open Casual stroll

Blitz Boom · August 5, 2017

Benny might have picked up on the looks from some of the mares in the room, if it wasn't because he had been bombarded with questions soon after that and he had to try and focus on digging his way out of this avalanche of inquiries. Hopefully he would cover everything well enough for their liking, though something told him the snow were freshly fallen on Mount Newsponies, and talking would make a new wave rumble down toward him.

"Okay okay, I hear ya. Let's just try to take it one at a time, okay? From the top.

1. I heard it directly from the generals of the Night and Solar guards in Canterlot. They addressed us about it two days after the first negotiations began, with other branches of the guards being told through official scrolls over the next few weeks. The exception to that is the Coastal Guard, who as far as I know, have been addressed by General Tidal Wave at a mass gathering last week.

2. I have not been inside a hive, no, though others in the guard in Canterlot have. They've told some pretty interesting stories about how it looks, with the hardened bile making up the walls, crevices for the drones to rest in, feeding chambers and of course, nurseries for their young. Side note to that: Changeling young are called nymphs, and apparently they're pretty adorable.

3. I haven't met any changelings yet, sadly. I've written myself up to the integration program though, so I might soon.

4. I can combine two here and say that if you mean the main hive, there isn't a queen currently. I don't know what that says about the reproduction aspect of the main hive, but it is possible that King Thorax will eventually partner with a queen from one of the smaller hives. If they do, I assume their nymphs and hives in general, won't even harvest love, since it seems they don't need it at King Thorax's hive's state of evolution.

5. Canterlot is not in danger again, I can assure you of that. The new king are very determined to have a good, political relationship with Equestria, and the few hives who are less certain doesn't have the power to take over any of the larger towns. In case the deposed queen Chrysalis returns with a force again, I can also let you in on our security being far better prepared for a changeling assault now, though understandably, I can't tell you in what ways. The generals prefer to keep security measures a secret, just in case.

6. If you mean the attack in this time, I assume the Royal Guard is actively looking into it. I am stationed in Canterlot, so I don't know the extend of the branch in Manehattan, but any guard worth carrying their armor would know this was something to be on alert about. I'm sure they're simply not sharing information currently to make sure none of the troublemakers haves a change to run away, though you could ask them and see if there is a statement they're willing to make.

7. We have only run a small test of the integration system at this point, but the results seems mostly positive. It will of course take time to get used to for ponies, but we believe that if they see our new allies openly around Equestria and hanging out with regular ponies, it will help normalize their presence, rather than demonize it. So far, we have gotten around two dozen volunteers outside of the guards in Canterlot willing to give this a shot, and the number slowly rises, with additional support from the guard itself of course.

8. Yes, you can expect this program to come to Manehattan eventually as well. We still need to test it out fully in Canterlot, but if it goes well, you might start to see notices looking for volunteers within the next month or so. If you do, I will highly urge anypony to try and be open-minded and give this a chance. As journalists, it will also give you a chance to ask questions directly from them about the structures and inner workings of the hives, in case you wish to do more articles on changelings.

And the last one for now: 9. Changelings are more than capable of being less than menaces and love-thieves. You have to understand that the biggest issues in the past have been with the main hive when Queen Chrysalis were in power, and her control of the hivemind were strong enough to mostly render any drone her loyal slave. With her defeat, and her hive taken away from her, the drones are generally more free to think now, and show personality.

i can give as an example some of what I know about King Thorax. He ended up being away from the hive and the hivemind for a while, and it led him to try and seek ponies out in a friendly manner within the Crystal Kingdom. It had some... Expected results unfortunately, but through a dragon from Ponyville called Spike - the assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle as far as I am aware - it became more tolerable for both parts, and until he took the throne, he did well in not making issues and actively trying to integrate.

A thing to keep in mind here too, is that the Crystal Kingdom are ruled by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, two of the most affected by the changeling assaults in Canterlot, and they were willing to not rain judgemental fire down upon the wayward drone. If they can forgive and be open-minded about the changelings being able to be more than harbingers of evil, I'd like to think that anypony could."

Phew, that was a clawful. Hopefully this would answer at least the current questions, though Benny took a few deep breaths to prepare himself for round two, which may include follow-up questions to his current answers.

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@dosey doe

"I know, right? It sounds so delicious it's a wonder no place have thought about it. Well except for Las Pegasus, but let's be honest, they'll do anything to get tourists."

Sorrow licked her lips a little at the thought of that restaurant in the festive cloud city that had that fountain as part of their buffet menu. Man how she had been reluctant to get out of town after she found that, but Legion just wouldn't let her have fun in one place too long. She'd go back there though, no questions about it. Well, except for the date she'd go there, but that was a small detail.

Bouncing along the street a little more, she noticed a shop they got closer to, in some welcoming warm colors with a sign above the door. She couldn't read it to begin with, but as they got a little closer, a big grin spread on her face as she saw the name, and knew their destination - and more importantly, muffins - were near.

"Yey, we're almost there. I can almost taste the baked goods already."

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@Foxy Socks

Zhu looked utter unaffected by the yelling, and just kept on with his mumbling.

Who didn't back down however, were Agni, who had gotten the gist that this was an enemy considering how he Foxy were harping at him, which prompted her to jump up to Foxy's head and breath in, before unleashing a torrent of flame towards the robed being.

"*mumble* Kagera."

The last word in what seemed to be a long sentence were spoken loud, and the flames heading towards him turned to ash, and slammed harmlessly against him like a dustpan had been emptied into the wind.

The agitated phoenix would try to blast another wave, but she felt strangely weakened, and instead wobbled back to Foxy's back, where she'd lay down.

"Phoenixes. Aggressive, territorial, and predictable. It should be an hour before she can attempt to burn me again."

He had seen what the bird would do as Foxy would start to to yell, so a little in advance of said outburst, he started to cast a spell that would take care of this problem in case this line of actions turned out to happen, and predictably, it had. A pity really, as he had no beef with the bird, but he couldn't have it burn his robes. He needed them.

"And I well know that I don't deserve yours, or any others forgiveness. I can explain my actions in far more details than I ever cared to, but that doesn't mean I expect others to forgive or understand, and in the end, that short-sighted view of justice is what will kill me.

Eventually I will be judged a final time by somepony like you. My body will be put in a shallow grave and forgotten, and that will be it. At least until the elements finds a new harbinger to replace me, and the cycle begins anew, rendering my forgotten death a pointless action. Just another sacrifice for a greater cause."

Zhu considered making Foxy see a snippet of what he had, about what would have happened if the Evergrown had not been planted where they had, and mutated the beings they had as the trees rose. Normally not a thought he entertained, but he were... Conflicted now. The Forgotten that had attacked Ponyville had blocked his view from going any further, and now he had to try and find what to correct and do from scratch in what were essentially a new time. It lead his thought towards places they normally weren't allowed to by him. Like giving direct information, or returning to see his mother, rather than protect her from the shadows.

His *masters* had not given him new directions for now either, so he had some degree of choice in things for the first time in nearly a millennia, and the freedom and possibilities were daunting, so to speak.

His thoughts on how to perhaps proceed here, and gaze at Foxy to see what her responses might be in case she attempted violence next, were interrupted however, as Brittle came over and yanked in Foxy's leg a little.

"Please don't fight Foxy. I don't want to see anypony get hurt."

Briar moved closer, more and more confused about everything going on right now. And cautious too. If something started to happen, he'd have to be ready to interfere. Especially with Brittle now so close to this stranger, though he were getting nervous about how an attack might end with his vine turning to dust too, which would be horrible. It would essentially leave him without his hunting tools, which in turn either meant somepony would help learn him how to fish with regular tools for the job, or he'd start to starve.

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@Radience

The stallion smiled at the mare, then in a smooth motion bowed with his hat in hoof like a gentlecolt.

"It would be my pleasure to show you towards our slot machines madam. Please, follow me."

Straightening up right after bowing, he urged Spoiled Rich to follow him with a nod of his head before wandering deeper inside the casino in calm steps.

Diego were not per se a pony of that much importance here, if you ignored his name. He wandered around the casino, keeping check on things, and made some public excuses as for why his grandfather - Diego Pennyworth the First - were not here to attend things himself. The truth about how the old stallion didn't want to wander around the lower ranks unless he absolutely had to were not acceptable, and since his grandson had been having some issues finding a job, he had figured that he might as well make usage of him as a public face in the casino, unless it were a special event where he were required to attend.

"Shall I give you a tour of every area of slot machines we have, or shall I direct you towards our best? A mare of refined taste such as yourself must not want to linger with the common-folk, no?"

The way she wandered around, the look in her eyes, the beautiful pendant she wore and so forth. Plenty of signs that she were not a farmer, like a good deal of the tourists tended to be, and she should be addressed accordingly. Unless he were told otherwise of course.

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@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

Being smaller and lighter than either of the two others, Fah'Lina had just spread her ears and floated easily down in the dark towards the singular source of light, and the two that had tumbled down like sacks of potatoes.

