open Casual stroll

Rising Dusk · November 29, 2018

It was quite the relief that the use of Workshop 05's door bell didn't result in the harming of a city's detective. So far everything time he's visited the fortress he'd been greeted by the large spider bot. The first time, in a slightly less pleasant manner and the second a message spun in webbing for the master of the workshop to keep him. Third time though, a danging Felicia to welcome him with words, well with mechanical clanks that served for words. "Good afternoon to you, Felicia," he greeted with a smile, though still somewhat weary from her efforts earlier in the morning.

The workshop looked nothing like how he left it the other day. A pony couldn't even tell that a baking mishap had occurred yesterday with how well it was cleaned up. Speaking of which, the filly herself actually came to greet him. The detective had to blink though. Slightly surprised that his coming to their door resulted in actually being able to pull her away from whatever she'd been working on. Probably more surprising though, she only asked him a single question! Whatever the cleaning project the other night had done, it worked wonders on the explosive filly. She even greeted him as police pony rather than Dusky or Ducky, or any of the other names she filled in to identify the detective with.

"I'm afraid I already ate little one, but I do need to speak with your brother," Rising Dusk smiled down at the small Boom sibling. Not wanting to be too intrusive to the Boom family, but he wasn't sure how long this feather would maintain it's properties for testing. Sure, he was doing something that wasn't asked of him as his focus was suppose to be on dispelling that dangerous artifacts the sisters carried. Maybe it was just his nature as an officer of the law and the need to help whenever he could. Hopefully he would be able to suggest to Null the possibility to fly again after the conclusion of the mission they gave him. At the same time though, he didn't want to give false hope.

Blitz Boom · November 29, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Just use edible soap and run away before the pitchforks comes out. It'll be fine. If not, set their water on fire and ask them again if the soapy water was a problem."

Anomaly shook her head and several bars of differently-scented soaps fell out of there, including apple, pineapple, and tomato. She tried getting a cheese one out too, but it didn't want to exit her head, and slid in again, where it would dissolve into pure energy and returned to the draconequus.

"So are we just gonna throw them in, or do you have a special plan?"

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@Moonlit @Catpone Cerberus

23 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Sorry about that, it's been a while since anything funny happened."

"It's alright, Nada. If I had been in your hooves, I probably would've found it funny as all hay too."

It depended on who it happened to, the reaction, and if the recipient actually got hurt of course, but if it had been all things equal, Berry wasn't gonna play a saint here and say that she would've been stone cold and to the facts. She would've laughed her mane off whilst trying to help get the little sea-demon off whoever else it had gone for.

20 hours ago, Moonlit said:

"Plan wise, I'll send a letter to Princess Luna, and let her know if a new meeting with the others can be set up. Until then, my house is open to you all"

"Well it's not like I have anywhere else I can go. Heh... Hehe."

Cherish felt a blush spread on her face as she attempted some degree of humor, on the fact that Serenade were quite literally controlling where she went, as the metal piece of the old castle were still in the siren's possession, and Cherish had limited mobility to some meters only beyond this thing. Unless of course it were destroyed, though what would happen there, she weren't sure. Either she'd be free from her bonds, or she would be hurled back towards the castle and stuck there until another piece could be given out to somepony. That were her best estimates at least, and not something she had yet to try, or think about giving a go.

"Eh, dunno how long I'm sticking around today, but at the very least I need to go for a coffee run soon. I need a caramel swirl latte or something after all of this. Thinking I'll get one for Nada too so she can try, but what about you Serenade? We mainly run coffee where I work, but there's also cocoa, tea, milkshakes, and cups of soup if that's more your fancy."

20 hours ago, Moonlit said:

"If you tired, head upstairs and sleep in my spare bedroom, and I'll bring up a nice fish later"

Fah'lina didn't have to be told twice that she could go and use a bed. Usually she just went on one of the high shelves where she could have a good overlook over things, but given the option of a bed - where she wouldn't be brushed off by whoever else were in there - was a little too tempting. Such a nice and soft feeling that were going to be, and after gulping down the last parts of her treat with speed, she began flying up there. Unless something ended up making a lot of noise, she'd be out for about an hour. She couldn't naturally sleep more than that, though she did need to rest more frequently as a result. Usually in intervals of 5 hours of staying awake to 1 hour of rest for an optimal sleep cycle.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"I'm well aware, but I will explain later. Perhaps it will fascinate you to some degree."

Getting out of the ruins, Marley dusted himself off from the worst of the ash remnants that had been left on his feathers, before attaching himself into the wagon again. They had to go and pick up a certain pony before she ended up getting in trouble that meant that they'd need to leave her behind for a few days whilst she languished in jail.

They'd arrive and find her thankfully not imprisoned, and with no signs of the old sheriff around. However, she were also chained with her back against a light pole, and cuffs keeping her front legs locked behind said pole to make sure she stayed there. Quite the sight, which hadn't escaped others who sometimes stopped to gawk a little before mumbling and moving on, whilst the response from Marley were more of a deep, bellowing laughter.

"I see the sheriff still likes his old school punishments."

"Can it, and get me outta these."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to interfere with the law."

"Get these things off me, or I'll start lobbing cards at you and deduct your pay for a year for every missed one."

"*sigh* Very well."

The griffon went over, behind the pole, and pulled the chain between the two pieces of the cuffs apart. It wasn't an issue getting the cuffs broken off after that, and Spicy would soon be free, and more than ready to get out of this annoying town.

"I swear, if it wasn't because I couldn't just pummel the old geezer without getting locked up... Did you two get the job done, or what?"

"Jingle have taken an extended vacation, I'm afraid."

"...Well, we better go visit her another day then, and go take care of our errands in the meantime."

"Yes. We can discuss things further on the way."

They both sent looks to Ruby that should carry the message of *Don't ask yet*, and if she did, they'd just dismiss it with some minor talk until they were out of town, and safely out of earshot of the noisy hicks that dusted around this old place.

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@EQ_Theta

"I can't dream. Being in water reminds me of when Master Discord tried showing me what it was like. I can remember that in water, but not try it. There is no chaos there."

Perhaps one day, she could ask her master if he could make a small area of water and fill it with chaos so that she could try it over and over again? It had been a good time back then, but it was very, very long ago, and memories could fade in time. At least it looked like that with ponies, and she were sure that she had lost some of herself over the ages too. Some things just seemed foggy and the details weren't always there. Perhaps one day, she would also completely forget how the pool of chaos that Discord had put her in had been, and she wouldn't know anything about what dreaming might be like anymore. Not something she wanted to lose.

"It's still a good place to think. No distractions. Quiet."

She began wandering around, examining the place a little more whilst Shrimp finished cleaning himself and did some searching of his own. Once in a while, a small, glittery ember would escape his mouth as he thought a few rocks and such were playthings and roared at them for dominance, but he weren't setting fire to anything, so it should be essentially harmless, even though some flowers would meet a tragic end to a few random chomps here and there. Such meaningless violence.

"Strange there is no creatures here. Most places have something. But nothing here. Not even animals. I don't understand how they stay out of here.

Did you and Sen do something when you found it? Hunt them? Chase them away? Perhaps there never were any? Do they hide?"

Asking around about this, Omen would be getting to the edge of the water, but she wasn't wandering into it just yet, just starring at the clear, still water, and her own reflection, glaring curiously back at her. It was a long, long time she last saw a lake that were still and clear enough to make her think it could be made of glass, but for this, she had to slowly bring a hoof forth and poke to it, just to see the water ripple away like normal, before she could be sure. What a strange, relaxing place the siblings had made for themselves here.

Meanwhile, back at the village, Rosa's eyes suddenly went wide and he jolted up into a sitting position.

His uniform and mask made it hard to see that he were sweating, but the erratic breath and shaking hoof made it clear enough that another nightmare had taken hold again.

He felt at his neck for something, and let out a small sigh of relief as he didn't find what he had been worried about, and slowly got up on his hooves again.

"I'm fine, I'm fine... Where are the others?"

The first part sounded more like he were trying to convince himself than anypony else, though he had found that as he said that, three beings that he would have said that too weren't within sight, which lead to his question. A tinge of worry spread in his chest that Omen and Lin had already wandered into the ocean, as he had no idea how long he had been out, and that something might go or had gone wrong, and that concern were shown in his eyes as they darted around, trying to see if there were some clues as to where the duo and Shrimp had gotten off to.

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@EQ_Theta @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

On 11/28/2018 at 3:29 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“Fluttershy says pegasi like her have magic. It’s what makes her walk on clouds; other than alicorns, no other kind of pony could do it, not even unicorns. The funny one with the horn and wings is Twilight, and she is very talented with magic. They say she popularized cloud walking among unicorns.”

"Winged ponies can walk on clouds? Cool!"

Lotus were no stranger to be in the air, as her dragon were after all with wings herself, yet clouds were but water and annoyances to Nerzhei, and trying to imagine being able to land on them and just stand on them or sit there were actually really interesting to think about.

"It sounds like the unicorns cheat, though is it something that they can only cast on themselves, or others? Not asking for my dragon on this. She likes the ground, just like other earth dragons. I'm just curious, since I've never seen dragons sit on clouds, and some of the wind dragons know magic."

Of course, ponies didn't generally come to Dragon Land, and the two races didn't get along overly well, but it just seemed weird that no dragon used that sort of spell, unless it were a pony magic sort of thing, or if their clouds were just different. She had heard of stranger things than that, and with how this day had gone, she were more or less expecting weird things to be true every time.

On 11/28/2018 at 3:29 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"There you go," the yellow pegasus said. "All done. What do you think?"

Nerzhei had stood with her arms to the side and tried not to move, although the clenched teeth didn't make her seem all that happy about this. No wonder really, as one of her arms were still hurting and pulsating beneath the gauze, and not keeping it rested weren't helping. Yet, she had to bite the pain in her and just keep her trap shut, as the pony were working on repairing or demolishing her outfit. It were hard to distinguish between the two from the start, yet as the work progressed and Fluttershy began sewing rather than picking up the stitches that had been put there by Nerzhei, the dragon had some idea about it being mended, and likely done well. She couldn't see right now, as bending her head would just block complete access to a rather large tear near the neck that she likely shouldn't keep hidden as part of this.

If needed be during the progress, Nerzhei would have also gotten down on her knees to help with the height difference between the two of them, but Fluttershy could fly, so likely that wasn't an issue.

Regardless, as the progress was over and the mare asked the dragon of her repair-work, Nerzhei... Kept silent. Slowly she would get her arm back in the sling around her neck, and when the arm were rested, would let out a low, but pained groan that she had held for far too long now. Honestly she'd rather just scream and get it out all at once, but she had her pride, so this drawn out half-mumbling would do the trick.

"Hold on, and... Let me check."

When it inevitably calmed down again, she would get to work looking it over, and it were frankly impressively done. The stitches were good, and made her attempts at keeping this thing together seem like a blind man's efforts, and the bad patches she had put in some places were replaced and added more in line with the rest of the outfit. Certainly it were nothing that a high class citizen or a real mage would wear, but it had always meant to be simply a travelers robe to begin with, and now it were finally starting to look like that again.

She were fairly impressed that Fluttershy had not mentioned the parts of the outfit that were leather either. None of that were broken, as she regularly replaced that, though she had expected it to at least get some awkward pauses, considering what leather came from. Perhaps she weren't as touchy about that sort of thing as she thought. Or perhaps the ponies had some kind of fake leather and she thought it was made from that. Whatever the case, it was likely best to not address it first.

"They haven't looked this good in at least fifty years. My thanks to you, Fluttershy. I owe you or your descendants for the help."

It was a pride thing. Nerzhei had issues just taking things as gifts, and felt a need to repay in some way the ones who gave her something, rather than just thanking them and let it be. As she had nothing on her that were likely to be of much value to the pegasus right now, saying that she now had another favor which she could cash in at any moment would have to do. That it had included her descendants were just because there was a high probability in Nerzhei living far beyond the mare's years, so the debt might not get a chance to be repaid in Fluttershy's lifetime.

