open Casual stroll

[Rising Dusk 27,890]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk wasn't going to pretend to know anything about the more mechanical sides to the flies he just put away into the folder.  He was far more focused on identifying the magical parts that came with them.  That was more his language.  Granted most the time somepony was talking magic spells with him, he was mostly thinking about the ways to counter them.  Comes with the territory he guessed.  Hearing though that the mechanical side of the designs could lead to a rather... drastic flaw, he figured that he only had half the puzzle to these designs.  Of course though, this was quickly confirmed by the Boom brother when his little rant continued.  Presenting such things to Princess Celestia weren't something that he considered.  The higher ups in his office chain dealt more directly with her or the at least the Royal Guards.  He'd be more interested in presenting this kind of stuff to Princess Luna or Princess Twilight Sparkle, but that's neither here nor there.

"Seems fair."

The midnight blue stallion agreed.  It was his duty after all to ensure the safety of the citizens of Equestria, even in his own way, and a lot of these designs could go a long way in helping to do that.  Rising Dusk's ear flicked as the sound of a tipped over trash can rang out, his attention drawn to the filly trying to dig to the bottom as if looking for something.  Trash was taking out by the janitor every night, and so far he was the only one tossing things into it before popping open the book he'd been reading when they arrived.

He has lived here long enough to have been to most part of the city by now.  Finishing those missing pieces off due his duties as an investigator.  A case or two had drawn him to the east side of the city and he had a vague idea on where Molotov was referring to.  Not that he remembered there being a steel mill in the area, but that was more than easy to look up and find.

"As your little sister discovered.  I don't have much else to do at the moment.  I can come down to your workshop after my shift is finished for further discussion."

Rising Dusk finally agreed to putting their heads together to try and get these designs to on the right path, offering a smile.  Not really looking to dig deep into the comment about the removal of vegetation by fire, reserving judgement until he actually saw the place. 

[Sekel 694]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

"Oops," Karmic said casually, intentionally knocking over a vase that had the picture of Nightmare Moon snarling with her horn lit up in a menacing manner. "Guess you should have told me that sooner," she added, looking at Zhu. "If you intend to leave now, I'm not coming with you. I've had enough tight corridors to last a lifetime."

[Moonlit 593]

@Dji @Seamore Sandwich @Blitz Boom Serenade opens an eye and looks at Cherish, and tries not to growl '♪♪The Primordials are NOTHING like us Sirens♪♪" Serenade's eyes flash red, and her voice takes on an echo, like there are two voices talking. 

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

Cherish's eyes widened, as the sirens response starts to frighten her. The hostility that seemed to have gone over everything of Serenade - even her eyes - were alarming the spirit, and she didn't know what was going to happen. Except that it seemed like danger, and that shook her.

"I-I-I""

A crystal to the left side of Serenade started to vibrate as Cherish flickered in the air. A slowly rising look of horror went over the mare's face as she stared up at Serenade, and took a shaking step back.

"Didn't k-know. I was j-just..."

The flickering increased as she covered to the floor, like a dog who realized it had been caught in something bad. Around them, the vibrating crystals began to increase in numbers, joining in on a somewhat ominous symphony.

A loose one started to move across the floor towards Cherish, who were beginning to go from scared, to mortified as she glanced at Serenade.

Emotions were an issue in her state. Anger let to outbursts of telekinetic waves, moodiness slowly affected those around her, happiness made her float a hoof above ground, without her being able to go down, and so on. Every tangible emotion, in enough of a *dosage* would make her react in some form or another, and unfortunately, fear were one of the bad ones.

Flickering in an out of sight were an instinctual, defensive maneuver, whilst the crystals signaled that she were starting on a mode closely related to what others would call a poltergeist. The difference were that she could eventually calm herself down again, once she institutionally believed the thing that made her afraid were gone, or taken care off, yet the results were the same. Strong, uncontrolled clashing and trashing of items and spectral energy, in an attempt to keep herself safe.

The fright she had gotten were spiraling her down this path, and she couldn't stop it. Emotions were strong in her case, and feeling one thing that could suddenly start to get a life of it's own were rare, but situations like now, where she had already been shaken firmly by being in the presence of the princesses, caused the rational part of her brain to be unable to overshadow the terror that was creeping over her, and without external input from somepony who could direct her brain or her emotions to calmer seas, she might first be able to take over once it was too late, and somepony had been hurt.

Serenade might want to get everypony out of Cherish's reach soon, or try and calm her down somehow before things escalated further. Otherwise, things could end up going badly.

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@Dji

Zhu threw himself at the vase, putting his paws under it to prevent the vase from shattering on the floor, and barely managed to catch it. From the pained yelp that followed however, things were not as simple as preventing that though.

As it had tipped to the side fully, something had slid out of there and crawled up his sleeve, connecting him with the porcelain container. It was pouring out with greater intensity as the seconds passed by and he convulsed, looking like he were trying to fight something that wasn't there.

He starred into the ceiling suddenly, a dark mist starting to cover the otherwise golden eyes, and a voice beginning to slowly whisper through the room.

"The night shall last E-"

With a half-scream, half cry, Zhu managed to use what strength he could muster to roll, and cause the vase to stand upright again. The dark liquid that had been pouring into his robes violently went back into the vase, as the voice vanished and he was left to collapse to his stomach, clutching his head in his paws.

"Mother, don't... I didn't have a choice..."

His words were more whimpers as he squirmed, trying to fight the lingering nightmare that had tried to overtake him. A *gift* from Nightmare Moon, that had been contained in the vase, yet for a long time had started to collect dust along with the other horrendous items in here. Until a certain mare had tipped it over, and almost caused a chain reaction that could well have caused calamity for Equestria. It was not easy to contain a nightmare this evil, and if Zhu had been overtaken, it might not have taken long before he were not the only one shown the worst thing they could imagine.

With Luna back to help in the dreams of ponies all over the country, it may well have been easier to stop this thing this time around. Or it would have engulfed her, and with the elements currently gone, seeing the return of Nightmare Moon in one way or another, were a grim future to face.

Zhu were going to need a moment to regain himself. If what had been shown had not convinced Karmic that meddling with things in here were a bad idea though, and she poked to further stuff, he would not be able to stop her the next time. Whatever she might unleash would be on her head then.

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@Rising Dusk

Molotov grinned at Rising and took a step back from the desk.

"We got a deal then, Dusky. I'll make sure to power down the defense system and remove anything sensitive before you show up. Come on Blitz, let's get the trash cleaned up and then be on our way, eh? I remember a certain somepony was working on something she wanted to go back to."

Blitz lifted her face from the trash can, not as disappointing anymore as she had just been over finding nothing in here. To not even find a paperclip was pretty meh in her mind, and made her miss the container near the blacksmith back in ponyville, but getting her thoughts back to a project she had been working on back at the workshop before Molotov had told her they needed to go and see the sun a bit, made her almost forget that this had been a bust.

She'd gather up the paper in the trash can again - a few times she tried to throw one in, but missed around half of the time - and soon would stand next to it, grinning and bouncing in place with a slightly maniacal, highly impatient look in her eyes.

"Heh, played like a fiddle. See you later alligator."

The two of them would leave, and wouldn't be seen anywhere until Rising would eventually get to the workshop.

It would be impossible to miss. In a ten meter radius around the building, every sign of plant life had been scorched, and replaced with gravel instead. The building - which had already been pretty sturdy - had been reinforced with plate of thick steel, the windows were of a stronger kind that didn't shatter from small stuff like shrapnel being fired at it, and three chimney's had been installed in the building, all smoking to some degree.

Above the door, a big, wooden frame would declare this to be *Molotov Boom's genius workshop* with the words *And Blitz* painted in crude letters below, with an arrow pointing it to be right before their shared last name.

There would be things hanging down from the sides of the walls that seemed like pipes with scopes, hangers with nets, what appeared to be some kind of flamethrower, and who knew what else that just wasn't shown beneath the plates. Evidently, Molotov wanted this home to be safe, which were hardly surprising considering his last one were overrun. Yet it might make for a less than welcoming sight to any potential visitors, such as the one who would be joining them that day.

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@EQ_Theta

"Good, we all agree then. Though let's wait and hear what it is that she wants first. I am not kidnapping somepony for her."

"Kidnapping? Oh heavens be, what have you been trying to make these poor souls believe of me?"

Scarcity came without Amethyst from the other room, just in time to hear that apparently, a certain somepony believed her to want them to kidnap a living being.

"I haven't told them anything that isn't true."

"Truth is a malleable thing dear. You shouldn't trust it as much as you seem to do."

She knew that she were pushing his buttons, but Scarcity could simply not resist. Getting him slightly unbalanced by having his personal vendetta against their *fun* in the past were not beneficial as such, but really, if he did not wish for her to push his buttons, he should not present them so prominently. She were simply a mare after all, prone to temptation.

Wandering past him a little, she put herself in a position were the three gathered beings would be able to see her well, before she would begin to talk.

"That aside, I can assure you that I hold no interest in sending you to grab somepony for me. Rather, I have a certain object that I wish to have collected, which have proven problematic. I can assure you that retrieving it is perfectly legal, before you say something dear, but it is heavy, and placed in a fragile environment. Lifting it out normally have become nearly impossible without damaging it, and that is not an option.

