open Casual stroll

"Well, Nerzhei, nice to meet you. I hope that we can get along."

Blue really hoped that they would, because that would mean that she would have to be less wary around one less creature.

Frosty and Blue both followed Lyriel into the cave, Frosty taking a close look at Lyriel while she did her magic. When the moss was fully grown, Frosty clapped his hooves together with a wide grin on his face.

"Oooh ooh! Can you teach me that too, or is it a dryad only thing? Please don't say that's a dryad only thing, I wanna cover my house in moss!"

Blue chuckled. To her it was fairly obvious that it was dryad magic. Spores coming from her hands didn't look like something that unicorns could replicate.

The soft moss that now covered the ground reminded her a bit of the Hive. They didn't use beds, they had small gaps in the wall in which you crept and slept, with the walls and ground made out of soft-ish material. Not the most comfy, but it worked. Allowed for a massive amount of drones to be housed in a small place.

When Lyriel asked about the group's opinion on Nerzhei, Blue was quick to answer.

"Well, Nerzhei probably seems angry, but I'm sure she would not harm us in any way, no matter what we do. She may act scary, but she wouldn't hurt a fly. Even if she's provoked, she won't act on it unless she absolutely has to."

Frosty was less fast with his response.

"She, eh... seems nice? I mean, she didn't dunk our heads in hot wax, so for a dragon she's really nice...? Plus, she really likes magic, just like me, so that's a bonus. She's even nice enough to show me where to get those magical gems later."

genessee · March 16, 2017

@@Blitz Boom

"You really think so? Thanks, it feels really nice. to me, at least, when someone genuinely compliments you."

Lance grinned.

"So you want to hear how I almost got involved in gangs? Alright. Well, when I still lived in Noncannon, a few years ago, I was needing some bits for myself and my family. My dad's birthday was coming up and I wanted to give him something nice. So I went out looking for something to do that might earn me some currency, and eventually I came across a group of stallions a few years older than me. They offered me some bits to go get a few thing around town that they wanted. I was a bit skeptical, but the things they wanted didn't seem suspicious, so I went along. They wanted a butterfly knife, some scrapped metal shards from dumpsters and the like, and some firewood. Actually, they seem pretty suspicious now that I say it aloud. Well, I thought it was legitimate when they told me to get the stuff, so I went around town getting the stuff. Most of it came from dumpsters, except for the butterfly knife. I took that from my own stash. Anyway, after I grabbed the stuff and brought it to the gang again, they thanked me, tossed a few bits (Which wasn't nearly as much as they said) and told me to scram. Because I had just handed them a knife and I wasn't armed, I decided to keep my mouth shut about pay and go find other work. Finally, after a little while of searching and getting some more bits, I had scrounged up enough to get something decent for my pop. Before I got to the shop, however, I passed the gang again. This time, they stopped me and told me they needed something done. They wanted me to go talk to the shopkeeper of the nearby store for about ten minutes, and offered to pay me in advance. Quite a few bits, to be honest. This time I was extremely suspicious. Why pay me so much just to go talk to some random? But the money convinced me that I should do it. Dumb choice, I know. So I walk into the store, and after a few moments of browsing, I go up and talk to the stallion running the shop and ask him something stupid. I don't remember what it was now, but it was something along the lines of 'Nice day outside' or the like. So I glance back towards the gang, and I see one of them flash the butterfly knife I had given them before the group moved down the alley next to the shop. Now I was convinced they were going to do something illegal. I decide to tip off the shopkeeper by saying, 'You might want to go look around the store and around the outside. You never know when a gang's planning to rob you in this town.' I then quickly bought a present for my dad and left the store."

He took a breath. That was a lot of talking.

"Turns out the gang was using me as bait to distract the shopkeeper while they set up some altered fireworks on the roof to blast it in. Really stupid thing to do, and the shopkeeper caught them red-hoofed. I'm not even sure if the fireworks would actually blow it in. Afterwards the shopkeeper actually came to our cottage to thank me for letting him know about the plotted robbery. Little did he know I almost helped it get completed. After the failed robbery, I was afraid to leave the cottage for weeks. It was hard to sleep at night, I always feared that the gang would find me and who knows what they'd do?"

Lance shrugged.

"I'm probably boring you to death. Sorry about that."

Storm Shine · March 16, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

Storm glanced at Blitz once more before speaking to Molotov, "I know you really want to help her to remember; but maybe you should ask Blitz what she wants before making plans. It's her mind and stuffs that would be getting messed with, even if there is a hardcopy to be made, so she deserves not only a say, but I think the final say in that matter." The usually silly pegasus mentioned. Helping Blitz with getting her memories back was all well and good, but the methods sounded a bit.. Dangerous and/or invasive. If Blitz didn't want it then, in his opinion, it shouldn't be done. Nopony should be forced into that kind of thing. If she did want it however, then he hoped that everything would turn out for the best.

Missklang · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

"As for you, I dunno if I can trust chaos enough to help her. It's prone to random results from even the best practitioners I've heard of, and might end up frying her brain even further. I can't take that chance out of nowhere when it comes to her. This Alscenia you mention though, perhaps I could get hold of her? It'd be safer to try and help Blitz if there were some way to make a hard copy of her memories before poking around in there, in case something goes wrong."

Missklang humfed.

Being crazy is not that bad you know... However you are right. Alscenia is able to help. I'm sure of that. However I'm searching for her too for you see I lost my own memories recently and lack the magic to activate the crystal to remember her location. She is the enchanter here, it's her who is able to make crystals for storage. I can convince her to.

Blitz Boom · March 19, 2017

@@BloodDrops

@@Shineling

@@Missklang

"Is it chaos magic itself that you need to activate the crystal, or just magic in general Missklang? I might be able to provide spare energy if it's the later."

Nerzhei started off replying to Missklang about the need of magic for his memory stone, so they could get things along, but was shortly after interrupted by Molotov who went on about things as if she hadn't said a peep.

"I don't doubt she bonked her head. The sort of trauma that can come from that is staggering, and frankly I'm just happy she's alive. It hurt knowing that she don't remember me, mom, or any of the others, but considering it looked like she was dead before, you have no idea how much more joy I have over this than pain. And trust me, she didn't run away, or fake her memory. Blitz's pretty forthcoming when it comes to her emotions, and have always been horrible at lying. It would have been possible to tell.

Her memory can be helped though, one way or another. Though you're right too Storm. I can't just push this on her. I gotta wait and see what she thinks when she starts responding again. She can be like this for a while if she's happy. Well, that or run around the hooves of everypony.

As for how she got here... Crater, impact, the metal I see on this hut along with the rocks, makes me think this is combined with where mom's rocket went. Guess it's a good thing she never figured out how to get it to fly straight for long enough to hit space, though at least she got some of the safety procedures done it seems. That thing was a death trap to begin with, and Nerzhei here wouldn't have found her in one piece."

"Not to rain on everyone's glory, but I've only known Blitz for less than a week. Met her in dragon country."

"Wait wait wait, hold on. Dragon country?"

"Stray portal swallowed her and a few others up and dumped them in a valley there. I tracked them down and after some back and forth brought them to camp. Elders there figured it was best that they got back here rather than test the boundaries of the agreement between our races, and I got saddled with bringing them here, along with a fourth pony we met along the way."

"I'm thankful that you didn't do something to her, but why are you still here then?"

"Because I was told to keep an eye on the fifth one we brought along, and indirectly told not to come back. Simplistic fools the lot of them.

