and saw what she would do. The previous seventy models I had made all froze, as I didn't add responses to this in their code, but Carmen instead skittered away and hid under a tray, thinking it a danger. A promising sign of instinct.

I had to run some more tests, but as the clown was used more, it started to frighten her less, and instead made her curious. Five attempts in, she approached it instead and well... She attacked it.

It was a huge breakthrough in my town, with this being our first AI like this, though it did have some side effects. To this day I still need to almost bolt her down if we meet clowns to stop her from jumping them. I think I might have given her a trauma."

Molotov scratched his head before taking the hoof back and scratching the faux fur of Carmen, making her *purr* with joy.

"What're you usually working on here if I might ask? Oh right, and how much for the titanium? I'll see if I can get some fishing wire somewhere else since it sounded like you didn't have that."

Edited June 26, 2017 by Blitz Boom
Added colors.

Storm Shine · June 26, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Storm and Pinkie's eyes widened, a slightly predatory glint appearing. "Sugarmoles?" They asked together, licking their lips. "Like, moles made of sugar?" Storm asked to clarify.

"Mmm..." Pinkie began drooling slightly.

Sekel · June 26, 2017

57 minutes ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Well, I would lie if I said I weren't curious. About the ones in the pictures I mean."

Pop took a sip from the warm tea, feeling it pass down her throat and calm her. Tea were like that, though she had to not calm too much. Might be she'd end up saying more about Benny, and that wouldn't fall in good soil here. Just as she imagined bringing up Dawn's mother would be. Best to keep that in mind and not get too comfy, or it might slip out of her muzzle and she would have lost another friend because of her big muzzle.

"Who are they, if I might ask? That foal in particular seems to be a few places. Close friend or sister perhaps?"

She pointed at a foal she had seen in several of the pictures. A cute little rascal it seemed like, and likely important, but how? Brother perhaps? Foalhood friend? ...Early pictures of an ex of hers potentially?

@Blitz Boom

"The foal?" Dawn repeated. She didn't realise that question would come up but, looking around her pictures, she figured it was an inevitable one. She took a deep breath, sipped some tea, and continued in a depressed tone, looking down at her mug and the swirling tea. "That foal is me. The pony holding me, is my ... mum. The other pictures contain friends I used to have. Minty Fresh, the green one, and Honey Sweet, the amber one. For some reason or another they just ... started avoiding me."

Moonlit · June 26, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich Serenade narrows her eyes, "Do that and I will buy you Aunty's First Leash" she manages to hold the scowl for a few seconds before bursting in laughter. "It just has to be a male" She coughs, trying to hide her blush. "Mom is more hardcore then a Grizzled Sea Captain. DAD on the other hand....the bumbling First Mate trope"

EQ_Theta · June 27, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Lin smiled and replied to Omen: "I thought you might be sour about being left back at the ruins but I suppose there's no dwelling on petty mistakes such as that."

The swirling and shifting sights of the realm... Ghilan never saw anything like it. If dust and wind had some kind of darker counterpart, with the way the former is kicked up by the latter and changing the realm to the needs of its occupants, it was both an amazing and intimidating sight. To know some greater power lives in a place such as this made the elder feel so small and insignificant. There are legends of great halls of power and within those walls sat towering kings, their size only matched by their might. Then came the presence of the five-eyed creature, a bipedal one at that. Karganoth? A strange name but the more Ghilan whispered it in his head, the more it started to sound enjoyable to repeat.

As for the siblings, they followed mother but kept close to Omen and continued checking on her memory. They had some time to spare now and thought about taking advantage of their brief respite.

"Anything from the past few days coming back to you, Omen," Sen now calmly asked. "Or are there still some gaps you want me and sister to fill in?"

Edited June 27, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Foxy Socks · June 27, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Twilight-Shimmer @Widdershins

Looking at the box as it spoke, Foxy asked "Who are you? Are you Widdershins or one of his forms, because you give me the impression you are." Foxy was quite annoyed at this box, but they seemed no real threat.

Anomaly grabbed the box, and Foxy walked up, after giving an "I'm sorry" look to Agni as she no longer possessed it. "Do you know where we are going? Shouldn't we, I mean, Stardust and I, go back to where we were?" Foxy said, attempting to bite the box.

Edited June 27, 2017 by Foxy Socks

~Phoenix~ · June 27, 2017

@Widdershins @Blitz Boom

Phoenix, now in a sitting position had looked around, taking in her surroundings. sure enough, she was still in her tent, and on top of her bed roll. she lifted a hoof up to her face and placed it on her forehead in exasperation "what an ordeal" she muttered to herself. it wasn't necessarily a scary dream, save for the last bit, but it deffinately did dig deep into her mind. although she fancy's herself a clever girl, that's a locked door that she prefers not to go into.

of course, without surprise smokey had entered the tent. surely he was concerned by the loud noise. "it was nothing. just a dream is, all" she explained to him, as she turned away, towards the wall of the tent and layed herself back down. of course, she couldn't help but think about the dream stallions words. did Smokey really have a thing for her? she blushed a bit as she pondered it, but hid her expressions away from Smokey.

dosey doe · June 28, 2017

@Blitz Boom

"Gosh, I never noticed your necklace before! It's so pretty!" said Dosey. She'd been staring transfixed while it did its glowy thingie.

"Muffins sound totally great! I always have a big appetite after dancing," she added with a huge smile.

