open Casual stroll

[Amanita 6,826]

Mirage looked slightly stunned by the request. But she did reply. “I don’t think that would be entirely safe on your part Miss. And I’d only do it with your father’s permission and if he does not than I will not put you in any danger.” She looks at Stargazer and sees him thinking on something. “And even professional archers can miss every now and then, so I can’t ever guarantee your safety. And I’d rather not put you or anypony else in danger.”

Amanita now starts ignoring the conversation going on in favor of listening to what’s around her, except the conversation.

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich @Dji Serenade listens to the ghost explaining everything to the Guard and Princess Sparkle, but she is focused on making sure Ziggy isn't bumped too hard, she didn't want the Zegasus waking up screaming and in pain. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

Not too far from where things were taking place, a yellow pegasus fell from the sky, hitting his a bit too hard. "Ugh... where did the reality stick take me this time?" The bewildered pegasus said, holding what seemed to look like a normal stick.

[Storm Shine 1,195]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

Discord chuckled merrily, "Why, he's quite small indeed! The average Refraction used to be at least as large as the average Pony's... Well.. House! It's to be expected at his age, however." He informed Omen, gesturing at the buildings in the area. "As for a name, well I'd say he's much to young to have already been named, so whatever Name you give him will likely stick as his True Name. He's practically marked you as his parent, with how attached he is to you." At that the chaos embodiment leaned over to pat Omen's head gently, a very genuine smile crossing over his features. "And I would say that I'm very happy Omen. I've felt more Joy since meeting Fluttershy than I've felt in the rest of my, rather grand (if you ask me), existence." Standing up, the spotlight loving spirit continued his spectacle, "I want to go back, to my little grass shack~, where the humuhumunukunukuapua'a go swimming by~!" He chuckled, and began strumming the guitar somewhat aimlessly, producing a sound not unlike flowing waves "I do admire the composer for being able to fit a word like that into song." Discord mused.

(The song pieces were from Little Grass Shack by Don Po. Kind of a nod to the 1/4th Hawaiian in me, not that anypony could really tell by looking at me. The humuhumunukunukuapua'a is also known as the Reef Triggerfish (in english anyways ) and aside from being Hawaii's State Fish, it's also a territorial little ankle biter with the longest name of any fish, clocking in at 21 letters and 12 syllables. )

Edited January 4, 2018 by Storm Shine

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Astral froze as she saw Athriel run to Chow, But then an idea came to mind. Suddenly there was a seemingly harmless burst of teleportation magic, around the griffons neck. Then Sapphire's gem appearing in her hoof, Glowing a deep red, almost like a ruby as the soul of Sapphire rammed against the outside of the gem whilst Astral's anger grew, she extended a sword outwards. "We'll see about that." Astral looked to the gem, then to Athriel as her eyes turned blue around Sapphire's presence, much stronger than before.

"She's trapped, you can't free her." Warlock stepped forward and was ready to charge at her. "You have no idea how to free her either." Suddenly the gem went flying to Warlock as he then caught it in his hoof. "Not like we need another pony against us anyway." Astral gasped as he took the gem away, grabbing the sword and running to him, ready to slice through him. Warlock grinned and slid to the side and lifted his hoof up and pushed her to the side, causing her to land in front of Athriel, as well as the sword, Astral trying to get up but then falling back down, seeming as if Warlock was keeping her down. "We've overpowered you." He walked away from her, knowing she was in Athriel's hooves now. "No need to delay the inevitable." He formed a necklace around the gem again and handed it to Athriel. "After this is done, we can free her." He said, with a growing smile on his face, already seeing himself winning this fight with Sapphire working for him instead of against him.

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

Feeling such a surge of magic pour out of him was certainly not healthy, as he started shaking, as if his body was trying to chase the magic that left him, but with restraint. His eyes then would turn grey, as he'd fall unconscious.

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

Iron Wing did land well, already haven experience enough hard landings to deal with this one. Although after watching what happened to Enzo soon after, he approached the Sphinx, and looked it in the eye. "Why would you join Warlock? He has nothing to offer you, in fact it seems he's taken the gem you protected." He said, raising his wings up, letting the blades of them shine light to show how sharp and polished they were, mostly as a form of threatening Enzo. "Unless he does?"

[EQ_Theta 422]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

The long name Discord said out of the blue caught both siblings off-guard, seemingly spacing them out for a moment before remembering what is happening at the moment. Naming the little creature is pretty much up to Omen now despite Sen having one or two names in mind. Then again, it wasn't used to him being around due to differing scents and whatnot which meant it would likely bite him in the nose again instead of accepting a name. But on to Brute's question; he noticed the unicorn glancing at him despite his sister being the one to first catch the question. Strange, really, since he would have expected her to quickly reply. 

"Oh, uh... yeah, we aren't really experts on the crystals. We only saw this several hours ago and had to find someone who knew. Do either of the names Clayton Quartz or Fancy Filigree mean anything to you? We were told to find Fiddler to get our message to Fancy Filigree about the crystals appearing in an old, abandoned mine in Fillydelphia. Whatever happened here, Fiddler wasn't the first to fall victim to the parasitic crystals." 

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

@Blitz Boom

"What if they aren't as brutish as we make out? If dragons are wrong about us then how do we know we're not wrong about them? Even if some of them are brutish, doesn't mean all of them are, I'm sure there's some very brutish ponies around, I'm possibly one of them. If I'm tolerable to a dragon like Jade, what does that say about me? No offence Benny..."

Victoria's manner had changed, it was as if all meanness had left her body and had been completely replaced with misery, her mane suddenly seemed duller and less curled that it had before the encounter, but refusing to be beaten by her emotions she attempted a wobbly smile and trotted forwards.

"We better get you to your family before more of them come to us."

She took the lead from Benny and was closely followed by Sprinkles  just above and behind her, flapping much more slowly and gently than usual, her eyes were focused on the mare, looking out for her.

"Good idea, I don't want another encounter like that, made a fool out of myself. You were great by the way Victoria, the way you stood up to Jade and defended me and Pop, that was very noble of you, you're nothing like Jade even if she did find you tolerable, I mean she didn't exactly like you that's got to count for something."

"Thanks Cupcake, just looking out for my friends."

There was no hesitation to Victoria calling them her friends this time, she clearly wasn't in her normal state of mind. Sprinkles seemed a little taken aback at being called Cupcake, it was a name normally only given to her by her mother, since her mother Strawberry Sprinkles shared the sprinkles part of her name it was a way of avoiding saying her own name when calling her daughter, everyone else knew her as sprinkles, Cupcake had become more of an affectionate name for the pegasus for this reason.

"Y-you have dust in your mane Victoria, do you want me to get that for you?"

"Leave it, doesn't matter now."

Victoria continued to trot, not looking back at her band of followers, not wanting them to see the tears welling in her eyes.

 

[genessee 535]

@Blitz Boom

"O-okie dokie then. I'll, uh, h-head over there right n-now."

Luckily, the dose of coffee had only impaired his speech noticeably. He was able to walk to the kitchen with only some twitching that could, hopefully, be easily missed. 

Hey, I'll probably be able to spring through the entire delivery. The only problem'll be not dropping the food...

He had forgotten his fear of Chow, but that was likely to only be temporary until he talked to the scarred stallion again.

Edited January 5, 2018 by genessee

[BloodDrops 762]

On 26/12/2017 at 10:45 PM, Blitz Boom said:

Nerzhei had to take another swig of the vial in her bag when she was confronted with the previous examples of what leaving Blood alone caused.

"What's that?"