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@Rising Dusk

"Okay, let's go get him then."

Blitz bounced to the side and towards the kitchen, while Felicia crawled back up to the ceiling, where she could keep a good vantage point over what were going on and just observe for now. There were plenty enough who would be talking as it were, and she were mostly interested in seeing what brought Dusky back and seeking out Molotov, so simply keeping her eyes on them and listening in made the most logical sense to her. Less so if she couldn't pass through to the kitchen area, but there were large open areas up here in the ceiling to ensure that she could come everywhere within this building. Nothing that would go on would do so without her oversight.

Inside the kitchen, Dusky would find it to be fixed up fro yesterday as well, but not as clean as the other room, as over at the stove, next to a large pile of dishes, bowls and so forth that needed to be washed up later, stood Molotov and did his best to make pancakes, though as were pretty clear from the less than stellar forms, he was not exactly meant for the cooking life. Sure they were edible and mostly seemed okay, but they looked uneven and misshapen on the two plates next to the stove.

"Hold your dynamite sis, I'm almost done here. Just need the last 4 or so and we got ourselves something good to chow down on."

"Police pony is back! He wanna talk to you."

"Awh, nuggets. Go find a plate for him and let him know that I'll be out in a few minutes."

"He's right next to me silly head."

Turning his head to look at Dusky caused the stallion, Molotov almost dropped the bowl on the floor, but unicorn magic be praised, he managed to grab hold of it with his horn before it flipped over and messed up the place.

"Darn kitchen sometimes... How's it hanging Dusky? Anything I can do for ya?"

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@Emperor Blu Traincrown

22 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Heh, thanks! And you know what? If this is a success and we find how to collect energy thanks to moonlight, Luna will have a train named after her. Anyway, don't worry I already have things planned. You see, my project of solar high speed train doesn't stop to the train itself. Stations and tracks will be refurbished, and a signalling system will be instored. What I know is that the refurbishment of train tracks will consist on replacing the wooden ties by concrete ones, and welding the sections of rails together. This way there's next to no risk of derailing from poor track conditions. As for the passenger cars, they obviously are included in the project. What would be a passenger train without rolling stock to transport folks? I'm just focusing on the locomotives right now. As for the signalling system, it will consist of light signals next to the tracks with magnets ahead of them, between the rails. I'll explain this one later though."

"A complete redo of the entire Equestrian train service? Excellent. I'd still advocate adding some robots though so that there's room for automated food carts, but you're right, this ain't the full thing yet. Have to get a look at the full thing before I can even start making suggestions beyond the obvious things like running a rail down the middle of either the floor or ceiling, depending on how the carts are connected and where the wiring can best fit in, yada yada. There's plenty of time to make it fit one way or another and make this a real luxury train. Depending on the stability, I'm betting that we could even have drink carts here. With new tracks and a stable train, I'm sure it'll go as smooth as sliding across ice, long as the track workers doesn't slack of or cut corners. That'd be horrible."

Generally speaking, Molotov would advocate for menial workers doing a good job and giving them some degree of trust, but a high-speed train filled with passengers? If even a small nick where anywhere, it could end in a horrible accident, so really, you had to be extra careful on this, and send inspectors out to fine-comb every inch of those things. A great invention like this did not need to be remembered for the worst train accident in living memory.

22 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Of course my train won't be fully made of aluminium. Plus, the aluminium I'm using is a mixture of iron and aluminium. See what I mean? That way it's more resistant to pressure from the speed. I've already tested it out in a wind machine set up to 200mph for 10 hours, it works perfectly. As for the bolts, I'm using a Geo-Vector 10 grade, but I heard new Geo-Vector 11's came out recently. I don't know where to find 'em though. Radios? I thought about installing a microphone in the cockpit and a speaker on each rank of seats, for announcements. Though I'm no expert in acoustic stuff. If you have an idea, I'd be more than grateful to you."

"Testing for 10 hours straight? Hah! I like your style. Better test it fully than finding out it had issues going over an hour and the wheels would fall off, especially when working with blended metals. Do 'em wrong, and it's basically a big pile of scrap with weak spots. I swear, every time I see poorly mixed metal like that, I want to kick a hole into every single weak spot and push the one in charge through 'em. It's frankly an insult to the buyer when they try to pawn that stuff off.

And yeah, Geo-Vectors got 11 grades, but I'd give it a year before buying any. They're ridiculously expensive right now, and grade 10's can handle most things already. Unless you plan on driving through an active volcano, I'd say the 10's would do perfectly.

As for radios, It goes under the same as the robots. I need to see where there's room for the wiring first, and duh, of course a microphone is gonna be part of it. Soothing music is all fine and good, but at some point, you'd be happy you're able to give some announcements out. Or sing karaoke, if you really wanna have some fun messing with the passengers, heh. But yeah, perfect scenario would be up the floor, through the seats, and place the speakers in the head rests to make sure that everypony hears it, but we'll see, we'll see."

22 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Magic? Bleh. Anyway, solar panels will be on the roof of the train, so the UV-rays of the sun hit them. Once it's done, the energy will go through a solar converter which would convert solar energy into electricity. Then a side battery would serve as amplifier, and would recharge thanks to the mechanical energy of rotating train wheels converted into electricity thanks to a dynamo. The faster the train gets, the more energy this battery would produce for the engine. Say, do you want a description of what's in the cockpit?"

"I already got myself a sun ray collector and converter, but them batteries, that's where the good stuff is at. This here thing only holds a certain amount of juice, and that ain't happening without magic to keep it encapsulated. And even then it's leaking! A waste of perfectly good power, and the aim with these things is that everypony can use 'em you know? Tell you what, you help me out with some good battery designs, and I'll trade you the blueprints for how to get clear and crisp sound throughout any sorta train or building you'd like. Think on it, alright?

And duh, of course I wanna hear what's in the cockpit. The controls alone have got to be some really imaginative work."

Catpone Cerberus · November 29, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Moonlit

Nada smiled at Cherish's attempt at a joke, she didn't understand too much about ghosts, but she could tell that Cherish was somehow connected to Serenade, and her joke only confirmed it. She felt bit bad for the ghost, after all, she knew what it was like to not be able to go freely and do what you want.

Berry's mention of her getting thing called 'caramel swirl latte' for her, made Nada intrigued, because though she had no idea what it was, it sounded somewhat good. After Berry had finished explaining her plan for the day and Serenade had given her reply to Berry's question, it was her turn "I guess I'll be inhabiting the river until the meeting, because though I appreciate the offer to stay in the house, I'm not really comfortable living on dry land quite yet." that probably wasn't a surprise to anyone "So Serenade, do you have any estimates how long it'll be until the meeting can happen?" "Just so I know to prepare."

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@Blitz Boom
Ruby looked surprised when she saw Spicy chained to a pole, she didn't say anything, but it was clear that even she found it to be slightly amusing sight. As Spicy and Marley had their usual back and forth, Ruby just stood patiently waiting them to finish, looking around a bit to scout out anything interesting, but failed to see anything of interest.

To the looks she got from the two creatures, Ruby just replied with look of her own that could be understood as something among the lines 'why aren't we moving already'.

When they eventually reached safe distance from the town "So were you planning to tell me too what's going on? I'd like to be aware of any possible inconveniences affecting me." "I don't want to sound impatient, but I'm getting impatient."

Moonlit · November 29, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade smiles "Try the pond, it's linked to the river via the underground...and honestly I can't say. Maybe a day or two" She turns to Barry, "If your going to Sugercube Corner, just tell Mr or Mrs Cake that Serenade will have her usual, and if it's Pinkie....I pray for your soul"

Lucid_Nightlight · November 29, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"This soap needs to taste how it smell. It would make it easier for ponies to clean their insides that way."

"True, why brush your teeth if you can eat soap?"

Pringle looked at Lucid.

"You're right! I could easily make a lot of money off of that."

"Well, you could make money off of just about anything since you can just spawn anything you want into existence."

Lucid looked over to Anomaly.

"New plan! We will sell soap! First we need to start with free samples for ponies to eat!"

EQ_Theta · November 30, 2018

@Blitz Boom

“Don’t worry, Rosa,” Sen walked over to the bat pony, calm but attentive towards the latter’s appearance. A reaction to a nightmare familiar to the longma.

“They went to a place back home where they could think and be calm for a while. They’re safe right now. But what about you? You look like you didn’t sleep well. Are you alright?”

Sen sat by Rosa, though he would respect his decision to avoid speaking about his nightmares if it was a difficult thing to talk about. But beyond that, there wasn’t much to do other than wait for the tides to go down enough for the temple to be visible. To the longma, it didn’t really seem like much has changed since he took a nap. Perhaps a little more waiting might do but now he has to wait for both the tides and for Lin and Omen to come back. They just wanted to see the sanctuary after all.

As for Lin, Omen raised a point that she hadn’t thought about in quite a while, or ever at all. No animals living in their little sanctuary. It never crossed her mind once; it was just a place that gave her comfort but maybe it does have animals living in it but their arrival scared them away. They’ll probably be back once they leave. Or maybe because the sanctuary was situated in the far end of a cave, most animals wouldn't go in it looking for more than a place to stay dry from the weather. At most, birds would find the place. Unless there was some other creature that decided to move in during the years the siblings spent in exile. It was as likely a good enough explanation for now as Lin didn't want to spend the time here looking for animal tracks. This is downtime, not another moment to embark on a scavenger hunt or do some detective work. Even so, there was nothing in the area to suggest another animal had taken residence in the sanctuary.

“I guess the animals scurried off when we arrived? I could understand birds flying away and perching somewhere else but I never really noticed it until you brought it up. Neither Sen nor I chased away any animals away when we first found this place. We’d certainly do not mind the company of animals here. Sentiments and plant growth aside, this place is exactly how we left it.”

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@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

“Unicorns can use their magic on others. Or at least that’s what Fluttershy says. Twilight got herself and her earth pony friends to walk on clouds using magic. And she also managed to give another one of her friends wings. According to Fluttershy, those wings burned off when she flew too close to the sun.”

Personally, Angel had a tasted of magic, being part of a little show Twilight put together for some delegates from Saddle Arabia. A nice, if simple touch to whatever could pass as entertainment around Ponyville. After that and the little incident at the old castle in the Everfree Forest, he has warmed up to the alicorn princess and sometimes prefers her over Fluttershy.

“I wouldn’t know if dragons could walk on clouds. Never really been up to the clouds before either.”

As for Fluttershy, she had been so caught up in the moment that she didn’t notice herself causing Nerzhei discomfort, or forgetting the presence of the gauze and bandages. If it were anyone else, she would’ve gotten a verbal thrashing and reprimand, not to mention cancelling the whole ordeal of mending the dragon’s coat. Simple things like this could’ve ended in much worse and in most cases, she’d probably imagine this to be the most likely way her insensitivity could’ve turned out.

But it was only after the whole thing had been completed that this realization dawned on her. A smile faded, turned into a look of concern and quiet horror as her good intentions might have had unintended consequences.

“I’m glad you like it, and I’m terribly sorry about any discomfort I’ve caused. I forgot about your injuries and I just got caught up trying to help. You don’t owe me anything, Nerzhei. The same goes for my descendants. I’m just happy to help.”

