open Casual stroll

Sekel · January 8, 2020

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

'Atzy, please! This is going to be painful for both of us! Don't do this!' Karmic pleaded within Atzy's mind. The mare shook her head at Karmic and snorted.

"Shut it, Karmic Fate," Atzy growled under her breath. The giant changeling egg did fill her with dread the longer she looked upon it though. The light was soft and didn't harm her eyes, but for whatever reason, a sense of terror and fear filled her nonetheless. She found her gaze drawn to the small pile of important-looking Gemling bodies at Dia'thiz's gesture and cautiously trotted to them. She shuddered as she nudged each one with her hoof, feeling the odd texture of chitin mixing with the harsh smoothness of diamonds; trying to see which one caught her eye. Somewhere amongst the pile, what looked to be a royal gemling filly, kept dragging her eyes to it. "I haven't chosen yet, Dia'thiz, I just want one question answered before I do. Why is a royal gemling here? I thought you gemlings, from what you told us at least, were created in a test tube."

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Between you and Last, something tells me I should actually listen," Twilight giggled. She nodded to herself and left everything where it was in the map room. "Okay. I guess I'm going to bed. You said you wanted to watch over me Cherish, well, hopefully you won't need to do anything while I sleep," she told the friendly ghost. Levitating the stick in her magic, she made a mental note of the runic markings all along the surface and at an easy trot, set off for her bedroom. It happened to be close to the library. It was a regular sized room with crystal walls and a crystal ceiling. The princess has done what she could to make it homely, with pictures of her five friends dotted around the place, on bookshelves and on beside tables. The shelves lining the walls were filled with even more books, separated from the library. In a corner of the room where there were light scorch marks, housed a basket with a pillow and blanket. The bed in the center of the room was a double with a simple sheet depicting a six-pointed purple star, much like Twilight's cutie mark. "I guess the stick can go on the bedside table. How much room are you able to move about in, Cherish?"

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"What are those looks for?" Aurora asked nervously, noticing both Thorax and Happy gawking at her. She stared back at them for a couple of minutes before it hit her, eyes widening in realisation. "I swallowed. I managed to swallow it. I'm royalty?" she squeaked and coughed a couple of times into her hoof suddenly. She took her hoof from her mouth and blinked, noticing the same goo the other changelings used now dripping from her hoof. Her ears flicked, Thorax's question now registering in her mind. "Um. Tingly. Lots of pins and needles over my body. It feels like I'm in the wrong body. Nothing too bad," she told him without looking away from the goo she had coughed and whimpered slightly. "I've never had this happen before."

@Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

"You're tired," Dawn giggled, snuggling underneath Kaltrops's wing before poking her head out. She looked up at the teenage drake and blinked a couple of times. "I can see it in your eyes. You claim to not be tired yet," she yawned and then settled in on the floor. "We can sleep, I guess," she murmured. "You're very safe ... thank you," she added softly before falling asleep with light snoring merging from her moments later.

Moonlit · January 8, 2020

@Blitz Boom 'Silver' is the first to recover, and smirks. She knows the perfect way to shake her older sister out of her funk. She gets down low, in pounce mode and slowly works her way forward. She stops, looks back at ziggy and seems to ask with her eyes, 'permission to pounce'.

Catpone Cerberus · January 8, 2020

@Widdershins
"Why would you turn yourself into a statue on purpose?" Cerberus questioned "Even for nonsensical creature it's quite nonsensical in my opinion." "And since we are at the topic, why is gold so great anyways? it's yellow metal."

@Blitz Boom
"It's combination of things." Ruby stated, not giving any indication that the matter would be in any way sensitive. "First I think you should know how our family structure works...there isn't one, we are loners." "Offspring is taken care off only as long as necessary before it's chased away, and the time you're taken care of isn't that great either, you quickly learn how harsh place the world is, it's actually a little surprising that most of us survive until maturity." "Though usually family matters enough that we don't purposely go after our own bloodline, for obvious reason, but there's always exceptions, my mother being one." she didn't show any specific emotions as she spoke, but it wasn't hard to tell that hate was plenty.

"I don't know what her problem with me was, but she attacked me pretty quickly after I had managed to settle down in my own territory, and as little as I want to admit it, she was stronger. Quite annoying considering it took me at least 50 years to settle down....competition is tough around there." she let out a short growl "She drove me away from my own territory, and when I returned my collection was gone." "I would have gotten my revenge already but certain complications appeared and I ended up leaving my homelands."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nada became thoughtful after the answer and didn't pay too much attention to the follow up as it really wasn't any of her business. She didn't know much about other creatures, but she knew enough of sphinxes that there had to be ulterior motive for it giving a desert to a changeling, though that was where her ideas ended.

"Can I ask what kind of injury your arm has? You of course don't have to, but I'd like to know if there's any way I can help." she wasn't a doctor by any means, but she had seen many injuries in her life and wanted to know if that knowledge would help in this situation.

Azure Acrylic · January 9, 2020

@Blitz Boom @Dreadmare

Azure sits up in Thunder’s mane and stared at the door as Thunder was about to knock on it. She also told Shell about her opinion on his mane and tail.

”Well, you may be right Shell, but that’s because he’s working near the ocean, where the salt and wind can really roughen up your mane and tail. I know, I’ve flew to the sea once, and I had to spend hours brushing my mane and tail to be soft again.”

Azure turned back and started brushing her tail softly, the soft feeling pleasing her.

Blitz Boom · January 9, 2020

@Sekel

"Gemlings... Yes, we like that name. That moniker will suit us well."

Dia'thiz had not named her hives special changelings up to this point, yet hearing this one used by Atzy, made it moot to think of it too. It were a word combined of gems and changelings, as their name were united between beast and changeling. What could be more fitting than this, for their new breed?

Yet, other things Atzy had said confused them. Notions of things they had said, which did not ring true in their ears, along with words that held no meaning.

"We know not what a test tube is, but we have been clear of our origins. The queen found the mine, discovered the prisoner within, and a pact were made. She willingly wandered inside, and through untold years, we have laid silent and dormant. Unable to leave on our own, but united in harmony. And together, we saved her hive, just as were promised.

As for this, the body of royalty, grown strong on purest, flowing gems. It holds great potential, but we can birth more, and our word were to give you what body you desired most.

Though remember, being of royalty means you have more than power as your potential. It holds the gift of life within, as we learned all queens hold. A blessed womb, which could one day lead you to raise a hive of your own."

One of gemlings that were, though Atzy would not be the same as Dia'thiz. She did not hold the influence of an ancient being within her, just the DNA of their secluded kind, and as royalty, the potential to one day be a hivemother in her own right. One like any other changeling, just with the gems within and outside her being, and no need to harvest love of the warm blooded.

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

@Sekel

The princesses room weren't what Cherish had thought at all.

Back in the old castle, she had often seen Luna and Celestia's rooms, and even stripped down of the essentials, it were easy to see the splendor they had contained. Great artwork who had once been hanging on the walls, along with flags and banners of their marks still hanging in more and more tattered states as time went on. The beds were large and exquisite, the view breathtaking, and overall, it just gave off a first impression of luxury and comfort.

Still, as she had eventually found the leftover diary of Princess Luna, Cherish hadn't really been back at those rooms often. Reading the princess's descent from a benevolent, loving mare to a resentful and jealous ruler, who were growing increasingly bitter of the ignorance her night sky got... It painted the sights in the room, and even the views from the windows, in a sad light. The tragic tale of one sister not feeling appreciated, while her older sibling stayed ignorant of the problem for far too long.

It were one thing hearing about the princess being sent to the moon, but reading the steps towards that breaking point, were another side to that story that she were not thrilled to know, yet were well aware that she could not just forget out of nowhere. It stuck to her, though out of respect for the princess of the night, she'd never tell what she had read, nor hoof over the diary to anypony but her. Cherish had made sure to hide it somewhere that nopony would just stumble over, so it would remain safe until one day, she could retrieve it and deliver it to the princess herself. Perhaps one of the first things she should do when she were freed from her bonds? A thing to think of another day.

To turn back to the talk of rooms, Twilight's room were not like the bedrooms of the previous princesses. It honestly looked more like their library, or living room, where somepony had dragged a bed into. Quite honestly, she preferred this over the others though. It felt more personal, and had a sort of warmness to it that the others lacked.

The little floor bed were a curious sight too. The first she had seen in regards to Spike as far as she recalled, and it really did show how tiny he must be. The little dragon must not be very old, judging by this, or at least very stunted in growth. A little curious too how he had a bed more reminiscent of that she'd expect from a pet, but it might just be he liked this sort of thing. it didn't feel like she had to right to judge on the relationship between him and Twilight until she saw some actual interactions and knew better.

"Your room looks lovely. I thi- Wait, w-what? Oh, room, r-right."

Cherish had been floating upwards a bit to get a better view, though as she stumbled over her words trying to get to answering the princess after her somewhat mesmerized state, she got closer and closer to the ground, until she stood in front of the princess again, with a bit of an awkward blush on her face.

"A few meters. It's not much, but I can reach the door from here I think?"

Cherish would try, and rightly so, she could just reach the door, and get her head halfway through the door from this distance, before the invisible limitation stopped her from going further. So she could keep the door guarded, and even see if she heard somepony get closer, but couldn't interact much unless they got inside, or literally hugged the door.

If the princess wanted to sleep now, Cherish would vanish from sight, and just keep silent as she watched over the room, unseen herself. She wouldn't do anything to get notice of herself unless somepony went in here. If that somepony were a small dragon, she would only do so if he tried to wake up Twilight, at which case she'd manifest and hold a hoof over his mouth whilst shushing him. Because somepony slightly see through appearing out of nowhere in your bedroom were going to be greatly calming...

Honestly, it might end badly, but they'd see.

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

@Sekel

The two of them looked on with curiosity, as well as some degree of concern as Aurora started to talk about how this small taste were making her feel. Combine that with the goo in her hoof made things seem like yeah, she were having some degree of change from this, but in what capacity? Were it good or bad? The goo didn't look bad, as spitting goo wasn't all that unusual for changelings, and especially not queens, since their variant were part of the liquid inside conversion cocoons. A bit of info Aurora were best off not knowing likely.

As for the pins and needles... Well, she didn't look physically different right now, so it were hard to say. Might be nothing?

"I'm not s-"

"Just gonna interrupt you here, alright? Not gonna help if you pop in with nothing here, no offense.