Slappy asked the Dragoness mainly because he had heard stories about how some of them liked more spirited drinks, and that was why they were so angry and histile all the time. Sure it didn't fit when he had met Benny the first time and the blacksmith had hugged him, but Benny was a weird one to begin with from what he had heard, so he didn't think the stereotypes could really be used when it came to him.

"It's a serum against migraines. Idiocy hurts my head."

Nerzhei did drink, but it was rarely, and she tried not to go too far. She had done so once before, and the aftermath were an embarassment she did not think fondly off.

"You're both following me, so I can keep an eye on you. Blood is right, we shouldn't take any more risks. Hope you can handle the heat."

Methodically, Nerzhei removed her robe, and her bag. It felt weird to be without them, as if she were naked, even if how she would then stand would be how most of her kind stood.

Her scales were well preserved. A life of books and studying had left her little in the ways of scars, and she looked more delicate than her strength and robed would normally suggest.

This was a part she did not like of herself. She hated being seen as weak, and exposed, like she were little more than a beast, or a simpleton like most of her kind were in her eyes. Something which you could see in the way she clutched her arms and legs closer to her body, whilst the tail slithered closer to wrap slightly around her. As if she tried to shield herself, and cover her scales.

But she had little choice. The flames would scorch her clothes, smoulder her books... There was no other way.

She ignored the nervous glances of Slappy, who were still trapped in this situation, and plunged her hand into the ground. She winched as the rock clamped tightly around her fist, but she had little choice. She hadn't the time to look for tools now, so she had to make use of what she knew.

To think that her fathers lessons in armor crafting would turn out to carry her so often in life... If they ever met again, perhaps she would have to give him the credit he was due. He was not as useless and ignorant as she had always given him credit for, perhaps just practical and narrow-minded.

Her shoulder hung as she rose up from the ground, with a fist now covered in solid rock, flattened in angles and corners to provide what she needed for a hammering.

"I forgot how much this hurts... Slappy, find me metal in the container. Thick lumps, as closely as can be. I need to get to work."

He would follow orders and wander up to rummage through and find as big chunks of metal as he could. Some of them she sorted away, though most she took in and gathered up, then started to let loose the flames from deep within her being.

Both if them would be wise to not stand too close whilst she started to melt and hammer the iron to something resembling a working anvil. The sparks and heat would be harsh, and dangerous if they got into contact.

She did not seem to enjoy this though. Even if she tries to remain focussed on the task, she felt her arm and hand tremble with every strike, whilst the strong flames spread soot on her scales. She were not a fire-leaning dragon, she was of the earth, and though that made her sturdy, this work would take its toll on her. Hopefully she could at least get something productive done before that.

Blood blinked as Nerzhei began to strip off, she frowned but didn't comment. It wasn't a good idea to comment on something that was much larger then oneself. She though sat down as she began to make sparks and heat, she did like heat and scooted slightly closer towards the source.

She blinked and stared at Slappy and frowned at him "why you still here?" I grumbled, I blinked as one of the sparks landed in my tail, though it was warm so i didn't move too much, I liked heat sources especially dragon made ones.

"Nerzhei can you make it hotter? it's hard to get warm in this armour" I grumble trying to get closer to the heat but not the sparks since it might set my hair alight.

(back from Christmas break)

[Blitz Boom 4,443]

@genessee

Inside the kitchen, Chop wouldn't be the only Pony present. Opposite of him stood Stare, and looked up on him with a small blush reddening her cheeks.

"- you know where I am."

As he finished whatever he had talked to her about, he reached something on a chain closer towards her. The light of the kitchen reflected off the glass of the round mirror as it got nearer, and with a small bit of hesitation, Stare straightened her neck so the cook could place the silver chain around it.

"I'll need to think first, but... Thank you for finding this."

She reached down and pulled the mirror upwards, giving her a look at both herself and the jeweled gift from long ago. The sparkliness of the gems competed with the troubled look in going over her eyes for her attention, and she found herself lingering more on the later, rather than the former. 

"No problem. Just be careful where you put it."

Chop smiled at her before noticing that somepony else where there. It softened up his face quite a bit, but It withered away rapidly as his eyes focused on Lance, and Stare awkwardly scurried out of the kitchen.

"'bout time. Ready for deliveries?"

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

 

@Battenberg

It was really weird for Benny to see Victoria take the lead, after having just given directions thus far. She seemed like she had been okay not leading things from the front until now, and then with the compliment to Sprinkles... Something was wrong.

The first thought were that his mother had really gotten to her, but he wasn't sure why. The analogy was horrible, and he thought that Pop had explained this well, and yet here they were. Victoria was rushing ahead of them, oddly quiet all of a sudden, and before that she had been rambling on...

He took a few larger steps to get closer to her, but Pop stopped him, and shook her head. She wasn't sure what was going on with Victoria right now, but she was thinking that perhaps it wasn't the best for them to go up and disturb her.

"Give her a little space. I'm sure she's going to tell us if she haves something on her mind."

Benny halted, but then took a decision and sped up, until he was near the side of Victoria. Not close enough to see her face unless she turned towards him, but it should be good enough hopefully.

If she sped up to get away from him, he'd stop and wander back to the others again, but if she didn't, he'd try and put on his best sympathy voice and worried expression as he would confront her.

"Hey, Victoria? Are you okay?"

(Following happens if she goes faster as well, but Benny will remain quiet)

Behind Victoria, Pop would shake her head a little at Benny's decision. She didn't think it too wise, but she knew that he had to try and fix every problem he encountered, and it wasn't always that he'd listen to her when she figured it was best to leave something  or somepony alone. It was endearing, but also volatile, as not everypony liked being approached when something was wrong.

"Is this normal for her, Sprinkles? I mean, she usually seems so talkative, but then after Jade came around... You don't think her words hit Victoria too hard, do you?"

If anypony in their group would know, it would likely be Sprinkles. She had known the fanciful mare for a while, and though they didn't seem close, surely she would've seen Victoria act in a variety of ways, and could tell what was going on right now.

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

 

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Omen looked at her master, absorbing everything he said. Even if she wasn't as bound to his every whim as she once had been, her initiate reaction were still to trust his words and believe it without hesitation. She'd then question things after that if it didn't make sense or if she got confused, which had once been at everything he said and did.

Coming from a world of no learning, Omen had relied entirely on Discord to teach her things, like one would a growing foal. However, because of all he had to do, the changing world of chaos, and how they only got 4 years before he was trapped, she hadn't learned much, and most had been useless once Equestria reverted to its old form.

Now that he was back in her life, she found herself looking at him for answers again, as the deal had been when she was formed. As Mother had said: *They get forms and teachers, whilst their masters gets willing servants.*

"Good that somepony makes you happy master."

She remembered a time when he sometimes didn't smile, but was crying instead. Times she had been ordered never to tell anypony about, as Discord had at least then not wanted to speak openly in regardless to his sadness and loneliness.

She turned away from him and looked at the Refraction, just as it breathed another glittery pillar towards the ceiling.

"Shrimp. Seems okay."

Turning back to Discord, she titled her head at his song, and a rather strange word that had been put into it.

"What does the long word mean, Master Discord?"

Brute wondered that as well, but she wasn't going to say something. She'd just listen in to what sort of answer the creepy mare was gonna get, and otherwise focus on the siblings and Shrimp, as it seemed like the Refraction was being called now.

"Sounds like a strange turn of events. Not sure if I trust it, but it appears like this is working, so I'll take your word on it for now."

