open Casual stroll

Rising Dusk · May 9, 2018

Rising Dusk didn't think really anything short of an explosion would cause the little filly to take notice to what was going on around her at this point. It seems though, like many other busy ponies, a simple trigger word is all that is needed. The level of excitement of Blitz Boom was a little concerning though. He couldn't remember seeing a little filly or colt so enthusiastic about a scrap yard. It was a good place to start for some Dark Iron to test on, and he was on great terms with the mare that ran the yard. Always pays off to make good connections in the city.

"Very well."

Rising Dusk nodded and ignited his horn, collecting the Deep Iron bracelet from Molotov and putting it back into his bag. At the same time, lifting his bag to hoist it over his back. Moving away from the bench they'd been working out and over to the front fortress door to be with Blitz Boom. Quickly followed by Carmen who came skittering down to ride on the little filly. He glanced up from where Carmen came from, trying to see what else might be up there.

Not really seeing anything, he turned toward the door again and started to analyze it. Basic investigator skills here, let's look at the buttons and such, find which one is the most used. He'd also have to take into account that the Boom siblings didn't have the cleanest of hooves, so the correct one might not be the most clean. Scratches, worn areas. height for accessibility, considering the security system was also heavily used there might be a lot more use to many of these than normal. Eventually pointing to a button just out of reach of the young Blitz Boom.

"This one?"

BloodDrops · May 9, 2018

15 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"If an animal is stupid enough to attack, what happens to it is simply the natural order."

Nerzhei specifically said animal, as otherwise, a farmer with a plowshare might be seen as an attacker, and get munched on by her definition. Sure, ponies were still some kind of animal, but animal generally referred to creatures with low sentience and/or intelligence levels, such as wild beasts, Tatzelwurms, or ducks. And frankly, she hoped that the second of those examples would pop up, because she hated those creatures, and wanted to see at least one of them as a chew toy.

It might be petty, but any kind of creature that stole a book of hers were not on her friendly list, and even though she had managed to get it back eventually via Lyriel, it had been beyond repair. Thankfully it hadn't been one of the important books, but still, it were not a pleasant thought, and overall she just wasn't a fan of the earth-dwelling jaws mixed with a jack-in-the-box. Evolutionary sane, but that was about the only nice thing she could say about them.

Answering that, it seemed like they might finally get a spot of peace, which Nerzhei frankly wouldn't mind, as it would give her a little time to mentally breathe and gather herself.

And then Blood resumed talking once more...

"Why do I get the feeling your games will cause me to be horrified?"

She rubbed her temple with the index and long fingers on her free arm, trying to put down the rising want to just slam her head into a tree in frustration, and not stop until either her skull or the tree caved in.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't touch me, and don't wander off. We're near the cave."

Something told her that she were going to regret this, but it was either giving in and observing, trying to think of this as a teachable moment, or having a large swig of elixir again. They barely started, and she only had three bottles, so she had to try and conserve a little of it when she were able to. A lesser attack like this, she could manage, and she'd rather deal with that right now, than needing the drink later on when a major migraine attack began, and be fresh out.

Perhaps if this were not as bad as every fivber in her body told her it were, she could clear her head enough to start responding and correcting about the pony they were going to see, but they'd see if she could even keep focus on that being mentioned, when Blood would begin her games.

Droppy nodded and smiled, "Yes if anything is stupid enough to attack and i catch it, then it will be food" she remarked before thinking, "Well I'm sure you wouldn't approve of 'catch the severed leg', or 'how far does the detached head roll while still screaming' " she remarked smirking, fortunately she didn't have either so she had another game she can play "Well how about logic games? I like them and it keeps you awake" she said smiling.

She nodded at the travel update, "good good, I like caves, pleanty of rocks to lick in them" she giggled to herself, though she kept following the dragon and made sure not to touch her, "Well because I get around alot I heard a very nice tale from a stallion, it was about him and his late brother" she said smiling, "here it is" she told her.

"Two brothers were reading a magical horror story late one night. One brother dozed off and dreamed that he was being chased by the crazy character from the story, who was trying to kill him with an axe. In the dream, he hid in a cupboard. There was no sound except his heart pounding, and he had no idea where his crazed captor was, until he heard the axe smashing against the cupboard door. He was terrified! At that moment, the spell finished and the book slammed shut, his brother noticing the state of his sibling put his hoof on the shoulder of his sleeping sibling to wake him. The shock at that tense moment was enough that the sleeping brother suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly." she told her, her dark red eyes glowing in the darkness.

She blinked at her "True or False?" she asked her tilting her head, She had many more if Nerzhei got it right.

EQ_Theta · May 9, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Lin wouldn't budge for the duration Sen was outside while he... relieved himself. Not exactly the kind of reaction she would expect from him but even she had some revulsion to the idea but she's hiding it. Her stomach swirled, possibly wanting to convulse its contents but she held herself steady. For the moment, she would have a gate open and on the other side was the town square; walking to the next stop was just about the only thing to do and with a lack of knowledge on pretty much everything else save for Clayton's place. No need to go there and bring him in. He's already seen enough and it would be better if he rested. More good news for him is always welcome but he need not be dragged into another problem.

Then there's still the thought of what a boat would look like. Sit or stand, she wouldn't sink, or maybe there is more to it than the explanation given to her. Either way, she might see one in good time. Or maybe she had an idea what it looked like, seen it once but never bothered to learn about what it was back then. Her memory was fair but maybe the procedure done on her back in the wellspring left her missing a few blind spots in her memories. Likely just small things of little consequence.

Sen returned, wiping his mouth clean before returning to the others. "Sorry about that. Let's go?"

Lin nodded and stepped through the gate with her brother closely following behind. Just beyond is Canterlot town square, sight becoming more and more familiar with each visit. Might be more to see once they embark on their next assignment but deep down, they are exhausted, more than they had expected. They wouldn't want to admit, knowing just how important their current task is, but they hoped they could go home once this is settled.

FanOfManyShows · May 9, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sapphire followed Tidal Wave, following close by was Astral who then walked ahead to walk with Tidal Wave. Sapphire cast a simple spell in her hoof, checking if Emerald was near, and if she was, it'd turn green, if she wasn't, it'd be grey. "So where are we headed?" Astral asked.

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Warlock's eyes scanned her. "Of course you aren't." He said with a bit of a smirk. "I wasn't either. Just a pony who lost everything. And saw magic as a way to get it all back." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Only difference in between us, is that I will do just about anything to achieve that goal."

Storm Shine · May 10, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight @Blitz Boom

"Well I would say that what you have to look forward to is entirely up to you." Discord responded with a grin, "Just be careful not to exhaust all of your options too soon, it's nice to have a few centuries where you don't have to create your own entertainment just to keep things fresh and not... well... boring." His expression turned a bit far-off, remembering. "It's always fun to spice things up, but take amusement in the simple things while you still can. Just about all of it will become boring eventually."

Lucid_Nightlight · May 10, 2018

@EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @Blitz Boom

"I guess I could see that, but I do see that issue about outliving others that I care about, that's a bit scary, I'll admit."

Lucid was happy with his immortality, but he did understand one thing, most others are not immortal.

"Getting bored won't be an issue though. Comedians such as myself never run out of fun!"

Being a comedian did show signs that it was difficult to get Lucid bored, the ponies in the other universe typically enjoy his routines.

Sekel · May 10, 2018

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

Karmic shook her head with a whimper, pawing at her ears to see if the would get rid of the tentacles, only to realise they're already gone. She opened her eyes slowly and spotted Zhu walking back to where they had come from. "Back in the claustrophobic passages!?" Karmic groaned and quickly followed him.

'This body will have to do,' the same feminine voice from earlier sighed quite heavily within Karmic's mind, causing her to trip a small bit and crash into Zhu. She fell to the ground and rapidly shook her head once more, choosing to ignore the voice and figured it was from some kinda stupid future or past or something that got caught in her head.

Moonlit · May 10, 2018

@Seamore Sandwich @Dji @Blitz Boom Serenade looks back then extends a hoof towards the piece, "♪I'll take it, it's the least I can do considering all you have done for me and Ziggy♪" She'll take the piece and follow behind Celestia when she starts moving again.

