open Casual stroll

[Blitz Boom 4,440]

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Pure order... A rock?"

Omen knew master as one who changed everything around himself, never had anything stable and destroyed and created on a whim. Sometimes not even his own whim, as the chaos itself just made weird stuff happen without him at times.

A stone sounded like the opposite to Omen. It was solid, unchanging unless it was chiseled, sometimes even in color and shape, and it was a building block of things meant to last. It was a stable thing, even if time and weather took away from it, and considering everything, it was the best idea she had to what the opposite of Discord might be.

Rosa on the other hoof, didn't think it sounded correct. A stone were a tool, not an entity, and it couldn't make the decisions needed to make it something to consider. Otherwise, they'd have to include all kinds of inanimate objects, and they'd just stray further away from the subject then.

"I imagine a floating sphere. A single color with no flaws in design, turning everything it touches into other floating spheres. Thoughts and will wouldn't be welcome to something that only made order, though you'd have to ask him."

He turned his head towards the cloud that was following them.

"1. What is the complete opposite of you, Discord? End message."

The last part was not something he knew if he should add, but Discord were not a creature were reason had much to do with things, from what he could gather.

Meanwhile, they'd be able to see a shed on the edge of the mine, where their path were leading to, and a group of workers knocking on it. Whoever it were that were inside (Sturdy, tussled, short hazel mane and tail and a dark-grey coat) popped out and listened in to what the workers were saying, which quite obviously would be about the approaching group. Something about the way they just looked over and pointed before flying together towards them with, just gave an impression that seemed to insinuate it.

Sen might need to get ready to speak his way out of some issues here, before guards were called on them and tossed them out.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Clayton cringed when the talk about a marshmallow house came up.

"Non-edible houses only please. I don't want to think of the nightmare it would be to build something that could be eaten by a passerby."

The thoughts did come, but the thought were so absurd that he had a hard time to visualize a functioning construction. The candy would be too weak to carry a roof, would spoil fast, insects as mentioned was an issue and how did you even go about stacking them up properly? Using regular cement? It wasn't bearing, and the clearest image he could conjure in his mind included a roof falling down and crushing everything.

"Mr. Quartz?"

A small jolt went through him as the store manager arrived with what he had asked for. Apparently the thoughts on the housing project the others had mentioned had ended up distracting him too much to notice her before this.

"A-Ah, thank you."

"Would there be anything else?"

Clayton washed the worst dirt off his face with the wet blanket, and went on to the top of his neck before answering the surprisingly calm manager. It was getting easy for him to see that Belladonna's tutelage of her had paid off when she could keep her calm in strange situations like this...

"If you could please send Tips to check on my house, then meet me at belladonna's place, that would be much appreciated. I fear there might have been an... Unusual burglary, so anything out of place would be good to hear about. And please ensure that she understands not to interact with anypony or anything up there. I'd prefer the scene to remain intact, in case something happened."

"Right away sir."

She wandered off once more, this time to fulfill the unusual request, leaving the group in peace, whilst Clayton finished his small cleanup.

"Could we go now, please? And... Y-Yes, I think I should mention, the jade building was not made in jade itself, it was layered over the actual walls. The owner wanted the gem itself to just be it to begin with, but I managed to at least convince him that it couldn't be properly isolated then. It's still hideous, but I did it as functional as any work, and the best that I could with the specifics provided."

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

 

@Battenberg

"Whelp, I'm gonna take off and find her then. You kids have fun, alright?"

Benny's ears went on stilts and he turned to his sister.

"Waif, ve shouf goh fwho."

"What did mom just say about you needed to chew your food? That counts before you talk too smart guy. Also, I ain't taking you. Mom's been looking forward to seeing you, and even with Dad a little under the weather, you can't just rummage off like it was nothing right now."

"Then we should go with you."

Toxen and Benny looked surprised at Pop as she rose from her seat and said this. The pressure of all the eyes on her right now made her feel a little uncomfortable, but she had seen an opening here to perhaps help with things, and perhaps get on a little better standing with her inlaws.

"Victoria knows the best way there, and since we aren't having a conversation about Benny and me after all, I should make myself useful. Let me be that by helping your father, please."

The part to Victoria - and the subsequent look she gave her - were meant more as an escape option for Victoria. Pop had some idea how to get to Battenberg's bakery now by backtracking their path, but she'd like their new friend to not be standing for a scolding, or having to see a heated argument between mother and son, regarding his choice of mate. Something which she hoped wouldn't happen, but she really had no idea. Benny would defend her if she were talked ill about, and Jade was a stubborn, short-sighted dragoness. It might end up in a tip if something were mentioned in the wrong circumstances.

"...Okay, but you stay safe out there, okay? Guess that leaves us some alone time to catch up too mom."

"About time too. We might live centuries, but that's no excuse to not visit more than twice a year."

"I know mom, things have just been getting crazy at work lately."

"Work... Pipes need changing..."

Jet got up from his seat and wobbly started to make his way to the other side of the house before slumping down on the floor. Benny would be over with him soon after, but they might already be on their way outside. At least if it were up to Pop, who watched Toxen shrug her shoulders and signal that it'd be fine if they joined, and then tried to direct Victoria with her, if the mare didn't wander on her own. Hopefully she'd see that this was a family matter right now, and that they'd be better of helping out another way.

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

 

@genessee

The only one who seemed to notice anything about Lance, would actually be the one least likely to say something about it.

Stare had been glancing in that direction when he had wandered out and followed him with her eyes for a little while, but customers were calling, so she looked away and went to attend them instead. She did think that Lance had acted somewhat weird though, but that seemed to have been the case ever since he had returned with Alonsus. The bulky stallion had been weird as well actually... Did something happen on their tour? She'd ask them, but she'd get too nervous about snooping into their private lives... Perhaps she should ask berry when she had the nerve to. The conspiracy fanatic had no problem snooping in on things, and she always seemed so friendly, so perhaps that would be okay? She had to think about this...

