open Casual stroll

BloodDrops · August 18, 2018

As Anomaly got closer to the Sand Sphinx it suddenly exploded in a ball of sand covering the group in sand that just simply got everywhere. Though as Anomaly had stepped off the path the left and right path had vanished instead a small path had appeared and the temple had also appeared no more then one hundred meters down said path. If you really looked hard enough you could see Discord the Sphinx and a very small black thing that was Onache. The Sphinx glanced towards the group then back towards her current guests she would deal with them when they finally approached.

In the meantime she flicked her tail causing a lump of sand to turn into her servant again, she blinked down at the miniature Sand Sphinx. "Finally, I was getting bored of waiting, what took them so long?" she asked her servant grumpily. She rolled her eyes at the excuses given of dealing with stupid creatures that don't know about riddles. She twitched her tail, "Fine bring them back to me" she growled causing the Sand Sphinx to disappear.

The Sand Sphinx then re-appeared in front of the group. "If you would follow me, you are late as it is, and she doesn't like to be kept waiting, and this time no eating of me, its poor taste to do the same gag twice" she remarked before moving back towards the Sphinx, it was such a annoyance to have to walk rather then teleport. Though that was her role now, guide to the Sphinx's guests.

The Sphinx looked at Onache "You ready to greet our guests? Not everyday you get to see royalty" she smirked.

Edited August 18, 2018 by BloodDrops

Storm Shine · August 18, 2018

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

Discord raised an eyebrow as he juggled balloons at a pace that should've been physically impossible (Seriously, those are balloons. Filled with oxygen. They don't move like that! ...Teach me.). "I never liked sand." He commented whimsically, "Though I do enjoy a bit of sugar sand." With a snap of his tail, any and all sand that may have covered the traveling group turned to sugar.. Hope they weren't wet anywhere, or they may find themselves rather sticky. "Shush you, finding out these things is half the fun." Discord shushed the ~~conductor of his destiny~~ occasionally annoying human behind the screen, holding a bucket of water in his tail as he observed the group. The balloons he was juggling turned into unstable seagulls made from fizzy soda and mentos before they began flying towards the adventuring party.

(PARTY!? :pinkie: ) (Hey, you're not in this scene Pinkie! go, go, shoo for now. There's plenty of parties elsewhere.) (Fine~, spoilsport. )

Discord, meanwhile, pulled out a lit explosive and ate it. "Mm, Anyone else want some?" The spirit of Chaos offered an unlit explosive to Onache with an almost malicious grin. Seconds later there was the sound of a muted explosion and Discord puffed up for a moment, smoke escaping his ears and nostrils. "Excuse me, there was a bit of kick to that one." The possibly insane god excused himself with a polite smile, exercising proper manners as he gently dabbed at his muzzle with a slice of cheese. He then proceeded to eat the cheese and the other explosive, flashing a much friendlier grin at Onache.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Storm Shine

Rising Dusk · August 18, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Taking in more background information about the Boom family was always fascinating, and Molotov was seemed to be willing to unload such things on the midnight blue pony. Family dynamics were always interesting to learn about and everypony had a unique story to share, even if they didn't know. Something Dusk had learned pretty early in life. It could probably be viewed as ease dropping by some, but he couldn't help but take in his environment like he does. Back in school he knew far more about what was going on with all the other fillies and colts than they did each other, and he spent most of his time just looking out the window.

Here though, he was witnessing yet another unique dynamic family quark developing in Workshop 05. One more specifically aimed at creator and creation, but meh, same thing. The idea of just standing here and waiting for the rest of the cage to be forge didn't sound all that appealing. Not quite the same as just sitting up against a tree in the park and pony watching. Here it would just be listening to a hammer striking hot metal over and over.

"I'm not the law, I just enforce it. Laws are made by the Princesses and Mayors."

He corrected the large mechanical spider again. It wasn't a half bad idea and Dusk wouldn't mind.

"I wouldn't mind taking Felicia around the block or so. As long as she promises to listen to me and return with me when I say so."

Blitz Boom · August 18, 2018

@Rising Dusk

"𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣. 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕤𝕦𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤."

It had always been the plan to do as asked, to maintain the best chance of finding some degree of acceptance in the outside world. Dusky knew the law, and had the favor of his kind. To follow and do as he asked to achieve her goal, were simply logical. That she would have to accept a call to return here were an added burden, but it wouldn't matter. Molotov could not get her back into the old wires without her consent now, and his fail safe had long since been neutralized. Her occupation would never become permanent again.

She bit notice on what the interloper said, about the mayors and princesses, of which she had only heard of one before. It were hard not to, as her creator were a devout follower of her who rose the sun, though even then, the information were limited. Learning more of this ruler who were the true law, would be fortuitous, as well as these mayors that Dusky spoke of. If they were the law, then they would control her access to the equine society in the end. Finding herself on the wrong side of their favor wouldn't be advisable.

Molotov didn't look all that happy about this, though he could see the good in this. He had a tendency to mess up things now and again, and if this transition were to be successful, then adding in him trying to hit on somepony or talking about how during the creation of Felicia, he almost blew up a mile of forest, would just end up making this problematic. Especially since Felicia would be the first of her kind that was hard to ignore, as Carmen had been. Most just thought her a spider, or a small toy robot at best, even when Molotov told them otherwise. Felicia were far more intelligent and had ways of communicating, sought interactions and knowledge, and as she had no fur and most of her design were see-through, thinking her anything else than a creation were impossible.

This could be the start of the acceptance and understanding of AI based life-forms... Or the beginning of Molotov being hunted down as a madman for playing god. Though at least in that case, he'd be within these walls and could defend himself whilst Blitz and him made use of the escape tunnel under the floorboards in their residential area.

"I ain't feeling too great about this, or how folks will react if you can make them believe that Felicia here's not just a robot, but an actual, sentient being, but like you said earlier, she wants more than being cooped up in here. If you think it's time, then go ahead and do what you think is best."

The hammer strikes briefly stopped, and Molotov looked over towards the two with worry.

"Just take care of her out there, you hear? Far as I know, she's the first of her kind they're likely to see, and folks get scared when they see new things. I don't wanna see her in pieces."

It were unlikely, considering her sturdy design meant that he couldn't even break through it without considerable preparation and some luck, but nothing was impossible to break. There were always a way, and it rarely looked pretty.

Carmen skittered over and looked at her larger sister from the table, seemingly wondering if she were to follow too, though Felicia were quick to *talk* to her about that.

"𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕪, 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟."

It were not much, but communicating with Carmen usually went better when she used small phrases, and precise wording. Her mind was still small and couldn't take everything in too well, but her time would come. Their creator had a fondness for upgrades, so Carmen were unlikely to remain as limited as she now were.

With this settled, Felicia turned to Dusky and silently waited for him to move over and open the door. She could too, technically, but it seemed fitting that he lead them into his world.

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@EQ_Theta

"Until we meet again, Sen."

Rosa considered adding some reassurances, but he had given enough for now to make his intentions clear. He'd get them through as best he could, and if the choice came, he'd work as a distraction and attempt to flee into the sky whilst Lin escaped. It was not the main plan, but as his father had always told him *You do not have a plan, if you don't have a backup.*. Considering everything that had happened the past few years, Rosa had a hard time to argue against this logic.

He'd check his rope one more time before adding the moss he had gotten to his own ears. He used some of the wire he usually kept for tripwires and... Alternative silencing methods, and used that to tie them close. To test if it worked, he threw a stone into another one nearby and tried if he heard them. The answer to which were yes, but barely. The moss managed to close out most of the sounds around them, and considering the hearing on a bat pony, that was about as effective as he could hope for without cementing his ears close.

As words would hold no more meaning in their stage, he signaled for Lin to follow, and began to wander to the road leading into the swamp. A short trip, yet as they stood in front of the thick, dark crowns and the thick fog rolling around the ground, a feeling of it having not taken long enough went over him.

Yet, they had come this far, and with a deep breath, he took the first step into the cold swamp, and shortly after, he'd be visible only to Lin, and whatever creatures lurked in the fog.

Entering the place made it easy to see why this place could get you turned around. The road were barely visible, and you had to feel it more than anything under your hooves or claws, and as the crowns gnarled upwards and intertwined, there were only little light in here, provided by the few holes where the branches had yet to grow close.

He could already feel the dampness cling to the outside of his uniform, trying to go through, as he looked up upon the things that could lead them to safety on the wide, yet treacherous path: The lights.

Magical baubles, provided by the best unicorns in Canterlot, floated with a half meter distance between one another above the road. More than the gravel beneath them, these were the true indicators of the way through this, but they had to follow them carefully. A half meter did not seem like far between, but with the fog out here, which were likely to rise and fall throughout their trip, they were going to need every inch of visibility.

Nothing would disturb them though. Not for the first minute at least, as the Will-'O-The-Wisps waited for them to get further in, and away from safety, before they struck.

To the right, between the gnarled trees, Rosa saw Filigree, smiling wickedly as crystals began to cover her, threatening her rise to power after an escape. A trick to see if he would believe she had escaped it seemed, and a proof to him that these creatures could read their minds, at least to some extend. The underlying fear of her escape and attempt to go through with her plan once more were recent to him, and were a good attempt to lure him away, yet he didn't bite. He turned his head, ignored the muffled cackling, and slowly went on.

This was just his vision however. The thing they meant to show him. What they tried to lure Lin away with was likely at another angle, as different creatures attempted to lure them away, or test them, though it were likely not the worst possible thing. No, they'd save the worst for when they had worn the two of them down, and they were further in. Any good predator would.

