open Casual stroll

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich @Dji Serenade rolls her eyes, and looks at Princess Luna "♪She heard nothing I just said♪" She looks at Twilight, laying down fully so the Purple Alicorn is taller then her...sorta. "♪1)I prefer fish over Ponies. 2)As a Siren I can digest negative emotions but as Princess Luna can attest...it's not the best for anybody around and 3) and this is very important. I. was. raised. by. ponies.♪"

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

Heather gently shook her hoof, sprinkling coal dust to the floor. She considered actually obeying the command and returning the coal to Toxen but stopped herself before she inevitably ended up setting fire to something with it, seemed like the sort of thing she'd somehow manage to achieve with her clumsy nature.

Ahadi chuckled and picked up the piece of coal beside Heather.

"Sometimes I wish I'd thought before I spoke, lest I tell an awful joke. I must thank you for this large bag, it is more than I need right now but it shall keep me stocked for months to come, this potion is on the house."

She tossed the coal she held under her cauldron where it immediately ignited, sending long wispy curls of smoke up to the ceiling, the smoke looked yellow in the candlelight.

"Now the ingredients must come together, to form a brew to cure your father forever.

She began placing ingredients into a little wooden bowl that sat upon the counter next to her cauldron. She listed them as she went, checking them off against the book.

"A long hair from Victoria will cure this dragon's insomnia. Alone however, it will not do, I need to add one rusty horse shoe. Spicy pepper and dragon scale, we'll send sparks from his head to his tail. Add a pinch of salt, he'll awake with jolt. And finally, foxgloves, I now have three."

She sprinkled water into the bowl and pushed the ingredients around in it murmuring to herself as she did so. Then she began to take them one at a time, adding each one to the brew and stirring with a large knobbly tree branch, chanting strange words much louder now.

"Jua, Mwezi, Upendo, Urafiki, Makosa, Uwezekano"

As she stirred the brew began to bubble and fizz and large clouds of smoke puffed out in rings, rising slowly to the ceiling. Ahadi's eyes appeared to glow red once again as they widened, reflecting the swirling red and blue liquid in front of her. Suddenly the brew exploded in a blinding green light letting off a tremendous bang which caused a terrified Lemon to leap three feet into the air before darting behind her daughter, shaking wildly. Victoria rolled her eyes but stood her ground, making sure her mother was ok. Heather's head was spinning as she wondered if she'd maybe stood to close, she took a step backwards and fell over onto her side. She still looked dazed but seemed to be ok.

"I apologize, I did not mean to frighten you, normally when I create these potions I am alone with no worry of startling others."

Ahadi trotted over to a shelf and picked up a large round flask in her mouth, taking it over to the cauldron and filling it with the now purple liquid. Inside the flask it continued to fizz wildly and smoke escaped from the top at an alarming rate until Ahadi slapped a cork in the opening. She shook it a little and presented it to Toxen.

"This should do the trick, he will most likely be well again quick. Simply feed him two spoonfuls a day, upon awakening and before bed, that's the way. Keep doing this until he feels better, if you need more brew just drop me a letter."

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Alright, Omen, I... guess that'll have to do. Thanks."

Lin walked towards the rest of the group trying to hide her disappointment in their progress, though no fault of anyone's except their captive. 

There wasn't a reason for Sen to completely believe what Filigree had just told him. Truthfully, she may just come off as an unreliable source of information at this point what with the attitude and the insults. And speaking of insults, more came with mentions of her previous encounter with Omen, nearly ticking him off once more. Despite that, he stood firm, only clutching his claw close to the ground and forcing himself to weather it. One too many insults from Solasan ended with Sen trying to claw out his face and that didn't go anywhere. This interrogation seemed to be moving in the same direction and now both angles the two siblings tried to take didn't lead to anything positve. 

"No luck, sister?"

"I'm stumped. Omen doesn't have lot of information from here last meting with Filigree. Unless... Rosa, do you think anyone who has a history with the crystals or Filigree would be willing to help us provide information? Maybe a motive?"

This was the extent of Lin's knowledge, at least on the matter. Without any solid testimony from Omen or other possible witnesses who could provide something more than just a description or affirmation of Filigree's madness, this was where Lin's guesses would come to an end. If these didn't work, then she wouldn't know where else to look. 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Dji

The winds settled as the door opened, without anything jumping at them. In a sense, he supposed that he were disappointed. While it would not have been good for them to be assaulted in here, building up for nothing were a bleak thing to be faced with, and he were not immune from the brief feeling that came before the slight relief over not having to brawl. As jaded as he had become to many things throughout the extended life that he lived, he weren't above this primal side, that had made him ready wind and expose his fangs beneath the hood of his robe.

"I see us gaining nothing from looking behind."

But that was a thought that was inconsequential, and pointless in their current situation. They were now faced with a door, of which Karmic seemed wary. With good reason perhaps, as their travel had so far included plenty of tricks, yet it were the closest to an exit they had found at this point. Hence his words, and how he wandered forth to grab hold of it and see if he could open it.

The winds did not stand ready this time, as he had been prepared for nothing before that, but he were still wary of what may happen when he touched this door. His magical detection were not good without aid, so it may be protected in some fashion, but he did not have something with him which could do away with that sort of things, without leaving quite a mess. That little trinket had been used three weeks ago, about 120 miles kilometers from Canterlot, and he had not had the two weeks time he needed to properly prepare a replacement.

Hopefully, he would not end up paying dearly for his carelessness.

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@Dji @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"Some changelings used to be born and raised as ponies, and they'd still drain everypony they used to know.."

Last didn't much care for the siren's tone, but she were still under order to not attack her. Unless Serenade suddenly made a move and she had to defend herself or the princesses, the only thing she would hit her with were words.

"I've seen them drag my friends away, and have had to strike them down the week after, so I don't connect being raised by ponies to mean that you won't attack them. Even if you're not one of them, I don't know you, or what you are capable of. All I know is that you call yourself a predator, and that the princess fears others she have met of your kind. What you eat weren't covered in that, so I asked. I cannot risk the safety of the princesses on guesswork."

It were now, as the siren did say that she could- but didn't - eat emotions, and primarily lived off of fish, but what were she supposed to think before that? Other ponies might have known from story books and legends, but that wasn't the sort of thing that were covered where she grew up. They got tales of the princesses when they were small, and stories about great battles at the shrine after that, until they had stories of their own to tell the next generation. It had been like that for 25 generations of her family, and between that and the constant fighting, she didn't know who or what to trust until she had more information.

She would think that normal ponies would have an easier time with it, but it seemed that perhaps some things were still muddled, judging by the reaction of the princess. Another one that Serenade needed to convince about her intentions, though as opposed to Last's, Twilight's opinion actually mattered here.

Speaking of the princess, she did wonder how the alicorn would take all of this. Luna and Celestia seemed to take it posed and calm, but Twilight were new and inexperienced, not to speak of the fear she had already shown. Would it make her more uncomfortable to hear the siren explain her dietary habits? Would she be unnerved by the protectiveness of a mare who would not wander out of here breathing if she got a gut punch? Hopefully neither. It would be better if everything calmed her down more so things eased for them all, and they could grill the siren for more details, until the princess were ready to make an unbiased, rational decision about how she felt about Serenade. An idealist situation that Last personally didn't believe in, but as she had previously thought, her judgement here didn't matter compared to the three royals. It was them who decided on how things would go with Serenade. Last was just here to ensure that there were somepony to guard the princesses, and prepare for potential issues, such as the chance of them getting eaten or turned.

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@Lucid_Nightlight

"He's pretty easy to beat up. You just gotta surprise him when nopony's around, or when you first see him. Pie in the face? He doesn't have the time to see it."

Anomaly giggled as she recalled one of several times she had done so, just to see if she could. So far, he had only dodged twice, and that was more luck than anything.

"Zhu's real sad and broody all the time too. Sees the future, but can't see the fun in it. Just keeps talking about how it's a *curse* and a *burden*. Responsibilities, destiny, balance, yada yada yada. It gets so Boring to listen to. Better when he asks me to make stuff. Like, he made me craft these seeds, right? Lot's of magic and nature in them, and they grow into huge trees, with all kinds of vegetation around them. Even creatures gets mutated to plant thingies! It's so exciting. I even met one of them earlier. Kinda weird one, but meh, ponies grown on trees are supposed to be weird. That's the point."