"Where should we go? Muffin Top's? Top o' the Muffin'? Merlin's Magical Muffinery? That one's endorsed by Twilight Sparkle, you know." Dosey quoted Twilight's advertisement, trying to sound like her, and failing. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle and this is my favorite muffin shop in Ponyville!"

Blitz Boom · June 28, 2017

@dosey doe

Sorrow got pretty surprised by Dosey's response, and it was visible as her jaw started to slack a bit. Something which fitted well in all the wrong ways when the mention of several muffin shops came towards her from Dosey, and her muzzle watered with a bit of drool.

She managed to close her yap and not get drool on other things than her hoof when she dried it off with a faint blush on her cheeks, but her pride got hit a bit over this. Not too much thankfully, as she didn't try to get bogged down with things like this. Not worth the time to constantly think on all the embarrassing things she had done. If she could remember them all that were, but that were besides the point.

"Sorry sorry. Usually I don't get this response when Legion starts popping awake and then there were muffins and I got as little... Drooly.

But we can talk about them later. They're not gonna do something, and they seem to like you, so nothing to worry about there. As for muffins, you pick. I don't know this town so you'd know better than me where the best of the best are. Lead the way captain."

Sorrow made a small salute with a grin on her face, and not paying much attention to Legion. They weren't really saying anything right now either, but just looking at Dosey with the glowing, wispy eyes that floated around in the sockets. A pair that also kept the focus on the dancing instructor mare no matter what angle they'd be angled at, somewhat curious about her.

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

@~Phoenix~ @Widdershins

Smokey ran a hoof over his forehead, taking a bit of angsty sweat away that had drenched forth after he had heard Phoenix scream.

"Thanks Celestia for that, I feared the worst when I heard your outburst.

i apologize for just barging in by the way. I don't know what came over me. usually I tend to have more control over my actions than this."

Concern had been the first thing that seemed to register in his mind as a reason for him to barge in, but this directly and without thought, when usually he tended to be more calculating? What would make him do something that foolhardy? It was as if the answer was just at the edge of his mind, but he couldn't focus on it right now as his pounding heart relaxed again a little by little.

"Also... I will have to stay in here for a little, if that's okay? I don't wish to seem pushy, but with Widdershins and the mare with the flaming ears both being outside, I would prefer to keep some distance, and instead stay near a pony whom I actually find both interesting and comforting."

He scratched the back of his head, thinking about what he had said and how vague it really did sound. Gosh, if he had been in her place, he would've tossed him for that.

"Plus I am concerned about you. Nightmares are horrible, and shouldn't be something anypony should deal with alone, though I'm not going to poke at what it is unless you want me to.I know you're a private mare, and I respect that."

As seemed to be evident at this point, Smokey got talkative and spoke a bit in circles when he was nervous. Hopefully not something that would make Phoenix get too annoyed with him, though she were likely trying to sleep, so he couldn't see this as being in his favor right now.

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

@EQ_Theta

Omen thought about the question for a while as they moved towards the pillar.

A good deal of things were likely missing from this, but with things missing, she didn't know if there was anything important for them to tell her, and the fragments of images she had lingering in her mind had gotten somewhat placed with the story that Sen and Lin had told her before. Though she supposed after a time, that there were one thing she wasn't sure about.

"Why are we travelleing with an elder? I recall something about him trying to help, but I don't know how."

She would listen to whatever answer would be heard, then be silent for the rest of the next few minutes before Karganoth put the slice of *ground* they were standing on down at what had to be the thirteenth pillar, though what exactly the item standing there was were hard to say. It looked like a twisting ball of sickly-looking tendrils going through a predictable pattern of entering and exiting through a piece of old, holed cloth that were vaguely wrapped around it with a rusty pin. Seemed like some of the worlds Mother had children in were better off never to be seen, if this was considered a harmless memento.

"We here... Mother open?"

A door appeared out of nowhere and opened, leading to the darkened, long hallways with the flickering, pale lights inside that Sen and Lin had wandered through a few times before.

Karganoth took hold of Omen and placed her over his shoulder, where she flopped on like a heavy carpet, before he movd in the hallways with her. A noise of something sounding like seven voices whispering incoherently at the same time got projected to their heads, likely from the only one of them that couldn't speak their language well, before Omen send out her own words whilst gazing at the others from her carried position.

"He says Mother asked him to carry me in. Goes faster I guess."

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

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"We should totally take them on a boat ride when we see them then. It'd be magical."

She were going to need to find a few hats for the lot of them to fit when it got to that though, but you'd be amazed what you could find in thrift stores these days. Several pieces of some knock-off costumes she had seen here and there, so there was a chance she could fetch something sort of looking like the real deal.

"Buuut, let's return to the other thing. You say it doesn't need to be a Siren, but just a male?"

A scheming look went over Ziggy as she started to chuckle lowly.

"I think I might have somepony in mind we could go visit sometime."

She would have told more about her hatching plan about mingling her brother with Serenade, but one bit at a time. She had to try and sell her rough brother a little by little since most mares didn't like his more outdoorsy kind of way to be, but with how Serenade were and how he were used to being around beings with big huge teeth without flinching much, these two might hit it off. Plus it'd be fun to try and do what her mother had given up on doing. Turns out that it was hard to sell a country gnoll in Las Pegasus, to use a phrase she had heard her dad say about it.

A swoosh in the air and a weight on her head made Ziggy stop planning more ahead and think over past things said for the time being, and instead look up at Fah'Lina, who were munching on a muffin that she likely nicked from somepony.

