open Casual stroll

[Rising Dusk 26,031]

@Blitz Boom

What a terrible waste of sparkling cider.  At least that is what Rising could feel his twin was thinking as she sipped the expensive drink.  Amusing when one considers they perform a similar feat using their own floor for such a display.  Dawn of course didn't deny her a sample of the buffet table, but the faint twitch of her cheek told her brother she wasn't expecting the witch of the wilds to use its items in such a way.  She remained silent however.  Lily was on the same page as Rising, not wanting to cannon ball into a group of alert travelers when they weren't expecting company.  The detective's last entry into Harrowmark was met with him bouncing off a protective barrier set up by Twisted.  Being set on fire didn't sound as appealing either.

Indeed, a much better plan was to wait when the group was in a position to accept visitors.  That was one the first problem though.  Then they needed to figure out how to get Lily into the group without conflict.  The magical and physical kind preferably.  Sickle was in what appeared to be a magically induced slumber, huh... like mother like daughter, and couldn't vouch for her mother.  Getting over the hurdle to discover one's mother was now younger than they are didn't sound all the pleasant either though.  Caramel and Wisp didn't seem to be the biggest of issues.  The unknown elder stallion and Thistle were still up in the air.  Rising at least had a little bit of credit with the specter pony, but her devotion to this Goddess that was difficult for him to understand still left her as a mystery.

Rising followed along as Lily gave her little makeshift tour of the local area the traveling band was in.  Comparing the crude dance of sparkling cider to the maps he had seen in the books Wisp gave him to look at when he first woke up.  Who knew which was the most accurate, but comparing the two together could create a more full picture.  None of the possible locations the group could travel seemed the most bright and cheerful.  A concern his sister appeared to share, "You barely just got out of the darkness," she grumbled and placed her crystal class down. "I know what to look out for now," he assured her, but she didn't look all to convinced.  He'd be with a priestess of the light, that should help a bit more now that her powers are growing.  And with a working watch, it'd be easier to leave if he felt he was getting overwhelmed.  Peaceful darkness sounds strange to him, but was one who enjoys the night, it might not be so bad.

When Lily sat down and appeared to be struggling a little from the efforts of her magic, Rising collected a glass of water and offered it to the old/young mare.  "Are you okay Ms. Monkshade?" the hostess inquired, concerned for an ill guest at her party.

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

Lin stepped aside to let her brother meet Hammond. He was nervous about him resembling the mimics but he moved in close to let him pat his nose. This is a rather unexpected but pleasant introduction as far as it went. The sign language bit didn’t really seem to click with the longma, having no idea about the ability to communicate simple greetings without saying a word. Though he knew, and taught, a little of it to Lin, he just didn’t think there was application for signs beyond conveying instructions quickly and quietly. 

He smiled before slowly backing away. “It’s nice to meet you too, Hammond.”

“I think it’s cute your filly friend is teaching you sign language. We’d like to introduce our friend Rosa.”

The siblings gave themselves some room so they could introduce the thestral. It wouldn’t be right to leave out their friend and there was a some time to spare before Scarcity will get back to them. Maybe if there was a little more, they could get a lesson on basic sign language if Hammond could teach them. Though genuinely curious about some greetings and expressions, Lin thought about the kind of mischief she and Sen could get into by just communicating nonverbally with signs. It might get some curious about what they were doing or it could drive the longma villagers back home nuts from attempting to figure out what they were saying. For now, they’ll settle for introductions.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Widdershins
"You have no need to explain it to me, I'm not the one who had to deal with the situation." Cerberus said with a shrug "It was actually quite pleasant to have a threat that didn't get solved by rainbow lasers, they hurt my eyes and scare the cats away." "Though I do wonder if they would shoot you with the rainbow if they knew your were behind the parasites."

@Blitz Boom
"I'm aware of the power of ponies, you really think I would be trying to blend in if I thought I could just bring the whole system down alone?" Ruby pointed out "Being powerful is different from being strong, and because I don't want to explain it to you, I give you an example." "Think of a frail, old, cowardly pony, who has lot of currency and is hiding behind walls and army of bodyguards. They are powerful in this system, very powerful in fact, but would you really say they are strong?" "Mark my words, the system these pathetic little prey animals have created will fall sooner or later, and the natural order will be restored."

"And I'm not going to stop you from following me for now, but if you don't keep your mouth shut about me or if you make my business harder in any way, I'll rip you to pieces." it was rather causal threat, lacking any threatening gestures or tones, but it was clear she was not joking around, though Leviathan probably wasn't surprised."And about the lightning, you clearly haven't met my kind yet, there's a reason why we are the only predator left in our lands." they weren't immune to lighting by any means, but due to how their scales were, you would either be able to aim at specific spots or use quite a lot lighting to actually win a fight with using it, and even then it would take a while since her kind would not back up from a fight with someone so small, and would have to be killed by Leviathan for the fight to end in her favor.
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Nada nodded thoughtfully in understanding, it was interesting what she had just learned, even if it was relatively useless information to her. She didn't really know what else to say, she didn't have anything to comment on Lyriel's response and didn't have anything else to ask.

(Sorry but i'm hitting total blank with Nada atm)

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The Everfree forest is home for lot of different kinds of monstrosities, some more dangerous than others, but among all of the hideous monsters and dangerous predators, there are those who wish no harm to others, and one of them was just now walking around looking for something to do. It was a lonely life to be a monster, because no matter how good your long gone heart was, if you look like a monster, you get treated like one. But that didn't mean you couldn't still try to help others, and even when they ran away screaming, it was nice to know that you helped someone. 

Some time ago there had been increase in the amount of hostile creatures in part of the forest, and because of that, this well meaning monster had decided to more actively go around the forest to see if these new creatures caused any problems to those who couldn't defend themselves against them, and soon enough he heard sounds that indicated that he could be a help...

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

@Rising Dusk

"I'm fine. Just been a long time since I had to focus on two spells at once like this. Usually, my duties were just to keep scrying, and maintaining multiples of that is not as difficult. It's splitting ff into another sort of magic that caused an issue."

She'd take the offered water and slowly take a few sips. Even if the sparkling cider she had used before were likely still fine to drink, it wasn't much her style. Only thing she tended to drink beyond water and tea were some of her village's homebrew, and this weren't it. it smelled wrong, and bubbly drinks in general just wasn't something she had fancied since she were around thirteen. Might also have something to do with bubbly drinks in Harrowmark being both hard to make and tending to be rather sub par though. Perhaps another time, she'd be willing to try, yet for the time being, the water were a more pleasant, welcome taste.

"You two might not have issues such as this, but I am not as powerful as either of you. All I have on you are seniority, and that holds little value when it comes to these sorts of things. At least with how rusty I have gotten in this department."

It'd take a few minutes, but eventually the worst of the migraine would be gone, and she could ease up as she looked at the two, curious pairs of siblings. Each powerful in their own rights, and clearly her superiors, which were a little annoying considering how young they both were. She spent several times their lifetimes dealing with magic, and yet they could both make her seem as the amateur. Perhaps if she trained hard in this new life of hers she could get within distance of them, yet as had been proven with Twisted, this were a bloodline you would rather not mess with. It seemed to include talent that made them that little bit better than mere effort alone could ever become.

"I envy what power lays in your bloodline. It cannot be mere coincidence at least, when both brother and sister are capable like this. Where I'm from, that sort of thing doesn't just happen by accident."

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@EQ_Theta

Hammond kept starring into Sen's eyes, unblinkingly, up until Rosa were introduced. Not even the third, slit eye on his forehead were doing anything but stare at him until then, as if he were trying to stare directly through the larger creature.

His paws had gone further than his nose too, with both of his webbed paws slowly getting placed on top of Sen's nose, as if he were readying to rise up and climb Sen.

Much as he might look the way the other mimics Sen had met did, Hammond di not act like it, with him being far more curious and less mischievous and intent on messing with Sen, nor as willing to share his over-sized maw as they had. It might make him more calm towards them, or potentially more. Hay, he might even start to focus on how it could be that Scarcity had picked this form out of any she could for her own little companion, rather than perhaps a full fledged pony shape, such as with Omen. The possibilities were endless, yet Hammond's focus were not, as the thestral's introduction would make him take a step back, and let go of Sen for the time being.

The thestral in question would get closer to let the odd creature greet him the way that he seemed to want to do with Sen before, and just as then, he'd get a small paw pressed to his nose.

However, he would also experience Hammond crawling up and leaning in faster, as he saw a most strange reflection in Rosa's glasses: Himself. Something which he didn't know, as he started to slowly make signs and press on with a paw, hesitating once he saw the reflection do the same. A little non-interactive game that the small one would continue with, whilst Rosa looked on somewhat disinterested. He had seen much the same with with kittens, and he had about as much ability to make himself force one of those aside, as he had with Hammond, though for mostly unrelated reasons.

"Ah, here they were."

Scarcity would suddenly rise from her desk, and withdrawing a small box that appeared to have at some point been used as a jewelry case.

"My contact is called Marble Wonder. A most curious, yet skilled practitioner in what you seek help with. Yet he is also fairly reluctant to make deals or speak with strangers, which means that I will have to accompany you on this journey, and personally handle business with him. I will merely have to prepare transport first, which is where these comes in mind."

She would open the box, to show an array of small slivers of silver, with a pale-pink sliver of some kind of unknown gem, stuck in the middle of it.

"Do please take one each, and keep it on your person. Within the next hour or so, they will be needed for my associates to locate you, and transport us all to where we have to be. I would have it done earlier, yet a certain filly requires my attention for a time, and my associates have to prepare the extraction. No need to worry though, I assure you that the process will not hurt in the slightest."

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@Catpone Cerberus

"Like I've said, it matters on the situation. In his domain, you'd be at a disadvantage. Outside in the open, he'd be charcoal. Just how it is right now, though it doesn't mean that you have to blend in so much that you always look like them. You should show yourself with pride, but it is your decision. I'm not going to force you to do it, nor will I tell anyone about what you're hiding, until you're ready to be open about it yourself. You don't deserve the be ousted."

Personally, Leviathan wanted Ruby to be honest with herself, and the world around her, yet it weren't her decision to make. Her role were going to be as a supportive dragon, who'd be there to help Ruby, and show her that she had a friend in the midst of all of these, who mostly just judged her as this frail little pony. The bird probably saw her as little more than that too, even if he knew that Ruby were a dragon.

Be that as it may, it appeared it were time to leave, and so, she reached out to get ready to open the door, and stand aside to let Ruby wander out first. Yet she did pause to fire off one more comment, before they entered the now more filled and hectic bar.

"And fr the record, even if thunder doesn't work, I wonder if the same thing's true for a hurricane? A hailstorm? Perhaps a thick cover of fog, and some well placed strike with a blade? I bring more bad weather than mere thunder and lightning, and I don't fight fair. Honor is worthless if you're dead."

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@Catpone Cerberus

The silence would not last long, as a loud, thunderous roar bellowed throughout the nearby area, and the ground suddenly started to shake, as massive, bark-covered paws stomped down on the dirt near them.

The matriarch of the local timberwolves were an impressive sight. Tall as an Ursa Minor, and covered with moss and vines, she were not one you could just mistake for a newly formed, amalgamation of small ones, as had at times happened, which were mostly bad news for them. It made it so that she wouldn't be as easy to disassemble. The fact that most of the wood she were made off weren't measured in sticks, but rather trunks, were a fair indicator too though.

Mostly this one resided far, far into the forest, hiding among the taller trees and impassable wilderness, but the recent issues with the desert and animals running amok, had caused her to get in quite a mood, and a want to go out and make sure that the local population knew who the top predator were. Even ponies, regardless of her normally thinking that they were more hassle than they were worth.

And were there were a momma, there'd be kids. Several dozen eyes started to light up from the bushes, as the stealthy predators began to move in closer,flanking their matriarch as she took another step forward, and growled down at the toothpicks in front of her.

This were probably not good.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"Hmm, this doesn't seem good."

