open Casual stroll

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Dji

 Banking slowly midair in the direction the mare atop hoofed out, Katrop carries on without heed to his flight.

   "Well, why can't you fly your own stupid self then? Or at least, not launch yourself into the air like that if you can't get down!"

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Dji

"To move forward, one must sometimes step back."

Zhu was focusing more on the walls than what Karmic was saying right now honestly. There might be a mechanism, or a place the spell were stronger that could be seen as an origin for it. If either could be found, they may find the path out, or a way to disable this trap.

Though he had gone through many kinds of spells and kept some ready for situations that seemed dire, sensing magic was not his strong suit, and neither were unraveling magic, like some of the more knowledgeable Kitsune and Unicorns could do. They had an intricate knowledge of how magic worked, and as it were part of them normally, they could work with it easier. He on the other paw, had to learn his craft like a mage of old, and that caused some limitations, such as time to cast a spell, and the more personal level of magic. He might have wind magic as part of himself, but it wasn't the raw potential of the magically inclined races, so it were not as effective. He could not even do as well as the so called *Heretics*, or *witches* depending on your perception of things. The earth ponies who learned magic that were not meant for them.

Still, he would work with what he had, and scour the walls as they moved along. perhaps he would find something, or get a vague sense of what magic held them here, and where the source were exactly.

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@Widdershins

Happy's eyes narrowed as Ambie talked badly about his queen. He had been ordered to leave this one be, and he would follow that, but so help him if the hybrid talked badly about Onache much more...

Hives and queens might not mean anything to Ambie, but to him, it was everything. It was purpose, home, and family. Without the hive, and the queen who ruled it, he had nothing. Just a cart and a life on the road, consisting of selling booze and leeching love off gullible equines. He could live with doing that now because he felt like he did it for somepony, but if he were to just wander without a goal, or somepony to follow? He'd end up going mad, or worse.

"Hey, that's my queen you're talking smack about there. And you don't know the sort of pressure she's under, or what it does to you to lead and feed a hive. It's like taking care of a village of children all by yourself. Have to get some thick skin for that, and not get too attached to strangers."

Whilst he didn't consider himself swayed by foolish arguments and empty promises, Happy had gotten pretty indoctrinated overt he years. Even if he had originally gone with her off his own will, as the hivemind didn't keep a crushing control over him, Onache had done well in making him believe everything she said. Not by forcing her will on him, but just by showing him the facts of life from their perspective, and then play along with the instability of his mind in the early years to make him think that only she would accept him, understand him, and give him purpose. By the time he had gotten himself properly under control, he had already been hooked for far too long, and at this point, he were as obedient as any of the drones who didn't have a choice in the matter.

"The head thing will pass soon enough by the way. Just her testing to see if you'd react like a pony or a changeling if she tried to communicate with you, the Changeling way. Seems like the connection just wasn't there."

He knew well what she had tried to do, but not entirely sure why. She were always so adamant on only getting the strong there, even if they only spoke about the labor force, and Ambie were... Well, Ambie. Strong or versatile wasn't really the words he'd use to describe the goof, so the best bet he had were that she just wanted to see if a hybrid could be swayed. Still seemed a bit odd though, but she were his queen. It wasn't his place to question her.

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@Widdershins

The blast didn't affect Rose, Grim or Sorrow much, but as were sadly evident, their guest had been hit rather severely. Apparently it were more literal than expected when ponies talked about the Draconequus race being spirits of something.

"Grrr, now there's two of them loose in my house. I will not tolerate this!"

"H-Hey Rose, please relax."

Sorrow followed after the irate mare into the room where the skull laid silently in a pile, half-way covered by books, and the shovel that the inhabitant of this residence picked up. Sorrow wanted the skull so she could get ready to gather up the loose spirits again, so she had more some ulterior motive for going in here right now, but she also wished to try and calm down her friend. She seemed pretty angry right now, and considering what she had done to Widders just before... Oh boy, wouldn't be good if she suddenly went loose and looking for a target.

"Shut up, Sorrow You don't know what that... That... Pumpkin-headed monster did to my garden. I'll find both of them and chase them out myself if I have to."

While the two of them were at it, the vague words of Widders caught Grim's ear, who started to follow it. He were next to useless when it came to gathering up the spirits anyway, so he might as well see if he couldn't make himself useful, and find the Draconequus, wherever he were.

Well... Wherever both of them were. Perhaps not at the same time. he didn't know how territorial those creatures were.

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@Lloyd

"I will not be interrogating you. Your fates are up to the generals, and Advisor Dew. Warlock however, is mine."

He looked on as the guards opened up the padded cell and clamped Warlock to a bed in there with a crude slab of metal around, locked with a clamp.

They had to hurry to make something, so until a proper chain could be made, they had gotten the two ponies in the forge to whip up a band of metal, embed some of the anti-magic rings they usually wrapped around unicorn's horn in it, and then make a link that could both close it and make it still have the properties of the closed rings. It wasn't perfect, and it were going to feel rather tight on Warlock, but he would be able to breathe relatively normally, until Benny returned and he could get to work on making a proper chain. Hopefully this one had enough of the anti-magic properties to keep him in check. If not... Well, it was his interrogation chamber for now. He would do what he had to in order to keep Warlock subdued.

Before he walked into the room - with the guards he had around him following to provide a protective detail around it, just in case - he turned to Iron Wing and salutes the fresh life on top of the food chain.

"I'll take it fro here, General Wing. You should escort the witches to the throne room and begin talking. it shouldn't be long before the others arrive."

Upstairs, the front door to the castle would open and reveal a strange group wandering in. General Screecher in front, looking as stoic and composed as ever, followed by Benny, who were walking on his hind legs for now, which were rather unusual. He claimed that it was uncomfortable for him to walk this way, and preferred to be on all fours if he could help it.

Straight behind him were a sheepish-looking changeling in guard armor at least two sizes too big. A scar went over one of his eyes, from an old injury that had made him blind in said eye, though right now he seemed to be more nervous and terrified than reminiscent about that. Potentially because of the two mares walking on either side of him. Both dark with swirling, purple vortexes as cutie marks, yet one was a large earth pony with a glass eye and a dark, wooden leg, and the other was a small pegasus, lacking her right wing. Both of them had saddlebags jingling with something, though what was obstructed from view currently.

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@Battenberg

Pop were the first to grab the hoof of Heather, whilst Toxen stood besides her with her hands in front of her mouth, trying not to laugh. Something which she were failing horribly at, but at least the sound was muffled.

"Hello there, my name's Circle Pop, and this here's Toxen."

She looked to her right quickly as she shook, focusing on a violet flower with delicate petals gently moving from the wind coming in.

"You have a beautiful store. Many of these plants I usually don't see in this good condition actually, but then again, I do have a little issue keeping plant life. Mom always said I should just stick to cacti, since I wouldn't have an easy time withering those."

The hooves were disconnected, but before she had the chance to move anywhere, Toxen wandered over and wrapped her arm around the neck of Heather, and booped the air right in front of her nose with a big, silly grin on her face.

"Hehe, nice meeting ya Heather, and thanks for the show. Nice save by the way. Really thought you'd end up getting yourself in bigger trouble then you ended up with.."

"Toxen, not everypony likes that."

The dragoness put on an obviously fake offended face on, and rose a hand to her chest.

