open Casual stroll

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

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

"Hey Fluttershy and Twilight, are you gonna give the sphinx one of your really long friendship lectures or are you gonna just blast it with magic until it dies?"

Speaking of magic, Lucid had another question for Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Why don't you just go all rainbow power during the first encounter with a dangerous threat? The whole rainbow power thing is just like the the Elements of Harmony, right?"

Lucid had no idea if Twilight would be annoyed about the questions or be happy to dispense what Lucid called big smart words. Either way, he didn't care about how she would react. He assumed that Fluttershy would just be all nice about it or something.

 

[Pr0m4NV14 837]

@Blitz Boom

“I’m going to check out that room!” He said, flinging open the room’s door. Inside was not his sister, however.

“Oi, who the hay are you?” said the Pegasus in the bed. He coughed violently.

“I-I’m Sorry sir. I thought you were someone else.” He said backing out of the hospital room’s door. 

“I gues she’s not in the hospital, or this town.” He said, with a sight hint of dissapointment. He looked up at Sorrow.

”Now what do we do?”

 

[Blitz Boom 4,426]

@Dji

It sounded like enough of an agreement to Enzo, so rising up tall, he spread his wings and lifted himself slowly from the ground, giving the small ponies in the air ample time to move away from his presence.

Karmic would feel herself being taken into the air along with him, lifted on strong winds and as Enzo flew away, she would be bound to follow. It may have been easier to allow her a ride, yet this were a matter of pride for someone like Enzo. To be allowed riding him would take more than a brief encounter, though the pony may not enjoy this too much. Pegasi did well in the air, but instinct may work against this one who held no place above ground level. Though the trip would be short, so it should matter little. Enzo only brought her to the edge of the forest, beyond Canterlot's northern borders. It were not much, but it would do for the time being. If something more interesting were learned, perhaps he would find more secure footing, yet for the time being, this would do.

Lowering karmic to the ground, the air carrying her would dissipate, and the sphinx would once more lay down on his stomach, to get somewhat closer to the small being.

"Only my ears can hear you know, child of two worlds. Tell your tale, if you so desire."

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@Rising Dusk

So this entire system of alleyways, were little more than a middle station for trash?

Felicia thought long on this as they moved along, and took in her surroundings with that in mind. Not having her company talk were unusual, but it saved her from spending processing power on ignoring him, so she saw no issue with this. It gave her more to work with in regards to the design and usage of this place they were following, and the waste disposal containers they had around the area. Mostly it seemed like containers full of random items and bags littered around which she were not able to smell, but since it were trash, she assumed that to those with such organs, this would be repugnant, the longer it were left outside, like when Molotov had found a banana peel Blitz had forgotten for two weeks.

The small one had spoken of rummaging through these containers of trash before, yet much as the banana peel incident, it lacked context to make overtly much sense to Felicia. Seeing the amount of things in just the top layer of these over-sized trash cans though, it became apparent why she had done so. Several parts of metal were there which had no or few flaws, and which could be reused or repaired by a skilled set of appendages, or melted down to base components. That it were simply discarded like this seemed like a pointless waste, and gave some credence to Blitz's affinity to look through trash for parts. One pony's trash were another pony's treasure, as she seemed to recall the small one saying once. An exaggeration, as spare parts were not treasure in the spiderbots mind, yet the base idea of the saying had some merit.

"𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕖. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣."

It had been around fifteen minutes before Felicia whirred her gears to *say* this to Dusky, which had been enough time for her to run through a few scenarios of this place, and in none of the cases it seemed feasible that all of this were were needed. Even if a massive surplus of trash build up, then this storage would be inefficient compared to a simple rail system with carts going to a large incinerator. And if there was not that much trash, then why allocate so much space to it, when it could be made into separate areas that would allow for perhaps a proper trail, with the waste separated into several smaller areas connected to a large silo or other temporary containment? There had to be something she did not see to this, that made a difference. Otherwise, ponies simply wasted more than just unwanted items.

Suddenly, the interloper stopped, and Felicia came to a halt too, atop of a container with a closed lid, that seemed to be in advanced stages of rust infection. She followed his eyes to see a road, populated by a few ponies currently. Perhaps where he wanted them to go? it was a thought. At least until she saw the scrapyard and let out a burst of air from a small opening under her teeth, which gave off a convincing hissing sound.

"𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕕? 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣?"

She wished to try and trust Dusky as best she could, but taking a large, mostly metallic spiderbot to a junk yard like this gave off impressions that she did not find acceptable, and for his sake, he better have a rational explanation as to their presence here, that would not make her think that he wished her discarded.

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@Victoria Sponge

"Heh, don't worry about it. I've been in Equestria for long enough to understand how weird it is to see a friendly dragon sometimes. I won't be pushy or anything. And hey there Sky, pleasure to meet you."

Benny would shake the guy's hoof, but he seemed to be occupied squeezing Sprinkles right now, so it'd likely be best if he didn't stick his hand forth and just hug air for a while there. Tended to get all kinds of awkward, and there were probably enough of that going on here with how Strawberry acted around him. Hopefully she'd warm up to his presence eventually, like Lemon had.

"Sprinkles is a good mare, Sky. I honestly think we're the lucky ones to have met her, along with everypony else here."

Pop meant that wholeheartedly. The baked goods family were a varied blend of ponies, but they all seemed to be good spirited, open-minded equines, and currently, her and Benny knew far too little of those. That they now did, and that it had all started with Benny leading them into a bakery to get some cakes, were a treasured stroke of luck, even with the blunders she had let out so far.

As Raspberry and Lemon began having a... Spat seemed to be the right word. Anyway, as they had their small spat about missing family members here, Pop wandered over and took a biscuit that drew her attention because of the topping. Seemed like a swirly caramel, and if there was one thing she loved, it were confectionery like that. Caramel were a pain in the flank to work with sometimes, though like taffy, if you got it right, it were magnificent. She barely made it back to see Raspberry now approaching them after the talk about the flying mare's children not being present, though Benny were more than happy to pick up the slack and take the offered hoof to give a quick shake. Like he'd been taught: One shake was too short, two was getting there, three was just right, and four got awkward. He'd asked what five and beyond then were at the time, and the only word he got for each of them were *Clingy*.

"It's a shame they aren't here, but I'm sure they'll come around one day. Victoria did, and really, we barely did anything there. Well okay, we got into a tussle, but you know, water under the bridge, right? Friends aren't supposed to hang themselves in the small stuff."

"Your daughters were Caramel, Heather and Red, yes? I've met them during today. They're lovely, and Caramel have a real talent for confectionery. I've been making candy for years, and she still surprised me with the taste of what she had made. Positively I mean."

"I remember that little bundle of energy, Angel running around too when we met Red. Cute as a button that little guy."

"It would be hard to disagree there. Her husband was nice too, even if he didn't speak too much."

Benny especially liked that guy, but he couldn't say that, or he might blurt out the plans for getting himself a suit made. Pop would know exactly why he'd have that done if she found out, and he didn't want the surprise to be ruined. It had taken months so far to get as far as he had, and slipping on the finish line would be horrid for him. In character, but horrid nonetheless.

"Heh, yeah. So Raspberry, you said you did aerial shows? That's pretty cool. I tend to see ponies at work show what they can do, and I'm pretty amazed sometimes. You ponies can do some neat tricks that make the wind dragons seem fresh out of their shells. Not that they'd admit it."

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@EQ_Theta

"I-I don't... I don't know! Just keep running!"

Rosa were fighting tears now as the onslaught went on. So many beings hurt, quivering all around him, judging his actions and asking him why he had done this to them... His father several times, broken and sobbing, begging for the inquisitors to stop, or for Rosa to save him. He was so near him, and could hear his screams, so why didn't he help him? Had he never cared about his old man, just like his mother never had?

Several instances of Filigree came too. Ranging from her covered in crystals and preparing mayhem and laughing, to her as a regular mare, throwing away foals that looked like Rosa and his imagination of what his brother would have looked like, and kicking his father around too, whilst calling both him and their offspring useless.

The emotions Rosa felt were all over the place with guilt, sadness, anger, fear, and so on in a myriad that never seemed to end against the relentless assault that just seemed to get more intense, as they finally would be able to see light at the end of the road. He had no idea how long they had run at that point, yet though his body felt like it was burning, he wasn't going to stop until they could finally breathe fresh air again. Not even then frankly, as he just kept on running until either Lin stopped him, or he ran into something. So much for him being calm and collected enough to lead them through the swamp.

They would have been in there for a half hour, though it would likely have felt like six.

Meanwhile, Sen was getting a lot of eyes to follow him now, as he climbed down and presented the rest of the leftovers. Some even including pulp, which the mimics hadn't expected. They had completely planned to just steal this before, but since Sen were complying and not being stingy with this, the one that had scoured him before had decided to jump down and join the others that were seen on the ground. The one that had clapped stayed put though, as did the untold amount of these that were rummaging through the nearby trees and in the river.

And speaking of the river, a new one jumped up from there, shook itself free of water, and wandered over towards the others. Halfway it stopped though, and took its paws to its head, cringing like something was wrong, to which two others went over and tried to help, by pulling it's tail and punch the somewhat wet one on the back until it coughed out something. The top half of a fish skeleton that seemed to be about the size of a carp, which the small creature than took up and started gnawing on after giving out a sigh of relief, and some chittering that likely meant *thanks*.

While that went on, the rest would simply watching Sen, and follow the seeds and pulp that he held with high anticipation, just waiting for him to throw them down so that they could collect them, and prepare them to be transported back to their village. Or alternatively, for him to stand there too long, and them then needing to rush him and grab it before he could stop them. One way or another, they were going to get the offered gift.

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@Pr0m4NV14

Sorrow popped her head in after Mike flinched out, likely leaving the patient in there confused.

"Sorry about that, the nurse must've forgotten the room number. Hope you'll have a good recovery."

With that, she'd close the door behind her, as her companion started to have a down spell.

"Hey, come on now, don't say that. The nurse said she saw somepony who looked like that here, and now there's somepony else that clearly didn't look a bit like her. Must mean she got signed out, right? So she's perhaps out there, but she's healthy. That's a good sign. Let's focus on that, and then go ask around. Perhaps somepony in Ponyville have seen her."

There wasn't a need to give up yet in her mind. This was just a minor setback in the hunt for his sister, and they still have plenty of space to check out before they called it a wash and looked elsewhere.

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@Dji

It sounded like enough of an agreement to Enzo, so rising up tall, he spread his wings and lifted himself slowly from the ground, giving the small ponies in the air ample time to move away from his presence.

Karmic would feel herself being taken into the air along with him, lifted on strong winds and as Enzo flew away, she would be bound to follow. It may have been easier to allow her a ride, yet this were a matter of pride for someone like Enzo. To be allowed riding him would take more than a brief encounter, though the pony may not enjoy this too much. Pegasi did well in the air, but instinct may work against this one who held no place above ground level. Though the trip would be short, so it should matter little. Enzo only brought her to the edge of the forest, beyond Canterlot's northern borders. It were not much, but it would do for the time being. If something more interesting were learned, perhaps he would find more secure footing, yet for the time being, this would do.

Lowering karmic to the ground, the air carrying her would dissipate, and the sphinx would once more lay down on his stomach, to get somewhat closer to the small being.

"Only my ears can hear you know, child of two worlds. Tell your tale, if you so desire."

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@Rising Dusk

So this entire system of alleyways, were little more than a middle station for trash?

