open Casual stroll

EQ_Theta · August 22, 2018

Strange creatures appeared, one then another, then he was surrounded. Even that one patting on the head was irritating him more than anything. Reaching for some watermelon seeds he had on him from his last meal, he threw one on the ground near the creatures to see what they were going to do. A few more were tossed behind the group massing on the ground. Right now, he didn't think going down to the ground was a sound idea. Maybe he could leap from where he sat to the nearest tree and see what comes next.

Frankly this was something he didn't expect. Something popping out of the bushes, yes, but these creatures were the last things he needed or wanted to see.

If only Fluttershy could see these things, she'd know what to do... Sen muttered under his breath as he watched and waited.

Blitz Boom · August 22, 2018

@Victoria Sponge

Pop didn't say something for much of the trip, as Lemon's words had given her some things to think about, yet Benny were more than happy to fill the void of words she left behind, even if it wasn't much he technically had to say.

"Hehe. If I ever grow my own hair, I'll keep that in mind."

Sometimes he couldn't decide if he were jealous or felt pity for ponies having hair. Sure, it looked great and styling it would have to be some kind of fun, but it could also be a whole lot of a bother. It was pretty flammable for starters, and considering how much he was around fire in a given day, it wasn't something he could see as being much of a great thing for him. Still, most ponies didn't work round fire all that lot, but getting it in their eyes and stuff had to be kind of annoying too sometimes.

It wasn't all that long before they got to the house they were meant to enter, though looking at the door, Benny took off his saddlebags and got ready to carry them with his mouth. He might not be that much taller or wider than a pony, but it did look kind of narrow, and with the saddlebags, he would've either been unable to enter at all, or stuck, and having to call out for bits of cake. Seemed like a better solution to just do this.

Getting in there, he left them in the first place he could see there were room for them, as did Pop, and they looked around the gathering. Not the largest imaginable, but there were a good deal here. Including Felix. Seemed like the old dust-chaser had decided too swing around after all.

"This place looks great Lemon. Wait, is that family photos?"

Seeing something on the wall, Benny leaned in closer to have a good look and grinned widely by the look of Victoria. Such a cute little grumpy kitten on every last one of them, and a huge contrast to the rest. It was honestly adorable.

"Hehe, I spot somepony in those that I know, ain't that so Victoria?"

He turned to speak with her, when he saw that she had been pinned down by another mare. A very familiar mare, whose very looks almost made the dragon hungry.

"Good to see you Sprinkles."

The cupcake pony were a very nice mare, and one who made some tasty baked goods, so seeing her was always welcome. By Victoria too thankfully, who didn't seem to mind all that much about the sudden embrace. It did however, mean that she were occupied for now, so Benny figured that he might as well go on to say hello to some of those that he didn't know in here. He raised a clawed hand to greet Felix, and would talk with him eventually if it were, but it was kinda rude to not introduce yourself to the new faces. Starting with one they'd been described: The one with the beard. The name escaped him right now, but that seemed a f- Oh, now Lemon put some spotlight on Pop and him and asked them to introduce themselves instead. Well, one at a time was done for, might as well stand proud and giving his friendliest smile and get it done then.

"Sure thing Lemon. Hello there everypony. My name's Benny, and this here is my mate, Circle Pop. We're friends of Victoria. It's a real pleasure to see you all."

"We've met some of you before, but it's nice to see those we just heard about."

Pop had been looking around and raised a hoof in greeting to Felix when her eyes fell on him, but she could talk to him later perhaps. They had been asked to introduce themselves, so she'd do that too, along with Benny, and then hope that things would be okay. There were only Lemon's sister that concerned her right now, but hopefully, things would be okay. Probably would be really. This entire family had shown to be overall nice, even if they had varied ways of showing this, so it was unlikely that something would go haywire.

That Benny leaned over and snatched a nearby, unattended cookie that didn't seem to belong to anypony's plate, wasn't something that would break the mold, and she knew the smells of baked goods must be making him all giddy. Frankly it just made her smile a bit wider as he slowly crunched down on the treat with a pleased look on his face. Silly little dragon.

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@FanOfManyShows

"If t here were, she kept that sorta thing to herself. The parasite read my thoughts all nice and well, but I only got small bits when she yapped on, and that was all about how she were free, vengeance, goals to reach, that sort of thing. If there's any good to find anywhere in that rotten egg, it'll be in her family.

I ain't saying there's anything wrong with any of you Astral, but she have gotten all kinds of crazy when she met those of her blood. Recall how she got when she figured out you were her niece? Big words and threats, but you know, she didn't try and stab at you or anything. Might've just been to have a chip on the bargain table, but it's the only idea I got."