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Chop were cleaning some dishes over at the sink, whilst something stirred in a few pots at the stove. He had something in the oven too, but it was hard to see from here. Some kind of pie more than likely.

On hearing somepony at the door, he directed his sight towards the door, and looked at the new deliverycolt with tense muscles, as if he were ready to attack him. It faded when he recognized who it were, but he had been in the guard for too long to not tense up when he heard noises from angles he couldn't see. Not an easy situation when he had first gotten out of the hospital post shark attack and needed to adjust to the loss of sight in one of his eyes, but there had been a lot of things that hadn't been easy then...

"Done with the deliveries?"

He had expected more time if it were. Alonsus were efficient, but he talked too much for his own good, and got distracted at times. It sometimes added unnecessary time to these things, which Chop frowned upon. Warm food shouldn't be served cold because somepony blabbered their muzzles off and got on their way too slowly.

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

 

@Dji

He had briefly set his eyes on Karmic, as he waited for her to wander out of the cell, but it sounded like his probing had an effect on her that he hadn't observed in others before. Interesting, yet he wouldn't poke at it more and put his hood back on, averting his eyes from her face and making him once again rely on sounds, the ground that he could see, and the warmth signatures that his tongue brought back to him. If he were indeed the source of the tendrils she mentioned, this should cause them to stop.

"Every creature is a flower, who unfolds when my gaze falls upon them. Such is the burden of my curse."

If Zhu could choose who he'd see, life would be simpler. He might not need a cloak constantly, he could have been around others when he grew up here in the castle - even if it would likely still have been best that he remained hidden from all but the most loyal to the princess - and perhaps his life would be less miserable.

Yet such were not his fate, and the isolation it required him to take had sometimes been a hard one to bear, before he accepted his lot in life and the limitations thereof. He were content with it now, and had learned to accept, and to at least filter through the potential he saw, rather than be flooded with everything at once and feeling as if his head were about to explode.

"Are you feeling better? If so, we should leave. It will not be long before they come to find me, and for now, they are not the ones I need to direct."

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

 

@cwhip9

Cover-up practically threw himself at Crescent when the bat pony started to talk to him, pushing his front hooves around the older stallion, and crying into his coat.

"A-All of t-them are gone! E-everything is d-destroyed. Why d-d-d... W-Why didn't it take m-me too? I don't... C-Cant..."

The colt went into a fit of blubbering words that was basically incomprehensible, though it sounded as if he were trying to say what he just did before. Asking why it was that he had been left under that house, whilst the rest of them were taken, and their homes destroyed.

"*sniff* I-It doesn't make sense..."

Slowly he'd get to his senses and start to talk. His grip loosened on the bat pony several minutes after he had first grabbed hold of him, and the shaking hooves were returned to the ground, though Cover-up still looked into the ground. He couldn't face his house. It just kept reminding him of that day, just like his tattoos did.

Or rather, the scars beneath them did.

*Barring a miracle, you will carry these for life.* That was the message he had been given by the doctors when he woke up in the hospital back then. A wide array of craters, scars, discolorations... His coat and skin was a mess, and the best he could do was to cover them up. That was the best thing his special talent had ever allowed him to do, though it was all just patterns of black. He really wished to be able to blend colors, so that perhaps maybe, one day, he'd be able to hide how he looked under these properly. Besides the missing patches of hair that were, but at least he had a short coat to begin with, so it wouldn't be as noticeable.

Yet so far, he hadn't been able to do that. He had gotten some tentative results with grey, which had been very exciting, and convinced him that training would be all it took him, but that was somewhere far into the future. Right now, this were all he had to work with, but considering the alternative of drawing every pitiful and disgusted eye of ponies he got around, or carrying a robe for the rest of his life, it wasn't the worst thing that could happen.

"D-Did you fi... I-I mean, was there a-anything?"

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta

Anomaly tries to keep her disguise going, until rodents started to wander over and chew on the cardboard to rile her up. Which it did. She might offer something of herself for others to eat sometimes, but that didn't really hurt her. Truth be told this didn't either, but she needed an excuse to start moving after all of the stuff going on made her think this was getting a bit out of hoof.

The cardboard melted to the ground, and from the pool of slime now coagulating there, several tentacles appeared, that latched to a wall and dragged the ooze with it.

She got stomped on before she got that far though, so she'd just turn solid and tower up from there, tripping over whatever had thought her something to walk on, and rose as a large, solid diamond sunflower.

"Haha, this is so cool. Just like a fairy tale princess with all the animals, and you didn't even need to sing! Nice.

I'm Anomaly, and I followed Lucid on his Discord hunt to have something to do. Big bull came and smacked us around, then somepony wanted to play pranks-"

A sign appeared above her head reading *This one* in red neon letters.

"- and then crazy pony started to play with cages, but keeping hostages aren't fun, that's just mean. Zhu says not to hurt others."

She rapidly stretched to the cage, knocking away opposition from the animals, and opened her toothy mouth wide. Not to eat Fluttershy, obviously, but to start eating the cage in large chunks. Thankfully it wasn't made from pure iron, or she'd be in so much trouble right now.

Well, more than she already were going to be, since the pet master sounded grrrrrouchyyyy.

Edited February 14, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

Lucid watched as Anamaly ate at the metal bars. He knew it was a good idea to make them out of copper.

"First of all, if I didn't like animals so much, I'd probably would've destroyed them all already considering the whole reality warping thing. Second, Discord pulled a fast one on me, it caused me a bit of an unsolvable issue."

Lucid was a little hesitant, there was definitely more to this than Lucid was letting on. He was tense, desperate for answers, and starting to panic internally. He needed to find Discord, he needed answers from him. It was soon obvious that this was about more than just the stick. Something happened, maybe Lucid lost something or someone. Whatever it was, this was personal.