Felicia thought long on this as they moved along, and took in her surroundings with that in mind. Not having her company talk were unusual, but it saved her from spending processing power on ignoring him, so she saw no issue with this. It gave her more to work with in regards to the design and usage of this place they were following, and the waste disposal containers they had around the area. Mostly it seemed like containers full of random items and bags littered around which she were not able to smell, but since it were trash, she assumed that to those with such organs, this would be repugnant, the longer it were left outside, like when Molotov had found a banana peel Blitz had forgotten for two weeks.

The small one had spoken of rummaging through these containers of trash before, yet much as the banana peel incident, it lacked context to make overtly much sense to Felicia. Seeing the amount of things in just the top layer of these over-sized trash cans though, it became apparent why she had done so. Several parts of metal were there which had no or few flaws, and which could be reused or repaired by a skilled set of appendages, or melted down to base components. That it were simply discarded like this seemed like a pointless waste, and gave some credence to Blitz's affinity to look through trash for parts. One pony's trash were another pony's treasure, as she seemed to recall the small one saying once. An exaggeration, as spare parts were not treasure in the spiderbots mind, yet the base idea of the saying had some merit.

"𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕖. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣."

It had been around fifteen minutes before Felicia whirred her gears to *say* this to Dusky, which had been enough time for her to run through a few scenarios of this place, and in none of the cases it seemed feasible that all of this were were needed. Even if a massive surplus of trash build up, then this storage would be inefficient compared to a simple rail system with carts going to a large incinerator. And if there was not that much trash, then why allocate so much space to it, when it could be made into separate areas that would allow for perhaps a proper trail, with the waste separated into several smaller areas connected to a large silo or other temporary containment? There had to be something she did not see to this, that made a difference. Otherwise, ponies simply wasted more than just unwanted items.

Suddenly, the interloper stopped, and Felicia came to a halt too, atop of a container with a closed lid, that seemed to be in advanced stages of rust infection. She followed his eyes to see a road, populated by a few ponies currently. Perhaps where he wanted them to go? it was a thought. At least until she saw the scrapyard and let out a burst of air from a small opening under her teeth, which gave off a convincing hissing sound.

"𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕕? 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣?"

She wished to try and trust Dusky as best she could, but taking a large, mostly metallic spiderbot to a junk yard like this gave off impressions that she did not find acceptable, and for his sake, he better have a rational explanation as to their presence here, that would not make her think that he wished her discarded.

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@Victoria Sponge

"Heh, don't worry about it. I've been in Equestria for long enough to understand how weird it is to see a friendly dragon sometimes. I won't be pushy or anything. And hey there Sky, pleasure to meet you."

Benny would shake the guy's hoof, but he seemed to be occupied squeezing Sprinkles right now, so it'd likely be best if he didn't stick his hand forth and just hug air for a while there. Tended to get all kinds of awkward, and there were probably enough of that going on here with how Strawberry acted around him. Hopefully she'd warm up to his presence eventually, like Lemon had.

"Sprinkles is a good mare, Sky. I honestly think we're the lucky ones to have met her, along with everypony else here."

Pop meant that wholeheartedly. The baked goods family were a varied blend of ponies, but they all seemed to be good spirited, open-minded equines, and currently, her and Benny knew far too little of those. That they now did, and that it had all started with Benny leading them into a bakery to get some cakes, were a treasured stroke of luck, even with the blunders she had let out so far.

As Raspberry and Lemon began having a... Spat seemed to be the right word. Anyway, as they had their small spat about missing family members here, Pop wandered over and took a biscuit that drew her attention because of the topping. Seemed like a swirly caramel, and if there was one thing she loved, it were confectionery like that. Caramel were a pain in the flank to work with sometimes, though like taffy, if you got it right, it were magnificent. She barely made it back to see Raspberry now approaching them after the talk about the flying mare's children not being present, though Benny were more than happy to pick up the slack and take the offered hoof to give a quick shake. Like he'd been taught: One shake was too short, two was getting there, three was just right, and four got awkward. He'd asked what five and beyond then were at the time, and the only word he got for each of them were *Clingy*.

"It's a shame they aren't here, but I'm sure they'll come around one day. Victoria did, and really, we barely did anything there. Well okay, we got into a tussle, but you know, water under the bridge, right? Friends aren't supposed to hang themselves in the small stuff."

"Your daughters were Caramel, Heather and Red, yes? I've met them during today. They're lovely, and Caramel have a real talent for confectionery. I've been making candy for years, and she still surprised me with the taste of what she had made. Positively I mean."

"I remember that little bundle of energy, Angel running around too when we met Red. Cute as a button that little guy."

"It would be hard to disagree there. Her husband was nice too, even if he didn't speak too much."

Benny especially liked that guy, but he couldn't say that, or he might blurt out the plans for getting himself a suit made. Pop would know exactly why he'd have that done if she found out, and he didn't want the surprise to be ruined. It had taken months so far to get as far as he had, and slipping on the finish line would be horrid for him. In character, but horrid nonetheless.

"Heh, yeah. So Raspberry, you said you did aerial shows? That's pretty cool. I tend to see poniesrk show what they can do, and I'm pretty amazed sometimes. You ponies can sometimes do things that make the wind dragons seem fresh out of their shells. Not that they'd admit it."

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

"No I can't, because stupid big crystal stops my magic, like I was a pony. It's cheating that you can do all sorts."

She pulled her tongue on Lucid, and began wandering towards the great big gathering around where the sphinx, Discord and Onache stood. The curse of having heavily influenced nature magic, more than chaos, seemed to be backfiring here, though at least she wasn't the only one kicked around by this. Twilight had to be feeling the negation too, right? Any kind of magic wouldn't last for too long, and especially not when they would get to the temple. Say for example if somepony here was a changeling, their disguise were likely to fall off in about what, a 150 meters or so? Seemed like the max range one would be able to go, unless something changed around the gem.

Huh, why did she think about changelings now? Weird.

As for Angel, he wouldn't have been covered in saliva if he hadn't squirmed around and made Anomaly think of live prey, which made her drool a little in the process. Something which were not carried over to Fluttershy or any of the ponies, but certainly did affect both of the bunnies, who likely now needed a shower more than anything. Thankfully they were soon at the sphinx's table, where a spread were set out, and a bowl of water should be possible to find for the two to rinse this stuff out of their fur. Lotus at least made a dash for it, not wanting to wait around for the ponies and such to get a move on and leaving her to be covered in this nasty stuff longer than needed.

Anomaly considered running too, but alas, two ponies were now asking questions, and Lucid wasn't gonna answer them it seemed. He appeared to busy showing off just because He still had powers beyond his mortal coil. Good for nothing cheater...

"They aren't in the temple, why should we be? Unless you wanna graffiti the walls and nick something while the big kitty is doing something else? Hehe, nah, you're too uptight for things like that. You'd probably just look for booooks, right, Princess Magicbutt?"

It was sorta fun to poke at Twilight about how rigid and boring she were. Sure, Anomaly might get an energy blast to the face eventually for that, but no harm, no foul there. She'd regrow her head, eat the pieces on the ground, and everypony would be happy. Twilight might also then have gotten some of her pent up energy used on something else than dusty tomes for once, hehe.

"And of course I licked you clean, silly Flutterpony. Sugar is delicious. You thought I'd tip my head and pour water over you?"

Anoamly thought on that for a bit.

"Huh, guess I could've done that. Oh well, you're free of sugar and dry, so no biggie this time."

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@Moon Glow

An otherworldly chorus of voices would be heard from deep inside the woods that were growing down here on the mountainside, not too far from the road that ponies and griffons tended to use to travel around the area. A sound which no normal being would be able to make, and which would only be possible to hear by the ones who could hear the voices of those stuck between death and the afterlife.

Standing in there, at the epicenter of the noise, stood a tall pegasus mare above a small, overgrown shrine of undetermined age or meaning. Time, the elements and the wildlife had done a number on it and made it hard to tell what had once been the purpose of the stone structure.

Around her neck, the large rodent skull's eye sockets dimmed with a pale light that faded out second by second, whilst the mare stood and grinned at the rock, a smile almost spread from ear to ear. Whatever had happened here, she were pretty happy about it, though that may well be either good or bad news. Ponies alone in the wilderness, smiling, tended to be kind of creepy, and the fact that this mare were about a half head higher than most ponies were not going to help make things seem better. There was just something about those who could tower above you that tended to spell bad news, even if this mare seemed about as friendly as could be.

[EQ_Theta 415]

@Blitz Boom 

It didn't matter if they had to keep running for more than a day. Lin wouldn't stop despite the throbbing pain she felt in her legs, always running away from whatever lurked in the swamp. Perhaps even running away from her own insecurities, the past coming back to not just haunt her but to rub in the doubts that lingered deep within. Did she really think to throw away her memories of her parents? Or has the time spent with Omen and her mother begun to overwrite her own memories? Was she being strong by hardening herself through her hardships or was she just lying to herself with delusions of strength? These things didn't matter not too long ago but seeing her family - what supposedly became of them - that facade of strength broke and the answers came pouring out, some of which Lin was scared to acknowledge. The swamp hasn't been kind to her. If Sen were here right now, maybe they would never leave this place.

And there she kept running, the light now glowing brighter and even a ray of hope shone upon her. They would be out of this place sooner or later, reunited with Sen and on their way to rest for the evening. As much as she wished to forget about this, this harrowing nightmare would keep tormenting her even on the way out. She only had to run and keep pace with Rosa.

As for Sen, seeing the many pairs of eyes around him made him realize his mistake. A look of regret as he thought to himself about how what he just did was a fairly terrible idea. Maybe there is a way to recoup and lessen the possibility of being overrun and pinned down, possibly carried to who-knows-where if he just put the food down before him. It was all he had left: some leftover watermelon, seeds and pulp and all. Just placed the whole thing on a clear patch and backed off. Nothing left but the smell of food rations, and the increasingly powerful pungent smell of whatever it was that populated the local waterways. 

A chittering and sudden onslaught of repugnant scents from another of the little squirrel-like creatures caught the longma's attention, not quite sure what to make of it. If it was a form of thanks, it was a very strange way of expressing it. 

"Let's all be civil about this alright? I don't want any trouble with you all, so you can have that food left in the open," Sen's calm voice shifted to a nervous tone, still backing away and reaching the tree he just climbed down from. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use unnecessary force. 

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

A strange leap of logic but the saliva thing wasn't a pretty thing to think about. She'd probably have a bath first thing once this is all cleared up, even Angel will need one. For now, he stayed with Fluttershy as he did what he could to brush his fur coat so he wouldn't look like a slobbery mess. 

But on the matter of Lucid's question, talking the sphinx down might be an option but she wouldn't know where to start. Come off as too preachy, and either she or Twilight will likely make things worse. More than anything, she'd like to avoid violent resolutions. Even having herself changed by the Elements of Harmony and harnessing her powers is a risky move. The pegasus knows next to nothing about how those powers even work. She always assumed having all of the bearers present was a mandatory prerequisite, or maybe the Tree of Harmony may not in the mood to dispense some extra powers. There hasn't been time to learn about the inner workings of the tree's magic to really come to any solid conclusion. 

"A few things, Lucid: I can't use magic like Twilight so no blasting for me. I could try to talk the sphinx down if I knew what it wants. And I have no idea how the rainbow power works. I always thought the Elements of Harmony would only let me or my friends use them if a threat is bad enough that I would have to resort to using those powers. I'm fairly certain I can't just use them whenever I feel like it." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

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

 "Well, the reason I can do all these things is because I am cool!"

Actually it's because his power comes from the stick and it's source went into his DNA and soul therefore having a similar concept.