"Well ain't Benny rubbing off on you nicely, Mrs. Buzzkill. I'm just doing mine to be all friendly like to you folks tend to like. I'm integrating and everything here."

She looked down on Heather and rolled her eyes, whilst pointing at Vicky and Pop with a thumb.

"Can you believe these guys? Ain't a funny bone left in 'em."

It were starting to dawn on Pop why Toxen didn't seem to have anypony to talk to, even though she had been in this town for years. She were doing her best to be friendly and be nice to ponies, but she went too far and became pushy, and somewhat clingy. That along with her sarcastic nature... Well, she didn't want to say that Toxen were a lonely type, but something told her that there was more reason than helping her dad behind why she hung around Vicky and her.

Or she was off the mark and the dragoness was just a massive goofball. It could go either way honestly. Though regardless, Vicky might want to step in and sort things out soon. Both so that they could actually get along with things, and to potentially handle some weirdness between Heather and Toxen, depending on how the mare took this behavior.

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@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Things were happening too fast for Filigree right now. Her head felt like it was spinning further and further down a deep hole, and her vision were murky, shared between the cear vision of the crystal side of her, and the blurred vision of her regular eye. She didn't have the focus, or the mind power right now to react fast enough to- Well, everything. Ropes, rocks, wings and legs tied together whilst pies - literal pies! - were pelting her from every direction.

She attempted to fight back, but having her movement restricted and vision completely covered in pie crust and creme, she were just firing randomly.

Rosa looked at the scene both impressed and a little disappointed. Considering what he had read of his mother's plan, seeing how she were getting crushed by a simple assault like this just seemed too easy. The joined attack were great mind you - restricting movement and covering her in pie to relieve her of her basic sensory skills - but it was... Oh crud.

He didn't have the time to think it through before the entirety of Filigree suddenly blasted outwards with a shockwave that would knock anypony near her away, and every rope, rock, bolas or speck of pie off her being.

"You are fools! The vessel is nothing, we are the true masters!"

Most of Filigree's face were covered now, by the appearance of what seemed to be the beginning a rather angry looking, crystalline bull head. What was still left of Filigree seemed to show her being unconscious, with the rapidly growing gems layering over the parts of her that was still fleshy, and adding bulk to the rest.

Several daggers came flying towards the beast, but got blasted away whilst the crystal parasite glared at Rosa.

"The vessel's little mongrel think you can save her? Foolish, pathetic bag of flesh. Noone can be saved from us."

An array of beams were sent their way now. The worst of them would be taken by Omen opening gates - who would then get them to hit the ground elsewhere via an exit gate - but the rest still required some degree of finesse from the rest to avoid. If they go hit, they'd end up in serious problems, like Belladonna had earlier, Especially Sen should be aware, as he were carrying their end game: The refraction, that were wakening up from all the noise and hissing whilst looking for the one yelling.

If Lin started to throw the liquid, she would find it would be effective too. Like it was poison, the creature taking possession of Filigree would let out a yelp and step back, whilst layers of gem would just melt away. It would be effective in exposing flesh beneath, but they'd have to think smart. It wasn't too many bottles they had gotten with them after all.

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

(Wish we could use colours on mobile)

Heather beamed, always appreciative of a good compliment. 

“Nice to meet you... Poppy? Sorry I’m not great at names. It’s a wonder my shop is so beautiful considering how clumsy I am. Flowers are probably the... only thing I’m good at.”

Her words drifted away as she looked past Pop towards Victoria and Toxen.

“Is that a smile Victori-”

She was cut off by the dragoness scooping her up in her arms and she let out a little squeak.

“N-nice to... meet you.”

She managed to wheeze out as her eyes bulged out of her head. She was still smiling however, and she let out a strange gurgling noise that somewhat resembled a laugh.

“C-can’t complain about a good hug.”

As she was dropped to the floor by the dragon she stumbled a little and tripped over her own hooves falling to her rump looking dazed. She brushed some hair out of her face and stood up again, walking toward Victoria.

“I’ve never seen you so happy before! Did you finally start taking heed of my words!”

Victoria shrugged in response.

“Not exactly. I have these two to thank really, and their family.”

Heather smiled at them

“They seem like good folk. Love your mane by the way, that flower is gorgeous.”

Victoria blushed and smoothed down her hair, thanking her cousin. She was still unsure about how to interact with Heather. While she’d always appreciated Heather’s neat and tidy approach to things and her shared eye for beautiful things and love for fashion, she didn’t like how the Pegasus was always so happy, it was just something she couldn’t understand and it bothered her. Her clumsiness didn’t help either, she’d ruined so many of Victoria’s masterpiece cakes in the past by trying to beautify them with arrangements of flowers only to fall face first into the sweet sponges. Though if anyone could help her with her attitude change it was this pony, arguably her favourite cousin despite everything.

“It’s good to see you Heather, can I just start by apologising for my past behaviour, if it weren’t for Battenberg you probably would be the biggest victim of my antics.”

Heather looked down, it was like a brief moment of sadness for her cousin even if the smile didn’t leave her face.

“It’s my fault for being so easy to push around. Probably made me stronger though so I can only really thank you.”

This comment annoyed Victoria a little, once again Heather had turned something negative into something positive.

“I appreciate the apology though, you may think I’m happy all the time but I’d be lying if I said you’ve never made me cry.”

Victoria’s from became a smile as she hugged her cousin.

“It won’t happen again Heather, that’s a promise. I like how positive you are and I don’t want to change that.”

Heather perked up again.

“So... why were you lot here again?”

Edited March 17, 2018 by Battenberg

[Sekel 693]

@Widdershins, @Blitz Boom

DAWN STREAK

Dawn had enough of Kaltrops’ complaining and shouted at the top of her lungs, not caring if anypony heard her. “MY WINGS ARE FRAGILE FROM SENSELESS PARENTAL-RELATED INJURIES!”

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

”Then why are you looking at the walls?” Karmic questioned incredulously on her way back. She didn’t wait up for Zhu and continued on at a steady pace. She came back around and spotted Zhu still inspecting the walls. She looked behind herself and then in front before shrilly saying, “that... wha ... what!?”

Edited March 18, 2018 by Dji
added missing words

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

The shockwave sent Sen flying to a nearby rock but knowing just what could potentially happen to his little passenger. He kept the little creature huddled close so only he would take the brunt of the blow. It hurt quite a lot but he shrugged it off. Now that their opening is pretty much bust, Sen turned back and started running away but not without propping up the refraction close so it would cling to his neck, the rest of his body a shield. But that wasn't the only thing that got him thinking, and Lin was pretty much in the same boat when they met up. 

"You heard what she said, right? Mentioned 'us?'"

"Sounds familiar. Better get those crystals off her before we're next."

Before Sen got up to charge back at Filigree, he handed Shrimp off but not before being stopped by his sister who grabbed a bit of rope and tied one of the vials she was carrying to attach to the only bola she had on her. Admittedly, it was a crude addition but there wasn't any time to make it look pretty, just firm enough to hold from swinging a lot. She didn't have to explain what Sen had to do as he nodded and ran back into the fray. Carefully holding on to the newly crafted item off to the side, he ran up to the crazy bat pony and opened the vial  followed by the whole contraption flying into Filigree's face. If tossing liquids to her isn't enough, maybe disorienting her with rocks might give her pause. 