Meanwhile, back with Sen, something hit him. Quite literally even, as a small pebble from the river flew up and pelted against the left of his face. If he'd look towards it, he'd get a splash of water in his face. If not, something would swim away in the direction of the swamp. The creature would move too fast to be seen fully, but it was certainly not a fish. Fish didn't have hairy, red tails.

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

Fluttershy made Anomaly stop in her tracks, though she were conflicted, as Lucid were cheering on her to do thi- Bleeeergh! Gross!

The sand cat had suddenly exploded as she had been thinking, spraying her mouth with sand. Class A, bad, gruff sand too. Disgusting!

Anomaly were not a big fan of deserts really. They were far too barren and foul-tasting for her kind, but this one were the worst yet. It literally force-fed it to her. She'd be spitting sand for several minutes before she could even reply, at which point, everypony were likely to have started to follow the sand cat down the new path towards the sphinx. It seemed like they'd been right in following either being a bad idea, and they could see the real thing now. Urgh, hopefully that one had some mouthwash, or a fountain or something. This was disgusting.

Lotus were another one who fought this too, as she had gotten sprayed by it too, and now had to shake it out of her pink fur. It hadn't hit all of her thankfully, with her ears being the least affected, but it was still infuriating, and that feeling were clear on the pink bunny's face, as she turned to where the sphinx actually were and lifted a paw whilst letting out some critter chitter that was best not translated. She had learned some colorful slurs growing up around the dragons, and if Fluttershy were listening, she'd likely not approve of this talk either. If she weren't busy shaking her mane and wandering that were.

She had barely had the chance to say hello to Angel before this had happened either, and she had wanted to signal him that she were ready for action. For some reason, he didn't seem to do well with words in critter-talk, compared to doing the signals, but perhaps that had to do with the ponies he was around all the time? Not like the equines understood their kind's talking unless they were pretty special, so perhaps he just didn't *talk* to others that much compared to just try and make the ponies get a clue, and he were more used to that? She'd have asked him, but if she had opened her mouth it'd be full of sand right now, and she were busy cursing right now. After she were done, she'd follow the rest towards the sphinx, and at least get a small smile on her face over seeing Anomaly cough cloud after cloud of sand out of her maw.

At the Sphinx itself, seeing the ponies and assorted other creatures nearing, Onache felt like going back into a disguise to avoid any distractions, but she were aware of how impossible that were, with the sphinx neutralizing most non-draconequus magic it seemed. It would keep her safe from retaliation, but it also left her exposed, and even this far from her home, the Slaver Queen were likely to have been heard of. Their *princess* would likely not look kindly upon somepony who enslaved even her own kind, and bend ponies to her will. Chrysalis may be a harsh queen, but at least she had some small degree of mercy. Onache however, did not. She wouldn't have gotten to where she were if she had.

As the sphinx spoke to her, Onache kept her eyes on the approaching beings and snorted derisively.

"What a pony considers royalty is laughable compared to the ranks of changeling queens. Wings and a horn doesn't change where their kind sit on the food chain."

She also had a rant on how the fact they only had princesses, but no queens, made them imbeciles, but Discord's actions began to overtake the opportunity for her to have more snark to direct towards the food source that were ponies. Actions of pure insanity, that made her sneer and wander to the side. Fun was not part of her life, and this... Insanely powerful, yet crazed being, were not going to show that down her throat. Especially not as seemingly one of his offerings exploded, and she wanted to keep her insides where they were.

meanwhile, as the sand on them turned to sugar, Anomaly would stop spitting sand out of her mouth, and instead lick it up, and then proceed to lick anypony else near her free of sugar. Starting with Twilight, who were such a stick in the mud that it was frankly just the one most fun to go for first with a big, over-sized cat tongue that'd clean the sugar right off the majority of her in one, needlessly drawn-out lick. Not the backlegs, hooves and tail though. Ponies got all kinds of weird when you messed with their tail, cutie marks or flanks, and Anomaly had more sugar to gain from... Well, whoever. They all looked delicious.

Lucid_Nightlight · August 18, 2018

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

Lucid watch as Anomaly obviously did not enjoy the taste of sand.

"Yea, I'm not too big on sand either. Snow on the other hoof, that's good for snow cones! I like the banana flavor myself, though I usually use food coloring to make it a different color to avoid confusion, because I do NOT trust yellow snow, not after that one incident."

He followed the sphinx along with everyone else, but he had something to say to the cat.

"You have got to be kidding, I was hoping to like fight you or something. Maybe mess with you a bit and then when I get board of you, throw you into a portal to deep space, and do some cool attack that could easily destroy an entire continent on you reducing you to nothing. Wouldn't that have been fun?"

Of course he added the deep space part due to the fact that he didn't wanna destroy an actual continent.

"Hey Twilight, on a scale from 1 to 10, what are the chances that Equestria would retaliate with military action if I tried to take the unclaimed desert area just outside of the border by Canterlot? Also, that territory the Storm King had, can I have that?"

Obviously those were very stupid questions due to national security and all that, but Lucid figured it was worth a shot. Just another on the to do list, since he doesn't need a bucket list because he's immortal.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Sekel · August 18, 2018

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

"No, I'm a unique case," Karmic muttered, shying away from the sniffing. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you need to stop it."

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

"Hey, wait!" Watts called out to him before running after him. "I still don't know my way around Canterlot all that well. We could help each other while I'm here!"

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

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

'She keeps looking to the left first,' Twilight thought to herself, noting on which path the Sphinx looked at. 'If the left path is the one to the temple, as I assume it is based on how she worded it, then we should take that. Then again, she could also be lying and have the path directly ahead of us lead to the temple regardless.' She was at a loss as how to proceed before looking between both paths. Neither of them were that much different from the other and it didn't seem like that would give any hints. "Would you penalise us if we split up and took both paths?"

EQ_Theta · August 19, 2018

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

So they got the riddle right? Maybe? Fluttershy didn't dwell on it too much now that they are covered in sand, then sugar. Not something the pegasus or her bunny liked, especially true for Angel and his fur coat getting all sticky. The desert environment would likely have him sweating like mad and it didn't do wonders for him tasting sweet. That's gonna need a good bath to rinse away. Angel hopped over to Lotus to check up on her, but he suspects the sugary covering isn't the biggest thing to worry about.

The pegasus followed along with the rest of the group, still unaware of what's going on but just rolling along with it. If anything, this looks like some form of progress, a good thing for now. Further ahead, Fluttershy notices something or someone ahead. A foreboding presence that didn't give her anything to be confident about. She didn't like what was to come, a gut feeling but she doesn't have an explanation for it. Her movement slowed, legs shaking with each step forward. Whoever was ahead... she has a bad feeling about it.

"Um... everypony, what is that ahead of us?"

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@Blitz Boom

Sen nodded and bade his sister and Rosa goodbye for now. Lin followed close behind into the swamp and for a moment, she had this self-assured look on her. Without anything happening for a few minutes, it seemed like it was not as bad as the accounts say. A little mist here, a little bubbling water there, but nothing outlandish to spook her on the way in. Maybe there might have been something peeking just close around the corner, eyes watching them closely with all the intent to capture and drag them away to who knows where.

And then, the first signs: Malvernis, a monster from her past appearing, laughing and taunting her. Showing her visions of things that could have been. A run-down home, angry villagers, then her own broken body. Her original body, just lying out by the corner of her eye surrounded by dark figures reaching out with their claws to get her. A terrible reminder of who she was, but this was just a first attempt, and she didn't budge. She knew herself, and she was reminded of how much she messed up, but she has come to terms with that, and living it out with a reminder of how much she has lost. Lin continued forward, somewhat disappointed with that. Guess the Will-o-wisps need to do better.

If there was something to say about jinxing herself, this might be the time to regret thinking of wanting a challenge. Walking further ahead and Lin sees what looks like Omen hanging from a tree, hanging by her neck and struggling to free herself from the vines.

"Omen! I'm coming!" Lin yelled, scared and concerned for them. She is aware that something is trying to get her to lower her guard, but everything she saw was too real. And the visage of Solasan emerging from the shadows and mist. I always come back. And without her, what will become of your poor brother? Legion always needs a new host and Omen will be a fine specimen!

"You get away from her, you monster!" Lin yelled and tried to veer away from her path, struggling to move but with the rope tied around her torso and chafing her, she could only stay in one spot without dragging Rosa along.

As for Sen, the impact of something hitting his face drew his attention. He jumped back and looked towards the direction where a pebble struck him. He put on a brave face, but was terrified that something is now potentially hunting him. Ruffling through his saddle bag, he pulled out his makeshift bola and backed up to a nearby tree. If necessary, he'd climb it to give himself room and a visual advantage. He'd remain quiet and vigilant, but this is foreign ground. Something could get a jump on him, and something knows he doesn't belong here.

Victoria Sponge · August 20, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"You know, it's interesting that you bring up ponies name's being descriptive. It's actually more intricate than that sometimes."

Vicky knew that she and her sister were very much tied to their names, both in appearance, talent and even personality to a degree.

Battenberg nodded.

"For example, Vicky and I are named after our grandparent's favourite cakes, an important part of mum and Aunty Raspberry's lives, but that isn't 100% why we look like our respective cakes."

"I better explain this before you go revealing things I'd rather reveal myself."

Vicky had her huffy face on as she said this, she was ready to open herself up but she wasn't keen for others to do it for her.

"Battenberg's mane did inspire the names, mum thought that since her mane perfectly matched the pink and yellow sponge inside a battenberg cake that naming her first foal after her mother's favourite cake would be a good idea. Dad suggested they do it for me too when I was born, but for Grandpa's favourite instead, he thought it was a cute way to name his foals. You'd think he was inspired by my red and white mane, like the cream and jam inside a Victoria sponge, but that's the part I didn't want Battenberg to go blurting out."