There was a hint of Rarity’s personality manifesting itself as Fluttershy spoke. Despite not hanging out as often as they’d like, the unicorn mare’s personality is infectious. It definitely rubbed off on her. Maybe it didn’t mean much for now but the idea of descendants might be a nice one. She wasn’t ready for it and right now, she hadn’t considered it either. Helping out animals was what she placed a lot of her focus and effort for a very long time, but maybe she might find somepony who shares her passion and enthusiasm. Maybe one day…

Rising Dusk · December 1, 2018

@Blitz Boom

It was very efficient of the Boom family to get the workshop up and running again after just a short amount of time. A pony could hardly tell that yesterday had been an event that left the fortress bellowing with smoke and the insides covered in cupcake batter. Well, a regular pony anyways. His inquisitive mind already comparing what he was seeing now as Blitz brought him to Molotov, to the memories he had of the place. A new charred mark on the floor, some very minor smoke damage in hard to clean corners, but overall it all looked the same to him. He did notice that the usual feeling of being watched didn't make the fur on his neck stand up like the first few visits. Probably because he was just more comfortable with the monster in the attic. Hopefully Carmen was also doing a lot better than when he last saw her.

The smell in the kitchen was pleasant enough while Molotov worked to cook up some pancakes. Dishes had piled up, but it was understandable considering the cooking going on. That was indeed a lot of pancakes for just the two of them though. With Blitz announcing the detective's arrival, Rising Dusk raised his hoof in greeting to the older inventor when his head turned to see him. Watching as Molotov displayed on of the great advantages to being a unicorn as he caught a falling bowl with a spell. Granted, he was half surprised his friend had made his kitchen automated with machines. Would probably be rather interesting to see, if somewhat presenting of its own problems with maintenance.

"Good afternoon to you Molotov Boom," the detective greeted, lowering his hoof back to the floor but giving him a smile. "I've come to pick that brilliant brain of yours," a little flattery never hurt. Raising his hoof again to point at Molotov's wings. "Mostly about the prospect of your wing designs for a pegasus with a missing wing," he explained, but didn't want to go into too much detail and distract from the rest of the other stallion's cooking task.

Emperor Azurailo · December 1, 2018

On 11/29/2018 at 6:39 PM, Blitz Boom said:

"A complete redo of the entire Equestrian train service? Excellent. I'd still advocate adding some robots though so that there's room for automated food carts, but you're right, this ain't the full thing yet. Have to get a look at the full thing before I can even start making suggestions beyond the obvious things like running a rail down the middle of either the floor or ceiling, depending on how the carts are connected and where the wiring can best fit in, yada yada. There's plenty of time to make it fit one way or another and make this a real luxury train. Depending on the stability, I'm betting that we could even have drink carts here. With new tracks and a stable train, I'm sure it'll go as smooth as sliding across ice, long as the track workers doesn't slack of or cut corners. That'd be horrible."

Generally speaking, Molotov would advocate for menial workers doing a good job and giving them some degree of trust, but a high-speed train filled with passengers? If even a small nick where anywhere, it could end in a horrible accident, so really, you had to be extra careful on this, and send inspectors out to fine-comb every inch of those things. A great invention like this did not need to be remembered for the worst train accident in living memory.

"Yeah, a complete redo of the Equestrian railway. And it's quite needed if you ask me, cause we're talking about trains running on these tracks everyday at 125 mph. Also, as I said earlier, a new signalling system will be in place. You see, the railway line will be separated in blocks. Each block will be introduced by a signal placed next to the tracks:

If there's a train in a block, the signal protecting this block will display a red aspect, meaning Danger. The driver in that case will need to stop the train before the signal.

If there is a clear block separating two trains, the signal protecting this clear block will display a yellow aspect, meaning Caution. When encountering this signal, the driver must slow down to at least 25 mph as quickly as possible, in order to be able to stop at the next signal, expected to be at Danger.

When two blocks are clear, the signal will show a double-yellow aspect, meaning Preliminary Caution. You have to start applying the brakes and stay at moderate speed. 75 mph is a good speed to be able to be able to react to whatever the next signal you encounter displays.

And finally, there's the signal displaying a green aspect, meaning Clear. You may proceed at the speed limit of the line you're running on."

While explaining, Azure gave Molotov a drawing about what he was talking about, so it would be clearer.

Spoiler

"Also, there would be magnets between the rails, 220 yards ahead of every signal. These would serve for the Advanced Warning System. I'll talk about it later, since it's cockpit stuff. There also will be speed limitations of course, you'll never see a train going through a sharp curve at 125 mph!" He would chuckle, looking at Molotov. "Oh, and level crossings will be removed on 125 mph sections. It'd be too dangerous for ponies nearby."

"As for your robotized service, it'd be cooler than ponies for sure! I'll give you the passenger cars' blueprints so you can see how to make the wiring and stuff fit in. Same goes for the radio stuff."

On 11/29/2018 at 6:39 PM, Blitz Boom said:

"I already got myself a sun ray collector and converter, but them batteries, that's where the good stuff is at. This here thing only holds a certain amount of juice, and that ain't happening without magic to keep it encapsulated. And even then it's leaking! A waste of perfectly good power, and the aim with these things is that everypony can use 'em you know? Tell you what, you help me out with some good battery designs, and I'll trade you the blueprints for how to get clear and crisp sound throughout any sorta train or building you'd like. Think on it, alright?

Azure nodded in agreement, raising a hoof to brohoof his new friend. "That's a deal, Partner! So, tell me about the size of your device needing a battery, so I can make it fit and not weigh too much. Batteries can be heavy you know?"

On 11/29/2018 at 6:39 PM, Blitz Boom said:

And duh, of course I wanna hear what's in the cockpit. The controls alone have got to be some really imaginative work."

Azure was opening his mouth to speak once he realized a friend of his finished building a simulator of the Celestial Express 125's cockpit. A bright smile drew his face. "I was on my way to describe you what would be in the cockpit, but I'm sure you'd love a direct demonstration of what would the driver face when this beauty's in service: a friend of mine finished building a simulator of this train's cockpit. I ain't asking if you wanna get there, I already know the answer." Making a smug smile, the Pegasus nudged the Unicorn inventor while winking at him.

Edited December 1, 2018 by Emperor Blu Traincrown

Blitz Boom · December 1, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight

So now they needed sample sizes instead? Alright, sure, she could do that. She just had to trample the ones she had already made, which caused them to break up into smaller and smaller cubes, wrapped in leaves to give it a sort of gift look.

After she stomped the soap into sugar-cube sizes, which left around seven dozen soap gifts or so, she'd raise up a large basket they could stand in. Gifts were always better when in baskets. That was just a fact. Clearly this would be the best option then, though where to put it? No idea, but Lucid and his marefriend needed to do something too, or they'd just feel left out. Hardly seemed fair.

"Gifts are ready. I promise none of them are poisonous."

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@Moonlit @Catpone Cerberus

"Nah, I work as Slappy Joe's. Our baked goods are worse, but we absolutely own the bakery in other sorts of food and beverages. I can swing by on the way back and pick your usual up though, no sweat."

It might not be completely true that they got the bakery in everything but their baked stuff, but it was darn near close. Helped them that Chop were an actual chef and that Berry actually had training as a barista, so they knew the ins and outs of the main things needed for their establishment. That didn't include baking however, which were again where the bakery had them beat. But eh, as their boss said, it was just good that they didn't overlap too much. Gave them each their own niche to fill in town.

"I'll be back in like, 20-30 minutes tops. Try and stay put until then Nada, and I'll bring you something that's so good that if you put it on your head, your tongue will try to slap through your brain to reach it. Just an expression, but I stand by it being good."

Wit that, and a cheeky grin, Berry went out the door and wandered off to get some stuff for the folks here. Such a strange circle of friends she were starting to pick up today, but they seemed like some good beings. Except for that mimic thing. That one was a right pain in her head. Literally.

Seeing the mare wander off, that left Cherish as the only somewhat *normal* pony in the room, but she didn't know what to say. Perhaps she should just wait and see what Serenade and Nada would speak about? They had the lake thing they were discussing, so... Yes, perhaps not the nicest thing to do to interrupt that. It was for the best to let them sort that out first.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"As I mentioned, the town have ears,a nd I had little want to share details when several of said ears might be listening in to what we would discuss.

To put things simple, the mark were left there by the Cult of Lesser Scales. A silly name for sure, but their efficiency have proven itself throughout the years, so it's hard to argue against their results in matters such as this.

They work for a dragon, or perhaps a family or council of such. No leadership have ever been truly established, and only the highest ranked members of the cult knows who they work for with any certainty. The lower ranks simply obey, or *disappears* if they become unruly, so leaks are scarce to find anyway, and so far none have had luck pressing it out of captured members.

As far as is known, they are mostly griffons, pegasi, and other flying creatures, who serve under the assumption that one day, if they do enough, they will ascend and become dragons themselves. I have no idea if that is even possible, but fanatics will believe what they want to, and with all the magic in the world, who can really say what is possible at this point?"

"I'm taking that you found their calling cards since you're so sure it's them?"

"The three marks and a good, but ultimately not perfect cover-up to make it seem as if a dragon had left the house in ruins. They're the only group who actively tries this fiercely to imitate dragons in all aspects as well as they can, and with the egg sale, it was bound to happen that they would be sent. If our contact had to flee or were taken, I do not wish to know, but regardless, we are unable to exhaust this route anymore."

"Go figure, eh? But don't worry Ruby, we have another contact in Canterlot that can get us sorted with this, and despite our most intense wishes that it were differently, she is perfectly fine. The yak lass were a very small fish in a big pond, and now we're headed straight for the shark area. So don't be impatient, but for the love of Celestia, try not to attack her. You don't want to get on her bad side."

"Indeed. But as dangerous as she can be, she is also a highly resourceful mare, and can help us fence these things within a very short amount of time. Long as she gets her fee, she will ensure a safe, untraceable transaction. So worry not, dear Ruby. The sun will set, but when it rises, its light will shimmer upon the pile of gold which you have rightfully earned."

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@EQ_Theta

On 11/30/2018 at 3:18 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“They went to a place back home where they could think and be calm for a while. They’re safe right now. But what about you? You look like you didn’t sleep well. Are you alright?”

"Don't worry about me. It's only nightmares."

Rosa really didn't wish to get into details about what he had dream this time, or why he had the need to check his neck, but suffice it to say that some bad memories had mixed with the visions from the swamp, and created quite the little scene of malice. It had been a vivid dream, but it was just that. A dream. Nothing more and nothing less. He just needed time to suppress this enough for it to not impact every sleep session he had.

"If the others are away, we should check the area. make sure that there's nothing nasty hidden and waiting to strike. We can't fail the mission."

Getting up on his hooves again, Rosa took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, then began wondering over towards the first crumbling ruin he saw. Or well, the two walls and half a floor that were left of it anyway. As good a place to start as any.

On 11/30/2018 at 3:18 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“I guess the animals scurried off when we arrived? I could understand birds flying away and perching somewhere else but I never really noticed it until you brought it up. Neither Sen nor I chased away any animals away when we first found this place. We’d certainly do not mind the company of animals here. Sentiments and plant growth aside, this place is exactly how we left it.”

"Birds make noise. There's nothing here."

Anomaly perched her ears and looked around, trying to find a chirp somewhere, but there wasn't a sound like that anywhere. She heard something, though what it was she hadn't the foggiest clue about. Might be rustling in the leaves, branches creaking or scratches on rocks far, far away? With small sounds like that, it were hard to say, and Omen weren't even sure if it were any of those.

"No, sound somewhere. Guess they hide.

When Master Discord ruled Equestria, the animals never kept hidden. Always something out there, looking for others, or attacking with many. They're scared in your age. Weird looking too. Looks different from back then. Only seen one who is the same. Squirrel things. Big mouths, with many teeth. Flying. Long time since I saw them now. Very long."

Back in the day, something resembling an elephant, but with giant spikes and poisonous claws might suddenly exit a cave, charge towards you and when it got you, start to play trumpet with its nose before wandering away again, leaving you confused and unharmed. Caterpillars could be predators, feasting on the unwary, and even pathetic creatures like goldfish might suddenly let out a small sound which caused thousands of its kind to join them in overwhelming their opponent, and then shock them.