"Fah'Lina, you're back! Thank Celestia for that. You're not hurt, right?"

The rodent just shrugged and kept on eating, though she paused to yawn first. She had spend a lot of energy she didn't have right now, so she were a little drowsy.

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

@Dji

"Oh... I uhm, didn't notice that were you. You look so different from back then."

Way to go Pop, try to steer away from speaking about Dawn's mother and instead directly lead into it, and also miss that the foal were the pony you were actually speaking with. Could this go much worse? With her luck, absolutely.

"I'm sorry to hear that your friends started to avoid you by the way. It's never good to have those near you start to do that. Makes you feel betrayed."

Her coupling with Benny had caused her to loose a lot of friends too. It was hard for them to see how she could fall for him, or how she would possibly choose him over them for that matter, but she had done so anyway. Cast aside nearly all she knew and started from near scratch with her family that at least tried to be supportive of this, and the two friends who had fought hard to overcome their taught wariness of the dragons. Such a difference just two friends could do sometimes... And it seemed as if Dawn had not even had that. Poor mare could not have had it easily.

"But that must be a bad memory to dwell on. How about your other friends? Some of them still around?"

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

@Shineling

"Yeah, literally made from sugar. As well as some licorice. I had a thing about making candy-based animals and flowers for a time after I found out how to make sugar canes and sugar beets, but most of those didn't stick around for too long. The moles thrived though, and have become quite a pest. They tend to pop up at night around here too, so who knows? Perhaps you'll see one."

"Can we eat them?"

"No, it's not safe and it's kinda cruel. I let the animals sort the food chain out here mostly. But you can lick them if we find them. They taste sweet, and they really seem to like that. Besides they could do with loosing a few layers."

"You're advocating letting your strange creations be used as lollipops? What sort of creator does that?"

"An awesome one, duh. Isn't that obvious?"

Molotov grabbed his head from the sheer stupidity of this - as he saw it - whilst Blitz started to look around and dig in the ground a little, seeing if she could find the trace of something sugary. Seemed like they were going for a mole hunt soon by the sign of interest from the others.

Moonlit · June 28, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich Serenade rolls her eyes, imaging her dad on a boat makes her giggle. She then narrows her eyes, Ziggy was plotting something, she knew it, "In theory, yes. It just needs to be a Stallion, or I could adopt or any other number of ways I'm sure". Hearing and Seeing Fah'lina back causes Serenade to smile, she'd grown attached to the small predator.

Midnight_Aurora · June 28, 2017

On 6/26/2017 at 3:00 PM, Blitz Boom said:

@Midnight_Aurora

"In that case we are on the same page, and I will await what you may be able to show at a later date. For the time being, if you prefer to read, I will resume with something of my own as well. We still have about two hours and fifty-seven minutes to go in this ride, so we may as well attempt to get somewhat comfortable and efficient."

With that, she would open her saddlebag and with her magic pull out an old looking, wooden grinder set, a smaller bag smelling of mixed herbs and a small triangular flask of a light-green liquid.

After preparing this for the time being, she would pull out the first thing in the smaller bag, which seemed to be a flower-head of a poison joke, which made her grimace slightly and return it to the bag, before withdrawing instead another, rainbow-colored flower in bloom.

"Poison Joke requires certain preparations to be taken before it can be safely pulverized. A stray fiber of it and you could end up being turned into a tree, and I don't carry enough antidote for the time being for two. I did not expect it would be needed."

@Blitz Boom,

*Cosmic listens and then says,* "Poison Joke, a creation of the lord of chaos Discord during the Equestrian occupation. So the plant has found a way to survive? I was sure the elements of harmony wiped out almost all traces of Discord's chaos." *Cosmic then shakes his head.* "Damn it. memories I hate it when memories do that. the chain of memory must be becoming unstable. We have to hurry once there. I am hoping that either Luna or Celestia will help me. this won't be pretty, if they can't."

*Cosmic then closes his eyes and meditates deep into the his meditation. This has several effects. One, he can better manage what memories he has. Two, the process for his mana buildup is lessened. Three, Luna if available can now sense him around her dream domain. He detects almost like an anomaly.*

Widdershins · June 29, 2017

Anomaly & @Foxy Socks

It's passively-aggressive tone getting more dire with each swing of the fledgling phoenix, the small box defends itself the only way one can when you're limbless, with words.

"Stop *tok* that you inso- *tok* -lent, foul fowl! You are rat-*tok* -tling my pres-*tok*-erva-*tok*-tive fluids! Unhand me this inst-*tok* ...This is why I hate wildlife! *Tok*"

Amidst the minuscule assault Anomaly's metallic hoof rescues the small device and its also metallic trail of extensions behind it rattles along behind it stretching its length yet even further. With a sigh less of relief and resigned expectations of going to a moderately better situation, the small construct addresses its captors once more.

"To answer your inquiries in, regretfully, no particular order: No, I am not Widdershins. I should hope I do not begin to sound like him. I should but hope I am more rational, if not superior in terms of intelligence. I am but a creation of his to serve the purpose of companionship, but mostly as an artificial guide. To whit, Yes, I do know where you need to go.

I had endeavored to do the polite thing & clarify what I had deemed an minor verbal scofflaw, but I see now I was in error. I would count you remiss in not following proper etiquette in the trading of names in introductions, but I see my reputation as a mere paperweight proceeds me.

The more important matter in hand is that I am not designed to be outside of our shared pocket dimension for this long. I would task of you to allow me to go back... or I shall have to take matters into my own... well, self."