As for Ziggy, she were still not decided between unconsciousness or getting back to her senses in the pile of wood, though that wouldn't be as much an important factor as getting the torch before it set fire to something. The wood down here were pretty dry after all these years, and it wouldn't be good to have it get hold of something, though right now it was thankfully not touching wood. Long as Serenade didn't drop it after getting hold of it, everything should be fine. If she did however, no promise.

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@EQ_Theta

Omen slowly rose up and shook her head, confused at what had just happened.

One minute they were getting some kind of magic cast on them, then the next... Another spell? Whatever it had been, it had hit pretty hard, and then all of a sudden there had been nothing. Was this sleeping? If it were, then she didn't mind not being able to. Seemed pretty uncomfortable.

"...What is this place?"

There were stars and sky all around them, as if they were flying in the heavens, but she felt something like ground beneath her hooves, so it couldn't be that, right? No, it had to be something else, otherwise that wouldn't make sense. And now she had a closer look around her, that wasn't the only thing that wouldn't fit.

There were doors everywhere. They varied in designs, colors, and even shapes, but they were doors nonetheless. What exactly was this place? Was this Sen's dream or-

A voice broke in and settled her mind on that subject. This really were Sen's dream, and for some reason, his memories were shown as these doors. Strange, but the booming voice knew better than her, so she'd believe them. Lin seemed to as well, and she weren't stupid. She would know who they were to trust.

It seemed she also knew where they were going, considering she looked at a pretty unusual door. Sealed and chained up from the look of it, and the path there were shattered and broken. Something were very off about that one, and as it seemed, they had to go there and handle it. Nothing a gate couldn't handle.

A minute or so passed of Omen trying - and failing - to open even the tiniest of gates, before she had to give up. Apparently she couldn't do that in this dream world, but then how were they going to get over there? Jump on the shards of the path?

"Yes, guess that's it."

Not thinking more on it, Omen started to wander over towards the edge headed for the nearest shard to jump on to. Seemed like the only way as far as she could see, so jumping and hoping not to fall appeared to be the way forward. If it wasn't... Well, Lin would have to be somewhat fast in it to stop her then, before she took the leap.

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@Lloyd

Dew stood still as rock until Warlock were almost close enough to touch him, then in a fluid motion spun out of the way, and used the momentum to swing the flail on his tail down upon the witch.

The former general were not in his prime anymore, that was a fact, but he were still plenty tough in a physical fight, and this pony had leaped in like a rookie with a predictable attack. Frankly, if he hadn't tried to go for him personally, Dew would have just left Iron Wing to take care of him himself. The new general seemed to be rather capable against the invader.

Considering Screecher followed up right after with a swift strike from her urumi though, he were going to let the youngsters have their fun and not follow through with a kick to the back of Warlock's head to debilitate him, and instead jumped backwards so he could keep near Iron Star, Astral and the whole gang of merry ponies around them. Make sure they were protected from further assaults and all that, while also making sure that no strike hit the amulet. He doubted a simple kick would destroy it, but the devious thing might retaliate in some fashion, and nopony wanted to try that.

Pity that the guards behind Warlock hadn't been as protected as them. The better part of the waver were drained by the amulet, but it still knocked back several guards into the door, blocking the entrance, and causing a brief pause from the assault behind Warlock. The offensive were for now focused on the front, but it wouldn't be long before the linebackers had gotten on top of things again, and he'd get a beating from there. And that was if Screecher and iron Wing didn't quickly move there to cut him off, just in case.

Five seconds after this, a vibe in the air would also tell that the teleportation guard in the castle would be up and running again, so unless Warlock had a truly great trick up his sleeve, he were now attacked from nearly all directions - Chow looked ready to pierce his head with his spear if he got half the chance - unable to really use magic, and soon out of the option to teleport away unless he got out to. It wasn't really looking good for him.

"In the name of the Royal Guard, you're under arrest. Surrender, or feel the consequences."

Perhaps a bit prematurely of Screecher, but it was a spur of the moment thing that got blurted out whilst the adrenaline pumped in her veins. This was going to get solved faster than she had first anticipated.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Blitz Boom

Moonlit · August 5, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich Serenade shakes her head, "stars belong in the sky, not before my eyes" she grumbles as she quickly scans the walls for a sconce or sometype of wall hanger for the torch. She quickly grabs the torch and keeps it away from the dry wood.

Sekel · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

DAWN

"Coffee does weird things to my brain. Don't know why I have that stuff to begin with," Dawn muttered and finished up the sundae, sighing at having a cool mouth once more. "I'm just glad my mouth feels normal now. But, going through your storage and store should prove fruitful," she said slowly, thinking on it a bit. Dragon or not, she's determined to keep her new friend. Even if it means going through her days, forcing that one little, well big, fact to the back of her mind if she ever visited in the near future.

@Widdershins & @Blitz Boom

AURORA

"Poker ... poker ..." Aurora mumbled, tapping a claw against her beak. "Is that a game where you continuously poke a pony until they say 'stop'?" she asked curiously, placing her talon back on the ground and continued after the cart. "Although, if we're talking about different things, I will gladly tell you about my trip. So far, I've explored Manehattan, which is really high and fantastic for practicing a flying race course in. What with all the towering buildings and such. The tight alleyways really make a difference in that regard. The shopping prices are overly expensive, a lot more so than Canterlot, thankfully, but I'm doing my best to stretch my funds by fluing everywhere. It's a lot better than taking the train, even if it's slower."

FanOfManyShows · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Warlock grimaced as if in pain, and he really was, the element was pushing him to let it lash out, and absorb all the magic inside the amulet of gluttony, a level of power Warlock could sense. He wasn't a fighter though, and as much as he could give up and fly away he was in a bad situation to do so, letting them take him in would be a bad idea too, since he'd likely lose his armor and the element, even though it was in his chest. He started chuckling. "What a wonderful act here you all got, but I'm not going to give you a surrender." He attempted to stand up, struggling to as the element ended up eating at the magic Warlock himself had in store. "You'll have to stop the element first." His face went cold, now emotionless, sparks flying off him now letting the element take over, the sparks would lash out at the amulet and around Dew. as well as everyone else with magic in the room. Warlock hadn't exactly planned for what would happen next and he doubted himself that anypony else had either, of course he realized it was a stupid idea very quickly when the magic from both the amulet and the element of greed formed a pool of magic in between Dew and Warlock. Imploding inwards.

Misty leaped back out of range of the amulet, and created a shield then being blasted backwards into a wall, cracking it, along with everypony else being thrown back, as the implosion of magic ruptured outwards. flinging sparks outwards as if tearing at the ground as the ball of magic hit Dew and Warlock throwing both of them a far distance. Warlock was thrown out the room and far down the hallway, tumbling with his armor suddenly gone as it faded into the air the spell that had held it together now gone. Misty fell down on the floor, gasping for air. "You're all idiots." She stood up, sparks of magic coming off of her. "There's no safe haven here if we have THAT protecting us!" She yelled pointing to Dew, who if he was fortunate, would not be unconscious due to being so close to the blast. "How the heck do we expect to use it on Warlock with a result like that!?"

"Enough!" Iron Wing stood up, although he lacked wings now, as they blades laid thrown about on the ground, and without allow his wings to reconstruct, he ran out the door and went after Warlock.

"Oh no you don't!" Warlock blasted through the ceiling and far up into the air creating a sonic boom blasting outwards across the ground, looking behind himself to see Iron Wing on the ground without his wings, slowing down about to teleport as he attempted to regain lost magic, realizing he needed to go to a town if he desired to leave, looking to Ponyville.

"Warlock is heading to Ponyville!" Astral yelled pointing out the window to what would seem to be Warlock flying towards Ponyville at incredible speeds.

EQ_Theta · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Seeing Omen about to jump to each broken platform, Lin mustered some confidence as she picked up Omen and placed her on her back. She remembered accidentally leaving her behind and being told about how light she is. Without Sen present, now would be her time to step up and take up his role. She admired him for his strength and athletic ability; now that she was in the dream realm, maybe some of that would rub off on her and give her some of Sen's more positive traits.

"Hold on tight and don't look down!"

Lin jump left then right, skipping along each path. It felt like the old days when she'd find the other children in the village playing hopscotch. The only difference was there were bigger gaps between each step and missing one might spell the end of her romp through the dream realm. She didn't mind, though. It brought her some semblance of joy while she happily glided her way over gaps and feeling lighter than air as she made her way to the chained door.

"Nothing to it!" Lin put Omen down while walking to the door and examined the chains hanging on the steel bars. There was lock but strangely enough, none of the links reached it and the door is slightly ajar. Either something broke it or something already escaped but had the decency to close the door. She slowly made her way in and on the other side is a hilltop with a single tree flanked by two mounds of dirt and an empty, stormy landscape beyond it. Lin opened the door wider to let Omen and before approaching the tree and noticed the hollow at its base with a chain nailed to the ground.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" She gestured to Omen to come closer and take a look but before she could explore further, the sound of a young child answered her query.