Most things Discord had made were not designed to hurt ponies. More often than not, they were simply there to mess with their heads, and then work off one another to create a fragile, but simple ecosystem. Since he had gone and the creatures had gotten back to what she guessed were their realm forms before he took over, many had become far less random and entertaining, but a lot more were also dangerous to ponies. Timberwolves, tatzelwurms, and so forth, were treats more often than not, even though ponies had learned to overcome their foes. Adaptable creatures, the equines, but Omen still thought that their chances were better when Discord had ruled. You couldn't trust anything, but he didn't want anypony to perish, so things had been softened. There were not much fun in playing if there were no playmates left, as he had told her once upon a time.

"Times change. Nothing can remain the same. I hope this place does though. It's a good thinking place. Very calm."

Omen sat down in the grass and looked around, simply taking in the sights in silence for now, and thinking a little over some of the backlog she had in her head, whilst Shrimp were still playing around the nearby area. Currently, he seemed to be trying to fight a branch near the berries that had poked him when he went in to try and get one. It looked sort of like a small dog trying to drag a rope from its owner hand, just with a serpentine instead of the mentioned dog.

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@EQ_Theta @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

On 11/30/2018 at 3:18 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“Unicorns can use their magic on others. Or at least that’s what Fluttershy says. Twilight got herself and her earth pony friends to walk on clouds using magic. And she also managed to give another one of her friends wings. According to Fluttershy, those wings burned off when she flew too close to the sun.”

"Pony magic sure is weird, but pretty cool. Giving someone wings sounds like a bundle of fun, even if you can't get too high. Dragon magic can't do that from what I've seen. They mostly just control elements and make strange trinkets.

My dragon is an earth dragon, so she can control earth and rocks. She says most dragons doesn't have magic, and those who have, doesn't train them too well, or at all, so they can't really use much. Apparently they can use spell books though, but I don't know what those are. Never seen her have any, and she doesn't talk about it too much. Makes her all twitchy and grumpy."

Lotus had the inkling that it had something to do with a bad experience, since whenever Nerzhei began thinking about it, she started to sneer and sometimes broke things. It eventually made Lotus stop asking about these sort of things, as to not upset the dragon and cause her to get into a foul mood.

On 11/30/2018 at 3:18 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“I wouldn’t know if dragons could walk on clouds. Never really been up to the clouds before either.”

"I've seen a wind dragon before. They don't walk on clouds, but they make all sots of bad weather happen. My dragon hates them and calls them flying rats, and sometimes when they get too close and starts something, she bashes them out of the sky. She says it's an opposite element thing. Earth against air, and fire against water. I don't really get it, but apparently it's a big thing."

On 11/30/2018 at 3:18 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“I’m glad you like it, and I’m terribly sorry about any discomfort I’ve caused. I forgot about your injuries and I just got caught up trying to help. You don’t owe me anything, Nerzhei. The same goes for my descendants. I’m just happy to help.”

"Never apologize for something that isn't your fault. I chose to move my arm on my own accord, so what pain I feel is by my own choice. Besides, it's nothing."

It felt like her arm had been dipped in ice for too long and were slowly and painfully thawing, but the ponies did not need to hear that. She didn't want their pity, or that of any others for that matter.

"And be aware that I will repay you for this one day. My life is long and when I have had the chance to recuperate, my powers might be of some usage for someone like you. My magic specializes in earth and rock, so as an example, I could move the very land around near your sanctuary and make for more space and protective walls, or remove parts that have caused trouble. It is not as impressive to this area as what my... Ward, can do likely, but I don't know how much help she can be for a while anyway. After what the sphinx did to her, she seemed broken, in more ways than one."

Nerzhei sent a glance towards the door, wondering how the dryad were doing right now. She didn't want to openly say how worried she were, but really, she were concerned about what might be going through the creature's mind in her slumber, if anything. To have the very creator of your people stand in front of you, only to learn that her entire flock were nothing more than tools that were easily manipulated into causing havoc by that very creators spiteful wish... The dryad were too innocent of mind to easily brush this off.

Hopefully the physical misery that she had barely gotten the dryad away from would cause Lyriel to be more focused on the recovery than the thoughts that would inevitably start to swirl. It might be easier to think this through logically for the dryad if she didn't want the pain to remind her of the further betrayal.

*sigh* But they would see. Currently she were still sitting as a bush out there, recovering in fertile soil, and it was likely best not to disturb that.

"But that's of no importance. I stand by my offer, and you can then chose to cash in on it eventually or not. And once again, thank you for the work on my robes. I'm not particularly attached to them, but they're functional, and keeps me clothed. I don't enjoy the more... Natural state that several of my kind - and several of yours too it seems - enjoys.

Is there any particular reason why some ponies enjoys clothes and others does not, if I might ask? Dragons have the excuse of needing to hunt, fight, and the rarity it is to even find a draconic seamstress. What is the reason of your kind?"

She were trying to derail the conversation away from what might become questions regarding Lyriel, as she had no idea if she would not be marked as crazy for talking about dryads and then pointing to a bush whilst saying *She's sleeping*. Frankly, she would not blame the pony for thinking she were mad by then, as it were a strange concept for those who didn't know of the forest dwellers. Really though, she just wished for the dryad to gain some undisturbed peace, and leading the conversation away also had the benefit of not putting more focus on something that Fluttershy were beating herself down over. Fluttershy should focus on the good work she had done, rather than the discomfort she unwittingly had some part in causing the dragon, or this would just end being yet another blow to her self esteem.

So, Nerzhei had ended that talk on a compliment, and then segued as well as she could think of right now into another topic. They would see how it would go from here.

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@Rising Dusk

"A missing wing, eh? Poor whoever you're talking about. A pegasus that can't fly have gotta feel like a unicorn who can't cast a spell.

I think it's fixable though. Insertion of the right parts, then weigh the new wing appropriately and potentially add a bit of equalizing weight to the other side, then some rehabilitation... Yeah, it sounds feasible enough, and really, I'm more than happy to help some folks out with their problems. That's the whole point in inventing things after all. To make something for the good of everypony.

You have whoever it is with you?"

Molotov kept some good focus on the task at hoof whilst talking, though he did almost swing a half-finished pancake into his own face when he wanted to show off a little and do an air flip. He managed to not hit, but the pancake got torn in half on the edge of the pan and though he got the other part back on, it looked a right mess on the stove now. More than before even.

*sigh* He'd automate this entire thing if it wasn't because he hadn't figured out how to get a robot to figure out when the food were done yet. It could go on timers, but that didn't always work, and there were so far no middle of the road in his experience when it came to this. The experimental taste buds on Carmen were a good start of course, but then he'd have to insert an AI into a kitchen helper, and as Felicia had proven, there were no guarantee that an Ai would be happy about its station in life.

That right here were the issue with being innovative. When you had problems, you were the only other one who could really fix it, since you couldn't call the inventor and figure out what might be wonky. It really became a pain in the flank sometimes.

Ah, and there they went, that was the last of the pancakes. Now it was just to flip it at the right time and then there were late breakfast for them all.

...What? They had been working. Who could keep track of time when you were getting into the spirit of things?

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@OptimisticNeighsayer

"Undeath is not for your kind. begone!"

The pale light engulfed the room as a silent scream shook the old castle, and then, nothing.

Vivid glared at the pile of pale dust on the floor that were quickly vanishing. The only remnant left of the poltergeist that had tried to end her. Foolish spirit should know who to approach, and who to hide from, but what else could you expect from a malevolent spirit such as that, who clung to the world only to cause malice? They thought themselves immortal and unbeatable, and who knew, perhaps in this age, they would be so too. Yet Vivid were not of this age. she came from a time long since past, and had spend her entire life as a regular pony dedicated to sending spirits on to the next world. Mostly through speaking with them and making them see the light, but on occasions such as this, by forcing them along. And considering how the spirit had been, she doubted it would be a light that awaited him on the other side.

Regardless, the deed were done, and she had other things to prepare. The body stood ready for the spirit Charlie, whom she had cut a deal with in days past, and the harmony cube stood ready to feed its energy to the spell. The only thing she now missed were for Charlie to be ready, though that might take some time, and as such, she had glanced around at what else were happening in the castle whilst waiting to see if he would be done with his thinking. As it turned out, he were still uncommunicative. How delightful...

*sigh* Well, she may as well look further around the place and see if there were not something she could entertain herself with. She recalled seeing a piano in one of the rooms that might be interesting, even if she could not play one to save her life. It had never really been part of what she needed to do, though her singing voice were passable, so she had the essential musical skill needed in her mind.

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@OptimisticNeighsayer

So, already back in Ponyville... *sigh* This was not how he imagined things would go.

Cover-up had thought that when the batpony and his weird talking cat monster picked him up and went away, that he'd end up with some resolution to his problems. They had set up that he would get answers at least, and after they had been to Zecora's hut and she had both helped mend whatever wounds the monster had, and told the three where they needed to go, it actually seemed like something would happen. He'd get answers to what happened to his village, where all his townsfolks had gone, and how it were that he had heard that his family had been seen somewhere else. Perhaps even find them, if they were lucky.

But sadly, things had not gone so well. They had gone to the ruins of Ormenthal, and the cat had looked around and found some marks, but it had led to nothing, and everything just died out there. They had no clues to go with, no idea where to go next, and as the cat and bat pony started to loudly bicker and then get into a fight, Cover-up had finally left and gone back to the only place he could think of: Ponyville. The very town where he had originally gone to see if he could find clues about his parents, but where he had yet again found a dead end, before the calamitous duo had picked him up.

To think that it had only been a day since he were last here, and yet, it felt like a year and a half... A nightmare of a time, which at certain times, had been more literal than he cared to think about.

But what were he to do now? The clues were gone, but Ponyville were known as a hotbed for plenty of strange things, so perhaps if he stayed here he'd find some answers? He'd have to find some kind of residence then, and he'd probably have to integrate the best he now could.

That last part were going to be somewhat difficult likely. He had never left the isolationist settler village of Ormenthal, and there they raised their foals as if they were still mostly in the country of Harrowmark, and as such, it weren't as easy to get on the same wavelength as the more friendly and open-minded ponies of Equestria. Harrowmark denizens weren't like that. They tended to keep more to themselves and focus on farming or witchcraft. The villages did get along well among one another, but outsiders weren't something they were taught to trust. Came from a culture where you never knew who might be an evil witch in disguise.

Cover-up stopped up and looked in his saddlebag, counting the coins he had made doing some tattooing on the road. He should have enough for a while, long as he spent them wisely, but he had to start setting up shop here. Likely not something easy to do in a town like this, but who knew? Some ponies liked to have their fur painted. Not as much as him likely, as the swirling mass of a tattoo that he had covering a good deal of his body - and his head - in a dark, flowing tendril pattern were a little extreme, but this had little to do with vanity, and more to do with his own want to hide the horrific scars that he had gotten when his village were destroyed, and his home had collapsed on top of him. The tattoos helped cover it up, and made him thankful that he had discovered his ability to manipulate ink the way that he could, as well as the large paintbrush that were sitting across his back. if you discounted the head of it, it were around the length of a ten year old foal, but it weren't all that heavy. That were more the role of the large ink quill opposite the side of his saddlebag, which were currently half-full of ink, and were about the size of a reasonably sized Hallow's End pumpkin.

On the bright side, it at least gave the 14 year old unicorn some muscles from carrying this around so much, though he wasn't one who liked to fight, so he didn't have much to use them on really, unless he had to help with some manual labor. Sometimes happened even if he didn't care much for it, but you did what you could to get by on the road.

In any case, the faded-parchment, yellow colored colt now stood at the entrance to Ponyville, and tried to figure out where to go now. He had heard of some kind of school of friendship last he were here, although briefly. Perhaps that would be a place to learn how to better integrate into Equestrian society, and know how to get along better with everypony? It was as good a starting point as anything really.

