open Casual stroll

[Denim&Venöm 18,785]

@Seamore Sandwich, @GingerLightning, @Quinch, @Lonk Chase, @Melke

 

 

"Everyfree fly...use...an Everfree arrow!" Priestess returned her arrow to it's quiver and leaned her stick on the ledge. "Time to make you 'arrow dynamic'." she pulled out her tanto dagger and began whittling down the blood soaked everwood stick.

 

Allure prepared to buzz up and catch the dangling pony, when she felt a strong breeze blow by her and take the mare away to safer ground. "Um...okay?" she turned back towards the tower and buzzed back up into the air for it. 

Edited August 23, 2016 by Denim&Venom

[Lonk Chase 255]

Something's not right here.

A pony falling from a balcony get suddenly drifted down to the ground safely. Whom/whatever is doing this must be pretty talented at magic to do that... at least that's what Lonk thinks.

Maybe he/she/it has some answers to all of this.

He sees an almost-broken house almost right next to the fight. He heads towards there.

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@@Lonk Chase

@@GingerLightning

@@Melke

@@Blitz Boom

@@Mentis Soliloquy

@@Denim&Venom

@@Quinch

 

As Priestess began to cut into the stick, it triggered the wood's magical defenses, though it would have no effect on Priestess herself. The stick had absorbed enough of Priestess' blood that it would treat her as a part of itself, so she wasn't zapped when the wood let out a small burst of magic. It would blast the blade away, which would carry with it a small sliver of wood that was stuck to it. The clock tower began to tilt away from The Forgotten One, but the stick still pointed toward the invisible creature, the pull becoming increasingly stronger. With enough force it wouldn't even need to be aerodynamic to reach its target. While the clock tower was falling, Sylar scurried out of the way of falling debris. The poisons started to take effect slowly, slowing the creature's wings. It had to land since it could not remain airborne with its wings immobilized. Penny landed safely, but the beast lashed out toward the changeling that would have been her savior. She reacted quickly, firing a blast that separated the hand at the wrist before it could hit Queen Allure.

 

"There will soon be no need for the wind barrier, The Forgotten One will soon be visible and without means of escape. Also, it should be clear to you by now that one who can peer into the future can have no predictable fate. I tried many times to guide your path, but each time, I failed. You cannot see your place in the future because seeing it would change it. To assume you have no role here is to assume you have no place in this world. Without you, this battle always ends badly. This is your battle, a battle to protect your world against a creature that would eventually destroy it all. It also will affect battles yet to come. What was once lost will soon be returned, though it is shielded from your eyes. Fates unknowable will soon be rewoven into the fabrics of destiny. For now, you must not trust what you see after this battle's end, because all such visions will soon change," The Traveller said. His tone was much more serious than it had been before this point. It was clear that this were important. If Zhu tried to look beyond the battle, the visions would likely either be fragmented, or what he could see would make little sense with injured ponies floating above the ground, speech containing no recognizable words directed toward emptiness, and ponies standing in circles for no apparent reason.

[Denim&Venöm 18,785]

@Lonk Chase @GingerLightning @Melke @Blitz Boom @Quinch

 

 

"By the maker!" she buzzed out of the way of the severed hand. "Nice shot!" she said to Penny. 

 

"Dammit!" she said as her knife was deflected. "Buck! Everwood has defenses, baka!" Priestess felt the clock tower begin to lean. "Whoa shiznit!' she said as she tried to brace herself. But as the tower was leaning, the felt the tug of the stick get stronger. "Okay, screw the laws of aerodynamics."

 

She wrapped her tail around the stick and knocked it as far back as she could on her compound yumi bow. With enough tensile strength to rival a ballista, this wasn't gonna fly straight, but it was gonna go fast, and it was gonna go long. Even with the creature gone again, she still felt the sickening taint in the air. The familiar banal presence she'd hope to never encounter again.  One more abomination to spirit kind for her to vanquish. One more exorcism. 

 

"Anata wa ikutsu ka o shitaidesu ka?" She pulled back a little more.

 

"Ikuraka eru!" She fired the Everwood shaft, sending it rocketing into the blackened skies. 

Edited August 24, 2016 by Denim&Venom

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@@Lonk Chase

@@GingerLightning

@@Melke

@@Blitz Boom

@@Mentis Soliloquy

@@Denim&Venom

@@Quinch

 

Despite its aerodynamic properties, the stick managed to fly straight and went through The Forgotten One's chest, pulling away its disguise. Charlie was pulled out of the creature, and the outer layer of black goo-like skin pulled off with him, revealing the beast's demonic form. It had only two arms, as opposed to having extras like it did when it was using Charlie to change its form, it still had wings, which were still paralyzed, and for the most part, it looked how you would expect any demon to look, except for its face. Maybe face wasn't the right word... It had eyes where they should be, but there was nothing else... no nose... no mouth... The entire creature looked like it was in greyscale, no color at all, except for the veins that still appeared green from the venom. It's blood was black as tar.