Blitz Boom · May 10, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Or if everything becomes boring, wipe your memory and start over."

Anomaly thought that what Discord said made a good deal of sense, but it did miss that last part that could make the party go on and on for way longer.

Sure, you'd miss out on the memories of fun things before that ,you'd loose any memories of friends and potential family, and you really wouldn't be you anymore, as you'd have no memories of the being you used to be, but hey, everything had a price right? Sometimes loosing everything that was you could be a good thing too. Just look at her. She had no idea who she used to be, but the one who did, claimed that she were a market improvement. Case open and shut.

When time came to Lucid's response however, it was a less open and shut case, as she dropped her jaw in surprise.

"You're a comedian? Oh man, Discord and I should've gotten a ticket. We might've heard you being funny then."

Anomaly were a theatrical creature by nature, always trying to make a show. So when she saw a good setup for a joke like this, she went all out. Jaw dropped, eyes glittering, teasing tone, and then just standing there, waiting for his rebuttal to her essentially mocking him a little.

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@Rising Dusk

The way Blitz jumped up the wall to try and hit the button too, should tell him that he were right. Or that it would cause an explosion, which thankfully, it wouldn't. She could've just said it too, but when she got excited, words sometimes fled her mind, and actions were the only response she had to things. Made certain ponies back in Ponyville refer to her as an *a cat on catnip, juggling fire*. Something she thought was a fun description, but for the ones in question, were more of a concerned, worried observation.

Other choice phrases had come too, but that one were one of her favorites. Less mean than some others, especially from the bullies at school. Well, before she had scared them so much that they didn't get anywhere near her again. Perhaps it had been a little cruel what she had done - got her expelled after all - but they weren't actually hurt, and Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara had been really mean to both her and the CMC. They needed to be taught a lesson.

When the three of them got outside it would be a few more minutes before Molotov would exit, saddlebag on his right, and an open tool-set on the left, to even things out. He figured that if they were going to a scrapyard, he were going to have to take some things apart to get to the important parts that Blitz wanted, and she always forgot her own tools. Easier for him to just bring the set he got as a present when he were 10, and then use it as best he could to get his little sister what she were looking for.

They were incredibly clean, and almost shone in the light, even though they were several years old, though you could see the wear and tear at places, along with some missing spots. Time had taken a few of them via his own carelessness, but those that he had left were going to be in the best shape he could have them in. That was one of the important things you always learned in his family: The workshop might be dirty, but always keep your tools clean. So at the end of each day, he cleaned his tools until he could see his face in them, and then put them back on the shelves, or in the case of this, put it with his spare saddlebag. Made for a great travel set.

"We have seventeen seconds to get more than 2 meters away from the door. Let's go."

He'd push them along if they weren't moving, or weren't already far away at that point, and at the time mentioned... Nothing happened. Well, a light on the side of one of the levers on his eye-wear lit up green briefly, but that was about it.

"There, armed and ready to keep outsiders away. And don't give me looks there Dusky, it's all non-lethal stuff. Just have to make it look worse than it is to scare off some of the less bold nuisances."

He counted door to door salesponies as that last one, and had found joy in seeing them running away on the camera, after one of the things on the walls were activating and threatening to fire a death laser or something at them.

Huh, he wonder if that kind of behavior were why Felicia were trying to scare off Rising earlier? Something to test later on.

"Heh, good times. Anyway, wanna get a move on chief?"

Whilst talking, Carmen jumped down from the back of Blitz, and crawled up the leg of Molotov, to get to her usual position on his back. Blitz were fine enough to catch a ride on, but she liked Molotov more, and his movements were less sporadic than the filly that would be jumping around, repeating the word *scrapyard* over and over again, like a foal who were going out for ice cream.

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@BloodDrops

So a story where she were to guess whatever it happened or not? *sigh* At least it wasn't the other games the zombie had mentioned, though she doubted the last one were more than just a fantasy anyway. A head couldn't scream once it was removed from the body, as screaming would require the air in your lunges. It was simple biology, which most beings should be able to grasp.

If the conversation had been around how long the head stayed sentient it would be another deal. She had read some passages in the books she had gotten from the traveling salesman back in Dragon Land, about the subject of sentience and how it would last after you passed on. It wasn't something she would usually read, and she never finished the book, but reading material were reading material. Considering where she had lived, having anything to read were more important than the context.

"It's a plausible story. I can believe the enough shock can cause heart issues, but enough to do that? I don't know definitively.

If you want a yes or no answer though, I will say that its false. Seems odd that a book - magical or not - could cause that much shock on its own."

Frankly she didn't care, but what else were there to talk about? The things she cared about wasn't something that she thought Droppy would even try to understand, much less keep focus on as the explanations were long and boring, and Nerzhei didn't exactly have much else than her research in her life. Just Lotus, and proper pet management was likely also too boring for Droppy to pay attention, plus her upbringing of Lotus should probably not apply in this land.

Her bunny friend were great in her mind, but she weren't blind to how alienated Lotus's upbringing had made her from others of her kind, who couldn't handle the more violent streak that Lotus had. It was a result of having to grow up in an area where all she could look at for role models were dragons, and no other bunnies. It was inevitable that she would start to act like them, more than the creatures she had been taken away from when when she was a tiny little thing.

Nerzhei had with heavy heart attempted to release Lotus in groups of bunnies the rare few times when she had run into them, but they got scared of her friend, or Lotus tried to acty like them, and didn't feel right. Either way, she would always return to her dragon friend, which were great for Nerzhei, as she felt sad at the thought of loosing her, but wasn't too good for Lotus herself, as she became more of an outsider. Much like the dragoness, she just couldn't function well among others of her kind.

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@EQ_Theta

So this was traveling via the siblings portals? For some reason, Scarcity had thought that it would be different than the network of them she sometimes used herself, though she would admit that the portability of Lin's ability were far superior to her static ones. Likely far less expensive to set up too, urgh. The amount of bits she had to spend to give her a travel advantage to certain places were abysmal.

Her method did have more subtlety too, which were evident as Lin's were easy to spot, considering their location. It did not seem to draw too much attention from others than the guards stationed around - were that a Coast Guard? How peculiar - and those didn't seem to approach just yet, though they were being observed. It seemed things had gotten worse over the last few hours than Scarcity had predicted. Otherwise, why waste so much time getting the streets lined with more guards, and even having the Coast Guard called in for backup? Dire times it seemed, though she would have to wait until she had finished her current situation to deal with that one.

"You have placed us quite close to my shop actually. Do follow me please. Although, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps your friend would find the time better spent by diverting and gathering supplies while we are here? It would be advantageous."

"And give you alone time with them they shouldn't have."

Scarcity laughed at Rosa and gave him a bemused look.

"Worry not dear, I hadn't thought of sending you off alone. I would much prefer if you took Sen with you. He will know how much food and of what kind you would need for your trip, whilst Lin and I go to my store to set her with a better return point than the middle of the road."

She used her magic to float out a small pouch from within her saddlebag, which she reached out towards Rosa.

The bat pony took it ad opened it to find a variety of high value bits in there.

"To the left up here, then stay on the road until you reach Garlic Hoof's Organics. I find it to be a place of quality."

"You mean somewhere that you have a hoof in."

Scarcity gave him another bemused look as Rosa closed the pouch she had tossed towards him, and stuffed it in his outfit. She were enjoying this far more than she let on, and he knew it.

"But I'm an antiquarian. What point would there be in me having stock in that store?"

Beyond the benefits it gave, and the option to have a storage place nearby of course, but the group did not need to hear that.

"Your amusing antics aside dear, the decision on what to do now should be your friends to decide too, no? I simply offer a time saving option, but if they prefer to wander there after visiting my store instead, they are free to do so too of course. What say you, Sen and Lin?"

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@Lloyd

If Hailstorm hadn't had a difficult enough time to hold back Null before, he was certain that he would now. Thankfully, it seemed like she were already using as much as her strength as she could to get loose as it were, and that strength were fading. A disadvantage of being a small pegasus, which weren't exactly the muscle branch of the pony world to begin with..