Straw stood in the large pit he had fallen into, and looked up at the sides of his current prison. No vines seemed to grow there, there were a good, three meters or so up, and as an earth pony, he could neither fly, nor use magic to get out easily. He also didn't have any tools or a shovel on him, which would make digging a path through the side, or climb out like a rock climber, harder as well.

*sigh* Guess his wife were right, he should have brought his tool belt after all when he went on his midday stroll. Turned out she had been right about the animals getting all riled up by the sandstorm and subsequent desert that had arrived yesterday, though she probably wouldn't believe that it had been enough to get the timberwolf matriarch out. Yet he'd swear up and down that he had seen her here, relatively close to Ponyville of all places, and she had been in a bad, bad mood. Chased him right off the path, as he had to run into an area of thick bushes and gnarled trees, in an attempt to get somewhere that she couldn't reach. Go figure that he'd then end up in an old hunting trap. Probably one of Chop's that he had forgotten about. *sigh* He needed to have a word with his chef about that when he eventually got home.

"Let's see, how do I get out of here... I don't suppose there's anypony out there who'd be willing to lend a hoof?"

A fairly long shot, but it were that, or try to think of another way, like digging into the wall and see if he couldn't get a dirt pile down that he could climb up. He certainly had better things to do than to sit here and wait for help all day, that were for sure. There were bills to sort, and the kids were coming for a visit tonight. Couldn't have him go and miss that now, could they? Nope. Just had to find a way out of here, which started by keeping his head straight on, and think through this. Panic were his enemy.

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@Sekel

"It is my hope that I will not be the last to show you kindness."

The ambassador were not at the top of his game, yet he tried his best to be open and welcoming to these strange, yet seemingly overall kind creatures. It pleased him to see that it were helping after the disastrous beginning their arrival had before.

"As for where to go, there is a large balcony, further up the castle. I believe all present would fit well there. I will handle my own transport, though I am afraid that I must ask if you could please make your way up there yourself? My strength are not so that I can easily take many with me right now, and I require my own companion to remain with me, in case something happens."

"I will get us up there."

Enzo sounded somewhat distracted, which weren't exactly wrong either. The announcement that Karmic made about seeing Atzy as her sister had thrown him for a surprise, and made him look down at her curiously. To think that less than an hour ago, these two were attempting to fight one another, and now they were family... What peculiar roads these two went down.

"It is greatly appreciated."

With that, he'd use his horn, and in a flash of light, both him and his medical attendee would have been teleported up to the balcony. It would not be long after that before Enzo were up there too, with Karmic on his back and Atzy in his mouth. Weren't any soft fur he could pull her up in, but he had a gentle bite that wouldn't hurt her. Unless she could fly on her own accord of course, in which case he'd simply land with Karmic on his back.

It were evident that a lot of furniture had been hastily moved aside to make room for him, yet the table and some seating for the rest of them were present, so they had something to gather around as they talked, and had some refreshments.

As for the room in general, it were casually luxurious in a way. Some artwork were there, yet mostly, it were clear that it were meant for others to gather and relax there. The large piles of soft pillows, the table with sugar, tea leaves, etc. The whole atmosphere seemed to almost ooze relaxation.

"Welcome to our little sanctuary. Please, have a seat. I have asked the kitchen staff to prepare a  few things and warm some water for tea. It should arrive soon."

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@Sekel

"Only reciting a prayer while we go through. My ancestors and friends fought and died here, and I refuse to dishonor their memory by not giving them their proper due."

There were a lot of loss in this area for Last. Be it family or friends, she knew some of either that were either scattered over these grounds, or had ceremonially been laid to rest, since their bodies could not be recovered. To not pray for them, and remember them as they had been, were unthinkable to her. Even if the memories sometimes hurt, they deserved better than to be cast aside and forgotten, after all they had given for her majesty.

Hopefully, those who had followed into the Night Guard would bring their ledgers, and make sure that the princess would not forget those who gave their life for her cause. Even if they'd never get statues or great stories told of them, as the Shrine Maidens had been isolated here for so long, and were a dirty secret of sorts before that, those lost deserved to at least be remembered by the one who mattered the most to them.

She looked over the path they were taking, which still did not seem patrolled or trapped. Wouldn't be more than a few minutes now until they could get to the high point where they could look into the valley now. Down at the only home Last had ever known, provided that it were still standing. Who could tell what had happened in the weeks since their departure.

"Hopefully there won't be anypony there to hear it, even if it's a nice sentiment.

A-Anyway, if something happen, just throw the stick away and come back later, okay Princess Twilight? I'm sure I'd just need time to get whatever went on out of my system."

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@Sekel

"I uh... Honestly don't know. Twilight mostly took care of it when we started these talks with the ponies, and other changeling queens tend to react aggressively when we have talks, or at least reluctant to talk too much.

Sort of thinking we're just going to go into the conversation hearing what she wants, then see if we can find some mutual ground and discuss details about how we can help one another. Bigger things like trade routes and the like I'd have to wait with until my adviser comes back. He's better at this than me."

Truth be told, Thorax likely could do fairly okay with that, but he didn't have the confidence in himself to keep it going. Especially against those who were far more proficient at this than him, which were why he needed Rosa. The bat pony were steeled to deal with these sorts of things,, and had the patience to go through with it methodically. Something he tried to learn Thorax, but such things took time.

Happy were about to add a sarcastic comment to this, along the line of *The king needs his nanny*, but managed to hold it back at the last second. Snarky comments had their time and place, but this one felt a little badly placed, even for his taste. So instead he'd focus his attention on-

Yeah okay, that was a lie. He were actually cut off because a diamond spike rammed up through the ground and end up ruining the mood, much like it had with the little one earlier. Just, y'know, this one were larger. Didn't open right away though, so he had a shot at giving a comment out here, just not to whom he had originally intended.

"Y'know, thinking about it, I'm pretty sure it'd be alright if you went griffon, long as the queen saw you first. Just keep it going for that first impression and you're probably golden."

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@Widdershins @Sekel

"You're mistaken darling, I am not a member of their family. I merely arrived to meet somepony, and soon after encountered Sunny. It seemed the dear mare needed some help to find her lost kin. Dreadful situation really so why not offer to help her? And it appears to have been a wise choice, seeing how your fight seemed to be escalating before our arrival.

Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Scarcity, and I am the owner of a delightful, high end antiques store in Canterlot. Whom may you be, and might you consider not egging him on in your current manner? It hardly seems wise to do so, considering he is rather powerful, and there appears to be no reasonable reason for another fight to occur."

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@Midnight

On 3/10/2020 at 5:48 AM, Midnight said:

"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," 

"It is hard to beat a home cooked meal, that's certain. Though I will say that this is just a tester, so hopefully it will get better once I refine things a little more. Not my usual kind of thing, but I like the challenge."

Pop were happy about any kind of feedback she'd get on this, and the first one had been pretty positive, considering this were one of her first few experiments with adding flavour to the milkshakes. If the reception to that were good or bad, she'd learn from it all the same, and could use it to make things better. Not a lot of specifics here, but... Perhaps she should take it as having to be more generous with the applied caramel? Home cooked meals had a lot of heart in it, and more often than not, a generous helping of things. Might be that this were the way to go.

She'd have to think about that later, as now, the turn came for the hardened sweets, and she almost held her breath in anticipation.

On 3/10/2020 at 5:48 AM, Midnight said:

"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?" 

So not as positive this time around, as it were evident that the taste weren't completely there. Probably spread too thin since the advice were to put a sort of creamy center into it, which were a fair one to try later. Just wasn't easy to make that without it just spilling all over the place soon as it started to get used, and the milky substance just wasn't as good to have as a creamy center as caramel. Then again, Icy were giving her some ideas, with how she were doing things.

"I'd be curious what sort of contraption you had in mind, so sure, I'd love to see what you're talking about. Though looking at what you just did, perhaps I could start to freeze these before creating them? A right amount of milkshake mixture in the midst, then wait for just the perfect time when it still got a bit of chew, but are malleable, and then begin to mix in the rest of the ingredients. Might make for the more even taste I've been looking for... Worth trying for sure.

It's easier with toffee. I personally think those went better."

She'd go under the desk and pull out a small box of cream-swirl patterned blocks of milkshake-flavored toffee. Rather pretty colors, yet the taste were the question, and she weren't lying when she said that these had gone better. The taste were evenly in it, rich, and complimented by a freshness that made it taste cooled. A trick with a certain kind of mint that she had learned some years ago, yet rarely got to use. In this thought, it had felt right to try and implement it.

"I pull my own toffee, and I think this is one of the more interesting ones I've made recently. It's fun to work in some new tastes and then just really get to work pulling away at the mixture for hours. I tried inviting Benny a few times, but it didn't go too well."

"In my defense, claws aren't good for that."

"Yeah, surely had nothing to do with how much went into your mouth, did it?"

The two of them would share an amused look, as they recalled an amusing event in their past that whilst it ended in a messy cleanup from toffee bits just being everywhere, were still pretty fun to look back at.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Blitz Boom

[Widdershins 9,955]

@Pastel-chan & @Blitz Boom

 It had been the Timberwolf that led the chase and the first to catch sight of the prey. Timberwolves were opportunistic predators for good reason. At this point each of the three pursuers were mostly just following the one in front as they each ran at their own progressively slower runs. While not fully aware of this new change in prey, it took advantage of this new, small, defenseless filly.

 Attracted by the cries and throwing of rocks, it lunged after the two young fillies and hit the tripwire just as Jelly had planned... and immediately bust into a pile of inert sticks like a stack of pins at the bowling alley.

 This is precisely why they were opportunistic predators. A Timberwolf needed the fight to be over and done with quickly. They weren't held together very well. It would take by noon tomorrow at the latest before the light would blink back into these now scattered twigs and reassemble. The threat of the Timberwolf had been dealt with quite easily, in barely ten seconds. What must be quite the ego boost to the two!

…

 Until right behind it, the low rumble of an animated rockslide came into view immediately following the defeat of the stick-construct wolf. The Cragadile was so named for its hide so thick that it was near indistinguishable from rock itself. It would take a full team of grown ponies to drill through a sleeping Cragadile before they even caused it enough pain for it to care to wake up. Low to the ground, sturdy and thick with rocky hide and sharp teeth these fillies stood no chance against so big a threat.
  

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

To B.B. again!

  In a blur, Flit was up in the air as if yanked upwards by an unseen, small hand. As each implement slid off the shelf downwards, it would be immediately snatched by a green & red streak to be piled haphazardly in the nearby corner before it had so much as dipped. Flit was unmatched in agility in the air and about as hard to hit as most flying insects were; the buzzing of his small wings telling an obvious fact of what routinely eating your weight in sugar did to a pony. As equally obvious was his intent on ingratiating himself to the mare with such a show of prowess, as he stood buzzing over her in the room, smugly grinning down at her as if he knew what she was trying.

 "Fine a' Dandy, Sweetcheeks!

 Na' hows about that knowin' each other bit? O' do I got to carry ye off into the sunset in me arms?~"

 Which, if his agility hadn't shown before, was actually an empty threat of Flit's. Part of his remarkably aerial capabilities was due to his being severely underweight and fickle for a Pegasus. Contact would be rare, but quite effective if it came to it. Whether that was from magical intervention or just something that happened when you went years only eating sugar was.... was probably more the sugar part.

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Blitz Boom @Widdershins

Pastel screeched to a halt and jumped up and down, humming out a familiar "fantasy" victory jingle.

"Dadadaaa da da dadadaaa! Magical girl Pastel Heart and Jelly Drop have vanquished the boss!"

Pastel was just as proud as if she did it herself; it's like she thought she was some shoujo heroine. Talk about jumping genres fast. If she had a thumb she'd be giving a big one up to Jelly as she winked.

...Little time to celebrate though, as the Cragadile stepped forward. Naturally they had a reputation for being tough, hard to handle and capable of biting most things in half. So naturally, Pastel would...

...Take the metal pipe from before in her mouth and start jumping around like she was ready for a fight. Of course!

"Hey ya big fat stupid hungry sack of donkey droppings! C'mere and try ta take a bite! I'll bust you up!"

Was she absolutely crazy? There's no way that pipe would do much against it. She was willing to go head to head with it too from the looks of it, taunting it to come closer. Maybe she had a plan... or maybe she was overestimating her abilities.

[Chiroptera 4]

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"It is hard to beat a home cooked meal, that's certain. Though I will say that this is just a tester, so hopefully it will get better once I refine things a little more. Not my usual kind of thing, but I like the challenge."

[=~ As she said that, Icy smiled. "Not really "home cooked." And not just because of the fact that imilkshakes aren't cooked. He had a store he called a milkshake workshop, where essentially ponies could come in and choose exactly what kinds of flavors they wanted in their milkshake, and then he made them one with those things in it. I was helping him with it by the time I was around five, actually working there- for bits to spend on new items to dissect- by the time I was fifteen. My favorite one that someone had made was a peppermint marshmellow chocalate milkshak, which have been the main thing I drink ever since then. Make them myself now. Still quite good at making milkshaks in general, though, even if both my mark and my mind prefer inventing things."

7 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"I'd be curious what sort of contraption you had in mind, so sure, I'd love to see what you're talking about. Though looking at what you just did, perhaps I could start to freeze these before creating them? A right amount of milkshake mixture in the midst, then wait for just the perfect time when it still got a bit of chew, but are malleable, and then begin to mix in the rest of the ingredients. Might make for the more even taste I've been looking for... Worth trying for sure.

 It's easier with toffee. I personally think those went better."

After she let them talk to eachother, she responded, "Yay! And don't think to much on the flash freezing, I just prefer literally anything I eat to be flash frozen, and then I like to eat it while its still frozen. I even flash freeze the manticore meat dust that I tend to sprinkle over the cherry blosssoms- which I also flash froze- that I eat sometimes still, but mostly ate back when I was in the everfree. Though... Sometimes the meat was already frozen when I got it, but usually those were the occasions when a manticore came along that wasn't already dead and I couldn't get away. I even cool hot chocalate down to just above its freezing temperature when I drink it. I even eat soup cold. So really, don't think too much into the fact that I froze it first."

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

The longma siblings watched Hammond inspect himself through Rosa's glasses and couldn't help but feel reminded of themselves early on when they first saw the outside world. The reflection and how the mimic reacted... it was similar to their first time seeing themselves in mirrors, the way they were confused at such a thing. Even now they still couldn't tell how mirrors worked or how anyone could make them. Was it a naturally occurring thing, reflective surfaces that can show a flipped image of whatever it is that stood in front of it? A mystery for another day and yet they still wonder what the answer is...

The way Hammond reached toward his reflection, curiously watching as it followed everything he did only stoking his curiosity even more. That was an interesting and amusing display, so much so Lin couldn’t help but try to keep her composure. The urge to pick up the little mimic and play with him was just about there until Scarcity produced a box with some strange objects in them. A gem encrusted object that acted as a sort of beacon? She walked over and picked one of those slivers up, examining and guessing what it may be to no avail.

“Interesting… What do you call this object?”

It wouldn’t be long before the deal with the scholars will be set in motion; the anticipation is starting to grow a little unbearable but Sen looked to Rosa for a moment and couldn’t help but feel concerned. Whether it was what will come or just the indifference he showed towards Hammond inspecting the reflection in his glasses, he couldn’t say. Just the look of it all got him thinking of what is to come next. 

“Are… are you alright, Rosa? You seem awfully quiet all of a sudden. Is something the matter?”

[Seamore Sandwich 470]

@Blitz Boom  

 

(Continued from page 381) 

 

Brooke sat down on one of the beds they had set up with silk sheets they had stolen.  She picked up the egg, which had been rested against the pillows and covered partially by the sheets like you would tuck in a child.  Cradling it in her big arms like it were a baby, she began stroking it gently.  “I hear those things learn quicker than most,” Skye began to say, “which means we can train it to help us steal before long.”  Brooke smiled at this and continued to stroke the egg, but she sniffed and for a moment she was alert, facing the doorway.  “What is it?” Skye asked, worried for a moment until Brooke sniffed a couple more times then relaxed herself and waved her paw as if to say, “it’s nothing,” before going back to stroking the egg.  Just then, outside, Gaea had finally caught up to Zhu.  She made little noise as she moved, but she was sure to approach Zhu from an angle he should be able to see her from, so as not to startle him and cause unnecessary noise.  Since she didn’t know where the thieves were, she signaled to Zhu by pointing at him then pointing to her eyes, then waving her hoof horizontally.

 

@Blitz Boom 

 

(Continued from page 383) 

 

“Thank you.  Soon you will get the chance first hoof to see why I have the followers I have.  I could tell you tales of great battles I’ve fought in, but ‘tis best to save those for the journey.  We’ll be trotting Buckington’s Rile Road as it seems that is the optimal path.  It’s a long path, but it’s more direct than any other route, and according to the maps, there is a tunnel that was carved through one of the mountains along the way, which will save us time going around it,” Marcus said to Brute while the others were still focused on the ongoing fireworks display (Keg really went the extra mile and set up a whole fireworks display like you might see on a national holiday or something).  To those in the know, it would be obvious he was mispronouncing “rail” and was in fact referring to the Buckington Railroad, which did in fact cut through a mountain.

 

(Penny is still on page 381, and Charlie on page 363)

Edited March 13, 2020 by Seamore Sandwich

[Sekel 685]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

Atzy was not prepared for the sudden transport. She squeaked cutely upon being bitten and hung limp until she was placed back down. Her wings fluttered wetly, limply hanging by her sides as she sat down on the opposite side of the ambassador. "Warn me next time, ew," Atzy couldn't help herself. She groaned softly in disgust and attempted to shake her wings but they were too wet and simply stuck to her side.

"I think she's grateful to be brought up here," Karmic attempted to be helpful when she slid down onto the balcony from Enzo's back. "Ambassador, thank you. This should do fine for our talk."

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

"Sad, but sweet," Twilight said softly. She let Last do her thing, opting to remain silent unless either Cherish or Last required anything of her. She got the sense that this place held a lot of memories for her guard captain, and not all of them were good. Her gaze did rove over their surroundings though as they walked, trying to find anything out of place. An ear flicked to signal that she had listened to Cherish and turned to the ghostly pony. "If I toss aside your stick, I don't think I'll be able to find it again out here, Cherish," she told the ghost quietly. It was true. While there weren't that many sticks around, she did know that if it was just carelessly tossed, Cherish's stick could be lost in some hidden ravine or hole they didn't see before.

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"I don't like first impressions. Especially when I'm in the wrong form," Aurora grumbled. She stayed as her changeling self though, just in case this new Queen hadn't seen her through some kind of mystical mumbo jumbo. Aurora sat near Happy and Thorax, expectantly watching the crystal along with them to see what would emerge.

@Blitz Boom, @Widdershins

DAZZLE GLEAM

"I'm Dazzle Gleam," Dazzle told Scarcity once she had managed to extract herself from Sunny's grip with a bit of wriggling. With an 'oomph', she fell to the ground and shook herself upright. "I only responded with how I saw him. He's short. So I said he's short. Simple. It's not like I knew his name before I started calling him short," she then cleared her throat and stepped away from Sunny embracing Shortstack and more towards Scarcity. "I'm from the Everfree ... well ... more like across the other side of the Everfree, near a desert. I mainly lived in the Everfree though," she babbled, almost sounding like she'd go into a random ramble if a pony or some such didn't interrupt her talk.

 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Blitz Boom
"This form is partly for convenience too, it's hard to be three times bigger than a pony when everything is pony sized." Ruby pointed out, and it was true, because as much as she hated this form, it made it easier to do things in a place where everything was designed for this type of creature. She didn't say anything to Leviathan's last comment because she had already addressed the part about honor earlier. 

She looked around the bar to see if Marley was still doing his thing with the females.

--------------------------------------------
"So, about that calming aura of yours, does it happen to work on oversized wood-creatures, or should I start swimming?" Nada sounded rather calm considering the situation, and in truth, she was pretty calm, because she believed she could easily escape using the river or by flying high enough, regardless if it was true or not. "I can also try to sing a lullaby if you think that could work." 

------------------------------------------------------------------
The wandering monster found the the source of the sound, it seemed...or well, sounded like someone had fallen into a hole, and based on the words used, it was most likely a pony, poor thing, it didn't belong in this forest. He looked into the hole to see if he was right, and if Straw was looking up at that moment, he would be able to see two flaming red eyes quietly looking down towards him for a few seconds before leaving again. 

Then after minute or so, bunch of vines were thrown down to the hole which Straw would be able to climb, sure the creature could have used its wings and flown down to get the poor pony, but based on his previous experiences with ponies, it was better to not get that close. He didn't leave though, and would be waiting in a spot where Straw would be able to see him after he was out of the hole enough to not to fall back in if he got scared.

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

@Midnight

"Manticore... Meat dust?"

Icy got quite a weird look from that comment. Not the one you'd expect though, of disgust or horror, as a lot of ponies did not like the idea of eating meat in any fashion. And in this town? One of the few pony hunter they used to have before his recent departure to Canterlot, had been looked down upon rather heavily. In parts because as much as Fluttershy were a kind pony, she did not have any favorable looks on her when she were in the same area as him. Even if he hunted to make pet food, which she should enjoy, she were one of those who thought that pets could do with the synthetic stuff that didn't include meat, whilst he believed that the poor things should have some natural proteins. It caused friction. Kinda the same thing with Chop Chop over at Sloppy Joe's, but it were more a case of them just ignoring one another, and a bit of understanding in that he had to cater to the griffons and ponies they got in the area these days, so it were easier to not take much notice off. Chop also couldn't care less what looks he got.

Anyway, point being that usually the response for meat eaters weren't great, and hearing ponies do it wouldn't help either, since they usually couldn't deal with that.

Pop however, just looked confused, and a little curious. She had been in Neighpon and whilst she didn't like it, their sushi rolls having a small amount of meat that didn't hurt them were interesting, and had been something she had on the back burner for a potential taste at some later point, were she to go and try and make a sort of sea/beach focused candy set. It were more the mention of dusting it that were sounding weird to her.

"You eat your stuff frozen? Heh, that's cool. My sister have a friend that's sorta like that. Puts everything he eats in the fridge for a while. Something about liking his things more solid and with a bit of chew? I've never met him, but she talks about him a lot, and I could've sworn that's what she mentioned before flying around with my tail in her mouth. Big sisters, right?

Personally I like things covered in caramel, at all sorta of temperatures. Especially caramelized crystals. Deeeelicious."

Pop rolled her eyes a little as he started to lick around his mouth, happy as could be. She had some of those in store just in case she wanted to give him a treat, but that'd be for later. Preferably when it were just the two of them, so that they could perhaps have a nice, quiet night in and just have a good talk. Been weeks since they last had a chance to do that.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

21 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

“Interesting… What do you call this object?”

"Mostly I merely refer to it as a beacon. Not as glamorous as you might have hoped for, yet I find it suitably explanatory for those who needs to know.

Though you could also refer to it as *The ferryman's toll*. A coin in payment, to be transported to where you need to be. No need to worry though, it is not dangerous, and nor are those who will be called to it. The material within are rare, yet to us, completely worthless. They however have a great craving for them, and I have painstakingly ensured that I hold a large quantity of it, that I then give to them in payment for a little help transporting beings now and again, among other things. A convenient arrangement for all."

She wouldn't divulge who the beings she were talking about were though. They had a good working relationship, but certain boundaries had been set when their deal were struck some years ago, with one being that she wouldn't put them in unnecessary danger by exposing too many details about them to just about anypony. Their numbers were dwindling before she met them, and even with all the work she had put into doing what she could to ensure their survival, their numbers were only slowly starting to creep up again a half year or so ago. Perhaps a decade or so more would change things, and they'd be more open about their existence, yet for the time being, they wanted discretion. Something which Scarcity thought only reasonable, and would comply with.

Perhaps their arrangement were one that from the outside might seem like she just took advantage of them, and made sure that no others had access to this sort of transportation option, yet she saw that merely as a bonus, and one which she paid them for, as she would anypony else who worked for her. What efforts she put into their conservation were the main gesture that made them friendly towards her, and she would have done that regardless. Much as she were flawed and morally bankrupt in several areas, Scarcity were not one who would accept extinction of any species, no matter how dangerous they might be. Individuals might not deserve to live at times, yet a species as a whole deserved a chance.

21 hours ago, EQ_Theta said:

“Are… are you alright, Rosa? You seem awfully quiet all of a sudden. Is something the matter?”

"I'm just observing him."

Might be that he could do more than that, or act all worried about this, but he really didn't see the point. Seemed apparent that Hammond were just curious and approaching a reflective surface much like a cat did, and it wouldn't get better if he started to get all riled up or something. Best to just stay calm, neutral, and let him go through this until he'd eventually be done with. Including just as he opened his massive maw and started to slowly turn from side to side, potentially understanding to some degree that he were watching himself now, and were testing the theory.

"It's like dealing with a kitten, or small foal. They are curious of the world around them, and are trying to understand it. I believe that the less additional distractions I provide, the simpler it gets for them to focus on what is at hoof, and learn from it. Although I will object to him attempting to eat me."

Perhaps not something that were going to happen, but seeing the three rows of small, yet razorsharp, backwards teeth, were giving him certain insights to whatever creature this were. One being that what got into their mouths, were not meant to get out of it again, and he did not wish for that thing to be him. Not that it seemed to be an interest of Hammond so far, who quickly closed his mouth again after Rosa stopped talking, and just stood looking quietly into the glasses, yet one should never rule out the possibility.

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich

Zhu jumped quietly down when he took notice of Gaea arriving. Not too far behind, and she were doing a good job of not making herself easy to track, so the thieves should hopefully not have bit notice in her, lest they had some sort of magical warning wards somewhere. In which case, they likely knew that he were there too, and there had been no indication of that.

"They're in there. I haven't been able to see or hear what they are doing though. I did not wish to risk it by directing their words or approach on my own."

He spoke lowly when he were close enough, and used a little magic to keep the wind from passing from them and directly to the cave, to ensure that their words were not carried there, long as they spoke lowly enough. They were going to need some degree of stealth to get this done right, and with less risks to themselves and his sister's egg. The less got hurt through this the better, which would include the thieves in all honesty, as he could not say for sure if they were not important.

"I will want them alive though. I still need to know of their place in the grander picture, and what might be, were the egg to hatch in their care instead."

Gaea seemed the better choice, but that were just an assumption. Her future were blinding, and impossible for him to discern, so the best he could do were to weigh the risk by seeing how his sisters life would be, were she to be risen by these thieves. Not just for her own well being, but in case, there would be a significant event that required her to wander this path. His burden then would be to potentially accept the pain his own flesh and blood would go through, judging by the significance of what he saw. Such were his role in the larger picture, if he liked it to be so or not.

Soon as Gaea were ready, he'd either follow her, or lead the charge in, depending on what she seemed to want to prefer doing. It would likely be better if she took charge though. This were supposed to be her time, and her actions, not his, even if he had already played a grander part in all of this so far than what were likely ideal.

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

 

@Seamore Sandwich

"You mean Railroad, right?"

Brute weren't a widely traveled mare. Adventure, going out into the wilderness, or climbing mountains seeking treasure, were not something she did much in. What she focused her time on, were things that could make her stronger, which meant that if she for example went to the mountains, it were to climb it for training, or smash rocks. That sorta thing. On occasion, helping the old adventurer out in town who had retired and sent her his invitation to this, which mostly required some help beating up the wildlife, gathering large amounts of wood, or some fetch quests in the nearby forest.

Yet even she were aware of what a railroad were, and the way that it were said by Marcus, as well as the description of it going through a mountain, made her think that he had misspoken a bit there, and pronounced the railroad wrong. Which one exactly, or where it were meant to go? She hadn't a clue, but whatever. These folks had a map and an idea it sounded like. She'd just follow them, and get ready to beat up things. Something told her that they wouldn't get too far into the area around their goal before that were needed.

"As for your tales, we can trade a few on the road, but I'm more looking forward to seeing what you can do myself. Bolstering and riling up the audience is a big thing with what I do, so I can respect that. Doesn't mean I won't stay skeptic until I see your meddle personally. At this point, the hype is making me curious if you can live up to it.

Anything you want to get done, before we start to recharging for tomorrow?"

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

 

@Sekel

"You weren't supposed to be drenched in mouth water."

Enzo took a paw up and dried around his mouth. This had been an... Unfortunate turn of events, which now had a certain gemling looking a little wetter than before. Perhaps more than a little, if they were to be honest.

"Eating bugs as long as I have, your carapace set some automated responses in motion."

"I knew not that sphinx ate such things."

Enzo looked annoyed as he sat down, filling one side of the table more or less by himself.

"Being chained in an abandoned temple, you eat what you can find, or die. As you see, I did not perish, regardless of how often it felt as if I would."

The ambassador looked at the sphinx with pity in his eyes. To think that a creature such as he, were forced to such extremes... No wonder he seemed to hold apprehension to others when he arrived in town the first few times, from what he had been told.

"Thank the guiding stars that you are trapped no longer then. Before we begin talks more properly, might I ask if any of you hold a special wish for the table? Perhaps some fish for you, sir?"

Unless Atzy had moved some away from him, she would feel some drool landing on her back from the sphinx having a minor episode at the prospect of proper food. He might try to play it off afterwards out of pride, yet it were hard to fight the evidence.

"That would be acceptable."

"Very well. Might either of you have some wishes for this, ladies? I would not wish for either of you to not feel as if your needs were not taken into consideration."

Golden smiled at the two as he talked, awaiting their answers. He had yet to ask their names, but he were still not feeling his best, and it had so far slipped his mind to ask. It would come eventually, unless they brought it up themselves.

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

 

@Sekel

"I'm sure that you could hear me. And I can maybe get a bird or something close enough to help? Maybe use some rocks to push it? I uhm... Can't control the stick itself, but other things should work if something bad were to happen."

The princess's worry were understandable, but it weren't a hopeless situation, and Cherish didn't want her to think that everything were going to end up in disaster, just because she threw the stick aside. There were options to deal with it, and well, unless the graveyard site were also on a mountainside, it'd probably be okay to just throw her to the side and come back later to pick her up. They'd see, though hopefully nothing bad were gonna happen.

As for Last, she stayed quiet until they reached the point where they could gaze over the valley. An at times narrow, harsh looking environment, hidden in the mountains away from prying eyes.

Last glanced over fields of grass and untouched fields. Of the large, barren site that even from here were clear as day, since nothing grew on the grey dirt, which were in stark contract to the surrounding grass in the area.

Yet what really caught her eye, were the shrine itself. A large building, which seemed to still be standing, despite being abandoned by the Shrine Maidens. Looked like a right fortress, carved mostly out of the same rocks this mountain were build on, just with one addition that were not there when last she were here: An enormous, insectoid creature lounging over the building on its stomach. It weren't sleeping though. The spire through said stomach, told that this creature weren't much more than a decoration anymore.

"That size... It can't be."

Last stumbled a few steps forward, teeth clenched in a mixture of anger and bafflement at the sight of the see-through wings laying sloppily down the side of the creature, whose six arms - the two in front having large blades upon them, rather than the hands of the other two pairs - flatly lingered on either spires, parts of the wall, or dangling down the slim trunk, that lead down to the four segmented legs, and elongated abdomen. This large, green/gray creature, were a manetid, in all it's once glimmering glory. Yet again, it were no longer. There were no glimmer of light in the open eyes, nor anything leaking from the back and sides, where seemingly parts had been removed at some point. 

"The eternal queen. How is this possible?"

She kept walking onward on the path, barely registering what went on around her, as she were fixated on the lumbering form of the eternal queen of the manetids. A creature they had no hope of ever defeating fairly, and never seen in her lifetime, yet knew enough about to be certain that this could only be her. No other manetid had this size. Thankfully, as Equestria could be in serious trouble, were a swarm of creatures about as large than the princesses castle to attack the country.

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

 

@Sekel

The crystal would open up soon after Aurora stopped talking, and out of it, would wander Queen Dia'thiz. The sunlight striking the pale-blue diamond casing formed like an antelope, encasing the changeling queen within, as they moved as if the diamonds were little more than a suit of armor, even if you could tell by looking at the eyes of them both, that there were most certainly sentience in both parts of the creature.

They gazed upwards first, rather than address the group however. Just starring into the light for a few seconds before eventually, their mouths would open, and the unified voice of the entity would escape them.

"It have been a long time since last we saw a bright star shining down ourselves... How we missed this long forgotten light."

Thorax and Happy reacted as one could expect from seeing the odd queen. With Thorax looking increasingly nervous, and gulping whilst he tried to mentally accept what it were that he were seeing. And Happy? Well...

"Alright, world's gone crazy again."

This were pretty weird, even for him, so he took out a small flask he had taken from the cart and took a healthy swig before even attempting to address this more directly. What? Give him a break, this creature were a messed up sight, and he wasn't perfect. Sometimes he needed a little spike of courage, so to speak.

"...Queen Dia'thiz, I assume?"

Thorax took a few steps forward, trying to show himself as the supposed regent here, and managed to get their attention at least. No words yet, but it seemed as if they were busy looking over the three of them, which would give them some time to respond with more if they were somewhat quick.

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

 

@Sekel @Widdershins

"The Everfree you say? What a peculiar place to be. Though i suppose, quite fitting for a most peculiar being."

Scarcity wandered a little to the side to get a better view of Dazzle Gleam, and noticed some rather interesting things. Subtle ones of course, yet in her professions, one were wise to be attentive to the little things, or it could end up dreadfully, and there were a couple of small things that stood out with this supposed pony. Most noticeably, that seeing how her coat had gotten a little ruffled from the manhandling from the two siblings, it showed a brief sort of leathery glaze that were not found on regular skin. Scales on the other hoof though... Now, that were another matter entirely, and she could've sworn that is indeed what she saw for the briefest of moments.

More things of her physiology seemed slightly odd too, though ponies were in many shapes and sizes, so that really said nothing. Yet it seemed as if this one might potentially have an amount of dragon's blood in her veins, highly unusual as it might seem. Or perhaps she were affected by a peculiar poison from a creature that were rare, and spread a poison through its feathers that whilst not contagious or fatal, were rather uncomfortable in later stages, and had a tendency to spread on the victim rather fast all of a sudden. If that were the case, they should likely get this one to the hospital and order some specialized salve, which were going to make this day a fair bit more annoying for this one. Best address it she supposed.

"If you do not mind me asking, have you been in contact with a Twin-Tailed Brittlescale in recent days? I notice you have at least a small patch of skin usually associated with more reptilian creatures, or those infected with Gargoyle's Disease. It might be prudent for you to get checked before it expands too far."

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

 

@Pastel-chan @Widdershins

Okay, that where way easier than she had expected. Weren't timberwolves supposed to be like, really dangerous? This one fell apart like a bundle of twigs, just from tripping. Perhaps it were defekt or something? She really had to ask in school about that one of these days. Though hey, at least they won this fight! A great victo- Oooh right, there were still the stone thingie. And the badger. Pretty sure the stone thing were the bigger issue though. Didn't look like that one were made outta small pebbles at all. More like pure rock, and pain.

Trip wire were probably not gonna work on the big one, so they had to find some way to maybe distract it, and get it out of here? That might work.

Jelly spread her wings and prepared herself to flutter about and try to take the focus for this one, since she could always just rush up into a tree or something if it got too close for her. Yet sadly, Pastel seemed to have other ideas, as she drew the attention and stood still, apparently ready to face off in a close combat fight she had 0% chance of winning.

There wasn't time to think on this, or make any sort of plan. She had to do something Now, or her friend were gonna become a filly toothpick soon!

Swooping over, Jelly would get herself in front of Pastel, and hunker down into as threatening a stance as she could. Her wings would extend, her fangs get barred, and she'd hiss directly at the large creature, which were likely not going to do any thing than perhaps annoy it. A flicker of a plan got into mind, where she'd still drag this one off, but it were fractured as she had just gotten into this out of nowhere, to do her best to protect her friend.

"You're not gonna hurt her you big bully!"

Yeah... About as threatening as a playful kitten. This were gonna end badly.

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

 

@Widdershins

What the- how quick were this guy? He got up into the air and were like lightning. Even more than that weird, pink and white striped, lanky doctor that she had seen swoop around. Jeez, no wonder this guy needed that much sugar. No way these two things weren't combined in some way.

...And man would it be useful for the sort of snooping she wished she could do to get more evidence against The Conspiracy, but weren't able to, as she'd get caught too fast. Why did this crook have to keep getting plus points? She were supposed to hate him! He had broken into the bakery, smashed the doughnuts, and overall been a real naughty colt.

So, since bashing him in the head were apparently gonna be a no go,she had to think of something else. Perhaps if she could lure him out somewhere, she could see a good opportunity and run with it? Worst case scenario, she'd have a spicy date, and a description to the cops. Best case, she'd still get a date, and get this guy to clean up his mess. Would be a mighty shame if a cuti- Criminal, like this, weren't given what he were due. She just had to lure him along to more familiar waters... Aaaah, that might work, yes.

So she looked up at the creeper and gave him a nice, teasing smile.

"If you actually can carry me outta here, I know a place we could go grab something to eat, drink, and see where the night takes us, handsome. Unless you're all talk and no action?"

Seemed like she'd have to take one for the team and go on a date with this guy then. Oh well, what could a mare do? No choice in the matter anymore.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"You're that big? I didn't get much of a sense of scale before. Makes more sense then I suppose."

That were actually somewhat surprising. From the looks of things, she sorta figured this were a rather young dragon, or like her, stunted in growth for one reason or another. The size issue made far more sense then when it came to Ruby's situation.

Although... If she could change shape, why not change into a smaller dragon? That might have been a good thing to ask, yet sadly, too late now, as they were out in the open and she had given her word to zip it about stuff like this in public.

As for Marley, he were seemingly having a good time. From the looks of things, a good deal of the ladies had spread out to other parts of the party, with the lone one still standing from earlier, being the somewhat scruffy griffon with the necklace of teeth. It seemed they were hitting it off well, really. He were holding her talons, talking about something that did not escape the area, as there were too much noise around them to be able to get through it. but whatever it were, it seemed to work. She were smiling, had a slight blush on her face, and a gaze that were not leaving his person. Might be one truly infatuated. Might be a crazy stalker. Who knew, and who cared? Their own issue.

Soon as Ruby were in sight, they'd find that he would also slip her a piece of paper, which she immediately stuffed into one of her pockets before reaching up, and ruffling the side of his face with her beak. A rather intimate gesture for their kind, and one he seemed to be thrilled about. She'd wander off soon after that however. Potentially to see someone else? Maybe to freshen up? It were hard to tell, with so little seen.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"I do not know for sure. I have never personally met the matriarch before, and she seem agitated. It might make this harder."

She approached the large timberwolf slowly, which seemed to only get the attention on her from the flock, who started to surround her specifically, whilst the matriarch took a step forward and lowered down to be more at her head height. Once she had gotten right in front of Lyriel's face, she'd open her maw wide and roar loudly at the dryad, who actually fell backwards from the sheer force in this.

"Honored matriarch, please be calm. I am not here to dispute your territory."

You didn't have to understand animal to get that when the large one got closer and growled right into Lyriel's face, it meant *You better not*. Though from the looks of things, as the growling kept on, Lyriel got a look on her face that made it clear that something else were said too. Something that were draining the color from her face, and caused her voice to shake as she tried to speak to the others.

"Run... Ru-"

The large matriarch bashed the dryad aside like a twig, where she'd be caught by Nerzhei, who'd let out an audible yelp of pain from Lyriel's unconscious body hitting her injured arm. Still, she managed to stay on her feet, despite the added weight hammering down on her, and causing her to slide back a few feet.

As for the matriarch? She seemed to have a target in mind. A predator who had moved into what she saw her as territory, and judging by the stance and look on her face as she walked towards Nada, she did not overly care for that. Seemed like they had to make a run for it, or fight, though they were two - four if you counted Lotus and Agni - which meant they were vastly outnumbered. It wouldn't be a fight that'd go to their advantage.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

Red eyes? So now he were about to be assaulted by another predator. *sigh* This were just about to become harder than it needed to be.

Straw got his hooves planted solidly in the dirt beneath him, and stood looking up, awaiting the assailant to come down any minute now. Might be he didn't look like it, but back in his younger years, Straw had been known to ruffle a few feather every so often, and push come to show, he still knew how to make a fight out of it. Sure he wasn't as good as say, a full fledged guide, hunter, or guard, but he knew his way around a few good kicks, and he wasn't going down without a fight. Being eaten wouldn't be a good enough excuse to miss dinner in his wife's opinion.

Surprise though, he wasn't getting assaulted. Instead, it seemed like he were actually getting rescued, as vines fell down, and provided him with a way up. Seemed like he'd make it back home early on after all then.

Climbing up, Straw would brush the worst dirt from the front of his clothes, and look around to see if he could find whoever had given him a helping hoof in his time of need.

"Thank you for the rescue, sonny. Really helped in a pi-"

His words stopped as he finally got as look of his savior, and... Well, a sight it were, that were for sure. Something like he'd never seen before, and if he didn't know better, would consider some sort of swamp monster, or a toy of Discord's that had gotten loose. Not that one excluded the other being true, sadly.

Still... This one had saved him in his time of need, and wasn't currently attacking him. So far the evidence also pointed to whoever and whatever this were, to be a friendly sort, with the only thing working against him being the optics. Well, probably good that it were him that ran into this one then, since he had a principle of not just looking at one layer of a being. You had to look at how they were actually like, and then evaluate that instead of a flaw that were easy to focus on too much. It were like this with Chop's dishonorable discharge and former drinking problems, Alonsus's criminal record, Berry's mental record, etc. A lot that were easy to focus on, yet he'd looked beyond that, and found some ponies that he trusted fully. Not everypony had turned out to be this reliable, but as he usually said: He'd give everypony a second chance. Didn't say anything about third ones.

"*clears throat* Hmm, yes. As I were trying to say, you helped me out of a bad situation there. It's highly appreciated."

He'd reach a hoof forward, offering a hoofshake to the odd creature, even if he weren't sure how sentient this might actually be. Could be it didn't get words, but he'd try to start off with the thought that it had some higher sentience than that.

"The name's Straw Hat. Who're you?"

[Chiroptera 4]

2 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Manticore... Meat dust?"

 

[=~ She laughed at that. "Adds a bit of a different flavor to the cherry blossoms, one that I actually enjoy. I don't like the idea that I'm eating something that used to have a mind, of course, but if it was already dead- usually- I couldn't just let them have died for nothing. I was more upset with the ones I had to freeze alive, since I was the one killing them, but then they were going to kill me. I crush it into dust after I freeze it because I've never really completely understood just how much meat a pony can eat safely or at least without any side effects. Decided it would just be better to be safe and only dust it with it instead of just eating a... manticore steak... Eh, even thinking about that idea feels disgusting."

2 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

"You eat your stuff frozen? Heh, that's cool. My sister have a friend that's sorta like that. Puts everything he eats in the fridge for a while. Something about liking his things more solid and with a bit of chew? I've never met him, but she talks about him a lot, and I could've sworn that's what she mentioned before flying around with my tail in her mouth. Big sisters, right?

 

Once she heard that last bit, she closed her eyes a second, or five, before blinking a bit to get some ice out of her eyes. Trying to force her mind back to thinking in a way that wouldn't end with ice shattering on the floor below her, she replied, "I wouldn't know, my parents have only had one kid so far, me. And I eat stuff frozen and drink stuff cold because I kind of have- because I prefer the taste."

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

The appearance of these slivers, Lin thought it would fetch a fair price in the market. Seems like it wasn’t the case, at least to ponies, and yet it still held some form of importance like it would in the current situation. Wherever they were going and whoever was transporting them to where they need to be are mysteries that they would find out soon and keep quiet about. So much about sharing it with others but they’ll have to respect their privacy. That and understand their working relationship with Scarcity is a fragile one that they can’t afford to break. 

Still, that name, the ‘ferryman’s toll,’ sounded sinister. Firm in it’s intent and message yet so unassuming. There’s an image of a stoic or uncaring figure who brings travelers from one place to another over a dark and bottomless river. None who traverse it dare to know what is under the water’s surface and some assume that whatever it is they are traveling over isn’t even water. That image visibly unnerved Lin and got her to keep to herself, accepting Scarcity’s explanation without further question. 

As for Sen, he looked back to Hammond and back to Rosa. A fair assessment on the little creature’s movements though the longma wondered if the little creature would exhibit similar behavior to the mimics. Maybe it was just using magic to form a body similar to the creature used as a template and nothing more. 

“I doubt he can or would eat you. Maybe he’ll try to put your glasses in his mouth and see if it is edible. I think some young creatures use their mouths to explore their surroundings before moving up to using paws, claws, or hooves. Or maybe Hammond is already used to using his paws. I wouldn’t know.”

[Widdershins 9,955]

@Sekel

 "Birds, mostly. They're quite forgiving for eating their kin." Kalgrops coolly responded as he padded into the kitchen after Dawn Streak. "They're great flying companions even if you have to eat them from time to time." Noticing the oven, he comments out loud to her. "I suppose when you don't breathe fire, you have to find some way to cook your food. Me, I always had to just make due raw."

 "I don't know what's got your tail in a knot. If you're going to Force me to live among shortsighted, mean ponies, you'll have to do most of the heavy lifting in dealing with them. I'm not about to dance into town and trade goods with some angry merchant."

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

@Blitz Boom

 Monolith still stood unwavering from the center of the door, a tense and muscles tight and locked into position as if expecting to be hit squarely by a ship's cannon. Which had only happened twice so far. Be that as it may, as he stood chest to a mare's face in height (as opposed to double that for Sunny) Long Stare would have had no trouble winding her way into the room between his black columns of legs. The only part of him that moved appeared to be his mouth as it seemed he wasn't even blinking... though that is sometimes hard to tell with black stallions.

 "Pleasantries Irrelevant."

"Y-you'll have to excuse my brother, he, uh.." Blither shot Alonsus and the two mares a quivering look that said greatly of 'yes, this is who I have to deal with day in and day out.' "Well, ah, to make a long story short he's one of my few brothers that took an interest in reading and the first book I gave him was a rather outdated tome on Law and... well, he's been stuck in Royal Canterlot Voice for years now. A bit stuck in the Olde Ages, so to say.

 This... *sigh*, this is as calm as he gets. Which is best, all things considered."

 "Verily. Thine own toneage bespeakth.

 To Whit, Regarding Prior. Situation begats as pre-existing. Current head of thy government seeth potential threat from ill-clandestine denouement. Thine issue stills standeth. Would we, a magical being be, exposed would we already be. Thusly, if we, the present subject, were here to lay waste, we would have already kil-"

 "MONO! He, uh..." Blither bobbed his head down, sweating like a failing blue lawyer at a bad spot in court that things always seemed to turn into around Monolith. "He, uh, heh... means that if we were that bad, we wouldn't be talking so calmly l-like we are, h-heh... Feel free to ask me if you need me to translate for him. He does get a bit intense.

…

 Uh, Monolith. You can come inside now."

With wordless obedience, the large black unicorn marches silently in to the room what must have been counted steps and without turning from his still ridged posture staring at the far corner of the ceiling, he lets loose a small tufted whisp from his horn to lazily drift behind him and gently close the door behind him. Just as gently, as if contrary to his awkward stiffness, ignorance of the situation and size, the little whisp of his unicorn magic floats back to suck back into his horn tip. Monolith still stands in the same position, unregarding everypony else still as if you might as well just shoved his bulk in. One could get the impression he was actively avoiding interacting with others, but whether that was intentional or not was still a mystery to his siblings.

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

@Sekel & B.B!

"Oy! So Rich Snit thinks ah'm some sort'a Freak fo' bein' big in me britches, eh?! I tell yeh what, back out in the wilds- Mmf!" Shortstack gets muffled as he's casually tucked under one 'arm' of his sister's as she takes a long step forward to Dazzle Gleam to scoop her up.

"Poor shiny girl still hurt? Come to Mama, she make you feel better wif huggles!" With that, she gets tucked right back in again next to Shortstacks muffled grumble.

 "You gon have be a bit more obvious about it iffen ya want ta get out once she starts huggin'."

"Everybuddy oughta feel wanted, right? You want in, Miss Scarcity?" With that Sunny Flush gets up with two ponies tucked under her arm and clutched to her chest and starts walking back the way they came to entail agreement with the appearently older mare's comment about getting back to the precinct for officers. It looks like Sunny has no troubles whatsoever with the added weight of two ponies and a leg busy to encumber her from her walking.

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

@Catpone Cerberus

 Why? Widdershins responded. I didn't make them to be any harm. They're treats, not threats! Heh! Seriously, you should try eating one of the little guys when we find them!

 ...And why RAINBOWS? ...What do they do? They're, like, Light.

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

@Pastel-chan & B.B's Jelly!

 Cragadiles were also known to have in addition to their bulk a shrewd, reptilian mind. It was little impressed with these small horses.

 … because, honestly, it had thought to itself, this chase had taken some two hours now with no meal presenting itself. It was slow, old and heavy. This wasn't paying off and while it could easily make short work of these two fillies it was tired and moreover could just not care any further.

 The Cragadile grunted and left, lumbering into the forest to return to its sleepy hole.

 

   ...and there stood one final rustle of leaves. Barely a few bush branches moved aside to show the fillies the adorable, fluffy, waddly form of the forest badger.

 Who immediately greeted them with a wide, toothy grin and by unsheathing its claws just as long as its entire legs.

 … See, badgers have destroyed entire armies who have had the misfortune to tread on one grumpy badger's burrow. They can debone a pony in under a minute. And easily outrace several. And in the Everfree, even the 60 foot Ursa Major knows to respect the soft little badger for something who's hide can deflect arrows, burrow through ground faster than an Earth Pony and crack bones with its teeth on a regular basis. Nothing short of feeding it a lit bomb would dent the squat, stubborn form of the overgrown weasel. Badgers had something far more dangerous than size on their side.

 Confidence.

 This one had wanted a meal when it finally caught up. But it was more than happy to pick a fight too. Because nopony wins when the badger comes in.

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

@Blitz Boom

 Flit stops his buzzing, small wings and delicately touches down on the ground again to give Berry an intentionally sassy headbob.

 "Hah! Go ahead! Lead the way there! Turn me in to ta Coppers e'en~ I been in jail! A real badboy, eh?~

Flit Cephalli bouncily struts out the open back door to await her outside, where she can than hear him jeering from outside.

  Hah, you're payin'! … that is, if ya want it legal, mate!"

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Widdershins
adding more

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby didn't really care what was going between Marley and the female, and just assumed he had been successful in his guest and that the paper and all the gestures were bird lover things, after all, she didn't know anything about the ways of griffons or love. Seeing that the female left, Ruby made her way to Marley "I hope I'm not the reason she left, wouldn't want to interrupt your rituals." 

------------------------------------------------------------------
In any other situation Nada would have just dove into the river and swam away, but considering what had happened to Lyriel, she couldn't leave the two behind with the wolves, so she saw only one other option since fighting was out of the question due to her lack of magic, she had to lead the creatures away. She gently waved her hoof at Agni to gesture that he should take off "You need to get off my head if you don't want to get wet."  before diving into the river, she then popped her head back to the surface and started singing and slowly swimming away, holding her head on the surface the whole time, and speeding up if it seemed that she was moving too slowly. 

Her tone and lyrics made it clear that her sole purpose was to get the matriarch and the other wolves after herself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
The red eyed creature tilted his head but didn't shake Straw's hoof "You didn't run away" his voice was unnatural and had an echo to it. "Or even scream." Though it was impossible to see any expressions from a skull, his body language and tone told of his surprise."Quite unexpected."  "But to answer to your question, I'm just an another monster among the others in this forest, I have no name, I may have had one at some point, but it's long forgotten, so call me whatever you want."

-------------------------------------------------
@Widdershins
"It doesn't matter if you meant them to be a threat, they were a threat to ponies." Cerberus pointed out "But you don't need to explain it to me, because it wasn't and isn't my problem." "And why rainbows?" he shrugged "I have no idea, you need to ask the ponies." "And what they do? it really depends, it has banished to the moon, turned to stone, removed evil, removed magic..." "Quite convenient I'd say, almost like me." 

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Blitz Boom @Widdershins

Pastel was all ready to put her master plan to work until- Jelly!?

For a brief moment she was deeply worried, dropping the pipe in the process. and would totally take unforgiving vengeance if something happened... But rather anticlimactically it just walked away. Pastel looked at Jelly, shrugged and laughed. That was easy!

The final opponent! The badger was pretty cute. That is, until the claws came out. Pastel smirked like some kind of blood knight before picking up the pipe and standing off with it.

"Aright buhddy, wanna fight?!"

Her words muffled by talking with the pipe in her mouth, Pastel herself was confident; even more so than before. She was uncertain about her original plan to get the pipe stuck in the cragadiles mouth, it was a gamble; but this badger was about their size and they had the numbers advantage! She was convinced this was a video game... No doubt Pastel was underestimating the badger, but the look in the fillys eyes wasn't backing down, at all. She had her grandpas fire.

[Widdershins 9,955]

@Pastel Heart, @Blitz Boom

 The Badger responded by reaching forward with its head, and biting the metal pipe in half. Leaving a short stub in Pastel's hoof.

 It smiled. It wasn't leaving. It was enjoying this.

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

@Catpone Cerberus

 Ah yes, the Universal Solvent here. Rub it on any trouble areas you want gone! If only we had some sort of Rainbow colored horse that just exuded rainbows, then we could just solve all confrontations but just picking up that pony and just rubbing her all over the offending villain!

… But I do digress.

Arrest then, the Parasprites, yes? Or whoever made them a threat. Like, if you was to magic zap a cake into some sort of a monster, you wouldn't arrest the baker, yes? Ah, but i'm no expert on such legal matters.  ...best to avoid lawyers. They're terrifyingly tenacious.

[Rising Dusk 26,031]

@Blitz Boom

Spell casting for a non-unicorn didn't sound like the easiest thing to accomplish.  Doing magic without a horn was difficult for either of the twins to really fathom.  Earth pony and pegasi in Equestria didn't have power of the arcane like unicorns.  They processed their own kind of magic in tending the Earth and command of the weather.  The aid of an enchanted or cursed artifact would be needed for them to step beyond their realms.  At least that is what Equestria thought and prescribed to.  Seeing how difficult it was for Lily to maintain spells like this, it probably wasn't the worst idea.  Not that either of them would shame her lack of magical stamina.  It was amazing enough to see an Earth pony even do such things.

Lily appeared to be recovering well enough though with the aid of the water.  A much better cure than the sparkling cider, that's for sure.  That usually causes more headaches than it cures.  The twins shared glances, they didn't have any sort of bloodline to really call upon.  If Lily was looking for a pony as powerful as they were with bloodline to back it up, it would be Minty.  As a direct descendant from one of the unicorn royal families that first founded Equestria.  Rising and Dawn didn't have an extraordinary family tree when it came to magic.  Their mother was a pegasus, and all her family were pegasi.  Their father while a unicorn, didn't practice magic outside the typical everyday spells of telekinesis and horn light.  He was more a practitioner of the mind and study.

Even they couldn't deny though the uniqueness of their destinies.  One that creates magic, the other that breaks it.  With but a couple glances at their cutie marks, it wasn't hard to tell they fit together like a puzzle either.  Something that even in Equestria was rare.   "It... Doesn't happen here much either," the elder twin admitted rather matter of factly.  "Not completely sure it's blood though," Rising added.  The mysteries of the arcane were just that, a mystery.  Whether by accident or cosmic force, the twins were as they were.

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

@Midnight

"It actually depends on the region. Ponies in Equestria I doubt could deal with more than three grams of meat in a large meal, before they got ill. In Neighpon, they can deal with ten to twelve grams, since their stomachs are more accustomed to it, due to their local cuisine. I've traveled a lot for ingredients, so I've seen all sorts of weird foods around the world. Neighpon have a healthy fishing industry that have affected even the equine foods at times, which is kind of weird, but with all the good things one can get from there, I've been there enough to get used to it. Believe me, Neighponeese Lotus Sugar is a treat well worth the time and cost to get shipped.

Besides, it's not the worst place for meat eating, long as you don't run into kitsune. I don't think I've met one yet, but you hear stories. Strange creatures."

"I dunno about that, but I do about siblings, and they can be a real hassle. I still know she cares about me though, just a sibling rivalry sort of thing. Perhaps it's a bit late for you to have one yourself Icy, but ponies can have lots of foals, right? Maybe one day you'll see this sort of thing from your own foals. Fair warning: Age matters. Whoever is oldest is gonna try and take control.

Doesn't always work though. Heh, the last time my oldest brother tried that, my sister left him in a real state, for all to see too. It was before I were born, but she says he haven t tried anything since, and I can't say I've seen anything either. He barely speaks ill of her before looking around to make sure she isn't listening in on him either."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

"I've made sure to have a few chefs instruct him in what is, and what isn't, supposed to be food. For the time being, he seems able to judge it on smell, and I doubt that his glasses have a distinct aroma of edibility."

"If he's like Omen, I assume he can practically eat anything."

"She is however, also a creation of Discord, from what you've told me in a previous exchange. I do not wish to test if that is his work, or another of their kinds peculiar quirks, on my dear little companion.

Now be that as it may, I need to prepare the forthcoming trip, as well as return to my other guests beforehoof. Unless there are other things, might we cut this meeting short?"

"I got nothing more to say. Sen? Lin? You have anything?"

Rosa rose up and slowly, carefully, picked Hammond from his face and put him on the table. He squirmed a little at first as he were lifted up, but quickly went limb up until being placed down again. A complacent little creature, very unlike the mimics he were shaped after, but they'd see in due time. Might be that once he started to become more knowledgeable and self reliant, he wouldn't be as okay being lifted around like a kitten anymore.

Regardless of that, both Rosa and Scarcity looked upon the longma siblings at this point, with Hammond following troupe, as he assumed this to be some sort of group activity he were supposed to take part in.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Perish the thought. Things went beyond my expectations, with this delightful little huntress accepting both my advances and contact information. This is but ground work of course, yet I could see her make for a good mate, provided things keeps going well. It depends on whatever or not she accepts the romantic manticore hunt I had in mind, yet judging from her impressive tooth collection and predatory glance when the idea were brought up, I have no doubts that she will soon enough make contact. One can only hope for the best to happen afterwards, yes?"

Marley took a hand up and gently slicked back his head feathers in yet another display of vanity. A time he also used to bite note in the fairly sized dragoness that were following Ruby around.

"Ah, and what do we have here? A friendly companion of yours by chance? If so, a delight to meet you madamme. You may call me Marley, a personal bodyguard for one of the more prominent pokers players of the land, as well as a travel companion of Ruby here. How fare you on this fine day?"

Leviathan just looked at him, cooked her head to the side a little, and then addressed not him, but Ruby.

"Your bird sure talks a lot."

"How delightful. There's two of them now."

Marley's smile said that he found this amusing. Yet the sarcastic tone accompanying it, spoke of a want to roll his eyes and let out a large sigh at potentially having to now having to deal with twice the amount of dragon speaking to him in this manner.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

Agni wasn't lingering around when he were told to get away by Nada. He took to the air, yet he wasn't flying off and leaving them to their own. The forest's guardian had been hurt, and this large timberwolf threatened both her and his friend. He were furious, and as a creature of fire, he did what his kind did best: He pelted them with embers from above.

Thankfully it had recently rained so the forest wasn't gonna be caught ablaze, and his flames were still too weak to be more than an annoyance to the timberwolves. Barely registering with the matriarch, and doing little more than irk her children. A con of being a mature hatchling that had barely left his nest, though there seemed to be some sort of action taken from this, as the smaller ones seemingly *talked* to the matriarch, whose eyes were focused entirely on Nada. A low growl in another tone than what she had used against the siren were their response, and quickly afterwards, all of the smaller timberwolves would split off and focus their attention on Agni, as well as the *pony* and dragoness.

The first two who would aim for Nerzhei would get a bad surprise, as she'd hammer her good fist into the ground, and caused two separate spikes of rock to emerge and completely smash the two of them to pieces.

"You want to fight? Then bring it on, rejects."

She'd reach into the ground as an earthly spark danced on her claws, and withdrew a rock spear from the dirt. Placing herself in front of the unconscious dryad, she'd then take up a battle stance and start to fight off the assailants. There were more or them, but the dragoness had been around for centuries, and despite her scholar status, knew how to fight. As were evident when she smashed the next one that came close apart as well, with a hard hit directly to its head. A good thing these creatures were just made of wood, or this could've gotten really ugly. 

Agni would keep swooping around and pelting small embers towards the creatures, which caused him to work an an unintentional distraction to make the fight easier for the injured dragoness.

As for Nada, she'd find that the matriarch were still well focused on her, and lounged forward, clearly falling for her attempt at leading the large creature away. She couldn't distract her children, but Nerzhei seemed able to deal with those. Long as she could keep up the matriarch following her like this, she'd do the best thing she could for them at the current point in time.

She'd better keep up the pace though. Long legs on an already fast runner, meant that the matriarch were no slouch. At best, she'd be slowed down by trees and undergrowth, but even then, this were her home. She knew how to navigate it effectively. It just remained to be seen if Nada did it better than her, or had some sort of plan.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"I believe in judging actions and giving second chances, not start screaming at the first sight of somepony."

Getting a closer look certainly made this the weirdest creature that Straw had ever seen, no context. A skull without skin, a body seemingly made of Celestia knew what combination of nature and decay, and just an overall look of a... Zombie, maybe? It'd ft the descriptions all the stories went with, just with more twists. Perhaps one of Discord's unfortunate victims, or attempts at rebirth? It would not surprise him. The draconequus made all sorts of weird mutations happen at times, and quite honestly, Straw wasn't sure if it were always intentional. He sometimes assumed that it were more a case of things just automatically changing around the draconequus at times, due to his essence being that of pure chaos. Seemed like the sort of thing that'd be impossible to fully control.

That aside, this.... He'd assume male, were seemingly friendly, as well as helpful. Strange looks aside, that were the important part to judge he'd say.

"And I personally think that monster is a little harsh of a thing to call yourself. Monsters tend to be the creature that're just out to hurt others, and you just helped me out of a fairly annoying pit trap. I'd say you're more of an oddity, Mr. ...Scarecrow? Would it be okay to call you that?"

Scarecrow seemed to fit this creature well in his opinion. Reminded him some of those things you stuck on corn fields to scare off the birds. No, not the regular hay ones. Those never worked. He meant the creative, scarier variants made of animal parts, swamp mucks, etc. Not the most widely used ones, but very effective among the farmers he knew of. Of which none were in or near Ponyville, or Fluttershy would've gotten an aneurysm. She might from this one too actually. She scared far too easily, though that might count for several others when it came to this somewhat zombiefied looking creature. Not everypony were as quick to accept new sights such as this one, sadly.

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

 

@Widdershins

"Nono, please feel free to speak your mind here, Mr. Monolith, I'm most curious to hear what it were you wanted to say there. In fact, could you elaborate further on the comment about being a magical being too, while you were at it?"

Most unicorns did not call themselves that. At worst, they'd call themselves magical ponies, but being? And not in plurals, to describe them all differently? She might have been initially shaken by the appearance of this more formal brother of Blither's, but now that he had laid further breadcrumbs out about their family seemingly not being what they looked like, she'd returned to being suspicious and wanting some answers. And this one seemed to have been very close to giving her some concrete ones, before Blither interrupted them. She'd separate them if it were an option, but it appeared as if Monolith did as he were told by his smaller brother currently, and it were unlikely that they could physically restrain him with the tool at hoof. Alonsus might be strong, but there were a size difference one had to just accept here, plus the pony seemed carved out of granite. If he wanted to go somewhere, it were doubtful that anything short of a magical blast of some kind were going to stop him.

Whilst this went on, the *kitchen staff* of Alonsus and Chop kept on preparing the meals, with the later being somewhat annoying that his friendly greeting had been more or less ignored and dismissed as if it were nothing. Such a brutish, high-strung Individual this one were.

Stare on the other hoof, wandered silently over to Blither, and looked between him and Monolith a few times, before settling back on the smaller of the brothers.

"Are they all like him? It must be hard for you to lead your family if it is."

Stare had a sister that she had some tough times with as well, even though her issues were pretty different from that of Monolith. Her point were more that she understood some sibling friction, and were starting to get an idea of why Blither were as he were. Couldn't be easy having to deal with that kind of thing, and from a large family at that? Poor thing must be barely keeping it together at times.

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

 

@Widdershins @Sekel

"I appreciate the offer, but I'd prefer my personal space. Regardless, you have your hooves full with your new friend and your brother. I'm sure they'd enjoy your undivided attention whilst we walk."

Scarcity would direct the way to ensure that Sunny went in the right direction, and make use of short range teleports in case Sunny tried to scoop her up. The mare seemed kind, and Scarcity truly doubted that there were much, if any, maliciousness behind her actions. She just weren't big on thinking of herself being picked up and held like a house cat.

The building were a two minutes walk from them, considering Sunny's leg span and Scarcity's ability to catch up by essentially cheating via magic, which would get them there a solid few minutes before the officer's six minute limit. A good development, as it saved them an annoying legal case which would likely just end in a warning, and maybe a small fine. However, there were no need to poke this hornets nest if they could avoid it, surely.

Unless Sunny just went over and opened the door, or knocked herself, Scarcity would go and knock three times herself. If no response had come within five seconds from that on the inside, or Sunny hadn't handled things in her own way, she would simply open up and see what might lie behind it. They had been invited after all, so it were not as if they were breaking in.

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

 

@Pastel Heart @Widdershins

Sweet Celestia, how lucky could they be? First the timberwolf had split - literally - and now this weird creature had seemingly just lost interest and wandered off. Did... Did this mean they had won?!

Jelly just about rose up on her hooves and let out a victory yelp, but then came the last contender. This one seemed easier to deal with though. It were just a badger, right? About their size. It would probably be fine. Maybe this one would actually be scared away even?

Aaaand then out came the claws and teeth, so that idea went right out the window.

Jelly wandered back, trying to get away from this creature, just to Pastel jump forth again. Did she have no sense of self preservation or what? Seemingly not, as she even taunted the badger, just for it to lounge forth and somehow bite through solid metal. What was this creature made of exactly? Normal creatures shouldn't be able to do this!

This were an emergency situation, and they had to think of something to do against this creepy one, as this didn't seem willing to just leave. Maybe... Maybe if they fed it, it'd go away?

Jelly pulled out a granola bar from her belt, removed the wrapping, and threw it towards the badger. No idea if that were gonna work, but her emergency snack had to work as at least a distraction, whilst she grabbed hold of Pastel's tail and tried to drag the filly away. Sadly, as an earth pony, she were probably stronger than Jelly were, but she had to try.

"Common! It's dangerous."

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

 

@Widdershins

So he were more word than action then, since he didn't even try to lift her? Hmm... Might be this lanky lad wasn't that physically strong. So if she could actually get hold of him, so he couldn't get away, that idea about bonking him over the head cavepony style, wasn't that far out anyway.

Granted, in that analogy she'd then drag him back to her home and make him her property, but that were more of a third date sort of thing in this modern age, and she wasn't sure it'd ever get that far.

"I think you've done enough legal trouble here mate, so let's try and veer waaaay off stealing. Just follow me, and I'll handle it. I know just the place."

She'd take charge and wander out into the alleyway again. Then when she were sure he were still there, she'd start to make her way towards her place of work. Should be a safe space for her to get some help sorting him out. As well as being a place she knew had some heavy things to swing, just in case.

The way there would get them pretty close to the path where Sunny were wandering too though, and with her towering pretty high up there, it might be that she'd see him, or he'd see her. One could only hope, though if not, they'd be off towards Sloppy Joe's. A nice, simple coffee shop focused on a comfy calm setting, rather than going all fancy, which gave it more the vibe of a family restaurant than say, a proper restaurant.

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

 

@Rising Dusk

"Unless you believe in an antiquated idea like destiny, it's either blood, or extreme chance. Potentially a blood curse. Those things can skip generations at a time and then suddenly flare up, causing some sort of affect. Usually something horrendous, but blood curses are not for beginners. An inexperienced caster might try, and just end up leaving a boon instead."

She hadn't personally taken that sort of thing in use in her lifetime, but seeing as she came from Harrowmark, the practice were not exactly unheard of. Merely rare, as the backlash and potential risks from meddling with magic like that were rather severe. Most saw it more as a last ditch gamble than anything else.

But such were the nature of sacrificial magic of any kind. Incredibly powerful, yet horrendous in nature, and carried so many risks for the casters themselves that it just wasn't worth it for a lot to make use of it for anything but minor applications. Such as draining life energy and infuse it into another object or being, which were one of the safer things to do, provided you had a proper vessel the siphon the magic through and leave the energy in until later usage. Taking it into yourself raw tended to carry consequences, of which she refused to even dwindle on. Some things made even an older mind from Harrowmark queasy.

"I've seen it happen. There are many an inexperienced caster in Harrowmark, so good or bad, I have seen much in my years alive.

If you are to remember anything about my country, let it be this: The land we live upon are so infected with magic, that it seeps into our very being, and flows in our blood. You could not find a higher sentience being with Harrowish blood in their veins, that does not hold the potential for magic, even if they weren't unicorns. The rest of us just have to work harder to harness the potential that we are given.

Your bloodline might well be infested in its own way. Even if not by a curse, and it have just by chance started from you, I would be hesitant to think that it would stop there. Strong magic is a tough stain to cleanse, and one would be wise to consider that, when it comes to their descendants. We do so in Harrowmark, as we have seen what can come from an exceptional strong bloodline, and it is one of the reason why as I told you, I have to get Her our of Harrowmark, before that perception becomes her undoing."

Sigh* She could probably give hour long lectures of what one could learn from studying your bloodline to determine what to look out for, when it came to your potential. There'd also be plenty she could say of the effects of generations upon generations of magic seeping out of the ground and affecting the residents too, but they had to eventually get back to the case at hoof. Unless of course, the siblings had something to say of their bloodline, or something else of importance. Potentially something ridiculous, on how they might believe in destiny. A foolish concept that you only hid behind if you didn't have the galls to rise up and try to change things. The cowardly and complacent loved to do things like that, yet these two did not strike her as either of those. Quite the opposite in fact, considering what she had experienced herself so far.

[Chiroptera 4]

1 hour ago, Blitz Boom said:

 "I dunno about that, but I do about siblings, and they can be a real hassle. I still know she cares about me though, just a sibling rivalry sort of thing. Perhaps it's a bit late for you to have one yourself Icy, but ponies can have lots of foals, right? Maybe one day you'll see this sort of thing from your own foals. Fair warning: Age matters. Whoever is oldest is gonna try and take control.

 

[=~ At that, she almost lost her control, him having direcltly reminded her of one of Cel's conditions, which then reminded her of the thing, which she then attempted to dismiss as imagination for now. "Yeah, no, don't think thats going to happen." That was all she could say before having to focus entirely on making sure her mind didn't reach too far into her memories. ~=]

I literally just woke up, this might not be the best in terms of quality. Just a warning and an explanation, don't mind me.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Midnight

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

@Widdershins @Blitz Boom

Pastels confidence went from 100 to 0 as she looked with wide eyes as the pipe she was holding like it was Excalibur was just.. casually bent. What the heck!? How strong was this creature!? After her insurance policy was ruined, she casually tossed what was left of the pipe and shrugged with a nervous smile.

"Ahahaha~ well, looks like you win! You're, uhh, strong as well as handsome, huh Mister Badger?"

Flattery? After all that bravado? Like it would take that.

Before Pastel could work her charms, she saw a granola bar land on the ground. She was easily distracted herself, and had half a mind to pick it up herself... She plopped over with a "oopf' as Jelly tugged on her tail, getting pulled back from her potentially disastrous performance.

"Huh? I totally had it though..."

Despite her protest, she trusted Jelly enough to let herself get pulled back. As fun as this was, she didn't want her friend hurt.

[EQ_Theta 414]

@Blitz Boom

“Nothing else to ask about.”

“We’ll be waiting here until we are ready to leave.”

For the time being, the siblings were content to simply watch Hammond mingle and move about with them in his presence. They weren’t quite sure if he’s been in the presence of a fairly sizable group of guests, though one of them being a familiar face should put him at ease. Might be a good time try something out, at least for Sen. He wasn’t a fan of being touched on the snout despite it not really causing him much distress. 

He walked up to the little creature and sat beside him, hoping to let Hammond know the longma’s presence is one that is safe. That’s probably how it works and he was interrupted earlier before Rosa’s introduction. His initial aim was to try to get Hammond to use his sense to touch to pat another part of his body besides his nose, preferably his claw. If it won’t work out that way, the longma will just have to settle for the face.

Right now, he’ll let the mimic-like creature try to acquaint himself with the longma, or one that didn’t carry a scent like Lin’s. Then again, would Hammond be able to detect something like that, even if it is a faint scent? Touch might be his way of determining distinctions among those he meets. Only way to find out was to just let him do his thing and use that interaction to gather information. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,421]

@Widdershins
"Do ponies even have lawyers?" Cerberus questioned "In fact, do they even have a legal system?" "As far as I have seen they try to talk the threat out of being a threat and if that doesn't work they blast them with a rainbow or banish them somewhere, or both." 
----------

@Blitz Boom
Ruby gave Leviathan a nod of agreement to her comment before addressing Marley "Well at least she knows how to entertain herself." she commented regarding the female, even if she didn't care for griffons, she did acknowledge good taste when it was shown by other creatures, in this case it being hunting. "and she" Ruby pointed at Leviathan "I consider her to be a thorn in my flank that I let to be there for now." "Apparently she's going to show me 'that somebody cares' or something along those lines." she wasn't going to bother introducing the two to each other, so if Leviathan decided not to introduce herself, that wasn't Ruby's problem. "But as far as anyone outside us is concerned, she's my bodyguard."

-------------------------------------------------
Nada being born to swim, she should be able to keep up with the speed of the matriarch, especially considering that even with home field advantage, the wolf still had more physical obstacles on her route than Nada who moved in mostly empty water. She kept singing and leading that creature forward, and until there was some unexpected obstacle which forced her to stop, she wouldn't stop until she'd reach either the lake that the river started from, or the edge of the forest, and in latter case she would only stop if it seemed that the matriarch didn't follow her outside the forest. If it did, she would be ready to swim all the way to the sea if necessary.

If she was forced to stop, she would then dive into the river and either hide or swim back towards where they came from, hoping that the matriarch would lose interest after it would lose her smell.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You can call me that if you want, it fits me if nothing else." the creature responded, then continuing with another tilt of its head "What brings you in the forest? this is no place for ponies, even if you're braver than most." he wanted to know if it was something he could help with so that Straw could leave the forest as fast as possible, since like he said, he didn't believe ponies should be there. 

 

(I'm quite tired at time of writing so sorry if there's any grammar or wording mistakes)

Edited March 15, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[Blitz Boom 4,423]

@Catpone Cerberus

"A bodyguard you say? As a professional in that line of work, might I ask what credentials you might have?"

Just being there and look grumpy did not make you a bodyguard. It took effort, and keen senses. Oftentimes a course or two as well. To think that this dragoness believed it to be that simple as just saying this strange, lanky new friend of hers were one, felt a little hurtful to him, who had actually worked hard for the title.

Granted, it were just a cover, so he didn't make a fuss about it beyond just making a verbal stab with a smirk on his beak, but still. It were the principle of it.

The response he got? A roll of the eyes by Leviathan, before she took a deep breath, and exhaled frozen air into his face until a small layer of ice had started to frost over some of his feathers.

"I'm good at keeping a cool head."

Marley wrinkled his frosty face and brushed the icy flakes from it. He honestly did not know if he should be annoyed at her for doing this, or applauding the way she mixed in a pun to her response to his remark. Perhaps something to judge on future actions, as it sounded like this one would be there for a while.

"My name, is Leviathan. And like she said, I'm not leaving her anytime soon."

"Duly noted. I'd ask questions, but I doubt I'd get any answers in a crowded room like this."

"Pretty much. Now then, what're your plans here?"

"I just came to direct our shared companion towards a new playing field. That task have been completed, and my dear, potential mate, will be spending time with the rest of the guests for the time being. As such, I am done here, and the decision lies with Ruby."

They'd both turn their heads to look down on Ruby at that point, awaiting words from who were currently the shortest among them, even if behind the false hide she were draping herself in, she were the largest.

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

 

@Midnight

"Never say never. Anyway, I guess we sorta strayed away from things, huh?"

"Just a smidgen. Here, take these, and the two of us will talk for a little, okay honey?"

Pop pulled a small, see-through box of something that looked like orange gelatine cubes, with a sugary coating and dark spots of what were likely chocolate inside of them, and pushed it towards him on the desk. A gift which Benny happily accepted, and opened up to have a good, solid sniff of the treat within. Seemed to send a shiver of joy down his spine before he slowly started to chew through the couple of dozen small cubes by himself, as an odd, flowery smell spread around him. Must be something in the candy.

"Works every time. *giggles* I promise that he isn't always this noisy. He just likes to get to know others.

You want to go back to talk about milkshakes, perhaps? You sounded like you're well versed in that sort of work."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

Smell wasn't beyond Hammond, as were shown when he leaned towards the three of them and sniffed the air. Much like with Omen, he were imprinting on their *scent*, which they were likely not going to be fussed about. Well, almost all of them, as a certain refraction started to wake up from his nap, and looked down on the strange creature smelling them with annoyance. These were His caretakers, not its!

He'd slither down and hiss slightly at Hammond, who seemed about as threatened by Shrimp as anyone else had been so far. In fact, he even moved closer to get a better look and smell of the strange, floating noodle.

If Sen or Lin tried to stop it, Rosa would speak up and ask them to wait, and see how this played out, as he observed with interest that Shrimp's demeanor started to change into that of confusion as he got close enough to get a sense of scent himself, and found that the small creature smelled like Lin and Omen. Something which would make him start to look between Hammond - who were beginning to make limited sign language at the reptile - and the longma siblings, chirping in confusion and trying to understand what were going on. He weren't used to this sort of smell being on another small creature, and it were making him unsure what were going on.

Things sorta took a turn though, once he felt Hammond's paws on his head. The mimic had been patted himself when it seemed like something were going on, and since he wanted to try and interact with others, he had begun to do this on the refraction. Honestly, all things considered, it went pretty well there. Sure Shrimp tried a half-effort bite in the direction of Hammond, but the later's webbed paw were rather good at this, and it seemed to make the refraction tolerate the motion for the time being. Even letting out a few purring sounds.

"Riveting play-date aside, it seems time for us to leave. Soon as you're ready, we'll just go back the way we came."

Once Sen and Lin had control over Shrimp again, and got him placed up on themselves - he'd only be slightly wimpy and reluctant to it this time - they could wander out of the office, down the hall, past Brick into the store, and then from there, go into the streets.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

Nada would indeed be able to keep ahead of the matriarch, and when she were far enough away, also have the option to double back without being spotted, leaving the matriarch to stand around and look at the water, waiting somewhat patiently for her prey to emerge.

The thing to push her back would likely be that the river in question started to run into a mountainside. there were still a stream going beneath it, but the matriarch were completely unable to follow any further, and if Nada dove deep enough, she wouldn't be possible to sense for the large timberwolf. After about five minutes waiting, the matriarch would growl slightly and start to wander back to where she had been when she ran into this group, thinking that she had chased the other predator out of her territory for good.

If Nada had gone back then, combined with the slower pace the matriarch wandered back with, now that she were no longer hunting, the siren would have a good 7-8 minutes to work with once she got back to the others to convince them to get out of there.

She'd only find Nerzhei and Lotus there though, sitting on the ground with their back against an oak tree. Next to said tree, were a smaller bush that looked like it had seen better days, but as for the dryad, there were no sign of her. Just the dragoness, bunny, and a lot of wooden parts from the split up timberwolves that had been assaulting them. Seeing how Nerzhei were clutching the top of her bad arm, and a coppery smell were lingering in the air, they might have gotten a good hit in on her before she took care of them though.

As for Agni, he would show soon after, and take a piece of timberwolf, to fly away and dump further from the other parts. He had tried to burn them, and failed, so he'd do this to be somewhat vindictive and petty instead. Until he'd see Nada at least, at which point he'd fly down and land in front of her with a spinal twig in his beak.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"I were just out on a walk. The forest path is usually safe to walk on, long as you keep your eyes with you.

Then all of a sudden, the timberwolf matriarch suddenly shows up in a bad mood, and I'm chased off, at which point I fell in there. Not the best outcome, but it beats getting eaten."

A weird day to say the least, but when you lived in or near Ponyville, weirdness were bound to happen. At least this time it hadn't resulted in anypony getting hurt, so he'd count his blessing there and just move on. 

"So, you've been living out here for a while, Scarecrow? I can't say I've ever heard of anypony like you before, and there's plenty enough stories of what lurks in the Everfree Forest. Are you a newer resident?"

Might as well try and learn some more about Scarecrow too. Didn't seem like he usually had anypony to talk to out here, seeing how he were surprised that Straw hadn't run, and there were just a right shame. Sure he looked... Unusual, but he were so far seemingly a rather good-willed creature. Wasn't right that a few cosmetic issues meant he should linger out here all alone.

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

 

@Pastel Heart @Widdershins

"It bit through solid steel! Fillies are softer than steel."

Somewhere, her old science teacher were surely going to be very proud to know that Jelly had caught up on this much during her class.

"I'm not gonna see my friend get bitten in half by a badger."

The drag were slow, but she were doing what she could. She hadn't inherited her daddy's buff frame, but more her mothers slender build, which left her more nimble, rather than a bulldozer. Great when she had to fly through a narrow path, but not good when trying to drag her friend away from a pony-eating badger. Though hopefully, right now it were a granola bar eating badger, and that'd give them some time to get away from it.

Their main goal here had been done anyway, right? The badger wasn't chasing the weird pony anymore - wherever he had run off to - though unfortunately now, the badger was on them. And were a lot more dangerous than it had looked like. She were really gonna have to remember this for another time.

In case the badger would lounge forward and try something, there'd be a surprise: That being Gary, who would jump out of Jelly's hair, hissing away, before spitting a glob of spider silk in the eye area of the badger. Usually he only did this to catch his prey, but protecting his owner/friend were important too. He liked her, and she kept him fed and safe. No one was going to eat her.