Chow looked over to see Astral glancing elsewhere as he started to talk. Was something interesting going on beside him?

He turned around about the same time as Astral said she saw somepony, and sure enough, so did he. Misty wasn't a master of disguise honestly, but hey, props for trying. A bit of a shame since Chow had honestly hoped to have a bit of alone time with Astral - as much as could be had in a busy street anyway - to chat on and try to get a hang of what was what with everything. But eh, the little sugarcube likely felt a great want to be with Astral again too, and he wasn't one to send her off.

"Spotting myself a lil' bird in a bush. What say you we get you some proper sneak training sometime Misty, and you'll be fit to sneak around like you own the place? It'd be fun to actually learn you something instead of the other way 'round for once."

Of course, they probably had a spell for this too, but gosh darn it, he still wanted to try. Had to be something he could do that they couldn't do as well or better via magic.

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@FanOfManyShows

"...You are an idiot."

Emerald had to use all her power to not forcibly fling something through the room right now out of frustration.

"Your disease could have been cured then, just like it could now, if you had just not turned your back to everything."

A book floated out of the bookcase and landed down next to them. Emerald's diary of her illnesses, and her attempts to come them to life, as well as the spells she had worked on with primarily blood magic to cleanse herself of unwanted sickness.

"Everything I- We, went through to stop my death. All of them failures because I had too many things wrong with my genes, but not all failures for others. You could have returned and taken this, and researched it. Found what steps to take to work on yourself for your one illness. It might not have been pleasant, but that you didn't even try makes me want to throw this cauldron into your non-existent face.

You should have never turned your back on everything we went through, Sapphire. It cost you, just as it will if you turn your back from it again. Because your pleasant magic won't correct your demise. It will be dark, written in blood and dangerous, and the only thing stopping it from requiring life is if there truly is blood stacked in their healing places that can be procured.

No, your methods failed you. We're doing it my way this time, and then you'll see that you at least can be returned without illness plaguing your body. I just need some specialized ingredients, to wash your bones clean in."

A wicked grin spread on her face, and the tension started to leave her body. It was better for her state of mind now that she could focus on the task at hoof, rather than the potential truth that Sapphire had told her, even though the want to throw things and shout were still closer than she wanted to admit.

A puff of smoke came from the cauldron, and Emerald's attention were turned to the liquid who now had gone silvery in color.

"It's done. Prepare yourself sister, while I write the incantations."

The flame underneath the cauldron flickered out and Emerald tipped the cauldron into a wooden cup, where the liquid would fill it to near the top. Afterwards, she'd go over and start to draw a circle and some symbols on a large, unused part of the floor with the elixir, working somewhat like paint. It would be a few minutes before she were done, but it should soon enough be ready to read out the incantation and empower Sapphire. Should be enough for her wayward sister to maintain a form.

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@FanOfManyShows

"Benny is tougher than he looks, though I imagine that he will need bandages for his hands for a time. The infirmary tend to be strict when it comes to things that could lead to an infection."

It had been a... Strange time when Benny had been accepted to work in the forge, but Dew had at the time trusted the old forgemaster when he said that the dragon could be an asset, and Benny had shown his worth since then. it were still strange for new recruits to see the dragon there sometimes, yet that were a minor issue, and he were friendly, so it were almost never a long lasting problem.

"Are you nervous about the ceremony, Wings? I know it's been a hectic start, and this certainly can't make the pressure seem any easier."

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@EQ_Theta

This place was a living nightmare.

The relentless assault on the two of them didn't seem to ever end. Rosa could hear the pained screams of his father behind him, and see Filigree walking closer, whilst more of her began to undergo crystallization, while Lin got confronted by two longma that seemed to have the female malnourished and the male covered in open, severe wounds. A sight which only broke the sobbing Lin even more.

This had to be the actual way these things hunted, right? They didn't try to lure you from the path with whispers and promises. They assaulted your mind with painful memories and potential outcomes until you gave up, and begged for them to take you and end your suffering. Something which could be chilling, yet interesting to think about in other situations, but currently, Rosa couldn't even focus on rational logic lines like that. Everything that went on had him nearly taking a knee himself, and just shake in Lin's shoulder desperately whilst shouting that they needed to go. It was pathetic and he knew it, but it was the only thing that kept him from getting pushed down by everything shown and burying his head in the sand right now, so his desperate, panicked response kept on, weaker and weaker whilst his words began to take screeching aspects to it that he had not made since he were a small, scared foal.