As she said that, some of the door cracked from the attempted retreat of the gems, showing a bit of the room behind it. It looked pretty much normal from the sliver that could be seen, but it would be hard to evaluate properly without getting more of a view. Didn't seem to be that full of crystals though.

"'Bout your names... I ain't sure who this Clayton is, but I remember Filigree alright. Never seen a mare in my life I trusted less. Not sure what it is, but something about the Bat Pony never sat well with me.

I haven't seen her in a long time though. Been... 10 years or so? Sounds about right."

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

 

@Lloyd

Athriel grinned at the sword, then took it. She was not one for using these, but Chow had, and she had been locked inside his head long enough to have picked up some things. Demeaning stuff for her usually, but with the magical limitations she had (and with the lack of the muscle they had brought along more than likely) a physically trained body would be a helpful tool. Lacking wings of course, but she didn't know how to use blades as a Griffon. She did as this, as was proven when she swung the blade in a rather fluid motion that would be inches away from hitting Astral.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. After all, I want the whole family there for the big gathering after I gain my element,a nd with both Sapphire and you in our grasp, we're getting closer.

Accept you've lost and stop struggling, and perhaps if you're lucky, I won't use all of this vessel's blood to return your mother.

That is of course, unless you don't like Chow? Do go ahead and say it if it is, right into our face. I'm making sure he's seeing, hearing, and feeling everything right now, and I'd so enjoy feeling his spirit break."

She sincerely hoped that Astral would do so, but she had her doubts about whatever or not she'd actually have the lack of a brain to say that, not to speak of being heartless enough. Either way, physically, magically or mentally, she could go right on ahead and hurt Chow now. He would be the only one feeling it, whilst she could just go ahead and find another vessel.

The blade was held firmly in Athriel's right hoof as she chuckled and looked at Astral with the knowledge that Warlock and her had all the cards plastered over her expression.

"Do you yield? Or are we going to need to administer a spanking?"

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

 

@Lloyd

The doctors - though confused at what had just happened - were on Iron the second they saw him collapse and got him situated in a bed before they flocked around him like crows. They weren't sure what had just gone on, and in what way it had affected the stallion, but they were going to check for any kinds of effects it had regardless.

Meanwhile, Scarcity had almost finished the circle around the bed, and with a last little mumbling chant, completed it. It didn't look like anything to a normal Pony other than dust, but to those using Dark Magic, the light glow and feeling of something being sickeningly holy should keep them at bay. And if not, the fact that the circle was impassable by those users should.

Internally she sighed after this. It had taken her around half the jar to go all the way around this bed, and what she had used there, cost her upwards of seventy thousand bits. The only place she knew of that made this were extremely secretive and did not allow any outsiders in, so getting hold of some of this was a miracle in itself. They more or less only sold a small potion when the area were in need of funds, and there was no shortage of eager buyers the second they heard one had ventured out with a jar of this.

She looked over at Misty, as Iron was currently too covered by doctors to be really seen, and gave the filly a smile.

"I know this may seem a silly question considering everything, but how are you handling things dear?"

It was a stupid question, but the filly had been silent through all of this, and she wondered what effect all of this had on her. Her caretaker was gone, whoever she was in the room with were hurt by the magic pouring out of him before, and she had been in the middle of what could have turned out to be a very ugly fight. Scarcity were curious if the little filly could handle all of that, and honestly, she were somewhat concerned too, and wanted to help ease the Zebra filly's mind if she could.

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

 

@Lloyd

Enzo hissed as the general approached him, and attempted to roll around and get on his paws, but a strong gust of wind messed with his balance, and he landed on his side instead.

"They offered me vengeance. You think that everything the Pillars did was good and pure? No, they need to be punished for what they did!"

"What in Equestria are you talking about?"

"The Pillars of Divinity were the collective name of those who were tasked to hid the elements. Some were good, but fanatics were not uncommon."

Scorn growled in the direction of Zhu, and got on his feet.

"The Pillars saved the world, Serpanther. They kept these things hidden for the sake of good."

"Lies! They did not want good. They just wanted to feel important for their own, selfish reasons!"

Enzo and Scorn began to hiss and growl at eachother, though the now-risen Sphinx dwarfed the Dragon enough to make it apparent who would win if it came down to it.

"There is a difference between doing something for the greater good, and actually being good yourself. As limiting as looking at only the good is, the ones who sealed the Element of Hatred I can say were an equalizer more than a burden on balance."

He looked up the Sphinx, who gave a brief glance towards the hooded figure. Whoever he was, he was talking more sense than this scaled mud-brain were.

"Could you elaborate?"

This did not seem good, but keeping them talking would give the other guards time to mobilize, and it stopped them from destroying things currently. As such, Dew had a vested interest in fostering this conversation to go further.

"I was taking my first flight when I was trapped by those scaled monsters, and bound to this dingy temple to guard something I didn't even know what were. Pleas, threats, attempts at bribery, all fell on deaf ears. They just kept on talking through the temple and ignoring me, only bringing food and water when they had to, until they just left me there to rot. How could I not want vengeance on them for that?"

Scorn gritted his teeth.

"Stories were clear, you were a monster that hurt a lot of Dragons. You were put there as penance."

"Why do you defend their lies, mongrel? Are you with them!?"

"He is. Furthermore, his cousins grandfathers name is Crackleback."

Hatred flared in Enzo eyes, and out of nowhere, layer upon layer of cloth came forth and wrapped around the Dragon, who did his to burn away at them, but there was a limit to how long he could do this before he was overtaken. Before it went too far though, Zhu would start to talk again.

"It's curious how alike you and the old Dragon's master are. Both willing to take not the ones who hurt them, but just somepony with a connection."

The cloth slowed down, and Enzo looked at Zhu like he was a bug to be squashed. Something which did not cause the Serpanther to wince even the slightest.

"Him, and all of his companions, hurt me too much to be forgiven. And if they're gone, I will settle for this generation."

"Time takes away everything. Joy, laughter, and memories alike. Come closer, and I will give you back wheat I have seen time take from you."

"And what's that?"

"The truth. Everything that happened that day, so you can recall every face of those who deserves to be hurt."

Enzo was skeptical, but he tentatively came closer, still with Scorn caught and unable to even wriggle. He wasn't sure how this being would tell him the truth. All that happened as he got closer, were the Zhu placed a striped paw on his no... se...

A distant look went over the Sphinx's eyes as Zhu made contact. Nothing else was shown though, and for all intents and purposes, the two had just frozen there for no apparent reason.

Dew leaned over towards Wing as he saw this, whilst lifting the visor on his helmet.

"In case whatever is happening now doesn't end well, be ready to aim for the back legs. He seems capable of protecting his front, and he were always making sure we didn't get behind him before. Likely a few weak spots back there."

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

 

@MiragetheChangeling

"Awh..."

Jelly looked all disappointed when she was told that it was probably not a good idea.

"You should listen to her Jelly. It could be dangerous, and I don't want to worry about you getting hit by an arrow. And t hat's not even speaking of your mother. Do you remember the first time I took you out to see that dojo you'd been eyeing? She was a nerve wreck."

Jelly remembered that episode well. It had been completely innocent, and she wasn't actually gonna get hurt, but seeing how worried she had been over being told how she had been checking the place out had made Jelly walk away from it... For about a year. It had still been pretty fun in her eyes after all, and her mother did warm up to it after a while.

But Mirage and Stargazer was right. She couldn't go off and put herself in an actual dangerous position, or her mom was gonna end up shaking horribly when she found out, and she didn't want her to be worried. Especially not with her little sister or brother on the way.