"It's too bad I have to have restraint. If I killed the sphinx, Fluttershy would get mad, then Discord would get mad, and then I would get dead. Needless to say, it wouldn't be fun."

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Moments of silence passed, regret flooded in as she observed from within the isolating space of the gem, if she recalled the book sooner... how had she not realized it sooner, that she had a solution? More than one for that matter, she could've had her daughter help her save her sister, which would've, fixed much more, but now she had to regain that, which was going well but it'd have gone faster if she had gained it earlier. "Sister, I really couldn't be unprepared for, what will it do again?" She asked, feeling silly for having to be reminded.

===========================
@Blitz Boom

The General didn't spend time thinking about it, not for long that is. "The hectic start couldn't make this any easier, yes, but it's certainly a distraction. The ceremony couldn't be any worse than the rest of today either."

==========================
@Blitz Boom
Misty walked up to Chow. "Well I was just going to see if anything, happened." She giggled when she noticed Astral quickly glancing away.

"We're just thinking over things, not much else. We need some sort of plan if Emerald resurfaces."

"Can't your dad help?" Misty asked as she sat across from the two of them.

Astral sighed softly. "Yeah, but it'd not be smart to get her while my mom is, with her. I don't know if she's real right now so that means it's up in the air if she's okay or not." She said, sighing as she realized how dire this situation actually was, if her mother was a hostage, or an illusion, or started to help sapphire, though it was already prominent that this was still a question in the air.

=========================
 @Dji

With that question, Enigma knew he couldn't answer truthfully, seeing as trying to be the villain of a story to catch the eye of a mare would not go over well. "Not really, I tend to wander about and find stuff to do." He said, loosely the truth so it'd be partially believable. "What about you?"

[Rising Dusk 26,057]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk could understand the bit of confusion about why he would bring Felicia to the Scrap Yard.  Probably in part an issue in not really talking to her before hoof about that plans he hand in getting her poky hooves wet.  Do spiders have hoofs?  Feet?  A mildly interesting question he'd have to look into, but another time.  Of course he had no plans in harming her, or letting any pony in the scrap yard or else well harm her while in his charge.  She was new to the outside world, but he was still rather impressed she even knew what a scrap yard was.  Ultimately she probably didn't need a playground like some filly, but he figured there might be some interesting things in there for her.  Plus, remembering back to what she did to the sign she created earlier, she could be very useful in a scrap yard if she needed a job.  Not so much as a means to earn bits for anything, but the interaction with ponies would be valuable.

It wasn't the main purpose for bringing her here though.

"It isn't the location Felicia.  It's the ponies I want you to meet."

While they weren't the type of engineers like the Boom siblings, the ponies that worked here had their own variety of fascination when it came to metal.  Each could claim to have their own interests in machinery at different levels and they were plenty friendly a group to expose the large spider to.  90% sure anyways, but there would only be one way to find out.  Being with the Detective should help ease the meeting.  Or Rusty would end up smacking him upside the back of the head, her default means of discipline even if he wasn't a little colt anymore.

"Come on."

He invited, finally moving out of the mouth of the alley as the last bit of traffic rode by.  Attempting the lead the large spider across the street and through the open gates that marked the scrap yard as open for business.

[Blitz Boom 4,426]

@FanOfManyShows

Emerald felt a tinge of pity towards her sister as she grew silent within her gem. Leaving everything behind had cost her dearly, and could have been prevented with a simple rekindling of her old ways. Yet she had remained stubborn and kept to her new ideals, and it had hurt those she claimed to care about. Emerald would feel sad for her, if it hadn't been a self-fulfilled end that she had been too narrow-minded to avoid.

Hmph, it didn't matter. Sapphire would soon enough be alive again, whilst Emerald had to get used to the thought of needing a string of host bodies. If anyone deserved pity, it was her.

"It's an empowerment elixir. We used to make these to infuse items with magic. How fortunate that you're technically an item now, considering what happened with the test animals."

Let it be said simply that this were not a process that was pleasant, and then move along. She were sure that Sapphire could recall some of the unfortunate side effects this magic and living tissue could result in on her own.

Finishing off with the symbols, Emerald took a moment to look it over, then frowned and correcred one of the corner symbols. It was barely a mistake, but why take the chance that it wouldn't last through the spell?

Having applied a bit of low grade maintenance work, Emerald would put down the gem in the middle, and begin chanting. Sapphire should eventually feel the raw magic pour into her prison, and by extension, make it usable by her.

Funny how magic originally used to pour curse magic into objects could work in positive ways sometimes. Just had to remove the specifics of curse magic.

Not that they always had. Several objects out there could likely still attest to that, along with whatever beings had been affected by them.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

Dew nodded vaguely.

"The ceremony is more formal than anything. The worst stress would be from you giving an acceptance speech, though it is voluntary. Some generals prefer to be more stoic in their approach."

A smile spread on his face as he recalled his own time. A prime example of sometimes, silence would be better, as he had rambled on for far too long without much of a point. How nervous he had been back then...

In a way, he could feel that old emotion bubble up again at the thought of the upcoming ceremony. Wings seemed ready, and he knew that his own time had to come to a close before his stubbornness ended up getting somepony hurt, but there were still that lingering doubt about whatever Wings was ready to take up the mantle.

Yet, his time as a general was over, and of the candidates he had inspected  there had been nopony with greater potential than Wings. Perhaps he were not the most experienced right now, but Dew were certain that he'd grow into the role. He just needed some help from somepony like Screecher, and himself when he was around in his capacity as an adviser. He had to try and trust that it would be enough.

Soon after his thoughts had settled, they'd get to the forge buding, where Benny sat outside, and poured a clear liquid on his hand wounds. Considering the twitches that went over his face, it were likely disinfectant.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

"Y'know, are you two even able to face off against her? I ain't experienced in this sorta thing, but you two have been blasting away with the mumbo jumbo since Warlock got loose. Aren't you drained by now?"

It seemed like they could just go on and on, but Chow had wondered about this a couple of times. Couldn't be possible for 'em to just go on indefinitely, right? Had to be some kind of power well they were draining from that had to run shallow eventually. Like with working out or something.

"I'm just asking since we'd be better off not taking the fight to her before you'd have the reserves for it. If Sapphire's real or not, you'd need some juice in the tank to work with to bring her down and get some real answers.

I ain't a fan of letting her rummage around like this  but we ain't gonna help nopony if we're running low.

Anyway, your pop could keep one of those sight things he have out, in case she pops up somewhere and somepony get the low down on her. What say you two that we wait for him to get a clue to work on for now, then go get something to eat and perhaps a nap? Haven't been a moments peace or much time to get something to eat today, and I think we could all go for some chow, no pun intended."

Pun intended or not, he still blinked at Astral as he said that and let out a small laugh. No big reason really, he just did something dumb like this at times, like when he had joked around with Misty and dresses warlier.

Ah, the good old days, when they were just having a trip through Canterlot, and weren't riding up a bumpy creek without a paddle. Felt like it was just earlier today.

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

 

@Rising Dusk

If she had the capability, Felicia would have narrowed her eyes at Dusky. She had gained much from the interloper so far, so she would caution some degree of trust, but a place like this made her wary, and somewhat worried about a trap being set. Something which might well end rather poorly for her, though she were more anticipating the ones setting a trap to be in serious trouble, and then getting chased down because of the retaliation she would give.

She had been build as a defense robot, and though her exterior may seem glassy at times, the chances of them finding something that could even dent her metal or cause a crack in the reinforced glass were highly unlikely, including the option that they'd let some of the piles in here fall upon her. It would take a whole lot of pressure to cause her any real harm, yet the piles in this place were large. If they were to topple a four meter pile of metal on top of her, the strength of her exterior may prove to be somewhat inefficient in the long run. It could pin her down at the very least, which did not spell well for her.

Still, the odds of her being the one in trouble, combined with her tentative trust of Dusky, and the knowledge that her creator would likely pulverize this entire scar yard if he found that they had intentionally broken her, made her follow for now. She'd be wary of the place though, just as she were of her surroundings when they crossed the road.

It seemed that they avoided most of the issues here when they reached the gates, yet the streets were unlikely to be completely barren, and the ones who had passed may look behind. She lowered her sensory input until the open gates were reached to better ignore it, though Felicia knew the probability of a stealthy approach were unlikely. She weren't made for camouflage after all, and it was broad daylight.

An issue to be dealt with another time perhaps, in case they were spotted.

Getting inside the scrap yard, Felicia crawled up one of the piles of metal near them, her legs boring in and making small dents and holes for her to gain footing when there weren't any edges she could keep on naturally. It were not the smoothest, yet she did well enough. It would have been simpler with her web hanging around, but she'd have to adapt to other requirements out here in the real world, where she didn't have time or the incentive to do so.

Up there, she gained a greater overview over things, and bit note in a few things that made her question how best to wander through this place. She had originally thought of simply wandering over this debris, yet the large crane at work that she could now get a better look of, made that a questionable approach. It seemed strong, if not build somewhat crudely in her mind, and could be an issue if whoever controlled it would see her as a threat and attack.

Still, she gained some idea of the layout of this place from up here that could be useful, so the trip up here were not wasted.

A thick string of webbing came from her abdomen and latched on to the nearby remnant of a lamp post, giving her something to hang on to as she lowered herself from the pile, and hit the ground silently next to Dusky. Getting down usually required webbing for her, so some degree of solid object were needed, even though it may look somewhat disturbing for regular ponies who'd come here to see the string she had used and then cut off when the latch closed.

"𝕀 𝕤𝕒𝕨 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕀𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣?"

Realistically, Dusky could just begin to walk now and she'd follow too. He were a stallion of few words so far, so Felicia wouldn't be surprised. Whoever they'd end up running into on the other hand, now They were going to get a shock.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

Eventually, the two of them would end up coming to a halt. Rosa would at least, as he would be faced with a large rock and had to stop up to orient himself again.

His heart were racing ahead as he looked for the lights they were supposed to follow, but found none. Looking all around him, he eventually had his eyes settle on the entrance to the swamp, and saw the lights. Almost felt like they were inviting him back, though how could he know if this were really the end? If they were out?

Several kicks of dirt and throwing of pebbles around later, he'd finally be convinced that they were actually out of there, and fell on his rump. A harrowed look went over his eyes as he tried to get a grip of himself again, but finding it difficult after what they had just been through.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't know... Anything."

Smarter words escaped his mind as he finally started to speak to Lin, whom he gazed upon with the look of somepony who had seen things that were going to haunt them for a long time. A glance he could imagine that she would have too, though greater, as she wouldn't have everything but her eyes covered under a mask. It would be easier to see how she had been scarred, even if that didn't make anything better. Right now, it felt like nothing was going to be...

Meanwhile, Sen found the mimics were cheering as a group when the bundle of seeds and the pulp were put down in front of them. One of the larger among them grubbed its little hands and approached, yet were quickly stopped by three others who began to chitter chatter away at it- From the looks of things, scolding the larger one, who started to growl at this. Then he got one in return, and the large one opened his mouth full on towards them.

The maw shown were far larger than a critter had any right owning. About the size to embrace an adult pony's head (no neck) and containing three rows of small, needle-sharp teeth in both the other and the lower jaw, pointing backwards. A loud hissing sound escaped as the three others returned the hostile gesture in turn, and soon the little ones would close their mouths and jump the bigger one, causing a brawl that the rest either cheered on, or shook their heads at. They seemed to fight with their tails and paws more than the mouth, but that was more by design than anything. It was meant to gobble up fish underwater, then sift the water through the gills that would have been visible near the throat. Once upon a time, they had been able to form spikes on their backs too, but it were lost when Discord were turned to stone, and the general chaos of Equestria vanished with him. They still did well in warding off actual predators though, as the large maws and hissing sounds made for an effective scare tactic.