The evergrown were part in something, but as she had said, she honestly had no idea what it were. Zhu only shared what he had to, to convince her to help him in certain situations, but he was afraid that she'd mess things up if he told her too much, and that oh so delicate balance he kept yapping about couldn't be risked. Frankly she figured he just needed to stop being a buzzkill, but she had said that to him for centuries, and it didn't lead anywhere. If anything, he had just gotten more sullen in it.

"And I still dunno know how you get into my head. I don't even keep my brain there."

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@EQ_Theta

"There is plenty of motive, and several scorned beings I can ask, but the only thing I managed to scrounge up were journals, and stories. I can try and contact some of the higher standing ones she wronged and see if they want a chance at returning the favor."

"And all it will give you, is charges of fraud. I've talked my way out of far harsher sentences."

"I may be able to provide some tangible, corrupted evidence."

Several sets of eyes turned to Belladonna as she said this, curious as to what she meant.

"If she were in the compound, that means some of her belongings are still there, or I can procure the testimony of several beings who likely have had contact with her ten years ago."

"If they're still alive."

"We may have a short lifespan within the walls, but if you know me, then you must know that I am not one to give up with ease. I will find what information, witnesses and belongings that I can, and since this have no connection to, or have been swung by, Rosa, you cannot claim it to be contaminated. Not without attacking me, and I can assure you that my credentials are superior to yours."

"I doubt they will listen once they hear where you're from, you little sacrificial sheep."

"The truth were bound to escape. That it also allows me to gain leverage over a manipulative creature such as yourself can only be perceived as a bonus.

Now then, Omen and Lin appeared to be the ones capable of transporting others, correct? If I provide exact locations, can either of you send me there, or is it required for you to have visited the places beforehoof?"

Belladonna ignored the mare bound on the floor, as she addressed Lin and Omen, though mostly the former. Much as Filigree were crude and harsh in her words, she were correct in Omen not being an intelligent being, so it made more sense to talk with her associates, who may then deliver the information better to the strange mare.

It was a shame that Belladonna had removed her sights from Filigree really, or she may have seen the mare clench her teeth at the mare, clearly not happy with how things were going. She had expected the monocle-wearing pony to simply have backed down, when threatened to be exposed for the lunatic that she were, and instead she decided to face this? Filigree doubted that she had left anything incriminating behind back int he day, but the foals in that complex were noisy, and more than once she had needed to chase t hem out of her room, including this one. How she did not recognize Belladonna were no surprise, as she had hidden herself under much cloth and part of a costume at the time, but she certainly remembered Belladonna. The analytical, questioning look were hard to mistake, as were the cutie mark.

Perhaps she would get more out of poking to this *Sen* character instead. he seemed ready to strike, though of course, she had to find the right target for him to get on his nerves. Perhaps that sister of his would be a sore spot, hm?

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@Victoria Sponge

"I'm okay, though uhm- Help please?"

Pop had stood her ground too when it were... Mostly. She had taken a step back in surprise and widened her eyes, but she hadn't fallen down like Heather, jumped up like Lemon, or - as in the case of Toxen - freaked out like a cat.

As the green flash went on, she got air and coiled around the nearest target she could reach, which had sadly been Pop. Her head were covered beneath her wing and the mare were held rather tightly, so the best she could do were weakly wriggle in an attempt to get loose, but without getting anywhere.

"Is it over yet?!"

"Yes. Now lemme go, please."

Toxen's wing rose slightly and she peeked out just to be sure, trying to glance is that everything was alright now. From what both Pop an Adahi said, that seemed to be a yes, so she slowly uncoiled from the pony, who let out a sigh of relief. She might be used to Benny doing things like this, but he was smaller, and didn't feel like a vicegrip when he freaked out over weird situations.

"Alright, that's... Big ol' joke that, ehehehe."

Toxen got on her feet and let out a small, half-nervous laugh.

"I thought you grew up on a volcano? Why's-"

"Lava isn't green! I mean, I weren't scared. Not a bit. Bothing horrifying about a little noise and a green sprinkle."

Pop opened her muzzle to say some more things, but found Toxen blocked it with her hand to keep her from yapping up more about the embrassing little episode that had ocurred. She really had to talk to her brother about his mate's big mouth when they finally got back home again. Preferably before she told Jade about it. Toxen didn't want her mother to get the satisfaction of knowing how to rile her up. Or okay, it didn't matter that she knew, but if she started to talk to her brothers about it all of a sudden... *shiver* She had been through the whole part about being the youngest before Benny was born, and she were not getting tossed back into the spotlight like that again, over something like this.

"So the drink's done then? I'll keep in mind to tell 'em that it's two spoonfuls before and after he sleeps, which with this lil' thing, should hopefully just be once each day now, and not every five seconds..Thanks Ahadi."

She gave the zebra a smile and stretched a clenched fist towards her. She were pretty sure she got the concept of a brohoof right at this point, and this felt like a fine moment, though she had to use her tail too then to keep Pop close, before she wriggled out of her grip entirely now and started to talk.

"Everyone's alright by the way? I didn't see, since I had to keep this one from jumping all over the place."

She seriously doubted that anyone bought her weak excuses, but who knew? Perhaps these folks were more gullible than the average sort, and wouldn't question it too much. Plus, they might've been more focused on eachother, rather than her, since she seemed to see out of the corner of her eye that Lemon were suddenly behind Vicky, though Heather were out of her field of vision. Not sure what went on with her, and until the dragoness knew if the extended fist would be met with a hoof, she couldn't both turn to look and keep the gesture and Pop in check..

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

"Seeing the future is a curse? Is he crazy!? That's one of the things I cannot do because apparently certain things require experience instead of power."

When it comes to how Lucid managed to read her mind while she didn't have her brain, he had an explanation.

"You see, your thoughts and your mind are in your brain, yes, but they are also within your soul and astral body. The astral body is what form you take in out of body experiences."

Lucid knew quite a bit when it came to this kind of thing.

[BloodDrops 762]

On 12/04/2018 at 9:50 PM, Blitz Boom said:

Urgh, questions upon questions of mundanity... Really not what she needed right now.

"I am well aware I need more elixir, but there is a list of priorities to go through first. The current one being to return to my home so I can retrieve my spear."

Usually she could fish without, but she was low on magic and not keen on trying something like it in her current state, so the trip there would have to be completed before it would be remotely safe to be around the carnivorous pony.

"And I don't always eat before I sleep. I need peace to research, which takes away from the time to hunt for non-magical crystals."

She had a few at home, but she had a habit of forgetting to eat unless she were reminded by Lotus, so there were times when exhaustion took over before she had the chance to really get anything in her stomach. It was not ideal, but it wasn't like she had expected to be accepted around here. She had never left the isaldn before three weeks ago, and she had constantly expected that she would need to make tiny steps to not get charged out of the forest by angry villagers. She had not expected the town to mostly take her with calm cautiousness, when she had needed to wander in for supplies and books yesterday.

Perhaps she would have more of a life now, and reason to exit her cave, as there were plenty of things that she could use from a civilized town, but there were still difficulties. Among them, her own interpretation of ponies, that needed time to come around. She spoke sometimes to a few ponies in the woods, to try and ease into things, but there were still a lot of prejudice from her side that needed to be faced and overcome. Not an easy thing when you had over a half decade of indoctrination to work through. Blood here didn't help either, and were frankly more of an annoying test of her patience than a way to educate herself on the good side of ponies.

They'd be in the forest soon, and going in a straight line towards her cave. A few things rattled around the forest as they went towards her current home, yet they did the smart thing and kept away from her. Except for one Timberwolf that suddenly leaped at her, but that one got a fist promptly hammered into it's stomach and slid back across the ground, whilst she snarled at it. She really didn't have the patience for things like this right now.

A pity it had not been a boar. They could have saved so much time that way, unless of course the forests self -proclaimed guardian were watching over things again. There had to be a limit to how much Lyriel would accept happened in this place before she took action, and as Nerzhei had personally witnessed, the dryad were not without her ways when it came to protecting the forest against overly harmful forces.

Blood nodded at the answer and twitched her ear, following the dragon into the woods now. "I like crystals, they look pretty, and shiny, and glows" I remarked to her thinking of the many caves I'd slept in. I blinked and looked up at the sky, though as it got later on during the day she began to feel her own intelligence draining from her, she had to shake her head several times as her feral mind kept going over the same logic, 'That bunny looks edible'. It was good that the dragon wasn't a mind reader otherwise she would be toast by now she thought to herself.

She glanced as suddenly something jumped out at Nerzhei, a Timberwolf, she watched as Nerzhei gave it's nose a thumb, though this was when she snapped. She lept on the Timberwolfs back and grabbed one of the branches off its head ripping it off with such ferocity its was apparent she was feral. The Timberwolf let out a long whine, though Blood didn't let up ramming her weapon into the wolf's eye, though she didn't stop there continuing to smash the skull with the branch until the skull collapsed and the eyes lost there green light. Only then did she finally turn her attention to the intruders, glaring hostility at her and the bunny. 

Blood chewed on the stick thoughtfully, "Now this won't do, you won't stop this side of me winning over my boring old self, you know I was nearly in control till you came along offering a cure, you know what this means, you put back my apocalyptic plans by some stretch." her feral side grumbled getting closer to the dragon and the bunny and spitting out the stick to the floor. "So we gonna play a nice game, it's called..............." she started before her eyes grew intelligent again. Blood blinked at the stick and then at the dead Timberwolf and frowned at nerzhei.

"You didn't have to kill it you know, it was just guarding its territory," she grumbled before rolling her eyes, "Well we are nearly at your cave, come on" she remarked not realising what just happened. 

 

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

They looked to each other, Astra's ears meeting the sides of her head as they folded back. "Well..." She took a deep breath. "Sapphire here is my mother, I was following her path by learning magic she did, to defend myself. But then, and I know she's alive now, but then she died." She paused for a moment. Astral sighed a little. "I tried to bring her back with magic, of course I failed, but before I could commit any crimes with it."

Sapphire looked at them. "And I was trying to prevent my sisters death with magic. Only to discover she can pass from body to body upon death." She glanced at Astral for a moment. "It's my fault this all started, if I let her pass on normally she wouldn't be blaming me for this all."

Astral looked away as Sapphire spoke. "I unintentionally freed Warlock, so I'm sure in some way we both need a punishment."

Iron Wing nodded. "Well, we should decide if you do. You have been a help after all."

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

Nectar heard a knock, turning around, and while she hadn't gotten many injuries from the fight earlier, she decided to submit herself into the hospital anyway just in case. "Yes?" She asked, opening the door with her magic as she walked over.

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@Blitz Boom 

 

“Although it’s very possible, I don’t know wether they do or not.  Never in my three hundred years in that forest have they shown any signs of it.  In our grove, we would make space so that others could reach the sunlight, but the other trees would tower over each other, casting their saplings in shade.”  Charlie’s voice had changed from its usual gender neutral to a slightly more feminine voice, though the transition wasn’t extreme enough to sound unnatural.  “I need to find my seeds and make sure they’re okay.  I hope they survived my explosion. I don’t think I could bear it if I had hurt them in some way.  Maybe once I have a body I can go find them and make sure they’re planted in good soil.  Actually, I’ll make it my mission.”

@Blitz Boom 

@Moonlit 

@Dji 

 

“Last Stand, that is enough!  If my sister believed her to be a threat, she would have never allowed her to remain in Ponyville.  I trust my sister’s judgment, as should you.”  Celestia was clearly unhappy with the tone that Last had when talking to the siren, but her voice still managed to keep its elegance despite her anger.  “Perhaps we should go to your supplies and see what you possess, that we shall make an Elixir for Serenade.”  Luna’s best idea to defuse the situation was to simplify it.  With less princesses in the room, Last could calm down, and with the potion, Serenade could be made to look less threatening, which would also lower some of the tension.

 

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

"There are several problems, Belladonna," Lin began. "While it is true Omen and I could move faster by opening paths to other locations and shorten travel time, I'm afraid we'd have to know exactly where it is we're going and we need to have been there at least once. Well, that's how I'd explain how the gate-opening abilities work from my end because the way mine works could be different from Omen's."

"And we're not locals; we don't know Equestria too well despite having travelled here and there. There's Ponyville, Canterlot, and Las Pegasus but that's the extent of the places we could possibly travel to using Lin's powers. Omen might know more."

Sen quickly added. Lin nodded in agreement, wrapping up her concerns regarding the matter. It was a start with Belladonna knowing how to proceed but this may take some time. Discord not being present added to the time extension and it is unlikely the forepony of the mines would let them continue their interrogation indefinitely. Someone might have already called the authorities to handle the mess and without anything in the way of proof, Filigree could be walking away from this. 

Omen might know about some of the places Belladonna had in mind but Lin isn't too optimistic about the chances of that being so. She'd be surprised if Omen does know a place or two, giving something to ease the worry of a time constraint looming over them all.  

Edited April 15, 2018 by EQ_Theta

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich Serenade glares at Last, but holds her tongue as Celestia rebukes the pony. She looks back at Twilight, hoping she's proven trustworthy. I mean she's got Princess Luna behind her. 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

Victoria was not convinced and rolled her eyes a little and spoke up, perhaps speaking the words that Pop had been about to say before Toxen had silenced her.

"You guys are all cowards... and what, are you scared of the colour green now Toxen? Seems pretty weird for a dragon covered in green scales. I'd strongly advice you all get a little braver, it makes life a lot easier when you don't have to hide every thirty seconds. Pop seems to be a little better with this kind of thing."

She smiled at Pop, it was odd considering how hostile things had been between the two when they first met, Vicky seemed to have a soft spot for the sweet mare. As for the others, Victoria had seen a lot of scary things during her travels with her father, having angry crocodiles snapping at your tail was a lot scarier than some smoke and noise. She felt she was being a little harsh but sometimes tough love was the best medicine.

"I-I don't mean any offence... just work on your surprise tolerance, it'll make you feel much happier believe me."

Lemon came out from behind her daughter and nodded.

"You're probably right, I'm glad you take after your father and not me."

Heather was still lying on her side, though she'd sat up into a more comfortable position, with her tail wrapped around her, and was no longer looking like a startled fainting goat. She didn't want to stand in case she did something stupid like knocking the cauldron over in her haste.

"I'm not scared... just... jumpy. That's a nervous tick, I don't think I'll ever be able to get over that."

"That's ok Heather, I know you're a brave mare, probably braver than I am. It's a shame you're a pegasus, might be why you're so fritzy."

Lemon shook her head.

"Stop stereotyping pegasi Vicky, you know they're not as bad as you think. Your aunt used to be one of your favourite ponies."

Vicky looked down a little ashamed of herself for stereotyping but she meant well, the ability to fly certainly made things harder for Heather.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that Heather."

Heather smiled at Victoria.

"It's ok Vicky, you mean well and I appreciate that, you're my favourite cousin by the way, don't tell Batty."

She giggled, though Victoria was still a little odd she liked the pony she was becoming now.

 

Ahadi looked bemused by the events taking place in her shop, surprised how much of an impact a little poof of smoke could cause. She chuckled at Victoria, this was a pony with spirit and she respected that. She looked at Toxen's fist and seemed a little confused, she eventually realised what the dragoness wanted of her, she too was new to the "brohoof" and was not used to such rituals. She gave the dragon's fist a little bump and nodded at her, without speaking, before turning to face the group.

"You should hurry to that dragon now, give him this potion, show him how. Again I'm sorry if I startled you."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Maybe crazy. He says it's responsibility, and other boring stuff. I dunno though, his body is weird. Like, non-magic weird. It keeps getting fresh again every... Twenty years, I think it is? He keeps *accidentally* dropping blood samples on my island. Tells me lots of things."

She might not be able to have complete control over the wildlife, but she could convince them to rampage the right places and then lick up the samples from some cuts and bruises later. She used to have a much better and easier idea for getting a lot of samples to learn from and have fun with, but Zhu were really adamant about her not doing that. Apparently, causing real strong nosebleeds and sneezing was going too far.

"But eh, he has lots of secrets, and no time to share them with his only friend. Boring to keep trying to dig into it.

Now, no brain, astral wonky-thingie, does that mean that I can mess with being's brains or put them in new, fun bodies, and they won't forget everything? Not that I'd do that right now But you gots me all kinds of curious now. Come on, I'm all ears."

Her right ear grew three times the size as she directed it towards him, curious as to what he would say. Might give her excuses for some fun later.