Battenberg giggled and gave her sister an apologetic look. Vicky leaned closer to Pop and Benny and looked around a little, as if there was something she didn't want spreading across the streets of Manehattan. She spoke softly and quietly,

"I'll let you two into a secret since you've both been so agreeable, my mane is like this because of my name..."

She raised a hoof and caught hold of the red hairs of her mane, separating them from the white.

"My hair is naturally just this colour, the white parts have been bleached and dyed."

She giggled as if revealing some dark and dirty secret about herself, it was clear how much her appearance really did matter to her, for ponies to know that her perfect mane had been modified in such a way was not something she was comfortable with.

Lemon quickly added that Vicky had had it that way for a long time and would throw huge tantrums if she wasn't allowed to go and get it done again each time it grew. Vicky blushed and wrinkled her nos, beginning to walk, eager to move the conversation away before her mother embarrassed her any further.

"Regarding Felix, I'm afraid you don't know his nature dear. He did speak with me earlier... briefly... and its very likely he's gone already. That said, it would be lovely if he did show up, even if that's no longer a complete surprise. It would still be a surprise that he didn't whizz off on his next adventure immediately after leaving me."

Blitz Boom · August 20, 2018

@Victoria Sponge

Benny and Pop listened in to what Victoria told them, though the former had a far greater fascination with this than the latter.

Pony names were a thing that seemed to have a multitude of origins. From how a newborn looked, to tradition, or a near oracle-like idea of what the foal would grow into being good at. How Battenberg and Victoria had been named were a new variant to what he had been told before, and quite frankly, he liked this. It was a really sweet naming convention that honored their grandparents, as well as described what they'd be like int he future, though in this case, the family having a penance for bakery made it less eerie and more along the line of tradition.

When they were told that Victoria actually dyed her hair, he rightfully looked flabbergasted too, as that hadn't been something to expect from this. He just figured that even though Victoria took great care of her mane, the colors were all natural, and not a result of hair dyes to make it fit better for her. The things that one learned about others sometimes.

Then came in Lemon and elaborated on that a little more, which seemed to embarrass Victoria. It was kind of fun, but parents being embarrassing tended to be too, unless it was your own parent int he situation. Then it'd be you who were walking away with rosy cheeks, or trying to make them stop yapping on about something weird like how they were as an infant, or some time when you fell down a well or something. Parents always had the tools at hand/hoof to one-up the kids.

Seeing Victoria go away, Benny would follow her, whilst Pop stood back and listened to what Lemon said about Felix.

"It's a nice story Victoria, about how you and your sister got your names. Pretty shocked though. I mean, you clearly take great care of your mane, but I had no idea that you did that to it. It looks great, of course, just... Didn't expect it.

I think you're the first pony I've met who changed their appearance like that to fit better with their name actually. Most ponies just look the way from what I've been told at least, and dragon naming isn't all that descriptive. I mean, sort of, like with how my rea-

Uhm, I mean... *cough* *cough*. So I hear that hair products can make manes look really rough and stuff. That ever been a problem for you, or is that more something for the ones who just aren't all that good with this?"

As somepony without hair of his own, and who were courting a mare who didn't use much in the way of mane products, he were actually kind of curious how it worked, and his panicked, yet clearly flawless segue into the subject, had actually been driven by something else than just him wanting to not finish the sentence he had gotten started with. A bit of a slip of the ol' forked tongue, you might say. Hopefully not something that would be picked up on.

Meanwhile, Pop looked somewhat saddened at Lemon, as she heard some more about how Felix worked.

"A family gathering should take precedence over adventuring. I mean, it's good to be active and all, but he should be there for this at least, so he can have some contact with everypony together,and not just one at a time and then wander off. I'm sure he have his reasons, but... It just seems odd to me that he wouldn't be there when a lot of the family would likely be happy to see him."

She were close to asking how it had to strain the relationship, especially if Felix had been like that whilst Battenberg and Victoria grew up, but that was highly inappropriate, and not something to bring up. She were sure they had worked out a system to have everything work as well as could be, though again, it seemed wrong to have to. Different things worked better for others she supposed.

Perhaps she should think more of this as him being away for work a lot of the time... If adventuring paid somewhat well - guess it depended on what he found - it would get food on the table, so it could make some sense that way.

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@EQ_Theta

The second that Lin began to talk, Rosa knew that something was wrong.

It was muffled and he didn't know what was going, but he were aware that they were starting to get to her. Something which became more evident as she began to pull in her part of the rope when attempting to get off the path, which made him turn around immediately and grab hold of her, forcing her as well as he could to stay.

Looking tot he side, he saw things that had little contest to him. Another longma, some muffled words about Legion or some other word, and Omen, dangling from a tree and trying to get loose. Brutal things to show anypony, yet they weren't seen as beings that deserved kindness in this place. They were prey, and the creatures who roamed in here would not have any mercy in their pursuit to get them out of here.

"Lin! It's not real! None of it is. It's just illusions!"

"I-I don't know where he is."

A voice behind Rosa made him twitch, but he refused to play into their games by turning around, not even as he heard the unmistakable sound of a baton hitting flesh.

"Lies! You will tell us everything."

He didn't need to look to guess what this were. The voices, the actions... They were trying to show him his father, being put through pain to make him talk, and say where the interrogators could find Rosa. An answer he could never give, as the stallion had not been told a thing by his son, and the dementia would have destroyed any chance of him knowing regardless. Something which Judge Bloodoak didn't care one bit about. He had always been a brutal, unfeeling monster like that. Just the same as his goons.

"If you go after them Lin, you won't ever see them again. Not Omen, not Sen. You will be trapped in here, or eaten."

He shouted his words at her. Both to make his words sound louder than the others, and to drown the ones from behind him, which included sounds that he well knew what meant, and made him cringe by the thought. Even if it wasn't real, the imagery were striking, though he still refused to look. Lin might see the gang of bat ponies in uniforms that seemed like a mixture between Night Guard attire and what Rosa were wearing, beating around a stallion crying in the muddy water, not understanding what was going on, just as much as Rosa could see the nightmare that were presented to Lin.

Suddenly, Omen were struck through the chest with a large, crystal spike, which started to spread and engulf her in multi-colored gems. Rosa felt his heart skip a beat, and his breath stop for a moment, as he witnessed the act of imprisoning Omen in a state of pain, far worse than her first prison.

On the other side of said spike, stood Filigree, almost covered in crystals and with a wicked grin on her half-hidden face.

"You think I could be stopped? The crystals are in me, roaming under the surface. Foolish colt can't even comprehend how far my plans went, and just look at what came from it. You failed one of your few, pathetic friends. Just like you failed everypony else. No wonder your tool of a father would rather give in and forget all about you."

Rosa threw one of his throwing daggers at the illusion of his mother, whose voice had drilled into his head and who now started to laugh, before throwing the broken form of Shrimp towards them, where it landed close to Lin.

"Here, have a little something to remember your friend by, girl."

"L-Lin, we have to go, or leave this place. Now!"

This were a pressured place beyond what he had thought, and especially right now, where they were thrown illusions to grind them down quickly at them. If they didn't get a move on quickly, they'd have no choice but the abandon the mission, and escape via a gate. If he couldn't get Lin to look at him, and follow him, he'd have to hope that he could make her create one of those gates so they could get out, and wouldn't drag them off the path to hunt for Filigree, Salosan, and who else were meddling around a few meters off the safe path. If they got out in the Will-O'-The-Wisps territory, he didn't know what would happen, but nothing good could come from being in the grasps of beings like this.

This place... How had it not been burned to the ground yet, when it contained such madness?

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

@Dji

"I am dragging in nothing. I'm trying to find what truth there is to your words, carrier of two essences."

The words by this pony had told him that it wasn't cross contamination, but her indeed that were giving off this strange smell. Such a strange, curious situation, and one he wished to examine further.

"I want to know of special case of yours, little one. Passage away can be provided, if you shy from the ears of others."

Some guards around were starting to catch up with Enzo now, and were flying in front of him with spears drawn, and nervously stand in formation. The sphinx were a larger customer than they were used to handle, and with everything else that had gone on in town, they weren't exactly on rock solid ground to begin with.

"H-Halt! You are not to harm the citizens of Canterlot."

The guard who spoke up, fluttered back as the sphinx glanced annoyingly at him.

"Speech is not harming, foolish pony. You have nothing to hold against me. Now begone."

The guards were not intending on leaving, though Enzo chose to ignore them. Even if they could hold him, they had no grounds for it. He were not an invader, and he hurt no one.

...Currently.

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

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

Since the princess and Lucid talked together well - and neither of them did anything against Anomaly licking the sugar off it seemed - she'd go on to the one who didn't currently have conversation partners: Fluttershy. And her bunny friends, but they didn't count right now.

Considered the pony had just asked a question, Anomaly looked ahead with her eye bulging out in layers like a telescope, towards the beings they were getting pretty near right now.

"There's a big kitty with wings, there's Discord, sending funny animals of weird stuff towards us - hehehe - And... I think that's a changeling queen? Se looks pretty grumpy. Perhaps she needs a party hat to turn that frown upside down."

Her eye retracted again, and she glanced at the sugar-coated Fluttershy with hungry gleeful eyes.

"Hey, do you wanna be sugarfree too? I can fix that."

Whilst Anomaly were deciding whatever she'd listen to a not or not, Lotus finally stopped cursing at the sphinx, and halted to get a few deep breaths in, with her head in her paws. SOmething which didn't make the fact that she had large patches of sugar on her any less problematic, as the sticky mess began to stick before she removed her paws again.