No matter what Sen's reaction to this would be, a couple of mimics went over and grabbed the food with their webbed paws, piled it up inside the mouth of the one who had held the first seeds,a nd then sent him off to return to the village with the bounty. Even if the larger one had wanted some of it for itself, this should go to the younglings, just like fish pieces they tore from their prey once in awhile, until they were big enough to hunt the rivers with the flock.

They'd try to say a thanks to Sen, but he had likely not taken the anomalous display all that well, so they may have to chase him for that. Because when you were creeped out by rodent mutant carnivores, what you really needed were for them to go after you, in case of escape. That should calm the nerves.

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

 

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

"What would any giant cat with wings want? That's right, flying fish! We give the big kitty that, and she'll be purring and snuggling with a full kitty tummy soon. That's your job Lucid-who-is-not-cool. That's your new name now. In full. Because you're not cool."

Anomaly pulled her tongue at Lucid as she glowed in the flawless logic she had given out, at least in her twisted mind. Cats liked fish after all, and this were a desert. Not like she could just get one of her own, right? So the sphinx would want giant fish to eat. And since Lucid were still cheating with having powers!- He could do it. Anomaly certainly couldn't, and Fluttershy had no powers at all it sounded like. Though really, would she have anyway? She were a pegasus, not a unicorn. Sure she might've had the element once, but wasn't that thing gone now, and so her access to it?

The gears in her head grinded along, but she didn't find an answer on her own. So eh, might as well just blurt it out there as they got nearer and nearer to the gathering up ahead, and could begin to see the tables more clearly.

"Hey, Flutterpony? Don't you need that weird gem thing to have rainbow powers? And wasn't it eaten by a tree?"

Edited August 29, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

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

 "Not cool? Yea, coming from the one who is stopped from using reality warping by some stupid cat."

Lucid took a moment to think of another insult.

"And you are old!"

Good insult? Probably not. Lucid didn't really care though.

"Anyway, we need to figure out how to stop the sphinx thing. She seems more mean than Pringle before he gets his coffee, seriously that lizard really needs his morning coffe-"

Lucid was interupted by a portal which a human stepped through and immedietly became a pony.

"Two extra large pizzas and two random softdrinks?"

Lucid took the pizza and gave him some sort of green paper that one could assume is their currency.

"Uh... tip?"

"Oh, almost forgot!"

Lucid gave him a single bit. The pizza guy lit up and ran back into the portal which closed after he left.

"You won't believe how much a bit is worth to humans! Those things really like anything gold. That pizza guy is loaded now!"

 

Edited August 29, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[BloodDrops 762]

On 8/21/2018 at 11:02 PM, Storm Shine said:

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.

The Sphinx smirked at that. She flicked her tail and glanced at Onache who was still looking grumpy, she would have to do something to make her happy. 

 

On 8/25/2018 at 11:08 PM, Dji said:

“How are we going to get in the temple? I assume we can’t just walk in through the front door.”

"Well you can if you ask nicely. The problem isn't finding you way to the temple, its leaving it" The Sphinx remarked to the purple pony. She glanced at Onache and back. "So you are the Princess of Friendship? Evidently its not problem solving, otherwise you would have failed by now" she said with a small snort, "Credit to the pumpkin thing and the yellow Pegasus since they actually solved it, more accidentally then anything but its the result not the method I like. Since you are here and not wondering around in circles it seems you've passed the test, took you long enough" she grumbled. 

 

On 8/27/2018 at 4:44 AM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Hey Fluttershy and Twilight, are you gonna give the sphinx one of your really long friendship lectures or are you gonna just blast it with magic until it dies?"

Speaking of magic, Lucid had another question for Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Why don't you just go all rainbow power during the first encounter with a dangerous threat? The whole rainbow power thing is just like the the Elements of Harmony, right?"

Lucid had no idea if Twilight would be annoyed about the questions or be happy to dispense what Lucid called big smart words. Either way, he didn't care about how she would react. He assumed that Fluttershy would just be all nice about it or something.

 

The Sphinx rolled her eyes it was one of these. "Might have to add another rule to my temple after this, but no you can not simply blast it with magic and I'm not here to be lectured more the opposite really." she tutted at the other draconequus. She wasn't going to justify talking to him if he only vomited whatever nonsense came to mind turning her attention back to her other guests. 

 

 

On 8/27/2018 at 4:04 PM, Blitz Boom said:

"No I can't, because stupid big crystal stops my magic, like I was a pony. It's cheating that you can do all sorts."

She pulled her tongue on Lucid, and began wandering towards the great big gathering around where the sphinx, Discord and Onache stood. The curse of having heavily influenced nature magic, more than chaos, seemed to be backfiring here, though at least she wasn't the only one kicked around by this. Twilight had to be feeling the negation too, right? Any kind of magic wouldn't last for too long, and especially not when they would get to the temple. Say for example if somepony here was a changeling, their disguise were likely to fall off in about what, a 150 meters or so? Seemed like the max range one would be able to go, unless something changed around the gem.

Huh, why did she think about changelings now? Weird.

As for Angel, he wouldn't have been covered in saliva if he hadn't squirmed around and made Anomaly think of live prey, which made her drool a little in the process. Something which were not carried over to Fluttershy or any of the ponies, but certainly did affect both of the bunnies, who likely now needed a shower more than anything. Thankfully they were soon at the sphinx's table, where a spread were set out, and a bowl of water should be possible to find for the two to rinse this stuff out of their fur. Lotus at least made a dash for it, not wanting to wait around for the ponies and such to get a move on and leaving her to be covered in this nasty stuff longer than needed.

Anomaly considered running too, but alas, two ponies were now asking questions, and Lucid wasn't gonna answer them it seemed. He appeared to busy showing off just because He still had powers beyond his mortal coil. Good for nothing cheater...

"They aren't in the temple, why should we be? Unless you wanna graffiti the walls and nick something while the big kitty is doing something else? Hehe, nah, you're too uptight for things like that. You'd probably just look for booooks, right, Princess Magicbutt?"

It was sorta fun to poke at Twilight about how rigid and boring she were. Sure, Anomaly might get an energy blast to the face eventually for that, but no harm, no foul there. She'd regrow her head, eat the pieces on the ground, and everypony would be happy. Twilight might also then have gotten some of her pent up energy used on something else than dusty tomes for once, hehe.

"And of course I licked you clean, silly Flutterpony. Sugar is delicious. You thought I'd tip my head and pour water over you?"

Anoamly thought on that for a bit.

"Huh, guess I could've done that. Oh well, you're free of sugar and dry, so no biggie this time."

 

The Sphinx blinked "Cheating? Not really, if your not powerful enough to not be able to overcome said enchantment then its your own fault really. Anyway I couldn't go and limit Discords power now? Its just courtesy from one former ruler to another really. He was a King after all" she remarked to her. She decided this thing was more cabbage then actual pumpkin seemed to share a love of sprouting nonsense like the other draconequus.

"You want to nick stuff from the temple? It wouldn't like that, good luck though" she smirked at the idea would be fancy though she was meant to be a host cant having her guests killed now could she?

 

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"What would any giant cat with wings want? That's right, flying fish! We give the big kitty that, and she'll be purring and snuggling with a full kitty tummy soon. That's your job Lucid-who-is-not-cool. That's your new name now. In full. Because you're not cool."

Anomaly pulled her tongue at Lucid as she glowed in the flawless logic she had given out, at least in her twisted mind. Cats liked fish after all, and this were a desert. Not like she could just get one of her own, right? So the sphinx would want giant fish to eat. And since Lucid were still cheating with having powers!- He could do it. Anomaly certainly couldn't, and Fluttershy had no powers at all it sounded like. Though really, would she have anyway? She were a pegasus, not a unicorn. Sure she might've had the element once, but wasn't that thing gone now, and so her access to it?

The gears in her head grinded along, but she didn't find an answer on her own. So eh, might as well just blurt it out there as they got nearer and nearer to the gathering up ahead, and could begin to see the tables more clearly.

"Hey, Flutterpony? Don't you need that weird gem thing to have rainbow powers? And wasn't it eaten by a tree?"

 

The Sphinx snorted at the nonsense continued to pour out of pumpkins mouth. She could put up with nonsense though not with typical stereotypes that she considered racists. She gave her wing a small shake which let one feather fall off which drifted towards the pumpkin draconequus, as it touched her it turned into a gag which muzzled said nonsence maker for the time being. "Sorry I didn't quite catch that flying fish remark? Cat got your tongue?" she remarked clearly unamused. 

She turned to the other draconequus called Lucid, "anymore remotely fishy remarks and your magic will be gagged just like your friend here" she told him abruptly. She then flicked her tail, "Now some ground rules, there will be no species related humour, No pony jokes, no draconequus jokes, no cat jokes. No hostile magic and defiantly no unpleasantness. I also follow the general rules of hospitality so if any of these rules are broken, you get a punishment of my choice" she growled.

"Now if you don't like that, there is the path back to Ponyville, you are free to use it. Otherwise you can state your business and come to terms" she informed them sitting down. She flicked her tail at Onache, "This Changeling has given me a interesting proposition of turning you all to slaves and ruling in your sted, though me being the fair being that I am, I'm willing to hear a counter offer" she remarked.

[Storm Shine 1,195]

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

 

Discord looked around shiftily and discreetly shoved the ball of yarn he'd conjured moments before into a random fold of the space-time continuum before nonchalantly walking away from it and whistling innocently.

 

Elsewhere, in another part of space-time, a pony was battling a giant turducken.. that was on fire. Suddenly, a giant ball of yarn fell from a fold of the space-time continuum and bounced away, prompting the flaming turducken to chase it while barking like a dog. The pony stared after the odd creature, sat down and contemplated their life up to that very moment... Before promptly face-hoofing and walking away. "Yeah, nope. I'm done with this bunch of horseapples." The pony could be heard saying as they walked away, discarding their sword and other mystical gear. "I'm going to go do something normal.. like apple farming." As the armor fell away, it revealed a blank orange coat of fur... Which eventually shimmered and changed to reflect the pony's true calling: ripe apples on a healthy tree.

 

Back in this universe: "And that's how the Apple Family Legacy truly began." Discord said with a grin, likely confusing any but those privy to the fourth wall and that which lay beyond.

[EQ_Theta 415]

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

"That's right, Anomaly. I would need my element of harmony. Unfortunately, I can't use, probably without the others. I think it works when all six are together. My friends and I had to give them back to the Tree of Harmony to keep Discord's plunder vines from covering Ponyville in giant thorns. It was a very strange thing to attack Ponyville but the tree needed the power of the elements more than me and my friends."

If anything, Discord leaving those plunder seeds wasn't something anyone would've expected. Sure, he would likely have done something malicious but that was from Celestia and Luna's time, a very different time when the draconequus was a threat to everypony's lives and sanity. Anypony with his powers and just as unhinged would very much be a top priority. Those seeds just seemed like an afterthought until they sprouted.

But on to the matter of the sphinx and the changeling, and the really strange proposition to take everyone present as a slave, Fluttershy wouldn't know where to start. Missing context or just being absent from the group earlier probably got her uneasily trying to figure something out.

"Um... a counter offer? Anypony have something in mind?"