"Okay. Can I learn how to shoot a bow though?"

Stargazer chuckled and ruffled the back of her mane, making sure not to hit Gary.

"Daaaad."

"How about we wait until everypony's settled in before we start to think about that? You're about as new here as they are Jelly, and I think it'll be good for everypony to be settled first and foremost."

"I'll ask another time then. Archery sounds like fun though."

Whilst she started to settle her mane right again, Stargazer turned to the others with a tired and appreciative smile.

"Thank you for easing her away from things. Foals are great, but sometimes they can be stubborn little things when they find something they find fun. I can imagine Changeling nymphs can be little danger magnets at times too, yes?"

He barely knew anything about the small ones of their insectoid brethren, beyond that their foals were called nymphs. An interesting name certainly, but knowing only that was frankly rather bad. For all he knew, they might just sit still until they were old enough to hunt for love, or just constantly fought like some kind of irate badgers.

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

 

@BloodDrops

Nerzhei didn't answer the question, as she tried to keep her focus on the anvil she were attempting to create.

The constant clang of hard rock hammering against scorching metal filled the air, whilst small droplets of sweat tickled down the Dragoness's forehead. It would take a few more minutes of this, in which time she would mostly ignore them, before she considered herself done enough to stop spitting out fire and sink her arm heavily to the ground.

The form looked rather rough for what she were going to need it for, but by all intents and purposes, she had made a functional piece. She would let actual blacksmiths about making something that were also pretty.

She slumped down on the ground and leaned herself against the container, needing a break. Her arm still hurt from the pressure put on to it from the rocks, but she couldn't take it off right now, or she'd have to start all over with the assembly, and that was worse.

All the while this and the other work had gone on, Slappy had not replied to Blood. He had opened his muzzle a few times, but between his nervousness and the loud clanging, no reply had escaped him until now.

"W-Why I'm still here? She didn't s-say I could leave. She specifically asked both of us to s-stay."

"Because I don't want to risk you ratting her out, and causing a pandemic. The less that knows she's here the better."

The Dragoness grumbled irritably, and turned towards the armored Zombie.

"Did you say something about wanting warmth before? Either I got soot in my ear, or you actually wanted to get fire stronger than what it takes to work with metal. I'm hoping it's soot, 'cause if not,t he answer is no. I'm an earth-specified Dragon. If you want the real heat, you'll need to find one of the fire ones. They should be easy enough to spot if you do. They like to live around volcanic sites and bathe in lava."

Edited January 5, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Amanita 6,826]

“Of course, I don’t want anypony getting hurt because of me.” She pauses for a moment at what Stargazer last said. “Well, the ones I have seen, and the one I have cared for.” She points at Amanita slightly at the last part of her sentence, “They sure do like to get into danger, but one in particular, a.k.a. my adopted child, had a good reason, which was her disability. Not being able to see causes you to get in even more danger than others. And yes they are quite stubborn at times.” She chuckles slightly.

Amanita chimes in at this point. “But it gets boring when you’re waiting for someone to finish training!” She says this like a filly almost, a rather bored one at that, not much to do besides listen for her.

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

@Blitz Boom

Victoria did not answer Benny at first, why she remained silent it wasn't clear, maybe she was thinking of a way to answer the question, not knowing whether she should give a real answer or not. She had deliberately pushed her mane into her face, hiding her expressions away from all but herself. She gave a deep sigh and finally spoke.

"I know you probably can't relate because you seem to be such a nice dragon, but I've just got this horrible feeling that I'm a bad person. Everyone think I'm unfeeling, rude and mean just because that's how I like to portray myself. What they don't realise is that it hurts to see ponies, or anyone really, react to my behaviour. The number of times I've made my sister cry either by being mean or just not letting her through to me, I can't even count. I hate to see her cry but I never comfort her, I just walk away. It never mattered to me that much, I live my life carefree and I never let my feelings show, but then I encountered your mother."

She turned to look at Benny now, her mane falling back revealing her running mascara as tears rolled from her eyes. She was crying, but not bawling, it was probably the most Victoria way of crying possible.

"I don't say that to be rude, I'm sure she was a good mother and you probably love her a lot, but seeing someone else act how I normally do makes it feel much more real, I now know exactly how everyone feels when I speak to them in my standoffish nature, it's one thing seeing it but another feeling it. I think for the first time I actually feel... regret."

She wiped her eyes with a hoof, leaving black make-up smeared across her fur.

"I probably could have kept up my previous appearance and just swallowed the pain, like I normally do, but then she made comments on motherhood. That's a sensitive subject for me, makes me think about if I ever will be a mother and if I am, will I be a good one? That's why I'm allowing my tears to flow, what kind of mother doesn't show her emotions? Of course letting myself cry has, as I was saying, let all my emotions lose and now I'm crying not just for my own sake but for the sake of everyone I've hurt."

Victoria seemed to have finally broken, the combination of Pop and Benny being kind to her, added to her future aspirations and the encounter with Jade had finally built up enough raw emotion inside the stubborn pony that she couldn't help but let it out.

"Maybe it's time I changed, it would be much easier to find a coltfriend if I did that. I'll still accept you and Pop's help of course, and I'm not going to sit here and change my personality, I still hate mess and I hate being told what to do and having my opinions warped by other ponies, that's real, but maybe I'll go about my daily life as someone who smiles and hugs and laughs. Then I can finally stop seeing that pain and doubting my ability to care."

She stopped walking and looked Benny right in his eyes, her own eyes a purple sea of tears shimmering in the sunlight. Before he knew what was happening the small pony had wrapped her hooves around him and squeezed him tight, her tears now rolled down his scales.

 

Sprinkles looked at Pop with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I'm just as surprised as you are... Nobody besides my mother has called me Cupcake, ever, not even Battenberg and she's my closest friend. I've never seen her this humble and complimentary either, she's normally so stuck up. Maybe we're finally getting a glimpse at the real Victoria, the creature inside the shell.

Her puzzlement grew further as she watched the previously cold mare hug the dragon, accepting his comfort and allowing her emotions to get the better of her.

"Wow, Benny seems to be good at understanding us ponies, never seen a pony want to hug another dragon, nor have I seen a dragon accept a hug like that. I'm not sure if we should be concerned about Victoria or not. I've never seen her like this before and it worries me but at the same time, maybe this is good for her? The more she lets her emotions out the nicer she'll allow herself to become. I think this version of Victoria has been trying to break free for a long time and you two have somehow figured out how to open the cage where others like me and even her own sister have failed."

The situation was very alien to Sprinkles, as nice as she'd tried to be to Victoria, despite her constant rejection, she hadn't much liked her mentor's sister, but now she could see that changing.  Maybe Victoria just needed an outside influence, besides Sprinkles and her mother Victoria didn't really interact with those who were not her own family.

 

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

She almost chuckled at Athriel's line, standing off the ground. "I've told him before I've had a crush on him, and despite all of this madness, it's still there." She said, with narrowing eyes. "Although it's as if you'd ever know what that is like."

Warlock rolled his eyes at the situation, starting to back away from the two. "Her sister betrayed her to love." The gem's smoke reacted harshly to that sentence, Warlock chuckling as he looked to it. "But refuses to reunite for it, do you want to follow a similar path?"

"I'd much prefer it, so I can go a life without a need for more." She started walking towards Warlock, who just stood there. "Unable to fill that hole that resides deeply inside me." She slid backwards, looking down as Warlock pushed her away with magic.

"Both of us are fully aware I lost a family, no need to remind me." He said with a growing frustration towards her.