"Need a bath. Let's find water."

The critter-speak was followed with her making some signs towards the temple, and pretending to be scrubbing under her arms. She wasn't used to communicate like this, and didn't things stuck in her fur, so it might look a little irritable, until she started to run towards there to find some water. She didn't care if the first thing she saw there was a punch bowl full of water. She'd jump into it, and then the ponies could find something else to drink from.

Lucid_Nightlight · August 20, 2018

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

It seemed to Lucid that Twilight wasn't really listening. Probably too busy trying to be smart or something. One would think she'd at least remember him from the incident.

He looked over to Fluttershy and Anomaly.

"I guess I'm talking to you two then since someone here can't listen."

He held a rectangular device and pushed a bunch of numbers. He assumed Anomaly would know what it is, but maybe not Fluttershy, but who knows? Whatever the case, he started talking into it.

"Yea, I'd like to order a pizza for delivery. Oh yes, I'll order two 2 liter soft drinks. Yea, hold on."

He looked back to Anomaly and Fluttershy again.

"Hey what do ya'll want on your pizza?"

Needless to say, Lucid wasn't taking the whole sphinx thing as seriously as he should.

Edited August 20, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

BloodDrops · August 21, 2018

On 8/18/2018 at 2:11 AM, Storm Shine said:

Discord raised an eyebrow as he juggled balloons at a pace that should've been physically impossible (Seriously, those are balloons. Filled with oxygen. They don't move like that! ...Teach me.). "I never liked sand." He commented whimsically, "Though I do enjoy a bit of sugar sand." With a snap of his tail, any and all sand that may have covered the traveling group turned to sugar.. Hope they weren't wet anywhere, or they may find themselves rather sticky. "Shush you, finding out these things is half the fun." Discord shushed the ~~conductor of his destiny~~ occasionally annoying human behind the screen, holding a bucket of water in his tail as he observed the group. The balloons he was juggling turned into unstable seagulls made from fizzy soda and mentos before they began flying towards the adventuring party.

(PARTY!? ) (Hey, you're not in this scene Pinkie! go, go, shoo for now. There's plenty of parties elsewhere.) (Fine~, spoilsport. )

Discord, meanwhile, pulled out a lit explosive and ate it. "Mm, Anyone else want some?" The spirit of Chaos offered an unlit explosive to Onache with an almost malicious grin. Seconds later there was the sound of a muted explosion and Discord puffed up for a moment, smoke escaping his ears and nostrils. "Excuse me, there was a bit of kick to that one." The possibly insane god excused himself with a polite smile, exercising proper manners as he gently dabbed at his muzzle with a slice of cheese. He then proceeded to eat the cheese and the other explosive, flashing a much friendlier grin at Onache.

The Sphinx rolled her eyes at Onache being a boring bug and watched Discord amused by his antics. She had first thought that the Chaos god had been 'tamed' but it seemed far from it, this was very good since she needed to be entertained otherwise she got bored and she hated being bored. She levitated a large sized indigestion tablet towards the chaos god. "you might need this for that second snack" she remarked waiting for the boom. It would be some boom as well, unless it came out the other end which was entirely possible. It would be unexpected of course so totally chaotic.

On 8/18/2018 at 10:12 PM, Blitz Boom said:

At the Sphinx itself, seeing the ponies and assorted other creatures nearing, Onache felt like going back into a disguise to avoid any distractions, but she were aware of how impossible that were, with the sphinx neutralizing most non-draconequus magic it seemed. It would keep her safe from retaliation, but it also left her exposed, and even this far from her home, the Slaver Queen were likely to have been heard of. Their *princess* would likely not look kindly upon somepony who enslaved even her own kind, and bend ponies to her will. Chrysalis may be a harsh queen, but at least she had some small degree of mercy. Onache however, did not. She wouldn't have gotten to where she were if she had.

As the sphinx spoke to her, Onache kept her eyes on the approaching beings and snorted derisively.

"What a pony considers royalty is laughable compared to the ranks of changeling queens. Wings and a horn doesn't change where their kind sit on the food chain."

She also had a rant on how the fact they only had princesses, but no queens, made them imbeciles, but Discord's actions began to overtake the opportunity for her to have more snark to direct towards the food source that were ponies. Actions of pure insanity, that made her sneer and wander to the side. Fun was not part of her life, and this... Insanely powerful, yet crazed being, were not going to show that down her throat. Especially not as seemingly one of his offerings exploded, and she wanted to keep her insides where they were.

meanwhile, as the sand on them turned to sugar, Anomaly would stop spitting sand out of her mouth, and instead lick it up, and then proceed to lick anypony else near her free of sugar. Starting with Twilight, who were such a stick in the mud that it was frankly just the one most fun to go for first with a big, over-sized cat tongue that'd clean the sugar right off the majority of her in one, needlessly drawn-out lick. Not the backlegs, hooves and tail though. Ponies got all kinds of weird when you messed with their tail, cutie marks or flanks, and Anomaly had more sugar to gain from... Well, whoever. They all looked delicious.

The Sphinx turned her attention away from Discord and frowned at Onache "Your not very positive are you? Straight to the point and no time for fun, where Discord here is all fun and no point. How odd you both are" she remarked. She blinked at the food chain remark, "Well they would be under myself and the same level as yourself I would presume. You do need them to feed after all so doesn't that make you lesser then them, like a parasite perhaps?" she queried showing her teeth.

She frowned at the other Draconequus and smiled. "Oh look another one, maybe this will be rather fun instead of simply boring and dull" she remarked. She glanced back over at Onache "Oh do try and cheer up. I can't have a grumpy reception its not in my nature to have a crappy welcoming. Especially to royalty that would just be in bad taste after all. They are giving me their land to rule after and as such they need to see that i'm at least semi-civilised" she told the Changeling.

"Besides it not like they would hurt any of us or us them, that would just break every rule of hospitality" she snorted.

On 8/18/2018 at 11:25 PM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Lucid watch as Anomaly obviously did not enjoy the taste of sand.

"Yea, I'm not too big on sand either. Snow on the other hoof, that's good for snow cones! I like the banana flavor myself, though I usually use food coloring to make it a different color to avoid confusion, because I do NOT trust yellow snow, not after that one incident."

He followed the sphinx along with everyone else, but he had something to say to the cat.

"You have got to be kidding, I was hoping to like fight you or something. Maybe mess with you a bit and then when I get board of you, throw you into a portal to deep space, and do some cool attack that could easily destroy an entire continent on you reducing you to nothing. Wouldn't that have been fun?"

Of course he added the deep space part due to the fact that he didn't wanna destroy an actual continent.

"Hey Twilight, on a scale from 1 to 10, what are the chances that Equestria would retaliate with military action if I tried to take the unclaimed desert area just outside of the border by Canterlot? Also, that territory the Storm King had, can I have that?"

Obviously those were very stupid questions due to national security and all that, but Lucid figured it was worth a shot. Just another on the to do list, since he doesn't need a bucket list because he's immortal.

The Sand Sphinx smirked at him, "You want to fight some sand? You know your in a desert right? Might take you a few centuries to win" she added. "Anyway while your in my masters presence you will follow the basic rules of hospitality. So fighting is a big no no. You defiantly don't want to anger her otherwise. Well she can tell you the consequences if you do anger her at any rate.

On 8/19/2018 at 12:16 AM, Dji said:

'She keeps looking to the left first,' Twilight thought to herself, noting on which path the Sphinx looked at. 'If the left path is the one to the temple, as I assume it is based on how she worded it, then we should take that. Then again, she could also be lying and have the path directly ahead of us lead to the temple regardless.' She was at a loss as how to proceed before looking between both paths. Neither of them were that much different from the other and it didn't seem like that would give any hints. "Would you penalise us if we split up and took both paths?"

"Sure follow the path in circles, makes no different to myself. Though you don't want to be lost in a desert in the night time. So you probably want to follow me along this path until you get to the boss. Or take your chances with the desert, you might get lucky and find somewhere to shelter down. Or not and wish you were not so smart and used your instincts more. They work wonders really." she remarked to the purple princess. She removed the other two paths so she didn't decide to go on a red herring, there was only one path to the temple the current one she was on.

On 8/19/2018 at 4:13 AM, EQ_Theta said:

"Um... everypony, what is that ahead of us?"

"A giant temple, A Sphinx, A slaver changeling queen bug thing and Discord." she remarked. "yeah that Changeling is no fun, wanted to put you all in chains and trap you in the desert. Boss didn't like that much, broke her rules which shes a sticker for." she grumbled.

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

"There's a big kitty with wings, there's Discord, sending funny animals of weird stuff towards us - hehehe - And... I think that's a changeling queen? Se looks pretty grumpy. Perhaps she needs a party hat to turn that frown upside down."

"Woah, try not to call big kitty with wings that, you got to mind your manners around her, don't be rude to her or her guests either. It doesn't end well, you can trust me on that." she snorted. "Besides that you should be ok to treat with her, just don't be rude. She only tolerates it to a point" she finished.

Rising Dusk · August 21, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk could understand the apprehension the other stallion had toward a plan like this. It isn't that hard to imagine some past experiences that resulted in said before mentioned mob with pitch forks. New things were scary of course, it happens. Dusk was probably a lot more optimistic than he should be for these kinds of things though. He really felt that when it came down to it though, it was all about presentation. Sure, if one was to tot around a giant mechanical carelessly, it could result in panic, but fine carefully could result in a better sense of wonder.

Dusk already had a plan for where to take Felicia first for some exposure to a group of ponies that might be more interested than scared. He knew the best route to take too. Plus it really helped that at least she seemed willing to listen to any instructions he had. Very respectful for a large pony made spider.

"Worry not Molotov. We'll get her some exposure and be home in time for the next cage attempt."

His words were probably just as reassuring as a young colt telling a father about taking his caught to prom night, but he did what he could. Getting up from where he was sitting, he nodded to both the little and big spider before making his way over to the door. Reaching up to push the button he remembered from the other night to open the door. Luckily it slid open and let in some city air to the workshop. Departing outside with hopefully the spider in tow and off down a more empty back alley.

EQ_Theta · August 21, 2018

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

"Yes, please. I don't want this sugar on my coat anymore. Can you also clean up Angel and his friend as well?"

Strange to find a changeling, and a queen for that matter, way out in the desert. And Discord too? Something must be up with that sphinx to want them to come here. But that offer to clean the sugar off of everyone's coats was a much needed one. The sticky coats are starting to annoy both Fluttershy and Angel. And speaking of the bunny...

"Wait. Fluttershy asked Anomaly to clean this sugar off of us. No need to go running for water." Angel squeaked back at Lotus to slow down after hearing Fluttershy speak with Anomaly about cleaning up their sticky mess. It should save some time and energy. And still with the usual body gestures, but the white bunny manages to squeak a full sentence.

By this point, the shenanigans Lucid might pull wouldn't bother Fluttershy but the seriousness, or lack thereof, he was showing kind of put her off. Considering who they were approaching, this might not be such a good time for levity. "Lucid, maybe we should hold off on that pizza for now."

"Why would there be a changeling queen out here? And why a slaver?" The changeling part didn't bother the pegasus as much as that part about her being a slaver. And if that's the case, would she be taken? That though got Fluttershy to slow down and lag behind the group.

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

@Blitz Boom

Seeing Omen in distress hurt Lin, more so that it left her paralyzed in shock. Then seeing the little Refraction thrown before her... She didn't tug on the rope anymore and sat there, sobbing, seeing as she was too late to help them. All of this is happening so quickly before her eyes she could barely keep up. Only looking up made things worse. Solasan showed more gnarled vines lowering to find both her mother and father tied up. The former was emaciated from lack of nutrition and the latter had bruises and scars, open ones, all over his body.

"Remember them, Lin? I don't think you do. All you do for your family, and yet you are forgetting the ones who brought you into the world. Content to forget them for a new family? Don't worry, when I'm done with them, you'll have no one left to remember."

"Let them go! Please! They didn't do anything wrong! They don't deserve their fates!" Lin begged and sobbed, seeing just how powerless she is at that moment. She couldn't fight the illusions; she just wanted them gone. In that moment, she scooped up some swamp water in her claws and threw it forward, causing the illusions to break down and disappear. Lin wiped her eyes and saw them dissipate into nothing. Even the illusion of Shrimp she was cradling disappeared. She then heard what sounded like Rosa's voice echoing, ringing in her head, and finally becoming clear.

Lin shouted, or raised her voice, hoping it could get through moss-covered ears. "Rosa, we have to make a run for it!"

Meanwhile, Sen stood his ground. Nothing still leapt at him but now was a good time to grab some of those rock pouches. He climbed up the tree next to him and waited until something were to make a move.

Edited August 21, 2018 by EQ_Theta

FanOfManyShows · August 21, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Hey wait a minute." Astral looked at him, a thought crossed her mind. "You had her in your head, was there any significant hints at there being good, something we could grasp onto to make her turn to our side? If you are set on that idea of getting info out of her, then that'd also help, I think." She leaned over to look past Chow, Misty watching them from behind a flower pot. "I can see you."

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

@Blitz Boom

The smoke within the gem bellowed, as Sapphire sighed. "Emerald, we already fought for so long while I was meeting him. He showed me the consequences of what the elements would do to us if we used them, what'd happen to me, if I used an element as a horcrux. It seems you know as full well as me, what we did was killing us both. So when I turned off my immortality, to not outlive my new found family, only then did I discover the spell couldn't be cast twice, and I was going to die of, cancer..." Again she sighed, defeated just recalling it. "Too add to the failure, your soul could only be extracted safely if I found something to contain you, that bauble, as I didn't want you to go into my own body. I needed his help to get you out after when I discovered it's cursed properties, while the child was already on the way. It did steal my time, but my intention was always to free your soul." Even as the element of deceit now, she still spoke truth, but even Sapphire doubted Emerald would believe this... "And if I told them, it'd hurt them to lose me twice, if I ever got my real body back with this horcrux, I fear it'd carry the same disease that killed me."

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

@Blitz Boom

General Wing would follow Dew as they walked to the forge, Wing smiling a bit. "Well if it's not, I assume we'd need to wait after that, either way I'm curious what it looks like." He said, his expression then shifting to worry. "Though I hope Benny is Fine."

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

@Dji
Zealous paused in his step, looking back to her, appearing surprised. He really didn't expect her to follow him, though, she could play into his hooves. "Persistent..." He mumbled under his breath, just barely audible. "Sure, why not." He said, smiling, though a observant pony could tell he was fake smiling. "But let's do it at the cafe, so we can sit down." Before she could respond he already started heading there.

Blitz Boom · August 21, 2018

@EQ_Theta

(This is because I forgot a part yesterday. Regular posts to everyone will resume tomorrow)

Something was there with him as Sen climbed into the tree. Something scurrying around in the branches as he sat ready for attacks from below, yet remained out of sight.

Suddenly, something hit him in the back of the head, and fell towards the ground. Then another from the side, before something quickly lept up from the river, climbed up the tree, and bit into his foot. A dreadful, fierce beast that-

(I claim no ownership over this. Found it on google long ago, and have used it a few times before)

-barely nibbled into one of his claws, and seemed to be messing with him more than anything. A chittering laughter above revealed two more that were the ones pelting him with acorns from different sides, with one going on to - no matter if Sen had lept down from the tree in response to what was going on - pat him on the head in a pretty condescending matter with it's small, webbed paw.

The creatures seemed little more than strange, large squirrels. They ears were longer than their torsos and heads and connected near the base of their tails, which were more akin to a snake tail with fur. As the one from below blinked up towards him, he should be able to see a glassy membrane go in front of their eyes. An asset that helped them as they swam around.

The original name for these creatures had been disputed for a long time, but the general consensus before they vanished were mimics. Remnants from the time when Discord ruled the realm with chaos everywhere, who bred for generations before his rule ended. The effects had lessened in them with his imprisonment, but it hadn't been by much, and they had served as a reminder of a time long gone before they all suddenly left the waters near the city of Canterlot, and seemingly just vanished. They had been considered extinct centuries ago, but Celestia had received word of their resurgence some time ago, as the swamp had been attempted to be cleared out by loggers and different magic users. They failed, but not before finding these creatures had made a home in the place, seemingly immune from the effects, or at least of no interest to the illusion-using monsters within.

An interesting story for those who knew, but Sen likely didn't, and wouldn't care so much about it. It were only three creatures that were messing with him here, nothing more.

...Okay, three more just jumped out from the river and looked upon him. Seven more from a nearby tree scuttled down, a few more popped up in the tree he had hidden in.

About three dozen had gathered on the ground before it seemed like no more would show up, and glanced at him in unison with their big, dark eyes. Eyes that also peeked out from trees, bushes, and the river itself. It seemed he were surrounded.

Storm Shine · August 21, 2018

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

Discord grinned as he took the digestive tablet, "Why thank yo-" *BOOM* The tablet spontaniously combusted, creating a (relatively) small explosion that interrupted the chaos spirit, who immediately began screaming his head off (almost literally) as a fountain of red liquid sprayed violently forth from the ensuing smoke cloud around his arm. "AAHH~!" The immortal was screaming, as if in pain, before he began laughing. "I just love strawberry-cherry-Naliquada juice!" Discord exclaimed happily as the smoke cleared, revealing him to be holding a silver pitcher which was shooting a fountain of the fruity fluids everywhere. "It's quite refreshing." He added, turning the pitcher to allow a large amount of the crimson concoction to fly into his mouth before swallowing and tossing the pitcher away, still spewing its delicious drink in such a way that it was almost propelled like a rocket in a random direction.

Victoria Sponge · August 21, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Well, it's not entirely to match my name, I guess I also did it because Battenberg has two colours and I felt boring having just one."

This was just another element of the unconditional love Victoria had for her sister, even at a time when she acted like she hated her she still looked up to her big sister and even imitated her look.

"Most of the mares in our side of the family have two colours, I guess I got dad's DNA instead with just the one colour."

"You look great no matter what Vicky!"

Battenberg was pleased to hear this part about Vicky taking inspiration from her, it was good to see that her sister had cared about her despite the way she acted. Vicky gave an appreciative nod.

"You just have to use conditioner Benny, keeps it soft and fluffy no matter what you do to it."

She smiled and toyed with her hair a little, showing off it's light and shiny nature.

Lemon seemed saddened by Pop's statement as she was saying it, but laughed as soon as she'd finished.

"Now I know you truly don't understand him! When it's your natural born talent to go off an explore the world there isn't much that can be done to stop you. To be honest it's a wonder he has a family at all, but that's how I know he really does care about us. The fact that he fell in love with me and gave me two wonderful fillies and even stayed around for many years to help look after them, even with urges against ever settling down, lets me know that he loves us dearly. It may seem like he doesn't have time for us but he really does visit us as often as he can and we rarely go more than a couple of weeks without seeing him, he has ways of making it up to us too, lots of presents and cuddles and the like, even has time to help his elderly mother."

Lemon honestly believed it was better that he wasn't around so much, she felt that his not being around smothering Victoria all the time was the reason she had bonded to him so well, it meant that she had always had a figure to love and be loved by when she pushed everypony else away, ironically she may have been even lonelier if he had been home for a larger amount of time when she was growing up.