I have been told that you have access to portals however. A marvelous little thing such as that would be most helpful in this endeavor, and would make me highly grateful. Which in turn comes around to help you as well."

"Stop dancing around the subject. What is it that you want?"

Scarcity used her horn to float a folded parchment out and unfolded it in front of the group, giving them a view of the item she wished to gain.

"It is called *The Three Sister's Symphony*. A marvelous statue depicting the three large sirens who terrorized Equestria long ago, made from sturdy granite by a group who found themselves to worship them as their masters. It is around three regular ponies tall, with quite a width to give space for the details of the three of them rising up towards this single note, carved above them. A rather breathtaking piece, for those who have an eye for that.

Some years past, the temple it were in were reclaimed by the ocean, off the northern coast, and while the other items in there have been retrieved and prepared by other hooves and hands through the time since it sank, the statue remains, and I have a deadline in a few weeks where it is needed."

"To what ends?"

Scarcity let out a short, pearly laughter at Rosa's suspicion. He really were adorable.

"It is an anniversary of sorts for the calamities that have befallen Equestria. What better time for me arrive with pieces depicting some of the beings that have been defeated by the kingdom, and donate them all to the museum in Canterlot?"

"...A publicity stunt? Is that all this is for?"

"Never underestimate good press dear. I already have several displays of everything from Discord to Tirek, Nightmare Moon and so forth prepared, yet the siren statue would complete the set, and take center stage above the rest.

The last time I had workers seeing if they could retrieve the statue, the temple were not flooded, yet if it have become that since, I would wait for the tide. It is not far out into the ocean, so the worst can be avoided with some patience. Also, you are not to touch the large, golden statue, or the box within the center of the room. It is a guarded relic that should not be moved, though as long as you stay clear of that, the golden statue should not become an issue. I trust that you can set aside the urge to be greedy, if you know it will be a painful experience?"

"Just give us a direction. Though i swear, if this is a trap, or I find out the statue is haunted or something akin to that-"

"Do not shame yourself by finishing that sentence. Haunted items in a museum would hardly be good press, and would in essence make the statue worthless. What possible interest could I have in having such a thing clung to my name?"

Rosa thought on it as Scarcity withdrew a parcel with the details they would need to locate the statue, yet he couldn't find a good answer. To smear somepony else's name was his best bet, but if she were truly donating this herself, then it would be a nightmare for her. She could be lying about wanting it to be donated though, but something told him that she were not. It would be fitting for her to try and gain herself more of a name to expand her network and business.

"I will make sure to have something ready that will incriminate Filigree before the weekend ends, though in case you fail, said information may end up simply disappearing. A dreadful shame, I'm sure.

Now then, is there anything else you would need from me before you find yourself on your way darlings? You have three days, so there is hardly a rush on this, but I have many to contact, so I will more than likely not be able to attend more meetings such as this for at least another day and a half. It is better for us all if we have the details sorted before that, no?"

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@EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight

The egg hit her splat in the face, and spread all over her orange head like she had been sprayed with mud.

Her tongue slithered out and took a lick of it, before the draconequus clacked her teeth together a little whilst tasting it.

"...Bleargh, bad taste."

She grimaced whilst the remnants of the egg got sucked into her head, where nopony with any degree of sanity should know what happened to it. At best, it was getting eaten, and the grimace going on would be from the taste. At worst, she had put it into her head, collected it and prepared to have it hatch into some kind of monster at an ill opportune time.

"You need better eggs. Bigger too. Like an Ostrich. And nuhuh, I haven't been banned in town yet. I only got in here like th- Huh?"

Anomaly's eyes went as big as saucers for a moment after Fluttershy spoke, and her focus trailed away from the

"No garden? What kind of monster doesn't like to have nature? Boo to the egging, I'm gonna make one around the castle, and she's gonna like it. We can do weird stuff in town too, but before the day is done, it's garden o'clock.

And the princess gonna like pest-eating tulips then. Plants with fangs are way cool."

The draconequus were all about nature, and hearing that somepony she had decided to mess with didn't even have a garden was wrong to her. It might end up being something profoundly weird she would grow around the magical castle, granted, but it would still be something, and that was seriously needed. What was the point in making vines grow, if there wasn't any other sort of vegetation nearby to make it clash, or seem like the garden had decided to revolt? Details people!

Edited April 26, 2018 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom

"Yea, gardens are nice, but we should also get that long some guards! Seriously, how crazy would it be if she published some weird friendship journal book, ponies start crowding the castle and scream, and there were no guards to make them leave? How crazy would that be?"

That's one thing that confused Lucid. What kind of princess doesn't have guards?

"We should get her a garden, guards, and ask her if she can make me exempt from all laws. That would be fun!"

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight

Fluttershy mouth can sometimes get carried away. While she does feel that Twilight could use a garden on some days, it she may have ended up giving away too much information. Guilt on her part? Maybe. Maybe not; but what happens now would be on her. Twilight can occasionally have a very scathing talk about how angry or disappointed she is when something goes horribly wrong and the pegasus knows it. 

"I'll tag along, if that's alright with you," Fluttershy meekly said. "Make sure you don't get anyone into... trouble."

Angel didn't take kindly to that, sensing just how bad that idea is, but then he cares a little too much about Fluttershy to leave her be. Disappointed as he may be, he begrudging climb up to the pegasus's back and tags along as well. 

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@Blitz Boom

"Okay, some questions first before we're off. What is the name of this northern coast area? Where is it? How do we know when, or if we see the cave? What can we expect in the cave on the way to the statue? Terribly sorry if we have many more things to ask. We aren't familiar with many locations around Equestria and my ability to open gates relies on having been to a location and seeing it once. This is going to make the trip longer if it is a long way away from here." 

Time is precious, a thing that would hamper their progress while working with Scarcity. The siblings don't know a thing about how she would react to  the questions or the caveats to Lin's abilities. It would be terribly shameful of them to put out an air of confidence earlier when choosing to accept working with Scarcity on this but now, they might take that back. Scarcity might see Lin making an excuse to not go but despite all of this, she knows herself and the limits of her powers. Who the Scarcity is without the niceties would probably scare both Sen and Lin stiff. 

They know what they're supposed to do but then, Equestria's challenges would very much be different from those faced back home. Terrain, locales, personalities, all unknowns, and each one could spell the end for them.

[Rising Dusk 27,890]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk nodded his head in reply to the preparations that the other stallion was planning on doing for his arrival.  Watching silently as the little filly went about cleaning up after herself from the tipped over trash can.  A smirk touching the corner of his lips as she attempted to throw the trash into the can, not all that dissimilar to what he was doing earlier to fight his bordem.   

"Fare the well Boom siblings.  And thank you for this delivery."

These were his parting words to the pair before they left the Office of Magical Investigations.  His attention brought back to the folded files on his desk in the shape of a starburst and the remaining files that were tucked away in the plastic folder.  The curved horn on his head ignited with orange and the folded starburst as pulled into the plastic folder a after being enveloped with magic.  The folder was then pulled off his desk to be placed into his bag that had been placed behind his desk for later.

The rest of Rising Dusk's day was pretty uneventful, especially compared to the meeting he had with the Boom siblings.  Most of it was spent reading that Daring Do book from earlier and filing some paperwork.  When his shift was over, he attended the end of the day meeting to give turn over to the night shift rolling in.  It wasn't a very big crew, just enough to tend to the desk in case of emergencies.  Soon he was lifting his bag to drape over his back, each stamped with his cutie mark, and heading out the door.  Stopping by the street vendor that always set up shop just outside the agency and got himself a quick hayburger before heading out toward the east side of the city.

It was a pretty fair distance away from where Rising Dusk worked and live, but he didn't mind the walk.  In fact, he loved the city and walking around it was always a new experience.  Seeing all the other ponies that inhabited one of the largest cities in Equestria.  Some time later, the midnight blue stallion made it to the far less inhabited east side of the city.  And oh boy was it an interesting sight to behold.  The workshop was indeed not all that hard to find, really anypony could just follow the smell those three smoke stacks were pumping out.  Granted, Rising Dusk wasn't all that sure he wanted to call it a workshop.  The thing was almost more a fortress that just happened to have a workshop added on to it!  A quick extra sniff at the air gave him the assurance that everything he was seeing was mechanical and not magical in nature.  Stepping up to the front door, his ears perked and his muscles tensed in case he needed to flee.  Bringing up his hoof, he knocked on the large door.

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Rising Dusk

A whirling sound above Rising would begin as he touched the door, and a part of the plating began to open. From the look of it, there was something moving in the darkness beneath. Nothing magical, but rather mechanical, like with all the other defenses.

The thing beneath let out a low whirring, clacking sound, whilst the tip of a thin, bony appendage or limb in matted steel reached through before it suddenly jerked back, and the plating slammed shut.

A moment after, the sound of several clicks in the heavy door would become audible, and it was swung inwards, revealing Molotov Boom, though his first response to seeing the officer weren't to greet him, but rather to go to his side and look upward with a narrow eye. It had clearly not been getting a bath since last they met either, since the smell of coal dust and metal splinters had mixed in with the other aromas from before

"She was starting to get out again, wasn't she? She's starting to rebel against her protocol faster than I anticipated..."