With this last sentence, the box gives a shudder to his metallic trail sending a small tremor down its length, through the rows of tables and down several blocks where, unseen, it travels into a small, glowing portal down a deserted alleyway.

"And finally, to answer your last question, Madame Anomaly I will have to inquire for more detail.

Did the voice sound Pink?"

!@#$%^&*())(*&^%$#@!!@#$%^&*()(*&^%$#@!!@#$%^&*()(*&^%$#@!!@#$%^&*()(*&^%$#@!

@Blitz Boom

Head lowered and skulking in worry & fear, Ambie pouts as his coat pulses with slow, alternating bands of black & greyish white.

"That's not very nice... nopony's being nice today... First the scary fox, then they knock me out & scowl at me and now you're calling me weird. You sound like all the unicorns in Canterlot...

It's getting late now and I can't go back to the Apple Farm if I haven't delivered that wood to... Oh Codfish, I can't even remember the name anymore!"

Ambisinister (Ambie for short) Valence shuffles dejectedly off after Happy Hour, his moping & complaints like as not helping with whatever stealth the latter is trying to get away with.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

@ Blueberry Chintz ...no, wait, I mean @Blitz Boom again.

Having been unceremoniously pried off by her magic, for a moment Widdershins is caught off guard and his eyes widen as he is held down by the tendrils.

Ooh! I've seen enough anime to know where this is going! Ooh! Wait, are these violet, purple or black tentacles? We have a hierarchy of tentacles here, you know! Hey, where you goin'? I wasn't done playing wit' you!

Excitedly yipping in his usual playful tone, the draconequus calls after the shadowy form. After not getting a response, he then flips his untethered tail over his head until his fins are flat on the ground and he is in a hoop shape. Rotating forward and uprooting the tendrils along with him, he then proceeds to unroll himself another length forward draping the unconnected tethers behind him. His face slapping the ground some few paces before Vivid Loss in an oddly sparkly cloud of dust, he then continues as if uninterrupted.

Contracts, eh? Like, setting rules for others and expecting a payment at some later point that winds up not really making much of any difference in the long run? Sounds like a game to me! How do ya play?

:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3:3

To B.B. again.

Taken aback once again, Kaltrop's eyes bolt wide open at the mention of bounties. With wildly shifting eyes & the rubbing of his neck the young drake bashfully grumbles.

"Uhh... those ponies only really died AROUND my... general area. I didn't really... uh..."

Fading into a silent, frustrated blush as the mare stretches her wings, he watches her strut away and his cheeks puff up once more as she continues talking.

"Humph. I'm not in this for some stupid money. What good is stupid pony bits in dragon territory anyway? I got what's mine. Humph.

Not like I'm taking a stupid pony's advice on how to run my own stupid business. You've already ruined my whole day and I expect you to pay for it!

By... uh... by..."

Lost in thought and face skewed in concentration, Kaltrop is lost in bargaining for things outside of his usual ploy of swooping down to pose in front of terrified lackwit merchant ponies and acting out all the old stories of the stereotypical manipulative dragon. His snout in folded claws, his confused expression does seriously damper the previously made stance of sitting back on his haunches to stand tall & look big enough for most ponies to not question him as much as Spicy clearly is.

Well, clear to anybeing who hasn't had their socialization limited to the, at most, monthly meetings with ponies that typically fled under an hour of meeting a hostile drake and for the most part holing up in their cave with their own angry misconceptions of the world.

EQ_Theta · June 29, 2017

@Blitz Boom

"Didn't want to leave him at the ruins," Sen chuckled, reminding himself that his little oversight nearly left more than one of them stranded. "He helped us in more ways than I could've expected. Not everyone in the village is stuck living with the old ways; he wants the villagers to be better than who they are now."

Ghilan heard the exchange between Sen and Omen and smiled. He approached them and remembered the voices when he first arrived, about having them serve and being made whole. It still hurts but he already had an answer for them. He would turn them down but not for just one reason, turning to Omen to share his thoughts.

"Your um... fellows here, they said they wanted to serve? I didn't think I heard them right but as tempting as that offer is, I can't accept it. I've already got my work cut out for me. Being a village elder is much more than just giving out orders and expecting someone to follow them. It's about knowing that leading those who put me in this position is really more of serving them. I look after them, their interests, what is best for them, and being an example they can aspire to. I know I'm nowhere near the image of the perfect leader and I'm still learning the ropes myself but I believe in trying. After what Solasan put the village through, I'm needed more than ever. And as for the village, they're not ready to walk among the outside world just yet. I'm not even sure if they'll welcome you as a hero. They're still wary of outsiders and being saved by one will likely make them more insecure than ever."

It was at this moment that the unconscious Solasan is regaining sight, still hazy but the first signs of awareness are coming back. First with his surroundings, then to the magic shackles that prevented him from walking away. There was no way to escape now as he awaited his fate.

Edited June 29, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Sekel · June 29, 2017

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Oh... I uhm, didn't notice that were you. You look so different from back then."

Way to go Pop, try to steer away from speaking about Dawn's mother and instead directly lead into it, and also miss that the foal were the pony you were actually speaking with. Could this go much worse? With her luck, absolutely.

"I'm sorry to hear that your friends started to avoid you by the way. It's never good to have those near you start to do that. Makes you feel betrayed."

