open Casual stroll

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"Library, huh? I once saw a bunch of books on why the royal guards are useful, maybe we should put those all in the fiction section."

Lucid had another idea also.

"Another thing we can do is put statues of myself all over the bedrooms! Oh and we can also take the table map thing and put it in the bathroom! She'll be so confused!"

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Warlock looked to his missing legs as they spoke. "A pony of my crimes deserves no help." He said blatantly, a mindset he had ever since he used dark magic. Ignoring the worlds changing perspective on evil ponies even now. "Do you really think I can just walk back from what I did and get accepted into society?" He tilted his head as he spoke.

The guard with anti magic armor, looked to Warlock. "If we didn't think that we wouldn't be offering the possibility to you."

[Rising Dusk 27,723]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk had probably just opened Pandora's Box with his discussion to shift the topic to something Blitz Boom wanted to talk about.  But he figured it'd be a good way to get to know the filly a little better.  He was already starting to get a good grasp of her older brother after the last couple hours together.  When released from her leash, she was a bouncing ball of joy, powered by her own willpower to be in such a state rather than relying on sugar like most young ponies.

It was rather refreshing really, granted he didn't know of the hardships she experienced running at 200% at all times, as they continued their journey to the east side of the city.  He listened and nodded at the appropriate moments as she rambled on.  Very similar to her brother, if at a much higher speed and less grip on the world around them.  She was a young unicorn that dreamed of flying, and he hoped that one day she could finish her wing project and do just that.  Rising Dusk preferred his hooves firmly on the ground, thank you very much.  There were of course spells that could allow one flight through magic, but with the current condition of her horn, that would not be likely.

The shift to mention of wooden puppies though caused the stallion to raise his eyebrow.  The filly knew of Timber Wolves?  And had interest in them?  How odd.  Although, if she had been in the Everfree Forest long enough, she'd probably have had an encounter with them.  True to her cutie mark though, the majority of the information dump remained focused on explosives.  She'll be moving mountains in no time.  Whether that'd be a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

Rising Dusk had to suddenly put on the breaks though as the filly suddenly stood in front of his path.  Letting the cart thud his back with the brace of his shoulders to keep from running the filly over.  Now finding himself under assault of a barrage of inquired.

"No I don't.  Just magic things.  Yes it can.  Yes it's dangerous.  No they don't.  No I haven't.  No I'm not.  Yes it can.  Brains help us think.  No I'm not."

Rising Dusk rambled off his own short replies to all the questions asked of him, in order of course after she took a break in her questioning long enough to take a breath.  Smiling down to the young filly blocking his path demanding answers of him.  Such things he was more than capable of keeping up with.  Part of the gift of being a great listener, not forgetting what he was listening to.  Even if at times it didn't look like he was paying attention.  His father joked at times that Rising Dusk would make the best waiter, as he wouldn't forget a order.

"Quite the focus on food.  Are you hungry?"

Edited May 28, 2018 by Rising Dusk

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom @Dji

Sapphire stood there, her eye sparking with magic and anger after missing Karmic. Astral now right next to her, and creating a shield to deflect the spell as Zhu cast it, just in case, keeping it up even after it was interrupted. "If you feel no joy, then you should stop doing any of this now!" Sapphire said, holding her magical construct that was her sword, towards Zhu.

Astral looked to Sapphire, expressing the confusion towards the magic she felt coming off Sapphire at that moment, which felt like illusion magic. "Don't you think working with the generals could prevent any horrific futures, rather than turning evil to do it?" She asked, looking back to Zhu. Sapphire giving a glance to Astral. "At least give us a chance to fathom what is to come by letting them help!"

"Ponies like these aren't easily changed." She looked to Karmic, but it was as if her eyes were not looking at Karmic, but rather the thing inside her.

"Let's just let him talk to us before we say that."

Edited May 28, 2018 by Lloyd

[BloodDrops 762]

On 5/24/2018 at 10:44 PM, Blitz Boom said:

"The only friendly visitor I get isn't all that large."

Nerzhei referred to Lyriel, who she were technically supposed to oversee, but didn't need to be looked at too much. The dryad were essentially harmless and friendly, and more often than not, it was actually her that came looking for the dragoness, instead of the other way around. She supposed that were going to change now that Lyriel had breached the mental barrier she had against entering Ponyville and mingle with ponies, but it mattered little really. Nerzhei needed to follow Droppy around for a while now, which were unlikely to be a short adventure. She didn't consider herself that lucky.

She moved closer to the entrance to her cave, spear lifted and growling, prepared to defend the measly slice of the forest that she called home. What were about to approach she had noidea, but something told her that the creature that had left those clawmarks on her *door* were a good candidate. And if that was the case, Droppy was right. This was something big.

Granted, Droppy were likely to just eat the thing, but then what if it were something like a large Timberwolf? Sure she smashed them, but she couldn't eat them, and the wooden creatures kept coming back sooner or later. Resilient predators, although they could at least be taught to keep away. Other things like Chimera's were another deal. Nerzhei wasn't sure if they came this far away from their area, but it were simply an example of something that were less willing to take a hint and get lost.

"If it's edible, try to keep your chewing to one side so the rest can be packed for rations."

That would more or less be her only part in this more than likely. Taking the pieces left over, and make them usable later on for Droppy. Like she were a common butcher or something along those lines. Frankly it was demaning, but considering the alternative, what other choice did she really have?

Droppy let out a snort and rolled her eyes she growled at the creature as it approached and then stopped. She began to talk to the creature, though only some muffled sounds came from outside. Though from the occasional sound from Droppy it wasn't hostile though like she was greeting a old friend/ aquatint. Droppy moved closer to the cave, "Yeah i'm sure Nerzhei doesn't mind you scratching at her door, or rock or whatever it is. You lost your temple huh? That's tough, I feel that. Though not sure if they have any temples here, not big ones you could fit in at any rate" she remarked to her friend.

She trotted back into the cave and blinked at Nerzhei. "you know any temple builders or any unused temples or have any building experience of temples?" she asked her before glancing as her friend tried to squeeze inside of the cave. Droppy frowned, "Like I said you don't fit, or maybe you do now" she grumbled as her friend pushed her way into the cave causing a large hole to appear, she shook her head "your very clumsy, Sphinxy" she grumbled.

 

Sphinxy stared around the cave and glanced at the dragon, "Peasant! Give me sustenance" she growled down at the dragon. She was hungry after all, though she could get some food from the plague walker. "Plague Walker, sustenance!" she growled down at her after a slight pause. 

Droppy tilted her head, "Not been called that in awhile. Let me see, hmmm. How about this one? An iron horse with a flaxen tail. The faster the horse runs, the shorter his tail becomes. What is it?" she asked the Sphinx. 

Sphinxy stayed quiet for awhile. She was thinking of the answer. She wasn't quick as she once was though she could still ponder the answer. Not like the zombie gave her a time limit after all.

Edited May 28, 2018 by BloodDrops

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Rising Dusk

"Hungry for brains? Nuhuh, nope, no. Apples tastes better. And pineapple, soup, muffins, cupcakes, caramel, radishes hayfries, fr-"

"You'll get your snack when we get home Blitz. Speaking of, wanna go up and see how close we are?"

The filly would be out of Rising's way instantly as she heard that, and impatiently waited fro her brother to put down the crate of her stuff, as well as the box he had gotten. Afterwards, the Molotov would fold out the metallic wings on his back and flap up into the air. As Rising would be able to see, this were an action taken without his horn, as that were not the part of him that were currently glowing.

The wires going from the base of the metal plate keeping said wings on - how were not shown, but it seemed unlikely to latch on without something underneath keeping it there - glowed a slight blue, whilst the gem around his neck that the wires were connected with, had a stronger, deep-blue hue to it.

He'd grab hold of Blitz with his front hooves and flap up with her so they reached above the rooftops. At which point, he'd start to talk to her about something that were hard to hear, though it seemed to excite Blitz, who almost fell out of his grip with her wriggling.

They'd be down again within a minute, and after Molotov folded the wings in again, the light in the wires and the gem slowly began to fade out, as the stored energy were not actively used anymore, and he began to use his horn to return one box to his back, and get the other one lifted again.

Blitz meanwhile, used the time to bounce forward down the road, just like she had seen Pinkie Pie do constantly back in Ponyville. It weren't perfect, and it went somewhat slowly, but in all fairness, she were weighed down with the metal from her currently ornamental wings. It weren't as easy as it were for somepony who wandered free of burdens. Plus Blitz were certain that logic had nothing to do with Pinkie, considering the things she had seen the mare do. It was one of the things that made the mare so awesome to her.

"We should be there in around seven minutes it looks like."

Molotov poked the gem around his neck, then shook his head.

"I really have to figure out a way to cut the power more efficient than this. It's just wasting charge right now.

Heh, bet you don't know what I'm on about right now. I'll show you the schematics when we get back to the workshop. They should talk louder on my design than anything else.

Anyway, you don't need to worry about Blitz being hungry. She got her dinner a half hour before you showed up earlier, but she's always happy for a snack. Though in your case, it's just how the questions that popped out of her head went that lead her there. The whole zombie thing, you know? Blitz is pretty much controlled by impulse, and when she gets hyped up like this, her questions goes off in rampant fire.

Frankly I'm surprised how well you did handling it too. A lot of ponies ends up finding her challenging to deal with when she's like that, but you kept a good cool over the whole situation, and even kept up with her questions. You're gonna do great when you have a crazed foal of your own one day, Dusky."