So Aurora, you saying pins and needles, and you're spitting up some goo? Now this here's gonna sound gross, but think you could spatter a bit of that towards the ground over at me? If that's what I think it is, I might be able to calm your nerves about that just being sorta normal. Not sure about the rest though, so... Give it a few more minutes and see if it gets better or worse?"

With their luck, they'd have messed this up somehow, with Aurora getting just enough of the jelly to impact her somewhat, but far from enough to cause the actual transformation, though what then would happen? Would she suddenly go coo coo for royal jelly and just down the entire jar in a ravenous fit? Urgh... This is the one time that even Thorax would agree that it would be good to have Onache here. She might know what to expect from all of this, whereas they were a bunch of clueless bug brains.

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

@Catpone Cerberus

Marley were honestly surprised that he got an answer to his inquiry. He had been certain that she would either dismiss it, call him out for needing to shut his beak, or just give a vague, half-answer with little to no context or meat to it. This however, had been quite the information dump, and most certainly explained things in a reasonable way. Reasonable for dragons mostly, but you had to think of this in that context too, or it would just seem meaningless.

"I can certainly see why you'd want to exert vengeance upon her, with this being the case. Even if your variant are not too fond of family life, this is simp-"

Marley stopped talking as a pony came from the path they were headed, and walked towards them whilst whistling joyfully. By the looks of things, he had been at some kind of shop down the street. A specialized store it seemed, judging by the faint smell of roasted chestnuts and bourbon that wafted from the unmarked bag in his grip.

The two of them would exchange a small wave and smile as they passed. Not that this were anyone that Marley knew, but the pony had acted friendly, and as such, he'd do the same, and be on his way quietly until he knew that one to be out of hearing range, and no others around to listen in.

"As I were saying, it seems a horrendous way to act, even when you take into consideration what you tell of family ties in your area. One should at least have enough respect for their offspring to let them keep their hard earned property, if not their territory.

I take it that you collecting riches have something to do with a requirement to return to your homelands, but after that, are you certain that you can handle her on your own? Time have passed, but she too may have gotten stronger, no?"

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

@Catpone Cerberus

"Pressure and heat damage, mainly.

Before I helped Lyriel, I had to deal with an infectious pony that needed constant supervision to not do something horrendous. As a part of trying to reel in her idiocy, I had to forge something. A necklace of sorts, and for that, I needed a hammer. Something which I did not have, so I used my geomancy to cover the lower part of my arm, as well as my hand, in thickly pressed rocks to work as that.

In hindsight this were a poor decision, yet the pony in question got me to act irrationally with her tomfoolery."

"Were that the one whom the sphinx sent away?"

Lyriel looked uncomfortable as she said this, as she were not certain of what to think of that whole thing. She understood the need to get rid of the pony, with the damage she caused, but... Her fate were unknown, and it still made Lyriel kind of sad that things might have been saddled with a rather bad ending.

"Yes. Whatever happened with her I don't know, but harsh as it may sound, it is best that she is not around anymore.

Now then, to get back to topic, my arm were not feeling well, and afterwards, when I had to escape with Lyriel, I used my bad arm to keep hold of her, whilst using geomancy to dig our way out of there. Quite frankly, I did not feel well when we got to the castle, and the doctors that eventually got a hold of me, were very specific in my need to keep my arm rested until it passes. Just need time according to them.

And in case you don't know, geomancy is a variant of magic that's more elemental. In this case, earth based. I'm one of the small number of dragons who can not just use magic, but have also trained it. You'd be surprised how many of my kind are brutish idiots who wouldn't know the difference between a book and a sandwich."

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

@Moonlit

If Ziggy were nodding any harder at the filly, her head might pop off. There were nothing in her being that wanted to not see see Serenade's little sister, jump her and rattle her out of the state she were in. Quite frankly, she had half the mind just joining in.

...Actually, why not? Hehe, that'd be fun! Soon as the fry would pounce Serenade, then so would Ziggy. They'd get her back to reality with a double decker snuggly bug hug assault!

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

@EQ_Theta

"I'm rarely sure that I send them to better things.

The unformed children are meant to gain another chance, and I try not to send them with anyone whom I perceive to be a cruel master, but I can never be sure if they are merely lying, or if the world my children goes into will receive them well. It is a constant worry that I carry heavily on my shoulders."

Mother yawned, and the inside of her large, fanged mouth revealed basically nothing but teeth, darkness, and a faint glow from deep within. It might be curious what were there, but considering that would be akin jumping into the open maw of a whale, that seemed like a really bad idea to explore.

"Yet, I still let them go, and find out what sorrows or joys are there to explore, because that is life. It is dangerous and wonderful all at the same time, and tough I worry greatly for each and every one of you, I know that much as I wish to nurture and protect you all, the best I can do is to know when to let go, and have you learn from the great unknown.

One day, when you have children of your own, you too will be faced with a time where you have to let them leave the nest, and go into the world. It is only natural to be worried for them, as I am for you, but such is life. It is never as perfect as one may wish for it to be, nor as safe."

Being a mother were never easy. Trying to keep your children safe were a harrowing task, even for someone as strong as she were, and sadly you couldn't always succeed. Sometimes accidents happened, or they got ill, or Mortimer forbid, someone did something to them. And even if you succeeded in keeping them safe until adulthood, they were eventually bound to want a life of their own, at which point your ability to keep them safe were limited.

Yet seeing how happy they could get, made it all worth it in the end. And she could personally attest that there were more good stories than bad, among the thousands of children who had over the eons left this realm.

"Still, I will admit that there are times when I have little choice in the matter. Some creatures who have wandered here could threaten my children, were they to be denied the same option I give others. The one whom took your foe, (incomprehensible gurgling sounds) were one such creature. At least (half-screeching, coughing sound) are thriving there, despite my worst fears."

On 1/8/2020 at 10:01 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“It’s… going to be different after tomorrow. In case I won’t have a chance to say it later: it is an honor to go on this adventure with you. I’m certainly going to miss that, even if we didn’t hit it off well on our first meeting. We’ll make the effort to visit you when time permits.”

“And if we have the chance to speak tomorrow’s trial, Lin and I will make that count.”

"I feel blessed to have met you, Sen. Your sister and Omen too. Despite what I have done, or what I have brought you through, you've given me your trust and friendship, and I will never forget that."

Rosa gave a genuine smile to Sen. It had been years since he could just be himself, actually open up, and feel like he didn't have to watch his back around others. Sen, Lin, Omen and to a lesser extend Shrimp, had shown him a level of acceptance through the highs and lows that he did not think possible of anyone, though he greatly appreciated that they had taken the risk with him. It meant more than he could say in words, though if he were pressed for it, he could likely get a rough estimation with about three hundred pages and a pen capable of writing in small font.

"And don't worry, even if I'm behind bars, I will lend you my consul, when it comes to your elders. Long as you bring the items I presented you with, and listen carefully of what I have to say of them, I have no doubt that you can speak in my stead, and make them understand the issue with isolating yourself. You're a highly capable being, Sen. From what I've both seen and heard, I son't doubt that you can get anything done that you set your mind to, long as you get a little help."

It might take them some hours for Rosa to tutor Sen in the intricacies of explaining cause and effect to stubborn elders, as well as present them with things that could decimate a smaller community, without access to the outside worlds knowledge and/or medicine, but with the right degree of explanation, and enough mock trial runs, the thestral were certain that it could be done.

It would be worse if he had to get Omen to do this. Somehow, he just knew that she'd manage to set something on fire, or eat poison. Potentially both. The way she acted, he were honestly certain that Discord had to make her as sturdy as he had, just to ensure she didn't accidentally blow herself up or something.

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

@Rainbows2424 @Dreadmare

"Yeah, sea air and water is like that. I rummage around the ocean all the time, so I gotta use loads of specialized products to keep my mane and tail soft. Well, not Now, since they've burned off, but soon as they grow out again I have to go back to those."

It were kinda strange not to have her flowing tail and mane anymore, but oh well. Small sacrifices for the greater good, right? And it could be worse. The follicles could've been ruined, so she'd remain bald forever. That'd kinda suck, even if she could get a wig.

"Just gotta make sure to use the right things for a good, soft mane and tail. I use Weed Souffle's products personally. Does no damage to the environment, is fairly priced, and it really works wonders."

Edited January 9, 2020 by Blitz Boom

Sphinx-Ara · January 9, 2020

@Rainbows2424 @Blitz Boom

He chuckles "Oh I can just imagine Zephyr's reaction to seeing my mane and tail so full of salt" he'd laugh "As far as I'm aware, he's actually a mane stylist" he'd say with a laugh in his tone as he reached up and knocked on the door.

Pretty soon the door would creak open and Mrs Shy put her head out "H-hello?" she'd ask then smile "Oh Thunder, you're home, please come in" she would say "Your marefriend too" she'd say, not meaning much by it, just that he had a friend that was a mare.

Thunder smiles "Thanks mom" he'd say, letting Shell in first "Mom this is Shell Tooth, she's from the Coastal Guard, and this little one" he points to the little mare in his mane "Is Azure" he'd smile "The reason Shell is here with me, is that I have successfully enlisted into the Coastal Guard, I was able to get here because of a spell the Lieutenant put on us"

Mrs Shy smiles and hugs him "Oh my, my boy is all grown up and in the guard now" she smiles "and two mares? wow" she smiles sheepishly "Welcome to our home, miss Shell Tooth and miss Azure"

Sekel · January 10, 2020

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

'Atzy, no. We can think through this. We can use Enzo's help! We don't need this Queen's help! We don't even know her!' Karmic pleaded with Atzy but it fell upon deaf ears. Atzy took in a calming breath and let it out slowly. She thought hard about the different gemlings within the pile. Despite Karmic's attempts at dissuading her, Atzy could not stop thinking about the royal gemling. She didn't know her past life before she was a parasitic sludge, and frankly most of the memories she held were of when Karmic was a filly. Coming into the mine did trigger some kind of memory but it had gone by too quick for her to even register it had happened. While staring at the royal gemling, she spoke to Dia'Thiz.

"I do now know how the process works. I do not know what my life was before I bonded with Karmic Fate. But I do know that I cannot stop thinking about the royal gemling. I think I ... as odd as it sounds, I think I have to be with the royal gemling. If that makes any sense," Atzy spoke quietly but loud enough the entity to hear. Her tone suggested reverence and awe rather than the fear she heard from Karmic rattling around in her mind. "If it's okay with you, Queen Dia'Thiz, can I merge with the royal gemling?"