I want to get to something else though. Blood, what do you mean with killing others with plague?"

The tone Nerzhei had said the last thing in, made it sound as if Blood had to step carefully in her response, though she wasn't overly hostile about things just yet. She'd give the mare the chance to respond before jumping to action.

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

@@Lil' Lovebug

Though he could do this and that, Happy was not able to actually read emotions of changelings. He knew that some could, but to him, they were completely blank in that regard. In a sense it helped him, as he could tell who was one of them a bit better, but it did leave him unprepared for anything somebuggy else might end up preparing. Though for the time being, he kept that suspicion to himself, and just went on with the sale.

"Alright sugar. Enjoy your drinks, and have a good one."

Happy waved off the two mares as they began to go inside, before returning to his business with Bubble Tea.

When they got inside, the feeling of judgements and fear should have laid down, and been replaced with a somewhat awkward silence and shame. Something which Vivid didn't care for, as much as direct Satin over to a corner in the opposite direction where they wouldn't be disturbed or overheard.

"What happened between the salespony and you? And don't try to tell me there was nothing. Nopony just stops all of a sudden and begins to act nervously without there being something wrong."

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

@@dragon4111

"Beaten the dragon lord? The dragon lord, that rules over all dragon kind? O-Oh dear, this is bad, but if he thinks of his business first, and only go if the alicorn proves a problem... I s-suppose that violence doesn't need to be the first response. We wouldn't have much to do about that danger at least if it were. That would be a fight we could only run from."

Clockwork would much prefer to not have to flee Ponyville, but he knew that if something strong enough to win over the former dragon lord (if that was true that were, might have been an exaggeration) fought an alicorn, there wouldn't be a chance for them unless that was exactly what they did. Might have been that they had managed to get through it when Princess Twilight busted heads with Tirek, but that one had been close for many of them, and that were not a comparable fight really. The dragon lord were famed for being the strongest of their kin, and Twilight were a new princess, whereas another alicorn that were older would likely be stronger.

"There is a chance that this doesn't need to become a battle... R-Right?"

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

@@Moonlit

Ziggy's eyes widened when she heard about the immunity towards this potion, and the predictable, downwards spiral it would take the more she drank of it. Immunities to medicine usually was more erratic and/or prolonged to take effect then this, and while it was nice to have a predictable effect like this, it was a pretty quick one as far as she were concerned, and meant that Moonlit would have to become more and more careful about when she walked out for every day.

"That sounds like we're busy then. When's the meeting? Tonight? And is she coming around, or just sending this? Otherwise we miiiiight want to send the guard off so the poor guy doesn't stand there all night for nothing."

Whilst yes, it was important about the meeting, she were a caring sort by nature, and thinking about letting the guard stand there for no reason all night seemed a bit much to her. Especially so tired that he had looked, even though he tried to hide it well. No way that was possible the way he looked though. Like it had been days since he had even slept, which were not healthy to say the least.

"And who's Starlight Glimmer? Never heard of her before."

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

@@Lloyd

"Ain't too far yet, but we have to pass the market to get there still. Let's leave the land of frills and go get to where I at least recall there used to be grub."

They passed a good chunk of stores where he said a bit of this and that about them, though he kept his jokes to the nobles that got a little too snooty when looking at him. In a sense, it was a kind of advertisement, as they knew how he were, even if it annoyed them, plus it allowed him to be up in their face. It was a pretty good situation for him, even if he knew this was just gonna get him the same odd stares and comments as usual when it were. He had friends in town now though, so he wasn't gonna be broken so easy this time.

Wouldn't be all that far until they got to a point in town where a greater smile spread on his muzzle, and he turned to the others and waved towards the splendour in front of them.

"Welcome to the market ladies. Ain't so many as I remembered right now, but there's still enough to show a good deal, and- Oh, awesome sauce, I can see the crazy ol' wacko's stand from here. Come on, I'll need a short stop over there."

He didn't specify or point directly towards what stand he were on about, but as he went into the sprouting market it didn't exactly leave few options going. It did look pretty good though, with everything from produce to knick-knacks on display here and there. Might be something that caught their eyes too.

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

@@~Phoenix~

"This is rather uncomfortable."

Smokey referred to the thing currently grasping to his horn, and who would likely be doing something bad if it kept there as it were after all a draconequus part, and those beings were notorious meddlers. Usually not something too harmful, but when demi-gods played things could accidentally go too far. Something which he kept in mind as a small blast of grey bursted from his horn and sent the claw in a small bow further in.

It didn't get too far though, as Smokey's horn kept glowing and sending off a spiralling line of smoke that swung around and hit the thing in the back- Which did little more than just slowing it down so that it fell to the ground there, instead of getting flung further in.

"This will be interesting. Come on then Phoenix and Mr. Claw, let's have a bit of fun, shall we not?"

Witht hat, his horn began to glow again and thick smoke started to form over him into a couple of nets as he grinned at the claw. He could do worse than this, but he wouldn't want to enrage this thing, just distract it and lead it on, or at best, catch it. He doubted it was possible to catch it though, but distracting it and then lure it towards it's owner? Now, that was a possibility, and likely the best they had. You couldn't just defeat demi-beings like this after all. Though who knew? Perhaps Phoenix had less restraints and some idea. Hopefully not something that would hurt any buildings though. Sure, they were a bit away from an actual building currently, but area of effect magic could be vast if the restraints were too small.

His own were less harsh, it was basically just unicorn telekinesis, just channelled through grey, non-toxic smoke that would at worst make somepony cough if they wandered into it, though not suffocate them. More focused like the two nets here it wasn't an issue to gather it into a more solid form, but a wide area like a smokescreen would require, he didn't have the magic to make it solid enough to hurt anything, just confuse and evade.

He used to just go the same route as everypony else, but he had found this to be more fun after the first time he had managed to make smoke out of nothing, and these days, he had reservations about using just regular auras unless it was to make things float, and even then it looked a bit like smoke. Plus, it was kind of fun to make smoke pour out from random stacks of wood now and again and make somepony believe there was a fire briefly. Had to have a little fun now and again, yes?

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

@@Twilight-Shimmer

"Tirek comes to mind as one of the worst ones we heard about down the coast."

Amazon was a bit nervous about taking hold of the sword that went through Widdershine, but he was right that it had to go, so after wandering a little forward and taking a few deep breaths, she took hold and started to pull it out. Depended on how much it was stuck how hard this was going to get, though it was likely not like pulling a knife out of butter.

"Discord trying to take over were also one of the bad ones, along with a weird one about thorny vines trying to overtake town. I don't know about that one being true or not, but I wouldn't be surprised when it comes to this place. Not when this place also drew in Nightmare Moon when she returned, which I think is the first story I heard about this place.

I won't rule out that some things are exaggerated, like the zombies that somepony said had gone here, but the sort that seems to be verifiable and have happened within the last five years are pretty odd. Princess Twilight's ascension is a strange one too, but nicer. Same is that Discord apparently helps in the area, which you have to admit is strange, right? I mean, he's the lord of chaos and disharmony, and he's here with the former carriers of the elements of harmony."

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

@@Foxy Socks

Briar chuckled and slid his vine back to where it belonged under his cape, and into his body where it split into the small threads that it was made from. Far more practical than lobbing the whole thing in there really, though somewhat strange for even him, who did best in not thinking too much over how it was happening as opposed to just letting it be.