He held the stick up in the air, giving off signs of aggression.

"Now, tell me where he is before I do something we will ALL regret."

[Storm Shine 1,195]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

The discord shaped cloud of smoke coughed slightly, some slightly darker smoke escaping its mouth, before it began to speak. "The opposite of me is something you don't want to meet, trust me. Thankfully he's quite happily sealed away in his own little dimension of perfect order - Because if he wasn't, nothing would be as you know it but everything would always be as it would be known. Ponies would not have cutie marks, they would not be different colors, and they would not be allowed to have individuality of any sort... And that's just the beginning of what could happen..." The cloud said ominously, its cloudy eyes glowing an eerie red for just a moment at the end.

[Sekel 685]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic grumbled something unintelligibly. She shook her head to dispel the last of the tendril feeling but couldn’t help herself. She shivered as she trotted after Zhu.

“You are something else entirely,” Karmic mumbled and gently prodded the guard when they got to him. She saw the brick and looked up. In a mere second, she saw another brick fall and hit Zhu on the noggin. But another future showed him sidestepping the brick calmly, letting shatter harmlessly on the floor.

”Should I, or shouldn’t I? The interesting one is the first one,” Karmic whispered to herself and caught up to Zhu, but kept a few paces behind him for safety.

[EQ_Theta 422]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Lead the way, Clayton. We'll be right behind you."

Lin wouldn't really have much left to say. The jade house still lingered in her head with thoughts of uncertainty flitting in and out; this time it seemed so small and insignificant given the situation but she found it to be somewhat comforting. No tense moment needing her to coming up with plans from start to finish, picking out the little details that went into such. Sen had a knack for these things but only when he was in the field and just looking at what it could be and not what it is. That's something she envied about him, much as he seemed reckless most of the time. 

But back at the quarry, things seemed to already be looking interesting or tense at the very least. Their little discussion on order and what its counterpart of Discord is interrupted by a growing crowd before them. Discord's presence is already putting everyone else on edge and while he didn't pose a problem at the moment, it would appear Discord's redemption isn't common knowledge. Or if it is, a very difficult thing to get used to. Sen isn't going to jump into talking out of fear of getting everyone else into trouble. Speak when spoken to... that's what he knew and maybe it will help now. 

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

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine 

"All right, I'll call him but only because it's important to you." 

Fluttershy stepped forward to her animal friends and gestured them to calm down. Though justified with their anger that their home was invaded and Fluttershy was put in a cage, the tone in their friend and caretaker's voice let them know it's safe. It isn't the case for the ducks, the bear, and Angel, however, as they still kept their eyes focused on Lucid. He still doesn't sit well with them. The pegasus proceeded to the kitchen and grabbed a tea set tucked away in the cupboard, a special one reserved for a regular hangout with Discord, though she isn't sure if it will get his attention. Those weekly tea and cucumber sandwiches were usually planned ahead; calling him for an unexpected arrival didn't seem like it could work. Then again, could Discord hear her if he is in another realm? Only one way to find out. 

"I apologize if this doesn't work. I haven't tried this before so I'm not sure if Discord will come if I do this."

The pegasus picked up a small teaspoon and tapped it several times along this side of the pot. 

Discord? We've got guests. Somepony's looking for you and it's urgent!

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

@Blitz Boom

"I would rather like to see my sister, and of course you need me to point out who she is since you haven't met her yet despite knowing the location of her bakery. We best hurry, Battenberg will be closing up soon."

Victoria was in no hurry to stay in this tense environment, dragons didn't scare her but she didn't exactly like them or the way they generally behaved.

She watched Jet attempt to move once more and his son rushing to his side as he collapsed, she showed more concern than she would have prior to meeting her new friends but this did not stop her eagerness to leave as she led the way out of the building.

She breathed in the cool city air and closed her eyes.

"Good to be outside once again, things were getting a little heated in there and I'm not talking about the temperature. No offence Toxen, just I don't think your mother really approved of two ponies in her house, and I'm not sure how to feel about your father yet because he hasn't really shown his true colours yet."

[Storm Shine 1,195]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta

Discord blinked slightly as his ears suddenly burst into fire. "Excuse me for a moment." He declared politely, disappearing and leaving a discord-shaped balloon animal floating in his place.

@EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight @Blitz Boom

"Fluttershy? You called?" Discord asked, poking his head out from within the curtain of her mane. "Oh, we have guests? Should I set the table?" He asked as he noticed the others in the room, holding up a large table pulled from... Somewhere... in the air by one of its legs.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Storm Shine

[cwhip9 1,078]

@Blitz Boom Crescent was glad to see the colt tackle him. He held the colt as he soon found strength and stand " alot of things don't make sense, but I will find answers cover" he said soon letting the colt down he nodded. "Zinthar found somthing. He somewhat recognizes some markings but come on ill show you" he said leading the colt to the pedistol Zinthar found. At the colts stage answers were needed most with how crescent felt. Loosing everything changes you, and the unknown can scare most others then most. "These runes may be older then me but maybe these could be recognizable for you" he said hoping it will lead to somthing. 

[Widdershins 9,955]

   @Dji & @Blitz Boom

Hovering midair and a bit too uncomfortably far from any of the nearby rooftops; the bobbing rhythm pulsing through Kaltrop's wingbeats and through her body only serves to drive the point across to Dawn Streak of the unstable position she's found herself in straddled uptop a lithe young drake.

 "No! You charged a dragon and expect me not to defend myself?! Why would I listen to you and not just toss you off?!!? If you wanted a fight, then keep fighting!"

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

@Blitz Boom

  Not having been expecting anypony else around the farm judging by how quiet it had been when he was coming up; Ambie jumped a little at the sound of another voice calling out to him. Remembering to untether himself from the wagon and putting it away in the barn, he slowly trots out the barn to greet Happy Hour with a slight stutter to his welcome from surprise.

