open Casual stroll

EQ_Theta · November 4, 2018

"Oh, Twilight! I did not expect to see you back so soon," the pegasus turned, seeing the princess standing behind her.

She thought she'd be spending a little more time with the sphinx despite knowing she'd be back anytime. Maybe everyone back at the temple was already heading off on their own paths or still hanging around and making conversation. It could swing either way. Although that might mean Anomaly dropped off the dracolisk at her home. Hopefully the animals back at the cottage would introduce themselves. At the very least, Harry could do the honors; Angel normally did that but he can be a little gruff around the edges. It can wait for a while, and the dracolisk might even prefer Pringle's company over the other animals at the cottage.

"Nerzhei is teaching me to be assertive. I still remember that incident with Iron Will and seeing how Pinkie and Rarity were concerned about what I learned, I thought maybe I should ask someone else. Although come to think of it, Lotus and Angel talked me into it."

Off to the side, Angel waved towards Twilight, smiling and nodding. For the most part, she was just drawing attention to himself and maybe to Lotus.

Blitz Boom · November 5, 2018

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

Berry listened with interest as the two sirens talked about things again, and got further and further along towards the path they should take. It was great that they had met Serenade so that these sort of things could be ironed out before Nada even began approaching a princess, unsure about what to do, or whatever or not she'd be thrown head first through a portal to some strange other world, or whatever were on the other side.

"Then we really need to have a sit-down with Princess Luna at some point, that's for sure.

Not because of the amulet, I got the hint there, but we'd need support from more than Twilight on this to make the citizen's less paranoid about all of this. She might've saved our flanks quite a few times, but she's still new to being in charge, whilst Luna - even with her exile - have a lot of experience. They'd trust her judgement on this more if they openly see either of the two biggies support it, and if Luna's this chummy with you, Serenade, she's probably our best bet.

Nut you know, that's just my take on this. You've been through all of this, so you'd probably know the best way to approach this, right? Say what we need to do chief."

The mare made a short, cheeky salute towards Serenade, as she waited to hear what they were going to need to do to really get through with this. Even in disguise, Serenade should know the ins and outs of this process better than either Nada or Berry could hope to guess their way to, so frankly, the best they could do were to listen in on how to step this minefield without setting something off. Hopefully it wouldn't involve anything crazy, but in and around Ponyville? Crazy tended to be the way things worked more often than you might think.

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@Catpone Cerberus

Spicy waved dismissively at Ruby as she said she were wandering off. The mare were far more interested in securing their valuable cargo than to babysit their new business partner, and if she were going down there, then she could have a glance more around to see if there was something shiny she'd missed the first time. Plus, Marley could keep an eye on her, just to be on the safe side. Weren't any reason to spare it much of a thought really, compared to making sure they didn't lose thousand of bits on these jars breaking.

Below the surface, Marley were heard whistling before Ruby would even get to him, and when entering, she'd be able to see him press hard at the stone wall with the tip of his talons, methodically loosening the mortar in the wall in what were going to be a rectangle around the imagery. Long as he were careful to hit around the lines where the rocks were set to begin with, and didn't go too close, it shouldn't crack into pieces, though Ruby likely didn't care about it in the slightest, even if she focused on what he were doing in the first place.

He didn't stop doing this either as Ruby came down there and blocked the way out. The griffon merely let out a small chuckle once more.

"You needn't worry, I have no intentions of using anything I have learned against you. We all have baggage in our resume that we would prefer to not have shone a light on, and I hardly see the point in using it as leverage in negotiations or the like. It would only ruin a perfectly good working relationship, and result in potential scorching of myself.

Though as I hope you understand, my silence on this is reliant on you not starting to try and oust either of us about what we do. If you begin to spout out about the things you will see when we are to sell this perfume, or attempt to dig out some of my past sins, things might become -"

He dug in with his talons and caused a section of solid rock to crack like it were a mere dry branch beneath his grip.

"- regrettable."

A short laughter escape him as he dusted off his talons and turned to face Ruby.

"But I see no reason we can't all get along. We are both intelligent beings, and can surely agree that certain things are best to keep to ourselves, yes? I give you my word that unless you force me to do so otherwise, I will not share a word of this with anyone, and I will not leverage my knowledge to gain advantages over you. My words may currently mean little to you, but you will come to learn that I honor my promises, long as that goes both ways.

As for what I know, it is simply that you hide your scaly form within the frail frame of a pony. Why you do so, or how for that matter, is none of my business. You are entitled to your privacy after all, though I will not lie and claim that I hold no curiosity for the answers. Who wouldn't after all? It is simply not something I have the right to dig into, though it is a risk to leave such an uncertainty as you around Spicy and I. Yet sometimes, one needs to trust their own judgement, such as I am doing with you my dear.

Now then, will there be more, or shall we commence with you threatening me and everyone I know in case I breath a word of this? I have dealt with dragons before, and know the general penance for theatrical, overblown statements of excessive violence for the slightest misstep."

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@EQ_Theta

"Most of what I've done through my life involves a need to be observant, and I heard what you two were speaking of earlier, so I had a theory I wanted to test from that.

From what I can tell, it seems as if Omen is much like a filing cabinet. You keep throwing files in there which have not yet been processed and put into other drawers, and eventually nothing more can be put in. It merely stands open and waits to be sorted through. So I pondered if it would help to not try and shove more information to sort through for her, and *process the file* beforehoof for her. It seems to have worked for the time being, but we must be somewhat careful. I think we will need her to be as unburdened by additional questions as we can in what is to come."

Rosa knew well that the comparison was perhaps not the most flattering, as he connected a object with a living being, but it were the one that made the most sense to him. Omen were by all accounts a creation, and one who had not had the attention to detail when it came to her head as a regular being like Sen, Lin or himself had. Likely even the refraction had a more functional system going in his head compared to Omen, regardless of hos young it were. It were a rather big problem in his mind, because it meant having to be careful about what and when to inform Omen of things she might not understand, for fear of her having to shut down to sort through the worst of it, which could happen at a very inopportune time. If it were up to Discord or whoever Mother were that Omen were build together like that, he didn't know, but one or both of them had messed up big time.

"When all of this is done, I would advise you to leave her be for a while, until she can get sorted through what lurks in her mind, or it may happen with some degree of frequency. Regardless, we'll need to get one thing sorted before the next here, so let's finish packing up and t hen get on our way."

Meanwhile, Omen had shifted her focus towards Sen, whilst everypony else were more or less about ready to get a move on, and wandered over towards him.

"Thank you? Lin said it was special."

She was unsure if this was a time to say thank you, but if that were so, she'd be told she had messed up and could learn from that. Just like she sought to learn from what Sen was working with right now, as Omen had never bit much notice in weapon making before. She had seen the finished work of course, and several times because they were directed towards her back in the olden days, but it were different from seeing it in the making.

"Have you made many weapons before?"

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@EQ_Theta @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

On 11/2/2018 at 5:02 AM, EQ_Theta said:

"I guess it's just not knowing where being assertive ends and being a jerk begins. I always want to do the kind thing but I am not used to standing up for myself when things don't go my way, even if it is just asking for ponies to move out of the way. I once came across a pony whose cart was blocking a bridge; I lost my composure and threw the pony and her cart into the river. I just wanted to pass and they didn't seem to notice me."

"So not as much internal rage as I first assumed, but the emotional extremes seem to be fitting so far. You aren't seen, heard, or taken serious, so you shift entirely and go too far towards being pushy, and impossible not to bite notice in. Sounds like the big issue here really is to find you a balance in situations like the bridge incident, and have you learn where the right amount of harshness to mix with yourself.

This is... Problematic really. Learning how to even out would be somewhat easy to learn a dragon, but you ponies aren't like this. You don't carry that inherent need for harshness and crude behavior that we do, so finding the harmony is going to be an issue. I don't think snark will work either, as you seem to want to remain a kind being, and snark tends to work poorly with that."

The dragon rubbed two fingers on her forehead, keeping down a weak migraine attack that were bubbling around a little as Nerzhei twisted and turned the problems in her head.

"Tell me if this is about right for a pony. You want to be able to stand up for yourself enough so that, if you end up with the bridge situation again, you can go up with some degree of confidence, poke him on the shoulder, and say clearly that you want to pass? And if that then doesn't work, to be able to just push the cart aside since you weren't left with many other options, but without throwing anyone off said bridge?"

As a dragon it was simply *Get off, or I'll make you* but threats didn't seem to be the pony way from what she could gather, and honestly, it wasn't as if Fluttershy were looking scary at all. She seemed absolutely harmless, which might also add to her problem. It was hard to take one serious and care if you didn't appear to be one who would even raise her voice up to you.

It was about this time that the princess came back, and with a rather strange comment to boot. Nerzhei had explained who she were earlier, right? Then why did it sound as if the princess had not seen her before? Perhaps the bookish pony were simply dealing with other things, or had forgotten, as the meeting were brief after all, so Nerzhei would give the mare some leeway.

"As Fluttershy said, I am focused on trying to help her. And if you're worried about your library, I have sorted through some of the books that somehow ended up all over the place, after following some ponies in there earlier. Your shelves needs a clean up though. Several titles doesn't fit with where they're positioned, based on the sections I could see, though I am impressed with the size of your collection. It's more books than I have encountered in the past three hundred years."

Nerzhei wanted to go through the situation with the book that she carried with her, to see if perhaps the princess would find interest in it, but there had to be handled one thing at a time, and currently, her focus should be set on Fluttershy, who had brought up the bunny duo a little before. Something which could work as a kind of example perhaps.

She pointed a scaled finger towards Lotus, who stood with her arms crossed and stared right back into the dragons face.

"Lotus's situation is somewhat similar to yours. She had to learn to stand up for herself around creatures that saw her as cutesy and defenseless at best, and food at worst. She became assertive, though the issue here is one that I don't want to pass on to you, which is violence. Learning from dragons tends to lead to aggressive tendencies, and by all accounts, that is not where you wish to go. You won't need it either, as your surroundings are kinder than where we are from, which is another issue: Fitting in. Lotus doesn't belong with regular bunnies because of her pride and aggression, which is a route we have to avoid with you, agreed?"

A thing which Lotus responded to by pulling her tongue at the scaled female.

"I'm perfectly normal. It's everyone else that's too scared of everything. Except for Angel. He knows how to act."

Lotus had seen Angel doing things a few times in town that showed he wasn't one of the usual cuddly bunnies who'd scream and run away if you even got close to them, which were just a massive plus. She hated those, always just running off, huddling together and look at her like she were some kind of freak... She didn't belong among those. Never had, never would.

And speaking of belonging, the other dragon in question had come up, which she hadn't even told Nerzhei about before since it just seemed weird, so she wasn't sure if it were actually a dragon, or just a pet in a costume. She had been considering telling her dragon about it, but then everything happened with the zombie, then sphinx and so on... Things just went haywire. Seemed like as good a time as any to address it now though.

"I saw you being after a small dragon once when I jumped through town. Was that Spike? He's tiny."

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@Dji

"It's Enzo."

Enzo gave off an offended snort towards who he would assume were Karmic. It seemed now the controls had changed at least, as the voice and look on the pony's face were less hardened than Atzy's. A good timing too, as this would allow him to hear the side of the story from the other part without being filtered through the parasitic ooze.