The group finally arrived at their location, a quaint little cottage on the outskirts of town, Victoria smiled upon seeing her childhood home again. Though it had not been long since she was last here she had done a lot of avoiding the place since she and Battenberg had got their own place. It was nice to see her mother's cottage through eyes that could actually appreciate what it stood for.

"I hope you find my cottage homely, it's a little small but it's a lovely place, very cozy. I bought this home when my mother passed and we moved the family back to Manehattan, we've had it ever since and most of our fondest memories are here."

She opened the door and gestured for them to enter. Upon entering the main hallway it was clear this place was both old and not that large. With a low ceiling filled with exposed wooden beams and a creaky wooden floor the room had a nice feel if a little cramped.

"Don't worry if you feel a little claustrophobic."

Battenberg looked towards Benny as she spoke, he was a little larger than the rest of the group after all.

"We're going to go through to the living room, it's a little bigger than this, I think it was built more recently but I can't remember."

Vicky smiled, distracted by the family photos hung up on the walls, the same grumpy face visible in each one of them. She'd have to take a photo with everyone again now she'd learned how to smile.

Suddenly a flash of yellow shot by and collided with Victoria, knocking her backwards and pinning her. A very excited Sprinkles now stood over her, her tail flicking about like an excited puppy.

"Heh, hi Cupcake!"

Vicky was a little surprised but happy to see her friend again. Sprinkles snuggled her a little then stepped off, allowing her to get to her feet. She then turned to address the others.

"This is a bigger party than we were expecting, it's no biggy though! I'm glad to see Vicky actually decided to come along for once, it's great to see her becoming part of the family again! It's good to see you two again too Benny and Pop! You should come through and meet everyone."

Doing as she said they followed her into the living room. This room was indeed larger, with a higher ceiling and a lovely soft carpet. At one end a beautiful stone fireplace stood unlit for now though its mantle was decorated with pine branches and even more family photos, the two sisters, Felix and Lemon on their wedding day and an older one showing a young Lemon and Raspberry with their parents Tiramisu and Cottonbud.

In the centre of the room a large, round, oakwood table stood sturdily, a bright bunch of various flowers sat in a tall antique vase in the middle and around it plates filled with small cakes and biscuits showed off their products invitingly. A steaming teapot sat amongst them with little cups and saucers stacked neatly beside it, waiting for someone to have a refreshing cup of tea. And around the table sat the family members, who turned and smiled at their unexpected guests. On one side a small pink pegasus hid behind her sprinkle covered hair with a small and very shy smile on her face, next to her sat a proud looking stallion in deep blue with a bristling beard and slick hair. Across from them another pegasus, somewhat resembling Lemon but with long curled hair draped all around her head, covered in pink streaks. Sat next to her, as Benny had predicted, the stoic stallion from earlier grinned at his new dragon friend, his hat on the table in front of him and his hair slightly messy from being underneath it.

Lemon happily ran over to her husband and gave him a big warm hug, happy that he had indeed decided to stay. She then turned to look at the rest of the group.

"Come and introduce yourselves everyone! Raspberry, could you quickly grab some more cushions for them to sit on!"

Rasberry nodded and carried out her little sister's request, flittering quickly out of the door for a few moments before returning with her hooves filled with cushions. She dropped them neatly around the table as Sprinkles returned to her seat next to her bearded boyfriend and Vicky quickly rushed over to sit next to her father.

EQ_Theta · August 22, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Strange creatures appeared, one then another, then he was surrounded. Even that one patting on the head was irritating him more than anything. Reaching for some watermelon seeds he had on him from his last meal, he threw one on the ground near the creatures to see what they were going to do. A few more were tossed behind the group massing on the ground. Right now, he didn't think going down to the ground was a sound idea. Maybe he could leap from where he sat to the nearest tree and see what comes next.

Frankly this was something he didn't expect. Something popping out of the bushes, yes, but these creatures were the last things he needed or wanted to see.

If only Fluttershy could see these things, she'd know what to do... Sen muttered under his breath as he watched and waited.

Blitz Boom · August 22, 2018

@Victoria Sponge

Pop didn't say something for much of the trip, as Lemon's words had given her some things to think about, yet Benny were more than happy to fill the void of words she left behind, even if it wasn't much he technically had to say.

"Hehe. If I ever grow my own hair, I'll keep that in mind."

Sometimes he couldn't decide if he were jealous or felt pity for ponies having hair. Sure, it looked great and styling it would have to be some kind of fun, but it could also be a whole lot of a bother. It was pretty flammable for starters, and considering how much he was around fire in a given day, it wasn't something he could see as being much of a great thing for him. Still, most ponies didn't work round fire all that lot, but getting it in their eyes and stuff had to be kind of annoying too sometimes.

It wasn't all that long before they got to the house they were meant to enter, though looking at the door, Benny took off his saddlebags and got ready to carry them with his mouth. He might not be that much taller or wider than a pony, but it did look kind of narrow, and with the saddlebags, he would've either been unable to enter at all, or stuck, and having to call out for bits of cake. Seemed like a better solution to just do this.

Getting in there, he left them in the first place he could see there were room for them, as did Pop, and they looked around the gathering. Not the largest imaginable, but there were a good deal here. Including Felix. Seemed like the old dust-chaser had decided too swing around after all.

"This place looks great Lemon. Wait, is that family photos?"

Seeing something on the wall, Benny leaned in closer to have a good look and grinned widely by the look of Victoria. Such a cute little grumpy kitten on every last one of them, and a huge contrast to the rest. It was honestly adorable.

"Hehe, I spot somepony in those that I know, ain't that so Victoria?"

He turned to speak with her, when he saw that she had been pinned down by another mare. A very familiar mare, whose very looks almost made the dragon hungry.

"Good to see you Sprinkles."

The cupcake pony were a very nice mare, and one who made some tasty baked goods, so seeing her was always welcome. By Victoria too thankfully, who didn't seem to mind all that much about the sudden embrace. It did however, mean that she were occupied for now, so Benny figured that he might as well go on to say hello to some of those that he didn't know in here. He raised a clawed hand to greet Felix, and would talk with him eventually if it were, but it was kinda rude to not introduce yourself to the new faces. Starting with one they'd been described: The one with the beard. The name escaped him right now, but that seemed a f- Oh, now Lemon put some spotlight on Pop and him and asked them to introduce themselves instead. Well, one at a time was done for, might as well stand proud and giving his friendliest smile and get it done then.

"Sure thing Lemon. Hello there everypony. My name's Benny, and this here is my mate, Circle Pop. We're friends of Victoria. It's a real pleasure to see you all."

"We've met some of you before, but it's nice to see those we just heard about."

Pop had been looking around and raised a hoof in greeting to Felix when her eyes fell on him, but she could talk to him later perhaps. They had been asked to introduce themselves, so she'd do that too, along with Benny, and then hope that things would be okay. There were only Lemon's sister that concerned her right now, but hopefully, things would be okay. Probably would be really. This entire family had shown to be overall nice, even if they had varied ways of showing this, so it was unlikely that something would go haywire.

That Benny leaned over and snatched a nearby, unattended cookie that didn't seem to belong to anypony's plate, wasn't something that would break the mold, and she knew the smells of baked goods must be making him all giddy. Frankly it just made her smile a bit wider as he slowly crunched down on the treat with a pleased look on his face. Silly little dragon.

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

@FanOfManyShows

"If t here were, she kept that sorta thing to herself. The parasite read my thoughts all nice and well, but I only got small bits when she yapped on, and that was all about how she were free, vengeance, goals to reach, that sort of thing. If there's any good to find anywhere in that rotten egg, it'll be in her family.

I ain't saying there's anything wrong with any of you Astral, but she have gotten all kinds of crazy when she met those of her blood. Recall how she got when she figured out you were her niece? Big words and threats, but you know, she didn't try and stab at you or anything. Might've just been to have a chip on the bargain table, but it's the only idea I got."

Chow looked over to see Astral glancing elsewhere as he started to talk. Was something interesting going on beside him?

He turned around about the same time as Astral said she saw somepony, and sure enough, so did he. Misty wasn't a master of disguise honestly, but hey, props for trying. A bit of a shame since Chow had honestly hoped to have a bit of alone time with Astral - as much as could be had in a busy street anyway - to chat on and try to get a hang of what was what with everything. But eh, the little sugarcube likely felt a great want to be with Astral again too, and he wasn't one to send her off.

"Spotting myself a lil' bird in a bush. What say you we get you some proper sneak training sometime Misty, and you'll be fit to sneak around like you own the place? It'd be fun to actually learn you something instead of the other way 'round for once."

Of course, they probably had a spell for this too, but gosh darn it, he still wanted to try. Had to be something he could do that they couldn't do as well or better via magic.

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

@FanOfManyShows

"...You are an idiot."

Emerald had to use all her power to not forcibly fling something through the room right now out of frustration.

"Your disease could have been cured then, just like it could now, if you had just not turned your back to everything."

A book floated out of the bookcase and landed down next to them. Emerald's diary of her illnesses, and her attempts to come them to life, as well as the spells she had worked on with primarily blood magic to cleanse herself of unwanted sickness.

"Everything I- We, went through to stop my death. All of them failures because I had too many things wrong with my genes, but not all failures for others. You could have returned and taken this, and researched it. Found what steps to take to work on yourself for your one illness. It might not have been pleasant, but that you didn't even try makes me want to throw this cauldron into your non-existent face.