   "Im-Imma, I'mma notta Chameleon.   ...So, why'd you come & go; come & gooo~?"   His eyes wandering off a little at the end as he vaguely realizes how awkwardly he's phrased his question.

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

Back at Smokey's Mansion:

   Oh, never meant to say that Legion would never work as a concept.  Just that you get something like this when working it through these means. Disembodied Souls exist by whit of their Unrest & Confusion. Adding more to that is likely to-

  Not having paid attention to any of what had scuttled into the upstairs hallway the group had been standing in and addressing the situation, Widdershins was caught off-guard by Rose's shovel midway through his part self-grandiosing, part avoidant speech and partway through his body as well. 

 Doubling over the shovel as most would when socked in the gut (If Draconequui even have guts, that is.) he folds over it to drop his muzzle to the ground, leaving the shovel pretty much solidly stuck where it had struck him. Whimpering quietly and despondently to himself, enough of a pause is held long enough for Grim to catch Rose up on the situation. However much can be heard over the howling vortex of angry souls not a couple yards away.

    Rude much...

                   .....

 

 Bad Day. 

[Blitz Boom 4,440]

@cwhip9

"N-No, I can't..."

Cover-up followed Crescent for a little, but once he realized that they were going into the ruins of his former home, the tattooed colt stopped and averted his eyes, refusing to go into there. It was too painful to even be near. inside... He couldn't do it.

"Hmhmhm, and to think you thought that I was going to be an issue here."

The colt felt a cold shiver go down his back as the feline monster snuck up on him, carrying a piece of a crate with some texts on it. It was a little smeared in it here and there, but in fairness, cats weren't supposed to be able to write at all, and his only working tool had been a stick of wet charcoal. If this wasn't good enough for them, they could bite him.

"*Thirteen branches, of holy oak*. And that symbol again."

Zinthar spat out the piece of wood in front of Cover-up, who had skittered a little away from him, toward his old home. Apparently, the feline caused him more immediate concern that the painful memories.

"I don't... It's hard to r-read."

Zinthar scowled at that comment.

"Focus on it, and get some answers. I'll get back to my little treasure hunt."

A vague purring sound came along after Zinthar expressed the last one, betraying how much this was pleasing him. Not messing with the colt per se, but more trying to piece together what was going on, and finding the remnants of the offerings. He couldn't wait to see what next would be there, as he jumped over and dived into another ruined building.

Back with Crescent, Cover-up slowly picked up the board and starred at it intently, trying to understand what he was seeing here.

"...I can't read it. I-I'm sorry. We have a lot of b-books in the Weeping Willow... Perhaps we can look for something t-there?"

Crescent would be pointed towards the most intact of the buildings in town, which - considering the size and detailed carvings - had likely been someplace of importance once the town still stood. Mayor's office, meeting hall, or something like it.

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

 

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight

Before the lord of chaos showed up, Lucid's antics were making Anomaly roll her eyes. She liked a good performance as well as anypony, but he was smearing the villain speech on a bit thick for no reason right now. Fluttershy did seem like she'd help, even after what they had done, so it seemed silly. Plus if he wanted to make a villain speech, he needed a cape. Everypony knew that you needed that, or at least a twirling mustache, or it just didn't seem right.

As soon as Discord popped into reality though, Anomaly gleefully ignored the crazy pony and looked to her side to gaze at him.

"Discord."

Anomaly's voice turned dark and deep as she saw him. Every punctuation trembling with rage, and untold promises of horrible things to come. Not just to him, but to everything else within sight, and reality seemed to know, as things began to tremble around her.

Clusters of dark gems began to grow slowly all over her body and she rose a few inches into the air, starring at Discord with eyes as cold as ice, but flaming with an all consuming fire, hungry to devour. There was such a huge amount of rising anger in that glare, like Discord had done something to a being that should not have been crossed, and it just rose along with the trembling around her.

"I will fini- Whu?"

Three seconds. That were as long as things took before Anomaly snapped out of it and things fizzled out. The rising feeling of anger and pure destruction vanished into thin air, she hit the ground again, and the dark gems retracted and vanished, leaving just the metallic flower she had taken the form off to shake her head.

She warped and twisted into her actual form after she were done shaking things back where they should be on the first floor, and looked between the ones gathered with some degree of confusion.

"That was weird."

Her gaze fell on Discord again, but she didn't feel anything this time. Whatever had caused her to get a small relapse like that were gone in the moment again, though it did make her wonder if Discord and her might have history. Not the current her, obviously, but this wasn't her first life either.

"Say, you ever knew a draconequus that was like, really destructive and bent on demolishing reality? I don't remember who I were before I got resurrected, but whoever it were apparently didn't like you. Oooh, were you one of those who killed me?"

Anomaly's tail wagged in excitement, and the flowers around her neck brightened. It seemed that if he were, it wasn't something she held against him. Quite the opposite actually.

Anomaly had been resurrected about 700 years ago, by a crazed doomsday cult that wanted to bring an old draconequus back that had been such a violent, destructive sort, that some of her kind had been forced to end her existence, before she obliterated creation as they knew it. Their kind might warp, change and distort, but there was a difference between that and removing it all, and since most did want to have creations to toy with, having somepony like who Anomaly used to be weren't feasible.

Regardless, when the draconequus had been brought back, it had been several millennia, and her soul had long since been cleansed, leaving only the smallest bit of the old one left. The one they got back were more of a blank state, looking at them in confusion and with a smile on her pumpkin face, rather than the destructive monster they had expected would rise in the mixture of parts they had gathered, where nearly none of them were original. (here was a reason she were floral in places, such as her head being a pumpkin. They simply hadn't had access to more than a few small pieces and had to improvise.