So, he made sure that the string holding his long, pale-white mane and tail were there, gave a quick, nervous glance to ensure that the ink he had added to the tips of both to make it seem more like paint brushes - a personal preference more than anything - were still on the right side of the string, and then went on his way to try and find the school, whilst trying to stay out of sight as well as he now could, all things considered.

When eventually he found said school, he'd gulp down what felt like a spiked golf ball, and then nervously raise a hoof to knock/press the bell, depending on if there even were a bell. Guess now there was just... Waiting, and seeing who would open the door. He prayed to a few of the gods from his homeland that whoever answered, wasn't going to just slam said door in his face.

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

@Emperor Blu Traincrown

15 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Yeah, a complete redo of the Equestrian railway. And it's quite needed if you ask me, cause we're talking about trains running on these tracks everyday at 125 mph. Also, as I said earlier, a new signalling system will be in place. You see, the railway line will be separated in blocks. Each block will be introduced by a signal placed next to the tracks:

If there's a train in a block, the signal protecting this block will display a red aspect, meaning Danger. The driver in that case will need to stop the train before the signal.

If there is a clear block separating two trains, the signal protecting this clear block will display a yellow aspect, meaning Caution. When encountering this signal, the driver must slow down to at least 25 mph as quickly as possible, in order to be able to stop at the next signal, expected to be at Danger.

When two blocks are clear, the signal will show a double-yellow aspect, meaning Preliminary Caution. You have to start applying the brakes and stay at moderate speed. 75 mph is a good speed to be able to be able to react to whatever the next signal you encounter displays.

And finally, there's the signal displaying a green aspect, meaning Clear. You may proceed at the speed limit of the line you're running on."

"Sounds like you got the tracks figured out then, so now you *just* have to make the advanced, next generation train. Good only the easy part is left, eh?"

Molotov elbowed Azure playfully, and grinned at his own joke. As if the train were going to be the easy part, hah! What a laugh.

15 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Also, there would be magnets between the rails, 220 yards ahead of every signal. These would serve for the Advanced Warning System. I'll talk about it later, since it's cockpit stuff. There also will be speed limitations of course, you'll never see a train going through a sharp curve at 125 mph!" He would chuckle, looking at Molotov. "Oh, and level crossings will be removed on 125 mph sections. It'd be too dangerous for ponies nearby."

"As for your robotized service, it'd be cooler than ponies for sure! I'll give you the passenger cars' blueprints so you can see how to make the wiring and stuff fit in. Same goes for the radio stuff."

"I'm sure we'd see a train going that fast around a curve for a while. Mainly because it'd be flung right off and thrown across the nearby area, heh. Definitely something you'd want to avoid, and I gotta say, you sound like you're really prepped for that. Don't want any of them lawsuits your way.

The blueprints though, now that's some juicy stuff. Far easier to put some plans in from those, and faster too. A few minutes to figure out where the least vital parts are and I can start thinking up something. Don't you worry none Azure, I'm gonna make sure your trains interior will be top of the line to fit with the rest of this beauty."

15 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"That's a deal, Partner! So, tell me about the size of your device needing a battery, so I can make it fit and not weigh too much. Batteries can be heavy you know?"

Molotov poked at the sapphire around his neck, which Azure surely had some idea about were the solar gatherer for the unicorns wings, seeing as they had reinforced wires in tubes going backwards and attach to the base of said wings.

"I have my current carrier between the sapphire and the base of the unit. Sun goes into the gem casing, it gathers and sends it down towards the storage, and then it goes there until I activate it with the chip in my head. I still need to figure out how to make this construction works without the invasive surgery, but that's a headache for another day. Though in case you're curious, the chip's needed to control the wings without magic. Brain impulses going through, activating by thought essentially. The mind's mostly just for activating 'em and then the subconscious part takes over."

He'd be honest and say that he were mighty proud of this chip, but fact of the matter were still that it were an issue if his invention were to ever go to use for the wider population. You couldn't ask somepony to get invasive surgery as part of something like that, and expect it to go over all that well. But until he found a better way for the brain waves or electrical impulses to affect the wings, this would have to do the trick.

To get back to the battery though, Molotov took a step back and with his horn screwed off some bolts that kept the sapphire collector in place, opening it up and showing a complicated mess of wires, chips, and several pins that were meant to connect to the shell to lead the energy gathered downwards towards the middle, where - after removing another cap - he'd expose the current power source, which were a solid piece of sapphire covered and pierced by several wires, with a glowing rune on it. The current magic he were using to keep it all contained without leakage.

"I ain't the best on small power sources, but I made due with what I knew and a little cheating of a spell. That part though, I wanna get out of the design. It just don't feel right if I have to add that, y'know? Only power source I know how to make without magic in it is in Carmen and Felicia, and that's not working for this. It's too expensive to mass produce, and it needs to run in unison with some other systems and several programs to not cause a catastrophic meltdown.

Uhm... Ignore that last part. Nopony's really supposed to know about that."

Molotov found it best that nopony knew how unstable the base of the power source he had for his spiderbots were, as that were not going to grant him any brownie points anywhere. Carmen alone could level everything in a 200 meter radius if her system cracked, and Felicia? There was a reason why both her power source and her shell in general had been made of only the best materials he could find. He didn't want to risk his guardian robot to get a beating and cause everything in a two mile radius to be pulverized.

Did he need some help with them too? Sure, in theory, but so far they had proven to run smoothly, and since they needed to run on massive amounts of power, a small battery wouldn't do anyway. Perhaps when he saw what Azure could do, he'd consider that, but the spiderbots were his babies. He couldn't let something others made get into their frame before he were absolutely sure it wasn't gonna harm them.

15 hours ago, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"I was on my way to describe you what would be in the cockpit, but I'm sure you'd love a direct demonstration of what would the driver face when this beauty's in service: a friend of mine finished building a simulator of this train's cockpit. I ain't asking if you wanna get there, I already know the answer."

"This. This sounds like a far better thing to focus on. Let's see where the magic happens."

In case Azure would look at Molotov's necklace, he'd wait putting the cap on again, though soon as they'd move on to the train again, Molotov would seal it back up. He kinda needed the power source to fly off Cloudsdale and get home safely, so keeping it exposed to accidents weren't such a hot idea.

Edited December 2, 2018 by Blitz Boom

Lucid_Nightlight · December 1, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Now to go door to door demanding that they eat soap."

"Yes, we will not leave their property until they eat the soap."

"Anomaly, you can can wear a saleman hat and try to convince them to eat it and I'll give them invitations to the scented candle cult."

Edited December 1, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Sekel · December 1, 2018

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"I'm not old enough to drink that," Aurora told Happy. "I've never even come close to drinking schnapps. The country's mental, yes, but it's also got a lot of fantastic sights," she added and sat down before looking up at him. "I'm dealing. I don't think I've gotten a grasp on being an actual drone yet, to be honest."

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

"Oh. He's a literal time traveller. I don't know what to make of that," Karmic admitted and in that brief moment of confusion, she gasped as Atzy banged on the inside of her mind. "What do you want!?" she shouted and banged her head in response to try to get Atzy to stop doing whatever she was doing.

'Oh, just to see your reaction,' Atzy snickered in Karmic's mind.

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

"Very weird," Watts agreed upon noticing Francis. She grabbed her goggles from the top of her head and placed them over her eyes as she continued to look at Francis. "And intriguing. There's nothing on him in the Canterlot Archives," she replied in a fascinated tone, and was speaking more to herself, but both Francis and Zealous could hear her clearly.

@Blitz Boom, @EQ_Theta, @Seamore Sandwich

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"The clothes ponies wear are normally a status symbol. Most ponies tend to go without because we don't particularly need clothes. The ones that where them are all the rich folk up in Canterlot, Manehatten, and all the other major cities in Equestria. Even ponies from across the oceans where clothes, but those reasons we don't know why. If you're going to a fancy ball or gala, you need to dress up otherwise you'll risk of ponies looking down on you simply because you chose not to wear anything," Twilight explained while she admired Fluttershy's hoofwork on Nerzhei's clothes.

Catpone Cerberus · December 2, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom
"Aright" Nada simply replied to Serenade before floating into the pond while Berry and her had their little conversation, still keeping her head above the water since she still wasn't alone and didn't want to be rude. When Berry left, Nada waved with her hoof "See you later." she had found Berry's expression about the taste bit weird but she just brushed it of as a pony thing that she didn't understand. After Berry was gone, Nada looked at Serenade and Cherish "Are all ponies as....unique as Berry nowadays or is she just bit odd?" "I don't want to talk ill behind her back, but I need to know what to expect."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Blitz Boom
Ruby listened without interrupting, and after it was her turn, she summarized what she understood, "So, what you are saying is that, there's some lazy dragon who has created a cult around themselves from idiots who think they can just turn into a dragon, that goes around doing crime?" "And that now after we couldn't find who we were looking for from safe guardless town, we are going to meet somepony in the most guarded city in Equestria?" it was hard to tell what she was feeling at the moment "You know I'm taking quite a risk considering I just met you today, and you don't even tell me who exactly we are going to meet, hay, I didn't even know our original contact was a yak before we arrived." "So if you want I'll keep following you blindly around.." and not just steal everything from you right now "...Could you at least tell me who we are going to meet, or at least, why do you need to specifically tell me to not attack her, since that indicates that she will give me a reason to do so." she needed to know if that mare would risk her cover.

Moonlit · December 2, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade chuckles, "Yes." She starts writing a message to Princess Luna before affixing a seal that results in a puff of dark blue smoke that found it's way out a window. "Pinkie Pie is....probably even more unique and Berry is odd" She smirks, "Ponies are all unique, some more then others. So I told Princess Luna that there is a Second Siren here and that she wishes to meet. She'll probably drop by here first to meet, so you'll be less stressed and not run like a scared chicken through the halls of Canterlot Castle" She smiles.

EQ_Theta · December 2, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"Sounds like there's so much about dragons that ponies don't know about. I know! Fluttershy might be able to teach Twilight about this. She was always going on about writing something about dragons that could help the princesses in Canterlot. She's going to love to hear about everything you just told me and more!"

Eureka moments usually don't come to Angel, mostly because in the event that it does, he keeps it to himself. No one really gets to admire the idea when it is seemingly non-existent. That stuff with the dragons having different types is a fascinating thing. Knowledge like that may not really be useful to a rabbit who will likely never interact with a wider selection of dragons that Spike and Nerzhei, but it would be folly to squander that kind of knowledge without at least relaying it to someone who will greatly benefit from it.

"Anyways, you wanna stick around or do you want to head back?"

As for Nerzhei's question, Twilight pretty much nailed it in the head. She beat the pegasus to the punch so there wasn't much the way of providing a redundant answer. Maybe it was mostly right but the otherwise simpler explanation may be a good thing to add to the princess's reply. It sounds like a good idea to show how much in common the ponies and dragons have, at least in terms of clothing options.

"Twilight is right, but you could also say there is some practical purpose for wearing clothes. To protect from heat or cold depending on temperature, for instance; ponies don't usually have a natural form of protection from the elements so we make do with clothes. This is especially true the farther you go up north where the cold becomes almost unbearable. But I do have to ask about something you mentioned: you mentioned specializing in certain forms of magic. I didn't know dragons could use magic. How does that work?"

Though this question was likely going to get Twilight very much curious, it was something that caught Fluttershy's off-guard. For the longest time, it was common knowledge to ponies that dragons didn't really have magic, or this area of study is non-existent and everything to do with knowledge on the dragons was based on hear-say. Maybe now is the perfect time to learn about them, at least for the benefit of one Princess Twilight. It wouldn't hurt to learn more about dragons and maybe even Fluttershy might be able to gain some perspective.

