open Casual stroll

[---------------------- 1,645]

...

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral turned her head to Chow, almost immediately knowing what he was talking about, or rather, who. "Hey!"

 

Misty chuckled, falling backwards onto the ground as the chuckle turned into a laugh. Luckily, the warding spell didn't show, that and she wasn't hurt. "I'm fine!" She sprung upright, hopping on along next to Chow. "Well, since you heard our first impressions, what were yours?" She asked turning her head to Chow.

[EQ_Theta 448]

@@Blitz Boom

 

Lin raced through the village, caring less for the weird looks the villagers threw her way. Though she wasn't looking too much at whatever was in her peripheral vision, most of the villagers she passed didn't even bat an eyelash past her way and avoided making eye contact with her. It didn't matter much; after all, who in their right mind would talk to her? Maybe the young children who approached her and Omen earlier but they were nowhere to be found. But there was always a place to start, the old family hut by the edge of the village. 

Plenty of memories abound in that place, mostly associated with warmth and comfort, the kind that always brings joy to Lin. She wondered if her old toys were still around, especially that one straw dragon she loved to play with. She took it everywhere, kind of became a study partner to her whenever she was in the mood to learn; giving pseudo-lectures to it after reading a bit to make sure she got all the details right. She didn't remember the name but it will probably come to her later. 

 

But those sentiments were dashed as soon as she got there. It was dilapidated, all signs of life gone, didn't even bother to get anyone to move in. After hearing those voice recordings through the memory flowers, maybe this place was turned into a shrine to remind others what happens when they try to get smart. But her hunch was right. Sen was there, sitting by the side and under a tree. She approached him but before she said anything, he spoke up.

"Do you know what happened to father? He ran off when he could no longer take the pain. And mother... she stopped caring for herself once she was the only one left. Her friends offered to look after her but one day, she just stopped. She stopped talking to everyone, then stopped going out to get food, and then stopped all forms of contact. Some of her friends found me here and told me everything. If only I stayed, maybe she still had someone to hold on to..."

Lin opened herself in embrace, hugging Sen tightly but gave herself enough room should Omen wish to join. Whatever her fears were about Sen becoming impulsive once his anger took hold disappeared, though she still remained cautious should it ever appear again. She never knew the full extent of this betrayal but hearing her brother's voice lamenting in defeat, she could only remain silent as he broke down in tears, probably even more than what she first saw in his dream. It only gave her the resolve to see this injustice made right. 

 

"Whatever you need, brother," Lin said. "we'll be here. We'll help Ghilan find that monster and we'll give him to Discord. Whether the council agrees to it or not, we should act. It's time for his past to come back for him."  

Edited December 22, 2016 by EQ_Theta

[Summer Breeze 2,527]

@@Blitz Boom,

 

summer nodded "I'll be off then, see you guys there!" summer said as she took off and flew back in the direction they had come from. when she was a decent distance away from the rest of the group she flew high in the air to get a good overview of the area, who knows, maybe it would come in handy later. from her youth in the everfree forest she had learned that it was importand to know the area you're in, and even more importand, the way back home.

 

after looking at the land far down her, imprinting it in her memmorie, the beach and the caves and everything else there was to see, she flew back down again and folowed the path and she found Nerzhei pretty quickly. before she was at the cave she landed and made sure to make some noise as she approached the cave, instead of suddenly popping up behind the dragoness, she didn't want to risk getting her manes on fire, but not the cool kind that Blue could do.

 

when Summer finally was at the mouth of the cave, after the nessecary amount of stomping and tepping on twigs and dry leaves, she waved "Hey Nerzhei, we're comming back! is the cave ready?" she asked.

 

"And also, you don't have to worry about blitz when she comes here, she's knocked unconcious by Lotus, but it's nothing bad, Lyriel told us so" she said, because she figured it would be best to inform the dragoness about the things that would be comming so that she wouldn't be too surprised "oh, and we met a new pony so she'll stay with us too! hope you don't mind that" and she put up her most innocent and sweetest smile, just in case that Nerzhei did mind it.

[asdfmovienerd39 55]

stuff

 

"Hey, let's get a move on. I wanna find her, if she's still alive, as fast as possible." Deadpan suggested, as he started to walk off in the direction of his girlfriend's parents' house.

 

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

 

"Thank you for understanding, Null. I'm sure it's just as painful explaining your tragedies in life." Zen smiled softly.

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@@Blitz Boom, 

 

Storm shrugged a bit, "Generally it tends to happen the most when I'm not thinking about it." He replied, sipping from a mug of cider. "And usually when it comes to things appearing, it's food related." Storm blinked and looked at the cider he was sipping. "Kind of like that. I think an old pony I met once knew what it was. He'd pointed at me and was like 'Ha! Earth Pony Strange magic, in a Pegasus no less!'" Storm closed one eye and changed his voice a bit in a rough imitation of the older pony. 

[Blitz Boom 4,579]

 

Alright, so the human spoke a language that could be understood here in Equestria, that was good. What next then? Did he just knock her out right here and now, and find out things later, or should he be more cautious, and try the poison instead?

 

Wait, what was he going on about? He had already established that he had no idea if this girl was even worth trying to converge, and he were already preparing to force her back to the hive. Now, being prepared was a good thing, and he wouldn't stop this line of thought as such, but he had to put it somewhat in the back of his thought process right now so that he could try and communicate and learn something more of this female.

 

It helped that he were still in his pony form really. His changeling disguise and he likely would've looked too freaky, and his real form... Sheesh, he were curious about how that might go, but start of with it? That was how you'd get torched, even though this girl was a human, so likely no magic. Not like there were other dimensions than were he came from with magic humans after all, right? Hehe... Ehehe...

 

Awh crud...

 

Alright, alright, hide this fear for another time. First things first: Stop gawking like an angel landed in front of you, pick up your jaw, and then say the first thing that comes to mind.

 

"...Human..."

 

Alright then, so that didn't work out well. Better try one more time, and then see if he couldn't end up with something constructive to say instead of just repeating himself like a toddler.

 

"H-Hello. Sorry for the look it's just... I mean, a real life human. It shouldn't be possible, and yet..."

 

Happy cleared his throat a bit, and fidgeted along a bit.Nervous and not entirely sure what to do with things was his initial, genuine reaction, and as his brain began to take over that surprise and analyze how to use it to his advantage, it felt like the safe bet to keep going with, just as an act. It shouldn't be possible for the human to tell it wasn't real, as he had been conning others for years and knew how to make it believable, but just in case, it was another backup situation he had to think about as things went along here.

 

"I'm Happy Hour, and I guess... Welcome to Equestria? I mean, unless there's more of you I haven't seen that lives here, but we'd have seen that... I think?"

 

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

 

 

@BloodDrops

 

"Dragon, Dragoness, and Hatchling. An easy chart, though some young ones like to fancy themselves as draglets instead when they grow a little older. Makes little difference unless you talk with an adolescent one of my kind."

 

Nerzhei waited until Blood was outside, then used her magic once more to seal off the entrance and leaving it as if it were a simple side in the stone wall. It was a practical usage of her powers, though frankly, she'd still prefer not to stay in a cave for too long, all things considered. The lighting were poor, even at the best of times, and she could use a place where she could use some sort of fire without being concealed in smoke for a time.

 

"And it's better you eat now than later. When I need to calibrate things, I might need you to stand still for a time, so better to get it out of the way."

 

She kept a watchful eye on blood as she ate, taking notice of the size of the blood package, and how little time it had been since last she ate. It was a small portion there though, granted, but it still seemed as if the pony needed more than a package a day, which were her original thought. Perhaps a lot more, which made her wonder: What would happen if she wasn't near a bloodbank for say, a day or so? What would the hunger make her do?

 

Hmm... Hopefully not something that she'd ever find out, but it was something to keep in mind, as it set a timer on things. A battle between her being caught or having to run away from town, and the dragoness finding a way to at the very least help with the hunger, though that was likely going to come along with a cure of sorts, and not before, when she tried to balance things.

 

A race against time... Heh, it almost started to seem more interesting now.

 

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

 

 

 

"It's all down to the monster that attacked yesterday. I was evacuated early on, so I didn't get to see it, but apparently, it tore the clock tower down pretty badly, and the clock got flung towards the forest. Might have been from the gun ship too, and the blast did it, but the end result is the same: We have a finished clocktower in town, but without a clock in it, and we need it to get the time right. Might seem like a minor thing, but specially now, when we work on shifts, it gets important. Helps to tell how much time is left exactly, instead of having to ask the forepony. I swear, she counts the seconds or something like that."

 

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

 

 

@Driz

@Moonlit

 

"Awh, don't worry about her, she doesn't bite. Or okay, she bites me a bit, and if you were a fish she'd go munchy munchy on you, but you're not, so it should be a-okay."

 

Fah'lina gives the seemingly nervous pony a funny look, but doesn't react more on it as the smell of muffins came wafting by, and she raised her head, smelling the air and wandering over to the other side of Ziggy to get a better look at the baked goods before flying over to the edge of the table. Something which gave the doctor a chance to chuckle a little and lean in to Trinket so she could whisper something through ther mouth watering slightly from the delicious smells.

 

"Try putting an extra muffin near you. She'll get closer to nick it, and you can get a better view."

 

After that she spun around on her axis and quickly zoomed over to the table, unwilling to hold herself back anymore from this very delicious, spiced pear muffin she saw on the top. Not something that most tugged into, but she loved pears far more than even apples, and when she smelled this, she couldn't resist, though she had waited until she were told it was okay.

 

Fah'lina... Well, she had waited with chewing until it had been said it was okay, which showed that Serenade had been successful in learning her a few things about house rules, but she had still snatched one from the basket, using her dexterous tail, and jumped over to the other side of the table to prepare.

 

Both of them were quiet for a bit before Ziggy swallowed the first bite of delicious muffin and looked at Serenade whilst clapping a bit.

 

"Yummy in my tummy. Very delicious Serenade."

 

She were about to take the next bite when she recalled a comment that Serenade had made before about biting, and stopped herself for a little so she could respond.

 

"I tried to put up a *No biting zone* sign before, but she stole it, then bit the *No* part off and hung it somewhere she knew I'd show. Lot's of getting chased after that, but it was fun."

 

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

 

 

@Hazard Time

 

"What's he redecorating with? A brick?"

 

Blitz giggled a little as she got the mental image of the stallion flailing around with a brick on a rope, and cry out from all the dust around him. It was a funny little picture, though it likely wasn't true. Or was it? He were a strange pony after all, so perhaps he were doing that? Oooh, now she wanted to know!

 

"Can we go check up on him and see how it goes? Pleeeease?

 

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

 

 

 

"Theater bores me, but I were asked to come, and I am bound by my word."

 

Well, not towards many really. Her contract were solely with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, not anypony else, and if somepony else than them asked her to go see a theater show, she had to gain quite a bit in return to want to do that. That, or she'd need to have a personal reason, but it were a long time since she last had somepony to truly care for, so she didn't think this a feasible option currently.

 

"And you can speak what you want Star. I have my own tendencies of rambling, so it is not my place to judge."

 

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

 

 

@J.R.

 

The Night Guard's response were as could be expected. Stoic, professional, a-

 

Awh, who where we kidding? The guard were openly laughing at the stubbornness of the strange mare with the sword, and looked at her with a glimmer int he ice-blue eye like somepony that were seeing trouble, and looked very much forward to it. Something which fitted the grin that were planted on the mare's face.

 

"Oh, I love it when they resist. Makes me feel all tingly when there's a fight brewing in the air.

 

But in all seriousness doll, you gotta spill the beans, if you want to or not. I ain't letting you within a mile of Princess Luna without knowing what I'm dealing with, and if I have to smack you into the ground before you tell little ol' Slash Dancer here who you are and why you're brandishing a blade at least, I ain't above doing that. So your pick sugarfluff. Chains or protocol. One takes a minute, the other one also takes a minute, but involved me dragging you through the town square.

 

Sound like you're not here to stir up trouble, but this gig means I gotta know for sure, girlie."

 

Slash Dancer - as it seemed her name were - appeared to be having too much fun with this as it were, though the unknown mare might not want to test what sort of fun she had in mind, because she really meant what she said. She'd drag this mare down town square in chains, and laugh at it then whole way if it came down to it, and she wasn't afraid that this here mare was going to get the better of her. She'd fought her entire life, and frankly, a single mare compared to the hordes of changelings and other mumbo jumbo, wasn't a comparable challenge.

 

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

 

 

@dragon4111

 

"We can always learn from those who spawned us, either in a good or bad way."

 

There were more he could say to this, but frankly, when it came to injuries as severe as loosing a leg, and it being Draco's father too, it sounded like something he should treat with respect, and his big mouth sometimes could mean he stepped in something bad, which in this situation, wouldn't be good. It'd likely happen whilst he would ask if Draco's father was  pegasus too, as their kind didn't get affected by missing limbs except wings as much as say, an earth pony for example, but all things considered he'd just think of that as a *potential yes* and move on.

 

Something which in this situation, meant packing the box on his back and start to move slowly towards where he knew they were building currently. The best bet he had were that the forepony were there, and if not, he could just drop this off there with a message, worst comes to worst.

 

"Shall we then?"

 

Long Stare would follow closely with Draco, as could be expected, though hopefully not so much so that he should trip over her hooves or something like that.

 

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

 

 

@Lloyd

 

"First time I got here? Well, I had more or less gone here straight from Griffinstone, so it was split between me still getting used to the denser air here down to earth compared to the mountains, and wondering what the deal were with all the dolled up ponies talking all funny-like.

 

I also got into a cell for a few days after I clocked somepony out. Little pest that kept following me and mocking me, and in the end, he reaped what he sowed. Figures it was me who were seen as the bad guy in that situation, but eh, likely looked like I were to the guards, so I don't blame them."

 

Chow thinks back on that first day, and all the chaos that went on the week after that with him trying to make a living in this place, etc. which had been one heck of a time, but if he had to tell it all, they'd be here all week long, and that wouldn't be worth it. Especially considering that they had just reached the house.

 

You could see it wasn't as luxurious as some of the other shacks 'round here, but it were still in the good end of the scale, with a chimney, several good rooms it seemed, and at least on the outside, spotless. Couldn't have been long since Scarcity had some ponies out to clean this place he'd wager, so the inside was likely the same, and as they'd approach it, furnished as well it appeared. Seemed like she had been ready to put this on the market before the trio came around perhaps.

 

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

 

 

@EQ_Theta

 

"..."

 

Omen moved a few steps closer to the house where Lin and Sen's parents used to live after Sen were done talking, and just looked over the lifeless place.

 

In here, the two of them had grown up for at least a part of their life, and as they had been dragged to the outside world through the horrible things that happened to them, they had left behind their family. Their father, who had been punished for things he had not done - things they called crimes, but didn't make any sense as such - and their mother, who had to see her children vanish from their stories, and her husband then leaving because of what he had gone through. Someone who even Omen understood what had happened too from the way things had gone...

 

If she could cry, she would likely have shed a tear over this.

 

Instead, she just turned, and went over to the two siblings - her friends and family - but didn't press in for the hug. It didn't seem the right time, witht he small flame that seemed to flicker in her mind the more she thought on the elder that had done all of this.

 

"...When we find him, come with me, and tell Mother what he have done instead. Whoever wants to hurt a family this much, doesn't deserve anything good, and Mother will make sure he learns that."

 

A few seconds passed before she tentatively took a few steps forward and almost placed a hoof on Sen's shoulder, but then stopped herself halfway through the motion and turned her head, looking in the exact direction where Ghilan were.

 

"New elder... Might have some of the old one's things."

 

She put her hoof down and turned, facing towards the hut and mumbling to herself before wandering off in a fine speed.

 

It were likely a little intensive, but she simply saw it as the thing that made the most sense. She couldn't cry with Sen and Lin, didn't have the connection or emotional spectrum to really know much - even her anger at this were flimsy in her mind, though persistent - and trying to be heartfelt would be hollow and ultimately, perhaps worse than nothing. She had seen others yell before by insincere words, and here it might happen again.

 

Besides, for them to move on, they needed the former elder found, and there Omen could help at least, if she got a scent to follow that were. That would depend on how things went at Ghilan, though if she'd get there alone or with Sen and Lin she didn't know. Might be they needed more time or something.

 

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

 

 

@asdfmovienerd39

 

"Roger that. lead the way and we'll get hte search going, and we're not gonna stop until we have proof of things."

 

After the last time, Sea made sure not to add any bad puns in this. It had been crap enough the last time, and a second one would likely see him knocked out on the ground. Besides, this time he kept his focus on doing his darnest not to say something insensitive like that, so it should be better now that they were on the move, with Deadpan in front, leading the way.

 

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

 

 

@asdfmovienerd39

 

"I'd tell a shorter tale if I told about the things that went right. Six years of isolation with a bit of slight stability were all I got before twenty years of having to run for my life, with a little sister who were hurt and terrified at everything, depending on me to get her through without breaking down."

 

Null let out a drawn out, deep sigh as she recalled more of the history she had with her sister, and the day that everything had gone sideways and she had to care for somepony who were twice her size, but at least ten times as brittle. It hardened her from a young age, and frankly, it wasn't always in a good way.

 

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

 

 

 

Void nearly dropped her jaw to the ground as she saw the mug in Storm's hoof. She knew it hadn't been there just before, then she had blinked and presto, he were taking a sip like it were nothing. Out of a mug that had manifested itself from thin air.

 

"T-This can't be magic. Sis and I stop that, but you... H-Holy moly, she's not going to believe this."

 

It wasn't long after that that she realized that she were literally gawking at Storm Shine, and with a deep blush on her cheeks from embarrassment, withdrew into a more neutral stance than this, though she still looked somewhat at awe towards the stallion regardless.

 

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that... Just never thought I'd s-see something like this. Is it... I-I mean, have you always been able to do this? Have it something to do with the w-wall thing you mentioned before?"

 

Perhaps it was a powerful, ancient artifact, this *fourth wall* and it's powers were so great, that not even negating like her and Null had any effect on it? It was the best explanation she had, beyond Storm being some kind of god, but that was just silly thinking.

 

...Right?

[Cheerilee 26,568]

 

 

 

 

"It's all down to the monster that attacked yesterday. I was evacuated early on, so I didn't get to see it, but apparently, it tore the clock tower down pretty badly, and the clock got flung towards the forest. Might have been from the gun ship too, and the blast did it, but the end result is the same: We have a finished clocktower in town, but without a clock in it, and we need it to get the time right. Might seem like a minor thing, but specially now, when we work on shifts, it gets important. Helps to tell how much time is left exactly, instead of having to ask the forepony. I swear, she counts the seconds or something like that."

 

             

"Well then... We need to make sure it doesn't come through again or any other ones like it... Lets try to find some pieces of that clock."

 

He motions for him to go look, while he goes looking around for the pieces of clock. He does a very faint frown as he does so, he wants to get the work done as soon as possible.

Edited December 23, 2016 by NightMare Star.

[J.R. 3,183]

@@Blitz Boom,

Who even was this pony? Eh, didn't really matter to her. All she was focused on was doing her job. No response came from her. Not even a tiny scoff. Instead, she merely went ahead, and focused on the job at hand, and that was investigating what was going on. So she walked on, and didn't pay him any mind.

[StarNote 231]

@Blitz Boom,

 

"Ya well umm ya some people find me well...unwelcomed but thanks for being nice"

 

*looks at other ponys walking by looking suspisous of me and vivid 

 

"you seem get the looks to from other ponys too"

 

"I only get them because i am a ...... "

 

*pauses in my words

 

"well i can tell you as long  if you tell no pony"

 

"if you tell any pony your not supposed to then i dont know gust dont tell any

pony OK"

 

*looks vivid right in the face

 

 

[BloodDrops 762]

@,

 

Can you stop quoting everything. Just mention the ponies you are rping to.

 

@@Blitz Boom, 

 

Blood Drops finished eating and dropped the packaging onto the floor, she didn't want to carry it with her. She didn't mind about causing a bit of litter anyway. She blinked at the dragon, seeing that she was watching her. She frowned, she wondered if the Dragon was hungry she held out a blood pack to her "You hungry?" she asked blinking. Blood after all had a very large supply of blood packs. 

 

Blood blinked "I got no meat on me anyway" she added with a snort. She didn't want the dragon to go off hunting, they were meant to be going towards the woods pony. She wondered how far it was, her hooves were beginning to get tired.

 

"We there yet?" she asked impatiently.

[dragon4111 914]

@Blitz Boom

"Of course," Draco said with a grin. He looked at Long Stare as she followed him closely. "How adorable," Draco whispered to Long Stare with a grin on his face. H chuckled as he walked with Clayton. "So are you the type to ramble on about things when nervous?" Draco asked with a grin.

[Driz 1,552]

@@Moonlit, @@Blitz Boom

 

"Right... A she." Trinket says, not taking her eyes off of Fah'lina. Soon enough, after a bunch of hesitation, everyone moved over to the dining table in order to eat the promised muffins - but not before the blue mare received a neat little trick on how to reach the cute rodent's heart. She nodded in agreement, and followed suit towards the table, sitting down.

 

Just like she was told, she placed an extra muffin next to her own plate in an attempt to lure Fah'lina in. If they said she didn't bite, she most likely did not bite. Trinket wasn't a fish, as far as she was concerned. Perhaps she could manage to get close enough to the animal and snag a quick caress. The mare then took a small bite out of the meal, her eyes widening as she did. "Mmm... This is really good! Did you bake these yourself?" She asks, her mouth still half-full.

[Moonlit 593]

@@Blitz Boom, @@Driz,  Serenade nods, eating her own Cherry and Orange muffin. ​"Yes, after mom got invalided out of Royal Guard duty she took up baking and cooking. I learned by proxy and it gives me something to do when I'm finished my reports". She quickly adds a half dozen muffins to a bag and slides it next to Trinket. 

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@@Blitz Boom

 

 

The pink mare chuckled and stood.  "Sure, though if you've been around him long enough, you'll find that he's easily predictable."  She led the way up the stairs, following the noise.  There seemed to be a few rooms up there, but only one had light coming from under it.  Ametrine stopped before it and knocked.  The sound inside stopped before the sounds of grumbling became apparent.

 

"Can I help you?" came Zoisite.

 

"Just asking to come inside and say hi," Ametrine responded in turn.

 

"Must you?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Fine."

 

Ametrine nodded to Blitz and slowly opened the door.  Though dusty, the room was half neat and half mess.  On one side, it appeared that every article of furniture had been crammed together, creating a sort of fort about the bed.  The rest of the room was bare, save for a strange rune on the wall which bathed the room in an eerie blue light.  Zoisite, himself, stood in the middle, busy moving an armchair into position.

[asdfmovienerd39 55]

stuff

 

Deadpan stopped walking eventually when he looked upon wreckage that was clearly once a home. "Okay, let's start lookin'!" he yelled, scanning the area.

 

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

 

"Oh my. You poor thing." Zen frowned. "You could have housed you and your  little sister at the monastery, though I doubt you knew it existed then.."

[---------------------- 1,645]

...

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@@Blitz Boom, Astral looked to Chow as he spoke. She had always feared ponies sending her to prison for her magic, but she wasn't ready to see if it was still banned, and only asking Celestia herself would allow her to do that which still may get her in trouble. Astral walked forward to the house. "Well, at least we got a better first impression that you." She said pressing a hoof against the door, and instead of using the key, she secretly levitated the pins into the right place, effectively unlocking the door. Chow may be rather confused by this, that or brush it off. She walked inside letting out a amazed "Wow" Dragging it out a bit as she looked around, to show her surprise. "Well, it's not great compared to what I've heard of Canterlot houses, but it ain't bad." She turned her head to look to Chow. "It's rather great actually."

 

Misty nodded while looking at Chow. "You should keep Scarcity, she'd make a good friend." Misty looked ahead. "Now, where should my room be?"

 

Astral looked around. "Scarcity did mention a hidden basement..."

 

"That's for you to use magic, since I don't."

 

Astral turned to Misty. "Nah, you could use it to use magic as well." Astral looked a head, marching upstairs. "Oh, Chow?" She turned around, halfway up the stairs. "I'm just checking the house out by the way, I will come back to help you carry the stuff in." She said in a reassuring tone.

 

Misty turned to look at Chow. "Can I help carry stuff in?" She asked, specifically to Chow, it would be obvious, since she was looking at Chow.

[EQ_Theta 448]

@@Blitz Boom

 

"It's a start but maybe he had all of his things removed. Ghilan might have had his things cleared out and thrown somewhere." 

Lin examined the hut again, this time with a much more discerning eye. She knew every crack in the wood and every nook where the wood has withered, a sign of wear and tear in the structure. Still, it's a surprise how long this has stood without changes or renovations; most huts would often need refurbishing whenever someone new moved in or whenever the previous owners moved out. This one's been around for many years and it remained just as she left it. Before she look a peek inside, the sound of crackling leaves trampled underfoot grew louder in approach.

 

"There you are!" Ghilan panted and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I've been looking everywhere for you three! I wanted to let you all know the council has agreed to convene tonight regarding the investigation. You can all listen in and plead your cases to the council as well since you all have information that can convince them to help you look for the former elder, Solasan. That's his name, by the way. I'll need to borrow your brother for the time being but we'll see each other at the communal hut later." 

Lin smiled and her mood perked up ever so slightly. "That's great news, elder! See you then!" The elder accompanied Sen and walked with him back into the village, towards the central square. Lin remained and returned to looking at the hut but her mood shifted back to one of melancholy. She then said to Omen: "back at the archives... I wasn't being straightforward with you. What I said about being scared of Sen's anger, I was scared about what it could do to him. I'm afraid that he might hurt others, maybe the elder Ghilan if he isn't careful. I know he wants to get back at Solasan for what he did to our family but if his anger takes hold of him, he might become someone like the former elder."

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@@Blitz Boom, 

 

Storm shrugged, "Well I've pretty much always been able to do this, never questioned it much.. As for the fourth wall.." He put a hoof to his chin in thought, "Well that's just something I've heard the monkeys on the other side of the glasses say that seemed to fit the glass. Those hairless monkey things with the clothes and stuff.  At least, I think it's glass.. Like, dimensional glass or something.They know a lot, so I just sometimes pick some of it up. Some of them even seem to think that they made us." he laughed a bit at that thought. "Anyways, it's not really important, I ignore them most of the time." Storm finished, winking conspiratorially at the otherwise unknown audience scanning the forums. To the other ponies, he probably seemed to be winking at nothing.

[Blitz Boom 4,579]

 

"Yes, well, I think we might have all the pieces that were here. But we still need at least three more, from what I can see here. The break is too clean to have made less at least."

 

Clockwise turned around, seeing if there were any clues he could go by from the pile of parts they stood next to. At first there were nothing, but suddenly, a broken branch caught his eye. It were pretty high up, but it were visible if you checked, and it gave them a potential direction to go by.

 

"I think a pieces flew this way. Come Gordan. Golden will be able to gather this while we go ahead. It'll help us be done faster. Or well, you two at least, I'm going to have a field day piecing our clock back together again and find a new lens for it."

 

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

 

 

@J.R.

 

"Well, can't say I didn't give you the option sugar."

 

Slash pulled back and withdrew a pair of cuffs from her uniform. Usually she wouldn't want to do this, but the brat had been warned not to enter town without clearing a few things with her, and considering the princesses were here, she wasn't gonna tolerate this sort of behaviour.

 

Turning on the spot and in a fluid motion running and hopping over to ending in front of the pony, she jangled the cuffs by the links in her mouth and gave the unknown mare a look that wasn't as playful and cheery as before, but instead hard and belonging to somepony who didn't seem to be beyond hurting to get these things fitted around the armed mare's legs.

 

"You want it your way? Then by the authority of her majesty of the night, Princess Luna, I hereby put you under ar-"

 

"Oh you have got to be kidding me! Can't I get a moment's worth of peace to do my dang work here?"

 

The voice surprised Slash to hear, just as it had surprised last to see her here, but right now, this wasn't her greatest concern. Frankly, it just made her annoyed, and somewhat angry, to have to deal with this on top of everything else going on right now, which were easily visible on her face, even with the closes eye with the large, old scar going over it.

 

"Last? What in the-"

 

"Can it, I have enough to deal with right now without you getting on my back too. And you -"

 

The armed mare would have been unable to move away, or she would have instantly been tackled and shackled - which were an option, but again, she'd be shackled at that point then - and since the situation between the two other mares had taken less than a minute, it were likely she would have had the chance anyway. Not something Last cared about frankly, all she cared about were what she saw at first glance, before continuing her line of thought.

 

"- trouble or help? I already had a demon to deal with yesterday and I'm not in the mood to have to fight more again today. But we can use every hoof around here for whatever help that can be provided."

 

"Sorry to break your little bubble I-"

 

The only response she got were from the slightly smaller mare with the closed eye that snarled at her, which seemed to surprise the mare quite a bit as well. Not something she were used to likely.

 

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

 

 

 

Vivid gave Star a knowing look.

 

"Oh, believe me dear, I have experienced far stranger than what you might be able to tell me, and shared not a peep of it. You don't need to worry about my reaction or a loose tongue."

 

The options of what could end up being the thing this mare wished to show went through her, though because of the odd looks she had gotten for some marks - or edges of ones perhaps - from others that had been near, and how she seemed to cover a fair deal of herself, she supposed it was something physical. Mutation, scars, magical scars, magical runes, etc.

 

The options on what it could be where not few, but she had seen things carved in skin that this mare likely had never even heard about, and the majority she were under strict rules to not share about in details. Cadence did not think it good if Vivid's... *experience* were shared, for various reasons.

 

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

 

 

@BloodDrops

 

"I don't consume pure blood. It isn't healthy."

 

A crushing motion of her hand with magic rolling from it made a hand of stone rise and clutch around the discarded blood package, before dragging it into the ground. It'd be contained there, and were another thing that Nerzhei could examine later on. The more data she had to work with the better after all. Made things less likely to end poorly when the time came to experiment towards a potential cure for the disease-stricken pony.

 

"And no, we're not there. We just started to move, though it shouldn't be more than a handful of minutes if we find a trail. Keep your eyes open for anything coloured strangely or any craters."

 

She had no idea what sort of pony they'd have to deal with when they found whoever had the forge out here, but it were somepony that should be handled somewhat nicely she'd think, considering the pony in question had explosives from what she knew. Hopefully it were somepony reasonable to some degree.

 

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

 

 

@dragon4111

 

At the comment, Stare blushed up again and after a bit, managed to stammer a tiny *thank you* forth to Draco. Something which weren't done until Clayton weren't looking, as she suspected he might know of her little uhm... Well, crush she supposed, b-but it was nothing! It was just because Draco was always so nice to her and-

 

This line of thought kept on as Clayton let out a small sigh from the question that had been directed his way.

 

"Sadly yes. I-I have always been a rather nervous pony, though I can keep it under wrap mostly. This town however, is testing me rather much. N-Not because of the town itself mind you, but more because of the forepony. She frankly terrifies me, even if she's injured as she is now."

 

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

 

 

@Driz

@Moonlit

 

"They're amazing! It's hard to find a good pear muffin anywhere, and Trinket is right, these is absolutely delicious. I bet you could teach bakers a lesson or two with skills like this."

 

Ziggy kept on slowly gnawing through the muffin, enjoying every bit of the nommy treat, but she wasn't the only one. Though, Fah'lina hadn't been as slow with gnawing through hers. She had been hungry, even with he treats spread around, and these were fresh and sugary, which were too good to pass up, even for a rodent.

 

As expected, once she were done eating the one she had been at, she looked around and saw the one next to Trinket. Sure, there were something about muffins in the basket, but it just wasn't the same as nicking it from somepony, and especially not as she figured that thus far, the ponies had let her get away with a few minor things, as long as she played cute, so this should be easy to get out of too.

 

So she scurried a bit closer, a little by little, until she were behind the muffin and grabbed hold of it. She didn't wait before starting to munch on it, though this time it were slower and more befitting of her small size than before. And if Trinket wanted to try and pet her... Well, long as she didn't try and snatch the muffin away now, she wouldn't really mind. SHe shouldn't count on a purring sound though. Fah'lina wasn't a cat.