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Is everything alright Cherish?" Twilight asked in slight concern, climbing into her bed. She snuggled within the sheets and rested her head on the pillow before facing the ghost. "You seemed out of it. Too much in your head. I know what that's like. Kinda funny to see it on a ghost, however, I'm glad you have free reign to move around the room from where I placed the stick," she added with a small giggle, nodding her head towards Cherish's stick on the nearby bedside table.

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"Normal?" Aurora squeaked. "What about me spitting goo is normal!?" she asked in a panic. Her wings fluttered nervously, slightly lifting her off the ground. She touched back down a moment later and coughed, managing to spit another wad of goo in front of Happy's feet. "I'm never going to get used to that feeling," she muttered in a disgusted tone. "It's like I'm spitting up a piece of my body along with it. As for the needle pricking," she sighed and shook herself with a tiny groan. "it's really starting to hurt. It's constant, and won't stop ... maybe some more Royal Jelly? But then that would result in more goo, more pain, and potentially worse things!"

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

DAZZLE GLEAM (whoever wants to interact with her just buzz)

Heading out of the nearby forest of the Everfree, a normal-looking pony gasped for air. She was amber-coloured, had a matted mane and thin, tapered tail from her time in the Everfree that stretched down her back and coloured indigo, purple, and red. It hid her ears for now and she gazed at the town in front of her. "It's taken so long to get here!" Dazzle cheered. She did a little dance before immediately righting herself and cleared her throat. Being thankful to have only been in the fringe of the forest for that part, she stepped out fully and ruffled her feathers to relieve the nervousness she suddenly felt from approaching a town full of ponies. "At least in the Everfree I only had myself."

Rising Dusk · January 10, 2020

@Blitz Boom

"City ponies are more caught up in their own lives to pay all that much attention to what's going on around them," Rising chuckled as a taxi stallion and his carriage pulled up to the curb of the O.M.I. when flagged down by the detective. "Go ahead, it'll be fine," the unicorn offered and motioned ladies first to enter the cab with a smile. Their travels weren't all that far nor along particularly populated routes. For most of the trip it would just be the pair in the cab of the taxi pulled by a stallion more focused on the roads than a bauble looking in on Harrowmark.

Settled into the cab, Rising gave the directions to the driver, who quietly nodded his head and trotted them away from the O.M.I. The trip should give Lily plenty of time to affix the scry to the Hearth's Warming ornament. This was the first time Rising had been out on the streets since Twisted's attack on the city. His attention much more focused on what was happening outside the cab than in it. It had been a few days since the attack, but the affects were apparent to the resident of Manehatten pony. The streets had been mostly cleaned up, making them more clean than they usually were. Local city law enforcement, rescue agencies and the good will of the local city ponies appeared to have done a great job. The underline message though was less ponies on the street, even this time of the evening. A few more on edge parents keeping their children closer than usual and much more brisk paces. Far a few between, most appeared to have moved on. Equestria couldn't claim it wasn't a frequent victim of strange and catastrophic events. A sad tell indeed. He'd have to get further details from his work when the time permitted, but based on their appearances, the agency was in full swing in regards to damage control.

The cab stayed mostly on the main road, heading from one side of the city to the other. Long passing the apartment complex Rising lived in and even passed the townhouse his parents currently take residence. Only having to stop at a few intersections every now and then as a police pony directed the flow of traffic. As they moved on, the buildings became larger, more expensive. Made of much more valuable materials and greater degrees of decoration. Gated homes and apartments well outside of what a detective could afford. Most definitely heading to the high class part of the city. Even Minty lived out this way, but that wasn't their destination. Nor did it appear to be one of homes. The cab stopped at the curb next to what looked to be a lavish park with exotic plants and birds. Bash often came up to this park when he wasn't tending to his own garden that made the designer of this one most jealous. Rising's target though, was the out of place looking food cart. Climbing out of the cab, he paid the driver with a few Bits. "Ever have a hayburger before?" he inquired of his companion.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Rising Dusk

EQ_Theta · January 10, 2020

@Blitz Boom

It isn’t exactly the same thing, deciding to let someone go and live their lives away from the comfort of home versus choosing to potentially end one but perhaps the idea is similar. That is a big weight to carry either way and in some ways, Lin isn’t quite sure if having that responsibility on her shoulders is going to help her rest easier. But she asked Mother about her thoughts on the matter and she got her answer. All she could do is ponder on it. Perhaps circumstances might throw her a curveball and her agency on this choice would fall to someone else or the gravity of the choice will lessen.

“I see. It’s something I’ll need to think over. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this,” Lin hugged the claw Mother reached out to her before letting go and opening a gate nearby. “Rest well, Mother. Until we meet again.”

As for Sen, he was holding back the urge to say more, having stated the crux of his piece to Rosa. Though he had a lot more heartfelt words in mind, it would be saying the same thing. But what Rosa mentioned last, having to carry on with introducing the wider world to the elders, that was a very tall order. That feeling of dread, the grumbling in his gut that makes him feel small against the power wielded by the council of elders, was putting on a lot of pressure. Rosa’s confidence in the young longma would be the resolve he needed to continue and to see it through.

“Your words… I’ll remember them. And now that you mentioned it, I’m definitely looking forward to hearing about these items and how showing them can convince the elders back home to consider opening up our boundaries.”

Not long after this did a gate open by the cave entrance and Lin walking through it. Looking well rested but still seemingly doubtful, she approached Rosa and Sen, attempting to hide her own insecurities with a veneer of excitement. Even her walk had that confident strut, her mind set to finding success in their next endeavor.

“I’ve got our translators here! Hey, uh, where’s Omen?”

The longma revealed the golden orb, the same one Sen remembered from their previous adventure. An unlikely group whose knowledge helped them out more than they could expect, maybe they can extend their vast knowledge again. Wonder if Omen might remember them?

EcstaticWind · January 11, 2020

On 12/17/2019 at 3:48 AM, Blitz Boom said:

"I think I am rather set in my choice. Brittle? What do you think? Chocolate is primarily made of sugar, milk, and cocoa beans, which you have had safe interactions with previously, yes?"

"I-I've eaten c-cookies with h-hops and h-honey..."

"That should contain the same ingredients then. It might be the safer option right now, and then we can go through some of the berry options one of the other days, when it seems calmer and there's less an issue if they have a negative effect."

Brittle nodded slowly, which even though Briar couldn't see it, he felt, considering she stood more or less leaned up against him completely, and he had gotten used to these sorts of ques from her at this point. It wouldn't work well if he didn't try at least, seeing as her verbal communication still needed quite a lot of work, and he were still getting used to seeing. Small steps with that meant that it'd likely be weeks, or even months before he could safely have them open all the time. And colt did he look forward to that day.

"Excellent. So I will have a random sirup option, and Brittle will try the cookie dough then. Unless there's additional ingredients in it, such as hazelnuts or soy? If not, then it seems the safest choice we could go by."

Velvet smiled at the pair. "Hazelnuts would be a separate topping or flavor and soy is an alternative for ponies with allergies to your usual dairy products. I won't be long." He said, pushing the door open and entering the shop.

He addressed the pony at the counter warmly and politely as he usually did, placing the order for his new friends. It wouldn't take long to be served on a good day, he hoped, rejoining Briar and Brittle with the ice cream. Briar's was topped with maple syrup, a common topping in Vanhoover, owing to the maple trees that grew there in abundance.

Azure Acrylic · January 11, 2020

@Blitz Boom @Dreadmare

Azure responds to Shell’s comment.

“Huh, maybe I should try that mane care product, Shell. The ones I use aren’t really effective at the moment. And, I didn’t know you lost your mane and tail! Hopefully they’ll grow back.”

Azure looks around the Shys family house, gazing at old photos of Fluttershy and Thunder.

“Wow, this place looks nice. You grew up here, right Thunder? All these years later, you decided to visit your colthood home again for old memories. Nice and nostalgic.”

Azure thanks Mrs Shy for her greeting.

”Thanks, Mrs Shy. I’m a friend of your daughter, Fluttershy, I know her quite a bit, she’s friendly.”

Moonlit · January 11, 2020

@Blitz Boom The Fry turns back to her prey, it was larger then her, but the Glory she would receive from taking down such a dangerous predator, surely she'd get hugs and headpats and maybe muffins. Keeping low she crept forward, this prey was vulnerable in only a single spot. With a mighty roar she leaped, and landed directly on Serenade's back and she began tickling her older sister. Serenade is shocked, her wings flared and she collapses, laughing uncontrollabl

Blitz Boom · January 11, 2020

@Sekel

"As you wish."

There would be no warning, or words that Atzy and Karmic needed to brace themselves after this. The instant Dia'thiz were done talking, the process would begin in a rather... Crude fashion.

That being, their three horns let off a flash, and a thin, flexible tube of diamond with a needle at the end, shot out of the ground and injected itself directly into Atzy's chest. Something which would make Enzo cringe and take a step forward, ready to stop what looked like the queen trying to kill, rather than save. Yet, another flash and he'd find his paws would be overgrown with rapidly rising diamonds, not going above his ankles, but making sure to keep him in place. His attempts at using the parchment to do something would be futile beyond that too, as it would just be cut to shreds by more diamond rising from the ground or smash out of the walls, which would go to work on keeping his meddling at bay.

As for Atzy, she'd feel some degree of pain likely, as the needle did not hit anything vital, which would've broken the agreement of letting Karmic leave safely, but it were forcibly sucking her right out of the mare's body, and down the tube, which would hurt them to some degree, depending on how far the binding had gone along. Though regardless of how close they were, they'd get every last bit of the parasites essence out, and when they were done, would withdraw the needle, and let Karmic fall to the ground, as the mare would likely feel pained, exhausted, and violated in strange, unpleasant ways.

Very calmly, the entity would then turn to the body that Atzy sought above others, and without a glimmer of emotion, would have the syringe plunge directly into the half-crystallized heart of the royal gemling.

Atzy should be feeling herself getting into a reverse process of what had gone on with Karmic. Her essence would be spread out, and would likely latch on as it had to Karmic, which would then give place for the parasite to slowly take over this body too, just without the resistance of a host with a resisting being within it, as this vessel were empty of any consciousness. Alive and at perfect health, but empty.

Then, the entity's horn started to grow, and things might go a little painful then...

Every gem on the royal gemling's body would start to pulsate with an increasingly blue light, as ancient, primordial magic flowed through this being and forced Atzy's essence to not overtake and corrupt per se, but instead fill out and be united with this body. Making it as pure as when she had seen it, but also stitched together with her, as a soul to its body.