"You need not apologize. Most tend to stare when they see this, or find out that I am different beforehoof, as for example in regards to my sharp teeth, or if they see me eat meat, but I do not bear resentment over this. I understand that when I wander within pony territories that I will draw eyes and curiosity, and quite frankly I welcome others asking me. I much prefer to speak about things rather than having paranoia or fear direct anypony. It can lead to violence, and that really should be a last resort if possible.

And before I move on, I can assure you that you need not worry about my dietary needs. I eat bugs and fish mainly, with the occasional bird if I have little choice. I would never even consider biting a pony."

There had been a time when the endless questions and stares had worn on him, and made him resentful towards the ponies for not even giving him a chance before judging him, but time had taught him that even though some became horrified at him telling the truth, it was a weight of his shoulders to be honest about what he was, and most of the times it lead to things getting better. Like the elderly pony that had taught him the ways of the world back then said: Always attempt to speak before you fight.

"As for how rare my kin is, we aren't a nearly extinct race, though we are of a lesser population than ponies, that is true. We tend to live in tribes some distance from other races and mind our own business. You can at times tell when you are near one of our settlements though, since even if the great trees that make the base of any tribe tend to be hidden by magic, the vegetation around the area can be rather thick and flourished. The harder it is to proceed somewhere,t he greater the chance of being near some of us really.

There are some tribes that interacts well with other ponies though, and do speak on friendly terms, but most are still keeping to themselves after a rather bad history with pony-kin, though I have seen more interest in mingling the last few years, and the occasional wanderer to present itself.

I have not met many tribes since arriving in Equestria really, but even in this great country there are some, and I could imagine that over the next decade or so that more might poke their heads out. They seemed intrigued when I told stories of the outside world and the splendours that I had seen and heard, though I do hope that they go out voluntarily, and not get banished like I were. It is for the best to have a safe haven to return to, in cse something goes wrong.

But I ramble and like there is no tomorrow once more, without knowing if perhaps you have other questions. My apologies for that Foxy."

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

@@EQ_Theta

Strange, his tone changed when asked about his reward.

That was pretty much the base thought that Omen had about what Xin said as he were questioned further, as she didn't put more into it than this. The explanation that he gave sounded like a bad reason to betray somepony in her mind, but it fit the impression that she had gotten about the longma more or less blindly following Salosan, which wouldn't make it that hard for him to push somepony to do things like this she supposed. Besides, he had seemed rather manipulative when they had met him, so perhaps it was just that he were pretty good at handling beings. Either way, she found it likely that this was truth, and didn't find the change of tone concerning.

As the questions went on and Sen returned to their side once more, it wasn't long until they had a target to go after. A cave somewhere that Sen and Lin were hopefully able to find, as the directions sounded like a riddle to her, and she were not good at that. Those sort of things tended to stumble upon itself in her head and not make much sense until she were told or shown what it was about.

"The cave, is there traps there?"

Omen knew it was time to leave, but this question seemed like it could be important, in case Sen or Lin might get hurt when they entered the area with... She didn't know. More shadow beings perhaps? Salosan seemed to use some pretty strange magic, so it was hard to say for her.

What wasn't hard to say for her though, were that Sen seemed to be angry again. Both how he had spoken and how he looked as she turned around and looked at him hinted at that, at least when she compared it to how he had been the last time she had seen him angry, and how he tended to be. Might be he were just constipated though, she wasn't entirely certain.

"Sen, are you okay? You're not getting angry again, are you?"

The option to send him in a timeout in her home realm was still there, depending on if he lashed out again, though hopefully it wasn't so bad. If it was anger, it might just be because of what Xin said, and how he felt betrayed by his friend. A harsh thing, but perhaps he were clear-headed enough? Guess they'd find out. Or well, Lin likely would, as she had called him out on things before, but she'd see.

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

@@Midnight_Aurora

Anomally seemed extra happy when the new changelings came up in conversation, and literally chirped in joy like a little bird.

"I love the new changelings. The others are still fun, but I like mutants. More unique, and I like the strange ones. Met one a month or so ago, though I haven't seen their king yet.

And I can get you to the door. You have the key yet?"

Anomaly were... No, I'm not going over what she thinks again. She's just going to break the fourth wall once more, and I want at least one post with her that won't have her reading my words.

"I can still see you."

...Dang it.

"Anyway, if you have the key, then it's time to go."

*SNAP*

Her tail formed two fingers with the hair and snapped, and in the next second they were at a door where muffled voices could be heard through it, though what exactly they said were hard to tell.

"They're saying they want to get out, and wondering if I'm still out here."

Can't I just have one post without you interrupting things? Please?

"Hey, you're the one who writes what I do all of a sudden. I didn't go looking for you."

Alright, fair point, though usually the ones I write about don't talk back.

"There's more? I wanna see them too."

Later. First off, there's this here door, and Cacora is waiting for you to say something to her rather than have a pop at what she must see as nothing but a voice in your head. It's making you look crazy,

"I think crazy is part of what I am, but okay. Cacora, do you wanna see if the key works?"

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

@@Frosty Frost

Lyriel let out a small sigh and sat down on the ground.

"Perhaps I am simply over-thinking things then, if you too seem to overall think positively of our draconian companion. I keep wondering if something will go wrong on this trip, and for some reason, my mind have wandered back towards her a few times, after the first time I saw this anger in her eyes.

I start to wonder if perhaps I am simply putting too much emphasis on fearing the worst, as this is a pretty big change of pace in my life and that could make me seek excuses to not take too far of a leap. Your country does sound lovely, I assure you of that, but I would be lying if I said that I am not nervous about how it will go."

Could it be that she were afraid of too much change, no matter how much she had stepped forward with her new friends? Certainly, and she would think of this as the most likely explanation. But she still valued to hear the opinions of the others, and see if perhaps her thoughts on Nerzhei were actually a wide concern, or just her projecting things. Thus far, it seemed to be the later.

"But I do not wish to bring any of you down, this is my own insecurities, and I should have not pushed it, or clouded opinions upon any of you.

Perhaps I would do better to answer you Frosty and say that I don't know for certain, but it may be a thing for dryads only. It is not simply raising spores already in the ground I do after all, but rather create them too, which I am nor certain if your kind can do.

You need not worry about your house if it is though. If you wish, I could always just come around and do it for you if it were, though you would have to remember to water your house now and again."

A small smile spread on her face at the thought of Frosty going around with a bucket of water and tossing it on the roof so it could trickle down from there and quench the thirst of the moss. For some reason, this was a rather amusing imagery for her, though she wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was just the silliness of things after the things that had just been mentioned, but regardless, she welcomed it with open arms. A light in the darkness was never a bad thing after all.

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

@@genessee

"N-No no, you're not boring me. It's just uhm... I-It's a bad story. Not like y-you're saying it bad, that's not what I meant. What I meant is u-uhm..."

Void had to stop herself as she just got more and more flustered, then close her eyes and take a few deep breaths before she could go on again. If she hadn't, she would have stepped so much into it that she would've bolted, or hid somewhere. until she felt better.

"I meant that the s-story subject sounds like a bad thing to live through, b-but it's good that it had a happy ending, and that you didn't end up in a gang.

Most of the p-ponies I've met, wouldn't have the courage to go against somepony like that, and w-warn the shopkeeper when they could get hurt t-themselves for being a snitch. It's pretty b-brave of you, even if you say you were afraid a-afterwards, since it was what you did at the moment when it was i-important that counts, though it was likely for the b-best that you got away. Angry beings in gangs or m-mobs can be pretty brutal to those they don't like."