Her coupling with Benny had caused her to loose a lot of friends too. It was hard for them to see how she could fall for him, or how she would possibly choose him over them for that matter, but she had done so anyway. Cast aside nearly all she knew and started from near scratch with her family that at least tried to be supportive of this, and the two friends who had fought hard to overcome their taught wariness of the dragons. Such a difference just two friends could do sometimes... And it seemed as if Dawn had not even had that. Poor mare could not have had it easily.

"But that must be a bad memory to dwell on. How about your other friends? Some of them still around?"

@Blitz Boom

"I don't think they are," Dawn shook her head. She didn't think this line of questioning would pop up, and yet here it was. "I haven't ... seen any of my friends for ... about three years now. I had friends, yes, but after my mother ... I don't think they wanted to support me or let me unload what I was feeling onto them," Dawn was subdued and stared at her tea. She took another sip and then rubbed her eyes with the tip of her left wing, exposing a couple scars that had been hidden until now. One running from underneath the wing joint and disappeared underneath her left foreleg. The other one ran from her neck and joined her wing scar. It's a wonder how nopony had commented about them until now. "Just ..." Dawn sighed and looked up at Circle Pop. "You are the first pony I've had here since my friends went away. Despite my ... stance on dragons and you being pro-dragon." the mare grimaced and it looked like she was making an effort to utter her next words. "I'm ... willing ... to look ... past that ... if you ... stay as ... my friend."

~Phoenix~ · June 29, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Phoenix continued staring at the wall of the tent as she listened to Smokey make his case on why he needed to stay in the tent with her over night. she was already tired enough, still feeling the drain on her from the events that had taken place just earlier. as such, she didn't have the energy to argue with him. she rolled her eyes, and spoke up "yeah, that's fine i suppose" she said, as her heavy eyelids came back down, and her body settled back into position.

Lil' Lovebug · June 29, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Satin watched the puff of smoke start to dissipate. She'd expected more of a goodbye, but at least the mare had said she'd be back. When that would be, Satin had no clue, but she would await her sort of friend's return. Satin turned towards Bubble Tea and smiled.

"That would be lovely, Ms. Tea. Please lead the way." Satin could sense the confusion heavily weighing upon the mare, but said nothing. She, too, was a little taken aback, but would wait until Vivid came back to think about any of it. She gathered her bag and spirits and prepared to follow the innkeeper.

Blitz Boom · June 30, 2017

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"What's with the stink eye? Don't you trust me?"

The sentence might have held more merit if Ziggy didn't start to chuckle under her breath right after the question in a silly tone. She might as well have worn a big sign saying *Planning in progress* at that point.

Fah'lina had no idea what the two equines were on about right now, as she lacked some information from before she shoved up, but she shrugged it off, not caring much for it. If it was important, she'd see it eventually, or the two would talk about it again. They tended to dribble in circles in her eyes.

"Also, while we have you here now, do you think you could wash the smell of changeling off you Fah'lina? Better safe than sorry, and with how you chomped down on him, I bet your breath is all rank with bug pony. Though I hope you didn't actually hurt him... Right?"

The only answer that would have would be another carefree shrug by the rodent that started to smell her fur where Happy had tried to grab hold in her to attempt to get rid of her and grimaced. She didn't smell changeling, but she did find the faint smell of whiskey, and though she had no idea what that were, she did know that she did not like that smell, so she put down her muffin on a nearby stomp, looked with narrow eyes on Ziggy, then jumped into the lake to cleanse herself off with a little swim.

"Hehe, that looked a lot like you just before. Just you know, more rodent like.

About what you said before though, I- No wait, nevermind, it was uhm... Nothing. Nothing at all. S-So adoption, huh? Good to hear you're planning to have some kids eventually. It enriches your life from what I hear."

She had almost said something about her plans, but she managed to - in her eyes - cover it up well before she spilled the beans too effectively. Might not be as successful from an outside perspective though, since Ziggy were a horrible liar when it came to planning schemes like this. Lot's of small signs like starting to chuckle a little nervously and whistle whilst looking away were some good giveaways.

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

@Midnight_Aurora

(starts just before Cosmic went into meditation)

"Certain trace of Discord's rule lingers, even after his fall. The overall aura of things like what happened to Canterlot did vanish of course, but the Elements are theorized to have a good deal of fault in that, and its glow mainly undid the things he had directly influenced. Certain places had chaos energy spilled out for years, corrupting and evolving wildlife and certain structures, and some parts of it have proven resistant from having the chaos becoming part of the genetics over generations, like the Poison Joke, who grew up in the chaos, but were not directly created by him.

Another example are a group of oddities I have read about before. The name escapes me, but they were sometimes called 'knight squirrels* and were squirrel-like creatures with amphibian properties, and hiding a substantial amount of both intellect and ferocity under the exterior, as well as several rows of sharp teeth in a jaw big enough to cover most of a pony's head. From what i could gather, they grew up in pools affected witht he chaos, and at the time Discord were trapped, they had already been breeding for years and it became part of them.

History seems to not have been kind to them though. For whatever reason, they started to disappear, and at this point, nopony have seen any in decades. They are presumed extinct, though they still work as good examples of what I mean, and from the few bones of them I have found, I can tell you the chaotic trace in them are still present, even after death. Effective essence in dream powder or a one time usage panacea."

There were more usages, but it seemed pointless to mention more, especially as it seemed as if Cosmic had started to go into his own world at some point during her lecture. besides, the creatures were presumed extinct, or at least migrated to other shores. Perhaps places with more chaos energy in the land? It had never been certain if they needed a font of that kind to keep growing, but she supposed that if that were the case, the crater near her old home would have attracted some of them during the years, and that hadn't been the case.