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

@Blitz Boom

Not long after leaving that horrible swamp, Lin's legs were struggling to keep straight and upright. There was the accompanying sound of quick breaths in and out, focusing on just regaining her composure after seeing those terrible sights. Even the sound of wheezing isn't filling her with confidence, a feeling so unfamiliar she thought she might have caught something on the way out. Using what energy she had left, she opened a gate and pushed herself through, returning with a canteen she picked up from her journeys years ago, filled with water from a river near her home, clean and fairly cold. She came back feeling a little refreshed but extended her canteen to Rosa while placing her free claw on his leg in reassurance.

"You did what you could to prepare, Rosa. I don't think there was anything more we could've done to make our travel smoother. Here, drink up. I'm going to get Sen and meet you back here. I won't be long."

Another gate opened before her and Lin walks through to find Sen back up to a tree looking nervous and likely preparing to make a run for it. Thankfully, the gate was next to him and he immediately turned to bump into his sister. Coincidentally, Lin managed to pick off a tiny scale on the back of Sen's neck. She wasn't in the mood to gloat or make jokes, just going in to grab Sen and get out. Sen got the hint though he turned around and reluctantly waved goodbye to the little rodents before pushing Lin back through her gate and walking through before it closed. It wasn't that he never wanted to see those creatures again, but more of how creeped out he was that he needed some more distance away from them to hopefully get his mind straight. Even reaching the other side, he saw this was no time for levity. He approached Rosa with a concerned look on face.

"Rosa, are you-"

"Sen, let's give him some space. What we went through in that swamp, we need a breather." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

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

"Hold your horses, Sphinx. I've done some slight digging, meaning I read your mind and you think I'm a draconequus. I am a poquus. I might be part draconequus, that is a possibility, but I am a poquus."

There was another thing he needes to say.

"You think you are showing hostpitality?  Hostpiality my hoof! How is trying to enslave Equestria even close to showing hostpitality?"

Bringing up negotiations was interesting. She wants a counter offer She'll get a counter officer!

A suit and tie appeared on Lucid he was ready for negotiations.

"First off, unless you can level an entire supercontinent, good luck being able to have power over what I can and cannot do. Now, as for the counter offer, how about you surrender, and I let you walk away unharmed. Of course, I will show you where you will end up if you refuse."

He opened a portal to what seemed to be some sort of void to show her what he was talking about. He then closed it without shoving anyone in.

"Certainly you wouldn't want to end up there, would you?"

There goes Lucid, underestimating the enemy again.

[Moon Glow 81]

@Blitz Boom

A young unicorn mare, seemingly alone in the woods, struggling with the thick foliage off the beaten path grunted and groaned as she tried to force a thick branch to snap by repeatedly jolting her body weight forward. "One... two... THREE-EEE!" the branch snapped, taking with it her saddlebag; Moon Glow toppled forward and landed heavily onto a pile of old, rotting leaves. "Yeuch-" she stood, shaking the leaves off her body like a wet dog after a lake swim. A few branches were tangled in her mane and tail, respectively. It was going to take a while to get them out.

Why, oh why, did she have to take the hard way? As a matter of fact, "Why did I even listen to you?" the mare snorted in annoyance. She bit onto the strap of her saddlebag, her only means of survival, and tried to yank it out of the bush. "Thith neffer hould haff haffened-"

"I'm sorry, Moon Glow. Really, I am." The soft echo of a voice tickled her ears; she could feel the stallion's presence more than she could see it and she wondered if perhaps he had gone too far from his totem. "The forest has changed since my time. Ever growing, ever free." the voice trailed off. She knew she wouldn't hear him again.

With a final yank the bag came free. Moon Glow stumbled but managed to keep herself balanced. Carefully she used her magic to replace her saddlebag, groaning softly when the task was complete; her head was killing her. If she could only just-

She paused. A strange sound reached her ears, sending a shiver down her spine; it was like cold water pouring down a pipe. After a moment of silence and concentration she understood the sound to be, in fac, a song. Unearthly in nature, she was drawn to it. It pulled her in. Moon Glow suddenly forgot about the lost soul she had been travelling with and instead focused on tracking down the source of the song, be it pony or... other. There were some strange creatures in this forest.

The noise brought her to a small clearing, poking her head through the bushes to see a pegasus mare standing among a mysterious shrine. The unicorn's unease was managed by her curiosity which suddenly weighed more heavily in her decision making. A creepy smile, a lone pegasus, perhaps an enchanted rodent skull- all of them striking a beautiful chord of camaraderie for the dark and occult. Moon Glow cleared her throat and, with a small chuckle, clambered out of the bushes to boldly greet the strange one. "Hi! Hello! Heh- how are you?"

[Rising Dusk 26,057]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk figured pretty well that the scrap yard should be pretty devoid of at least customers.  The workers would be out and about filling orders through most of the morning.  The afternoon was reserved for receiving scrap from the various collectors and getting it all sorted out into their appropriate areas.  Lastly the evenings were when most customers came to pick up their orders before closing time.  Of course, one always had to account for the random pony wandering in just looking for a piece or two, just like him and the Boom siblings did yesterday.

He didn't make a fuss as Felicia went off on her own to climb a nearby pile for a good vantage point to survey her surroundings.  Still paranoid that this was some sort of trap he could tell.  Not quite sure if it was a result of programming or just what happens when an AI is left to play guard duty instead of excising those artificial minds.  Probably didn't help either that her creator also seemed to be a rather paranoid individual, especially in the form of pitchfork wielding pitchforks.  He couldn't really even think off the top of head if he knew a pony in the city that actually owned a pitchfork to begin with.  It was probably symbolic though.

Not breaking his stride as he moved further into the scrapyard before the spider finally rejoined him on the ground level.

"Those aren't living quarters.  That is an office.  Nopony lives in the scrapyard.  We are going that way though to meet my friend Rust-"

Apparently it wasn't all that needed as the rust colored mare appeared from behind a pile of scrap.  Walking on three legs as the other hoof was occupied with holding a clipboard that her snout was buried in.  Inventorying work orders most likely.  At first she didn't to notice the pair, but as she got closer he was able to take up enough of her peripheral vision to finally draw her attention.  The older mare looked up from her clipboard and smiled at the law enforcement officers.

"Ah, detective!  Back for anoth-  Oh Sweet Celestia's Rump~"

Her ears flattened, causing her hardhat to slip slightly to one side, and her eyes went wide as she noticed the company Dusk had with him.  The clipboard started to slip from her hoof but she managed to gather herself enough to keep it from falling completely.  Okay, shock, that was to be expected.

"Good morning Rusty.  This is my new friend Felicia.  Felicia, this is my friend Rusty."

The detective tried to keep his composure casual as to not add to the awkwardness that was probably about to begin.

"F-Friend?  What is it?  She!"

Rusty quickly corrected herself, catching on to the name while reaching up with the edge of the clipboard to put her hardhat back into proper place.

"She's a mechanical construct with a mind of her own.  She was cooped up, wanted to see the outside world."

To Dusk that sounded like a much easier way to explain to another pony what an AI probably is.

"A-And you brought her, h-here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You guys are friendly and can appreciate something mechanical and unique."

"I don't suppose you could have talked to me first?"

Rusty seemed to have collected herself more, now pointing the clipboard at the detective.

"You like surprises."

Her eyes narrowed pointedly at the midnight blue stallion.

"Why does everypony think that?  I hate surprises!"

She exclaimed and took several strong steps in his direction.  Dusk simply smirked at the older mare.

"Moon Hammer says you like surprises."

Of course he was referring to her husband, who knew just as well as he did that she hated surprises, but that didn't stop any of her friends from doing them on her.  It was just too much fun overall.  Rusty walked straight past Dusk, but not before smacking him on the head with the back of her clipboard.  Now standing before the large mechanical spider while Dusk was busy rubbing his head.

"Hello Felicia.  My name is Rusty, owner of this scrap yard."

She introduced herself without the help of the detective.  Taking this moment to look past the fact she was a large mechanical spider and looking more closely.  She was still a bit nervous in front of the large spider, but it seemed the minor altercation with Dusk had helped defuse her initial shock a bit.

"You have a beautiful chassis."

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

@Blitz Boom

"Yep, those are my three."

Raspberry smiled.

"I haven't really gotten on well with them. I think it's because I kept leaving them... flying off to cloudsdale, a place where only Heather and Caramel could follow, but they rarely did."

The death of Raspberry and Lemon's mother Cotton had been hard on her, and her wings gave her the freedom to go anywhere she wished, it had meant her family hadn't seen much of her for a period of their life.

"I should never have done it, but I just couldn't bare to be in that house anymore, not without mother. I knew Citrus would do a good job of taking care of them, even if he acts like he can't even live without me."

Lemon interjected with important details.

"That's her husband by the way, Citrus Orange. If you think Strawberry and I are shy you just wait until you meet him."

"Yep, so shy he won't even leave Trottingham for a day visit, let alone come to stay with the girls for a while. I have to keep heading back there to see him. This will all be sorted once I secure that house in Ponyville, Citrus can live with me again and regain some of the little confidence he had and there will be a place for the girls to come and see both of us at once, hopefully that will sort things out."

Repeated movement had made the family a little distant.

"It's good to hear Caramel is getting on well, she's probably the one I see the least of. Red's a mature and kind soul so she makes an effort to see me as much as she can, Heather doesn't see me because she wrongly thinks I'm disappointed in her and her clumsy ways but she still loves me so I do get to see her occasionally, but Caramel... I don't think I've seen her in a year."

Lemon added that most of them did not see her much at all, she often kept to herself with only Heather being in constant contact with her.

Raspberry smiled at mention of her grandson.

"That little rascal has had such a good effect on everypony, he's going to grow into such a wonderful stallion, probably going to fix all the little holes this family has. Thank Celestia Red is the daughter I see the most because it means I get to spend so much time with the little colt, and yes her husband is a delight too. He's a little uptight and quiet but he has a great heart."

She did a twirl in the air to demonstrate to Benny what she was capable of.

"I'm so glad I'm a pegasus, I couldn't imagine being stuck on the ground like this lot."

She gestured at everybody, despite the fact that almost half of them were also pegasi. Sky and Sprinkles heard what she said and looked at each other laughing to themselves, it was funny to see her go into this high and mighty mode, she would always say weird and silly things like that when she did.

"I hear some unicorns are poweful enough to fly too though, and good on them. I think anybody who has the ability to fly should learn how to, it's great fun."

[Blitz Boom 4,426]

@Moon Glow

The pegasus's ears perked when she heard somepony address her in the middle of basically nowhere. Sure it was close to a road, but regular ponies and such didn't deviate from it too much, so getting a visitor all of a sudden were certainly a surprise.

She turned around to face whoever it were that had disturbed her, and were faced with a mare who didn't seem like she did well going off road. She had branches stuck in her mane and tail, marks from falling on what she would assume were leaf piles or compost, and just overall seemed more roughed up than the usual hikers and adventurers that usually went into the woods. Surprise over seeing somepony so out of place and just anypony in general right now really, caused the pegasus's eyes to go wide from surprise and just look at the unknown unicorn mare for a few seconds, before the shock died down and she could respond to the intrusion.

"Oh, hi there."

A happy smile replaced the surprise and she lifted her hoof to wave at the young mare in front of her.

"I'm doing great. Just helped some friends along. Are you okay? Looks kinda like you rolled through a few bushes, hehe.

My name's Sorrow, who're you?"

Sorrow was actually pretty happy that she had been found by this mare. Not because she had gotten lost or anything (this time) but more around the lines that since the mare seemed to look a bit rough in it, perhaps she needed some help getting out and back on the road. It could be dangerous to get lost out here, or wander around on your own. You never knew what lurked behind the trees, even if you had been here some times before.

