open Casual stroll

Blitz Boom · February 18, 2018

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight

Hearing Discord's answer, Anomaly briefly pouted. She had hoped for an answer, since Zhu didn't want to tell her (if he even knew, that were) and Discord would've been one of the only ones around back then. Well, him and Widdershins, but that one hadn't had answers either far as she recalled. Her memories about him were a little fragmented, and mostly involved pranking around for a little while.

Still, it wasn't like she wanted to go back to being destructive, so it wasn't too big of an issue. She were just curious about what she used to be like, and why she had been taken down. Might as well just let it lie there then, from the sound of it. Unless the author-

I don't know honestly. That's way back, before I got anything to do with this.

You are no help at all. Big meanie.

That's me alright.

Anomaly pulled her tongue at the air in the direction of her author, which were an action that were repaid in kind.

"Meh, boring being. Not like I care about who I were anyway. Zhu said I just messed things up, and now I create things. Oooh, I gotta show you my island sometimes Discord! It's full of fun things, long as you don't go near the beaches. The squid-monkeys are Mean!

Oooh, right. Speaking of mutants, I changed your fish, yellow pony. They couldn't breathe in soap, so I fixed that. And gave them tiny little hairdo's.. Eeeee!"

It was small scale for her, but Anomaly just loved to change beings and plants, and she took pride in her work. Like a theater director who had put on a grand show.

...Perhaps she should give them legs and teach them how to dance? Could be fun, but then again... Fluttershy seemed to like the small minded creatures around her, and they her. Perhaps changing them would go over badly? Better wait and see what she said about the fishies first.

That brought her to the present, which were Lucid telling a story about how he had lost a friend and now were afraid that he'd outlive all the rest of his potential future friends.

"Awh, I'll be your friend crazy pony. Right up until you crumble to dust and I'll regrow you as a pear tree."

Anomaly stretched a hoof over and pulled the stallion in for a side hug. Ponies did this all the time to mean friendly things, so she'd do it too. Just look at her mingle like a pro. Helping animals, hugging others. Why, she were practically an honorary pony by now! Easy mode.

"Almost feel kinda sad for booby-trapping the house now that we're all talking friendly. Except for the bathroom! Proud of the tricks there, ehehehehe."

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@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

The forepony gave the cloud and its tricks a nasty look, and rose a hoof at it.

"I don't know what that means, but it ain't funny!"

"I disagree, Gem Stud.."

Rosa had some idea about what Discord's standin's gestures might mean, and if he were correct, it was a rather clever little insult send the way of Gem Stud. Perhaps the lord of chaos were more cognitively advanced than he had assumed when he had first heard about him, though it could be a fluke. A fun one though, that almost made him chuckle underneath his mask.

"Don't think knowing that will rattle me, spy. And as for you, I know what longma are because I'm a history major. You don't think there's records of you sort hanging around the Canterlot libraries? I intended to track your kind down and write a paper about how you lived for my first accomplishment out of school, but surprise surprise, you sorts are impossible to track down. Had to go into the family business instead."

Gem sounded somewhat salty about having to do this rather than his true passion fifteen years ago, which had been to make his name in interviewing isolationist species and spread some more information about them to Equestria. But he had banked it all on finding the Longma, so when that went nowhere, he had nothing else to fall back on than this crummy, stupid job. It might pay well and be the legacy of his kin, but he'd rather have wandered far and wide and let his brother take this over way back when.

Now let me try again. This here's my mine, and I want to know what you're doing here. Are you thieves like that spy *friend* of yours, or just here to make trouble with Discount Discord over there? I ain't having either of them."

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot, Belladonna listened to the small bit of information she was given, as well as looking at what appeared to be less of a balloon, and more of a projection of Discord's powers. It had to be chaotic in nature considering how it was eating cheese that had not been there a moment before, and from what she could understand, Discord had something of an ego problem. It would make sense for him to make a creation like this in his own picture. Made her curious what he were doing with Lin and Clayton then.

"Silky Rose. Name have been mentioned seventeen times since my employment by Clayton, mostly when he assumes nopony can hear him. It causes distress and an irregular sleep pattern, but he have been reluctant with details required to address the issue, and tracking the name leads nowhere. Can you offer more details, such as information on these changeling emerald you mentioned? What function do they serve?

Countermeasures seems in order too. Is Rose an earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, griffon, bat pony, zebra, changeling, vulpine, diamond dog, dragon or crystal pony?"

She kept her eyes on Lin through the line of questions, though she briefly motioned her hoof up to correct her monocle.

There were more things to cover, but a direct threat to her boss would be the first order of business in her mind, and as it appeared that this Rose character were also a threat to Equestria as a whole, handling her should be the top priority of the rest as well, with additional inquires and information being secondary.

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@Lloyd

Brick charged forward, blades clasped to his front legs, ready to stab at Warlock, but he was too slow. He got somewhat within range, but before he had a chance to get close enough to disrupt anything or hurt the witch, Warlock teleported away, along with a changeling that he barely got a look at, but seemed to have been actively combating him. They'd see if he would see him again another time and evaluate for himself, but right now, it looked like this was it. With the changelings around currently, magic was in the air, and the mirror bubbled, waiting for somepony to cast something so it could feast. It were time for him to leave.

Some of the guards looked at him as he left, but they didn't attempt to stop him this time. Warlock were gone, and with that, the only thing that made them able to keep him there right now. One looked like he were going to try and grab hold in him before he flew off, but the guard were stopped by another of his coworkers, who shook his head at him, whilst his hoof rested on his shoulder.

"I don't care. Sergeant! You can't just leave us now. We need everypony we can get."

Brick turned around and looked them over. Huddled, bruised, and scared. If he was still in the guard, he'd do something, but he had no authority here. He had tried to help as it aligned with his goals, and it had failed. For now he should return to where he were needed, rather than stick around where everything that would happen would be for the few members of his former squad to try and lure him back to the guard. A life that he had left behind for a reason, and hadn't any interest in returning to.

He could have explained this, but that would require a lot of talking, so instead he just spread his wings, pointed at Wing, and then flew back to the castle. His way of saying *follow the one whose in charge* if they could interpret it. Some of the ones he used to have under his command were pretty dense, even if the one who had spoken up were one of the better.

Back with the others then, Enzo aggressively threw away the remnant of the tree he had been holding, which got stuck in the crown of a rather solid looking oak tree.

"Bah, cowardly dog and his teleports. Do you ponies have nothing to ground magic so he can't whisker off like that? It's getting irritating."

A shiver went through him as the mention of Discord came up. Being of legend that were imprisoned for a reason, whose summon would only cause more issues.

"Let Discord rest in his statue until the world goes under. He does not exist for the betterment of any being but himself, and even if he didn't betray you, the witch would just feast on his wretched magic. We'd be in trouble either way.

Any other ideas? Or can we just return to your city already? He'll show up there sooner or later, and you need to search your lockers for useful armaments. You have something like that, right? Ponies can't have ruled this land for son long without having weapons for every situation ready."

In Canterlot, the guards would react as well as they could, flying up and attacking, or sending magic blasts against the invader. Both of which were likely ineffective in stopping him on his path to the castle, and with the train still being ten-fifteen minutes out, most of the tools they had against him weren't present.

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@Lloyd

"Very well. Let me know if you need other literature, and I will replace them as suitable."

It would be impossible to get to them without him. The boxes were made of highly resistant materials, to protect it from most magical and physical methods of cracking them open, and it took a specially made, anti-magic key to open them up. In case of something happening like the scholar attacking him, or others getting in to get the key, he carried a small vial of acid with him, where he'd quickly plop the key down into to dissolve it. It took a long time to remake one of them, but it was the lesser of two evils, considering some of the literature they had in here.

Guards were stationed outside the locked door though, so he were sure that no outsider would cause problems, and Sapphire seemed kind so far. Surely this would be fine.

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@Battenberg

Toxen was laughing loudly as she saw how Victoria tricked Battenberg and then hit her with a tactical nuke of a hug, just when she wasn't expecting it.

"Ahahaha! That was amazing, short stuff. You got her real good."

If there was something the dragoness liked, it was pranks, messing around with others, and especially combined into confusing the tar out of your siblings. There was nothing quite like it, and Victoria had just schooled her sis in how it was done. A+ with a little star on that one. How she wished she had a camera for that moment when Battenberg was embraced. It was utterly priceless.

Pop would like to judge the dragoness over that, but considering she hadn't been able to hold a short laugh back, she didn't really have the moral high-ground for that right now, even if it wasn't as loud or bellowing as that of Toxen.

"Hehe. I mean uhm, we just talked with her, and gave her some space to flourish in. It was mostly Benny really, and I suppose his mother. She didn't leave Victoria with the best of impressions on things.

So you're their mother? It's nice to meet you."

Pop put a hoof forth to Lemon to shake. She would have gone for a more friendly approach since she knew her daughters and she seemed nice too, but it appeared as if Toxen's presence concerned her, and she didn't want to make things harder for the mare.

"Yeah, what she said. Nice kid you have here. Other one look good too. All tasty and ready to eat."

She smiled at Battenberg and licked her lips.

"Hah, psych. I'm just messing with you girlie. Dragons doesn't eat ponies.

ANyway, think I can have a chitter chatter with you... Battenberg was it? Vicky here thought you might know where to find a zebra in town. My dad's having some sleep issues, and mom doesn't trust regular pony meds. The lil' ones figured that you might know where to knock some doors?"

"It would really help if you did know, Battenberg. I think it might help me with my inlaws if we can help him."