Void knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to muster the courage to rat out others like Lance had done, nor really knew many others that would have. The danger that could befall them over meddling in things like that was enough to discourage most, and especially if it did not concern them or somepony close to them, so it really spoke volumes about Lance's character as far as she were concerned.

~Phoenix~ · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

Phoenix simply stood back, cocking an eyebrow as she watched smokey deal with the disembodied crab appendage. it didn't take him much to get it off of him and onto the ground. it didn't seem all that dangerous to her, but it did seem annoying. perhaps she'd cast a bit of her magic just to make this thing go away

her horn began to glow with a royal blue aura, and a light began to form at its tip. from the light, came a fireball which seemed to move at a rather high velocity as it struck the claw directly.

unfortunately, Phoenix's approach was a little more destructive than Smokey's. not that she meant to cause widespread damage. in fact, she had quite good control over her magic, even curving the fireballs slightly mid-air if she needed to in order to make them hit their targets and nothing else. her approach was simply met with a lot less finesse. she'd rather get things over with much quicker

she simply stood there silent, watching the claw after it was struck with the fireball.

Moonlit · March 19, 2017

@@Seamore Sandwich,@@Blitz Boom "I am not sure, the letter doesn't say but I am sure Princess Luna will give me some notice before blowing my door off...again" Serenade chuckles, "Starlight is Princess Sparkle's Friendship Student, so I expect there to be alot of checklists and book learning." Grabbing her plate and dropping it off in the sink, she heads to her front door and opens it and looking for the Guard, "Sir? May I be so bold as to ask if Princess Luna gave you any additional instructions concerning myself or was it just the letter?"

EQ_Theta · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom

"May I ask you a question," Xin answered still in a despondent manner, though emotion seems to flood back again. "If you were Solasan, would you take any chances? He wants everything to go right. Every word, every action, all carefully chosen and presented with confidence and certainty. When he wants something, he'll ensure every possible source of failure is considered. And when he misses something, he comes up with a second plan more fool-proof than the last."

"It does sound about right," Lin chimed as the memories of Solasan's encounters, all forms of them, rushed back into relevance. "Remember the way he talked? It's more than just posturing; behind that confidence is a cunning tactician. But does he have countermeasures against having his own agents give information to us? That's something I'm eager to find out."

Sen paced back and forth, hearing what his old friend had to say and wondered about the implications of having even said such things. Then the words he spoke in the forest prior to meeting the old clan once more returned: unworthy of forgiveness. Whatever his feelings on the matter are, his old friend didn't have the confidence to think upon himself and see any semblance of honor left in him. Sen was angry, that much is true, but whether he can look past that is up to him to decide. He approached Omen and gave her his thoughts.

"I'm feeling a lot of things right now, Omen. Light-headed and confused among other things. I want to talk about this but not here, maybe when we're out of the village. A neutral perspective might give me more room to think rationally and keep my anger in check."

Edited March 19, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Twilight-Shimmer · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom, As Lily continued to converse with the Draconequis, Stardust continued to snooze on Lily's back occasionally nommong on one of his front hooves in his sleep. Soon though he let out a wide yawn and rubbed his eyes and glanced around. "mm I must have dozed off.." he said still not quite awake yet, but taking notice he was on Lily's back.

(sorry for shortness, )

Edited March 19, 2017 by Twilight-Shimmer

Lil' Lovebug · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

Satin followed Vivid to the corner seat, setting the bottles upon the table. She glanced up at Vivid then down at her hooves.

"It's... I don't think he was a pony. I can read emotions of ponies relatively easily, but with changelings, i can only read their strongest emotions, and even then it's faint. That makes it harder to predict what a changeling is going to do. That alone scares me to no end." Satin Shuddered and took a deep breath. "I'm also afraid that I'll meet a changeling from my old hive who will recognize me and try to take me back. I've lived apart from them from so long that my link to them has been pretty much severed, meaning I can't tell my hive from the other hive's changelings."

She started making circles on the table with her hoof. She looked up at Vivid, trying to gauge her reaction, preferring not to taste the emotions around her, lest she be overpowered by the bitter taste of shame lingering throughout the inn.

"I don't like this feeling. It feels like I'm doing what a lot of the ponies here did. I don't want to instantly be afraid of my own kind, just because they may or may not be from my hive and may or may not try to take me back."

Foxy Socks · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

Foxy listened to Briar, before continuing, "Ah, maybe I have been closer to some than I realized. I do love exploring forests, and there are quite a few areas I have yet to find."

Foxy smiled a bit, now knowing she wasn't the only one without normal pony teeth.

"Ah my teeth are a bit different too..." She smiled a bit revealing her fangs, which she was a bit shy about showing others, for obvious reasons.

"Mine are omnivorous, which is quite strange, as I feel more pony than fox, but for some reason I was born with these. Ponies tend to be a bit frightened when they first notice. The funny thing is, I never had eaten meat before, or desire trying. I wonder if I could even handle it, or perhaps my teeth were just a genetic accident. I still wonder though, how related I am to foxes, or if I even am at all."

She honestly did not know why she resembled Vulpines so much. It certainly wasn't possible for a fox pony to exist right? She always wondered why. Perhaps it is so foxes can recognize her as one of them, one of her favorite theories.

Foxy turned her attention back to Briar, not wishing to come off as rude to talk about herself too much.

"Wait, banished? You no longer are with them?" Foxy knew this was a bit personal, but her curiosity got the best of her.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Foxy Socks

genessee · March 19, 2017

@@Blitz Boom

"Oh, don't worry about it. I mess up what I'm saying all the time. Usually it comes out so badly that I can't even explain what I meant before whoever I was talking to had stormed off."

He halfheartedly chuckled to himself.

"You know, I've been talking about a ton of my failures. I wonder why that is. I guess I find it more interesting to talk about how I messed up this one time than when I did something cool this other time. Then again, there's not many real successes to be talking about when you're asking me. I realised pretty quickly that I was an average colt, and at first I tried to make myself known in the town. That did not work out well on my part, I think I was more known for humiliating myself instead of everything else I did."

He decided not to delve deeper on exactly how he humiliated himself. It still made him wince to think about it.

Missklang · March 20, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

"Is it chaos magic itself that you need to activate the crystal, or just magic in general Missklang? I might be able to provide spare energy if it's the later."

Missklang shook his head.

I am grateful but sadly only chaos magic would do. And only cast by me. After all, it's my memories. And besides that, if my centuries of memories and knowledge went into wrong hooves. Well. I doubt they will be able to do anything with it but eh, I wouldn't want that still.

Missklang looked around.

Speaking of which. I might need to gather some poison jokes later. It seem there is an acceptable lab equipment here that I could then use to extract the plant's essence. Do you know any places nearby with them growing?

Midnight_Aurora · March 20, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

*Cacora Holds up a key ring. She approaches the door and says, loud and clear,* "Caretaker, It's me Cacora. I am opening the door." *Cacora uses her key ring in an attempt to find and use the correct key.* 'I really need to code rune the keys to have a better idea of which one will work. I will ask the unicorn trainer about arcane marks later.' *She hopes that one of the keys she uses is the correct key.*

FanOfManyShows · March 20, 2017

@@Blitz Boom,

They were kind of obligated to follow him, so they did, without much question, well except maybe one. "Are you referring to yourself?" Astral was quick to ask that, as a little joke. "Chow Wacko... rolls right off the tongue." She said with a giggle.