"Please go away. They'll come from the ground again and they won't leave me alone. Not with you here."

There wasn't a chance to react fast enough to see the mounds shaking vigorously before a claw pushed the dirt away. Two creatures are climbing their way out of the ground while behind the tree are two shadowy figures emerging from thin air. Both were formless first but they quickly shaped themselves into two familiar figures. Lin switched her focus between the ground and the shadows before noticing the latter two are becoming more and more real.

Lin was paralyzed but her wide eyes and open mouth captured the perfect expression of speechlessness and horror as the realization dawned on her.

"They're... us."

Edited August 7, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Widdershins · August 6, 2017

@Dji & @Blitz Boom

With an elitist air, the young drake sneers at the cart-puller.

"Fuh. Fancy Pony says most ponies is fine, then goes onto say how their leaders use the threat of imprisonment to bully their populace into submission. Humph. You know how Dragons, deal with their problems?" Without pausing for any heed from his listeners, Kaltrop carries on unhindered.

"You have a beef with another dragon, you fight them! If you can't win, then leave while you're still alive and get on with your life already! That's the natural way! None of that manipulative subterfuge of pony society. Life is all about the taking. You can at least be honest about it..."

The drakling gives off a somewhat sad, but mostly peeved & dismissive snort.

"I have no wish to see the pony's world of corruption. I merely wanted you to pay me back for trotting into my life and ruining it with all your questions and insistence on doing things the wrong way round! ... and... well, the griffon can do whatever she wants. Flap off for all I care... least she's not a pony anyhow."

Kaltrop refers to Aurora without ever turning his head to address her himself.

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@Blitz Boom

"Well, in one given case it seems your coming was expected fully. While I cannot speak of too many alternate dimensions from the few I hath personally experienced since being affixed to my position as such; it does indeed seem like some places may have their own protectors who would indeed raise issue with you straying too far out of your own... story, I suppose. That latter example you mentioned does seem to sufficiently fit the description of my own creator and if that should be knowledge you wish to pursue..."

The small, crafted being presses Anomaly for a course of action in a voice somewhat reminiscent of fatigue and an urging will to get her out on her own way so it can have some moderate amount of peace to itself while its "owner" is away.

An emotion put to a sudden, sighing halt as a form slowly fades into existence in the middle of the room. Sitting draped over the center, petrified tree trunk in a sitting manner over himself is the fuzzy-headed, long, wiirm-like form of-

BE-WARE DAH POOPACABRA!!! Gad, stop that. So annoying.

It gets funnier, each & every time! Repetition makes humor!

After appearing in the middle of the room, in a middle of nonsensical, hysteric, gibbering laughter at his own weird earworm of a joke, every tiiime!, the Draconequus leans his head far back behind him to address the little, semi-mechanical being without noticing Anomaly's presence yet and talks to its corner with his head upside-down, ears dangling loosely below him.

Howdy Do, Vabby! We totally just saw a guy talking about making homunculi from chicken eggs! Totes gotta fannonize that into the character bio backstory too! We'll neever get done editing that hot mess if I have anything to say about it!

dosey doe · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

All the muffineers at Merlin's Muffins are dressed like wizards. It's super cute.

"Top of the muffin to you, young apprentices!" said the pony behind the counter when they came in. Ultra cringey, but they were required to say it by their contracts.

"Hiiiii!" said Dosey, as she skipped up to the counter.

Holiday Agnaktor · August 6, 2017

@Windchime

Light Rain followed the editor...manager, maybe? She wasn't sure. She entered what looked like a fancy interview room of some sort. It looked really fancy, marble and wood all over the place.

She sat down on the couch, letting herself relax a bit after all this stress. Apparently everything was still fine, and she wasn't about to get thrown in jail.

The manager (still not sure on that one) looked friendly, which calmed Rain down a bit more.

She took one of the cups of tea, and gently blew on it to cool it down.

"Well, I've calmed down a lot now, since the situation wasn't as bad as I thought," Light Rain said, "My name is Light Rain, and I came here to find out how the situation with all those changelings works. I got most of my answers, so that's nice."

She took a small sip of her tea, which was cool enough for her now. It tasted nice, a bit like some fruit...? She reminded herself to go buy some more pony-food some time, because she didn't know all of the flavours yet. In the Hive she never actually ate. They fed on love, and that was it. They didn't actually need physical food, so there was no purpose to eating other than entertainment, which wasn't a thing in the Hive. In her short time in Equestria, she didn't actually have money or a home, so she just didn't eat.

Light Rain needed to get a job somewhere. Maybe Benny had something with that changeling program? She'd have to ask him.

Oh yeah, she was talking to somepony. She should pay more attention to that.

Windchime · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

A short verbal silence occurred while typewriters raved as answers flowed from the dragon. Hooves moving with proficiency hitting the buttons on the typewriters as if by second nature keeping up with the dragon's answers in remarkable fashion. Striking Detail allowed himself a moment of rest as his eyelids rested over half of his eyes as he watched the spectacle. Soon, he will work like this too, but for now his work is done as the dragon will want an inevitable break too before his interview began. Detail listened to the questions and the dragon's rapid answers as a new group comes into play in the spectacle that played before him: the assistants. Some running around with paper and ink ribbons in their muzzles and others who are more careful with fresh mugs of coffee in their mugs and moving away again with dirty mugs to presumably an overloaded dishwasher. The well-oiled machine of the efficient emporium belonging to the Equestrian Enquirer. Ink ribbons and paper loaded in empty typewriters as if they were a car in a pit-stop as sheets full of verbatim quotes and notes for future articles are being produced for the sake of articles; as an entire week's worth of work has to be rewritten before the deadline of one-and-a-half days.

Soon the half-silence was broken up writers piped up with more questions, hungry for content and answers for their articles as their careers depend on it: various questions regarding kings, queens, and changeling culture and integration policies. An image of how informed each individual writers are becomes clear as questions range between "What do changelings look like?" "Do they get to choose how colorful they are?" "Do changeling looks depend on the king or queen?" to "Will changelings forever be happy with the self-sustaining power of love they seem to be able to produce nowadays? Will they eventually have to ask nicely to mooch love off of us again? Is this a temporary solution?" to questions even laced with malice such as "If a changeling ever takes my lover's spot, do I at least legally get the opportunity to beat them up for it?" for jealousy still is an important factor in the entire changeling drama.

Detail turned to the dragon next to him taking a breather and said: "Take it easy, buddy. You have more time to think about and answer these questions than the writers make you think you do. It's an old journalism trick to squeeze as many answers out of somepony as possible in a short period of time."

Detail then fully closed his eyes, casually listening to the questions and answers as he rubs his temples. Seems like another headache is building. He wonders why...

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@Holiday Agnaktor

Avabella Printrose closed her eyes as she levitated the cup of tea in front of her muzzle, briefly taking in the aroma before taking a sip of the tea herself. Eventually, she put the tea down again after thoroughly enjoying the cherry flavor of today. To put it simply: Printrose valued her tea and teatime. It's the only breaks she gets nowadays; stupid management making her do specials all year round. Makes them no longer special, if you asked her. And a break on the writing team to just produce a normal issue again would probably be appreciated. Though Printrose had to credit them: they sure are hard workers.

Printrose opened her eyes to the pegasus in front of her, completely unaware that she did the exact same thing as she did: drift off in her own thoughts before paying attention to the conversation again. Light Rain, she calls herself. Common name for a Pegasus, therefore easy to remember. You tend to notice those things if you're in charge of a team specifically working on detailing what people say about things.

"Glad to hear that", Printrose remarked, nodding as she said that. "Light Rain, it is nice to meet you. My name is Avabella Printrose, and I am in charge of those nosy ponies and their typewriters. I'm the executive editor of the paper, meaning that any articles that are written by them first pass through me to see if it's first of all worthy or not to be in the paper in the first place, and to point them to their errors. Given the fact that we just learned that all our work has to be revised before printing, and rather late at that, I won't have anything to do for a short time. So I took a break".

Printrose took another tea-pause before continuing, repeating the same savoring behavior as before.

"So perhaps, if you have any questions still, I guess I could provide some answers, although they might be outdated. Maybe you will have to ask the dragon instead." Printrose made a friendly gesture towards the biscuits as she finished that sentence.

Printrose looked at the pegasus in front of her again, and got the same thoughts. She seems fidgety for no real reason, so she decided to ask some questions about her in an attempt to make her feel more at home: "Say, my dear. I grow curious as this break goes on. What do you do? Another one of those weather drones working in cloud factories, or something more noble than that? Tell me more about yourself." Printrose actively tries to keep the smile on her muzzle. She didn't have to do that often, but she ought to be nice enough to do that when she isn't doing something professional related. She needs to calm down, too.

Widdershins · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

The pudgier, pink stallion answers alertly back at the other despite the fading light of the evening and through a few quick, worried glances shot at his log pile load.

"Oh, yeah! Maybe if we can find a dollie or some sort nearby we can just leave it near his place with a note! ...wherever that is.

And... well... I suppose I could write them a letter or something... if its that important. Mother & Father are probably worried about me by now since I left without much warning... hopefully they are, I guess."

Storm Shine · August 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Storm and Pinkie immediately fell backwards, collapsing in a heap. They both groaned a little before standing back up, though on the way up Stormy noticed the note on Pinkie's forehead and booped her, causing her to giggle. "Silly Stormy!"

Storm chuckled and looked away from the note, both of them looking towards to rest of the group, "So are we small, or is everything else just big?"

Pinkie's eye's widened, "Now the sugarmoles are gonna be bigger!!" She squealed happily, "More Sugar!" She took off down the hole.

"Pinkie, wait up!" Storm called, quickly running after her.

Blitz Boom · August 7, 2017

@Radience

"An excellent choice madame."

Diego would lead the way past the usual blackjack and poker tables, the roulette, etc. before passing a door to a more high end area of the casino, which would contain essentially the same as before, but fancier, and containing mainly nobles and businessponies that seemed well off.

In the corner, the slot machines they were looked for stood, looming over whoever would go and play on them, and enticing some here and there, though it seemed the roulette were the most popular thing in this area.

"Here you go madame. Is there anything else you need?"

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

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

There was a wall hanger for a torch near the entrance to this room, in case Serenade would wish to use it. The room wasn't too large all things considered, so it shouldn't be too dificult to see.

Meanwhile, Ziggy slowly seemed to stir back to herself again, and began to dig herself out of the pile of wood, whilst loudly mumbling to herself.

"Bones intact... Right wing swollen... Left hoof dislocated..."

A cracking noise and a yelp indicated that Ziggy had handled the third one, by setting the bone back again. Painful in the moment, but effective and quick. Plus it helped wake her up a little more, so there was a little more good to it.

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

@Dji

"Well, let's not linger any further then. Come on, I'll show you the way."

Pop would lead Dawn out of the living room and toward the store section of her house, which included passing more pictures on the walls and the occasional piece of furniture. Luckily for Dawn, nothing with Benny in them currently, but instead just random shots of places she had gone to as a tourist, and some including other ponies that she seemed pretty friendly with. Some were obviously family, but Pop didn't spend time explaining who or in what way. She just kept leading the way until they reached a locked door leading into the store.

Unlocking it showed the store to the right of them that were a little... Broken in it, because of the attack recently, but it would hopefully look good and glorious again soon. Besides, they were going left, which presented them with another door to unlock.

Behind it was a somewhat chilly room, with shelves filled with all kinds of potentially delicious things in all sorts of colors and shapes. Chocolate bars, creme eggs, gummy bears, jelly beans, sour drops and the list went on. A pretty respectable stock she'd say.

Whistling as she looked through the stacks, Pop eventually pulled out three things. The first was a small bag of orange lollipops, the second another small bag, this time with sweets formed like little slices of oranges, and the third a chocolate bar, made of creamy milk and infused with enough orange to give a well balanced aftertaste. It wasn't Saddle Arabian Buttermilk it was made from, sadly for Dawn, but it was still good quality.

"Here, try these, and let me know what you think."

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

@Dji @Widdershins

Spicy chuckled at Kaltrops and his weird antics. Poor boy seemed so determined to be feared and hated by ponies, and she just wasn't giving him the satisfaction he needed. Perhaps she could be nice and play along, but the issue there were that she just didn't give a rats flank about just handing him what he wanted. Kaltrops had to work for it just like the rest of 'em, and until then, she'd keep teasing him. Like now, where she pointed to him, then looked at Aurora with a big, slapable grin.

"Is it just me, or does it sound like he's starting to like me?"

She well knew the answer, but she liked to poke at him, and see what sort of rant he'd then go on. It was a little too easy at times, but considering he were hitching a free ride, she deserved to at least be amused.

"Hehe. Kidding aside, you sound like you got it sorted right Aurora. Especially about travel expenses. That can end up really eating into the budget if you go 'round the country. Cheaper to just trabsport yourself, and tou'll get to see the sights the trains doesn't stop at. Plenty of places you'd end up missing that way, like the natural hot springs out west. Not a train near it, but dang its a pretty sight, and it really helps relaxing the muscles."

She recalled with a sigh the last time she had been there. Only a month roughly, but it felt like far longer after a few days in Manehattan. Been an excruciatingly annoying trip this time around, and she were really starting to miss a free bath in the springs right about now. Perhaps when this were all done she'd go there.

"And Kaltrops? Looking aside the feral *Law of the jungle* you're describing for a moment here, I ain't forcing you anywhere. You're hitching a ride on a trip set for Ponyville, and I ain't redirecting for nopony or dragon.

I don't see the big fuss really. You say there wasn't a price on you yet, so why're you such a wuss about going to a minor farming town?"

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

@Lloyd

The others were surprised to say the least about the reaction of the amulet and Warlock's attempt at eating it. The force between the two had been equally voracious, and trying to eat one another had ended up blasting everypony around, and unfortunately, allowing for Warlock to get away before they got their bearings back.

"Curses! We can't let him get away this easily."

"Cover the amulet..."

Golden were not in the best shape, as he had been slammed against the throne, but he still managed to cast the covering for the amulet over to Dew, who did as he were told without question.

The change should be felt basically immediately, with the casters feeling magic returning, instead of slowly drain away.

"Ponyville can't be *wheeze* taken over by him. We need to *cough* act."

"Sir, you should save your breath."

Golden dismissed Screecher's words with a wave of his hoof, before coughing up a bit of blood. A fact he hid from the others for the time being by keeping that part of his hoof behind him.

"I can get a *wheeze* few near there with a teleport. You need to pick *wheeze* them."

"Screecher, Benny and her."

Dew interrupted and pointed at the end to Astral, whose name escaped him right now.

"Two good fighters, natural fire to use if you keep at the safe range where the amulet and him counter eachother, and the mare in case magic is needed to keep the civilians safe from debris or the like."

"And you?"

"I'm not the stallion I once were. Chases is something more for you youngsters, whilst I help keep the base here going and get the ambassador to a doctor. General Wings here needs time to set his wings in too it seems, so he needs to stay as well.

Use the amulet. It might cause explosions if it gets close, but we have no other counters right now. Try to void his magic enough, and when you get the chance... Handle the problem. Permanently."

Taking off the amulet entirely, Dew tossed it to Benny who caught it as it flew towards him, though the color seemed to slowly drain from.hia face as he did. He had only gotten to the room a few seconds after the explosion happened, and now he were going to help chase somepony and potentially kill them? Dear ancestors and Celestia, what were he going to do?

"You have five seconds to make a counter argument. After that, you're going. I'm not risking civilian casualties."

Meanwhile, the guards that had been scattered around started to help their less fortunate comrades who had hit things badly. A few of them also went to tend to the changelings in the room if they needed it, unsure of what they were doing here, but thinking they were not in on the attack, or they would have been spared or run off by now.

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

@EQ_Theta

Jumping over had been easier than Omen expected. There had been once when she almost slipped, but since she didn't think of the consequences of falling down, she just kept going without feeling a thing about it, and soon thereafter stood in front of the barred door.

She wondered what kind of memory this might contain. Seemed important, and taken away from other things... Something with Lin perhaps? She were important to him, but then again, that wouldn't explain the nightmare she supposed.

His parents perhaps? She had a vague snippet of memory dangling in her head about the two talking about those, but it was intangible, and the words didn't fit together. It just felt like it were about them when it passed through.

She were about to ask when Lin just simply opened the door and wandered in, holding it enough for the shadowy mare to pass through. Omen had been sure that it was going to be harder than this considering the chains, but apparently, she must have missed something about the door. Perhaps it had been unlocked or something. Or were Lin really strong here in the dreams? New realities like this made her unable to guess what the laws of nature were in here.

The other side of the door were more of what ponies would call *normal* than the room they had just been in. Dirt, grass, a hill and a tree, plus a looming storm. Seemed to make a good deal more sense than the star room, though the contrast confused her. Seemed like a weird place to change from with just a door.

Still, Lin urged them on, leaving her little time to think more on it before she joined her sister at the hill. She wasn't the only one though it seemed, as a young voice came out of nowhere and answered Lin's question about them potentially being here alone.

A youngster didn't show however. Instead, something started to try and get up from the ground, and behind the tree, two figures wandered out that after a short while, started to look like copies of Lin and her. Not perfect ones, but they seemed like it were meant to be them.

Though Lin found it horrible, Omen just found it interesting, and without much thought to it would take a step forward and raise a hoof towards their counterparts.

"Hello not-Lin and not-me. Strange to see you."

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

@Widdershins

"Awh. Why must fun places always be guarded by boreholes?"

Anomaly was fresh in the making of pouting when out of nowhere, a strange, somewhat serpentine creature appeared a little by little from thin air.