"Your struggle will tear away at the body you share. A solution have to be found, which can allow for you both to live, though what is your true meaning on this? She does not wish to die, and you have no desire to hold her within your being. What problem is there in working towards spawning her into a new host? Fear of what she may do? Simple pride? A want to harvest her powers into your own being? Or perhaps a sadistic want to end a life, rather than save it?

*Sigh* You ponies are enigmas in your way of thinking sometimes. Who can really tell what lurks beneath your innocent appearance?"

His head sunk down again, with his ears followed troop as he had yet another mood swing. Dust whirled up around them when his chin made contact with the ground, though his eyes did not leave Karmic for the time being.

"What is it that you plan to do about it all?"

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@Dji @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Lucid_Nightlight

"Pff, I'm not scared of the author. He'll just cry because he missed me."

Take her, please. I could use the break from trying to stop her from destroying anything in this world. Your world, your problem.

"Hey! Nopony asked you for your opinion!"

They did, and I'm begging them to take you away whenever they're going away. Might actually be able to permanently shield the breezies from you when I don't need to constantly keep you in check.

"Oh sure, you can say that word, but I can't? Hypocrite monkey man.

Bah, boo to him. I'm going when you're leaving, and then I'll return to make a whole lot of mess. And no worries on the time. Unless I go coo-coo and needs to be killed again, I have all the time in the world.

So... What're you gonna do now then? Sight-seeing? House hunting? *unintelligibly screeching noises*? Hey wait a minute, that last one wasn't even bad! I meant it like with crows, not the stabby kind.

Is your author guy kinda stupid too?"

There's no need to be rude here.

While all the fourth wall breaking was going on over with the goof troop, Onache were getting a cold, dark flare in her eyes as the mention of a siren being spotted were mentioned by Aurora.

"Where, pray tell, did you see this unsightly gnat of a being?"

The word dripped with poison, and caused Happy to step in and try to calm things down before this became the start of a lynch mob, or something equally painful.

"Does it really matter, my queen? We don't need to fight over food with their kind anymore, and if the siren comes in here, we can deal with it."

"I am well aware of the circumstances, but that does not make me more pleased with them being within a mile of my vicinity. I want to know who it is that hides among the ponies, that I may personally confront the creature and see if there is a need for a swift strike.

You, tell me where it were that you saw this thing, and it what false form it hides?"

Onache's eyes and words were softer as she addressed Aurora again, but what her plan were now weren't exactly certain. Did she want to attack the siren on sight? Forgive? Just try and talk? It seemed like she may elect to not outright attempt to pulverize the creature, but it were difficult to tell, even for Happy, who considered himself to know his queen as well as he realistically could, considering how often he were away from the hive.

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@Rising Dusk

What in the world were they looking at right now?

It had all started off pretty simple really. The hoof had been risen, the officer stood ready to do something, and Null were debating whatever or not a few life-long scars wouldn't be good for Rising. All pretty standard, normal things.

Then all of a sudden, the officer had begun using his magic to work on this, and things just felt like they stood still.

Dark wisps were dancing over the bear in a strange, almost dance-like pattern, booping at something the sisters could not see, yet which at the same time had them transfixed and silent every step of the way. Anticipating something to happen, good or bad, as the dancing wisps drew more and more of their attention away.

It were hypnotic to them in a sense, to see these wisps attack what they had held on to for several years by now, though neither had any idea if it even did something. The table drawings seemed to react to it, but it barely registered with them, as the process just wandered on in a seamlessly calm and harmless fashion. That were, until the bear started to hiss, though for some reason, they couldn't get riled up about it. Both Null and Void felt surprisingly calm, and instead of Void screeching and Null growling, they just stood there, barely even blinking as the last few seconds of the procedure commenced, and then... *Poof* It were gone as suddenly as it had started, and the wisps vanished from sight one by one.

Void slowly started to raise a hoof as she saw Rising get closer to the bear, but it didn't do anything when he made contact.It fell to the floor, motionless and likely for the first time since it had been sown, clear of any malice that it had been created with.

Somewhere, far, far away from this building, a witch would notice this too, and gnash teeth over losing this spellwork for good, but nopony here would be aware of it, or likely ever impacted. Harrowmark citizens were incredibly rare sights in Equestria, as they overall did not think fondly of the way the country were run, and didn't feel like their customs and traditions were welcome, so they generally stayed away. Only one group of settlers had ever set hoof in Equestria with the intent of living there as a community, and they kept to themselves, which mostly only led to sightings of these kinds of ponies to those who could not stomach the life in Harrowmark, and those searching for rare herbs that only Equestria possessed, who refused to buy them from travelling sellers. Neither of those two examples tended to last long within the borders, and if they did decide to stay behind, they abandoned everything they grew up with and did their best to convert to the Equestrian lifestyle, or became solitary loners.

One thing tended to be for sure though: Where you'd find a pony from Harrowmark, you'd find a zebra within walking distance. The two groups had much in common, and what towns were of the striped equines in the nearby countries, usually had trade deals with Harrowmark to exchange valuable herbs and other ingredients from both sides. Seeking them out in Equestria was kind of a comfort thing, even for those who would never pick up a cauldron again for as long as they lived.

As for right here and now, in this basement, Void looked at the bear, then back over at Rising as his words began to register with her.

"Dark magic thrives in Harrowmark. None of what we took from there are any kinder than this."

Null were the first to snap out of the semi.trance that the two were in right now, and the frown returned to her face, whilst a more calm, collected one remained on Void's. The larger earth pony likely did not want to return from it as much as Null wanted, as moments of calm in Void's life were rare, but it would soon catch up to her. It always did.

"I guess you really know your stuff. Do you want to try a really nasty one?"

Her words were challenging, but far kinder than what she had sounded like so far, all the way down to the tone itself. It may be strange, but it would certainly be better for Rising than the spiked anger and hostility.

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@Emperor Blu Traincrown

On 11/4/2018 at 10:31 AM, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Ooh, interesting! I'd love you to show me. Hope your mechanical cart feet will be able to support heavy things though. And when I speak about heavy, I'm speaking about things weighing around ten metric tons at least. That's why I demanded an elevator in the first place."

"The mine shaft back home could do that, so I don't see why I couldn't get it sorted for you. Might be simpler to just tear down a few sections of the walls here and there and build in some retractable arms to sort you out instead, but I'll need to see how many parts you'd want to move things in first, and the stairs as a whole. They might need to be reinforced too. I'm thinking Deep Iron, Fahrenweltz plating, the whole works. It's gonna be heavy, but it'll be build to last."

Technically he did have access to a metal that were stronger than Deep Iron, and no, not one of the insanely expensive ones. It was a composition the alchemy lab had mixed up back in Center Zero which made for light metal that could take a beating to a point where not even one of his grandpa's best explosives could make much of a dent in it. However, it were insanely difficult to produce, work with, and once it had settled, there's be no turning back. Not unless you wanted to lob the whole thing in a pit of lava for six days.

Felicia had been crafted with what he had been able to scrounge up, but he still hadn't gotten 'round to finding some braniac that could help him get this sort of thing made. The one the alchemy lab had wanted to take the mantle on this had passed away a year before with no replacement in the papers, so Molotov had to try and scout one out for himself, and that was frankly not easy. Especially since the best alchemists were zebras, and they generally had no interest in the technical terms and technology required for these sort of things.

So no, he'd keep that one on the lowdown for now, though considering what came next from Azure, it definitely sounded like he'd have just the pony to share it with if it was figured out how to mass produce this thing. And one who'd for sure be worth it too, since Azure worked on making Equestria better in the name of Celestia, which were most definitely something the loyalists of the Boom family could agree on.

On 11/4/2018 at 10:31 AM, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"What I'm working on right now is a sun-powered high speed train. I call it Celestial Express 125. Celestial in honor of Princess Celestia who raises the Sun, source of power for this train. Express because it's supposed to be a quick high speed train, and is supposed to run from Appleloosa all the way up to the Crystal Empire with only an intermediate stop on the way: Canterlot. And finally 125 because its maximum in-service speed is supposed to be 125 miles per hour. To make it simple, that locomotive would be fast and clean. I haven't done the cars though, they're coming after and between the two power cars, one at each end so the train will be twice as powerful as a regular train, and won't need the locomotive to go all the way around to hook up at the front when arriving at last stops, gain of time intended. That's why you can see a blunt end on the chassis. This blunt end is expected to be facing the passenger cars, while the more aerodynamical end will have to cut through the air efficiently. As you may know, air is speed's worst enemy. Trains are no exception to that. And I bet my cutie mark that you thought it was steel or iron, but no. This particular chassis is made out of aluminium. Yup, you heard me: aluminium. Pretty cool isn't it? I've chosen this material because it's way lighter than iron. And when it comes to speed, the lighter the better. The same goes for the cars I'll build after."

"A sun powered, high speed train, named after Princess Celestia? It's... So beautiful."

A tear ran from his left eye, though he quickly brushed it away and went to work examining the thing properly, though of course, his yap couldn't stay closed during this.

"Have you considered baking the carts into the design? A few flexible points to deal with the sways on the train tracks, and it could stand the test of keeping folks safe, and not in fear of some dingus taking off one of the carts. Or are you thinking it'd be done mechanically, via buttons and machines? A robot unit of sorts? Ooooh, are you wanting this to be manned entirely by machines? Some food carts on wheels, robot staff, the entire unit set to drive on pre-installed commands... This baby could be completely automated without adding all that much weight.

Have you properly reinforced the aluminium to make sure it doesn't start to crack under pressure when the speed goes high? It's light, but it's not the strongest metal against pressure. A proper reinforcement the right areas, even with a few layers of alliminium and some proper bolts will do wonders. And please tell me you're not using standard bolts for this. You gotta be using at least a Geo-Vector 9 grade here, right? The regular stuff just ain't gonna cut it for the kinds of speeds you're hoping this beauty is gonna put out.

Say, have you considered adding some radios in whatever carts you have going too? Make it all cozy and stuff for folks, and the right setup can give some really crisp sound from the conductor when he needs to start speaking. I know a few tricks to make it so that you can even hear the nervous sweat going down his face the first time the key's get turned.

But all of that can wait, we need to get to the real heart of all of this: How're you powering it through solar alone? Are you using magic amplifiers, or full on, no magic power sourcing? Because if you got the last one down, I really wanna swap some designs for a taste of that. I can't get the last bit of magic required for the designs I got going, and it'd be immense for my wings if I could. The less issues anti magic brings the better. For this train too."

On 11/4/2018 at 10:31 AM, Emperor Blu Traincrown said:

"Well any kind of train can be built here. This place is only for prototypes though, since it's my personal workshop. Once I've built it and got positive test results, I send it to the Equestrian Railway factories for high rate production. I've got the tools to build any kind of train except the magnetic levitation ones. I struggle more with steam engines, considering the fact that these are genuine bombs on rails. The boiler may explode if housing too much pressure. And I could speak about what I do here for days, but I think you don't want me to speak about that, do you?"

Molotov looked up from his current check of the cockpit area to send Azure a wide grin.

"Don't go try and tease me just to pull back, train master. You know I wanna hear what you got going for you in this paradise, and if you're real nice, I can help you sort your steam engine problem. Believe me, if there's anything that can explode, a Boom have figured out how to stop it, or make it worse. Sometimes both."

Rest in peace, great, great grandpa Magnitude Boom. The memory will live on, even if everything within a 3 mile radius certainly didn't.

Lucid_Nightlight · November 5, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Storm Shine @BloodDrops

"Hey author guy, you still gotta follow us and write down everything Anomaly is doing."

He opened a portal in front of his computer and stuck his head through.

"Did you really forget that little detail?"

"Hey Anomaly, does your author always forget these things like a dummy head?"

Easy on the insults, I'm the one who gets in trouble if you make him mad. Other than that, you have a point...

...unless this whole thing doesn't extend outside this universe, then I'm gonna have to just make you stay here.

"Sounds fair enough, we could also stay here and find Anomaly a boyfriend if that is the case."

Sounds good to me.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Catpone Cerberus · November 5, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Moonlit
"What Berry said." Nada said after Berry had finished, she agreed with her and didn't really have anything to add "You both know more about current day ponies than me, and you Serenade know the princesses better than either of us." "So what do you suggest?" she would have said that they should just go to Luna right now, but she had a feeling that they would need to go through the town for that, because she didn't really think that with the forest being so much thicker, the old castle from her time was still where the rulers stayed, and going through pony civilization wasn't a good idea before she had met somepony.

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@Blitz Boom

So he had found out the truth, Ruby didn't know if she should be impressed of him or disappointed of herself, but she was glad that he knew what was best to him, it would have been a shame to end this mutually beneficial relationship. Marley's act of strength with the rock was nothing else but amusing to her, in this form it could have done some damage sure, but if ever came to it, he could do nothing.

She looked at Marley, looking slightly amused, but her voice still laced all emotion "That tough shell of yours is quite amusing little birdie, but I am glad that we understand each other." "I assure you that I couldn't care less about your past, nor do I have any use to go around telling your doings to ponies, because as I have already stated, I only do things that benefit me, and law has nothing to offer me." "Even in event that you or that boss of yours break our deal, it's lot more beneficial to kill you than bring you to the law don't you think." she smirked "Thought you don't need to worry about those you know, because unlike the local type, I like to deal with my problems directly, and until I I happen to be hungry I have no need for disposing anyone else from your circles." suddenly her eyes changed to those of a reptile "And I do hope you don't become a problem." they changed back to normal.

One could think that she had told more than she needed to, but she knew exactly what she was doing, she wanted Marley to know that he was dealing with someone greater than the local gem eaters.

Her tone then changed back to her usual, just a bit less emotionless tone "I came to see if you needed help carrying that wall."

EQ_Theta · November 6, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"I guess you can say that, but not many I remember using," Sen fondly closed his eyes as he finished tying the last of the stones together. All spears and bolas done, he packed up their gear, stood up and looked up to the sky, feeling wistful about it.

"It was part of hunter training, being able to craft weapons like these. Building them and using them, both important. If you didn't know how to use one, building one was useless. And if you didn't know how to build one, you can forget about using them. I never got to try them all but these were the basics. Seeing these for the first time made me want to build one for myself and got me interested in becoming a hunter. And don't feel unsure about the compliment, you wear that necklace well! You'd be the envy of the village; nobody ever made those to give to another."

Lin noticed the two going about, seeing Sen reminisce about the old days when he was a lot younger but full of spirit. She misses those days when he'd come home, drenched in rain or panting from exhaustion, but full of zeal. He'd teach her about the things he learned, indirectly equipping her with the skills she never knew she'd need many years down the road. It was a exciting all things considered. She wouldn't have the physical prowess to ever fit the ideal of the hunters but she was thankful Sen taught her something.

She had finished putting everything away, and still had time to see a little bit of the younger Sen return in some form. More time to understand Omen now as she needed something to keep her cautious and aware of what she could do to improve her teaching methods.

"I see. I guess simple explanations should be the way to go. And she needs time for herself when things get a little too complicated. Anyway, looks like Sen is about done. I think we can head out now."

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@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"You're right. I want to learn about being assertive without being a jerk. What do you have in mind so I can learn to find balance? I wouldn't want to throw somepony over a bridge because I didn't get my way."

Frankly, the pegasus knew a thing or two about being assertive already. She had a chance to test it out when Iron Will demanded payment for a service the pegasus was ultimately unsatisfied with. A start, but she didn't see much use of those skills after. Maybe with misbehaving animals but that was a different story. She can be firm with them but that was because she was confident around them. Her ability to understand and communicate with a wide variety of them meant she knew how to interact and win them over. Her kind personality was a big plus. With ponies, she was more or less a doormat.

As for Angel, he turned back to Lotus with her question. Spike being a young dragon was a new sight, but one that everyone in town had grown used to seeing. He has a lot in common with them, the attitude, the way he carries himself in and around other ponies. He's pretty much one of the ponies despite being Twilight's assistant and a go-between for the princesses in Canterlot. A royal correspondence messenger is about right for a job title, on top of being a library organizer.

"Purple with green spikes? That's him. He's a young dragon who was raised by Twilight. I hear he'd good friends with another dragon named Ember. When she last came by, I heard she calls herself a 'Dragon Lord?' That's a title in the dragon lands right? Something like a king?"

Moonlit · November 6, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade looks up, "I would suggest a meeting between Luna, Twilight, Celestia, and us. Somewhere quiet, somewhere where nobody can get spooked...how about my place? Luna has been there before, and it's outside of Ponyville proper."

Rising Dusk · November 7, 2018

@Blitz Boom

During the act of removing the curse from the bear, Rising Dusk wasn't able to observe that the two sisters from Troy had been staring in a trance at his work. His focus on the task at hoof had to be spot on for such a complex spell. There were quite a few times in undoing that spell it could have spiraled out of control, as several of those stands in the weave were specially designed to keep the spell from just erupting. When he finished though, he managed to catch a glimpse of the tail end of their trance. Not that he'd be too surprised. Dusk's particular set of magic was unique, as far we he could tell. He had to admit though, the pony that cast the curse on the bear was really talented. And dangerous. Luckily the spell weave was locked in his mind like a signature, he'd have to keep an eye out for this type of magic again.

As a place of dark magic, Harrowmark seemed like a place he both wanted to visit, and equally stay away from. His pride as an officer of the law told him he should, to combat the dark magics that was his duty as a Spell Breaker. On the other hoof though... He'd probably be treated as badly as the two sisters. If nullifying magic in a small area angers the witches, him breaking their spells completely wouldn't be taken to so kindly either. Not too big of a concern though, as it wasn't in his jurisdiction, short of a Princess herself telling him otherwise. Nodding to Void when she brought up the topic.

Null though, seemed to want to up the game. He sort of figure those few short words were about the only compliments he was going to get from her for a while. A challenge too in her tone, but at least it wasn't dripping with the venom he'd been subjected to thus far. Dusk was curious though how the sisters determined which of the cursed artifacts they were carrying was more dangerous than another. The O.M.I. had it's own rating system, mostly focused on how complex the spell itself was, rather than what it could do. Dark magic could curse a jewel with enough power to level a city block with a talented enough caster, but the spell work itself could be undone by Rising Dusk with a flick of his horn. While on the other hoof, a spell that simply locked a door could take him hours to untangle. As two ponies that couldn't see the spell weave of magic, he wondered what they considered nastier.

"I'll do my best," he replied and nodded to Null.

Blitz Boom · November 7, 2018

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

"So now we have a plan and a setting for it to get done? This here's going perfect."

Serenade confirming how they were gonna attack this, as well as offering her place to get things done in, were really a big help. There were still a few quirks to sort out of course, but things were really starting to go the right way, and since Serenade didn't live inside Ponyville, but more on the far outskirts/outside town, they could get Nada there without getting her seen and causing a ruckus. It was about as good as could be.

"Now we just need to figure out the timing. Gonna end up taking at least a day to get the princesses ready, considering they should've gone back to Canterlot, right?"

A stick suddenly began to float nearby, and under wonky looks from Berry, would write into the dirt "Celestia is in Ponyville castle" before the stick fell down like it had never been used.

The strange actions came out of nowhere, and ended without a clue as to who or what had done so. There didn't seem to be a source for it, even though Berry kept looking around in confusion to find if perhaps a unicorn were playing a trick on the group. Who was it that could be spying on them, and at the same time knew where the princess were? Had to be somepony really good at keeping a low profile, because even looking through the bushes, Berry weren't seeing anypony.

Serenade might've forgotten about the originator too, seeing as how long it had been since Cherish had last done anything, but as the siren still carried the piece of the old castle that the currently incorporeal ghost possessed (I checked, she had it last) the spirit had been bound to follow, and until now also keep passive, as she were asked. She would've stayed that way too, but it were just... She hadn't expected to keep down for so long, and perhaps even being forgotten entirely, so when there had been a question that seemed like it needed to be answered, she had interfered a little. Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue, and would just help a little.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"No need to worry yourself, I have this under control."

Marley returned to crackingt hrough the mortar with ease and begin releasing the section of wall this were tied to. Done right, it shouldn't collapse on either of them, though it would hardly do any damage to the two beings. A dragon had tough scales, and Marley were not taken down by a mere slide of bricks. There'd need to be a greater amount of them to make it an issue, which hopefully would not come into play.

"Ah, and just so you know, I hardly think it possible that I can do much harm to you, depending on your true size, but I'm afraid such... Theatrical responses are a part of the job that is hard to simply not include. You would be surprised how many more takes notice of your words by even a small sign like that. Ponies, am I right?"

He chuckled as dust rolled down his hand, and collecting on the floor in small piles.

"I must say, it is highly fascinating to be around someone else with a flair for the dramatic. The little trick with your eyes especially were a rather delightful detail, though your threats may need a little work. It may just be a personal preference, but I do like some subtlety, rather than bluntly saying that you will murder us both if we get out of line. Ah, but what is a little difference in style between companions of greed, yes?"

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@EQ_Theta

On 11/6/2018 at 5:10 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"It was part of hunter training, being able to craft weapons like these. Building them and using them, both important. If you didn't know how to use one, building one was useless. And if you didn't know how to build one, you can forget about using them. I never got to try them all but these were the basics. Seeing these for the first time made me want to build one for myself and got me interested in becoming a hunter. And don't feel unsure about the compliment, you wear that necklace well! You'd be the envy of the village; nobody ever made those to give to another."

There had been many kinds of hunters that Omen had met in her time, but Sen were the first she understood the basic idea with. Chasing animals or other beings never made any sense to her, and really, with Sen it still didn't, since he didn't seem to eat meat from what she had seen at least. Yet the point in hunting and weapon making being interchangeable did connect with her, so there were that.

As for his compliment to the necklace, it sounded like they were even more special than she had thought before. Strange how things like this were valued so highly. She had just seen this as really valuable because it was from her friends, and didn't think that it was also a new thing to happen, that it were given to an outsider. Strange how things went sometimes.

It made her remember something though, about something she had given that could be used for a personal gift as well, though what Lin had done with the hair Omen hadn't seen, as her incident had happened a little after that. Guess she'd see what would happen in time.

"Why do you hunt? I haven't seen you eat meat before, so why hunt? You need the skins?"

On 11/6/2018 at 5:10 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"I see. I guess simple explanations should be the way to go. And she needs time for herself when things get a little too complicated. Anyway, looks like Sen is about done. I think we can head out now."

"Sounds like an idea. Alright everypony, let's head out. There's a town on the way to the beach, but long as we don't bother them, they won't go after us either."

Spotting a thread, Rosa went over and cut it before somepony wandered into a missed trap of his. Though with that sorted, it seemed like they were about ready to move on then.

"Sen, do you need some help carrying, or do you have it covered? Alternatively, Lin can store them on the other side of the gate perhaps, if she have the energy to it."

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@EQ_Theta @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"I imagine that it all will end up coming down to confidence. If you have the confidence to stand up to someone, you won't feel the need to go too far and begin throwing others off bridges. At least not the majority of the time.

As for how to build it... I will need to find a book or two on the subject to cater things more to ponies, but off the top of my head, I would say a multitude of things would have to be worked on. Praising you for your accomplishments, making you seek out others when they feel down and ask them what you can do, start a speech during a festive gathering, that sort of thing. Basically anything that will put you in a situation where you know there is a lot of attention on you, and your safe space gets challenged, until eventually you feel more and more able to take it heads on. Dealing with rude fools will likely have to come after that.

I want to specify though, that I'm not a scholar of psychology. I'm mainly a historian and research usages of magic-infused gems. I'm going off observations and guesswork for the time being, as dealing with confidence issues as a dragon involves getting it beaten out of you. Literally. The most common method is to get you into fights and force you to stand up for yourself, or get battered. At least where I were from. That will likely not work so well with your kind though.

In any case, I put forth my suggestions. What is your take on it? And try to speak up if I said anything you disagree with. It's part of the process."

This were going to take a good deal of her time more or less, but Nerzhei could see the positives it would give her too. It would help integrate her better to the community, as others would see her help one of them, and it would make her able to learn more about ponies from a casual, day to day study of them, and get a glance of how their minds worked. Books were all fine and good, but the numbers she had been able to gather the past three centuries in Dragon Land that had anything to do with ponies, were laughable. She could quite literally count it on one hand, and it wouldn't involve even half her fingers.

On 11/6/2018 at 5:10 PM, EQ_Theta said:

"Purple with green spikes? That's him. He's a young dragon who was raised by Twilight. I hear he'd good friends with another dragon named Ember. When she last came by, I heard she calls herself a 'Dragon Lord?' That's a title in the dragon lands right? Something like a king?"

Lotus in the meantime, focused more on what Angel were saying. It seemed like the tiny dragon she had seen were indeed the one he were on about too, and that he were named Spike. Kinda fitting, considering his *hair*, though it could also have something to do with him being raised by a pony. A pretty weird thing that made her give Angel a look as to guess whatever or not he were messing with her. How would a pony even get hold of a baby dragon, much less start to raise one after all? He didn't seem like he were lying, but quite frankly, she couldn't even focus on that, as the next part made Lotus's ears stand up straight and her eyes widen.

"She knows the Dragon Lord? Wha... How?! Ember is the ruler of all dragons in Dragon Land, and dragons doesn't like ponies all that much. How're they friends?"

It was quite baffling for the fluffy bunny, though for Nerzhei - whose ear vibrated as she bit notice in what were being said between the critters - it carried quite a bit more weight. Though she had little want to return to Dragon Land, not having the option at all were unnerving, in case something suddenly happened politically that meant she had to get far away from the pony controlled Equestria. Yet as the elders in the area she had been in had made her go here to keep an eye on Lyriel - fancy way of tossing her out - she'd need approval from someone higher standing to get back. Either other elders from different areas, or in this case, the Dragon Lord Ember herself. Mingling with one of Twilight's friends, and the princess herself, might end up being more beneficial to her than first expected...

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@Dji @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Lucid_Nightlight

At the sight of the pooqus, the author in question would use his pen to draw a quick mustache on the other-worldly invader. It wasn't really gonna do anything effectively, but it made him feel better. It also didn't show a lot of respect, but what could you expect when it came to things like this?

I know I need to write the adventure, but I mean I get a break from worrying about her destroying my own story world. Your world is your author's problem to defend against her escapades.

"Hey, why does everypony thing I'm just gonna cause trouble?"

Because it's what you do. I can't even write in any breezie characters because you keep trying to eat them!

"They're crunchy and delicious."

See what I'm dealing with here? It's a nightmare that never seems to end.

"Hey! Keep to the story, puppet thing, or I will make you into a melon. And not a good one either."

The author got the hint and kept his opinions to himself for the time being, as the draconequus starred back at the other two triumphantly.

"Authors, right? Weird things.

Anyway, I wanna try to do all sorts of things, but I'm not important right now, you are. You're dating now. You're gonna need to do something special for your first night out. Gonna paint a town red. Literally or figuratively, who cares? It's just gotta be special and something you'll remember.

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@Rising Dusk

Thw two sisters looked at one another after Rising rose to the challenge, before once again, one of them picked out an item. This time, it were Null's turn, who rummaged deeper into her saddlebags and eventually pulled up yet another, unassuming thing. In this case, a magic 8 ball of all things, to which Void responded by letting out a meep, and put her hoof in the way of Null before it could be placed on the table.

"N-Not that one. We d-don't have a s-sacrifice for it."

"I wasn't going to give him this one. It was just in the way and I needed it out of the way. Relax sis."

The larger sister let out a sigh of relief as she saw Null continue her motions and place the thing on top of the other saddelbags, before getting back to business and finally withdrawing the actual thing she had in mind, yet this one weren't as subtle as the last few items.

It was a small pouch in rough linen, heavily inscribed with varied runes that were currently inactive, but if free would begin to dance across the surface in a seemingly random pattern for the uninitiated, who couldn't see the way this worked. A heavy smell of varied herbs not native to the region would come from the top, where a rough piece of rope had it tied up and keeping whatever were inside therein. By all accounts, it seemed like a rural herb pouch, but one who had clear ties to either a zebra, or potentially another witch. If it were the good or bad variant seemed hard to say, but the spatter of dried blood on the side of the pouch did not exactly give off a sense of kindness at first glance.

"We found this in a weird section of a forest in the Northern Haylands, surrounded by weird looking vegetation and decaying buildings. We didn't think much of it until we found a few diaries around and found out that it had been dug up, and put on display without anypony knowing what it did.

They said it had just started to open up after a short time, and from it, spores had erupted, filling the air and gradually... Well, let's just say the vegetation wasn't as originally plant based as we first thought. I doubt you could handle the grizzly details.

Soon as I let go off this, it's gonna work on untying the string. You have until it starts loosening to get it fixed, or I'm stepping in to keep it grounded. I don't want to get executed for releasing a hostile spore thing across your town."

Once again, the item were placed on the table, and a hoof remained on it to keep it detained.

"The things we have get far worse than this. What you've been given so far is things that you either need to touch, or won't react until it's close to somepony. Some of the other stuff you'll need a sacrifice to distract it with to have a chance, like a pound of meat, or a small critter you don't think all that fondly about. That sorta stuff is what we're dealing with.

Enough yapping. You wanna try your hoof at this or not?"

She'd be ready to move her hoof off the second Rising green lighted it, though if he took this challenge and got it fixed, he might want to ask for a pause and for them to fill out an inventory list, graded from least to most horrifying item. It could be easier to get to grip with how to deal with this whole thing with a bit of information to work on from the start.

If at any point, it seemed like the string around the top of the bag would loosen enough to let anything from within out of there, Null would interfere right away, not caring about how far Rising had gone or not. Releasing the magically enhanced spores wasn't an option she'd even joke about.

Lucid_Nightlight · November 7, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Storm Shine @BloodDrops @Dji

"Time to continue the story in my world because of how handsome I am."

Lucid opened a portal to his world. If anyone looked into the portal, they'd see a sign that said 'Welcome to Ponydale!' In the distance was a town that looked just like Ponyville.

"Anomaly, just be aware that you could get booped a lot."

FanOfManyShows · November 8, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sapphire just held the book to her side. "No good comes out of you either." She said with a chuckle.

"Hey!" Astral cried out. "He's done good this whole time!"

She turns around. "The one time he helped you was when he bled out. I've witnessed every event from within this gem so far. Has he done anything more than get injured?" Her form phased for a moment as Astral tried to hit her, passing through her body. "Thought so."

Misty threw a rock to Sapphire, which also passed through her. "Why must you insult Chow like that? He's our friend!"

As she turned around, Astral grasped the book as Sapphire looked back with an unimpressed expression. "My sister needs this book, and whatever else you may have stolen."

"Hang on! How can I tell you are the real deal?"

The moment of the book speaking did startle Sapphire, who hadn't really considered that it was the one that spoke Which made her lose grip as Astral managed to take hold of it, She sighed. "I destroyed my sister with you." She said, looking to the ground, Astral dropping the book suddenly after hearing that. Sapphire smirked a little and teleported the book over to herself. "My sister will get her body back, so am I. If you want to end this, don't interfere." She said, before teleporting away with the book.

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

@Dji

"Remind me what you'd be helping with exactly? Since I have said I have nothing to do today." He chuckled a bit, looking around. "Your interest in what I do is going to be limited." He looked back to her. "I can't really make something up right now either." He started walking off, gesturing for her to follow, because why not? He really had nothing better to do, and no reason to do his plans soon.

Catpone Cerberus · November 8, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom

Nada was going to say something but was interrupted by the stick starting to suddenly move, but she wasn't as surprised as one might think, after all, she had been deep in the Everfree forest for millennia, she had seen the Everfree's magic doing weird things, hay, there was wolf species made from sticks, and she had seen a ghost of a pony once too, but she wasn't sure if it had been real or just her imagination (For info, yes it was real, not that it really effects anything.). "Um...so, that floating stick aside, I'm okay with the plan." "But does either of you know what was with that floating stick? I can't smell anything so I doubt it was another pony messing with us."

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@Blitz Boom

"Suit yourself." Ruby simply replied to Marley telling her he can handle himself, she didn't really care if he needed his help or not, at least she was far away from the poison.

"Glad to hear you're not a total idiot." she calmly stated "And though I agree with you on your statement about ponies, don't give your own species too much credit." "And when it comes to threats, I don't see what's the need for subtlety when you already know what I am, and probably know that I'm not playing around." "Besides, this was already second time I told you I'm efficient with getting rid of my problems." she referenced her comment some time ago about ponies 'moving out of town' after trying to use her sense to their advantage. "But like you said, such differences don't matter, let's just hope two greedy creatures can come along."

Moonlit · November 8, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade does her best not to laugh out loud, but soon dissolves into giggles. Catching her breath she stands up, "Thanks Cherish for the info, I forgot I still had the stick." She turns to the pair, "That was Cherish, a Ghost Pony.." She looks at a space "Ghost Pony? right?" Then she turns back "She's a friend, and quite helpful."

EQ_Theta · November 8, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Sen nearly began his explanation but upon hearing the rest getting ready to leave, it was about time for him to come along. There was a lot of things to go through and it might be a good idea to explain things as he went along. No need to hold everyone back now and it might be a good idea to put these newly constructed items elsewhere for the moment. It is going to attract a lot of attention what with the bizarre creatures carrying implements looking like they're off hunting wildlife.

"Lin, let's keep these tools with the rest of our things," the longma waved to his sister who promptly opened a gate beneath the tools, dropping them off somewhere easily retrievable. With that, Sen turned back to Omen and picked up from earlier. "How about tell you about the hunters as we walk."

That was pretty much all the signals Lin will get to convince her to start walking. She took the lead this time, walking towards there destination but not before picking up Shrimp and letting the little refraction ride on her back. This one was a little bit of an experiment for her, wanting to see if it still preferred sitting on her head or if it was fine with staying elsewhere. She does admit it is fun to have the little creature on her head and letting out a cute shrill. That is an endearing thing she'll never grow tired of seeing or hearing.

"The old hunters used to go after all sorts of threats to the longma of old, on top of hunting for food. There was a system to this, hunt for food in the day, hunt the threats at night. Ever since we became isolated, we adapted to consuming food that isn't meat, slowly becoming used to eating berries and plants. We technically could still eat meat but there isn't much in the forest. The hunters were still called as such because we kept to the mission of protecting our village from threats of all sorts. Dangerous beasts, monsters, hostile outsiders, and more. Being isolationists just made everyone more paranoid about the outside world."

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@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"I guess bargaining at the market is one way to go about learning how to be assertive. Looking for the best prices is always about working out what the buyers and sellers agree is a good thing but what counts as a fair price is where two ponies will disagree. The same goes with trading goods but that usually only happens at the Rainbow Falls trade fair, and that will not happen for a few more months. It's about being firm and believe what I ask is fair."

A fair assessment of her own take on Nerzhei's suggestions. As much as she is already making some progress on teaching herself some of these skills and seeing how it helps her become firm and assertive, it will likely take more than that. There was the possibility of stand-up comedy but Fluttershy isn't used to cracking jokes and churning them out one after another. And as for speeches, there weren't enough reasons to go shouting about in a public location. It just didn't seem to fit with the idea of being assertive. Probably more of keeping wild ideas to herself.

As for Angel, this conversation was hinging on hear-say from the birds who fly by the cottage and rest up in the evenings. When Fluttershy is away, the animals would gather and speak about the things they've been hearing in and around town. Sometimes this applies to the animal sanctuary as well but it was mostly just correspondences and checking up on the other group and vice versa. This topic is just about as factual as it could possibly get unless someone would ask Spike himself. Frankly, they would come off speaking unintelligible gibberish and would need Fluttershy to translate.

"From what I heard, he went to the dragon lands and met her in some contest. They called it a gauntlet and it took place in a volcano. I don't know the rest because no one knew what went on in there. Maybe he won her over by teaching her about friendship? It's pretty much how Twilight and her friends do things around here."

Angel shrugged at that last part. No animal would ever set foot in the dragon lands lest they become food. How Lotus toughened up around creatures that could eat her is a feat might try to replicate. Alas, he still has his role to play back at Fluttershy's home. Perhaps another time if his caretaker would consider a trip to the dragon lands.

Edited November 9, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Rising Dusk · November 9, 2018

@Blitz Boom

The mention of a sacrifice made Rising Dusk's eyes go wide for a brief second while he registered that they two sisters carried such an artifact with them. This is some very dark magic indeed. He was starting to wonder if the Princess knew the kinds of things they were bringing into the city. Either that or her faith in the sisters and the detective were far greater than he initially thought. He'd have much preferred to be looking at these kinds of cursed items somewhere not in a city with so many innocent ponies. His faith for now would just need to rest in the Princess, and perhaps the fact these two sister have been carrying these around for some time. Without issues? He couldn't say.

It wasn't hard to read between the lines when Null brought up what had become of the ponies in the village this next item came from. The spores had turned them into plants. A rather nasty fate, depending on how one looked at it. Not that he'd enjoy being a plant himself though. Dusk watched as the rune etched pouch was place upon the desk next. It was going to be rather interesting to get a look of how the cursed worked, as it was definitely a new one for the young detective. Time seemed more of the essence this time around, so Dusk went ahead and ignited his horn with the orange glow of his magic. Nodding, "I am ready, Null." he confirmed and waited for her hoof to be lifted.

Once again, as the pouch left the range of her nullifying aura the midnight blue colt blinked, letting the magical weave of the curse spring forth from the item for him to read. This time two inky weaves interwove together to make up the spell work of this curse. One, a very pleasant evergreen that pulsated with life. The other, an oozing black tar that looked most unpleasant. It seemed though that Rising Dusk didn't have much time to get to understand the harmony the two strands wove together. Almost as it sensing it was being observed, the inky black stand riled and coiled. The serpentine dance it performed seemed to coax the slower, less active green strand into motion. Made all the more evident by the strap keeping the pouch closed starting to slowly loosen.

The black wisps sprang to life and mixed with the orange glow of his magic. Already they began to dance around the pouch, slowing the strap to a point it looked like it was struggling to move again. What the two sisters couldn't see, were how the black wisps worked to unravel the two weaves away from each other. It was difficult to keep up with his work in dispelling the cursed artifact while always analyzing it as well. From what he could gather, the green weave was ancient, very old, very potent with primordial magic, a force of nature. The tar like weave, was newer, bending and manipulating the older magic into something much more than it was intended for.

Dusk's breathing remained steady and his features calm while the black wisps he commanded attacked the pouch. A rune on the side of the pouch flared an ethereal blue and his jaw clenched before a group of wisps stabbed the rune and it extinguished. Somepony did not want this pouch tampered with. The weave of the spell work riled and quivered under the heavy assault of the Spell Breaker. While the black strand resisted, the green did little to defend itself from him. To a point that it was almost sad to remove such a beautiful weave.

With a few more snips and tugs from the black wisps, the strap around the top of the pouch pulled tight and closed. With a flick of his horn the rest of the tapestry unraveled, fizzling out with no structure to hold them together anymore. He let out a breath and the wisps faded from his magic before letting his own spell work disappear completely. Offering another smile, although a bit more drained, he nodded to the sisters. "The spores will need to be burned, but the curse is Dispelled," he informed them, keeping the part of the beauty that was half the tapestry to himself, as they probably wouldn't understand.

Blitz Boom · November 9, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Adventure!"

Anomaly didn't even wait long enough for Lucid to finish talking before she had jumped through, and with a stomp in the ground, made a patch of half meter tall, purple grass sprout beneath her. Already a mark had been made, but so far it seemed to not be poisonous.

She spun around herself, trying to see if there was anything there that she could see that wasn't the same as Ponyville, but beyond the name, there didn't seem to be anything. Well then, perhaps she'd have to make a few things happen then as they went along. *internal evil cackle*.

"Come on you two, I wanna boop the snoots. With a tentacle! That should be fun."

The draconequus didn't have a nose on her face, so it were harder to do on her, though to make it fair, she made a red clown nose grow on her face, that would make one of several sounds when booped. It added to the entertainment when you could end up getting anywhere from a squeak or a giggle, to a gut-wrenching banshee scream. At least to her.

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@FanOfManyShows

On 11/8/2018 at 6:03 AM, FanOfManyShows said:

"The one time he helped you was when he bled out. I've witnessed every event from within this gem so far. Has he done anything more than get injured?"

"How about actually helping her getting out of this danger zone, settled up in the safety of Canterlot, and going straight into the fray for her, even knowing I'd be a distraction at best against you witches and your shenanigans? Something that you, as her mom, should've done instead of putting Astral through an emotional hell, you self-righteous spawn of a frogs egg."

Chow were getting really freaking sick of this one. Not only were she still toying around with Astral, and treating her like some sorta dummy that should just stay away and not mingle in the grown up's affairs, but now she were going and try to paint him as some kinda useless dolt? He had uprooted his life, gone back to a place he left because he hated it, and gotten closer to death more often than he cared to think about the last few days, all because he wanted to make things right. With Astral, who now had a good home in the Equestrian capitol, as well as Emerald, who he was partially at fault for letting escape.

Yeah, he might not be worth much in the fights they actually had, but saying that he was completely useless were a slap in the face, and he darn well knew that it was meant to get to him. The worst part? It worked! Sure it helped that Astral and Misty stood up for him, as ineffective as it now were, but that didn't mean that this witch hadn't managed to get nice and comfy on his nerves.

On 11/8/2018 at 6:03 AM, FanOfManyShows said:

The moment of the book speaking did startle Sapphire, who hadn't really considered that it was the one that spoke Which made her lose grip as Astral managed to take hold of it, She sighed. "I destroyed my sister with you." She said, looking to the ground, Astral dropping the book suddenly after hearing that. Sapphire smirked a little and teleported the book over to herself. "My sister will get her body back, so am I. If you want to end this, don't interfere." She said, before teleporting away with the book.

Chow wasn't able to do anything before the book was retaken and Sapphire - with a last *warning* - teleported away. Where to? Well, back to Emerald would be a solid bet, in the house they'd been in, but them going there now would probably be a very bad idea, now that she knew they could come. He'd bet a handsome amount of bits on her having set traps by now, or at least working on it, so that they'd get scorched or something if they set hoof in there again.

"I know she's your mom and that this here'd complicated Astral, but I swear, I really wanna deck her one. Right on the side of her noggin."

Back with Emerald, Sapphire would rightly find that the witch were setting trap spells, in case the others came back. They wouldn't hit Sapphire as she were exempt from these more specific triggers, but if any of the others felt like following, they'd soon enough find themselves with a red chain around them, paralyzed and unable to do much else than move their eyes and breathing.

As she were still finalizing a few runes, Emerald didn't even look up as she heard the guest arrive, somewhat certain that it were Sapphire, as none of the runes had yet reacted.

"Have you fixed it?"

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@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

"A ghost? Okay, I'm pretty sure you're just messing with us now."

"No, I'm uhm... Real."

The air flickered in front of them, and then suddenly, a small'ish mare that were currently somewhat see-through appeared out of nowhere.

"Hello. I'm Cherish Sky, please don't be alarmed. I'm not a dang- Whoah!"

Before the introduction even ended, Cherish suddenly found herself with a hoof going through her, as Berry had gone over to poke at the spectre just to make sure this wasn't just some sorta weird looking teleport spell. It wasn't, and she now currently had her hoof in something that felt like slightly resisting cold air, or for onlookers, Cherish's chest.

"Vauw, this is sooo cool. It's like a chilly evening wind."

"Please stop doing that. it's weird."

Berry's hoof had currently been through her head at the time she said this, and thinking it best to not keep this up, she took a step back, and made herself fully corporeal, though she were still floating a few inches off the dirt, in case somepony looked.

"Oh... Oh! Heh, sorry, I just had to try."

The barista grinned at the ghost, the sniffed her hoof just to see if any smell had been left behind, like gravestone, but nope, nothing new there, though Cherish did give her first funny look to a pony in years. Even the dead seemed to think Berry wasn't all there on the top floor, so to speak.

"Just... Please don't do that again.

And uhm... Nada, right? I hope I got that right anyway. Just wanted to say that you don't have to worry. The princesses saw both Serenade and me earlier, and they were nothing but kind. They wouldn't do you any harm."

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@Catpone Cerberus

"I suppose we each have our own style then my dear, though who knows? We may see that we have more in common in our approaches than first thought when danger eventually comes our way."

Such a delightful little conversation this were. Everything was on the table, the lines had been clearly set, and a vague level of trust had been established. It would have to be proven from both sides before it were more than just a fickle little flame, but Marley for one intended to do his part, as he saw this as a good working relationship. One with death threats and insults, though if that were a line he didn't want to be broken, he would've taken another line of work.

"As for your less than kind words about griffons, I can assure you that I am not blind to the idiocy and primal emotions that guides more of my kind than I would prefer, but make no mistake, some of us are far more than mere beasts. As a dragon, you would surely not be blind to that being true of your own, scaly kind as well, no? Be it feather or scale, we do share some less than stellar stereotypes if you think about it, and not without reason.

But why dwell on the idiocy of others, when we have plenty to focus on ourselves?"

With a final, crushing pinch, the last of the wall he wanted loose came off, which meant that he could grab hold in the block around the same size as him, if his wings were fully extended, and... Nothing collapsed. That was a relief, though they should likely still get out of here before things suddenly changed. So with the thing lifted firmly on to his back, Marley turned to Ruby with an amused look dancing in his eyes.

"Before we leave though, I wonder if I may ask: What is your actual size? I know females frown on that, but I am simply curious as to how much larger a creature than myself I am ironically gazing down upon currently."

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@EQ_Theta

""So longma hunters are guards? Okay."

It made sense really. If there was nothing more to hunt, what did you do with the ones who were good with weapons? You made them protect your home against bad things. That was simple enough for Omen to grasp, and were something she'd remember for the future, along with the notion that longma could eat meat. Perhaps that would come into play one day? She wasn't sure, but she knew so little about them since she couldn't remember the village that she had apparently been in with Sen and Lin, so this would help her to understand the siblings a little more, which considering they were friends and family, were important to her.

"Do you want to eat meat now? Many animals around here."

While this was going on, Rosa wandered over to Lin, to lead the way along with her. He had a few questions for the hour or so it would take before they passed through or near Ormenthal, which he thought she may be able to answer. One in particular had come up after he heard Sen explain a little about his kind, and his role as hunter. The longma male was quickly adapting to dealing with the difficult way you had to handle information and Omen it seemed, which were rather impressive, as it had not been long since things had seemed a little haywire in that regard. Either the longma in general were just very adaptable creatures - which he would not rule out, considering the story - or Sen and Lin in particular just knew how to adjust themselves on a whim. It were likely a mix, but how much of each part remained to be seen.

"Might I ask you something, Lin? It's about what Sen said, in regards to you being isolationists.

How bad of a case are we talking about? Does outsiders get caged or worse to keep the location of your town hidden? Are wards in place to shield you? I'm wondering how much of a traditional problem it is for your elder to work with the town if he spout ideas off that goes against that of a heavily regulated, isolationist society with generations of strict rules against exactly what he'd suggesting. I cannot imagine it being easy."

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@EQ_Theta @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

"I've read about markets before. I weren't aware that there were anything of the sorts in the area though. It could make for a good exercise if we could find one who were active and begin there."

Whatever that Rainbow Falls fair were, it wouldn't be ideal, as it were so far away, though perhaps it could work as a kind of finishing exam, to see if it had helped the mare stand more up to herself? Potentially a plan, though what to do before that then? Considering Fluttershy had not responded to the other suggestions, Nerzhei would have to assume that she were simply too polite to point out to the dragon that those things would not work, which left them with only the idea of travelling to a market to go with so far.

It seemed though that what Fluttershy considered working, would be an interaction where some regular back and forth had to happen. Haggling for something would be a good example, though what else could there be there? Her knowledge of the pony world were far from extensive, and Nerzhei could currently feel it working against her, whilst she were trying to help. This were potentially going to get problematic, but there were no need to give up hope. They had barely started.

"I want you to tell me your honest opinion about the other things I mentioned however. Ignoring them may be kinder, but confronting someone when they're wrong takes guts, and I believe you could use that. It's something you can do without going too far into your less pleasant state likely, depending on how you formulate yourself.

And as for you two-"

She pointed towards the two bunnies, where she had just heard Angel speak about a tournament that she were well aware of, as like with many other dragons, she had been called towards the event. She were not one to care about competing in it though, but she were aware enough of their history to know what it were all about. Quite opposite of Lotus, who just stood there with a hanging jaw, trying to figure out how the ruler of dragons had gotten to know ponies better via a tiny dragon there to partake in a tournament.

"- What you're talking about is the Gauntlet of Fire. It's called when the dragon lord believes it is time to pass the leadership on to the next in line, and involves a large portion of dragons selected for reasons that only the current and former Dragon Lord's knows about, as it is tied to the scepter itself. My best assumption is that it have some degree of consciousness to do so, but it is impossible to say without testing the scepter, and that will never happen.

As it is, former Dragon Lord Scorch passed it on to whoever could get to it first, at the end of a long trial, which ended up being his daughter, Dragon Lord Ember. If the majority of dragons on that island were aware of the term *nepotism* it would have caused a stir, but let that be what it is. I was called there too, though I only stayed to see who the new ruler would be. I am not a ruler of dragons, and owning the position would have left me preciously little time to do my research in, so it were not much of a consideration to simply give up from the start.

How a dragon raised in Equestria of all places were chosen though, surprises me. Perhaps there was something special in this Spike character that made him eligible? Perhaps I could meet him and find out one day."

Meeting a dragon raised by ponies would make him special for certain, but in what way that made him chosen? That were a far more interesting mystery, though perhaps it could have something to do with how he influenced the new dragon lord? The power that be may have wanted the dragons to finally start to get over ancient grudges, and connect to former allies again.

While she were thinking about this, Lotus got her jaw settled again and looked at Angel with kind of a shrug on her shoulders.

"I don't remember it, but my dragon probably hid me, so that I wouldn't get eaten. There's a lot who threatens with that in Dragon Land.

How would Twilight teach them friendship though? Doesn't that just sort of happen? Is it a pony thing to teach it?"

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

@Rising Dusk

The sisters once more followed closely what were happening, with Null standing like a hawk above her prey, ready to strike. Things were looking to be close for a while too, as the pouch began to slowly loosen up and prepare to let out the horrors within, but Rising managed to handle it before it got out of hoof, and a show of dancing wisps later, the bag would be neutralized. The spores inside would likely have to be destroyed, as it were simply too risky to let it go just in case, but that sounded like it was the officers plan too, so that wasn't a concern.

"Good. One less twisted thing in the collection."

"I-It's a shame, kind of? It h-had a lot of nature m-magic. If it had b-been made by somepony b-better, it could have been u-useful. The E-Evergrown might have d-done well with it t-then."

Null cringed at that word. Evergrown. Ponies made of nature, grown on immense, magical trees, and about isolated from ponies most of the times as could be. Considering the centuries ago that farmers hunted them and harvested them for their *blood* as it worked as a hyper-efficient fertilizer - an action highly condemned by Celestia, which had led to several arrests in farming communities - nopony could really blame them for taking a step back from mingling with most of pony kind, though she could blame them for being hostile monsters. The second the two had been found to be able to meddle with magic, the party that had originally found them and had meant to just escort them far away from the village, suddenly got a lot less friendly.

How Void had gotten them away she didn't want to say, but Null knew that it hadn't been something too bad. Every cursed item had still been there, and Void were kinder than her. She didn't carry the sins of her big sister, as she didn't have it in her to go too far.

"Yeah, or they would have covered everything in a thick jungle in revenge. They can't be trusted.

Anyway, let's get on with this. I'm not getting any younger."

"N-No."

Null glanced towards her little sister, with a quizzical look in her eyes.

"I-I know you want to get t-this over with, b-but... He looks t-tired. It could b-be dangerous then, and I-I don't want anypony to be h-hurt."

It might not be many signs of it, but the smile just looked like things had taken a lot out of the officer so far, though it might just be something that Void were imagining because she just couldn't see how this wasn't taking it out of whoever did it. Rising clearly put a lot of work into dispelling these things, and he hadn't even gotten to the truly malicious and cruel things yet. If he didn't have the energy and accidentally slipped up... What horrors couldn't this unleash on this town? And it would all be on them. She couldn't live with that. Not after how nice Equestria in general had been to them.

"...I guess. We'll need to get something alive and wriggling anyway for the next few ranks."

"T-Thank you big sis. And u-uhm... Officer D-Dusk? Do you w-want a break? We could t-talk about the other things w-while you are? I guess you m-might have some questions, considering t-the uhm... W-Well, I saw your eyes when we m-mentioned sacrifices, and w-well... It g-gets worse than t-that."

Lucid_Nightlight · November 9, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Lucid and Novia stepped through the portal.

"So, what now?"

"Well, I'm sensing some chaotic energy."

"There's always chaotic energy."

"There's more than usual though. It's seems a little bit... destructive."

Lucid remembered the ear and looked over at Anomaly.

"That ear is going to the animal shelter."

Catpone Cerberus · November 10, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom
Nada was going to question Serenade's statement, but Berry beat her to it, and then the ghost showed itself. Nada looked mostly just surprised, and she was slightly amused by Berry's reaction, but when the ghost talked directly to her, she looked bit unsure, she wasn't really sure what to think about the ghost-pony, since since she was a pony, but she was also technically something that ponies might have feared...but there was also the fact that she wasn't the first one she had seen, but unlike the last one, this one seemed friendly "Um....Hi?" "And yes, you got it right." "..and...thanks for the assurance?" her tone made it clear that she wasn't really sure what to say.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Blitz Boom

Ruby replied to Marley, ignoring the size question for now "Though I agree that my kind prefers our natural ways, that's not what I look down upon, in fact, I embrace my nature, my reasons for my view on your kind and ponies are quite different." "But just so you know, I have nothing to do with those local rock eating dragons, so I ask you to not even compare me to those creatures." she left it to that, then was time for the question "And regarding your question, I'm still small and young." "My back goes little over my current highest point, head can reach twice that, and the distance between ends of my head and tail is over twice that." "But don't let my small size fool you, I could easily crush you if I so wished." the question didn't bother her at all, she didn't see the questions of age, weight and such inappropriate, because the whole manners thing was invented by creatures like the ponies and griffons, in fact, for her it was just another opportunity to brag about herself, since size and age usually meant you were more powerful.

EQ_Theta · November 10, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"Maybe not now. It's alright if I give up eating meat for a while and it's not a big deal but thank you for asking."

Sen chuckled at Omen's concern, though he was nonetheless touched by the intention. It was something he didn't exactly think about too much for many years. Given how foreign Equestria is to the secluded life in the village, having to go on a mostly plant-based diet was not too hard of a transition. There were still some sources of meat back in the village. A stream where some fish can usually be seen trying to swim against the current is one of those places he knew of, and it wasn't too far away from the village. Those were seasonal, however, and occurrences like that usually meant limiting their hauls. The longma pride themselves for being in tune with nature and it extended to respecting the space they share with native creatures.

As for Lin, the question posed to her was an interesting one. Not something she'd considered too often but she had some form of working knowledge on the way things worked with the hunters. A history lesson might be imminent, however, as that was what got the longma hybrid excited. Well, intricacies of governing a longma village and networking with other village elders aside, her kind were unusually organized for being a race of isolationists who separated themselves into smaller groups to keep outsiders from harming them as a whole.

"You're not wrong. Radical ideas like being more open to communicating with outsiders has got my village's elder in a tough situation. Being isolated is so normal to the longma because the practice and methods of being hidden is what they grew up and got used to doing. To make sure it holds, hunters usually booby trap the many entrances into our forest home but otherwise do not allow themselves to be seen. Anyone who trips up and sets off the traps are either scared off or ensnared and left to be found by wild animals in the forest. What happens to them is of no concern to the longma but I really hoped that part is just something the hunters say to scare us. I can't say for sure, and neither can Sen. He never finished his training."

The last part still scared Lin, mostly wondering if the longma really were capable of such a thing. Being ambivalent of outsiders is one thing but wishing the wild animals like timberwolves to deal with unwanted visitors has her shuddering in fear. Even now in the midst of Rosa, speaking with him, she shuddered as she walked, reminding herself of how paranoid the longma are that they are capable of such.

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

@Blitz Boom @Dji @Seamore Sandwich

"Ignoring a problem doesn't solve a problem. It was something a friend of mine had to learn. It takes confidence to be able to do more than acknowledge a problem exists and that might be the root of my problem. Even if I learned how to haggle properly, it wouldn't do much good if I don't build confidence. Is it really as simple as going up to somepony and say what's on my mind?"

The pegasus understood Nerzhei's point. The difficult part was execution. She could easily do it with her friends and some acquaintances in town but for the most part, she was still fairly timid and shy around the ponies whom she interacts with on a daily basis. Thing is, even the animals living with her could see this problem and while they knew what she needed, it didn't exactly translate well in practice. They had their hearts in the right place and their help is still valuable. More than anything, they did manage to help out with clearing up some of the misconceptions Fluttershy somehow took away from Iron Will's workshop.

"As much as I can provide some suggestions without picking a fight, the most I can think of is to build a positive image of myself. Maybe simulated confrontations could add on to that though I don't think it will accurately reflect a real world situation. Is it worth a shot? Or we could ask Twilight since she's here. Maybe she could help."

With the bunnies chittering away with their conversation, Nerzhei's input provided some much needed context for Angel. It is useful, listening intently and nodding in affirmation. One thing that still eluded her was how friendship factored into their meeting. Spike's activities and relationships didn't concern the bunny but this development certainly piqued his interest. It's not everyday anyone meets the equivalent of Princess Celestia, and Spike has already befriended two of them, not to mention being a hero of the Crystal Empire.

"Twilight is the princess of friendship for a reason. Whatever happened during the gauntlet probably got Ember to believe in friendship. Maybe Twilight or Spike is in a better position to talk about it. I can't really say much since I wasn't there."

Edited November 10, 2018 by EQ_Theta

Rising Dusk · November 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom

Null really seemed like she was in a hurry. Whether it was just to get out of the city as soon as possible, or simply to be rid of the terrors they carried around, he wasn't quite sure. More likely though, it was probably both. Dusk had just Dispelled two quite high level curses back to back and it was indeed rather tiring to put so much energy forward in such a short amount of time. Normally, he'd encounter magical items such as these only a hoof full of times a year. Even with those, only half were dark magic. Yes, enchantments from good honest sources of magic still needed Dispelling from time to time. Like that time a wizard put a new barrier he was experimenting with around his door, but he then couldn't get back into his home. Complex spell work only made the effort more trying for the midnight blue colt, at least to this degree.

Void displayed an impressive degree of observation to notice Rising Dusk starting to show fatigue, and even the brief widening of his eyes in regards to the sacrifice issue brought up earlier. Most ponies didn't bother to take in such details of the things going around behind them. A very useful survival tool, he'd admit. Luckily at least one of the sisters was on his side, the break would be greatly appreciated. And getting more information on what he should be expecting would be helpful. Nodding to her inquiry, he'd love to take a break.

"I would love to take a break while we discuss the territory we're heading into next," he replied in a pleasant tone and with a matching smile. Not many ponies knew there was a difference between officer and detective, but the latter was a higher rank with more privileges and responsibilities. Most the time though, it wasn't worth the correction. "Would you ladies care for a cup of coffee?" Dusk asked while sliding off the stool he'd been sitting on and walked a short distance back toward the entrance of the basement where a coffee maker had been set up to keep the weary researchers going during their long hours of working down here. "What is the purpose of this sacrifice?" he asked while he worked the machine to start brewing some hot coffee. Rising Dusk would never condone the use of a sacrifice, but he might know of another way around it. He just needs to know what he's going up against.

Moonlit · November 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade looked up at Cherish and smiled, before turning to Nada "I can lead you back to my place, and then let the Princesses know. After that, we can figure things out. Besides...I kinda need to see if Ziggy is okay"

Blitz Boom · November 11, 2018

@Lucid_Nightlight

"It's off destroying something now? Cool! I wonder what it hatched into..."

Anomaly stood silent and contemplated what might have happened to the ear after it burst out of its cocoon, but for some reason, the only image that came to her mind was a bagel on a stick. That didn't really seem all that terrifying, so it was probably not that, though they'd see soon enough it sounded like. Hopefully it was something small, robust, and highly aggressive. Those sort of things were always amusing to watch. Like Honey Badgers. Man she loved those crazy little things.

Shrugging it off for now, she just looked off towards the horizon, then back at the new couple that were likely gonna have to worry about whatever Lucid's house still stood, considering where the ear had cocooned itself. A future worry for them perhaps.

"What? It's not like I know. Sure I can put some stuff together and make new beings all the time, but evolution is meant to be random. Sporadic. Crrrrrrazy! Restricting it to follow strict guidelines are just wrong. Heh, and since this one started with a piece of me, I bet it's gonna be fun. I did use to be the Element of Destruction after all.

Y'know, if we hurry, perhaps it won't have eaten or hurt anypony yet. Wanna play heroes?"

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

@Catpone Cerberus @Moonlit

Cherish squirmed somewhat from the response that Nada gave.

"I'm sorry, i didn't mean to make you uncomfortable..."

Being what she were, Cherish were used to interactions not going well. Roaming through the old castle she had on occasion made contact after all. Mainly to warn of the bad ghost that lived there, but it happened that she were curious and wanted to see if she could help with something. It had never ended well however. Ponies just... Wasn't used to being faced with the departed, and the only one who had been used to it, had been responsible for sending Cherish's friend on to the afterlife. A bittersweet moment, as she were happy that the poor colt could finally let go and join his family in the great beyond, but sad too, as it had left her alone.

The other ghost had even started to not make a ruckus around the same time, making it seem as if somehow, he had finally managed to let go as well, though she didn't know if it was just a trick. She didn't like him, and never interacted with him, no matter how much he tried to catch her. An impossible feat as she had been dead for far longer than him, and part of the castle for centuries more, so experience had beaten his varying degrees of tenacity.

The Serenade and the rest had gotten involved, and... Well, it didn't mean that she were making others any less comfortable. Ziggy had even got injured because of her, which made her wince as the name were brought up, and a wave of sorrow fell over her. Something which became physically watchable too, as her entire color scheme darkened a little. As if a cloud had passed over her, and nothing else.

To Berry, this was a pretty funny thing, though at the same time, she did feel bad for the ghost. Couldn't be easy dealing with others when you were the sorta creature that others normally found scary. She'd try and hug the specter, but it didn't seem like it went over well the last time she made contact, so she'd leave it up to Nada to figure out this one. Something Serenade said had caught her attention anyway.

"When you say Ziggy, do you mean that pink half-zebra? I could've sworn I heard that name from that weird chick who flew down from a sky, hugged me, and then whiffed off a few days ago. Is something wrong with her? You know, beyond tackling random folks to bug them? Which she didn't do well I might add. I checked for three hours, no listening device stuck on this mare."

What? She were supposed to think that somepony tackling her was just a huger? Hah! And then they called Her crazy.

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

@Catpone Cerberus

"So small in size, and yet, so confident in your ability to crush me? How charming.

I feel confident enough in my own abilities to claim that the fight may be more even than you believe, considering you were not of as an imposing size as I had anticipated. However, I see little point in testing said theory, and honestly, what point would there be in us fighting? Merely a show of force that could expose your true nature to others. A most foolish waste of time I would say.

Perhaps one day i will see what you do towards those foolish enough to challenge your authority properly, yet that is for the future. And worry not about the comparison Ruby. I merely used it as an example of the dragon race as a whole, yet your ability to hide among the equines makes it quite abundantly clear that you are more than the *Brawns over brains* kind that I know of. Mayhaps your form is even different, and more suited for combat than the kind that travels among ponies? Quite intriguing, though for now, we should make our way upstairs, before a certain equine begins to have funny ideas. If I may, please?"

Marley would make a gesture as to ask if he could pass, though if Ruby wanted to walk first then he wouldn't make a fuss about it. She seemed like a dominating woman who did not take orders from anyone, and Marley saw little reason to poke at that, or to simply push past others in general. It wasn't a decent thing to do in situations such as this, and unless he needed to act otherwise, the griffon much preferred to deal with things with a sense of finesse and style.

He would wish for her to move with some degree of haste though. The rock on his back were not overly comfortable.

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

@EQ_Theta

"Sometimes, the more you know, the worse you're off."

Rosa did not wish to respond to Lin's worries as directly as he tended to, so he gave a more open-ended one, that could mean a few things, or just be chalked up the paranoia.

However, the bat pony felt confident in saying that the hunters were most likely not joking about leaving intruders in the snares to become food for the animals. This was not simply his own idea about what isolationists did mind you, and to the lengths they would go to ensure that a scouting party did not return to tell others about what they had found. Granted, that were a large part of it, and something he considered to be the main point in this, as he found it unlikely that somepony would be trapped, let loose, and then did not return with others that had been told the story. It were highly unlikely that a society so focused on being isolated and unknown to the greater world out there, would take the risk of letting somepony go who might come back with a vengeance.

Yet, he also considered the logistics in this to be an issue. If the area around their village were littered with traps, to ensure that nopony just slid through with any ease from just going another angle, what were the odds then that they even could get to said trap, before anything came along to find an easy lunch? It seemed logistically unlikely that they'd be able to oversee them all, even if they truly did let loose those they found, which meant that the part about the wildlife just seemed more likely.

Of course, there were also the option of the outsiders being used mainly as bait so that the longma could attract prey, but this were yet another thing Rosa did better in keeping to himself, and simply went through it in his own head. This were the reason why he were so quiet for a few minutes after his initial response, and not simply to get his mask back on. That did not take that much time, nor focus.

Lin had doubts herself though, that much seemed clear from her body language. Yet were it right for him to point out why he believed she had reason to be concerned about her own home, and the things they were capable off? No, it was not. Another time when things had not stacked upon her as heavily within the last 24 hours as they had now, then perhaps it were something that could be discussed, but everything told him that now were likely a very poorly chosen time to cover that.

"I will keep in mind what you said about your village when I am to meet your elder, Lin. I may have an idea of something to do to cast myself in a more favorable light now."

Rosa suddenly began speaking, after having thought this through, and cast some glances to make sure that they had all come with them. It seemed as if Sen, Omen, and the sleeping Shrimp, laying on Omen's neck, were all accounted for, with Lin and himself currently making the front line, so that were good.

The road would go on for a half to a whole hour, depending on if the pace they had yesterday seemed to be keeping up, and soon enough they'd pass some gnarled woods, to see a sign with the inscription *Ormenthal. Show respect, ye who threads here*. A reminder that even though these were technically living under Equestrian law, they had their own customs, and they did not like being mocked or ridiculed for them, to a degree where you would not leave unscathed if you were too harsh. As mentioned though, Equestrian law, so they couldn't enact punishment like they did back in Harrowmark, but running folks out of town were a very possible action, as well as imprisoning them for public nuisance and wear them down from there.

A lovely people, really...

They might have gotten a look of them too soon, though it wouldn't take long to see that this wouldn't be an issue. The local guards or the citizens wouldn't be watching over them like vultures, and as much as he had said to just keep to themselves to not accidentally offend anypony, it appeared as if there had been little reason for that warning, as the town were destroyed and abandoned.

You could still see where the houses stood, as well as their market, the remnants of the well, and a few stone builds hadn't keeled over yet, but it seemed clear that something had crushed down upon them from above, though what he couldn't tell. Likely not something on fire, as the imposing, pale and leafless oak tree in the middle of town were not burnt to a crisp, though what had happened to make this such a ghost town, Rosa had no idea. Likely not anything pleasant, nor too recent, as the rubble seemed to be in the early stages of being grown over with vines, and other fauna.

"This will have ramifications, though we shouldn't linger. Few good things came from here when it were lived in, and I doubt any more have since risen in its ashes."

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

@EQ_Theta @Seamore Sandwich @Dji

"Asking the princess would be the better option, but she seem to be... Unfocused. Perhaps the ordeal with the sphinx drained her?"

Nerzhei had to try hard not to use less kind terms for Twilight, who were there, yet appeared as if nothing really registered with her. Air-headed would be the first word that came to the dragon's mind, but let that be what it were. Likely the princess had a lot of things on her mind as it were during this day, as the town got attacked a few days ago and were still being rebuilt, and then came the sphinx, the political side of the town, regular royal duties, etc. Nerzhei were willing to give the princess the benefit of the doubt, as someone as young as her might feel overwhelmed by everything.

Not that Nerzhei knew how old the princess were, but from the looks of things, anywhere between 15 and 100 seemed about right. A high margin for error there, but alicorns were harder to pinpoint than regular ponies, and seemed to be more based off height if anything, considering the pictures Nerzhei had seen of the known alicorns. Either way, the mare were a youngster compared to the centuries old dragon, so it still stood, unless her guess were widely off the scale. She really needed some pony biology books one of these days.

"To return to the topic at hand however, I don't know if it will be that easy for you. As said, ponies are different than dragons and the approaches are so too, so I evaluate on what I have been able to see mostly. The ponies I met from the border and towards the Everfree Forest, tended to be confrontational. They didn't back down often, and when they did, they walked in and started the conversation. Hence why I pick my ideas around verbal confrontations with others, instead of physical, like dragons tends to do.

Building yourself a positive image can work well too, as is your self-worth is low, you won't have much confidence. Though how to do that is... Tricky. Again, different methods for dragons and ponies. Perhaps we can address where you think you fall short and work on that?"

Whilst this went on, Lotus shook her head and just stopped trying to understand how it worked with these ponies. Friendship princesses? Seriously? She understood the sun and moon, as that was kinda needed, but did you need a title for shaking hands and doling out hugs? Didn't make a lick of sense to her.

"We can beat it out of- I mean, ask the tiny dragon later. Your princess looks like she's in another castle, so i don't think she'll work.

Is the dragon lord the only one that Twilight made friends with then? Or is this a huge thing, and that pony is tougher than she looks? Guess she'd need help for that sorta thing. Does your pony help her? She's pretty nice, so I could see that helping if they go around and talk about friendship.

Actually, how did you two meet? Did she raise you? Find you? Buy you?"

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

@Rising Dusk

Void took over the conversation before Null had a chance to respond to the offering of coffee with something along the lines of it perhaps being poisoned.

"Y-Yes please. Not too strong i-if that's okay?"

She knew that her sister meant well, but they couldn't keep distrusting everypony they ran into. Equestria had been a place they had avoided for years because of how they were raised to think of it as, but being here, everything had been shown to be wrong. The propaganda didn't fit, and while yes, some individuals were bad to them, the law had never been against them here in the week and a half they had been in the country. Even when they were fugitives, they got helped, and not once did anypony try to arrest them falsely or feed them anything poisonous.

They had a lot of baggage to carry around, and she wasn't just talking about the cursed items. Yet they had to try and trust somepony sooner or later. Void Needed to believe that, or nothing would have changed... They would just have more imagined threats than real one to isolate themselves from, and she couldn't keep living like this. Running, scared, cowering as they ran away, afraid of what might happen to them... It wasn't a life, and here in Equestria, things finally seemed like they could change. But that wouldn't happen unless they tried to trust somepony even a little, and Rising were a good one to try with, right? He hadn't done them anything wrong. in fact, he had helped them get rid of some nasty things that he could have also used to really wreak havoc, or as an argument as to why the sisters had to be locked up for being dangerous. Yet what had he done? Just offered them coffee, and there had been nothing so far that indicated that he would try to put something in the drink.

Null would call this naive, but Void would try and move a small step on. She just hoped that eventually, Null could let her guard down and relax too. If she even knew how to at this point.

Following Rising towards the coffee machine, Null would keep her trap shut whilst she watched over every single move that Rising made, to make sure that he didn't slip something in there that didn't look like it belonged, whilst Void just stood and waited, and tried her best not to look as much as her sister did.

6 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

"What is the purpose of this sacrifice?" he asked while he worked the machine to start brewing some hot coffee. Rising Dusk would never condone the use of a sacrifice, but he might know of another way around it. He just needs to know what he's going up against.

"B-Big sis? Could you uhm.. A-Answer the officer? You're b-better at it."

Null opened her yap, something ready to spout off right away, when she felt a big hoof on her shoulder, as Void had gotten closer and tried to get through to her.

"Nicely p-please? He isn't out e-enemy."

"...It's a distraction. The worse things we find, the less time anypony have to react to it. That's how we *rank* these things, on how hard they are to avoid.

The bear is rank 4. Tempts you, but doesn't force it. 5 is things that doesn't do anything unless you touch it, like Void's Naginata.

3 is the pouch. It react when somepony is near and begins doing something without even needing to be touched.

2 is what needs sacrifices in critters or slabs of meat or something, as they go straight for the victim when they're within *sight* or whatever. Giving them a rabbit means you have time while it does work to that thing.

1 doesn't give you that time unless the offering is good. We're talking things that would be doing whatever it does on you in a second, lest it have some higher being to gnaw on. We're talking griffon wing snatchers, pony possessers, foal eaters, that kind of thing. Even if you're not the target audience, you're still done for.

...We also have a few S rank. You can't do anything to those. It takes everypony at once, can't be stopped, and doesn't get distracted. The worst of them eats your mind up when you're close enough, and takes over your bodies. Then it finds more to feast on and gets a larger and larger hivemind, and if it somehow gets taken down, there's no saving for the beings it took over. We saw it. They just end up on the floor, drooling and showing no sign that there's anything in their heads anymore.

There, you happy? We're carrying around enough horrible things to decimate several countries, and I hate every last one of them. Even my blow darts."

It wasn't exactly said without a snarky undertone, but for Null, she had put it out there as nicely as she could muster right now, and never once taken her eyes off the officer on his coffee machine. She didn't want to miss a spoon-full of sleeping dust being poured in or something like that, or a weapon being drawn now that the officer would know what sorta things they were in possession of.

Lucid_Nightlight · November 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom

"At most it'll be as powerful as Anomaly."

"Yea, that could be good or bad thing depending on how powerful she is."

Lucid quickly turned to Anomaly.

"Ok, so exactly how powerful are you? On a scale from small building level to omniverse level, how powerful are you?"

"That answer will give us a good guess. If for any reason it has evolved to gain power, this could become pretty bad."

Edited November 11, 2018 by Lucid_Nightlight

Catpone Cerberus · November 11, 2018

@Moonlit @Blitz Boom
When Berry started talking to Serenade, Nada didn't stay quiet this time, but she didn't interrupt them either, instead she lowered her head on the ghost's level and replied to her quietly "You didn't make me uncomfortable, it's just that..." "...I don't know yet what to think about you, it's nothing personal, I just don't really know who to trust at the moment." there was no reason to lie about it, she had suddenly been introduced to a pony, another siren, and ghost from all things after being alone for quite long time, and only one of those three creatures she didn't have bad experiences in past with was the siren, so she was still figuring things out. She then turned towards Serenade, Berry had just finished his thing "I'm okay with that plan, but like Berry in a way said, who's Ziggy?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Blitz Boom

Ruby seemed amused by Marley's confidence, but after he had finished, she just coldly, yet amused stated "You foolish little bird." she then left the doorway as she continued "There's more to fighting than size, I'd be surprised if you could even scratch me." she was of course talking about everything from her armor (scales) to her claws and fire, and of course like Marley had guessed, her form was better for combat than those of the Equestrian dragons. She walked up leaving Marley behind since he didn't need her help.

Moonlit · November 11, 2018

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus Serenade smiles, "Ziggy is a friend, my best friend in ponyville. She's....unique, but was the first besides Princess Luna to accept me as a Siren." She looks back toward Ponyville "She was injured when we explored the old ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters."

Sekel · November 12, 2018

@Blitz Boom, @EQ_Theta, @Seamore Sandwich

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

”Parties aren’t really my thing,” Twilight shook her head. She stepped further into the room and served everyone’s positions. “I can’t help but notice you’re rearranging the books,” she added slowly, looking at Nerzhei. She had forgotten briefly what Nerzhei actually looked like from having to deal with the Sphinx but her memory did come back. Twilight then gave a wave to Angel and sat to the side while Nerzhei and Fluttershy talked, however, her gaze never really left Nerzhei. After a while, her unfocused attention reasserted itself and she glanced between both ponies. “Sorry, did I miss something?”

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE

”My plan for Atzy is to get r out of me because I don’t want her accessing my unique set of abilities. To explain, at random sets of intervals, I get visions of a nearby pony’s future. I have been unable to control this but if Atzy was to somehow leech into my talent and gain it for herself, and control it? I don’t know what destruction she can cause,” Karmic explained, staying where she was while her eyes followed Enzo. “And as far as I know, it on,y works with other ponies and not other creatures.”

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

”It may have gone back to the Everfreee but I saw it in Ponyville before it used a potion to change into a Pegasus,” Aurora explained, largely igniting everything going on around her and focused only in Onache. “It doesn’t really pose a threat so I just thought I’d let you know.”

@FanOfManyShows

WATTS MECHANO

”I don’t know but I do know that I like helping strangers whenever I can If they’ve helped me with something,” Watts spoke and when she opened her eyes, realised he wasn’t in front of her. She did a quick look around and sa him walking away. She blinked a few time and then ran to catch up to Zealous. “Where are you going?”

Edited November 12, 2018 by Dji

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