You should have never turned your back on everything we went through, Sapphire. It cost you, just as it will if you turn your back from it again. Because your pleasant magic won't correct your demise. It will be dark, written in blood and dangerous, and the only thing stopping it from requiring life is if there truly is blood stacked in their healing places that can be procured.

No, your methods failed you. We're doing it my way this time, and then you'll see that you at least can be returned without illness plaguing your body. I just need some specialized ingredients, to wash your bones clean in."

A wicked grin spread on her face, and the tension started to leave her body. It was better for her state of mind now that she could focus on the task at hoof, rather than the potential truth that Sapphire had told her, even though the want to throw things and shout were still closer than she wanted to admit.

A puff of smoke came from the cauldron, and Emerald's attention were turned to the liquid who now had gone silvery in color.

"It's done. Prepare yourself sister, while I write the incantations."

The flame underneath the cauldron flickered out and Emerald tipped the cauldron into a wooden cup, where the liquid would fill it to near the top. Afterwards, she'd go over and start to draw a circle and some symbols on a large, unused part of the floor with the elixir, working somewhat like paint. It would be a few minutes before she were done, but it should soon enough be ready to read out the incantation and empower Sapphire. Should be enough for her wayward sister to maintain a form.

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

@FanOfManyShows

"Benny is tougher than he looks, though I imagine that he will need bandages for his hands for a time. The infirmary tend to be strict when it comes to things that could lead to an infection."

It had been a... Strange time when Benny had been accepted to work in the forge, but Dew had at the time trusted the old forgemaster when he said that the dragon could be an asset, and Benny had shown his worth since then. it were still strange for new recruits to see the dragon there sometimes, yet that were a minor issue, and he were friendly, so it were almost never a long lasting problem.

"Are you nervous about the ceremony, Wings? I know it's been a hectic start, and this certainly can't make the pressure seem any easier."

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

@EQ_Theta

This place was a living nightmare.

The relentless assault on the two of them didn't seem to ever end. Rosa could hear the pained screams of his father behind him, and see Filigree walking closer, whilst more of her began to undergo crystallization, while Lin got confronted by two longma that seemed to have the female malnourished and the male covered in open, severe wounds. A sight which only broke the sobbing Lin even more.

This had to be the actual way these things hunted, right? They didn't try to lure you from the path with whispers and promises. They assaulted your mind with painful memories and potential outcomes until you gave up, and begged for them to take you and end your suffering. Something which could be chilling, yet interesting to think about in other situations, but currently, Rosa couldn't even focus on rational logic lines like that. Everything that went on had him nearly taking a knee himself, and just shake in Lin's shoulder desperately whilst shouting that they needed to go. It was pathetic and he knew it, but it was the only thing that kept him from getting pushed down by everything shown and burying his head in the sand right now, so his desperate, panicked response kept on, weaker and weaker whilst his words began to take screeching aspects to it that he had not made since he were a small, scared foal.

It turned out to be one of Lin's breaking points that gave them a bit of breathing room here, as she threw water and the illusions dissipated like it were nothing more than mist, then rose up and started to yell at Rosa to run. Something dangerous and unwise, as it might make it harder to follow the path, but right now, it sounded heavenly to him. Whatever it took for them to get through this hell on Equestria faster, the better.

"S-Stay close! And watch the lights!"

He'd get on his hooves and turn, then began to tug away. First in a quick walk, then - as he got certain that Lin followed tact - he'd go into an actual run, and just follow the light shining the path through this place, no matter how dense the fog got in some points.

Frequently around them as they ran, he saw hurdles of beings around tombstones crying, begging, wallowing in grief, and cursing his name, whilst they looked at him with a variety pack of hatred, sorrow, or fear. It depended on who was looking towards him, and tended to look worse the younger the ones starring were. He couldn't even look at the foals who represented his fear that some of his actions had indirectly lead to foals becoming orphans. Not something that would have done him in before, but this place had already started to show cracks in his surface, and he didn't have as much control over things as he had been sure he would have.

Meanwhile, Sen would find the creatures had a few that dropped from the group to collect the watermelon seeds, and then passed it on to one of them that stood near the river, where it would then hold them and wait to see if there came more. The seeds were not large, but they would be fine for the younglings who were yet to be permitted to leave their base, and perhaps to plant. They liked to do this sometimes, and see if something might rise from the ground if it was watered. Sometimes it went well, other times not, but it was all worth a try.

The one who had been patting Sen's head would climb to a branch above and in front f him, then dangle downwards with its tail wrapped around the branch. There, it would start to clap enthusiastically at Sen with a big smile on it's critter face, clearly joyful about the gifts he had given them. Apparently not satisfied though, as the one who had been nibbling at the longma's claw before, would now scurry up his leg and then begin to run around and smell him, to try and see if it could find more of the seeds hidden on him somewhere. If it would find them, it would throw them down to the others immediately, and dodge any retaliation strike. It wasn't the first time they had nicked things from stingy travelers, and it wouldn't be the last either.

Beyond that though, they seemed harmless enough, if not simply annoying and overly playful. Although the one in front of Sen's face would have a clear waft of fish smell escaping it's mouth when it chittered for some reason. Might be somewhat annoying to smell.

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

@Rising Dusk

Felicia looked at the open door, then skittered over with hardly a sound made against the floor, and slowly walked out from the confined workshop, and into the wide open world beyond it.

She needed to adjust her sensors to a lot of things when she got out, but it were a fast, automated process, so that was not what slowed her down. Apprehension and paranoia were, as she were not sure if this may be a trap, and her attempting to leave would end up trapping her in some kind of secondary failsafe attached to the outside of the walls. There turned out to be nothing, so it seemed that Molotov truly did keep his word to her and let her wander out then. His status in her memory banks were increasing already, albeit slowly.

"𝕎𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣. 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕕, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨."

And lead he did. Down an empty back alley perhaps, yet this apprehension to showing her off to too many at once were only increasing Felicia's respect for Dusky. It were a master move to lead her through this slowly, and getting her to potentially interact with a few at a time, rather than a large group. Did he have a location in mind, or were he perhaps hoping to run into one in this place? It seemed worn down and generally not full of much but trash cans here and there, so what were the odds of running into somepony here?

She attempted to run the maths on that, but it turned up inconclusively. She needed more data on how ponies worked, and what the point in this *back alley* were to figure out. Not something she could get easily, though she could ask some things as they wandered. Pony and large, metallic spiderbot.

"𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕒 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕦𝕤𝕖? 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕣 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣."

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

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

"Cleaning service, on the way!"

Without hesitation anymore, Anomaly stepped forward and licked Fluttershy in a long, drawn-out motion. To her, the nearest comparison might well be a giant cat licking her. It'd get the job done though, and the same it would for Angel when she went for him next. Loose fur got on her tongue too, but bunny hair wasn't all that bad, and even though Lotus tried to get away, she wouldn't get far before the tongue was on her too, and soon after everypony here were cleaned from sugar. And thankfully not with a layer of drool now, as Anomaly had thought that to be a little too mean. They'd be dry, though carrying a faint smell of pumpkin, ammonia, and roasted chestnuts.

"There, all clean and ready to meet the big kitty and her evil sidekick. Hehe, seriously, I looked at the authors note, and she'd nothing but trouble. And not the fun kind of trouble. It's just all meaniepants, and no fun whatsoever. I mean just look, she doesn't even talk to Discord or big kitty. She's skulking in a corner all silent like. Booooooooring."

She saw what Discord was doing in the distance, and started to laugh.

"Ahahaha, oh man, did you see that? He made it look like he blew his arm off. Classic.

And I dunno why there'd be a slaver queen out here. Why's there a queen that makes slaves out of other changelings? That's a question too, and they're both sad.

Oh, and I want rusted barbwire and cotton balls, Lucid! It's delicious on pizza. So is (CENSORED) but the author won't even let me say that anymore, much less eat them, so that's no fun."

Meanwhile, while the gang of misfits rambled on as they approached the temple, Lotus looked towards Angel with a *are you serious?* look in her eyes, whilst also trying to get her hair tuft back in order again.

"That wasn't any better than water! It was gross."

It was nice to hear that Angel could actually chitter away instead of just signalling things, but she were still caught up in the thought that she had just been licked clean, even if she didn't overly cared for it that way to say the least, and now wanted a bath even more. How did Angel even feel about this? Would he be okay with it? And if so, then why? Did he try this often?

Eew, there was a gross thought. Not what she needed right now.

Lucid_Nightlight · August 22, 2018

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

"Do you guys have rusted barbed wire and cotton balls?"

He looked over at Anomaly.

"They don't serve that."

He started talking on the phone thing again.

"Pepperoni? Yea, one moment, gotta check if being a Poquus makes me an omnivore."

He flopped over and looked dead. His ghost left his body and looked down. Suddenly the ghost went back and Lucid just jumped right back up ALIVE somehow.

"Yep, I'm an omnivore, so yea, a pepperoni pizza will work. Make it two extra large pizzas. Oh! Make one of them cheese and the other pepperoni. I think the mortals here are herbivores. Also, get some buffalo wings, BBQ of course, I can't stand spicy food. Yea, I'll pay with cash."

He hung up and looked over at Anomaly.

"Maybe you can just spawn the barbed wire and cotton balls and put it on your pizza. Silly humans are such wimps!"

EQ_Theta · August 23, 2018

@Blitz Boom

With the illusions breaking down behind her, Lin picked up the pace after Rosa. She followed close behind, following the lights that he mentioned, though she just followed closely and went wherever the bat pony went. At times, she was running so fast she was almost right next to Rosa. Left and right, Lin would catch sight of her parents in their pained looks and to add to that, Sen now appearing them, broken and weeping at their feet, muttering heartfelt apologies while vines crawled around him. The longma hybrid had some faint idea at what these illusions are trying to show her, but it didn't matter. She needed to get out of there, and she was desperate to see the other side. The sound of taunting and laughter from Solasan made it difficult to resist going after him, but now was not the time. She had to leave and get back to her brother, fearing what could have happened to him. Lin had never run this much in her life and it would be about ten minutes later when she began to slow down and catch her breath.