Regardless, with Cosmic occupied, she might as well return to work, which is what she would do until he either addressed her or they would reach the station in Canterlot. She had a good deal of herbs to grind, put into the right vials in her bag, then mix with purified water or whatever else of liquids she had with her. it wasn't much she had with her here really, but she always carried the bases for paralytic toxins on her after some bad experiences in her past, so she could replenish some of her stock of that right now, and prepare in case something happened on the train that would require some action.

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

@Widdershins @Foxy Socks @Twilight-Shimmer

Anomaly tilted her head for a bit, thinking n what the voice had said.

"...Yeah, the voice were pink. Guess that means there's somepony more in my head beyond the weird human starring at me. Heh, cool."

She shook her hoof, trying to get Agnit o move away without actually hurting the bird. Stardust would get seven times angry with her if she did that, she were sure, so she had to be gentle with her nemesis, even if the bird wasn't with her. Though it seemed like she were starting to give up a little and just grow angry at the thief and her resistance to the phoenix's attacks.

"Anyway, portal work? That sounds like fun! I wanna come, but then again, I need to get Foxy and Stardust to sleepy times... Hmmm...."

She thought and she thought about how to get this done right, feeling like her head was going to split open. Which it did a few minutes into the process, then cracking down the entirety of her body, making her go into two halves that then shifted around to hide the hollow insides of the avatar, and add more legs, essentially making her into a two part, very slim pony with one eye on each. and to top it off, they spoke at the same time too, whilst looking on each their recipient.

"Huh, cool. I didn't think I could do this too. Well, easy picking then right. One part goes and delivers metal thingie here, then other part goes with you Foxy and gets you, Stardust and your food up to the tents, then I just gather up again later. Kinda weird and a little painful to be thinking in two bodies at once."

The two *halves* tried to walk away from one another, but got pulled back and slammed their thin heads together. After a small sequence of birds flying around their heads finished, they looked down ad tried again, then saw the flaw: The tray was still stuck on one half, which made the two of them laughing as it got wriggled off and situated more *in the middle* on the left version, along with Stardust, whilst the second had hold on the big-word talking homunculus and got ready tot ake that one away.

With one part looking at Foxy and wobbling slightly on the thin frame it now had, and the second looking down on the cube, they both spoke the same message, though to each their own recipients.

"Ready to go?"

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

@Widdershins

"Uh, Ambie? I'm a human turned changeling, and I'm still less out of place than you, so I think weird's fitting, though I didn't want to try and insult you. I'm sorry if it sounded like that."

He wasn't actually, but lying and deceiving were part of the package for him.

"But you gotta see this from my side too. You got the green flames of a changeling going over you in sparks at times, but you don't have a form anywhere near one. Plus with how you change color like a mood ring, something's certainly off. It's like... How do I say this... You're a half-blood with more pony than changeling or something like that. But again, we'll talk about that later. Town's been looking at us funnily enough as it is, and if that entails having to go deliver your logs first, then we'll go do that. Come on, grab hold of your logs, then we start moving and perhaps you can remember where it was supposed to go to."

This was really a poorly going night in Happy's eyes, and it wasn't over since now he had to play babysitter and remain nice to Ambie to try and get some info, even though he frankly wanted to clock him more than anything right now.

*sigh* Well, at least the evening couldn't get worse, right?

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

@Widdershins

"They're void, not something sentient. The veil doesn't work like that."

As the tentacles got taken out of the ground and dissipated, as the tentacle parts of her magic needed a surface to cling to at their base to remain, she started to sound a bit more annoyed with the draconequus, but tried to keep it down as much as she could. Something which wasn't easy as this playful mockery of her and what she could do reminded her far too much of Discord, and no matter how much she may owe him, that didn't mean that she were fond about anything resembling him. She had lost far too many years because of that overdeveloped chimera to not hold a grudge.

"And my contracts are none of your business. I'm just a merchant of favors and wants, not a soul collector, so your toys aren't in danger."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but perhaps we can tone down things instead of this going into a fight? There have been plenty enough battling for one night."

Vivid looked towards Briar, who had just stepped out of his tent, and did what she could to simply ignore Widdershins as she addressed him, though it wasn't easy.

"Good, you're here. It's time for me to add the finishing touch. I hope you're prepared."

"As much as I ever will be I think. And Mr. Widdershins? May I inquire if you could please step aside for a moment and let her get to me? I assure you that she does not come here with ill intent, regardless of how she may seem to you. She's simply here to help me.

And Miss Loss? I know he can be... Testing in some cases, but please refrain form poking to him like you did before. He doesn't appear to mean harm."

Vivid grumbled a little under her breath at this comment in Briar's attempt to deflate the situation.

"A draconequus not wanting to harm others. That's rich."

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

@Widdershins

Spicy stopped walking as Kaltrops started talking, taken notice of one particular thing that seemed to actually get to her as she turned around with surprise on her face, as well as some annoyance.

"What use is bits? Are you completely blank in your noggin? It's pure gold, and that buys things in every country. It can get you things easily, get you access, be financed effectively for a luxurious life, melted down for something you need, and so on. I mean come on, aren't dragons supposed to like a hoard?

Seriously, you have to be pulling my leg on this, right? Gold makes the world go around, or can buy you things that does. Do you have any idea about what sort of destructive, powerful artifacts you can buy on the black market with enough bits on you? I've seen things there that would make your eyes pop out, both literally and figuratively."