The dimming aura in the skull pretty much had vanished at this point, but as the mare got closer, two orb-like embers of pale light flickered into existence in the sockets, and focused on this new encounter. It looked almost like eyes, following her every move, even if she went to a side, though Sorrow paid no attention to it. She were pretty used to this happening now and again, and right now were a pretty sensitive moment too. Poor things had just gone through a tough, yet necessary process, though at least they weren't getting testy. Poltergeist behavior were difficult to keep in check sometimes.

"What does a stranger do at the shrine? We don't trust her."

The collaboration of otherworldly voices were speaking as one, though you could clearly hear that it were more than one speaker. Like a chorus of spirits, unknown in number, and centered inside this vessel around Sorrow's neck. And they seemed to speak to the mare in question too, who reacted by taking the hoof she had used for waving down and patting her *necklace* a few times on the head to calm them down a little. Silly things tended to get paranoid sometimes when it was a bad time, but eh, it could be worse. It wasn't like this unicorn could actually hear them or anything, right?

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@Rising Dusk

Felicia reacted to meeting this mare at first by standing still, but as she panicked, she took a few steps backwards and rose her front legs some, weary of what were going on. As logical as her programming made her, the base design had still been with that of a spider, and as such, it carried some software that could best be described as instincts, which in this case made her think that this were going to escalate, and that she'd need to defend herself.

The mare were not much of a threat by her looks alone, but there could be other factors at play. Machines, helpers hiding in the area around them, magic, and so on. As unlikely as it may seem, this was her first step outside and around normal ponies. She had little to no idea how they'd react to things in general, though as least the terror at meeting a large, mechanical spider were comfortably expected. The interloper had not reacted well when he had first met her either, or from her messages prior to that, and he seemed stronger of will than this mare. At least at first glance.

As Dusky began to explain things and it seemed to calm the situation, Felicia lowered her sharp legs to the ground once more, thinking that there would be a point where she'd need the large, knife-like legs given to her currently, though she remained on alert, as the mare tried to approach her and give compliments to Felicia's chassis.

The spiderbot poked to Dusky - too gently for it to hurt of course, as she didn't want him to bleed from the sharp appendages piercing skin - and awaited him to be aware of what she'd say before facing the mare again. He may have learned her language now, but that didn't mean that others would understand a singular thing from the whirs, grinding sounds, clacks and such. She'd need somepony to translate for her, and he were the most qualified.

Perhaps she'd be able to understand the whirs that made for Felicia's short laugh at seeing Dusky getting smacked though, as the tone were in the same field as a regular slow, punctuated chuckle.

"ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠 ℝ𝕦𝕤𝕥. 𝕀 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕠𝕠."

The issue with having to rely on the limited amount of sounds that she could make without a functioning voice box, were that relaying certain words would be impossible, as the combination would have to be overly long to differentiate, and the mind of flesh-based entities wouldn't be able to comprehend it too well in the long run, and think it other words instead. A simpler solution were to simply substitute other words and attempt to get as close as she could to relaying the same message back. Beauty wasn't part of Felicia's vocabulary, but chassis and sturdy were, so it seemed the closest she thought possible to respond in kind to the compliment given to her. Dusky may well just translate it further to the more intended message from there though. They'd see.

At least the pony's name were easier for her. Rust were a word that she had usage of, and this one were close enough tot hat to simply say that word and get the meaning through that way. Dusky was harder, as neither his normal name or his nickname fitted into her vocabulary, so she had to keep referring to him as interloper. A word in her base base program, when Molotov thought that she'd just guard the place and be happy with calling out if she found somepony snooping.

"𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕡 𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖. ℍ𝕖 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕦𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖."

Felicia glanced around at the random things strewn in piles, and thinking that it were highly unlikely that she were the first of her limited circle of beings to have been here. IN fact, she suspected that she may well be the last, considering the debris everywhere.

"𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥, 𝕞𝕪 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝. ℍ𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖?"

Perhaps there were a reason for Molotov to have not been mentioned before, yet without certainty, she'd have to run a test here. If Dusky did not translate this, then she'd be sure that mentioning this were considered highly unwise, and if he then did, she'd see the reaction to that. Informative either way, even if perhaps it could lead to Molotov receiving some stink eyes for his actions. Not her problem that much anymore tough.

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@Catpone Cerberus

Local stories told of singing sometimes being heard from deep within the Everfree Forest. A haunting tune that drew the attention of many a random pony looking for firewoods, lost souls that had wandered off the path to Ponyville, or adventurers seeking their next thrill.

The locals were quick to warn against following the sound though. Many had tried, but nothing had been found, and often it had led others into misfortune from the residents of the forest. Be it anything from the timberwolf flocks that roamed between the large trees to the Ursa, resting more often than not, but sometimes n the prowl for food, there were plenty of dangers to find, especially as not only ponies were drawn to the voice. The timberwolves especially had little interest in the sound, but critters often found themselves enthralled and soon lured into an opportune attack that would work as well against ponies, as it would say, a rabbit. Just like the one who now curiously jumped towards the sound, too curious to care for the warnings given to it by generations of others of it fluffy kind.

Jumping ahead, it were unaware of the dangers that lurked nearby before it heard a branch snap next to it, and froze solid as the being within lounged out and grabbed it. The price of not listening, had been paid.

"Ahah! Show me your antenna, tiny robot."

Berry rose triumphantly, with the half-grown rabbit in hoof, and blew some leaves out of her face.

Whereas ponies tended to listen to the warnings about following the sound or... Vanished, Berry hadn't let that stop her from going out here and try to hunt the originator of that music, not beiliving for one second that it was just a spirit or something boring like that. No, she were sure of it that this were a robotic entity placed her centuries ago, who would draw in the weak and brainwash/turn them into robots, before sending them away. Just another tool of the conspiracy, and now that she felt prepared (and had the day off work) she were on the hunt for this proof of the conspiracy that she needed to finally show everypony who was right. She'd be the one to laugh now!

This little thing were clearly just another agent of this thing. Either a robot she could disassemble, or another enthralled being, leading others into their doom. What was she supposed to believe, that this was just some random animal who followed? Puh-lease. She wasn't an idiot. See? She even brought a screwdriver to check where to disassemble this weird thing. Would a crazy pony be prepared like this? No. No they wouldn't.

It was a squirmish little fellah though. Didn't want to give up it's secrets she bet. Well, tough luck there, because she wa-

Having gotten closer, the thing had suddenly kicked her screwdriver out of her hoof in panic, and as she looked down and her grip slacked for a moment, it got loose, kicked her some more in the process, and ran away as fast as it could.

"This changes nothing! I'll find that thing, expose your masters, and then everypony will know your dirty little secret!"

Berry had her hoof raised and yelled  in the direction of the fleeing fuzzball, who didn't care one bit about the pony, but just to get home, amidst the pounding sound of its own, racing heartbeat.

It annoyed Berry that this thing had escaped, but she meant what she said. She were going to find the machine or other weird thing that made this sound, and then take it back to Ponyville to show everypony. And if it wasn't acting nice, or it send more of its goons out, now that they'd know she were near, she'd deal with it. That was what the hammer she borrowed were for. Technically she had said she were going to fix something when she bought this thing that hung on her back, but if fixing generations of pony issues, and unraveling a conspiracy wasn't that, then she frankly didn't know what everypony would want from her.

Oh well, she'd think on how to show them off later. Right now, she were pretty sure she were almost where the sound were supposed to be. 5 or so meters to the right it sounded like. 15 at most. She'd be there in minutes.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Just a sign here, aaand we're done. Here you go."

The red mare rolled up the contract, poured a spot of wax on it, and pressed her custom-made seal down to finalize things, before pushing a small bag of bits across the little makeshift table she made out of a tree trunk.

"Thank you."

The stallion - about mid forties and looking like a wheat farmer - took the bag between his teeth and bowed to the mare, who responded by tipping her hat at him.

"50 bits, as agreed. I'll be back in a month to see how things worked out, and you go and have a happy harvest until then."

She wouldn't say anymore than that before the stallion had left and wandered back into Ponyville.

"That's the eight pony in an hour. This town is practically begging for it at this point."

"Where there's a need, there's us."

The large griffon that had stood and watched over things stretched his wings as he replied. There wasn't much use for him right now, so he were starting to feel somewhat stiff in it by just standing there.

"Heh, ain't that right? The deals aren't that big, but the volume is starting to add up already. If I were a gambling pony, I'd say the tables were stacked in our favor."

The griffon chuckled and ran a hand through his head-feathers to get them back into lne. He might be hired because he was large, yet had a surprisingly easy time sneaking around, but his effort couldn't just be wasted on that. He had to look his best, in case they ran across a fine lady griffon in town. Considering the amount of different workers, now more than most times, that were a possibility, and he couldn't look like a rough common-folk griffon if that happened, right? He had an image to keep up.

"You'd bet on life itself if you thought it could earn you a bit, Spicy. As a matter of fact, you did do that, remember?"

"Know your place, Marley. That's personal."

The two glared at one another, before they each cracked a smile and shook on their heads. Weren't any of 'em that took that little bit serious. Marley wouldn't tell on her, and she wouldn't let him taste her fury just on principle. They had history. A lot of it too, considering they had rummaged around together for six years now, going across Equestria to find some poker tournaments for Spicy to revel in, or to entice ponies and other beings who were momentarily down on their luck, and offer them a good loan. Only the ones who they thought would pay back of course, but especially ponies tended to honor their deals, and long as they didn't try to skip on her, Spicy were more than sympathetic, and willing to listen in case it would take a bit longer to get her bits - plus interests - back again. Provided a small extra fee that were. She were a loan shark, not a charity.

Of course, she couldn't go around and say that, since that was against the law, so she went with just being a *lender*. There when you needed her, offering a deal at a somewhat low interest rate, and then come back to collect at an agreed upon time. Honestly, she considered herself somewhat of a saint among loan sharks. She didn't rough up ponies just on principle, her rates were realistically low, she honored her contracts, and she were able to talk with, in case things had gone sour. The few cases of beings trying to skip the bill who ended up in unfortunate accidents were - legally speaking - not something she had anything to do with. She hadn't made it through these years in a business like this by being sloppy with potential evidence against her, though she had at one point been less than clever about protecting herself and her wagon, which currently had the sign hanging above deeming this to be the vehicle of *Spicy Rolls. Poker champion and lender*, which were why she had hired Marley. Simple signage, yet hey, what more did she need to say, right? Usually she'd have packed the thing out fully so she could stay inside and deal over a fold down counter, but ponies had started to show up quickly at first, so she didn't bother. Wasn't needed it turned out.

Besides, it gave her a look at the soon-rebuild town of Ponyville here from the edge of town. It had been a pretty big hit on town yesterday, but things were looking up and with the princess making sure the repair costs were covered, the locals had nothing to worry about. Except of course tools, music objects, toys and so on that wasn't covered by their houses being repaired, which were where she came in.

Immoral and taking advantage of the ones in need? If you wanted to look on things negatively, then sure, it could look like that. Personally, she thought of it more like being in the right spot to provide some poor sods with the ability to replace what they desperately needed after an attack. Like the farmer who had gotten his tool shed trampled. 45 bits could buy him a nice set of what he needed to get the harvest done right here and now, instead of perhaps in a few days if he tried to get a bank loan though, and she only asked for the small, nominal fee of 5 bits extra for the trouble, along of course with the initial loan. A little low in return compared to what she usually dealt with, but 10% were a fixed rate, even with low loans. That was a principle thing, and when you combined all the loans she had issues the last hour, she would net 174 bits so far in fees, and that was starting to sound a little more spicy.