Her eyes widened as she gazed upon the strange creature and the unusual shape it seemed to be. Nothing that would happen naturally for sure, which meant-

"Sibling!"

Anomaly yelled it out loud and with glee, whilst rainbows and flowers exploded behind her. She had been around places a lot, but she had thus far never met another draconequus. She had heard a voice before though, which- Hold on, is this the voice from earlier?

*sigh* And here I thought the fourth wall would get a chance to mend a little. Yes, this is the one you heard before, and this is his place. You should likely have some respe-

"Ehehe, poop jokes. You're a funny voice in my head sibling."

A snap of her tail, and Anomaly stood with a large pineapple in front of her. A present to new friend, if he liked it at least. It was full of goodies like candy-drink of varying tastes, a jar of *fur* from one of the sugarmoles she had made on her isle, fourteen types of bananas - she weren't sure of the taste of most of them herself - a few other odds and ends, and a specialty: A live breezie wrapped in a freshly baked waffle. Usually she'd use cream for waffles, but breezie's were a far better garnish in her mind.

...He better let the breezie go, or I swear I will drop live Honey Badgers on the both of you.

But it's so tasty!

I. Don't. Care! It'd be like me putting syrup on Tinkerbelle and taking out the knife and fork. It's not cool.

So... You want some syru- No!

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

@dosey doe

"Top of the muffin? This place is awesome!"

Sorrow liked this place already. The quirky outfits, the cringy greeting, the whole way it looked... This was how you got through distasteful, and dug out on the other side into brilliant. Just keep adding more until it works. She couldn't wait to see if the food was themed as well.

Getting to the counter, Sorrow looked at the cashier with a big grin on her face.

"Hello. Do you have something sour like lemon muffins? Oh, or perhaps with chili? Something with a bite to it. And my friend here wants a-"

Sorrow stopped, allowing for Dosey to say her own want to the cashier. Hopefully he'd have something of the sort they both wanted.

===========================÷÷÷÷

@Windchime

Well, guess the second wave didn't want to give him much pause then. The first had barely passed and now he were going to have to talk his ears off again. At least as much as he could. Since most questions seemed to be about the changelings right now, and he wasn't the most knowledgeable about it.

He would answer as best he could, for example on how as far as he knew, each royal set their own kind of look to their drones, like the green parts of Chrysalis's drones compared to a more purplish one he had heard about, who also had a bit of mane.

He also had to admit that he wasn't sure how it were with kings and queens, but he shared what little he knew from what he had heard via the story of King Thorax, and pointed out that each hive only had one royal as far as he knew. How more got out he had no idea. Rare spawn from the eggs perhaps?

Going on, Benny would tell a general description of both normal changelings, and the new ones. Thankfully he had seen one of the new when they came to town, but he doubted they were part of the ones this town cared about. Most changelings were still the regular, love-eating kind, and he had to go on descriptions from paper and others on that one.

Ending off, he went over the different kind of drones - warrior, nursing, worker - that he knew of, and a minor comment to a particular writer that had asked if he could slap them around. Specifically, telling him that attacking one of them were the same as attacking any regular pony or ally of Equestria, and would be handled the same. He should just let the guard handle the particular changeling and his/her crimes in that case, and not get himself in unneeded trouble.

"- I think that was most of it. Sorry I can't answer everything about them, but I haven't had much of any sort of interaction with them yet.

There's one more thing I can answer though, in regards to feeding.

The evolved changelings won't need to harvest love more from what is known by both them and us. Their final stage if you will, doesn't require the influx to sustain them, and they make due on normal food at that point.

The vast majority of changelings however, are still regular. They will need love to survive, but with a better relation to Equestria, they don't need to steal in abundance to prepare for meager days anymore, and the more they get integrated and feel the love all around them from everupony, the less they will need individually, since a bit of passive feeding should cover it.

However, until that happens or in case of emergencies, we are helping them charge some emergency rations of it if you will. Donors helps with that by giving a small amount, much like with blood banks, and unless an individual goes crazed, the days of being drained nearly dry should be over.

I won't rule out that any potential changeling friend might ask for a bit from you if they're desperate, but we'll let that be between the individuals unless a violent problem arises."

Benny neglected to mention any and all references to ponies being turned, as the conversion was a horrible practice that changelings likely didn't want to be judged by. Another thing on the pile of horrible things Queen Chrysalis had done that would paint the entire race in a bad light.

But he didn't want to dwell on that. He had hopefully sated the eriyers curiosity for a minute or two and could get a breather, though he should answer Detail first.

"It's not that bad really. First time I came to Canterlot and went to the castle to seek a job, I went through three straight days of questioning. Apparently, a dragon seeking to work at the palace were a big surprise to them, and a source for worry. Almost made me give up under the constant scrutiny, but I got through it, and if i could do that, I can do this. I just hope it helps."

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

@Widdershins

"Well you know, if you want to cut all ties, then you shouldn't. But they're still your family, and if it's possible, I don't think it's a good idea to turn your back on them. Might be you can still work the quirks out with them, right."

And now they were back on perhaps getting the parents here for a minor fact check. This stallion were not one who seemed to keep a mindset and stick with it for too long considering what he had said earlier, which were both a minor blessing and a major irritation. Swinging minds could be hard to work with, though at least right now he seemed like he'd be workable. They would have to see what was what when the time came, but he'd try to stick around a bit more. For now.

"As for getting you some wheels and such, we're gonna have a look at it once we get the logs away. We'll have free hooves to work with then instead of you dragging a section of forest around with you like a troll. Heh."

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

@Shineling

Anomaly chuckled as the two of them went into the hole, and shortly after followed them. That just left the Boom siblings, which were an issue since they had been subjected to the same size change, but wasn't with the others, leaving them wandering around in a place that were now larger and likely more dangerous. Hopefully they'd be safe.

Meanwhile, in the hole, nothing much happened as the trio would wander it, until a sound at the end would catch at least Anomaly's attention, and she'd stop up whilst trying to shush the others.

Around a corner in the tunnel, a little by little, a sugarmole showed up. Not one of the big ones that made the tunnel, but it showed the sort of being they were dealing with well. From the sugar fur to the licorice nose and eyes, it were indeed a candy creature of some kind, though as it spotted the lot of them, it also seemed to be a fast one, as it began to rummage down the hall as fast as it could.

"Now we're talking! Let the hunt get a'going."

Edited August 7, 2017 by Blitz Boom
Added colors.

Moonlit · August 7, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich Cringing at the sound, Serenade puts the torch in the wall hanging and looks around. "Our top priority now should be getting out of the castle, and getting you back to Ponyville." Serenade looks over at her friend, "We will probably still have an adventure getting out, but I think postponing any further exploration would be a good idea"

FanOfManyShows · August 7, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Astral felt her magic return, she stepped a hoof onto the ledge outside the window. "I'm starting to doubt we can void his magic."

"Void and Null though! They can nullify magic."

Her ears perked up as the names caught her attention. "We don't know how to contact them or where they are right now." A swirl of smove formed around her extended hoof, moving outwards as it created a sword. "For now, we deal with this. Or I do it myself" She fell backwards out the window.

"Wait!" Misty ran out, seeing Astral blasting off into the distance.

Iron Star fell down on the floor, caughing out blood. "I strongly hope I can recover from that." His eyes opened up. Scanning for Athriel star. "I know where Athriel is, she's looking for an element. We can stop her before she finds it."

"You're injured sir." Wing walked into the room, picking up the blades to his feathers. "We all are, we can't rush out and deal with another element of disharmony. It could end like what just happened." He looked at the feathers, seeing that the markings were damaged on several feathers. The ones left over formed very fragmented wings, with visible spaces in between the layers. "As much as stopping her before she can get it would be smart, we can't do that." Iron Wing walked over to the window, tilting his wings, the feathers shifting around to fill the spaces. "We already have one element to handle, so let's handle it." He flapped his wings a few times, more feathers falling out.

"Yeah you'll have to get that fixed first." Iron Star said with a smirk, putting a hoof to his eyes, black mist around them, he opened his eyes, his iris a deep red, his eyes appeared to be healed now, although with a scar across the eyelids and the surrounding skin. "Who made your wings? You could get them to fix the markings."

"I believe Benny did, but somepony else etched the markings on them." He looked to Benny. "Or was that also you?"

The Changelings got up, some flying to Ponyville. Francis watching the Changelings fly off. "Could Warlock absorb love magic?" He asked tilting his head, Nectar looking to him.

"I'd hope not, then my army would be a feast for him."

"Keep in mind something about Warlock, his range of magic increases the more the element has. So if that is the case, Equestria would end pretty quickly." With those words the Changelings who hadn't left, all looked at each other. "We shouldn't assume right now though, we need the help." The Changelings sighed in relief, flying off as well. "Same goes to the unicorn guards, even if you're a source of magic, you can still help without magic."

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

With a loud crash Warlock hit the ground, tumbling across and hitting into a food cart. "Gah!" He stood up, looking around, smirking as he noticed the owner of the cart was now having his magic absorbed. "What a nice start, right next to a unicorn." He grinned, the pony soon fainting at the sight of Warlock, he chuckled a little. Looking at the lack of his legs, without a cloak to hide them, he'd certainly stand out, ironically. Although now, Warlock would prefer attention, which would get him more magic.

Astral landed on a roof of one of the houses, breaking in the roof. "Warlock!"

"Come to take me prisoner?" He spotted a sword in her grasp. "Or do you desire to be worse than your mother?" He said, those words striking Astral deep, Astral frozen still by them.

EQ_Theta · August 7, 2017

[@member='Blitz Boom']

"I don't think they're friendly, Omen."

A surprising and unexpected response from Omen. Lin expected hostilities but her sister's approach to interacting with the shadow copies of themselves was not anything she anticipated. Maybe that was just her, though; she was just about ready to pick a fight with her copy. There was also the matter of the child in the hollowed tree, the chain nailed down to the ground, and the two other creatures crawling out of the dirt mounds. That last one was a very familiar sounding scenario: Sen talked about that in his nightmares, his parents rising from the ground to torment him about his "supposed" failure to save them.

That was what the two dirt-covered creatures were just about to do. They moved closer to the young child and before Lin could make a break for the latter, her shadow copy stepped forward to block her path. She tried again, this time attempting to fake left and make a break to the right but the copy saw through it and blocked her again. Meanwhile, the two creatures near the tree lost their dirt covering and revealed themselves to be the emaciated bodies of her parents, another reminder of Sen's description of his nightmare. This time, Lin tried to push her way past her doppelgänger with force but now the latter grabbed her and looked at her with lifeless eyes and pinned her to the ground.

Omen's shadow copy didn't move to assist, instead remaining fixated on the real Omen and attempting understand her intentions. Her greeting already built up a rapport with her duplicate and the latter chose to communicate with her.

"You are different," the copy spoke in a monotonous and emotionless voice though still undoubtedly Omen's. "You do not assume hostilities when your companion does; a sign of wisdom. Your companion has a lot to learn from you. Observe."

The two creatures morphed into what can be described as older longma though their appearance suggest middle adulthood. Very little in the way of wrinkles or other signs of aging. Those were non-existed on their looks. The two pulled the chain off the ground and the rest of it out. The young child from the hollow came into view, revealing a very familiar face.

"It can't be... It's Sen." Lin quietly said as she her brother, twelve years ago and looking no more than eight years old tightly embracing his parents.

"Your companion's haste might have caused you to miss this, but let me ask another question. Is this what you came to see or is there more?"

Edited August 9, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Sekel · August 8, 2017

@Blitz Boom

DAWN

"This is a well-stocked shop you have here," Dawn noted, nodding her head a bit at seeing the various ingredients and completed candies. She looked at Pop when she spoke and tilted her head at the bags. "What are these?" she asked curiously, sitting on her haunches and carefully taking one of each thing.

@Widdershins & @Blitz Boom

AURORA

"I think he's starting to like you," Aurora agreed with a smirk. She fluffed her wings so they wouldn't get too tired from being tucked against her sides as she listened to the dragon. "You know ... you could just fly away. You don't have to come with us," she told him with a shake of her head. "Now, why don't we actually talk about why you hate ponies? I'm sure something must make you hate them. Or every species in general."

Foxy Socks · August 8, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Foxy tried to catch Agni as she launched from her, but she was only able to watch in fear as the phoenix attempted to attack Zhu. She felt relieved when all she did was assault him with ash. Foxy never wanted to harm anypony, and even now was not an exception. She felt horrified that her actions had led to it, forgetting her anger briefly.

"Agni, thank you for trying to protect me, but please don't harm him," Foxy said in a soothing tone, stroking the bird gently. Foxy knew Agni did only what she thought was right, and didn't need to be yelled at. In a way Foxy was glad Agni grew closer to her.

Foxy jumped when she felt her leg tugged. She jumped again when she realized who it was: Brittle. Brittle was never one to get that close, much less ask her something like that. Foxy smiled, replying kindly, "I won't hurt anypony, Brittle, I promise. I'm sorry if I scared you and the others, I let my feelings get the best of me. I am not sure what to think of Zhu, but I would never think of hurting anypony." Any anger Foxy felt had completely vanished. She felt happy even. She looked down at Brittle, and couldn't stop smiling at the cute changeling, then turning to Zhu.

"I am sorry for losing my temper Zhu. I still don't understand your reasons though. What greater good is there? Did you know what would have happened?"

Blitz Boom · August 9, 2017

@Foxy Socks

"The greater good is simply one side of a large scale, weighing the light and dark against eachother. I am not a constant on either side."

Normally, he'd not divulge further, but this were a blank point for him, and from what he could see on Foxy, knowledge would serve her well in veering her off a troubling path, that would eventually lead to war. Such a little thing it would be to light that spark, and end the Equestrian union...

"As for your question, see for yourself."

Zhu spoke quickly, which started to involve a good deal of hissing since he couldn't half-growl through words to avoid that unless he spoke calmly. The words formed a spell that took energy from one of the items he had stored in his robes. Something he'd need later he would assume, but Anomaly could assist with that too, as soon as she were done with her current task.

Whilst casting said spell, Zhu rose a paw and planted it on Foxy's forehead, though he doubted she'd notice that too much. Not when the touch also shared with her a memory of his.

A scene would unfold in front of Foxy, clear against the dark background, despite being semi-transparent.

A desert, vast and barren, suddenly had the earth rupture and the sand scatter to the sides in piles rivaling mountains. From beneath, a gargantuan creature of roots, leaves, flowers, trees, and so forth in a mass somewhat resembling a dragon without wings would emerge, and start to march towards the north, were Equestria stood ripe for this ever-growing creature that seemed to both gain strength from the ground with each step, and leave patches of flourishing land in it's wake.

The scene shifted rapidly then, to a small town - not unlike Dodge Junction - where the same scene would unfold. The earth would rupture, a mass of natural objects would rise up, and ponies would fall down into the hole it had left behind with silent screams. It were about to trample a group of ponies when the scene shifted again, showing several more small towns, one large'ish city, and about three more places where life seemed to barely cling on.

During all of this, not a sound would show. Not a word, not a rumble, not even the blow of winds. This were all vision.

Out of nowhere, Zhu's voice would ring in her head, calmly laying some commentary to the almost-carnage she were seeing.

"These are sections of the things I saw could happen. A creature of ancient origins. Bitter and forgotten, it would break through and do things I choose not to share with you. This is the creature the Evergrown refer to as the *Earthmother*, and their creation and continued praise to her name, keeps her dormant and satisfied. A few dozen lives were needed to avoid this, but that were needed to stall her until more were grown. An unthinkable choice to make for most, but one I am often forced to be faced with, to maintain the balance between good and evil. Something which this creature - who would have laid waste to four continents at a minimum before it were stopped - would have jeopardized."

Zhu removed his paw again, and suddenly the vision would end, and Foxy wouldn't be subjected to seeing this anymore.

"Choice is the direction of what have yet to be, making paths like branches of a tree, growing in twists and turns in a crown so far above the ground that only a few can even see the lowest hanging fruit. A limited view, but a blissful one. Ignorance that I have not been blessed with."

Hopefully she would understand from this, that sometimes, a choice had to be made that wasn't nice, but inevitably would be the thing to do to maintain everything you cared for. It would be a lesson she would need in a few years time, and if this did not work, he would have to scheme to arrange for something that eventually would.

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

@Dji

"Well, in Ponyville, you either have something for every taste, or it'd hard to compete. I'm not the only sweet shop here after all, and making a living wouldn't be easy without investing in some special flavors. Like the Saddle Arabian Buttermilk stuff I told you about earlier. You either have to be really important, well connected or go there to pick it up yourself to get any of it, and Ponyville residents aren't that big on going outside of Equestria for some reason.

There's more like Neighponese Sugarcanes here and there to set it out, but the buttermilk tends to be the most well liked. Chocolate lovers, you know? I think I have something with it around here actually. Made a batch before we closed up."

Pop started to rummage around a shelf with several kinds of chocolate, though she kept talking, so she could answer what it was she had given Dawn thus far.

"The stuff I gave you are pretty simple stuff though. There's orange-flavored lollipops, which tends to be a decent hit with some of the town's foals since it's pretty sugary. The orange drops are more rich in the taste, and I tend to mix it in a bag with lemon-flavored ones as well, to give the whole package a bit of a sour zing to it. I think I sell about half of all i make of those to Mayor Mare actually, though it still aren't many. More of a niche thing.

Anyway, the last thing is a solid chocolate bar with orange juice mixed in. Gives it a pretty good after-taste if I may say so myself, but it's an acquired taste that's still drawing some weird looks here and there. It seems to slowly grow on a few of them though, so I'm keeping the stock up, just to be prepared. Worst case scenario, I'll eat 'em."

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

@EQ_Theta

"Didn't see why I should fight. You didn't attack me."