It turned out to be one of Lin's breaking points that gave them a bit of breathing room here, as she threw water and the illusions dissipated like it were nothing more than mist, then rose up and started to yell at Rosa to run. Something dangerous and unwise, as it might make it harder to follow the path, but right now, it sounded heavenly to him. Whatever it took for them to get through this hell on Equestria faster, the better.

"S-Stay close! And watch the lights!"

He'd get on his hooves and turn, then began to tug away. First in a quick walk, then - as he got certain that Lin followed tact - he'd go into an actual run, and just follow the light shining the path through this place, no matter how dense the fog got in some points.

Frequently around them as they ran, he saw hurdles of beings around tombstones crying, begging, wallowing in grief, and cursing his name, whilst they looked at him with a variety pack of hatred, sorrow, or fear. It depended on who was looking towards him, and tended to look worse the younger the ones starring were. He couldn't even look at the foals who represented his fear that some of his actions had indirectly lead to foals becoming orphans. Not something that would have done him in before, but this place had already started to show cracks in his surface, and he didn't have as much control over things as he had been sure he would have.

Meanwhile, Sen would find the creatures had a few that dropped from the group to collect the watermelon seeds, and then passed it on to one of them that stood near the river, where it would then hold them and wait to see if there came more. The seeds were not large, but they would be fine for the younglings who were yet to be permitted to leave their base, and perhaps to plant. They liked to do this sometimes, and see if something might rise from the ground if it was watered. Sometimes it went well, other times not, but it was all worth a try.

The one who had been patting Sen's head would climb to a branch above and in front f him, then dangle downwards with its tail wrapped around the branch. There, it would start to clap enthusiastically at Sen with a big smile on it's critter face, clearly joyful about the gifts he had given them. Apparently not satisfied though, as the one who had been nibbling at the longma's claw before, would now scurry up his leg and then begin to run around and smell him, to try and see if it could find more of the seeds hidden on him somewhere. If it would find them, it would throw them down to the others immediately, and dodge any retaliation strike. It wasn't the first time they had nicked things from stingy travelers, and it wouldn't be the last either.

Beyond that though, they seemed harmless enough, if not simply annoying and overly playful. Although the one in front of Sen's face would have a clear waft of fish smell escaping it's mouth when it chittered for some reason. Might be somewhat annoying to smell.

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@Rising Dusk

Felicia looked at the open door, then skittered over with hardly a sound made against the floor, and slowly walked out from the confined workshop, and into the wide open world beyond it.

She needed to adjust her sensors to a lot of things when she got out, but it were a fast, automated process, so that was not what slowed her down. Apprehension and paranoia were, as she were not sure if this may be a trap, and her attempting to leave would end up trapping her in some kind of secondary failsafe attached to the outside of the walls. There turned out to be nothing, so it seemed that Molotov truly did keep his word to her and let her wander out then. His status in her memory banks were increasing already, albeit slowly.

"𝕎𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣. 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕕, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨."

And lead he did. Down an empty back alley perhaps, yet this apprehension to showing her off to too many at once were only increasing Felicia's respect for Dusky. It were a master move to lead her through this slowly, and getting her to potentially interact with a few at a time, rather than a large group. Did he have a location in mind, or were he perhaps hoping to run into one in this place? It seemed worn down and generally not full of much but trash cans here and there, so what were the odds of running into somepony here?

She attempted to run the maths on that, but it turned up inconclusively. She needed more data on how ponies worked, and what the point in this *back alley* were to figure out. Not something she could get easily, though she could ask some things as they wandered. Pony and large, metallic spiderbot.

"𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕒 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕦𝕤𝕖? 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕣 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣."

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@Lucid_Nightlight @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Dji @EQ_Theta

"Cleaning service, on the way!"

Without hesitation anymore, Anomaly stepped forward and licked Fluttershy in a long, drawn-out motion. To her, the nearest comparison might well be a giant cat licking her. It'd get the job done though, and the same it would for Angel when she went for him next. Loose fur got on her tongue too, but bunny hair wasn't all that bad, and even though Lotus tried to get away, she wouldn't get far before the tongue was on her too, and soon after everypony here were cleaned from sugar. And thankfully not with a layer of drool now, as Anomaly had thought that to be a little too mean. They'd be dry, though carrying a faint smell of pumpkin, ammonia, and roasted chestnuts.

"There, all clean and ready to meet the big kitty and her evil sidekick. Hehe, seriously, I looked at the authors note, and she'd nothing but trouble. And not the fun kind of trouble. It's just all meaniepants, and no fun whatsoever. I mean just look, she doesn't even talk to Discord or big kitty. She's skulking in a corner all silent like. Booooooooring."

She saw what Discord was doing in the distance, and started to laugh.

"Ahahaha, oh man, did you see that? He made it look like he blew his arm off. Classic.

And I dunno why there'd be a slaver queen out here. Why's there a queen that makes slaves out of other changelings? That's a question too, and they're both sad.

Oh, and I want rusted barbwire and cotton balls, Lucid! It's delicious on pizza. So is (CENSORED) but the author won't even let me say that anymore, much less eat them, so that's no fun."

Meanwhile, while the gang of misfits rambled on as they approached the temple, Lotus looked towards Angel with a *are you serious?* look in her eyes, whilst also trying to get her hair tuft back in order again.

"That wasn't any better than water! It was gross."

It was nice to hear that Angel could actually chitter away instead of just signalling things, but she were still caught up in the thought that she had just been licked clean, even if she didn't overly cared for it that way to say the least, and now wanted a bath even more. How did Angel even feel about this? Would he be okay with it? And if so, then why? Did he try this often?

Eew, there was a gross thought. Not what she needed right now.

Lucid_Nightlight · August 22, 2018

@Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @Moonlit @Dji @BloodDrops @Seamore Sandwich

"Do you guys have rusted barbed wire and cotton balls?"

He looked over at Anomaly.

"They don't serve that."

He started talking on the phone thing again.

"Pepperoni? Yea, one moment, gotta check if being a Poquus makes me an omnivore."

He flopped over and looked dead. His ghost left his body and looked down. Suddenly the ghost went back and Lucid just jumped right back up ALIVE somehow.

"Yep, I'm an omnivore, so yea, a pepperoni pizza will work. Make it two extra large pizzas. Oh! Make one of them cheese and the other pepperoni. I think the mortals here are herbivores. Also, get some buffalo wings, BBQ of course, I can't stand spicy food. Yea, I'll pay with cash."

He hung up and looked over at Anomaly.

"Maybe you can just spawn the barbed wire and cotton balls and put it on your pizza. Silly humans are such wimps!"

EQ_Theta · August 23, 2018

@Blitz Boom

With the illusions breaking down behind her, Lin picked up the pace after Rosa. She followed close behind, following the lights that he mentioned, though she just followed closely and went wherever the bat pony went. At times, she was running so fast she was almost right next to Rosa. Left and right, Lin would catch sight of her parents in their pained looks and to add to that, Sen now appearing them, broken and weeping at their feet, muttering heartfelt apologies while vines crawled around him. The longma hybrid had some faint idea at what these illusions are trying to show her, but it didn't matter. She needed to get out of there, and she was desperate to see the other side. The sound of taunting and laughter from Solasan made it difficult to resist going after him, but now was not the time. She had to leave and get back to her brother, fearing what could have happened to him. Lin had never run this much in her life and it would be about ten minutes later when she began to slow down and catch her breath.

"How much farther, Rosa? I don't think I can take this place anymore!"

As for Sen, the cheering creatures was very much unexpected, catching him off guard but in a more pleasing manner. That is especially true for the one in front of him. It was pretty amusing all things considered, smiling back at putting himself at ease. Wild animals could pick up on the the changes in demeanor by how tense or loose a body is, and Sen looked to take advantage of this. He slowly climbed down to the ground and expected the little squirrel-like things to follow him, likely wanting more watermelon seeds. He pulled out the rest of the watermelon ration Lin had left unfinished and showed it to the animals. Being much more calm now, he reached out with a claw full of seeds and some pulp still untouched by his sister.

"I guess you like these? Come here, no need to be shy. There's plenty to share with everyone," Sen started, his voice growing softer with each word as he tried to emulate Fluttershy's manner of speaking with her animal friends. Maybe here, this might not be a bad way to pass the time, though he is worried about Lin and Rosa. Staying here with these creatures may be relaxing, but he isn't keen on spending a very long time here, especially with the terrible stench of something he couldn't describe.

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@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @Lucid_Nightlight @Dji @BloodDrops @Moonlit @Seamore Sandwich

"Umm... thanks, Anomaly. Though maybe licking isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Unbelievable. Then again, what would Fluttershy expect from someone like Anomaly who would fulfill her request but not in the most expected way possible? It was and unorthodox way of going about this, but Angel had it worse. He had a look of disgust on his face as he scrambled to wipe off the saliva on his coat, shaking it off frantically. He turned to Lotus and squeaked his disdain for what just happened. He now missed those baths Fluttershy gave him, and getting combed after looking like a puffed up cotton ball. Those were always relaxing.

"That was a terrible idea. I was really hoping for water."

But on the matter of the Changeling slaver, it didn't make any sense to Fluttershy. She heard about some changelings who refused to change from Starlight, but to find one so out here... it must have been a very strange and serious case for one like her. Still, it would be better to find out from the changeling herself, if she was willing to divulge that information. Seeing her in her current state, she might not be in the talking mood.

Edited August 23, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Victoria Sponge · August 24, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Felix was the first to speak, though he seemed to be more interested in Benny than Pop.

"Good to see you again my scaly friend! And of course your lovely marefriend Pop. I would tip my hat to you but I've been scolded for wearing it at the table before."

He chuckled sheepishly and shot his wife a glance to which she responded with a gentle push on the shoulder, her light touch did little to move him though.

The Strawberry mare gave a quick wave with her hoof but looked away almost immediately, as if embarrassed. Sprinkles shook her head and tried to make her say something but was unsuccessful.

"Don't worry about her, she'll warm up to you... eventually. And don't worry about him being a dragon mom, he's pretty gentle!"

"She was the same with me at first."

The bearded pony spoke now.

His smooth voice seemed to calm the shy old mare though she continued to hide in her mane.

"Cupcake was so excited for her to meet me, but it took longer than she expected for us to actually introduce ourselves to eachother."

He laughed at the memory and Strawberry let out a very quiet sound which could only really be interpreted as some kind of laugh or giggle.

"The name's Sky by the way! This sweet young filly has been telling me all about you, she's very excited to have made some new friends, always is."

He put a hoof around Sprinkles and squeezed her and she shook her head and blushed.

"I-I didn't tell him everything! Just said I met a wonderful couple who appreciate my baking and have high potential to be my new best friends!"

While all this had been going on a few members of the party had been looking inquisitively towards Victoria, surprised to see her here and smiling of all things. Surprisingly Strawberry was the first to acknowledge her, though she spoke almost in a whisper, not wanting to draw all the attention to herself.

"Hi sweetie, you doing ok? You have such a lovely smile."

Victoria blushed and thanked her mother's close friend.

"I'm doing much better Strawberry, I'm glad you like my smile, you'll be seeing a lot more of it."

Strawberry smiled at Vicky and brushed her mane aside, finally revealing her big pink eyes.

"I like what you did to your hair, you look very pretty."

Vicky toyed with her mane bashfully and seemed about to respond when Raspberry interjected.

"Lemon, didn't you invite my girls. It seems weird that Victoria is here but none of mine."

Lemon frowned at her sister.

"Vicky is a changed mare, she's finally let her sweet side out, that's why she's here. I did invite yours but they all said no."

It seemed Raspberry was a little jealous of her sister having both her daughters present while she lacked all three of her own.

"Why?"

"Red's busy with a wedding, Caramel didn't want to say and we met Heather earlier and she said she didn't want to ruin things."

Raspberry shook her head.

"Silly filly, she needs to realise she's less clumsy than she thinks she is, and Caramel needs to stop avoiding me all together."

Lemon patted her sister on the back and comforted her.

"They'll come around eventually... mine did."

She smiled at Vicky who was now nibbling daintily on a biscuit and tried her best to smile back without spilling to many crumbs.

"Let's not be down Raspberry, why don't you talk to our new friends?"

Raspberry nodded and turned to look at the friends in question.

"Sorry about that, I just miss my girls is all; I rarely see them these days. I'm Raspberry Drizzle by the way, I see you're well acquainted with some of my family members, and I don't know what you've done to Vicky but I must congratulate you."

She took off and fluttered across the table, offering a hoof to them without landing.

"If you stick around after the tea I'd love to show you some of the tricks I know... aerially."

"She's a great flyer, she's a masterful jam maker, as her cutiemark will tell you, but she's also very skilled in the art of aerial manoeuvres."

Raspberry nodded eagerly.

"She likes flying more than I do! And that's really saying something."

Sprinkles loved to fly with Raspberry, she'd even learned a few tricks off of her, but it was clear the Drizzle sister had more fun with the art than even she.

Lord Midnight Madness · August 24, 2018

Lord Midnight Madness or Lord Midnight for short was trotting down the streets of ponyville. He is no ordinary pony he is an alicorn of royal blood but did not get the title prince do to his older brother. He decided instead to take a lower title and spend his days in cloudsdale as a weather pony. He is much more efficient at clearing clouds because of his magical capabilities. He also has been a weather pony for over 100 years he no longer has to kick clouds though, He is the weather director of all of eqesteira so he has a pretty important task, but enough about his past.

He was trotting down the street as he noticed three pegasus standing around talking to each other. He chuckled as he noticed they were talking about how they could fly better than one another. He approached the ponies and said how are you guys today I am Lord Midnight and I couldn't help but overhear you guys saying you were good flyers, I would like to see that..I would also like to see if you could top my flying skills I know there is no competition but you could probably give me a run for my money

Rising Dusk · August 24, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Alright, step one complete. Getting Felicia out of the only world she's ever none and into one she's only thought about. Living off what stories the Boom siblings or Carmen brought back from their outings. Even if none of the stories were pointed at her per say, he was pretty sure she was ever present and observant from her warden chamber above the workshop floor. Well, here they were, out in the city with Princess Celestia's blessing high in the sky, even if was somewhat obscured by the taller buildings that made up the alley way the two walked in. Or skittered in the case of the giant mechanical spider following the stallion. The maze of alleys the two traversed were pretty typical for the city, and luckily Dusk knew most of them like the back of his hoof. One of the many key components to being a detective in the city was knowing how to get around it, and more importantly, how others do. Dumpsters and garbage cans lined the walls where residents and employees could come out to put their garbage to be picked up by the city's sanitation departments every week. Still clean all things considering though. They're chances of running into another pony this time of day was pretty low. The alleys were plenty wide enough for the large spider, even if she'd have to climb over a dumpster every now and then.

"Alleys are mostly only used to keep waste before it is taken somewhere else. Ponies only use them for shortcuts in the early morning or evening when going between work and school. "

Alleys also made for perfect places to hide when one wanted privacy. Among other things, but Dusk wouldn't be taking her to those more used alleys. Not the best place for her first outing. Nope, he had somewhere better in mind for her first time out. It would take a bit longer than the more direct route, but it wouldn't be too bad. Felicia would be experiencing something else a bit different as she'd quickly find Dusk wasn't much of a talker like her creator.

After about twenty or so minutes of travel, they finally reach the end of another alley that opened up into a street. Dusk stopped at the edge of the alley and checked the corners to see how busy the street was. A few ponies here or there, but nothing too bad. His attention then turned to what laid on the other side of the road. The mounds and mounds of metal behind a security fence.

The Scrapyard.

Sekel · August 25, 2018

@Blitz Boom, @EQ_Theta, @Lucid_Nightlight, @Storm Shine, @Moonlit, @Seamore Sandwich, @BloodDrops

TWILIGHT SPARKLE & AURORA LIGHTS

Everypony seems to have forgotten about the Sphinx for the moment in favour of taking about a channeling slaver that appeared near the temple they were walk-in towards. Aurora didn’t like that, not truly knowing if other changelings could see through disguises. She shivered in fright and was unable to form coherent sentences so she decided to keep her beak shut and let the others do the talking if they ever made it to the changeling outside the temple.

Twilight sighed quietly to herself as they walked along the now single path. It wasn’t her fault she took to long trying to solve it! She felt she should have been given more information to make an informed decision! Either way though, the temple loomed up ahead of them and a quick glance at hearing Discord scream confirmed the fact he wasn’t doing anything too stupid. Yet. “How are we going to get in the temple? I assume we can’t just walk in through the front door.”

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

Watts quickly followed Zealous towards the cafe and sat down opposite him at the table. “What plans do you have to go with today? I can help.”

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

“Um, sure, whatever you say,” Karmic said uncertainly, being very confused by him.

Lucid_Nightlight · August 27, 2018

@Dji @Blitz Boom @EQ_Theta @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Seamore Sandwich @Moonlit

"Hey Fluttershy and Twilight, are you gonna give the sphinx one of your really long friendship lectures or are you gonna just blast it with magic until it dies?"

Speaking of magic, Lucid had another question for Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Why don't you just go all rainbow power during the first encounter with a dangerous threat? The whole rainbow power thing is just like the the Elements of Harmony, right?"

Lucid had no idea if Twilight would be annoyed about the questions or be happy to dispense what Lucid called big smart words. Either way, he didn't care about how she would react. He assumed that Fluttershy would just be all nice about it or something.

Pr0m4NV14 · August 27, 2018

@Blitz Boom

“I’m going to check out that room!” He said, flinging open the room’s door. Inside was not his sister, however.

“Oi, who the hay are you?” said the Pegasus in the bed. He coughed violently.

“I-I’m Sorry sir. I thought you were someone else.” He said backing out of the hospital room’s door.

“I gues she’s not in the hospital, or this town.” He said, with a sight hint of dissapointment. He looked up at Sorrow.

”Now what do we do?”

Blitz Boom · August 27, 2018

@Dji

It sounded like enough of an agreement to Enzo, so rising up tall, he spread his wings and lifted himself slowly from the ground, giving the small ponies in the air ample time to move away from his presence.

Karmic would feel herself being taken into the air along with him, lifted on strong winds and as Enzo flew away, she would be bound to follow. It may have been easier to allow her a ride, yet this were a matter of pride for someone like Enzo. To be allowed riding him would take more than a brief encounter, though the pony may not enjoy this too much. Pegasi did well in the air, but instinct may work against this one who held no place above ground level. Though the trip would be short, so it should matter little. Enzo only brought her to the edge of the forest, beyond Canterlot's northern borders. It were not much, but it would do for the time being. If something more interesting were learned, perhaps he would find more secure footing, yet for the time being, this would do.

Lowering karmic to the ground, the air carrying her would dissipate, and the sphinx would once more lay down on his stomach, to get somewhat closer to the small being.

"Only my ears can hear you know, child of two worlds. Tell your tale, if you so desire."

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@Rising Dusk

So this entire system of alleyways, were little more than a middle station for trash?

Felicia thought long on this as they moved along, and took in her surroundings with that in mind. Not having her company talk were unusual, but it saved her from spending processing power on ignoring him, so she saw no issue with this. It gave her more to work with in regards to the design and usage of this place they were following, and the waste disposal containers they had around the area. Mostly it seemed like containers full of random items and bags littered around which she were not able to smell, but since it were trash, she assumed that to those with such organs, this would be repugnant, the longer it were left outside, like when Molotov had found a banana peel Blitz had forgotten for two weeks.

The small one had spoken of rummaging through these containers of trash before, yet much as the banana peel incident, it lacked context to make overtly much sense to Felicia. Seeing the amount of things in just the top layer of these over-sized trash cans though, it became apparent why she had done so. Several parts of metal were there which had no or few flaws, and which could be reused or repaired by a skilled set of appendages, or melted down to base components. That it were simply discarded like this seemed like a pointless waste, and gave some credence to Blitz's affinity to look through trash for parts. One pony's trash were another pony's treasure, as she seemed to recall the small one saying once. An exaggeration, as spare parts were not treasure in the spiderbots mind, yet the base idea of the saying had some merit.

"𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕖. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣."

It had been around fifteen minutes before Felicia whirred her gears to *say* this to Dusky, which had been enough time for her to run through a few scenarios of this place, and in none of the cases it seemed feasible that all of this were were needed. Even if a massive surplus of trash build up, then this storage would be inefficient compared to a simple rail system with carts going to a large incinerator. And if there was not that much trash, then why allocate so much space to it, when it could be made into separate areas that would allow for perhaps a proper trail, with the waste separated into several smaller areas connected to a large silo or other temporary containment? There had to be something she did not see to this, that made a difference. Otherwise, ponies simply wasted more than just unwanted items.

Suddenly, the interloper stopped, and Felicia came to a halt too, atop of a container with a closed lid, that seemed to be in advanced stages of rust infection. She followed his eyes to see a road, populated by a few ponies currently. Perhaps where he wanted them to go? it was a thought. At least until she saw the scrapyard and let out a burst of air from a small opening under her teeth, which gave off a convincing hissing sound.

"𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕕? 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕, 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣?"

She wished to try and trust Dusky as best she could, but taking a large, mostly metallic spiderbot to a junk yard like this gave off impressions that she did not find acceptable, and for his sake, he better have a rational explanation as to their presence here, that would not make her think that he wished her discarded.

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@Victoria Sponge

"Heh, don't worry about it. I've been in Equestria for long enough to understand how weird it is to see a friendly dragon sometimes. I won't be pushy or anything. And hey there Sky, pleasure to meet you."

Benny would shake the guy's hoof, but he seemed to be occupied squeezing Sprinkles right now, so it'd likely be best if he didn't stick his hand forth and just hug air for a while there. Tended to get all kinds of awkward, and there were probably enough of that going on here with how Strawberry acted around him. Hopefully she'd warm up to his presence eventually, like Lemon had.

"Sprinkles is a good mare, Sky. I honestly think we're the lucky ones to have met her, along with everypony else here."

Pop meant that wholeheartedly. The baked goods family were a varied blend of ponies, but they all seemed to be good spirited, open-minded equines, and currently, her and Benny knew far too little of those. That they now did, and that it had all started with Benny leading them into a bakery to get some cakes, were a treasured stroke of luck, even with the blunders she had let out so far.

As Raspberry and Lemon began having a... Spat seemed to be the right word. Anyway, as they had their small spat about missing family members here, Pop wandered over and took a biscuit that drew her attention because of the topping. Seemed like a swirly caramel, and if there was one thing she loved, it were confectionery like that. Caramel were a pain in the flank to work with sometimes, though like taffy, if you got it right, it were magnificent. She barely made it back to see Raspberry now approaching them after the talk about the flying mare's children not being present, though Benny were more than happy to pick up the slack and take the offered hoof to give a quick shake. Like he'd been taught: One shake was too short, two was getting there, three was just right, and four got awkward. He'd asked what five and beyond then were at the time, and the only word he got for each of them were *Clingy*.

"It's a shame they aren't here, but I'm sure they'll come around one day. Victoria did, and really, we barely did anything there. Well okay, we got into a tussle, but you know, water under the bridge, right? Friends aren't supposed to hang themselves in the small stuff."

"Your daughters were Caramel, Heather and Red, yes? I've met them during today. They're lovely, and Caramel have a real talent for confectionery. I've been making candy for years, and she still surprised me with the taste of what she had made. Positively I mean."

"I remember that little bundle of energy, Angel running around too when we met Red. Cute as a button that little guy."

"It would be hard to disagree there. Her husband was nice too, even if he didn't speak too much."

Benny especially liked that guy, but he couldn't say that, or he might blurt out the plans for getting himself a suit made. Pop would know exactly why he'd have that done if she found out, and he didn't want the surprise to be ruined. It had taken months so far to get as far as he had, and slipping on the finish line would be horrid for him. In character, but horrid nonetheless.

"Heh, yeah. So Raspberry, you said you did aerial shows? That's pretty cool. I tend to see ponies at work show what they can do, and I'm pretty amazed sometimes. You ponies can do some neat tricks that make the wind dragons seem fresh out of their shells. Not that they'd admit it."

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@EQ_Theta

"I-I don't... I don't know! Just keep running!"

Rosa were fighting tears now as the onslaught went on. So many beings hurt, quivering all around him, judging his actions and asking him why he had done this to them... His father several times, broken and sobbing, begging for the inquisitors to stop, or for Rosa to save him. He was so near him, and could hear his screams, so why didn't he help him? Had he never cared about his old man, just like his mother never had?

Several instances of Filigree came too. Ranging from her covered in crystals and preparing mayhem and laughing, to her as a regular mare, throwing away foals that looked like Rosa and his imagination of what his brother would have looked like, and kicking his father around too, whilst calling both him and their offspring useless.

The emotions Rosa felt were all over the place with guilt, sadness, anger, fear, and so on in a myriad that never seemed to end against the relentless assault that just seemed to get more intense, as they finally would be able to see light at the end of the road. He had no idea how long they had run at that point, yet though his body felt like it was burning, he wasn't going to stop until they could finally breathe fresh air again. Not even then frankly, as he just kept on running until either Lin stopped him, or he ran into something. So much for him being calm and collected enough to lead them through the swamp.

They would have been in there for a half hour, though it would likely have felt like six.

Meanwhile, Sen was getting a lot of eyes to follow him now, as he climbed down and presented the rest of the leftovers. Some even including pulp, which the mimics hadn't expected. They had completely planned to just steal this before, but since Sen were complying and not being stingy with this, the one that had scoured him before had decided to jump down and join the others that were seen on the ground. The one that had clapped stayed put though, as did the untold amount of these that were rummaging through the nearby trees and in the river.

And speaking of the river, a new one jumped up from there, shook itself free of water, and wandered over towards the others. Halfway it stopped though, and took its paws to its head, cringing like something was wrong, to which two others went over and tried to help, by pulling it's tail and punch the somewhat wet one on the back until it coughed out something. The top half of a fish skeleton that seemed to be about the size of a carp, which the small creature than took up and started gnawing on after giving out a sigh of relief, and some chittering that likely meant *thanks*.

While that went on, the rest would simply watching Sen, and follow the seeds and pulp that he held with high anticipation, just waiting for him to throw them down so that they could collect them, and prepare them to be transported back to their village. Or alternatively, for him to stand there too long, and them then needing to rush him and grab it before he could stop them. One way or another, they were going to get the offered gift.

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@Pr0m4NV14

Sorrow popped her head in after Mike flinched out, likely leaving the patient in there confused.

"Sorry about that, the nurse must've forgotten the room number. Hope you'll have a good recovery."

With that, she'd close the door behind her, as her companion started to have a down spell.

"Hey, come on now, don't say that. The nurse said she saw somepony who looked like that here, and now there's somepony else that clearly didn't look a bit like her. Must mean she got signed out, right? So she's perhaps out there, but she's healthy. That's a good sign. Let's focus on that, and then go ask around. Perhaps somepony in Ponyville have seen her."

There wasn't a need to give up yet in her mind. This was just a minor setback in the hunt for his sister, and they still have plenty of space to check out before they called it a wash and looked elsewhere.

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