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

@Blitz Boom

Seems like there is much to credit Discord for, at least from Omen's point of view. It wasn't for Lin but she had learned to accept that not everything has to work from one perspective and invalidate another. After all, each experience is unique and no less valid. But the idea of it all, creatures whose very definition and appearance convey the concept of chaos and made incarnate, that kind of idea sent shivers down Lin's spine. Just hearing about some of those odd things still running around... maybe it's best to remain vigilant from now on.

"I guess you might get your hopes up. This place already has at least a twelve year head start and I really hope it gets to keep its beauty for many more years to come. This sanctuary is a self-sustaining piece of land; even if we aren't around to look after it, nature always finds a way to make sure it stays standing. And as for the animals, you might want to reconsider your stance. Not all of them are scared. The timberwolves hunt in packs but they like to keep themselves hidden until it is the perfect time to strike. It's a reason why they're effective."

Lin looked to Shrimp playing about in the grass nearby. She couldn't help but smile as the little creature was attempting to fight a branch, but that is just the way things work. Curiosity leads to a better understanding of the world and the refraction will grow up smarter, little by little and always at his pace. Such simple pleasures are sorely missed and it sometimes hurts the longma siblings to know that they once could've grown up without being rushed to mature. There was no point in complaining about that now, though.

Back at the seaside, Sen followed Rosa about, watching and noting what their objective for now will be. There doesn't seem to be anything in the surrounding area that could suggest danger, but there was a problem about underestimating anything. It almost never ends well.

"Alright, Rosa. I got your back." Sen said confidently, staying a fair ways back and keeping his eye on things Rosa might not catch. Blind spots were always the primary reason why anyone ever gets caught off-guard in an ambush, at least that's what he learned as a youngling. That would be a good enough assumption to work with first.

Edited December 2, 2018 by EQ_Theta

FanOfManyShows · December 2, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Astral sighed looking back to Chow. "Not what I meant, you are still able to voice concern over our plans."

On 11/27/2018 at 2:21 PM, Blitz Boom said:

"Start yapping too much on about this sorta thing before the princesses gives us an official pass on this sorta thing, and before we know it, there's guards on our flanks."

"That's a good idea Chow, let's discuss something else before we enter town." Iron pointed ahead, they still had a bit of distance, but it was going to be pretty soon that they'd start seeing other ponies and get over heard.

"Oh right, I should've gotten used to not discussing this stuff." It turned pretty silent after that, really not knowing what to discuss that wasn't related to magic or what happened recently.
=====================
@Blitz Boom

"My husband isn't easy to hide from, I do know that he goes blind in order to see, and deaf in order to hear. His power weakens his body. Distracting him and the others would make it harder for him to focus on us." She rose a hoof. "There is also this spell I created, that detects if he is watching the one who casts it." In her hoof formed flowing smoke, turning red. "Red, he's not watching or listening, if it's green, he is." The smoke dissipated as she put her hoof down.

"There is no other way to ensure he's not watching with you in a vessel like the one you're in now, the fact you have a body is an issue, since he can only observe those with bodies." Suddenly, an idea popped in her head, as she put her hoof back up. "Unless..." She looked to her sister, now she'd not know if Emerald would think the same idea, but they did both know of Sapphire's ability, entering the astral plane. "If we entered the Astral plane, he couldn't see us there either. How bound are you to that body? If it's not strong enough it would detach you if we tried that."

====================
@Dji

So he had to make an excuse, clearly. But if the mare had this type of stuff on her it'd be hard to gauge what she'd do next to check if his lie could be true, as much as it wouldn't. "I'm not exactly from here." Which was the first thing that came to mind, 'darn it that'd just attract her to ask me where I am from' was the second thought to come to mind, but it'd be easy to change the subject, which was only a hope for him. "How does that thing work, anyway?"

Zealous looked to Watts and the goggles, then to the pegasus, and then back to Watts. "I'm a bit intrigued myself."

Blitz Boom · December 3, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Nopony ever trusts the one with the pumpkin head, silly. I'll carry the basket, you sell stuff."

And as any good salespony, he needed a great big hat for his role, so Anomaly shot out her tongue, which wrapped around the top of Lucid's head, then snapped and warped into a large, purple top hat. Complete with a inscription going *Real smart guy*.

Afterwards, Anomaly changed herself into a small table, with a miniature version of her head stuck to the underside of it so that she could still see things. She'd then go over to the basket, lean down, and put the thing on her bag, and presto, now they were ready. They got their salespony, the product, and the local to make them seem more trustworthy. They'd make ponies eat soap in no time.

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

@Dji

"Fair enough. Hard to tell with changelings how old they are, you know? Hit me up once you get to the 21 mark though, and I'll get you sorted. I might not seem like it now, but back in the human world, I was a pretty good wine maker. If anything, it's frankly just gotten easier since I got to this world, since you folks have magic. It can really help speed up the process so that I have stuff on the shelves all the time.

I think I have some cider laying around the wagon I could gather up for ya in a given time though. I loathe the stuff, but ponies love it, and I'm trying to please the customers."

"Have you gotten sentimental over the years, Happy?"

"A little, my queen. No worries though, I never let it get in the way of my real work. Guess I might be able to now, provided I can still shift forms. Nopony is gonna even let me into their city if I go 'round looking like this."

It wasn't the changeling part so much as the human half that were gonna get him into problems honestly. Ponies weren't always too receptive of what they didn't know, and humans getting into this world were from what he could gather, mostly just fairy tales and myths. If ponies could go batty over a zebra getting within their vicinity, something like him were gonna ring all the alarms, and he didn't wanna be in a pony prison. They were small and uncomfortable.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry none, Aurora. Even if you don't have the complete grasp of the drone life, it ain't so bad. A few impulses to keep in check and some adjusting of not having the hivemind to share thoughts with your fellow changelings is the main deals, and it sounds like the second ain't even a bother. I heard from a few that some can end up go crazy from the deafening silence after being cut off. Never know myself since I can't access the hivemind, but it sounds possible enough I guess."

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

@Dji

"You can do the same that the rest of us does, and simply despise him from a distance. His powers is such that no being can realistically harm him. Not even our High Council."

Enzo barely finished saying something before Karmic seemed to have a strange episode of some kind, and began yelling a sentence that out of context would seem to have no point, yet with what she were sharing her vessel with, would make enough sense as Atzy would strain her bonds. These two were truly not meant to get along, were they?

"Do you find we have shared enough words now, and that action is needed? Your fight will not subside anytime soon, and a choice must be made so that we can plan from there. So tell me, once and for all, do you plan on ending your unwanted visitor, or pouring her into a new vessel, so that you may both be free?"

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

@Dji @EQ_Theta

23 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

"Sounds like there's so much about dragons that ponies don't know about. I know! Fluttershy might be able to teach Twilight about this. She was always going on about writing something about dragons that could help the princesses in Canterlot. She's going to love to hear about everything you just told me and more!"

"Long as my dragon can ask questions back, I don't think she'll mind. She want to learn more about ponies too."

Granted, Nerzhei's plan of learning had simply been to find books and then teach herself some of the basics from there, but perhaps if she got it straight from the horses mouth, it would carry some more weight. Not the biological part though, she guessed. Ponies would probably not want to talk about that, and Nerzhei would want pictures showing things like bone structure and stuff, from what Lotus could remember.

23 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

"Anyways, you wanna stick around or do you want to head back?"

"Sure. We can always go back here another time, and the next round, we're gonna see who can make the biggest splash."

Lotus sent a glance into the air to see if the slow creature were still there, and it seemed so. She'd have to tell Nerzhei abut this one at some point, and see what she'd make of it, but it was probably one of those Equestrian animals that they wouldn't ever see in Dragon land, so she might have no idea too. Usually whatever couldn't hide well or fight back, didn't make it in the harsher land of the dragons.

On 12/2/2018 at 12:40 AM, Dji said:

"The clothes ponies wear are normally a status symbol. Most ponies tend to go without because we don't particularly need clothes. The ones that where them are all the rich folk up in Canterlot, Manehatten, and all the other major cities in Equestria. Even ponies from across the oceans where clothes, but those reasons we don't know why. If you're going to a fancy ball or gala, you need to dress up otherwise you'll risk of ponies looking down on you simply because you chose not to wear anything,"

23 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

"Twilight is right, but you could also say there is some practical purpose for wearing clothes. To protect from heat or cold depending on temperature, for instance; ponies don't usually have a natural form of protection from the elements so we make do with clothes. This is especially true the farther you go up north where the cold becomes almost unbearable. But I do have to ask about something you mentioned: you mentioned specializing in certain forms of magic. I didn't know dragons could use magic. How does that work?"

"I have no interest in mingling with the pompous and intolerable elite, but I find the information useful, in case I do run into a pony with clothes that seems to not be for warmth or some kind of related work. It may make it easier to not be too close to some that I might find overly insufferable.

Personally, I have little issue with warmth, but I wear these for the comfort as well as the practicality. As a scholar, I find the need for pockets to be substantial."

Dragons could feel cold of course. Especially the fire dragons, who in colder climates could feel their initiate need to be near something warm like a pyre or volcano, but Nerzhei herself didn't tend to feel it too much. She might need to take it into consideration now that she were in a country where colder weather didn't mean that she could simply migrate closer to a volcano, but she would deal with that as it came.

"As for dragons using magic, there is a reason why it isn't widely known. Or rather, there's two.

The first is that not all dragons are born with the capacity for it in the first place. You may see us spew fire, but that's a simple chemical reaction and specialized glands, not magic. The potential is something you need to be born with, much like you ponies and your horns, though for dragons there is no physical indicator to go by.

The second reason is simply that being good at magic takes practice, and those who find they have the magical potential don't often care enough to do anything with it. As my kind are more often than not simplistic brutes, they focus more on biting and flashing their muscles at one another, so the magic they find are pathetic, or simply doesn't manifest enough to even be noticed.

I were one who were born with the potential that did something with it, though I have met others who too have dedicated time to study and become stronger in the field. Generally speaking, our main power when it is will depend on the element we're associated with. Water, earth, fire or wind. That being the four sub-types of dragon in Dragon Land. I for example, am an earth dragon, and as such my magic shows in earth based elemental spellwork. We can learn from books about more general spells, like what you ponies may do, but those books are highly restricted by elders who want them for themselves. I can personally attest to that."

A small growl escaped Nerzhei as she recalled the squad who came and took the one spell book she had actually managed to get away, confiscated for reason that were pathetic in her mind, but of course, what were she to do? There were an order to things, and much as she disliked them, she couldn't just go against the will of the elders, so she had to give it up.

"And in case you wonder, there are some things that separates the sub-types of dragons more than what magic we may end up possessing. Water dragons have gills and a membranous layer in front of their eyes to help against sea water, fire dragons can bathe in volcanoes and tend to have stronger flames, wind dragons are slimmer and spends most of their time in the sky, as well as tend to be more likely to be born with large wings, and earth dragons such as myself are more likely to be born without wings and get them later, to walk wherever we go, and act as craftsmen, as our natural connection to the earth tends to make us inclined to work with metal.

Earth dragons are the most common, but you will likely find others mingling around, depending on where you look, with the water ones living almost exclusively near oceans or lakes. A reclusive sort that doesn't like showing themselves without reason, but don't take it for weakness. They tend to be rather ferocious and territorial."

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

@EQ_Theta

23 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

"I guess you might get your hopes up. This place already has at least a twelve year head start and I really hope it gets to keep its beauty for many more years to come. This sanctuary is a self-sustaining piece of land; even if we aren't around to look after it, nature always finds a way to make sure it stays standing. And as for the animals, you might want to reconsider your stance. Not all of them are scared. The timberwolves hunt in packs but they like to keep themselves hidden until it is the perfect time to strike. It's a reason why they're effective."

"In my masters time, the wolves would hide too, but their pelts could look like the ground. They hid better. Didn't bite too many though. Just stole their tails. Strange thing to collect."