Omen tilted her head from side to side, looking at her counterpart that seemed to be a good deal more restrictive with her actions compared to Lin's. Perhaps it had something to do with being a clone of some kind of her? Omen didn't know how to fight after all, and at best could drag others into gates if she had to try and protect somepony, Heck, she only learned to make gates beneath others hooves recently, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She seemed to recall a hole in the ground and some mumbling, but how this had gotten into her skill set she wasn't entirely sure. Likely Lin's idea. She were usually the smart one.

The mix that happened after Omen had gotten a compliment by her clone were strange to her, as she hadn't observed something do stuff like this since Master Discord ruled Equestria. Melding together had been one of his tricks that he liked to show off somewhat often, which made her wonder if this was something like it. It looked like a longma, so a draconequus it might not be, but... Chaos magic? Dream were confusing, just like it had been to see Lin fight with herself. Nothing too violent it looked like, but still, pretty weird to look at.

It was almost a shot of normality when Sen came into view. Stuck to a chain and looking like a child, sure, but it were likely still him. Looked to be at least, though as she sniffed the air in his direction to try and get a feel for the energy, she got absolutely nothing. Guess nothing in dreams were actually living then.

"Hello, little brother. Your dreams are weird."

She gave a slow wave towards Sen, though she wasn't sure if he'd notice or if he were more transfixed on something else. Say, the two undead-looking longma that had risen out of the ground for example. Seemed like something that would draw the eye.

"I don't know if that's what we were looking for. We came to try and help him with his nightmares. I'm not sure what to do or what a nightmare is though, Never seen one before.

I guess it's not the two weird-looking longma? I've been told hugs is a friendly thing, so that would be weird, right?"

Currently, Omen had no idea what the bad part about this whole thing were. That the two longma that Sen were hugging were dead? Didn't seem to bother him when she had given it a glance, and what else were there? A tree, a hill, some chains, and the mix of Not-Omen and Not-Lin? Guess the last part could be the nightmare part, but it hadn't done something bad as far as she had seen at least. Not beyond wresting with Lin, but she had tried to go past, so it could just be a protection thing.

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

@Lloyd

"What? I didn't make those. I mean, p-perhaps I could, but I didn't-"

"Time's up. Golden, send them off."

Seeing the ambassador struggle a bit, though eventually starting to cast, Benny widened his eyes and went into a hectic speaking frenzy to try and say something before they'd be gone.

"The twins! Go to them and show them the feathers, they-"

And more he didn't get out until a blinding light took him away, and Screecher and himself found themselves a little away from the old royal castle. Closely to Ponyville, but not entirely there. It seemed Golden didn't have the strength to go full on with them. So instead, they both took to the skies and flew as fast as they could towards Ponyville, whilst praying they wouldn't be too late to make a difference there.

Meanwhile, back int he castle, Golden collapsed, but were picked up by Dew, who slung the unconscious stallion unto his back.

"I'll get him to the doctor, then I'll return here and assume command until further notice. I know you're the new general now Iron Wings, but you need more time in the job before you can do this. I'll make sure to try and get the princesses back here soon so they can take over once more, but so far, this is how it's going to go.

Now take your wings and the pieces of them, and get to the forge. The twins might be crazy, but they're effective at their jobs as long as you can show them exactly how you want something done.

And you two, you follow me. The infirmary needs to have a look at you as well."

Dew looked at Misty and Iron Star when he said the last bit, before wandering toward the infirmary with Golden. Hopefully he'd be fine, though considering how he had talked and what he could see, Dew were guessing a punctured lung or some other kind of internal bleeding pressing in the area. He'd be fine more than likely, but the ambassador would be out could for a while.

*sigh* Where were the princesses in their hour of need? Why hadn't any messenger found them yet?

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

@Lloyd

"That bloody does it!"

A severely angry voice came out from behind the food cart, belonging to a dark pegasi of smaller stature than normal, that seemed to be missing a wing. The cart had barely managed to miss her as it had been smashing down the place from the impact, which were just another irritation that had happened to Null today, and this was the limit of what she were going to tolerate. It was time to smash somepony in the face until it stopped being funny.

"W-Wait Null, y-you don't wanna be part of it. T-They look dangerous."

Another mare, sharing the same colorations, wandered over to the pegasi with a worried expression on her face that kept switching over to Warlock and Astral. She seemed to have some missing parts as well, as one of her eyes looked somewhat glassy if you looked carefully, and one of her hind legs were instead a wooden replica, though dark wood like this wasn't common in the area, so it should be apparent that she didn't come from here originally.

"Like I care anymore!"

Null didn't listen to Void in this instance. She were too angry and fed up right now to do anything other than charge at Warlock, prepared to slam a hoof into him or just outright tackle him before beating him. wWhichever came first.

She didn't even notice the weird things about him in the moment, though it would be interesting to see how close she would get before Warlock would notice something very off about Null. Specifically, how his magic would either vanish if he cast anything at her, or how his own magic would be nullified if she got too close.

Would be interesting to see if he would really notice something being wrong before she got within range, but either way, it seemed there were a few more hassles in the area now.

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

@Lloyd

Meanwhile, Athriel had reached the bottom of the temple, but were still looking around for clues of where to go, or the signs of the element this place should hold. It'd likely still take some time before she either found this place was a dud, or would score the jackpot, but Iron Star would be right in being tentatively worried about what she might end up finding eventually.

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

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"Ouchies. I forgot how much that hurt. Yeah, we should find a way out. Feels punched in right now, and that's not fun during an adventure. Perhaps we should try when it's daytime next time around? Heh."

Ziggy sounded like she had been roughed up a good deal, and she cringed when she folded in her wings. One of them showed definite swelling, as she had said before, so flying was out the window for a time. Hopefully they wouldn't need that to get out of here.

She started to look around like Serenade did, but didn't see anything interesting in the old cooling unit. Seemed like they might as well just use the door to get out. It had been smashed open some time ago by the looks of it - likely looters hoping for a quick bit - so it should be easy enough for them to just wander out and look for a way to the first floor again, so they could get out.

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

@Radience

"As you wish madame. If you seek me, asks one of the servants to find Diego Pennyworth the Third, and inform them that they will be fined if they neglect to do so. They will know it is serious then. For now, enjoy your game session, and may Lady Luck smile upon you."

Witht hat and a bow, Diego would be on his way, and would go to another section of the casino where he would have a check around. Most of his job were that really. Checking, talking, making an appearance, it was all dreadfully annoying sometimes, but grandfather had given him a chance, and he would not disappoint the old stallion like his father had. It had taken years for him to get back in the patriarch's good favor, and Diego would not find himself in the same wagon if he could help it. Not with the issues he had to even find employment before.

Moonlit · August 9, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich "Daytime, and with supplies. And some swanky hats cause all the really great adventurers have them." She looks over at Ziggy, "Are you going to be okay walking out of here?"

EQ_Theta · August 9, 2017

@Blitz Boom

A seemingly innocent greeting wouldn't lead to anything terrible happening within a short span of time but Omen's greeting towards the young Sen caught his attention and the smile from the little one's face faded soon after he sees her. Two shadowy claws reached from the ground and grabbed Sen's parents and began vigorously pulling them away. His parents looked on in shock as they were separated - no, torn away from their young child who was crying for them to stay. They didn't want to part ways but whatever it was that grabbed Sen's parents didn't want them to remain that way. That's where the chain comes in to play; it kept the young Sen from running after his parents who were pulled away before disappearing into a dark mist. Omen's copy stood firm and blocked Omen from attempting to intervene while Lin was visibly struggling under the weight her copy put on her. It is clear she was visibly distraught by what happened and she desperately wanted to do something to help.

"While the pain of loss already ate at Sen, what is in the past cannot be changed. His family is no more than the sum of their memories." Omen's copy gestured for the real one to follow her though the prompt was for both her and Lin to follow. The latter got up but was still held by her copy like a guard escorting a criminal so she wouldn't do anything she would regret."

"But that is not why you are here. You want to find what really bothers your brother, what really is the base of his fears. This is what you came to see."

The young Sen turned to Omen and Lin and ran to them for comfort. He embraced them tightly and buried his face into Omen's chest first and cried into it. He then looked towards Lin and ran to her. "Please don't go. Mommy and daddy are gone and I don't want to be alone." He begged and pled as Lin stroked her brother and brought him closer to Omen.

As they all sat down together, the young Sen began to fade and he picked up on this, tightly holding on to Lin and Omen and repeatedly yelling "Don't leave me! I don't want to go!" All of this effort seemed to be for nought as Lin tried all she can to stop her younger brother from fading out of view but without magic and any idea how the dream realm works, all of her effort is for naught.

Omen's copy then calmly walked to Omen's side. "This is what Sen is destined to become. Try as you might to help him but one day, he will be taken away from you, and nothing can be done about it. This is what he fears most, what his nightmares show him: the fear that life will not be long enough for him to give all that he could to you. Realizing his parents wouldn't be back and being forced to live without their guidance has made him terrified of his mortal life. Sen treats you as a sister and a close confidante with whom he can simply be himself. Unfortunately, this will not last. This is what defines mortality and he is afraid he will be forced to leave you behind forever."