He kept starring for a while, seemingly waiting to see if it would open up again, before finally turning to Rising and showing a more relieved smile.

"Hey there Dusky, glad you could drag yourself out here. Come on in."

He'd get out of the way so that the officer could enter what were clearly not the steel mill it had once been.

Molotov had pretty much gutted the place entirely when he had gotten possession of it - it still amazed him how cheap this place had been - and kept the metal for various projects, or remodeling of things such as the improved chimneys. Two of which had  the start over an area covered in soot and metal shavings, with an array of pipes and some sort of patterned plate a little above them. The last chimney were further to the side, in an area that were currently closed off from the rest with a reinforced steel door. Likely the living quarters of the two Boom siblings, though it only made for about a fifth of the building, judging by the walls sectioning the area off.

The entire place would smell of soot, coal, metal, oil, and what else you could imagine such a pair to work with, and be equipped to any task. One wall was just an array of tools methodically lined up on marked spots and kept clean when not in use. Around a third would be common tools, with another third being more obscure, but still known ones. The rest were home made by his family throughout the year, and carried functions that were likely best to know in advance before trying to commandeer any of them.

A large workbench stood beneath, lined with parts, scraps, dust of likely flammable origins, and several currently unfinished smaller projects. Spheres, weaponry, what seemed like a bear trap with purple spheres rather than teeth, a few watches, an unfinished, unpolished version of a right wing, designed in the shape of a bat pony's wing, and so on. Blueprints were stashed neatly in tubes below the bench, to keep them away from prying eyes and accidental damages.

A small, mechanical seal were likely the most noticeable, as it were seemingly getting some finishing touches before getting the second half of the body covered in the semi-shiny exterior that covered the rest. A small array of diode lights lit up as it took notice of the new arrival, but turned off again shortly after.

In the corner was a smaller workbench, where the focus were heavily on the more explosive side of things. Half-finished small gadgets were here and there, but mostly it had what seemed like rockets, pipe bombs, grenades, firecrackers, and so on. Everything from the dangerous to the benign, if it could explode, it would have an origin there. Blitz were currently standing at the bench, working on a small music box with parts for it spread all around the immediate area. From the looks of things, she were focused on that, as she didn't even take notice that they had gotten company yet.

The corner opposite her had crates stacked up and down on shelves, marked with a variety of words that could simply be summarized as parts, and currently unfinished projects. Finished projects were lining another wall, either covered in cases of thick glass or plastic of some kind, or just standing and awaiting to be set in one. There was also one metal box with several locks on it, which only carried a sign saying *In case of emergency*, but otherwise did not show what it might be.

Among the finished projects, there seemed to be a mechanical bird in a silver-plated cage, an intricate pipe organ in foal size, something that looked like an ornate sphere in brass bronze and wood locked tightly in the size of a pony's head, but carrying a sign saying *Portable massage unit*, and a set of armor with a weird, dark exterior that didn't seem like metal or glass, thin wires connecting all the parts together, and three small horns with the tips curving inwards toward a center gap.

There were a few other things, but it seemed like his finished projects were less than a half dozen at this point, or some of them had been sent away or taken. The later seemed unlikely since the building seemed so well guarded, but it might not have been that way always, so only Molotov would know for sure.

A lot of other things hung from wires in the ceiling too, just out of reach unless you used magic or a pulley system array that were in the central area of the building, but they seemed mostly like variations on the things already made, or currently worked on. Failed or in progress attempts more than likely.

From one of the hanging armor pieces, the mechanical spider from before skittered down towards Molotov, soon as he could enter and close the door behind Rising. The door started to whir again as it locked, awaiting somepony to pull the correct levers and push the right buttons on the door to get it open once more, and next to it, another array of smaller buttons, levers and dials, would indicate the control system for the security measures that were currently shut off.

Once the little construct got within sight of Molotov, he raised a hoof to signal her to stop though.

"Go check on Felecia, and make sure you find out what she were thinking before. We can't have her intimidate the guests."

The spider went into a series of clacks, whirs, and so on, before Molotov stopped her again.

"I'm not saying this is your fault, I'm saying that I want you to keep her in line. You know how she reacts when I give her orders."

The spider went silent, before slowly skittering away up wards again, and using the wires too wander towards a dark place above them, where the lights hanging around the place didn't hit.

When she got out of sight, Molotov shook his head and let out a sigh.

"Well, guess it could have been worse. We could've had a clown over."

He chuckled as a memory got into his head about the last time he had encountered one of those. It was really not a laughing matter to most, but it was one of those things that were just funny to look back at for him. The damaged hadn't been that bad after all. he wouldn't have found it funny if something had been permanent. Not like he was some kind of lunatic.

"Anyway, welcome to the fort officer. Wanna check for contraband, or do you think I'm trustworthy?"

Molotov laughed at his own little joke and took a deep breath of the surprisingly clean air. There had to be some kind of filtration system going around somewhere, but honestly, with all the other weird things here, a filter and a way to direct air were frankly low tech. You could find that in most saw mills these days too.

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@EQ_Theta

Whilst Lin had expected Scarcity to be somewhat annoyed or angry about the potential delay, her response was far more joyful than that, as the mare let out a small laughter again and poked to the things she had handed over just before.

"An honest opinion of your own limitations. How delightfully refreshing.

There is a map with the location in there, and it is not as far as you may think. A day's travel with some degree of speed, two at worst, and if you can then return here, I can arrange for the object to me moved myself in time for the big opening then, though if you do have some knowledge of Canterlot, that would be a far better drop off. I know many ponies and assorted beings there, so I can likely arrange for an unobstructed area to be kept in preparation, if you have been there of course.

Do keep in mind though, that I mentioned the statue was not in a cave, but in a temple in the ocean. It is not far off the coast from a ruined fishing village called Salty Breeze, that was wrecked in a bad storm a few years ago, though do keep the tide in mind if need be.

Truly darlings, you need only worry about three things here. To awaken the statue by touching the other object that it guards, to wander into the ocean at an ill opportune time and fight the tide, or that you get lost within the misty swamps thirty kilometers before you reach the ocean. I would advise you to stay very close to one another there, and not trust your ears.

Everything else, including how the statue looks, are in the papers provided. Anything else I might be able to answer you, hm?"

Scarcity were used to some degree of overconfidence in those she dealt with at times. It made her accustomed to prepare for failure, and potential repercussions, in case the overconfident one were one of her workers, instead of a simple hired help. That Lin were aware of her own shortcomings were a positive spin on things in her mind, and though she had certain sides to her businesses where she did not take questions, she would gladly answer as much she could around this, as long as it pertained to the situation. The more prepared the strange creatures and Rosa were, the better for her after all.

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@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Peh, laws are for ponies. Draconequui are free and fun.

Now castle, there is no guards, or garden, huh? Mehehe... Muahahahaha!!! Perfect. This is gonna be fun."

The maniacal laughter was perhaps not the best thing to use if she wanted to make the others - Fluttershy especially - feel more secure, but Anomaly was a creature of poor impulse control, and it had felt right in so many ways with what she had in mind.

"Hah, psych stupid hairless monkey thing! I'm not gonna do anything bad. That'll show you."

So to mess with me, you're going to behave?

Anomaly nodded to thin air.

...Why am I getting the urge to hide in a basement somewhere until you're done?

"No hiding for you, author person. You're gonna come with us and see the pretty garden. Come on uhm... Yellow pony and stick guy. Let's get going."

In the heat of the moment, Anomaly forgot the names of Fluttershy and Lucid, before she bounced towards the door. The animals and Fluttershy's house would likely appreciate the draconequus being gone, but what would happen then at Twilight's castle? Only one way to find out, though hopefully for everypony involved, it would be somewhat sensible. Who knew? Perhaps Twilight's castle were more tolerant to outside influence than most would assume.

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@Blitz Boom 

@Moonlit 

 

Celestia used her magic to stop the moving objects,  though a few may have slipped her grasp.  “Calm down little one,  nopony’s going to hurt you,” she said in a calm and gentle voice.  Her face had a peaceful look to it, like a mother would have when talking to her own foal.  

 

@Dji 

 

“We’ll need feunugreek, cedar sap, wild garlic, and a Pegasus feather, to start.  That and of course water, obviously.” She had added in the bit about water because she hadn’t mentioned it, but it was the base ingredient for many potions anyway, so it didn’t seem that important.  “We must make haste.  If we have indeed been brought through time, it must be of great importance.  If we do not act quickly, I fear we will not be prepared when the moment comes for which we were brought here.”

 

@Blitz Boom 

 

“What a coincidence!  We were just talking about you,” Charlie said, genuinely surprised at her presence.  Miles seemed unfazed by the appearance of this demonic looking unicorn.  His headache had just passed, mostly, and he wasn’t about to start doing any hard thinking.  He just looked in her general direction, not staring, but his eyes were neither focused on her nor darting from one thing to the next.  “If I were judged solely on my appearance, I doubt I would even be here, receiving treatment.  I’m sure she means us no harm.”  In the condition he was in, one might question his judgment, but what he said was true.  He was a black changeling after all, and would stand out even amongst others of his kind since Chrysalis was overthrown. 