 Zhu had taken her away, given her the name Anomaly rather than reuse a name that had been lost to history, and raised her to be good, and respect life. He made sure that she became more or a creator than a destructor, which were shown on the isle she called home, where she warped and mutated everything around her with glee. Heck, she couldn't even really destroy something anymore, which became an issue with some of her creations that she made around Equestria. She had to resort to mutating them into less volatile things instead most of the time, or eating them, and she didn't like chewing on her own creations that much. Felt sorta wrong.

All things aside, it might well be t hat Discord had never done a thing towards whoever Anomaly used to be, and that he might even have never met her. Discord were a big name among them, so it might simply be that the tiny bit that were left of the old her, lurking deep in her instincts, just knew about him when she was alive the first time and had reacted on it. Only Discord knew, and it was hard to say if he'd tell the truth on the matter, when confronted with the question.

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

 

@Battenberg

When they got out, Pop would take some deep breaths and look into the sky with a smile over having more sensible temperatures to be in again. Might be she could handle the warmth in there, but she still liked the atmosphere out here more. It was less... Judgemental.

Meanwhile, Toxen just shrugged at the comment made towards her mom, and stretched wings out.

"Eh, mom's close-minded and archaic, no biggie there.

As for dad, he is a stubborn sort who judges others on their first impression, and doesn't back down from his opinion. But he isn't like mom, who just doesn't like any of you sorts in advance. he keeps an open mind and makes a case by case assessment, so when he's up and running again, I frankly think that you'll have a fair chance with him. You two are a joyful little bunch, so long as you're honest and he sees that you and baby bro really are hitting it off, you might end up getting his vote."

"Well, that's good to hear at least. Perhaps if there's enough of us pressuring there, Jade will give in too."

"Dad's opinion matters more, believe me. He might do everything he can to make mom happy, but he's more set and driven than she is if it comes down to it. Just give him a good impression and give it some time.

Anyway, let's leave Benny to deal with the parent trap, eh? Lead the way Vicky, and let's check your sister out."

Toxen waggled her eyebrows at Victoria before she started to wander down the street towards the way she had encountered their little group before. Solid bet that was the way they had to go.

"We should probably follow.

I'm honestly a little terrified Victoria. So far, Benny's family is pretty uhm... Varied."

She said the last bit whilst looking towards Toxen, who would be out of earshot for now.

"I'm really happy to have you there to help me through it Victoria. You're a good friend."

She took another breath of fresh city air whilst she thought on how strange it were to say that considering how they had started, but things changed. In cases like this, thankfully for the better.

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

 

@Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

A shiver went down Rosa's spine at Discord's words. It seemed that whatever his opposite were, were something even he didn't want to face, and if a demi-god like him had any kind of reservation about another creature in this manner, he'd believe that the order being were a problem, to put it mildly.

However, the ponies who approached them were there now, so he couldn't focus too much on it, and instead needed to keep track on them. Hopefully, the creature Discord spoke of would remained sealed so that he didn't need to think on it at all later, but that was a thought for another time.

"Halt. What brings you into my mine?"

It seemed that the one the workers had been getting were going to do all the talking, and the others just work as muscle then. And they had even gotten the one in charge here. How fortunate.

"Hail. We-"

The pony took a step forward and stomped, which surprised Rosa slightly.

"I did not ask you, spy. Darkenhold have brought me nothing but grief, and if I thought it feasible, I would have you detained."

"It wouldn't work."

"And that is your only saving grace. Now, one of you tell me why you are here, what that cloud is, and why you have brought this miserable traitor to Ponykind into my domain."

"I'm Omen. This is Shrimp."

The refraction lifted his head a little and chirped before laying down again along Omen's mane. He were drowsy and wanted a nap, and even if he didn't fit completely into Omen's mane anymore, he were still attempting to lie in it like he had thus far. Honestly there were still plenty of room, as he were rather small, but the way he laid and Omen's mane waved constantly, it made it apparent that the white and golden creature were there now.

.What the forepony bit notice in however, were more in regards to the words getting projected into his head, which frankly weren't too comforting. Mind readers and spies... This did not bode well.

"You stop talking too, and stay out of my head. You, Longma, speak for them."

Meanwhile, Clayton would lead the way for his companions (or well, his companion and balloon stand-in) down the street for about two minutes, then halted in front of a rather simple looking house. Red bricks, dark roof, chimney, and an oak door. Rather regular, though the fenced garden certainly wasn't.

The entire thing were full of plants ranging from regular medicinal plants to more strange ones from other areas of Equestria, and even a few from outside the country. All of them were sectioned and clearly taken well care off in their areas, with varied water supplies, and even small glass cages over some of them, to add more heat.

Clayton looked up, seeing there were smoke rising from the chimney, and let out a relieved sigh.

"She's home, thank Celestia for that."

He went over and used a spare key in his pockets to unlock the heavy gate in front of the house, and beckoned for Lin to follow. Hopefully, she'd bring Discord's balloon too, in case it didn't just follow them, though it likely had. Something told him that the lord of chaos would want a presence.

Going to the door he knocked fie times, then entered into a room that the outside really should have warned about.

There were shelves lining the walls after the short entry hall was passed. All of them were filled with books, vials, crystals, samples, herbs, claws, bones, cloth, etc. Everything prepared to use in something, which were where the small cauldron in the middle of the room, suspended beneath the chimney in chains, came into the picture.

Whatever were brewing right now, it smelled ridiculously sweet, though if they wanted answers to what it were, they'd have to ask the resident currently adding an undetermined power to the pale-blue mixture.

"Female of undetermined race, carrying some traces of draconian and equine parts, and one balloon in the shape of Discord. Interesting."

Belladonna were an analytical sort, and not one who got flustered or shaken easily, so when she saw Clayton with the odd company, she analyzed it calmly, rather than get all bend out of shape over the intrusion.

It was on purpose that she said this out in her calm voice rather than taking it into her head too. She found it was a good way to test those she met that were somewhat strange, to see their reaction, as well as to calm Clayton. He seemed more contend when he knew that she were simply analyzing instead of preparing a counter assault.