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

Misty looked at Scarcity, shivering a little, trying her best to hide her fear. "I-I don't know what to say." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I keep losing them, we're separated so often now. I don't know why she even brings me along with the danger I get into." In her hooves Scarcity might notice a gem of sorts, which had been there for quite some time, it was a deep blue, almost glowing as Misty spoke, the gem was similar in color to the Element of Depression and while Misty might not clue into what it was, Scarcity might.

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

He looked away, Iron Wing knew of course that the pillars had saved Equestria many times, but his feathers were prepared to slice at Enzo if the situation went south, as every single one of them orrented forwards towards Enzo, ready to strike. Wing nodding as Dew spoke to him.

[Storm Shine 1,195]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

Discord smiled gently at Omen, "The Humuhumunukunukuapua'a is a name in another language for a fish from another world. In Equish it would mean 'Reef Triggerfish', and it tends to be a territorial little hoof-biter" He said, conjuring up a more friendly version of the fish to swim around the air in a docile manner as an example.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Storm Shine

[Foxy Socks 2,596]

@Blitz Boom

Foxy was already halfway across the stream before Briar could finish asking if she needed help. "No thanks, I don't really mind it." Foxy didn't think much of it, as it wasn't the only time she had to cross a river, in fact, she knew how to do so quite well. While she could simply fly over, Foxy had a tendency to act more like an Earth pony, often ignoring her wings' purpose.

 

Sure enough, the area Briar mentioned was covered in plants, making it a tricky task to find the entrance. Foxy slowly put her right hoof of it and felt around for the entrance. It did take a minute, however it wasn't too bad to find. Moving the roots out of the way was another thing, however, and it tired her out. She waited for the others before going inside.

[EQ_Theta 422]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

Bat pony? 10 years? It doesn't sound quite right but maybe it's because the siblings haven't had all the pieces fit in just yet. Some of it does sound intriguing though. The bat pony part might have some relation to the other name given to them. Silky Rose... probably someone familiar to Filigree but it would take more than just the mere association of race to pin anything more than just that to the events unfolding here. It is a coincidence but not one that would guarantee a lightbulb moment of realization because the explanation was nowhere near perfect. At least it's something to work with once their meeting commences, if Fiddler was on the other side.  

"Sound like you don't like this Fancy Filigree character," Sen replied. "What feels off about her?"

[BloodDrops 762]

14 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Nerzhei didn't answer the question, as she tried to keep her focus on the anvil she were attempting to create.

The constant clang of hard rock hammering against scorching metal filled the air, whilst small droplets of sweat tickled down the Dragoness's forehead. It would take a few more minutes of this, in which time she would mostly ignore them, before she considered herself done enough to stop spitting out fire and sink her arm heavily to the ground.

The form looked rather rough for what she were going to need it for, but by all intents and purposes, she had made a functional piece. She would let actual blacksmiths about making something that were also pretty.

She slumped down on the ground and leaned herself against the container, needing a break. Her arm still hurt from the pressure put on to it from the rocks, but she couldn't take it off right now, or she'd have to start all over with the assembly, and that was worse.

All the while this and the other work had gone on, Slappy had not replied to Blood. He had opened his muzzle a few times, but between his nervousness and the loud clanging, no reply had escaped him until now.

"W-Why I'm still here? She didn't s-say I could leave. She specifically asked both of us to s-stay."

"Because I don't want to risk you ratting her out, and causing a pandemic. The less that knows she's here the better."

The Dragoness grumbled irritably, and turned towards the armored Zombie.

"Did you say something about wanting warmth before? Either I got soot in my ear, or you actually wanted to get fire stronger than what it takes to work with metal. I'm hoping it's soot, 'cause if not,t he answer is no. I'm an earth-specified Dragon. If you want the real heat, you'll need to find one of the fire ones. They should be easy enough to spot if you do. They like to live around volcanic sites and bathe in lava."

Blood rubbed against the newly created anvil. It was very warm and it warmed her armour up nicely. She blinked at the naked dragon. "I said warm not melt me into a puddle or burn me to a crisp" I grumbled contuing to rub against the anvil making a loud scrapping sound.

 "Anyway being a dragon your going to be warmer then a pony. Since you can breath fire, so it got to be warm anyway. You can be my new fire warmer. Or heat bringer. Yes I like that more" I remarked

She frowned at Slappy, "yes no pandemic, you rat me out and you be the first I eat" I growled. Blood had enough troubles as it was then getting drawn into a witch hunt. Or zombie hunt for that matter.

Blood began to frown, the anvil was cooling down too much for her liking. Soon it would be cold and she would have to rub against something warm. Maybe the Nerzhei would be good for rubbing against

[genessee 535]

@Blitz Boom (( Got a new computer, totally forgot to check the forums due to hype-- my bad ))

"Y-yeah, ready as I'll ever be!"

Lance didn't dwell on the fact that Chop found the chain before he did. 

But what did he mean by 'I'll be there'?

Either way, he had deliveries to do.

[Blitz Boom 4,443]

@MiragetheChangeling

Stargazer rose an eyebrow in surprise as Mirage said that she had adopted Amanita. From the looks of things, he had just assumed that she were either the larger Changeling's guard, or perhaps friend. Adoptive mother had not struck him as an option at all.

"As a foster foal myself, I'd like to commend you on taking on the responsibility. Sadly not too many that're willing to take a lost foal in."

He made a salute towards the mare, which Jelly copied, though she had a far larger grin on her face, and were still upside-down.

"I must admit, I hadn't thought you had adopted her. You seem nearly the same age, but I suppose Changelings grows up differently than Ponies too. I really do need to educate myself more on the subject one of these days."

"Hehe, perhaps you're  the one who needs to go to school."

Father and daughter exchanged a humored look for a moment over that one. Jelly could be a smartypants when she wanted to be, though where she had that from he had no idea. He was more mellow in it, and his ex couldn't recall anypony in her family (herself included) that really acted that way. Best they could figure, this might've come from his side, though in that case, they were out of luck. He had never known them, and after over forty years, he had doubts that he'd get to meet them out of nowhere.

"Hey, what sorta training did you mean Amanita? Is it like guard training? I usually go around exploring when daddy and mommy went to train there. Found a Dragon like that once. He gave me a cookie."

Stargazer had been overly worried the first time he had not been able to find Jelly at the training grounds, though his then-wife had been far worse until they had finally found her getting rides around from Benny. It had been the first time either of them had met the recently-hired Dragon, and it had ended... Well, not too good really. They had both been rather concerned at that point, and seeing him had made them utter some things they weren't too proud of. How he had just brushed it off and forgiven them after both that and the strikes on him, still surprised the middle-aged Bat Pony sometimes.

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

 

@Battenberg

Pop looked at the weird scene, where Victoria had first talked to, and then quickly started to hug Benny. He hadn't halted from hugging her back after the short surprise of the Pony's embrace had settled, and were now currently resting his head on hers, with his tail wrapped gently around them ans whispering something to her that Pop couldn't hear.

"I'm honestly not sure what it is we've done. I mean, she and I didn't exactly get off to the best start."

That was perhaps a bit of an understatement, as Victoria's comments had made Pop loudly sorta challenge her to a fight, which she would've entered if it had come to it and kicked the smirk off the baker's face. She didn't know the details about Victoria before that, so she would've just seen an arrogant, insulting and rude mare who needed a slapping.

Now however, she couldn't see herself doing that. Even though Victoria would repeat her former behavior, Pop would know who she really were below the defensive barriers she put up between herself and everypony else, and it would just make her feel pity for the mare, and sadness over her feeling like she needed to push them away.