A small blush spread on Pop's face as she reminded herself of somepony here who likely needed a tiny bit more information to understand the part with inlaws. Hopefully one of the others would be so kind as to say it, or Lemon just wouldn't ask, so she wouldn't have to be confronted with making this seem a little weird. She didn't mind others knowing that the two of them were together, but with the tension going on with Jade before... It just felt like it got a small bit harder to tell ponies who didn't like dragons as well, and the sisters mother seemed like she didn't do well around them. She acted a lot like Sprinkles had so far, minus the hiding, and Lemon seemed like she spoke even lower.

What had happened to make her so afraid of the scaled ones? Or Sprinkles for that matter? *sigh* Perhaps when there were time she'd try and dive into that, but she likely needed to be closer to them to go down that line of questioning without it being offensive.

EQ_Theta · February 19, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

“Silky Rose… A batpony and a client, if I remember that correctly. She was involved with the mines in Fillydelphia digging out changeling emeralds since those were earning a lot of money for someone named File Fiddler. The gems themselves were parasitic, latching on and covering anything it was attached to. Magic seems to make them grow faster as those are attracted to anyone or anything capable of using it. Rose plans on using those gems to exact her vengeance on Equestria. Why? I don’t have the answer to that. She also went by another name: Fancy Filigree. Might have heard of that one more often.”

Any new pieces of information was welcome but at this point, Lin would likely need a notepad with her to list off everything that was relevant to the topic. Maybe if someone like a guardspony were to grill her for information to put in a report, she’d have everything she needed.

“Also, Rose is seeking out anyone involved with the mines. We’ve already met Amethyst, Fiddler, and Clayton. Somepony named Spelt is the last one on the list. Are you familiar with him? Anything you can tell us?”

As for the situation brewing on Sen’s end, it was still strange somepony wanted to do some research on his kind. Normally, it wouldn’t warrant any kind of suspicion with reasoning like that from the forepony, but with records in Canterlot suggesting contact was made long ago, how and when did that happen? Regardless, there was no more time to beat around the bush and this Gem Stud character sounded reasonable enough though his tone suggests Rosa had some shady history. No time to bring that one up for now.

“My kind are hard to find because we’d rather not be found, and because where we live wouldn’t be on any map of Equestria. As for the current matter, we’re not spies or troublemakers. We have reason to believe a vengeful bat pony by the name of Silky Rose is looking to make this mine the starting point in an attack to cover Equestria with parasitic gems. Have you seen any suspicious activity around here lately or has someone named Fancy Filigree approached this place? Rose goes by that other name at times.”

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@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Fluttershy solemnly replied to Lucid. It is always a difficult subject speak of but whether it was at the loss of a friend or being given immortality but not anyone else.

“Your friend must’ve been special to you. If you’d like, I can be your friend. Maybe you can also look to the animals in and around my home for friends. And speaking of animals…”

The look on the pegasus’s face quickly turned from tender and soft to a stern one when Fluttershy looked at Anomaly. The bathroom pranks were one thing but using magic on the fish was something needed to be corrected immediately. Taking a few steps forward with Harry the bear and Angel bunny backing her up, she said, “You put things back the way they were. The bathroom, the fish, the pond water, everything. You got that?”

Edited February 19, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Victoria Sponge · February 20, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"I only got her a little, I think a hug is a nice kind of prank."

She smiled and hugged Battenberg again.

"Probably hurt a little when I hit you in the chest though, hey big sis?"

"You sound a little like Toxen right now."

Battenberg could barely breath, she liked hugs a lot but this was something else. It was nice though, feeling her sister's warmth and smelling her strawberry scented mane. This was much better than the nasty, piercing glares she used to receive from her sibling.

"You're a pretty good hugger Victoria. I can get used to this."

"You better get used to it, there's a lot more where this came from. And I learned my hugging skills from the very best."

Victoria winked at Battenberg and the two of them giggled, still embracing.

"You look nice without makeup, I don't think I've ever seen you without it."

"Thank you. Don't get used to that though, I've changed but not that much. I think I'll redo my mane though, and maybe finally wear the lovely scarf that mum made me. Then we'll match!"

It was nice to see how much love there was between the two sisters, it had not been clear earlier but the way they spoke and held each other made it apparent this love was not newfound but instead rediscovered.

"I love you Vicky."

Victoria did not respond with words, just with a nuzzle under her sister's chin, messing her mane up more than it had already become throughout the course of the day.

Lemon took Pop's hoof and looked up at the dragon a couple of paces away nervously.

"Thank you... I t-think. I suppose it's a fair comment, they do look like a couple of yummy cakes."

She giggled and seemed to relax a little, it was strange that she had taken comfort from search a strange comment.

Battenberg kept her cool too, though she did squeeze her sister a little tighter, just in case. She knew if something did happen Victoria would protect her, despite barely talking to each other over the last few years one thing had never changed and that was that Victoria had always defended her sister, whether that be physically or verbally. It was perhaps the one thing that let her know the love was not lost, the one thing that made her keep her sister close.

She responded to the dragon's question shakily.

"I-if it's a zebra you're looking for I-I'm sure I could... help you. A-as long as you don't actually *gulp* eat me or anything. I m-mean you say you won't but the f-fact that you could, puts me off a little... I-I don't mean to be r-rude though, a-and helping is what I do best so I will assist you however you need."

Lemon's ears pricked up at the mention of inlaws.

"I-in laws? Are you married my dear? O-or is that too forward? Sorry... I just love weddings and wedding cakes too! And the parties that come with them, it was an open wedding party that led to me meeting my husband. How did you meet yours?"

She couldn't help but bombard the pony with questions, coming out of her shell a little in her excitement. Clearly this was her passion, and it was probably partially to take her mind off Toxen.

Storm Shine · February 20, 2018

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

The cloudy version of Discord looked about as affronted as smoke could possibly look, retaliating with a gesture involving two donkeys and a full bucket of milk. While the donkeys were made of smoke, the milk bucket was very much real and at the end one of the smoke-donkeys kicked the bucket into the air where it splashed all over the fore-pony- only for it, milk and bucket both, to turn into an assortment of wildflowers on impact. The smokey Discord then took a bow as if appealing to an audience before taking two large hair-bows from who-knows-where and eating them... somehow.

Sekel · February 20, 2018

@Blitz Boom & @Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

Dawn looked down and noticed they were getting steadily higher. She's never been this high before, with the ground looking like a small puddle in comparison to what she was used to looking at. "Because if you let me fall, nopony will love you!" Dawn shouted hysterically, barely even registering the fact that she had admitted feeligns. Guess being scared out of her mind made her truly go insane. "Everypony will hate you and you'll be driven away from Ponyville!"

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic snickered at his misfortune and calmly walked to him. She figured that she couldn't leave her 'saviour' and nudged him along; disoriented though he may be. "Come on you misshapen creature. We gotta get out of here before they come looking," she grunted, pushing him along with her head. She didn't care if he was pulling something out of his cloak. She didn't care if he was stronger and had a tougher build. All she cared about was getting out of the prison and back into fresh air.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Dji

Blitz Boom · February 20, 2018

@Dji

The only thing Karmic would get from nudging to Zhu, would be him slouched a little to the side, and depending on where she touched him, a wet, red hoof from the spreading scarlet patch that were emerging from his hood and down his back.

The guard had the good fortune of being protected from the heavy stone by his armor, whilst Zhu had not been that fortunate. He had been hit directly, and though it were impossible to see what went on below the hooded robe, the copper-tasting liquid that were oozing on top of him were not a good sign. Neither were the uneven breathing that were starting to sound forced, or the droplets on the floor that only increased in numbers.

"Ke... Kehrio!"

The word were slurred out with the force of somepony almost falling unconscious, before he collapsed completely and got covered by a pale, green aura.

It swarmed around him and through his robes for several dozens of seconds, seemingly moving like a flock of tuna around and potentially inside him, before it just faded out, like a dim candle loosing the last of its spark.

Zhu simply laid there now, in a small puddle of red liquid, silent and seemingly out of commission. Of notice though, would be that the spreading blob on the back of his head, which were now around the size of his leg, didn't spread further.

Then suddenly, he began to get back up on his paws again, though he no longer shook like somepony caught in the snow. A small jingle like a bit falling to the ground accompanied his ascend, before a small disk rolled away from his sleeve and into a corner. Silver from the looks of things, and engraved with a few symbols that were currently smoking vaguely, with a color reminiscent of the aura previously.

"Four months to create, all for a rock... I had expected more."

He started to wander towards the exit again, with the same pace that he had before the impact, and seemingly no interest in picking up what he had just dropped, and no explanation as to what had just happened, beyond what had likely been a significant head trauma, considering the drying liquid that were still present on his attire. Something which might get him noticed, if the fact that he was wearing a full body robe didn't already raise some flags.

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@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Why you little-"

"S-Sir, hold on please."

The forepony looked like he were going to go over and try his darnest to kick the cloud into something by the continued mocking it was showing towards him. The fact that one of the miners with him interrupted him just made that ire get redirected to that miner instead, who got a sudden pale complexion. A lovely match with those wide open, terrified eyes of his.

"What?"

"F-Fancy Filigree sir... A-Argendumnite, thirteen years a-ago."

The forepony's eyes went wide, and the air seemed to seep right out of his anger balloon (metaphorically, but with Discord there, who knew?).

"...Do you sorts have any evidence of this?"

A wad of folded papers were tossed in front of him by Rosa.

"Detailed writings of her plan at the time, and her involvement in the affair your worker refers to."