 

As for her fur, it would feel pretty much as you'd expect, though slightly moist, as she had taken a small dip before the others had shown. Not for more than a few seconds, but just enough to not have completely dry fur. The water mostly didn't stick, and she could shake the worst off after that to not leave wet spots all over, so it weren't really an issue to freshen up a bit like this, long as she didn't stick in the water enough to tempt Serenade's fish. They liked to snap, and they were too big for Fah'lina to chomp down on without them struggling and potentially hurting her.

 

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

 

 

@Hazard Time

 

Blitz wasn't sure what she were expecting when she walked upstairs with Ametrine and got allowed into the room where Zoistine resided, but it wasn't to walk in on what were basically a couch fort, and a night lamp made with some kind of strange rune on the wall. Both things which were fascinating and amazing to her, which meant that she had a few hoofful of seconds in standby mode before her brain finally decided on what to focus on first.

 

"Couch fort! Awesome!"

 

She jumped a little in place before going over and looking for a hole where she could pop her head in and have a look at why he had made his bed into a fort like this.

 

"Why're you making a fort Zoisite? Beyond it being fun, of course. Oh! Oh! And why does your wall glow? Did you paint it with one of the glowy mushrooms? And why like a rune? Does it mean something?"

 

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

 

 

@asdfmovienerd39

 

"Roger that. I'll start checking under the bricks."

 

Was a ton to go over, that was for sure, but thankfully he wasn't a pegasi, but an earth pony, which meant he had some muscle to flip the stones and have a good look around in where the house had stood before. Unicorn might have been better, with the floating stuff and all that, but eh, if he got something falling down on him, he were less likely to break like a twig than they, so he were likely still on the good side of things.

 

Now it was just to go through the rubble here and pray that he wouldn't find anypony. Long as they didn't, there were hope after all.

 

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

 

 

@asdfmovienerd39

 

"No way it could've happened. We've only been in Equestria for a week or so. When we had to make a run from Troy, we went in the exact opposite direction. Though we did aim for this rock. Heard it was an open place and I'll tentatively say it is. At least thus far."

 

She didn't trust things yet though. Right now, help were needed with everything here, so there was a point in having them there, and the princesses hadn't seen what they did yet, so it wasn't a situation where the two of them were under a scrying glass yet. After this had all been settled, or they had the chance to speak with one of the princesses - preferably the ones who rules over Equestria, but she'd settle for Twilight if it is - they'd see what would really end up happening.

 

"What sorta temple did you pop out of though? One of them inner peace places?"

 

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

 

 

 

"I can believe that you're not from here. Your kind are legends after all. Fairy tales. To think there's actually one of you here... Okay, okay, I need something to calm myself here. Could you uhm... C-Could you follow, please? I need something from my wagon to my nerves or I'm never gonna figure out what to do right now. It's just a few minutes away, I promise."

 

He pointed in the direction where his cart were and took a few steps, then waited to see if she would follow. if she didn't, he'd need to stay here and think of something else, but if she did, then as he mentioned, it would be a short trip before they stood in front of his wagon that in big letters said *Happy Hour, Wine & Assorted Beverages.* though if she'd go with him still were the question. If not... Well, he'd have to keep playing it slowly then and see what would come from this.

 

Regardless of whatever she'd walk with him or seem to indicate they stayed, he'd ask something right after he turned to look at her, which where were he took notice of the strange thing around her wrist. It didn't seem like a watch, or at least not the kinds he were used to, but... What was it then?

 

"Mind if I ask, what's with the thing around your wrist? It's not d-dangerous, right?"

 

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

 

 

@Lloyd

 

"Oh, I doubt I'll get rid of Scarcity anytime soon..."

 

He didn't seem all that happy about that as he followed the two new home-owners around to take a glance at their place that apparently stood unlocked. Astral hadn't used a key at least, though it did seem sloppy to leave the door unlocked, and especially for Scarcity... Perhaps she had done a little trick whilst he hadn't looked, eh? Clever girl.

 

A little blessing went to the great sky when he didn't see anypony near them when the two mares started to talk about the hidden room. He needed to get them to understand that some things shouldn't be discussed in public because others had ears. They listened in, and all it took were one wrong thing said near the wrong pair of ears and it'd be the prison cells for you.

 

He waited with that though. First off, he went and said that it was good that Misty wanted to help him, and then started to get some stuff in. After a few things, he whistled to get their attention, and hoped that he'd get both of them to listen in the room they currently stood in - he basically just put stuff where they wanted him to - though he'd take even one of them listening in.

 

"Alright gals, need to go over a few things. First off, for the love of everything, stop talking about the secret room in public. We got lucky that nopony heard you, but that won't last, and I ain't fresh on seeing you two having a grand ol' visit by a team of guards that want to figure out what's hiding under the floors. You have to be careful not to mention this, or the magic you're busting about when somepony can hear you, because this town haves ears, even if a lot of them are stuck in the sky with the snobs.

 

Also, you two can share the *basement*. Scaricity said there'd be room for zebra stuff, with an access point to the chimney, so you're both covered. You can find a regular room in other places there. Looks to be room enough for both, right? No need to have a fight over who need the room the most. At least I think so, but you need to have a look at the size first. Knowing Scarcity though, this were going to be the real seller of this house to some shady sort, and is likely pretty roomy."

 

But, all in due time. First they had a lot of stuff to move into the house, then place down, and they'd see from there. At least, that was what he meant. Knowing the two mares here though, he wasn't gonna have that down the way they would want it.

 

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

 

 

 

Hairless monkeys? What in the wide world were he talking about? The dimensions she could sort of follow about, as she had heard a pony try and explain that to her and Null once, before the mare had figured out what they could do and tried to make them test subjects for her experiments. It hadn't gone well when she had told Null that...