Misty looked to Astral. "I know you're joking, but his shop was further back, why would he have a stand out here?" She looked to the stand. "Doesn't even look like something he'd do anyways."

"Well, then either wacko is a name, or a joke." She paused for a moment. "Probably the latter"

Widdershins · March 20, 2017

@@Blitz Boom, & @@Twilight-Shimmer,

While appearing to come out with some trouble, the blade pulls out rather easily. Widdershins gives an appreciative flip before falling back upside-down to sink a bit into the ground, creating a small furrow. With slow turns of his finned tail as he propels himself through the street he gives off the impression as if he was idly floating down a slow river, instead of causing slight damage to the road. Not enough that it can't be hoofed back down, but likely enough to trip a pony that wasn't paying attention.

Like a hot knife tro' buttah!

...Hmm. ...Nightmare Moon, hm?

Widdershins's grin fades for a moment into a more serious expression. But only temporarily.

I've know quite a few moonhorses in my time... But that's kind of a silly name for a villain! Like, DarkLady Scarrie or something! Most everybeing gets nightmares; most places got moons. It's like they're just ramming together a few nouns to make some scary badguy for some kids' show or something. Hee~

But no. It's not all that unusual considering.

Ponyville is the Focus after all. It's where most talk about, think about, make glossy lil' travel brochures about. Complete dead center of the most important nation. It's a cinch that its where everything collects. Every magical dimension has its Nexus. I mean, yeesh, most planes would rip apart having that many interdimensional holes that close together. But I digress.

Magic is as magic does. Even Disharmony can be harmonic, just so long as it doesn't stay that way. But I can't really talk Chaos; it's not my element really. Discord probably doesn't want me this close to his territory, but as my writer says: We'll burn that bridge when we cross it!

As the group crosses a bridge on their path out of town towards the tent gatherings (it looking somehow suspiciously lighter & warmer than usual despite the setting sun) Widdershins changes the subject as the young filly on the guardsmare's back stirs in his sleep.

So anyhow, we settin' this little SugarSpawn down for the night? Frankly, I've never been good with telling time. The Light & The Darkness are pretty much the same if you ask me.

#################################################

and then there's @@~Phoenix~,

After having been once more rebuffed in its animosity, the claw was busy snapping at the magical smoke threads when it was caught unaware by a rather large fireball. Knocked away a few feet, it struggles within its sheath of immolation.

Giving off some panicked, quick clattering noises, it writhes on its 'back' like a dying insect. The scene would likely be more terrifying if it wasn't undermined by the disjointed joint giving off a rather delicious aroma of a finely smoked Lobster Bisque stew.

After a minute of the flames still not abating, the claw slowly rocks still and stays that way for a while.

After a minute more, the claw unsteadily stands back up & seems to take notice that the flames still have not ceased. With a momentarily surprised, then spreading to a chitinous smirk; the claw begins hopping menacingly towards the ponies once more.

Well, as menacing as a sentient High-End Seafood Dish can be.

Seamore Sandwich · March 20, 2017

@@Widdershins,

"Good bye then," Hunter said as he walked off into the forest. Just before he was too far away to be seen in the dark forest, he added, "And I'm not from the Everfree."

@@Blitz Boom

A door slams in the alley. Charlie scurries quickly toward the noise, finding the alley to be pitch black aside from the small light above a door at the bottom of a staircase going below the ground. The door was fear itself, behind it a truth unwanted. "Vivid! Snap out of it! Focus on the here and now! Without us, Xeno could be lost forever. That's something we can do something about. Come, we need to go deeper."

@@Blitz Boom

"My parents actually had it in storage for a long time. I asked them if I could use it and they said yes. It used to be the first thing you'd see entering my parents' shop until it stopped working and they put it away. For them, it was easier just to add a bucket of gumballs and sell them by weight along with the rest of the loose candy, but for me it brought back memories. I had it fixed and restored by a local named Tock. He's really good at what he does, though I did ask that he not replace the broken separator. You see, ever since I was a young filly, every fifth customer that used the machine would end up getting two gumballs by mistake. It wouldn't feel right if it didn't do the same as it used to. Now this place truly feels like home."

@@Blitz Boom

Zhu's parents let go of him, but his father kept one paw on his shoulder. "Did you and your sister ever find each other, son?" he asked. His words were precise, he did mean to say 'sister,' not just 'sibling,' though it's entirely possible that Zhu might not realize the implications of that particular word, or what it would mean for his future.

Edited March 20, 2017 by Seamore Sandwich

Summer Breeze · March 20, 2017

@@Frosty Frost,@@Blitz Boom,

Summer listened to Lyriel talk about her insecurities about Nerzhei, and about Equestria. Summer had to agree with her, if she put herself in Lyriel's place she would be really nervous aswell, leaving everything behind and going to a place that was unfamilliar and new and probably very scary.

she walked over to Lyriel and gave her a hug "don't worry, Lyriel, it'll be great and you'll love it in Equestria, I'm sure of that!" She said in her always so cheerfull voice.

Then she heard Lyriel say that she could cover Frostie's house in moss, which made her chuckle aswell, the same immage as Lyriel popped up in her head and it was quite humerous.

A thought came to her, maybe Lyriel could help the climbing roses climb up her house better, she had been trying to grow them for a while and they were comming up but they had to still grow a bit untill they would cover the whole front of her house, which she really wanted.

"Lyriel, could you please cover my house in roses and other flowers? and maybe, if you want to, help my garder grow? it's already a bit overgrown but it's just so beautifull when it's all wild, and there are so much flowers there that smell so lovely when they are in full bloom" she asked exited.

The thought of houses lead her to another thought, which was the question where blue would live. She turned to her new friend "hey, Blue, where in Equestria do you live?" she tilted her head slightly and looked at Blue with a curious look in her eyes.

BloodDrops · March 20, 2017

I want to get to something else though. Blood, what do you mean with killing others with plague?

That was Blood's head cannon out the window. She blinked at the dragon as she remembered the plague. "Killing others with plague? Exactly as you say, others were killed, by my plague" she remarked. "I might have accidentally spread my virus on, by nudging one or several ponies, spread it somehow. Then it kind of spread and wiped out a smallish population of several thousand" she remarked. The population that she had infected had all mostly died out, though the dragon didn't need to know all of those details. There might be a occasional wondering zombie still sort of alive, but that wasn't very important. Wasn't like there was any pony there anymore to infect.

"hmm? Think that place was called hugville. The original tradition was to hug any newcomer to that particular area. It was slightly annoying really, they only discovered of my virus after touching me, so they decided to put me in a cage for there own safety, didn't ask for my opinion on the matter. Had to break my own way out of there, though by that time, most of the town had either been infected and had gone off to find healthy ponies to infect or in the case of the healthy ones, had fled. Not sure where. Found several infected ponies in cages. They must have been the first, probably tried to contain the virus, when that failed they evacuated the town." she remarked

"So, I let those infected ponies out of the cage, cured them and left them to wonder around, if they came across a healthy pony then they would bite them, which is good. If they came across a already infected pony, they would cure them" she remarked, "Though i'm going to give that area a miss for several years, probably sill meant to be stuck in a cage" she added finally.

Edited March 21, 2017 by BloodDrops

Holiday Agnaktor · March 21, 2017

@@Blitz Boom

Blue smiled reassuringly at Lyriel, trying to make her feel more at ease.

"Don't worry, nothing is going to go horribly wrong, and even if it does, we can just make our way straight through it!"

Pah, worry was one of the worse tasting emotions. Relaxation was far tastier.

Frosty looked a bit disappointed when Lyriel explained what her magic did. It didn't sound like any magic that he could pull off. The fact that Lyriel could do it for him did make him feel a bit better. Operation Moss-House was go!

"Ah, I play around with ice magic a lot, so watering it will probably not be necessary."

When Summer asked Blue where she lived, she half-jumped up at surprise.

"I-eh... live in Canterlot! Yup! Got a nice apartment there! Real nice!"

The chances that she would get called out on her lies was fairly small at this point, but she couldn't help but worry. On their way to wherever they were headed, they might visit Canterlot, and then they would probably want to visit her house. Which she didn't have. That would be problematic, but she would tackle that problem when she got there.

asdfmovienerd39 · March 22, 2017

stuff

"Thank you, Null, it is quite apparent you haven't had much experience helping ponies yet you still at the very least attempted. That is very commendable of you." Zen sniffled, offering a small smile.

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

"Eeyup. It's what got me fired from being a Kindergarten teacher actually. Used to make the kids depressed." Deadpan chuckled, "That's a lie. I never taught Kindergarten."

Widdershins · March 22, 2017

@@Seamore Sandwich,

As the fox slinks off into the forest Ambie lifts his head for a bit as he watches Hunter disappear into the forest.

Sometime after his departure, Ambie gets up to move closer to the wood pile & sits along side it to rest the side of his head against one of the logs. After a notable sigh, he mumbles quietly out loud to himself.

"So... What was I supposed to be doing?...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some Hours Later

About an hour after Widdershins disappeared from the town square & some mere moments after the resultant group of ponies congregating around the appendage he left behind had departed, an unclear figure comes into Ponyville from the route pointed towards the Everfree forest, shaded somewhat by the setting of the sun to its left.

As it comes closer to town, a loud scraping sound can be heard & under that the sound of wanton exertion.

As it edges closer the sounds increase along with a rather large cloud of dust and shows what appears to be a stallion dragging a heavy load of lumber. This wood appears to have been rolled onto an old burlap tarp, some of it haphazardly dragging off the back end of it, with two holes gnawed into the front end of it. Through these holes a rope has been looped & tied through to attach the harness seemingly broken off an old wooden wagon to the rather bedraggled stallion pulling the whole contraption along. He appears to be moderately coated in the dust he's been kicking up in his efforts to lean against the load with all his might, but from the looks of things the stallion seems to be overheating into a dark maroon color.

With notable grunting & sweating Ambie drags his load & himself towards the center of town and the running fountain at its center. Tarp, harness & all, he collapses to his chest at the foot of the fountain, his coat fading to lighter peachy colors as his face hits the water. He lays there for quite a while quiet, motionless & apparently not coming up for air, but it can be surmised that he's sucking in a rather large amount of water. Or possibly passed out.

Either way, he might need to be checked on.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Widdershins

Blitz Boom · March 22, 2017

@@~Phoenix~

"A well placed fireball with no accidental collateral damage, which seems to have done a number on our opponent here. I must commemorate you Phoenix, well done."

Mainly it was on the control from the mare that impressed him, as he had been around fire users before like unicorns, dragons, etc. and their penance for focused strikes tended to be... Less than admirable. Plenty of collateral damage there frankly, or at least a big, flashy showoff, whereas Phoenix had done a modest, well controlled fireball that seemed to have done a good deal against the somewhat fried claw.

What an interesting pony to meet, yet he would have to think more on that later, as it seemed their adversary had risen from the cooking pan and were going towards them again.

"Tenacious little thing, isn't it? I find it curious as to what the limits are of just this small piece of its owner, but it really should be returned before it makes more troubles. Let's see if your grilling have weakened it enough to simply be caught, shall we?"

With that, he send the two smokey nets over his horn flying, aiming for the source of this delicious aroma that filled the air. If it was weakened enough, he should be able to catch it, then wrap it up and then perhaps have Last tell them were to deliver this, though if not... Well, it seemed a pity to overcook it, but whatever worked, yes?

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

@@Moonlit

Whilst Ziggy stood back in the room and wondered what being a friendship student entailed, Stargazer kept watch next to the door outside, and didn't move until the door opened and Serenade got into view.

Considering what she said, it appeared as if this were the sender of the letters that at times had come past the palace and towards Princess Luna, though he had expected something else. He wasn't sure what, but something in his head had just imagined the sender being something else than a pony, or at least a strange one considering the somewhat secrecy of things, but this mare looked pretty normal. Guess he had judged the book before reading it on this matter.

"I was asked to collect and bring the contend of the box I handed you ma'am, as well as the letter. I was not told what to do after that, so I remained here in case the correspondence spoke of her needing to get here, or if there was an official issue. I can leave if it is though, If everything is okay and she is not going to make a stop here tonight. I do not wish to disturb your night after all ma'am."

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

@@EQ_Theta

Weird, why didn't he answer? Could it be that the potion wasn't working right, since he seemed to have answered everything else thus far?

Or perhaps Xin had said that there were things there. If he mentioned that Salosan had plans for everything, so some sort of trap could be one of those things, in case somepony found his hideout? Possible, but she supposed they wouldn't know until they got there. It would likely be the best to think that something was prepared for them though, and be ready to pull her friends out if it came to it. Or just go first perhaps, since she were somewhat resilient to things by Discord's design.

Perhaps it was something she should ask Lin about helping with, as she would know longma traps better than Omen would. She pretty much only knew the pitfalls, and only because they had been pointed out to her, Sen could be asked too she supposed, but the way he described how he were right now, she wasn't sure if it would work too well. Emotions made beings weird, and Sen had a lot of them from what he had said.

"Okay, we talk later. Are we going now then?"

if they were, Omen would follow as she tended to do, and wait for them to address her as she thought over things some more. Wasn't much time she'd have to it she'd recon, but there was a lot of clutter in her head right now, so any amount of time could be helpful.

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

@@Lil' Lovebug

Vivid stayed generally neutral as Satin said what was bugging her, pun not intended. It sounded like something that she would have to ask about later on, more specifically the parts that made her fear meeting members of her old hive, but for now there seemed to be a simple solution to this short term.

"If you're afraid that he's from your old hive, why don't we simply go and ask him? I have nothing against changelings in general, so i don't care what he is, but if you're nervous about him knowing about you and wanting to lure you back, then we should confront him and see what happens. Worst case scenario, he does know you, and I'll make him fear ever telling anypony about it, whilst he in most other scenarios turns out not to be linked with you at all, and you will have a clearer mind."

Perhaps it was a bit blunt in it, but she were didn't see why it should be dragged on, when a simple question could sort things out far more promptly and without any real danger of something going wrong. Or well, not something that couldn't be fixed at least, with varying degrees of violence behind it. It wasn't optimal if it were, but she were always aware that some situations required a firm, destructive hoof, and even under her contract, she were able to do a few things. Loopholes were fun like that.

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

@@Foxy Socks

"For daring to defy our rule. Which sounds dreadfully understated without giving the full picture of the place where I grew up now that I think about it.

To put it somewhat briefly, in my old home, there were particular rules set by our leaders, and amongst them were that certain... Imperfections, that fell of the great tree would have to accept being about as much worth as dirt.

