open Casual stroll

Storm Shine · November 5, 2017

Discord began worriedly checking over Omen, "No, no, no.." He muttered, "This isn't right at all." The chaotic being began tapping seemingly random spots on her body as he muttered to himself. "It couldn't have been the crystals.. Then again, with an interrupted ritual.." Discord looked at those who were awake, "That madpony's botched ritual must've altered the crystals somehow to have affected her like this" He brushed slightly at Omen's mane, "Something about it has reduced her to this... Catatonic state. She's not moving, she's not breathing, and she's not dead, but she's not conscious.."

Widdershins · November 6, 2017

@Foxy Socks, @~Phoenix~ & @Blitz Boom

"Oh do stop all that nonsense! I know Mommy hasn't had time yet today for your midday treatums, but that's no excuse to do your usual fuss & bother!"

With her hooves off the ground ontop her work stool and engrossed more in sewing two pieces of cloth together then her surroundings, Rarity had not noticed the change in her surroundings. Having only been half-listening to the high-pitched singing voices and mistaking them for the bemoaning of her rather spoiled and demanding pet cat and perhaps inured by the seemingly frequent dismantling of her store material, as often as it seemed by her friends or, more often her little sister, Rarity had just assumed it was her pet cat acting up and childishly swatting things off her shelves in a bid for attention. Something that did seem to happen often when the mare wasn't around to mollycoddle the pampered feline.

Still too involved in her work, Rarity has not yet looked up away from it to notice anything out of the ordinary from Anomaly's somewhat good-intentioned meddling.

"Mommy will get to you in just another while, Opalescence. Do be a dear and mind your manners, please?"

&

"Mmmryowr~*"

The door to the sitting room where Foxy, Briar and Brittle sat discussing their lives over a now cooling pot of tea creaks open slowly as a large, spoiled, fluffy, white cat of undoubtedly pedigree Persian descent waddles into the room. Its cry seems to match the fairy-like singing of the sprites being created by Anomaly not a few rooms over and indeed, overpower it what with its origin coming closer into the room. With a complaintive cry the cat seems to be asking for its owner, having just strolled in through the cat door on the first floor and curious to why its owner has not yet come to call it like she usually did about now to give Opalescence her midday treat. For Opalescence it is, judging by the round gold tag on the delicately embedded rhinestone collar around the cat's fat little neck.

Strolling slowly & purposefully to the middle of the room between the three, Opalescence sits down to briefly cast a practiced glare of disdain that only a cat can muster over these newcomers. Passing over Brittle with barely even stopping to consider her, Opalescence then gives Briar a look of unbridled contempt that seems to very visibly convey the idea that the cat considers him to be no more then a poorly placed and hideously tended potted plant before lingering on Foxy Socks. The pampered Persian's eyes seem to almost narrow for a moment in suspicion before it gets back up again and pads quietly closer to where the three sit in a semi-circle around the very small tea table between them.

With a sudden practiced swipe of a paw, near too fast to follow, Opalescence bats the table over like a cheap bottle off a fence during aiming practice. Clearly, the tea table, barely bigger then a foot wide to hold only a tea tray, was not designed for sturdiness. As it clamors to the floor, most of the fine china tea set breaks to pieces on the floor and stains a few spots into the white carpeting. After the short burst of noise is quickly dampened because of the carpeting, the cat stares straight at Foxy Socks, likely distrustful of her vulpine features, and lets out a rather pointed and grumpy:

"Mmwowr."

Opalescence's tone seems clear: "What are you doing in my house. This is my sitting spot. Either get the pony I do want to see, or get out now."

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To Blitz Boom again!

"Well, I'm not dumb or anything..."

Ambie slowly gets up to follow Happy Hour at the latter stallion's request.

"...Just... cart making and farm maintenance aren't exactly topics discussed in CSGU in Canterlot. ...I mean, I wasn't too terribly good at most of the classes, but I made out alright. I know that Mother's well aware of that anyway.

I don't think I need a whole new card after all. Doesn't seem to happen very often, its only the first time so far that the Apples have asked me for a delievery; I'm sure they have one still around the farmy-.... Oh Haddock. Think I abandoned their cart on the edge of the Forest!"

Widdershins · November 6, 2017

@Dji & @Blitz Boom

"Well, Excuuuuse me, Pony!

Did someone find themselves in an uncomfortable situation they couldn't find their way out of? Wonder why that seems familiar?"

Kaltrop sits back on himself, head resting on a claw and smirking like a proud cat.

"Maybe some pony shouldn't be tossing insults about how they deal with things when they can't take what they dish out! Where is all that talk from just now about how we dragons are lower on the ladder because we're some sort of monster? Least monsters stay & fight!

You going to fly home and just run away from the first thing that falls over your path, stupid, little pony?Hmmph!"

Huffed and once more indirectly the layers of irony that flow back to him, the drake's head flips back to flippantly regard Aurora.

"And since when did birdhorses change form into... into other birdhorses? That a thing all of a sudden now?"

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@Shineling and Blitzie again!

Upon arrival of others in the area, the music scratches to a halt. ...Before once more starting up again, a little bit louder from before.

With a loud exhalation of over-dramatic surprise and a voice that is clearly putting on a higher-pitched, unassuming voice, the "flower" turns around. Where the head of the giant daisy would be, is a long, dirty-white, pony-like muzzle & face.

Fwweeeends?

Hellow new Fwends! You want to learn how to friendship? I can teach you all about how friendship works here!

It's all just a quick little game I can show you!

Victoria Sponge · November 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Victoria blushed a little and trotted off to the kitchen with a quiet thank you. Angel attempted to give chase but was stopped in his tracks by a red hoof.

"Oh no you don't, the kitchen is no place for you my little one... not yet anyway."

He seemed satisfied with this and curled up on the floor under his mother, finally settled once again.

"That's ever so kind of you Pop, we might finally see Victoria change for the better, maybe then she'll actually show us that she loves us... Your cake is probably done by the way, I'll just go grab that for you."

Battenberg pursued her sister into the kitchen leaving only Red, Pop and Angel in the shop.

"Heh, right. She is the very definition of my other half, don't know what I'd do without her."

Royal watched the little gathering the the shop slowly dissipate through the window.

"Surprised she's being so quiet in there, she's normally always the one calming Victoria down, seems like Pop knows what she's doing."

Blitz Boom · November 6, 2017

@Seamore Sandwich

Somepony bumped into Hunter, and stumbled slightly before finding his hoofing.

Sugar were taking things well all things considered, especially after speaking to his wife had helped distract him and push some of his concerns about what was the right way and such, right to the back of his mind were doubts like that should be. In a perfect world they would not even be there, but after Belladonna left... Some of her heretic ramblings had started to slowly fester over time, and with his concern for his foals and how their lives would end up being, it just got worse.

*sigh* If only she was still here... But he knew that if she were, he'd be willing to listen to her this time, and what then? He'd be an exiled heretic as well, and barred from the presence of his foals?

Why could nothing just be black and white, instead of this messy mixture they all had to slog through...

It was lost in those thoughts, that he had accidentally wandered into Hunter and made a fool out of himself. Thankfully he managed to find his hoofing before he made a mess if himself and others, and Hunter hopefully was okay too. Sugar wasn't exactly a physical powerhouse, so wandering slowly into another should barely have an effect.

"Sorry about that. I seem to be a little more distracted by everything right now than I thought."

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@Seamore Sandwich

Zhu listened to what Gaea said without a word spoken of his own.

From the sounds of things, it were going to be problematic to find his sister's egg, and a distraction of having to deal with traps set by the thieves seemed like it would only make things worse.

Usually he would simply wander out and look, but the only ones he could glance from would be forest critters, and with the felines already hiding themselves from his prying eyes, that was unlikely to get him far.

It wasn't that he had nothing to work with though. He had gazed at the places they could go yesterday, and if they got near enough, he should be able to tell where it were, but generally this was all in the hooves of Gaea. Just another reason to make sure he heard what she were saying instead of interrupting her prematurely.

"If they use the road to steal, why remove their traps? Let others drive, find their journey at a halt, and await them to come to us."

Morality was a thing he had to sacrifice a long time ago to not go crazy or be burdened by a mountain of guilt, so he didn't see the issue with this. Perhaps it wouldn't be nice towards those whose livelihood would be hampered, but it was a minor, likely insignificant price to pay.

Depending on how much of a good pony Gaea were, this might not please her, but it rarely sat good with ponies to do others harm as it were. Sometimes he missed this innocence, yet more often than not, he simply envied them of their meager lives and limited view. Things were easier when you didn't understand the greater picture, and what the consequences there were from trying to be a saint.

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@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"Love is stronger than blood. If they care and nuture you, that's what really matters."

It was sad to hear that Serenade were not familiar with her real parents, but at least it sounded like she had gotten loving foster parents in return, and if she considered tem her parents, they would hopefully be thinking of her as their daughter, regardless of how different they likely were to one another. They couldn't be sirens at least. Not if she had to learn about what she was from old books.

That was another point of sadness. She couldn't imagine not knowing what she were and why she was so different from everypony else, then looking in a book and finding that what she were, was from a race that was known for horrendous deed. Poor thing, to have to go through something like that.

"What does singing have to do with hurting ponies? Songs are a happy thi-

...Wait, did you say Princess Luna? I remember her. Poor mare that one. Her diary kept talking about how hard it was for her to keep the night as it was, when nopony was there to appreciate it. I wish I could have found it before she was sent away. Perhaps I could make the others see that she needed them...

Why are you talking about her though? Isn't she still stuck on the moon?"

How long had she been away, if Luna of all ponies had returned to them? And how did she come back? After what they were told happened back then, it didn't sound like it was safe to return her, but Celestia had to have done it, right? Who else were that strong?

Urgh, so many questions, and so little answers. This must be what Charlie felt like too, since he seemed so blank about things. Poor guy likely just wanted to understand too.

"We're going outside, and to a town were somepony can help the pegasus. There's enough spirits here, we don't need her to join us."

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@Seamore Sandwich

So, he was on the market then it seemed. In more ways than one.

Scarcity rarely did anything without calculating the potential gain and loss for herself, to make sure that she did not end up as the looser in an arrangement, bar charity. A net loss there was the point, yet for Tock, it would have to be thought over like most other things, and in more details than she had the time for currently.

Yet, thinking it over quickly whilst chuckling slightly to herself, he did seem like he were in a fair physical shape, he was taken in by work to a point where the world around him would be lost, leaving her time to do her own things if it were instead of having him dole over her - she so disliked being shadowed by somepony not on her payroll - and he were a successful pony in his field. It were a short estimate, and she would need to procure his medical records to check up on things further once she had taken contact to one of her off the books employees at the hospital, but she were restrained for time currently, so with what she could grasp at the given time, she had an answer for his advances.

"Tuesday would fit well in my schedule, though I would ask that you come to visit me at my store instead of meeting at one of the cafe's. They have passable beverages, but I have an array of tea's from Equestria and beyond that I think you would find to be quite pleasing."