"How much farther, Rosa? I don't think I can take this place anymore!"

As for Sen, the cheering creatures was very much unexpected, catching him off guard but in a more pleasing manner. That is especially true for the one in front of him. It was pretty amusing all things considered, smiling back at putting himself at ease. Wild animals could pick up on the the changes in demeanor by how tense or loose a body is, and Sen looked to take advantage of this. He slowly climbed down to the ground and expected the little squirrel-like things to follow him, likely wanting more watermelon seeds. He pulled out the rest of the watermelon ration Lin had left unfinished and showed it to the animals. Being much more calm now, he reached out with a claw full of seeds and some pulp still untouched by his sister.

"I guess you like these? Come here, no need to be shy. There's plenty to share with everyone," Sen started, his voice growing softer with each word as he tried to emulate Fluttershy's manner of speaking with her animal friends. Maybe here, this might not be a bad way to pass the time, though he is worried about Lin and Rosa. Staying here with these creatures may be relaxing, but he isn't keen on spending a very long time here, especially with the terrible stench of something he couldn't describe.

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

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

"Umm... thanks, Anomaly. Though maybe licking isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Unbelievable. Then again, what would Fluttershy expect from someone like Anomaly who would fulfill her request but not in the most expected way possible? It was and unorthodox way of going about this, but Angel had it worse. He had a look of disgust on his face as he scrambled to wipe off the saliva on his coat, shaking it off frantically. He turned to Lotus and squeaked his disdain for what just happened. He now missed those baths Fluttershy gave him, and getting combed after looking like a puffed up cotton ball. Those were always relaxing.

"That was a terrible idea. I was really hoping for water."

But on the matter of the Changeling slaver, it didn't make any sense to Fluttershy. She heard about some changelings who refused to change from Starlight, but to find one so out here... it must have been a very strange and serious case for one like her. Still, it would be better to find out from the changeling herself, if she was willing to divulge that information. Seeing her in her current state, she might not be in the talking mood.

Edited August 23, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Victoria Sponge · August 24, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Felix was the first to speak, though he seemed to be more interested in Benny than Pop.

"Good to see you again my scaly friend! And of course your lovely marefriend Pop. I would tip my hat to you but I've been scolded for wearing it at the table before."

He chuckled sheepishly and shot his wife a glance to which she responded with a gentle push on the shoulder, her light touch did little to move him though.

The Strawberry mare gave a quick wave with her hoof but looked away almost immediately, as if embarrassed. Sprinkles shook her head and tried to make her say something but was unsuccessful.

"Don't worry about her, she'll warm up to you... eventually. And don't worry about him being a dragon mom, he's pretty gentle!"

"She was the same with me at first."

The bearded pony spoke now.

His smooth voice seemed to calm the shy old mare though she continued to hide in her mane.

"Cupcake was so excited for her to meet me, but it took longer than she expected for us to actually introduce ourselves to eachother."

He laughed at the memory and Strawberry let out a very quiet sound which could only really be interpreted as some kind of laugh or giggle.

"The name's Sky by the way! This sweet young filly has been telling me all about you, she's very excited to have made some new friends, always is."

He put a hoof around Sprinkles and squeezed her and she shook her head and blushed.

"I-I didn't tell him everything! Just said I met a wonderful couple who appreciate my baking and have high potential to be my new best friends!"

While all this had been going on a few members of the party had been looking inquisitively towards Victoria, surprised to see her here and smiling of all things. Surprisingly Strawberry was the first to acknowledge her, though she spoke almost in a whisper, not wanting to draw all the attention to herself.

"Hi sweetie, you doing ok? You have such a lovely smile."

Victoria blushed and thanked her mother's close friend.

"I'm doing much better Strawberry, I'm glad you like my smile, you'll be seeing a lot more of it."

Strawberry smiled at Vicky and brushed her mane aside, finally revealing her big pink eyes.

"I like what you did to your hair, you look very pretty."

Vicky toyed with her mane bashfully and seemed about to respond when Raspberry interjected.

"Lemon, didn't you invite my girls. It seems weird that Victoria is here but none of mine."

Lemon frowned at her sister.

"Vicky is a changed mare, she's finally let her sweet side out, that's why she's here. I did invite yours but they all said no."

It seemed Raspberry was a little jealous of her sister having both her daughters present while she lacked all three of her own.

"Why?"

"Red's busy with a wedding, Caramel didn't want to say and we met Heather earlier and she said she didn't want to ruin things."

Raspberry shook her head.

"Silly filly, she needs to realise she's less clumsy than she thinks she is, and Caramel needs to stop avoiding me all together."

Lemon patted her sister on the back and comforted her.

"They'll come around eventually... mine did."

She smiled at Vicky who was now nibbling daintily on a biscuit and tried her best to smile back without spilling to many crumbs.

"Let's not be down Raspberry, why don't you talk to our new friends?"

Raspberry nodded and turned to look at the friends in question.

"Sorry about that, I just miss my girls is all; I rarely see them these days. I'm Raspberry Drizzle by the way, I see you're well acquainted with some of my family members, and I don't know what you've done to Vicky but I must congratulate you."

She took off and fluttered across the table, offering a hoof to them without landing.

"If you stick around after the tea I'd love to show you some of the tricks I know... aerially."

"She's a great flyer, she's a masterful jam maker, as her cutiemark will tell you, but she's also very skilled in the art of aerial manoeuvres."

Raspberry nodded eagerly.

"She likes flying more than I do! And that's really saying something."

Sprinkles loved to fly with Raspberry, she'd even learned a few tricks off of her, but it was clear the Drizzle sister had more fun with the art than even she.

Lord Midnight Madness · August 24, 2018

Lord Midnight Madness or Lord Midnight for short was trotting down the streets of ponyville. He is no ordinary pony he is an alicorn of royal blood but did not get the title prince do to his older brother. He decided instead to take a lower title and spend his days in cloudsdale as a weather pony. He is much more efficient at clearing clouds because of his magical capabilities. He also has been a weather pony for over 100 years he no longer has to kick clouds though, He is the weather director of all of eqesteira so he has a pretty important task, but enough about his past.

He was trotting down the street as he noticed three pegasus standing around talking to each other. He chuckled as he noticed they were talking about how they could fly better than one another. He approached the ponies and said how are you guys today I am Lord Midnight and I couldn't help but overhear you guys saying you were good flyers, I would like to see that..I would also like to see if you could top my flying skills I know there is no competition but you could probably give me a run for my money

Rising Dusk · August 24, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Alright, step one complete. Getting Felicia out of the only world she's ever none and into one she's only thought about. Living off what stories the Boom siblings or Carmen brought back from their outings. Even if none of the stories were pointed at her per say, he was pretty sure she was ever present and observant from her warden chamber above the workshop floor. Well, here they were, out in the city with Princess Celestia's blessing high in the sky, even if was somewhat obscured by the taller buildings that made up the alley way the two walked in. Or skittered in the case of the giant mechanical spider following the stallion. The maze of alleys the two traversed were pretty typical for the city, and luckily Dusk knew most of them like the back of his hoof. One of the many key components to being a detective in the city was knowing how to get around it, and more importantly, how others do. Dumpsters and garbage cans lined the walls where residents and employees could come out to put their garbage to be picked up by the city's sanitation departments every week. Still clean all things considering though. They're chances of running into another pony this time of day was pretty low. The alleys were plenty wide enough for the large spider, even if she'd have to climb over a dumpster every now and then.

"Alleys are mostly only used to keep waste before it is taken somewhere else. Ponies only use them for shortcuts in the early morning or evening when going between work and school. "

Alleys also made for perfect places to hide when one wanted privacy. Among other things, but Dusk wouldn't be taking her to those more used alleys. Not the best place for her first outing. Nope, he had somewhere better in mind for her first time out. It would take a bit longer than the more direct route, but it wouldn't be too bad. Felicia would be experiencing something else a bit different as she'd quickly find Dusk wasn't much of a talker like her creator.

After about twenty or so minutes of travel, they finally reach the end of another alley that opened up into a street. Dusk stopped at the edge of the alley and checked the corners to see how busy the street was. A few ponies here or there, but nothing too bad. His attention then turned to what laid on the other side of the road. The mounds and mounds of metal behind a security fence.

The Scrapyard.

Sekel · August 25, 2018

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

TWILIGHT SPARKLE & AURORA LIGHTS

Everypony seems to have forgotten about the Sphinx for the moment in favour of taking about a channeling slaver that appeared near the temple they were walk-in towards. Aurora didn’t like that, not truly knowing if other changelings could see through disguises. She shivered in fright and was unable to form coherent sentences so she decided to keep her beak shut and let the others do the talking if they ever made it to the changeling outside the temple.

Twilight sighed quietly to herself as they walked along the now single path. It wasn’t her fault she took to long trying to solve it! She felt she should have been given more information to make an informed decision! Either way though, the temple loomed up ahead of them and a quick glance at hearing Discord scream confirmed the fact he wasn’t doing anything too stupid. Yet. “How are we going to get in the temple? I assume we can’t just walk in through the front door.”

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

Watts quickly followed Zealous towards the cafe and sat down opposite him at the table. “What plans do you have to go with today? I can help.”

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

“Um, sure, whatever you say,” Karmic said uncertainly, being very confused by him.

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