Blitz were a special case, but all foals could end up having episodes of sugar-hyped randomness, filled with strange actions and bizarre questions. It could really take it out of you if you had no idea what you were dealing with, or didn't have some ear plugs so you could ignore it, but Rising hadn't broken a sweat. Molotov honestly admired that about him.

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@EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight @Storm Shine

"Nuh-uh, I'm not going inside the castle. Twilight is dangerous. Turn's draconequui into stone and everything. Better to make a garden gift."

It were true that Twilight technically couldn't do that anymore, considering the elements of harmony were not in play, but who could say for sure that she didn't have other tricks up her sleeve? Better to mess with her from the safe outside, and not inside the castle that Anomaly could literally not break into. Seriously, she had tried a dozen times after getting here, but she couldn't get through the walls, the floors had no cracks she could grow up through, the door were more or less sealed, she couldn't open a small portal to the rooms, and the time she had tried to fly in, she had hit her head on something she couldn't see.

Discord might be able to get in there, but he were way stronger and perhaps had a better relationship with the princess. Friendship and all that jazz. Bottom line were that this draconequus were locked out. She wouldn't admit it to them of course, but knowing Lucid, the cheating mind-reader could see what went through her head right now.

"Oh, Flutterpony? No reason to worry. Ponds and fountains are totally getting installed outside. What's a garden without that? What are the fishes, frogs and horrible interplanetary monsters gonna drink and swim it without it?

Well, depends on the monsters I guess... I bet some of those are stinky. Meh, if something like that comes around, I'm thinking you'd be way more concerned about them to worry about the water anyway, hehe."

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@EQ_Theta

"I'm afraid that there is only one being I would ever trust to touch the book, but I can arrange for copies of her notes and current pages to be provided within a few days. If your people have some insight, it would be potentially groundbreaking.

But that is for the future. Follow me, if you will."

Scarcity lead the way to the counter, where a stallion stood, looking quite like a high end librarian. The look he sent towards Lin were short, as Scarcity waved him off as they passed him, but it showed some curiosity. Not the demeanor of somepony who looked down on her, as you might think from somepony that looked as he did, but simply questions that came from seeing her following his boss. Yet as with so many of Scarcity's best employees, he wouldn't ask questions, but simply returned to waiting for the nobles that he had helped before, who should be there shortly with the details of the  object they wished to purchase. He'd have to arrange travel for the item after that, so he had plenty to do without getting involved in his boss' business.

The mare in question would lead them down a hall that were lined with beautiful tapestry and the occasional painting, that gave the surroundings a lovely, calm feeling, much like the store behind them had. More up scale than one might think for a simple hallway, but that were part of having class in Scarcity's eyes. Had to make the entire establishment look presentable, and not simply the part of it that most stayed in.

Eventually she'd lead them into a room on the right, where several boxes of varying sizes stood along the walls. In the middle, were a large area cleared out.

"Welcome to one of my storage rooms. When you produce the statue, I would like it if you could place it in the middle of the room in here, and don't worry about it being somewhat wet. I am in the process of having the room cleared entirely and readied for a potential increase in water levels.  Dreadfully annoying, but one can never take too many precautions, no?"

The room - when cleared - would serve as a pretty good place for the statue, though how Scarcity were going to get it out might be harder to say. More than likely, there were a door or otherwise large opening hidden behind one of the boxes that could be used. Otherwise, it would just be trapped in here, and what would the point being in that?

As for Sen, Rosa had not taken notice of how the message that somepony might use Sen's tragedy against him, but he wouldn't have said it was a lie if he had either. Most ponies were either nice, or thought using something bad somepony did as a weapon to be disgusting, but not everypony were good. Some were bad, ad some sought any advantage they could get in life. If that meant ruining everything for a single being to benefit themselves somehow, that wouldn't mean anything to them.

Things were likely okay, but Rosa couldn't exactly ignore his paranoia about these sort of things. In his line of business, *better safe than sorry* held a good deal of weight.

Getting past the other ponies, he finally spotted what he were looking for, and waved Sen closer.

It was a small, somewhat unimpressive shop, simply called *Wilderness Shop*. Not the most imaginative Rosa had ever encountered, but he'd take it currently, as he could see camping equipment through the windows, showing that they were in the right place.

"I need to get our food supply secured before I can go in. Try to see if you can find a tent that will fit you and Lin, and I will be in there shortly."

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@Victoria Sponge

Benny grinned at the ponies when they questioned whatever or not he'd be able to find them.

"No matter where, no matter when, I can always find my mate. Her smell's pretty distinctive."

He booped his nose, and began gathering up the rest of the things when he heard Pop approaching, and turned around to be met with a surprise kiss from the mare. It was a short one, which did not leave his brain with much time to react on it before it was too late, leaving him somewhat befuddled and with a darker hue spreading on his scaly cheeks..

"Get to us soon, okay? I know it'd mean a lot to them if you're there too."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

The two of them went each their way after that, with Pop sharing a small blush on her cheeks with Benny. These little things were silly, she would admit, but it felt right to her, and among the things she had learned whilst being together with Benny, it were that thinking over everything were not good. Logistics of offspring, lifespan, perception by others and so on, were all things that would put a dampener on things. Going with the flow and not thinking on the long term logic worked better, and besides, she enjoyed making him blush sometimes, considering how often he enjoyed doing that to her. Along with the times he did what he could to make her laugh in public, like introduced himself as her mount and putting her on his back.

Perhaps a story to share at some point, considering the two of them now had a slew of new friends who didn't know much about the odd couple. They'd probably find it funny. More than the nobles he had done it around once had. Completely humorless ponies that bunch, although she could've sworn she had seen a few smirks on some of the nearby ones faces. Pity they preferred to keep up appearance, rather than have some fun.

"So, should we get out of here and back to the main streets? I'd rather not stick around and meet some of the less friendly dragons now that we don't have any with us anymore, and I miss the colorful streets. Also, I'd like to know more about your family on the way if you can tell something? It seems like it's absolutely huge, with cousins, siblings, uncles, aunt's and so on all over the place. I have a pretty small family, so I'm curious how yours work, and how many are in it. It must be several dozen from the looks of things so far."

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@Lloyd @Dji

Zhu hissed at Sapphire after the shock and pain of the shoe thrown in his face began to subside, and looked at the relic out of reach. He could try and get it, but with the sword pointed his way, he wouldn't make it without being stabbed or decapitated.

"Ponies are like most creatures in this world. Limited, blinded things, who see nothing more than what lies straight in front of them."

He reached up slowly, and pulled his hood back, revealing the snake head beneath. The upright scales on his head and neck vibrated slightly as the cleaved tongue escaped to taste the air, and his golden eye fell on the enemies they were now facing, to try and seek something in their future that could be used while he spoke.

"I am cursed to see everything unfold. The unwritten that you cannot fathom.

In this, I see the horrendous things that can come to pass. The death of a nation, corpses in the streets and rivers running red. Several outcomes, with destruction that cannot be stopped once it begins."

"And what, giving weapons to criminals will prevent that?"

Tidal Wave came closer again, and stopped a little to the front right of Astral. She should be attacking, but it seemed this being were beginning his monologue, and that could be free information for them before they took him in. Considering the bash from before, she would be thrilled to put him in a cell back where she came from, and throw the key to the sharks.

"Sometimes. Others require more time and actions taken, which I can't trust somepony like you to make. Because you are not willing to sacrifice a few to save everypony else."

"Of course I won't. A life is not something you trade."

"You're wrong. For every action, there will inevitably be an equal, or greater reaction. Such is the simple doctrine of balance, spoken by the primal forces who make individuals like me take the burden of making that judgement call, and give them purpose, and guidance. Slaves to a purpose we don't want, but can't close our eyes to anymore.

Good and evil are simply words on their scale, and if one part begins to waver too far down, the primals will ensure that the scales will be evened. Even if it means sending the crueler among their servants to cause untold misery, or releasing a great danger from imprisonment. The balance will be upheld.

So yes, I make the call. I let the innocents suffer, loose everything, or indirectly cause even worse, because it is all weighs on the scale that will carry over when it comes to prevent disaster.

I am immoral, and no, I don't care for the individual life, because if I do, I begin to waver and try to reason mercy in where it only lead to more suffering. Such as now.

If I let you stop me, or hand over the element again, Emerald will find another way, and the death toll will be in the thousands. If I deliver it to her, suffering will spread among dozen of vulnerable innocents, but few - if any - will die."

Oh yeah? And where in your delusions are us stopping you, and then her?"

Zhu smirked ever so slightly, with a joyless expression remaining on his reptilian head, and his golden eyes so far firmly stuck on Tidal Wave.

"Then the primals will send one of their less scrupulous servants to even out all the good that you do from preventing this. The cycle will still continue no matter what happens here. The only difference will be in lives lost."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

"You're afraid of Twilight?"

Lucid reckoned that Anomaly had a point. Twilight would probably have some sort of way to beat everyone, plus Fluttershy would take her side any day. It was too bad Lucid was still at his lowest level of power. Sure, Lucid may be clever, resourceful, and have many tricks that'll allow him to cause trouble for the alicorn, but Twilight happens to be way smarter than he is.

And with Fluttershy siding with her, that means Discord would too and he's likely more powerful than Lucid is... for now of course. His trickery worked on Discord in a bet a while back, but it would only delay his defeat in a full fledged fight.

"Yea, thinking about it, the outcome wouldn't be very good."

A garden probably wouldn't cause too much trouble. Twilight probably wouldn't catch them and even if she did, she'd probably just be glad Lucid was doing somewhat fine after that accident that resulted in the death of his friend. He didn't know her that well, so he assumed it was in her nature to care about these sorts of things. She seemed to be worried about Lucid the day he left, even tried to convince him not to blame himself that day, it didn't work. Which reminded him.