"If you can get it back, then you have no idea what it's like to loose everything, you self-righteous little maggot!"

The words were cold and dripping with poison, as Null starred at Warlock with more hatred than she could remember ever having fro another being.

It wasn't a surprise though. He had dared to say that he had lost everything to her face, and then claimed that she wouldn't do everything to get it back, and if she had her hooves on him right now, she'd collect his teeth for that.

She were the one who had been born with this curse of an anti-magic field, in a country that used so much of it that she could barely go anywhere without something fizzling out. She were the one who had lost the skies when those bricks had fallen down on her, and had to see her sisters leg damaged beyond repair as she tried to help her. Null had to constantly live with the knowledge that her sisters leg were gone forever, all because of her. A knowledge that festered considering that she had to take care of her on her own for the last twenty years.

Void were the physically strong, but her mind was frail, and after the damages and having to run away from Troy, it hadn't been easy. Null didn't have it great either, but she had to shove her own pain to the side to help her sister, and make sure that she were okay. Something she considered to have failed in more than succeeded, no matter how much Void tended to tell her otherwise.

She had to grow up and be a parent while she were still a foal, as well as a protector since they didn't find anywhere they could stay for long, as more magic started to get ruined and they were forced to move along again and again. No friends, no family beyond themselves, and no country to call their home. Even if Equestria seemed open to them, it had still been twenty years, and what would she regain from that? Her parents were still gone, potentially dead, her sister were a mess and she were an emotional wreck. That didn't even count in that the damages they had - Null's wing and Void's eye and leg - couldn't be fixed magically, since they negated that.

Null had nothing left, except her sister, and Warlock had tried to take her away from her. There was nopony in this world she would like to see smashed between two heavy rocks more than him before he started to claim that she were too weak to try and get back what was lost, and after? She would do it herself if she got her hooves on him, which the captain were stopping very firmly right now.

Said captain were also fed up with this behavior, and decided to drag her out of the room at this point, before things got worse. Though if Warlock wanted to have another jab at giving himself an arch nemesis, he would have to time to say it before she got out of earshot.

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@Lloyd @Dji

"To a place where we stash dangerous things, until we can get the specialists to deal with them. And for the record, stealing anything from the room counts as a a felony, and you'd get tossed in jail for up to ten years."

"T-Ten years? Isn't that a l-little much?"

"Not with the sort of stuff we're dealing with. But you know, you could also apply for your sentence to be in a Coast Guard jail for two years."

Void looked confused at the general.

"Two? W-Why wouldn't everypony p-pick that?"

Tidal Wave grinned and looked at Void.

"Because my jail doubles as a shark tank thrice a day."

Void wanted to believe that it was a joke, but the way the general said it, and that look in her eyes as she did so, made the tall earth pony believe her. Suddenly ten years in jail didn't seem so bad.

The general just chuckled on it. Her guards were perhaps not seen as the fancy royal ones like the ones who ran things here in Canterlot, but they were a force to be reckoned with, and she certainly hadn't made it softer after she had taken over four years ago. It might not seem like a long time, but generals in the Coast Guard tended to shift around often because of their way of succession. So far, she were actually hanging in longer than most of the others in said guard had thought when she first earned her promotion.

A few minutes after scaring Void into not touching anything, and warning the two witches what would happen if they did, Tidal Wave would reach the door she were aiming for. They had to go down some stairs with several blast-proof doors in the way, as well as check points that required passwords to let them get through, but eventually they would reach the important part.

it was protected by seven unmarked guards on each side that carried the best full armor plate and weaponry the forges of Canterlot could make, and they stood stoic as the general approached, barely even looking like they breathed. A special task force in a way, of three groups of ponies that were tasked with this particular job because of their efficiency, loyalty, mental fortitude, and willingness to do whatever it took to protect this room.

Sapphire might notice that their entire equipment were magically enforced to make it more durable and somewhat resistant to magic. Nothing that a strong or persistent magic user couldn't get around, but it was the best that were possible to get into their gear without causing horrendous side effects, and would give them a little time to react and hopefully subdue the infiltrator.

As Tidal Wave stepped even closer, they suddenly lowered their weapons towards the group, but didn't do more. They didn't even speak, but just awaited the next step taken by the general.

"Hey there fellahs. We're here with a bunch of bad stuff. Mind getting us through the process and on our way?"

One of the guards - the apparent leader - stepped forward and pulled forth a dark rock from his back. It was reached towards all of them, one at a time, with it pulsing a faint green as it reached Void, though only once.

"They're checking for changelings. Short one like that just means exposure. You must've rubbed up near one recently."

Void remembered the strange one in Ponyville, and just nodded. She'd rather not talk about that whole thing...

With it being done, the guards returned to the former positions, leaving the group now free to enter.

"Alright gang, let's get this sorted."

With that, she stepped forward, and opened the heavy door.

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@Dji @Lloyd

Zhu didn't foresee that he'd be crashed into, and would find himself on the ground rather abruptly from the impact. He were about to say something to Karmic about her needing to watch her step, lest they stumble into other dangerous artifacts in here, when he heard the noise of the actual door to this place open up, around twenty meters away from them.

"Somepony is coming. We must make haste."

He'd use his magic to help Karmic up if she were slower than he were to get on his paws, and began to move towards the tunnel at an increased speed. Whoever were there would be able to get to them in a minute or two at anything resembling a quick pace, and if they had heard the two of them as they hit the ground, it would only make them hurry more.

They still had a lead to work with right now, but it were fleeting, and sadly didn't allow for them to close the opening they had entered through. if they could get out of the castle, he could block the exit entirely from there, but in the halls themselves? He had been willing to blast a hole through some walls to get out, but to make rubble he'd have to be more liberal with where he aimed, and that could end up collapsing some of the castle. It was not something he wanted to do to his mothers home unless he had little choice in the matter.

An option to gain some time were to trip something in the storage area, but that could just cause even more destruction, or even hurt them, depending on what items were tampered with. With little time to consider the consequences and potential gains from doing such a thing, he wouldn't touch them either. And if Karmic tried, he'd yank her away from the things with his wind magic. They did not have the time to deal with more things attacking them.

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@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

The piece of the castle - guided somewhat by Cherish - hit the siren's outstretched hoof, and the spirit gave out a sigh.

"Thank you. I didn't want to be alone with her."

Feeling hectic and less aware of the princess in the moment, Cherish's nervous stuttering had paused, and she looked quite a bit more relieved than she had been when they were all gathered. Strange the effect that the princess of the sun had on beings that were not technically ponies, with them worrying about her judgement... Then again, she were an ancient ruler who were required to think of her country before anything else. A worry that she may have to think of somepony as a threat by what they were, weren't exactly too far fetched. At least not in Cherish's mind, though she imagined that if it came down to it, it would be worse for Serenade. At least she were just dead, whereas the one carrying the castle piece were an actual siren, that apparently could feast on bad emotions, and whose race had made havoc to the country before. Poor thing.

Lucid_Nightlight · May 10, 2018

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Yea, I'm a comedian. I'm actually competent unlike Discord."

Lucid saw Discord's pathetic attempt at comedy at that Gala one time when he went there and was about to crash it. The only issue is that Lucid saw Discord's standup routine and went home cause he figured those poor ponies were suffering enough.

"I will say this, that Maud pony knows how to throw an insult, isn't that right, most basic of jokes?"

That insult from that Gala was probably the best thing he has heard.

"By the way, whatever happened after that comedy routine? Did anything explode?"

Edited May 10, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Victoria Sponge · May 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"That's odd, I would never lift a random pony, and I don't think I'm actually capable of lifting a dragon."

Heather laughed, it was an odd tale.

"I kinda get what you're saying though, I know some stronger more energetic pegasi, like my mother or Cupcake Sprinkles, they could possibly lift a dragon."

She hesitated for a moment and looked at Victoria before smiling back at Benny.

"You know who probably could lift you? This little earth pony right here. What they lack in magic and flight they more than make up for in strength, you should try picking him up Vicky."

Victoria shook her head.

"That won't be necessary, I don't like to use my strength, it feels... unladylike."

"Pfft, hasn't stopped you in the past. I've seen you beat huge stallions in the past, purely because they stood a little to close to your precious mane, there was nothing unladylike about that."