He picked them up and read through them with some skepticism, though a begrudging nod cam over him here and there, as things started to collaborate with events that he knew were fact, and things began fitting into a larger picture.

"If you are telling the truth spy-"

"My name is Sub Rosa, and I am not affiliated with Darkenhold anymore, so stop spitting that in my face."

The forepony seemed agitated, but not to the same level as before at least, so violence might be off the table.

"Regardless, if you are telling the truth, you came here in vain. We have defenses up against infestations like that."

"So did they, before they were compromised, and she didn't have an actual beast heart infused into herself back then."

Now it was the forepony's turn to get pale.

"The risk involving that would be catastrophic, I can't..."

Rosa took a step to the side and rose his hoof towards Omen's mane, where as expected, the annoyed refraction would lazily lurch out and attempt to bite him for disturbing it.

"We have one of them, but thing still need to be contained. Think of your workers."

Gem stood still and held a hoof to his head, thinking over the options, the repercussions and the profit lost from what could happen, before eventually slowly nodding and turning to his associates.

"Shut it down, and send everypony home."

"A-Are you sure sir? Our defen-"

"I will not harbor the next burrow for those things! Shut it down, and that's an order."

The others quickly excused themselves and went on their way, whilst Gem looked towards his office with dread.

"Give it fifteen minutes, then do what you have to. I'll take the risk of mayhem over having those things at my quarry."

He wandered sullen towards his office, prepared to set things in motion that were going to be needed to get things sorted here, whilst Rosa turned to his team.

"That went better than expected. A little more time, and we can begin to prepare things here for when she eventually shows up, without having to worry about civilian casualties.

Any questions pertaining this in the meantime?"

He looked at Omen first, but she didn't seem to want to ask something, but were instead busy chewing on a loose piece of wire she had found on the ground. From the random shocks that went through her, it appeared to still be live, but not bother her enough to stop chewing. To her, it were akin to when ponies ate strong chili. Painful during it, but pleasing somehow.

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"A bat pony mare, harnessing crystals with parasitical effects that fuels growth spurts via outside magic, so non-magical alternatives for crushing gems should be taken into use. I will request some specific tools from Clayton once he is done with his shower. With his regular speed impeded by his current state and how the water turned on only 17 seconds ago, it will be 6 minutes and 39-48 seconds more."

Whilst she talked, she opened a chained up cabinet, and levitated a small box out from the middle row. They seemed to all be filled with glass needles, though a small droplet of something seemed to be within the middle of all of them. She picked out three of each of these needles containing a bright green drop, a crimson red drop, and a tar black drop, and floated them over to a bag next to the cabinet.

"With precautions in order, let me inform you that the name Filigree does not compute with what knowledge I have of Clayton, or his affairs before my arrival in Canterlot, but he does prefer to keep his time as a miner secret. A shame that he could not actively accomplish that, as I did get the information needed, and neither Rose or Filigree have been mentioned on any papers in regards to his time at the only mine he had ties with. A paper from the lawyer who worked for the company may have it though, but he burned them before I had the option to gain any, and his psychological state when pressed on the subject can best be described as traumatized. It seemed unwise to pursue it further.

I thank you for informing me on what the mines worked with. I will add the information provided to his file."

Few were those who didn't think that Belladonna went to some disturbing lengths when it came to her approach to her job, or the stallion she worked for, but she did consider some limits. Potentially cause a nervous breakdown in a stallion who began to cry at the mere mention of a mine or the ponies working therein, were one of those. She had left those sort of practices in her old life, and she had no intention on picking those up again.

"As for your inquiry, Spelt Hacker is a 47 year old stallion of the earth variant, coat two toned in black and grey, with a cream-colored mane, tail and mustache. Last information on that provides all three as being trimmed and short, though my records of his personal look were last updated 3 years ago.

He is currently in employment at the Charboil mine, located 2,3 miles northwest of Baltimare, which is open at all days until one hour after sundown. Unless you have access to an express way towards the town, we will not arrive there before they have closed. As you seem to be traveling with either Discord, or a manifestation of his, I assume you can procure and unusual travel arrangement, yes?"

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@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

"And here I thought that he was the crazy one. Lucid filled the fish pond with soapy water.The fishies needs to eat that first before they can be changed back, though what's the big fuss? Not like I gave them wings or three heads or something. Yet. But fine fine, I can give them sooome help so they can be boring and normal again sooner. Just hold your horses."

Anomaly snickered over her joke and snapped her tail, resulting in fifteen orange and purple striped plants around the fishing pond growing up and sticking their roots into the water. They'd be able to see if they looked out of the window, especially Mrs. Grumpypants here, that seemed to need a smile on her silly face when small fun things like mutations got all up her skirt.

"You're no fun, you know that? Everything's better with random, hilarious mutations. I should know, I've caused it for centuries to make things more fun. It's much more interesting than just destroying everything or removing it. Not that I can technically, but that's not- No wait, that is important, right? Yeah yeah, 'cause you wanted me to remove everything in the house with a snap. Which I caaaaaan't. I can just make thing and change them around. Or eat them, but that'd take time... Oh, I know! Come to me little elves!"

A light-bulb appeared over her head before she smashed said head hard into the floor, causing bits and pieces of pumpkin shell to shatter all over the place. There were thankfully no liquid inside it (this time) but it were still somewhat disturbing to see another being smash their own vegetable noggin into pieces like that. Something which were likely not helped when they started to twist and turn on the floor, and grow small appendages, along with wings. Soon there'd be around twenty small pumpkin faeries, unevenly in size and fluttering around their main host,t hat gesticulated to them to do... Something. Cleaning up only hopefully, as that seemed to be what they did when the body was done with them and they began spreading around the place.

A new head would grow soon after on Anomaly's neck, though she seemed to be a little under the weather when it were, and actually sat down. Might not be parts of her like with other split Anomaly's before them, but the small things still took some energy out of her to make, and with the episode earlier, she didn't have as much to use from as she would've liked. Why, she couldn't even make a mane-eating octopus right now, and she sorta wanted to right now. Then throw it after Fluttershy.

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@Battenberg

"You actually bought that? Hah! You ponies are a funny bunch.

Lemme tell you a thing or two sugar tooth. First thing is, that it's against dragon law to eat ponies. We can harass you, mock you to your face, or even mess you up somewhat, but we're not allowed to even try to eat you. It ain't many things Equestria and us are in agreement with, but we are all in on us not eating you. It's been like that for millennia, but the details are a bit rusty on our side. Best I can guess? It was to try and keep some small degree of peace among us so we could go back to just ignoring each other rather than fight. I mean, we'd loose anyway, so no point in not agreeing tot hat sort, right?

Could be other reasons too, but you know, the old farts that still got a vague recollection of the olden days are some real cranky handbags, so I don't think *for love and compassion* comes into it.

Also, second off: I don't eat meat. I know Benny haves a snack here and there, but I'm among those who aren't into that sort. Crystals and what else I can stuff in my mouth that doesn't breathe thank you."

Pop cringed slightly when the topic of meat came up.

"It's true, I've seen Benny eat a fish. It's an experience..."

"Is he still a sloppy eater? You know what, I've seen him eat cake, I'm guessing yes."

Toxen leaned in to pop and waggled her eyebrows at the pony, in response to Pop's brief shake from remembering how she had found out he had eaten a fish. It was not something she forgot easily, and the dragoness seemed to get pretty gleeful from it. A look she retained well as she rolled over on the ground and laid on her back, looking up at the matriarch of the baker family.

"Also, our current dragonlord, Ember, is speaking some words of peace with ponies these days. Why do you think there's been more coming over from the island these days? More are getting curious and want to see for themselves, but dragons are slow sods. It can take years to turn 'em on something they believe in. Most aren't too bad under the scales and gruff looks. And as Pop here's proving, some of us apparently got something that can interests a pony."

"T-Toxen!"

Pop were about as red as a tomato as the dragoness stopped her little stab at her with yet another carefree laughter.

"What? I'm talking about your food. Ain't a lot of cake in dragon land redhead."

The mare had thought that Benny were the strange one in his family for a long time, but considering everything with especially Toxen, she were getting convinced that they were all just out there one way or another.

"A-Anyway, Mrs. Drizzle, I'm not married yet. I've been in a relationship with my mate, Benny, for five years though. He's Toxen's little brother.

I know dragons and ponies are a weird coupling, but it just sort of happened.

I sent some bottled letters out to try to get some pen pals, he answered, and we started to get to know eachother really well. We met on a beach and he uhm... Heh, he showed up with flowers, but he tripped over himself and I ended up covered in them instead. I've never seen a dragon wanting to crawl into a mouse hole as much as him after that. Or a dragon in general really. I had just heard things and warned about them being big meanies, but instead were this clumsy, goofy guy around my own size who looked about as dangerous as a grumpy kitten.

We've been together since, and it's been wonderful, but the meeting with the parents are scaring me thus far. Not enough to leave him, I couldn't do that to somepony I love. It's just getting complicated, that's all."

"I'm on your side."

"I'm starting to think you're on whatever side will entertain you the most."

"Nah, are you kidding me? Baby bro was miserable until he started getting them smoochy letters from you. I'm happy he's found someone."

"Oh... Uhm, I'm sorry for judging you on that."

"Eh, don't sweat it. Ain't like I'm not enjoying the spectacle.

Anyway kiddo, think you can show off to a zebra location? Dad needs some help soon as I can get to it. He keeps stumbling around between awake and sleeping, and it stopped being funny a while ago."

"I don't really think you should be calling Mrs. Drizzle that Toxen."

"Awh, don't worry. I'm just trying to be friendly. Ain't no fun in making others scared of you."

Lucid_Nightlight · February 21, 2018

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Lucid seemed to have cheered up a little bit, having a fellow immortal as his friend definitely diminished his fears of the future, he wouldn't be alone. Though, looking at Anomaly smash her own pumpkin head did raise a question. Plus he thought it was better to get on a more positive topic anyways.

"So, does your species choose a form or are you all born differently like the hairless monkeys are born with different faces?"

Lucid then had another question.

"Does that hurt at all? I mean smashing your own head is typically painful for the average pony."

Storm Shine · February 21, 2018

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

The cloudy version of Discord did indeed hold up a deflating balloon as the forepony's anger left him, chuckling silently at the gag.

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight

Discord rolled his eyes, "Of course not, her smashing her own head is about as painful as me doing this." To prove his point, the embodiment of chaos reached up to his own head and plucked it off from his neck- before immediately dropping it, howling in pain, "AHHHH WHYY!!! OWWWW!! OH SWEET MERCIFUL FAUST, I'M DYING, I'M- Absolutely fine." The chaos spirit spoke the last two words in a normal tone, a slight smirk on his face before the body-less head began laughing while his body picked him up and put him on... Backwards. "Oh, this is a nice view if I do say so myself." He chuckled, admiring his tail for a bit and then righting his head.

EQ_Theta · February 21, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Yeah, a few questions," Sen quickly joined in though with plenty of things piquing his curiosity in a single moment. The backstory behind all of this and the banter between the forepony and Rosa all seemed like there is some history between the two of them. They appear to be acquainted enough with each other to know one is a so-called spy, a strange thing to hear but Rosa's outfit raises a question of its own. "Could someone explain what all this is about? Infestation? Darkenhold?"

What would Lin do? Gather information that could make the difference between victory and defeat, but even giving himself an edge here might not mean much. If such a thing happened before, Rose could've adapted to the previous method and likely given herself some form of countermeasure now. Hunter training at least should give him the expectation to adapt and improvise on the fly. One moment's tactic could change in an instant and he would need to make changes as fast as Rose's. That realization kept Sen quiet for a bit in contemplation; just what else is Rose capable of? How would she respond to changing tactics?

That curiosity would at times be challenged by Discord's shenanigans injecting unexpected changes in the tone of the conversation whenever he would act but another thing would leave him wondering about the upper limits of Discord's power. If he were to join in, would he be wild card that could win a fight with a snap of his fingers? It's a thought but not one Sen would entertain for now.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

Though Fluttershy was already used to Discord making things... interesting whenever they hang out, Anomaly's didn't seem as fun or lighthearted as the draconequus. She let out a shriek as Anomaly smashed her head into the ground, splitting into little versions of herself. Sure, they went about their business but the pegasus half-expected to be cleaning up the mess instead and even if she got her animal friends to help, they weren't going to be happy about it. Angel, especially, glaring at one of the little Anomalies near him.

Then there was the opportunity to learn about Anomaly right there, more or less happening right in front of her. If anything, it should at least give her something to expect beyond the fun-loving - if possibly crazier than Discord - jokester persona she's seeing at the moment.

Sekel · February 21, 2018

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic watched him get up when her pushing proved futile and flinched a bit at hearing him sneeze. The disc rolled away and with a quick look at Zhu, followed it to the corner. She peered down at the various runes adorning the surface and then back at Zhu again. In her mind, she saw him carve the silver disc, inject magic into it by whittling the runes into the surface and then promptly hide it in his cloak.

"What ... that's a magic disc," Karmic whispered to herself. She picked it with her hoof and placed it within her ever-shifting mane. Quickly walking back to Zhu, she grabbed his cloak with her teeth, and tried to get him to move faster out of the dungeon.

Victoria Sponge · February 22, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"I-I don't think dragons should do any of those things. Ponies are normally so peaceful, w-we have no quarrels with your kind."

It reassured Lemon a little that Toxen didn't eat meat, but she was still scared by the dragon's appearance and was not ready to fully lower her guard yet. She didn't want to be 'messed up somewhat'.

"I must say your love sounds most wonderful Pop, and I don't mind your unusual choice in mate, love is love. If anything it proves what I'm saying, that dragons and ponies should learn to love each other, because these two here show it's possible."

She giggled at the story of their meeting.

"Felix likes to show off how tough he is but he's secretly quite a klutz, the same goes for Victoria."

Victoria blushed and Battenberg giggled remembering her glitter mane earlier one.

"I think we're all a little clumsy though, I almost destroyed my own cake at the party we met at. Though if I hadn't, Felix wouldn't have spent the whole night by my side making sure it stayed up, we'd never have gotten to know each other and none of us would be standing here today."

Felix blushed.

"That was the best night of my life, if I could live those hours, stood by the cake table chatting away and laughing all evening, again I would, over and over again. So many lucky factors lead up to that night, my mother wanting to see me, those ponies deciding to celebrate, Lemon making a cake that was way too big and deciding to guard it, me finding that Amethyst to prop the cake table up, me wanting that gem back again. Good times."

Victoria made a face as her parents embraced, she was still getting used to the whole love thing and wasn't really ready to see her parents going all gooey.

Lemon looked at Toxen nervously.

"I-I can show you where a z-zebra lives..."

Edited February 22, 2018 by Battenberg

Blitz Boom · February 22, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"No idea Lucid. I were mostly resurrected with spare parts, so I'm not even sure how I looked when I was born."

Anomaly laughed as Discord explained how it was with them and pain. Well, and his performance too. It might be horrid for some, but she found it increasingly funny the longer he had gone with it.

"Hehehe, you're silly, of course I feel pain. Changing, smashing, splitting up, it all hurts, and it's hilarious!"

She nearly jumped in place, gleefully thinking on pain and the varied nuances thereof for a while until she realized that the atmosphere was getting a little tense. Or she imagined it? Whatever, he had to explain herself before the author dumped some iron on her or something. He were really being after her for all sorts of things these days.

"What? I don't hurt others, jeez. Judging much or what? It's only me that feels something when the body goes bang bang twisty. Everything else just warps without a care. I mean seriously, I'm not some kind of monster, hehehe "

The little pumpkin fairies in all their various, orange forms, were starting to bring a few things over by now. Mainly tape, saran wrap and... A platypus?

"Hey, that's not mine. Put it back uhm... Wherever you found it."

The two that were carrying the weird animal pulled their tongues at her and flew off with the confused, wriggling creature again, whilst those who were bringing other of the prank things, were putting it down in front of her. Why? Well, she couldn't destroy things as she had said, but as mentioned, she could eat them, so that was what she were doing now. Eating plastic.

"Don't do this at home foalsies."

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

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"An infestation in this case, refers to the changeling emeralds making this mine theirs by being *seeded* here. If they first get a strong hold of it, it is likely that the only way to minimize damage would be to destroy the majority of this place, and the crystals within. Some degree of preparations can be done to secure things, like getting the regular gems covered up, placing machines a few places, or some magical wards, though that's mainly against small things like a rogue entity going in and attempting to mix in a few rocks here and there. A full assault by a beast heart carrier is likely different, so for now I just want the workers out to minimize casualties, and then see what we have to work with after that.

As for your other question... Darkenhold is where I grew up. An isolated, bat pony only city far away from this area, where my father brought me up after Filigree were done taking advantage of him, and left us both.

I worked as a spy for them until I found out what they did with the information I found. So I stole the most damaging evidence and important information about things I could get my hooves on, and I ran. Currently, I have been granted asylum by King Thorax, and the information I took are being handled more responsible now. I can't tell how though, I have been informed that it is strictly classified."

It was a brief history of things, not going over how he had gone into the business to start with, how his father were currently, how old he were when Filigree left, etc. Perhaps another time when he had some idea that he could trust these beings more, however for now, a quick overview would suffice. He would honestly have left the part out about him being a spy for first the bat ponies and now Thorax if it were, but the forepony had already shared too much information there to make that avoidable.

"My services are still being used, but in a better capacity. This situation however, is a personal matter, and does not involve Thorax. Would that explain things? Or is there more you wanted to ask, this time more about the actual, current situation? I have shared as much of my personal life as I find reasonable right now."

Honestly it was weird to live with the changelings, and he had an urge to speak about it with somepony, but he still had issues finding trust with new beings. He needed to be certain they were some that would not use the information against him, even if stories about how he had to avid certain areas of the kingdom, and the strange looks he got when he were seen out in the open, might not seem like the sort that would give anything useful up. Beyond guilt and loneliness that were, though he were sure that could be used against him in a pinch. Likely he were just being paranoid, but he was a fugitive, living among beings that a few years back would have eaten him instead, because it was the only place he could think of where he wouldn't be incarcerated for his actions. Paranoia were hard to let go off.

He sent a glance to the side, starring at Omen, that had currently eaten about five inches of live wire, and for some reason kept on going with nothing but short waves of shock going through her as a sign that anything was happening at all.

"With the greatest of respect, how and why?"

"Tastes funny."

Rosa rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly. To think that he were among a Discord cloud that had nearly gotten the forepony to burst into anger from the mockery of the balloon before (though granted, Rosa had found a small chuckle gurgling in his throat over that) and a longma - a being he had never seen before - and he still found them to be the normal ones. Not to judge, but so far, Omen seemed like the sort you'd make arguments about natural selection towards.

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

@Dji

"It's empty, but if you want to charge and reuse it, then be my guest. I try to avoid that the best I can."

Zhu had not heard what Karmic had said before, but he had bitten notice in her taking the disc he had discarded after he had used it.