"It's good to see that you're home. It have been a troubled day."

"Take a shower."

Clayton got a sudden red tint on his cheeks.

"You are in disarray, and your stress levels appear to be within the margin of 3,4-3,7. Cleanse yourself to reduce it whilst I entertain your guests. You will find a set of clothes and glasses on the third shelf."

"You prepared for me to take a shower h-here?"

"I take height for every contingency."

Clayton felt a little awkward, but did as he was asked and scurried on to the back where the shower were.

"I am Belladonna Venin. Personal assistant of Clayton Quartz. Who are you?"

With him out of the room, Belladonna would direct her attention to her guest and her balloon, though she'd keep stirring the cauldron with the long-handled silver spoon that her horn directed.

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

 

@Dji

Zhu heard the comment about him being something else, but he didn't react on it. Didn't seem like there'd be much of a point to doing so currently.

So he just kept on walking, calmly making his way towards the guard and the exit, when the rock fell and hit him on the neck. His knees gave away, and he fell to the floor, hissing in pain.

A few red droplets made their way towards the floor from underneath the hood, whilst Zhu disoriented took a shaking paw to his chest, and began rummaging around his robe.

Much as Zhu could see what might happen, he were unable to see his own future. Reflections didn't work, looking at himself in other ways didn't do anything either, and if he was involved in the future of somepony else, theirs would get blurry in that area. Another reason why he mostly had to stay on the sidelines and direct things, rather than be involved in things personally.

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

 

@Widdershins

Rose did not seem happy that the shovel hadn't really done anything, but before she could do something more in her aggravated state, she were pulled back by Sorrow, who were trying to focus amidst the screaming of the spirits. It might be impossible for most normal beings to hear them, but she certainly could, and it was getting intense at this point.

"Easy Rose, easy."

"Grrr, accursed homewreckers! I will bury the both of you for what you have done!"

At that point, Sorrow found it best to cover Rose's muzzle before she got herself into further problems, whilst Grim had a more direct approach to things. Namely to go over, pull the shovel out of Widdershins, and then throw it as hard as he could into Legion.

By some kind of miracle, none of the debris hit the tool as it soared in there, and the blade made contact with the skull.

Even the regular ponies would be able to hear the scream made as the pure iron hit the spirits and interfered with the bindings that were keeping them together in the skull. Rapidly, the items in the room stopped moving and the strong aura around the vessel began to blink and stretch, then-

"Crack." (Or boom, or whatever)

The specters bolted away from one another and burst through the walls, scattering around the house. As they had no mass, they thankfully didn't make any structural damage, but the items in there (and the beings outside the room) would get hit by the blastwave, and the window in said room would shatter.

Grim stood his ground, whilst Sorrow and Rose stumbled back, with the later stumbling awkwardly into a pedestal with a vase and knocking herself out cold. Said vase would almost fall on her and cause both physical and financial damage, but it just managed to not tip over, and soon stopped tipping around again. Close call there.

"...Urgh, that felt horrid..."

Grim had both gotten a hit of the shockwave, and a spirit passing through him, and he couldn't say which was worse. The pressure that made him ache, or the cold sensation and the want to scrub his very essence with soap. Probably the later.

"Rose? Rose!"

"Easy honey, easy. You won't make it better by shaking her around."

Sorrow did not seem too convinced by that, but the way Rose rattled around didn't make her feel good either. She knew that her friend wasn't severely hurt or worse, as she would be able to see the signs of her spirit leaving or lingering a little outside of the body, waving between life and death, but it still didn't make her less worried about her.

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

 

@Widdershins

"Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon... Awh bloody hay, now this song is going to get stuck in my head all day."

It was a ridiculously catchy tune, even if he couldn't repeat half of the actual lyrics for the life of him. But hey, he'd have a chance now that this thing was going to circulate his skull for the foreseeable future.

"Okay, before I disappear in pop, I got the cart done like I said. Just give it a sanding in the corners one of these days or you might get splinters."

Happy suddenly heard a pony behind him, and swung around to see what appeared as a blue mare with a turquoise mane and tail run towards them.

"Hey there sugar. Anything we can help you with?"

"I've been looking for you. Well she did, but then she heard that you had been seen and she sent me looking. Oooh, she's gonna be thrilled!"

The mare turned around and let out a loud whistle towards where she came from, making Happy want to slam her in the neck to knock her out. He didn't though, since he didn't want to attract too much attention. Though he did wonder if anypony would believe Ambie if he claimed to have seen Happy knock somepony out and drag them with him...

She wandered off before that, running back the way she came from, seeing whoever had apparently sent her out to look for him. With his luck, it'd end up being the guard.

"Well, sounds like we're going to have some company. Wonder how long it's going to take."

The answer would be around a minute, before a tall, elegant mare who carried herself like a noble would come into view. The mare who had called her would look at her with joy and almost wag her tail, whilst Happy's jaw figuratively fell.

As she got nearer, he let go of his disguise. A flash of green was all it took, and the appearance were dropped, even though he had seemed hellbent on keeping it up so far, even though the episode last night had exposed him to a good portion of the town with no current consequences.

A few steps further, and he knelt before the mare, who got a small, satisfied smile on her muzzle.

"I see your prolonged leave haven't dulled you."

"Never, my queen."

Onache were not one to shower her subjects with praise, but Happy would seem to deserve a compliment at some point. Not now however, as something caught her nose that clearly displeased her greatly: Namely Ambie.

"You reek of both them and us. How unsightly."

It was clear by the way she spoke of and looked at him, that she did not enjoy Ambie being a thing. Predators and food should not mingle, and the only reason she did not currently dispose of the gnat personally, were that she contemplated running a test on him first.