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@BloodDrops

Nerzhei watched the spectacle wit the timber wolf with a grimace. She might be used to some degree of violence and hunting, but this was quite a bit more brutal than the normal things she had to watch, though it were at least informative. It gave her some insight into what this feral mode meant, and a good example of why that should rally not come to pass.

"If you're this close, there's no time. We go to the lake, now."

Lotus hid behind her head right now, but started to chipper into her ear once she heard what her scaly friend were saying.

"I'll bite it in me. We're only a few minutes away from it, but ten minutes from the cave. It's too risky."

Considering the situation, Nerzhei were somewhat willing to forgive Blood for accusing her of being the one who smashed the timberwolf, though mainly it was a matter of priority, and disturbance that kept her from mentioning it. Even in her cranky and pained stage, she could see that there were factors that had to be taken care of straight away that would otherwise lead this to happening more frequently, and the next time, it might be her or Lotus that went. Sure, she had wings, but she were not feeling well right now, so she might end up crashing, and something told her that shedding even a small amount of blood right now would be a very bad idea. Not to mention that the zombie seemed quick when she moved before. It might be that Nerzhei would not have the chance to escape in the first place.

She would lead them down to a river, a half minute faster than she had expected, but with the mare in tow, she didn't exactly have reason to delay.

Once there, she'd use her good arm to tear off a suitable part of a small tree, and with a whimper, hold it with her damaged arm, whilst she used to other to clear small twigs from it and sharpen the end. It wasn't going to be the best, but it wasn't like she had other options right now. The pain from this, and the potential ensuing meeting with Lyriel, would be something she would handle later.

When it was finally done, she would begin to look into the river, and waiting for her time to strike. The pointy stick as it were, would take a few minutes to prepare, and the fishing itself would take another, but hopefully no incident would happen before she had a wriggling fish impaled, and lifted with some caution towards Blood. If something did happen... She would have to hope that her clothes and scales would be enough to stop Blood long enough for a swift strike away from her. They couldn't afford her getting infected as well.

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

 

@Lloyd

The generals listened in to the little bit of information they were given, and since Tidal Wave needed to be told what had happened so far, the others would give a short, five minute referendum about it to catch her up to speed.

"Here you had me thinking it was gonna be way worse. Structural damage isn't an issue, and since nopony's been offed, it sounds like a success to me."

"We still need to find his accomplish though."

"And this seer that you spoke off. We need to consider anypony in possesion of an Element of Disharmony to be a threat until further notice."

"I second that."

"I believe General Wings would agree on that too. As for Warlock, we are getting a better chain forged to keep him better in check, but considering everything that have happened so far, and the unknown quantity of other beings that might want to help him, I think it is better if we add another security measure. General Screecher, you mentioned these two could disable magic?"

Dew nodded towards Null and Void.

"Correct. I assume you're thinking about having them be part of an increased guard around the isolation cell Warlock is in?"

Tidal Wave seemed surprised at this, and looked at the two ponies with a glimmer of respect in her eyes.

"Well that's mighty handy. Ship 'em off right away, eh?"

"My sister is not going anywhere near him."

Null stepped forward, and glanced at the general with her stubborn, unblinking eyes, whilst Void were twitching behind her.

"N-Null, they're going to n-need us."

"No, they need one of us, and he's been too close to hurting you already. I'm not letting you get within sight of him again, and that's final.

Besides, do you want him to get hold of the things we're dragging around? They need to be kept away until somepony can fix or contain them. I don't want to think of what the princesses would do if they got into the wrong hooves."

"Mind telling us what you're speaking of? What items are in your possession?"

""6 cursed items of varied origins and effects. As far as they have informed me, the curses are being kept at bay when they're within reach of them, but it will not dissipate."

"And why are you carrying those around?"

The former general didn't bat an eye as he kept his glance locked with Null's. An aggressive little mare she were, but he doubted that she were a feral animal that would attack him if he kept this up.

"Twenty years on the run, you find things. Horrible things. The sort of stuff you don't want others to have. We figured we'd keep them until somepony could do something to contain or destroy them."

"That's some smart thinking I'd say. So your big sister there will keep it in check, an-"

"A-Actually I'm her little sister... M-Ma'am."

"Heh, could've fooled me. Anyway, tall sis takes the stuff and stays under guard with them somewhere safe, while pega-sis here takes off to the dungeon and has a nice time showing this Warlock fellah who's the boss."

"Fine, but don't forget how we helped when we get a hearing."

"A hearing?"

"They're from Troy. They seek asylum in Equestria."

Dew rose his eyebrow before shaking his head.

"Of course somepony from Troy... I can assure you that your assistance in this matter will be noted. The princesses does not forget those who helps the kingdom. Guards!"

With the risen voice being heard outside, a pair of Solar Guards pops through the door and look towards the former general.

"Please escort Mrs. Null here towards the isolation cells, and inform Captain hailstorm that we have sent her. She will explain why when they get there. And prepare the third safe room. We will soon have an inhabitant for that place."

The guards nodded, saluted, and went on their way. One to prepare a room, and one with Null, who had dropped her bulging saddlebags next to Void, before hugging her, and whispering something in her ear. She did not like being away from her sister, but if it gave them the princesses favor, she'd do what she needed to.

"If he acts up and you break something, find me later, and I'll get us a drink. I love a good story."

Tidal Wave addressed Null before she exited, though she wasn't sure if the pegasus were listening to her. Guess she'd find out if Null ever came looking for her with a thirst in her throat and a story on her lips.

"Heh, that aside, we needed to talk about these here witches and their status. My two bits on the matter? It sounds like the magic were taken up with good in mind, and they have been pretty helpful so far. I say we give 'em a probation period of a few years, where they need to regularly check in to a guard, and have some surprise visits at their home to make sure that they're not using this sort of stuff against others with malicious intent. If they make it through, I can't see a reason why we'd have to lock 'em up or exile them. Of course, that does require you girlies to keep helping us until this whole shebang is over with, ye?"

"I agree with the suggestions. The princesses will need to be convinced too, but with everything we can inform them off, it should be a lesser concern."

"Warlock being freed is a troubling stain on their records... But considering how little it took to accidentally release Discord, I can see it being an accident. And one they are helping us to correct. If the two of them agree to the terms and keep working with us to resolve this matter until all parties are accounted for, I will lend my support to General Tidal Wave's suggestion."

All three of them now turned their eyes to the final vote in the matter. It was mostly for show, since there were a majority who had agrees on Tidal Wave's plan, but Iron Wing's thoughts on this should be heard, and if he had concerns to raise about it, they should be discussed before a final verdict were to be made.

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

 

@Lloyd

A guard entered the room and nervously rose a hoof towards the changeling queen.

"M-Ma'am. You have been requested in the throne room by General Dew. He wishes to speak with you in a meeting with the generals, after the apprehension of the wanted criminal, Warlock."

The pony in question were one who vividly remembered the attack by Chrysalis, and as such, were nervous about being anywhere near a changeling, let alone a queen. Yet somepony had to go, and as his luck would have it, he had ended up with the short stick this time.

*sigh* If only Lieutenant Shimmer had been there to handle this instead... But she were busy guarding the ambassador, so her hooves were tied.

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich

"Okay, so nothing horrible in burning trees, phew. I hope special trees won't get into the fire."

Ziggy were still a little creeped out, but hearing the tree spirit speak more and more were helping on it. It certainly didn't make things worse that it were poking to her curiosity, which were usually the third best way of getting her side tracked. The first being somepony who needed medical attention, and the second being ponies who wandered around with *Hug me* signs on their clothes. Prank things most of the time, but she couldn't help herself either way. Which hadn't gone too well that time with the griffon, but oh well. Couln't win them all, right?

"You have little saplings somewhere in the forest? Awh how cute, I can help you see to them! When I can move again, My leg's kinda messed up -"

"Broken in two places."

"- but pony doctors are real good. I bet it's gonna be all fine and dandy in a few days."

THe elderly doctor wasn't dampening her spirit right now, as the talk came to what was essentially an adventure to her. Young ones in peril, a strange side kick, and magical, talking trees? How wasn't this right out of a faerie tale? It only lacked the breezies.

"What's this about a body? Do you grow new ones? Oh, is That where the evergrown actually comes from? Souls of special trees, growing into plant ponies? Eeeeee! That'd be so exciting!"

"Young lady, keep your enthusiasm down, or I'll have to sedate you. Your leg needs rest, not somepony wriggling around constantly."

"Bleargh, no fun. You already put me on drowsy meds."

"With your increased energy output, I'm amazed you haven't been put on them years ago to prevent you from overworking yourself."

They weren't really bickering, just messing around a little while the changeling were checked up on. Though the elderly doctor were true in saying that Ziggy had to be more calm in it. One of the reasons why she had accepted the drugs in the first place, or told about her energy output, which were an issue when you were bound to a bed like this. She usually had to fly and run around a lot to get it out of her system, but this weren't really possible right now, so they had to go for alternative methods. A little weird, but what you didn't have to do to be able to not wriggle around constantly.

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich @Moonlit @Dji

Last bend her neck and twitched like she was being whipped, when Princess Celestia's displeasure were uttered. Frankly she would have preferred the whipping, rather than the scorn of a royal. It would have hurt far less.

"I trust her judgement your highness, but if something went wrong... No, no excuses. Please forgive me my insolence, Princess Celestia. It won't happen again."

Last bowed her head in shame and stepped away from the princesses, thinking herself unworthy to gaze upon either of them right now. She had been blinded by her distrust and had verbally assault somepony that her majesty, Princess Luna, had personally vouched for. To distrust the words of the princess of dreams were unimaginable normally, and to think that she had done so, and gained scorn from the princess of day... It wasn't just insolence, it was heresy. Even if she were concerned after the way she saw Serenade, and how Princess Twilight reacted, it was no excuse for her actions.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"I find beings. Strange places too."

"Somewhat limiting for the first part of this endeavor, but ultimately not an obstacle. Omen, are you aware of the towns of Center Zero and Ormenthal?"

The mare in question began to tilt her head from side to side, as she tended to do when she had to try and find something in her memories.

"Perhaps more information is required. Center Zero is a town with great walls and steel. They build many things within their borders, and research plenty of things. Usually you will see multicolored smoke rising from it.

Ormenthal is a simplistic farm town with several runed plates all around it. The inhabitants are descendants of settlers from far away rom Equestria, and you can usually recognize them on their town symbol, depicting a large wyrm ensnaring a tree."

"...I've seen metal town. Many machines and fire. Strange things in jars."

"That will suffice then. It is within a half hour walk from there. Transport me there and follow me. I consider an emergency teleport as an effective Plan B, in case something does not go as expected."

"We will handle Filigree in the meantime. There is a guard station just waiting for you I can imagine, especially after what Amethyst have told them. It might get us a court date today, but the testimony of a highly respected businessmare will suffice in keeping her detained until further notice. The fraud charges alone should give us a few days as they set a dte, but we are working on borrowed time. You need to be efficient, Belladonna."

"As do you, Rosa. We will meet again."

Behind her, Omen would begin to open a gate for the mare and herself to wander through - as well as others, if they jump through - while Rosa went over and picked up his mother. She were surprisingly light, but he supposed, without a ton of crystals covering her, she really didn't have much bulk to do with. Couldn't risk ruining her delicate figure with muscle tone or fat, at least not in her mind.

"We should return to Amethyst, and then get Filigree properly charged. I can imagine that she will be happy to see that we won."

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

 

@Victoria Sponge

"Hey, I ain't afraid of green. I just got startled a little."

Pop didn't even need to say anything for her to know that she was judging the dragoness right now. The pony had a good, sarcastic *Really?* gaze going for her honestly.

"Fiine fine, perhaps I got riled a little, but it ain't because this stuff's green. It's a bundle of things going together."

As Ahadi equally awkwardly accepted the brohoof Toxen were trying to extend, she let go of Pop and took a step back from the pony before the candy maker could take a swing. Honestly, she weren't sure if Pop would do that, but the mare had surprised her a few times already, so why risk it? Weren't like she didn't deserve it.

"You freaked out."

The dragoness rolled her eyes and looked down on Pop.

"I got six older brothers, and fifty years of being the baby sister before Benny got born, in a place where it's easy to be bored."

Pop grimaced. That one she could understand, as she had a brother herself, and... Well, you had to establish your dominance when you were the older one. And if it got boring, having a younger sibling was an easy way for some entertainment. And that was from a pony perspective. Who knew how bad it were with dragons?

"He got off easy since they'd started to find mates and moved around around ten years after he got 'round, but I got the blunt of the short stick, and trust me lil' ones, you get some trauma's when you're dealing with six folks who thinks it's fun to chain you in the volcano and then leave you there, or start to mix up some boom powder from a traveling salesman, and then use it to wake you up with.

Also, no telling Benny 'bout this. I'm the big sis, and he's the kid. He hears this he might think he can challenge the hierarchy, and I'll have to roll him in oil and feather again."

"Yes, he told me about that one..."

"Heh, the tough part was getting the feathers."

"Be that as it may, it sounds like we should be heading out. Though uhm, I gotta confess, I'm not entirely as tough in it as you think there Victoria, it's more that my curiosity takes over pretty quickly, and if Toxen hadn't reacted like she had, I'd probably have gone over to the cauldron to see if there was going to happen more. It's not really the best response to danger to suddenly think that you should go check it out.

You on the other hoof, I'm really impressed about. You didn't even flinch when it happened. N-Not that there's anything wrong in doing that, heather and lemon. I mean, most ponies have a more natural fight or flight response to things than Victoria here has. I know several that would've just run out the door too."

"Well, since I for sure ain't in a position to judge, I'm with candy corn here. Now come on, i wanna get my dad some sleep before he accidentally sets something on fire.

Thanks for the help Ahadi. You're a lifesaver."

With her arms free, Toxen could give a more natural - for her - wave and ending with finger pistols, which she knew made quite a lot of ponies and dragons roll their eyes, but she liked it. It felt snazzy to her.

[Storm Shine 1,196]

 

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta

Discord rolled his eyes at Lucid's ideals on future-sight, "Imagine this Lucid." He began, "You can see the future, but you don't like what you see. What would you do?" Discord brought up a chalkboard and drew a line, "Most ponies would try to change or avoid it, which could have unintended consequences." He drew branches from the line, with varying sizes and directions, "For example, let's say you saw a friend get hurt because you were there, and decided not to be there. Instead of being hurt that friend might instead be fine, but he also might end up crippled, dead, or otherwise in peril." Discord drew many dots and lines in confusing patterns all over the board, "The future is not a straight path, nor is it set in stone. To see the future is only to see possibility. Every action or inaction can change that possibility - more likely than not, most with the ability to see the future can only see the most likely potential future, if even that."

"Some beings would go crazy trying to figure out how to prevent things they don't want to happen, or how things might come together to create the situation they might glimpse.." Discord added, drawing a pony in a straightjacket, "The future and, in turn, the timelines are never perfectly predictable, or easily manipulated, and seeing these possibilities does not mean you would be able to influence them for the better."

 

(Sorry this is late and I haven't been on much lately, been pretty busy. So much to do, so little time, but I have to make time, and all that stuffs. I'll try try try to post more often, managed to find a bit of time now to post and relax after work.  )

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Well, Anomaly I should first start off by saying that the astral body and the soul are two very different things. The soul doesn't usually leave body unless you die or sell it, which is a bad idea. The astral body is how you may visit the astral or eternal plane of existence by astral projection which can be achieved by many ways, but my favorite is doing so through leaving a lucid dream to the dimensional planes."

Lucid had no clue if Anomaly understood any of that, but who knows?

Now Discord was giving some sort of speech or whatever.

"So seeing the potential future means I could change it... hmm..."

Lucid was thinking, about something.

"This makes me think... What if I could go into the past and prevent myself from causing that accident, maybe my friend could be saved!"

Lucid pondered this, even though a part of him knew that it was a bad idea, that it'd only add a second thing that he hasn't forgiven himself for.

[Storm Shine 1,196]

 

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta

Discord shook his head, "That could be true, but it could also make things much much worse overall. And besides that, going back in time to fix that would only create an alternate timeline in which they had been saved. this timeline, your true timeline, would still remain. You might fix it for that version of yourself, but it would not truly fix the events to this current time. If it were to do so instead of causing the formation of an alternate timeline, it would create a paradox which would erase existence as we know it.. I imagine that if you had never lost your friend, you would never have reached this point in time, nor this level of power, and would not have the idea or ability to go back in time, therefore there would be no you to go back and change events thus allowing them to happen which would then lead to this same point where you have the idea to go back and fix it and so forth." Discord sighed, "If the universe didn't create alternate timelines to help prevent the formation of any true paradox of time travel, such things would cause our branch of the timeline- the very existence of this dimension within it and those inexplicably tied to it, to collapse entirely, unable to cope with the sheer violation of it's very nature."

Edited April 16, 2018 by Storm Shine

[BloodDrops 762]

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

Nerzhei watched the spectacle wit the timber wolf with a grimace. She might be used to some degree of violence and hunting, but this was quite a bit more brutal than the normal things she had to watch, though it were at least informative. It gave her some insight into what this feral mode meant, and a good example of why that should rally not come to pass.

"If you're this close, there's no time. We go to the lake, now."

Lotus hid behind her head right now, but started to chipper into her ear once she heard what her scaly friend were saying.

"I'll bite it in me. We're only a few minutes away from it, but ten minutes from the cave. It's too risky."

Considering the situation, Nerzhei were somewhat willing to forgive Blood for accusing her of being the one who smashed the timberwolf, though mainly it was a matter of priority, and disturbance that kept her from mentioning it. Even in her cranky and pained stage, she could see that there were factors that had to be taken care of straight away that would otherwise lead this to happening more frequently, and the next time, it might be her or Lotus that went. Sure, she had wings, but she were not feeling well right now, so she might end up crashing, and something told her that shedding even a small amount of blood right now would be a very bad idea. Not to mention that the zombie seemed quick when she moved before. It might be that Nerzhei would not have the chance to escape in the first place.

She would lead them down to a river, a half minute faster than she had expected, but with the mare in tow, she didn't exactly have reason to delay.

Once there, she'd use her good arm to tear off a suitable part of a small tree, and with a whimper, hold it with her damaged arm, whilst she used to other to clear small twigs from it and sharpen the end. It wasn't going to be the best, but it wasn't like she had other options right now. The pain from this, and the potential ensuing meeting with Lyriel, would be something she would handle later.

When it was finally done, she would begin to look into the river, and waiting for her time to strike. The pointy stick as it were, would take a few minutes to prepare, and the fishing itself would take another, but hopefully no incident would happen before she had a wriggling fish impaled, and lifted with some caution towards Blood. If something did happen... She would have to hope that her clothes and scales would be enough to stop Blood long enough for a swift strike away from her. They couldn't afford her getting infected as well.

Blood blinked at Nerzhei and snorted "Quickly, shes trying to come out again" I growl at her as my eyes grew darker, I sat down before snorting as my eyes grew very dark. I got up and slowly followed her, she watched the dragon slowly though she noticed Nerzhei was more wary of her now, she licked her lips at the thought of food and blinked as she pulled up a fish. Her nose twitched at the smell of the food and she moved forward letting out a low growl at the dragon, this was her food not this dragons. She leapt up and grabbed the fish pulling it off the spear before sitting down with it and eating it, she continued to quietly eat it before getting up and blinking at her tilting her head and smirking.

Bloods eyes were still her feral dark red glint, when she stared at Nerzhei, she smirked and let out a yawn flashing her reddened teeth at her, "Now, I will take another fish or that Bunny whichever comes soonest. I do hate being trapped within Dr Bloods body, its like she doesn't like this side of her which is rather annoying. Its like she wants to get rid of me trying to stay her 'sociable' self, not letting me get out and take a nice chunk out of the nearest living thing. Which is much better then trying to be a 'normal' pony, 'normality' is just a concept after all and i'm far from normal." I giggle licking my lips and nibbling on the fish bone. 

"Now Dragon, I'm afraid we don't have much time together as this meal makes my counterpart stronger, however next time we meet. That little flufftail will be under my control and you will be too" I laugh evilly before Bloods eyes grew more intelligent though having a confused expression. "Why am I laughing? and why are you staring at me like that? aren't we going to go get something from your cave? Then go fishing?" i ask standing up and glancing down at the eaten fish and change of scenery, my fur stood on end and I looked around slightly scared. 

 "Er, when did we get here? Nerzhei, WHY DON'T I REMEMBER GETTING HERE" I scream spinning in circles. Not liking have a gap in my memory this large. I continue to run around in circles. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by BloodDrops

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Sapphire narrowed her eye, the crystal she had for an eye swirled with smoke. "You took that surprisingly well, but I will be fine with occasional checkups."

Astral smiled sly and looked away. "I agree to the conditions as well, and defeating him is something I wanted to do anyway to make up for releasing him accidentally."

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

Nectar smiled a bit. "Ah, thanks for telling me." She said with a bright smile, walking out of the room, past the pony, heading to the throne room.

[Sekel 693]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic held her breath and watched the door swing open. Nothing of note happened, unless being pushed back by a forceful wind counted as nothing. Karmic felt herself slam into the wall behind them, having sailed through the opened that had been created. "Can somepony shut that wind off!?"

@Blitz Boom, @Seamore Sandwich, @Moonlit

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Regardless, I can't shake the feeling you'll eat us," Twilight whispered with wide eyes. Last's words sailed over her head but she was broken out of her fearful trance by Luna. "Oh, my supplies!? Um... this way!" Twilight spoke in a shrill tone and coughed to see if that would get rid of it as she walked away from the Siren and out the room rather quickly.

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Seamore Sandwich @Dji Serenade nods, and rolls onto her back. She closes her eyes and waits for the Princess' to return. Princess Sparkle's reaction was common, almost typical of Ponies. She let out a sigh. 

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom 

"I'll stay behind. I can get Rosa to Amethyst quickly and I figured Spelt would like to see Amethyst again. You know, to uhh... let her know we got him out safely." 

"Same here," Sen added. "As much as I want to go with you and see more of Equestria, it'll probably be better if there were more of us to keep an eye on Filigree. Go on ahead, we'll be fine." 

With that, the two bade Belladonna and Omen goodbye for now and joined Rosa. Lin opened a gate back to Amethyst's shop in Canterlot, though only placed said gate outside. Better have some manners now and it's good to make a good impression on everyone who could be watching. Might have something to teach the crazy batpony that the longma aren't uncouth tribal savages, though it might not really matter anyway. If anything, she'd probably be spouting more insults the longer they have to lug her around. They ought to take small victories wherever they can get them but this one might be an exception. 

On the other side, Sen stepped up to the shop door and knocked three times. 

"Hello, Amethyst? It's Sen. You'll never guess who we've brought!"
===============================================================================================================================

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

"Lucid, I'm afraid you have to reconsider." The pegasus added, a pale and worried expression was plastered on her face reminding her of something similar. 

"Twilight once told me about the consequences of changing the past. One small change creates a ripple in time, and that can lead to bigger, unexpected things; it can snowball into a much larger change and well... you might regret it later. I'm sorry if you didn't want to hear this but Discord is right. Please think on it."

If anything, those words reminded her about Twilight's journey through the altered timelines. It was horrifying to think about how she wasn't herself because circumstances forced her to care less about her animal friends. The Fluttershy of now would never see herself become the Fluttershy that could have been but it was what it was. Twilight saw it and perhaps it was better if Fluttershy never did. 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

"You had a problem with your older siblings? I'm sorry to hear that. It's funny though, with my family my older sibling had a problem with me. I guess I understand how Battenberg must feel a little better now, maybe that's why she's so soft and shy now."

Victoria wasn't happy having just come to the realisation that she may well be the source of Battenberg's main troubles.

"I won't ever do it again, when... i-if I ever have more than one foal I'll do everything in my power to make them love each other and treat one another as equals. Siblings should help each other grow stronger, not give them knew weaknesses."

She had that same sad look in her eyes, the one that appeared every time she spoke of the potential future of being a mother. She still possessed a lot of self doubt on the issue it was clear, this was definitely the mare's biggest worry in her life.

"A-anyway we should be leaving, and you are strong Pop, even if you may have tried to investigate in an inappropriate situation you possess a lot of inner strength and you remind me of myself a little... not sure if that's a good thing, but I think you are better than me in many ways so it probably is a good thing."

"If it means anything, I probably would have run through the door had Victoria not been here."

Lemon piped up, seemingly determined to prove how much of a scaredy-cat she was.

As the group began to head out Ahadi waved them off with a quick rhyme,

"Thanks again for visiting me, shall we meet again in the future? We shall see."

It sounded a little ominous but she probably meant well.

"Uh... little help please?"

A little voice came from the ground, Victoria turned to see Heather still lying there, she was looking about at all the shelves filled with glass bottles containing all manner of strange potions that surrounded her. Not wanting to bring the entire collection down upon herself she had decided the only way she was going to get up was with assistance from her friends. Victoria rolled her eyes at her cousin but helped her to her feet, as they walked out of the shop to join their friends Heather stuck very close to Vicky, pressed against her as if the pair were glued together, she wasn't taking any risks in here.

"We almost forgot about little miss klutz."

Victoria giggled

"Let's get going then."

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine

"Discord sounds a lot like Zhu right now. Just less with balance.

He watches things badly. He looks at a sentient creature, and he sees the life just unfolding into all the ways it can go, like branches on a big, weird tree. No fun when you can't turn it off I guess? He have to not look on others lots of times, so it doesn't seem fun. I dunno, Discord talks sense here, everythings's already weird."

Anomaly iggledat the thought. The spirit of chaos himself, who were supposed to spiral the world into nonsense, were the most level-headed and lecturer-like among them. It was all kinds of weird, though she wasn't sure if she liked this kind. Seemed too normal and low impact to be fun.

"I wish I could go back and look, yellow mare. I mean, it'd probably be very, very, VERY bad, since I might end up remembering stuff again if I see my old self, but I'm still curious. What sorta meanie were I to get offed by the other draconequui? Was it just because I destroyed stuff, so they had less to play with? I mean, nopony likes to have their toys smashed with a hammer, but still jeez, overreaction much?

Not even sure what I looked like. Cultists just had some bones and a heart to work with, then used random parts. Perhaps I was bigger than Discord? He's pretty tall. Tall seems fun."

She looked up on Discord, then snapped her tail and got her neck more in line as her legs got longer and longer, right up until she hit the ceiling with a noticeable thunk.

"Nonono, tall is wrong, not good, not good."

She shrunk herself down again before she wobbly fell down and smashed something, Tall seemed like it needed another kind of body design than just long legs to feel right. Not like Discord though. It'd be cheating to just go after the same look.

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

 

@BloodDrops

"Calm yourself, you're fine. It appears you have a split personality, and the other side of you took over when you arrived. Likely from a lack of sustenance."

Nerzhei speared another fish, and reached it over towards Blood, more curious than she likely should be.

"From the words, I am going to say that your feral side have gotten a personality of its own. It kept talking about how it was trapped inside your body, and that feeding you made your consciousness stronger than itself. I don't know if this is a result of trauma, or a long term side effect of your condition, but it is... Interesting."

The dragoness were still hurting, and somewhat alarmed from a feral side that were more talkative than she had expected, so she wasn't going into full study mode. However, her curiosity still shone through quite well, and she couldn't help but feel some degree of interest over this whole situation. A potential biologically induced personality split? If it were safer to do so, she would have analyzed Blood under more controlled settings, but considering everything, it felt like nothing but a really bad idea.

"if you think about your feral side as an intelligent being, will all the horrid things that happens when you loose control make more sense then? Ifit less of a random effect you have on areas, and more deliberate, and cruel? I've never heard of something like this, but if that other side have been there for a long time, and directs your more destructive, psychopathic tendencies, it's something to keep in mind. And just another reason to keep you fed. A feral beast is one thing. An intelligent mind driven by hunger and a lust for destruction is something else. Harder to contain or control."

Which were why she didn't stop fishing right now, even if she were feeling the pain more directly in her arm right now. She needed to have something bagged and ready for another feeding situation.

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@Lloyd

"We are current, or former leaders of a large military. We need to think rational about things, or we are not suitable for our position. As much as the law is specific in the case of witchcraft, we all acknowledge that there is situations when the lesser of two evils needs to be taken into consideration. Seeing as you know a good deal about these Elements of Disharmony, and that it is unlikely that this will be the only one that will surface, it is more in the kingdom's favor to have you on our side, rather than locked up and questioned constantly."

"Spot on there Dew. And we can't exactly have you help and then exile you right after. It'd be hard to keep the mantle of a fair country where everypony can get a chance then.

Still, I want the new guy's opinion on this. Come on there General, you've been awfully quiet this entire time. What's roaming around your noggin?"

"He's new, he might just be listening in and learning."

"Could be, could be. But why guess when you can have facts? Besides, I want to see what he have gotten going so far on this. He's Dew's replacement, and you know that leaves a lot of expectations from all the branches. I need to know that that this colt ain't too small for the helmet he's wearing.

So come on there, General Wings, let's hear what you've got on all of this."

Tidal Wave was a strange general, like many others that had led the Coast Guard, but she wasn't stupid. She trusted that Dew had picked one who'd do well in his old position, yet how well? Would he have to grow into this, or could she trust Iron Wings on getting things done sooner, rather than later? Could he analyze well? Rationalize the law being seen at a different angle like they were now, with the witches? React well in difficult situations?

She had gotten some stories in the briefing just before, but it wasn't enough to judge his worth. This alone wouldn't be either, though it'd make it easier for her to place him on a scale of how much help he'd need to keep running.

Dew was her friend, so she'd do whatever she could to help his replacements, but she needed to know how much help he needed, and how much she could count on him. She wasn't in Canterlot that often, so it was scarce how much information she had on others, and Dew had said nothing about retiring before this. He might have had to Screecher, and planned on how to get his replacement prepped up nice with her of course. It was possible, and frankly likely. However, she didn't like working on guesses. She liked facts, and what her own eyes and ears could catch on to. One of the reasons why she felt like she had to test the new blood.

It'd be so much easier if he had picked one that already had stories about them, instead of some nopony, but *sigh* the old stallion were weird sometimes.

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@Lloyd

"N-No problem ma'am."

THe guard felt very relieved when he saw that the queen went on her own, instead of having him needing to escort her. True, there were still a five minute walk from the hospital to the palace, with a few minutes shaven off if she few fast enough, and sure, the castle were visible from here, but the fear had still been there. The less he had to spend around changelings these days the better. He were one of those who were going to need a good deal of time before they were ready to just accept the bugponies outright.

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@Dji

"Urgh... Let me... Try something..."

Zhu had been pushed back from the wind as well, but kept on his paws, and tried to cling on as he were slowly pushed further and further back. He had not expected something like this to be there, and he had to be careful in going against it. If he used his own magic the wrong way, he would cause an explosive amount of wind that would essentially force a tornado up from under the castle. The results of which he didn't know, but could not be good in any conceivable way.

Focusing though, he managed to get something done. Pushing against the oncoming wind with his own, and pushing that to the side, caused a sort of *gap* to be made, though as the wind slammed harder into the walls behind him then, it would cause it to pour back towards him again. It left a pocket of air to move in, but they had to keep a steady pace, or they'd be slammed back and had to start over. Hopefully Karmic would follow quickly as she'd be able to stand up again, or this could take a while, and he did not like dealing with wind magic in confined spaces. It was limited and dangerous.

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@Dji @Seamore Sandwich @Moonlit

"Uhm... D-Do you think the princess needs help?"

Cherish had been silent for a while as everything unfolded, not wanting to get herself wrapped up in what had ended up with a scolding. A pretty bad one too, considering the gloomy state of Last, though she weren't sure why it were. Sure the princess had risen her voice to her, but it wasn't like she had threatened the swordsmare.

There were something more there, but she didn't know what it might be. Perhaps it was something she could ask about later, though right now, Last seemed to be too down to answer anything.

So instead she turned to the Siren, who of the ones still in the room, seemed like the safe one to speak with. Sure there were Celestia, but she might be in a worse mood than she let on right now, so best to not poke her she'd guess.

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@EQ_Theta

She did not say it openly, but Belladonna was pleased that she wouldn't be getting further comapny into her old home. It was a tough place to approach as it were, and the more outsiders, the harder it would be. Omen could pass off as a simple pony with amnesia and a telekinetic link, but the others were tricky. Especially Sen and Lin, who were from beings she had not even read about, which said quite a bit, as she considered herself to be well informed. A flaw she had to to remedy when she next had time.

Rosa would have been ideal in this scenario really. She knew some of the order he were or had been part of, and their ability to blend into shadows until they wanted to be seen. Even in the day, he should be able to find himself places to wander unseen, and yet he had decided to be rather forthcoming and stay in sight. Necesity perhaps, yet she were certain there were more to it.