 

Priestess' dagger was on the ground below after the jolt had flung it... the ground that was slowly approaching as the tower continued to fall. The wood that stuck to the blade fused into the metal and disappear within the blade, leaving it glowing sea green.

 

The Traveller began to move away from the fight, right through the wind barrier if Zhu kept it up. He would walk out of the town and watch the fight from a greater distance.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Seamore Sandwich

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Sen nodded, though he didn't feel confident enough to do so as he still felt uneasy at the moment. He looked around for any sign of Omen's mother before proceeding just in case. 

 

"Umm... hello? Omen's mother?" Sen slowly walked forward, then back, looking side to side and hoping something would change. Preferably one met with a reply. "W-We've come back. Sister went off with Omen to find that cure but she-"

 

He abruptly stopped there as he didn't know whether to say Lin is gone temporarily or permanently. It's still a sore topic and a very uncomfortable one to talk about. Perhaps phrasing it a little differently might take his mind off it, especially since his uncertainty lead to some very depressing thoughts. It sometimes kept him from focusing.  

"She's not with us." Sen solemnly finished and awaited a reply. 

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@Seamore Sandwich,

@@GingerLightning,

@@Quinch,

@@Lonk Chase,

@@Melke,

@@Denim&Venom,

@@Mentis Soliloquy,

 

I know well that I am needed, yet my place is still supposed to be in the shadows. In there, I can do what must be done without being labelled a hero or a villain, nor sought out or expected as either. I can go places and work what little I must to make others go down the right path, then leave in obscurity as little more than a folktale to the next part that needs to be corrected and maintained. This is the way I can easiest fulfil my purpose: By being the ghost with no face that haunts the background. Not a praised hero, nor a scorned villain, but simply a stranger."

 

Zhu walked along with the Creator a little, stating in his own way how he saw himself.

 

Many would have told him before that this was perhaps a stupid idea, and that he should seek recognition for all the good he did, but hy would he wish for that? After all, if he got recognition for all that he had done, it would hardly just be good that would be associated with his name, it would also be evil. Things that he knew would not be understood, and would eventually lead to him being hunted like a wild animal.

 

it was the burden of being an agent of balance. To know that what you did were for the greater good, but realising that at times, terrible evil had to be allowed to blossom, and then go through with it. It was an important task, but most wouldn't understand that. They would wish only for the good to happen, not realising that evil must happen as well in retaliation, and if you let the good build up and pushed the evil down... Eventually, the scales would hammer down with a force that would tear apart nations.

 

Beings like him and likely the Creator were in place to make sure that things did not go as bad, yet they each approached things differently. Some had no issues being noticed, others hid in plain sight, and him... He would take his role as a myth, make sure others got the spotlight in the conflicts he had arranged, and likely die in obscurity because of it.

 

He didn't know if the Creator would understand it now, but it wasn't important right now as it were. For now, the pieces moved and it was time for the next stage of the play, which would include him letting the audience out of this theatre.

 

The dome around them dissipated and vanished like it had never been there within seconds of his magic no longer fuelling it, leaving the bait - or townsponies technically - to be free to run off now if they so wished, which he imagined a good deal would appreciate. Yet he stopped up, no longer following the Creator, though he had something that he had to speak to him about.

 

"I have known for a while that the day would come when I had to step out of the shadows, though I hadn't wanted it to be connected to this battle. Yet, as you said, I have part in this, and it is too late to back away now. I must return, and fill the parts that have gone vacant."

 

Zhu turned back towards the town, and with a thought, summoned a small dome of strong winds that would roar around Charlie and the stick that he were now attached to, protecting him. If anypony touched it, they would face a terrible damage as this was stronger than the winds he had used to dome in the part of Ponyville before to make sure that the spirit was safely contained, or as safely as he could without dipping into other schools of magic at least.

 

"Let us hope it will be enough."

 

With that, he wandered slowly back to the field, and in particular towards Charlie, hoping that everything that were planned and now carried out would be enough. The future had become... Murky, to look at now, with nothing good showing and no other outcome showing itself, other than in fleeting glimpses he could scarcely see. It just kept returning to a future that was imminent, and horrid in it's own way.

 

Yet, as he had often said: He did not believe in fate. He believed in choices, and being able to change what was ahead. And apparently, today was going to test this belief, if his eyes were to be trusted.

 

As he walked in though, the results of the dome going down were showing massively already. ponies were running away, or seeking shelter in their houses outside of the where the edges had been, those few that had stood outside and looked at the wall confused had turned on the spot and taken off, and over at an almost broken house, the whimpering of Briar finally started to slow down, as his senses were no longer being confused by these winds that had essentially made him truly blind.

 

He did not notice Lonk that were approaching, but just slowly stopped shaking from the lack of any sensory input that didn't involve screams or yelling, and slowly got the hooves off his head.

 

"The winds... They are gone?"

 

Though he were slightly relieved - he didn't know about the Forgotten One's transformation in their midst yet - the winds getting removed mattered little to Ashta, who were using his web to get back up to the fight, venom sack in hand, and Ko, who at this point, were slashing into the being with just a normal dagger, but with a triumphant smile on his face. That the poison seemed to have done something after all were a great relief for him, and a thing that kept him going on, though he still needed more venom from the looks of things. Heck, perhaps he needed to get all of it, and pour it into an open wound? If he could find one that were at least, though right now, he had to wait for the creature to hit the ground first.

 

Last were also on the ready, but she were too impatient to wait until it landed to make her move. So instead she took to jumping on the debris that lined the ground, got to as high ground as she could by jumping from pile to pile quickly, and then jumped/slashed upwards at Nemo. It would likely just hit his foot on the side - if she were lucky - but every wound on this thing was worth it. Especially now as she had seen Charlie been ripped away from it.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@,

 

"W-Wha... *whimper*"

 

It was the only response made by Void as the dome suddenly vanished and she looked into the town in all it's chaotic, destructive self. Several ponies were fleeing the place and creams reached her ears, yet her fearful gaze was transfixed on the one she thought the instigator to all of this: A large, winged and horned hippo, wandering with a hooded figure that turned back to the town shortly after she saw them.

 

Null on the other hoof, just got an increased tick to her fear face as she looked over the place once more, and didn't see the winged hippo as much of a problem compared to the giant horror behind it. Frankly, that one were far more of an issue in her mind, and had completely erased whatever question she had been about to ask Astral about the gem, or the condolences she would have given to her at the mention of her mothers demise. Hopefully, this would be something she would remember later, but right now, there just wasn't room for it in her head from all the internal screaming.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@EQ_Theta,

 

The air felt silent for a moment before the tip of a claw seemed to poke out of nowhere and slowly ran down. To most, it might be a creepy, scary sight, but Sen had met Mother before, and should recognise the tip of her claw, as well as the method of opening a wall in her room, as she had done so with Omen on their last visit.

 

"Come in, poor child, and let us talk."

 

The voice was filled with compassion and worry for Sen as she would make room for Omen and him to enter into the room that looked much the same as before, with one notable exception: There was a soft-looking, dark couch in a size that would fot two longma. Apparently, she had been expecting them back, yet as were evident, she had hoped for it to be all three of them, instead of just the two.

 

She would close the hole in her wall again as they entered and lower herself to the floor from her upside-down position, dangling from the ceiling. It seemed something she did when no others were there, yet that was not as important to her as it were to face her daughter and her friend in this potential hard moment.

 

"Please, tell me that it is not as it sounds."

 

To her, it sounded like Lin were dead in their pursuit, though she really hoped that this were not the case. Lin had been much too young to face death already, but perhaps the three days had not been enough time? It was hard to keep track of time in another dimension from here, where time mattered so little that they didn't even thought of it, but still, could it be that... Or had something else happened? She hoped so, though there were no telling just yet. Not until she heard more.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Blitz Boom

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,436]

@Blitz Boom

@Summer Breeze

 

 

Frosty listened to Summer story, questioning why her grandmother let her go camping in the Everfree, which is known to contain everything that is evil in this world, including snake-chickens. Snake-chickens. A chicken that is also somehow a pony-eating snake. Going camping alone in the Everfree forest sounds like an infinitely worse plan than not doing that.

But Frosty was just a little too paranoid about the Everfree. It's probably an all-right place, if you don't get horribly lost.

 

He didn't mention his problems with the story, since most ponies don't react well when he tells 'em stuff like that. So he kept his mouth shut and listened to the rest, which was in his opinion "pretty cool".

 

When the story had come to an end, Frosty smiled. It was a nice story. even though ponies shouldn't go into the Everfree ever. Well, the outskirts are fiiiiine, but going in deep, naah.

 

"Woah, I never knew that timberwolves can do other stuff than go "rawr" at you and then try to eat you. Hu-wuaah? Blitz? Eeeeh?"

 

He was quite surprised when Blitz tried to grab his tail, even though she didn't even get close. It confused him more than it should've. He shook his head, and told himself that it was just Blitz doing Blitz things. Trying to find out Blitz's motivation was like trying to catch a giant dragon. Just not going to happen. Trying anyway would just result in Frosty being confused and miserable.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Frosty Frost

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@@Blitz Boom @@Moonlit

 

 

"You get to meet with the princesses tomorrow?  Oh wow!"  Despite her earlier claims of fatigue, Succulent did not appear to have very many outward signs of it.  The only outward sign of her exhaustion was the way she suddenly jumped and dashed back to the lake, strapping herself back into her perfume cart and galloping to catch up.

"Whoops!  Almost forgot it!"

[Moonlit 593]

@@Hazard Time,@@Blitz Boom, "maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after. Not sure, I just put in a request to Princess Luna to speak with the pair of them." Serenade manages to contain a yawn, "But getting back to the outhouse. I'll move the stuff out tomorrow, until then the bed and bathroom are clear. There should be room enough for your cart beside it, and enough inside for whatever you need"

[silvermoon15000 337]

Silver took the key and nodded, "think you can lead the way," he asked vinyl turning to her. As he waited for a response he let his mind wander. He didn't like vinyl that way, he hadn't even thought of her in that way. He mentally sighed and shook his head, what was he going to do.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral was speechless, she had no response to the situation was so ever. She had no idea what her response would be to the situation anyway. "Huh?" she turned around when she heard a sniffing sound, to see Misty being the one making it.

 

Misty was heavily reminded of her tribe being attacked, even though it was attacked by dragons and not a flying hippo. She started to cry when the memories flooded in. "I..." She fell onto her rump and rubbed the tears away, only to be replaced with more tears. "I don't want them to suffer like my tribe did."

 

Astral looked up to Null and Void. "Me neither." She pulled out the map again. "So what do you think, we battle the creature or we continue around Ponyville to the station?" She asked Null and Void.

 

Misty stood up and scoffed. "You would never let ponies suffer like this!" She yelled with tear filled eyes and ran back to their house.

 

Astral dropped the map and ran after Misty. "WAIT!"

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"I wish we could be more certain," Sen sombrely replied. "But without any way to tell if she was successful or not, we could only wait and see what happens. Omen was with her and departed from where they went with a wisp. Should Lin come back to us, that wisp should guide her back. It's all we can afford to do."

 

Sen felt a little different this second time being in this place. Somehow, what the guardian said about himself, Omen, and Lin being more of a family than they knew rang true, if only because Sen was ready to express any deep-seated feelings of regret to them. By extension, those would be extended towards Omen's mother as well. He didn't know whether he was comfortable with those ideas in his head but maybe he could muster the will to say it when things were looking up. 

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

Mother looked slightly confused on Sen as he spoke, not sure what to make of this. All that she had heard were that Lin had went away with Omen, and that only one of them had come back. What exactly had happened?

 

"I feel I am missing something. Perhaps I can borrow your voice for but a moment my daughter?"

 

She stretched a hand towards Omen that slowly nodded and went into it and got drawn closer to Mother who began to scratch her head and run her claw down Omen's mane and coat. This, like last time, made Omen act more expressingly again, yet not the same as last. Instead of inbridled smiles, there was worry going over her dark features, fidgeting and a look of fear.

 

As for Mother, she frowned slightly as this went on, and after a few seconds would let out a heavy sigh before looking back at Sen.

 

"What she says is not what I had expected. Most places of pure magic I know work their wonders flashy and in one moment, not over longer periods of time. Natural energies should not take long for them."

 

She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment before returning her gaze to the longma with a bit of sadness going over her.

 

"I fear that this is my fault. I mixed energies from here to help her stabilize, but it is not of your world. I'm afraid that it might be taking quite the time for the well to separate this outside force from her own, and the foulness that also lingers in the healing process.

 

I hope you can forgive me for this, dear child. It should not affect how she is healed if it helps, simply will take a little longer, depending on if it will reuse the energy or completely discard it. It can be hard to know for certain with places such as that."

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

 

@,

 

Okay, this was not improving in any sort of way.

 

The city was clearly under attack, and apparently the sight of it had trigged some very bad memories in Misty from the time that her own town had been attacked. Something which made her run back into the forest, and Astral to follow soon after that in pursuit. Which left Null and Void back with a town being attacked on one side, and the situation with the two they had followed thus far on the other.

 

"Null, catch."

 

Her line of thought were stopped when something were thrown to her from Void, which when she caught it, turned out to be one of the cursed objects: A blowdart set. Both the blowgun and the small bag that were bound to it containing the arrows were heavily inscribed with dark purple runes that glowed slightly before Null had them in her grasp.

 

"...What are you going to do?"

 

She looked up at Null that had unpacked her own weapon: A naginata spear with a rather mean looking, jagged edged blade at the end. This were not covered in runes, but something about it still seemed very off. What exactly wasn't viewable right now, but it might show if it were not toned down by the anti-magic field of Void.

 

"S-Something stupid. But you need to go first. After them and help them, while I go d-down there."

 

"No! I won't let you get into something this dangerous. We can just leave, and look for someplace else. Or just go for the train. We don't need to get involved in this."

 

You could hear the fear in Null's voice as she tried to stop her sister from going towards the town like it sounded like she had the intents to do, to which she got a small sigh from her sister.

 

"We've run for 20 years sis, and I-I'm tired of running away. It's all we've done since Troy, and I can't keep doing it. I want... I n-need something more, and so do you."

 

Null went silent and bit her lip. She knew what her sister was getting at, but still... Why should they be part of this? Couldn't they just get away?

 

"We need a home Null, and this was supposed t-to be it. You promised me that Equestria would be where we could finally stop. And you don't run away from your home when it's attacked."

 

"...I know, but what if something happens to you? I can't... Not alone..."

 

"I-I know big sis, but we have to take a chance and stop to fight sometime. And if not for home, then what?"

 

Null went silent as a tear flowed down her cheek that almost fell down from her muzzle before she wiped it away.

 

"Just take care, okay little sister?"

 

"I will."

 

With that, Null ran away towards the forest and their two companions that had run in there before. They needed somepony to be there to protect them if this thing kept on, and the anti-magic of the sisters should do that well. Especially if they suddenly came back.

 

As for Void, she gulped and turned towards town and the hulking monster inside the town. The other hippo-creature seemed to be going away at least, which was good, but there was still so much to do. So much destruction... Where did she even start?

 

No, it wasn't even a question she could ask. Like Misty said, they couldn't just let ponies suffer, so that should be her first priority: To get into town, and help whoever away that wasn't already fleeing, and if something attacked... Well, she'd have to hope that the cursed weapon or one of the items in her satchel worked in some way on whatever would go after her.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@silvermoon15000,

 

Vinyl just grinned and took the lead as the first one to follow after Bubble Tea, with Silver behind her and Cover-up waiting so he were sure he could go last. he didn't like that much to be in the centre of things when he felt as conflicted on things as he did now. It brought out his anxieties, or were close to at least. He'd rather not it actually got to a point where the actual thing got loose.

 

It wouldn't be long before they reached the first room, which was were his key would fit in.

 

"This is your room sir, hope it's up to your standards."

 

It was a very typical room she opened the door to, but that was likely the case with them all. It wasn't a five star hotel after all, it were an inn, and frankly considering everything, this was at least pretty clean and looked very homely, so the standards were good for an inn.

 

"Hey, mind if I get a chatter with you before you hit the hay? i wanna hear about your tats."

 

"Vinyl, you will let the boy rest, do I make myself clear?"

 

The quiet, nice mare had suddenly gotten a very scary, to-the-point tone in her voice as she spoke to Vinyl. Apparently there were more layers to this mare than what was first shown, even if she otherwise looked like she had thus far.

 

"Geez, okay, I'll wait until later. I got the time anyway. See you around kiddo."

 

Cover-up wasn't sure what to say, so instead he just gave a weak smile, a half-enthusiastic wave and then closed the door.

 

"Well then, with that in order, follow me please."

 

They would then go to the room at the far left and opened it up to reveal quite the nasty, disgusting... Or okay, not really. There was some dust that needed to be handled, and what looked like the parts to a few carnival wagons littering the rooms against the walls and on the furniture, but otherwise it seemed fine enough.

 

"Here is the deal: We will have the need for somepony to move things roughly three times a week for a few hours at a time, and for these things to get back into Pinkie Pie's storage. In return, you are offered this room free of charge along with breakfeast and dinner every day that are dependant on what is served on the menu.

 

Whatever else you do with your day isn't a concern of mine, just as long as you are there when I tell you there are something to do, which I will usually warn about three hours or more prior to something happening. If there is extra work during the week beyond the agreed upon where you could be needed, you are free to decline or take it, but if you agree, I will pay you a wage like my other workers to compensate for the work done.

 

As for the state of the room, I will have the maid clean it up nicely when it is cleared of the parts. This is acceptable, yes?"

 

It was very direct and straight to business, and frankly, a rather good deal for Silver. Likely a better deal for the house since they'd have somepony technically on staff to get things moving when they had arrangements to work, but to be fair, no deal was too good to be true, and this one at least wasn't tossing either of them under the cart.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@Moonlit,

@@Hazard Time,

 

Ziggy was a little confused as Succulent had run off, not sure what she were doing. Did she want a quick dip or something? Oh, or had she dropped something? Nonono, it was clearly...

 

And so on and so on the line of thought went until Succulent came back and it was revealed that she had forgotten her cart at the lake. It hadn't even been part of what Ziggy had guessed, as she had forgotten all about it, but she guessed it made more sense than some of the things that she actually had guessed. A lot of the things at the end hadn't exactly made much sense.

 

"Lots of talk to cover tomorrow, but right now, you need to get to bed Serenade before you pass out on the street. We can talk about all sorts of things when everypony is well rested, okay?"

[Moonlit 593]

@@Blitz Boom,@@Hazard Time, Serenade chuckles, before sticking her tongue out, "yes mom" she sasses Ziggy. She makes the rest of the trip back home in silence, doing everything in her power to stay awake. 

When she finally reaches her house, she opens her door, grabs the spare outhouse key and hands it over to Succulent. "If you need anything, let me know", she points to a small cottage-like outhouse just around the side. It's just a simple two-room bungalow, bedroom + main area. Serenade bids them both good night, heads inside and within seconds is asleep on her 'bed'. 

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@@Moonlit @@Blitz Boom

 

Succulent takes the key eagerly and checks out her temporary accommodations.  Cozy, certainly, but nothing to scoff at.  It was better than nothing, and the crystal mare happily accepted it.  She dragged the cart inside and bit her lip at the mud and dirt it was dragging in.  She'd offer to fix that in the morning.  Right now, a bed seemed perfectly alright to her, and there just happened to be one nearby!  Pulling the covers over her shoulders, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral continued to run after Misty. She looked back to make sure the coast was clear for the spell she was about to cast, once sure it was she turned to Misty and threw out a hoof and yelled; "Froza Dastra!" casting a spell towards Misty, freezing Misty in her tracks. She ran around her and looked Misty in the eyes. "Listen, I was just asking them a question. I wasn't sure that they would fight that thing!"

 

Misty teared up. "But would you have still fought it if they said no?" 

 

Astral combed her mane back with her hoof. "I, would. But I wanted to make sure the cursed items were safe."

 

Misty looked around herself. "I get, a simple object is more important than saving lives."

 

Astral groaned. "That's not what I meant!"

 

"Than what did you mean?"

 

Astral sighed and tapped her hoof on Misty's forehead causing Misty unfreeze and drop down slightly. "You're right, I shouldn't let such simple things be more important than keeping ponies alive."

 

Misty smiled and ran forward to hug Astral. "Can we go back to save them?" Astral was silent, Misty pushed away from the hug unsure why. "What?"

 

Astral pointed out a hoof to Null, Misty turned around to look at Null. "H-How long were you there?" She asked in a worried tone, unsure if Null might have seen her cast a spell earlier.

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

Sen didn't hesitate for a moment and quickly replied to Omen's mother. 

"I don't blame you. You've done so much for her already and I can only be grateful for your kindness. Please don't feel bad about this; whatever happens to her now is far beyond our influence."  

 

He thought about any way he could reassure her his feelings on the matter were genuine and settled on giving her a hug, though this one was hesitantly given. He didn't know if this was wrong to her but it was the only way he knew how. He did so to comfort Lin and he did so long ago with his own mother. It's pretty much how some ponies would show concern and reassurance, at least that's how he saw it. His thoughts were conflicted, all spiralling out of control but deep down, Sen felt like this was something he could be sure of.

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

Though Mother was of considerable size, the clawed hand that she placed over Sen as he embraced her were laid down quite gently, with one of the claws coursing slowly through his hair whilst the comforting warmth of her being radiated outwards.

 

"I always worry for my children Sen, even the ones not of this realm."

 

She looked at them both: Sen embracing what he could of her, and Omen wriggling beneath her other hand's touch, finally smiling again after all the worry that had passed her, and Mother felt a large smile of her own creeping over her face. It was times like this when the worries and burdens she had put on herself when she chose to care for these lost souls melted away, and she remembered why she had turned her back on her own so long ago. Something she still knew she would've done in a heartbeat if faced with the choice again.

 

"You are right though, she is where everything will be decided now, and we must weapons ourselves with patience. until we can get answers. We can just hope that it will not take too long."

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@,

 

Null gasped a bit for air. Her legs were short and she only had one wing, which didn't exactly leave her with much in the way of ability to catch up with these two fast without really straining herself. Especially as they both had a bit of a lead on her, though from the funny look she sent Astral, she hadn't been slow enough.

 

"Long enough to know you're loud when tossing spells. I have no idea how you do it, but frankly I'm not really in a position to judge considering me and my sister are in a simmilar boat boat. Nice to know we're not the only freaks of nature out there though, no offence."

 

Lucky for Astral, it seemed like Null thought this was a natural ability that marked her an outcast with a pretty messed up ability. Like herself and Void essentially, which were also apparent with the last comment. Perhaps it was a bit of a backhanded comment, but she meant it in a nice way regardless of how it might sound.

 

"Look, sis have gone to town to try and get the other ponies out of town safely, and I wanna be back there to watch her back, but we can use all the help we can for this. Mind joining in on the rescue?"

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@Hazard Time,

@@Moonlit,

 

"Goodnight both of you. See you tomorrow."

 

Ziggy waved them both goodnight as they went to their respective resting places - that didn't sound right - and stretched her neck a little before looking around town, to the sky and at the end, back on the yawning Fah'lina.

 

"Guess we should get some rest too. Come on, I know a good spot."

 

The mimic didn't complain as the zebrasus rose to the sky and started to look around for a comfy cloud somewhere. She had left one around a chimney last night, but it was hard to be sure if those things were still there when you looked later. Sneaky things. Also, sometimes another pegasi nicked it or dispersed it, but how were they to know if it were used anyway? Unless there was a sign in it or something... Oooh, she really had to try that at some point. If she could find a sign that'd stick of course.

 

Regardless, after some searching she managed to find the cloud she had lingering around from last and snuggled in on it, with Fah'lina on top. She didn't seem too secure about this currently, but it was higher up than her usual places to rest, so most likely more secure, so she'd give it a chance.

 

The two of them wouldn't wake up early, though when the others would wake up they would be able to see the low hanging cloud a little above Serenade's house. If it had drifted or had been placed there were hard to say though. Likely just drifted.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral snickered at Null's comment at how loud she was. "None taken." She smiled knowing that she wasn't going to be sent away. "Yeah I would enjoy being able to use magic again." She looked at Misty. "I think it would be best you stay here."

 

"Why?"

 

Astral kneeled down and held Misty's hoof. "You saw that thing, I don't want to lose you."

 

Misty teared up and hugged Astral. "Neither do I, can't you just cast a warding spell on me?"

 

It then occurred to Astral, that she still hadn't recast her warding spell. "Okay fine, just stay away from Null and Void. They would deactivate it." Misty backed away from the hug, Astral stood up and looked at Null. "No offense intended."  She held both of Misty's front hooves, she grabbed out the chalk again and drew a shape on Misty's hoof. "This will hurt briefly."

 

"GAHH!" As shape etched itself into Misty's hoof, she hug Astral until the shape finished etching itself into her hoof.

 

Astral patted her back. "Sorry that's the only way I know how to cast it, and if it makes you feel any better I have to do the same."

 

Misty backed away and looked at the shape on her hoof. "I guess that makes it better."

 

Astral sketched the same shape on her own hoof, which did the same it did for Misty.  "I do know that if the shape fades away, the spell needs to be redone." Astral stood up along with Misty, she turned around back to Null. Astral waved her hooves around and pulled a red magical sword out of nowhere and walked past Null. "Well let's go save ponyville then."

Edited August 26, 2016 by Frannis

[Denim&Venöm 18,785]

 

 

@Seamore Sandwich, @GingerLightning, @Quinch, @Lonk Chase, @Melke,

 

"Oh hey, that did something. Now the bucker is visible. Yep, that's a corporeal bane alright. A big ass target too. Hard to miss. Time to strike while the iron is hot." She pulled out a piece of paper while biting her wrist and lathering her tail in it. She wrote down the glyphs, before folding it into a crane and blowing it into the air. The crane began to flap.

 

"Excellent now it's time to notch of soem more shots and is it just me or is the floor feeling slanted?" she felt the tower lean more and more back until it reached the point of no return. With loud cracks below, the leaning tower of Ponyville began to fall. 

 

"Aw shi-*CRASH!*

 

The paper crane flew to Allure, unfolding in her grip. "Sound strategy." 

[silvermoon15000 337]

"I understand I will do whatever I can to help," he replied excepting the deal. He stepped into the room and looked around...it was small but that was because of everything in there. He sat down on the bed and rubbed a good through his mane. He hadn't stayed in a hotel in a long time.

[EQ_Theta 458]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Sen wanted to say more about what he learned throughout his harrowing experience, but what happened in the cave still haunts him. It wasn't easy to let out when he knew just how much he messed up. One word that summed up his foolishness and desperation. He wouldn't know if Lin will easily forgive him knowing just how grave the situation was.

 

But just as he was ready to let those words out, the wisp residing with Omen separated itself and flew a fair distance from the group and formed a new gate, stones and all. The bright blue glow carried the whispers of a long hidden world into their midst and while the other side of the gate was difficult to see, Sen could make out the features of a quadruped having some difficulty walking towards them. With a bright flash of light, the gate and the wisp disappeared and a darkened creature emerged. Tired and showing signs of pain, it collapsed to the ground without making a sound. 

Sen immediately ran to the creature and cradled it in his forelegs, examining any features that could point to something familiar. He frantically brushed off some of the webbing hanging off the side of the face. What he saw gave him a sigh of great relief.

"It's her! She made it!"

Edited August 27, 2016 by EQ_Theta

[Blitz Boom 4,622]

@@EQ_Theta,

 

Mother looked surprised at the gate that suddenly formed in her home. Not even her own children could enter her house with their portals, and it had been so long since other beings had been here that she had more or less forgotten that it was even possible for others to open a gate in here, provided they used enough magic and had a suitable beacon that was.

 

The surprise over that was short lived though, as a creature came through that collapsed nearly as fast as the gate it had emerged from. Or rather, she had emerged from, as the identity of Lin were confirmed.

 

She could feel though that Omen suspected it was her right away though, as the portal bore semblance to what she had been through before, as well as the clue that Mother could work with, which were the essence of this place that lingered in the air. It was twisted and mixed in some way so the trace were not the easiest to make out, but it settled in the nose if you tried enough, so to speak.

 

"Allow me."

 

Mother raised the hand that had been upon Sen before and with a slight motion made the floor beneath Lin and Sen go soft and rise somewhat into the air, tumbling around for a few seconds until beneath her, were a large, soft bed, on which the seemingly unconscious girl could rest.

 

She went over after that and put a claw into the floor, rising it up slowly so the blanket that followed could be made right, and when it was done, placed the dark cloth gently over Lin, and potentially Sen if he were still at her. The blanket would be plenty big enough for it if it were at least.

 

"Lin?"

 

Omen began to take a few steppes forward once everything had processed through her brain enough to allow her to move and try to take some kind of action, but it was stopped by Mother that held a claw in front of her as she looked at the siblings.

 

"Easy Omen. Whatever have happened to Lin in that well seems to have taken its toll, and she needs to rest. Especially in her head."

 

"..."

 

Omen nodded and stopped talking, which made Mother remove the claw so she could move closer. Only until the edge of the bed though, where she would look at the siblings in silence.