 

Edited March 18, 2018 by EQ_Theta

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Dji

"Because we are locked in a trap, yet I find nothing here. Wander with me, and try to keep your senses high. Ponies tend to do better in tracing magic than I, even if they are not of unicorn descend."

He would move slowly, just like he had done so far, and running his paw over the walls, trying to feel out something unusual. If nothing else, then perhaps a clue to an exit, like the secret passage that had led them in here to begin with. Something which he could use some help to, as once more, it was not his strongest trait.

To mark where he had started, he had cut off a small piece of his robe and put it down on the floor where they had begun. He lodged it between two bricks to make sure it did not move and disorient them. It was crude, but it was the way he had to go fir now, until they either found something, or he'd give up and get them through forcefully.

*sigh* Such a waste of resources...

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@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

The rocks did nothing, but the liquid? Effective yet gruesome were the result, as a good deal of the crystal just melted right off, and Filigree's face became somewhat visible again, under a thin layer of see-through gems clinging to her and growing into her pores.

"You dare to fight for them? They did not stop us, and neither will you!"

The gems controlling Filigree were disoriented, and covered they vessel's face with increasingly bulky hooves. it was a small opening, but one that they had to work with.

"I need a direct way to them, now!"

Rosa sounded stressed as he shouted the simple order at Omen, who nodded and did as he said whilst he jumped towards an expanding ot in the air. He had the refraction in one hoof, ready to finish this, and Shrimp seemed eager to join in too. Looking at Filigree with hungry eyes and energy weakly crackling off it's pristine, white scales.

He would pass through and land directly on Filigree, yet as he were about to put the refraction on the gems, Filigree suddenly went into the air rapidly. he managed to keep hold of Shrimp for a while, but eventually at about two meters up, he wasn't able to keep hold of the little thing anymore, and he fell down.

He had thought this was the end move, but when the refraction fell and he began to feel the gems work on his suit, it became apparent that he had failed at that. Though perhaps if he reacted quickly...

Making a snap judgement, he took the vial he had of the liquid and smashed it out on the parasitic entity's back, causing it to give off a loud roar of anger and pain. Right after, he'd pull out the wire he had used before and wrapped it around himself and the exposed wings, causing the creature and himself tyo plummet towards the ground. They'd land hard, but hopefully at that point the others would be ready to deal with this.

He hoped that one of them had been able to catch the refraction that feel with a loud whimper towards the ground. The scaled little thing could float well, but not that far off the ground at the current stage of his development, so he might end up getting seriously hurt if he wasn't caught.

Omen had seen that, and opened a gate beneath the small creature, and opened another one on Lin. She would have used herself normally, but she didn't know how to fight or force herself towards somepony with harm in mind like Sen or Lin might, so she had picked the one that were closest as the destination, then waited to see what would happen next.

Whatever would happen now, were all in Lin's claws. Here was hoping that it'd end this before the entity possessing Filigree gathered the strength to defeat them, and infect the diamond mine below them.

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@Battenberg

"We're just so-"

"Toxen, enough is enough."

Pop got a stern tone over her voice as she interrupted Toxen, who lost interest in the little joke she was about to fire off and turned to the mare with a chuckle.

"That stuff might work on the foals sweetheart, but I ain't a kid. How's about you grow a bit, then come back to me?"

"Just because you're a few years older doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to call you out when you've gone too far. They're having a sweet moment,  don't ruin it."

The dragoness looked over on the cousins and scratched her chin.

"Yeah, guess you're on to something there. Wasn't a good one either really, just felt right. Though, you got it wrong 'bout how long I've been around. Lot more wear on my scales than you'd think.

She got really close and patted the mare on the head, still chuckling.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Let's cover that another time Snuggles. Nice lil' lady here asked a question first after all.

Anyway, here's the deal Heather my girl. We've just come from a zebra who's asking for some wonky stuff for a potion we need to bring home before my dad wanders off a cliff in his sleep deprived state. She asked for some Foxglove, and Vicky here thought that this would be just to place to look for some of them, whilst also going on her apology tour. Got any of 'em in store?"

Toxen did like seeing the ponies get along and make up for old grudges, she honestly did, but there was just a large part of her that couldn't stop making little comments to things, and generally that part went straight past the part of the brain that said *is it smart to say this?* and right out the mouth. She had gotten quite a few smacks for that during the ages, but that was fair enough. Get snide, and you might get some battle scars to talk about back home. Weren't the same here, but that didn't exactly make her any more likely to really get past that part of her, and especially not since she had long since just shrugged and embraced that side of her. If that didn't get her that many to talk to... Well, that was their problem, not hers. Sorta.

So far pop and Vicky weren't shunning her for it, but Pop were getting a bit stern in it with her. Heh, perhaps Benny was right when he said that she'd make a good mom, though she got the feeling that he hadn't talked that one out with her, considering how things went earlier. Real shame honestly, it'd be good with some nieces or nephews that didn't try to bite your tail off.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Yea, complete buzzkill! Boooooo!"

"As for the lizard, I didn't make it. It's basically an animal made by nature, heck you can even find these things in that boring human world. It's only weird because majority of ponies don't have one of these for some reason."

The bearded dragon continued you stare at Anomaly, similar to how Gummy does.

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"I got you! Hold on tight."

The sudden arrival of the refraction Lin threw off from her focus for a short bit but she quickly regained her composure. Placing the creature on her head, she ran towards Filigree knowing she'd have to rely on someone else to do most of the heavy lifting from here. Without any tools left, the most she could do is get Shrimp close enough to the bat pony but that ran the risk of getting herself into more trouble than she would want. Even if she had to fight, she only knew the basics and even then, it was only bits and pieces of information Sen passed down to her when they were children or something she picked up during her exile. Her secluded lifestyle in the years that followed didn't help. 

"Sen! I'll get us close," she yelled and pointed her brother to her direction. "We're running out of options and we need to get those crystals off of her!"

Sen didn't have to say anything in reply. He grabbed the loose flail and ran towards Filigree and Rosa with Lin opening a gate close by to move him closer, then followed up with one more near Omen to get her positioned ahead. The last gate was for herself but her brother knew he had to be ready before she got there. Grabbing every remaining bola on him, he quickly arrived to tie up Filigree's hind legs and wings. Lin arrived as he was just finishing and the former picked up her passenger from her head, placing it next to the bat pony. 

"Alright, Shrimp, you know what to do. Could you remove those crystals quickly?"

 

Edited March 19, 2018 by EQ_Theta

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

Victoria chuckled, stepping back towards her friends.

"Pop's getting strict with you now, it would seem I could learn a thing or two about discipline from you."

Heather stood behind her looking around, slightly absentmindedly, it seemed she was daydreaming.

"Heather?"

She snapped back to reality and looked at Victoria with big confused eyes. Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Foxgloves?"

"Foxgloves?"

"Foxgloves."

Heather paused for a moment trying to work out what Victoria was going on about.

"Foxgloves? You... need foxgloves? S-sorry I'm find it easy to get distracted. I think it's because I... because... well I'm not entirely sure. If you need help with anything, especially personal problems, then I have no issue listening, otherwise I struggle sometimes. Guess it has something to do with my emotional state, when I'm feeling less positive I can listen more easily, but I'm happy so much of the time that's not so useful. I apologise again, I can get you a... um, what was it."

Victoria huffed and trotted to the back of the room.

"I'll get it, don't worry I saw some when we came in."

Heather sighed and stomped her foot, clearly irritated.