With that, I mean that a certain sub-type of the evergrown in that jungle were deemed as slaves. Not a pleasant thing to think about, and certainly not one to live though, I can assure you. My kind got tossed in a hole in the ground, kept under constant guard and mockery, and fought between ourselves for even the tiniest slivers of sun-light that would graze through the old boards and illuminate our pit. And that was just before we were given a *owner*

They called us snaproots, and though we have several differences between ourselves, it always hold true that we have sharp teeth, a need for meat, and no eyes. It makes us easy to catalog for them, which is depressing to think about, as it values us to be little more than things. A psychological thing to make us compliant, along with not generally having names, and having the threat of being tossed right back in the pit dangling over our heads.

I were one of the few that were given a first name by my *owner* and no matter how distateful I found him, at least I had some semblance of identity. Something which a certain one of our leaders wanted to take away when he passed and I was given to her, which made me lash out. Literally, I hit her with my vine and send her hurling towards the ground."

The smile that went over Briar's face as he recalled that happy moment when he heard the screaming wench crash downwards, along with the shocked words of the others in the tribe, showed that this were indeed a very happy memory for him.

"In olden times, I would have been burned to my core for that, but the laws had changed since, so the best they could do were implanting these colored rings into my legs and banish me. The rings represent my *crimes* of disobedience, and every tribe in the jungle knows that, so I couldn't seek refugee somewhere else. I was left to travel away from the jungle entirely, and as far as they were concerned, perish.

Might have happened actually, if I hadn't been found by an elderly pony who believed helping me were something worth his remaining time. He made sure that I were taught proper manners, to not bend my neck towards others as eagerly as I used to, and not think the worst about everypony outside the jungle. Which turned out to be a good lesson, as I can safely say that in my long years of traveling the world, I have yet to find another tribe that practice keeping their own citizens as properties."

A saddened look went briefly over his face as he recalled the voice of his mentor, scolding him for being too complacent about his position in the world, before taking a softer tone and telling Briar how he were supposed to be.

"I do miss my mentor at times. He was a strict teacher, but he did well in preparing me for the real world, and he deserved his rest in the end.

Heh, seems like I'm rambling again, even after I said this would be brief. At least I hope that it have been informative, though invasive on your time Foxy.

Ah yes, and whilst I remember it: I would not advise you to eat meat, sharper teeth or not. If you never have at this point, then it isn't a dietary requirement of yours, and could likely hurt you if you tried. I have found that ponies doesn't tend to handle flesh all too well, and as you mention, it might simply have something to do with your connection to the foxes of the world. A slight mutation if you will, otherwise you would surely feel a certain hunger even if your belly was full, and weakened from the lack of protein, vitamins etc. from the lack of meat at some point, yes? That is how I feel after prolonged distance from it at least."

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

@@genessee

"Sometimes, keeping y-your head down is the best option. The more prominent you become, the more e-eyes are on you, judging everything you have done w-wrong, and pointing at flaws. I wish Null and I would h-have been able to keep out of sight many times at least, as that m-might have saved us a lot of pain."

Void went to the side and helped a few that wanted some dishes, though she would be close enough to Lance so that he should be able to hear something she mumbled after her last sentence.

"Perhaps if they had kept us in the basement, mom and dad would still be alive..."

it took a few minutes for her to be done with this batch, though she knew that soon, a good deal more would come. She heard them speak about the shifts and from the sound of things, there were only somewhere between a half to a whole hour left until the first bunch's turns were over, and the next one got put in place. It would get somewhat rushed at that point with hungry worker she'd guess.

"Can I ask Lance, w-what did you mean by humiliating yourself? Did you try some s-stunts or something to get their attention? Or uhm, perhaps you tried to set up a p-party? I'm just guessing and it's p-perfectly okay if you don't want to say. I don't want to uhm... Dig into some p-potential weird stories you want to keep to yourself.

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

@@Twilight-Shimmer

"I know a pony who talks a lot about ley lines. Sounds about the same as what he is spouting, though not something I understand. I leave the magic and dimension thingies to the unicorns."

Amazon looked at the road that had been uprooted a little. Minor destructionthough, that barely meant anything, so she didn't think it too important to mention. Especially not as she had a blade in her hoof that she just pulled out of the draconequus. Something which didn't seem to cause him any worry in the slightest, though what did she expect from a demi-god? That he bled out?

"You uhm... Want this back? Not impaled on you I mean, but properly back so you can put it wherever it came from."

She were putting it a bit towards him, when a movement on her back made her freeze up again, afraid that she might drop the colt of her back as he turned in his sleep again. Turns out that wasn't so much an issue after all, since he wasn't just turning around, but actively waking up from his little nap.

"It's okay, here, let me help you down."

It took a simple movement to get the colt safely to the ground, though she did look at him concerned for a bit after that, as he still didn't seem too awake. She'd need to keep track of that, in case he fell down again soon.

"And to Nightmare Moon, perhaps the name isn't terrifying, but from what I've heard, she might have ended up being. If the elements of harmony hadn't been there to set things straight, who knows how badly things could have turned out? We could have ended up with eternal night all over Equestria, which would mean that basically all vegetation would die out from never having sunlight, so everypony would starve. It would've been a disaster."

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

@@Missklang

@@BloodDrops

@@Shineling

The ground beneath them rumbled as Nerzhei heard the things that Blood said. Horrendous, bloodshed things that according to how it sounded like, might still be going on to this day. And if that sort of thing would spread through those to-called *cured* freaks that went around and bit healthy ones, they might end up with a serious, ppotentially global problem.

Eventually, the earth stopped rumbling, and Nerxhei lifted her hand to her head, with the fingers roughly rubbing her temples as she tried to calm the want for squishing Blood like a bug, as well as trying to find out what to do now.

"Blitz and you, go into the hut."

Molotov looked shocked and horrified at what he had heard, and were prepared to try and do something about it when the dragon's voice had cut through.

"What? There isn't time for that whe-"

"Now!"

Their eyes met, and judging from how the color seemed to drain from his face, and how he scurried into the hut with the somewhat shivering Blitz clinging to him, he must've seen something that he regarded as a more immediate threat from the suddenly growling dragon, as opposed to Blood.

"Let me get this straight. You're saying that you did not only unleash a plague that killed thousands of beings, but also left it in a state where there's still some wandering around, and biting others to convert them to their illness?"

She looked down on Blood, no longer with caution or concern about what she might do, but more with anger and annoyance, which could also be heard in her voice as she went on.

"Do you have any idea what sort of impact you are describing? Killing several thousands is one thing, and will be dealt with in time when I find out exactly how deliberate you were about that, as well as if you did this other places too. But to then leave a place where several infected still roams around, and potentially spreading this to the entirety of Equestria and beyond?

I would ask if your brain had melted out through your ears, but I think the answer is an obvious yes. So instead of you thinking on this, let me tell you what will happen: I will take you back there, this will be fixed in one way or another, and then you will face what you have done. Come peacefully or be forced, I don't care. You're getting us there one way or another, so that this mess can be dealt with properly."

Knowing her luck, the only way to deal with this would have to be with fire, but if that was it, then she'd have to cross that bridge when she got there.

"You should stay here Storm, and take care of your regular life while this gets done. Missklang... If you can't get home yet regardless, perhaps you can help out whilst you're waiting for your magic to return for that gem? I would prefer to have extra eyes on Blood, and whatever mess she have left behind."