"Perhaps Benny being patient with her and trying to comfort her instead of keeping a distance or judging her is just what she needed?"

From the start of her relationship with Benny, anypony she had met had found him to be an odd duck. Some because of how infatuated he were with a mare, though generally, that was just a smaller part of how differently he acted from what they expected.

Dragons were seen as rather brutish, demeaning, and... Well, they were seen as Jade, basically. Yet Benny had been weirding others out by how little he fitted that. When they approached him with the same arrogance they thought he had, he didn't fight back. Instead he would get sad, try to win the ones going after him with  smile, or covering behind something. Especially the first and last of the options in the first year he lived here and tried to fit in.

The emotional Dragon were still not accepted by everypony, considering he were an outsider and were in a relationship with a Pony, but those who gave him a chance usually came out well with him eventually, as he were an emotional, friendly being who wasn't one to turn his back on those he liked, or just beings in general.

She guessed that this emotional side of him might've helped getting closer to Victoria, and whatever triggered her then, made her count on him for some comfort. A good choice she'd say, though if it was going to help she had no idea.

"Well, regardless of what is going on, I think you're right. Perhaps the real Victoria is trying to break out now, and the empathy he's showing her is helping out? Best if we wait and see I guess? I'm not entirely sure what to do right now."

Meanwhile, Benny had just kept on embracing Victoria, and with closed eyes would whisper calmly into her ear. She had put quite a lot on him all of a sudden before she had gone into weeping mode, and honestly, he could well understand why she needed to feel somepony was there for her now. Poor thing must feel seven sorts of vulnerable.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here."

His right hand would run slowly down her mane as he spoke. A small thing he had picked up from his time with Pop. Had turned out that a good deal of Ponies apparently liked to be petted slightly when they were like this, and unless he'd be informed otherwise, he'd keep at this. Just had to keep running slowly with the hair, and not ruffle. Some Ponies got really miffed about ruining their mane styles.

"My mother is a kind being in her own way, but you're right. She's reluctant to connect to others sometimes, and her views are archaic. With how she acted, I don't blame you for saying anything about her.

But you're not her. You've seen yourself in the mirror, and you're not happy about it anymore. You can change, and break out of your shell. You just need to trust those around you. Sprinkles, Battenberg, Angel, even Pop and I. None of us hate you. We're all concerned, and we want to help you, and support you in breaking down the barriers you've set between yourself and those you care about.

You're not going to be alone in this Victoria. I promise you."

Benny was not sure how we was going to help, but he knew that he'd find a way to try. Victoria was starting to become a friend now, and you didn't turn your back on your friends, no matter what.

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

 

@Lloyd

Athriel loudly cackled at Astral's comment and poked at her head.

"Oh, that's far better than the rejection I was asking for. Now he's begging even more for me to leave you alone. What a fun thought to bring him to hibernation with. I hope his dreams will be full of nightmares."

She could wake his consciousness up again another time, but right now, his pleading were starting to annoy her, and the *she haves a crush on you* thought were going to be good to have simmering in his mind when he no longer could see what she were doing. Should make his dreams delightfully troubled and pained from all the fear, paranoia and confusion.

As Astral mentioned love however, Athriel instead scoffed slightly and gave a quick look towards Warlock. Barely anything that would be noticed, and what ent through her mind wasn't for any of them to rummage through, so she kept her muzzle shut on that.

Then the mare went suicidal and started to yap off about Warlock's family...

Granted, Athriel didn't know much about that story, but what little she had gathered back in the day made it seem like it was really not the right wound to twist a knife in right now. Might be that he wanted Astral alive, but he was also impulsive and emotional a good deal of times, so he might strike her regardless if she kept on with this.

"Don't mind the brat, Warlock. She's just trying to rattle you and make a mistake. Can't have that, or we won't have our bargaining chip to threaten my *dear* sister with."

Below them, the combined force of Brick Wall and Blackbeak were moving fast through the castle, listening in for some kind of clue where to go so they could find the others they had been yanked away with. If the lot didn't keep it down, the two of them wouldn't have a hard time finding them.

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

 

@Lloyd

Scarcity didn't need to ask where those depressing thoughts came from when Silver's hoof came into view. Or rather, the despicable piece of jewelry that resided there, glowing ominously.

The Element of Depression was not something that sounded as dangerous of Hated, Dark Magic, Deceit, or really any of the others, but she frankly considered it one of the worst. It brought the wearer down, and and amplified it to spread to others. The former wearer - from what she knew - had spread depression like a plague wherever he had gone, and those places had been easy to invade for any force that so wanted. No citizens had any hope left, or a will to fight.

It also had an unfortunate history of switching wearers often, though she did not like to think further on that. It was a harsh fate that befell the wearers, and Misty were far too young to have to go through that in her opinion. Though when the gem glowed, it meant that it was finding somepony compatible, and if nothing was done soon, she might end up with that in her possession, and no hope for anything to get better, and seeing no point in anything. Including throwing away the gem.

"I know little about Astral, but I know Chow, and I can assure you that he will not simply bend his neck. He is far too stubborn for that.

Also, it would appear that my associates have gone with them, and they're very capable. Blackbeak haves something with her which can neutralize some of what Warlock may do, and Brick were a former Royal Guard, who left with full honors. He is well trained, and will know what to do in this situation. They will help get your friends back.

Now dear, perhaps we could move that piece of jewelry away from you? It will not help your state of mind to keep hold of something as dangerous as that."

Scarcity used her magic to hover the cloth that had been used to cover the mirror earlier over towards Misty. She should be able to see faint runes on the inside of the cloth, meant to keep something down.

"I do apologize that it is not specialized in something like the Element of Depression, but Golden only got hold of it to cover the mirror. It should perhaps help though, and help not clouding your mind further."

She let go off it next to Misty. It would be best if the filly would do this herself rather than Scarcity, so she would give her this chance to begin with before taking it further. A regrettable situation, but it was better than the alternative.

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

 

@Lloyd

It would take a few minutes, but eventually, the Sphinx and Serpanther would cease their ouch, and the former would sit down and hold a paw to his head. He began to grumble after that, and mumbling something incomprehensible that the others wouldn't be able to understand, whilst Zhu would just take a step back, seemingly unfazed.

"Why did I have to see that? Everything was simpler without it."

"Perhaps, but lies clouded your judgement. To find your place in the world, you needed truth."

Enzo went back to grumbling, but now also shaking his head from side to side, whilst guards started to show up in the garden, ready to strike at the Sphinx, but unsure what to do currently. Much like Zhu also did now, they were looking towards Dew, who stood close to Wing, ready to strike as well.

"Time and isolation clouds a mind. He had forgotten the facts, and needed to see what he had lost."

"And how would you know what that were?"

"I was there, not long before he was caught. I know it all."

Dew gritted his teeth and took a step towards the cloaked Serpanther.

"If that's true, and what they did is as well, then you're as guilty as they were. You could've cut him loose."

"I could, but he was needed for the time ahead."

"What're you on about?"

"I want to know this too."

Scorn got closer to them, looming over Zhu with narrowed eyes.

"I am neutral, not working for either good, nor evil, but doing what must be to keep them balanced. Sometimes that requires sacrifices, like leaving a Sphinx alone for a few centuries so he can be ready for another point.

Your eyes are clouded to how the world works, but I don't have this blissful ignorance to hide behind. I see things for how they are, and guide some parts of it as best I can.

In the case of Enzo, he now knows that the only one he can blame is gone, and Crackleback is no longer an adversary of his. He can now serve a purpose that could benefit your goals."