She chuckled to herself before grabbing the newest contract, and placing it inside the wagon in the box she had prepared for Ponyville loans. It seemed dry enough at this point, and who knew who might come around any second now? Perhaps a guard, but once again, she did nothing illegal here. She were just a businessmare doing her thing, and they could despise her as much as they wanted to, but there was nothing to do against it.

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

 

@Victoria Sponge

"I'm on board with flying being great. Luckily everypony in my family have wings, and aren't some of the unfortunate ones that doesn't get born with them. Sometimes happen with earthen based dragons, though they tend to grow massive in return. And I really mean, massive. I saw one, right? He was only two hundred and five, and he were big enough to eat a train."

Benny would lightly and elegantly try to move past the fact that wingless dragons tended to be insanely aggressive, in addition to growing far faster than they should be able to. They were not the nicest representation of the draconian race, though he had seen that little one with Princess Twilight before... Spike or something? It had been at a distance and a brief look only, but he hadn't wings, and the guards said that he was pretty tame. He could be a late bloomer too, but either way, good to see one who did well with their handicap, even if he did look tiny. Likely he'd get wings later considering that. Otherwise, he'd have to be basically malnourished and stunted, and that didn't seem like something a princess would do to another being.

"Some are lucky and get wings later on though. They eat enough crystals and then suddenly they crack out. It's kinda like with you ponies and cutie marks, if I got it right, just with more eating instead of talents, and that we don't get wings on our rears."

"I'm sorry if I interrupt, but did you say you were moving to Ponyville?"

Considering the topic had gone to winged flanks, this seemed like the best point to break into the conversation for Pop, about something which had made her ears perk.

"I live in Ponyville. I run my own candy shop there in fact, down Cobblestone Alley. I'd be happy to help a new neighbor out if you need an extra pair of hooves when it is, and I'm sure I could get others there too. If nothing else, I could distract Pinkie Pie long enough for you to move in before she drags you off for a welcome party."

Any chance Pinkie had to throw a party, she would. It was like an addiction, and honestly, when you saw what happened with her when she didn't have a part to throw or attend for a period of time... It were in the best interest for all of them to indulge her, and it were usually pretty fun, so no harm, no foul. To get her away for a bit with a question for help and a bag of her favorite candyfloss-flavored sweet drops though, wouldn't hurt things too badly, and it could give them some peace before the pink mare found herself another excuse to throw up the party hats.

"Probably for the best if Citrus is as shy as you say, Lemon. Pinkie is a real sweetheart, but man is she pushy. Seeing as how you'll move to Ponyville though, perhaps I'll run into you sometimes when I come around to see Pop. It might be fun."

"Where is it you're moving in, if I might ask? I hope it's not one of the grounds near the Everfree Forest. I've known a few others who lived near there, and they say that between the howls at night, and one of the ponies who actually live in the forest, the night sounds can be difficult to sleep through."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

The mimics reacted as a group and hissed at Lin as she appeared, as they percieved her as a danger more than anything. They would have jumped her on the spot too, if one of those hanging from the tree didn't squeak loudly in a way that made it seem as if it said *Stop!* and caused the rest to watch with arched backs as the creature got near their food giver, and wandered off with him. The frightened longma male - which several of the mimics had been laughing at before - seemed to go with her willingly, so they eased up, and several of the little rodents went so far as to go over and poke through the gate with sticks and thrown objects, to see what this were. One even halfway leaned through, but then nearly immediately returned, thinking that what it was were too weird.

When they had returned to where Rosa stood, one of them had been brave and jumped through, but now found itself stranded as the gate closed, squeaked, and ran directly towards the river about twenty meters to their right, where it jumped in and swam towards the forest again. It wouldn't forget this easily.

"I'll be okay."

Rosa kept saying this, over and over, even before Lin returned and stopped Sen in grabbing hold of him, perhaps worried that he'd twitch under the touch, like he had when Lin had made contact with the bat pony in question before she separated herself from their rope, and gated away. It wasn't directed to them mainly anyway, but mostly to himself as he leaned up against the boulder with his head held low, and tried to convince himself that it was true, and that he wouldn't be haunted with several things from in there for weeks, or even years if he were unlucky. Having wounds ripped into like that weren't as easy to get over as he had assumed before.

The canteen that Lin had offered stood where she had left it, not touched by the stallion at all as he kept on chanting the same sentence to himself, lower and lower, for about a minute before he just went silent for a little while.

"...I have to gather my stuff. I need them. I can't just..."

With that, he talked about the knives he had thrown around to see if this was just another illusions again before, along with all the other debris, and currently the only thing he could focus on as his mind scrambled together. It wasn't the kindest way to greet Sen, nor was walking behind him and not looking at the longma, but he wasn't ready yet. If Rosa tried to talk with him directly now, he'd just break down and start crying, and they didn't need that right now. He just needed a little time to collect his mind, as well as his things. The ones he hadn't thrown in the swamp anyway, but those were staying there, as there were no force in this world that would make him go back in there again, under any circumstance.

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

 

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

Onache looked over the chaos with a slightly disgusted look on her face.

Discord were rambling again and doing things that seemed to carry little to no sense behind them, while the sphinx had ignored him in exchange for muzzling the pumpkin-headed draconequus, that had been in the middle of adding a protest of some kind before she were thankfully gagged, and warned of what her actions regarding fish may lead to. The sphinx also seemed to take some time to tower over the princess and tell her off ever so slightly, in regards to gaining entrance to the temple, as well as getting into an argument with a strange stallion.

She could almost taste that something were wrong with him from over here, even before he said that he were half a draconequus. A pony didn't have this kind of aura, though whatever the claim that he were one of the chaos beings were true or not, she couldn't judge. She just felt something were off, no more details than that, and seeing how he began to argue with the sphinx, she saw little reason to care about him either. With some luck, he'd get obliterated before becoming much more of an annoyance.

The other pumpkin-headed one might have joined in, but it seemed she had lost interest in that, and simply ate her restraints, before going to town on munching on some of the spread set up, including the plates and glasses. Unseemly, disgusting creature that one, truly.

As for the others... There seemed to be a regular pony with a rabbit on her back near them - Fluttershy, if she recalled right - and another pink bunny that had jumped into a water bowl and were seemingly washing herself like a wild beast. Forest filth that were not worthy of the queen's attention.

As Fluttershy spoke, she stopped glancing towards the few more she hadn't given thought of yet, and instead focused her glance towards this pony, with a smirk on her face.

"A counter offer to a virtually unlimited amount of willing slaves, to do her every bidding? You would fail to find something of more value than that, pony."

The pressure she put on the last word, were deliberately meant to make it clear how little this queen thought of this wandering buffet and her little pet. Something she would have elaborated further on, if she didn't suddenly feel something that made her shift her glance directly towards the *griffon* in their midst. She could practically smell the changeling magic rolling off this one,w ho had for some reason yet to be forced out of costume. Perhaps a change in the gem? Regardless, it didn't matter. The queen knew that one of her kind were here, though she doubted it were a strong one. The strong changelings did not mingle and play friendly with filth like ponies, and this one did not seem like it were simply keeping the ponies under observation currently. Yet, there were time to correct that. Perhaps she could yet be impressed by this changeling.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

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

Lucid watched as Anomaly simply ate the things meant to restrain her. It was pretty predictable at this point.

"Yea, I pretty much expected you to do that. Just like how I've expected Pringle here trying to tell me not to underestimate this stupid Sphinx."

He looked over to Onarche. It didn't take a genius that Lucid had a problem with her.

"If you think that sphinx is getting anything out of this, you are making a fatal mistake. She's going to defeated one way or another. Be it that she surrenders, gets trapped for eternity, or even dies, and not because of me, but because of Discord. Enslaving all ponies would imply that Fluttershy is enslaved and even if she were allowed to not be enslaved, she'd to be VERY unhappy to see the other ponies enslaved, and when Fluttershy is unhappy, Discord is unhappy, and when Discord is unhappy... the sphinx will wish that she was dead."

This logic did make sense. Lucid knows that Fluttershy and Discord are close. He turned is attention to Discord.

"Am I correct?"

Edited September 1, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Storm Shine 1,195]

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

 

Discord glanced at Onache briefly, but decided to let it go. As long as she didn't actually hurt Fluttershy (mentally or physically), he saw no reason to interfere.. yet.

As it is, the chaos spirit went back to juggling some poky sea urchins, each ending up with a new color or pattern as they left his paws/claws.

[EQ_Theta 415]

@Blitz Boom

Sen wasn't so put off by Rosa's rambling so much as he pitied him. Lin seemed to handle things better but just looking at her didn't lead to any solid conclusion. If anything, Rosa's state right now was indicative that Lin would probably be feeling something similar. She was better at hiding her emotions when she is in her right mind, but Sen only had to look back at the swamp to remind him about how bad things were. 

"Let's give Rosa some time," Lin pulled her brother back and took him aside. He didn't mind it, even agreeing with her but whatever happened in the swamp bothered him so much, he couldn't help bring it up.

"Lin, what happened in there? How are you holding up?"

His sister turned away for a moment, now letting her grief take hold. Her face turned sullen and forlorn, trying to hold back her tears. "Sen, I saw... I saw mother and father. What Solasan did... No one should ever have that happen to them."

Sen held Lin in a tight embrace and wept, not needing to be reminded of their parents' unfortunate fates. Whatever they did couldn't bring them back, but all they could do is mourn and try to move on. If Sen were to see that sight, he'd be stuck worse for wear and utterly break him. It was a good idea to leave him behind for a while, and for now, it was just as good a moment to rest and regain their composure. Even Lin's current emotional state was an infective one, leaving her brother just as affected as her. For now they were content to wait; Rosa probably needed some reassurance as well. The two didn't know how but seeing him as he is, the only thing they wanted now was to comfort him however they can. 

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

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

Now Fluttershy was stunned and silent, very much afraid of what the queen would want with them as slaves. The pegasus wouldn't make a good one, having her freedom taken away to do menial labor at best and whatever terrible thing the queen had in mind at worst. Still, she was somewhat regretful about coming along, not because she couldn't be of help, but rather to get her friends to come along.

She was a lot more comfortable having them tagging along despite having Discord around. But that would also bring the risk of having all of them captured. Fluttershy didn't like that idea very much. No help from them and though Lucid's argument was sound, it might also come off as a challenge, and the pegasus wasn't the type to resort to violence. For now, she'd wait and see how things turn out but something told her this was likely going to lead to some worst-case scenario. Perhaps having Discord watching nearby meant there might be a way out, or a the very least, an advantage. 

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

The gem floated a little as the magic poured into it, the smoke billowing inside it. Electric sparks hit the ground as the gem glowed lightly, this element charging up much faster that it should've if it was any other object.  Emerald may notice this, though Sapphire was too overwhelmed with magic to really try and point it out.

=======================
@Blitz Boom
Iron smiled a bit at the sight of Benny, walking ahead over to him. "Hey Benny, how have you recovered?" He asked, showing a concerned expression. It had been long enough that he forgot when he last saw the dragon, he knew it wasn't long ago, but it was still important to know if his comeraids were doing well.
=======================
@Blitz Boom
"Chow, I know I can't fight her on my own, or with you especially." She said, knowing he'd retort that question. "I'm just saying we can't attack her if there's a chance she has some upperhoof on us. I'm too weak to fight something that could take my body, surprised she hasn't done that already."

"Please don't like, put that in my head."