Using her horn, she floated a business card out of her bag, and placed it gently on the table near Tock. It was done professionally it seemed, and meat to stand out with the patterns, subtle colors and style, but as she tended to say: You get what you pay for, and it made the business of giving her address to others seem a good deal more classy than the boring, non-descriptive cardboard with a sharpie run over it. Unimaginative and easy to dismiss without a thought.

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@~Phoenix~

The mare froze in place as she heard Phoenix's voice. Faced away from the *guest* as she was, the new face wouldn't be able to see the bitter look that briefly went over her face, before she turned around to address this... Unwelcome addition to the household.

"I suppose you could say that."

(New creator. Kinda nice one really)

Fragrant Rose looked at the mare with as much of a neutral look as she could, though some of the bitterness she felt about having this unwanted guest could still be found in the pale-red pools of her eyes.

Years had passed since she came here, little more than a gardener, and got stability into Smokey's life. His house were immaculate, his bills were paid, nopony snooped around in his chambers, and his garden was the kind that nobles starred at with envy. This and so much more had she given him out of a love that she thought he couldn't feel himself, and then this one just came along out of nowhere, and made him swoon? Put her in the most luxurious guest room in the place and looked at her sleeping form with a care she had silently begged would one day be meant for her? And she was just going to be okay with this!?

No, she hated Phoenix already. With every ounce of her otherwise so gentle and loving self, she resented the mare for trying to take the heart that belonged to her, and were it not because she knew that Smokey would find out, she would have found great pleasure in knocking this one down on the spot, and bury her to her neck int he rose bushes.

But instead, she had to pretend to be nice, and - urgh - *happy* that she were awake, or it would just come back on her. He would be oblivious to her reasons for wanting the house free of this mare, as he always had been, and take Phoenix's side, unaware of how it made her feel when he brought somepony into their home like this.

"We didn't expect you to wake up so soon. Are you sure you're rested enough?"

Please say no... Return to your meager room and let her enjoy at least a little time with Smokey before this hussie would come barging in and draw his eyes again. Give her a chance to at least talk with him a little, before she had to leave the house in tears from knowing what stirred in his chest, for somepony who could not possibly love him more than she did.

Such a thing hurt just thinking about, but she knew she would see it. Rose had seen the way he looked at the sleeping mare when he brought her in, and how he had glared at her messy face before taking a shower to clean himself of the dusty roads. Just the way she had always wished that he would look at her, but were now directed to this intruder that barged into their lives...

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@~Phoenix~ @Widdershins @Foxy Socks

The riarbot hissed as she got near and made contact, though it wasn't the only thing, as the tentacle it had been chasing her with now finally got hold of her as it tumbled backwards, and into the Foxybot.

This would have to be the end then. She couldn't fly away from this.

Then a vibration went through the appendage. Then another,a nd several more in rapid succession as it let go of Dashie during the twitches. If she looked at the robot, she were unlikely to see any real damage to the front, except for a small bend near the chest, which should not be enough. Not until it violently let out a screeching sound and imploded, leaving another little cube of metal, next to a broken piece of a sewing machine beneath it, where several points had raised up as it impacted and pierced it's frame.

This now left the Foxybot, who had been slung back some from the attack, but now got back on her hooves, and with an upgrade to booth, in the form of spikes piercing her *skin* and covering her like an uneven porcupine, before she screeched and jumped on the wall. It seemed finally, the spider parts was going to come into play as the animatronic skittered along there with no issues, and lunged for the pony with great speed, jaws and front legs first.

If it missed, it would do so again, and with the spiky shell and far more agile and nimble movements, she wouldn't be able to simply hit it again. However... There were still parts of the sewing machine around that could be used for impact damage if it were, but she had to lure the creature to lounge itself at just the right angle if she were to have any hope of lighting the last bulb over the exit.

As for the normal phase, Anomaly made sure that the machine did not break from this place, which normally wuldn't be a problem as this should have been a totally separate area. Yet for some reason, there seemed to be holes or overlays of some kind that got in the way of things right now.

The pin she were disguised at gave off a yawn. Perhaps she were just tired. It had been a long day of chaos already, and she wasn't limitless, no matter how much she would glare at the author to make her so.

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@Dji @Widdershins

Spicy shook her head and wandered past the others, making sure to hit Kaltrops side on the way.

"I swear, you're like the kid I never had or wanted. Try to get that stick outta your flank and mingle while I get your mess cleaned up."

Marley made a move to follow, but she lifted a hoof and caused him to pause.

"Stay and keep the idiots in check before they hurt one another. And you, candy cane, you're coming with me."

Pop didn't have the chance to even protest before Spicy pushed her along along towards where Dawn had run off to. It seemed like these two were friends, so perhaps this would sort things out before she got a lot of bad karma flooding down on her like a waterfall. It might be superstitious mumble to most, and she actually did agree there, but it sounded better than her actually caring so much about herself that she didn't want it to be known that she just sat back and tossed wood on the pyre.

Meanwhile, Marley gave a glance towards the pony and dragon, when a thought dawned on him from what Kaltrops had said. A detail he hadn't bit notice in before, but now pounded against the front of his head and asking him let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Oh come on, another changeling? Why is the pretty griffons always fake?"

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@Dji @Seamore Sandwich

Had this been anypony else than royalty, last would have forced the topic she had brought forth again, even if it meant sneering at the recipient. But as this were royalty, instead she just clenched her teeth a little more, and took some silent breaths before answering the question she had been given.

"Where I'm from, you either rebuild fast, efficiently, and sturdily, or you get overrun. The couriers and townsponies are inefficient workers compared to those at the shrine, but they have done acceptably in keeping up somewhat of a schedule. Though I repeat, I have only given an estimate about how long it will taker to rebuild. An inspection comes afterwards, and Princess Luna have mercy on them if I find faults.

As for additional issues, there are three.

1. The school haves a flawed piping system. It will take until tomorrow morning before it have been replaced. Winter will come, and it was too rusty in places to stand.

2. The train station is filled with materials or discarded items not slated to be reused, so I have closed it down for non-essential travel. It will not reopen for at least another 16 hours."

It had not been easy to close it, but talking enou8gh sense to the Solar Guards that were around currently, had carried some weight in convincing them to not have strangers just waddle in and potentially meddle with the materials. It might be paranoid to think so, but as she told them, *Would you bet your family's safety on it?*. They had not.

"3. Your town's defenses are laughable, and protective measures highly inefficient. If you refuse to set walls and guards around the town, you need to at least authorize the eventual construction of underground bunkers for the citizens to hide in, when something strikes. This town is prone to disaster, and not being prepared for it is foolish. With all due respect."

You'd really think that having a princess in town would either keep ponies safe, or make it so that there were better security going, but what she had seen (specifically, nothing) were pathetic, and short-sighted. Not even an idealist should be able to think that their town would be safe, with the calamities that she heard got here on a regular basis.

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@EQ_Theta @Shineling

Whilst Anomaly didn't breath, she was usually not impossible to stir like this. Magic or not, she should at least twitch when Discord called her out. Perhaps she had just been under the influence of the spell for too long? That was at least what Clayton thought, but he wasn't aware of how things usually worked, so he just had to go by what he was told, whilst they'd attempt to get her back into shape.

"I-I can't say for sure how long it will take for her. It can change from pony to pony, though usually it's rather quick. perhaps her uhm... Kind, Variety of pony, haves a worse reaction to magic such as this? I-It shouldn't stop her from breathing though. Are you sure that she's not? It could be faint... Hopefully?"

He didn't want to think on anypony dying here, and especially not when it seemed like they actually managed to save her before it went too far, but he didn't know of her lack of breath, and Sen and Lin would find nothing in Omen's throat, unless they were willing to shove an entire arm in there, in which case they might find some rocks and berries she had chewed down before ending up like this. Though that would entail that they recalled that she used one of her stomachs for a storage unit, and that they could get past the prehensile tongue without injuring it. She might be sturdy, but a claw to the throat were a claw to the throat.

Clayton were about to say something more, when another burst of glittering flames behind him went into the sky, and he heard the Refraction hiss.

Turning around, he saw the creature - which were now about double the length that it had started with - coil back and raise up against the statue it had been chewing on, where cracks were starting to show around the chest area.

Clayton's heart sank, and he watched on in horror as the crack expanded like a shattered glass window, covering every inch of the terror-stricken pony, and then... Poof, it fell to the ground, shattered into tiny pieces.

"-un away before she catches us!"

From it though, the pony that had been trapped for nearly a decade ran out, carrying the momentum he had when captured, and finishing a sentence he had been starting on when he were encased.

Said momentum would cause him to run into a tree, at which point he'd slump down, look around him in horror, and see a few things that didn't make it better. The first being the crystalline statues of his companions, then the next being a bunch of dragon-like ponies, then a small creature that hissed at him before slithering past, and then at the end, on Discord. The lord of chaos himself, which caused whatever color was left in his face to drain away.

"No! Nononono, i-it can't be real. Y-You're dead! You're gone!"

Hooves grabbed hold in his head, and forced him to look away from the draconequus, and instead into the face of an earth pony with small glasses, and a dusty suit.

"Cloud, please calm yourself."

"Calm myself!? I-It's the lord of chaos! The root of all evil! How can you stand by him?"

"because he helped me get you back. P-Pease Cloud, you have to believe me."

"Why? I don't even know you!"

Clayton didn't say anything, but just made sure that Cloud kept looking at him, and praying that Discord wouldn't do something in the background to terrify the already distraught pony, whilst a small glimmer of recognition went off in the pony's eyes.

"...Quartz? No that can't be. I saw you. I looked right at you just before..."

Cloud's eyes jerked around, looking at the mine in disrepair around them. This wasn't where he had just been, and the pony he looked at, wasn't the enthusiastic young pebble.smasher that he used to know. He was too old. Too refined.

He looked at himself, reflected in the glasses, and at the hoof he had raised, to try and pry the pony's grip away from him. It were glittering. Not with the glow of the gems around them, but like a diamond's shine in the moonlight, even if he didn't feel like his skin had turned to crystal, like those ponies of myth he had once heard about. It was just shiny, and semi-transparent.

"W-Whats happening to m-me?"

The pony would fall down on the ground, crying as Clayton pulled him in, and did what he could to try and comfort. Awkwardly really, as he wasn't much good at physical contact like this, but he at least attempted to.

"It's o-okay, I'm here my friend. We'll g-get you through this."

Whilst Clayton gave his awkward attempt at calming his distraught friend the others may have tried to do something with Omen, yet no matter what, it wasn't going to work. Not even if Discord snapped his fingers and made her completely rejuvenated and ready to listen would she move. It was almost as if something was missing or fundamentally broken in her, but could the crystals really do such a thing?

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@genessee

Berry waited until the nurse had gone away before looking at Lance and rolling her eyes a little.

"Sheesh, what a bunch of drama over a couple of patients, am I right? Do you think they're some of those unruly types?"