 

"I-It sounds a bit like you're talking about... G-Gods. I heard about dimensions before, but... P-Perhaps it's easier if I don't try to understand. It sounds c-complicated. Probably better to just accept w-whatever I see happening with you."

 

She could have kept on asking, but it really did sound like the kind that she'd either never get, would take a long time to lead her to just accepting things anyway, or would require her to join some sort of religion, and she would rather not go down that route. She had enough troubles already without having to fear some higher being would... Erase her? Something like that.

 

"W-What does Pinkie feel about this though? I-I'm sorry if I pry, it just seems like a h-hard thing to get used to for somepony so near to you."

 

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

 

 

@EQ_Theta

 

Salosan... A name to remember until he were found.

 

It were strange with the Longma names now that she thought about it. Around the ponies, and with Discord, the names generally meant something. Applejack were from the Apple family, Featherweight were a tiny thing, and so on. She herself were even under this, as she were the omen of her master, Discord. or at least of his words.

 

Then came the Longma. Sen meant nothing she could think of. Lin were the same, as well as Ghilan. And now came also Salosan? What made the base of the longma names? Simply names that they thought about, unrelated to what they could do in their lives? Or were it perhaps something that meant a thing in their language? No, that seemed strange. They had spoken like the ponies did thus far, though she couldn't say if the writing were different. Might be something there, and no less strange than their names just being random.

 

Why did she think on this now though? A weird time for this line of thought to enter her mind, and it had made her miss her chance to say something to Ghilan. A pity, it would mean she would have to seek him out later instead then. Or just go into his hut and search herself? Hmm...

 

"...How would he be as bad as Salosan? The elder trapped a town. Hurt a family because it was yours. Sen would have to do the same to be like him, yes? If the former elder had any family."

 

A vague light flickered in Omen's mind.

 

"Does he have any family?"

 

She turned and walked calmly towards Lin after the question, and looked at her friend and sister closely before she went on, regardless of if she had gotten an answer before this or not.

 

"I believe I care too, Lin. I feel... Strange, when you talk about him getting hurt, or hurting others, and not just because I promised him that I would be there. Still, I don't see how it could become that bad. Not when we are there."

 

A few dozen dots appeared in the air around Lin, though they didn't expand before vanishing. It was just a small show, which were something Omen had learned from Discord, sometimes brought the point home, as he had put it.

 

"I have my gates, you have your portal. If he begins to do something bad, we will take him away, before he does something to others, like you said. Same with you, if you end up going for him yourself. You need practise, and can't track as well. I could get you away for long enough too, if it came to that. I don't want to use a gate on any of you though. Only him.

 

Perhaps you should practise again? Use time, to learn, and prepare?"

 

Omen really wasn't certain what else to say when it came to the object of Sen's anger. She had seen on how it might end from how she had seen others get angry, like Lin before as a recent memory, and could see how it could be stopped. So though she felt a little... Worry, she supposed it were, it wasn't something that wasn't prepared for, and therefore not something that really troubled her mind more.

 

It wasn't the same for Lin, clearly, but unless she knew something else that would go against things, this were the extend of how she looked upon it.

[Cheerilee 26,568]

 

"Yes, well, I think we might have all the pieces that were here. But we still need at least three more, from what I can see here. The break is too clean to have made less at least."

 

Clockwise turned around, seeing if there were any clues he could go by from the pile of parts they stood next to. At first there were nothing, but suddenly, a broken branch caught his eye. It were pretty high up, but it were visible if you checked, and it gave them a potential direction to go by.

 

"I think a pieces flew this way. Come Gordan. Golden will be able to gather this while we go ahead. It'll help us be done faster. Or well, you two at least, I'm going to have a field day piecing our clock back together again and find a new lens for it."

 

               

 

"Yeah sure, whatever works the fastest. Hmm... How do you think you will put this clock back together when you find all the pieces?" he asks.

 

Gordan is curious as to why this clock is so important to Clockwise. He doesn't ask since he doesn't want to offend him. He begins walking towards the direction Clockwise wants him to go in. 

[dragon4111 914]

@Blitz Boom

"Really? she frightens you?" Draco asked with a grin. "Ever been in a f 5 tornado before?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't recommend it. Those things are like the wrath of Celestia in wind form," Draco stated with a laugh to himself. "And those are in the lands with no pegasi in them so the weather is wild and never tamed,"

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@@Blitz Boom, 

 

Storm chuckled, "Yeah, that's what a lot of ponies do with Pinkie and I. 'It's just Pinkie being Pinkie' or ' Storm being Storm' they say." He responded with his usual happy smile, "It's part of why Pinkie and I are such a good fit, it's something we both see and do. She's the only other pony I know who can see all the stuff I do, do all the stuff I can do, and we can trust each other's little niggling feelings, like her twitchy tail and my itchy ear."

 

Storm paused as his ear twitched, as if to dislodge something that had settled there, before he took a large step to the side. a second or two later, a flowerpot crashed onto the spot he had been occupying. "Things like that. So if anything, I would guess she feels as happy as I do to have somepony else understand these things."

[asdfmovienerd39 55]

stuff

 

 

"....A monastery for your information, but yes, I suppose someone could call it the 'inner peace' place." Zen mentally, and almost physically, cringed at Null's very poor grammar and brash nature. Oh well, she's had experience talking with people like her before.

 

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

 

"...No....dude, I found something..." Deadpan whispered as he pushed away what once was probably a book shelf and saw....

 

three skeletons.

 

"No...dang it..." he hung his head low, trying to hide his tears.