 

It was nothing against Omen, but as her words were projected into a beings head when she spoke, it could disturb those who tried to get peace of mind or rest, and Mother would rather not the chance were taken right now with Lin. Normal speaking should be okay, as that had to pass through the normal channels and the bodies of most beings had an easier time tuning that out if their bodies had shut down for rest. At least in her experience.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@silvermoon15000,

 

"Very well then, we have a deal. I will be back in an hour, and we can begin to move some of these things out. Have a nice day until then."

 

Bubble Tea gave a small bow and a smile before leaving the two of them behind in the somewhat dusty, crowded-with-stuff room. She had gotten through what she had to with her guests right now and had a few things she needed to get ready for tomorrow, so no time to linger around. Especially as he might want to rest his head a little, even if there was somewhat dusty - she would have to make sure the maid were prepared for when the things were moved too, busy busy - and the energetic Vinyl might take more of her time. She would have ushered the mare out, but these two had come in together, so she didn't figure he would be that pestered by her presence that she had to take matters into her own hooves.

 

Back in the room, Vinyl looked around and poked to a few of the things that was lining the place, stopping at a half-burried sign in some cloth.

 

"Hey I remember this. Pinkie used that the last time she helped with a festival. Was a sign for a... Pie cart, I think. Something from the bakery at least."

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@,

 

Null just shrug as Misty was told not to be near her or Void.

 

"No sweat, just remember it's a few feet between me and Void this works, so just keep at three feet or more and you should be golden."

 

Most ponies tended to avoid her and Void as it were anyway because things started to go down or not work around them, and most tended to catch on fast. Usually why they tended to just pass through towns rather than staying in hope that they wouldn't realise it was because of them.

 

And still, Misty and Astral did better than those since even if they kept some distance to keep the magic flowing, they were still willing to speak civil with the two sisters. Much better treatment than most others gave them, and frankly these two had a good reason to keep some distance anyway, so there wasn't an issue here really.

 

She watched as Astral gave the two of them a protective ward of some kind, before making a sword out of thin air. A bit wonky, but eh, magical earth pony. Better to just roll with it.

 

"Let's get a move on then. There looked to be some other things fighting the big ugly there, so best if we try to help the ponies make a move for it I think, and defend as needed. Can't say if more of them are of the bad kind, but they keep themselves occupied enough to make us prioritise a bit here at least."

 

When they would eventually get back to town, They could find Void helping out a hoofful of ponies that were slowly moving out of town and towards the hospital. She mostly stood guard over them and look nervously around, in case something were headed towards them, but she also helped ease the walk of one of the earth ponies there that looked a little beaten up.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

@@Wolves,

 

"Hey, something's happening to the dome."

 

Happy caught it out of the corner of his eye when the air dome outside started to fall apart, not sure what were happening but not getting his hopes up that this was a good thing. Something which really started to cement itself as it went away, and he could see out the window at what were actually goinbg on in front of him.

 

There were so many creatures that he didn't know what were out there that he didn't even know where to direct his paranoia first. Between the robed figure, the giant hippo-creature, and the devastated city it took a second for him to focus on anything in particular, and when it did, it wasn't on any of these as much as it was the giant demon inside the town!

 

"Holy mother of-"

 

He jumped back in shock as his eyes had focused on that demon, or monster, or whatever else they called this sort of thing here in Equestria. Back in his world, they called things like this demons, and then they called for a shrink because cleary, you had some issues when you saw stuff like that, but this looked both very real, and very terrifying at the same time.

 

The shock even made him loose focus on his disguise for a second. It was brief really, like the blink of an eye, but his form flickered a small bit as the initial shock really got into his system. usually he were better composed than this, but again: Giant demon! This sort of thing even the weirdness of this world had left him unprepared for, and considering the scattered ponies running for their flanks, he wasn't the only one.

 

Happy was so fixated on this one, that he didn't even take notice of the changeling queen, which were usually something that drew his eye first when they appeared in a crowd. Right now though, a changeling queen? Not even on the top three messed up things in front of him, and for once not something that drew his eyes. A queen was at least looking like a regular pony at a glance and could be over-looked, but the demon? The hippo-thing? The robed weirdo? They stuck out like a bag of sunshine in the night, and the size of two of them made them impossible to miss.

[Summer Breeze 2,528]

@@Blitz Boom,@@Frosty Frost,

 

summer smiled when the other appeared to had liked her story. she felt especially proud when even nerzhei stopped to listen, she hadn't expected the dragon to like it at all. 

 

then she heard blitz clap her front hooves and jump around and try to catch frosties tail, which led to confusing frosty and that led to giggles from summer herself. "I didn't know timberwolfs could to that too but appearently they also like cookies." summer said smiling.

 

when she heard the dirt crisp in the path before her and saw that nerzhei had started walking again she also started to move. She grinned when she saw Lotus sign from nerzheis shoulder that the dragon had liked the story which made summer feel increddibly proud. 

 

then summer looked around to lyriel and smiled again "thanks, glad you liked it. but you haven't told us a story yet, and Nerzhei didn't either. Do you want to tell us a story too?" she asked, to both Lyriel and Nerzhei.