 

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

Heather smiled at the couple, they very much reminded her of her relationship with Evergreen. She was quickly warming up to this dragon because of his actions and any senses of fear within her were quickly diminishing.

"I honestly don't mind the burping, it's a natural process, nothing to be ashamed of, we all do it."

Heather was like an encyclopedia of positive responses, she'd somehow managed to fit three into one sentence in order to comfort the embarrassed dragon.

"And I understand the temptation of cake, while I am one of the few ponies in my family who can't bake for my life, I'm always surrounded by ponies who can make delicious cakes and I can't help but gobble them down sometimes."

Lemon was a little less shaken now that she had seen how Heather's feelings towards the dragon had quickly shifted. This Benny fellow didn't seem like one to harm a pony like her and seemed to be quite the big softy from what she had just seen.

"I-I suppose it's probably best I stay out here, but Benny seems like an ok character so I don't feel the need to flee just yet."

She chuckled nervously but stood up now and walked to Victoria's side, though she didn't move very far away from her daughter making sure to keep a relatively close distance between their sides.

"I'll be ok..."

Victoria rolled her eyes and shook her head but it was a friendly reaction as a little smile was visible on her face, she thought her mother was being silly but she knew that's just how she was and if she felt she needed protection from her youngest daughter then that is what she would receive.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Laws are for ponies, but what about half-ponies? You know how you sense when something about trouble different? After I ate the stick I felt as if what my species was has changed, as if I've become something more powerful, not bound to reality. I don't know if I'm even a half a pony, maybe not one at all."

Suddenly, it hit Lucid. He knew eating the stick messed with his DNA... but he didn't expect this. Although his look hasn't changed, his DNA and genes has.

If he had the stick, some stupid note would appear, but after eating it and making it part of him, the note thing was replaced with a sense.

"I can feel it, I've become a draconequus... my life, my genetic past... I thought this would be good... but this is... AMAZING! Well, it'd be better I didn't have to pay those bits, to level up, and keep paying to eventually become beyond multiverse level, but we'll cross that road when we come to it. Even though I won't be finding many bits, considering the circumstances."

It didn't really bother him. Although his genetics have changed, he was still glad to have the same looks and his identity. Despite everything, Lucid was still Lucid and that's all that mattered to him. Too bad he has an ego the size of Equestria.

"So the garden, can we put statues of me? It'd be cruel to not leave a statue of someone as handsome as I am!"

Lucid followed Anomaly out the door.

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich Serenade blinks, her eyes still red before shaking her head and they revert to their normal color. She slumps to the floor, then looks up at Cherish. "♪I'm sorry, but the mention of Changlings....tends to set me off....I apologize♪"

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom 

"Hmm.... I guess not. The bigger problem I see right now is just- Wait a minute, did you say swamp? Not trusting our ears? What did you mean by that?"

Deceptive sounds, probably something that could influence thoughts and higher mental functions could be impaired by it. A problem that left a very sour impression the siblings knowing just how well that went the last time. Either they built enough resistance to counter it or there is something more than that, especially true for Sen. Both know well that they are incredibly susceptible to being influenced, mind control or otherwise. Then again, there's no saying just exactly what Scarcity meant from what she just mentioned. Hopefully they wouldn't need to worry about that unsavory part of themselves, otherwise they'd become more of a threat than they needed to be. Rosa could probably best them at that moment but it will waste time. Ultimately, it is still too soon to say anything more; they'd simply hear what Scarcity has to say, maybe have one more sandwich, and prepare to head off on their next journey. 

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

@Blitz Boom @Lucid_Nightlight

Both pegasus and bunny waited until the unexpected visitors left her home, leaving only her animal friends behind. If she wasn't around, there was always her trusty bear friend Harry to look after everyone else. There was little else to say other than to keep an eye on everyone else while Fluttershy was away but he was trustworthy. From there on, the pegasus and bunny followed Anomaly and Lucid from a distance. 

[Sekel 694]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic couldn’t help herself. She laughed at Zhu’s reaction. It echoed around the chamber and made some of the artifact rattle. “Because this little trek put me through hell,” Karmic told him slyly and trotted up to an artifact that was made entirely of metal. It looked like a toolbox, complete with partially closed lock. Whoever put this in here wasn’t exactly banking on a lock as well as the magical traps the passage to this room was under. Karmic opened the lock, and opened the lid out of curiosity. Her eyes turned a milky white and she spotted two possibilities. Either a vial of changeling goo was within that would consume her, or maybe something akin to a changeling egg that was close to hatching. With her experience? Her bits were on the changeling goo.

@Blitz Boom, @Seamore Sandwich, @Moonlit

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

”Right away, Princess,” Twilight nodded when she heard Luna’s urgency and teleported both of them the rest of the way to her store room. Three of the four walls were filled with shelves of various ingredients from Akloan flower seeds to Wolfsbane extract. A portion of the shelves on the south wall was cut out to create a doorway directly into the room. The east and west walls had the rest of the shelving but the north wall held a long bench upon which sat various implements and equipment for potion making along with a working sink. A purple glow suffused the room with light as Twilight grabbed the ingredients Luna had mentioned. “I’m gonna need quantities, Princess, and any other ingredients we’ll need.”

[Rising Dusk 27,890]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk isn't afraid to admit all the whirs, clicks and clanks made him a little nervous, but so far nothing was swing out at him was a good sign.  That is of course until a thin bony appendage started reaching out for him.  Taking a half step back his horn ignited in orange magic as the stallion prepared to stand his ground.  Running would be the smartest choice, but he couldn't risk whatever this thing was from getting into the city.  Of course though, his moment didn't need to happen as the gate shut on the creature and finally Molotov came out to greet him.  His eyes darted between Molotov and where the arm of some mechanical monster just was.  After a moment he extinguished the glow of his horn.  Oh great, they have a monster in the basement. 

"Good evening Molotov Boom."

He tried to keep his tone calm, but he was sure a bit of caution seeped out.  With one last breath to calm the sudden rush from getting into a defensive stance, he walked into the now open door.

Rising Dusk might as well have walked right into the pages of a steam punk novel.  He knew a spell like that did exist, having had to pull a unicorn out of one who accidentally trapped herself in doing so, but that was neither here nor there .  His senses were assaulted by all the mechanical sounds, the strong smells and all the lights that came with a workshop in almost constant production.  All the finished and unfinished projects strung around the place as if one project sparked the idea of another and the pony making it was distracted to try the new thing.

Deciding to walk around a little bit to see what else the workshop had to offer, noticing little Blitz sitting at a bench and working on, something.  If he was a betting pony, he felt pretty confident it was something that could or would explode at some point.  Idly he listened to the conversation Molotov was having with his mechanical spider, not that he understood anything it was saying.  It was rather intriguing though that such a device could even have a conversation at all.  And even have an attitude at that.  He couldn't sense any magic coming from the thing, but he was a distance away and not focusing.  Stopping his exploring long enough to watch the spider skitter off to perform it's requested task.

"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you have the proper permits for all this.  I'll admit this, Felecia, in the basement has me... curious though."

He admitted, considering what just transpired when he knocked on the door.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Rising Dusk

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Rising Dusk

"This place doesn't have a basement. Tried to get the permits for it, but the folks in charge of this town was real sticks in the mud about that. Felicia roams around in the ceiling, along with Carmen, whenever the little one's not with me.

Carmen's pretty harmless unless she spots a clown, but Felicia... Well, I made a guard clank, and she's certainly fitting that role, but it's probably good that she can't leave the building."

He sent a look upwards, but didn't see anything moving in the shadows up there currently.

 "Carmen is my greatest invention to date you know. An actual, functional Artificial Intelligence, years before the others thought I'd get it done. Pony intelligence are far too complicated though. No, I had to go for something of a smaller mind, that could move around. A spider was the first thing that worked.

Had to invent a simplistic language that she'd be able to use to communicate, but it works most of the time. You have no idea how hard it is to make a voice box to something like that. I'm on my sixtieth attempt, and it still sounds like somepony gurgling into a ceiling fan."

Molotov grimaced about that memory, and a few others from back when the sound were far more disturbing. Frankly good that Rising wasn't around to hear that, or he'd cuff Molotov on behalf of being nuts, and smack him into an asylum.

"I tried to replicate the same thing for Felicia, so that she could be a help around here too, but something's wrong with her. She's resentful and unwilling to do any of the tests I try and run her through, unless Carmen somehow gets her to do it. I don't know why she listens to Carmen, but it's the best middle link I have to controlling her, beyond making her wires too short to get anywhere. Guess you can't always guarantee that your kids won't hate you.

Anyway, you don't need to be afraid of her. Felicia seems to like scaring the daylight out of whoever comes knocking, but she's shy when somepony's actually in here, and even if she did get to you, I made sure that she doesn't have fangs or anything like that like Carmen does. Detainment only, otherwise I'd have all the guards and such in town on my neck all of a sudden. Too much work for that.

Heh, guess there's always the chance you'd soil yourself though. Getting wrapped to the neck by a large, mechanical spider should trigger some fear responses."

He had been through it, so he could say that it was unnerving even when you knew what you were dealing with. If you had no idea? Oh boy, that was gonna test you. But then again, that was kinda the point. He wanted his home guarded, even when he wasn't there, so there had to be some kind of watch on his poor workshop.

Molotov didn't think on how weird this must sound for Rising though. An AI - even as basic as Carmen's - was far as he knew, unheard of. It were a breakthrough that would set some questions about how smart it were to give robots sentience in the first place, what this could mean for usual life forms, etc. Molotov didn't think on it like that though. Like every other thing he created, he just wanted to see if he could, and then aim for progress. Besides, it wasn't like he could go much further. Even with the best of will, the things it would require to make an an AI with the intelligence level of a pony for example, would take the better part of twenty years. And that is if everything went smoothly. Realistically, he was guessing more like thirty or forty. Still possible within his lifetime, but not something he'd get far with anytime soon.

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

 

@Dji

If Zhu had been able to say something, he would've told her to close the lid immediately, instead of toying around with what were within.

Thankfully for Karmic, the object in there wasn't something that lept out at her throat right off the bat. However, from the look of the shaking vial in there, it was pure luck that she hadn't been. If she had shaken it just a little bit more, the thing might well have tipped over and let out the vileness within, though it were actively trying to move in there anyway it seemed. It was somewhat sentient and wanted a host, and finally seeing one now made it wake up from it's dormant state. If she didn't close the lid soon, it would get out, and it would go straight for her eyes, so it could embed itself in her bloodstream, and start the parasitic link that were going to eventually turn her into a changeling queen. Whatever or not the goo or Karmic would be in control then, would depend on the strength of mind of the mare, though the odds were not in her favor.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"A dreadful place that swamp. Inhabited by creatures that attempts to lure you off the road with whispers and light. From personal experience, I can tell you that the things they whisper are more effective than most might think, and is not a place for those faint of heart. You can wander around it if you do not feel comfortable being there, but it will add another half day to your travel. A delay that will become noticeable, in case you are not used to traveling with any degree of speed.

Now, I hate to repeat myself, but I do need to know if you have had time within Canterlot, so I can arrange for a pick up zone there, rather than here. It will save me some time that may be crucial in preparing for the event."

Scarcity was not lying when she said that she hated to repeat herself. Explaining in details were one thing, but she considered having to say things over, as a sign that the ones she were speaking with wasn't as efficient as she would have liked. Or in case of her normal customers, an arrogant sky-sniffer with too little respect for ponies beneath their imagined standing. Loathsome clientele those nobles, truly, but alas, they were the most likely to come to her store, so she would need to tolerate them. To a degree at least.

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich @Moonlit

Stopping the objects from moving around them were a smart move by the princess. It would present less chaos to further scramble Cherish's mind, and with only a few crystals now and again sliding across the floor, along with the princesses calming voice and Serenade's demeanor calming down, Cherish eventually began to regain stability.

The flickering ended, objects slowed down and stopped completely shortly after, and the ghost began to get her wits back again. At which point she blushed up like a lighthouse and looked at both Serenade and Celestia, squirming in place a little.

"I-I'm sorry Princess Celestia. It usually doesn't happen like this, but with everything going on...I s-swear, I'm not a poltergeist. I don't do this normally. J-Just a lot of worry and stress, then the anger... I didn't mean to i-imply that sirens were like changelings. S-Sorry Serenade."

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich

Vivid glanced at Xeno whilst he talked. She would never get used to a sight like this.

Not a pony getting hurt. She were painfully familiar with that unfortunately. No, rather it was seeing a changeling being treated as fairly as a pony. Back in her day, something like that was unthinkable, and now? According to what Cadence and Shining said, they were working on a peace treaty, and the laws about changelings had been eased to make it possible for the parasitic race to live among ponies more openly. Times were indeed strange, or perhaps she were just stuck in the past. In fairness, she had been trapped in crystal for the better part of two millennia. It took time to get used to a different time and the current norms. Frankly folks should just be happy that she were not one of the *Unicorns are the best pony race* thinkers.

"I am bound to not cause anypony harm, and my contract is impeccable.

Now then, Charlie, I am ready to begin your transfer into your body. I have the accursed thing and your vessel ready. I only need you now."

The *accursed thing* she referred to, was the cube of harmonic magic that she had been left by that weird pony she ran into at the caste a few days prior. She had hoped that he, or somepony else would be at hoof to handle dealing with that magic as things were, but alas, she hadn't been able to locate him for days, and that left the burden on her to deal with something that were ultimately harmful to her. One wrong move, and she were going to wish she were back in the crystal casing again.

"Oooh, so that's why you're looking for him. Okay, come back and say hi when you get a body, okay Charlie? I wanna see what you'll end up as. Another flame ear pony perhaps?"

"It will be up to Charlie when the time comes."

The injured zegasus were peculiar to Vivid. The usual response to heer presence, were more akin to the doctor who were wandering around. Vary glares, and a want for the demon mare to leave the premise right away. Ziggy however, appeared to mostly hold focus on Charlie and his well being, where Xeno then had a more *She don't judge, I don't judge* attitude towards things. A strange pairing.

"Do you have anything that keeps you here, Charlie, or can I fetch you from the mimicking creature that holds you?"

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

 

@Victoria Sponge

"Benny is a sweet guy with an even sweeter tooth, though he'll try almost anything edible these days. He used to live off crystals, but getting to Equestria, tasting things... Let's just say that it takes a while to get him through a street if he sees a vendor. Especially ones with caramelized apples. He can't get enough of those things."

Pop giggled a little to herself, as several images of Benny munching on something came into mind. He did well in working it off, and he didn't usually go for too big amounts of food, but it was adorable to her when she saw him go at things sometimes. Especially as she said, caramelized apples, though you could caramelize anything and he'd like it. She tried it with a coconut before just to see if he'd do it, and he made a valid attempt of munching though it. He thought it were a giant nut for a while before he got through the layers, hehe. The look on his face had been priceless, though she likely seemed funny too when he just cracked it open with his tail and munched the insides down too.

Speaking of him, Benny popped out again soon after that, with a bunch of cups, a can of water, and two of the three cakes with him, with either of them barely being touched. Blueberry one had a good slice missing though, for previously obvious reasons.

He'd put the tray of stuff down on the ground, then have a seat and scratch behind his ear.

"Dad's finally asleep. He's been dragged to bed, and mom says that she'll let us know when we can come around and have a talk for real. If the potion works, hopefully it won't be too many days. Toxen says she'll fix the floor, but that the house was off limits for a while, so everything's okay it seems. Things good out here?"

"Everything's great. We're just talking about how much you like pony food."

Benny grinned at them as he poured some water, and Pop cut some slices into the cakes.

"Food is delicious. Crystals are nice too, and I sorta need them, but treats are the best. Like these cakes. Battenberg and Victoria did a really good job with them.

Anyway, how did your trip go for getting the potion? I bet it's a good story."

The dragon looked at Victoria as he asked this, thinking that he didn't want to be rude and just only talk to Pop. Their new friend needed to feel like he cared, so he'd ask her how it had gone, and then see what would happen. Hopefully he wouldn't have thought about this wrongly, and she would be better off just sitting and thinking for a time, but they'd see how the mare reacted.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Statues are easy, and you're not a real draconequus. You're all symmetrical and stuff. Real draconequui are like Discord, or me."

Anomaly grinned at the confused pony. perhaps he had mutated sorta on a base level, but there were more to being a draconequus than slightly different DNA and some chaos powers. Including - but not limited to - looking like a mess of parts sown together by somepony who didn't know what else to do with them.

"Why'd you want statues of you though? She'd just remove those. Funnier thing is making statues of her, then mess up some details. Like making her cutirmark into a bowl of soup, or make her eyes wonky or something. I saw a pony with that in town yesterday. Looked pretty."

Unusual things that made somepony stand out, attracted Anomaly like a moth to a light bulb. Likely had something to do with her shtick of being a mutate-loving creature, since she found normality to be incredibly boring, and not giving enough things that separated them to really differentiate them. Draconequui was easy, but regular ponies? Why, they almost looked the same in a way, and what was the fun in that? Now give a few of them some antennas, fangs, springs for hooves, etc. and things started to look far better. Of course, she weren't allowed to do that, but it was still something she could think about with great amusement.

It'd be a few minutes before they would be at the castle from here, so they had the time to talk about things, and it likely wouldn't be hard to find something. From her short experience, Anomaly had masterfully deducted that Lucid liked to talk. A lot. If he were an actual draconequui, he'd be the Spirit of Noise, if that was even a thing. He'd keep a conversation rolling, and then they'd see if Anomaly were interested enough to answer it, or if she'd get distracted by something more interesting.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"That may be so, but I'm not full pony, that's for sure. Being an actual draconequus would require me to look like an abomination of nature... No offense."

This got Lucid to thinking. What is he now? He's not technically a pony, but not truly a draconequus. He does however have factors of both.

"Maybe I'm something in between. Maybe an entirely new species that has similarities to both a pony and draconequus. Oh! We should come up with a name for it! What should we call this new species?"

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Sapphire looked at them both. "My gem turns colors to the magic it detects, in case that's what you mean." She said, pointing to it. "And my sister was a previous owner of the gem, but she had lost it, and it was hidden away away by the time we dueled. Now that it's back out there, she has the chance of stealing it back." She said, putting her hoof down. "I don't know much besides the extent of its power, which is beyond any illusion magic you've ever seen." She looked around at them. "It was powerful enough to outmatch even the illusions made by King Sombra."

Iron Wing looked a little skeptical at her, yet his eyes expressed surprise. "It's a little bold to make such a claim."

"Sombra required you to be entranced to be deceived, this element doesn't, it can create the illusion so anypony around you can see it too." She said, gesturing around herself.

"Well then we're screwed."

Sapphire looked to Astral, with a bit of a smirk. "The element can't deceive any other wielders of the Elements of Disharmony, so we can use one to see through any illusions Zhu tries to make."

"Well we should track down Zhu's location, while also finding any Elements of Disharmony we can."

"The problem is that they are scattered across Equestria, and there are no records of their location. Just some riddles, as far as I could tell."

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

Warlock looked up at them with a look of frustration. "Witch is a term set aside for ponies of weak power, I am not." He said, looking around, at his chains and what he could see. "The element of Greed has fallen out of my possession. Quite literally I might add, fell right out of me." He chuckled a little at himself. "Some pony took it midway through a battle when the element rejected me, maybe find who they are."

[EQ_Theta 460]

@Blitz Boom 

"I suppose moving around the swamp is an option if you say so. We aren't exactly the definition of peak physical health but we might be able to manage. We'll find out when we get there. And as for your other question, I only know about the town square and this place. Canterlot is still unfamiliar to me. Would it be alright if you could show us where you want us to take the statue? I know it wastes some time for now but it will save time later. An immediate drop-off, if you could call it that." 

So it seems the siblings may now find themselves as adventurers or treasure hunters. They don't seem to have a knack for it but their track record of finding places seemingly impossible for anyone to believe in says otherwise. It's not much but something tells them they would need to be extra careful now that Omen isn't around to bail them out. 

[Rising Dusk 27,890]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk took in the rapid flow of information he was being subjected to.  All of it going over his head of course.  He was more focused in the realm of magic, which didn't leave a lot of time for understanding the realm of science.  Knowing only the basics from school, but this was pretty deep stuff going on here.  This would be interesting to look into at another time when he's free though.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand half of what you were just talking about.  However... It sounds like Felicia is simply more attached to something more like her.  Being able to relate to something like one's self is a powerful tool.  You might have developed further along in that AI... stuff, than you think.  She's simply testing her boundaries.  Try new tests or find out if she even wants to be tested." 

The stallion offered his two bits with a shrug.  Of course, he was using more pony logic and could be completely off basis.  Dusk just liked to help out where he could.  Not really wanting to think that much on what would happen if the guard clank actually got a hold of him.

He was pretty curious on what Blitz Boom was working on, but was still a little wary of walking over there to find out what.  Instead he pulled his bags off his back with the orange glow of his telekinesis, followed by opening one of them to remove the plastic folder Molotov brought him earlier in the day.  Finally, removing the files from them, the six still folded together that contained the more accurate part of magic needed for the suppression device.

"You still wish to combine our powers?"

Rising Dusk inquired, giving the other stallion a smirk.

[BloodDrops 762]

On 4/24/2018 at 11:24 PM, Blitz Boom said:

Nerzhei were rubbing her forehead in a combined attempt at battling another annoyance-induced migraine, and a somewhat classy facepalm, at the flood of things she were now presented with from the zombie mares side.

"I'm going to need to learn some new profanities..."

A sip of elixir were needed after all to stem the tide before she could address Blood, or Droppy, or whatever third name she would have picked in five minutes from now.

"With the greatest degree of respect I can muster, you're thinking too narrowly on this. Whatever mental exercise you have taken to use, I highly doubt it will last for the rest of the eternity you wander around to potentially infect other beings. If you think it is kept down and you're now more logical in your food choices, then fine, it will make things easier for the time being, but it is not an excuse to not seek assistance in fixing your infection issue. The armor does some, but it won't last, just like any prison your have trapped your mangled mind in."

She were trying hard to not just roll her eyes and tell the mare outright that she were thinking with a brain that had clearly melted away ages ago, but her opinion was still not all that well hidden. Even with the pain killers helping on the pain in her arm, as well as the oils they had rubbed on it prior to bandaging it up, it only removed the pain aspect of her irritated annoyance towards what *Droppy* said. The part of her mind that just inherently disliked idiotic things were still doing well, and cranky over what she had been told after all of her preparations.

"Regardless, you don't need to think about the town anyway. I managed to find the pony, and he told me that it had been attacked a month back, with no trace of the other townsponies. He have told me of someone who have taken up the mantle somewhere else though. We will go there and talk with him about this.

As for the dog food, it was the only thing they had in town. Closest thing they had to a butcher left yesterday, so it were the only thing that seemed to be workable. I suppose it can still be used as bait for actual prey at least, which is going to need to be caught. We're a few days away from the town in question, and I'll need rations, just in case. I doubt this will last long."

She went to the tree and took down the bag with the fish she had left behind. A meager meal for Droppy likely, but it were what she had to work with until she could find some tracks of better prey, like a boar. There should be enough meat on one of those to last for at least a day, if she cut and gave out proper portions of it to the zombie mare.

"Now then, Droppy, can we be on our way, or do you have an actual, urgent reason why trying to cure you isn't a worthwhile thing to do?"

Nerzhei highly doubted it, but she would need to try and be on this mare's somewhat good side to make things work more smoothly. She might have hundreds, if not thousands of years to live, but that didn't mean that she wanted to spent it all babysitting this wandering disease factory, so for her, finding a way to negate her disease, or at least make it non-infectious, were a somewhat urgent priority.

Droppy blinked and stared at the dragon, "Hmm I can think of some more words for you to use" she remarked. She nodded to herself, "Droppy thinks you can use moonbutt or sunbutt, they are original curses" she added smiling at her. She tilted her head, "mental exercises? I simply merged two split personalities, Blood and Drops to make Droppy. Silly pony or dragon in this case" she giggled to herself. 

Droppy blinked "Oh I killed those townponies last month" she remarked before slapping her hoof. "SHhh, don't tell her that she gets mad with all the killing" she argued with herself. "Well she is a dragon so shes used to killing" she giggled. "No shes just a soft dragon" she finished. "Mashmellow soft" she ended staring at Nerzhei. She nodded "Yes lets go there, Droppy agrees on the traveling there part" she smiled at the dragon, she rolled her nose up at the dog food.

"Cold have brought me the pony that sold the dog food" she grumbled rolling her eyes, "Well we don't want to eat everything, or every pony. just the bad ones" she muttered flicking her tail, she blinked at her proposal. "Droppy has no urgent reason, Droppy did need to pee but that has just been accomplished" she remarked smiling at the dragon. She walked away from the rock she had just urinated on and stared at Nerzhei.

"Droppy says you should move, place one claw infront of the other and move to the new town, where Droppy can be cured, yes cured, but now Droppy no eating the curing ponies before or after they cure you, yes that's not nice" she remarked staring at Nerzhei. 

She was going to need alot of elixir for this journey.  

[Sekel 694]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

’Which one? Which one? Vial or egg? Vial. I think that’s the most likely one. Or it could be an egg and I’ll have no problem,’ Karmic was carefully thinking through both options to see which one was most likely. Both of them were viable options in her mind so she couldn’t exactly which one it would be. Eventually, her eyes regained their normal electric blue colour and she looked inside the open metal box.

A vial filled with green undulating goo was rattling loudly in the box, sensing an able host. A couple of violent shakes later, and the vial broke of its own accord. The bright green goo pulsed as it slithered around the box, raising itself to the edge.

Karmic moved her head closer with a step to try to inspect the goo better only to have it leap off the box and attach itself to her face. She didn’t even have time to react as it somehow made its way inside her head through her eye sockets.

[Moonlit 593]

@Dji @Seamore Sandwich @Blitz Boom Serenade shakes her head, then looks up at Cherish, "♪No, you have nothing to apologize for...I allowed my temper toward....their kind to color my judgement....Sirens and Changlings have a long and very violent history. One that I doubt even the Princess of Friendship could adjust.♪"

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

@Blitz Boom

Heather giggled before adding her own comment to Pop's description of Benny's eating habits.

"I'd better keep him away from Caramel Fudge then, he'd probably try to eat her! No doubt about it she would not be a happy bunny... She does look yummy sometimes though..."

Heather realised that what she'd just said sounded really odd so quickly blurted out another sentence to clarify her strange wording.

"I mean with her mane... and her coat... you know the colours... I wouldn't actually try to eat my sister, then I'd be as bad as Benny... not that Benny is bad... Oh I'm sure you get what I mean!"

She chuckled nervously and looked away wincing a little at how easily she could lose control of her words.

When Benny emerged Heather and Lemon did not move this time, Heather was crouching slightly, still looking the other way and avoiding saying anything further and Lemon stood still next to Victoria, very close and very stiff but she managed to smile at the dragon this time.

Victoria nudged her mother a little, trying to get her to loosen up, this did not work so Victoria gave up and began to answer Benny's question.

"It was an interesting trip, we met Ahadi, a Zebra who only rhymes some of the time, and she gave me this immortal flower and asked us to get her some ingredients for the potion. So then we had to go and get them, since most of them weren't readily available, so we ended up at my Heather's shop to get a flower, she's the only pony in my family who doesn't have an ounce of baking knowledge but she's also the only one who knows anything about flowers. But she wanted to talk to Pop and Toxen longer so she tagged along, which is why she's here now."

Heather perked upon hearing her name.

"A-and I needed to exert some positivity on Victoria since I am known for my optimism."

"Yes... and I needed to make amends with her, she and Battenberg were the biggest victims of old Victoria. Soft and sensitive ponies do not get on well with her. Anyway, we also met Heather's twin sister Caramel who I avoided speaking too because she is basically old Victoria in every way except that she knows other ponies have feelings that shouldn't be hurt."

"We saw Greenie too!"

"Yes, Heather's boyfriend Evergreen is looking after her shop while we are here. But that's besides the point, you asked about the potion, we gave the zebra her ingredients and she chanted some scary words and scared these two."

She pointed at her two family members with one hoof, still looking at Benny.

"Then we came back here. Oh! I feel I should commend Toxen for pulling off one of her scales for the potion, she clearly cares a lot about her family, you are lucky to have a sister like her and lucky to not have ended up like Battenberg with a sister like me."

Lemon loosened up and reached across to stroke Victoria's mane, tutting a little.

"Stop it sweetie, you're a wonderful sister and I'm sure Battenberg is very happy to have you, you've made some mistakes but who hasn't, now is the time for amendment not punishment."

Victoria gave a small smile and nuzzled her mother, Lemons words were enough to stop her from crying this time but it was clear even now that Victoria still had issues to work out.

"Shouldn't be hard Vicky, I've already totally forgiven you, I'm sure Battenberg will too. She loves you, and always has no matter what you did to her."

"How do you know?"

"Because I feel the same, and so does your mother, you're not alone Victoria and you're not unloved, don't make that mistake, we're here."

Victoria teared up a little now, she felt so lucky to have such a forgiving family, she wondered how badly things would have gone if her family weren't so sweet and kind, it didn't bare thinking about.

"...A-anyway, how have things been here?"

She was quick to change the subject, not wanting things to get embarrassingly sentimental.

 

[Blitz Boom 4,641]

@Lucid_Nightlight @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Why would I be offended? Being an affront to everything sane and decent is awesome. Nopony expects you to be normal or anything boring like that, and you can startle them by popping out of trash cans. Hehe, ponies makes a fun squeaking sound when I do that."

Zhu might have forbidden her from actually hurting ponies, which she mostly kept (some accidents happened now and again) but there was no clause against her weirding them out or shocking them, so she took full advantage and had her fun with them. Granted, it made that not too many wanted to hang around her for long after that, but meh, they were boring then. Lucid would likely hang around for a while she guessed, as he were gonna need some sort of information and stuff to how he acted like a draconequus, even though he wasn't fully one. Too symmetrical and normal, though perhaps in time he'd change. Few centuries, and he might even have an extra head or something. That'd be cool.

"Here, check this out."

Anomaly giggled as her head dislodged from her body, rolled down a side street with her body following it, causing a passing mare to open her eyes wide and then gallop in the other direction with a squeak.

The draconequus was laughing as she reattached her head and got back to the others.

"See? Fun, and not hurting anypony. Just a pumpkin rolling down the street.

Oh, and I dunno what to call you. Half pony, half draconequus... Poquus? Hehe, yeah, you're a Poquus."

She liked that word. Almost sounded like bogus, which were kinda what he were too. Nopony who looked at him currently would have the faintest clue that he weren't fully a pony, unless they had some talent sniffing out chaos magic, and they'd be able to tell that he wasn't fully a draconequus either. He were a bogus creature. A deceiver by form. A Poquus.

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@Lloyd

"All of the elements are, or were, guarded."

Scorn growled a little as he heard how things were going. Sapphire had been right in how she presented the Element of Deceit's influence on things, but it was more complicated than that. The user had to be a conniving, deceitful being in the first place to be able to be enhanced by the gem, though from what he had learned of Emerald, she seemed to fit the bill. To be so deceitful that she even cheated death, and hid in the shells of other beings, were not a comforting thought when it came to a wearer of this particular element, and as it were right now, they had no idea where said element even were. Just that it had been stolen by someone who had tricked them.

"Deceit were guarded by my family, and I know there were one in a temple off the northern coast, where the sirens were once worshipped, but it were gone when I went to examine it. Which one it were, none of us were evet old, though having any of them out there, drawing in suitable wielders, are not good."

"Do you know where any of them are?"

Dew's attention were mostly on the dragon as he finally spoke up to the ponies in the room, seeking answers from one of the apparent guards in charge of these things.

"It were forbidden for the other groups to know, in case we faced traitors, but everyone knew some. I know only of the one within the drowned temple, and one that were hidden in the outskirts of Troy."

Void suddenly raised her ears and looked over, worried about what she had just heard.

"Elements can't leave the country, but some of Troy used to belong to Equestria a long time ago. Don't know exactly where, but my teacher does. Benny grandfather have long been the guard of Deceit before I was dragged into this. You want to know something about the one in Troy, you can ask him. He might know others too."

"Big ol' dragon? Sounds like a hoot, but that's going to be the headache of whoever follows big and scaly here back to the nest. In the meantime, we need to lock the city off and check every inch of it, in case this Zhu fellah haven't left yet. Somepony checked the emergency exit halls, right?"

Tidal Wave ignored the stare that Scorn were giving her for the disrespectful way he were spoken about. Didn't concern her one bit compared to getting this town checked from top to bottom first and foremost.

Dew and Screecher exchanged looks of their own when the Coast Guard general were done talking, though this were with one another, and ended with them both letting out a sigh and shaking their heads.

"Outsiders shouldn't know about those, but we can't chance it. General Tidal Wave, could you-"

"Do it for you whilst sending my guards off to coordinate a total lockdown of the town? Not a problem. I want those two along though."

Tidal Wave pointed towards Sapphire and Astral.

"If we run into him, I'm gonna need their *expertise* with the element."

The small earth pony wasn't an idiot. She had some idea what the exchange of looks and wording from before meant between Astral and Sapphire, though right now, if they could use this to their advantage, she wouldn't care much. Whatever it took right now were the smartest move they could make, not sitting around and rolling their hooves thinking about deceit and hidden information. That was what aftermaths were for.

"We will begin the lockdown. You will keep focus on examining the halls, and report back if you find him. If you do, make sure that he is properly stripped of his belongings. No chances this time."

All eyes went on Sapphire and Astral now, to see if they would follow the smallest general on her trip, and if perhaps Iron would budge in, or stay here and help coordinate things. With him not being formally introduced as the new general of the Solar Guard yet, he couldn't simply take command of them all and make them do his bidding, so it were hard to say where he thought his best position in this case would be. potentially here, learning the inns and outs of a shutdown of Canterlot, in case he would need that skill in the future? Time would tell.

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

 

@Lloyd

"Where exactly did you loose it then, Warlock?"

This were grave news. Warlock still had been in possession of some kind of external power from what Captain Hailstorm were aware of, prior to his capture, but now it came that the one he had first used when attacking Canterlot was missing? He had been told by enough of the regular guards what that thing had done to any kind of magic to be worried that it were now out there, in the hooves of some random being that they didn't know about, potentially wrecking havoc, or causing another soul to be sympathetic to Warlock and his cause. Having another associate of his out there right now would be extremely bad.

If he could find out where it had been dropped, perhaps he could have it found before things went too badly. A threat to the kingdom averted, and another medal to his collection? A good usage of time he would say, though of course, it were mainly about the kingdom, not the glory. Mostly...

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@EQ_Theta

"It would likely be for the best. Amethyst, darling? When the workers are done, tell them that I have left for business, and that they can take the rest of the day off. I believe they will have earned it after fixing up this place."

"I'll keep that in mind. Good luck everypony, and don't waste too much time. I don't want to see Filigree breathe fresh air again anytime soon."

She went out back, with Spelt following her, thinking that this would be the best use of his time. He nodded a farewell to everypony before leaving the room though, whilst Scarcity moved nearer the group, and specifically chose to stand right next to Rosa.

"What a strange feeling of deja vu."

She chuckled a little under her breath, whilst Rosa attempted to not get dragged in by the small tease she had laid out in front of him. He didn't want her to have the satisfaction of knowing exactly how deep under his skin she had gotten, even if he had some idea that she knew already.

"Do take all the time that you need though. I would hate to drag you away from a table if you still feel hunger or thirst, with how long of a journey you will have in front of you. Ah, which does remind me, you would likely need rations to go on your trip, no? It can be arranged, though I would of course need to know what your dietary needs would be. Especially if it involves meat. It is not easy to come by in Canterlot, though I may know a few griffons who can arrange something from one of their specialized shops."