Regardless, his skills would have been welcome, as well as his wits. However, as this were gathering evidence against his estranged mother, she had to ensure that he had no knowledge of, or contact with, evidence or witnesses she might be able to gather. Things were complicated enough as it were, without bringing up potential evidence contamination.

But they'd see how it would go. For the time being, she should focus on getting in where she had left in the first place. She did not assume they would welcome her with open hooves.

(they will be gone for awhile)

Meanwhile, the lot of them began to wander through the gate provided by Lin, though Spelt were a little behind, mumbling to himself, after what Lin had said about Amethyst. Yet when the time came, he still wandered through, and prepared to be faced with a mare who were none too pleased with seeing him again after all this time.

On the other side, the sound of hooves moving all round inside could be heard for a while before after a half minute or so, soempony finally came to the door and opened it up with a half-annoyed look in her eyes. That were, until the owner of the shop got a look at one she hadn't seen in a while standing behind the group.

"Spelt! Dahrling!"

He had not expected the vice grip of a hug he received by the mare, which were clear on his face. The two of them were *friends*, but they had not exactly left on good terms the last time the four of them that had escaped the mines had met. She tended to be one to hold grudges, so he had honestly thought that she would clock him one.

"Good to... See you... Need air..."

She loosened her grip and went into a pearly laughter, seemingly ignoring the rest of them so far. Including the squirming bat pony, who did her best to look horrified, and glance all around her. Though this time, she wasn't opening her muzzle to scream. It had to be well timed, or her bluff would just be called.

"Well of course. Come in everypony, we have much to talk about."

She would more or less hurry the lot in, to a scene that looked quite a bit cleaner than before, though workers were still repairing the shop for her.

"Everypony, I will need some privacy with my companions please."

She clapped her hooves twice, so the lot of them left, and the second they were all gone, she went straight over to Filigree and got right into her face.

"Hello you foolish old hag."

"Tsk tsk, that attitude. No wonder no stallion ever stayed at your side."

Filigree almost got a hoof in her face, but Rosa stopped it, and faced the irate mare who had tried to beat his mother up.

"She's baiting you. Don't fall for it."

"SHe will, sooner or later. Never could keep her emotions in check. Espcially not around that little plaything you got hired at the mine. Really a shame I never found him. A little smack with a hammer, and he would have made quality gravel."

Spelt put himself between the two mares as Rosa moved some way from her, to make it harder for the two to get into a physical confrontation.

"Grrr, I'll try and keep myself contained until the guards arrive. I told one of my workers that when they saw you, they should call them right away. They are hopefully here within the next ten minutes to take her off my hooves.

In any case, thank you all for stopping her, and helping Spelt. I owe you one for this."

"I was sure you still hated me."

Amethyst waved a hoof at him, dismissively.

"We were both stupid Spelt. I stopped hating you for that a while ago, but I didn't think you'd respond to my letters."

"Awh, isn't that cu-Mmmph!"

For some reason, Spelt seemed to be the first one to think about not hitting Filigree, but simply muzzling her, as he tore a banner from the wall and used it to stop her teasing voice.

"Much better. Now as I said, I owe you greatly for this one and all. However, we are not out of the bushes yet. I am not satisfied until we can get this mare to rot in jail. I have... Sacrificed a favor, to acquire some help to that, but I want to know what happened. How did you find her? And what happened to the beast heart? Don't tell me it got away?"

She pointed towards some benches she had prepared, along with a table of refreshments. It was really meant for the workers, but she would just get more if it were. These folks had done Equestria a huge favor. What sort of being would know that, and not offer them something to quench their thirsts and hunger?

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@Victoria Sponge

"he, I'm sure you'll do good there Vicky. You know the pitfalls now, so you should be good on knowing how to get them treated right. It's different with ponies anyway. You lot have plenty of stuff to do, your parents encourage you being nice to everyone else, and you're small and squishy. Makes it easier for you to make friends than smack anyone around.

We're dragons. We got scale and claw from we hatch, and when we play, we fight. It's good hunting training , and it makes us tough, so the parents allow it. My big brothers just took that fighting and went a step on, 'cause they were bored and they could."

"That can't be good."

"Hah, you think so? We don't see the issue, but I dunno. Things are changing. The new Dragon Lord is getting chummy with the ponies. Not too many like that right now, and there's plenty who'll try to challenge her throne cause of it. If she keeps the seat though... None of us knows, but it's gonna end up meddling in thousands of years of tradition."

"I had heard that there were a little less tension, but I didn't think it lead to infighting."

"We dragons live for a long time, and the older we get, the meaner we tend to get too. Thankfully, that ain't my headache anymore, or any of yours at all. Things goes bad, it'll just keep up as it always have. Equestria will remain the same, and we'll get things sorted internally.

Anyway, getting bored of talking 'bout that old husk of an island. Let's focus on getting this here potion home to dad."

Toxen lead the way, leaving Pop to think over a few things she had to ask Benny about. Partly about parenting, if they decided to adopt at some point, but Toxen's words made her think of several others, that she should cover with him when they had some privacy later on.

"Well, that gave things to think about... Anyway, Victoria? I think that Toxen have a point in what she said to you, but you do need to realize that there will always be some competition among siblings. Not as bad as full on pranks or calling each other out, but there's always small ways they struggle for control, I think the best you, or anypony else can do, is to make sure that they still care for each other, and knows to have the others back.

Besides, I'm sure if you find yourself a good stallion, you'll end up with several foals. For some reason I can't imagine you with less than three."

In all honesty, she saw a dozen or so as being about right, but that was perhaps pushing it a little on poor Victoria. She hadn't even had a date yet, so thinking about a horde of foals might be a little too early for her.

Heather on the other hoof, seemed like a single foal kind of mare to her. There was just something that convinced her that either that was gonna be it, or she'd have one when the first was around ten, and she had control over all the chaos having a small one would be.

...Perhaps she should stop thinking about how many kids other beings would have, before she blurted something stupid or unintentionally insulting out again.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Iron Wing looked up, head straight. "We never banned Unicorn magic when it was being used for evil. It's beyond me to think that any form of magic that earth ponies should be banned instead." He said as he turned to look at Sapphire and Astral. "Have we never considered why it was banned specifically, instead of all of magic being banned all together?" His eyes shifted over to the generals as he turned his head to them. "I believe these two should help at least, to clear the air of the negative fallacy of this magic they use, no matter the reason for it's ban." He gestured a hoof to them as he spoke.

Sapphire nodded. "When I was alive, I never heard of either of the princesses banning it either, so it's quite odd that it's banned now."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

As unfortunate as it was, Fluttershy and Discord were both right, going back in time to bring his friend back would be a bad idea. Maybe it was time to accept that his friend is gone.

"I guess you too are right. I doubt I'll able to really forgive myself, but I reckon it's time to accept the fact that he isn't coming back."

There was no point in being sad, sure he wasn't happy about it, but the atmosphere has been tense already and it was time to keep things lighthearted.

"Really? Who keeps a heart and bones lying around? These cultists must have a whole lot of time on their hooves."

Lucid got to thinking.

"I just had an idea! What if I started my own cult dedicated to scented candles! And there could be this place full of scented candles and and there can be a pool table and all members must do this timeshare!"

Of course it would be more of a weird club than a cult, but calling it a cult sounds way better.

 

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

Seems like there was a reunion after all, possibly hinting at something much more then. Well, the siblings weren't there to judge, mostly just keeping their observations to themselves. Sen rummaged through his things and tucked a few real tight, especially the wrapped object of Amethyst's interest. He still hasn't a clue about where to actually put it despite any number of places he could go. Was this overthinking? He nearly forgot Amethyst's question until Lin caught him staring in his pack. 

"Oh, yeah, it's safe," Sen jolted with a quick answer. "Sorry, I was just thinking about where it can be kept away from anyone wanting to misuse it."

Lin picked up from where Sen couldn't answer, seeing as he was preoccupied with the matter entrusted to him. 

"Filigree was just about done encasing Spelt in crystal when we ran into some miners fleeing from... something or someone. Had to get her away from the mines and into a trap Sen and Rosa were setting up elsewhere. From there, we had to wear her down until our little Refraction could get in close to burn out the crystals surrounding Filigree. At first I thought the crystals were influencing her mind but it turns out, she really is crazy."

Lin wouldn't be surprised if Filigree would speak up any moment. She was just waiting to see how she'd react, maybe poke her a bit without physically, well.... poking, her.