Edited August 10, 2017 by EQ_Theta

Foxy Socks · August 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Staying completely silent as her eyes were covered, Foxy took in the images against the black background. What she saw terrified her too much to scream, gasp, or move. She felt completely immobile and helpless as the images and accompanying voice went on. Even if she knew these were not real, they were a possibility, and the threat could still exist.

Foxy panted heavily, gasping a few times. It was a lot to take in for a mortal pony, and she couldn't imagine how Zhu could handle it. When she regained her breath, she shakily asked, "Could, could they... come back? After all... it seems like they were just stalled. Is there no way to defeat them?"

She looked back toward Briar. "Does this also mean Briar... worships such a creature?" Sure he was a rogue, but if he had ties to the creature, he may not have abandoned them.

FanOfManyShows · August 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom

His element sparked out, it's glow stopped, then Warlock sensed his body falling over. turning to see a negative space in magic. "What the Tartarus?" He muttered, leaping out the way of Null, falling onto the ground. Trying to get on his legs, grumbling a little, he stomped his leg into the ground, cracking it apart and spreading ambers out of it, Warlock floating away from Null and forming a red hot sword floating inches from his hoof. "What a shame for a witch to be unable to use magic. At least the magic I take I can use." He leaped at her, Astral flying down, pushing Warlock and throwing him further down the road, Warlock standing upwards floating up to stop sliding across the road, growling at her.

"Well it seems we have an advantage after all." Astral turned back to Null, smiling.

"Unlikely." He crossed his hooves in front of himself, swinging them outwards, sending a blast at them, only knocking Astral away and dissipating nearby both Null and Void, giving Warlock a clue towards their ability. "I can still kill these two without magic." He levitated up a food cart over to himself, throwing it at Null, Astral unconscious now and unable to help.

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

Iron Wing nodded, looking down the hallway. "I'll need somepony to guide me to them." He lifted up the damaged feathers, looking around for a place to put them. "and I'll need a bag or something to put these in."

Sekel · August 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom

DAWN

"That would make your specialty orange and Saddle Arabian butter?" Dawn guessed and tentatively tried one of the chocolates. She tast e the chocolate, yes, but she could also taste a lot of orange in it after swallowing. After trying the orange and lemon drop, Dawn made a face and handed the bag back to Pop. "Lemons. Not for me," Dawn gasped and quickly sucked on an orange lollipop.

Blitz Boom · August 10, 2017

@Little Snowdrop

"Ehehehehe."

A filly giggled uncontrolably as she ran towards town with a look of pure glee on her face. She would likely draw some eyes here and there when they got there, considering everything from her firey mane and explody tail, to her cutie mark of a smiling bomb, spelled that she were trouble of some kind. Doubly so if you got close enough to her to realize that the dark patches of her fur were likely not natural, as she had a constant, yet faint, smell of gunpowder around her.

"Darn it Blitz, how many times do we have to go through this?"

A stallion with a saddlebag of gadets and papers ran after the filly, but not currently at a speed where he'd be able to catch the little troublemaker, causing him to fall behind the speeding Blitz.

He was a little tall in it, also a unicorn, and though he didn't look as explosive, there were familiarities with the filly that could show them as being in family with one another, though he were more teched up than the little one.

A sizeable goggle were strapped well in around his right eye, with small levers around it that seemed like they would activate something within them if pushed, pulled or slided.

His hooves were tied in thick cloth that had a color that made it appear as if he walked around in dirt and rust often, a belt of tools and assorted minir stuff, and a strange necklace with wires around his neck, focussed around a gem that suddenly began to glow as he spread metallic wings that had previously been settled in well on his back, and took to the skies to better his chances at the chase.

It would take around a minute of him flying around and chasing the filly, whilst also making sure not to hit anypony, but eventually he'd get the better of her and have her in his grip, at which point he landed and folded the wings in again. Not with magic though, which made it curious as to how they were moved around, though a keen eye could likely tell that the gem had something to do with it.

Regardsless, they were folded back in and he held the excited filly firmly in his hoof, whilst looking at her like she were really starting to grind his gears.

"We had a deal sis. You have to stay close."

"Adventure! Adventure!"

He shook his head and looked at his lil' sister, before imagining what issues he'd eventually have when she inevitably found out how to power and use her own metallic wings. An imagine that made him grimmace about as much as when he had thought on how it'd end up once she got used to her horn being whole again, rather than have the tip broken off. A process that would have taken months, boiled down to a few days via some of the research that had been done by another pony in Center Zero.

Thinking on this for a moment, he didn't think more on either how the gleefull filly in his grip were trying to wriggle away whilst still talking about adventure, nor how he were getting some company soon. The only one who'd notice that, were a curious little thing that would crawl out of his mane, what would at first glance just seem like a fuzzy spider, but on closer inspection, would show a good deal more, as the legs were metallic, the fur fake, and the eyes small lights. The noise it'd make would also give it away. A clacking, chittering kind of sound, which were a bit too mechanical to not take notice of.

"Huh? Something's the matter Carmen?"

Edited August 11, 2017 by Blitz Boom

Little Snowdrop · August 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom

"Here."

Floatin Matter, a light gray pegasus with dark purple hair trotted in a big garage carrying a tablet with some sandwiches and a glass of water with her. Her magenta eyes looked around as she putted the tablet on a little side table.

"I'm going to go to Gravity Wave to discuss the results of our last research now. I'll be back around sunset, I'm sure you'll be finnished until then", she sayed to Steampunk Gear, a tall orange pony with a quite messy brown mane and a short, bushy tail, who was lying under a pretty big mechanic coach tinkering around with a few gears and pipes. His orange-yellow wings who clearly don't fit in with the rest of his body are covered with gears and other metallic parts. The scarred tissue around the coracoid seperates the orange fur and the lighter feathers.

"Okay!" he replied concisely.

"Come on honey, I want to say goodbye to you, not to your wingtips."

The orange earth pony creeped out from under the device. His eyes, the right one totally grean, the other one with a tough of yellow, looked up to Floatings smiling face.

"I'm almost finnished. We can test it when you're back... that's gonna be sooo great!" Steampunk told her enormously excited.

"I'm already looking forward it", Floating replied. "See you later then!"

"Goodbye!", Steampunk answered after standing up and giving Floating a long goodbye hug.

It was already past sunset when Floating Matter returned home. Assuming that Steampunk would already await her, she walked directly into the garage. The tablet still stood on the site table, with an empty plate and glass on it. Steampunk was putting some tools on a rack as he noticed Floating.

"Hey there! Perfect timing! I finnished the engine just now" he said. Floating walked towards the modified coach a bit unsurely while Steampunk opened the garage gate.

"And... you're sure you didn't forget anything?"

"Of cource I am. Just don't worry, this will be great!" Steampunk drove the device out of the garage and closed the garage gate again. Meanwhile Floating took a seat on the vehicle and waited for Steampunk to start the familiar steam engine and drove out of the village. It was the new engine Steampunk just installed on the vehicle that kinda frightened Floating.

"And you're REALLY sure that this engine is save, right?"

"Haha, just calm down, honey. I double-checked everything! Just relax, you'll love it, trust me!"

As they were outside of the village, Steampunk turned off the steam engine and switched to the new gas engine, that could be fueled with an strange, explosive fluid that Burning Oil, a chemist and friend of Floating and Steampunk, just devised by seperating the oil the town ponies found in several components. The vehicle did a jolt forward, then stood still for the half of a second, before it suddenly quickened with a series of loud bangs.

"Now we're getting started! We'll be even faster than the wonderbolts! This is going to be so amazing!"

"Wheeeeeeeee!"

"AAAAAAAAHH!"

The vehicle dashed across the flat landscape. Steampunk really had his fun, while Floating was still worried.

"We totally gonna crash into a tree! Care for the knoll over there! Oh why did I agreed to come with you?"

"Hey, don't worry! Just relax and enjoy the airstream blowing through your mane... oh, I never experienced something that beautiful before!"

"Uhm... wait, what is that over there?"

The vehicle got slower and slower and finally stopped moving. Floating and Steampunk suddenly were verry quiet and watched two strangers walking along in the distance. There were several trees around them, and since the probably elder one was distracted by the younger, littler one, they hadn't noticed Floating and Steampunk yet.

"You know, there are only two possible reasons why anyone could walk along this area. Either they lost the track and wander around this place aimless, or they're traveling towards our town."

"Right. So either they need help to get back on track or they could need someone who carries them to the village."

"Exactly. I say we should ask them if they need any help or something. But Steampunk, don't use the gas engine!"

"Haha, okay okay, if you really hate it so much..."

Steampunk switched back to the steam engine and the vehicle slowly drove towards the two strangers.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Little Snowdrop

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