"Hey Fluttershy, be sure to let Twilight know that I'm doing somewhat fine. I may not forgive myself, but I don't want her to think I'm depressed or anything like that."

Then Lucid brought up the statue thing again, he really has his heart set on leaving statues everywhere again.

"So, the statue, how big should it be? Should it be made of stone or marble? Oh maybe iron or s- oh almost forgot."

Edited May 29, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Sekel 693]

@Blitz Boom, @Lloyd

KARMIC FATE

Karmic massaged her head with a hoof, trying to alleviate the pain in her forehead. She sat up on her haunches and her eyes widened at seeing Sapphire. Both eyes suddenly turned a cloudy white and Karmic began speaking in a far-off tone. "There's so much sorrow in your past, Sapphire. You've been wronged so many times. Why do you keep blaming and fighting others when you can't face your own problems?"

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@Lloyd

The lieutenant looked at Warlock after his rebuttal to their suggestion. A small bit of sympathy had mixed in with the nervousness and fear she had of him, hearing what sounded like a pony that had just given up on being salvaged again. Of course, it could be he were trying to manipulate her, but Hogweed were not like, for example, Hailstorm, Her job required empathy for others, whereas he were the one who needed to be mistrustful, as he handled more criminals than she ever would.

"Discord hurt a lot too, but he have been redeemed. If you are willing to try and change, I don't see why we couldn't help you as well."

Granted, she didn't know what Warlock might have done before he appeared in the garden, and she were not feeling great about having somepony who she had seen hurt her fellow guards potentially go loose, but weren't their job to try and imprison and help, rather than just indefinitely incarcerate somepony? Why else did they run programs to reintroduce criminals to the society after their release? Or the option for counseling whilst on the inside? The message she had always taken from this, were that they would stop criminals by helping them all the way through the process, so they could be model citizens again. an attempt at preventing further crime from the individuals, rather than constantly cycle somepony in and out of prison until their last breath.

Running a constant prison scheme without helping the inmates improve themselves and moving past things... It wasn't a sustainable system. Plus it was far more expensive for the kingdom to keep hundreds, if not thousands locked up constantly, rather than investing in them getting the help and treatment they needed.

Now if they could do something like that for Warlock... Hogwed didn't know. It would require time, and him proving to them that he actually wanted to change, but perhaps if everything aligned well, he could one day be a free pony again.

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@BloodDrops

Nerzhei thought that the sounds she'd hear from outside would be simple. Some growling from Droppy, a large roar from what she would assume could be a ursa minor perhaps, and then some scuffled sounds that would culminate in a large noise from whatever had attacked, before everything would go silent. Then the chewing would begin, and the dragoness would stay in her cave and feel disturbed over what had happened, as well as trying to think over how to explain to Lyriel that somepony had taken down a rare creature like an ursa minor, if that were indeed what it had been. The conservationist dryad wouldn't like to see the low population threatened like that.

Instead of this though, she heard something more akin to banter. Too low for her to hear at first, but as the strength increased and she moved closer to the exit of her simplistic home, the words began to be clearer, although the meaning did not. What kind of creature would Droppy be considering friendly, who were apparently big enough to mess with the large rock that had been in the way before, and had lost a temple?

That last part began to make Nerzhei grimace, as a candidate came to mind, based on what the zombie had spoken off earlier too. An unlikely suggestion, considering where they were, but Equestria seemed to attract many strange, weird creatures. Were it impossible for one of them to go so far from their homeland? Unfortunately not, as unlikely as it would seem.

Still, she would only get answers from confronting this creature herself, so she began to look towards the exit- And then came the creature she had feared, crashing through the now substantially larger entrance.

"A sphinx..."

Nerzhei fell on her rump, and took a vial out of her bag with an increasingly shaking hand. Droppy had been enough of a challenge to her migraine, but this? Sphinxes were presumptuous, snobby pests that had no redeemable qualities from what the dragoness had read. The limited historical lore she had read about counted in only three, but in all stories, they had been if not villains, then at least menaces.

And now she had one in her home, along with Droppy... Perhaps the smart solution right now were just to offer herself as being the sustenance for the sphinx, as to spare herself from whatever horrid outcome would result from the two of them wandering together? It seemed like the least painful solution in the long run.

"A large feline with wings, and ornaments dangling from her body. This forest still have much to show me it seems."

THe voice would come from behind the sphinx, were a peculiar looking pony would move from the trees and towards them, eyeing what she could see of the creature with great curiosity.

The dragoness looked past the large feline when the elixir started to work in dulling her increasing migraine attack, and looked towards the *pony*. There were something wrong with that one which did not convince Nerzhei that this were in fact a pony, such as the flowers that seemed to grow from the stranger. Sure, they could be simply ornamental, but it didn't look that way for her. Plus, the eyes were too strange to belong to an actual pony. The pupils might fit in size, but no pony had sclera that were a slightly paler green like that, so much she knew at least.

"Is this a friend of yours, Nerzhei?"

Wait, that voice... You had got to be kidding.

"Lyriel?"

The dryad nodded, but didn't get closer, as she were not sure how to approach the feline yet, before Lyriel had the chance to see how she would respond. Felines tended to not like their personal space being interfered with at the first encounter with somepony new.

"Yes. I came around to show you how I had regrown, as I spoke with you off a few times. Perhaps I have arrived at a bad moment though? Do you perhaps need help?"

It had been a long day in Ponyville, but she overall thought it a success. She still missed having digits though, but she were certain that she would get used to this weird body eventually, and- Wait, why were Nerzhei drinking a purple liquid after she had spoken? Were the dragoness ill?

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight

It was an odd thing to hear from Lucid, whatever must have happened with him and how Twilight is involved in all of that... Fluttershy wouldn't know the half of it. It gave her some pause, likely leaving the pegasus to ask herself just what had transpired. If anything, she wouldn't be taking that prank back at the cottage too hard knowing Lucid was not unlike anypony else. The attitude... would it have something to do with his way of coping? In any event, Fluttershy didn't think too hard about it but nodded at Lucid.

"I'll let her know as soon as I can, Lucid. I'm sure Twilight will be glad to hear from you."

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@Blitz Boom  

"Huh, well I'll try my best to keep the statue dry... or about as dry as possible. Rest assured it will be here when you'll need it."

Smart or simply professional, Lin's attitude could only get herself and Sen so far but for now, she stands to gain something more for herself and for her fellow longma back home. It will do them some good to at least learn something about the history they try to ignore. Inaccuracies aside, no one bothers but suppose she had an idea to help further elder Ghilan's request. What the longma of old knew could benefit the modern day longma. Perhaps very few will come around to the idea for now but hopefully more could be convinced to change their minds. There aren't any linguists back in the village but everyone knows a word or two from the old language; the peppered words easily come off as about as common knowledge. 

Sen, thought about how Rosa's words came off, forgetting the context behind his own background. It's very much understandable and to some degree, being suspicious of unknown variables would make him just as unlikely to share knowledge like Lin's condition. Suppose Sen has seen enough in the years before not to put too much stock in someone he's just met, and yet he still trusts the spy more than the antiquarian. On the matter of supplies, however, and Sen is stumped with what a tent is, much less what one looks like.

"Sure, Rosa, I'll just find us a tent. I think really going into this one blind."

For the meantime, he wandered around the store looking lost and confused, muttering tent... tent... what is this thing... under his breath. Even the sight of materials that could light fires easily caught his eye more frequently.

Then there's the him wondering to himself how the two of them would need a tent when they've more or less adapted to sleeping under the stars. Aside from the weather, it doesn't seem to sensible, maybe to them at least. The weather might not be so good so it is sensible to get one for that reason alone. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by EQ_Theta

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"She's the one who witnessed it, tried to assure me that what I did was an accident. I tried to convince her to order some sort of charges on me, maybe have me locked up  or banished for life, but she wouldn't since it was an accident. So, I banished myself to another universe. If I hadn't been so careless and not let myself be distracted by that dark figure in the distance he'd still be here."

Lucid had a flashback to the moment, his mind got so immersed in this memory, the chaotic magic showed the event outside of his mind, as if being played on a screen.

(The flashback)

Lucid was working with some sort stone, talking to his friend.

"...and thats how I got this stick!"

"You tricked Discord?"

"Of course I did, where else would I get it?"

Lucid got distracted, he saw a dark figure in the distance, seemed to be a dark unicorn. They moved their head in a strange direction as the horn would glow a dark grey and then the stone fell in the same direction at the exact same time.

(Flashback ends)

"It's probably best not to dwell on it too much, too depressing."

Lucid didn't want think about it anymore, he had better things to think about.

"Anyways, that garden isn't about to build itself!"

[BloodDrops 762]

12 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Nerzhei thought that the sounds she'd hear from outside would be simple. Some growling from Droppy, a large roar from what she would assume could be a ursa minor perhaps, and then some scuffled sounds that would culminate in a large noise from whatever had attacked, before everything would go silent. Then the chewing would begin, and the dragoness would stay in her cave and feel disturbed over what had happened, as well as trying to think over how to explain to Lyriel that somepony had taken down a rare creature like an ursa minor, if that were indeed what it had been. The conservationist dryad wouldn't like to see the low population threatened like that.

Instead of this though, she heard something more akin to banter. Too low for her to hear at first, but as the strength increased and she moved closer to the exit of her simplistic home, the words began to be clearer, although the meaning did not. What kind of creature would Droppy be considering friendly, who were apparently big enough to mess with the large rock that had been in the way before, and had lost a temple?

That last part began to make Nerzhei grimace, as a candidate came to mind, based on what the zombie had spoken off earlier too. An unlikely suggestion, considering where they were, but Equestria seemed to attract many strange, weird creatures. Were it impossible for one of them to go so far from their homeland? Unfortunately not, as unlikely as it would seem.

Still, she would only get answers from confronting this creature herself, so she began to look towards the exit- And then came the creature she had feared, crashing through the now substantially larger entrance.

"A sphinx..."

Nerzhei fell on her rump, and took a vial out of her bag with an increasingly shaking hand. Droppy had been enough of a challenge to her migraine, but this? Sphinxes were presumptuous, snobby pests that had no redeemable qualities from what the dragoness had read. The limited historical lore she had read about counted in only three, but in all stories, they had been if not villains, then at least menaces.

And now she had one in her home, along with Droppy... Perhaps the smart solution right now were just to offer herself as being the sustenance for the sphinx, as to spare herself from whatever horrid outcome would result from the two of them wandering together? It seemed like the least painful solution in the long run.

"A large feline with wings, and ornaments dangling from her body. This forest still have much to show me it seems."

THe voice would come from behind the sphinx, were a peculiar looking pony would move from the trees and towards them, eyeing what she could see of the creature with great curiosity.

The dragoness looked past the large feline when the elixir started to work in dulling her increasing migraine attack, and looked towards the *pony*. There were something wrong with that one which did not convince Nerzhei that this were in fact a pony, such as the flowers that seemed to grow from the stranger. Sure, they could be simply ornamental, but it didn't look that way for her. Plus, the eyes were too strange to belong to an actual pony. The pupils might fit in size, but no pony had sclera that were a slightly paler green like that, so much she knew at least.

"Is this a friend of yours, Nerzhei?"

Wait, that voice... You had got to be kidding.

"Lyriel?"

The dryad nodded, but didn't get closer, as she were not sure how to approach the feline yet, before Lyriel had the chance to see how she would respond. Felines tended to not like their personal space being interfered with at the first encounter with somepony new.

"Yes. I came around to show you how I had regrown, as I spoke with you off a few times. Perhaps I have arrived at a bad moment though? Do you perhaps need help?"

It had been a long day in Ponyville, but she overall thought it a success. She still missed having digits though, but she were certain that she would get used to this weird body eventually, and- Wait, why were Nerzhei drinking a purple liquid after she had spoken? Were the dragoness ill?

 

The Sphinx blinked and grinned  showing her teeth. "oh oh, a needle and thread. Very well put Plague Walker" she purred approvingly. She turned her attention back to the dragon and frowned. "is there a question in that statement? Or just a exclamation?" she asked abruptly. "I am indeed a Sphinx, I could offer you a riddle, though it comes at a price if you get it wrong" she stated glancing down at the small dragon. 

 Droppy blinked at the Sphinx, "Well you could cure her migraines with your magic, in exchange for a riddle. I'm rather good at riddles now" she growled before giving the air a sniff, smelling a funny plant smell. She thought that was most odd. Though she spotted the plant pony by the entrance of the cave and growled at it "Shooo" she growled at it showing her teeth. That normally scared most ponies away.

Sphinxy tutted, "You've already got my riddle wrong and paid the price for such actions, you don't get another go. This is the dragons choice alone" she grumbled down at the plague pony giving her a hard stare until she looked away, she knew how to control ponies even the difficult ones. She glanced at the open door and down at the odd shaped forest pony. She snorted at the statement she gave "A large feline with wings, and ornaments dangling from her body" well obviously its myself you are referring too. "Dumb ponies trying to make themselves smart by stating the obvious" she growled giving her wings a flap. She rolled her eyes at the friend statement. "More of a aquatint of a aquatint. Though you can indeed help, you can create me a new temple after I've lost my old one" she growled at the forest pony.

Droppy went towards the odd plant pony and gave it a sniff wondering if she could touch it. It did smell nice after all and she was in a touching mood after being rebuffed by the Sphinx. She just wanted a riddle after all, hers were good but not as good as a sphinx's. "Have I met you before? you smell familiar but I've not met a plant pony" she asked her giving her a very good going over with her nose. She had indeed smelled this thing before. 

Sphinxy snorted at the two ponies behavior and turned her attention back to the dragon. "Well here is the riddle for yourself. Try it or don't though theirs no going back once you give your answer. If you guess right then I cure your headache, guess wrong and this cave is now mine and you must leave" she cackled evilly. 

"With pointed fangs I sit and wait; with piercing force I crunch out fate; grabbing victims, proclaiming might; physically joining with a single bite. What am I?"

[Seamore Sandwich 471]

@Blitz Boom 

@Moonlit 

 

“Serenade has been living amongst ponies her entire life, even before I learned of her.  Any revelations of her true nature might be met with hostility, so it is best to keep her hidden until such a time that the populace will likely be calm and understanding.  As it stands now, there is enough tension with the acceptance of reformed changelings that introducing a Siren to the public could cause a panic,” Luna informed Cherish.  “I believe you have too little faith in the ponies of Equestria,” Celestia said calmly.  “Everypony is told stories about the Windigoes every year when they’re but foals.  Sirens and Windigoes closely resemble each other in form and function.  If her revelation is not well timed, it could be a catastrophe, and you know as well as I that we’ve had enough of those already.”  When Serenade took the potion out of Luna’s magic aura, it was still hot as she had just removed it from the flame.  It would burn going down, but the transformation should begin soon after.

 

@Blitz Boom 

@Dji 

 

Looking concerned, the newly arrived Celestia said to Last, “You should get some rest Last.  You can’t get any better if you don’t give it a chance to heal.”

 

@Blitz Boom 

 

“There was a bit of floaty stuff, but other than that she seemed normal.  Although, I don’t quite have an understanding of what ‘normal’ is yet, so I couldn’t say for sure.”

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom @Dji

Sapphire only looked at Zhu with anger in her eyes, only giving a glance to Karmic when the being within them spoke. "This is what I mean." Her sword extended in length. "No matter the species, not a single being can just, save the world rather than killing everypony in the process, sparing nothing to achieve what, Peace? Not when you've killed to get there, and clearly you need to kill to get past us."

Astral held onto Sapphire's hoof, to keep the sword down, knowing what Sapphire wanted to do. "Listen, we've still not heard a reason for us not being able to fathom these futures your cursed to see, Zhu." Astral looked to Zhu as she spoke. "We legitimately could just, work together to defeat her before Any ponies die or suffer, you have the element after all. And you can see the future, however vivid it may be" She said, gesturing to him.

Sapphire let out a sigh and closed her eyes. Stepping back from Zhu, her eye sparking once again.

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

@Blitz Boom

His eyes scanned them, the past, however long it's been, felt like years really, with him doing these shenanigans trying to get the elements, to get the unobtainable, and these guys were being serious about turning him good despite the many things he did to get to where he was only a days ago,. but then it fell apart and now he was here, everything he did was pointless now. "So you're serious about this?" He looked away, and started to chuckle, transitioning into a laugh. "Oh is this because I give you an advantage for something bigger than me? Because I am pretty sure Discord was reformed purely to defeat Tirek. Although, he did fail."

[Rising Dusk 27,723]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk listened to a new rambling that came out of the little filly's mouth.  He didn't have to listen long before her brother interrupted.  The topic shifted though to finding out about how far they were from their destination and when Molotov said go up, Rising Dusk had to perk his eyebrow in inquiry.  When the two dropped their scrapyard booty and the events unfolded, he understood.

What a malicious time they lived in.  Rising Dusk watched as Molotov picked Blitz up and lifted her from the ground through the power of those mechanical wings he'd been wearing since they met.  The future is ever approaching.  With modern advances in engineering, the skies were soon to no longer belong to the pegasi.  Sure, unicorns could fly with the use of very advanced magic, so only a small hoof full in Equestria, and Earth Ponies could use balloons or airships.  Here though, he witnessed the future of personal flight as the two Boom siblings were in the air having a private conversation that Rising Dusk wasn't going to intrude upon.  Judging about the blue glows he saw coming from the gem and the tendril wires on the wings, he could figure it was still magical in nature, but further inquiry would be needed.

When they returned to the ground, he watched as Blitz bounced off down the road in a rather curious fashion considering the weight of her own wings.  The wooden cart creaked as the midnight blue stallion started down the road again with the knowledge that they were close.

"I can take a look at the blue prints to see if there is any advice I can offer.  If it's magical in nature, of course."

He chuckled a little as Molotov made the offer.  Nodding in his understanding that he need not worry about the hunger of the hyper filly that bounced down the road.  Her metabolism must be crazy at those levels of energy output. 

The compliments the other stallion was giving him couldn't help but bring a smile to his lips.

"Why thank you Molotov.  When you live in the big city long enough, you meet all sorts of ponies.  I've dealt with more challenging personalities before.  Plus it helps to have good memory."

He added that last part by reaching up and tapping his head, half expecting it to rattle like an overfilled bits jar with everything stored in it.  Alas, he was greeted with the usual thud of tapping one's head.  A foal of his own one day, something he'd hardly thought about until earlier conversations brought up his lack of love life.  Rising Dusk simply shrugged with a smirk.

"Perhaps that theory will be put to the test."

[Moonlit 593]

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich Sereande shudders, and her entire body is encased in a soft glow. The transformation is not painful, but she does grunt and groan. After a few moments, Serenade stands there...in her Pegasi form. But unlike before, her usual 'wet' mane look is gone, and she's slightly taller then before. "I've said it before Princess, I HATE Potions...bleh"

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@EQ_Theta @Lucid_Nightlight

"Big as the door, and with her wings spread out to make it look even bigger. Oh, and marble, Glorious marble with silver for eyes, tip of the horn and a gold crown! Ehehehe."

Anomaly bounced in place from pure excitement, nearly missing that they had almost arrived at the castle. A minute or two more and it should be it.

"I mean, I'm so not touching the silver, but it looks pretty on statues. You just put it on Lucid, and everything's perfecto. I bet she'll be happy too if you say it's a present, since you know her and stuff."

She had no idea in what capacity he knew her, but she didn't really focus on that either, as they got a viewing of one of his memories. Kinda weird, but the short of the long seemed to be *Lucid's friend went splat*. That sucked to see honestly, as Anomaly didn't like to think of ponies actually getting squashed like this, but there wasn't really anything she could do here. If she had been there at the time, she could've put the mare back together in a snippet, yet it wasn't possible after around ten minutes had passed. Not because she couldn't still stitch somepony back together or anything, but it was more that their soul were gone by then, and if she still did it, it'd be a new life rummaging around in there. And that is if the pony didn't just go full on feral and tried to attack anypony it could see. Not something she'd want to have happen more than four times.

Man that had been a weird Tuesday...

Anyway, since Lucid's mind-thingie looked like it were supposed to be kinda private, and Anomaly didn't know how to phrase something nice on it right now, she just shrugged and held focus on the castle ahead instead.

She snapped her tail, and as they walked the last part of the way, grass started to grow in a three meter radius around the castle. She were gonna add more later since the front of it looked kinda bare with that little, but right now she were just checking if she could do it really. Seemed to work so far at least.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"Excellent. Now then, since it does not appear that your brother and companion have arrived yet, perhaps we can chat about something that fascinates me for a moment. Mainly speaking, your people.

I will not pry to a location, as I can imagine that your society may prefer a reclusive lifestyle, considering the lack of information I know of you, but what might you be able to tell me about the rest? How does your society work, and your people live? Ah, and if you could elaborate on whatever or not all females of your kind looks as differently from the males as you do from Sen, I would be curious to know as well. It seems like a rather large difference there is between your physical looks."

Scarcity were not going to force this information out of Lin, or more precisely, she would not make Brick force it out of the longma female, but after all that the antiquarian had told herself, she would consider it somewhat insulting if she were not to be told at least some of what Lin's people were like. It did not need to be everything, and she did not think a location would at all be wise to ask for - hence why she had made certain to point out how she wouldn't want to hear that - yet whatever she could learn might end up important one day. Information were a valuable currency after all, and in case their kind began to make contact with Canterlot, she would be better prepared to make a positive first impression on them. It were always easier to make business with the normal beings if you showed them your better side early on, and they might have something of value she could aim to purchase, or trade for.

Meanwhile, whilst Rosa were still outside the store, a greying stallion walked with heavy steps towards him. There were a few others in here, but the look of the pony going straight towards him would make hard to think that he were looking for anypony else.

"Hello there, stranger. The name's Trail Tracker, and this is my store. What can I help a young longma like you with?"

Tracker lifted a hoof and sneezed into it, then ran part of his hoof through his mustache to get it cleaned a little from the spit.

"Dang cold and it's annoyances.

So, what're you looking for? We got everything in survival gear in here, including machete's to thick jungle, snow-shoes for the mountain seekers, and enough rope to tie a line between here and the castle three times over."

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

 

@Lloyd

"Discord were helped towards reforming before Tirek were even known to be loose. After the uhm... I want to say *momentary relapse* though, he have only gotten better. The princesses even like having him around now and again. You know when he'd not, you know. kind of... Messing around with everything.

Point is that we don't want to help because you might be useful for us, but because we should be helping others. Doesn't matter if they're criminals, they should get help so when their time is served, they can be good members of society again. And if the lord of chaos can be taken in by others, why not you? It will sort of take some time, you know, with the guards that got hurt... But it could happen, and it does sound better than being imprisoned for decades, yes? I think it does at least.

I'm sure there's a lot of uhm... Things that have happened to get you to where you are now, but therapy, physical training, prostheses, guidance and other things can help with that. If you're willing to try of course. We can't force it on you, I think? Mostly sure."

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

 

@BloodDrops

Nerzhei snorted at the sphinx and her riddle.

"I entertained Droppy's antics because it kept her docile. I am not indulging you and your lust for stealing my property, so you can spout as many riddles at me as you want. I will not answer them, no matter what prize you attempt to dangle in front of me.."

"Please, there's no reason to fight over space. I can arrange for a home to be grown for you Sphinx, if you would follow me to a more open area? Everything that breathes in this forest can find somewhere to belong."

Her eyes went past the Sphinx and towards a familiar sight that she had ignored for the sake of this new creature first. Somepony that had gotten too close for comfort, and were attempting to touch her, which caused the dryad to take a few large steps backwards, and look at Droppy with sadness in her eyes.

"Except for you. You do not belong here, gluttonous being, and you know that I asked you to leave before the sun set. I'm sorry, but you had been warned."

Lyriel raised a hoof and stomped into the ground, at which point several large, thorny vines rose from the ground and headed towards Droppy, aiming to drag her under, as well as keeping the dryad herself safe in case the diseased pony would attempt to fight back.

"Stop!"

The vines halted as Lyriel heard Nerzhei interrupt the regrettable action, and she looked towards the dragoness with confusion in her pale-green eyes.

"She consumes and consumes without relent. If she is allowed to stay out there, she will only destroy my forest."

"Not as much as if you bury her. She is highly toxic, and would likely ending up spreading disease and mutating the entire forest into monsters if you let her into the dirt."

Nerzhei sent a very unfriendly glance towards the sphinx as the conversation went on to Droppy's disease, as she were starting to get a sense of where the disease had actually come from. If not the originator, then somehow, the sphinx were likely to have taken part in making it far worse than it once were.

Lyriel stood silently for a time, thinking over what had been told to her. If she punished Droppy, her forest would be corrupted and ruined. It would spread through roots and water, causing her to fail her new home, and when the illness began to go for her roots...

The vines went back into the earth as Lyriel concluded that she would become a corrupted, evil thing too. Everything she had kept hiding from for years in her valley, and eventually, what had made her seek escape with the ponies that had fallen into her domain by accident.

"...I understand, but I still want her removed from my forest."

"I'm working on it. Can you handle this thing in the meantime?"

Nerzhei pointed a thumb at the sphinx, who were likely none to happy about being treated like this, but Nerzhei didn't care much. The sphinx were as rude, obnoxious, and self centered as the stories had said. If not more.

"I will help her yes, if she will let me.

Sphinx? Could you wander with me, so we can find a place to grow you a home? And please, call me Lyriel.

Actually, can I ask you something else too? Did you really think I were a pony? I worked hard to find a good form to regrow into, to blend more with my equine friends, but I were not certain if it were convincing. Some ponies in town had strange looks towards me."

"She means that she's not a pony. She's a dryad, which is more akin to a forest spirit inhabiting a living tree."

It was the simplest way Nerzhei could explain it to the simpletons she were dealing with right now, though she wouldn't be surprised if Droppy were going to need it turned a few times. Not like Lyriel and the mare came out great with eachother as it looked though, considering the murder attempt, so one could argue that it didn't matter as much as keeping the two away from one another. They'd see how things went.

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

 

@Lloyd @Dji

"So you conclude that simply because I even, that I kill? I am no innocent, but I have yet to cause the final blow to any being.

What you fail to understand, is that there are far, far more beings in service to the primals than simply me, and they do not have the luxury of knowing what is to come, so they can't even what good needs to happen with several smaller, evil things. If to much good happen, they will simply begin to act from where it stands then.

The first twenty years after I left, I attempted to work it such as you suggest. I went around, doing everything to only save life, never hurt them. Because of this, equality needed to happen, and an earthquake were orchestrated. An event that ended the lives of thousands, because I had not equalized the good with something bad, and forced the hooves of the primals less scrupulous minions.

I know not of much of their actions, but I have seen the results. Bugbear raids on several towns, destroying defenses so changelings can freely consume a city without any being going against them, or the times I have seen them do it the simple way. With a spell or a blade, aimed at the most innocent they can find. What is the suffering of a dozen, when it instead could be the death of one? Nothing but a small price to pay for the impartial, but an unreasonable demand for those who cannot see further than their own snout."

"Excuses upon excuses, that's all I hear. Shifting blame on something called *primals* and saying that others would do worse ain't explaining why it can't be stopped. If you can really see everything, then stopping it all would be easy."

"At which point the scales would go too deep, and something impossible to stop will be forced forth. I see already the same happening here, when I scour your futures for results.

The gem would be hidden, Emerald caught, and things would seem great. Two days later, one would kill the guards you had stationed to keep the gem safe, and another would break in and release Emerald into the room where Canterlot keeps the dangerous weaponry. There she will be given the blood-soaked element, and as she finds it does not give her the body back she thinks it will, she will go mad, and lash out. She will release countless horrors from that room, and steal the most damning weaponry to get her revenge on the kingdom, leaving Canterlot a crater, and this young witch would lay among the dead."

Zhu kept starring unblinking at Astral as he said this, not changing his tone even once to indicate that he found this funny, or otherwise had an emotional response to it besides apathy.

"If then you had more guards protecting the element, stronger beings would simply be sent to take it back, and if the one sneaking into Canterlot is caught, all other timelines shows that it will simply be another one who will get into the vault, passing past the guard who fervently protects it.

Emerald's release is guaranteed regardless, unless you are willing to do the very thing you claim that I partake in. You kill her vessel, and you suck out her soul, damning it to suffer in your stomach, or destroyed entirely. An evil that will even out the good, yet you claim that this is wrong.

Tell me, is killing an innocent and destroying a soul better than letting a few dozen get overtaken, and face some emotional scars from the experience? Because like many situations I find myself thrust into, this does not have the luxury of a happy ending. Only the lesser of several evils."

If it sounded hopeless to the others, it were because it simply were that. Knowing that he would have blood on his paws no matter what he did, Zhu had to face the impossible task of deciding who would be hurt, and who wouldn't, so that nopony at least would be killed. At least often, though the primals had at times directly taken contact to make him stop interfering with their actions. Refusing to comply would result in him getting punished, and he did not wish to go through that again.

If he explained that well enough though, he wasn't certain. Spending most time wandering alone and mainly acting from the shadows, the one he tended to speak the most with were himself, and he already knew what he went through. Trying to explain it to others on the other paw, that had caused him substantial trouble a few times over the centuries, and though  he thought he improved, Zhu knew that it were not perfect.

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

 

@Rising Dusk

"Magical? Mwahahaha!"

THe box of Blitz's things Molotov were carrying fell to the ground as he started to laugh at what Rising had said. Something that kept on for about fourteen seconds, before he could get things down from laughter, to a chuckle, and finally, to simply a smile.

"Awh man that was a good one, Dusky. I think I was about to pass out for a bit there.

The entire point in making mechanical wings is to not rely on magic for them. My creation runs on pure solar power, gathered and stored in the specially crafted gem, and then led to the wings as pure, all natural energy.

I mean okay, it doesn't look like it's solar since its blue, but that's because of the pipes used. had to work with some tinted glass and a baseline sapphire. Put some orange ones and some kind of altered orange clinohumite in there, and that sucker is going straight on to orange power light.

I still have a ton to do with the design though. I mean, the aesthetics alone."

Molotov used his horn to stretch one of the wings out to prove his point. They were crudely made, lacked any kind of design beyond functionality, and seemed like it could cut you good when idle.

"See? Ugly as all sin. Then comes the complexity of the electronics needed to control the wings, the surgery, the way your spine tingles when thunderclouds goes off, and so on and so forth. I'm getting great usage out of it, but there's no way I can present it to Princess Celestia before I can work out the kinks, get some design help, and figure out how to use them without the operations. Once I do though, you could end up seeing earth ponies riding around the sky too in as little as what, ten years? Five if I get a miracle breakthrough.

But hey, who knows? Could be that you would be that miracle.

You gotta understand though, trying to use as little magic in this as possible, because it should be accessible for earth ponies too. If it only works for unicorns, then what's the point, right? Granted, some magic in the construction could be fine, and sure, I do use some amount of magic in the gems to make sure they can store power properly, but nothing can be activatable only by magic. At that point, I might as well scrap it and go work on how to make ponies grow horns, and I was not getting anywhere near that department back home. Freaky-flank loonies those were.

You'll understand some more once you see the blueprints, trust me on this. Some of the things these needs to work can seem a bit crazy.

Until then, how about you tell me a story then? You say you have worked with challenging personalities before, and I'm mighty curious. Unless it's all confidential, officer?"

It might seem a little mocking, but Molotov meant it in jest when he called Rising this. Was just to poke at his rank a little, and what he might not be able to share or do because of his work. They were becoming work partners here after all. Some friendly banter were needed between 'em, and that included some playful stabs like this. Nothing mean.

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

 

@Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"I-I kinda think Princess L-Luna have a point here. If everypony is t-trying to get used to c-changelings, then another could be h-hard."

Cherish really didn't like to say something against Princess Celestia, but in this situation, Princess Luna just made the most sense, and she felt like she had to say something.

Ponies were easy to scare from what they weren't used to, from what she could remember. The three pony races trying to get together were tough enough back then, and here they had the insectoid love eaters getting integrated? Beings that stole love and attacked ponies. It had to be a whole lot harder, and tossing more fuel on that fire could perhaps make ponies mistrust the princesses judgement in cases like that. Had to be something bad that would come from that.

Thankfully, the potion began to take effect on Serenade at this point, providing a good distraction from what else were going on, though it didn't look like Cherish had imagined. A little more glowy than expected, though from the grunting, some degree of pain were perhaps still part of it. Had to be a horrid feeling to live off things like this, and Serenade didn't sound none too happy about it either, judging from her following comment.

"Well, a-at least you're back to looking like a p-pony now. You look a little d-different from the castle though. Less w-wet."

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich @Dji

"I were given a job to fulfill by the united princesses of Equestria. I can't find rest until it's done, and I know that everything have gone spotless."

Last were in pain more frequently the last hour, which she knew were not good, but how could she just lay down and rest? She had been given a job, and it already irked her that she could not lift anything herself because of her injury. If she were to be laid down, it wouldn't take more than a few minutes at most before the thoughts on how the unsupervised workers were cutting corners, slacking off, delaying everything by hours or days from shoddy craftsmanship, or even endangering ponies returning to their homes... It weren't possible for her to sit this out, and have her name tarnished in the princesses eyes.

"I have runningly gotten updates when I haven't been around to watch, and everything is ahead of schedule, since the annoying dragon brought in the Courier's Guild. With the speed they have held steadily over the past five hours, the full construction should be done in an hour and 45 minutes, give or take fifteen minutes.

During the reparations, I also found some of the pipes in the school to be rusty, so I have had workers on them too for the past two shifts. They should be done in less than a half hour.

After that comes inspection to ensure that every home is up to standard and won't collapse on anypony, or leave them cold in the winter. When that's over, and if everything is in order, then I can find rest. But I won't before that your majesty. I cannot lay around in ignorance, and fail the royals of Equestria."

It weren't hard to tell that Last were a deep seated royalist, leaning on full on fanatic, but so were everypony else that had lived at the shrine. Generation upon generation of loyalists did not vanish just because they had been relieved of duty at the temple, it just meant they needed to find new places in a world that were far less dangerous than they were used to.

For some that had meant going the pacifists way. For others, like Last's sister, it meant going to Canterlot and joining the Night Guard. As for Last herself though, it were not that simple. SHe needed to be kept active doing something, and when it wasn't for the royals, she didn't know what else she had left. This job they had granted her when the town needed help? She needed this, as much as the air she breathed, even if she knew that it wasn't going to last. It were but temporary, and after that... What then? Sit around and wither away? It wasn't an option for her, who had been raised as a warrior and felt the need to fight for something again. She just had no idea what, and she were afraid what would happen if she asked the princesses for it, in case they would say that they didn't know.

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich

"Hmm, I'll have to see if I can find the ghost myself later then, and see for myself if she is suffering."

There weren't really much else she could do, but wait and see. Much as Vivid had experience with the damned, she needed some degree of information to determine if things were bad, and just being told that there were floaty stuff were not really enough to evaluate it properly. Some ghosts just liked to float things around for fun, or to show off. It was when it became more violent that the issue arrived.

In any case, she would deal with this another time. For now, they had reached the tall tree that she had sealed the cube into earlier. Undisturbed for the time being, which were a relief, but it didn't make it any more pleasant as the tendrils let go of the tree, and revealed the somewhat glowing satchel beneath.

"Harmonic magic. How I loathe it."

However, much as she hated it, she needed a specific kind of energy source, and this would do that. Long as she kept it floating at legs length away from her. She didn't want it nearer than it had to be.

"With your body safely sealed in the castle, we should have what we need now. It will be interesting to see how you will adjust to no longer being rooted in place."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

"How do you feel about fish bears with giant teeth and have rocket launchers for fins? We should put fish bears in the fountain!"

He would've suggested bugbears, but those things were really annoying.

"We could also install like an unstable fireworks thing! I'm sure nothing will go too wrong!"

It was pretty clear that Lucid was not thinking things through.

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

"I'm looking for a tent, big enough for two to fit? I'm sorry, I'm not even sure what a tent looks like, but that's what I'm looking for. I could also use some rope. How much do those go for?"

Seems like knowledge of the longma outside of the few who have met both siblings is more widespread. Probably hanging around with ponies enough caused word of them to spread and reach everyone unfamiliar with them that the two could be recognized by sight. It's not going to be surprising anymore compared to the forepony from the quarry but this is partly working towards something elder Ghilan requested. Better for everyone in the long run. He's going to have a nice surprise when everyone comes home, though not before chiding the siblings for suddenly disappearing for several days. Ghilan comes off more like a concerned friend now that he has become much closer with Sen, Lin, and Omen. Maybe that kind of attitude could help him become a better elder as well.

But for Lin, the fact that she isn't exactly the way she used to be is still a fairly sore spot. Mostly an issue with sleeping but while she has already accepted it, it still didn't completely sink in just yet. She doesn't blame anyone but herself for it and secretly resents her old self for being so rash.

"Well, the longma have a tribal lifestyle but we're slowly working our way to being fully sedentary. Young longma are given their chance to decide what role they want to play in the village, be it a provider, guardian, artisan, or other miscellaneous roles. Once chosen, the young ones are trained to fill that role for the rest of their lives. Everyone's got to commit to something because one day, they'll be the ones looking after the elderly."  

In a sense, Lin still hesitated on revealing the rest, namely the way crimes against the village are handled and the general form of governance. It was something that isn't set in stone now that Elder Ghilan is working on changing things up. The same went with beliefs, superstitious or otherwise, mostly because it is something that she can't fully explain without resorting to "because that's the way things are." Not exactly a satisfying response, might be especially true for Scarcity.

"For gender differences, males have those long horns like those on Sen while females have these little nubs instead," Lin pointed to her own set of horns. "Females and males are identical in appearance save for some difference in wing span. As for why I look like this... let's just say I made a very big, very regrettable mistake and this was the only way to fix it. I'm not happy about it but I have to live with it."

[BloodDrops 762]

16 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Nerzhei snorted at the sphinx and her riddle.

"I entertained Droppy's antics because it kept her docile. I am not indulging you and your lust for stealing my property, so you can spout as many riddles at me as you want. I will not answer them, no matter what prize you attempt to dangle in front of me.."

"Please, there's no reason to fight over space. I can arrange for a home to be grown for you Sphinx, if you would follow me to a more open area? Everything that breathes in this forest can find somewhere to belong."

Her eyes went past the Sphinx and towards a familiar sight that she had ignored for the sake of this new creature first. Somepony that had gotten too close for comfort, and were attempting to touch her, which caused the dryad to take a few large steps backwards, and look at Droppy with sadness in her eyes.

"Except for you. You do not belong here, gluttonous being, and you know that I asked you to leave before the sun set. I'm sorry, but you had been warned."

Lyriel raised a hoof and stomped into the ground, at which point several large, thorny vines rose from the ground and headed towards Droppy, aiming to drag her under, as well as keeping the dryad herself safe in case the diseased pony would attempt to fight back.

"Stop!"

The vines halted as Lyriel heard Nerzhei interrupt the regrettable action, and she looked towards the dragoness with confusion in her pale-green eyes.

"She consumes and consumes without relent. If she is allowed to stay out there, she will only destroy my forest."

"Not as much as if you bury her. She is highly toxic, and would likely ending up spreading disease and mutating the entire forest into monsters if you let her into the dirt."

Nerzhei sent a very unfriendly glance towards the sphinx as the conversation went on to Droppy's disease, as she were starting to get a sense of where the disease had actually come from. If not the originator, then somehow, the sphinx were likely to have taken part in making it far worse than it once were.

Lyriel stood silently for a time, thinking over what had been told to her. If she punished Droppy, her forest would be corrupted and ruined. It would spread through roots and water, causing her to fail her new home, and when the illness began to go for her roots...

The vines went back into the earth as Lyriel concluded that she would become a corrupted, evil thing too. Everything she had kept hiding from for years in her valley, and eventually, what had made her seek escape with the ponies that had fallen into her domain by accident.

"...I understand, but I still want her removed from my forest."

"I'm working on it. Can you handle this thing in the meantime?"

Nerzhei pointed a thumb at the sphinx, who were likely none to happy about being treated like this, but Nerzhei didn't care much. The sphinx were as rude, obnoxious, and self centered as the stories had said. If not more.

"I will help her yes, if she will let me.

Sphinx? Could you wander with me, so we can find a place to grow you a home? And please, call me Lyriel.

Actually, can I ask you something else too? Did you really think I were a pony? I worked hard to find a good form to regrow into, to blend more with my equine friends, but I were not certain if it were convincing. Some ponies in town had strange looks towards me."

"She means that she's not a pony. She's a dryad, which is more akin to a forest spirit inhabiting a living tree."

It was the simplest way Nerzhei could explain it to the simpletons she were dealing with right now, though she wouldn't be surprised if Droppy were going to need it turned a few times. Not like Lyriel and the mare came out great with eachother as it looked though, considering the murder attempt, so one could argue that it didn't matter as much as keeping the two away from one another. They'd see how things went.

Sphinxy grinned at the dragon, "Oh but there is always something that everyone desires above all else. So you call this plague walker, 'Droppy'? Maybe you could answer the riddle to get her disease free perhaps? Though it will be a tricky one at that. Feel free to take me up on that offer, whenever you want. I'll be around" she cackled. She nodded at the pony and smirked "Good good, I would like a new home created, or grown whatever you might be" she giggled, she watched the dryad pony confront the plague walker, her yellow eyes glittering "Oh, that's not too smart" she commented.

Droppy blinked as the plant pony talked about anything being welcome, then saying she wasn't allowed. She frowned "Well how rude, I only eat what I need, no less, maybe more" she growled baring her teeth at the plant thing, this was that tree thing, though in pony form it seems. Her red eyes glared at the thorny vines that attempted to grab her, one of the closer vines caught alight and began to burn with a fierce intensity before the vine crashed to the earth a pile of burned branches and blackened leaves. Droppy snorted and sat down, the grass around her dying off as she sat, "I can't even eat you" she grumbled at the plant pony.

Sphinxy watched amused at the dryads futile attempt to remove the plague walker. "Interesting method. You could try drowning, that's not been tried on her yet. Though i'm sure there would be a counter for that eventuality, maybe a floating air bubble perhaps. She still hasn't found her purpose it seems" she put in amused by the conflict. She glanced up at the sky as a large lump of meat dropped between the plague and forest pony. "Well when they said it might rain today, I didn't think they meant this" she smirked before shaking her head, she couldn't have a hungry plague pony walking around now could she? 

Droppy snorted and growled at the plant pony. "This isn't your forest. You just inhabit it, I don't have to listen to you" she growled before her nose twitched and she smelt the lump of meat fall from the sky. She immediately started to eat it, it wasn't every day she found such large food so easily. She wouldn't be leaving this forest that quickly, especially as there was abundant food now here. She grumbled at the explanation, "shes a mean plant pony" she growled around a stubborn lump of meat.  

Sphinxy tutted at the dragon, "Thing? You have eyes, use them next time" she added obnoxiously to the dragon. Though she turned away from the plague walker since she would be satisfied for some time and followed the dryad pony. "I could make you a actual pony, though I don't do freebie's, I'm no genie" she replied to the forest spirit. "also since you look more like a pony, wouldn't that remove your right to call this forest your home? After all any tree can drop a apple, ponies however cannot" she smirked, at her clever insult.  

Edited May 31, 2018 by BloodDrops

[Rising Dusk 27,723]

@Blitz Boom

Rising Dusk watched as the other stallion laughed himself to the point of almost passing out from the lack of being able to take a proper breath.  He did sort of figure from the first time they spoke of the wings, that the idea was flight without magic.  In a world though were magic and science lived hoof and hoof, he had guessed that magic was involved somehow.  It was true that the story would probably be painted more fully once he got a look at those blue prints.  At least the storage of the solar power was magic, so he could at least take a look at that.

He could attest though, that a magical artifact in the hooves of an earth pony was just as capable as it was with a unicorn or pegasus.  Looking over his shoulder was Molotov showed the mechanical wings off a little.  Rising Dusk wouldn't say they were ugly, because to him at least it was unique and interesting.  Plus, well, he was a fan of the color blue, so the piping was awesome.  Rising Dusk wasn't entirely sure how he felt being referred to as a possible miracle, but he'd help if he could.

"A story huh?  I'm not very good at telling stories, but let's see..."

He replied, tapping his chin while he dove deep in his mind for something that might pass for a story.  Sure, he had plenty of experiences as a detective to maybe tell one or two, but crime wasn't always the most clean of stories.

"Mm, a pony with a difficult personality..."

"One of my first cases that took me out of Manehattan.  I was investigating a sudden appearance of enchanted luck charms that had been popping up in Las Pegasus.  Ponies were buying them just thinking they were ordinary luck charms.  They were so rare, fare and few apart, that it had slipped unnoticed by the casinos for quite a while.  They were making normally decent ponies into crazy gambling addicts that more often than not, ended them up in the hospitals, exhausted."

"Trying to pull away a pony that feels pulling a slots lever is more important than food or air.  Does not work well."

"Local law enforcement also weren't the most agreeable sorts to work with.  All, especially their police chief, were upset that the major called for outside support.  Their pride had a real hard time dealing with that fact something like this was happening and they were coming up dry with leads.  So as you can imagine, they weren't all that helpful to me.  While the casinos would love nothing more than having ponies gambling, when the end up in hospitals, it really doesn't look good.  Plus it's easy to accuse the casinos of having made the charms to begin with."  

"After removing the enchantments from the lucky charms they had collected thus far, I had to go off on my own.  Having figured the local police had already tried finding the culprit through the charm's manufacturer, I tried a different approach.  The charm they were using was the same one, and with how they appeared to be completely random in both who got them and where they were bought.  I came to the conclusion that the criminal was simply buying the charm from the store, enchanting it, then returning with it and placing it back on the rack when the shopkeeper wasn't looking."

"Because so many customers come in and out of the store in any given day, it was impossible to have any of the employees remember if they saw repeat customers.  There was one more pattern I noticed.  Most of the charms had been purchased very close to the average shift change for dealers and service workers.  If my theory was correct in that the charm was being returned to the rack, it would most likely end up at the front to be the next one bought.  So, taking a shot in the dark, I started investigating casino employees.  It wasn't perfect as there were so many casinos to look into, but having disenchanted enough of those charms helped me sniff out the kind of magic I was looking for."

"It took me half a day, but I eventually found a mare unicorn that served drinks at one of the bigger casinos.  Magic sensing isn't perfect and really understudied since so few can do it.  So, I tailed her after the shift change and sure enough, she left and nearly crossed all of Las Pegasus to a store that sold that charm.  I followed her in and caught her red hoofed, removing a charm from her bag and putting it on the charm rack.  She tried convincing me that it had simply fallen off the rack and she was putting it back up, but she was unlucky to have found one detective that could see the enchantment wrapped around the charm like a weave."

"After detaining her, I turned her over to local law enforcement.  Whom took all the credit to salvage their wounded pride.  Although, I might have been in a footnote of their report.  Doesn't really bother me all that much.  I have my own reports filed away in the office."

"Yeah... As you can see, I'm not much for telling stories."

Granted he probably had more interesting stories to tell, but a lot of them sadly aren't for civilized conversations outside the agency.

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom @Dji

Neither Astral or Sapphire responded to Zhu, not even sure how they would to his statements. So instead Sapphire placed her hoof on her crystal eye, casting a spell on it, the crack patching itself up. "I'm starting to see this as a pointless endeavor to stop him." She looked at him with a look of anger. "But no one is going to harm my sister again." She lifted her sword again. "Especially a emotionless being like you."

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

@Blitz Boom

Warlock only looked at them as they spoke. "I will, consider it." He said rather reluctantly, unsure if he even wanted to change. But perhaps moving on was best, or he could find another way to get his body back together.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Lloyd

[Sekel 693]

@Blitz Boom, @Lloyd

KARMIC FATE

”Um ...” Karmic narrowed her eyes when they lost their glow and stared at Sapphire in a kind of inspection. She did see a possible future where Sapphire saved something from some kind of possession and a future where she didn’t at the same time. She didn’t know if they were true or not but there only seemed to be two ways to go with Sapphire. “Sapphire ... That is your name, right? You’re trying to save some kind of possession thing?”

@Blitz Boom, @Seamore Sandwich, @Moonlit

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

”I’m sorry I’m late, Princess. I still get lost in the castle from time to time,” Twilight spoke with a chuckle when she made it to the current Celestia. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

[Blitz Boom 4,627]

@BloodDrops

"Even if you could remove it, I don't trust the word of a sphinx."

Nerzhei gave the last comment to the feline annoyance as she left with Lyriel, and for the time turned her own attention towards Droppy, who were feasting joyfully on a large slab of meat that had suddenly come from the sky. The dragoness would rather not think over the logistics of this for the time being, as it would just end up with her gaining another migraine attack, so for the time being, she just shrugged it off as magic being magic. Even though a sphinx historically does nothing without being defeated in a riddle first, but that was more of that pesky logic that made this entire situation painful and irritating.

"I'm going to have to ask you something, Droppy, and I want you to be honesty. Did your disease come from you loosing a riddle to that sphinx?"

She could add more on, but Droppy should likely be spoken to slowly about this. It were hard enough to keep her attention sometimes, but when she were eating? It were untested how much she listened to others, so she would take this one step at a time and then see if she could gain some kind of insight on this.

Meanwhile, Lyriel smiled at what the sphinx said, missing completely the insult. Much as life had tested her judgement, with the dragons and the fate that befell her brethren, Lyriel had tried to see only the best in other beings, and not lift her hand to them in anger, or think they meant harm simply for harms sake. She met them openly, with kindness, and at worst restraints. She were naive in that way, and had been so when it came to Blood as well. Something which she had changed her mind on, though it seemed to matter little, considering what she had seen happening to her vines. What sort of vile sorcery this were she did not know, but she prayed that it would not be her problem for much longer.

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't wish to change my species. My reason for regrowing to this form is merely so that the creatures around me feel more at ease, as well as the ponies. A more familiar form soothes them, and makes it easier for me to interact with them than when I wandered looking like a human. Though I must admit, it will take some time to get used to the lack of fingers, I take it as a fun learning experience, into what my equine neighbors goes through.

As for what makes this my home, I have found that I were welcomed here by the forest, and needed to ease the troubled hearts that live within. It is to me a home, and a place to protect and nourish. Before the Silver Valley became empty of hope, that too were the philosophy of my brethren."

Lyriel fell a tear as she recalled the last time she had seen her brethren again. An image that would never leave her, as much sorrow as it brought her to see such insanity flow through them. All of that unneeded violence...

"They can't remember our ways anymore, but I uphold it, and when I was brought to this forest, I found that it needed someone to help it as well.

The wolves of wood are making things complicated though. They do not trust me fully, and are wary that I will be a threat to their tribe, but I hope in time that their alpha will allow me to speak to her. The things I have heard from the other creatures, speaks sorrowfully of their matriarch, and perhaps if she can be calmed, my equine friends would be safer. They are not needed to preserve the natural order, from what I have been told.

May I ask you, great creature, what is it that you do? You speak of riddles like the strange, striped one who lives in this place, but it didn't seem as if my friend thought highly of you, or the gifts that you said to offer, in case you were defeated. Clearly you are a great sorceress, so why does she resent your offerings? Perhaps I can help her to understand, and make your coexistence in this forest more peaceful."

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

 

@Lloyd

"Good to hear. You think though that you could uhm... I mean, it's not to stop you from thinking, but could you maybe tell us anything about your companion? If we can catch her- Find her perhaps first, yes. If we can find and catch her, this could all end, and we could begin to take better care of everypony involved. You included."

Whilst Hiogweed began to feel pretty good about planting some seed of hope for Warlock's recovery, elsewhere in the castle,hailstorm grimaced and slammed the folder her stood with shut. He ignored the stink eye that got from the elderly librarian, before opening it again to reread what he had found.  If he were to bring this forth and point hooves at a figure formerly of their own guard, he needed to make absolutely sure that this was the right one. Though if it were who he had come to read about, they were in bigger trouble than he had anticipated.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight @Dji @Storm Shine

"No, fireworks will just set the garden on fire. And dangerous bear fishies means nopony can get to the pond. You gotta do it right to make it funny pranks. Looksie."

Anomaly snapped her tail again, and a fountain in three layers - with each layer being about as tall as a half-grown filly, and the bottom layer being two meters in diameter, reduced by half a meter every layer - rose from the grass to the right of the door. On top, a statue of Princess Twilight in full pride were standing, mostly in the materials Anomaly had talked about before. She were just lacking the silver, which she hoped Lucid would fix. Otherwise, she'd have to knock on the door and tell Twilight to do it herself some day.

Water fell down from the top of Twilight's horn, down the sides of the statue, and down the layers of the fountain. Where it ended up as it hit the last layer wasn't immediately possible to see, but it were getting transported back to the top somehow at least.

In the water, and occasionally riding the stream, where a half dozen small fish in shifting colors, depending on where the light reflected on them, and as they passed down from the top, a collective sound could be heard. Getting closer would reveal it to be the creature singing a rowdy sailor song, though as Anomaly poked one of them, the rest felt silent whilst the poked one told a dirty limerick. After that, the fishies went happily back to splashing around the waters.

"See? make them think everything is all pretty and nice, then put in singing fish that likes dirty jokes and rowdy songs. Classic. You try with a funny tree or something. Oh, or a fountain on the other side of the door. That should be fun."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"Depends on how much you need, but let's take it a step at a time, alright? If you're looking for a good, two being tent, we have a few over here on display that I think would suit you fine."

Tracker would guide Sen to the side, were an arrangement of tents were set up, so that the customers could see what they were getting into. Took up quite some space, but the visual helped customers who weren't sure what to get. Usually not his department to care much about, but long as he were ill, he had to stay put in this borehole. Might as well make it presentable.

"This here's a simple one if things are just friendly, or if your partner likes to sleep on their own for whatever reason. Separate compartments for each, and pretty easy to set up and put down again. They'e currently on sale for 20 bits, and carries a half year of guarantee on it."

"This here's more expensive at 35 bits, but it's got room for your travel things in the front, so they don't get wet of flooded with insects, and a spacious compartment for one, or a comfortable fit for a snugly couple, if you're going out camping with your special somepony.

What tent you should have some interest in depends on your situation really. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the second one if you're not dating the other one. Waking up with them in your grip can be a tough one to get past for the shy types, or the sort that ain't sure where they stand.

I'm surprised you're looking for a tent though. My father's journal keeps some talk of a time he ran into you folks, and tents weren't part of that passage. Then again, neither were your kind ever getting within distance of Equestria, so what do I know? The world's getting smaller, and it's hard to stay hidden after all."

New species were popping out now and again, and old beings returned to cause all sorts of upheaval, or changes that weren't guessed on before. That the longma he had read about weren't immune to going global wasn't really a surprise, though seeing one in person were. He would've figured they'd have better stops than at a wilderness gear store.

Meanwhile in the antique store, Scarcity listened with interest to what Lin said. Especially that last part, as it were information that seemed so deliciously forbidden that she could imagine it were something worth knowing. She were not going to pry into it of course, as it were a matter of timing (or to learn things in known areas, the right channels to ask questions) but that did not detract from her seeing it as a forbidden fruit of sorts.

"We all have to live with the actions of our decisions. Though of course, it is dreadful that what you experienced have caused you enough damage to include bodily manipulation. Hopefully you will not have too hard of a time adjusting to your situation.

In regards to your society, it sounds fascinating. I have come across several books of beings that lived similarly in older times, but I had not thought them as still being practiced. Of course, the majority of those I refer to does not include choice of the beings affected, as much as simply forcing tradition and selected roles down upon others, yet I consider that a refreshing change in your kind. It leaves somewhat more individual will."

It was entertaining to Scarcity that they cared for their elders unconditionally, but she didn't show it on her face. She considered it needing to be a case by case basis, rather than a social norm and potential requirement to live within the confinements of the longma society, but she would concede that she were biased, considering her and her sisters experiences with their parents, uncles and aunts. Irritating situation, yet they still seemed to be aware that they should keep their distance, as none of them tried to make contact with either of the siblings. Considering what Scarcity had made it clear would happen to them if they tried, she weren't terribly surprised.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine

Lucid lifted his hoof and made two silver eyes for the statue, and he put them in.

"I reckon Twilight would be really peeved if anything caught on fire."

The tree was an alright suggestion, but he had something better. He placed the singing cactus that's found in a bunch of gift shops.

"How about this? It's like the best thing ever!"

Lucid really liked gift shop items for some reason. In his mind, the singing cactus was the greatest thing of all time!

"We should make her a singing cactus shrine!"