The whole process from injection to complete unification of Atzy and this empty vessel, would take about ten seconds, though it'd likely feel like hours for the parasite. And when everything were done, and the united queen had all of them in a bind, with the sphinx locked down, and the these two equines drained and needing to recuperate their energy, they would do what the strangers to this mine should have known were going to happen:

They let them go.

All the diamond they had used to lock down Enzo would flow back into the ground, as would that which she had used to keep his feeble parchment at bay, and nothing would rise to harm the two equines. The only damage on either of them, would be a small pin prick on Karmic, that might trickle a few drops of blood at worst, but it'd be fine. She might want to cleanse it later on though, due to a mine not being the most hygienic of places.

"Said we not, that we were beings of our words? Rise now, child of our hive, and tell us how it feels to be ascended."

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

@Sekel

"It's nothing. Just remembering the princesses rooms in the old castle, that's all. You uhm... Sleep well, Princess Twilight."

With that, she'd fizzle out of sight, though in actuality she'd be floating around silently, looking at the title of the books, and just trying to pass the time without making noise. Not having to sleep could sometimes be a little boring, but she had managed in the old castle, and she would so here too.

Provided nothing bad happened, Last would be outside the princesses room three seconds before the six hour mark, and sit down in front of the door, guarding it until the princess would wake up of her own. Unless Twilight had already awakened, and she'd have to find the princess somewhere.

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

@Sekel

"Could be worse, you could be gulping up bile like a digger drone. This here's just..."

Happy knelt down, and shuffled the goo around a bit with his pointy index finger. Weren't much he could see from it, so after a bit on consideration, he'd rise up a few drops clinging to his finger, and put it in his mouth.

"...Tastes familiar alright. I'd say you're probably just having a cleanse of sorts, and that hurting going on, might be because we've started something that's not possible to stop anymore, and your body's all screeching to get hold of more without finding it. If I were you, I'd take another gulp at the jelly and see if it'd make the pain lesser or greater. I promise ya, if the stuff's making you look like you're just getting worse for no reason, I'll help you get it out of your system."

It weren't gonna be a pretty sight, since he'd basically be forcing her to vomit it out again, but he didn't think it were gonna go badly like that. More than likely, it were just that Aurora needed more of the jelly to get the process going on further, and her body were demanding more, without finding it. Sorta like needing sugar, but with more pain.

Thorax weren't all too sure about this, but still, it seemed like Happy were the only one of them to have any sort of plan here, so he'd tentatively hold the jar in front of him, and see what'd happen. He prayed that this wasn't somehow going to backfire and cause some sort of harm to the hive.

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

@EQ_Theta

Mother waved to Lin as she wandered off, and laid down her head on the shadowy bed. Drained as she were after the workload that Mortimer had set upon her, she could do well with a rest lasting days, if not weeks by now, to recharge her energy, though they'd see how much rest she'd get. Who were to say if another child did not soon return with worries of their own, and needed her guidance? It were varied how often that happened, but if it did, she would have to get up and address it if possible. Hopefully before that, she'd be able to get some rest though, and at least recharge her batteries a little.

On 1/10/2020 at 2:08 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“I’ve got our translators here! Hey, uh, where’s Omen?”

"She is not with you? I suppose Discord called her to run an errand for him then. I cannot imagine that anyone but this mysterious Mother and him, would have what it takes to make her leave without a word to you."

Rosa had not expected that Lin would have Omen with her, but still, there had been the chance that it were the case. A hope which were now dashed, as Lin returned honestly quite quickly, and she were alone. Strange how she talked of having translators then, when the only difference were her holding an orb of sorts. Were it perchance a divination orb, with connections to a minor group of translators? Potentially. Orbs were well known to be used in scrying and divination, so it seemed logical enough to think it as something like that. It certainly weren't a group physically here, that much he were sure of.

"I imagine that Omen will likely return soon enough though, and that Discord will take reasonably good care of her. Crazy as he may be, I cannot imagine that he'd be willing to cause his own subject harm. Doubly so as she seems willing to assist him in whatever matter he doesn't feel invested enough in to do himself. I think you'd be surprised how even the most crazed of beings, tends to have some devotees they're somewhat fond of because of their usefulness, and aren't actively trying to get rid of."

Somewere also deranged, unstable beings who wished nothing but misery, and for some reason got extra joy out of it if it included someone that they liked, but he were trying to be reassuring here, not depressingly gloomy about how wretched some beings could be. Besides, he had specified that even the most crazy tended to have some they valued, so it weren't as if he had lied and said that none were bad. It were just a matter of glossing over it and giving out a rough estimate of how many he'd take it were like this. Things would seem somewhat more bleak if he gave his realistic take on that.

So with that somewhat covered - in his head at least - Rosa would wander closer and glance at the orb that Lin had taken with her, curious as to whatever or not this were one where he could see who were scrying on the other side.

"What is the deal with this? Is it a scrying focus or sorts? A divination orb, maybe?"

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

@Rising Dusk

On 1/10/2020 at 11:59 AM, Rising Dusk said:

"City ponies are more caught up in their own lives to pay all that much attention to what's going on around them," Rising chuckled as a taxi stallion and his carriage pulled up to the curb of the O.M.I. when flagged down by the detective. "Go ahead, it'll be fine," the unicorn offered and motioned ladies first to enter the cab with a smile. Their travels weren't all that far nor along particularly populated routes. For most of the trip it would just be the pair in the cab of the taxi pulled by a stallion more focused on the roads than a bauble looking in on Harrowmark.

As the detective said that none would care, Lily could have simply done the transfer before the taxi arrived, and just be done by it. But the thing were, that whilst he may not think it mattered that much that the scry could be seen, Lily did not like too many onlookers whilst she did her thing. She had gotten rather used to doing it with at best a half dozen spectating, and with tensions being what they may be in town, the process of her actually using magic right in front of them seemed like a dangerous choice. Perhaps if they had still been inside the building when he answered her, but done were done.

As they entered the strange carriage and the door closed, she'd do the simple transfer of the scry spell unto the bauble in around twenty seconds. The transfer itself were honestly foals play, with little more done than just focusing the entirety of the spell on the bauble, rather than have half of it embedded upon her eyes, to give her a more direct viewing experience. The only hiccup that she knew of that could happen with this, were temporary blindness lasting anywhere from half a minute to six hours, but with experience that chance lessened. It mainly happened to those who failed to realize how to separate their own vision, and that of the scry, in a proper way.

That being said, it could still happen at random. It did not this time, thankfully. It were annoying, and she needed to be able to keep watch.

The spell transfer would look unimpressive for the detective likely. The light just slowly fizzled out of her eyes, as the bauble briefly glimmered, and then everything looked as before. Minus Lily's eyes glowing that were. Nothing major, but it would be impossible not to tell that it were her doing it, unless you were incredibly gullible, or flat out foolish.

Seeing as nothing were happening in the bauble, Lily took a chance to glance outside, and looking at the town going around in what she assumed were the usual way. She had not been here long enough to have gotten a feel for how the town would function normally, so she just evaluated it from how many beings she saw wandering around out there.

"Seems like you were efficient in keeping his monsters at bay. I don't see much fear out there, or damages for that matter. Though I guess he could've sent his monsters elsewhere. Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if he had done something to a hospital, or a school. The weak and young were always his favorite targets..."

Lily were bitter as she said this, aware of her former masters disturbing tendencies, and fondness for targeting those who couldn't realistically fight back. How she loathed that, yet what were she going to do then? If she complained, he would've just turned her into one of his monsters, and sent her to do this thing, just to show to her that she had nothing to say in the matter.

At least, he didn't sacrifice the younglings, or used them in his grizzly work. Though, in a way, what he actually did felt far crueler to her. A lot of orphans had been made on account of him using them to get what he truly wanted... Accursed monster. May he suffer eternally, in the dark gods stomach.

"...Why are we wandering into a den of opulence?"

It were the first thing she could think of asking, as she saw the area around them become more fanciful. To her, it seemed as if they were getting into the fancy areas of the town, were those higher up the social chain were, whom she were none too happy about. Likely because she had spent a long life in a town where they had to recycle their own half-ruined materials more often than not, as Twisted did not like them using what he considered his resources, for frivolous things like repairs. Expansions were very rare too, but it had happened once around 45 years ago, far as she recalled.

Regardless, seeing this amount of opulence, by ponies who had more means than one being ever had the right to own, irked her. Hopefully this youngster were not one of them, though if not, then why were they here?

The answer would come soon after, as they halted at a minor food stand of sorts. Nothing that Lily had ever seen before though. In Harrowmark, a food cart were somepony with a few dry foods and a large cauldron of soup or stew, who'd dole out bowls as ordered. This thing barely looked like it could have a small cauldron anywhere within it.

On 1/10/2020 at 11:59 AM, Rising Dusk said:

"Ever have a hayburger before?"

"I know not what that is, but I doubt this pony can make any food. Where's his cauldron? Hmph, I don't even see a fireplace."

Lily would wander a bit to the side, trying to see if perhaps the cauldron were behind this thing, but all she could see were a park. A seemingly calm one where the locals were wandering through without looking over their shoulders. She supposed that were okay, but she still couldn't see anything resembling food here, so the detective seemed to have some strange, other plans.

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

@Dreadmare @Rainbows2424

Shell wouldn't enter the building at first, but would instead salute the mare of the house as were proper to an honored pony like this.

"Private Shell Tooth of the Coastal Guard ma'am. Please, just call me Shell."

There were no way she'd greet somepony like this and not be formal about it, at least not at first. She'd kick herself for it, and rightly deserve it too honestly.

With this out of the way though, she followed in, and had a bit of a look around her in the foyer, but stayed close and didn't go pass the mare. Her house after all, no right to snoop around or anything. Especially if the lieutenant were watching. She really didn't want to have him give her a talking to later about proper house behavior.

"General Tidal Wave asked me to escort your son here, after he signed on. She figured it'd be best if you heard from a proper guard, so you wouldn't get worried about him.

And uh, just try to ignore the bandages. Had to ram into a rather nasty jellyfish that got into the bay, and it burnt all my fur off. Tail and mane too, and left a bit of a lash over one eye. It doesn't happen a lot, but y'know, me or the foals. Easy enough choice, and the doctors said I'll be fine."

It seemed right to try and explain this before she got the wrong impression of the guard. Sure it could be dangerous, but this weren't the norm at all. Frankly, most of the time they used large sticks when the jellyfish on occasion floated in, but it had been an emergency.

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

@Moonlit

With the mighty siren taken to the floor in one fell swoop, Ziggy joins in and swoops down upon the siren like a mighty ball of candyfloss, fallen from on high! With the siren exposed, she goes for the spot she believes is the correct one, and with a dreaded strike, plants a raspberry right on top of Serenade's tummy. This might end badly, but it were just too good to not try to smash her face in there and give it a go. Who knew? Serenade were ticklish. It might be she'd find it funny.

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

@EcstaticWind

Brittle tentatively accepted the ice cream, and looked on it for a while, trying to debate whatever or not to try. They might have done something to it, or she'd throw up and not just feel sick, but also have others look at her. Then they'd point and laugh again, and- *meep!*

She got a bit jumpy when Briar had put his hoof on her shoulder, just as she were about to go further down the rabbit hole, though she managed to keep hold of the ice cream. She wasn't sure how, since she sometimes started to flail when it were, but... Yeah, there it were. Luck or something, r-right?

Looking up at his smiling face, she felt a bit more at ease, knowing that he were there to stop it if others started to laugh or throw things. Nopony had done anything like that before him, but Briar so far hadn't let her get hurt by anypony. Or accepted them being mean to her, even if he sometimes had to scare the offenders off, which she knew he weren't happy to do. She could feel it, and sometimes see it, even if he tried to keep a positive face on for her sake.

"At the same time?"

Brittle slowly nodded up towards him, and the two rose the treats to their muzzles. He'd then count down to three, and on three, would take a small bite out of the ice cream, at the same time as Brittle did. Difference were that she'd also hold her breath, and pinch her eyes together, worried that she'd have another allergic reaction to this.

Seconds ticked by, and... Nothing happened. The ice melted in her muzzle, which left a nice, sweet taste around her gums, but that were it. Even when she tentatively swallowed a little, nothing happened. It looked like she could actually eat this?

A tear ran down her face that she wiped away, before very slowly eating through the rest of this, with her gaze turned downwards and to the side, as to avoid looking directly at anypony.

Briar in the meantime, went slowly through his as well, as he recalled the dreaded thing that happened if you ate frozen treats too fast, and seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit.

"I must commend them on this sirup. It is not of the purest quality that I have ever attempted, but considering it is not tapped directly from the tree, this is rather exquisite.

Do tell, how much did this cost? I do not wish to be a burden upon your wallet."

He had honestly been ready to pay, and still had his necklace/wallet open and ready to take out what bits were needed. He could just pay their new friend here directly instead now though, if it were. It wouldn't be an issue.

Sphinx-Ara · January 11, 2020

@Blitz Boom @Rainbows2424

Mrs Shy would smile at Azure "Oh y-yes, Fluttershy did tell me a bit about you" she would say "I am glad she has been able to make friends a-after the incident at Flight Camp when she was younger", and of course this was news to Thunder, he'd look up to Azure "So you're friends with my sister? Did she send you to look out for me then?" he'd ask her with a chuckle.

Mrs Shy would look at Shell "O-oh please, there's no need for formalises here" she'd say "and I can understand, I-I read about the Coastal Guard, the kind of animals you h-have to deal with sometime, might give even Fluttershy a fright"

Catpone Cerberus · January 12, 2020

@Blitz Boom
"She will be stronger too of course, but there's more to a fight than pure strength." Ruby pointed out, she didn't pay mind to Marley's opinions about the situation as they didn't change anything. "Treasure is not the only thing I gather here, I have also learned and will seek more knowledge about certain things." "I won't go to details on everything I know, as that would mean I'm not the only one who knows it, but take my magical abilities for example, they are something most of my kind doesn't know, and though I see magic as a cowardly way to fight, in revenge only the end result matters."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nada was getting curious about what exactly had happened, but seeing Lyriel's discomfort, she decided that she wouldn't ask abut the details, she would know them if someone decided to tell them out of their own will. She thought about the injuries described to her, trying to remember if she had experiences with them during her long life, but nothing came to mind right now "Unfortunately I don't think I know any better way to take care of it than what you are already doing, because only thing that comes to mind is few herbs but Lyriel is already take care of that."

EQ_Theta · January 12, 2020

@Blitz Boom

“Discord still cares in his own way. Meeting him was an experience; not the first creature to come to mind when I think of friends but he is a friend. Even Lin has taken a liking to him. He definitely has that chaotic sense of humor despite living a somewhat docile life with a pony named Fluttershy in Ponyville. Omen and Discord have history, long before any of us came into the picture.”

Expectedly, Lin bashfully tried to hide a sheepish smile, though she likes the draconequus and thought their meeting went well. As per their meeting with the lord of chaos, Omen was free to go where she wished until Discord would need of her to deliver some messages. Or probably something along that line. Frankly, Sen was a little skeptical that the draconequus would need messages delivered if he could literally cut the travel time between to points to absolutely nothing. Still, it was pretty much an agreement and it would be honored despite the longma’s thoughts on the matter. Not helping was that time Omen left for an extended period of time only for them to learn she was in trouble. Then again, if she was, Omen’s resourcefulness likely would’ve kicked in and she’d send some sort of message.

Regardless of the circumstances, they have some work to return to. With the orb in their midst, they have all they needed to begin.

“This is a focal orb. It contains information going back thousands of years and the custodians of said information, beings belonging to a now extinct race.”

“A vessel of magic should it be necessary, though we require a physical body to amplify the effects of some of our spells.” The unmistakable sound of many deep voices coming from the orb emanated throughout the cave, echoing and bouncing off the walls. There were definitely five different voices speaking in unison, seemingly intimidating though ultimately harmless as the longma siblings and Omen can attest. “We are aware of a need to translate some text. Shall we begin?”

Lin produced the letter and with it, the scribbled section. The orb, hovered over to examine it, the glowing intensifying and fading in regular 2-second intervals. For the moment, it seemed like they are preoccupied with the matter and after what felt like ten minutes of silence, it appears they will need some time to themselves before they can produce results. At the moment, the rest of the group has some free time and with the possibility of questions about the orb being raised, the siblings are ready to answer to the best of their ability.

Edited January 12, 2020 by EQ_Theta

Azure Acrylic · January 12, 2020

@Blitz Boom @Dreadmare

Azure replies to Thunder’s comment with a giggle.

“Well, Flutters did tell me a bit about you, mostly about how you kept getting yourself into dangerous situations as a colt, probably why you recently signed on for Coastal Guard. She didn’t really tell me to look out for you, she still thought you were away for guard duties.”

Azure then replied to Mrs. Shy.

“I believe, I remember I wasn’t in Cloudsdale at the time Fluttershy got in that “incident”, I was still back in my home country. I didn’t meet her until much later, when I moved to Equestria. She was a bit shy at first, but later, I became friends with her.”

Moonlit · January 12, 2020

@Blitz Boom Serenade screams out in laughter, her entire body shaking with laughter. She suddenly flashes from her Pegasus disguise to her Siren form, limbs and tail flailing. Harmony rolls her eyes and moves her breakfast to one side, avoiding the Siren's movements. The fry 'siren-pile' her, nuzzling their big sister. Serenade raises a forehoof, makes a gurgling sound then speaks "BLURGH. I DEAD! Struck down by snuggles" She sticks her tongue out and lets the forehoof fall.

Sekel · January 13, 2020

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

Karmic instinctively flinched at feeling the needle suddenly penetrate her chest. She panted heavily, realising just how close to her heart it had come to stabbing. She felt Atzy get sucked out of her body and mind but that wasn't the part that pained her. The part that pained her the most was the separation between the both of them. It felt like razor blades were furiously hacking away at the connection they shared. Her mouth was open in a silent scream, her eyes closed, and tears dripping out of her eyes. It felt like hours before suddenly not feeling anything in her chest. She collapsed to the ground in a panting heap, shaking in the aftermath.

On Atzy's side of things, the separation was too quick for her to really feel any pain. That came after the fact when she felt herself suddenly in a new position. Atzy got pushed into every single fiber of the royal gemling and found herself, oddly enough, not invading any mind like she had with Karmic. There was just nothing there. Her body pulsed a couple of times and within her mind's eye, she found a smattering of gems. She focused on them, grabbed hold, and didn't let go.

'It's a unification,' Atzy thought to herself and wasn't sure what compelled her to do her next action. She wrapped herself around the gems within her mind and found herself drawn inside them. Her eyes then flew open and she gasped. She winced and tilted her head one way then the other, rolling her neck to try and not think about what had just happened. Her ears flicked up and she stared straight at Dia'Thiz, She slowly turned her gaze down and found Karmic almost passed out on the floor.

"Wh-What did you do?" Atzy stammered, eyes widening and gestured with a hoof to Karmic. Her voice sounded vastly different from when she spoke as Karmic. It now sounded clear and smooth, almost like water bouncing and running off of diamonds in a cave. "You promised you wouldn't harm her!"

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

Twilight moved about in bed a few minutes before she was meant to wake up and then yawned. Her tongue ran over her mouth to keep them from getting dry and blearily opened her eyes. She had a bad case of bedhair with split ends sticking up and out every which way. She winced at the sunlight streaming in through the curtains and then saw a Last sitting near the doorway. "Last? What ... are you guarding me? I thought that was Cherish," Twilight asked Last in a tired voice.

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

Aurora didn't know what compelled her. She just had to get the itching to stop! She filed away what Happy had said for later and noticed Thorax hadn't put away the jar of Jelly she had sampled from. She gingerly took the jar, dipped her hoof in it once more, and placed the glob of Royal Jelly in her mouth. She had an easier time swallowing it and her tongue poked out the side of her mouth in a kinda disgust.

"Ugh. That is a lot sweeter than the first try!" Aurora whined. The itching did lessen but it didn't go away entirely. "And I'm still itchy. Hopefully this will do the trick," she added and with an apologetic look to Thorax and Happy, she upended the jar in her hooves and swallowed the rest of the jelly in it without spilling a drop.

@Widdershins

DAZZLE GLEAM

"Ponyville isn't so bad," Dazzle mumbled cautiously to herself and she eyed each pony she passed by warily. Like they would strike at her at any moment. The past few years she had spent in the Everfree had taught a very important rule. Always trust yourself and never trust others. She ignored all the looks they gave her and went walking purposefully into the main market square. "A lot of construction going on. Did a tornado happen or something?"

Widdershins · January 13, 2020

@Catpone Cerberus

Well, Discord did. Widdershins motions as he bobs his head back conspiratorially back as the two drink tea together. Least, if you believe the gossip in the Daconequuus newsletter! Like, an old pro like him getting so prideful that he lets the mortals take a shot at him like that? That would be a Rookie move, surely! Snicker, Snicker!

Oh, but I can't speak for others, truly! Gold is as much as anything. If mortals take enough of a shine to anything, stuff happens! Cupcakes are greatly cherished, no? You know how many wars have been fought over cupcakes?

I know Humains have fought over far less! Pretty sure there was one fought over cheese wheels...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Sekel

"You first..." He mumbled, in the usual competitive manner most dragons, especially the younger ones use to meet every occasion with. Even if in this case it was merely in sleeping first. Dozing off around the mare, Kaltrop cuddle-coils around her protectively, laying his slightly longer neck past hers and surrounding her in the C-shaped bedding of himself they spent the night together in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Blitz Boom

"You wus standin' wight in tha middle o' tha woad..." Sunny said, muffled by the exaggerated patting of her face with her large hooves the way most energetic, precocious foals do. After a pause to clean like this, she directs her self to look at Scarcity for the first time, shuffling her self into position as she does so.

"...Stat-ure?....Whaat?..." Sunny suddenly cocks her big, moony face to one side in a show of confusion and every bouncy curl of platinum blond waterfalls to fall into a new position and further enhance her air of bubbleheadedness. "Like... Bigness, ya mean? ... I dunno 'bout that! Round'a'bout where I come from there be plenty bigger than us! Reckon it comes wit' the bein' a H-..." The big, statuesque mare cuts her self off quizzically, thinks for a long second and restarts, loudly thinking to herself. "Oh, Big Brudder said not ta talk about that."

"Oh! That right! Ya done asked! I'm SO EXCITED to meetcha! The name is Sunny Flush! Put 'er there, Ma'am!" Sunny catches herself again, a habit that she's picked up often with her short attention span in being the youngest of her family, and enthusiastically thrusts both of her front hoofs out at Scarcity in a show of wildly shaking her hoof in both of hers. And with her energy and each of her hooves being easily the size of most ponies' faces, accepting as such would be inadvisable as it's clear she's sprained many a hoof like that before!

*Meanwhile!*

"U-uhm... M-mayo-... a personage of... local residency prosiding over legal..."

That head shake had not helped. They had faced knights with weapons pointed at them, adventurers out to seek a claim to fame, roving mobs of rightful fury, but... dealing with somebody that clearly had more confidence than him was too much for Blither. He'd rather face some sort of Warmongering Cheif or Thug in a back alley than this... Mare's Stallion?

There were an awful lot of thoughts going through Blither's head. As usual, the others in the Cephalli family would have said that this is why they gave him his name; because he babbled so often. Sure, Blither knew he was smarter than most, most weren't well versed in Transmorphic Spell Theory or Starswirl's large collection of novels on... well, no matter, his intelligence never helped him much when he couldn't put it to use. This stallion didn't seem the sort to be able to get his verbose intent... and by the looks of it, primarily a courier and not the political, learned leader he had been hoping for that would grasp the urgency of the situation and his finite attempts to describe what was surely a delicate mattter that...

...and how to get this across without getting a hoof to the face, as usual. Or expected anyhow.

Blither did what he always did when first meeting ponies. Cringe backwards while tucking his face down behind his mane and stuttering. It didn't help, but... well, eventually things worked out.

This wasn't getting any better. Hopefully somepony who spoke Shy would come along soon.

"...p-proper allocation of resources... status implicated by accoutrements upon aforesaid...y-you... uhm...there's a.... If i don't, some might get hurt..."

@Sekel *Meanwhile!*

The Cephalli family were an emotional, excitable lot. Most of the siblings would agree Shortstack was the most emotional one and the way he carried himself would make you choke on that observation. Likely because it didn't take much for him to attempt grabbing you with his hooves and strangling you. If he could reach, that is.

On the other side of Ponyville, on a side out of sight of both Sunny, Blither, but fortuitously on the same path Dazzle was walking (Because every place has at least four sides to it! It can be easy to miss some, but cross paths with the one you weren't aiming to meet.) Shortstack sauntered in. In a way that was clearly begging others to ask how tough the saunterer was and whether or not they were up for a fight. The way almost every scrappy young colt tended to walk when they wanted to look tough.

Shortstack (he would have very choice words if you ever left off the latter half of his name.) indeed squinted around with ire at anyone who passed, especially anyone who looked strong like passing minotaurs that he would get noticeably taller around. With his stocking, bulldog-like gait, neck thick with muscle and mane cut painfully short into a charcoal black crewcut it was evident that Shortstack would wish a fight with anyone to ask..... and then get angry anyway if no one did.

This, of course, did not help that he barely came up to a fetlock. He got confused very often for an actual colt as he stood barely two feet tall and looked more like a plush toy than a pony. This, in turn, was very likely the reason he worked on his muscles as he did. Which tended to get overlooked anyway and got him treated like a colt anyway. Which just made him pick fights to ineffectually prove his toughness which, in turn led to a Vicious Cycle.

It how Shortstack liked things.

He didn't know why he was in Ponyville. He didn't particularly care.

There with ponies nearby that were taller than him. Clearly, they were rubbing it in his face. If somebody didn't have the gall to say something about it soon, he'd have to grab somepony and toss them.

After all, how would they know how boss he was?

Shortstack didn't like thinking about things past how he could be offended by them. To him, the world had him in it, so it had to relate some way to him. Therefore, fighting. You had to trust yourself, because the world only cared about itself, was Shortstacks view of things.

Shortstack started to fume. He didn't like not having something trying to goad him into a fight. He usually had Flit for that purpose, but he wasn't around. Likely just to piss him off, as usual.

There were alot of sorts around here. Most taller than him, and walking right past him. As if he was too little to bother with, the gall of them. Why, there was even a mare over there that reminded him of Flit, what with the bright colors and all that. This offended Shortstack. It really didn't take much.

So, In Shortstacks usual straightforward approach, he went right up behind the mare, unseen of course being under everypony's line of sight and bellowed out in his usual, gruff, heavilly accented voice.

"Ya wan' ah mess, Lassie? What a'boot yee? Whatcha doo? Fall inna Pain't Buck-et?!!?"

Blitz Boom · January 13, 2020

@Sekel

"You were warned that it would bring pain, if you were too closely connected. Your essence had not just covered her being. It had infested her. Begun to take over parts of her. Taking all that away, to leave her fully free of you, could be done without it tearing at her.

Besides, our word were that she would leave this place unharmed. To us, this brief pain does not count towards that."

Enzo towered up behind Karmic with an angry flare in his eyes. He too were none too pleased with how this had taken place, and he were more than happy to show how displeased he were.

Before he could stomp down upon the queen however, a sturdy layer of diamond shot out of the wall and blocked his claws from nearing the entity.

"They robbed you of any chance to learn what you would need to fight us, guardian. Know your place, and focus on this companion of yours instead."

The tone were not threatening, and they made no effort to actually hurt Enzo, but the message about how they very well could if they wanted to, were hard to ignore. Even for a prideful being like him, who had to be content to instead gently scoop up Karmic, wrap her chest up just to be sure that any dust did not enter the tiny hole that had been left in her hide, and place her on his neck, where hopefully she'd be safe.

He wished to say many, many things to the entity as he stood there, and glared down at them with fury in his eyes, but he had to keep shut, or risk worsening things for them. Something which did not sit well with him, yet what choice had he in the matter now? It were as they said: He had been robbed of any chance to fight a battle against one of their kind, after the dragons had stolen him and locked him up in that accursed temple. Enzo might be several centuries old, but when if came to magic, he were barely stronger than a sphinx kitten.

With that taken care of, the entity directed their glance towards Atzy again, and observed the newly risen, royal gemling. The first of their kind to be inhabited after Dia'thiz's release, and it were not a bad sight, she would say. Time would tell if the ones who would be born whole in the coming generations, would be better or worse than these who started off empty.

"You seem to have embraced your new body well. How does it feel, to no longer fight another for control, or try to change them to fit your needs? To be a queen in the making, instead of a parasite, scraping by in a borrowed husk.

Tell us. How is it to be whole again?"

Dia'thiz wished to know what it were like for Atzy, as it were something they may need to be aware of when the others began to awaken. Among them, perhaps some who would remember Atzy from ages past, if she wished to meet them.

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

@Sekel

Last rose up as soon as the door opened, and turned to face and salute the princess.

"I did not want to wake you up, your majesty."

Last had not been able to rest a whole lot herself, what with how things had gone in town, and hoped to be able to sit here for a few minutes at least, but alas, that wasn't gonna happen.

On the outside, she looked as focused and prepared for battle as before though. A rather default look for her, that she were used to keeping up even when she felt completely trashed, since where she grew up, looking weak made you an easy target. Just had to fake it until she even believed it herself, like her old combat trainer used to say before they were shut down.

Next to Twilight, Cherish fizzled into view again, and looked apologetic at the princess.

"I'm uhm... Sorry, Princess Twilight. I figured it was okay that she stood there, and you were waking up anyway when she came back. It didn't seem like I had to say something then. Sorry."

A guard, guarding a door, mere seconds before the princess in question would open the door. Cherish were sure that hadn't warranted her needing to say anything, but apparently, she had been wrong about that. Nothing she could do about that anymore either, except just apologize, and hope that the princess would forgive her this time. She'd try to do better next time.

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

@Sekel

10 hours ago, Sekel said:

she upended the jar in her hooves and swallowed the rest of the jelly in it without spilling a drop.

"What in the blazing saddles are you doing?!"

Thorax looked mortified at the grotesque display he bore witness to.

No, not Karmic downing the entire jar of royal jelly. That just made him increasingly concerned for her well-being and mental state, as well as somewhat hopeful that this meant that she were about to ascend to a changeling queen, since he could use as many high ranking allies of his own species as he could possibly get.

His attention and bewildered gaze were squarely on Happy, who had apparently found it appropriate to react to Karmic downing the jar, by raising one hand to the side of his mouth, and the other above his head, where he'd pump a fist up and down while excitedly going *Chug! Chug! Chug!*

The jovial grin on the human changeling's face at being called out, didn't help on the kings confusion either.

"Dude, I sell booze. This ain't the first power drinking I've been witness to, and Aurora's downing like a class A champ. How can you expect me not to cheer on?"

Thorax really felt like he should have an answer to that, but much as his muzzle stood open to give a response, there just weren't anything. Between this and what were happening with Aurora, he were just... Blank.

Seeing as he weren't getting scolded any further, Happy would return to cheer on Aurora as she downed what would have to be akin to a massive honey shot, with extra sugar. This were one hay of a show in his opinion.

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

@Moonlit

She gave a hard fight, but there were nothing the siren could do against the combined assault of her half sisters, as well as the gleeful zegasus. Eventually she would fall, and as she did, Ziggy would jump over and embrace Serenade's head from behind.

"Time to share the loots. Dibs on the head."

There were no intention of actually taking off the head of Serenade. That were crazy talk. She were just making dibs on getting to hug this particular area of her friends currently. And she had called dibs, so it were totally her right now. So sayeth the law and... Stuff.

On a nearby shelf, looking over the carnage and memorizing to stay far away from the small ones, sat Fah'lina.

At the start of things, she had considered joining in on the play assault, but seeing the small ones go at it, she had lost the interest. She were not some sort of dog who were okay with having their tail pulled, and these looked like they'd do that if the chance arose. Best to keep some distance and not risk getting into a confrontation over that.

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

@Catpone Cerberus

"Honor means little if you're dead."

Marley's voice changed as he said this, getting a more grim, somewhat pained tone to it. Seemed like something had hit a bit of a soft spot there, though he didn't intend to elaborate on what that were currently. Certain things were better left unspoken.

A few seconds passed after that, before he'd return to the galant griffon that he usually presented himself as. Free of these bad memories that refused to stop their haunting of him.

"Be that as it may, I understand your reasoning, and wish you good luck when the time comes. Though, if you do not care for fightung fairly, have you considered gaining assistance? Or is that taking things too far, in a situation that I assume you'd have a certain... Shall we say *Burning passion*, for dealing with on your own? I wouldn't blame you if you had that want, though i wouldn't say that it were a bad idea per se, to have some backup in the worst case scenario.

Hard as it may be to believe, I do think somewhat fondly of your companionship, and would be saddened to hear of your passing."

As they kept going, there would be a little kore life here and there, yet still, focused on stores with a main attraction towards the older audience it seemed. There were the occasional festive place for foals of course, such as an area with several carousels that were currently being tested for safety reasons, but most seemed to be going for entertaining the grown ups.

Things like themed bars, specialty stores with expensive and ludicrously impressive gift baskets. Local food restaurants, a tattoo shop, a steam room currently under renovation, and so on and so forth. This were not primarily where those with foals went to spent a few pocket bits. More those with more means, who wanted to enjoy something special, or a beverage of inexpensive to high end caliber.

And there, just a few minutes from them, were their end goal. An enticing place promising such wonder for families, yet with a second path, leading to a more shady side where everypony under the legal age were strictly prohibited from entering. Parents who tried to smuggle their foals in would quite literally be escorted out of the place in fact, and potentially banned if they tried again. They would not risk being known as a place allowing that sort of thing to happen. The law would be on them in seconds, and shut the whole thing down. That were just not an option in the owner's opinion. They needed the income to pay the bills.

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

@Catpone Cerberus

"I manage my pain well. I were just explaining what had happened to my arm."

Nerzhei were used to having to deal with things herself, so asking for help were not exactly her strongest skill. Yet even if it had been, in this situation, things were already covered. Her arm needed time to rest properly before it were back to optimal use again, and with the herbs that Lyriel provided, things were tolerable enough enough for her to just ignore things most of the time, and await the healing process to be finished.

It seemed like Nada had thought it a cry for help though, so Nerzhei felt it necessary to make sure they were all on the same page here, before she went any further.

As for Lyriel, she would be using her time and effort to distract herself from the situation, by rummaging around the dirt of the cave floor. It seemed rather random at first, until she slowly started to pull a vine up from beneath. A thin little thing, barely clinging on, but with her guidance it grew larger, with a more robust stem and several off sprouts that helped it cling to a nearby wall.

Blossoming around on it, would start to be salmon-colored leaves, around the width of a regular hoof, and after ten or so had sprouted to maturity, the dryad would stop her work, and let the plant be stable where it were.

"Hopefully this will last you a little time, Nerzhei."

She gently plucked one of the leaves, and placed it near the dragoness, whom withdrew a small mortal and what seemed like a leathery bag of goo. Judging by the smell, it included some variant of algae and cinnamon, but beyond that it were hard to tell, and she weren't telling unless asked about it. Nerzhei would just get to work with slowly and methodically, crush the offered leaf in the mortar.

"You'd be surprised how many things can work as remedies or poisons in nature, if you know what you're looking for, Nada. The ponies sit upon a treasure trove that few of them seem to be able to comprehend, though I suppose that hospital of theirs makes them feel safe enough. I personally can't imagine that being enough on its own in the long run.

Since you haven't gone to town in a long time, I can imagine that you are familiar with making use of what's growing to deal with wounds and illness, yes?"

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

@EQ_Theta

On 1/12/2020 at 1:37 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“Discord still cares in his own way. Meeting him was an experience; not the first creature to come to mind when I think of friends but he is a friend. Even Lin has taken a liking to him. He definitely has that chaotic sense of humor despite living a somewhat docile life with a pony named Fluttershy in Ponyville. Omen and Discord have history, long before any of us came into the picture.”

"I don't think I would enjoy his presence all that much. Stability and reason are things that I find to be rather valuable, and stories about him makes it rather clear that he makes a mockery out of those things. It is understandable given his race and self-imposed title, but that doesn't make me any more thrilled to experience his antics.

It is interesting though to hear that the rumors of his more docile state is true. Honestly, I had expected the stories to be false, or him concocting a scheme with a longer term goal than simply spreading chaos the instant no one were looking. That were some time ago though, and if it still holds true, perhaps there are indeed some truth to it. The reports does not mark him as one willing to run a scheme that takes years upon years to come to fruition, whilst he simply plays nice."

The last report he had of this, were from around a week before Discord had worked together with Tirek, so that tidbit were not known to him. He just knew how the lord of chaos had seemingly reformed, which even the spy who came back with the information did not believe would last one bit, even though he had personally encountered Discord and saw how his antics were if not gone, then toned down quite substantially. Interesting how this went then.

As for Omen and his relationship, he had no doubt that she were still very connected to him, as could be expected between creator and creation. Or father and daughter maybe, if that were the dynamic? He had after all given her form, from what he understood of the process, so in a sense, she were half of him, and half of the mysterious Mother. IN essence, a child of them both, though it were unlikely that they saw it like that. If they did, Omen wouldn't refer to him as *Master Discord* as much as she did. It wouldn't make sense at least, which when it came to draconequui, were sadly the whole point.

Urgh... The less he had to deal with their kind, the better...

On 1/12/2020 at 1:37 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“A vessel of magic should it be necessary, though we require a physical body to amplify the effects of some of our spells.” The unmistakable sound of many deep voices coming from the orb emanated throughout the cave, echoing and bouncing off the walls. There were definitely five different voices speaking in unison, seemingly intimidating though ultimately harmless as the longma siblings and Omen can attest. “We are aware of a need to translate some text. Shall we begin?”

Ah, disembodied voices, coming out of a mysterious orb. What a lovely treat.

Sounded like voices of creatures who were, or had been at some point, regarded as important figures. The way of speaking and the general attention-grabbing tone of their voices, seemed to indicate as much to him at least. It also appeared to not be a scry or divination orb as he had at first expected, but rather some sort of vessel for a bunch of spirits. Regular beings usually did not speak in a way that made him want to say *They are legion, for they are many*.

...He wondered if they had the particular book that quote came from in Equestria's prison, actually. It had been a while since he had brushed up on that tale, and it used to be a rather good book far as he recalled.

As time and his thoughts passed, with no more words from the orb, Rosa would eventually clear his throat before speaking, just in case he were interrupting something and would be shushed before actually talking. Provided that weren't the case, the thestral would start to ask some things of his own.

"So, mind me asking what the deal is with this orb and it's apparent inhabitants? Are they longma spirits?"

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

@Rainbows2424 @Dreadmare

"So you just ran into one another by accident then? Man, what a freakish coincidence, huh?"

It were pretty exciting to hear that Azure knew Fluttershy, and had heard about Thunder via her. It were honestly just fair then for Thunder to ask whatever or not Fluttershy had sent her to spy on him since, y'know, she might be worried about him and that'd make total sense in a sibling sort of way. Her own brothers had sent out a few friends to keep an eye on her at times, so she could understand. It were only natural to be worried about your family, yet not always having the time to get around to check up on them constantly.

"It's saying a lot of good things about Fluttershy though. I got loads of siblings, and I personally think that letting others know you're worried about the safety of them, to a point where whoever they talk with think it's good to just keep an eye on them if they cross paths, is pretty great. Really shows that they care, you know?"

With that covered (kind of) Shell would then turn her attention to the matron of the Shy family, with a big smile on her face, and her one visible eye beaming with energy and cheerfulness.

"I'm sure she'd get along with them, from what I've heard of her abilities with animals at least. Most of them are pretty harmless after all, and the jellyfish didn't want to hurt anypony. The tides just got a little unlucky for it, and had it float into the bay. Since they don't have a brain, they can't exactly think of stuff like being malicious and evil. They're just pretty instinct driven predators, who hunts for things smaller than them where they end up.

Everything in the ocean exist for a reason, should be treated with respect, and understood. Even the water dragons, and they've been pretty hostile to us for a long time now. I think we'll get through to them though. Long as we keep respecting them and accept their boundaries.

If it's okay that I ask, how are Zephyr? I've been told a bit about him from Thunder, but it's not a whole lot. Thunder said he might be scared of mummies, hehe."

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

@Widdershins

Hmm, sounded like this one were a rather... Brutish example of a bigger head not exactly guaranteeing a bigger brain. Still, there were some usage one could have of brawn like this. It just shouldn't have to do with secret-keeping in any sort of way, nor advanced thinking. Potentially she would make for a rather good addition to a team where somepony patient were able to direct her? Ah yes, that may well work. And Scarcity already knew of a few beings off the top of her head who would pay well to have brawn such as this along with them. Not always for legal business, but that were a minor detail that they didn't need to dwell on.

The large mare did seem to have some idea of keeping a few secrets though it seemed. She had not said everything, but enough had let slip that it gave Scarcity some degree of idea where this particular mare had frequented in the past. Of course, she couldn't just outright say this to her large companion, as there were certain reasons why it were wiser to not pretend to not know about this particular larger group of beings that should not be so. Plus, much to her dismay, she knew disgustingly little of that place, compared to what she wanted to. A great failure sadly, yet one which might prove possible to correct now that she had met one from the area. Though it sounded like she needed to go through this *Big Brother* of hers to gain such information.

It should not be an issue she magined. Every creature had something they wanted, and what were her trade, if not based on exchanging what one desired for something that another wanted? She were sure that she could come to some kind of understanding with the potentially also large pony when they met.

8 hours ago, Widdershins said:

"Oh! That right! Ya done asked! I'm SO EXCITED to meetcha! The name is Sunny Flush! Put 'er there, Ma'am!"

AH, but such things would have to be taken as they came. Scarcity could attest to the fact that patience were a powerful tool, and even in this situation, she would steel herself with it. And speaking of steel, it seemed like she'd need that to safely interact with the happy mare and her meaty attempts at hoofshakes. It were likely for the better if she attempted to talk her way through this instead, and do so using less big words than before. They had seemed to confuse the poor thing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you then, dear. I'm sorry that I cannot shake your hoof back, but I enjoy my personal space. Hence, I tend to wave, or make a bow, as such."

Scarcity would elegantly bow her neck, as well ad cross her right front hoof in front of her chest, in an elegant greeting, which were mainly used for events. Mostly by males too, as there were some traditions about mares, dressed, and how to greet one another in that setting, but much as she tried to mingle, Scarcity had her limits to what she were willing to do, and wearing a dress were one of those things she made sure to inform others that she wouldn't. Irritatingly uncomfortable, and too easy to mess up for her taste. And so dreadfully tacky, urgh.

"It sounds as if you come from far away, hm? Do tell, do you bring any of your family with you? Such as this big brother you mentioned? I would love to greet them as well."

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

@Widdershins

"Somepony may get hurt? Dearest me, that cannot be allowed to stand! Worry not my friend, the great Alonsus will help."

Alonsus puffed out his chest, as a hoof rose and were placed upon his muscular chest region. Combined with his overall look and boastful nature, you would almost expect a wind to blow through his mane and a trumpet going off, as this truly seemed like character ripped straight out of a theater production about a hero of old. The classic ones with the oh so perfect hero that were, who were always portrayed as... Well, this.

Sadly, it were missed on him how his presence were seemingly making the soft spoken stallion nervous. The second the talk had gone upon how some might be hurt, Alonsus had thought of nothing else than a need to help save others in whatever way he could. Now if he only knew how...

"Alonsus? I think you're scaring him."

From behind Blither, a low, calm voice were heard out of the blue, and if he turned around, he'd find there stood a mare there, looking at him with big, curious eyes, standing but a half meter behind him. How she had managed to get this close without making a sound might disturb him to some degree, yet there hadn't been any indication. Not a wrong breath, no sound of hoofsteps, not even the sound of her dress flowing in the wind. It were like she had popped in out of nowhere.

Alonsus lowered his head and hoof, and looked at the mare, confused as to the words she said. She might be speaking low, but he had gotten used to the low tone by now. Long as there were not too much noise around them, he could hear her fine.

"Oh? ... Oooh, my apologies. I seem to have gotten a little overboard again."

It were first then that he bit notice in how the stallion appeared to have wandered back a bit, and overall looking as if he didn't want the sort of attention that Alonsus offered. Something which tended to happen at times sadly, yet hopefully this stallion could forgive him. Alonsus did not do this with ill intend. He simply just didn't know when to stop sometimes.

"It's okay, I hope? But uhm... You said something about somepony being in danger? Do you need the mayor or princess for this?"

"We too can help you know, Stare. Surely there is little we cannot accomplish."

"Not if it's legal things. The mayor or the princess is needed for that, so we should hear him out. It sounds like it's important."

Long Stare were a very patient, mild tempered mare, and it weren't unusual for her to reel Alonsus in somewhat while at work. This weren't at work, but it were okay with her. She didn't mind his company, and in fact, he were the one she spoke with second-most, outside of the times when she sat in her home and just observed what happened through her windows. That combined with her ability - also known as training in trying not to be noticed - to be quiet, made her somewhat creepy to others, and she had inadvertently caused quite the amount of jump scares to happen, when she got near somepony she wanted to talk to, and that had ended up being behind them.

Edited January 13, 2020 by Blitz Boom

Sekel · January 13, 2020

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

"Enzo ... bring Atzy ... when she's able," Karmic whispered to the sphinx before she completely passed out on his neck.

"I feel ..." Atzy began and shot an apologetic look to Enzo. "Liberated. Like I'm myself again. I was liking Karmic but I could definitely tell that I was taking over. It felt wrong, once I got it through my head that we weren't, for lack of a better term, co-existing together. I never really felt right as a parasite but as a whole being? It's a much better feeling," she explained with a smile the entire time. She rubbed a hoof over her other leg and felt the hard shell of a changeling's carapace mixed with the smoothness of diamonds.

She looked down, and where the holes in the legs were meant to be, they were instead filled with glittering gems. She twisted her head to look on her back and found glittering wings resting against it. A hoof reached over her head and tapped her forehead before it rested on a horn. "Right, changeling and gem creatures mixed together. Still has the form of a changeling but with the added benefit of whatever the gem creatures brought to the species. Queen Dia'Thiz, thank you for helping us become separated, even thought it looked very painful for Karmic Fate."

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Gah!" Twilight jumped a good foot into the air when she saw Cherish next to her. She placed over her heart to slow it and panted. "Don't do that! At least not when we're expecting it!" If she wasn't awake before, she definitely was now. "It's alright, Cherish," she gasped. "Just. Ha. Breakfast. Let's go get that before discussing on what to do!"

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"So sweet so sweet so sweet ah!" Aurora gasped, her body shuddering as it attempted to process what amounted to a massive sugar rush from all the Royal Jelly she consumed. She coughed and a larger glob of the green goo landed in front of her. This one was different. It looked more akin to the changeling cocoons the changelings used but Aurora would have no idea of that. Of it's own accord, her horn lit up the sickly green of all changelings. It pulsed rapidly, bathing Aurora in it's light before the spell quickly consumed her.

A short scream later and once the light had vanished, Aurora was on her side on the floor with her eyes shut tight. There were noticeable differences from how she looked before. Her legs were longer, her mane and tail appeared more lush and vibrant than most changelings, her horn was longer and had a more wicked curve to it, and the carapace hiding her wings was bigger to more suit this new form. Which most likely meant that Aurora's wings had expanded too to accommodate her.

@Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

Dawn didn't know when she woke up but when she did, she spotted a wing draped over her. She smiled to herself, remembering letting Kaltrops stay over the night before and gently snuggled up to his side. It felt warm, cozy, and she didn't want to leave it. His wing covered her body entirely and she was glad for it. It shut out the world, leaving her in her own personal bubble. She paid attention to his soft breathing and closed her eyes again, waiting for him to wake up of his own accord.

@Widdershins

DAZZLE GLEAM

"Fall in a paint bucket!?" Dazzle repeated incredulously. She knew her mane was colourful but that was typical of all ponies! At least she thought so. She turned to face the insulter and then looked down when she didn't see anypony. She blinked, seeing a red colt staring angrily at her. It didn't take a genius to realise this was the pony in question. She just didn't expect it to be a foal. "A colt. Just insulted me. Are you sure you want to fight me, shorty?"

Edited January 13, 2020 by Sekel
Added paragraphs for easier reading

EQ_Theta · January 14, 2020

@Blitz Boom

“No, they were once part of a race called the Hyracotherians. An ancient race of pony-like creatures who went extinct long ago. If I remember correctly, they said they were capable of wielding magic and about as large as a modern day dog, probably the big ones you’d normally associate with guard dogs.”

“They assumed that form shortly before their race’s extinction, brought about by their own kind.” Sen somberly added, picking up where Lin left off as to not disturb the translation going on. “Unchecked and reckless use of dark magic. That’s what led to their slow and prolonged downfall.

They chose to do this to warn others about the dangers of using magic recklessly, hoping others will learn from their own mistake and avoiding another disaster like theirs. As for the orb being a vessel for information, the spirits in the orb are scholars. Over time, they’ve collected information going back thousands of years. I doubt it’s complete though.”

The scholars heard that and despite remaining silent, they took offense to that comment. As much as they would want to brag about having a vast expanse of knowledge to tap into and share, even they had their limitations. They could use magic to move the orb but it wouldn’t take them very far. The rest of their mobility was reliant on luck, coming across reputable individuals who wished to share their knowledge and preserve them for future generations. In turn, the scholars could share their own unfortunate past with others to spare them from living the same experiences they did leading up to their end.

It was about as good a deal as they got. Even with hundreds of years of doing nothing, seeing the world move on and learning about how it is evolving was reason enough to keep on going. Though they didn’t speak of it openly, they do miss being among their own kind and long for a chance to be with them again.

“We have made some progress,” the scholars said, notifying the rest of the group. “Allow us several minutes as we are nearing completion.”

Edited January 14, 2020 by EQ_Theta

Moonlit · January 14, 2020

@Blitz Boom The Fry all nod, the law of snuggles was very strict on the calling of dibs, and the fluffy one had called it. One of the smallest Fry squeeks up, "Di..di..dibs on your mane". She praces up to Ziggy, smiles then dives into Ziggy's mane like it's water.

Sphinx-Ara · January 14, 2020

@Rainbows2424 @Blitz Boom

Thunder nods and smiles "That does indeed sound like sis" he'd say "She is so kind and caring, honestly she gets it from mom and dad" he would say, smiling to his parents. He'd then look up to Azure "Ah yes, you see when both Rainbow Dash and my sis were little, they were at flight camp. There were some rather nasty bullies who loved to make fun of both of them, and ended up making Rainbow make a bet with them. It was about how fast she could fly, and well, she sped past Fluttershy, knocking her off the clouds. Luckily she was rescued by a large group of butterflies and fluttered her down to the ground" he'd explain with a smile.

Mrs Shy smiles "It's true, and I appreciate the concern, I am glad that our Thunder has friends out there that look out for him, would any of you like any tea?"

Sign In

open Casual stroll

Recommended Posts

Sekel 692

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Blitz Boom

Blitz Boom

Blitz Boom

Posted Images

Moonlit 593

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Catpone Cerberus 23,588

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Azure Acrylic 24

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Blitz Boom 4,620

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sphinx-Ara 3,569

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sekel 692

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Rising Dusk 27,510

Link to comment

Share on other sites

EQ_Theta 457

Link to comment

Share on other sites

EcstaticWind 572

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Azure Acrylic 24

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Moonlit 593

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Blitz Boom 4,620

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sphinx-Ara 3,569

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Catpone Cerberus 23,588

Link to comment

Share on other sites

EQ_Theta 457

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Azure Acrylic 24

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Moonlit 593

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sekel 692

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Widdershins 9,959

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Blitz Boom 4,620

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sekel 692

Link to comment

Share on other sites

EQ_Theta 457

Link to comment