"If you wonder, I don't have magic beyond wind. What I place in that, and other places, are spells I have learned. Some can be cast quickly, yet if I had to cast that one, it would have taken me twenty minutes. I have doubts my head would have made it for that long."

The sound of steps came from the stairs leading up, and Zhu paused. Whoever it were seemed to be going back again however, which still left them time. A lucky break for whoever it had been, as anypony trying to interfere with their escape would have to be knocked out. He had something he needed to do in this conflict that couldn't wait forever.

"We should make haste. It is not certain when the next one will appear, but it cannot be long."

He were somewhat unaware of the chaos unfolding outside, where Warlock had returned, so he had no guarantee that their escape would not be stopped shortly. Even if the odds had been high for the witch to attack town, nothing was ever assured when it came to the future. At least not in his experience.

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

@Battenberg

"Eh, some things are hard to let go off, you know? Personally, I just like to mess around with you. Beating up will only lead to guards and prison, and I ain't seeing the fun in that. Rest of 'em need some time. We've barely gotten a new dragonlord, and she needs to gain some respect before everyone's following her lead. One step at a time small stuff."

"It sounds like you two had a lot of lucky little breaks to get together, but it seems to be all for the best. You have gotten some wonderful fillies, and you both still love one another a lot. Might have taken twists and turns to bring you together, but it just makes it seem destined when you see how things have gone for you."

"Yep, what she said. All kinds of pretty to see a young couple who's still swinging it all those years later, and who got the backstory of a good romance novel..

Anyway, you say you know where to look? Mind being a sweetie and lead the way then Lemon?"

"It would be appreciated yes."

Toxen got up on her feet again, whilst Pop looked towards Victoria and Battenberg. The two seemed to be getting along much better than the first time she had seen them, and she couldn't deny that she felt a smile spreading on her face over that. Strange how little it had taken to get Victoria out of her shell, and towards being the mare that her family knew she had been hiding all those years... Hopefully it would last, though she couldn't see why it wouldn't. Victoria seemed so much happier like this. Why she would return to being how she once were would be beyond her, and from the sounds of things, from the baker mare herself.

But they had to keep going. Not just for the zebra, but also in regards to Victoria. She needed them to stay and support her through things as she went through the changes. Seeking out others, smiling more, setting her up on dates (Pop really had to send that letter soon) and overall be there to pick her up if she stumbled over some of the hurdles. What would friends and family be, if they weren't there for one another after all, right?

Lucid_Nightlight · February 22, 2018

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Lucid could probably do that trick too with the stick, but considering he was made of flesh, bone, blood and all that it would probably scare everyone. Although he didn't fear the author, the other dude Lucid indirectly controls wouldn't let him hear the end of it if Lucid got him banned.

"So you basically like pain? That's a little weird."

Lucid could warp reality using his little toy and all that, but other than that... he's still just a pony and cannot wrap his head around the logic and state of mind of anyone who has a biological ability to warp reality.

"I can't seem to understand how y'alls mind works, I'm guessing that state of minds comes with the planetary DLC."

Lucid then remembered that he stored his money in a small pocket dimension. He opened a portal, pulled out all the bits and counted

"47... 48... 49."

He was one bit off.

"Maybe it'll put the last one on my bill."

He put the bits infront of the stick which only replied with insufficient funds that was a let down.

"That sucks! And I accidently burnt my checkbook last weak."

Lucid would've used his credit card since the legal age for one is different in the other Universe, but he had a bad credit score. Maybe buying all those custom made statues of himself wasn't such a good idea.

"What's the point in these DLCs anyway!?"

Edited February 22, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

EQ_Theta · February 23, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

And... now comes the really awkward moment when things got really strange. Masochism is one thing but seeing someone other than Discord indulge in such left Fluttershy feeling sick and running off to find some place discreet for her to relieve herself. Not to mention the other things Lucid mentioned that didn't make any sense at all, at least with regards to context. Discord's schtick was something she was already accustomed to but with this degree of not making sense, perhaps it was enough for her to not hear anymore of it for now. Even Angel seemed rather confused by this before he went off after his caretaker. He may be the tougher of the two but he still shows a lot of concern for the pegasus.

For now, it was just everyone else left in the room to mingle or do whatever they wanted to pass the time given the moment's respite with Fluttershy likely to not come back for a while.

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Um... Omen, is that safe?" Sen appeared to be somewhere between concerned and put off by the display though he reserved his more averse reactions. It was rather uncalled for but even curiosity would have its limits within the good graces of others. Now... it's simply weird, not to mention the possibility of harming herself with whatever it is that makes up the insides of that kind of wire with shocks periodically radiating over her.

"Anyway, that's quite a story but is there anything you can share about Silky Rose? Anything that can give us an advantage like how she thinks? What is she like if she is without the changeling emeralds?"

Better to ask that question now and find answers from someone who knew Rose a lot better than being on the opposite end of her wrath and simply being encased in crystal. Then again, if Sen were to take all of this into perspective, he'd find himself on that same end anyway.

As for Lin, she got everything she needed. Charbroil mine in Baltimare, the items needed to keep her from being distracted from her mission, and everyone accounted for. Safe and sound without too many set backs. Perhaps now it is time to go. She looked to Discord and said, "we should head to Spelt's while we have time."

There is a bit of hesitation on Lin's end, as if she didn't exactly want Discord to send them off to the mine to meet Spelt immediately. She looked to Belladonna for now and gave her one of the vials containing the liquid needed to remove any changeling emeralds clinging on to whatever those latched on to, hoping she wouldn't regret parting with it.

"Here, in case Silky Rose comes. Pour this on the changeling emeralds to stop them from spreading. Just in case Rose goes for you, it's something to help you out of a tight spot. Will Clayton want to come with us or is he staying here?"

Sekel · February 23, 2018

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

“Oh, now he gets moving,” Karmic grumbled and pushed Zhu ahead of her once the coast was clear. She had no idea on how to charge the disc up with magic. It was only picked up because she had an interest in interesting objects.

“For a panther snake creature, you sure move slow,” she commented. “As for the disc, I can’t imbue it with magic so charging it is out of the question.”

Karmic paused in her frantic pushing at hearing more footsteps just beyond the doorway in the hallway at the top of the stairs. She held her breath and immediately saw multiple visions, all of which appeared to have whoever the mystery pony was walk right into both of them.

“The pony coming will get us, no matter what,” Karmic whispered to Zhu.

Victoria Sponge · February 24, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"I-if you do get married Pop you should talk to my niece, Red Velvet, she's good at weddings, so's her husband. A-anyway, I'll show you a zebra, follow me."

She moved forwards, as she moved her footsteps were light and almost silent, she took tiny little steps which made her look almost as if she were floating. She stopped to check the others were following her and then looked at Victoria who was now pinning Battenberg to the floor with her enthusiastic cuddles, giggling like a mad thing.

"Victoria! Are you coming?"

Victoria heard her mother, saw that the others were leading and immediately hopped off her sister, trotting gingerly up to her mother and walking beside her.

"Was there a doubt?"

Battenberg smiled and watched them go.

"Let's go to a cafe for a bit dad, we'll go and get dinner when mum and Victoria come back."

"Of course, dear. Hey, why don't we go find Sprinkles and Sky, she said they'd be at Luigi's about now."

"That sounds great!"

Storm Shine · February 24, 2018

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight

Discord shrugged, a little down that Fluttershy ran off. "Well I can turn any of my senses off at will, so Pain is a non-issue either way." He explained.

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

With Omen's Group, the Discord smoke found a wire of his own and began thoughtfully munching it, causing him to resemble a storm cloud more than regular smoke.

Meanwhile, with Lin's group, the balloon pulled one of it's horn-balloons off of his head and threw it out in front of him. After a few seconds the balloon discord popped, leaving a portal to their destination in his spot; meanwhile, the piece he had pulled off grew into a new Balloon Discord.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Storm Shine

Blitz Boom · February 24, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Anomaly watched Fluttershy take off, looking like something were said that really got to her.

"Everypony keeps wandering off when I start talking about that. Weird.

I mean, pain is just an emotion, right? Joy, peace, glee, that sort of thing is good, but the comedy needs tragedy. Good needs evil. Serenity needs pain. It's aaaaaaall part of a big, big balance thing to make the show better, and I'm the bestest show-maker there is. Long as I don't make the audience feel pain, what's the big deal, right? Not like it actually hurts me when I do stuff to myself. I can just regrow, ponies are squishy and can't. Well, not without help, but nooooo, every time I start to mutate ponies I'm *Cruel and evil*. Blergh, boring, stagnant race..."

If there was one thing Anomaly didn't like, it was stagnation. She believed that everything, and every being, should eventually evolve. Either slowly or rapidly, one way or another, they had to move forward, or they were painfully dull and pointless. Nothing was perfect after all. It could always be improved one way or another, so why not help it along?

Zhu never understood that logic though. Man he got grumpy when she changed others around without the *great purpose* he always spoke about. Okay for him to make her change several beings into plants, but when she wanted to give the Coast Guard gills, suddenly she was the issue.

"Anyway, yellow mare is Discord's friend, I made her run off, so... Does that mean we're enemies now? Do i need to make amends or something? And how in the world will Lucid get on without being able to pay the DLC of his stick?"

She started saying this whilst looking at Discord, but then suddenly grabbed hold in the air, and looked straight into the fourth wall.

"Find out this and more, in the next episode of *Reality Deniers*."

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

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Omen looked up at Sen, with a spark dancing over her eyes, then towards Discord's stand in, who had begun to follow her lead on this.

"Master Discord does it."

"That should not mean it's the sane thing to do. Besides, we should begin to get ready to look around, just in case somepony planted some of the gems already. I don't know if Filigree haves help this time, but I'd rather be certain. They seem to be getting the workers out efficiently anyway."

That was a bit of an understatement, as they were being either led straight to emergency exits, or flown out of there by the stronger pegasi among them. An alarm had also gone off mere seconds ago, leading a good deal to get on their way themselves rather than stay during what was currently being sold off as an emergency that required specialized personnel. Considering they still got a full day's pay in such a situation, the workers didn't really mind getting the time off, and who wouldn't prefer to be on the safe side?

The place should be cleared within ten minutes, but they could look at certain abandoned parts already if they wished so. There were plenty of paths to follow for those who couldn't fly, so Sen and Omen should not have an issue navigating the place.

"As for Filigree's state of mind, I don't know. She left before I developed any real memories of her, but she have been described as manipulative to me from countless sources. She will attempt to rile you up and make you unfocused, or make you take her side in things. I wouldn't trust anything she says frankly, at least not until we can expunge the heart from her and get into a secure facility for interrogation.

As for an advantage, she is highly intelligent apparently, but the crystal might have hurt her overview of things. If you can convince her that you wish to join her, then take advantage of the distraction, a surprise hit might be possible to be made.

Out best weapon against her comes down to the refraction. If we can get it to crack her shell, it may well be able to drain the effect of the heart entirely too. The alternative is to make a hole to her chest, and then pour the elixir we have gotten over her there. It might be able to expel the two from one another, though it is more of a guess than anything. The gems are quite strong, and only gets more active with magical exposure, so we may well need to rely entirely on physical strength, deceit, and the little draconian being.

My original plan were to use myself a a distraction, which I implore you to do as well. Faced with one of the foals she left behind, she might get unstable and irrational. I doubt it will be from any love, but anger can be as effective, if not more.

Do you have any suggestions as to how to unbalance her, or perhaps work better against the crystals? We could use all the options we can get."

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Belladonna looked at the portal that the balloon Discord had made with a raised eyebrow.

"Interesting. Even when not here in his full, physical shape, the ability to manipulate reality does not seem to have been impeded. The public's perceived power level of the Draconequus lord seems to be wholly inaccurate.

In regards to Clayton, I will go and inform him to seek shelter in my basement for the foreseeable future. His stress levels are nearing a critical stage, and his abilities in physical or magical confrontations are limited. I believe you will find me a more suitable substitute for this endeavor.

Now then, excuse me for a moment."

Belladonna went to the back to discuss things with Clayton, which did cause some muffled noises as Clayton raised his voice a few times. Meanwhile in the main room, the spoon kept on swirling the stuff in the pot, which had now gone over to having a more bitter, earthy smell.

The mare would return soon after and sniffed the air. The spoon floated over to a shelf and put in a bath of water, where a lid would then be taken off and put on the small pot. The fire underneath were subsequently stopped too, all the while she were moving towards the portal provided by Discord.

"Arrangements for his protection have been taken care of now. Let us proceed."

With that, and her bag floated over to her side, she jumped through, which would lead them to what appeared to be a large house next to an even larger coal mine. Though something was off. It was a little hard to tell, but there was just something about the continued flock of ponies running for dear life with fear in their eyes that made it look as if something was wrong within said mine. As subtle as a brick to the face.

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

@Dji

"I am one to inspect and direct from the shadows. It's rare that I wander with speed, as I then may miss something important.

As for whom we heard before, if he or she does encounter us, it will be unfortunate for them. The escape cannot be impeded further."

As he said this, they reached the top of the stairs and were greeted by about four guards that had pulled their spears and looked towards the outside, though as one of them saw the two escapees, they turned and directed their spears in their direction. A mistake it turned out, as swiftly and without warning, the ponies smashed into eachother by strong winds, knocking out three of them. The last were down to start with, but got on his hooves and charged Zhu down, smashing into him before the serpanther had a chance to use more wind, and pinned him to the ground, a spear placed against the base of the neck.

Seeing no other way around it, Zhu lashed forward and bit him in the neck, causing the eyes of the pony to go wide. He was kept in the grip of Zhu's jaws whilst sickly green lines spread from the bite mark and up towards the stallion's head. The guard started to shake as it passed over his eyes, and then suddenly, the lines were gone, gone further into the system. The process would take a few seconds, at which point the guard would stagger backwards from Zhu, and look around himself, seemingly scared out of his mind. He'd whimper, and strike at shadows, begging for them to leave him alone, until the wind once again carried him and smacked him into the ground, making him pass out.

The Serpanther rose and ran a clothed sleeve over his mouth.

"I detest the taste of ponies, but he forced my paw. Let's leave before others arrive. I know a secure path."

With that, he'd now speed up somewhat, and jump towards to hall where Princess Celestia's room were. He were not headed for that one specifically, but there were one close to it that had an emergency exit, in case something went wrong. Considering the sounds outside, he would guess most of the guards were out there too, so it should leave them with less resistance. He hoped so at least, as he had other things to do than to hurt more of Celestia's guards. It would not make his meeting easier, if she decided to act upon the invitation he had left in her room that were. He hoped so, but at the same time.. Abandoning her for a millennia? He weren't sure if her heart was great enough to forgive that.

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

@Battenberg

Pop got a blush on her cheeks when the concept of marriage and talking to Red about it came up.

"I met Red and her family earlier. They seemed like one of the happiest couples I have ever met, but I mean... Benny would have to ask me first. It's tradition, r-right? Wait for him to take that step."

"I'm thinking you're just scared to ask and not hear him say yes straight off the bat. Which he totally would by the way. Why he haven't gotten on a knee yet I haven't the faintest, but it's obvious he's never gonna let go of you. He'd cross mom before that, and that's saying something."

"I'm not scared, I just want him to be sure first. If I spring the question too soon, I know he's going to say yes, but what if he isn't ready, and just says so because he doesn't want to disappoint me? He's done so much for me over the years... I can't push him into things when he's not ready."

"Eh sounds fair, but really, you should get to it eventually. Baby bro is a little dense in it, and might need to know that you'd be game for it. You know, leave some magazines out, talk to him about cute baby names, all that sort."

The red tint on Pop's face became more prominent at the end, when the concept of children came forth.

"I'll uhm... Consider it. B-But you know, we'd have to adopt, so perhaps it would be silly to think of names."

Toxen gave her a bemused, taunting look and chuckled with a mischievous smile spreading on her face. Seemed like she knew something there that the pony did not, but for once didn't feel like sharing. It was slightly unnerving to Pop, but she just kept happy that the dragoness turned away from her and went on with talking to Lemon and Victoria instead for now. She'd play with her paranoid later on.

"We'll leave the wedding bells on hold then. And good to see you joining in squirt. You're a barrel of laughs to have around."

She reached a hand down to rummage through the pony's mane, though Victoria could deflect this if she wished to by taking a step back or something. Toxen weren't gonna push it too much.

"I'll see you around another time Battenberg. Have a good time with your father, and say hi to Sprinkles from me."

Pop spend the time to wave off Victoria's sister and her dad, who were going on a grand adventure to eat croissants or something.

Lucid_Nightlight · February 24, 2018

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @Blitz Boom

Lucid wasn't listening to Anomaly's speech that closely. All he heard was bestest show-maker. Lucid may be a nice guy, but he did have quite an ego when it comes his career.

"There can only be one bestest show-maker, and being the comedian that I am... that show-maker would be me."

He also heard the something about making amends, enemies, and all that. He wasn't listening, too much considering his attention span, but he did hear enough.

"You could just fight him. I mean I'd probably do it."

Although Lucid at his current level was slightly more powerful than Discord, he'd probably still lose against the millennia aged being at his current continent level power due to his lack of experience and over-confidence. At planetary level though, it would turn the tides, but let's face... Lucid didn't have the funds so an upgrade was out of the question.

"So... wanna annoy the animals?"

EQ_Theta · February 25, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

The sound of a quiet puff or a muffled explosion rocked from a distant room, just loud enough to be heard from where the rest of the group stood and talked

"Ahem!"

It would seem that Fluttershy would be gone for a while though that notion would be proven false with her standing on the opposite end of the hallway covered in white powder, mostly around her face and neck. She waited there with just her angry eyes visible. Angel stood on her back menacingly holding up the booby trapped hair dryer looking like he was ready to make someone's day worse, preferably with the same hair dryer. The pegasus wouldn't really have much to say though she fully expected someone in the room to laugh knowing she fell for a prank.

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Omen, you approached her back at the mines, right? Did you say anything about me? I'm thinking about being the distraction; if what you told her involved me, Rose will likely be interested in hearing me out. I could keep her talking long enough to leave an opening and she'd be curious enough about me because of my appearance. At least that should keep her attention away from everyone else for the meantime until I take a swing at her. That's the best I could come up with."

And if it is likely things would go south, at least Omen wouldn't be imprisoned in crystal this time around. Maybe...? Who really knows how this will turn out. Sen immediately left to scour the surrounding area for crystal seeds and would mark them by etching a cross at the ground. There didn't seem to be any for now, though he may be overlooking them or just not looking hard enough. Anyone with better knowledge of the mines would be aware of hiding places no one else would dare to look, but between the slabs of rocks and the quarry equipment, he just couldn't identify any nook or cranny that could fit the bill.

As for Lin, Clayton staying put where he is sounds like the best option. He's been through enough and keeping him out of harm's way is the safer option, though Belladonna wanting to come is a strange development. She wouldn't stop her from going but is trying to convince herself that it is what she wants. Or at least Lin thinks it is. Whatever the reason, she'd keep an eye on her; without her brother around, keeping everyone present safe and accounted for is her responsibility. It would appear that the calm before the storm would not come soon enough, but stepping through to the other side would reveal otherwise. Now Lin would find herself in her brother's place: figuring out an exit strategy, and fast. A quick look around first but she better be ready to do something if Rose is where Spelt is at.

FanOfManyShows · February 25, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Iron Wing nodded "There are elements in Canterlot, and enemies of his, chances are he'll go there." He extended his wings and flew upwards.

Nectar turned around to her army. "Alright, seems we're heading to Canterlot then." She ran ahead of wing before she jumped up, starting to fly to Canterlot as the others followed her.

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

Warlock didn't get far up before Leo grabbed his hoof as he hit against the library outer wall, making bookshelves shake as the wall dented inwards. Sapphire looking to ahead to a bookshelf as books fell off it. "Strange." She said, continuing to read the book. "So he stole the element of greed, only to fall to its influence." Another thud against the wall as Warlock struggled to shake the changeling off. Sapphire looked to the wall again, narrowing her eyes at it. "Yeah that's not normal." Her shield went up, and then Warlock teleported in, Sapphire gently placing the books on the ground. Sapphire flew forward into Warlock, who moved out of the way as he materialized his sword. "Let's not ruin archived documents Chariot." She flew forwards into him again and teleported with him, sending the two outside.

"Gah!" Warlock was hit by a magic blast, knocking him into a wall. "No!" He said, realizing his magic was faltering as he felt his bruising cheek.

"You know, it's embarrassing seeing your defeat approach so quickly isn't it?"

Warlock narrowed his eyes at her. "I am not de-" Another magic blast struck him, created by Sapphire.

"You talk boastfully." In her hoof she created a magical construct, and swung it at Warlock, cutting into his cheek. "No defenses, talking to buy yourself time." She lifted her sword and pointed it to him. "My sister won't save you this time." She rose her sword up.

"WAIT!"

Sapphire paused her swing, turning around to the pony, gasping softly. "Astral?"

Astral was trembling in fear, shaking as her hoof rose up. "I doubt he can trade bodies if he dies. So don't go killing him." A sword materialized in her hoof.

"So you'd kill your mother? Just like she did with Emerald?!" Warlock yelled out, before his head was struck by Sapphire's hoof, knocking him unconscious.

"Enough of your babbling!" She turned to Astral.

Astral tossed her sword over. "I doubt this paints a good image of our magic mom."

Sapphire was breathing heavily from the exhaustion. Lowering her head as she sighed. "You aren't happy to see me?"

"I was, but seeing you only prove his point doesn't help that." She said as she pointed to Warlock. She looked to the guards around them.

Leo's horn glowed as he let out a sigh. "How'd you find her?"

"I can sense magic, and Warlock gives off a lot of magic." She turned around to look to him. "And I figured if he was here then she would be as well."

Sapphire jumped at Astral, hugging her tight as Iron Wing landed in. "I hope we're not interrupting anything."

Astral giggled a little. "Well, we should chain up Warlock before he awakes." She said, looking at Warlock, who wore a relaxed look for the first time since this began.

"I will make sure of that." He looked to the guards. "Arrest the pony there." He said, pointing to the unconscious pony. "Make sure he can not cast any further spells."

"Best I help with him then bud." While he had taken forever to get here, he had his reasons, having to find some source to indicate where Iron Wing was, and luckily this appearance of Warlock in Canterlot made it much easier. "I can take him directly to the dungeons."

"Very well, make sure he doesn't escape." With a nod he stood near Warlock. "Now, can we bring a prison car here for their transfer to the dungeon?"

Victoria Sponge · February 25, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Good old Red, our family's little wedding expert. She makes me miss my days as a caterer, all those weddings I did. I love working for Battenberg now though of course, nothing has strengthened the bond between us better but I do miss the good old days."

Lemon's body was filled with warmth as she drew upon fuzzy memories of her life up to now.

"It is indeed tradition for the stallion to make the proposal, but of course we live in changing times so I suppose it would be quite nice if you were the one to pop the question."

Lemon seemed to be a bit of a traditionalist, though it was refreshing to see how open minded she could be and how she was adjusting to the world around her rather than being left in the dust. Still she missed the good old days when Felix actually stayed home and she lived with him, her sister and of course their two beautiful fillies. She could see a new golden age coming though, as her daughters grew up and began exposing themselves to the adult world, looking for special someponies of their own and growing their own businesses.

"You do need to be careful if you're going to wait for him though, he may be having the same thoughts as you, waiting for you to make a move. Just make sure that one of you does ask eventually, if that's what you want, if you truly want to get married you shouldn't leave it too long."

Victoria did not pull away from the mane ruffling, it seemed she was long over the fear of having her mane messed up. Though it may just have been that her mane was so messy already that she didn't see a point in reacting.

"Let's get moving mum, the father dragon needs his wakeup call."

Lemon nodded and began heading down the street, leading the pack.

Widdershins · February 26, 2018

@Dji & @Blitz Boom

With a sudden tremble the drake's wings begin to flap slower as the two descend gradually lower to the ground. Head pointed away from her but less tense in position, Kaltrop grumbles.

"...what do I care if I get shouted out of some stupid, podunk ponytown? You all hate me anyway. What harm are you in anyway? Can you just fly your own stupid self off...?"

******************************************************************

@Blitz Boom

Ambisinister Valence was a stallion who had spent an inordinate amount of his life around authoritative mares. He was well aware, on an instinctual level, of those who naturally gained full control over what situation they were in and, not being the one to often willingly buck the expectations put upon him by teachers and the like, he was a pony to leave the bigger, more "dangerous" decisions to others. Especially if it meant his inevitable screwing things up got him put in the spotlight.

Onto that, he had attended enough magic classes to know the effects of willpower magic and had already guessed that, of any pony, this wasn't a mare to draw the attention of any more then his teachers back in Canterlot.

Nevermind if Onache was looking directly at him currently, Ambie cowered. Head hung low as he slowly retraced his steps back the several yards he had come out of the darkened barn from moments earlier; all while his entire body was literally and noticeably palling.

Blitz Boom · February 26, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

The draconequus female gulped down another heap of plastic and prank traps whilst she thought about Lucid's question.

"Meh, yellow mare didn't seem to think it'd be funny to mess with her animals, so I'll better... Bwahahahaha!"

Anomaly spat out a chewtoy and feel all the way down to the floor laughing as she saw Fluttershy standing there with the result of the sprung manedryer prank all over her face. And that look she had on her face? It was absolutely priceless, and it felt like she was getting stomach cramps from laughing at it.

"Ah-ahahaha! L-Lucid got you good there. You look like ghost!"

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

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"I told her that I wanted to help you. Only said your name."

Omen remembered the moment when she had met the strange mare in the mine. She had been oddly glistening, like the ones that Shrimp got loose in the mine, and apparently angry. Yelled something about how they would never get away with something that she didn't specify before she noticed Omen.

Odd how things had turned out with that one, and that was just from the little she knew from the others. Whatever had happened between Omen wandering over to a point the mare had wanted her to stay, until she had woken up and couldn't speak, apparently nopony knew. Only Filigree, but it sounded like everypony had plans with her, so she likely wouldn't have the chance to ask. She'd see when things went on she guessed.

"It could be that would do, yes. Use it if possible when we meet her, and I will attempt a sneak attack. If it fails, I will try to distract her whilst you two get the refraction to her."

It was tge last thing Rosa said before tge sweep of the mine commenced. His own would take longer than the others as he checked their work after here and there - especially Omen's - but he'd get to them eventually, empty-hoofed.

"It seems we're clear, that's good. It will ease things as Gem covers the place up. We should get out before that."

Meanwhile, in a mine close to Baltimare, Belladonna wandered calmly past the panicked, escaping workers and got to the mine as they began to be few and far in between. Either this place did not have many in today, or the majority had gotten loose before they arrived. The later did not bode well for the time they had to work with.

Getting into the mine, they were presented with another issue: The stream of workers had stopped, but there were three paths to follow, and not much sound coming from any of them.

Belladonna listened in, trying to discern voices, but hearing only the sound of the wind blowing from the entrance and a few other noises that seemed related to bats in the left path, and otherwise just the sound you'd expect from a mine where most of the workers had run off.

"I find no discernible difference in the paths currently, so we may be required to split up to search the area effectively. Unless there are other suggestions, based on your skill set and magic?"

Belladonna did not enjoy having to work with uncertainties, so she would find it preferable that the others came with a solution that would direct them down the right path. It would leave them less able to deal with things if they had to split up, but when the alternative were that Filigree might escape, it was potentially a necessity.

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

@Lloyd

Whilst the others went on their way back to Canterlot, Brick went back to the castle and landed at the entrance where eh had left the others before. However, as it became apparent, they had left since he had gone off. He doubted it would be outside since Blackbeak wasn't foolish enough to take dead weight into a battlefield, so either they waited until the lot of them had left and taken the chance to walk of then, or they had gone somewhere else in the castle, looking for shelter or an alternative escape route.

He ran a hoof over the dust on the floor, and looked to his side. The trail of paws, hooves and talons he could see vaguely on the floor seemed to go that way. It wasn't certain how long they had wandered off for, but considering the load Blackbeak had to carry, it couldn't have gone far.

The path weren't lighted by anything else than the occasional holes in the walls, but he would follow it steadily until he encountered his work companion, Astral, the unknown griffon, and the unconscious stallion he had once called friend.

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

@Lloyd

"G-Guards! Apprehend them at once!"

The librarian had been more or less hiding through everything that had happened before, terrified of what were going on whilst the sealed boxed of books tumbled down from the shelves. The magic that were tumbled around, the slashing of blades and unnatural applications of magic... He could only hide, and wait for it to be over. Something it fortunately were soon after, but everything were a mess now. The forbidden sections were scattered everywhere, the shelves either slashed, broken from impact, or tumbled to the ground, and in the middle of it, the one that had attacked the town unconscious, along with the mare that had technically handled him. One who would have been guilty of murder, if her daughter had not come around to stop her.

However, as the guards had arrived, he still sprung to action and pointed towards the mare and her offspring with a shaking hoof.

"They've used forbidden magic. They're h-heretics. Witches!"

"We are well aware of that sir, but with the special circumstances of the case, Morning Dew saw it fit to use unorthodox methods to get this one contained."

Captain Hailstone had been one of the guards that had been chasing after Warlock as he burst into town, yet also the one that had directed them to not make an overly large, premature attack at the current point in time. As such, he had been just outside as the others had arrived, but gave way for them to wander in first. He had been among those who had been present when they had been told that Iron Wing were the new general of the Solar Guards, so he knew the chain of command enough to let him in first, and from the looks of things, it seemed as if the new leader were doing well. Though it would go better once his command had been publicly established, so that these guards would follow troop faster.

They knew him though, so he could help the general as best he could for the time being.

"Come on then, you heard him. Drag this one down to the dungeon, and put the chain on him. We haven't gotten a fully efficient anti-magic ring done for a hornless pony yet, but the alternative should work until we get there. In case he wakes up though, ensure his unconsciousness state returns. We can't risk him escaping before we get down there.

As for you, I apologize for not letting you know of our actions in advance sir, but some things are on a need to know basis. Such as what these ponies are able to do."

As the librarian was talked to once more by the captain with the warm cloth on his uniform, he looked at him in disbelief.

"B-But they're heretics. It's against the law to use magic like this."

Hailstone wandered closer to the librarian and calmly looked at him directly in the eyes, mere inches from touching their faces together.

"This is a matter of national security now. Breathe a word of the two witches with us, and you will be permanently suspended from your post."

The librarian looked as if he wanted to say more, then bit his tongue and looked away, silent. He enjoyed this job and having a career in general too much to throw it away by going against something like that. And for what even? He had no proof, and witches weren't like changelings. You couldn't force them to show themselves without doing something unforgivable.

With that sorted, and Warlock being dragged off by a team of guards that did theirs to both keep him watched and ready to be assaulted again in case he woke up, the captain turned first towards the mother and daughter, then his general. The only three ponies still left in the room, beyond himself, and the elderly stallion.

"Follow them, in case Warlock returns to his senses. Your cases will be discussed once he is safely contained, though I see no reason you wouldn't get a full pardon considering the part you played in capturing the attacker, though that will be up to the current leadership of Canterlot. Can you come with me in the meantime general? Advisor Dew and his associate would like to have a word."

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

@Battenberg

It really pleased the dragoness to see that Victoria wasn't backing out on things when she ruffled her mane a little. Here was a pony who could appreciate a good friendly gesture. Perhaps they could share a friendly punch on the shoulder later or something? She'd been dying to find a pony who could take a more brutish greeting like that without getting seven kinds of angry or afraid. Ironically, some ponies got real sensitive about getting touched.

"I'll have a chat with my baby bro later. Gotta see what's holding the wuss back."

"H-Hey! This is his and my life. We don't ne-"

"I'm all for a good love story, but Lemon's right. Benny might actually be waiting for you, and this way, you're never gonna get anywhere. I ain't gonna push him to do anything, just gonna see what's going on with him. Unless he really just is waiting for you, in which case I'll throw him at you with a note on.Consider it our *secret signal*."

Pop didn't respond to the taunt, or the jest that came at the end. SHe wished to do so, but she were conflicted right now between her not wanting others to try and force Benny to do something, and her heart telling her that she'd really wish that somepony would step in and do something, and the heart were winning currently.

They had been together for five years now. The best years she could recall having, and she couldn't imagine being with somepony else. She didn't need it to be official really, but... With marriage came a real chance to move on. Living in the same quarters, think about the future... Have a real talk about adopting some foals or whelps... There was a lot of things, and her time was pretty finite compared to his. It was something she didn't like to think about, but the fact remained that he would outlive her by a long margin, and that they should spend all the time they did have together as they could.

She'd have to think on this when they walked, which were thankfully not an issue as a lul in the conversation, as Toxen had no issues speaking up about other things. For once that actually came as a blessing.

"Alright, while we get there, how about telling ol' Toxen here what's scaring you about dragons? Victoria here doesn't seem bothered, and neither did your husband. WHat's happened to make you afraid? One of the mean ones got into your turf and flew around you whilst spewing fire everywhere? I wouldn't be surprised if it was that. Those sorts are real jerks."

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

@Widdershins

Onache stared at the halfling as he retreated with his neck bend, and a displeased scowl spread on her face.

"Disappointing."

Her plans about the potential breeding stock one could make of halflings that may be easily controlled began to loose value as soon as she saw how cowardly this first specimen were. There were of course never a guarantee of strength, which had been shown often when she had to oversee the new nymphs in her own hive, but things tended to have an obvious solutions. having greater genes increased the odds, but no guarantee were ever present.

Though of course, it would come down to the ease of control. Indoctrination at an early age were a possibility, but as had been shown with Chrysalis' flock when Thorax had taken over, it was not a guarantee. They could still turn against you, even with the best of precautions. Even the hive mind did not stop that. No, only total, and absolute control along with the strength of an ever-present hive mind and some degree of indoctrination would work in her mind, but could the first factor be countered in? She would see.

The buzzing of insects came towards Ambie's mind s she attempted to overwrite simple, recent memory: Namely meeting her. It would be a small thing that would make him remember her saying something to him. Barely anything, but this were but a test. She reserved the more complete write-overs for these unfortunate souls like this pony that she had run across. That one would have to follow when she were done to not raise suspicions, regardless of whatever or not her being a convert would suit the hive-less queen. There were too many damning evidence after she had needed somepony to ramble towards, and the rewrite of that memory should not be undone.

And speaking of undone, her spell might as well have been that. It had taken no effect on Ambie, leaving her option of the halflings as a servant race to become but a pipe dream. She supposed it would have been too easy regardless. The constant supervision and needing to filter out even more useless offspring than she already had. Her time were better spent than that. They might end up much like this one. A pathetic mess that was neither pony, nor changeling. Void of the hive mind and impossible to feed upon. What would be point really be, when everything was said and done, except more mouths to feed with love, even if they were only servants?

"It is beneath me to sully my hooves with this one. Happy -"

She paused, thinking for a moment before ordering her exemplary changeling to handle Ambie swiftly. This town were crowded with all kinds of creatures, and Ancalagon still drifting above it. he might take notice of the sudden scent, and if not him, then somepony else would. Perhaps the owner of this orchard as an example. individuals could be handled, or minds be converted, but not with the larger threat above them. He would know who she were, and she would be squashed. If not by him,t hen one of the other, countless beings down there. Too many minds had been strong for her liking, and among them were minotaurs. Vile creatures the lot of them, and far too strong of will to get anywhere with. A few ponies would not rally do anything against those, and she had seen at least six.

Plus, she could not have Happy cover for whoever. They knew him, which were why she had taken notice of him being in town in the first place - she knew of no other changeling that looked like a man - and if they saw his wagon abandoned somewhere, they'd get suspicious. She had no need for that in the current state of things.

"- inform the creature that as I am in a fortunate mood, I will spare him. If he speaks however, there will no longer be any mercy. Keep an eye on him to make sure he does not speak of this for the next hour, then come find me. Your absence have been long, and I have need for you."

"As you wish, my queen."

Where she anypony else, he would have said something to her phrasing at the end, but this were his queen. He did not do something like that to her, though he did wish to speak his mind quite a bit. He had so many questions with the main one being why she was here, and as it stood now, he would have to wait and hour to gain answers. But eh, at least he wouldn't have to do something which he might slightly regret, which were something he went to say to Ambie as his queen left and Happy morphed back into a pony.

"Yo, Ambie, you still in there? You're clear as long as you just keep your muzzle shut about her being here, alright? Honestly I doubt anypony would believe you either, but my queen's not one you want to get on the bad side of."

He wandered to where he had seen Ambie scuttle back before whilst talking, keeping a smile on his face. And a highly genuine one this time around. he had reason to be thrilled after all. His queen were back in his life! What wasn't amazing about that?

Edited February 26, 2018 by Blitz Boom

Sekel · February 26, 2018

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

“You just ... you just outright poisoned him!” Karmic shouted in shock. She wasn’t sure how to handle the Serpanther now and had no idea on what will happen next. She was all for a speedy escape but at the cost of a pony’s life? Usually, Karmic would be fine with that because she nudged ponies in that direction before. This was a direct action from a seer so this struck her on a different level. Hearing him move on, Karmic looked at the body in horror and quickly ran after him, judging that to be the best action for now.

@Blitz Boom & @Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

“Wings are too weak,” Dawn blurted our before she could stop herself and said another thing that will haunt her dreams for the next few weeks. She loosened her grip a tad at the realisation that Kaltrops wouldn’t simply roll over and squish her under his neck. “We don’t all hate you .... I don’t anyway.”

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