From the point where Blood had said what she did, she were prepared to put stone between them if the mare got any closer, though she might be out of luck here regardless, with Missklang opting to help Blood instead, in which case things could get complicated. As in *They could get away* complicated, which would leave them on the loose, and her with a problem that weighed on her consciousness. Which in turn meant that she'd likely focus on that rather than trying to catch the duo.

As for Storm Shine, she didn't really think he'd be an issue. He had seemed bend on protecting Blitz before, and she didn't think that sort of mindset would help one who were responsible for the death of ponies. Might be she'd end up surprised though.

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

@@Lloyd

Chow would wander pretty evenly towards his goal, with a grin that got bigger bit by bit as he prepared for communicating with the crazy wacko, as he referred to the trader.

About a meter and a half away from three different stalls, he stopped up and opened his yap to greet his old acquaintance.

"Either there's a sale on feather dusters, or somepony forgot their pet at the table again."

There were only one that reacted to his boastful words, which were the apparent owner of a sizeable stall marked *Blackbeak's Spices & Oddities* that rose her head and looked at him with narrowed, angry eyes.

"How fortunate, someone to beat up that will only smell better from being covered in his own blood."

With that, the griffin female that were behind the stall, jumped over the table without touching anything on it, and went for Chow, talons first. Which he blocked initially, and led the two of them to scuffle on the spot whilst ponies wandered further away from the two.

Biting, clawing and kicked were had for a dozen seconds or so before Chow stood triumphantly above the griffin, with his hoof around her neck in a headlock, his body blocking for her wings, and one of his back hooves pinning one of her legs down.

"Typical you Blackbeak. Always fall for the headlock."

He only got the chance to say this before the griffin violently spun, knocking Chow down from her back in the process, and soon after clutched one of her talons loosely around the base of his neck, and the other raised, ready to strike down.

"I've learned a few things, equine."

Chow laughed at the comment, and gave a big ol' grin upwards.

"Alright, I yield. You won this time."

Letting go of him, both of the combatants started to brush dust of themselves before Blackbeak looked up at the two that seemed to keep an eye on the interaction between her and Chow. Namely the zebra foal, which was a pretty unusual sight here in town. A few adults here and there did come around, but foals were another story entirely. In fact, she couldn't recall ever seeing one in town before, and she didn't appear to have a parent near her.

Chow noticed where her eyes went and beckoned for his friends to get up closer if they wanted to.

"You can get closer ladies, we're done with our greeting for now. This here's Blackbeak, best spice seller in town, with a few wonky things getting to her table now and again."

The griffin was pretty basic all in all. Faded brown fur, yellow claws, white feathers with dark-blue spots here and there and a tomboyish hairdo from the longer feathers on her head. Her beak lived up to her name though, and accompanied the onyx eyes that were looking them over curiously right now quite well.

"Blackbeard, these here's my friends, Misty and Astral. Be nice to 'em regardless of that, eh?"

"Friends... With you? You can barely function as a pony, much less connect with them."

"Eh, what can I say? Life goes funny now and again."

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@@Midnight_Aurora

The first key she tried ended up being the right one, and as the door opened, huddles of scared eyes would look towards her, accompanied by the scuttling of small hooves as some of the orphans attempted to get out of the room. Of which one small pegasus managed to.

He didn't get far though before he saw Anomaly, then turned around on the spot and back into the room. Apparently she were scarring the small one, likely because of her big ol' pumpkin head.

"Hey, it's not that big."

You could comfortably fill a foal inside her nogging. How she wandered around without getting a first price stamped on it everywhere were ama- *SNAP* Yeowch! What the heck? My pen just attacked me.

"That's what you get for being a meanie. Go back to saying what the ponies in there are thinking again. I wanna know."

Jeez, tough crowd. But alright, the ponies in there were scared because of the ~~attacker~~ visitor that had shown up earlier, and had made them gather up the kids in this sort of panic room.

"Cacora, get in here. The scary one is behind you."

A voice from inside the room floated out, clearly belonging to one of the orphans instead of the caretaker. More specifically, the one that had just been outside and could then say for certain that Aonmaly was still there, and hadn't left, like most of them hoped for.

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Vivid didn't say anything, but slowly managed to walk towards the direction that Charlie wanted her to, though with heavy steps and tears of blood still rolling down her face from the mental pressure of grief that were still keeping a grip in her heart. This place were wearing her down emotionally, and if they weren't out relatively soon, her resurrection wouldn't mean much, as she would have ended up broken beyond repair from staying in this place for too long.

"...Why is there only pain here? Nothing good, just grief and hatred..."

She hadn't gotten near enough the door with fear to be gripped by that yet, but the hopelessness in her voice had said well that it didn't even need to come into play to grind on her already, and make her words earlier about needing to keep collected worth little. What fear would end up doing to her after she were vulnerable like this were going to be a sight to behold, though likely not a pretty one.

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Zhu looked somewhat puzzled on his parents at the question.

"The only family I have ever known of before now, were Celestia. No sibling ever showed themselves to me, though from these eggs I wouldn't think one would hatch either. They are too damaged to let anything grow from them anymore. Unless you speak of a child from another batch?"

Quite honestly, this sounded possible, but it might also be that they thought another egg hatched, and were able to tell if it would be a boy or a girl in advance. He hadn't spent enough time around his kin to say for sure what they were entirely capable of, and hadn't the interest in learning as the years went by. Up until this moment, that sort of information seemed pointless to him, as he had resigned himself to being duty-bound for the foreseeable future, instead of having to worry about other family than Celestia.

Still, even if he did have a sister at some point, it was too late to speak with her. He only kept alive and young through the mystic spring, whereas somepony else of his kind were unlikely to be alive after nearly a millennia in his opinion. Or if so, not without some kind of interference from a magical source.

Then again, he could be wrong. As thought, he didn't know too much about his race, including the lifespan of some individuals. Might be there was some that could last through the ages, though those he had seen hadn't at least.

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"A nostalgic machine it sounds like. I can understand why you would want something like that restored dear, and I can imagine that the odd foal here and there find much enjoyment in suddenly having two gumballs roll out at the same time. A small treasure for them, and at times, it really is about the little things in life, no?"

Scarcity had long since got rid if everything that reminded her of her younger years that didn't directly correlate with her sister, and the few things she had kept as memories were locked safely in storage, or in her office somewhere. Not somewhere shown though, as she were a rather private pony and didn't appreciate others snooping into her life too much. Might encourage them to look deeper and find that there were something underneath the surface that shouldn't be publicly known.

Ahaha, she was kidding, of course. There wasn't a chance they would find trace of what she did. She made certain that nopony talked, and that no evidence directly pointed towards her. Long as she did not take unnecessary risks, things should remain safe and stable.

"This store really must mean everything for you Penny. Would be a shame if something were to happen to it."

She paused for a moment, then started to chuckle slightly.

"My apologies, I couldn't resist the opportunity. I can assure you that I wouldn't dream of harming such a wonderful establishment as this. I do have one thing that I wish to do here though that I haven't yet gone over. You see, as mentioned, i have several uses for magical chocolate such as that which you have sold me thus far. I simply wish to inquire about whatever or not it is a ware you have in stock most of the time, or if perhaps it is a case of *First come, first buy* where the production then takes some time to get your stock refilled? In case I require more of these at some point, it could be helpful to know if I would do better in ordering in advance."

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