The foggy imagery of a earth-colored wolf with the majority of the hair from somepony's tail got to mind, along with the faceless visage of a pony who were yelling in the direction of said wolf, though the words had faded away like the face had. Whatever had been once said were gone from her memory, but what did it matter anyway? These creatures were no more, and in their stead, were other, more shy wolves, and the timberwolves, who found a lesser need to be as self-preserving as the regular kind, as they could just reassemble if they got broken up. Fire made them concerned though. She had seen that work before, and it had been used rather effective by some ponies travelling with a group of wanderers, so they weren't immune to fear.

As for the tail stealing, it didn't make much sense, but Omen had always considered that to be the point back when Discord had ruled, and didn't question it. Now she might, where the world were set in stone and nothing were supposed to be pointless, but they were gone now, and in their stead, were beings who would take far more than just some hair from your body.

"I don't know if twelve years is a lot for this place, but it should be the same for a long time. Perhaps when you and Sen are dead, I can keep looking here. make sure it's okay."

She had no idea if Lin would remain with her for that many years, though it seemed like Sen at least were going to die like normal. How long it would be were hard to say, as Omen's feeling of time weren't exactly optimal, but it wouldn't be forever, and he would end up being gone, like most others Omen knew. Lin might too, but she didn't know. She had siblings that had died from old age before, and Mother had said that Omen lasted this long because of something her master had done, so Lin might be there longer and then be gone at some point. Nothing she saw the point in thinking about too much though, as death itself basically just meant *they are gone* to Omen. The metaphysical discussions regarding souls and the afterlife were alien concepts to her.

23 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

"Alright, Rosa. I got your back."

A good thing to have backup, yet as would turn out the more they looked around, it wouldn't really matter. There were no traps, no monsters lurking in corners, and nothing that would even indicate that anypony had been in the area for a while. Rosa still meant it were better to check, especially as they might as well do something whilst waiting for the others to return, but it seemed that the area were clear, and after being as thorough as necessary, he'd finally stop up and sit down again, weary and satisfied with their lack of a find.

"It seems we're alone, and not in any danger from anything on land at least. Good that we have less to worry about from that angle then."

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

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

"So it isn't just the way things goes in this age? That's a relief. She seems... Nice, but it's wouldn't be easy getting used to the thought that everypony would be acting like that. I don't even know what she's talking about when she starts speaking of conspiracies."

Honestly, she had started to think that perhaps Berry was just crazy and that she had escaped from whoever normally kept a look on her, but from the sound of it, she were just what somewhat odd, and many ponies were special in their own way? Perhaps for the best that she couldn't remember how things were when she were alive all that well anymore. The contrast between the way ponies were back then and now might have been a little much for her, depending on how it used to be, so in a sense, it were likely good that she lost her perspective.

In any case, she didn't want to backtalk the mare too much, so instead she focused on some of the other parts of what Serenade said and let what she said of Berry be that for now.

"It's good that we can just wait here for the princess, though, who's that Pinkie you were talking about? What you said of her is making me nervous.

She... She's not a unicorn, r-right?"

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

@Catpone Cerberus

"Her name is Scarcity."

"Hey, shut it."

"No. Our esteemed colleague are correct that we need to share what we know in this matter, otherwise it will be unkind to throw her into the situation, and really, she should know who she are dealing with. As well as one can in any regards.

As I were saying, her name her Scarcity, and she owns an antique store in Canterlot. That's her public persona however, as among the black market circut she is known as one of, if not the most reliant problem solver.

If you need a sale done or an auction set up without trace, you contact her and she starts making things happen. Same with most other issues that left you in a bind. Long as you can pay her fine, she can fix it.

We had our first personal run in with her when some things happened that left us in quite the bind with the law. A substantial amount of evidence were ensuring that our future looked bleak, yet when we got contact, it were less than two hours and suddenly we were freed, and even apologized to for the false accusations. What she did we do not know, but a being who can make things seemingly vanish that easily and still live as a free and never wanted pony are someone to not trifle with.

And if you wonder why we say to not incur her wrath, recall that she is again, a problem solver. Others have been known to cross her or attempt to rat her out to the authorities, and if they are fortunate, their lives will merely be ruined and their credibility destroyed. In more severe cases, they will vanish and never be heard from again.

Simply put, in the world you're wandering into with us, influence and efficiency are everything, and she is on top of the game there. Though as mentioned, long as we do not try something foolish like attacking her or attempt to not give her her cut of the proceeds - which worry not, is not too severe - things should go smoothly.

As for how we will get in, we will split up when we reach the town, and Spicy will go in and work the deal. We will be granted access without being searched, or told where to go from there.

As for why I specified you should not attempt to attack her, it is more a personal observation about your... Abrasive nature. It might clash some with her, especially as she likes to ask questions and likely know more than you care for, while you are a less inquisitive mare with no need for having others dig their noses into your business.

Will that suffice, or are there more which you wish to know?"

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

@FanOfManyShows

"Since nopony else seems willing to take the first stab at things, I'll go ahead: Why in the name of Tartarus aren't any of you folks taking the chance to actually get some rest? If magic is anything like physical strength, you must be running on low tanks of both right about now, and have to let it build up again. You said yourselves that we aren't just gonna pop in and try to clock them yet, so why aren't any of ya thinking about getting charged up for when we do go?"

He hadn't gotten an answer at any other time, but Chow would try once again, and see if he could wring it out of 'em. If it turned out that their magic were feeding them physical energy whilst charging up by itself, he was gonna call 'em cheaters and start wondering why they hadn't divulged this fancy little trick beforehoof. Would've served him better than getting swatted in the face with books.

Likely though, they weren't all as peppy as they pretended, and the lot were just some stubborn little things that didn't know when to sit down and have a breather. Chow could admire tenacity like that, but considering what they were up against, at some point you had to think that getting charged up would be better for them all, rather than getting to the fight, and everypony nearly collapsing and throwing around the sorta magic that could barely draw a rabbit out of a hat.

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

@FanOfManyShows

So the trick would be to strike Iron when he were trying to scout for others? Emerald had little against a good ambush strike, but the kind she had in mind to keep Iron from interfering for a while were likely not appreciated by Sapphire, who were clearly still attached to him, considering he called him her husband. Sentimental old mare were not making this easy, but then again, when had it ever been easy with Sapphire? The road they had threaded had been quite a rocky one, and it certainly wasn't going to smooth sailing just yet. They were still too far behind on things to think that, and even if they did get their goals, Emerald could imagine that that would be when the real issues would begin, as Sapphire would try to get back to her family, whilst she... Something. Emerald had not thought much about what she would do if she ever did get a body of her own.

And speaking of her current body, it seemed like her grip were coming into question, as Sapphire wafted her idea about going into the astral plane to hide from Iron's view. An interesting idea, and not one that Emerald had thought over herself, as that ability from Sapphire had actually been forgotten by her it seemed, but thinking on it now, a few vague images of that came to mind. Potentially a good hiding place, though the risk came that perhaps her own grip would loosen.

"Normally I wouldn't risk it, but this body is surprisingly easy to keep hold of. Whoever this vessel belongs to had already been suppressed before I found her bound near the castle, and there have yet to be any sign of her *waking up* so to speak. I know there is somepony in here with me, and that whatever is going on isn't natural, yet more than that I am not aware. I can tell you that my grip currently is iron solid though, and likely will last for a few more days before I need a new vessel. Either because of time restraints, of because it will be time to work on your resurrection spell, at which point I will need my former vessel back again.

Regardless, try and send us away, but be cautious. There is never any guarantee that things will go well."

Edited December 3, 2018 by Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk · December 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Molotov made it sound so simple and even impressive with his ability to just ramble off everything that would likely need to be done to perform such a task. Considering what he found out about the Boom sibling's own wing designs looked rather painful to install, it probably wasn't going to be too pleasant. Null was pretty tough though or at least acted like it, so a little rehabilitation didn't sound that far a stretch for her. Getting through her attitude would probably be the biggest hurdle. Talking through Void would be the best route he thought. Of course, not wanting to butt too much into their business, he'd open the door for them to walk through if they chose to. Molotov did raise a good point about how a pegasus should feel without the ability to fly, especially when they once could.

There was more he needed to inquire about though. Remembering that Molotov's wings were powered by a gem with basic magical elements to it, which would prove a problem for Null. That would have to wait a moment though, because watching the inventor try to show off with some pancake flipping. The entertainment brought a smirk to the tired detective's lips while Molotov finished up making breakfast for him and his sister. Not that he was going to judge. Most of his breakfasts consisted of pouring oats from a cereal box into his open mouth. Milk later.

Since this was going to be more a prosthetic for a pegasus, rather than a unicorn trying to use wings, he needed to get to those details. Shaking his head in required to whether the pony in question was here with him. "Would this require any magic or is this completely mechanical?" Rising Dusk inquired. Keeping the nature of Null's ability to suppress magic to himself. Not wanting to invade their privacy.

Catpone Cerberus · December 3, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom
Nada just nodded in understanding when Serenade answered her question, and nodded yet again when she explained what she had told the princess, this could go better than she had hoped. Nada gave a short laugh when Serenade joked about her running around the Castle, it was funny because she was self-aware enough to understand that it could actually happen.
When Cherish mentioned about the conspiracies, Nada looked at her "You and me both, and it doesn't help that she uses new words like machine that I have no idea what they mean."

At Cherish's question, Nada stayed quiet and waited for the answer, she was curious about this Pinkie too, but she also got curious why Cherish was so worried about her possibly being unicorn, sure she too was cautious of unicorns, but she was curious of Cherish's exact reasoning.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@Blitz Boom

Yet again Ruby listened patiently, and again she summarized what she understood "So very capable, antique selling mare who likes to ask lot of questions." "That will suffice, thank you." The questioning part could be a problem, because though Ruby had prepared to lot of stuff, she knew that if somepony was good enough with words, they could cause her to talk herself into a corner, but at the same time, she liked the idea of capable pony, they seemed to be rare. But ultimately Ruby didn't worry, she was good at avoiding questions, and there was no worries about the mare finding anything about her she didn't want to be found by herself, because due the way Ruby had arrived to Equestria, there wasn't any information about her anywhere, technically speaking she didn't exist, and those who had got too close to her had always disappeared without a trace, not that anypony seemed to miss those ponies that much anyways. "And I now understand why Spicy didn't want to tell me at first..." she looked at Spicy "...you're worried still that I'll rat you out, and you fear that I would talk about her too, which could lead her to know that you told me, which in turn would cause...consequences." she looked forward again and smirked "But don't worry my dear, that's not in my interests to do."

Moonlit · December 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus "No, Pinkie is MUCH worse then a Unicorn. She's an Earth Pony. I think she knew I was a Siren when I first moved to Ponyville and was disguised as a Pegasi, she knows EXACTLY what food you want, and she'll throw you a Pinkie Pie party so you can meet friends. She's actually a really fun pony, once you get to know her." Serenade walks over to the fridge, and puts the bag back in. "She's friends with Princess Luna, so I trust her"

Sekel · December 3, 2018

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

"It's ... uh ..." Watts hesitated, stepping back a small bit to get some breathing space. She didn't expect to be questioned about her goggles but after casually blurting out that she has no idea who Francis is, she may have to own up to what was going on. "I ... um ... I have a deal with the archivist at the Canterlot Archives ... they placed a spell on my goggles ... it's inside a magic gem fit into the nose clips and sends me information whenever I look at somepony with them."

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"I believe I can access the hivemind but I have a feeling Queen Onache will have to help with that one," Aurora chuckled. "I never really tried because I've been a griffin most of my life. As far as I know, the only abilities I really have are changing my form and feeding on love. That's pretty much it for me."

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

"yes please," Karmic whispered in pain, cowering on the ground from some unseen force. "As quickly as possible please. A separation into two entities. Please."