The thought that somepony would do anything without there being at least a little something to gain from it were inconceivable for her, and frankly felt insulting. Horrible things were one thing, but doing so without some gain? What the hay were the deal with this dragon? He could at the very least loot the corpses if he went the route of having beings *accidentally* die around him. That would be something at least.

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

@Lil' Lovebug

"Excellent. Let's proceed then miss."

Heading towards the stairs, Bubble had a look around just to make sure that things still seemed orderly, before heading upstairs and leading Satin towards a locked room, where she'd then withdraw her key and unlock it.

Opening the door it showed a quaint room, with a flower pot in the window, where a view of the town square could be seen through. The bed were made and adorned an elegant flowery pattern on both the wooden frame, and the covers.

A table were in the other corner in the room in case anypony had a want to get something done, and a small, working sink with a mirror could be seen in another corner, for freshening up oneself before exiting the room, if that were your want.

All in all, it was a rather good room considering the town. Nothing worthy of Canterlot, but this wasn't a hotel either. This were an inn.

"I hope this is for your want. I can assure you that the room is completely clean, but if there is anything, you simply need to let me know and we can see what we can do."

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

@EQ_Theta

"We see those with magic that comes sometimes, and we offer ourselves to them. Service in exchange for name, form and purpose."

A wind blew past them as Omen said this, once more carrying Mother's calming voice to Ghilan mainly, but all could hear if they so wished.

"It might seem cruel to offer my children into service, but it is pact that is paid. Their masters will chose one, then infuse some of their own life and magic into their chosen, forming them and then taking them home to their world. It is the only way my dear sons and daughters can leave this place, and start a life of their own with family, friends and experiences I cannot offer them. Though I do not allow my children to go with those who harbor only ill intent. I wish for them to go with good beings, who will nurture them and eventually set them free of their service."

"Master Discord wasn't something Mother liked, but he was powerful. We couldn't stay away from him."

Mother did not answer that, but it were no secret that she did not approve of Discord for a long time, though he had risen somewhat in status for her after he had helped her children earlier. That she would give him.

The group of them wouldn't have more than around 20 seconds after the exchange - which might interest Ghilan, as thus far it hadn't been discussed that Omen knew Discord - before they reached a door and Karanoth pushed through it, revealing the big room that Mother resided in, though she wasn't seen currently as they entered, and neither were any furniture. It was just the glow of the ghostly orb floating in the middle of the room, and the long spike downward from the ceiling near it that everypony but Ghilan and Salosan would know where, though they'd see soon thereafter.

The large, leathery wings of Mother spread, showing her shadowy clothes briefly, before she swirled and flew silently down and landed on her clawed feet.

She were quite an imposing sight all in all, considering how much she towered over the lot of them - she could hold any of them comfortably in her palm if she so wished - as well as the pale-glowing fangs, claws and eyes, but she didn't seem like a threat. The smile on her face spoke of warmth, and though tiredness were visible in her eyes, they glowed with the caring gaze of a proud parent.

"Welcome my children, and welcome Ghilan. I am Mother."

She smiled at the unbound elder, before her gaze went over towards the bound one, and it seemed as her features hardened somewhat. She really had nothing good to say about him, though she would wait for a moment to let Ghilan say something before going towards this little insect.

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

@Dji

Pop smiled warmly at Dawn, saddened about what she had heard about her friends, but happy that she could at least start to fill that void a little again, from the sound of it.

"Of course I'll stay as your friend Dawn. In good and bad all the way."

She took a sip of tea again, liking how it were still warm, whereas some others she knew couldn't keep a cup anywhere near hot for more than a minute.

"You should know though, I'm not completely pro dragon. I know well that there's a lot of dangerous ones out there, and if they heard about how Benny and I were together... We both know it wouldn't be safe for us to be around Dragon Land, even if his family tries to think the best of this.

When we first started writing and I wafted the idea around about me going there to meet him, he actually forbade me from trying to get there, warning me and saying things about dragons that I usually only heard from other ponies. Dangerous things that almost mae me start thinking I shouldn't write with him anymore for a time..."

Realizing what she were saying, she cleared her throat and put down the cup on the table with a noticeable blush on her cheeks.

"Please forgive me for that. I'm not used to have that many to speak with about this sorta taboo subject, so it kind of flows over when I do have a chat with somepony outside my own family. I'll try to keep it down, though it might be a bit before I can just completely ignore it.

Uhm... Perhaps you have something we could talk about? I've been asking away for a while now, and you barely got the chance to ask anything back."

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

@~Phoenix~

"Thank you. I'll try and keep quiet."

Smokey were pleased to hear that he could hide out here for the time being, plus keeping an eye on her, in case more nightmares started to haunt her dreams. For reasons he would need some time to think about, it seemed as if he cared a good deal about her well-being, and knowing he were near in case something more happened were rather relaxing. Hopefully he wouldn't mess that up by disturbing her more, but considering he didn't snore, that should hopefully not be a concern worth thinking much about.

Seeing as she seemed to want to return to her sleep, he went over into the corner furthest away from her, to allow her private space, and settled on the grassy floor. Thankfully they hadn't build on simple ground here, so the green helped making this a more comforting seating, though he could have done so on anything really, including a bed of spikes. A pretty strange adventure that had brought him to a situation where he had to do that before, but perhaps one he should keep in mind for tomorrow. Might be it would entertain Phoenix.