Astral sighed, looking away. "Sorry, we just have no real chance to win this. Though we never did." While you could say this wasn't true, if they did have a chance to win, they should've already. Warlock overpowered them from the start. "If she does come to us, what do we do?" She asked, looking to Chow.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Blitz Boom
Nada swam around in the dark waters of the lake, singing like there was no tomorrow, it was the only thing to keep her sane in the solitude of Everfree. It had been a while since she had seen other creatures other than Everferee creatures who came to drink the water of her lake, though she wasn't sure how long, since she had lost count long time ago due the lack of anything in the forest that would show the time of day.

She still remembered the day she had came here like it was yesterday, she had gone to the pony-village like she always had done, ready to sing for the ponies like she had done so many times before, but when she got there, she learned that Adagio Dazzle and two others had started harvesting power from the ponies in mass, something Nada had stopped long time ago, and ponies weren't too happy about that. She had followed from the shadows when six ponies had fought them, and mercilessly banished the three sirens somewhere, never to see again. She still remembered the horror she had felt when she had seen the three of her kind disappear, she knew that if she didn't hide, same would happen to her, she knew ponies were too scared to recognize that she wasn't like those three.

Nada then had proceeded to hide in the Everfree forest, she had lived in a cave at first, but she had then found the lake she now inhabited, sometimes she wished she could go back in time and could go and sing for the ponies again, but she couldn't, not only because she had seen their true colors when they hadn't given her kind a change to redeem, but also because she would most likely meet the same fate if she did.  

Nada didn't hear the pony who was coming towards her lake, she was in too deep in the water and her singing would have drowned the rustle of the vegetation anyways.

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

Ruby stared as stallion walked past her, but here eyes weren't on the stallion, no, what interested her was in between the stallion's teeth, a bag, bag that Ruby could tell contained something she wanted, something...shiny. The mare shook her head and looked away, don't think about it, that would be stealing, they don't like it, stealing, that was one of the things Ruby didn't like in the ponies, apparently it was punishable to take what you want and endorsed to give more than you get. 

Ruby was a dragon, she had came from her homeland to Equestria in hopes of getting more substance to her life, and more importantly, to get more things that shine to her collection, and though the first part of her plan had been a success thanks to the transformation spell that allowed her to transform between her real form and her pony form, which by pony standards was quite beautiful, the second part wasn't that easy, and she had managed to collect only a small pile of things in the few months she had been here, in fact, it was so little that she didn't even need the cave she had made to be her home alongside the small shack she had gotten as a disguise home, because all she had fit in a locked wooden box she was carrying on her back.

The biggest cause of her lack of success was things the ponies called economy and laws, which made so you weren't allowed to just take things without getting in trouble, and instead, you had to give money for things, which was nonsensical to Ruby, because why would she give several things for one thing, especially when she wanted to keep the things she was supposed to give. 

Ruby continued walking when the stallion was gone, and she headed to the direction he had came from, soon seeing a some kind of wagon with a pony and a bird....griffon, like they were called next to it, but more importantly than that, she sensed something, there was more of what the stallion had carried with him, more coins....did he get them from here? She walked towards the wagon curiously, maybe she could take some, even if they didn't want to give them, it was out of the view of most ponies, so she could try to take it anyway.

[Sekel 685]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic, against her better wishes, struggled against the air that captured her. Her limbs flailed about in a haphazard manner while she kept her mouth shut in case any bugs flew in.

'Oh, calm down. It's just a simple flight,' Atzy groaned, and Karmic visibly winced at feeling of a facehoof.

"What ... what are you going to do?" Karmic asked slowly when she was finally set down and looked up at the sphinx.

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

"I only had to find a gyro balancer and some other equipment for a couple of inventions I had a thought on," Watts replied with a smile. "I can try to find them here but I normally go to Manehattan for these things. My regular supplier is on a break so I figured I would go to Canterlot instead to see if I can find the same things."

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

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"I'm going to ask it questions and if it doesn't like them, then we will go into the temple anyway," Twilight told Lucid, turning towards with a slight frown. "And the 'rainbow power thing' as you put it was a one time effort coalesced from wondrous efforts me and my friends did. It only stopped Tirek as a last resort and will not work with this Sphinx. For one, all six of the Element Bearers are not here. Only two. Fluttershy and myself. Besides, there's a negation field of magic around us and this Sphinx." Twilight gave a start though when the Sphinx spoke to her and she turned back to the creature. "Can we go into the temple, please, if that's all it takes?"

AURORA LIGHTS

Aurora followed everypony else towards the temple and the Sphinx. Getting within a certain distance though, she felt her disguise shed itself, revealing that she was in fact a changeling instead of a griffin as she claimed. She quickly looked herself over, thankful for having drifted to the back of the group for the moment. "Oh no," Aurora squeaked to herself and tried to get her disguise back up, but to no avail. She did freeze though when she felt the changeling enslaver glare in her direction. She slowly turned her head and face the changeling, quivering in her chitin.

[BloodDrops 762]

1 hour ago, Dji said:

"I'm going to ask it questions and if it doesn't like them, then we will go into the temple anyway," Twilight told Lucid, turning towards with a slight frown. "And the 'rainbow power thing' as you put it was a one time effort coalesced from wondrous efforts me and my friends did. It only stopped Tirek as a last resort and will not work with this Sphinx. For one, all six of the Element Bearers are not here. Only two. Fluttershy and myself. Besides, there's a negation field of magic around us and this Sphinx." Twilight gave a start though when the Sphinx spoke to her and she turned back to the creature. "Can we go into the temple, please, if that's all it takes?"

The Sphinx smirked and lowered herself down to the princesses level flicked her tongue out giving the purple alicorn a long lick revealing the problem with the question she posed in the first place.

 

she then continued to sit down removing her illusion all along while having her head tilted. "Very strange question that, well from my perspective anyway. From your own narrow minded view it is a very acceptable question to ask one as such as myself, though you think that structure over there is the temple?" she asked curious. She grinned her classic grin, "What if I told you, your already inside the temple? You've been inside ever since you got in this desert." she giggled pointing to the inside of her temple to Twilight who could now see it. "Lets keep it our little secret shall we" she cackled.

After all the purple princess seemed to be a few steps behind everyone else, she needed some help catching up. 

 

~Meanwhile In Desert Land~

On 8/30/2018 at 4:45 AM, Storm Shine said:

Discord looked around shiftily and discreetly shoved the ball of yarn he'd conjured moments before into a random fold of the space-time continuum before nonchalantly walking away from it and whistling innocently.

 

Elsewhere, in another part of space-time, a pony was battling a giant turducken.. that was on fire. Suddenly, a giant ball of yarn fell from a fold of the space-time continuum and bounced away, prompting the flaming turducken to chase it while barking like a dog. The pony stared after the odd creature, sat down and contemplated their life up to that very moment... Before promptly face-hoofing and walking away. "Yeah, nope. I'm done with this bunch of horseapples." The pony could be heard saying as they walked away, discarding their sword and other mystical gear. "I'm going to go do something normal.. like apple farming." As the armor fell away, it revealed a blank orange coat of fur... Which eventually shimmered and changed to reflect the pony's true calling: ripe apples on a healthy tree.

 

Back in this universe: "And that's how the Apple Family Legacy truly began." Discord said with a grin, likely confusing any but those privy to the fourth wall and that which lay beyond.

 

The Sphinx decided to play that game, "Well if that's how they began, let me show you how it ends" she remarked flicking her tail and opening a swirly portal of another parallel universe showing Canterlot and the Castle of the Princesses. It also showed the lands beyond. 

It was a gloomy setting like it was in the twilight hours however it was actually at Noon. The sun slowly flickered and then finally went out and then there was darkness a eternal darkness that pressed upon the inhabitants for generations to come. The only light was present was a low glimmer coming from a strange pyramidal shaped object that drew all of pony kind towards it and a familiar shaped Sphinx was there to great her guests though this one instead of having a large golden crown had instead a dark grey one that glowed with a faint light.

The Sphinx flicked her tail and the portal collapsed, she then adjusted her crown which had darkened slightly though soon regained its original composition though was it slightly darker? Interesting.

"End of one era, start of a new one. Just more darker" she smirked. 

 

On 8/30/2018 at 6:21 PM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"Hold your horses, Sphinx. I've done some slight digging, meaning I read your mind and you think I'm a draconequus. I am a poquus. I might be part draconequus, that is a possibility, but I am a poquus."

There was another thing he needes to say.

"You think you are showing hostpitality?  Hostpiality my hoof! How is trying to enslave Equestria even close to showing hostpitality?"

Bringing up negotiations was interesting. She wants a counter offer She'll get a counter officer!

A suit and tie appeared on Lucid he was ready for negotiations.

"First off, unless you can level an entire supercontinent, good luck being able to have power over what I can and cannot do. Now, as for the counter offer, how about you surrender, and I let you walk away unharmed. Of course, I will show you where you will end up if you refuse."

He opened a portal to what seemed to be some sort of void to show her what he was talking about. He then closed it without shoving anyone in.

"Certainly you wouldn't want to end up there, would you?"

There goes Lucid, underestimating the enemy again.

 

The Sphinx blinked down at the poquus. "Can you jump start a dying sun? Prevent a moon from crashing into the atmosphere? Stand on your head?" she queried tilting her head and standing on it. "No I thought not, because its rather had to predict when that might occur" she giggled going back to her normal self. She continued on "Saving the many for the enslavement of the few is a logical conclusion from my perspective." she answered him with a frown. She smirked and flicked her tail showing him another different universe this time more industrial with lots of dead ponies lying around. She flicked though many different scenarios of different time periods, plague, war, famine all down to some choice that ponykind had made which resulted in there own demise at some point within there relative timestream. 

She stopped flicking though portals like a channel hopper with a remote and tilted her head. "I've decided intervention in this period for this timeline is crutal from having these scenarios play out. Your enslavement results in your survival 99/100 times, disregarding the timeline where as I speak a meteor smashes into the moon which then smashed into Equestria and destroys all life as we know it, before I even finish explaining this to you" she said pausing. 

"Oh good its not this timeline, Though your parlour tricks are rather amusing, please I would like to cut you down to size" she giggled with a purr. She flicked her tail and frowned trying to think of a way to challenge him.

"If your so powerful, turn Discord into a microwave" she said with a smirk,

 

17 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"A counter offer to a virtually unlimited amount of willing slaves, to do her every bidding? You would fail to find something of more value than that, pony."

The Sphinx blinked at Onache and frowned, "Only two things currently can top that to myself. A answer to a question and a permanent solution to answer that question" she remarked to the Changeling, she flicked her tail "That would be the only thing that would make me change my course of action, unless any of you have answers to my question then you will be enslaved by this here changeling.

The Sphinx glanced at them all, "now if anyone knows why my crown is going darker, then please. Explain. I know the why but not the who or it" she remarked, if she was given a failed explanation then she would simply do as commanded by the Changeling. 

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

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

What the Sphinx said to Lucid got him at first, but there was one thing he knew that he assumed the Sphinx didn't.

"You're powerful, but do you grow more powerful? Will you ever have the power to surpass the multiverse? What you fail to realize is that my power shall continue to grow while your power is stagnant. As for saving worlds, I've saved many worlds and stopped many great evils, and by the looks of it... I'm about to stop another great evil. Now, turning Discord into a microwave? I'm not a big fan of friendly fire."

He also had something else to add.

"And MY enslavement won't happen either way. I live in a different universe, I merely visit this one because I lived here previously. Even with this fact, I cannot allow you to destroy or enslave this world. Attempting to so... side effects may include: extreme pain, being turned into a purse, being turned into many cat fur hats, and even death."

An anvil twice the size of the sphinx's head landed just 2 centimeters from the Sphinx.

"That was a warning shot, milk drinker."

Edited September 2, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight