open Casual stroll

[Sekel 685]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

"Forgive me for not extending the same jovial accordance you have," Atzy spoke up from the side of Enzo and Karmic. Karmic looked down at the group before taking a breath.

"I think everything will be fine," Karmic told Enzo before sliding down his leg to be with Atzy on the ground. "Ambassador Golden Sun. What are you the Ambassador of, exactly? You look like a regular pony to me."

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

Twilight acknowledged Lasts' suggestion with a nod and followed along behind her. She turned her head to the side and noticed Cherish gazing around as they walked. "Cherish, you look a lot stabler here than back in my castle," Twilight said thoughtfully, noticing how Cherish was more opaque than she has been as of late. "It's possibly because we're heading towards a graveyard. Maybe where ponies' spirits are resting you get stronger by it?"

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"I'm used to flying as a changeling, if that's what you're worried about," Aurora told them. She did wince when her chitin separated along her to reveal her wings though. "Although I guess I'm not used to them enough, even in this larger form. I was only a nymph when I was taken to Griffonstone so I've mostly been a griffin all my life. It's what I'm used to. But I have practiced flying as a changeling .... maybe I should be a griffin for the flight?"

@Widdershins

DAZZLE GLEAM

Dazzle gasped and groaned, feeling herself fall to the ground from her impact against the wall. She felt like a couple of her ribs had broken upon standing and wobbled on her hooves for a bit. "You are really something else, Shortstack," Dazzle huffed. "I would have never expected such power to come from something so small and teeny," she grinned.

@Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

"Why would we hunt?" Dawn questioned with narrowed eyes. "It's not like ponies can digest meat like you dragons can. Besides, we don't stalk the grass patches. We stalk wild grocery aisle foods for foodstuff and buy it," she huffed only to get a decent blush going. She turned her head away again and coughed into her hoof. "Protector. That ... I guess you could call it that. I'm not really ... welll ... I haven't fought at all in my life so ... yeah, protector boyfriend."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Blitz Boom
"If you rely on someone else for something, you will be worse at doing that, thus you're weaker." "We...or well, our predecessors used to have a civilization not much different to what you describe, not much is know about is since it was long before any currently existing species were as they are now, if they existed in the first place, and the writings about it have been lost to time." "But what is known is that it all came crashing down, most likely due to our natural greed, and with time that species separated to three different species, my kind, violent and powerful variant that stopped using magic and relies more on strength and intelligence, other kind that though being called dragons too, are quite the opposite, as they are long wingless creatures that are highly magical and peace loving (eastern dragons), and last and least, Wyverns, not much is known about their current lifestyle, but they once shared territory with my kind, they are malformed, weaker subspecies of my kind, and they were chased away by us long before I hatched." 

"And when it comes to family....well, there's no fathers, as females just choose a fitting partner and when they're done they get either killed or chased away, how they are chosen and what happens to them depends on the female, as like in every species, there's different individuals. And for mothers..the hatchling will be taken care of until they are old enough to hunt, then they get chased off the mother's territory, and usually that's the last time they see each other, but then there's situations like mine, where the one attacks the other for reason or another." 

Ruby just ignored the look Leviathan gave, making it pretty clear that she ignored it on purpose, as she didn't feel the need to repeat telling about her distaste for what she thought to be pity. She wasn't entirely sure why she told what she told, since she didn't really care for conversations, but she figured it was because she finally had a change to boast about her kind without worrying about her cover being blown.

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Nada just nodded in agreement to Nerzei, she could tell it was a joke but it was probably true, one of the reason for her memory trouble could be the fact she was over 1000 years old.

"Doesn't every creature become smarter with time?" she asked, it would only makes sense right? since older you are, more you have learned "Though I find it interesting there's a place that they only learn about when they get older." 

 

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@Widdershins

"Don't forget the horses that can fly regardless of the fact that their wings are way too small for them to actually fly."  Cerberus added "And regarding parasprites, I haven't actually seen them since the chaos in Ponyville, not that I have been looking for them either, since they don't listen what I have to say." "But I have a reason to believe they're 20 minute walking distance away in the direction we are going." 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,422]

@Midnight

"Really?!"

Benny Almost jumped out of his scales in joy when he heard that she might actually be able to make something like that place, which could be used by non unicorns. His marefriend would be ecstatic about news like this.

It did strike him as a little odd how this pony seemed to be having a small blizzard ring around her when she had done this though, but she seemed to just have a sort of magical reaction of her own with this, maybe? She appeared to be pretty good with ice magic, so it sorta made sense. At least to someone who didn't understand the ins and outs of magic all that well, but could just evaluate from what he had seen with a few other unicorns. Not all though. More of a gimmicky sort of thing. Or perhaps he just wasn't paying attention that much? Didn't matter he supposed.

"I hope it's not pushing it, miss, but do you think I could take you to my marefriend so you could maybe chat about doing this sorta thing? She'd be thrilled about having an option like this for her storage. Please? It's only a few hundred meters from here, and it's pretty easy to spot. Biggest candy store in town."

Also rather colorful, and marked as Circle Pop's Specialty Candy and Confectionery. Which were more in regards to the special stuff she made, though she also crafted a lot of regular candy. Had to have something for the foals, and not just high end gift options, or she'd never make it in this area.

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@Pastel-chan

It did look a little silly, with pastel standing there holding the pipe like some sort of video game character, but it were pretty entertaining to Jelly. Infectious too, as she played along and gave a halfway decent ladylike bow.

"Oh, to have my great heroine protect me. Surely I shall face no harm with you at my side."

It were rather different than how she usually had play times with others, though it were kind of similar to one she had known in Canterlot. A bit of an odd foal three years older than her, that were part of some roleplaying group. She weren't sure what it were, but he invited her along once, and they dressed her up as a dragon. It were honestly pretty fun to go in that costume and chasing them around, pretending to spit fire at them,and running away whenever they got their foam swords out. A shame he had moved a week or so after that so she didn't get to see more of this stuff, but Pastel were throwing her back into it with a vengeance. Silly filly made it real hard not to just get suckered into it, despite the fact that the filly were now holding a pipe, which could be dangerous. Only if used wrongly though, and Pastel wasn't violent. Right?

Grabbing the satchel and strapping to her tool belt, Jelly spread her wing and flew a few inches up above the ground, whilst pointing towards the edge of town, where the border would go right into the infamous Everfree Forest.

"Come then my knight. Let us seek glory!"

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@EcstaticWind

On 2/29/2020 at 9:28 AM, EcstaticWind said:

"Uh no, no. But I am surprised to see you both here so soon. I was given to understand adventuring was a long process. At least, that's what I got from many of the stories and biographies I read. Aside from it being dangerous but potentially rewarding. To be honest, I had figured it would take you another week or two to arrive, but I guess I underestimated transport and how long it actually takes, didn't I?"

"It changes depending on a few factors. I this situation, I had a solid infiltration going towards a rather annoying group of cultists. Ones who had something in their possesion which I found were best kept away from them. Yet in the middle of a planned weeks excursion, Flaxxy suddenly arrives and begins her own scheme, which were quite a bit more direct than my approach."

"Bad ponies had a real nasty shiny, so I dig in and start to make with the punches."

Flaxxy looked really proud of herself as she said this, whilst Lulu were a bit harder to read, but did get a fleeting, amused smile on her face.

"As said, quite a bit more direct.

So I got her attention, and she resumed distracting them whilst I went in to steal the artifact. Something which I did successfully mind you, just as originally planned. The addition of a superior fighter outside throwing ponies left and right though, certainly did help to speed up the process."

"Hehe. Silly ponies use rope, I grab rope, and start swinging them around real easy. Scrawny little ponies thrown everywhere."

Lulu elegantly waltzed past Velvet as Flaxxy spoke, into his house as he offered them to come inside.

"After dealing with the worst of what it were capable of, It were a quick matter of delivering the thing to a responsible police unit with an affinity for handling magical artifacts after that, and then as we were already gathered and in the area, we assumed we may as well see if you had some free time for a visit. Letters are fine, but they do not give an impression of another as well as a personal visit in my opinion. Also, Flaxxy were rather insistent to show off her prized possession in person."

The diamond dog stood proud and exposed her neck, pointing to the valuable collar she had on.

"See? Is veeery shiny, yes?"

"Might I remind you that it also caused all your hair to fall out, among other things?"

"Bah, you fix issue real quickly, is fine now."

Flaxxy could come inside, though she'd have to wander on all fours, close to the ground. Pro of being limber, yet con of still being rather large. She had to wait for Velvet to step aside though, or transport him like a mother cat did with her kittens. The first option would be preferable, but it depended on whatever or not he might move soon.

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@Widdershins

Chop didn't respond to what were said to him. He focused his efforts on getting the food ready for serving, as well as ensuring that it would be kept like this, and not gobbled down before the ones supposed to arrive for the feast were even here. Might be he weren't a guard anymore, but the training still stuck, and he hadn't slacked off with that, just because he weren't wearing the armor anymore. Never knew when there might be a rowdy customer, or a monster attacking town that needed a proper beating.

20 hours ago, Widdershins said:

"Society can't be built without structure or agreed upon harmony. You'll have to forgive me, but in my reading and research I've not heard much of Ponyville. Most who talk of here treat it as idealic a place to live... but a bit, uhm, chaotic. I guess the reputation of a cityplace becomes infamous when it requires montly visits from the nation's ruler, heh? You have much trouble here?

 I don't mean to gossip, but Ponyville is often talked of as a place where all are accepted?

"We strive to accept others, but as you said, it can become chaotic. And not only because of the frequent visits from Discord. Seeing as we also had recent situations of seemingly harmless figures turning out to be disastrous antagonists, I have had to adopt some degree of skepticism and concern when it comes to new arrivals, especially when I get the impression that I do not see the real face of whomever I am talking to."

Whilst the comment were not said with malice, the look in her eye as she said this, should make it abundantly clear that Mayor Mare were not trusting that Blither were a pony, regardless of what he might claim, or even look like. The things he had said earlier just didn't swing with that, though it remained to be seen if he were an actual danger, or if she were just being paranoid. Considering the recent attack on town, paranoia were a likely culprit in all honesty, but she'd wait and see.

"And yes, we have some infrequent issues, with one recent one being the reason why we are repairing town, but we have great defenses and I can still proudly say that we have a record of no casualties for many years now. Mostly due to our towns great defenders. Princesses Celestia and Luna have yet been needed to handle these things themselves, and their visits are mostly related to keeping track of Discord, and personal meetings with Princess Twilight."

20 hours ago, Widdershins said:

"Oh, my condolences Sir Alonsus! I don't mean to correct you! It's just a bit of second habit for me! Most of my family disregard the effort I've put into reading up on the annuals of pony history, storytelling and moreover, scientific history. It often falls on me to correct them of... well, heh, they don't usually listen to me~They say I have a bad habit of pontification.  I suppose you know if you've ever had to run with any brothers of your own?

 Oh! And this all seems so much for a teatime repast! Is this much customary in these parts of ponydom?"

"Worry not yourself, Mr. Blither. Even though I have never known any brothers, I know well of those who wishes to keep things corrected. Perish the thought of it in any way hurting somepony like Alonsus."

He did have a sister that he hadn't been in contact with for years at this point, but that were mostly his own fault, and not something he'd bring up. Perhaps one day, when he didn't feel as if he had to hide from his past, and manned up enough to go visit her and try to make amends for the past, that might change. That day however, were most certainly not now, and he did not feel like sharing memories of his past. including the one he most knew of who had corrected him, as that were another part of the gang he had once been in, which should not be brought up. He liked being here in town without others starring at him like he might all of a sudden change in a whim and resume his old work as a gang's muscle. Such a reaction were one of the reasons why he left his old home in the first place.

"Regarding the feast, you yourself said that you and your family needed sustenance, and I would not have it stain our reputation that we did not think of it being a rather large flock whom needed to be fed. At worst, some will remain afterwards, and due to the fire crystals underneath the bowls and plates, it will remain warm, and can go towards some others who could use a warm meal earlier than we had informed them it would be ready in. The great Alonsus have thought of it all."

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@Widdershins @Sekel

20 hours ago, Widdershins said:

"AH'M GONNA RIP YER HEART OUT AN' CLOG DANCE TA DAH RHYTHM!!!"

An interesting thing to yell for sure, yet perhaps not the smartest considering that a guard were rapidly approaching, and due to his sensitive ears, were able to pick up on this threat. Something which might just be overblown, but there was a certain risk that didn't seem wise to take when it came to unknown parties. Especially the sort who threw ponies around.

As such, when he got there, he'd waste no time in swooping down from the sky and forcefully tackle the small pony that seemed to be the originator. It fit the description well enough, and he most certainly did not look like he were about to dance. Plus, the way the other locals kept a solid distance from him told a story that this were not one they wished to mess with. Best bet were that he were the perpetrator.

Unless Shortstack were able to react to the muscle mountain of a bat pony that suddenly approached from behind him, he'd find said pony putting all his weight into this attack, which would cause Shortstack to be dragged across the ground with Stargazer on top of him, for quite a few meters. He'd then try to pull some cuffs out of his helmet to put around the small one's hooves, before he had a chance to retaliate. A bit brutish of an approach perhaps, but it seemed like the best option.

Of course, in case he did somehow react in time, this would likely turn out different. They'd see how it would go down.

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, Scarcity would keep on moving as a fair pace in the direction where the officer had flown off to, with Sunny either in front of, or behind her.

"Well then, we best make sure that his streak of not seriously harming another is not broken today then, hm? It would not endear you to the locals, were any you to get into all sorts of messy things such as that."

Whilst the officer had taken off, likely not biting much notice in what Sunny had said, Scarcity had, and drawn some interesting conclusions from that. Mainly regarding how another of Sunny's family members talked about sucking the juices of the living from others quite frequently, and how Shortstack undoubtedly had crushed some skulls, even if not recently. Violent streaks like this were something that one would be foolish to not take notion of and take into consideration, and especially when she were the sort who liked to find some background information on others. This meant that she likely had to tell her sources to look at hospital and morgue records to find a pattern, which were disturbing, yet a clue were a clue. They'd see if this clouded her opinion on what this family might be useful as, when it came to her business. Sometimes, a good skull cracking for example were a welcome notion, yet they'd see. It depended on how easy it might be to keep said cracked skull from being her own.

"Perhaps you should start running dear, and get to your dear brother soon? It sounded as if he could desperately need a hug from his favorite sister, right about now. You needn't worry about me, I'll be nearby."

She'd teleport, which would keep her there, though it depended on whatever or not Sunny were going to take off, so that she might stop a bad situation from becoming worse. It would be preferable more than likely, before somepony got seriously injured.

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@Widdershins

"Huh, I guess Pinkie's lurking around the backroom again."

Berry Swirl had come around to the back alley to get an order picked up that Sloppy Joe's had put down to the bakery, for a few boxes of doughnuts. The cakes had informed her boss that they might be ready about this time a day, but since the front door had been locked, she figured this just meant they had to pick it up the other side. Not too unusual honesty, since customers tended to be up front, and they couldn't have their partnership with the cafeteria messing up the regular flow in the bakery, so she had just wandered around here when it were. Yet she hadn't found a box here, but instead a swinging door. Pinkie had probably run inside again to pick the boxes up or something, so she could just stand here and wait.

Buuuut, on the other hoof, if she had a peek, she could perhaps see if the backroom had listening devices like she had suspected a few times before, which would cement this bakery as being a prime seat for The Conspiracy in the area. An important thing to know if it were, as it would also bring into question why they were working with her place of work. Were they perhaps preparing to strike and have her unjustly thrown back into the nut house again? It were a possibility, and such a thing were best not risked when a perfectly good opportunity like this presented itself.

So, she'd wander in through the door, all innocent like, and look around as she seemingly casually just waltzed in, innocently looking for somepony. At least that were going to be her defense currently, in case she were spotted. Might be best off talking out loud too, to sell it better. Y'know, in case there were any hidden microphones or the like.

"Pinkie? You in here?"

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@EQ_Theta

22 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

“We are curators of information spanning thousands of years, a vessel of magic that wishes to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Only… we believe it may be time to lay that purpose to rest and live outside of this orb before we choose to go for good. A golem shell may be what we seek.”

“They’re ancient beings from a now-extinct race; the last of their kind, if you can call them that. I suppose it may not even be entirely accurate if they’re disembodied voices residing in an inanimate object.”

Scarcity raised an eyebrow in surprise as it turned out that the orb had residents within. And some with vast amount of ancient knowledge no less? Oh my, the possibilities that this could present were staggering. What could not be learned? What profits, or power were there not to be gained from even a sliver of what they may hold?

Yet, at the same time, she were a somewhat benevolent pony, and understood that as there were possibilities, one had to steer away from those that would cause unjust harm. Even if there were a good deal to gain from it. If she threw caution to the wind like that, she'd have to pass a threshold which she'd prefer not to, as she enjoyed her current position as a necessary evil, rather than a villain in need of retribution. She also did not much care for the thought of hurting the innocents if it could be avoided. That were best left to others more deviant than herself.

22 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

“We have chosen the stone golem shells. The orb itself will remain as is, a repository for information but we believe it is best to begin moving our stored knowledge elsewhere. It has served its purpose but experience has shown it has done enough harm over the years to warrant its decommission.”

“That is about the long and short of the matter,” Lin concluded, somewhat anxiously awaiting what Scarcity will want in exchange. They didn’t really have much to bargain with, though the scholars probably have something the unicorn will want. Regardless, it will be interesting to find out. “Would you know where we can find those… um, geomancers you mentioned?”

Weighing a few pros and cons in her head, Scarcity would at this point go into a delighted smile, with a glimmer in her eyes that said that she were rather intrigued with this whole prospect, as well as the potential gains from going with this, and dealing more directly with the spirits themselves, rather than Sen, Lin, or Rosa. The last of whom showed some degree of concern from that glimmer in Scarcity's eyes. It made him feel as if he were prey, starring into the maw of the being destined to chase him down and devour him.

"Why of course dearie. In fact, I can even bring you there myself, and handle the negotiations and costs that comes from such a thing. Professionals such as this does not easily work with those they do not know, nor sell their services for cheap, yet I would be most intrigued by a trade with our dearly departed, whom wishes to inhabit a new shell.

It's a reasonable deal I'd say. All I ask, are two things.

First is that I might procure a historian to hear your tale, and have it recorded for posterity's sake, so that I might have it transported to a proper place for this thing. History should not be forgotten so easily in my opinion, and you are of course free to leave out any details of things that caused your ultimate demise. A mere mention will suffice, rather than details on any magic used, which I take it you would prefer were not reused, lest the past repeats itself.

As for the second part, which would benefit me personally, I do have a few options, though I'd have to ask first: Of your seemingly extensive knowledge, have you any experience with primordial magic, or guiding energy in some fashion at all? I can assure you that I have no intention of doing something which would harm the country with this knowledge, yet a mare eventually gets to a point where she looks at the future and wonders what it might hold of possibilities, and how many years she have left in this world to go through them all. I personally find that my purpose spans longer than my natural years would suffice, yet with a proper application of primordial energy, a certain ascension scenario can take place which would negate this ramification of time, and present me with the option to do much of what would otherwise be me denied."

"You... Are you talking about alicornification?"

Rosa looked on the mare in disbelief. This were pretty old magic that were in place that she were talking about here, with the knowledge of how to become an alicorn seemingly being lost to the ages, and having to do with special events, or something which only the princess Celestia knew how to deal with, seeing as Twilight had become one. And yet, here she were, apparently having plans about it, and it involved primordial magic? Were this why alicorns were so strong? Because they had even a flicker of the magic reserved for gods?

"In a manner of speaking, yes. My issue have been that I have yet to find a way to refine the energy and have it properly applied without causing something unintentional, such as madness and mutation, or even grizzlier things, like exploding. Neither theoretical scenario being some that I have any lust to test out on myself. Yet if your dear friends here have ancient experience and are as said, a vessel for magic, their assistance might be the final piece to this puzzle of mine.

Again, as mentioned, I do not intent to rise as a conqueror, nor a ruler. I am not a monster hellbent on destruction, and as a matter of fact, would prefer Equestria to proper for millennia to come. I would simply like to be part of seeing this prosperous time, and help guide it towards it from my own perch within the shadows, and this seems far less disgusting of an option than something like turning into a lich. Urgh, such horrendous things one have to do to oneself to go that route."

She'd await an answer now, and then see what would come of this. Perhaps she might get nothing from it, yet she'd never find out if she didn't ask. And if they had questions or wished to prod her to see if she were indeed thinking of this in a benevolent manner, she'd be open towards the idea. It were a risk to go through after all, and she understood that. Were she in their position, she most assuredly would want to know more at least, yet they'd see. Thankfully, not everypony were like her. What fun would there be to find, were that the case?

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@Sekel

"I completely understand, miss. You have not seen the Equestrian hospitality that you deserve, and neither have you, sir. As for my position, I am an ambassador of Equestria. Most often my duties involve dealing with foreign delegates, or to negotiate peace and ties with peculiar guests when they come here, and our princesses have not the time to address it themselves. Which I am afraid, is taking place now, as they had to rush off on an emergency from which they have yet to return. I assure you though, that they take my advice on what should happen when it comes to others in high regards, and I will do my outmost to speak you case, to ensure that we can live harmoniously, rather than have more situations like that which you were unjustly faced with before.

Please, might I offer you a better welcome? There is a balcony above us, where I could procure us some tea and delights whilst we talk more civilized about your interest in our country."

He'd start to move to point at where he meant, but were stopped by his medical personel, who instead pointed upwards at a large, open balcony rather far up the castle. Seemed to be enough room for Enzo there, which were likely why this one had been mentioned by the ambassador.

"...What kind of tea?"

"We have many kinds, and I will try to accommodate your wish as best I can. And worry not, I assure you we will ensure a properly sized container for one of your impressive stature."

"Hmph. My answer will depend on that of my companions. Karmic? Atzy? What say you?"

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@Sekel

"I feel like I used to before, but I guess... W-Well, I can change how solid I am. Sometimes I don't even know that I've done it."

The more solid she were, the less see through, even if she didn't walk on the ground. At this current point, she were able to be touched like any regular pony, which she proved by poking the princess. It would feel somewhat cold, but what could you expect from a ghost? The chilly touch sadly came with the territory.

After that, she'd become more see through again and started to float next to them besides the narrow mountain path, as she lost her solid state. It were best that they had the room, seeing as they wouldn't fare well were they to fall down for some reason, and there wasn't any reason to risk that by her trying to pretend to be normal. 

"I didn't really need to be solid at the castle, so I guess that had something to do with it. Although, uhm... I don't know if things might change when we actually get to the graveyard. P-Please keep an eye out if I start to act weird, okay?"

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@Sekel

"Yeah, go for it. Long as they see you like this when we get there, I don't see the issue."

Soon as she were ready, they could all take flight and be on their way to the ruin in question, which were a rather fitting name, as all they'd find were an overgrown, set of half-crumbled walls in a rather large area, speaking of what might once have been a mansion of sorts. Likely before the changelings ever got to this area, or it were occupied before that, and the inclusion of the changelings caused it to become abandoned. There were probably not anypony around who could still answer that.

Upon arrival, they would find that they would be alone, signalling that they had gotten there first, which would give them a little time to prepare if they needed it. For example, for Aurora to change back if she so wished to.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"I think I met a wyvern once. Very aggressive little thing that tried to tear off my tail. Pretty easy one to beat into submission."

She had not enjoyed it, seeing as the wyvern were still somewhat draconian, but he hadn't left her with much of an option. It were either her beating him up, or him potentially causing her some serious damage, and she were not one to just accept that sort of thing. So she had taken the less bad path and covered him up with some camouflage once he passed out, to make sure no random beast came around and figured him an easy snack. Considering she could have made him into a pile of fine ash, it were a very merciful way she had dealt with him, in her own opinion.

The other sorts of dragons Ruby talked off, she had never heard about. Sounded a little like Refractions, but that seemed weird if it were, seeing as they had been around varied places in the world for thousands of years, even though they tended to hide themselves to avoid conflict. Might be some other, more reclusive or foreign breed that were just too far away from anyplace she had been. Maybe somewhere in the east? She had never really gone far in that direction. Perhaps she should ask though.

"The long, wingless ones you speak about... Do they tend to have beards of varied sizes, be white and with golden claws? I know of a sub-species of dragons called Refractions that sort of sounds like what you are describing, but they're very specialized. They got glittering breath that confuses others, and drain the color from gems. Completely vegetarian beyond that."

4 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"And when it comes to family....well, there's no fathers, as females just choose a fitting partner and when they're done they get either killed or chased away, how they are chosen and what happens to them depends on the female, as like in every species, there's different individuals. And for mothers..the hatchling will be taken care of until they are old enough to hunt, then they get chased off the mother's territory, and usually that's the last time they see each other, but then there's situations like mine, where the one attacks the other for reason or another." 

"You're right, your version of a family life wouldn't allow for weakness. Anyone who showed that, wouldn't survive neither mating time, nor growing up in general.

That being said, I still think it is too harsh, and takes away the potential of a growing society. It might have collapsed on you before, but I don't think it works well to go from one extreme to another like this. That way, your kind won't grow and expand into more areas, and it is easier for say, the equine society to bloom and remain the predominant one.

Still, more than anything, I just think it sounds lonely. You're born knowing your're only as good as your own survival skills, and you're cast aside like you're nothing soon as you show them. Something which you will then pass on to others when the time comes for you to breed, perpetuating the same cycle of abandonment and loneliness.

Have anyone actually ever cared about you in the slightest, Ruby? Not this false hide you're preying on them in, but the real you, lying beneath this borrowed fur."

The more she heard, the worse it just became, and this were likely going to overstep the boundaries, but she had to ask this. She needed to know if Ruby had ever felt what she so vehemently detested, or if she just hated it because she saw it as a weakness. A view which one couldn't blame her for, since with an upbringing like that, love wasn't a factor. Bitterness and stubbornness were, and seeing others happy with another wouldn't exactly help you to get out of that mindset. If anything, it might just make you angry.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"It depends. At a certain point, dementia becomes an issue for varied races, as the mind deteriorates along with the body. Unless magic helps to keep renewing yourself at the same rate, it is inevitable, though it happens mainly in your twilight years. Considering dragons and seemingly sirens can live for tens, if not potentially hundreds of thousands of years, it is unlikely to be something we would have to worry about anytime soon though. Natural death through getting hunted down or eaten by something bigger is more likely to happen in that time."

Wasn't natural for something like ponies, but when you lived for as long as their races did, and potentially got into more scuffles, since the draconic areas were more violent. Combined with the ocean being quite dangerous too, the odds of being eaten or something rose up.

"As for the phoenixes... I assume it might have something to do with not wanting to risk outsiders suddenly falling over the area all that often. As can be seen with Agni, he seems to like you quite a bit, and it that is a trait normal for his kind, a smaller intellect phoenix might try and lead someone they like to their sacred area to try and impress them. An older, smarter one could instead evaluate the risk associated with it and then decide if it were wise, or even legal, if they have laws regarding this, to bring an outsider.

It's just a theory though, based on very little evidence. I might well be completely wrong."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Blitz Boom
"The species you're talking about may be a subspecies of them, like with Wyverns, my kind hasn't really interacted with our more magical cousins in millenniums besides maybe some possible fights between individuals, so I don't know what they look like other than a vague description and I have no information on their current situation, but as far as I could gather from few texts I found, they were carnivores like my kind and weren't specialized to any certain type of magic." Ruby explained "But it is possible they would have evolved to be vegetarian at some point, after all, Equestrian dragons eat rocks." 

"I don't disagree with your point about my kinds expansion, and most of do realize our way of life's effect on our spread, but the thing is, we don't care, in fact, I'm sure that if you managed to ask my kind about it, most would say it would be great if they were the last one of our kind." "I of course disagree with most of my kind on this one, as I realize why our kind disappearing would be unwanted end result, but luckily we are still growing, if bit slowly." 

"And for your question, the answer is no, sure the bird I'm travelling with claims he cares about me, he knows the truth, but I don't believe it to anything more than wanting to keep our mutually benefiting partnership alive." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nada was thoughtful for a second "I'd say it makes sense, though I have to also point out that I know nothing about this kind of things,so my opinion isn't backed by anything more than what you said." she hadn't studied animals ever in any way so all she knew about them was based on experience, and this was one of the things she had no experience on. 

 

 

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Blitz Boom

"Hehehe, let us go, my princess~!"

Pastel was happy that Jelly was playing along, or atleast tolerating her antics; this was around the time that most other foals would call her weird snd and or flee the scene. Full of joy, Pastel put the pipe in her mouth; it barely fit, making for a silly image, similar to the "Gentlemen" meme, only it was a pipe in her mouth. She used her hindleg to scoot the box onto her back. It was kinda surprising how much she could handle for her size. 

She would follow Jelly into the unknowns of the Everfree Forest, where the real quest would soon begin...

[Chiroptera 4]

@Blitz Boom

[=~ She laughed at his reaction, the usual blizzard forming around her wings again. Should I mention that her horn does nothing when these blizzards form? Or is that a tad obvious? I'm unsure on that... Anyway, when he asked her that last question, sh almost jumped in excitement, the blizzards around her wings nearly connecting before calming back down and going completely back to their respective wings. "Gladly! I would honestly love to make something like this for someone. Always love inventing something that someone needs or wants. Even more fun when it is something like this. It'll be so interesting!" She said, finishing with a little accidental jump into the air on a flap of her wings, which she was promptly a bit embarrassed by. That didn't last long, however, as nothing could really ever take her mind off of the idea of making something like this once she got it into her head.

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

Seemed like everyone had something to think about; the scholars had the biggest stake amongst the group and they would stand to gain an additional level of convenience knowing their knowledge could be passed down. The important bits were what they can readily provide and anything else that wasn’t relevant can be discarded with ease. The second request was far and away the most questionable one. They had extensive knowledge of different forms of magic and could easily replicate the techniques of powerful magic users to a certain degree. Unfortunately, spending a countless ages learning about powerful magic could not make them an compendium of arcane knowledge. They knew the risks that not everyone is upfront when providing vague reasoning behind their actions and those know did know such techniques also knew just how easily its abuse can escalate.

Even Lin had to take a step back and wonder if what Scarcity says is true. It seemed just a little too suspicious that someone with aspirations that grand and yet appear humble is a contradiction worth noting.

“We can accommodate the first request. It is certain that we’ll need help curating large amounts of information and it will be a time-consuming process. Even as golems it will take time.”

“I don’t know, Scarcity… You’re well connected, that much is true but if you are asking if you can be made an alicorn, or something close enough to it, that’s is concerning. Isn’t it true that only alicorns can grant that sort of transformation to other ponies who have proven their worth?”

“That is what common knowledge dictates. As far as we can recall, alicorn powers were needed back when the process of raising and lowering the celestial bodies would use up so much power that unicorns with sufficient skill will still be stripped of their magic for the rest of their lives. Alicorn magic can do that and even then, those powers have to be used for that specific purpose. The increased strength of their magic was a side effect.”

If it is one thing the scholars knew about magic, it was that even the most enticing powers had their drawbacks. Some wouldn’t readily see it but if given some thought, there were some downsides that had to be worth noting. The greater the power being dealt with, the consequences would be just as great. 

“You mentioned a process. That suggests you have attempted to work on this matter before. If age is the issue, why specifically try to become like an alicorn? And if you don’t mind me asking, how would you use your newfound longevity to steer Equestria to prosperity?”

Meanwhile, Lin stopped beside Rosa and whispered: “Does something seem off about that second request? Is there anything we should be careful about?”

[Randimaxis 8,633]

On 2/24/2020 at 11:02 AM, Blitz Boom said:

"Actually, I would like to hear of something that causes You joy. A memory so heartwarming that you cannot help but to look back on it, and feel uplifted. I think we could do with a tale that does not end in sadness, to bring us to a better state of mind before we get to town."

Clever put on a thoughtful look for a moment, then gave a small smile.

"The Porridge Twins... yes, I believe that anecdote shall suffice."

He grinned at Vivid as he began speaking.

"There was a particular point in time where I found myself being utilized locally by a passing township for the purposes of chemically purifying the local resevoir of pollutants.  During such, I was quartered with a family of equines who raised a pair of rather rapscallionous twins - Peas Porridge Hot, and Peas Porridge Cold.  The two were inseperable, and had a proclivity to mischevous adventurism; they continuously attempted to persuade me, through mostly harmless pranks, to hasten my exit from their room, which had been sequestered by their parentals for the purposes of housing myself during my workload."

"Do understand; the twins still retained a place to slumber... however, they incessantly hounded me about the utter frustration of not retaining access to thier own room - which I understood, yet was helpless to rectify.  Being young, they heeded not a syllable of my reticence, and felt inspired to attempt to eject me from the premesis through trickery and puckishness.  They shortened my sheets, they placed pepper into my tea grounds container, they even made a childish attempt to bring me under the belief that their domicile was haunted by spectres.  All at only an age-appropriate level, so nothing so complex that I could not rationalize, realize and avoid most of these instances, but the attempts were still made."

"However, there was one particular night when I overheard them plotting their next caper... and I was distressed; they discussed stealing away with some of my chemicals, and I grew concerned for their safety, as some of those chemicals had a potential to be extremely dangerous.  And so, I managed to come up with a solution that would prove that monkeywrenching with random chemicals was not to be viewed as inconsequential."

"I managed to concoct a solution that would act as a strong liquid adhesive, and set forth said solution to burst forth harmlessly as soon as the casing were opened - through spring-loaded dispensers, so as not to cause any actual harm to either of them.  So, with the trap properly aligned and prepared, I simply awaited the supposed thievery.  With a certainty, the attempt was hastily and clumsily made, while I acted as though I was deep into my own slumber.  Within mere minutes, I made my way to their collective area of current housing - the attic - and oh, but what to my wondering eyes should appear?"

Clever chuckled.  "Two fillies, tightly adhered to each other quite solidly... as well as to the floor, to my case of chemicals, to the closest wall, and to one of their plush toy animals.  They were exceedingly distressed, and both wore looks of surprise that I still, to this day, retain as priceless.  I then sat down, and explained to them both that I was not a villain to be vanquished, but a potential friend who might be willing to overlook past transgressions in exchange for their forgiveness at being the individual who ousted them from the sanctuary of their room."

"They both agreed to my terms, on the provision that I was to remain silent about this latest, failed attempt.  I agreed, set them free with a solvent I had prepared for the occasion, and the three of us became fast allies, to the point where both Hot AND Cold have recently begun studies at their school that will possibly allow them to pursue a profession much akin to my own.  Hot seems to have a knack for chemistry, while Cold tends more toward the realm of biology.  I have managed to keep up with both, and though they were mere fillies when I was first introduced to them, they are now nearing young marehood, and have only two more years of schooling before they graduate - among the top of their class, at that."

He sighed happily.  "It was a situation that, through ingenuity and patience, turned out to be a learning experience for them both, and acted as inspiration for them to excel in their own rights.  Though they assure me that I am... what were the particular words they utilized?... 'wicked cool', I am merely humbled by the opportunity to spread the excitement of knowledge to others, and I am proud for them both to have discovered their own potentials through this experience with myself."

Clever was rather pleased he had been such an influence on the two little rascals.  They'd sent a picture of themselves recently, and though they were still twins, they were now lovely young things whose styles were almost opposites of each other.  Still, they were special friends to him, and just thinking of them doing so well now made Clever smile broad and brightly. 

He glanced up the road, taking in the sight of the oncoming town, and turned to ask Vivid about it.

"The township is nearby; tell me, have you visited this location often enough to assist in locating an establishment where we might discover an appropriate item for such a spell?  Or would this also be your proverbial maiden voyage to this village?"

 

[Seamore Sandwich 470]

@Blitz Boom 

 

(Continued from page 362)

 

“As many of you already know, much of my strength comes the power that has been stored within the crystals you all provide for me.  The power they grant help me to cast Greatspells, ones that could turn the tide of wars.  Those spells are normally a last resort, but given the circumstances, they must not be used at all.  I cannot risk expending the last of your magic, so I will limit the use of my own magic greatly on this mission.  I shall even wear a crystal myself,” Marcus Silvermane says, pulling a crystal out from beneath his armor on a necklace around his neck, “to ensure that in a time of need I will not use too great an amount of the magic you have given.”  He let the crystal rest outside his armor.  “With my power limited, I will rely solely on my skill.  I shall do justice to the tales of me that you have been told.  Tomorrow we embark on a perilous mission, and if any of us shall fall, may the world hear tales of their heroism!  Better yet, may we all succeed and live to tell the tales ourselves!  The Sacred Springs shall be ours once more!”  As if on queue, Keg set of a display of fireworks that he had been working on as a bit of a side project for the last few days.  It was a brilliant display with many beautiful colors, which even distracted Marcus’s gaze.  He knew of fireworks, but had never seen any like these before.  The ones from his time were simple, unrefined explosives.  Technology had come a long way in his absence.

 

(Gaea and Penny are on page 381, and Charlie and Naut are on page 363)

Edited March 3, 2020 by Seamore Sandwich

[Blitz Boom 4,422]

@EQ_Theta

On 3/2/2020 at 7:52 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“I don’t know, Scarcity… You’re well connected, that much is true but if you are asking if you can be made an alicorn, or something close enough to it, that’s is concerning. Isn’t it true that only alicorns can grant that sort of transformation to other ponies who have proven their worth?”

“That is what common knowledge dictates. As far as we can recall, alicorn powers were needed back when the process of raising and lowering the celestial bodies would use up so much power that unicorns with sufficient skill will still be stripped of their magic for the rest of their lives. Alicorn magic can do that and even then, those powers have to be used for that specific purpose. The increased strength of their magic was a side effect.”

"Yes, this is indeed common knowledge. What is not however, is that alicornification does not require an already established alicorn. It merely does in case an alicorn is to be risen for a specific purpose, such as raising celestial bodies, or being the embodiment of friendship, which is an importnat part in Equestrian life.

That being said, there are several reports of alicorns simply happening around the world. The cause of them all have been troubling to narrow down, as most who goes through this process at random ends up overwhelmed by the energies, and goes insane. At which point, certain undisclosed individuals goes and ensures their demise or imprisonment are forthcoming, before they accidentally hurt a large portion of the populous.

What I have been able to learn through these reports though, and some literature that I have been able to carefully scavenge throughout the last few years, is that the main element in all of this, are a high influx of energy. Provided safely and directed properly - such as when one alicorns bestows it upon a readied subject - it is completely safe, whereas you can see the issue that springs from raw, uncontrolled magic. It tends to have severe side effects. And that is if the one in question survives in the first place.

I won't bore you with the details, but let it be said that I have the required energy for a process that might end in alicornification, as well as the required area and safety precautions in place which should ensure a safe transition. I merely require somepony to direct the energies, which so far have been the issue. The one sane alicorn whom I know of that is not affiliated with Equestria, or any other governing body, have suffered an unfortunate fate in recent years, and I have yet to find a way to reverse what happened to him. It is something I will continue to look into of course, as I do owe him that, and I always pay my debts. But it would perhaps be easier were I not restrained by mortality."

On 3/2/2020 at 7:52 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“You mentioned a process. That suggests you have attempted to work on this matter before. If age is the issue, why specifically try to become like an alicorn? And if you don’t mind me asking, how would you use your newfound longevity to steer Equestria to prosperity?”

"I have never gone through this process, nor have I inflicted it upon others as if they were mere test subjects."

The notion alone actually offended her some, and she got a slight, brief look of hurt in her eyes. Whilst she might be willing to do many things, this sort were in her forbidden section. Certain things were just impossible to reasonably explain as morally grey in any way.

"What I know are based on studies into similar processes, the history of magical empowerment, recent literature describing a raw process of an older form of alicornification that I acquired, and tests done on inanimate objects. I could speak of the things I have gone through to ensure things would function well for hours upon hours, but I am quite certain that it would work, with only a small chance of potential mutation happening. As mentioned, this is not exactly alifornification. It is an empowerment of magic, which will cause the longevity and increased magical abilities that they enjoy, though it is not certain if the physical changes will follow. Ascension have many faces after all.

As for how I would use it... Very well, I will indulge this question and give you a small peek into my actual position in the grand scheme of things.

To put it simple, I am what most would consider a necessary evil. Whilst I am a prominent members of the black and grey markets, as well as a mare with a hoof in many shady businesses and actively supports the way the markets and its members works, I am also one who ensures that things are kept in check. That for example means that the most dangerous items are acquired and finds it's way to the correct Equestrian agencies to neutralize it, certain despicable individuals suddenly find themselves caught, despite being very careful normally, and priceless, historical artifacts *mysteriously* finds their way back to the proper museums, to mention but a few of the things that I do.

The Equestrian higher ups that needs to know, are well aware of what I do, as I were forthcoming about it to them when they started to ask too many questions, and I felt my position solid enough to argue my case. That being that whilst yes, I do help the shady side of this world quite a lot, it is impossible to destroy the markets, and as such, the best one can hope for is to have a friend within the system that keeps the worst in check.

These days, evil are getting wiser and more powerful. Left unchecked... Well, Equestria would suffer from it, which is something that I have no interest in happening. I quite prefer the kingdom stays intact, and that neither it, nor any of the creatures within, goes extinct. For that to happen though, the kingdom does require if not an operative, then one whom wishes it the best working in a high position, and I am the only one who have worked hard enough, to ensure her position within the black and grey markets are seen as essential enough for the biggest fish in the pond to tolerate her behavior. This is not a position that would be easy to replace, I can assure you. Now do tell, what then would happen when I inevitably die? What horrors might befall our lovely home, because there weren't somepony there to oversee what traversed in the darkness?"

On 3/2/2020 at 7:52 AM, EQ_Theta said:

Meanwhile, Lin stopped beside Rosa and whispered: “Does something seem off about that second request? Is there anything we should be careful about?”

Rosa took a while to answer this, as he listened to what Scarcity had to say with an increasingly grim expression on his face as things started to fall more into place with him. How she had been able to ensure there weren't even any sort of investigation gone into her, why she would acquire things with no real beneficial value to her, plus a whole lot of other things, that had been left unanswered in the time he had looked into her.

"...I hate to agree with her, but I cannot argue against her points. The black market have existed since before Equestria came to be, and no kingdom have ever been able to do more than halt it momentarily, at best. And when you can't kill something, the best you can hope for is some degree of oversight. Without it, there's nothing to stop the worst from happening.

There's no doubt that she wants this for more than the sake of Equestria. The power and prestige that would come from ascension in any way, would be beneficial to someone like her in ways I doubt we could even fully fathom. Yet as she argues, it is matter of picking the lesser evil. Something which sadly, I would agree with her on in this case. She's worth more to Equestria alive than dead."

He'd whisper his response back to Lin, whilst internally cursing a little. This mare had proven troubling already, but now she wasn't just asking to become even more prominent in one way or another, but also making a good argument as for why it were necessary, whilst likely having far more ready in case there were asked further questions. Examples too he would imagine, just to cement her point further.

An annoying situation, yet not one he could argue against, and she well knew it, judging by the look she sent him. Honestly, at this point, he wasn't sure if she hadn't helped him and the others to make a bond that would make him a more efficient character witness for her, for a situation just like this. A paranoid thought? Maybe, but she had clearly been thinking many steps ahead for a long, long time by now, so he couldn't rule it out.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Even if he cared, the griffon wouldn't be able to understand you. He's not a dragon. He hasn't lived through what you have, nor will he live long enough to get the chance."

She wasn't saying that all the lower races were stupid or anything, but it were a fact that the short lived ones just couldn't understand what long lived beings like them went through. Their lives were far too short and sheltered for that, and their nature not even a little similar to that of dragons. They could not understand, no matter what they did.

"You've had to fight every day to be tough enough to stay alive, and grown tough by it, Ruby. It's commendable, but you're shackled to your narrow path, and reek of bitterness towards others who have what you weren't offered. I've seen others like this, and they all end up angry and alone, hobbled atop a mountain of gold, yet without anything of real worth to show for it, nor anyone to impress with their ill gotten gains. It's not a life worthy of a dragon.

Even if you don't want it, you Need someone to care about you, and come hell or high water, I will show you that someone does."

Leviathan were stubborn, and after what she had heard, she fully intended to show Ruby that someone who could understand her, would be there to show her some kind of care, even if she would be pushed away from proclaiming it. Likely literally, if not outright attacked, but she didn't care. Let the outlander push and roar all she wanted to. She weren't going to be intimidated by it, nor allow Ruby to fall into the same, bitter end that she had known so many others to fall into. More than any other dragon she knew of, this one deserved better, and by the Dragon Lord herself, she were going to have it. No matter how little Ruby would probably want it at first.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"I am basing it on very little too. I have only seen these birds around and wondered about their behavior from time to time when I needed a break from my studies. Up until the little one here started to chirp in, I hadn't thought of anything relating to the whole concept of them having a hidden society, so I'm just attempting to make a theory based off that."

"I wish I could be more informative on this matter, but I have yet to see one of these elder phoenixes, and those who are here, have not said more on the matter than Agni have. Perhaps if one of the elder ones appear someday, and allows me to share, I can tell you more. For the time being though, I can unfortunately not add anything to the matter."

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

 

@Midnight

Benny almost went over to hug the pony right on the spot, but he managed to contain himself for the time being. Much as ponies liked this sort of physical interaction, he had found that when a dragon did it, folks tended to think eh were trying to attack them, so more often than not, he had to only hug those whom knew him well enough to know better. It went mostly okay, with a few mishaps now and again. He wasn't perfect after all, and hugging a pony felt nice. Their fur was all soft and fuzzy compared to his scales. Even the soft ones on his underside.

"That fantastic! Okay, please follow me, it's pretty close."

He'd finish off his milkshake - and lick the cup clean, for good measure - before leading the way towards the shop. He'd balance the cup on top of his left saddlebag, in case Icy didn't want to take it back right away, which is what he'd offer at first. Might be she wanted it to get washed up first after all, which he'd totally understand. Not a big issue in his mind.

Soon enough, they'd be at the colorful storefront of Circle Pop, where a peppermint striped mare would be outside, cleaning the windows, up until she saw Benny's reflection in said window and turned around surprised.

"Benny?"

"Yep, the one and only."

He'd take some big steps, still wandering on all fours as he had thus far (rather rare that he wandered on his back feet alone, unless he had something to carry, since he felt too tall and awkward around the ponies like that) and give her a big kiss, right on the nose, which made the mare blush a little. It didn't seem to be unwelcome though, judging by the smile that came along with it, as well as her doing the same thing to him.

"What are you doing here? I didn't think you had vacation time for another month."

"Forced sick leave. Sorta got unlucky with a sword."

He's raise one of his hands and present the gauze, which made Circle suddenly change her look into more sorry than joy.

"Hey hey! Easy there, it's just a bit of a cut. Doc says I just have to clean it and keep out of the forge for a few days, and the general figured it was as good a time as any to have me use some of my time off. Everything's fine."

"It better be. You know I get worried when you hurt yourself like this."

Benny awkwardly scratched the back of his neck again as he looked down on the mare.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Stuff happens, you know?

Uhm.. *cough* Right, I brought somepony along I think you should speak with though. Just met her a few minutes ago, but she can do something real impressive that I think could help you out a lot."

He'd direct her attention towards Icy, who might have gotten a laugh or something out of seeing the odd couple go at it. Or potentially given off some weird stares, which wasn't unusual. At this point,t hey had frankly gotten used to it, and didn't really care. et others judge if that were what they wanted to. No reason to let that ruin their happiness.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even see you there. My name's Circle Pop. Who might you be?"

She'd reach a hoof out to give a friendly shake if that were the sort of approach Icy might like. Hard to say really, but an offered hoof shake were easier to just get by if it wasn't appreciated, than a full on first meeting hug, and she liked to be on the safe side. Didn't want to have anypony think badly of her after all, right?

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

 

@Pastel-chan

And so, they would take off. The group assembled of the most essential members of a team like this, with the brave knight, the adventurous princess, and of course, the adorable animal sidekick. Now they just had to go on the adventure itself, which would soon be there, as they got to the forests edge and could begin to wander in.

This close to town, there wouldn't be anything really dangerous. A timberwolf howl in the distance were about it, unless you were scared of squirrels or rabbits wandering around, minding their own business. Since that were unlikely, they'd had to go further in to both find what they were looking for, and what they shouldn't be actively seeking out. That being danger. At least Jelly didn't want them to be in danger, but she didn't know enough about the area to know how to stay out of it. This were her first time in this forest after all, and as such, the leader role should be going to her peculiar new fried, who had been here for longer, right? Surely that were safe.

"Hmm... I dunno where to start looking for the weird flowers. You wanna take charge and lead us to the treasure?"

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

 

@Randimaxis

This were a much more pleasant thing to have up for discussion, rather than the heavyhoofed topics that had arisen in their recent talks. A nice, joyous task of youthful pranks turned into an inspirational tale, were a market improvement.

"Being an inspiration is a great honor, Clever. And it sounds as if you have been quite a figure to these two youths, even if I am not sure what that expression of theirs means exactly. Regardless, it sounds positive, as does the influence you had on them, if they are now striving to be the best that they can, in fields which I am sure holds great relevance in this world of today. Perhaps one day, if all goes well, I could meet them, and see these skillful practitioners whom you are clearly proud of?"

It were honestly somewhat adorable, the way that he spoke of them. Especially as he were talking of how they were doing in school, and remarking on them being top of their class. It reminded her of how a father would brag about his kids, except not in the kind of way that made it seem as if he were throwing it in others faces. More unintentional bragging, whilst sharing their accomplishments in a way that made it clear that he were proud of them, and simply wanted to share.

She wondered if he realized this, but didn't think it prudent to bring it up. It might just be something she thought after all, and especially as talks of her husband had surfaced just before, it definitely seemed plausible to her. She tended to get into a somewhat parental mood whilst thinking of him, which could be good or bad. Good if she heard things such as this, and could gaze upon someone and judge that they were reminding her of a good father, who held proudly the accomplishments of his young.

Bad however, if she saw someone mistreat their foal. It had happened once, and despite her contract making her unable to harm the one who had done so, it had still gotten somewhat ugly. A lot of yelling and... Flaunting of magic, so to speak. Made her run away fast as she could once she got herself more under control again, and think it best that she did not approach Baltimare again anytime soon, just to let things cool off.

What irony it would be, were they here now, as she were honestly not entirely sure where they were, yet even then she would follow. Not as if there would not have been dirty looks given to her regardless.

"As for what town this is, I am afraid that I am not certain. I have spent most of my time in the Crystal Kingdom and Canterlot, with a few trips to Ponyville to see if I may accidentally run into the princess Twilight. Her brother have forbidden me to outright seek her out until further notice, yet if I wander around town and she approaches me, that would present a minor loophole. Not one I would be proud of taking advantage of, yet the princess might be able to help me with a most grave issue of mine, and Shining Armor's hesitation - whilst understandable and admirable - presents a road block I do not agree with.

Full disclosure though: I have also recently frequented Baltimare with a... Less than stellar result. No one got hurt, yet I had a moment which I am not proud of, which will mark me for a while in their eyes more than likely. I'd prefer not to divulge too much, but let it simply be said that I do not take kindly to those who mistreats their offspring in my presence.

To get back on topic though, provided this is not the suburbs of Baltimare in some fashion, or the other side of Ponyville, I can say with some confidence that I have likely not been here before. Still, I can imagine that it would not prove too problematic to wander around and see what we might be able to find. Personally, I find that what you call *thrift stores*, tend to have a lot of items with personality in them."

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich

Brute rose a heavy hoof up and joined in on the cheering from the crowd. This were more her kind of scene. Pumping up the crowd, fireworks firing off around them, and just the energy pouring back from a hyped up audience... How she longed for when the season started again, and she had to defend her newfound title. Provided she made it through all of this alive, but she intended fully to not only do that, but also to make herself a trophy out of whatever had taken that weird lake they were speaking about. Should make for a nice story.

As for Sugar, he wished to go and speak with his family, and would excuse himself if possible to go and have a long talk with them in private. There were a lot of catching up for him to do with his sister, and likely questions she would have regarding his foals. Were they older, they were likely to have some too, though for the time being, they'd likely just look at her curiously. And... Did she just smile? He had not seen her do that very often, yet it appeared as if she were wearing quite a warm one as she gazed upon her niece and nephew. Perhaps this conversation could be a heartwarming one, and not involve too much scolding of him, regarding how he had been set on going the route of their own parents, whom had both been squires, and as such, had left this world early on in their lives. Something which hit her quite a lot, as she did not have the faith in the system that he had. A bitter pill to swallow to know that she had been right to doubt and feel angered about the short time they had to know their parents before they had no more to give.

Meanwhile, after the worst oft he cheering were done, Brute would look down on Marcus with a small smile on her own, and a somewhat impressed look in her exposed eye.

"Still going to have to see how you do in a real fight, but I'll give you this: You know how to pump up your fans."

It were meant as a compliment, though time would tell if he saw it that way, seeing as she were still not singing him high praises. Might change sometime tomorrow though, once she saw his meddle in an actual fight. The better he'd do there, the more she'd respect his actual prowess, instead of judging on words alone.

[Chiroptera 4]

@Blitz Boom

Just a forenote, in case you want to know what she sounds like in my head, imagine something kind of like the female voice in this. Now, Void?

[=~ Thank you, Midnight, certainely, ahem, helpful, there. Sarcasm in batches of twenty for the previous statement, by the way. ~=]

Shut up and just get back to the narrating, Void.

[=~ Gladly Midnight, didn't want to waste time on that kind of thing anyway... Moving on, sorry about that, Midnight decided now was a good time for that. I am going to disagree with his assesment, but I can't really do anything about it. You know, being a Narry and all. Anyway, lets get on with it, shall we? When he asked if she wanted to take the cup back, she said okay, and then let the cup melt. Because it was made of ice. Just not the kind of ice that melts normally, kind of like the ice that Ice Storm converts things into. When they reached the store and they had their interaction, she just waited patiently, though she was secretly hoping it didn't take too long. She had inventing to do, after all. Once she was noticed, though, she managed to stuff that impatience away, responding in the usual tone. "My name is Icy, hello." she said, lifting her hoof up to shake hooves. Her hoof would feel about a quarter of the temperature of a normal pony, and a bit softer as well. This being due to the normal windigo's nature as an ethereal being translating into a normal form as increased softness, though this doesn't affect the horn of a Hybrid. This also dosen't affect her wings, due to them being artificial.

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Blitz Boom

As the destined trio entered the forest, Pastel glanced around, looking surprisingly serious.

"Hmm... We have entered the forest. There may be monsters around every corner, so keep your wits about you, my princess!"

...Nevermind, she's just being chuunibyou again.

She wasn't entirely wrong though; she's seen enough dark forests in stories to know that all kinds of things can go wrong. Her ears picked up the sound of a distant timberwolf; she had no idea what to do if they ACTUALLY came face to face with one of those things, besides just "hit it as hard as possible and show them you are the real" as her grandpa told her... whatever that meant. 

Where to look? ...Good question. Pastel gave a very unassuring shrug.

"Well... Something that important would be deeper in, right? It's like that in games and stuff. Just be careful and tell me if you see anything scary or weird!"

Pastel marched forward to lead the way. Surely nothing would mess with them; she hasn't seen all of Jellys pet Gary, but creatures are scared of spiders a lot right? It's good to have some muscle!

that being said, who knows what kind of weird things they would find in the Everfree Forest... 

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

“I’m still not entirely sure about this.”

“Consider that while there are things about this world you know, there is plenty more that isn’t known to the general public. Some would even sleep better if the more unsavory matters are kept hidden, matters that are resolved long before their true extent is revealed. It is a thankless task that is better kept hidden, knowing that the world can keep on going with no one the wiser. A necessary evil but one that does more good if understood from a certain perspective.” 

The scholars assured that they are aware of the nature of Scarcity’s line of work though they would not divulge more than what is necessary for the siblings to know. The longevity of the scholars’ and their… colorful life experiences in such matters had them sympathize with the unicorn to a degree. Nothing more to say on the matter; between the scholars and what Rosa has to say on the matter, Lin conceded as well. She walked up to Sen and placed one claw on his shoulder. There was no exchange of words but seeing as how he is outnumbered, he had to agree.

“Very well. We agree with your terms, Scarcity.”

“So the goal is to provide enhancements to your magical abilities and efficiency to your body’s repair functions. Aging will be considerably slowed and your magic will be strengthened as if you’ve been given a surge of power. It is about as close as we can get to mimicking specific alicorn features without inducing an ascension. Essentially, you’d be an alicorn without looking like one. All that energy you said you have? We can filter it, only channel what is necessary and lessen any unintended consequences. Is this acceptable?’

Though Sen and Lin were previously notified that the object the scholars are kept it is a focal orb, even they were kept in the dark about what its original purpose is. The scholars trusted them but enough terrible experiences have kept them cautious, choosing to leave out certain details that provide more insight to the way the orb works. Its original function is to simply augment physical and magical abilities. When presented with the option to seal their spirits away, the scholars slightly altered the way the orb worked, turning it into a repository of information and gave it a new function to sample powers and replicate them when necessary, all without sacrificing its intended purpose. The latter would be of great use to Scarcity.

[Widdershins 9,955]

@Blitz Boom

 It was a massacre. 

 Whoever had broken in clearly hadn't much respect for what others had, judging by the mess. Shelves were knocked askew as if somepony had been ricocheting off them, a donut box, likely the one Berry Swirl was sent here to get, lay trampled soundly on the ground. Moreover, the room was thick with a cloud of powdered sugar floating in the air. Bags of sugar lay torn to shreds about the room where one could see around the sugary cloud. At a far corner, a form was loudly shuffling around.

 At her call, the intruder's head popped up and whipped around in her direction, a sack of sugar slipping off its muzzle. It stepped forward through the cloud of sugar stopping a few feet away from her, a tall stallion with perhaps a little too long of a neck. With a loud buzz from his wings, Flit Cephalli parted the white cloud to reveal his madly grinning smile on a muzzle positively drenched in the white powder he had just been eating, if not outright snorting. 

  Tall and lanky, the bright green stallion stood higher than he was wide with a wide, playful grin framed by the long mane of brightly, obviously dyed red hair that fell to either side of his neck. Flit greets her with a lyrical, fishing Irish lilt, clearly unconcerned with being caught wrecking the place and decidedly now concerned with something he cares far more for than sugar.

 "Oh, aye~ A MARE~

 What a right Treat like yew doin' here, Lassie?"

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

B.B & @Sekel

 "SMALL?!!? What a lad gat ta dew ta BEAT the respect outta ya? Ya don' just up an' insult a buddy raght off like thet! T'ain't o'w tha world works!!" The little stubborn doorstop of a pony ranted, in spite of that being how this mess of a fight had started. Most of who react to things with anger like Shortstack does do tend to glaze over their part in things. Observation was, of course, also not something foremost on his mind. He hadn't just then given a care for how much Dazzle was beaten up. Fortunate now that that was interrupted.

 Being swooped down on from behind was an unwise tactic against Shortstack. He got kicked onto his face and out of balance easy enough, but that gave him what he needed most in his fighting style. Leverage. As those from various other styles of fighting would muse upon, being confronted by one with more mass or muscle than you did not give them the upper hand. A literal flying tackle from Stargazer sent the both of them skidding across the cobblestones as expected, but this put the small stallion under his full weight. Like he had before several times during his attack of the female dragonpony, he worked his head & strong neck muscles under the batpony officer... and sent him flying right back. Repelling him against the other side of the circular square they stood in against the wall like Dazzle was a ninety degrees away from Stargazer. 

 Panting enraged, Shortstack stood up to yell after the form he hadn't fully seen prior to his toss, his back to the street the batpony had flown from. Hulking and heaving, he bellows out in the general direction of the rest of the world.

 "Ah'll take yeh ALL ON! I'll fight e'ry last one of yeh! I ain't some tiny runt that ain't fit ta live! I'll beat ya all till I ain' got nuttin left! THA WHOLE WORLD GAWT TAE FIGHT ME THEN? THEN I'LL KILL MYSELF TAE KILL YEH ALL! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S FIT TA FIGHT!! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S THE BIGGEST AROUND TO-"

 Thud.      Thud.

  Two large hooves plant themselves firmly on either side of Shortstack as a shadow looms over him. Sunny Flush stands over him, his small muscular form barely bigger around than one of her legs. Shortstack's expression immediately changes to a much less strained one as it gives over to a depressed, resigned state.

 "Shortie? Y'all bein' a Meanie Doodyhead again?"

 "... Sunny, we'vebeenoverthis.Notinpublic."

 "We don' make fwends by throwin' people. That hurts! An' hugs is healin'! Ya gotta care, ya gotta share, y'know!"

 "I'mdoinathing.Teachinalessoninrespectandthat'sonlyathinglearnedtruhardshipinaworldthat... you ain't listenin'."

A big yellow hoof scoops under Shortstack, and in the same motion she plops down in the square and squeezes her little, older brother tight to her chest. With all feet fully off the ground, Shortstack can't grab for anything to push against and can't reach anything but the enveloping fluff of his bigger, younger sister. The one thing to defeat any rage monster, is being forced to sit still and actually address your issues. 

 As any pony would, especially at his small stature, Sunny's hugs are near inescapable. He dangles in her arm for all the world like a little filly's toy being hugged by its oppressively cheery owner. Shortstack had long since learned there wasn't a thing he could do in this position and stood glaring silent and grumpy now.

 After a minute, Sunny, the big mare that she was, would tuck her tiny brother unquestioningly under one hoof and go collect both Dazzle and the Officer Stargazer and go to stand in the center of the area to hug and coo over them in a motherly fashion. No matter their injuries, the warm, sparkly tingle of her hug would give them at least a much more soothed feeling and technically heal them back to full health. She stood there, with all three ponies easily fitting in her hug with Dazzle  in the middle, with Shortstack to her right and the officer to her left.

 In a grumble as low as he can manage the stallion whispers to Dazzle as she lay healing in hug. "...say a word about this, an' ah rip yer head off."

"Shush-a-shush! S'all better now!"

 This would signal to what crowd had gathered that the situation had been fully dealt with. Besides collateral damage, of course. This would then be where Scarcity would enter the scene, to a dispersing crowd, rubble about, and one giant mare giving a sparkly hug to three ponies at once.

 ~*Meanwhile!*~

 Blither met Mayor Mare with another nervous sigh and sweaty smile. Turning to Alonsus he regards his efforts having not made a move towards the food. "Oh, but this is quite much! You really didn't have to! I had hoped we could set out to see what we could do to find another of my sire? I would hate to think they were doing any harm to your great cityscape!" 

 To that, he was getting the feeling he wasn't getting much anywhere with the mayor. Authority figures didn't seem much glad to deal with the Cephalli family. 

(OOC: Yes, Flag here for setting up another brother!)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

@Sekel

 "I don't know what these pony words are." The drake asked Dawn Streak bluntly. "Grocery, 'buying food,' Boy-Friend. How you're supposed to get food without killing it yourself, I don't know. I also don't know why you're so hesitant to call me this Friend Thing.      ...why? You trying to insult me and confuse me with your made-up Pony phrases?" Kaltrop had spent only a few years in the pony world after his hatching and such words hadn't been used around him enough to take notice. What he was used to was the hardships of the Wild, and this would have to be a new world the mare would have to teach him. 

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

@Catpone Cerberus

Oh, I've been listening to you at least. But that depends on if you've been listening to my listening!~

 It is good you've learned where to go! I don't know if you've noticed but providing the structure myself isn't quite my Forte! Widdershins asked with a smile.

And whilst we're travelling, how about you explain to me how these little Cuteballs got to be a threat? Harmless little balls of cute eh? What harm could there be?

#################################################

@Blitz Boom & @Pastel-chan

23 hours ago, Pastel-chan said:

Just be careful and tell me if you see anything scary or weird!"

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaa!"

 Came in the long trailing cry of what was both a fine example of the phrase "a mindless scream" and The Doppler Affect. Ahead of the path the two fillies were walking currently there came somepony bursting through the underbrush and various other plant matter trailing a cloud of twigs, leaves and very many bright orange feathers. Moving at so fast a speed to be near-instant, it was hard to make out anything but what had to have been somepony and a whole lot of feather debris. Whatever it was, it burst right back out of sight into the brush on the other side of the path.

 Somepony needed help! Anything that made that much noise out in the Everfree tended to not stay alive for very long.

 

[Rising Dusk 26,016]

@Blitz Boom

What a dark world Harrowmark was, but a land of plenty was in no position to judge land of little.  Lock in a cycle where the land's own government was in deadlock with the dark wizard so as to not incur his wrath on the whole country.  Who knows how close Twisted and the dark god were from expanding their territory before Rising sent them back to the drawing board.  Not it was his intention, but something needed to end the attack on Equestria.  The Sisters of Troy were now citizens of Equestria, the dark forces at large will just need to deal with that fact.

Little was more important than family and friends in Equestria, such a strange concept to think otherwise.  The confused look on Dawn's face pretty much covered any words the detective could express.  She couldn't decide whether to be concerned, disgusted, sad or angry.  Luickly a little extra flattery from the witch of the wilds dispelled the Equestrians from having to process much more of the dark topic.  Favors were a much more preferable form of currency to the host of this manor.  Money was of little importance to Dawn, ultimately a byproduct of her work than the actual main goal of keeping the business world and underground in order.  Having somepony in Harrowmark owe her was already the first step of expanding outside of Equestria.  Raising a hoof to flip her dark blue mane with a smile, "I'll be sure to remember that Ms. Monkshade."  Lily was on the hook now.  Not that Rising was going to poke holes in the facts he had the watch.  The mares in his life were crazy and they can enjoy all their theatrics.

"Will you be departing soon?" the twin inquired as she made her way over to the buffet table to collected herself a crystal glass of sparkling cider.  The glass floating up on its own accord to let her take an dainty sip.  "When the correct time presents itself," the detective mused.  Can't say he was in the particular mood to drop in on a group of traveling ponies ready for combat as they've been displaying through the scry spell.  He still wasn't sure if any of the traveling crew would recognize the new de-aged servant of Twisted or what kind reaction any of them would have to such information.  Last thing he'd wanted was to land in Harrowmark again having to fend of magical or physical assaults. 

[Blitz Boom 4,422]

@EQ_Theta

21 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

“I’m still not entirely sure about this.”

“Consider that while there are things about this world you know, there is plenty more that isn’t known to the general public. Some would even sleep better if the more unsavory matters are kept hidden, matters that are resolved long before their true extent is revealed. It is a thankless task that is better kept hidden, knowing that the world can keep on going with no one the wiser. A necessary evil but one that does more good if understood from a certain perspective.”

"It's delightful to hear that you understand, dearest orb. As you say, there is indeed parts of the world that is best not seen or known about, and if the general public knew of the things that traversed right under their snouts... Well, to say that there would be a wide-spread state of panic and paranoia would be an understatement. It is better if only those who needs to, are aware of the dark sides of what many considers a near-idyllic kingdom.

And before you might ask why not everything is stopped, it is a matter of balance. Were I to try and interfere with everything, I would become too much of a liability to where I need to traverse, and shunned, if not outright removed. I have to be selective, and more often than you might think cater to a certain morality of the underground, wherein I can gain certain high ranking support on particular things, such as trafficking certain beings. Le Perinne's somewhat hypocritical, yet firm stance against that, have proven most fortunate in giving me quite a lot of leeway in regards to this subject, as a readily available example."

"Considering her cult, that doesn't make much sense."

"She sees it more as a volunteer group of gullible, yet useful servants. Technically they are free to leave or think for themselves, and aren't in chains. The indoctrination just makes it highly unlikely, as is the lofty prize she dangles just out of their reach. For now at least, though I would be amiss to discuss this further for the time being. We have other, more important matters at hoof."

A halfway code for *I am not inclined to divulge too much information on her* which were mostly understandable. The overgrown lizard were a powerful enemy, and best kept on if not friendly, then at least neutral terms. Sharing too much of the inner workings and plans of her might compromise that. At least, that is what Rosa thought on it. Might just be that she enjoyed teasing them with information that were interesting, but not in too many details, so that they were left speculating, whilst she held all the answers. Scarcity were certainly not above that.

21 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

“Very well. We agree with your terms, Scarcity.”

“So the goal is to provide enhancements to your magical abilities and efficiency to your body’s repair functions. Aging will be considerably slowed and your magic will be strengthened as if you’ve been given a surge of power. It is about as close as we can get to mimicking specific alicorn features without inducing an ascension. Essentially, you’d be an alicorn without looking like one. All that energy you said you have? We can filter it, only channel what is necessary and lessen any unintended consequences. Is this acceptable?’

The mare got a larger, pleased smile on her face that made the small hairs on Rosa's neck stand. He were too paranoid about her to not think something were amiss when she were happy about something, even if she didn't show off any sort of malice currently.

"That would be utterly delightful! Whilst I do have several cover stories ready to explain certain unintended side effects - such as wings, or other random mutations - it would be beneficial if I did not need that, and could maintain my current looks as well as possible. It puts less of a spotlight on me. At least for the next... Shall we say twenty to thirty years, until my apparent lack of aging will begin to raise questions. Quite a lot of time to make for a proper cover story I would say.

You have yourself a deal, and as a token of my gratitude towards your willingness to assist me, I shall fulfill my end of the bargain first."

At this point they'd reach her office, after having talked and wandered through the long hall. Within it, they'd find a small filly with a puffed up mane and tail - as if she had gotten her head and flank stuck in a cloud - sitting on a tall chair in front of Hammond, who were currently standing on the table and watching her closely, as her hooves went through a few varied movements over and over, which he repeated with clenched paws. Everything going on were in complete silence, only interrupted when the filly on occasion took a sip from a large cup of grape soda, or took some candy from a nearby bowl.

As she saw the door open and the two longma enter, she got a curious look in her eyes and stopped what she were doing, yet as she saw Scarcity, would refocus completely on her and raise a hoof to wave at her with a big smile on her happy little face.

The mare in question did not say anything, but started to make signs herself, making it clear that what were going on were that the small filly and Hammond were going over sign language. Rosa understood what were going and would look over towards the longma's, not bothering to whisper since clearly, it wouldn't matter.

"The filly seems to be asking who you two are, and Scarcity is seemingly replying to her about you being guests, and some longer explanation which I'm not getting all of. I'm not the best at reading sign language, and especially not from an angle like this."

"Quite correct. Just please give me a moment here, and I shall proceed towards getting the information and transport that you require."

It would be a minute or two before they were done, seeing as the filly were curious herself about what were going on, and Scarcity wished to give her a kind lie, as to not make her worry, nor feel the urge to share this encounter. If they wished to, they could try and speak with Hammond whilst waiting, as he had taken to turn around and look at Lin, whom he recognized from earlier, and rose a small paw to wave towards.

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

 

@Midnight

A cold hoof? How odd. Sure it were autumn by now, but it weren't cold enough for something like this.

"Uhm, are you okay, Icy? Your hoof feels a little cold to it."

"We just had some milkshakes. Might be the cold cups have something to do with it, right?"

"Ah, okay then. That makes sense. I were sorta worried if something health-related were awry."

Sure the hoof had also felt sorta weird, but they had a pretty good spa in town. Feeling somepony's hoof as kinda spongy weren't all that unusual. Unusual were more the fact that this one had wings, but well... This wasn't the first unicorn with wings she had seen in recent days, even though these were far less metallic. Guess she just sorta figured that it wasn't all that strange anymore, or at least not enough to snoop too much into it, unless the mare brought it up herself.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"Nono, she can help you, honey. You know how you're always taking about inventory space, right? Well I've seen Icy here open up a big space with room for tons of stuff, and she says that she might be able to make some sorta button thing to make a space like that for somepony else too."

Now Pop seemed to get rather intrigued as she looked at Icy, wondering what sorta thing he were going on about when it came to this. He wasn't the most familiar with pony magic, so perhaps he had just seen a gate perhaps? A fairly tough spell for most unicorns, but it weren't unheard of. Could be something more though. Sometimes, a unicorn would come along with a brand new spell, and this one might have something in store she hadn't seen before. If that then also could help with inventory, she'd be all ears that were for sure.

"Really? I mean, it would help immensely on stocking up things like the pumpkin crunch and the new milkshake machine I got last week when it's not in season, or used for something else. I'd be happy to hear more about this, if that's okay?"

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

 

@Rising Dusk

7 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

"I'll be sure to remember that Ms. Monkshade."

"Good. I intent to repay my debts."

It were a manner of pride for Lily to not have her debt being unpaid, unless the one it were owed to had faced their final death. Something told her that this one wouldn't get that fate before they met again, and in fact, that it would be all that long before she heard something from her. There was something about that look in her eyes that made Lily see someone before her that were already making plans, and were she to guess, it would be a matter of months, not years, before they began to include the stray from Harrowmark. Perhaps it would include a want for dark items or knowledge that she would not openly voice a want for in front of her brother? Potentially. Might be worth hiding a few tomes when she returned, before they were all found and burned. Malicious as Twisted had been, he were a strong unicorn, who had been the inventor of quite a few intricate spells. Especially the ones that included primordial energy, and how to siphon it. It seemed a shame to let it go to waste, when perhaps another might one day come along that could use this in a more positive way than he had elected to do.

Quite honestly, that were likely what she were going to have to be in some capacity. A keeper of forbidden knowledge, waiting for the right *owner* to come along. Not the worst line of work she supposed, though they'd see what were left to work with when she eventually got back. Wouldn't matter much if they had already burned everything after all, which she were somewhat sure would be the priestesses ultimate plan for everything within Twisted's property.

7 hours ago, Rising Dusk said:

"Will you be departing soon?" the twin inquired as she made her way over to the buffet table to collected herself a crystal glass of sparkling cider.  The glass floating up on its own accord to let her take an dainty sip.  "When the correct time presents itself,"

"Much as I'd like to be back with her soon, now is indeed not the time. They have to be wary in the swamps, and will react instinctively. We need to wait until they reach another point, depending on what route they take. May I?"

Unless there were any objections, she would wander over to the buffet table and take a glass of the cider that she had just seen te mare drink, though her intent were not to drink it. Instead, she would put the glass down on the floor, and start casting a spell to raise the liquid up into the air, where it would spread out and make for a floating, narrowed map of Harrowmark. It wasn't perfect, and it were somewhat bubbly due to the liquid in question she had to work with, but it should suffice to show the road from where the group currently were, to where they were headed.

"After the swamp, they're going to pass the old farmstead I warned of earlier, and then they will get to the shore. Since the bridge were destroyed long ago, they will have to rely on a ferry, which they will likely take from here, to here."

She'd poke at the shore on the left half of the map, then ran it through the waving liquid towards the other shore, on the north-western side, where a semi-large village were seen.

"Far as I'm aware, it usually does not sail there, but with the High Priestess in tow, they won't complain, even if Twisted made the ferrymen. If they do... I imagine it will take a little longer, as they'd be steering themselves, but they'd probably still pick this village. It's one of the safest ports close to Copperhagen, and unless something have changed since I last heard about the place, it's likely still a literral ghost town. That close to the Howling Meadows, it's the only fate you will find once your days are numbered. Used to be you'd hear stories of some bringing family there who wished to control what happened to their afterlife, but I can't say how true they are. Never went there myself.

Regardless, it's fairly close to the Howling Meadows, and the energy spills into town. Normally I would suggest to not have you near that place, seeing how you spoke of the swamp, but the place have a... Curious reputation for being very serene, despite the inevitable end. If you can handle a more calming darkness, we might be able to intercept them there. If not, I wouldn't get close until Copperhagen itself.

Of course, they could also take another port even closer, but..."

Her hoof would linger over one a fair bit further up on the map, where there seemed to just be mist and no details of a town or anything else.

"It would bring them to one of the places I warned you off before. Only the mad ventures towards that place."

Copperhagen were also marked on the map shown, which were a fairly large town, especially compared to the rest that were shown on the narrowed map, and would depict a faint outline of a large castle. The final destination for their group.

Not long after speaking like this, she would led the drink back in it's cup, and take a seat. A hoof were brought up to hold on her head, where a minor migraine worked it's way across her forehead from the dual usage of magic. She had not done this sort of thing in years, and as she had proceeded, she could most certainly feel that she were rusty in this multi-focus, stable spell department. Keeping up two weaves at once were a strain she needed to get used to again.

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

 

@Widdershins

Oh come on! She were supposed to pick up those doughnuts, and now they were all smashed to bits on the floor!

Okay, this were most definitely not Pinkie's work. Not only because she wouldn't do something against a product that others had paid for - at least not without preparing a fresh new batch - but the mess left everywhere, and how she could most definitely not smell the oven were on further in? Yeah, this weren't right.

Were this... Were The Conspiracy here to plant bugs? *gasp* She might be able to catch them in the act then! Whilst also catching a burglar. Hah, she'd be the town hero who saved their bakery, and exposed the global treachery that those sheep at the loonie bin said she were just imagining. Well weren't They going to look stupid once she stood with that final bit of evidence to tie it all together? Yes they would.

Okay, best be ready then. There were likely a full team in there, and she were going to need her smarts to get this done right, lest they'd just make her disappear again. Sadly for them, she knew this place well, after a few times she had lend Pinkie a hoof on the occasional slow day at the cafe. Nothing that'd make her learn their secrets, but y'know, some inventory and cleaning help, that sorta thing. Weren't too bad really, and the place smelled real good all the time, so the work environment were top notch.

12 hours ago, Widdershins said:

Tall and lanky, the bright green stallion stood higher than he was wide with a wide, playful grin framed by the long mane of brightly, obviously dyed red hair that fell to either side of his neck. Flit greets her with a lyrical, fishing Irish lilt, clearly unconcerned with being caught wrecking the place and decidedly now concerned with something he cares far more for than sugar.

 "Oh, aye~ A MARE~

 What a right Treat like yew doin' here, Lassie?"

Awh man, This was it? She were going to become famous for stopping a global conspiracy for crying out loud! And what, she just found a sugar glutton with worse pickup lines than Alonsus? What a ripoff...

*sigh* Guess she had to settle with knocking out a creep. Might be worth a few brownie points, or y'know, actual brownies. Soon as the bakery got some more sugar. Seriously, how was this guy not currently having a seizure on the floor with all that pure sugar he had seemingly just shoved right into his face?

"Oh, I'm just here to pick up a box of doughnuts, but seems like there's been a little accident with that. Mighty shame that is really. Now, you wouldn't have to know anything about that, would you sugar?"

Admittedly, she should probably be more harsh against the break in, but she hated to admit that he were kind of cute, even if he were pushy and were bound to get a frying ban or something right in his face, first chance she got. Why did the lanky ones who knew how to work a bottle of dye in the right way always get taken, or turned out to be some sort of creep? She'd blame that on The Conspiracy too, but that seemed a bit too far out there, even for them. They had far better things to do with their clones and general genetic manipulation than this, such as replacing high ranking officials, or controlling the way the next generation would look and behave.

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

 

@Widdershins @Sekel

13 hours ago, Widdershins said:

Like he had before several times during his attack of the female dragonpony, he worked his head & strong neck muscles under the batpony officer... and sent him flying right back. Repelling him against the other side of the circular square they stood in against the wall like Dazzle was a ninety degrees away from Stargazer. 

Oh for the love of Luna, he just couldn't catch a break in this town, could he?

Here he were, thinking that he could have a nice, simple arrest, and instead he now had to deal with a pony that were built small, yet stout, as were clearly evident by him being able to throw Stargazer like he had. How he missed the good old days when he were in a town were ponies stayed down when he tackled them, rather than here, where every day became a new lesson in madness and mockery of normality...

The throw wouldn't leave the officer without means to fight back, or smashing into a wall. As a trained guard, he more or less instinctively turned around and got dirt under his hooves again, before he met the tall end of a wall. He were about to remove his medal belt, and get ready to give this one a proper beating that should leave him unconscious on the ground - which seemed needed after the violent outburst he had just uttered - when a surprise came around the corner and interfered with the process.

13 hours ago, Widdershins said:

A big yellow hoof scoops under Shortstack, and in the same motion she plops down in the square and squeezes her little, older brother tight to her chest. With all feet fully off the ground, Shortstack can't grab for anything to push against and can't reach anything but the enveloping fluff of his bigger, younger sister. The one thing to defeat any rage monster, is being forced to sit still and actually address your issues. 

 As any pony would, especially at his small stature, Sunny's hugs are near inescapable. He dangles in her arm for all the world like a little filly's toy being hugged by its oppressively cheery owner. Shortstack had long since learned there wasn't a thing he could do in this position and stood glaring silent and grumpy now

"Aha, what a delightful spectacle! A most impressive display of strength and fortitude."

Scarcity would be there at around this point too, and smile at Shortstack. A rather minute size for a pony, yet clearly far stronger than he looked. And what a temper he had. In parts because of his small stature making him overcompensate and lash out from what she had heard via his shouting before. A strong indicator that one were best off not addressing his stature whilst talking to him, but rather treat him as a regular pony. Perchance with more respect than per usual, just to avoid him flaring up again.

She watched as Sunny went over to pick up whom she would assume were his previous target, as well as the officer, whom as he stood tall and proud on his own, refused, and actively backed away from her to avoid getting into an embrace. If need be, by flying out of her reach. A little antisocial she'd say, but she supposed he did not wish to risk what might happen, were he to get closer to this family.

The bell rang above them, just as Sunny stood and openly hugged her prisoners, which presented an opportunity to deescalate this further, were she to have a say in this, as she saw the officer approach them with a pair of cuffs in hoof.

"Shortstack? You are under arrest fo-"

"Arrest? Must we really go that far dear? He is apprehended quite handily currently, and appeared to have calmed down quite a bit. Surely we can skip the cuffs and merely ask him politely to meet the rest of his family at the station first, before we go this route? You could have a simple talk there and decide on whatever or not he might warrant a warning, rather than an arrest. Messy business to go through that last option, what with what I can assume is already a lot of paperwork backing up for you, and this time a day? Would it not be prudent for you to perhaps go and pick up your daughter from school, whilst Sunny and I escort Mr. Shortstack towards the station?"

It were mostly the time of day that hit him, as he had promised Jelly to pick her up after school and with everything going on, he'd prefer not to have her in the house right now, as a safety precaution. Still, leaving this one with them, even if Sunny had him under control, and he could attest to her strength...

"...I will be back at the office in six minutes. If he is not there, I will send out an arrest order."

"Oh, I'm sure that he do not wish for this to escalate further. Besides. Now come on dear, go and ensure that your daughter does not wander aimlessly, wondering where you might be."

She'd get closer to Sunny, well aware of the risk that she might be dragged into this group hug, but feeling it were best that she went and addressed this new member of Sunny's strange family, whilst Stargazer just slumped his shoulders and put the cuffs back in his helmet, clearly just resigning to let them follow her plan. Not something he'd normally do, but with everything else going on over the last few days since he moved here, his lack of sleep, having to deal with Jelly suddenly arriving at his door, dealing with everything needed to get her set up properly in the local system, and now this... Everypony had their limit.

So he would fly off, briefly arrive at the office to pick up the large, fuzzy spider whom would have hidden in a corner, then be on his way again, without a word to the ones inside, beyond *Found two*.

At the group, Scarcity would as mentioned have approached, and were she not dragged into a hug, would give an elegant bow towards the minute pony. Otherwise, she would just speak from her unfortunate position.

"A delight to meet you, Mr. Shortstack. That were quite an impressive display before. it takes quite the muscle mass and skill to throw somepony of his weight class the way that you did."

(This is covering for when he went off to pick her up at school)

Meanwhile, in said office, Alonsus would blink a little at the brief, yet blunt exchange, and eventually just let out a small chuckle.

"It appears as if the officer are quick at doing his work, to have already found two of your fledgling family, Blither. What a joyous day this will soon become, yes?"

"Depends on whatever or not have have caused trouble in town. If he have, it might not be such a friendly meetup after all. I hope, Mr. Blither, that things are not as dire as you have alluded to it potentially getting."

He were right in not being able to sway the mind of the mayor in this. She would prefer to see some evidence first, since what she had heard so far, made her think the worst. Seeing as they had only just gotten the houses fixed, it would be disastrous if they already had another situation brewing.

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

 

@Pastel-chan @Widdershins

On 3/4/2020 at 3:12 AM, Pastel-chan said:

"Hmm... We have entered the forest. There may be monsters around every corner, so keep your wits about you, my princess!"

"I think I heard one howling before. How lucky I am to have my brave knight here to vanquish the beast."

Okay, all seriousness? If there came a timberwolf, she'd drag Pastel away by force if need be. It wasn't smart to fight large forest predators at their size. Now an irate badger for example? Might be a fairer fight, that they could get out of with some loud noises and show of power, rather than actually hit anything. Jelly loved this game, but hurting animals wasn't a fun game. It were just cruel. So best to hope that they wouldn't find that, but just the flowers instead so they could get their prize from the odd flower.

She'd take a few steps forward, sniffing the air to see if anything stood out to her, with her ears kept up tall too to listen for any bad sounds, like growling or something.

On 3/4/2020 at 3:12 AM, Pastel-chan said:

"Well... Something that important would be deeper in, right? It's like that in games and stuff. Just be careful and tell me if you see anything scary or weird!"

Pastel marched forward to lead the way. Surely nothing would mess with them; she hasn't seen all of Jellys pet Gary, but creatures are scared of spiders a lot right? It's good to have some muscle!

"Yeppers. I mean, of course, brave knight. I'll listen for danger."

Heh, almost broke character there, that wouldn't do. They had a system here, and right now, that meant following Pastel as she took the lead forward to adventure! What splendid things were they not going to see? How far had they to thread to find the flowers? What would the prize be? There were so many ques-

14 hours ago, Widdershins said:

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaa!"

Jelly just about flew into a tree as the cry and strange sight came bursting by. A flurry of feathers, moving incredibly fast, and... A scream! *gasp* An equine scream! Somepony were in trouble!

She poked her head out of the tree and looked towards the brush where the weird sight had scrambled towards at lightning speed.

"I t-think somepony's in trouble! We gotta help them!"

She'd flutter down to the ground and start running. She were a little scared to be honest, about what were going on, but this wasn't a game anymore. There were real trouble, and they might be able to help. They could be heroes! Real ones, not just ones in roleplaying. How cool were that going to be?

Though of course, the main thing would be to help the one(s) in trouble. Hopefully they didn't need to be carried anywhere. Pastel and her were tiny. They wouldn't be able to drag an adult anywhere.

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Blitz Boom @Widdershins

The sudden scream made Pastel jump up, flailing her legs before landing again and looking towards the source. What the heck!? Somepony else was here!? Atleast it got them first-- no wait, that's not what a protagonist would say! Jelly was right; gotta help them!

"Yeah! Let's go!"

She dashed towards the source of the scream with Jelly. Was this a monster attack? A pony stuck in quicksand!? Ooh the possibilities!

...This one really needed a better sense of danger.

[Chiroptera 4]

@Blitz Boom

[=~ Any interruptions this time, Midnight? If so, might as well get them out of the way now... ~=]

Nope, nothing.

[=~ Good. Now, anyways... Ahem... Icy had always been quick to point out errors in others reasoning, specifically where it concerned her, though sometimes this meant she forgot to keep her mouth shut when said flaws would help her. Once they were done talking, "But I was using my levitation for the mi- I mean, nothing. Nothing at all was said. Please. As for your question, Circ," she paused a second. As for how she pronounced Circ, she pronounced it like the circ in circle but without the le. "Happily. Inventing something like this would be a lot of fun for me, not often I get to make something so different from anything else I've seen. And, if you were thinking it might cost something, it won't. Though if you do want to pay me, I would accept a milkshake as payment. Always interesting to see how someone else makes a milkshake." Once she said that, she then opened another hole, taking another milkshake out, and drinking it in one drink, before then letting the cup melt and then reforming the cup, putting it back into the hole and closing it.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby waited for a second before commenting "Huh, I expected you to suddenly burst out singing, you sounded so much like a friendship obsessed pony." it was both a joke and a opinion about what Leviathan's words sounded like to Ruby "In all seriousness though, you assume being angry and hobbled atop mountain of gold is not exactly what I want, I'm not trying to impress anyone else than myself after all." she was either telling the truth or was excellent at hiding that she was lying "In my opinion living under lesser beings' laws is not life worthy of a dragon, in fact, living under any laws isn't, we are the superior creature, only laws that should bind us are the laws of nature." her cold exterior broke just a bit as during her declaration of superiority there was hint of passion not too different from that of a preacher.

"And lastly, how exactly were you planning to 'show me', I'm not from around here, and eventually when my business partner is ready to move on, I'll leave this place possibly forever, or are you planning to follow me until I snap?" she was ready to humour Leviathan for now, as the worst case scenario she saw was being annoyed, and she always welcomed any possibility for entertainment of any sort. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nada just shrugged, not having anything to comment on the topic anymore, though a question had came to her mind regarding Lyriel, but she didn't know if it was appropriate thing to ask "I'm sorry if I shouldn't ask this, but how do you deal with phoenixes or other...fiery creatures if they are displeased?" "I mean, your body is some kind of plant type matter right? Isn't that quite....flammable?" 

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

@Widdershins
"I don't know...or remember, I don't always know what I actually know, you know?....anyway, I cannot recall how they got first introduced but long story short soon everyone and their friends seemed to have at least one as a pet, I didn't, both because nobody offered one to me and because like I mentioned before, they don't listen what I have to say." "Then, for some reason, again, can't recall it, they started eating stuff and reproduce? split up? anyway they stared to become more of themselves and those added numbers ate more and so on." "And by my nonexistent and not calculated calculation, if they wouldn't have been stopped, all herbivores would have starved to death eventually due to lack of food." Cerberus seemed rather casual about mentioning mass starving. 

 

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

The information about that cult or whatever it is Scarcity mentioned didn’t really make much sense to the longma siblings. Might have had something to do with being on good terms with the unicorn but how it factors into her profession, neither of them had any idea. Fairly so considering they might be on the level with the unicorn at the basest of terms but anything that went on in the black market or any dealings she made were probably best left unknown. 

Still, that smile on Scarcity’s face was a sign of something positive to come, at least on the short term. Whatever ulterior motives she might have is left up to the clouds. Though it might speak of something beyond purely benevolent, this choice to accept her terms was for the benefit of the scholars, wishing to fulfill their request and likewise put Mother’s concerns about them at rest. In the meantime, Lin entered the office first and saw a familiar face waving at her. She smiled and waved back before approaching the little creature, though she kept some distance away from him and his filly companion.

“Hello again! How are you doing? And who is your friend?”

“You recognize him? Who is he, sister?”

“His name is Hammond. We briefly met the last time I was here. Scarcity met Mother a while back and Hammond came to be shortly after.”

It is true that Lin had an idea about how Hammond came to be but didn’t have all of the details. Sen, however, seemed to be a little unnerved by the uncanny resemblance to the mimics from the swamp. Those still gave him the shivers and was a little hesitant to go closer to Hammond. What eventually pushed him to join his sister in meeting the little creature was the assurance that Hammond isn’t a mimic, he was his own individual and is a brother to Omen. That does mean they could start calling themselves brothers but maybe some introductions are needed before the idea can be eased in.

“Hi there. I’m Sen. I... uh, suppose you already know my sister Lin.”

[Widdershins 9,955]

@Catpone Cerberus

Well, that there's the trouble there, it is! The draconequus bobbed alongside Cerberus as he walked like a long flag waving in the wind. They Shouldn't be eating! It's how I designed them, after all! What better than to have the little Snack Cakes reproduce when just about anything happens to them? A slight bump, and you have more sweet treats to eat! 

 They're not supposed to DO the eating! Granted, it might look that way if certain soft things like apples or other foodstuffs bump into them and destabilize by matter. I never HAVE been that good at creating stable things. At least makes things more interesting that way!

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

@Blitz Boom

 The long necked and lanky stallion bobbed his head to a side sarcastically in response. "Aye. That because a' prolly done sucked it in wit' the rest o' the sugar. Or broke it, whichever. You know ta rule of nature, Lass. If it ain't grabbed, it should be. It'd just be wastin' around anyhow.

 You a right catch-on, ain'tcha?" As he said that, he buzzed his wings shut to his sides having fanned away the sugar cloud and sauntered up to the mare, puffing his chest out an inch in front of her face and smiling down at her with a grin that said that not only had he gotten slapped a great many times... but rather preferred that outcome. "Sharp as a tack, she is. Got everythin' figured out, aye?"

 "Yeh wanna %#&^?"

 Discrete tact and appropriate word usage was not something the Cephalli Family was known for and Flit was the foremost in that quality. The word he used was not only rare by Pony standards but left absolutely no room for any doubt as to his intention with having met a mare. Or really anything that was moving, living... and even those lacking those categories. Flit led life by heading directly to what things he considered greatest in life and saw no reason to complicate matters by lengthening the process to get there. 

 Flit was a stallion that was as superficial and skin-deep as they come. Second guessing ulterior motives or suspecting anything of anything meant having to think and not immediately gain gratification. He was a stallion that wore his... well, perhaps it wasn't his heart he thought with first.

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

And also @Sekel!

 Sunny Flush pouted after the retreating Nightguard while holding in her arms both her older brother and the female dragonpony, voicing aloud her concerns on her mind... one of the few trends in the Cephalli Family. "Poor baitpony man! He needs a mare to huggle him close at night so he can feel better!"

 " *Grunt* We've been over rubbin' yerself on stallions, Sunny. As many times as I've tried to teach ya fightin too."

 "It's called Hugging. You never learn about bein' nice neither... Oh, hey Miss Scarcity!"

  The two siblings both turn to address the unicorn in an oddly synchronized movement. The smaller brother responded just as much the same, despite his position adorably dangling under his "Little" Sister's hoof. 

  "Ah ain't a cog in yer machinery, Stiff. Ya let the Coppers bin me and we'll see who comes out swingin'. An' I AIN'T SHORT!" Shortstack shoots a rebellious grin out from under his sister before being cut short by pat on the head as a reminder from her. "That was a compliment she was paying you, Stackie. It's also your name, by the way."

 "... T'ain't no name ah woulda done picked."

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

*And Meanwhile!*

"Two? I suppose that would depend on which two of my brothers were accosted. And again, I am sorry Miss Mayor Mare. We'll help fix the town in any way we can. I don't know what other evidence I can su-"

 "Objection."

"Ack!"

Blither flailed backwards in surprise, as a large hoof rammed through slamming the front door open, having missed the officer from just minutes beforehoof. One large hoof stood straight as steel outstretched in declaration as Monolith filled the doorway. Saddle Arabian in frame as much more horselike and wild in handsome bone structure, Monolith left an impression on people as a large black unicorn stallion, a rarity by most accounts. Even as Alonsus was tall & muscular as ponies went, a Saddle Arabian had the finely chiseled, angular features and a good foot on the more usually soft and rounded features ponies had making him look every bit like one of the heros and knight-errants of justice Alonsus liked to pattern himself after. Monolith's wispy mane fluttered in a breeze that wasn't there like one of the cover models for cheap romance older mares like Mayor Mare certainly kept under their mattresses at home; a dreamer she certainly had to be, ever since a certain school newspaper unveiled that the mayor dyed her hair to make her look more serious than she really was. For whichever reason, Monolith demanded respect and awe wherever he went for it was quite hard to do elsewise with a pitch black unicorn that filled up any room he went into like the protagonist of Pulp Fiction Novel had walked off its pages.

 Though how he talked tended to decide minds rather quickly.

 His hoof sank back down, straight legged, and clopped clearly down like the gavel of a judge.

 "T'wouldst be Judgement of Character verily. Hereupon actions notwithstanding attest unprevalent. To whit, what thou hast not done, has yet to thusly be.  If thy accused wouldst present a threat to thy livelihood, thus a threat would be present. As such, heresay. Your argument is invalid."

 Blither scrambled back ontop his seat laying across it on his belly to direct himself, gasping from surprise, to his younger brother. Monolith had, in the course of his diatribe, not so much as flinched from his straight, perfect posture from where he stood in the doorway like the sudden prow of a ship wedged there and had made no attempt whatsoever to address or make eye contact with anyone else in the room. 

 "M-... M-Monolith! What-... This isn't a court trial! Why-... what are you doing?!!?"

 "Presenting thy Defense."

"I don't need you to defend me... How do you even-?"

 "Past results imply present. Thy envelop thyself thusly as this."

 Reluctantly and defeated, The smaller, blue, elder brother gestures to the Mayor and Alonsus by means of introduction. Monolith remains stocked in the doorway like a stone soldier and keeps his gaze firmly locked to the far corner of the room as if his thickly muscled neck was incapable of turning.

 "Hheh. Miss Mayor Mare? Sir Alonsus? This would be my younger brother, Monolith. Sorry. This is... what I meant by... not quite used to interacting with ponies."

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

B.B &  @Pastel-chan!

 It is a widely known fact that, even in the disparity of worlds in the multiverse, anything screaming and trashing around a lot n the wild areas tends to attract predators no matter what that being is. Anything that eats meat tends to know a weak-minded, panicky target when they see it. 

 A following rumble comes from the same space in the forest the figure from before burst out from. Trailing behind the victim from before out stalks a Timberwolf loping along in fast, long strides followed by slow, steady charge of the rocky, near invulnerable Cragadile…. and a tick after that, the slow, confident waddle of a badger. All three predators disappear right back into the forest off the path so intent on following the very, very easily trackable path of their intended victim that they make no attempt to notice the two fillies.

 And the leaves of the forest flutter back to silence as the badger waddles back into the chase.

 ...Until the orange streak from before comes right back across the fillies path, giving them a much more noticeable glimpse that it is, indeed, a pony.

"Hhhhheeeelp Me!"

The pony speeds past before zipping right past again along the same line. If one had the capacity to fully access all their logic and common sense, this would strike most as being clearly obvious that said "Victim" could very, very easily outrun any threat and didn't really need outside help, but...

 "Theeeey're Gonna EAT ME!!"

 Clearly, we weren't dealing with a particularly "calm mind" here.

NUMBER TWELVE!!!

What was needed, seemingly, was a way to stop one side of this panicked chase. Either by stopping the sprinting madpony or confronting the three chasing predators. One way or another, somepony might get hurt and the forest was getting torn up. Neither result of which seemed to bother the Everfree for very long anyway.

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Blitz Boom @Widdershins

The situation was about what about Pastel expected, a super panicky pony being chased by-- yikes that was tough company! Those three could probably take a chomp out of both of them and it was total game over. Still, she couldn't just do nothing... Pastel looked at the running pony, then the predators, then Jelly, and in a panicked split second decision---

"Jelly, I'm going in! Don't do anything to get yourself hurt okay? I got this~"

Pastel ran in a horizontal line, a pink blur racing past the predators vision and the pony they were chasing- and yelled loudly for every creature present to hear...

"HEY! Betcha can't catch me~!"

Who knows what she was thinking. Divide them and outsmart them? Did she have a plan? Did she ever have one?

[Blitz Boom 4,422]

@Catpone Cerberus

"For a start, I rarely sing. My symphony is the roar of a thunderstorm, following in my wake. Songs like what the equines are taking part in constantly, are not comparable.

Beyond that, we both have our opinion on what is weak and what is strong. To me, neither are wrong, but it depends on the setting. In the one we are in now, my way is the stronger, as you showing up and trying to force your dominance, would have you engulfed in a dense cloud and shipped off to the Coastal Guard or something. The ponies are weak one on one, but they have made systems and possess magic they can use to alter things in their favor, especially when they have the upper hand in numbers. They are lesser beings than us, yes. But it isn't wise to ignore what they can do in a flock."

Leviathan took a few steps back and unlocked the door to the bathroom again, as she talked about her point of view on ponies and such, just sharing a sentiment that had gone out a few times from her side by now, yet again.

"As for how I intend to show you that I care, it will be by doing what I assume you'd want the least: I'm going to follow you, and do what I do until it gets through to you. Even if it takes going to where you came from. From the sound of things, I don't think I'd have a hard time adjusting to that place. I have yet to meet or hear of a dragon that is immune to getting a lighting bolt to the face."

Sounded like it'd be all about assessing dominance there, so Leviathan would do well. Size and physical strength meant nothing compared to the sort of magic she could work with, even if she would prefer not to go to extremes like that, and just chase her more primal siblings away. It didn't sit right with her to hurt another dragon.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Us dryads have a calming aura over us, that helps to soothe the animals around us. Yet I will admit, it does not force a creature out of a rampage by itself, nor solve an issue such as a fight over territory, and when it comes to creatures such as these majestic birds, I mostly keep my distance until they have calmed down some on their own. After that, I approach with open ar- Hooves, and talk calmly with them, until they have calmed and are willing to speak of things what happened, and see if I can help resolve the issue.

As you surmised, I am highly flammable, so it is a matter of knowing how to limit my risks when dealing with creatures related to flames, lest I burn to the core, or find myself forced to shed a few layers before the flame goes so deep. Both shedding and regrowing are painful experiences, when it comes to situations like that.

It is not ideal, I must admit, and perhaps one might wonder why I do not simply stay clear of those creatures entirely. Yet, I am the protector of these woods. The animals depend on me helping them, as be they dangerous to me or not, I intent to do my best to fulfill that responsibility. Something which would sound hollow, were I to turn my back on those who needs my presence, simply because they presented a threat."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

Hammond would quietly wander to the edge of the table, to get nearer Sen and Lin, and would look up at the former with three, pale eyes, carrying much the same curiosity that he would have seen countless times before in Omen's eyes. Just closer to when he had first met her, than how it were now, where she had started to understand a good deal of things about him, and as such, didn't find him as perplexing.

Once closer to them, he'd raise his paws, and with closed fists, start to make some signs at them, just as the filly had at him. Difference here being that Rosa were likely the closest one of the three who knew what this might mean, and he seemed to struggle, judging by the furrow in his eyebrows.

"I'm afraid I don't know this one."

The filly would be over mere seconds after that, and pat Hammond on the head a few times as she saw how well he were doing the signs she had been showing him for a bit before they got guests. A few more signs would come from her towards him that she wanted him to try, before she turned and gave a happy, innocent little smile to the strange group before walking out of the office, and into a room on the right.

"I do apologize for that. She is a gentle, sweet filly, and expressed a wish to visit me today. When I had to go outside to deal with work, she had started to try and communicate with Hammond, which appeared to have continued after my departure. It appears that it is something he finds interesting, or perhaps it were merely her? It is hard to say, yet I think the two of them will be best off getting to know one another some more, over the coming months."

"Is he deaf like her?"

"No. Rather, he appears to simply being unable, or unwilling to speak for some reason. I cannot tell which it is, but it is fortunate to have found a way of communication that he might be more inclined towards. And for the record, what he is trying to say to you currently is *Nice to meet*. I have some doubts that he grasps the context of this presently, yet the effort is there. I will commend him on that."

"And the filly?"

"Off limits. I will not divulge my connection with her, and would ask that you kindly respect that, lest you think our working relationship are better off being soured?"

"...I retract my question."

"A wise choice, dear. Now let's see where I have the correct transportation needs... Ah, and Hammond, dearie? They do not understand you. Perhaps try and connect with them via touch instead? Like I showed you earlier."

Whilst Scarcity went through her desk, looking for something, Hammond would get closer to sen, and raise a paw up, which if he did not move away, he'd pat against the longma's nose. If he seemed to respond negatively to that, Hammond would instead try the same on Lin. They had to think of him like Omen, just quite a bit more inexperienced, and silent as the grave.

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

 

@Midnight

On 3/6/2020 at 3:10 AM, Midnight said:

"But I was using my levitation for the mi- I mean, nothing. Nothing at all was said. Please. As for your question, Circ,"

"Please, just call me Pop. Most others do."

She weren't hating nicknames or anything, but Circ sounded a little weird to her ears. Like some sort of gear for a machine she wouldn't have the faintest idea how to work, or somepony saying *circus* whilst yawning. Might be she could get used to it if it kept being used, but she'd prefer not to, even though she wouldn't outright say it. It'd likely come off as rude.

On 3/6/2020 at 3:10 AM, Midnight said:

"Happily. Inventing something like this would be a lot of fun for me, not often I get to make something so different from anything else I've seen. And, if you were thinking it might cost something, it won't. Though if you do want to pay me, I would accept a milkshake as payment. Always interesting to see how someone else makes a milkshake."

"I've actually been trying to synthesize the taste of milkshake into some sweets I've been working on, but I do still have the machine up and running, ready for a few tests. Come on in, I'll try and see if I can make something interesting, and you can tell me if they're any good."

Pop didn't like not paying for things, so if this were the name of the game, she'd rather this *exchange* than just more or less taking advantage of a helping hoof like this. Plus, it'd give her a taste tester to give some hopefully good tastes to. If something worked well, she'd make sure that at the very minimum, Icy would get a nice, big bag of those.

Entering the shop, there's be candy of all kinds, in many, varied colors all over the place. Some of them seemingly being made of some rather fanciful stuff, according to the signs. Things like Saddle Arabian Buttermilk, and Neighponeese Lotus Sugar, which were not ingredients you came around often in Equestria. Especially the former, as Saddle Arabia were very selective who they were willing to trade this with.

Wandering through the colorful displays and gift baskets galore, they'd eventually get to the counter, where a milkshake machine indeed stood running, next to a small plate of varied colors of hardened sweets, formed into small cups of milkshake, to keep a fun shape.

"Let me just try here and see if this one isn't okay first..."

She'd pour a half glass out, then pour in a golden liquid from a nearby bottle, that would fill a half inch or so, before she filled the rest of the milkshake up, and gave it a stir with a tall straw. The result being that the milkshake got a distinct, caramelized look to it, which at least visually, made Pop nod approvingly.

"Trying to mix up the formula some. This seems to be the right balance for a milkshake with Ponian Caramel. It should add a nice flavor, without taking away from the regular flavor too much. Please, feel free to try it. Along with the sweets. So far just trying to get a pure milkshake flavor in those, before I try to add variants. I think this batch might be getting there."

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@Widdershins

A shame she had to do this honestly. Much as this one were about as discreet and charming as a bar drunk, Berry were used to dealing with so many who had secrets and agendas hidden constantly. It were tiresome, and made her think that most who got near her were just spies for Them. Yet here were one that were about as deep as a flat plate, and as direct as an arrow, and y'know... It was refreshing, even if he were a bit rough around the edges, to put it mildly. Given another setup, she had the feeling that the two of them might have hit off well enough, though as it stood right now, he had broken in and messed with Pinkie's place. He were gonna need to learn that you just didn't do that sorta thing, and since Pinkie weren't here to do that herself, Berry had to take the charge on that.

A real help that the big lad stepped closer to her to try and... Eh, maybe a macho thing. Seemed like it fit his style, and there were probably not a whole lot of layers to his behavior, so why not go by this assumption for now? Whatever the case, he had gotten closer, and just needed a little more to be in a real good spot to get himself a shelf of pots and pans smack down on his noggin. Hmm... Actually, perhaps she just needed a little *misstep* to sort this out herself.

"Ain't often you see an honest stallion these days. Mighty tempting offer you got there too, buuuut, I figure I should get to know you a lil' bit better before trying t- Woah!"

She looked up at him with a small grin almost shining through her eyes as she talked to him, right up until she took a step backwards, then pretended to stumble and *fell* right into the shelf she had in mind, sending quite a big shelf on the path downwards. Might not have been an easy one to get down usually, but the lad had made a mess of this place, and it cleared some area to make the hit mean something. Plus, she had seen Pinkie make it fall down by doing this before too, so it gave her a point of reference on how to get it done.

Worst case from this, he'd be able to not get too harmed by all the stuff about to fall on him, and her to some lesser extend, and she could grab a frying pan to give him a right smacking across the face. Best case, this would knock him out on it's own, and she could drag him outside.

If it came to the smacking part, she would put her hoof on the nearest pan or heavy object she could get her hoof on, and be ready, though trying to play it off.

"Urgh, must've slipped on something there. You alright, big guy?"

If he were, and he didn't seem like an easy one to smash out, she'd have to think of something else. Maybe annoy him to lure him outside, where she could get some help subduing him. Might be she could pack a punch, but he were larger than her. A fair fight wasn't gonna go in her favor.

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

 

@Widdershins @Sekel

An aggressive response. Not a large surprise for Scarcity, and one whom she did not get fazed by in the slightest. She had far more scary creatures than him that had yelled at her before, and whilst he may be strong, compared to those, he were somewhat... Plain, and nonthreatening. Especially as he seemed to need blunt force and were dealt with when he did not have contact with the ground, which her magic could well ensure, were the worst to happen.

"My apologies if it sounded as if I tried to offend you. I merely spoke the name which Sunny told me you had. Attacking others for their visual representation is not something a civilized mare does, and I truly see no reason why one should do such a thing. If anything, one should focus on the important things, such as your impressive strength, rather than unimportant aspects that hardly seems like it should be brought up in polite conversation. If it is, then those opposing you rightfully gets what they deserve for their ignorance."

He seemed the sort to respond best to others agreeing that he were in the right, when he attacked others for mentioning his height. A minor issue which Scarcity mostly joked around with in a civilized manner with a few of her friends who had height issues themselves, but there were a time and a place for those such things. In Shortstack's case, likely when he were in the other end of town, and couldn't hear you.

"As for the situation with Stargazer, I saw no reason why there should be made a bigger scene out of this than there had been. Things happened before we arrived which seemed to have an unfortunate outcome, but there hardly is a reason to make this worse than it is. Especially since your family members are seemingly waiting for you. No need to cloud such a joyous occasion with talks about prison time, or fighting with the law, no?

Ah, and to what you mentioned Sunny, I can tell you that our dear officer is divorced, which means that the only female he shares a household with, is his daughter. Do with this information as you please."

A small smirk o her face told that she had some idea what Sunny might be thinking of, but she saw no reason to say it out loud. especially as it might anger her brother, whom seemed to have a fuse shorter than his stature, which were a comparison that aptly fell under the category of smartest to keep to herself. He'd likely not see the funny part in that comment.

"Perhaps we should wander to his domicile, and meet up with more members of your delightful family? It is far less complicated if we arrive first too, rather than having to deal with arrest orders and the like. I'm sure you would rather deal with many other things than that, would you not sir?"

As he didn't seem to like his name, referring to him as sir might do better. They'd see, though she mentally readied herself to cast a levitation spell, just in case. One were best to be careful around those with a short fuse like this.

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

 

@Widdershins

Alonsus had a... Varied response to meeting Monmolith.

On one hoof, the physical aspects made him see the stallion as a like-minded individual of sorts. One whom knew that you should make sure to keep yourself looking your best, even if their styles were varied as he seemed to draw inspiration from some other place. He were not familiar with Saddle Arabia, so this were sadly lost on him, yet there were a sort of kindred spirit he had with the stallion from the boisterous way he presented himself at least. The detail of his mane moving when hardly a wind seemed to otherwise move, were a grandiose touch too. perhaps a hidden wind gem somewhere on his being, causing this? Alonsus had thought of getting one for just this sort of thing himself a few times, but his mane style were not as focused on flowing majestically in the wind like this, so it were a constant back and forth. Also, it weren't possible to get those here in Ponyville, and he were too busy to take a trip to Canterlot to get some, sadly.

Then he started to speak, and things became a little more strained.

As a former mobster, Alonsus had not been too keen on dealing with law ponies, yet that weren't the big gripe he had. No, that came from Monolith speaking much like the lawyer he were forced to deal with, after he got arrested, and were offered a plea bargain, were he to rat out the rest of the gang. One that he took, yet which still lasted for several months, and included some undercover work as an informant. Hearing talk like this again reminded him of that grizzled old stallion, and those he had once thought of as friends, whom he had stabbed in the back to save his own hide. A lot of bad history being brought up hearing this stallion speak, which made the smile on his face falter some as he tried to get the worst of those things to just leave him alone. Something which were easier said than done, though thankfully, somepony else too charge in speaking with the stallion.

"Please calm down, everything's okay. Mayor Mare is just worried the town is gonna get damaged again, and somepony getting hurt from it. She's not taking him to court."

Long Stare just approached him like she would Alonsus, as though his features were strange, it felt something she could relate him to in some ways. Something which might make a mare's heart flutter, yet she wasn't interested. Her tastes wasn't for this kind of stallion, though she could see why it would be for others, such as Mayor Mare, who seemed to get a short, flustered blush on her cheeks at the sight of the stallion. After the shock of the door smashing open were done with at anyway. Might be the mayor had her sights elsewhere normally, but it were hard not to get her eyes drawn towards such an impressive, outlandish figure suddenly standing in their midst.

"Defense? I'm... N-No, certainly not. We were just talking, and I expressed my worries of what might happen. I certainly didn't intent to put him behind bars or the like when he hadn't done anything."

"Of course. Ponyville is a fair town, and we give those within our borders a chance to prove themselves, even if there are always worries when seeing a peculiar new thing. A great delight to meet you regardless, Monolith. This here is Mayor Mare, my co-workers Long Stare and Chop Chop, and of course, there is I: The great Alonsus Merrywind. Splendid to see we did not need to search long for you."

He were about ready to speak up once the main conversation seemed handled by the mayor, giving Monolith a greeting from all essentially. Except for Chop, who gave him half a look, then returned to his bowls. He wasn't interested in this lawyer type and his yapping.

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

 

@Widdershins @Pastel-chan

Okay, this were so not good.

The prey were a pony, which she had guessed before, but had confirmed as he zoomed by them again, clearly far faster than the things chasing him, which seemed to be one of those timberwolves Jelly had heard so much about, a confident badger, and a... She had no idea. But it looked tough. Not very fast though, and even if the timberwolf did its best, it seemed like it too couldn't keep up with the speedy pony.

However, there were an issue here in that the pony were really not calm, and more or less ran in circles. Jelly were ten, and she knew that were a really bad thing to do. It just made it easier to catch you soon as the predator started to think of your path, rather than chase you. Hay, for some predators, the added life in the prey just got them even more riled up, far as she could recall from class. Sooner or later, this would get nasty, if he didn't start to outrun them in one direction, or the creatures lost interest in him.

They had to be smart about this to get something done without getting hu-

31 minutes ago, Pastel-chan said:

"Jelly, I'm going in! Don't do anything to get yourself hurt okay? I got this~"

Pastel ran in a horizontal line, a pink blur racing past the predators vision and the pony they were chasing- and yelled loudly for every creature present to hear...

"HEY! Betcha can't catch me~!"

Aaaand there went that plan. It'd probably work to get some heat off the pony, but what about Pastel? She couldn't run as fast as him! She needed to get help too.

Taking a quick decision too, Jelly, grabbed some steel wire in her belt, and flew over towards the group as fast as she could. Just before getting there, she'd then tie one end of the ends of the wire to a bush at the right of the path the timberwolf had been in, and then she'd throw some pebbles she found on the ground towards it, to get it's attention. She'd try hissing, waving, and shouting names too, long as she got this one on her tail. She were a faster flier than Pastel could run likely, and she had a plan. It involved tripping up the wolf and then see if she could wrangle it's paws together when it were on the ground. Just like her daddy had shown her to do, in case she needed to deal with a four legged, non-equine troublemaker.

In fairness, he didn't intent it to be something like this, but more like a loose pig, or annoyed goat, on one of the farm trip the school took them on, just so that she could show off a little. At worst, he expected her to face like, a wild boar piglet, as she should be smart enough to run away from the big ones. It'd be interesting to see if this would still translate well on what were likely a pretty healthy timberwolf in its best age.Maybe not, but then they'd try something else. Either way, she could just sit down when two ponies were in danger now, and one of them were her new friend.

[Chiroptera 4]

[=~ As she saw the different things around the shop, she recognized none of them, except for the ones which were obvious as to what they were. Origin-substance formatted names were the only ones she recognized, and then only the individual parts instead of having ever seen them before. And of course the less unusual things she recognized, as well. When she was offered the milkshake, she took a small sip through the straw, if it was still in it. "That is quite good, though not as good as the ones my dad makes. Though, then again, never found any that are as good as the ones he makes," she says, forcing herself to not think about the fact that she was using the wrong grammatical tense, and therefore allowing herself to believe she wasn't. By this process, she was able to get through it without showing any sign of anything being wrong, as she had essentially tricked- although flimsily- her mind into believing nothing was wrong. And then, of course, like usual, she simply took the straw out and drank it within about fifteen seconds, all at once, showing no signs of discomfort from consuming that amount of cold in that period of time. She then flash-froze the candy cup and started eating it. Though unlike the milkshake, she ate this at an entirely reasonable pace.  "You know, the best way to make something milkshake flavored is to put some of the milkshake at the center of whatever you are trying to put the flavor into, and then c- oh, right, no horn. Hmmm... Maybe I could make something for that too? Please? I mean, if you want to do it by hoof, I'd be completely fine with that, but I'm still going to make it anyway, now that I have the idea for it, and I'd never use it, so, please?" she asks.

[Sekel 685]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

"So far, you are the only pony to not be hostile to my sister, even if the last one was unwarranted and out of instinctive fear," Karmic told the ambassador with a smile. It was weird, to think of Atzy as a sister, but they've gone through so much and have been literally a part of each other so it made sense to her to give Atzy the title.

"... tea sounds lovely, ambassador," Atzy said quietly with a small bow of her head, slightly taken aback by what Karmic called her. "The three of us would like to take you up on your offer but I am not sure on where we'd all fit."

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Chilly," Twilight shivered from the touch. She snorted and shook her head to get the warmth back while they walked down the path. She didn't expect the touch, and it definitely left feeling ever so slightly weaker than before, almost like a bit of her sould had gotten cold at the same time as the touch. "Last and I will do our best to keep an eye on you, Cherish. We'll definitely have to do that once we reach the graveyard. Last? Any plans once we reach the graveyard?"

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"No griffons allowed," Aurora sighed heavily, changing back to herself in a burst of green fire. She landed and winced, feeling her wings collapse on themselves and get hidden by her carapace. "I hate that feeling but by the looks of things, we're the first ones here. What's the plan, Thorax? Enlighten us on this diplomatic mission."

@Widdershins

DAWN STREAK

"They are not made up pony phrases!" Dawn said hotly. However, before she could say another word, she sniffed the air. Something was burning. "Hold that thought!" She ran back to the kitchen and turned off the stove. She sighed in relief upon not seeing the food burnt to a crisp. She then proceeded to yell from the kitchen to Kalgrops. "Different question, moving away from  the ... boyfriend stuff, what do you normally have at this time of day? I've made food but I don't know what you eat!"

@Widdershins, @Blitz Boom

DAZZLE GLEAM

"What kind of family is this!?" Dazzle finally screamed, howecer, her voice was muffled because it was stuck inside a giant pony's chest fluff still. She leaned her head back and coughed, trying not to hack up a hairball. "There's a shorty, there's a biggy, and then there's a calm one! Who else is going to show up!?"