Looking her over a last time before closing his eyes, he got a smile on his muzzle, and felt how his body started to relax and head towards a sleeping state. It wouldn't be long now before rest would find him as easily as it might have for Phoenix.

Moonlit · June 30, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich "No, I don't. My mom has the exact same look in her eyes whenever she tries to introduce me to the son of a former co-worker or her best friend's nephew." She shakes her head, "Since trying to get you to drop it would be like trying to get Derpy to give up Muffins, all I ask is please don't go overboard"

Foxy Socks · June 30, 2017

@Widdershins @Twilight-Shimmer @Blitz Boom

"All right then! Let's head back then..." Foxy said weakly. She could only think of resting, and she still had to walk back to the tents. She went on, barely paying attention to where she was going. She had to mostly rely on Anomaly's and Stardust's paths as she was too fatigued to pay attention.

"Thank you for coming with us, even if it's a short distance." Though the distance felt more than just simply "short." Foxy's legs felt weak, gradually becoming useless. She couldn't keep it up for much longer.

EQ_Theta · July 1, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Ghilan was left awestruck by the realm and by Mother's explanation, though he wouldn't think too deep about the details of the pact that he heard mentioned. He is, however, in a predicament that he didn't have an answer to. As much as he wanted the villagers to know about the outside world, he might avoid mentioning this place altogether; he did say they weren't ready. He kept this all to himself and kept a straight face on to avoid letting anyone catch on to this, instead admiring the place for what it is.

"It's amazing! I knew I missed out on a lot growing up secluded but I didn't expect this."

Back to Solasan regaining consciousness, he took in his surroundings as unlike his figurative successor, he was unimpressed. Other than being able to speak and look around, there was little he could do given the magical ropes tying him down at the ankles. No amount of effort put to cutting the shackles loose could break him free, and so he remained on the ground. And yet this didn't stop him from changing his tone when he spoke back to Ghilan.

"You find this chaos beautiful? Such a pathetic excuse for a successor. That kind of thinking will lead the village to ruin and they'll blame you for it," Solasan scoffed as he stared at Ghilan, who turned to him in anger. The latter is clearly seething below his restrained facade but he knew he was better off in his current predicament. Ghilan then turned to Mother and continued. "This display, unnecessary. There's no point coddling and bending over to the requests of these stray animals. For all their talk about family, Sen and Lin forgot the one they said they'd remain loyal to. Especially Sen."

Sen silently approached him, fury restrained if only barely but his eyes squinted. "That's enough out of you!"

"You just couldn't keep a promise, could you? You'd remain loyal to mommy and daddy all the time and yet here you are with a new family. What would they think knowing you forgot about them? And when you're done with this bunch? You'd leave them again for another. Admit it, that longing for acceptance, filling a hole ripped open by tragedy... that's not what you are after. It's attention. You just want this so you could fulfil some selfish fantasy, refusing to believe the truth that you forgot about your parents. They passed from this world forgotten by the only one who could let their memories live on. You want to know how they would feel? Think back to the night you were thrown into the Canterlot slums. Remember the guards' words? 'Where the unwanted and unloved are forgotten?'"

Now unhinged, Sen picked up Solasan and slammed him to the ground before pouncing on him and bared his claws out. He swung one down, then another, then repeated each swing more effortless than the last. All the while, he screamed, letting his anger pour out with each strike until the wounds on Solasan's face opened. Lin, heartbroken at seeing her brother like this rushed over to pull him before Ghilan came to her aid and pulled Sen away before he could do more damage. She caught what looked like tears streaming from Sen's eyes before clutching his head as he backed off. Solasan saw this display and laughed maniacally, pleased at his attempt to drive Sen insane despite the grievous wounds inflicted on his face.

"Ha ha ha! Proved my point," Solasan smugly spoke, content and confident with an air demanding respect from everyone present. He turned his sights to Omen and remembered their previous exchange on choosing between the siblings, no longer subtly hinting at the answer he wanted to hear from her. "Every good deed he's ever done always ends with someone getting hurt. Just ask Lin, or the villagers, or yourself... or his parents. Oh wait, they can't answer you, they're gone forever! HA HA HA HAHAHAHA! Stray animals like him need to be put down. You should've agreed to this when we last spoke, Omen. Maybe you would've been spared being added to his growing list!"

Lin disturbed and scared, hesitatingly approached Mother and quietly spoke. "Mother, don't punish Solasan just yet. We should still to talk to him, to get some answers."

Edited July 1, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Sign In

open Casual stroll

Recommended Posts

~Phoenix~ 196

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Blitz Boom

Blitz Boom

Blitz Boom

Posted Images

Midnight_Aurora 571

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Seamore Sandwich 470

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Widdershins 9,955

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Storm Shine 1,195

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Blitz Boom 4,427

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Storm Shine 1,195

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sekel 685

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Moonlit 593

Link to comment

Share on other sites

EQ_Theta 415

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Foxy Socks 2,596

Link to comment

Share on other sites

~Phoenix~ 196

Link to comment

Share on other sites

dosey doe 72

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Blitz Boom 4,427

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Moonlit 593

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Midnight_Aurora 571

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Widdershins 9,955

Link to comment

Share on other sites

EQ_Theta 415

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sekel 685

Link to comment

Share on other sites

~Phoenix~ 196

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Lil' Lovebug 1,041

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Blitz Boom 4,427

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Moonlit 593

Link to comment