It seemed perhaps Victoria was trying to be modest or maybe she doubted her own skills, it was hard to read her expressions as she spoke.

"I think I'll just stick to baking..."

Heather was quick to remind Pop of Caramel's true characteristics.

"Like I said about Caramel, she definitely does have a good side, a heart of pure gold. She may not be great at expressing her feelings... or any feelings at all for that matter... but she does care about pretty much everypony other than herself, the only reason she's so pessimistic all the time is because she believes in brutal honesty. Definitely doesn't affect her sweets and chocolates though, they're probably her main way of expressing herself truly."

Lemon had already helped herself to some cake, she couldn't help herself, her family's sweet tooth had done its work. Heather on the other hand looked doubtful.

"I think I'll give this a miss, it's not just my talent that is unique in my little baking family, I also seem to be the only one who doesn't... like... cake. I'm hesitant to say that because I do, like it, sometimes... but in general I wouldn't go for it. Fudge and chocolate, definitely, Caramel's been stuffing me full of that stuff for years so I'm used to it. There is one type of cake I absolutely adore though, and it's a shame it's not here. I love victoria spongecake, it's brilliant."

Victoria's eyes widened upon hearing this, for the first time she began to realise that her many years of lashing out at, or straight up ignoring, her family members had led to her not knowing a whole lot about them.

"Y-you like... spongecake..."

She sounded out of breath and her voice was quiet.

"H-heather I didn't know that. I treated you like rubbish and yet that didn't put you off my baking?"

Heather patted Victoria on the head and laughed.

"Of course not Vicky, your cakes were actually the only ones I really loved when you and your family baked for us. They were so good I was happy to look past the mare who baked them... Well look past her stony exterior, I never wanted to look past you Vicky, because I knew there was good inside you somewhere."

Vicky hugged Heather with a big grin on her face, this was great news, she now had something to bond with her cousin over.

"I'm serious though, I don't know if it's Vicky's cakes or just that type of cake in general but victoria sponge is the best. Get this beautiful mare to make you one some time, you won't regret it."

Victoria looked now towards Pop and the cake she was questioning.

"That's the battenberg cake, have some if you haven't already, if Heather wants to sing praise for me then I'll sing praise for my sister, she really can bake."

Stopping for a moment and rubbing her chin Heather spoke her mind.

"You know, you cake sisters really can bake up a storm. Battenberg should make you a partner in her business Vicky, it doesn't seem right that you're just her assistant, you're just her employee and that just won't do."

Lemon nodded.

"I think Batty will be more willing to promote you now you're not shouting at her all the time, and as manager for Battenberg's Bakeries I'd be happy to help make that happen. Cake Sister Confectioneries."

Victoria smiled.

"Not a bad idea, it would definitely help me bond with her, I'd like to spend everyday working alongside my sister, not for her."

"Then that's what you shall do."

This was a great opportunity for Victoria and it gave her a happy feeling, a truly happy feeling, like her life was finally going to turn round. A new job, working alongside her sister, finding new love for her family, especially Heather and her love for her baking, new friends in Pop, Benny, Toxen and even Cupcake Sprinkles, and the prospect to finally find love with help from Pop and reach her ultimate goal of reaching motherhood.

FanOfManyShows · May 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sapphire looked around at the artifacts in the room around them as they walked. "Ten years isn't so bad, I mean, I have been trapped inside this sapphire gem for longer than that." She pointed to her eye as looked to Void. ."But we should still avoid touching anything either way." She winked at Void with a giggle.

Astral looked to Sapphire strangely. "You never did puns." She said, looking as the door was opened.

Sapphire looked to Astral for a while. Her gem letting off sparks, but she seemed to not make an attempt to cover the fact. "It's time we tried a more cheerful environment." She said as she looked away with a smile.

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

Warlock smirked as she walked of, but then it faded from his face. Too long without an element. His senses returning a little, no way was just that going to get him out of this cell. Walking back was the guard from a while ago. He stood in front of Warlock's cell. "Why do you return?"

"Oh I never left, I just stood next to the cell. Out of view." He closed the cell door. "Needed to make sure you had more than just one magic negating pony around."

"You're not cursed with it."

He looked over to Null. "Is that what's with her?" He looked to his armor as the glow of the anti magic placed on it returned. "No wonder my suit didn't work for a while there."

Warlock grinned a little, a chance to get out of here. The fact that the suit's enchantment wasn't permanent, looking around himself he wondered if the cell had a similar situation. "Oh well, doesn't matter in the long run."

Moonlit · May 11, 2018

@Dji @Seamore Sandwich @Blitz Boom Serenade carried the piece in her hooves, following behind Celestia. She was REALLY looking forward to her Pegasi form. She wanted to get this all smoothed out, and take a vacation, living in Ponyville was CRAZY.

Sekel · May 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom, @Lloyd

KARMIC FATE

Karmic glanced behind her and heard the hoofsteps before actually seeing some of the ponies that they belonged. Thankfully, they weren’t looking her way. She carefully tiptoed backwards and using the most immediate future as a reference, sidestepped various artefacts on her way to the passageway. Her eyes turned a milky white and she found a future where Zhu was blowing up the way they came from after getting out of the castle.

’That doesn’t help me,’ Karmic wisely thought to herself, keeping her trap shut. She brushed against a final vase depicting some kind of chimera looking monster. Looking between it and the ponies, she picked up the vase and threw it to towards the group of ponies before running after Zhu and slammed the door shut behind them. “We need to go. Now,” she told Zhu and forced him to move by pushing against his rump.

EQ_Theta · May 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"I can trust brother to gather us some food. Did his share of gathering food back home and still does so today. I'll go with Scarcity and we'll meet back here at the square, unless she needs us to see her when you're done."

"You sure about this? I could tag along."

"I know you're good for it, Sen. Go on, you've seen enough of this place to know where to go and not to go."

Lin turns to Scarcity, letting her know she is ready to go. With the gate closing behind him, Sen pondered on his sister's words. It was a rush of memories flowing in and out, seemingly forgetting about the tension on Rosa's end. It wasn't much to go with but the sights of Canterlot, most of them anyways, were faint and faded. Blurred from the running both in his mind and the actual running from many years ago.

He stood there for a while, not noticing his sister already preparing to leave but he didn't say anything to retort. There was still a task and he knows there's still some preparation. Couldn't argue with that. He knows what to look for: mostly vegetables and nuts, a few fruits on the side. Maybe he could sneak in something nice on the side; there's still some leftover bits from his travels and it will be a nice change to spend them on something other than sugary treats. He might not afford it, but how would he know? He turned to Rosa, hopefully not at the point where his irritation would not end up exploding in his face.

"I guess it's off to... Garlic Hoof's Organics? Do you know the place?"

Edited May 11, 2018 by EQ_Theta

BloodDrops · May 12, 2018

On 5/10/2018 at 11:18 PM, Blitz Boom said:

So a story where she were to guess whatever it happened or not? *sigh* At least it wasn't the other games the zombie had mentioned, though she doubted the last one were more than just a fantasy anyway. A head couldn't scream once it was removed from the body, as screaming would require the air in your lunges. It was simple biology, which most beings should be able to grasp.

If the conversation had been around how long the head stayed sentient it would be another deal. She had read some passages in the books she had gotten from the traveling salesman back in Dragon Land, about the subject of sentience and how it would last after you passed on. It wasn't something she would usually read, and she never finished the book, but reading material were reading material. Considering where she had lived, having anything to read were more important than the context.

"It's a plausible story. I can believe the enough shock can cause heart issues, but enough to do that? I don't know definitively.

If you want a yes or no answer though, I will say that its false. Seems odd that a book - magical or not - could cause that much shock on its own."

Frankly she didn't care, but what else were there to talk about? The things she cared about wasn't something that she thought Droppy would even try to understand, much less keep focus on as the explanations were long and boring, and Nerzhei didn't exactly have much else than her research in her life. Just Lotus, and proper pet management was likely also too boring for Droppy to pay attention, plus her upbringing of Lotus should probably not apply in this land.

Her bunny friend were great in her mind, but she weren't blind to how alienated Lotus's upbringing had made her from others of her kind, who couldn't handle the more violent streak that Lotus had. It was a result of having to grow up in an area where all she could look at for role models were dragons, and no other bunnies. It was inevitable that she would start to act like them, more than the creatures she had been taken away from when when she was a tiny little thing.

Nerzhei had with heavy heart attempted to release Lotus in groups of bunnies the rare few times when she had run into them, but they got scared of her friend, or Lotus tried to acty like them, and didn't feel right. Either way, she would always return to her dragon friend, which were great for Nerzhei, as she felt sad at the thought of loosing her, but wasn't too good for Lotus herself, as she became more of an outsider. Much like the dragoness, she just couldn't function well among others of her kind.

Droppy let out a low snort, she had thought better of the dragon but it seems she had been mislead. She shook her head and smirked at Nerzhei. "Plausible? Aren't dragons meant to be smart?" she queried flicking her tail and being rather amused with herself. "Well your not really anything special, not compared to the Sphinx that told me of this same riddle. i managed to solve it, though not from sheer luck or flawed assumptions" she tutted rolling her eyes. "I do miss her old riddles, Might have to go back there someday" she added, wondering if she had any more. She should do, she hadn't seen her in a age.

"The book had nothing to do with it at all, nor your lack of experience and your belief that its not possible. The problem that you face seems to have eluded you. Now think of it, if one of the brothers had a bad dream, of a axe wielding maniac and had died instantly, how would the other brother know what he had been dreaming?" she asked her with a small smirk. "Unless of course they were both dreaming the same dream, but that just means that both would have died since they wouldn't have been woken up by anything and the book being magical probably would have killed them" she said with a snort.

She let out a yawn, "Well I shall give you another go, and this time think about it before just guessing. This one won't be as easy" she giggled, She contiued to follow the dragon, they were getting closer to cave territory now though it was enough time for this riddle.

"I am the end of life but also the start of earth.
I wait in the middle of the ocean but not there in the bank.
I stay very close to the beginning of the death.
I am able to enter in the heaven but also there in the midst of the hell."

Droppy ask her eyes glowing red again as she finished. "Well, whats your answer" she asked her after a brief pause.

Rising Dusk · May 12, 2018

@Blitz Boom

He smiled down at the jumping filly who was trying to reach the button he had identified. So he was right after all. Reaching up, he tapped the button with his hoof and sure enough, the door opened. Not really wanting to tempt the warning about how quickly he needed to get out of the workshop, he quickly filed outside two meters away with Blitz Boom. Turning back, expecting to listen to the various clicks and clanks of the workshop as all the defenses were put up, but there was nothing. Interesting.

Perking his eyebrow as the other stallion mentioned that the workshop was non-lethal in it's defenses. Technically this wasn't a residential area, so security systems weren't illegal as long as they were non-lethal of course. Rising Dusk didn't want to spoil their partnership at the moment make making SURE they were non-lethal.

"Of course. This way."

He replied before turning back around, leading the Boom siblings back into the city. It was a pretty far walk, but Rising Dusk was impressed how long Blitz Boom could keep jumping and calling out 'Scrapyard'. Where they were going was much closer to where Rising Dusk lived in the city, but still far enough away that the noise of a scrapyard wouldn't be heard by the local residents.

A few short cuts and long streets later, the trio would soon be coming up to the scrapyard Rising Dusk had been talking about. It was a very large scrapyard, where all the metallic garbage of the city and other neighboring towns was crushed, melted and turned into scrap to be reused else were. Large clawed cranes picked up piles of metal, dropping it into grinders where sparks flew for a time before stopping. Walking up to the fence, Rising Dusk pushed it open for the trio to enter. Inside, piles upon piles of metal sat heaped. Rows of carriages ready to be broken down and made new again. Shelves upon shelves of smaller bits of gizmos, springs and all ready to be melted down.

Making his way over to the small building that sat in the middle of the scrapyard, he could spot who he was looking for. A mare with a rust colored coat and platinum hair that spilled out the sides of her hardhat. To crossed pieces of re-bar stamping her flanks as her cutie mark. She'd been giving out instructions to her workers, moving priorities on what companies need metal first.

"Rusty."

The midnight blue stallion greeted with a smile and a nod of his head. The mare turned around after dismissing her team, reaching up with a hoof to adjust her hardhat. A bright smile was returned to Rising Dusk.

"Detective! It's so good to see you! What brings you down to my neck of the city? Who are your friends?"

Rusty was in charge of the local neighbor comity that Rising Dusk lived in. As an active member in his community, he was often called upon for his services. Mostly for block parties and the seasonal get togethers.

"This is Molotov Boom and his little sister Blitz Boom. We're looking to take some of Deep Iron scrap off your hooves."

Storm Shine · May 12, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight @Blitz Boom

Discord shrugged, "So Stand-up comedy isn't my thing, small price to pay for being the most powerful chaos entity in existence I'd say." He chuckled, "I do better with visual and slapstick humour, gags, things like that." The Draconequus yawned, "And you didn't miss a whole lot, just some boring stuff, you know, the Smooze practically drowned everyone after eating some shiny stuff, I learned a friendship lesson and sent the Smooze home, yadda yadda yadda." He explained briefly, waving a paw dismissively while biting into a large cheese wheel.

Lucid_Nightlight · May 12, 2018

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Speaking of being a powerful entity, you mentioned something about absorbing chaos energy just before I ate the stick. Does that also mean gaining more power?"

The poquus liked the idea of being as powerful as possible, Maybe if another reality warper went crazy, maybe that would help. The alternate he lives in isn't equipped to handle such a thing, especially with the fact there is no Mane 6 there.

"The guards there don't really do much except wave at others who walk by."

Edited May 12, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Blitz Boom · May 12, 2018

@Rising Dusk

Seeing how the mare in charge greeted Rising, Molotov went in closer to the detective and whispered whilst waggling his eyebrows a little.

"Looks like somepony knows how to handle himself 'round the mares, eh?"

He could've used a few more crude ways to say this, but Rising was still an officer of the law, and some of them could be real sticklers when it came to wording of things. Usually he didn't care much and just blurted out what was on his mind anyway, but the two of them had a partnership going, so he figured he'd show a bit of restraints for now.

Perhaps it was a bit presumptuous of him to think that there were anything between these two really, but the mare had seemed awfully happy about seeing the stallion, and that got the mind a-wandering. At least it did for Molotov, who were really the last pony that should be asked about relations, considering how his approach to them tended to end up getting him kicked in the face, or dropped into a vat of fungal growth. Though that last one hadn't been so bad. The two of them had started to hit it off after the third time the Mycologist had pushed him into that thing because he got on her nerves, and he had considered trying to don a protective suit and ask her out.

Just his luck that his plan were set right after an errand he had to run, and that ended up being when Center Zero were attacked...

*sigh* But that were a chapter that were over for now. A month and a half without any signs of the others had gotten him to the point where he accepted that they were all dead or worse, and things had to move on. Though as it had turned out, he still had as much luck with the mares as ever when he tied to talk some of them up after he had started to wander around and deliver some papers. one of 'em even cracked half of the lenses in his goggle. That had been a pretty irritating situation, but it was his own fault for asking a total stranger if they were up for a mind scan to check if their brain were as smoking as their body. Even he had to admit that that particular one had been pretty bad.

Whilst he thought on this, and spoke to Rising, Blitz had no interest in any of that. Ever since she saw the piles and piles of scrap, her eyes had gone wide, and she had stood completely still, with an increasing smile spreading on her face, threatening to pop it in half.

"Scrap! Yeeeeeeeeee-erk?"

She had started to run towards the piles when suddenly, her left back leg had gotten stuck and she fell flat on her stomach.

Looking back, she saw what it was and pouted up towards her brother, who looked towards her when he felt the familiar pull.

"Lemme go, lemme go!"

She tried to pull at the string that were tied around her leg, but to no avail. The sturdy metal wrapped in plastic that went from her leg and towards one of the pockets in Molotov's belt weren't letting go off her, and since she kept pulling constantly because she were too excited to think straight, she weren't getting loose.

"Not a chance sis. I ain't gonna let you get lost and hurt in there."

While he had the urge to go in there and look around too - by Celestia he really wanted to - he also knew a thing things about safety that Blitz had yet to learn, and he could control himself. Her? She would jump into the first pile she saw and dig around if there was a chance she could get a good spring, and if the pile then shifted around... He would never be able to forgive himself if she got hurt because he were careless and let her wander around like that.

Sure, that sounded weird when he let her play with explosives in the lab, but in there he could activate some safety procedures if it looked like things were going to end poorly, and control that she didn't get the most dangerous stuff in her grasp. Mostly... Carmen had started to get her things out of curiosity, and he had been unsuccessful in getting to an agreement with her that she didn't conveniently *forget* now and again.

"Beast on a leash aside, how's it hanging Rusty? Dusky here said that you had some workable scrap 'round here we could test some things on?"

His eyes got drawn to one of the crane, and his lenses adjusted to zoom in and examine things a little closer as it moved some scrap around, at which point he wrinkled his nose disapprovingly.

"Pff, they call That a crane? My grandpa could've made better with a thermodrivel and two bags of charm clogs."

He'd have to look closer at some point, but his disapproving mumbling wasn't for nothing. He considered the design of those things to be fairly inefficient for what they were supposed to do. This was a scrap yard, not a sandbox, so running with the same setup was fairly foolish. Perhaps they couldn't afford a proper engineer 'round here? Or were this really the best they could do? Celestia above, what a horrid thought.

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

@BloodDrops

"My answer is that I care far less about this than I previously thought. I'm a scholar, not a Sphinx's pet, bound to listen to their inane drivel..."

She were getting irritated on the mare again, as she more or less flat out called the dragoness not just stupid, but at the same level as most dragons. Something she would refute with every fiber in her body, as the majority of those she had met, were far closer to being feral beasts or frat boys than actual, intelligent beings.

And just because she were not good with riddles, it did not mean that she were stupid. Riddles were mind games and insinuations, hardly ever facts or real observations, and she had seen what she had been told as a question of facts. Magic were involved after all, so who were to say that said brother would not know that the other had a bad dream? Droopy had even said that it was a magic book. The data presented did not tell that the brother could not in any kind of way have noticed the other having a bad dram in one way or another.

Certainly, Droppy had some point in the surviving brother not being aware of the dream that the other had, but once more, if the book were magic, that may well have been a known side effect that had been disregarded. There were no certainty in what was presented to her.

Then came the new one, which she begrudgingly began to think about after her little outburst, and thought on what had been said exactly. It was a strange one as well, but at least it did not involve magic, so it were more factual by all accounts.

Seconds ticked by as the gears grinding in her head, looking over the clues presented in each line of the riddle, to see if she could find what it were that it was talking about. She had an answer fast enough, but it just didn't seem right. It would be a ridiculous thing if that was it, but the more she pondered, the less other options she could think about, so eventually she just let it go and prepared to give a mundane, stupid answer, to something which were surely deeper than what she had gotten to.

"Is the answer the letter E?"

It sounded even dumber as she said it out loud, but she really didn't want to twist her dozy mind over this anymore, so Droppy could get what *joke* answer Nerzhei had been able to conjure up.

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

@EQ_Theta

Rosa were irritated to some degree when it came to Scarcity, but he did not let it transfer over to Sen after they left the mare and Lin behind.

"I know where it is. Follow me."

The coins dangled against he chest, and he felt a slight annoyance by the feeling.

It were generous to provide them with the bits to cover the expenses, but he knew the underlying reason why she had casually done so. It were to prove to the three of them that she were more than capable of paying for a job well done. It was a small hint from her side that if they wished to deal with her again and offer their talents to her service, they wouldn't wander away with empty hooves or claws.

As somepony who no longer had a paying job - working in asylum for King Thorax were not a paying position - he hated how this action were making him feel somewhat drawn towards the thought of working for her, at least once in a while when he needed some bits. Sure, he could begin to steal things too, but he refused to go down that route. He were a spy, not a thief, and he wouldn't pass that threshold if he could help it. He'd work odd jobs collecting information before that.

"From the looks of things, our budget to shop for seemed to be around 300 bits. It should more than cover what we might need."

back with the two females, Scarcity chuckled as she watched the two of them wander away. Such a peculiar couple of beings, and at least when it came to the spy, resourceful. She'd have to see what Sen might do first, but she'd perhaps spin her web to entice him another time, once this job would prove whatever or not his sister and him could do a piece of work in a timely fashion.

"With them on their way, shall we move along too dear? And do try to ignore the looks of the nobles that may pass us. Most of them are incapable of feeling anything but resentment to those they believe to be beneath them."

Even her, who several of them relied upon, got some half-muffled tells behind her back and scowls from the more annoying among them, such as Prince Blueblood. It ended up biting them in the flank of course, but ah, this was not the time to reminisce over such frivolous activities. They had a location that needed to be set for Lin, and Scarcity had some preparations to do when they were done. As such, she would begin to move along, towards her store in the finer area of town.

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

@Dji @Lloyd

Void gave a weak smile at the pun involving her name. She didn't really laugh much over things, as she didn't like the attention it tended to bring towards her, though the pun had been good.

Every thought about that vanished however, as they rounded a corner and saw Zhu and Karmic, who to them were an unknown quantity, and to the general might well be the aforementioned Emerald. Something Sapphire should be able to tell it wasn't at least, though they wouldn't exactly have any time to focus on that as said mare smashed a free-standing vase that had yet to be put in a container: A chimera of dark, yellow and blue magic that were rapidly swirling into existence. This were both a threat to them, the palace, and to all the other things that it might knock around when it was fully formed, and drew most of Tidal Wave's attention as the two escapees escaped through a hatch in the wall that were mostly closed behind them.

"Oh freaking hay. I will personally trap you both in a freestanding cell above the feeding stacks!"

The threat might seem weird, but it was really not meant to be if you knew anything about the Coast Guard and their connection to the sea life that tended to gather around their main seat. Endangering the palace and the city in general like this were inexcusable, and she were going to make sure that those... Traitors, were going to feel the wrath of the Coast Guard for this as soon as she got hold of them.

"I'll handle this. You three focus on getting the intruder."

Tidal Wave jumped to the side and took a spear with a large, flat end that were usually used for putting some of these things in place, and swirled it whilst rushing towards the still-forming creature. She'd jump up and aim to strike it right in it's left head, then lure it further up where the guards could hear it and help her deal with this thing.

Void's responded to the sight by whimpering slightly and feeling frozen in place, with the only movement being her reaching for something in the small saddlebag that her big sister had carried. Sapphire and Astral might be able to do something here though, to ease the fight. Especially if they knew of the storm chimera that had been locked into the vase.

It were essentially a storm given form, making it a formidable foe, but also prone to be dispersed as any storm could be. If they could redirect or demolish the link between the three parts, or negate the thunder - represented by the snake tail - the storm might ease down and fall apart, allowing for it to be tamed.

It was but one of several options of course. They could also leave it to the general and go for the path as were asked about, or a few others things to quickly and forcefully handle this highly magical creature.

In the pathway, Zhu were moving in front, but with the darkness in here, it were impossible to run too fast for him, or he'd ram into a wall or potentially activate a new trap. He couldn't add light currently, since the ordeal from the thing that Karmic almost afflicted upon him had been severely draining too, and none of the trinkets he had with him were light based. Not in that way at least.

They might end up getting caught if they didn't try to get a move on though, as Karmic's action had cost them precious seconds. Though on the other hoof, it might well also be the thing that saved them, as it would cause the ones approaching to have a lot to deal with currently.

"If your distraction works for long enough to reach the exit, I can ensure our escape."

He had not the time to look at the others and see what the future would bring, but he knew one thing it would bring: Karmic had been witnessed destroying highly dangerous things under Canterlot. She would be wanted throughout the land as a traitor for that, and would have to either give herself up and do several years of time, or live as a low key fugitive. Not a preferable situation for somepony, but she had made her bed, and unless she found a way out of this horrendous situation, it were now up to her to lay in it.

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

@Lloyd

A few minutes would pass, before Captain Hailstorm would enter the cell again. This time, he would be alone, as he did not find that it was sustainable situation to hve Null in the room with Warlock anymore. The two of them were going to end up fighting, and then he'd have to chain up the small mare to the wall. Something he were tempted to do, as she were getting on his nerves, but he had other priorities. or rather two, as he entered and saw the guard from before that had just decided to wander off to tell the generals something, but had apparently instead only stood outside and waited.

The captain scowled to the guard, and walked closer to him.

"Another time that you decide to play mind games without discussing it with your commanding officer, soldier, remember that the forge could always use a few extra hooves."

Kitchen duty was a threat of boredom, but the forge? Ever since the dragon Benny had taken it over,the temperatures in there were so scorching, that only two ponies had been able to last for long periods of time in there, and those two were nuts. To be sent out to help in said forge - even for a few hours - were a threat of overheating, dealing with crazed ponies, and a dragon. The last being something that not all ponies liked, even though Benny was hardly a threat to anypony. Only to the body of ponies that couldn't stand the heat, which as mentioned, were nearly everypony.

With that reprimand sorted for the time being, Hailstorm redirected his attention towards Warlock.

"And you should not feel safe simply because I return without her. This cell is still equipped to handle somepony like you, and a completed chain to deal with you better will soon be ready.

Now then, I want answers. You claim to have been a guard here, but I can assure you that e would have remembered seeing somepony like you around here. What guard were you part off? When was this? What was your name?"

He could check their ledgers if he had some information to work from, and perhaps have something they could use against Warlock. But for that he needed answers, and these he weren't sure Warlock would simply give up.

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

@Moonlit @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

Floating along with the others, Cherish looked between Serenade and Celestia, not knowing what they were making a move for currently.

"I-Is something wrong, or is the potion they were m-making soon done? I don't understand w-why we rush."

It were likely not something bad, or they would've been running, but it still seemed odd. Like Celestia knew something that mighty go wrong here. Hopefully it were not

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

@Victoria Sponge

Benny and Pop both looked rather impressed at Victoria when it came up that she had been beating others up at several points in her life. Sure, they had seen her be verbally abusive, but physically harming somepony? Neither of them had thought she would actually go that far.

But that sorta thing seemed like it was in the past, though if she ever wanted to lift Benny, he wasn't going to stop her. It'd be kinda funny, and more interesting than when it happened at work. Usually that was in regards to some sort of bet, rather than just being able to, or in a friendly manner. The Royal Guards could be kinda weird sometimes.

"Heh, if you ever get the want to really beat up somepony, you should join in on the fighting tournaments in Las Pegasus."

"Don't even joke about that, Benny. I've seen what happened the last time we were there. That's not fighting any regular pony can get out of without a lot of wounds."

"I know, but it was still kinda cool, and it was the only thing I could think of. Sorry Victoria."

The dragon gave the mare a sheepish grin, and hoped that the comment wasn't badly received.

Pop had been focused on showing him all sorts of things that happened in Equestria the first few years after he moved to this country, and among them had been the yearly fighting tournament in Las Pegasus.

It wasn't the only one around the country, but he had seen some of the others, and not really cared much for them. All of those he liked were in the Las Pegasus one, and it just wasn't the same if it wasn't one of those he could see move on to the regionals. Might change this year though. One of the ones he hadn't bit much mark in the first few years - a unicorn mare - had actually started to get some good fights going for herself, and it drew his eyes. Especially when she had won this year, which were pretty impressive when you considered that magic was forbidden in the tournament.

He had enough time to think on it though. There were three months to the regionals, and he had a proposal to think on before that. If everything went great, then perhaps he could celebrate it by inviting Pop along to that. It wasn't her favorite that had won this time, but it had been pretty a pretty close fight.

Whilst Benny thought on this, Pop focused on the conversation between the family that had wandered over into talking about cakes. Specifically, battenberg cakes, which seemed to be fitting, considering where Victoria worked. How she had forgotten that that was the name of the final cake too were kinda embarrassing too, yet the conversation took an unexpected turn, and she lost focus on being embarrassed over her own thoughts.

"I like the name, but are you sure that Battenberg would be okay with it? She might still be worried that things uhm... N-No, nevermind. If it would help you to get closer, and your mother is willing to support you, I think you should go for it too. It's not like you're not skilled after all, Victoria."

Pop averted her gaze with a great blush on her cheeks, wishing that she had been able to bite her lip sooner. Even though she hadn't fully said it, she had been far too close to say that Battenberg might expect Victoria to still revert and would get worried from that. It were really not something you said to a friend- Hay, it wasn't something you should say to anypony.

Benny reacted to the little slip of the tongue by his mate with wrapping his wing around her a little, to show his support. He'd have grabbed her in his hands too if it were, but they were currently full of blueberry cake, and it wasn't gonna make things better if he started to smear her in cake.

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

@Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine @EQ_Theta

"Wait, Discord did stand up and an ooze creature messed up an entire gala? I miss all the fun stuff!"

Anomaly had seen the Smooze once before, but hadn't had the time to go and poke to him with a stick or something similar, as she had been out looking for mammoth squirrels, which she might have lost track off at a bad time. Thankfully it had only been a forest rampage, and she remade the trees almost to be as good as the ones that had been crashed down. Her first attempts had mad them far superior, but apparently it was a *bad* thing to have the trees wander around at night and spook foals. Buzzkills...

"That's it, I'm gonna hang around Lucid so I can see weird things too. Perhaps even seeing him finally being funny."

Seeing as Discord was apparently allowed to have a snack, she figured it wouldn't be so bad either and set on summoning a crunchy, delicious breezie. Soon as she was about to try though, a large acorn fell on her head with a note taped to it saying *Not gonna happen*.

She tried a few times more, but the author were hellbent on making sure she didn't go ahead and do this, mainly because he were trying to get her away from the disgusting and disturbing habit. Eventually she just settled on eating the large acorn, though she didn't look none too happy about it.

Lucid_Nightlight · May 13, 2018

@EQ_Theta @Blitz Boom @Storm Shine

"Ha! You're getting pushed around by a hairless monkey! He'd probably do something to me but..."

Lucid opened a portal to the hairless monkey world, stuck his head in, and looked at the human author.

"...you learned your lesson after the tiny bull incident, didn't you?"

Lucid then got his head out of the portal and closed it.

"What's that Pringle? What do you mean I need to keep my ego in check?"

The lizard just stood there like any other lizard.

"Alright fine, I'll calm down."

Victoria Sponge · May 13, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Victoria smirked slightly.

"Now that would be unladylike Benny. I'm not sure I want to be a fighter anymore. I'll use my strength for more productive purposes, and if I need to use it in combat I'll stick to holding ponies at hoof's length rather than inflicting injuries."

Being violent would just turn her back to her old ways, controlling her anger and not being so sensitive would be key to changing her attitude and reputation and she didn't want to ruin that.

Lemon reacted to the statement before Vicky could, this may have been for the best as it prevented her from taking it the wrong way. Her expression revealed that this very well may have been the case, her eyes narrowed and she looked a little hurt that Pop even thought about that being a possibility, it wasn't really her place to predict her sister's reactions.

"Battenberg would be fine with it, obviously I'll discuss with her but she puts a lot of faith into me and Strawberry Sprinkles as her managers, and she loves Vicky dearly, any opportunity to work with her sister and not against her will be appreciated I think."

Heather laughed upon observing Victoria's reaction.

"You should be careful Pop, now that you know what Vicky is capable of."

Victoria now turned to her cousin, giving her an even more ticked off look than she had just given Pop.

"I would never..."

Heather shook her head and apologised, looking quite sheepish, maybe that had been a bit of a sensitive joke to make at this moment. Victoria moved over to Pop and gave her a small hug, she wanted to show that this hadn't soured things between them and to make an offering of peace, she was serious about not wanting to hurt Pop, especially over something so trivial.

"I understand what you're saying but I feel like you don't know Battenberg as well as I do and maybe you shouldn't judge her or me based on the little you know about our relationship, because believe me there is a lot more to it than what you've seen so far. I forgive you though, you meant well, I'm sure of it, and I'm happy to have a friend that is honest and outspoken."