She had done well in making sure that Chow would come to her if he wanted to set up a shop where he could butcher parts for animal feed, but there were one or two butchers in Canterlot, depending on the season. Both griffons, and mainly selling to others of their kind, or passing dragons who had a taste for more than simple gems. Though if asked nicely, it were impressive what could be done.

Well, a nice request and a reminder that a certain somepony were responsible for keeping away certain health inspectors on their less than clean days. Such a small gesture, but one that carried weight when needed be.

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

 

@Rising Dusk

Molotov scratched his chin, thinking on what it was that Rising were telling him about Felicia.

"Could be, but that's the issue with something like this. An AI is like raising a foal who learns faster than you can follow, and you can't tell what sort of thing they'll decide to learn or focus on. It's not a simple program, but conscience, and unless I wipe her memory completely and install a new version, I'll have to figure out how to deal with this. Which I wouldn't do, unless she became too violent to give me any other options."

To him, both Carmen and Felicia were essentially, repairable, living creatures. They were alive as much as what a pony for example could be considered to be in his eyes, and ending their existence was a horrid thought. Mind wiping and replacing them? Unthinkable. If it came down to him having to shut them down for good, he would melt them before he'd try and reuse what had been lost. It was disrespectful, and far too changeling-like to sit well with him.

His attention were drawn by a faint movement in the shadows, and he adjusted his lenses to better see for himself if what he thought he saw was right. Rising wouldn't be able to see this well, beyond a series of red diodes more accurately resembling spider eyes briefly flash brighter around a head about the size of Blitz's torso. Molotov however, could see the entirety of Felicia slowly and silently move around up there, occasionally gazing down towards them.

He considered telling Rising that she were monitoring him, but honestly, the inventor were far more interested in keeping silent about that specific unless he had to say something. Both because it would just unnerve the officer to know that he was being monitored, and because Molotov were curious what had brought Felicia out, when he had company. Blitz hadn't even met her yet, and his sister had been here for some days now. Perhaps she found him to understand her better than her creator? Truly fascinating.

"Heh, you're right Dusky, we should start to get some work done. We have a long way to go, but I'd say we should start at the base, and figure out what sort of material would do best in holding on to the magic, so any design doesn't need to be scrapped right off the bat because we can't make the two things work together. What's your experience with magically infusing items?"

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

 

@BloodDrops

Two personalities, talking with one another in third person... There were not enough elixir in this reality to cover the headache this was going to be.

"I hunt to eat more than I eat crystals, because I need crystals for my research. Which is a bonus for you, since I doubt I could stuff you with crystals for any benefit than it being satisfying."

Nerzhei had to take a swig of elixir more as the gravitas of things that Droppy said went through her head once more. Murder, relieving one self, endless, pointless talking about inane stuff... It was like having a talking... What were those things called again? Chihuahuas? Yapping little creatures that had no evolutionary reason to exist, and also got on the nerves of every sane being around them. It was like that, but bigger, more talkative, and riddled with pandemic level disease.

Were she in a better situation, she might have considered bringing up the point about murder, and her own capabilities in an actual fight, along with the seething rage that always laid under the dragoness's surface, but any of those subjects would just make her have to down half a bottle of elixir to stop herself from falling to her knees over the likely bad excuses, or foolish comments there would come from it. Especially around the murders, which she did not condone, but couldn't exactly do anything about either. It was in the past, and she hadn't been anywhere near the area. The rational side of her brain would easily see that she had no reason to care, but her emotional side, mingled with Droppy's antics at that talk, were going to be a different thing entirely.

"Let's just get on our way. It's a fourteen hour trip at least, and I want to make headway before the more aggressive predators comes out of hiding."

They had to get back to her cave first though, as she needed some things like her spear, but they would get there on the way regardless. It was only a small detour, and she needed to make sure the area was secure, and her books intact. Plus she needed to decide if she wanted to take the important book with her. The smart side of her said that it was unwise to have anywhere near Droppy, but the chance that the biologist they were going to visit had some knowledge of - or knew someone who had it at least - the books content were also something she needed to take into consideration.

Though at least she knew she needed her spear. She didn't want to meddle with trees every time she needed to be able to poke something.

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

 

@Dji

Zhu almost felt pity for Karmic, though he wasn't sure if it was that, or the potential future she could be part of that he felt some small part of remorse for. Perhaps it was them both?

Doing what he did, he were used to seeing horrible things happen. Sometimes because of natural disaster, others simply because the end of their line showed how it would end, sometimes because of him, or a million other factors. What Karmic went through now were just another in a long line of horrid things that he would witness, and then eventually forget again, or simply use as a cautionary tale.

It wasn't as if he could have stopped it either. He only barely managed to get his own senses back when he saw her stick her head into the box, and peel back just enough to see the goo force its way into her eyes.

What would come from this however, he couldn't tell. He could still barely see anything of her future, and what he knew of this particular goo was limited. He only knew the rumors of how it would overtake and convert those it entered, though the stories were old, as this thing had been kept under lock and key in some fashion for longer than he had been alive, or it had been covered up better than he had seen something be before.

Zhu usually felt like he had far too many of the answers, but in this case, he could only slowly get back on his paws and observe, as clueless as the regular beings he tended to puppeteer around, and waiting to see what would come of it. If needed be, he would give Karmic a last act of mercy that had long been denied him, and end her suffering, but until the goo were done and the aftermath began, he had to stay his paw, and observe. Just like he always did.

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

 

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

"Well, a-at least it didn't get worse. That's something."

Cherish wasn't sure if she should even dive into what the deal were with changelings and sirens, afraid that perhaps it would cause another bout of anger, that would make her go a little haywire again, but... She were prepared for it this time. it wouldn't shock her into a near-poltergeist like state, which would undeniably have made the princess at least consider sending Cherish off to the afterlife. At least it would make sense in the spirit's head, but then again, the princess made her nervous. It brought along some bad thoughts.

"Uhm, can I ask, w-what the animosity between sirens and c-changelings are about? I mean, you don't need to a-answer if you don't want to..."

Whilst she were still silently looking down into the ground, shamed from before, Last were listening in, and her ears vibrated slightly at the topic. Warring opinions between two races could be important to know, in case the two were near one another, and she could see that it was time to have them separated, before something bad happened. She couldn't ask this herself though, which had been made painfully obvious from her tone before, but she could listen, if nothing else.

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

 

@Victoria Sponge

Benny had inched closer a little by little as Victoria had told her tale, and at the end of it, would put his hand towards her head, then stop and aim for her shoulder instead. He didn't want to ruffle her mane, since it seemed like something she wouldn't think was too funny or comforting, even though it looked to be really soft to glide your claws through.

"Listen to your family VIctoria. Folks change, and we're all here to support you as you get yourself straightened up. We're not here to poke to you with whatever sorta thing you did before you opened up. That wasn't the real you. So come on friend, chin up and don't bash yourself around like that, alright?"

Oh, the urge to actually grab hold of her chin and rise it upwards... But he wasn't Toxen, he'd manage, even though the thought sure were there. But then again, so were taking his hands to his head, pretend they were big horns, and make a roaring sound and saying how scary he was to try and ease the tension a little. That one were mainly stopped because he didn't want Pop to choke on the slice of cake she were slowly taking some bites out of.

His mate were also going over to Victoria to show support, though eating as she were, she didn't say anything just yet. Pop tried to communicate support with her eyes, though she had no idea if it worked, or if she just looked really strange whilst chewing on.

WHen Victoria felt like changing the topic, the two of them took a few steps back to give the mare some space again- and in the case of Benny, to not freak out Lemon, even though she seemed to handle his presence better.

"Sounds like you folks had a fun adventure through the town, meeting all sorts of interesting ponies."

"There were a few awkward moments, but all in all, I think it ended well. We got the potion for Jet, we got to meet some more of their family, and Victoria had a chance to go around and start seeing that all of her family really do wish her only the very best. I'm sure when you eventually talk to Caramel too, she'll say the same thing, Victoria. Perhaps not in a jolly way, but still."

"Caramel sounds like a hoot and a half."

"She seemed okay, and she appears to be a confectionaire as well, but she doesn't think too well on her skills for some reason. Heather joked that you might want to eat her before you back out too, since her name was Caramel."

Pop giggled and patted Benny with her hoof.

"Sounds really tasty. Perhaps I should go around and a have a bite to see what flavor she is? I can barely resist the taste of pony as it is."

He leaned forward and swooped Pop into his arms, rose on his back legs - giving him quite a height to work with - and helt her faced out, like a teddy bear. Then he'd bury his mouth in her mane and make pretend chewing noises, whilst Pop squirmed in his arms laughing.

"O-Oh no, however s-shall I make it?"

Benny knew well how this tickled Pop, and he wasn't letting up for about a minute more of pretending to be munching on her, before he finally let her down on the ground again, and pretended to pull a long hair out of his mouth.

"Waiter, there's a hair in my meal."

That comment got him a well deserved, friendly headbutt from his mate, who then turned to the others again, still flustered from the laughter, and now with a mane looking like a cat had tried to sit on her head.

"Don't mind this silly-head. Dragons wouldn't ever try to eat ponies for real. Their laws are far more harsh on that than ours actually."