She had no idea who they were at least. The order had come in from somepony else that had passed a message along, and only Chop knew what it was they had ordered. It was a sealed few containers, but he wouldn't send his cheesy nightmare into this place, surely. It had to just be something that had to keep warm, though it still begged the question: Who was Pyhrus and Florence?

"Do you think we're going to see ponies? Could be it was changelings perhaps, and we're the menu?"

She said it as a joke, but her grin faltered as she thought of the possibility. Made her wander more slowly towards the room her targets were in, but at least she hadn't done a full stop whilst debating whatever or not this was safe.

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@Widdershins @Foxy Socks @~Phoenix~

"It sounds an awful lot like singing, though the words elude me. Perhaps Rarity is the kind who hums a tune through her work? I know ponies like to sing quite a bit, so it stands to reason."

Briar answered Foxy, before he became aware of another presence in the room, and this one was unfortunately not here to have a pleasant conversation.

In his travels, he had only ever met four kinds of cats: Cautious, Violent, Lovable, and Spoiled. Cautious ones would not have gotten anywhere near them this soon, and would instead have glanced at them from a distance, which left the three that involved getting closer to others.

Violent had seemed an option, before it passed Brittle with no issues. If it had wanted a fight, starting with the smallest and most frightened one would have been an easy target. This now left spoiled and lovable, and if he hadn't given the cat the benefit of the doubt, he would have outright gone with spoiled and kept anything fragile away from it.

The smell should really have given it away quite a bit in advance. No regular cat had this sort of pampered aroma over it, and if it were the kind that loved to get pet, then there should be more of a neutral smell from cleaning itself going over it. Yet sadly, he had wanted to think the best, and the cat had repaid them by destroying a perfectly good tea set, and likely staining the floor.

"That was uncalled for."

Briar growled slightly at the cat, showing off his teeth which would be more than capable of making the little furball into mince meat in his muzzle, though he wouldn't do such a thing. Normally he wouldn't growl either, but the mindless destruction of their hostess' items irked him, and with everything going on, he just had to get this out of his system. It was harmless really, so he didn't see an issue with it either.

Clutching Brittle with his right hoof, he removes his vine from her, and slides it down on the floor to pick up the pieces of the broken porcelain. He wouldn't be able to pick up the small slivers like this, but he'd at least be able to remove the tangible pieces and put them on another table, workbench or other thing such as that.

Meanwhile, in Rarity's room, the small creatures would have gotten further and in thir endeavor to gather things, and would now bring them to the unicorn. It would likely be hard for her to ignore them as the materials started to land on her table, and some of the creatures started to bring scissors and such over to work on things themselves. Might they do a good job? Who knew, maybe. Would they make a right mess out of everything in the process? Without the shadow of a doubt.

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@Widdershins

How he wanted to smack Ambie until his head spun around right now.

Happy had spent hours preparing, and getting things ready for this idiotic, small-minded buffoon, and now he wanted to just stop? Like hay that was going to happen. He were going to drag that sorry sack of bones to the forest, and they'd get to work if he wanted to or not! He was not wasting all of this time to just let it go now.

Oh great, and now he said he had forgotten the cart the Apples had borrowed him? How had this guy ever survived school, when it seemed like his actions would have inevitably gotten him stuck head first into the toilet!?

Whilst his thoughts were full of anger, he tried not to let it show on his face, and after a time of letting the worst steam off inside his head, he let out a minor sigh and turned around.

"Let's get going then, and retrieve it. Though we're still making the cart. You can't live off the farmers forever, and they might have a need for their own when you also do. Never a bad idea to at least have a spare."

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@Shineling @Widdershins

Anomaly saw the dancing and singing flower, to which her response was an unbridled, large grin going over her face.

"I love it when things evolve here naturally. Things always ends up so much better than the regular, boring kind like that.

Hello little flower, I'm basically your god. And sure, I wanna play a game of friendship! What're we gonna do? Hunt squirrels?"

Considering this was her home, and that this part of her didn't know that this was the abnormality she had felt before, she didn't see the problem in staying and seeing what this unassuming little horse-flower would do. It'd give her a chance to learn something about what she perceived as a relatively natural occurrence in her home.

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@Battenberg

"I honestly don't know how it's going to go, but I want to try at least. Though if I can lure the one I'm thinking of currently, I think the first ten minutes will decide everything between them. He's a very direct pony."

Basically, they'd either give eachother a chance and potentially get along, or they'd try to strange one another within the first ten minutes. She hoped for the first, but quite honestly, with how volatile Victoria could be, and his blunt idea of giving back what you got tossed at you, it could really end in a pretty violent first encounter.

But that was the inherent issue with trying to find a match to ponies like them. It was going to be a pretty big hit or miss, and with these two clashing? She wouldn't be surprised if they had to bring in the guards.

Glancing at the kitchen, and wondering how Battenberg had done with the cake, she cast a look outside, and saw a pair starring right back at them, with the goofier one holding his arm high and waving at her with a grin on his face. It made her chuckle a little before she waved back. Silly dragon and his antics sometimes.

Outside, Benny looked back at Royal after he was done waving to his marefriend.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure your wife and colt handled thing somehow. I know Pop, and she does not get along with those like Victoria. Too big of a stick up her flank, and too rude to really accept somepony trying to give them a chance. She might have a bucket of issues that can be rummaged through to find a good pony beneath it at times, but I don't think anypony else than your little bundle of joy and your wife knows how to sort through that.

You should have seen earlier too. They were this close to get into a fight."

He put two claws nearly together, and chuckled before casting a glance inside again.

"Do you think we should get back in there? Don't wanna keep you away from your wife more than necessary sir."

Edited November 6, 2017 by Blitz Boom
Added color.

Moonlit · November 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich "Siren songs can affect all manner of creatures, and the Sirens of legend used it to feed off the disharmony and hatred they caused." Serenade takes a deep breath, "My job is working for Princess Luna, she returned from the moon a few years ago, I don't know the full story but it involves The Elements of Harmony and taking concentrated Friendship to the face." She chuckles, "At least that is how it was described to me." She nods at the spirits last statement. "This...is gonna be fun" She rolled her eyes.

~Phoenix~ · November 6, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Phoenix looked at the mare Opposite her, and took in everything about her. the first thing she noticed was just how beautiful the mare was. she had been in and out of a few places, and she hasn't seen many others in her time, but this one stood out from the rest. the abundance of flowers and the way her mane was done reeked of elegance. it was quite obvious to nearly anypony that layed eyes on her that this mare was trying to impress Somepony. more specifically, she was probably trying to catch the eye of some stallion. whoever he was, he must be lucky.

the next thing that struck Phoenix was a strange look in her eyes. there was no mistake, that on her face she wore a smile, but part of Phoenix could feel that something was off. she couldn't tell if there was something wrong with herself, or if this mare was simply having a rough day. it was apparent, however, that there was something bothering this mare. but that was not for Phoenix to worry about. she was more concerned with the whereabouts of her traveling companion.

figuring he must be waiting in the lobby, or in some room of his own (presumably to give Phoenix her privacy), it seemed as though Phoenix would need to do some asking around to find out where he is. considering her little episode earlier in the day, that might not be the easiest thing to do. she took a glance around at the long elegant hallway, and fortunately, it didn't seem like anypony else was around to bother her. realizing that being around too many ponies could have such a terrible effect, she deemed it worth while to be cautious.

"actually, i'm fine..." she responded to the kind mare's concerns, "i was just looking for somepony... i came in here with a Stallion named Smokey. do you know where he went?" she asked. she had no clue how large this hotel was, or how many ponies were in it. she also had no clue if this mare even saw Smokey or knew who he was, but this was as good a place to begin as any.

her heart nearly skipped a beat as she said his name. she'd never really had to say it out loud before, besides the incident at the platform. however, now that she could use it in a casual conversation, she found there to be a bit of charm behind it. a warm glowing feeling began to fill her chest, and a slight smile was brought to her face. she had remembered feeling something like this back in her old village. pondering a tad on it, she couldn't quite think of a reason, or what to connect it to.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Blitz Boom @Foxy Socks @Widdershins

Rainbowdash looked down with concern as the Briarbot toppled over. her kick didn't seem to be too effective. what made the situation even worse was that the robot now seemed to have a hold of her. she beat her wings as hard as she could, but there was absolutely no escaping the strong grapple of the machine. however, after the robot appeared to suffer from a few tremors, she was inexplicably freed from the metal claws.

she had dented the thing, for sure, but she was almost positive that it wasn't going to be enough to vanquish it. however, her expression was soon replaced with that of a pleasant surprise when it imploded on itself anyway. looking down at the pile of trash that was the Briarbot, she noticed the plethora of sewing needles that were stuck in the cube on the backside.

"Psh. flimsy robots can't even handle a few sewing needles!" she boasted to herself. however, her sense of victory was short lived as she realized that her kick had failed to do virtually anything against the last robot. as the spikes began to spring up all around the robots fake skin, her heart lept into her throat, as she tried to swallow it back down with a loud gulp. her fears were realized in ten fold when it suddenly Hopped onto the ceiling and began crawling around.

she had no idea how to react, other than to just hover and stare at it with a sense of "oh man, i'm screwed". as it lunged towards her, Dash' instincts took over, and she immediately dodged the thing. it was clear that brute force was no longer an option, unless she wanted to see herself stuck by the intimidating spikes. she would need to be crafty.

as she dodged the thing once more, an idea popped into her head. she could use the robots hopping against it. she would just need something for it to leap into, and then she would just have to lure it like a bull fighter.

at this point, Rainbowdash was almost constantly moving to avoid the leaping attacks of the monster machine, flying in a constant circle throughout the room. she sped up and slowed down to avoid the lunges that happened every few seconds.

once she found the right moment, she cut a path straight down the center of the room, and swooped a bit lower, stopping for only a moment to right the sewing machine. right after she did so, she waited a few seconds for the Foxybot to leap at her once more, and Dash dove to her left, dodging it immediately after.

Foxy Socks · November 7, 2017

@~Phoenix~ @Blitz Boom @Widdershins

Foxy's concentration broke as Opalescence, which she could assume was Rarity's cat, entered the room. Foxy didn't move until they walked toward the table, and by the time she could get up, it had already been knocked over. So much for that. Foxy helped Briar pick up the pieces, and was startled as he growled. Foxy hadn't really seen Briar that upset, so she was slightly taken aback.

Foxy had no idea what to do at that point, but Opal seemed to be disturbed by their presence. Foxy knew very well of the behavior, as she had seen more than enough territorial animals, and foxes were no exception, but in this case Foxy was unsure what to do. "Um, is something wrong?" Foxy asked Opal, whose name she wasn't aware of yet. Though it probably would involve her being scratched, Foxy slowly moved toward them, trying not to act like a threat.

FanOfManyShows · November 7, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Astral paused her step, sighing. "Sorry." Hearing that from him reminded her how isolated she had to be because of her magic, talking about it openly might result in her having to hide again. Running there was their current option, not teleportation. She kept walking, since that's what Chow was suggesting. "Let's walk then." She said, perhaps checking again if he was following.

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

Warlock closed his eyes and felt for the element, finding it in Canterlot, with Misty. He opening his eyes. "The young zebra has the element of depression." He said, looking up to Athriel. "How do you suppose we'll take it if Iron Star is near her?" He looked back down, observing the landscape below for the spire Athriel spoke of.

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

Iron Wing followed him, trailing behind him rather far back. Seeing where he was going. Wondering why he'd head to their room of all places in the castle, curious if anything was in there he was looking for. All while making sure he wasn't seen.

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

"I'm used to it so I don't blame you." He said with a chuckle, and a shrug. "Hopefully though you can find new sources of love."

Nectar nodded to his question, she was certainly awake now. "I am awake, yes." She looked at her condition, something that love magic legitimately wouldn't heal unless in excessive amounts. "And Francis, you could just transform, then you could share love with the other changelings."

He chuckled and shook his head. "No way, the color scheme just doesn't suit me."

"You can still change, just tweak the colors." He looked at her and put a hoof to his chin. "Just consider that at least."

"Alright, I will after I have recovered."

Sekel · November 7, 2017

@Blitz Boom & @Widdershins

DAWN & AURORA

To say the least, Kaltrops’ words got to Dawn. She ignored the pair following her, took to the sky, flipped around, and zoomed up to Kaltrops. When she got to him, she kept her speed up and punched in the snout with both forehooves.

“Oof,” Aurora winced, seeing the force of the hit and scratched the back of her head. “I don’t know since transformations were a thing. Forever, I guess?”

@Blitz Boom & @Seamore Sandwich

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

”Last Stand, we refuse to set walls because everypony in this town will be up in arms about it. We’re too used to the openness of everything. The train station, while understandable, I agree with. We can’t exactly rebuild everything if the train’s running. As for the pipes, since when were they a problem? I have heard no complaints and I know at least once a year that a plumber goes to the school and checks out the pipe system,” Twilight replied, sitting on her haunches. She had no idea it was this bad and made a mental note to try and get in some magical protection system,s going after everything was rebuilt.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Dji

EQ_Theta · November 7, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Shineling

With the way the turn of events was going, nothing about was humorous, nothing close to approaching it. The newly rescued ponies are already in shock and denial and it seems the distress of waking up to a world different from the one they left would make it hard for them to reintegrate into it. For a moment, Lin wanted to take back what she said earlier about knowing how the rescued ponies would feel; she knew nothing of they way they felt and even if she did, there was only an inkling of similarity between what she and Sen had to go through. Maybe being turned into mindless slaves whose actions were not their own or petrified into stone statues unaware of their surroundings was about as close as she could get but this... it was a completely different thing. But that wasn't where her focus lay. Omen was still unresponsive despite the various methods Sen and Discord were trying to get her to return to consciousness. As much as she would like to offer her words to ease the shock, the pressing matter before her remained unchanged.

Discord working with his methods didn't seem to do much and just for that moment, both Sen and Lin would lay the questions off him. He knew Omen well enough, even better than them, but the last thing he needed was to be pestered by them. If a being whose chaotic magic had no effect, something else must be wrong. And like he said, a botched spell must've done something to leave her in this state.

Lin sat there thinking about what else could the crystals do. If it encased a pony from the outside, would it likely lead to more formations on the inside? These crystals were alive and animated enough to crawl through openings if they could. Or maybe something broke off of Omen when they yanked her from a larger formation inside the cave? Those were the only hypotheses she could think of at the moment and she would surely want to try either. For now, the most readily available test would be the former. She looked to the larger drake who might be able to find out more if its penchant for gemstones could identify any lingering crystal formations inside her friend.

"Out the way! Sorry! Need our little drake here for something!" Lin skirted past the newly released ponies near Clayton and gently picked up the drake before setting it on her back. "We need your help, little guy. Think you can find out if Omen might still have a crystal or two stuck in her?"

Lin set the drake down near the unresponsive Omen and waited with Sen to see if it could find something they couldn't. She had grown accustomed to speaking to the drake in their time back at the village, almost treating it as if it was one of them. How much it could understand spoken word was another matter but Lin didn't take that into account. Neither did Sen, but they didn't mind. At the time, the company was welcomed and they'd enjoy moments when it scuttled around the hut and getting it more acquainted with the two of them. It recognized Omen on sight and it seemed like it could do a lot more than just remove the crystalline shell covering her. After all, the siblings believed it was a lot smarter than it looked.

Edited November 7, 2017 by EQ_Theta

genessee · November 7, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Lance also faltered for a second, but quickly regained his composure.

"I seriously doubt they'd try to pull that in a busy hospital. Someponie's bound to see it. Alright, we're almost there, I think."

He tried his best to wipe any uncertainty and fear off his face. Just in case.

cwhip9 · November 8, 2017

On 11/2/2017 at 11:52 AM, Blitz Boom said:

"I'm sorry to hear that Crescent,. It had to have been tough to get through."

The bat pony smiled nodding glad for the past in the shouldier "it's not, but later in life odly I found out an important lesson. Family isn't always blood" he said sniffeling "how I learned to be what I am is another story but not as sad. I'll tell you that another time, meanwhile" he said looking at the map then to the trees looking for zinthar "I think our friend might no were close to the fields" he said sounding still optimistic.

BloodDrops · November 8, 2017

On 11/5/2017 at 1:11 AM, Seamore Sandwich said:

That night, at the banquet, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially the guests. Among them were several well known heroes, as well as some lesser known ones including a fox with a bow and a quiver on his back who definitely stood out against a group of mostly ponies. Hunter had heard that a great hero had returned, but he was a bit skeptical. He didn’t know the names of most of the others there, so he couldn’t be sure which one had returned, so he’d just wait and see where the night went

Blood Drops blinked at the faraway temple, she smelled ponies but then she smelled ponies from another place too. She followed the larger smell, more ponies mean't more food. She turned away from the temple and back into her forest. She might go back to this temple later on, though she had one of her urges she had been there before, though she wasn't too sure about that.

On 11/6/2017 at 9:31 PM, Blitz Boom said:

3. Your town's defenses are laughable, and protective measures highly inefficient. If you refuse to set walls and guards around the town, you need to at least authorize the eventual construction of underground bunkers for the citizens to hide in, when something strikes. This town is prone to disaster, and not being prepared for it is foolish. With all due respect."

On 11/7/2017 at 3:50 AM, Dji said:

”Last Stand, we refuse to set walls because everypony in this town will be up in arms about it. We’re too used to the openness of everything. The train station, while understandable, I agree with. We can’t exactly rebuild everything if the train’s running. As for the pipes, since when were they a problem? I have heard no complaints and I know at least once a year that a plumber goes to the school and checks out the pipe system,” Twilight replied, sitting on her haunches. She had no idea it was this bad and made a mental note to try and get in some magical protection system,s going after everything was rebuilt.

meanwhile, while the ponies were discussing about the towns defenses, something was moving along the roads, to the edge of her forest, The said something was a certain zombie mare, that had gone incognito over the past weeks. She noticed a sleeping dragon and frowned, trying to remember something, didn't she once know a dragon? She turned away and blinked at the bright lights, she was rather fond of these shiny lights and moved closer to one of the larger buildings containing the brightest lights (Train Station). She glanced at the door and nudged it, unfortunately it was locked. She pushed harder against it until the door creaked and it came off it hinges. With a low *Thud* the door tumbled to the ground.

Blood Drops made her way inside and blinked as her stomach rumbled. Seems she was hungry, switching over to food mode. She sniffed around before beginning to stalk one of the many building's inhabitants. She managed to catch one firstly, then a second, and finally had several dead in a pile, leaving traces of her successful hunting's within the Train station. If anyone was paying attention, then a small shriek could be heard before being suddenly cut off. She moved away from the now broken entrance and into the back cluttered room.

She dropped her now dead prey on the floor, mainly rats and other pests, though she kept one to satisfy her hunger. If she was still hungry after a brief nap she might go about finding some meat from one of the other shiny houses. Until then she was quite contented with staying inside the storage room of the train station.

Edited November 8, 2017 by BloodDrops
Zetta Sons of Digits

Blitz Boom · November 8, 2017

@cwhip9

"I-I don't think he knows where Ormenthal is. Or the r-ruins off it anyway..."

As on que, the feline popped his head down from the tree crowns and looked at the two of them with a sarcastic glare.

"Of course I know. I mean, I've just been away for a thousand years, that means nothing. Want me to draw you a map of Equestria now we're at it?"

He wouldn't wait for an answer before returning top side again to follow. In his mind, he had made his point, and if they didn't get that, they should have their heads checked frankly.

"L-Let's just... Keep going, o-okay?

And Crescent? When y-you want to talk about the other things, I-I'll try and listen. Promise."

He gave a vague smile to Crescent, then wandered on, whilst thinking about what the vampire bat had told him. To say this would be complicated seemed like an understatement.

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

@genessee

Berry thought on it for a bit, then grinned and sped up once more.

"Yeah, you're right. They'd have to have the whole place infiltrated, and that's just a silly thought. Now then, let's see what behind door number 1!"

Reaching the door, she knocked twice, and then opened.

Three things got her attention in the room. The first being the severe lack of changelings jumping towards her, which seemed to indicate that Lance had been right.

The second was the female griffon that turned her as they entered, and looked at them with tired and worried blue eyes. She seemed to have some grey spots here and there like a leopard to give her some pattern in the otherwise white fur and feathers, but overall, she did look like a griffon that'd fallen into bleach.

The third one stole the show though, and made Berry let out a drawn out, impressed whistle.

"Vauw, That's what I call a nice looking customer."

The source of her fascination was another griffon. Though radically different from the female. Instead of being pale, looking like a nice being overall, and having the sort of vibe that made ponies wanr to talk with you, the male griffon behind her looked like a right bundle of issues.

His feathers and fur were dark and crimson, and his grey eyes spoke of hostility and anger. A sneer seemed to be permanently placed upon his face, and his overall demeanor said that you shouldn't mess too.much with him.

It was also pretty intimidating to see that most of his right front leg and talon, were gone. Instead, a prostetic of metal were attached to the end of his stump, and considering how it moved, she'd say that this were likely magically enchanted somehow.

It didn't help on his intimidating look that he also was pretty massive. The other, normal griffon looked like a child next to this one, who seemed like he needed all the place from the teo hospitals beds pushed together just to be able to lay down.

Big, muscly and mean-looking. This was the best day ever for Berry.

"What do you want?"

"I ordered some food uncle. The hospital blend isn't healthy for you."

"Waste of bits. I could have just gone fishing."

The small griffon turned to him and snapped out of the blue. Though it had actually been building up for quite some time.

"No you couldn't, don't you get that!? You almost died out there, and you're too sick to leave. I'm not going to let you die for real just because you are too stubborn and stupid to understand that you can't leave the hospital before you're healthy!!!"

The female stood down and took some breaths, as her uncle looked with some surprise at her. He wasn't used to this kind of behavior, or outbursts from her, but regrettably, she was right. The doctors had been pretty clear after he collapsed the last time he tried to leave, and if it wasn't because he had pulled out the other chains - as was evidenced by the holes in the floor - they would have tied him down to make sure he stayed until he was safe to let out.

"...Fine. You two, get in here."

Berry got a big grin on her face when he said that, which frankly annoyed him. Puny ponies like this shouldn't be happier to get near someone like him.

"Score! Come on Lance, the customer is always right and all."

Hopefully Lance wouldn't have bailed or something at this point, though it was hard to say. She had been looking at the big griffon like a fan filly and hadn't really taken notice of what her coworker had been doing.

What? She liked buff guys. Sue her.

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

@EQ_Theta @Shineling

Lin grabbed hold in the Refraction just as it was finishing up the next statue, leaving to a scene much like the one Clayton had been through before, but this time with less panicked running and instead tumbling, as this had been one of hose holding the rope. This now left him two ponies to try and help as they realized that something was wrong with them, with this place, and with Clayton too, who didn't seem the innocent, shy stallion they had known about when their last memory stopped.

It wouldn't get any easier as more miners would be freed, but right now, he at least only had these two to handle. It was about to become a third, but Lin got hold in the gem draining little thing as it was going for it's next *victim* and pulled it up, which caused it to protest with small rawrs and wriggling. It might be larger now, but it had barely been long enough to wrap 3/4'th of the way around a hoof before, so it wasn't much too difficult to handle either. It were a little heavier, but barely. Apparently, these kinds stayed light through their entire lives, which likely had something to do with their floating kind of flying. Not easy to do if you weighed a half ton.

The squirming only intensified when the creature saw Omen, and tried to get away to get over to her. Weak, sad growls escaped it until it was finally set down, and it could rush over to its actual *owner*.

It made sure it was her this time. The smell was right, the tasty gems wasn't there anymore,a nd she seemed all soft and strange again, but something was wrong. She didn't move, or even look at it. She always did when it got closer.

"...Rawr?"

It tried everything, Slid into her mane, scratched her head, bit her tail, slid into her muzzle and checked if there was something in there, but nothing got her moving, and it just got more and more frantic. Out of other ideas, it then went to her head and took in a deep breath- Before letting out a glittery, white flame straight into her face.

It wasn't massive like the excess energy versions it had tossed around before this. Frankly it started around as wide as a regular straw, and ended in only the diameter of a shot glass, and it didn't seem to do her any damage. However, it didn't seem to wake her up either, and as the refraction ran out of breath and saw that nothing had changed, it looked up at Sen and Lin, whilst giving off a series of worried yips. It couldn't wake her up, it scared it, and it wanted them to fix her.

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

@Dji @Widdershins

Seeing how Dawn all of a sudden went on the offensive, Spicy stopped and let Pop go, though she seemed too shocked to do anything at first.

Spicy had plenty of thoughts going through her head right now, which mostly went around her dealing with what felt like a kindergarden, but before she had the chance to get all adult and boring on them, Pop rushed forward towards Dawn.

"Dawn! Stop. attacking him, please! You're better than this."

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

@Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"If you're refusing walls, then go with underground bunkers for emergency shelter. It at least gives some help for the civilians when the next monster of disaster hits your town, and having nothing ready is foolish. Ponyville needs some kind of protection for the locals, or the next time there's an attack and we find skeletons, they might well end up being real."

Last were not pleased about the town not wanting basic defenses, but apparently the lot of them were too ignorant to understand the severity of keeping an all open atmosphere in an area known as more or less a magnet of horrid things. At least from what she had been told, something tended to happen here around once or twice a month, and though not all of them were a large scale destruction thing, it was still plenty enough for her to consider this town more or less uninhabitable in its current state.

But, she wasn't the princess. She could only give her opinion, not force them through. Not on this large of a scale anyway.

"As for the school, a part of the wall was ripped open during the attack. Repairing it, they found rust in the pipes, and I ordered them to replace all of it. Winter isn't far away, and the school had to be closed anyway. It was logical to work on this when there was time, instead of repairing it when it's cold and they're freezing. I'm not going to have sick foals on my consciousness.

Follow, and you can see the problem for yourself."

Last wouldn't wait until she got an answer before walking determined towards the school, where she could show the princess what they had found in the pipes. Every single pipe, no matter the condition and the usage, had been worked steadfastly on replacing over the past 25 or so hours by two different teams shifting around every 8 hours to allow some to sleep, and she wasn't going to let them stop now. It might be going far, but she had used the same argument as she had when it came to the train station: Would you risk your family? She sure wouldn't, and Clayton had agreed on it as well, before he sent off for what they needed. One of the few situations thus far where the two had seen eye to eye.

It may seem to most that Last were uncaring and only focused on getting the job done, but it was the point where she actually cared that made her go this far. Start a fight with the dragon lord looming over them over shoddy work from his couriers, constantly looking over the shoulders of the locals the day before, having the entire school replace it's pipes, suggest protection measures etc. It was all to make sure that this place was sturdy, and that everypony would get back to their homes rather than their tents, without having to fear that their house would stumble down upon them.

Whens he was going tyo leave this town, it was going to be prepared, rebuild, and in some areas like the school, future proofed. If she had to be a harsh, rude mare to accomplish this, then frankly, she would so so without even batting an eye.

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

@Lloyd

"Hey, I don't wanna be rude, you know? But the kid and your dad need you, and that ain't gonna be easy from inside a cell. You gotta be careful to protect those you care about, alright?"

Chow felt bad, and his voice gave that away too as he patted Astral on her shoulder before moving on, leading the way towards where the two witches lived. He really did just want their best, but unfortunately, sometimes you had to be a little rough to get your point across, and this had been one of those moments. Hopefully they'd get there soon, so Astral could talk freely about whatever she wanted to.

He gave a glance back as she did, wondering what she might've heard or seen, but didn't find anything. Perhaps she were getting a paranoid in it? That, or he was just missing what she noticed. Been a long day, and he wasn't sure what he were supposed to focus on right now, so after a bit he just kept on, thinking it was nothing.

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

@Lloyd

"Are you kidding me? After all the trouble we had of getting to it first, the foal steals it from you?"

Athriel had to bite down hard to not start a minor slurring attack on this idiot, who had let an asset like that get away from them, and then failed to inform them off it until now.

"Grrr, it's too late to get hold of it now. They will be prepared for us to come back to town, and with neither of us being strong enough yet,t they might end up winning. Let them have that useless little trinket for now. We'll get it eventually."

Spotting something beneath them, she started to fly lower, but soon got altitude again.

"No, that wasn't it. Just a weird branch."

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

@Lloyd

Zhu would be silent as he got to the princesses room, and were faced with two guards who were about to lower their spears and tell him to halt, when a strong wind came from seemingly nowhere and knocked the two of them together, causing them to loose consciousness.

Perhaps it was not the best thing to do, but he did not want to get disturbed further, nor be stopped in what he had come here to do.

The enchantment on the door barrier entry was a different problem, but it was as if he had never left as he lifted a paw to his robes, and withdrew the trinket he had carried near his chest for close to a millennia to grant him access. A key he had once gotten, in case of emergency, by the very princess whose room he now opened the door to, and entered.

He wouldn't wander to many places, nor look around. He focused only one one thing, in the far end of the room, covered in a glass bell, on a pedestal that seemed like it got cleaned often. The glued together pieces of an egg, that once upon a time had pulsed with magic through the many cracks that were seen all over the old thing.

Zhu hadn't thought that she would have kept this. After all of this time, he would think it nothing but a horrible memory, but s he got to it, and placed a paw gently on the glass, he remembered the care that she had once given him. The love, though a time when she weren't over what had happened with Luna, and must have lived with such guilt over what happened to Zhu's parents.

Did she keep this because of that guilt? Or did she still love the child that had left her without a word, regardless of how little he deserved it? For one who held so many answers to what had not even happened yet, he found himself knowing nothing when it mattered.

"...Sadness is a dark stream, flowing with others of pain, guilt, regret and mourning, to become a river too murky to gaze through. Follow the path, and the river becomes a lake, tempting you to jump in and drown.

Eventually we all take the leap, and we find ourselves with a choice. We drown, or we breathe.

I thought for"

Zhu knew well that the general had followed him. He had seen it as a strong possibility when he had gazed at him before, and with the weak sound he had heard earlier, he was certain that somewhere behind him, a newly appointed general would be watching him. Though what would do from there were up for debate. He had seen equal chances of the stallion going on the offense from seeing the way Zhu treated the guards, to what had seemed like a curious, and worried pony nearing him. It was hard to say for certain, as he only saw, not heard, but it were what he interpreted.

Yet, nopony was perfect, and he may well have misunderstood the actions if it were, or simply not expected the least likely actions to be what the general took. That was what was so difficult with interpreting the future: Nothing was set in stone, and even if you saw everything, you couldn't be ready for every situation. There were simply too many variants.

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

@Lloyd

Shimmer looked the queen over, then looked questioningly at a fidgeting doctor, who slowly gave a nod and began rambling on about medical condition and issue with figuring out how it were since changelings weren't ponies, etc. The gist of it though, seemed to say that she were fine, but needed to remain here for the time being.

"Well, it's good to hear that you're stable ma'am, though can I ask something? What you two just mentioned... It wouldn't have to be the transformation to King Thorax's variety of changelings, would it? We still have limited information on the after effects of that process, such as if transformation is even still possible then, and any information could be helpful in bridging misunderstandings. We're trying to enter a new era after all, that looks past old rivalries. Long as it's not... Her."

The lieutenant spoke about Chrysalis at the end, and thought of the slimy, horrible mare and her mindless drone army. All of that damage, all of those traumatized ponies... She did not deserve redemption.

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

@Foxy Socks @Widdershins @~Phoenix~

"I'd watch my hooves if I were you. Spoiled cats are troublesome."

With the help of Foxy, the pieces of the former tea set were gathered up soon, though they couldn't do anything against the carpet. That one would have to go to a cleaner. Or be replaced, though the cleaner was likely the more reasonable response for a non-noble.

It annoyed him that his options now were limited, and saddened him to know that Rarity would return to find that something she may well have held dear were now ruined, but all they could do were the clean this up, and await her return. What judgement she then had in store for them would be up to the mare in question, though hopefully, she wouldn't take the side of the cat. Things would not go well if she considered them vandals that had used her hospitality to mess up her shop.

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

@~Phoenix~

So innocent and awkward this one seemed. Was that what had caught his eye, or had she done something else to entice him?

She didn't know, but how she wished to just pry the answers from her one by one, and find out what sinister motive she had to take him. Though she were certain that it had something to do with his wealth. Smokey were a stallion that had come from nothing and carved himself a fortune from his adventures and potential background dealings, of which she still had no proof. Not that she would give him up if she had so. She loved her cousin in ways he didn't seem to understand, and even if he never had loved her back, she could not do something that would break his heart.

She even accepted the presence of this mare for now, because chasing her off would hurt him, and he'd be angry. He wouldn't understand, and would take the party of the mare that played off an act about not knowing where she was. Like this was some sort of hotel or something, as ridiculous as it sounded.

She would give that she felt a sting of jealousy over more than just how the mare were taking her beloved further away from her, over how simple she looked. Rose stood out quite a bit from how she looked, and she had gotten used to it over th years, but being unique did not always mean a good thing. Sometimes, it would be nice to be somewhat non-descriptive like this mare, and be able to simply blend into a crowd.

It did not take away that she were not pretty enough for her cousin, but she would let her have this meager thing over her.

"Smokey is currently taking a shower in the east corridor. Would you like to be shown to a shower of your own as well?"

Keep them distanced, and give her some time to prep a few things. That was well worth having to clean up one of the other three bathrooms for, though not the one on the second floor. That one was hers, and NOPONY were allowed in there, beyond her.

It brought a slightly bigger smile to her lips to have also used her comment to imply that the mare was filthy. It was simply just a fact, but it still pleased her to have a small jab at her like this.

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

@~Phoenix~ @Widdershins @Foxy Socks

Alas, the trick that Phoenix had attempted wouldn't work. The nimble creature would use her legs to rise above the spikes, and only get a few scratches before lounging at the mare once more, and this time, the angle seemed to leave Dashie with little hope.

Meanwhile, in the regular phase, one of the small wooden birds would notice a piece of metal on a shelf, and grab hold of it to bring it towards Rarity. It had simple instructions to go by, and in its tiny mindset, this piece might be usable as a belt buckle of some kind. Which was why it flew over, grazed Rarity's muzzle... And then all hell broke loose.

Every creature had some kind of weakness. Pegasi had weak bones, Zebras could be more or less decimated by blindness, dragons had their reliance on precious gems, etc. Even Discord, who seemed like nothing could harm him, had been brought low by weaknesses before. And when the Lord of Chaos could be brought down, then it should be no surprise that the Spirit of Theater would be possible to mess around with as well, and unfortunately, her own creation had just brought it down upon her.

Much like faeries of old, Anomaly had an adverse reaction when touching pure iron. Suually that wasn't an issue, as there wasn't too much pure iron around anymore, but what had been brought had unfortunately been that, and it caused her powers to spaz out.

She'd convulse and fall from Rarity's muzzle as she twisted and turned through shapes and forms even more random than what she normally looked like, whilst the small animals around her began to shake and let go of all the things they had been carrying, to instead fly and crawl over to attack her.

Screeching loudly, attacked by her own creations, and with the room going through one chaotic expression after the other - at one point, Rarity would almost get hit by a fish with a unicorn horn and a long, flowing tail - everything would eventually stop in a brief moment of silence- And then everything she had made and the chaotic energy bursts rampaging through the room in general, would implode upon her into a ball around the size of a tennis ball, and then seemingly get sucked through the air into a vortex that would violently draw in a few other things in the room before letting them go again, she were drawn through, and as the air stabilized itself, a familiar pony would be spat out where the draconequus had been just before.

Somehow, Dashie would have been rolled into a frilly dress who were about fourteen times too girly for her, and sitting a little oddly, but with a few tugs here and there, the unfinished dress that had been in the middle of the previous implosion would likely fit her excellently.

And as for Anomaly? With her powers working against her, she had been hammered into the little play realm she had made for Dashie right before the mare would be chomped down on, which caused the Foxybot to instead gnaw into the mash of parts that were currently the unfolding Anomaly. Unconscious and powerless as she currently were, she'd be an easy one for the robot to web in and attach to the wall, but hey, you reap what you sow, right?

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

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"I guess the princess would want her diary back then."

Cherish had no idea why the thing had been here after Celestia had sent Luna away, and moved to Canterlot, but she had found it some time after she had started to roam these halls, and found some degree of joy in reading what was in there. Except for the parts where she was particularly sad, and eventually going over into more violent thoughts near the end. A tragic tale of somepony who did so much, but never got the acknowledgement for it.

It was good news to hear that she was back though. Hopefully, this time around, things would go better with the princess, and she wouldn't end where she had been before. Nightmare Moon were bad new.

"Old Sirens sounds dangerous. Could they only use their song for bad things though, or can it be happy too? Do you eat emotions, like changeling does, or is it not like that?"

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

@BloodDrops

"Awh man, the forepony is going to kill me..."

The Solar Guard had just passed the corner on his patrol, when he saw the door to the train station broken by either somepony with a fairly strong kick, or a pretty thick skull. It wasn't something that had just blown off or had looked like this before at least, that was for sure.

Well, guess he had to check up on it he supposed. It was hopefully just foals messing around, but if something was stolen... he might be the law, but he felt like a small foal standing in front of the teacher when she glared at him. He knew that was why she chose him to this, because she knew he were too nervous about messing up and causing her to show her irritation, but he couldn't help it. Superior or civilian, that mare scared the hay out of his ears.

Creaking the remnants of the door open, he looked inside before trying to see if he could call somepony out instead of having to search through the piles in there.

"Hello? Is somepony here? Come on, you can answer, we can sort this out."

He wasn't going to go in right now as... Well, he was young, a bit frail in it, and only barely passed the guard exam as it were. He wasn't fit for actual combat, and would rather call out to see if he could get some of the more experienced Solar Guards to come around and help. Or that Night Guard for that matter. He seemed well tired last he saw him, but perhaps he was still around and active, if it came to that.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Blitz Boom

BloodDrops · November 9, 2017

5 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Awh man, the forepony is going to kill me..."

The Solar Guard had just passed the corner on his patrol, when he saw the door to the train station broken by either somepony with a fairly strong kick, or a pretty thick skull. It wasn't something that had just blown off or had looked like this before at least, that was for sure.

Well, guess he had to check up on it he supposed. It was hopefully just foals messing around, but if something was stolen... he might be the law, but he felt like a small foal standing in front of the teacher when she glared at him. He knew that was why she chose him to this, because she knew he were too nervous about messing up and causing her to show her irritation, but he couldn't help it. Superior or civilian, that mare scared the hay out of his ears.

Creaking the remnants of the door open, he looked inside before trying to see if he could call somepony out instead of having to search through the piles in there.

"Hello? Is somepony here? Come on, you can answer, we can sort this out."

He wasn't going to go in right now as... Well, he was young, a bit frail in it, and only barely passed the guard exam as it were. He wasn't fit for actual combat, and would rather call out to see if he could get some of the more experienced Solar Guards to come around and help. Or that Night Guard for that matter. He seemed well tired last he saw him, but perhaps he was still around and active, if it came to that.

Blood's eyes opened and she grunted disturbed by a creaking from the old building, she sniffed the air and stood up smelling a sweet scent, an intruder at that. She blinked and her stomach growled reminding her of her prey. She picked up what was left by their tails, and moved from the shadows to investigate. She moved from the cluttered storeroom she had re-arranged to her own personal taste towards the door, dead prey hanging via her mouth.

She tilted her head and listened to the thing talk, deciding it was a sort of pony. Male by the sound of it, young also and also timid. Perfect. She moved out from the shadow and glared at him, she slurped up the tails and began to chew on the mice and rats. She sensed he was very, very disturbed and intimidated by her performance, which was understandable. Ponies were a prey species anyway. "Sort it out? Oh yes, get me some meat before sunrise, or I shall indeed sort you out. All of you" She growled showing her teeth.

She was indeed much bigger then him and could easily overpower him and eat him there and then. Though he would probably be missed, and she wasn't that hungry, and he hadn't offender her by trespassing..... Yet. Though she had marked out her territory within this building, and would not permit trespass too any sort of prey. She waited for the pony to scamper away before she turned away from the door and back into her storeroom.

If he failed in his task, she would hunt at first light.

~Phoenix~ · November 9, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Phoenix could almost feel a certain thickness in the air, as if the tension was palpable. however, she still could not understand why. it was almost as if this rather beautiful mare was shooting daggers at her. this much was obvious now.

she got her answer as to where her companion was, and she pondered if she should simply wait for him, or if she should do something to prepare herself. that's when she got the offer to use one of their showers. heck, if Smokey was getting himself washed up, why shouldn't she? besides, it's been an embarrassingly long amount of time since she was able to bathe herself... and even then, it was in a river, simply to get dirt off. there was no such thing as soap out in the wild. only now, among all this cleanliness is she beginning to be self conscious about her own stench. after all, ponies weren't meant to be living out in the wild for as long as she has.

"yes" she said affirmatively, giving her head a slight nod as she did so. having a nice shower might give her some time to think things over. did she really want to stay here? after all, these crowds of ponies in a city as large as this weren't necessarily something she favored. and even then, if they did leave, would she wan't to continue traveling with Smokey? the answer to that was undoubtedly yes, as much as she didn't want to admit it. but she couldn't quite figure out why. what made her enjoy being around him so much? those were questions she still needed to think about, and perhaps a nice shower would help.

but wait... aren't hotels supposed to have lavatories in each room..?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Blitz Boom @Widdershins @Foxy Socks

Rainbowdash wore an expression of triumph as her final dodge was successful. expecting the last of the nasty robots to be defeated, she turned to look upon her handiwork with pride. unfortunately, the results were quite opposite of what she had expected. standing there before her was the last of the bots standing nearly unscathed.

her prideful expression quickly washed away from her face as she realized that the robot was about to pounce at her again. Rainbowdash herself wasn't posed to dodge either. there was simply no way she was going to escape this one. she had probably only half a second to say her goodbye's

luckily for her, she didn't have to say goodbye. she didn't have to dodge the thing either. a big blob of confusion sat itself inside her head as the world around her began to spin and whirl, morphing from the reality she was in, to one where everything seemed normal, in almost the blink of an eye. she felt some unknown force shove her, and she went rolling across the floor. "oof!" she groaned as she sat up.

when the room stopped spinning around her, she looked down with an expression of surprise as she realized she had somehow ended up in one of Rarity's unfinished dresses. not only that, but it didn't even look cool! she would need to get out of this thing before Rarity noticed. and then maybe she can figure out what manner of rotten berries she ate that made her hallucinate like that.

as she looked around the room, she realized that Rarity was right there, across the room from her, and a blush washed over Rainbowdash' face as she realized there was absolutely no escape from this humiliating situation.

Edited November 9, 2017 by ~Phoenix~

Victoria Sponge · November 9, 2017

@Blitz Boom

"We'll just have to make sure little Angel is with Vicky when she meets this friend of yours, should make it a lot easier. Quite the little peace maker."

She smiled down at her sleeping foal.

"Hopefully everything will work out. Victoria can be so sweet when she's happy, believe it or not, it would be nice if ponies outside of our family could see that."

"It's unfortunate that ponies don't realise how easy it is to misinterpret someone; Victoria's a good girl, she has a very kind heart, its just hidden under layers of insecurity, if more people gave her a chance we might come to know a different Vicky."

It was clear Royal had integrated with his wife's family rather well in the few years they'd been together, he had the same parental fondness in his eyes for the two sisters that Red had.

"Every time she comes to visit Angel she becomes such a lovely pony, even more so when there's no strangers about, it's quite the phenomena. Anyway, you're right we should head back inside to our special ones, see where Battenberg and Victoria have disappeared off to."

genessee · November 9, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Lance peeped his head into the hospital room, food in tow. He addressed the female first.

"Hi there! Were you the customers that ordered the, uh... this?"

He held up a box containing the food he was supposed to deliver. He didn't really know what it was, but decided not to open it, just in case. Lance tried to stay further away from the mean-looking one. I never trusted mean-looking and buff stallions, what gives me reason to trust a mean-looking, buff griffon?

cwhip9 · November 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom Cresent chuckled at the felines response and checked the map he had. On it showed they would soon find a clearing out of the forreset down a path in a field. To the youngsters response Cresent nodded "like wise cover" he said with a smile

EQ_Theta · November 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom

As much as Sen didn't like the idea of staying behind to let Lin go back into the cave, he knew he had to stay put. He brought back the drake to the other encased ponies to let it continue its work while Lin approached Clayton's general direction. As the longma put the drake down, he gently stroked it along its head and neck, reassuring it that the way things are is only temporary.

"We'll fix Omen," Sen said in a very calming tone, hiding his own worries. "You can count on us."

Meanwhile, Lin walked up to Clayton feeling a little less certain about her course of action. Still, she wouldn't waver from it knowing someone's life is on the line.

"Clayton, I need to go back in the mines. Maybe Omen isn't responding because she isn't complete. A piece of her may have broken off when we pulled her out."

Storm Shine · November 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

Discord mumbled to himself as he snapped his paws several times, wreaking several odd changes around them in his attempts to try and magically stir a reaction from Omen. A sudden blizzard, followed by a steaming desert, and then actual desserts surrounded them before the area nearby returned to normal... If you ignored the banana-fish swimming in the air around them. "I don't understand enough about her species to really know what's wrong." He said in disappointment, looking at his own paws. Few times had the lord of chaos ever felt so helpless, but without enough direction he wasn't sure how much he could do without possibly hurting her. "But there must be something.." He settled down into a high-backed chair and blew on a bubble-pipe that began producing parasprite-shaped bubbles that flew into the air and occasionally 'ate' one another as he began to think, calling on his vast years of knowledge. "Hmmm"

Discord looked over thoughtfully at the news that a piece might have broken off. "That.. Could be the reason." Every little piece would likely count towards her continued existence in this realm after all, given the way her kind is. He didn't have enough knowledge of them to say for sure, but it was certainly possible at least.

FanOfManyShows · November 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom

Astral kept walking, thinking over their plan. If Chow knew magic they'd no longer have to protect him constantly. She could not worry so much over this, well not so innocent, pony. She'd finally be able to fight with Iron and Misty without also protecting him. Although ever since Athriel was freed, it did occur to her why Chow still stayed with them, could've been the fact she'd included him in the teleport each time, or the fact he may have had something to settle with Athriel. "So, have you ever considered staying behind before after Athriel escaped from you?" She asked, walking next to him. "Like, after she was gone you'd be fine staying behind, or is like, something else keeping you from doing that?"

===========================================================================================
"We were fighting them, I was kind of distracted." He said with an bit of an angry look. "I had to leave it behind when the place flooded." He looked down, thinking he could use a omnipotence spell, but that'd waste magic, so he had to use his eyes to see something. "I suspect if this spire is overgrown, there will be a lot of mistaking branches for it." He looked down, looking for the spire still.

===========================================================================================
Iron Wing looked to Zhu from outside, keeping his distance. half tempted to pull his razor sharp wings out after Zhu knocked the guards out, but he breathed, trying to remain calm. This dragon might be planning something to do with the egg, much like what he'd seen with Spike. "Hm." He stood his distance, hoping Celestia hadn't taken that egg from Zhu, as well as hoping he wasn't planning to take it even if that wasn't the case. Since he had no idea what the repercussions of either of those would be.

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

"It would be of his variety, the color depends, or even the rank. But they tend to have a similar, design." She chuckled lightly as his not so subtle mention of Chrysalis. "Yes, her of all creatures you won't look past their old rivalries, not Discord or Nightmare Moon. Only her you won't do that with." She said with a smirk. "Little silly isn't it?"

"Little biased since you're related."

"Shush" She said with a giggle. "It's still odd, though since she is refusing to turn good, it's unlikely the rivalries will be forgiven."

Moonlit · November 10, 2017

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich "I'll ask her the next time I see her." She looks up at the apparition, "Not sure, I have two types of songs. One that...well, I only know cause it's innate, I don't use cause it causes disharmony. The other I learned from listening to my father, that one...well, it's still not good cause it sends ponies into a stupor." A brief flash of anger crosses her face, "I am nothing like a Changling. I'm a carnivore, I don't eat emotions but I can draw power from the ponies that listen to my songs"

Blitz Boom · November 10, 2017

@Shineling @EQ_Theta

"Take your p-pet. It might h-help you through."

It was all Clayton said before he went back to try and keep his friends from breaking down too much.

But how could he understand enough to do that? He had gotten away, whilst his friends had to go through what to them felt like the blink of an eye, but to the rest of the world amounted to ten years. He didn't have the heart to even tell them how long it had been yet, as they at least had some idea that it had been a while considering his own appearance, and that of the quarry around them.

The time would come when tears became questions - though with Discords antics around them, it might still take time for them to be calm enough for that. And when that time came, he had to tell them how long it had been, that he didn't know why they were glittering and their manes semi-transparent, and worse of all, that it had all been for nothing. Rose - or whatever she were actually called - were loose, and as long as she were, nopony would be safe.

LIn were going to need to use the Refraction too, if she were to have any hope of getting into the cave, as the magic used before had halfway sealed the entrance with the parasitic gems.

In fact, she would feel a tiny tug in her leg, where the small creature grabbed hold of her and looked up. Either it had heard that Lin needed help and wanted to come, or it had been sad after seeing it couldn't help Omen, and wanted to be picked up.

It had looked pretty sad when it were put towards the other statues again, and had gone kinda sluggish in that endeavor, but the look now were more neutral, and could be either really. Though whatever the reason, she'd have it to scare and drain the gems away, that were barring her from checking the place for potential missing parts of Omen.

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

@BloodDrops

To say that the guard were intimidated was an understatement, as he saw the sickly looking pony gobble up mice, rats, and assorted other critters she had been able to find, all the whilst keeping her eyes on him.

Truthfully, he was horrified, and frozen in place out of sheer fear, chanting silently to himself over and over *pleasedon'thurtme* in rapid succession. It didn't get easier when the pony then spoke to him, and the color straight up started to drain from his face.

"I-I-I... M-Meat? I... Y--Yes!"

He couldn't even formulate a sentence, as he was faced with something that he couldn't have been prepared for, and afterwards stumbled a few times over himself in his haste to get as quickly away from here as possible.

And now he was expected to bring meat to this terrifying mare? How would he ever get hold of that? This wasn't a griffon town, and he hadn't the faintest clue about hunting. Yet here he were, running away with his heart threatening to burst from the sound of it, and faced with knowing that he either got meat for her, or she would hurt somepony. And it had to be quick too. Even if he had been given until sunrise - quite some time, seeing as it was roughly 11 AM - how was he going to be sure that he really had that long? He couldn't take that chance.

A plan half-formulated in his head as he were almost at the forest, which didn't make him feel any better: The only hope he had, was to steal a prey from one of the Timberwolves.

He swore, if he actually managed to survive this, he was going to quit. His mother was right, guard duty was too much for him. He should've stayed a circus clown. At least there the worst that happened was when somepony put a shoe in the pies.

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

@~Phoenix~

"Follow me then."

Rose turned, and visibly sneered when she knew her back was completely turned away from the mare. Urgh, if only she could just toss her out...

Thoughts kept running through her head about con after con when it came to Phoenix, ranging from petty things to downright made up stuff - like how she were likely a gold digger - until they reached a large door, that would lead to the shower Phoenix needed.

Ont he way there, she would likely still not think this a house of somepony special. The walls had a few artworks of some value, without being from the greatest that once were, and beautiful furniture, lamps, carpets and such lined things, giving off a rather opulent and high cost feel to things, and since nothing personal lined the walls out here either, a hotel seemed a fair assumption for the uninitiated. it was preposterous to Rose, but she focused on flaws right now, and had little in the way of redeeming or understanding thoughts in the midst of her jealousy.

"Just leave the towels in the basket when you're done with them."

With that, she opened the door, and moved away so that Phoenix could walk in.

The room was incredible for what amassed to basically a bathroom. The sinks were pristine, and almost sparkled along with the rest of the porcelain facilities in this room. The room was spacious, the lavatory the sort you were unlikely to see anything close to outside of a nobles house, and the large tub witht he golden handles should look delightfully enticing. It had a tray bolted into the wall with oils, salts, soaps of various kinds, and even what would turn out to be a small radio to play some soothing music, if you truly wished to enjoy your bath, rather than just get clean.

Everything was clean and spotless in the room, and if she would look behind the mirror, she would find a cabinet stocked full of perfumes. Mostly things meant for stallions, but a few usually only mares bought could be spotted between the relatively masculine smells.

There were two towels here, hung on bars near the tub for easy access, and it should go without saying that the thread-count and softness was going to fit the overall feel of this place. That being fresh, and top-to-near-top of the line.

"I have to get something done, so I'll be leaving. When you eventually get out of here, follow the corridor further until you reach the main hall. I will tell Smokey to expect you at some point there."

*leaving* *get out of here*, her words were chosen carefully to show her displeasure at having to service the harpy, without being directly rude. It was just phrasing after all, unless the mare could see into her head and knew of the pain her mere presence caused Rose's heart. Not that she'd care though. The only one who ever cared about her, beyond her her few friends and family, were the one pony that had never cared as much as her heart yearned him to.

And now she had to get to him, and wait for his shower to end, before she could tell him that this mare were waiting for him... He was probably going to get all giddy with joy from hearing that...

That was the thought that simmered around her head as she left, leaving Phoenix with a bath that she could go into for both cleaning purposes, and a very relaxing next step after the episode before she woke up in this estate.

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

@Battenberg

"I kinda feel bad for her , you know? She's putting herself in a shell and can't poke out unless Angel is helping her. Guess you got a point about having him there then, if I can get the two to meet. He loves foals, and an energetic bundle of joy like Angel should help mellow him out a little, as well as calming Victoria. Might be he'll even focus on the ponies and how they're doing before he starts to judge how their manes and tails are looking."

"Are you talking about Snip Snap?"

Benny had popped his head in, just as the last bit were said, and grinned at the gathered ponies whilst holding the door open for Royal.

"Yes. We've been talking while you were away, and we... Kinda wanna try and hook Victoria up."

"With Snippy? Oh man, I should stay around for that and bring some popcorn. That will be a glorious meltdown. Uhm I mean... I-It's nice that you can perhaps help two ponies who have some issues finding somepony else. Hehe... Heh..."

The glare he had gotten back from Pop as he tried to be funny, had made the gas go out of his balloon a little as he apologized for the admittedly bad comment. Sometimes, he really didn't know what went over him and his big ol' mouth.

"Yes, it is nice. So, what've you two been talking about then, whilst we were making matches?"

About now, would be a good time for Royal to give a description of something regular they had spoken off, like sports or how his family were, or something like that, because Benny was a horrible liar. She'd figure him out in seconds.

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

@genessee

The larger griffon glared at the delivery colt, but didn't move. Instead he just waited , and kept an unblinking gaze on him, until Florence had gathered herself enough after her outburst to turn to Lance with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that. My name is Florence, and this is my uncle, Pyhrus. I was the one who ordered the fish."

She had paid in advance, so that wuouldn't be an issue, but what might were was the pony that wandered straight past Florence and looked at Pyhrus with a slacked jaw.

"Wait, Pyhrus? Not the one from Sundown Valley?"

The narrow eyes of the large, intimidating griffon and the clutching of his regular talon made her certain that she had hit something, and she went into a giant grin.

"Haha, I knew it! All the clues said you weren't dead, and everypony in Baltimore just said I was crazy. Lance, come on in already. THis guy's a real, bona fide hero."

The room echoed wit the loud sound of the metallic talon hammering into one of the beds he laid on, causing one of the legs to bend slightly.

"I am not, a hero. And what makes you think you know anything about me, equine?"

Berry rolled her eyes.

"Duh, I rummaged through trash near your village. Do you have any idea how many secret documents they think are gone if they tear them up and throw them away? I learned all kinds of stuff."

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

@cwhip9

Cover-up would have answered, but as they nearer the end of the trees, he saw something that caused the words to wither away like sand in his muzzle: A sign, saying Ormenthal.

It were a simple sign, carved out of a tree and placed on a pike, but at least it looked in somewhat good condition. What were beyond the sign however, were not.

The entirety of a town, where it seemed that once perhaps a few hundred had lived, laying in shambles.

There wasn't a building standing undamaged in the entire town, with varied degrees of damages from what would seemingly have to have been from the fire from the sky that had been shown in Cover-up's vision, though those were the only damages. There were no scorching anywhere, the ground looked undisturbed, and through the entirety of the once sprawling town, the only sound that could be heard, were the wind blowing through old buildings.

Zinthar jumped down, as the colt wandered towards a particularly destroyed house, with tears falling down his face, before his knees went weak, and he fell to the ground, crying and sobbing loudly. Even Zinthar, who had little love or pity for most, felt somewhat bad for the sulking colt as he saw him emotionally fall apart like this, though he didn't walk over to him. He didn't care that much.

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

@Lloyd

"I have. I mean, I'm an earth pony in a magic fight, how am I not dragging you down from having to keep my sorry flank intact? But the situation just haven't been for it, with all those surprise attacks happening all around wherever we've gone. Plus, you know, after all I've caused, I need to stand up to my responsibility in this. I can't leave you to handle that whilst I sit back and sip tea, constantly worried about whatever or not I'll see you again, and wondering if perhaps you'd be safer if I was there to take the hit instead.

Even if Athriel got nuked, and it was just Warlock out there, I'd still be worried about you when you got outta my sight.Just can't shake the feeling that I should be there to keep an eye out on you, no matter how much it's likely that I'd be more of a help if I didn't have to be a damsel in distress.

I know, I know, it's cheesy as all hay, but you wanted 'n honest answer, so there you have it."

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

@Lloyd

Athriel responded to his anger with a slight sneer,but nothing too large. She didn't want a fight with him currently.

"Keep hold of it when we take it back then. For now though... I think I might have something here..."

She flew down, and this time didn't pick up again, as she saw a weird protrusion in the trees, which brought a grin to her face the nearer she got. A part of the old stone were still poking out, and near the very tip, a symbol she had once carried herself stood clearly on the crumbling stone.

"We found it. Hold on, I'll get us through."

Using her magic and pouring it into her talons, an aura of blood magic seemed like it almost extended them threefold, before she flew down with substantial speed. With the talons first, she tore through vegetation of various kind with little more resistance than the feeling of punching eggs, and soon they'd be through to see the building beneath them.

It dwarfed the one they had been in before, but it was also well overgrown. Even if they had looked for it from the ground, they may actually have managed to miss it from how overgrown it were, near o many other trees that spouted massive growth. Whatever were with the vegetation on this isle, it had really done a number on the likely once easily accessible temple.

Landing on the cracked stone that made foe the main entrance, Warlock could let go now if he wanted to, whilst Athriel packed her wings in and looked with fascination at the place.

"A temple at the isle were dragons originated from... I wonder how much story this area holds, beyond just the element."

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

@Lloyd

Zhu had stopped talking before he finished the last time, interrupted by the first memory he had, so vividly burned into his head, of the first time he had opened his eyes, looked At the divine face of Celestia, and screamed, as her future began to unfold in front of him, and the first wave of incredible pain washed over his head..

It had taken days before she had attempted to put a blindfold on him and see if that helped, which did it until one day she finally understood why it was that he screamed whenever he had looked at her.

it was not something he blamed her for. How could she have known of the curse that befell him, when it was ans unique as it were? He had not even been able to express it well when he finally had been able to talk, and just said *Imahgssse, hurhtssss.".

How weird it were to think back on the time when he had spoken with that much pressure on his s'es, rather than the semi-growling he did now to get past that serpentine trait. A relic from the past, much like this egg were.

"I expected you to act, general. You don't follow the likely path for long it seems."

He lowered his paw from the glass, and rummaged around in his robes for something whilst he spoke to the general some way behind him.

After a time in silence, he would withdraw an envelope, and place it against the glass to his old egg, before slowly turning around to kinda face the general. Sort of at least, considering Zhu was still covered in the robes, and his head were lowered as to not face Iron Wing.

"Tell me, why did you not? I attacked your guards, and came into this room uninvited. Is that not something for somepony with a limited view to react upon? Or does the princess's safety mean nothing to you?"

Zhu was trying to rile a response out of the general now. Some clarity for himself, about how the general would approach his job now and in the future, especially if other creatures forced their way in here.

An ideal response would have something to do with him evaluating that the serpanther had not yet done something harmful, but he doubted that would be the case. Most beings had such a limited view on the grand picture that they focused on their own, small slice of reality, and their actions showed from that. In this case, the reality of this general should be that he were supposed to protect the royals at all costs, and his actions then would be predictable, even by those without his sight.

Still, nothing was guaranteed, and this pony may end up following a route that the serpanther had seen as unlikely, where he instead knew a balance between who to speak with, and who to attack. It would be fascinating in a way, but he doubted the general could stay that neutral. His job were after all, somewhat crafted around a certain bias.

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

@Lloyd

The doctors stopped what they were doing when it was slipped that the wqueen they were now working on, were related to the one who had caused quite a few of their relatives or friends harm, and whilst most of them went silent, one of them started to grab towards a tray of medical instruments. He'd barely get anywhere before Lieutenant Shimmer was in his face, looked him dead in the eyes, and coldly said "Get, out".

He took off quickly, and her attention went to the others.

"The same goes for the rest of you, but do not leave this floor. There may still be use of your services, and keep in mind that this information is to be considered highly classified, and if I hear even a whisper about it somewhere in town, I will have the lot of you arrested for treason."

They looked rather scared of that as they scampered off, which were the point really. Hopefully the changelings would understand and not say anything before the doctors had left the room, but once they had - well, most of them anyway - she would turn towards the queen once more with a far more apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry for that. Legally I couldn't arrest them even if I would, but you have to understand, a relative of Chrysalis, weakened, and in Canterlot? There would be a sizeable mob here within minutes, and I don't want unrest."

One doctor remained in the room, who hadn't left with the others, and he didn't say anything to this. He just kept on with his work, and shook his head with a little smile on his greying muzzle.

"Don't worry about Needle Stack either. He's a good, neutral party, and he'll monitor the both of you until further notice.

And... I am sorry ma'am, but I cannot forgive Chrysalis. a lot of my closest friends and relatives got hurt or were abducted because of her, and it's a miracle that we even managed to get my brother back before he got converted. Her victims are too plentiful to be forgivable to me, but I know where the line is. She is the one I hold responsible, and who my animosity is with. It won't extend to the rest of your kind.

Now, excuse me for a moment, I need to check up to make sure they do keep themselves in check out there, and to find out if there is any news on volunteers. There should have been some news at least by now."

Shimmer seemed rather collected as she excited the room, but she had to admit that her resolve had been tested there. Somepony the same race as Chrysalis was one thing, a queen another, but a blood relative? It would likely be the closest she would ever get to avenge what happened to those near her, and the soldiers she had lost, but if she gave in, who was she then? No officer worthy of their badge would put their own pettiness before the law, and if she couldn't live by the law, even in the worst of situations, what choice would she have but resign? Keep on going like it was nothing? She would be no better than the changeling who had hurt those in her life if she went around in a false shell like that.

Unbeknownst to her, she had been promoted because of this attitude to begin with. Dew had said something else, but he had singled her out because she were dedicated to the law and would make sure it was upheld, even if it hurt her to do so. That kind of resolve impressed her, and he had actually put in papers for a new promotion for her before he resigned, without her knowledge, as he had seen it really be tested and held when she volunteered to join the Changeling Integration Program. It would now stand with iron Wings if he agreed, but there would be time for everything. And if not, it wasn't as if she had known of it anyway, so there would be no harm done.

As for the doctor in the room, he cleared his throat after Shimmer had left the room, and went over to the queen with a blood pressure band.

"Lift your left front leg please."

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

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

Cherish looked interested, until Serenade started to get angry, at which point she took a step back and flickered a little.

I didn't mean anything bad about it. I swear, I'm just trying to understand. I've been gone from everything for so long, and changelings are the only non-ponies I know anything about that does anything with emotions, and the only non-ponies at all. Except griffons, but you don't look or act like those I've met."

Changelings had come to the castle a few times (recently, one had attempted to set up shop too) but they had all been scared away eventually. She still learned something about them though, like with the Griffons that once in a while would roost on the roof or in a tower when they were tired or needed the shelter from bad weather.

She didn't count Zebras, as they were kinda ponies in her mind, though she would admit that Ziggy here were the closest to any she had seen outside of a book. They weren't really around the area when she was alive.

"...DO you think you could make nice songs, instead of bad ones?"

It was a horrible segue, but she was curious, and it seemed like dwelling on changelings was a bad idea. Who knew? Perhaps Serenade would end up getting really angry, and use her songs, and who knew how that might work on Cherish? Of course, it would fall on dead ears, but her worries was all about the effect.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Blitz Boom

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