@EQ_Theta, @Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Magic?" Twilight asked with widened eyes. She got a big grin at hearing the word, especially when it was associated with dragons. A culture barely anypony knew about. She eventually did nod along to Nerzhei's words and scribbled down hasty notes on a spare bit of parchment to keep up with what she was saying. She had summoned it from a pile of blank scrolls near the door to the library with the quill and ink having been brought in from a nearby desk. "Only elder dragons have access to books about general magic, dragons specialise in either earth, water, fire, and air, but that's only if they have the magical potential. Otherwise it's just strength contests with them. Chemical reactions would explain why no thaumatic energy could be felt from dragon fire whenever it is breathed. This could also explain why Spike is seemingly the only dragon we know of to breathe a green fire to send messages wherever he pleased," the scientific pony had devolved into rambling by this point but she managed to get her point across of 'learning new magic is very much good.'

EQ_Theta · December 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Well, the discussion just took a sudden turn for the morbid, though perhaps Lin may have set it up subtly. But Omen's response was touching nonetheless. It was a heartwarming thing that got the longma feeling all fuzzy. She placed her claw on Omen's back, a gentle pat that conveyed gratefulness.

"That's nice, Omen. Thank you. As much as I am reminded of mortality, I hope we get to make good memories for many more years to come. Speaking of which, I've had some time to mull over Sen's magic. It seems like he's able to quickly heal his injuries and for the most part, he doesn't seem likely to get sick. If I suspect the magic he's been given does more than heal injuries, maybe his lifespan will be much longer than a regular longma's. It's as if magic is continuously keeping him healthy, but maybe we'll need more time to study it."

It was a sound assessment. If magic maintained Sen's health by making sure he wouldn't be afflicted by disease, then his body would be much healthier. Combine that with a fairly fit physique and a balanced diet, and maybe the average 150-year lifespan might not be applicable to him. It could be longer. He wouldn't need to worry too much about his fear of mortality as he's got plenty of years left in him.

And as for the sentiment of spending years making good memories, there was a flyer for a festival coming to Ponyville. The details now evaded Lin but the certainty of the event happening was more or less absolute. Okay, so maybe she didn't get the dates and for all she knew, that festival might be over already and somepony decided to throw out the poster or forgot to take it down. Either way, there might be a chance she could find more of them. They'd be following up on one lead with regards to Rosa's brother Stargazer and Ponyville is their destination.

"Anyway, maybe we should head back and see how Sen and Rosa are doing. Shall we go?"

As for Sen, it was a little disappointing to see nothing much is happening on their end. Though one could argue that it was a good thing they were unlikely to get jumped. Now that the certainty is made apparent, he could rest up some more.

"Would be nice if I could get those makeshift tools right about now. I just hope Lin and Omen have finished looking around back home so we could prepare for the temple. You think we'd need Omen to move ahead of us, Rosa? Doesn't seem like the tides have changed much."

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

@Blitz Boom @Dji

It was settled then: back to the castle it is. Angel gestured to Lotus and hopped onward and away from the sanctuary. Most of the animals didn't catch on to this, paying attention to their own business. Lola, on the other hand, continued to stare back at the two bunnies; still creepy despite what Fluttershy says about her being a cute creature. To the sloth's credit, it had a look that suggested a more curious outlook. That and it had the kind of attitude of a kindly grandmother who was always looking forward to seeing visitors again. In that short time spent in the animal sanctuary, it was always a treat to see new faces come. The trip back wouldn't take too long and for the most part, there wasn't much in the way of distractions on the way home, or to Twilight's castle to be exact.

As for Fluttershy, Nerzhei's explanation was a fascinating one. Though this one might be more up Twilight's expertise, the two might be more than willing to converse on a scholarly manner. Truth be told, Fluttershy normally didn't dabble too much into the study of magic. It was simply an esoteric area of study that she didn't really think somepony like her could learn and use it. Then she learned about, and met, Mage Meadowbrook. That was an anomalous case. An earth pony who, through years of rigorous study, learned more about the intricacies of healing magic. More than the best unicorn magic-users of her day and even up to the modern period. Healing magic was reportedly one of the most difficult to learn and yet Meadowbrook trumped any unicorn known to have tried to understand with little luck. Maybe she and Nerzhei might be able to hit it off pretty well.

"I see dragons have magic tied to the elements," the pegasus replied, intrigued at the bits of knowledge she had picked up from the dragon. Though the pegasus had an idea that could enrich Nerzhei's learning a little more, and provide an avenue of discussion. It might be nice to pick up more from a dragon's perspective. Frankly, Fluttershy's curiosity was just piqued, but would leave the more technical knowledge to Twilight. If need be, she might just bring up Meadowbrook to keep the ball rolling.

"How would a dragon know they could use magic? And how would they show it? Unicorn horns glow when they use their magic; do dragons have something like it?"

Edited December 3, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Blitz Boom · December 3, 2018

@Rising Dusk

3 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

"Would this require any magic or is this completely mechanical?"

"The point is to make it completely mechanical, with no reliance on magic at all, but the battery designs I can do right now are mostly flawed. If we're talking the solar powered route, a small bit of it is needed to keep the energy contained, or you could only fly when the sun was out, and then plummet the second it got dragged down from the sky.

I could in theory try to use something like what Felicia and Carmen are running on, but there's some hurdles there. Especially since I need to use magic to stabilize it, but then it needs to be filtered out completely before it can be used in a construction like this. The gals have programs and files dedicated completely to filtering that out and ensure that it doesn't build up again, but if it were on a prosthetic wing like this, I'd have to find some way of filtering that down to a program that doesn't include an AI, and I dunno if I can do that yet.

Of course, if I had one of them anti-magic rings from the royal armory I might be able to do something neat, but those are more heavily regulated than high explosives. A right pain in the flank to get anything anti-magical going for a private citizen, and I don't think this neat little trick we're trying to work with the cages are gonna do any good. The design of the wings are sturdy, but too flimsy to withstand the sort of pressure we're trying to get done. It'd crumble up in a second or two.

So yeah, unless you know a trick to get anti-magic going here, it'd have to be the somewhat flawed solar route. Shouldn't be an issue though, right? I mean what, you're gonna tell me that the pegasus in question just eats up magic? Hah! That'd be the tallest tale I've ever heard."

Splitting the pancakes up on three plates, Molotov would swing upon a cabinet to get out the good bottle of syrup, then pour it over the stacks. Sure he went in for not spending too much if you could help it, but he wouldn't skim out on syrup. You got used to the real thing, and the cheap knock-offs started to taste like a punishment from above, and he wouldn't let any of 'em go through that on his watch. A stallion had to have at least some standards, right?

"Here ya go you little rascal. Try not to get stuck to anything."

Molotov floated one plate over towards Blitz, who'd jump on it right away and really get into it. He were having a hard time getting her to eat civilized, but at least she wasn't scooping them up with her hooves, so it were as much a win as could be. Wasn't like he didn't just chomp down from the top and worked his way down really.

He'd float another plate towards Dusky, encouraging him to take at least a bite out of the maple syrupy goodness.

"Come on Dusky, have a bite. You look like it's been a long day and you sure could use some sugar to get over that hill now, eh? Eh? Am I right, or am I right?"

Lucid_Nightlight · December 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Alright, and Novia can throw eggs at the customers if they refuse."

"This plan can't possibly fail!"

Lucid walked over to a nearby house and knocked on the door.

"Hey! Open up!"

Seamore Sandwich · December 3, 2018

@Blitz Boom

(Continued from page 278)

After a while of searching, Gaea eventually found something. “There it is,” she said to Zhu, pointing at a particularly pointy protrusion in the path. The stone was more jagged than the others nearby, and the edge of a metal cylinder could just barely be seen by someone who knew to look. “If somepony springs the trap, I’ll ask to join their group for the night, ‘safety in numbers’ and all that, so we can keep a close eye on things,” she said, then mumbled to herself, “though I’d rather keep my distance.” She then added, “I can disguise myself in a cloak so the thieves won’t recognize me, and you can hide in the trees. We can take shifts keeping watch through the night, and I can have the raccoons wake us when it’s time to switch. Sound like a plan?” Gaea really didn’t want to be around other ponies, which is why she lived out here to begin with. She didn’t like the way they would cut down trees excessively without a care for what lived in them, and so she couldn’t stand even being near them.

@Blitz Boom

(Continued from page 291)

“Do you want to play a game of word chain to pass the time? Since we’re both doctors we can choose medical terms as the category,” Dr.Xeno asked Ziggy. He’d be at a disadvantage with his head injury, but at least it was better than laying quietly in bed all day.

@Blitz Boom

(Continued from page 315)

When Sugar Lime found the elders, they would be planning out routes for each mission that was mentioned earlier, two paths for each mission, one being the safest route, and one route that would bring them through areas known to have bandits. This was by Marcus’s instruction of course, as he had previously stated, “Even a foe as lowly as bandits must be dealt with, so if there are any such nuisances along the way, I should like to cross paths with them that they may taste my blade and learn the error of their ways.”

@Blitz Boom

(Continued from page 301)

As they continued along their way toward Tock’s shop, Penny added, “I might be able to make the frosting more if I had an extra unicorn or two to help me pour some magic into it. I would be able to make the effects of some of the chocolates more powerful that way, and in some cases they could even last longer. Normally this frosting would be very expensive because it’s just me and Blossom, so we really can’t make that much, but with some extra help we could double up on production. Of course, if I use any of it in making the chocolates you asked for, it would make the final product more expensive, which could mean a higher return on your investment. So I must ask, when we’re done with this investigation, would you like to help me make some frosting? I also want you to know, I’ve already begun working on your chocolates. I’ve gotten as far as hardening the muzzle into a beaklike material within a couple hours of work, the next step being reshaping it and removing the fur. I’ve already made chocolates before that can make a pony grow wings, so I’ll just have to modify that to a different wing type if possible. Changing the structure of the hooves to claws and paws will probably be the hardest part and will take the most time.” It would be easy to tell that Penny loved her work, especially when it came to creating something new like this. It could easily distract her from what she was doing at the time, as evidenced by the fact that she just made a turn down the wrong street, leading in a direction opposite the direction they had taken to get to Tock’s shop before.

@Blitz Boom

(Continued from page 301)

Charlie couldn’t be any more excited, literally since Vivid’s magic was keeping their excitement in check. “It’s not my last words that will matter, but rather my first. I’m ready whenever you are.” Little did they know how different things would be from what they expected.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Seamore Sandwich

Rising Dusk · December 5, 2018

@Blitz Boom

If only Molotov knew half the story of what he went through today, heck, even just this morning. Rising Dusk wasn't sure how good of an idea it would be though to share information about the dangerous artifacts he'd just dispelled, seeing as how many probably wouldn't want to know things that deadly were in the city right now. It was true though, a little sugar rush would probably do the detective some good and the extra energy from just food in general would make his day easier. He'd just ate though, even if it was a small quick meal. Taking the offered plate of pancakes with his hooves, rather than risking the use of magic with the feather still in his pouch, he nodded his thanks. "Right..." came is simple reply with the weak smile. Putting the plate on a nearby table to take a bite of the stack.

The stack was good, but Rising Dusk could easily tell it was mostly in part of the more high end syrup used rather than the pancake itself. Not bad though. His mind worked to filter at the previous ramble for the bits and pieces he could understand out of it. The detective himself couldn't produce what would in the true sense be considered anti-magic. No, what most thought was anti-magic was actually just very good counter-magic. So helping out Molotov on that end wasn't something he could do directly to help with the development of the wings. Not that he really needed to. Now, while Null's ability Rising Dusk wouldn't call 'eating magic' it was rather surprising how on the point the other stallion was, but he could still down play singling out the sisters.

Swallowing his mouth full of pancake, he turned toward Molotov and reached into his pouch to remove the feather he came here with. "You underestimate my resources," the detective chuckled, showing him the black feather. "This feather contains magic nullifying properties. It should be what you need," he concluded based on what he understood from the technical side Molotov just ranted about.

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