"The Stranger... Should be Puppeteer."

"..."

Whilst Scorn was quick to judge, Dew were not so sure what to say here. He had been working a long time for the guard, and he had seen the point of making sacrifices for the greater good sometimes, but he greater balance? He wasn't sure what to say about that. It sounded important in its own way, but having to do evil? How could this creature live with himself?

"...Guards, keep your ground, but stay your weapons."

He wasn't sure what would end up happening, but as he loudly proclaimed his order, he were going to try and approach this cautiously and see for himself. Starting with not having the guards attack the Sphinx until he would find out what the mental state of the large feline would be once he had stopped grumbling to himself. Was he going to attack again, or had this truth Zhu spoke about turned him around?

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

 

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Big name for a fish."

Omen tried to form the word in her head, but she mentally cluttered it up every time she attempted, which caused some gibberish projections to be sent around her.

"What kind of world would have weird fish names Master Discord? Are any of my siblings in that one?"

If it was  the Human world, there were several actually, but Omen wouldn't know. The ones of her sibling that resided in her world barely ever came around their home realm again, and the few times they did, it was mostly just to see Mother. For some reason they weren't too thrilled being around their siblings after going to that world. Or well, not around Omen at least. She didn't know if they liked being around the unformed ones.

Meanwhile, Brute reacted on the question with a small scoff, whilst a memory of the mare went through her head.

"In a town like this, you eventually learn how to spot a con artist if you want to keep onto your bits. Filigree's words were chosen carefully and honeyed well to speak to those around her, dragging everypony in one way or another to this seemingly nice mare. Infatuated the gullible into following her lead and grant her exactly what she wanted too, at least in my eyes, though everypony kept saying I was just paranoid.

I don't know what laid beneath the layers, but anypony as successful in manipulating others as she were have to be hiding something dark, though I never understood her goal. Kept seeing her eventually end up speaking with mine workers or owners for some reason. There was a pattern in it too, but nopony seemed to care, and it wasn't exactly hurting anypony, so there was nothing to do about it..

She seemed harmless, and she wasn't robbing anypony, but I'd be willing to swear on my championship belt, that she were hiding her true self, and hunting something down. I just have no proof of either of those claims."

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

 

@Foxy Socks

Briar chuckled as he noticed that Foxy were already on her way over before he had spoken. It seemed she did not care about getting a little wet after all, and it wasn't like this river had anything in it that was worth fearing either. Just some harmless fish, and a slow stream.

But some beings did not like getting wet, so he had considered the offer to be worth mentioning regardless, though now he really should be on his way as well. She had crossed the river in the time he stood and thought, and even Brittle had fluttered over the water. She were not a confident enough flyer to go far above the water surface, or fly around much in general, but close to the ground/water like this, things were not as harsh for her.

Whilst he walked into the river and started to walk across himself, Brittle would scurry over to the entrance and pull the blanket of greens in the way to the side. Foxy had basically gotten it pulled away fro the little *natural lock* that it was attached to when she got there, so it didn't make much of a resistance.

The cave were rather basic. No light source beyond the entrance, which left a good deal of the medium-sized cave hard to see too easily, though there were not much to see regardless. It had a bed in one corner, made seemingly out of a layer of moss over a stone, with a blanket next to it, and then on the other side, some roots and assorted items were stacked in a neat little bundle.

For a home, this were likely something of the least personal one could imagine, apart from an empty room painted white.

Regardless of that, Brittle would go in and jump up on the bed to lay down a little, whilst Briar would get closer through the river, whistling softly the entire way.

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

 

@BloodDrops

Nerzhei looked over towards her robes before answering. She might not need them, as both her kind and Ponies didn't have to wear clothes, but she still didn't feel comfortable about being without them. The layers felt comforting, and she missed having pockets.

"I'm not here to be your heater. I'm helping by getting your armor set, but after that I'm leaving. I have important research to do. If you want to keep warm and not infect the general population, then try to find some natural steam baths. Right now, I need to get back to work before my arm gets crushed."

With some gritting of teeth, she rose from her seat and went over to the anvil, then looked at Blood and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, you want to be warm?"

She reached down to the amulet with the gems in that had not been taken by either of the two others yet for some reason, put two fingers ont he blue and red gems, and focused..

At first nothing happened, which made Slappy open his muzzle and quickly yap off the expected *Please don't eat me. I swear I won't tell anypony, ever.*, which he only barely managed to get done before a red flash went over Nerzhei's hand, and a rumbling came from about a meter to her side.

Steam rose from the ground, and as the dirt gave way, a small pond of steaming warm water would be revealed.

With the spa in town, she could redirect a little of their water and then warm it by using these slivers of water and fire magic, though it still only made a pond large enough for a single Pony to sit in, and would loose the heat within an hour. Basically something around the size of two half barrels side by side, in both depth and width. Not much, but there wasn't a lot of magic in these things either, so it was really not a surprise.

"There, happy? Can you get away from my forge now so I can actually get something done?"

She did not have an ample amount of water gems to use from, so seeing as she had now used what was in the one on her, it was actually quite annoying. Hopefully she could find somepony good in that sort of magic one of these days so she could get her stocks refilled somewhat, or that part of her studies would have to be delayed.

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

 

@genessee

Chop Chop went over to the side and came over with two full saddlebags. Far more full than what Lance would be able to carry himself, and with a list that made it apparent that he now had around a dozen deliveries within them.

"You're too scrawny to carry this, but you can read, right? Just deliver them to where the note says."

He went closer and closer to Lance... But passed him entirely and went for the door instead, where he'd give off a loud whistle into the main hall.

"Did somepony call Alonsus?"

The bulky Earth pony would arrive shortly after, whilst CHop was walking calmly back towards his pots and pans. A side glance had been given to Lance as he passed him, with narrowed eyes and a harder than usual look, as if he gave a non-verbal warning about something.

Alonsus did not see that. He just saw the saddlebags and then rolled his eyes.

"Many are the things that requires the attention of Alonsus. Must I be here for this too?"

"The extra chairs doesn't need to be fixed for another four days, and we've gotten a large number of orders. Get them on and start working."

The large stallion wanted to protest, but a glance from the cook made him shut it and just do as he were told. He wasn't going to go against Chop when he was in a foul mood, or be the cause for said mood for that matter.

[Amanita 6,826]

Mirage scratched the back of her neck awkwardly and replied. “Well we are around the same age... She’s somewhere around 18 and I’m somewhere around 24....” She doesn’t really seem to know how to explain her and Amanita’s relationship though, guess it can be complicated for both of them...? When Mirage saw Stargazer and Jelly salute towards her she returned the salute to both of them.

Amanita answered Jelly’s question now. “Well, I guess it could be guard training but she barely talks during this! And it’s so boring when I can’t do anything that requires sight!” She throws her hooves up into the air dramatically, looking silly while doing so.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Warlock rolled his eyes as he turned and walked to a shelf of books, he knew Athriel had a plan with Astral, and didn't want to interfere. As he left them to do their thing, he materialized a helmet in his hooves as he lifted them up. putting it on as his mane poked out of the back of it, it was designed similarly to a helmet for a Canterlot guard, but lacked the golden shine of them, soon after the rest of the full set of armor started forming on Warlock, the element of hatred working it's way deep into his armor, making sure it was far away from ponies to strike. "I sense somepony near, other than us." He said, looking to Athriel, then closing his eyes as he looked throughout the castle and finding Brick and Blackbeak with ease. But then suddenly Warlock vanished from his position in the room with Athriel, as he teleported towards the location of the two, swords drawn, and ready to fight.