Victoria had grown to like Pop a lot, perhaps this is why she was so quick to forgive her, she was one of the first proper friends she had had and she didn't want to lose that. She appreciated all that Pop had done and wanted to do for her.

EQ_Theta · May 13, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sen reached into his pack and pulled out a tiny pouch of whatever bits he has left. Not much but it was what he saved up on his travels, or whatever he scrounged up from the fountains all around Canterlot. He wasn't sure why anyone would throw their money away if they needed these for their transactions. It was a duality of wastefulness and wealth that he didn't fully understand; perhaps he just wasn't wealthy enough to understand.

"I've got about twenty bits left on me right now," Sen concernedly replied, hinting at something more than the fear of being short-changed. "Would the owner of the place even talk to us with me tagging along? I'm not sure if me being there would make them hesitant to talk to us. I hear the attitude of the wealthy ponies here can be a little dismissive."

Downplay it all he wants but Sen's concern was more than that. Simple to speak of now but there was a time he'd be run out for being in Canterlot, mistakenly squatting in place like this. Probably a few ponies around might remember his face, maybe even call the guards. He kept that thought in mind as he walked away from Lin and Scarcity, seemingly forgetting their task for a moment to ponder on old experiences.

With Sen no longer within earshot, Lin turned to Scarcity with a look of solemn, defeatist acceptance. It was just as Sen had described in his stories, every bit as Scarcity described and more. "Incapable of feeling anything more than resentment, and yet they can do more to back it up instead of proving otherwise. I don't know the extent of it but brother does. He said he lived in the town's slums after a restaurant cook ratted him out to the guards. They didn't know what to do with him so they threw him there, maybe to forget he even exists. That's what they do, right? Ignoring a problem to hopefully forget it was ever there?"

As much as she could try to take Scarcity's advice, a bit of her brother's experience clouded her mind and defined her expectations of Canterlot. She knows well about how not everyone is the same, yet Sen's stories already made her think less of Canterlot's citizens in return. She wouldn't say it but she wouldn't try to hide her thoughts on them either. So much for keeping a rational outlook...

"Sorry, I'm just babbling. I'll follow your lead, Scarcity. Let's go."

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

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

Lucid's interaction with Pringle reminded Fluttershy a lot about Pinkie and Gummy, almost like they are near-identical copies of each other. She wouldn't question how Pinkie knows what Gummy is thinking about but they seem to get along just fine. Maybe she might introduce them both to Pinkie; she's always excited to meet someone new. Hopefully it wouldn't be as loud and grandiose as throwing a party in the library but it was quite fun to be invited. Of course, she wouldn't put it past Pinkie to one-up her last party's fun factor.

Then there was the gala Discord was invited to. The Smooze's presence wasn't even the most surprising thing about it; Celestia actually sent an invitation to her once hated enemy, something Twilight couldn't understand back then. The two seemed to have smoothed things over now, perhaps having learned to let bygones be bygones no matter how bad tensions were back then.

"If you'd like, I could ask Celestia for more tickets the next time she will hold the Grand Galloping Gala," Fluttershy joined in, hearing about the antics that happened in the last one. "She's grown fond of spicing things up during those formal events. I remember the first time I attended... I tried to befriend the animals living in her garden and ended up letting them loose in the castle. We ended the night having donuts with Celestia at Pony Joe's."

It wasn't exactly how she expected her first gala to go, but she was content with it. Very few could say they sat down and had donuts with the princess, after all.

Edited May 13, 2018 by EQ_Theta

BloodDrops · May 13, 2018

11 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"My answer is that I care far less about this than I previously thought. I'm a scholar, not a Sphinx's pet, bound to listen to their inane drivel..."

She were getting irritated on the mare again, as she more or less flat out called the dragoness not just stupid, but at the same level as most dragons. Something she would refute with every fiber in her body, as the majority of those she had met, were far closer to being feral beasts or frat boys than actual, intelligent beings.

And just because she were not good with riddles, it did not mean that she were stupid. Riddles were mind games and insinuations, hardly ever facts or real observations, and she had seen what she had been told as a question of facts. Magic were involved after all, so who were to say that said brother would not know that the other had a bad dream? Droopy had even said that it was a magic book. The data presented did not tell that the brother could not in any kind of way have noticed the other having a bad dram in one way or another.

Certainly, Droppy had some point in the surviving brother not being aware of the dream that the other had, but once more, if the book were magic, that may well have been a known side effect that had been disregarded. There were no certainty in what was presented to her.

Then came the new one, which she begrudgingly began to think about after her little outburst, and thought on what had been said exactly. It was a strange one as well, but at least it did not involve magic, so it were more factual by all accounts.

Seconds ticked by as the gears grinding in her head, looking over the clues presented in each line of the riddle, to see if she could find what it were that it was talking about. She had an answer fast enough, but it just didn't seem right. It would be a ridiculous thing if that was it, but the more she pondered, the less other options she could think about, so eventually she just let it go and prepared to give a mundane, stupid answer, to something which were surely deeper than what she had gotten to.

"Is the answer the letter E?"

It sounded even dumber as she said it out loud, but she really didn't want to twist her dozy mind over this anymore, so Droppy could get what *joke* answer Nerzhei had been able to conjure up.

Droppy snorted and tutted. "Well that answers wrong, wasn't even a answer, or a attempt at a answer. Logical dragon response, can't solve it and cant smash though it give up." she added with contempt. She let out a low giggle, enjoying teasing the dragon as such. She thought that Sphinx's were cleverer then dragons and could at least give a acceptable 'don't know' whenever they didn't know something rather then have a temper tantrum like a dragon would have.

Droppy blinked as she gave her the correct answer, she nodded "there you go put your mind to it and you get it, was rather easy. The only possible solution for that particular riddle was the letter E" she added with a smile. She began to think of another one of these puzzles, after all every puzzle had a answer. Unless it was unsolvable but then it wouldn't be a puzzle.

"I go through a door but never comes in or goes out. What Am I?" she asked her. She contemplated on making a dragon joke, but decided against it. Nerzhei wouldn't appreciate it.

Rising Dusk · May 13, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk inclined his head a bit in Molotov's direction and gave him a little grin.

"If you say so."

He didn't have a special somepony, having not quite found the right girl. Not that he was actively looking either, though, even with his sister's constant attempts to meddle in such things. He'd received advances before, but he was always good at stirring them in other directions. Definitely not wanting to be a heart breaker after all. Nah, Rising Dusk spent his Hearts and Hooves Days working some extra hours at the agency so that everypony else could go home early and enjoy time with their special someponies. Plus, Rusty was married.

Rusty and Dusk were about to continue with their friendly pleasantries before a shinny thing crazy Blitz Boom was about to take off to who knows what corner of the scrap yard. The two just starred and watched the event of the two siblings unfold with dumb struck looks. Luckily, Molotov knew his sister well and had safety measures prepared. Even if they looked a little, strange to a normal pony. Strange though, was something Rising Dusk was going to have to get use to while he worked with the pair.

Finally regaining her train of thought, she looked between Rising Dusk and Molotov.

"S-Scrap Deep Iron? I have plenty of that. Not much demand for it right now. Come with me. Put on these hardhats though."

The mare instructed, motioning to a bin full of hardhats that visitors were required to ware, especially around the cranes. Walking over to the bin, Rising Dusk ignited his horn and removed three hardhats. Placing one on his head while moving the other two to the Boom siblings to wear. Turning about, Rusty took the trio past a several cranes and the yard's main furnace on there way around the yard.

"So how yer folks and sister been? Are they coming to the Spring Festival this year?"

Rusty asked the midnight blue stallion as they approached a large storage area of gray metal.

"Mother and Father are doing great and should be making it this year. Setting Dawn is, well, Setting Dawn and will not."

Heaps of Deep Iron in many different forms, from panels to springs to ingots to cogs now sat before them in this storage area. It looked like Rusty was telling the truth and the need for Deep Iron wasn't all that big right now. Turning toward Molotov, assuming he followed and wasn't distracted by something else or a 'Beast on a leash' hadn't caused trouble.

"How much should get to start us off?"

Edited May 13, 2018 by Rising Dusk

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