"I'm useless sometimes, clumsy and ignorant. Oh well, at least I'm good at smiling, that's gotta count for something."

She chuckled to herself.

"I really need to get an assistant..."

Turning to a display she began adjusting the flowers, creating a rainbow of coloured petals. At that moment the door bell jingled again and another pegasus stood in the doorway, she was mostly brown, with both her coat and mane being different shades of the colour, and she had a small paper bag in her mouth.

She looked towards Heather with a blank expression, then at the two customers, with an equally blank expression, then she trotted silently to a small stall near the door and tipped the bag's contents into a glass bowl, some tiny fudge cubes that released a fragrant odour into the shop. Heather paused to see if the mare would say anything but decided that wasn't going to happen.

"That's my sister Caramel. Don't expect much from her, despite the fact that we're twins, only born five minutes apart, we're surprisingly different ponies."

Caramel trotted over with a plate of chocolates and fudges on an outstretched wing and offered them to Pop and Toxen.

"Care to try one of my sweets, don't expect too much, they're nice but they're probably not the best."

Heather chuckled,

"Ignore her, they are the best."

She swiftly grabbed a fudge cube in her mouth and swallowed it down beaming happily as her mouth was filled with flavour.

"If you don't want one that's fine too, I won't force you to try one, plenty of other places to get chocolate round here."

It was strange how she spoke, very monotonous and without expression, her blank face matched it perfectly.

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Filigree roared as the lot of them swooped down on her after she landed. The entity attempted to fire them away, but with the liquid causing them pain, the impact not helping much either, and the constant barrage, it was hard to focus down something. They were not whole. Not perfect yet. They couldn't just swat them off like insects.

There was some success in hitting Omen accidentally, but she wasn't part of the fight either, so it wouldn't matter too much for the current situation that she had gotten crystallized again near the electric field. Sen also almost got hit, but it was narrowly missed, and instead struck a bird flying overhead that fell down with a clang. It was good for it that it had been crystal and not glass it had been made into, or this could have ended badly.

At the pivotal moment though, nothing really mattered of that. The environmental damages that happened, the bird, even Omen wasn't important compared to getting this fight over. Beginning with a set of small teeth clutching the hardened chest of a certain parasite and it's vessel.

The reaction was not pretty. The ones that Shrimp had usually bitten into had all been immobile and not feeling it, as it was only the shell attached to them that were hurt. This time however, the *shell* were a collection of minds that felt the energy drain out of them very severely, and reacted as best it could. More blasts happened and they tried to stronghold their way out of the grips of the assorted beings that held them down,  but with the fleeting strength it went from tough to basically impossible.

All the while, Shrimp dug deeper and deeper down as more gem became inert and he could really grasp hold and suck the nutrient to him. Energy crackled on his scales, and would zap the hooves or claws of any being trying to touch him, until he were finally too full and rose his head. For a brief second, the eyes of the little creature, and the panicked being he were draining met, before he let out a large blast straight into the parasites face.

A short scream were all that came after that, before the gems literally started to pulverize on Filigree and the still stuck Rosa, leaving them both freed from the grasp after a few seconds. The son were doing well, though he felt a little stiff in it, whereas Filigree were still passed out, surrounded by gem dust, and a single gem bauble the size of an apple lying next to her.

It looked sickened, pulsating with strong colors and being near it caused whispering voices to try and lure you in with promises of untold power. Enticing for the weak of mind or those like Filigree who wanted that power for her own gain, but they should all be more vary than to touch it themselves.

Shrimp looked at it, but seemed very disinterested as he let out a burp and coiled around himself to take a nap. He had increased by a few more inches this time around again, but otherwise seemed much himself.

"That was a closer fight than I would have liked. Everypony accounted for?"

"The telekinetic pony are crystallized, but it appears to be the only one who have been impacted severely by this."

Belladonna looked around at the area surrounding them, seeing the cracks and heaps of changeling crystals that the random blasts had caused to grow here and there. Not a pretty sight, but it were a minor inconvenience, and an acceptable price to pay when you considered the alternative. This could be corrected after all.

"I would advise that we start by focusing on two tasks: Freeing your friend, securing transport of Filigree to a suitable prison, and containing what I assume to be the beast heart you talked about earlier.

I would suggest using the ropes around to secure her, and then see if there is a small container somewhere on site that could be used for this thing. I think it best that nopony touches it directly. Also, I would not be concerned with her waking up too soon. The toxins I introduced into her system seemed to have been taking their toll before, and should be in full effect now."

"You poisoned my mother?"

Rosa raised an eyebrow at the assistant, who barely dignified his question with a disinterested look.

"Concentrated nerve toxin that caused sleep in the subject. A normal dosage will last for an hour, but with three dosages, she should be out until the sun have settled. The odds of issues arising with her from this is 0,42%, in case you care for that information as well."

The whispers from the gem annoyed her while she answered the bat pony's question, as it reminded her of the lies and deceit she had gone through growing up, yet it made it easier for her to not get tempted to pick it up. She had been in the presence of false prophets and powers with chains attached before, and she had no interest in returning to that.

Rosa would start to work on the restraints for his unconscious mother right away, while Belladonna would start to look for a suitable container in their vicinity. Sen and Lin could help or hinder things as they saw fit, or simply take a breather, and relish in knowing that they had come out of this situation on top.

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

 

@Battenberg

Pop glared at Toxen as the mare wandered in, butt he dragoness seemed to have gotten her fill of meddling with ponies for now, and just winked towards the newcomer instead. Perhaps some pity for the poor confused Heather were part of it too, though she didn't seem to wanna admit it straight off if that was the case. Draconic pride were weird like that.

"Foxglove Heather, that's what the zebra ordered, and I'm thinking she'll know best what to pick up. Gonna go help Vicky to look around, alright?"

It was weird, but Pop didn't really mind. Caramel looked to be uhm... Less fun inclined than her sister, though the mare still wished to speak with her, considering that she too apparently made candy.

"Nice to meet you Caramel, I'm Circle Pop, and I'd be happy to try what you've made. I have a candy store myself, and I love to see what others are able to do."

Wandering over, Pop took one of the cubes and started to slowly gnaw it down, savoring the flavors and trying to really get a taste for what this were like.

"It's... Chewier than the ones I make, but the flavor sticks around all the way. Gives it a really good experience to the eater throughout. Seems to be from rich tastes too, nothing stale or poorly made in this... Perhaps a few drops of honey..."

She kept half-mumbling to herself as she went over this, and finally swallowed, leaving her final vote on this hanging in the air for a few seconds as the taste began to fade from her muzzle.

"I'll agree with Heather, this is really good. It might do well with a few more sweetening ingredients, but that's just my own opinion of course. Different tastes all around, and not everypony will like everything, plus it could ruin the texture you were going for, and I can't say anything against that. I've been holding a store for seven years and I'm not as good as getting that right as you are. I'm very impressed Caramel.

Did you study under a confectioner, or are you self taught? What kind of ingredients do you use? Local, or imported? I adore local only creators, but there's just so many good imports you can get to as well."