Astral jumped towards Warlock as he teleported away, although too late as she just scooted across the ground towards his original location, kicking dust up off the ground. Her teeth clenched as she punched the wall, cracking it, with a loud sound that echoed throughout the castle. The cracks burning like embers, despite the walls being made of stone. "This will end in both of you returning to stone." She said, turning to Athriel.

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Misty looked at the gem she was holding, but as soon as the words 'Element of Depression' got to her head, she yelped and tossed it away onto the floor. "I had no idea what that was!" She said, looking to Scarcity. "I thought it was a different element! Like, deceit or something." She said, backing to the end of the bed, away from the element.

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At this point Iron Wing wasn't sure how to react to anything, but stood his defensive stance to make sure he'd be ready if Enzo suddenly lashed out.

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While that mess was going on, Nectar was standing herself up in the throne room, struggling to walk once again. "Did he receive the call Francis?" She asked to him, as he sat with her, looking out the window to the outside.

"No idea, but the ponies might react badly to an army of changelings at this time."

"I need them to notice, then I can change their image of us."

"You're a changeling, you can do that already."

She chuckled a little to that, sighing a little as she walked to the window, looking out. "If he did receive the call, he should be here any moment. With the rest."

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

"Maybe because you offered to help her she thinks she can rely on you guys? Maybe you're just the kind of people who she feels compatible with? Whatever you did, it must have really spoken to her, you should use that to your advantage if you want to pursue friendship with her."

Sprinkles stood on the ground now, too focused on and impressed by what was happening to continue floating.

 

Victoria did not immediately say anything, she just enjoyed the moment and sobbed lightly. She'd never been hugged this way before, or rather she'd never let anypony get close enough to even try. She liked it though, it reminded her of the times when she was little and carefree and actually let people love her. She gently sat down wrapping her tail around the inside of Benny's, she didn't open her eyes but instead gently nuzzled Benny as she finally let out some more of her thoughts.

"Thank you Benny, this is a feeling I've never felt before and it feels good. Maybe it really is time I changed my ways... It's funny, if you'd tried to do this to me a couple of days ago I'd have kicked you in places you didn't even know you had."

Her sobs transformed into a light chuckle for a moment.

"I was a monster... Why did I have to be so difficult, if I'd just been a nice pony I'd be as loved as Battenberg is, I could feel loved and wanted like I do now but all the time." 

She finally pulled away from the embrace, though this time it was not a rough shove but a reluctant pull. Her eyes were drier now but she looked a mess with her mascara and eye shadow rubbed about her face and her mane slightly roughed up from the hug.

"I appreciate your help, its nice to know you're looking out for me and I'll gladly accept your help. I don't want to overstep my boundaries though."

She looked at Pop nervously, as if expecting her to be angry for getting so close to Benny.

"She's a lucky mare..."

Victoria looked up at the sky and took in the sunlight.

"I hope her and I can be good friends one day, I regret so terribly how awful my introduction was... I'll probably make her an apology cake, and one for you too for looking out for me. Anyway, we must continue onwards"

She walked a couple of paces then looked back at Benny.

"I'd very much like it if you continued to walk with me, I enjoy talking to you."

She gave him a sweet smile with her messy eyes clamped tightly shut, truly happy and sweet for once in her life.

[Lil' Lovebug 1,041]

A faint giggling could be heard in the distance. Sounds of foals playing perhaps? It grew louder as the mare clopped down the cobblestone streets passing numerous small, beige houses. Eventually, she rounded the corner of a small house, finding herself staring at the source of the noise she had heard earlier. A groups of foals were standing in the street, in a circle around something, throwing taunts and laughing as they kicked and shoved it. The mare shouted and the foals dispersed leaving only what looked to be a battered and bleeding changeling pupa. She bent down and offered a chitinous hoof to the crying pupa. The changeling looked up and stuck its hoof out to reach and grabbed hold of the hoof offered to her.

Suddenly, a purple fog descended upon the two as the landscape around them disappeared. The mare's eyes darted around, panic beginning to set in. She looked back at the pupa as the crying turned to laughter, a maniacal laughter that froze the ichor in her veins. She watched the pupa's once black chitin turn purple as red runes crossed its surface, its very form changing into a sort of demon pony. Suddenly this foal demon leapt at the mare's face and the world was encased in black.

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

Satin woke with a start. She bolted upright, feeling the tears fresh across her face, here eyes, now red, open in shock. She put a hoof to her now aching head, trying to catch her breath as her crying slowly subsided. She took a moment to collect herself and observe her surrounding, soon realizing she was in her room at the tavern. She slowly got up from her bed and walked over to her bags, grabbing a small towel and wiping off her face.

A small glint caught her attention, her gaze drawn to a small letter and note just inside the door, presumably shoved underneath it. After putting her towel away, she slowly stepped towards it, picking up the note first and reading it.

Quote

Ms. Wings,

I found this letter on the table you were sitting at and decided to give it to you. I can only assume your friend left this for you before she left.

Bubble Tea

A brief image of her dream flashed in Satin's mind and she winced. She picked up the letter and broke the seal, looking across its contents. Brief instructions followed by words she couldn't understand if she tried. She rolled up the parchment and tucked it into her purse, which she then slung over her shoulder. She'd think about using the scroll letter, but for now, she just needed some fresh air. She stepped downstairs, saying goodbye to Bubble Tea and out into the streets of Ponyville, which she couldn't tell if it looked better or worse than last time she saw it. Eventually she came across a fountain with a few benches surrounding it. Choosing on as in the shade as possible, she sat down, took out a notebook and pen and started writing.

[Widdershins 9,955]

@Blitz Boom

  Stepping away from the cart to allow Happy Hour to gain access to it and begin working on it, Ambie again questions the other stallion. A habit that must seem natural to him by now.

"Oh! Well, all it's missing is a way to harness it to me, right? Shouldn't require too much effort, right? And, like I said earlier, if we need any wood, there ought be a log or two still left behind since I didn't need all of them from when I first took them."

 Attention coming back after having been diverted from turning around to point out the remainder of the log pile, Ambie remarks in dull surprise.

"Oh! Uh, you're already done? That sure was fast! So how do I put it on...? I didn't really see how you put it together."

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@Dji  and B.B.

 "I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to the other red birdhorse! And what do I care where you ponies go?..."

 Eyes dodging for a moment and mincing his claws closer to Dawn Streak; Kaltrop stutters out in quieter tone.

   "...and, um, Wh-... what do you mean by r-... Rounds?"

  

Edited January 8, 2018 by Widdershins
Mentions again...

[EQ_Theta 422]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Hunting someone? Seems like the other way around in this case."

Lin nudged her brother, a little forceful for him. He looked to her with an annoyed look before wondering what he did wrong this time. If Brute was prodding them with information, they mind as well spill out everything, including who could be responsible for what happened. Sooner or later, she'd be asking since everyone here was witnessing the same thing happening in the mines. Brute, so far, seemed to be inquisitive and was providing information the siblings could use later. Sounds only right that she needed to know other relevant information. Lin hesitated to let this slide but she relented as Sen continued. 

"There's more," the longma continued. "There's a bat pony named Silky Rose who can use these crystals, probably through magic. We don't know much about her because she wasn't around when we were at the mines."

Lin looked at the Refraction's progress, still interested in seeing if it would grow to a considerably larger size. It might lead her to consider redecorating their home to accommodate it. Flammables and crystals are definitely going to be kept out of reach.