Onache were called the Slaver Queen for a reason. her specialty were to twist and turn the minds of those too feeble-minded or weakened to stop her, and implant, erase, or alter memories. Such as she had done with the pony who had led her here. A temporary servant and food source she had found crying at a lake outside town. It had been pathetically easy to sway the creature, and make her certain that Onache were the most important being in her world, whom she should do what she could to please.

If she did not feast upon until she were gone, the absence would eventually make her forget that Onache had even been there, but currently it were unlikely that she would let her servant and food source go, unless something happened that required her to leave town in a hurry.

There were another limit to her specialty than simply the strength of mind however,a nd that were in that she could not sway changelings. However, she had yet to try on a halfblood, and if that worked, that would present an interesting option for the making of a future workforce, absent from the hivemind, and possible to mass produce with some kidnapped ponies and her own offspring. Intriguing, but she were still considering simply basting this one to goo for being a blasphemous creation.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Storm Shine 1,195]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight

 

Discord blinked as he slithered the rest of the way out of Fluttershy's Mane, "Hmm.. Perhaps? When you're as old as I am, some memories just seem to.. Slip through the cracks." The spirit of Chaos said noncommittally, shrugging as elsewhere (In Twilight's Library) a book liquidated and fell through a random crack before reforming in a space that was just large enough to hold it. Discord chuckled, knowing that it would drive Twilight crazy once she noticed. (Because random)

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

Meanwhile, with Omen's Group, the Discord-shaped cloud was performing a very rude gesture involving two chickens, three snakes, four dozen kumquats, and a fishbowl. All of the necessary props were formed from smoke similar to it's body, and while the intended recipient (AKA the very rude pony) may get that he's being insulted (Somehow) He would likely never understand the full meaning behind this gesture.

 

While all of this was happening, over at Clayton's Group the Discord-Balloon was taking large bites from a very gouda cheese wheel. (That was terrible and I should feel bad for that pun.. But all I can do is laugh.)

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

 @Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Lucid looked up at Discord. One who didn't look closely enough would think that Lucid was evil. He was not evil, just broken. The part Lucid left out, the detail that was left unsaid was about to be revealed.

"I've finally found you. I demand full power on the stick so that I may bring back my friend, so that I can undo the accident."

Deep down Lucid knew that he could never bring him back, his friend was gone, but Lucid couldn't move on. They say there are five stages of grief. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Lucid was was at the bargaining stage. There was no bringing back his friend, but he couldn't move on.

"I will not stop until my demands are met. I will have full power and my friend WILL be brought back."

But of course, the fact remains, his friend can't be brought back, no matter how much power he had. He just didn't want to believe the truth. 

[Storm Shine 1,195]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight

Discord gave Lucid a scrutinizing look before sighing slightly, "I could do that" He said, "But I think we both know just how little it would accomplish." The spirit tapped the stick in question, "Do you really want to keep going Lucid? Some things can't be changed... Some things simply can't be taken back."

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Warlock flew into a wall, at a high speed, unsure what just happened. Whilst those back at the battle field would notice somepony was missing. A particular changeling who flew right into Warlock before he teleported, the velocity carrying over. Warlock stood up and growled at them. "You aren't-"

The changeling general stood up and glared at Warlock as he stood above him. "I know." He pointed his spear to Warlock as his horn glowed, the magic being sucked to Warlock.

"Don't think you can call them to my location." Leo threw his spear forward, Warlock hitting it away from him, the spear inbedding into a wall.

"Not like I need only her to know."

Warlock looked around, they were in the middle of a town in Canterlot. "Ho- I wasn't going to teleport here!"

"I did." He extended out his wings and went to grab onto Warlock. Flying him upwards at high speeds as Warlock pushed out of his grip, then falling down. "Idiot."

Behind Warlock sprouted two wings, made of fire, and burning feathers, extending them outwards, instantly stopping his fall only a few feet above the ground. Ponies screaming in a panic as they thought he was going to die. "Surrender now!" A guard yelled, pointing a spear to Warlock.

He looked to them with a glare. "I've been told that before." He lifted a hoof to the guard and pulled all the magic out of him, the guard collapsing. 

Leo landed hard behind him, cracking the ground, flying forward and impacting Warlock, sending him flying across the town. Letting him go, causing Warlock to tumble about. "Magic usage by earth ponies is banned, you know that. Using it only attracts gu-"

"Stop talking!" Warlock flew forward at high speeds, but then stopped, about to hit the changeling's face. "Sapphire..." He looked away, and then to the library, with a smile. The changeling knocked away by an unseen force. "Begone, I have other things to deal with." He flew upwards to the library, many ponies calling guards to the situation. Possibly making this Warlock deal more public than before.

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

Sapphire looked to the books, giggling a little as she took hold of them. "I do know some rumors of these books, but not much about hearing things, I will be sure to read with caution."  She started reading one of the books, sifting through the pages slowly, to make sure she wouldn't graze over the pony she was looking for. "Although that disharmony one will be interesting to read."

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

Iron Wing looked up to the sphinx. "Tracking magic is not our specialties."

Nectar stepped forward. "Discord could track magic."

"Too much trouble to get him. Currently we need to rely on one of us to do it. Can you?" He looked to Nectar.

"Being a changeling, I can only track love magic. Or the lack of it." She said, looking down. "But not very effectively over a distance."

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

@Blitz Boom

"I'm sure they'll love you Pop. If you're capable of convincing me like you then you can get anybody to like you. Then once you get to know them better you'll get used to their strange ways."

She giggled and put a hoof round Pop squeezing her gently.

"I'm glad you think of me as a friend now, nobody has ever called me that before."

As she smiled at Pop her eyes were visibly wet again, she wasn't used to this kind of emotional sentiment and it was giving her a feeling she'd never had before, a good one, and she was loving it. She let go of Pop and trotted gracefully past the dragon, making sure she actual was in the lead, she didn't want to get lost as she knew Battenberg would be closing up soon and didn't want to have to walk all the way to their house in the suburbs. 

Victoria was right to worry about timing, as they approached the shop they could see Battenberg stood outside, a small key glowing yellow in the keyhole of the door as she used her magic to lock up. Behind her stood Felix and a mare with a yellow coat and a cream mane with white swirls following its curves and curls. She was stood close to Felix, silently smiling as he spoke rapidly to his daughter.

Victoria ran up to Battenberg and jabbed a hoof angrily into her chest.

"Why are you closing up so early? You always have a go at me for slacking off but apparently it's fine when you do it."

Battenberg was about to say something to her sister but she hesitated noticing a difference in her tone and her lack of make-up.

"Something's different about you Victoria."

Victoria laughed and threw herself at Battenberg, wrapping her hooves around her in a big hug. Battenberg, surprised by the first hug her sister had given her in years could do little more than let out a confused squeak.

"You noticed! You noticed I was different even though I was acting like you expected me to. I love you big sister!"

Battenberg was speechless but hearing her sister say she loved her broke her and she began to cry a little, wrapping her hooves around Victoria and squeezing back, burying her face in Vicky's neck.

Felix chuckled

"Yep, our little filly's made some big life changes, she's finally become a mare."

The yellow unicorn beside him, also tearing up, trotted in to join the hug.

"You closed up early to spend more time with mum and dad didn't you? You're so sweet Battenberg, I've got a lot to learn from you. Hey you guys need to meet my new friends."

She pulled away from the hug and pointed at Pop.

"That's Circle Pop, I know Battenberg and Dad have already met her but I don't think you have mum. And the dragon is Toxen, you met her brother Benny Battenberg and dad already met Toxen."

Victoria's cuteness was pretty cute which made Battenberg laugh, she hadn't seen her sister like this since they were tiny little fillies.

"Wow Victoria, I feel like I've been sent back in time, I can't believe I've got my sister back, as she really is."

The sisters' mother stepped forward to greet Victoria's new friends, she walked slowly and cautiously and seemed to be weary of Toxen but that wasn't going to get in the way of her manners.

"Nice to meet you. I-I'm Lemon Drizzle."

Her voice was soft and quiet, more so than even Battenberg's, but you could just about make out what she was saying. She was nervously pulling on her scarf, a scarf noticeably similar to the one round Battenberg's neck but this one in purple rather than yellow.

"It's nice to see that Victoria finally has some friends, she's been an awfully sheltered girl. I don't really know what I did wrong with her, Battenberg was always such a little angel but Victoria's relationship with me has been more like a rollercoaster, I think my personality wasn't very compatible with hers and it made it harder for me to relate to her. Thank you for looking past her initial appearance, I think you'll find she's a little sweetie pie deep down."

Victoria cuddled her mother

"You didn't do anything wrong mummy, you're a great mother, my behaviour before was all on me. Things are going to be better now."

Lemon smiled, happy she'd finally been fully accepted by her daughter.

"She's always preferred her father, I think this is one of the first hugs she's ever given me. You two simply must teach me your tricks."

 

 

[EQ_Theta 422]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine 

A curious sort, this Belladonna... but she seemed to take seeing a strange creature a lot better than most. Calm and collected versus the whispering and gossiping, she's prefer the former by a wide margin. Clayton sure keeps some interesting company but if anypony were to point at who ends up being the strangest of them all, Lin certainly feels the the odd one out. Yet even she feels more like the most normal out of the strange entourage if Omen were with them and without any pony being in the group. Such a strange thing, an oxymoron of sorts. 

"I'm Lin, a longma and we're helping out Clayton. We're looking into the activities of someone named Silky Rose. There's reason to believe she's planning to strike at the center of Equestria and she's going to use changeling crystals to achieve that." 

That sounded like a good way to sum things up. It's not exactly a simple matter but it was better than leaving things unsaid. 

But with Belladonna having an air of curiosity, the forepony's gruff and abrasive tone. That, however, wasn't the reason Sen was very hesitant to answer. How would he know about his kind if they are the sort to stay away from ponykind and they never met before. 

"I'd tell you but I'm not sure I should. How do you know the longma? Our kind are isolationists, preferring to avoid interacting with others who aren't longma. I'm an exception, though, but you knowing about my kind is highly suspect."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

Things were getting serious now with Fluttershy noticing the situation already tensing up. Lucid's words, Anomaly's... sudden outburst? Big words hiding even bigger and darker hints that the pegasus didn't seem to get, not entirely. There was more to know but somehow, even she shudders at the possibility of knowing something she shouldn't. Not all things are meant to be knowable and yet with emotions running high and likely to explode, there had to be some way to resolve this. 

"Everyone, calm down. I'll be the neutral party here. Tell me your stories, each of you so we'll avoid a misunderstanding. Lucid, why don't you start first." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

Lucid looked down for a moment. Discord was right, his friend can't be brought back, even with his stick at full multiverse level. Fluttershy asked and Lucid reckoned it was time for an explanation.

"After the events Tirek, damage was done to Canterlot Castle. Me and my friend Verum Star decided to volunteer to help do repairs. I was working with some stone when I accidently dropped it. It crushed my friend."

There was no hiding the regret in Lucid's eyes. He regretted his past, he was saddened by the present, and he feared the future.

"I am broken and I'm afraid of what my future holds. When I was given the stick, it made my lifespan infinite. I thought maybe I could bring him back and make him immortal too, but I know I can't. I fear making new friends because I know that I will outlive them."

When his friend died, no one blamed Lucid, everyone knew it was an unfortunate accident, but Lucid blamed himself.

[Blitz Boom 4,440]

@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."

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

 

@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.

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

 

@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.

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

 

@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.

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

 

@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 422]

@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.”

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

@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 1,014]

@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 1,195]

@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 685]

@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 4,440]

@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.

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

 

@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.

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

 

"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?"

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

 

@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.

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

 

@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 923]

@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 1,195]

@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.