Pop were very enthusiastic in talking about this, and wandered a little closer to Caramel, with a big grin on her face and curiosity shining off her. A strange mare she had run into here, but a talented one for sure, and she wanted to know more about her now that she had the chance. Well, unless she were the sort who didn't like to talk? it was hard to say witht hat expressionless face she had going. Best poker face she had seen in recent memory.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

The more the lizard thing stared at her, the more Anomaly just stared back whilst inching closer and closer, waiting for it to do something. Would it bite her? more than likely. Would it hurt? Yep, but that was still kinda fun, and getting into the face of something small and primitive like this was bound to have some consequences. She were fine with that.

"Itsy bitsy lizard, sitting on a pony. How close can I get, before you try to snap?"

She mumbled a song that she twisted the lyrics of while getting closer and closer. Lucid, Discord and Fluttershy didn't really register to her currently, thought he last two had gone fairly quiet the last few minutes. Bit boring considering the fun yelling and magic before, but meh, she had her lizard now. Wait, Lucid's lizard she meant. (for now)

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

"I'm glad you appreciate my efforts, though you give more compliments than they're worth."

She passed the remnants to Heather who quickly devoured them. Caramel appeared to roll her eyes, though like her every other expression this was incredibly subtle.

Caramel winced slightly at all the questions.

"I'd prefer not to answer... family secrets. Though I'd recommend you slow down because you're going to give yourself indigestion."

Heather pushed Caramel aside to face Pop directly.

"Sorry, she can be quite a downer. Though she's very honest, so she actually gives pretty good advice. Maybe slowing down the chatter after eating will do you good."

She smiled, making light of the dark once again.

"She got her sweet tooth from our mother, Raspberry, and of course our sister Red and good old Battenberg and Vicky. Sweet making family, all except me. I'm ok at decorating cakes but I leave the baking up to this lot. I guess I take more after my father, he sells fruit, I have his talent for growing and selling plants."

"She does surprisingly well considering that we never let her use half the gardening tools, she'd probably have her eye out if we gave her a pare of shears."

Caramel butted in with some more pessimism. 

"Yes, well..."

Heather trailed off, forgetting whatever counter statement she was about to make. She paused, weighing up different topics in her head, trying to figure out how to fill the silence created by her absent mind.

"...It's taking Vicky a while with those foxgloves."

"Victoria is here? Prepare yourselves for a meltdown."

"Oh don't worry about that Cara, she's actually changed quite a lot since we last saw her, she's much happier now, but still so lost and confused."

Heather was curious to see how Victoria would react to the appearance of her other cousin, maybe her increase in positivity would rub off on Caramel.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

"Very well." Sapphire and Iron Wing said together,  then the general looked to her, as he said the same as her.

He didn't acknowledge the coincidence for long, before turning away. "Let's just head to the throne room now." He said before urging them forward with the gesture of his hoof, two blades from his wings separating. "This is only a precaution." The blades floated to Astral's neck, and Sapphire's.

Astral looked at him nervously as she walked forward, Sapphire more calmly as she noted how far the blade was from their necks. Too far to harm them immediately, with visible lack of intent to even harm them at all, but only Sapphire noticed this, Astral had not. "Who enchanted the metal of your wings?" She noted as she looked to the feather. "I have seen it before, Warlock had the enchantment in his metal legs before."

Iron Wing paused his walking. "Well, I know some twins in the castle enchanted the metal, or at least fixed the enchantment, and even if Warlock used it before, I am using it for a just purpose."

"Interesting, I will make sure to remember that." She said with a bit of a smirk on her face as they resumed walking.

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

A close call, but it’s over. Any different and maybe things would be worse, but the battle had reached its end. Both siblings sat to one side, picking up Shrimp and taking her to Omen. Sure, she had been hit but now the reaction was less horrified and more annoyed than anything. This was more of a quick fix now that they are more than familiar with the crystals. The quiet, the lull in the moment, that was what they needed; a respite from the tension and action.

“Didn’t expect the day to go like this, huh? We did it.”

“Haven’t felt like this in a long time,” Sen clutched his back after having been slammed against a rock, the sharp, piercing pain now radiating across a larger part of his body now. Seems like the magic granted to him doesn’t offer pain relief. “Spelt is still back in the mine, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve got one more vial on me right now. Mind as well make the most of it while there’s still time.”

Lin stood up and walked to Rosa and Belladonna, not wishing to keep them out of the loop as well. She diverted her course to attend to the crystallized bird and spared some of the liquid in her last vial to undo the crystallization process for the poor little thing before continuing.

“I’m heading off to get Spelt while there’s time. I just thought I’d let you know.”

With that, she opened a gate behind her and walked through. It would take her back to the three paths diverging from where she left her X mark on the ground. Two paths cleared and one remaining. At least it makes finding Spelt a little easier now. 

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

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

The pegasus spaced out for a moment as Discord had just removed the powder covering most of her face but she had just noticed the lizard present in the room with them. Without hesitation, she walked towards it and crouched down to get a better look at it. 

"Hello there! You wouldn't mind if I picked you up, would you?" 

That friendly greeting was her way to starting them off on a good rapport, then she could probably cuddle it if it allowed her. From her time at the Grand Galloping Gala, her first one to be exact, she had a painful lesson hammered into her about letting the animals decide on whether or not they wanted the attention. 

[BloodDrops 762]

On 07/01/2018 at 4:05 PM, Blitz Boom said:

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

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

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

"Fine, you want to be warm?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blood sniffed at the water and then climbed in it, it was indeed warm and she was rather happy. She sat in it for awhile and watched Nerzhei work on her armour. Though the water soon got cold that made blood get out and shake herself getting water everywhere. She blinked up at Slappy and Nerzhei who were still making the armour, well she was cold and needed something to warm up with, since she didn't want to get in the way after all Nerzhei did tell her to get away from the forge,she decided to go find something warm and come back later. She smiled at the thought and slowly slipped away. 

 

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

 

Blood blinked and wondered back towards the forge carrying her warm red gem. She was sure that Nerzhei could use it to make more hot water for her to sit in. She blinked when she got back noticing the cold forge and smiled, must have meant that Nerzhei had finished. Though she just needed to find the dragon, or her armour. She pressed her nose against the forge and frowned, it was stone cold though she was sure she hadn't been gone that long. That or the forge cooled down quickly. She blinked and looked around, wondering where the dragon and Slappy had gone to.

 

Edited March 21, 2018 by BloodDrops

[Sekel 693]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

“You just think you’re so high and mighty, don’t you?” Karmic asked, sounding like she was talking more to herself than to Zhu. She kept her mind open and her senses spread as far they could go, trying to figure out just what the heck the Serpanther was doing. She recognised balls of light in her vision as dead relatives and talked to them in a snarky tone, saying about this and that and sounding a bit crazy. Maybe it was the confined space of the passageway getting to her. “You think we should go right!? Right here!?” Karmic shouted at the light, watching it whiz into a wall right next to her head. She headbutted it and felt something crack, hoping it was not her skull.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

The lizard was about to bite Anomaly because she was creeping him out when suddenly he heard Fluttershy.

All aggession disappeared from Pringles when he turned to the Pegasus that was slight less yellow than Lucid was.

"What's that Pringle? Anomaly is a stupid face, but you respect Fluttershy?"

Lucid talked to the lizard as if he knew its thoughts.

"Alright, Fluttershy can hold you, but no biting the creepy pumpkin horse."

[Storm Shine 1,196]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

Discord snapped his claw, wrapping the now unconscious pony up in magic-resistant ribbon, topping it off with a neat little bow in the shape of a seahorse. "Wouldn't want to leave anything to chance now, would we?" He grinned slightly, lounging in the air wearing a vacation outfit and sipping on a marshmallow colada

 

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta

The spirit of Chaos chuckled, "Cheeky little lizard."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Dji

"I'm still a pawn."

Perhaps he were guiding others around him, and could in that way be seen as above them, but how could he himself, when he were simply guided by strings himself? He was still just a puppet, not the master who stood above the whole scene.

Her words seemed to not be the only thing that seemed out of place. Her behavior were getting erratic, and she looked around and talked to shadows unseen to him. Perhaps she were having a vision, and it were blurring the lines between reality and what had been or would be? He weren't sure how her abilities worked entirely, but it were an option, along with her simply having snapped. Not every pony did well being locked in confined spaces like this.

it ended with her wandering into a wall for some reason, though why she would do such a thing were not known to him. Had she perhaps found something? He supposed that he could inspect he wall and see if something were there.

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

 

@BloodDrops

Slappy would be long gone at this point, having seen his chance to escape and Nerzhei not seeing the point in stopping him in it. He would be safe and sound on the train to Canterlot, where he could then give a proper resignation to the guard before getting back to the circus. He would never forget this day though. It would haunt his nightmares for many a night to come, though hopefully one day he could get over it.

As for the dragoness, Blood would be able to find her if she followed the sound of groans that were coming from the west of the forge.

She were leaning up against a wall, with the arm she had used whilst forging bend in front of her. It didn't look as healthy as it had earlier, being swollen and redder usual, whilst Nerzhei were slowly applying some salve she had found in a busted open crate to it. It was meant for ponies, so it wasn't as effective with her, but it still helped some in cooling down her overworked limb. Hurt quite a bit to apply however, and she couldn't stop winching in pain and groan occasionally through gritted teeth.

The armor would be leaned up against said crate, and looking like it was finished. It needed to be washed and polished quite substantially, but it had been made at least, and Nerzhei couldn't do more with it in her current state. She had been using that lump of rock as a hammer for too long as she stubbornly wanted it to be done, and right now, she needed to tend to the consequences of that.

Her bunny suddenly rose her head up from the crate, and held a roll of gauze towards Nerzhei, who took it with a thanks. She were going to need this soon, and hopefully she'd be done with that before Blood would show up. (she hadn't seen the zommare was there)

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

 

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Shrimp were really not feeling all that hungry right now, but as he was roused from his sleep and saw Omen crystallized in front of him, he nibbled on her snout and eventually had gathered enough up to blast the rest of the crystals off her. It left her momentarily disoriented, and gave him time to curl around her neck and get some rest. It had been a long day and he needed a chance to sleep and let his meals get digested.

"Good, we shouldn't leave him to his fate. I'll go back with Omen to get more of these vials when she is ready so we can clean up the mines and this place for crystals. We shouldn't let them get more widespread than they already are."

Rosa hs bwwn qorkinf on tying up Filigree when Discord butted in and did an admittedly better job of it than he would have done with the materials at hoof, and all that were needed now were to get her to a secure location where she could get what was coming to her. There'd be several places that would want a piece of her after her attack, but he would assume that the Manehattan PD would be the best place to go. Amethyst were a prominent figure and would not back down from demanding that Filigree was arrested for what she did to her store. That combined with the evidence he had gathered and the beast heart should make it so that they could make a solid case for getting her at least detained for the time being. Hopefully in time she would even get arrested and sent to jail properly.

It was perhaps not the best thing to wish for your mother,  but she had not been family for a very long time, if ever. From what he could gather, he had simply been another pawn in her schemes, so he wouldn't feel any remorse over her facing whatever judgement she deserved. For trying to take over Equestria with dangerous gems like that, he would guess that it could win her at least five years in prison, though he wasn't sure what an attempt alone could do in Equestria, especially with Filigree's silver tongue. She might end up sliding away from this unscathed, but that wasn't up to him to stop. He just had to stop this scheme, what happened after that were up to the courts.

Omen would soon be ready, causing the two of them to take off and leaving Belladonna now alone with Sen and the unconscious Filigree, the former still looking for a container that seemed sufficient for the beast heart, but not having much luck currently.

"M-My mine! What have you done to it?!"

That were when the forepony returned, and looked in horror at the streaks and heaps of changeling emeralds growing around them. Anger and shock flared in his eyes as he focused on the ponies and longma in front of him, though mostly Sen, as he were the one of them that he knew about.

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

 

@Lloyd

Upstairs, they'd run into the medley little group that was returning from the train station.

"General Wing, I hear you managed to catch Warlock? Not bad."

honestly, Screecher were rather impressed, but she weren't here to fan his ego. if he started to think that he'd done perfectly on his first day, he wouldn't strive to improve, and that would be disastrous. Though perhaps she was judging him too harshly. They'd see, depending on his response to this, and the meeting they were going to.

"That is your general? Celestia wept, what have the country come to?"

"N-Null, please don't i-insult him."

The earth pony looked towards Wing with a nervous, apologetic look on her face.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just... Been a l-long, bad day. It makes her i-irritable."

A bit of an understatement, as it looked like Null mostly wanted to kick somepony straight in the knees, but who could blame her with everything that had gone on today? And it wasn't even done yet, as they had now been dragged into this stupid fight, and had to come to Canter lot to both help, and speak their case for citizenship, without the princesses even present. It was all down to the military currently, and that didn't bode well in their mind.

"This is... Something, but can I go? Please? It's starting to itch again."

Benny interrupted and looked at the general of the Night Guard with a pleading tone in his voice, whilst he presented his hands. As he had to catch the blade Warlock had tossed earlier, a thin cut went down the palm of his hands, and he didn't know if it was getting infected. it felt wrong though, and he'd really like to get this cleaned up and hopefully be done with it before he got an infection going strong.

"Yes, you've done enough. Go to the infirmary and get patched up."

Letting out a sigh of relief, he went on his way towards the army medics barracks, leaving the siblings, Screecher, Wing, Astral, Sapphire and Dandy behind, though the changeling weren't going to talk unless he had to. He considered himself in enough trouble already without needing to make it worse by opening his big muzzle about something stupid.

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

 

@Battenberg

"I understand. Some things should be kept secret so others doesn't copy you."

Pop didn't see the warning as having much merit though. She had eaten one cube, slowly, and in small bites,a n then had begun to ask a few things. She would've had to gobble one down quickly to give her issues like they were on about. Then again, she didn't know what was in this, so perhaps one of the ingredients would do something to you like that, even if it wasn't normal? Perhaps that was it. She didn't know for certain after all, only Caramel and Heather seemed to.

"I don't think my praise was misplaced though. These are pretty good, and I know bad candy. Making new recipes always end up with a lot of duds that tastes like the inside of a rusty cauldron, and this is far from that. Plenty to be proud of with your end product."

It was strange to meet a member of Victoria's family that were like this. So far, all of them had seemed positive, happy, somewhat outgoing and full of life. Caramel however, seemed like she had spent most of her time criticizing everything and didn't see the good in what she or others did as much as the dark sides. Kinda like a paranoid pony, but more of a downer than fidgety and concerned.

*sigh* She wished Benny were here now. He did well with warming up to others, so perhaps he could have gotten through to her and made her see that she deserved the praise she had been given. It was hard to say if it would have worked, but he had done well with Victoria, so... Never knew, right?

Thinking of the baker, where had she gnome off to? Perhaps Toxen were messing with her, and it took her a bit to get around? It sounded like something the dragoness would do honestly, but in what capacity were hard to say.

"They're probably just looking at which ones look the freshest. Toxen wants to have everything right for the zebra so the potion works as well as possible. I saw her dad before and the poor guy's really a mess right now."

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Hey! I'm not a stupidface, and I'm not creepy."

Her head suddenly lighted up from the inside, casting a large shadow of the jacko lantern she had for a head over the nearby beings before it dimmed down again.

"Ignore that. Stupid author..."

So now the author and this little reptile was mocking her? What a bunch of boring, judgemental little monsters. She should release a swarm of locust on them all. That would teach them.

"...Mlergh, I'll just get into trouble. Stupid lizard will face my wrath another day. Hear me, tiny devil? I will feed you to Datt Mamon! Or I would if he had a stomach that could handle it, but I can make one!"

Anomaly pulled several tongues at Discord after saying that, as she had heard him chuckle at this too. lot of them were being meanies right now, and she wasn't allowed to change anything without them just getting more and more testy about it. Was this Tartarus or something?

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

"Oh that's a shame."

"Mess is the body's natural response to infection and injury, it's probably a good thing he's in a mess because it means he's getting better."

Heather shot Caramel a glare.

"Careful what you say Cara. I hope you don't get offended by what Caramel says, she has a weird way of putting things, normally quite negative and down. She means well though, and she's not wrong, if he's feeling down it means his body is doing all it can to make things right again. What's actually wrong with him?"

"That's a good question, would chocolate or fudge be helpful to his recovery? I'll give you some for him if that's the case."

"They say eating chocolate gives you the same feeling as being in love, and from my experience that's completely true..."

"I wouldn't say completely..."

"...of course you wouldn't, anyway love is a good feeling, as I'm sure you're aware... not that I'm jumping to conclusions but you seem very involved with this dragon family and I can only think of one reason why. A-anyway I think chocolate would be a great thing to give a dragon who's down in the dumps."

The twins had a weird dynamic but they were clearly used to playing off one another like this and clearly cared about one another greatly.

Heather's gaze suddenly drifted to the back of the room to where Victoria and Toxen were still looking for the foxglove.

"Oh! No no Vicky! You don't want those ones!"

She trotted off towards them, stumbling over her own hooves a little.

Caramel gave an attempt at a smile to Pop.

"She wanders off like that quite a lot, terribly scatterbrained that one."

It was odd but Heather quickly returned with some half dead foxgloves in her mouth, she dropped them into a little green bag filled with clippings of various plants.

"I'm sure the zebra didn't specify, but I don't think a potion made from dying flowers really screams health potion... Anyway, sorry about that. I'm shouldn't have just wandered off, a-and Victoria probably didn't need my help anyway, she shares my eye for pretty things of course. Oh well... I'm glad Caramel offered you her treats, that's a good way to demonstrate to you that she means well, that was always the big difference between her and Victoria, I don't want to speak badly of my cousin and I love her to bits and all, but Caramel never brought me to tears."

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

Lucid's ears perked up as he heard Anomaly's threat against his beloved Lizard... that was a big mistake.

He opened a portal, went in, and dragged Anomaly with him, they were suddenly floating in deep space. Lucid's fur turned to a darker yellow as he said something in a deep creepy voice.

"Never threaten my lizard or I shall put you in the most normal boring room full of iron."

Lucid then teleported both himself and Anomaly back into Fluttershy's cottage with his fur and voice back to normal.

With a more calm and cheerful voice he added one more thing.

"Do I make myself clear?"

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

"You shouldn't threaten animals, Anomaly. They're a lot smarter than they look and if pushed enough, they won't hesitate to let you know they don't like what you're doing to them."

The pegasus said her piece though in a calm voice, as if understanding that even her tone could upset the lizard. She simply sat where she was and stroked Pringle's back with one hoof before rubbing its abdomen. Fluttershy didn't take kindly to threatening any animal whether or not she was familiar with them. Even with Lucid teleporting Anomaly in and out, she kept her calm demeanor as if nothing happened.

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

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

Suddenly hearing the forepony yelling about the state of the mine spurned Sen to stand upright and face him. It is true the whole place was a mess and frankly, it could've been worse. At least they're still breathing, Filigree is not much of a threat anymore, and the place will be cleaned of the crystals in a while. Could the forepony blame them if Filigree were to stage her attack here later if they didn't act sooner? 

"Ah, yeah, about that.... Sorry we messed it up but we stopped the crazy bat pony from making this place even worse. No more plans for taking over Equestria with these parasitic crystals crawling all over. Oh, what's the point? Yeah, this place is a mess. There's no denying that but we'll get rid of the remaining crystals if it makes you feel better." 

As for Lin, returning to Spelt's last known location was a simple stroll through an abandoned mine. A quiet place, but the silence was calming, and time felt slower despite how quickly she could potentially get everything done. Guess it was the frantic scramble to get Filigree down to the ground and separated from the crystals that scared her while it was happening that got her heart racing. Now that she had the quiet and empty mine to herself, it would be easy to find a giant slab of crystal just conspicuously jutting out from somewhere on the ground. Unless Filigree left a surprise, which Lin hoped were not the case, maybe things are looking up for everyone tied to Filigree and her mad conquest. 

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Astral stood there in the room, looking around a little, Iron wing didn't seem very phased by Null's comment, in fact he grinned a little. Astral turned to look to Benny, almost about to call out to the dragon, before deciding not to. "So, we're all gathered here again." Iron Wing walked forward to Null and Void. "The only new ones here are you three." He said, looking to Null, Void, and Dandy as he took another step towards Null and Void, and the paused as he saw some of his metal feathers slide out of formation, and onto the floor. He looked to them as the enchantments on them let loose some green magic out of the etched in markings, which flowed into the air and dissipated. "Interesting." He looked to Null, looking across their bodies. "You don't seem to be possessing any antimagic objects, how did you do that?"

"They cancel out magic." Astral said, Sapphire looking to her with a raised eyebrow. "I have no idea where they got it from either."

"Care to explain in detail?" He asked, pulling his feathers back with his hoof, finding that the enchantments worked again as he stepped back, sliding the feathers back into position. "Wait sec, are you Null and Void? I believe I heard from somepony about you two." He said, pointing a hoof at them.

[BloodDrops 762]

On 23/03/2018 at 12:10 AM, Blitz Boom said:

@BloodDrops

Slappy would be long gone at this point, having seen his chance to escape and Nerzhei not seeing the point in stopping him in it. He would be safe and sound on the train to Canterlot, where he could then give a proper resignation to the guard before getting back to the circus. He would never forget this day though. It would haunt his nightmares for many a night to come, though hopefully one day he could get over it.

As for the dragoness, Blood would be able to find her if she followed the sound of groans that were coming from the west of the forge.

She were leaning up against a wall, with the arm she had used whilst forging bend in front of her. It didn't look as healthy as it had earlier, being swollen and redder usual, whilst Nerzhei were slowly applying some salve she had found in a busted open crate to it. It was meant for ponies, so it wasn't as effective with her, but it still helped some in cooling down her overworked limb. Hurt quite a bit to apply however, and she couldn't stop winching in pain and groan occasionally through gritted teeth.

The armor would be leaned up against said crate, and looking like it was finished. It needed to be washed and polished quite substantially, but it had been made at least, and Nerzhei couldn't do more with it in her current state. She had been using that lump of rock as a hammer for too long as she stubbornly wanted it to be done, and right now, she needed to tend to the consequences of that.

Her bunny suddenly rose her head up from the crate, and held a roll of gauze towards Nerzhei, who took it with a thanks. She were going to need this soon, and hopefully she'd be done with that before Blood would show up. (she hadn't seen the zommare was there)

Blood blinked and twitched her ears as she heard a noise from deeper in the forge. She moves away from the cold anvil to investigate. She continued to move rubbing against the wall before turning the corner and pushing the door open. Or more accurately breaking the lock from the door since she hadn't pulled the handle down before opening it. She blinked staring at Nerzhei and then the bunny before looking at the armour. "Ohhhhh, it looks nice" I remark moving over to it.

I blink down at the helmet and put my hoof in it. Getting my hoof stuck making me frown. "My hoof slots too small" I whine at the dragon trotting round with my armoured hoof, I hold my hoof out at Nerzhei expecting her to touch me to pull it off. "I'm gonna need help putting it on. Slappy can help" I remarked. "Also that cream doesn't work to well. I could lick it but that would make it worse" I remarked while glancing at the crate noticing it was hollow.

"Ohhhh crate." I exclaimed trying to fit into it. Blood was in a exploration mood, that and her forgetful mood but that was a given along with her clumsiness. I turned around before getting stuck, would give Nerzhei some time to heal and finish off the armour.

Edited March 24, 2018 by BloodDrops

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Battenberg

"He is my father in law. I'm dating his youngest son, Benny."

She didn't think most would take kindly to it, so she didn't often start by saying this, but the rest of the family seemed fine enough with it. So it couldn't hurt... Right?

"And I'm afraid the illness his dad suffers under is more like a prolonged insomnia. He can't sleep, and it's causing him to sway between unconsciousness and delirious bursts of wandering around. We're trying to help get him something that can make him relax, and get rested."

Why she could have said, but she didn't think that was all that important right now. Plus she barely finished before Heather had wandered off again, so...

"It's okay Caramel, I'm used to beings like that."

Pop gave a small smile back to the other mare before Heather returned, and dropped some sub-par foxglove into what she guessed would be some sort of compost bag? She didn't do well with plants, so she weren't sure.

"It sounds like Victoria have had that effect on a lot of her family members. I really hope that we can manage to keep her from going back yo be like that."

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Anomaly yawned and rolled her eyes at the threats she got from both of the non-draconequui.

"Oh please, neither of you can do anything to me."

She snapped her tail, at which point she'd suddenly have Lucid's stick with her. She tossed it into the air towards him after, not interested in playing with it no more, but just showing that she could if she wanted to.

"I could turn you both into jellyfish and break the little stick in half before you could do anything. I just don't wanna.

And you know, chill out? I just yell at the thing and have fun. I don't do bad things to tiny scaly. It's just an animal, not something evil. Sheesh, learn what's theatre."

A neon sign saying *Applause* lit up over her head as she looked at the flock with rolling eyes and a yawn.

She had humoured Lucid before, but if he actually tried to take her away, he'd just end up with a balloon replica the next time. She had her guards up towards him now.

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

 

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

The forepony glared at them as Sen explained how things had gone, and were going to be.

"...Fine, long as this gets fixed before they seep into the diamonds."

"Considering the current rate of growth when not in the proximity of ponies and the crust of earth beneath - presuming it is like what I can see beneath the electric field - I would say that an infection would take three weeks and twelve to seventeen days. Long as no outaide stimuli is added, it should be well within the time limit that they will be corrected.

Now then, do you have a container that can be used to keep the beast heart we separated from Filigree? It will not bode well if it falls into somepony's hooves again."

He glared extra hard at Belladonna, but she didn't seemed bothered in the slightest.

"I'll find something. Stay here."

He wandered off, at which point we switch the scene to the coal mine.

The tunnel that Lin went down, would end with a thick layer of crystals that had burst out from behind the central point, where in a pony stood and stared out. A robust sort of current undetermined colors, starring defiantly at the point where Filigree had been when he had been blasted. Even faced with that, he didn't seemed to have been the sort to flinch, though it didn't leave him any less trapped.

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

 

@Lloyd

"Yeah, that's us. What's it to you?"

Null starred suspiciously at the general, though that might be hard to see for the angry jealousy that were also directed a him and his oh so perfect wings. He wasn't even meant to fly, and yet he were welcomed in the sky, whilst she were tormented to stay on the ground since her one of her wings had to be amputated. How she hated this pony and his luck already.

"I-It's a birth t-thing. Had it s-since we were b-born. W-We don't want to hurt a-anypony though. Things just... S-Stop working or fizzle o-out near us."

Void were just nervous. Over the city they were in. The things they had seen stop working as they made their way here, the generals and the judgement they stood for. She were terrified, and with good reason in her mind.

"We can cover this, but we should make our way to the meeting hall. Tidal Wave should be here any minute, and there is a few things we would do best in covering before her arrival."

Screecher had seen a few Coastal Guards as they made their way here, which meant that the general were in town somewhere, though she suspected that the mare had taken the chance to go say hello to her cousin. It tended to happen when she came to town, regardless of how urgent things were, and it delayed them by up to a half hour each time. Annoying, but they had accepted this, and tended to use the time to be productive before she showed up. Iron Wing would have to learn this as well, as it wasn't going to happen that the mare would change.

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

 

@BloodDrops

Nerzhei snarled at Blood, as she started to whine over the slot her hooves had to go into were too small.

"Kick something to slide them on then. And if they still don't fit, live with it until tomorrow. I can't work on your body suit right now."

She were in pain and frankly not in the mood to deal with the negativity. If it wasn't because touching the mare were dangerous, and her hands were busy right now, she would have slapped Blood too. The tone had made her deserve it.

"And you're not gonna find him. He escaped on the train when he had the chance."

At this point, Nerzhei wasn't even sure if Blood were still listening, since the scatterbrained disease factory had started to play with a box like she was some sort of cat. Perhaps she should close the lid and send the mare off to some frozen thundra while she had the chane and just get this headache out of her life...

Several other things that she could do went through her head as she kept applying the creme and wrap her arm in, but it sadly wasn't as relaxing as she had hoped it would be. It was hard to get past the pain right now.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Storm Shine @Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

This caught Lucid by surprise. Someone besides him could pick up his stick without permission!? Although Anomaly being able to break the stick was by no means plausible considering it's power, but picking up the stick was still quite a surprise.

"I doubt you could break it, considering that it's literally made of chaos."

The yellow pegasus raised his stick, summoning the owners manual.

"I've read this many times and I've found nothing about li- wait a second..."

He looked at the back of it to find some sort fine print.

"Let's see... cannot be broken, but can be lifted by anyone who is at or above the stick's current level." 

Lucid should've known there was another catch, sure Lucid is able to control the stick without holding it, but if the other individual has it, they can use too, which can be a pain.

"Um... Anomaly, on a scale from continent level to multiverse... how powerful are you?"

Could she be more powerful than him? He already knew she was more experienced... but he assumed that she wasn't nearly as powerful. It seemed that Lucid has misjudged her.

He backed up a bit, was he actually afraid of her? This was definitely a first.

Edited March 24, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight