open Casual stroll

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

“We’ll have another go at the game when time permits. I’m really itching for some competition!”

“When that day comes, I’ll be ready,” Lin smirked as she looked towards her brother, then to Omen and Rosa. “I won’t let up easily now that I’ve got a win. I know you all want a shot at victory!”

As the siblings were about to leave, the sounds of loud, bombastic speech came from… well, everywhere. Rhyming and bantering in the strangest way imaginable. Then came the sights of an odd-looking pony and a rabbit came by with little time to react before they were lifted into the air with a tea set nearby. Frankly, the siblings were frightened by what was happening and though they wanted to speak up, they couldn’t muster up the courage to say anything.

Fortunately, they were lowered in good time though they huddled close to each other, their eyes darting left and right. The illusion faded and their sight focused on the transformed creatures, then the crowds who somehow showed up when they weren’t there before. It was then that the performers revealed themselves to be the changelings that Sen and Lin have heard about. This one was certainly lively.

“N…no hard feelings. N-n-none at all.”

“We… uh, were hoping to meet you. I-Its just… well, this wasn’t how we imagined it would go.”

Sen and Lin eventually regained their nerves and picked themselves up from the ground where they were close to cowering and probably running back into the moontag game room. Once Queen Cheshire made her intentions known, they started to feel a little more relaxed. 

“It is fascinating to see changelings transform up close! We’ve never met any changelings before.”

“And we don’t have those, um… ‘classics’ where we’re from so we aren’t really familiar with your performance. I guess those are well known?”

Edited August 27, 2020 by EQ_Theta

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Skall smiled as the element spoke to him, pacing around this space.
"Ah perfect!" He opened his book up and hovered it in the air, reading Tireks page
"Now.... Tartarus? How would I get into there without being captured?"
He put his claw on his chin, trying to think.
"Haven't been there before so teleportation is out of the question..."

He grinned as he took out his blade and stabbed at the air, causing it to crack like glass

"This time, I will need help for all these things."

The element, reading his whispering thoughts could tell, he had some terrible ideas....
"Old goat, king of monsters, where do you hide now?"

The splinters in the air glowed a bright red as it split open, forming a twisted spell of a portal,
this spell incapable of going to tartarus, but could lead you to a person of your choice, no matter the distance.

"There you are!"

The  door way he made would fracture from roof to floor, opening up a hole just wide enough for Skall,
the other side of this twisted portal would lead directly to his form of help; Grogar himself.
===========================================
Chariot sat down on a bench as he held his head
"This is just like the old days isn't it?"

He gave a strange grin at Shade, who may very well grimace at it, as well as that comment,
it was a grin of familiarity and from a time that may be well gone now.
"So, why are you here, Shade?"

[Blitz Boom 4,628]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Don't worry little one. She'd injured, but she's tough. Ruby's gonna be fine."

Though if anyone tried hurting her, They wouldn't be...

Leviathan tried to keep a calm face, and think nothing were really going on, when Ruby left the cave, but this sort of behavior were unusual. Predatory even, as if she were going on a hunt, and there wasn't much need for that, when she already had food in front of her. Unless of course, some sort of threat were nearing them.

She'd let Ruby go and deal with that on her own for now, though if it took too long, or she would hear even a small yelp, Leviathan were gonna bring down the thunder. More than likely, in a very literal fashion.

As for Ruby, she'd find that there were currently set up some traps not far outside the cave, at the path where they would more than likely be wandering, if exiting. Simple ropes for the time being, connected to the trees in a very subtle manner, ready to snare up whoever were dumb enough to wander into them.

As for the one laying them, she'd be able to see a face with narrowed eyes, peering out from the nearby bushes, but whoever it were, would take off running soon as she were spotted. Ruby could chose to follow the one escaping, or hope that she had scared off the annoying interloper for now, and that whoever it were, wouldn't try to return again. If she chose to follow, she had quite a hunt in front of her though, as whoever it were, ran fast, and kept to the overgrown areas of the forest floor, to avoid visual detection.

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@Catpone Cerberus

"That's not how genetics work. I'm a zebra and pegasus hybrid, but my parents are still equine, which is why it works. Sharks are of a widely different species, and they wouldn't be able to naturally breed with an equine of any kind.

Also, sharks are sentient, just not like, very highly up there. We had seminars with the Coastal Guard and some marine biologists, that lectured us some on how smart they could be. They're not ravens or anything, but they're smart enough to be both helpful, and a big problem. At least according to what they said, and they were professionals, so they must've had some sort of idea.

You maybe right in the frog monster being connected somehow. Frogs aren't usually larger than a princess, spews goo, and tries to eat ponies either. Maybe this is one of Discord's tricks that's gone too far? Or hmm... I think I heard somepony say that there were a few draconequui in the area recently. Some sort of bunny one, and a plant headed ladybug? I dunno, but she seemed friendly enough at least. Just confused and really excited.

...Draconequui are weird, huh? At least it's nothing majorly bad. Most of the time. This seemed to sort itself out at least, without anypony getting seriously injured."

Nada wouldn't have to worry about the shark pony finding the path up to her lake. At least not for now. She were still busy buzzing around town, trying to see if she could find more frogs to chase. It'd be a while before she'd start to potentially stumble into a lake, and find this passage. If it ever happened.

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@Catpone Cerberus

On 8/27/2020 at 4:34 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Sorry about my brother, he had a strict upbringing, he's lot nicer than he lets on." "And having annoying ghost following you everywhere doesn't really help with that."

"I have encountered worse, so worry not yourself. Though I apologize for my own sort of behavior. I tend to be less pushy on things, but the draconequui have seemed fit, to remove my connection with nature, as this game goes on. It is a harrowing experience, no longer to hear the voices of the animals, nor feel the nature that blooms around me. Even the earth mother's voice are silent, as I wander through this darkened game, crafted by a mid I cannot fathom. I know not if it is with malicious intent, that she does what she does, but it nevertheless makes me feel like I am fractured."

Lyriel did not intend to blurt all of this out right now, but it were weighing on her mind, and she had needed to vent some. As this one seemed to know about dryads, she might understand what it meant for one of her kind, to be cut off like she currently were. At least to some degree. Scarecrow were a good companion, and did his best, but he could not understand it, beyond what Lyriel herself said about it, and it were hard to describe how it felt like she were torn apart, and no longer herself.

On 8/27/2020 at 4:34 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Oh? You can feel her too?" "Her?" "The sister, Wild Bellflower, she's the source of the powerful presence around here, she annihilated me into nothing when we first met, if you think you cannot feel pain, you're wrong, getting turned into nothing and then coming back, it's quite excruciating experience."

The trickster felt the sensation too, but weren't aware what it were, until the spirit pointed out that it were apparently, one of the ponies. A majorly powerful one it sounded like, if she could demolish and rebuild like that. Something it would find hard to believe in normally, despite itself being made by a creature that more or less did half of that, when creating itself. Yet the strong presence, that made its chest area vibrate, and mind grow acutely aware, as if a threat were approaching, were hard to argue against. Whoever this Bellflower were, should not be trifled with.

And regarding the rest the ghost said, it would be a bit before the trickster responded, as it needed to get itself under control first, but it would manage to scribble down something soon enough. Before their *guest* would arrive.

"She is too strong to hurt, and she keeps him safe too? Seems hard to do anything but wait.

What if it's not them you haunt, but something they have? Maybe the house? Some sort of thing inside it? Have you tried asking them if they know, or do she just keep remaking you, if she sees you?"

The ghost seemed malicious, but there were something... Unintentional about it at times, it supposed? It were hard to describe. Especially when its life experience, covered about a half hour in total, and whatever baseline intellect and instinct, it had been granted at creation.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

5 hours ago, FanOfManyShows said:

"Ah perfect!"

She knew he'd like it, but still, it were good to hear him say the words, as he inspected his currently secluded, seat of power. The place that in time, would house the most powerful creature in the land, fully realized. And she would sit next to him, as the world around them, bowed to his will. Just as he seemed to desire, though for all she cared, they could remain here with no one else. It didn't matter to her, when it came to power, beyond what were needed to fully manifest her. But it did to him, and that were all the reason she had to follow his path.

5 hours ago, FanOfManyShows said:

"Old goat, king of monsters, where do you hide now?"

She rarely read his thoughts as it were. In part due to her not being able to go that deep into his mind layer. Though mostly it were down to not thinking it worth her time. Whatever surface level thoughts he had, were not of the kind she wanted to hear yet, so it didn't matter in her world.

Yet what he let through this time, were intriguing. He wanted the king of monsters, to get to Tirek? The danger of all civilisation, used to bring forth the devourer of magic... It were a dangerous game. Far too much for most lesser beings to deal with.

How fortunate that Skall were better, and more careful than those. He would have a plan here, that much she were sure of. Though it best not involve getting too close with either of his pawns. She did not care to share him with these oafish children.

"Be cautious, when it comes to the goat. He may have schemes of his own, that could interfere with yours. Maybe even pertaining to the true Element of Betrayal?"

She were aware that what SKall had crushed, were not the real element. That one were far more elusive, and in honesty, she couldn't say in good consciousness that she had ever seen it. Maybe back when the prime carrier had wielded them all, but memories of that time were fractured and disconnected. What little she had of them, did not include that element, and the spirit within. All the encounters she could remember, always just included its little pretenders. Mirrors at best, gorging power, and using it to manipulate the potential carriers. Almost as if it were testing others, and used these shards to seek out its true carrier...

It were hard to say, but she at least could tell that this one were not the real one. The power were somewhat possible to come, from a fractured element, but the spirit within had fizzled out and vanished. Little more than a mirage, rather than a true spirit, like her.

Always made her wonder how powerful the true one might be, if even the mirages were enough to gather this much power, and act as if they were real... But it mattered not. Powerful or not, it clearly did not have a worthy carrier, whereas she did, and that connection meant more than what it could offer. She were, and always would be, the most powerful element, as she were working in ironic harmony, with the one who had enticed her so long ago.

Thoughts that had no need to be there for now though. As it stood currently, the pathway were open, and they had a pawn to use. They'd see how difficult this might end up being.

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

 

@FanOfManyShows

Shade would look back with anger in his one, exposed eye, and barely any sign of familiarity to be found. Beyond assisting a little in questioning him at some point, Shade had largely ignored him, as the old, disgraced general were handled by others, and he had other things to do.

"I am here to fulfill my duty. Not that I'd expect you to understand the responsibilities of rank, Warlock."

Shade almost growled, as he responded to the old witch. ot the best approach perhaps, but he were clearly in pain right now too. This close to a magical blast, even if only in essence, resulted in a painful backlash. It'd be like somepony striking his very essence with a hammer repeatedly, and there were no remedy for this but time. Usually the worst were over within 10-15 minutes or so.

"Enough. We have more important things at hoof to consider."

"I agree. Such as asking why the *Rule rider* of Equestria, conspire with a user of sacrificial magic? So very, very illegal that is, hmm? And don't try and say that you're not going that route, Shade. I studied many kinds of dark arts in my young days, and I know the look of someone, who paid for their power with a literal pound of flesh."

Screecher looked directly at the possessed stallion, not showing much in the way of emotion, beyond being slightly irritated by Emerald.

"You wish to speak of legality? Illegal acts are varied, and include practicing witchery, illegal grave robbing, resurrection magic, housing escaped prisoners, high treason- Do I need to continue?

Shade is of use to me, in ways that does not concern you. And any attempt by any of you to indite me, for conspiring with him, will be laughed out of court. You have no evidence of your claims, whilst I have several for what you have all done. That I have not used it to have you all severely punished yet, relates to me thinking you are worth more to the country with only some restraints. A position that could quickly change."

Emerald's smirk froze some, and she lowered her gaze, giving the general all the answer she needed about this. The witch understood the situation, and her position within that, well. As did she that without any guards collaborating the story, nopony even knew that she were here. Only the witches, and Shade. Neither of whom had a vested interest in exposing her.

"Good. Now, how long will it take for her to rise?"

"It should not take far, after the ritual have commenced."

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

The old draconequui would narrow her eyes, as Pringle ate her locust, but take little heed of the situation beyond that. Including the sign, which she did not care about, as being more than another childish trick of this youth.

On 8/26/2020 at 11:12 PM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"Hey, Anomaly, is the other you allergic to iron and silver too?"

"Yep. It's sort of a fairy thing."

She'd pop her head out of the ground, only to be stomped on by her former self. Who'd then raise a clawed hand, and point towards Lucid with ire in her eyes.

"𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈? 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹. 𝑀𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝐼, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓈𝑜𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽."

From her finger, a familiar looking, dark bolt of magic with strike out, and aim for Lucid. Pure destruction, aiming to obliterate his physical form.

"I think she's morning cranky. Anyone wanna try gi-"

Anomaly would pop up next to her former self, who'd pick up the sign, and beat her up with it, before she could finish her sentence. And afterwards, shed continuing to hit the husk of a body Anomaly had shed, whilst the real one would start sneaking over to Lucid.

A sentence read, that'd make her former self's back open, and cause a shadowy bear with a bile-infested maw, to rush out towards Anomaly, aiming to tear her apart.

There seemed to be some degree of friction going on between them. A little one sided for now though.

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

 

@Windy Breeze 🥧

Sorrow would do her best to help Windy be released from the grasp of this malice, now that she seemed to have regained her sanity, but time were not on her side. Plus the entity still seemed to have some degree of hold over her. And then there were the other one behind her, seemingly planning something, though she didn't see it, due to having full focus on Windy, and trying to help her. Both mentally, and physically, by pushing away the hooves around her neck. This were getting dire.

If it got much worse - say if Sorrow suddenly got taken hold of - Legion would see no choice, but to unleash one of their *screams* again, and send these things away for at least a little while. Yet it were not ideal. It were protective measures they needed for Sorrow's protection, and it were not limitless, nor easy to do. It required a lot of energy, and they would need as much as they could keep, if they were to try and tame Autumn.

Still, if the choice came between Sorrow's immediate survival, or this furthered goal, the choice would be clear to them.

"Come on Windy, we can get you out of this! Resist it."

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

 

@EQ_Theta

Cheshire's jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

"You don't know Malice in Aetherland?! That simply cannot stand. It's a treasured classic of the stage. Bling, would you please sign these up?"

The female changeling got closer, and with a quick movement of her hoof and horn - would magic forth a floating parchment, in which she'd write down some things, before slamming it shut again.

"Would names not be simpler?"

She'd get a teasing little smirk on her face, and wriggled her eyebrows towards Rosa, whilst Bling and the other changeling stood behind her, and looked at eachother. They appeared to both be giggling in tandem.

"What makes you think I only just saw you now, Rosa?"

Whereas her changelings had a noticeable orange flare going over them, as they transformed, Cheshire's were barely visible. It looked more like a thread going over her, and where it passed, the form of a new creature would stand. One of a regular looking mare, whom had passed them earlier on.

"I like to wander the premise some, and get a feel for the crowd. It helps to establish what sort of show to put on. I am oh so tempted to put on Malice now, but... Nono, I'd rather you come to see us in Las Pegasus. And bring your friends here along, Lin and Sen. Our own stage does so much better for this sort of performance."

Cheshire would suddenly turn around, and start clapping her hooves. At which point, three more creatures from the crowd had an orange flare go over them. More changelings in the masses, that'd come buzzing over, and hang down fro the air. All wearing some kind of stage outfit. They didn't technically need that, but they were performers to the bone, and felt more at home wearing something from the theater. Nothing of it really all that perfect, but they did their very best to repair what they had found in the rundown building that they had been graciously granted by the mayor. Might not seem all that grand of a gesture, but changelings were barely legalized at that point. That they were granted open access to a big, former venue, were a dream come true. A dream that took effort to repair, but they were not shy of putting in some elbow grease. Made them feel like they earned it.

"Alright everypony, get to work. We need to be ready for the show in thirty minutes. And if I were a fan, I would use this time to go and find a good seat."

The changelings buzzed off, as well as around a dozen of the onlookers towards a certain area. Though most just started to split up, and have small chats about how they were surprised by getting a close up preview like this. Some words even got out that they had to go and see the place in Las Pegasus, if this were what they could do out in the open. Ah, it were like music to Cheshire's ears.

"Ah, it's everything I dreamed off, all those years we had to hide away... But I digress. You say you have not seen a changeling before? Perhaps if I offer a glance at a queen's true shape, you will indulge me, in telling me what curious, wondrous creatures you might be?"

Cheshire would show off with a pyre flare going over herself now, and soon enough, instead of the regular sized mare, there would be a tall, limber changeling queen. Orange belly with light green eyes, shining chitin, and still wearing the glamorous dress she now were. Just more form fitted to her increased size.

Her wings and body had the regular changeling holes, as all but the reformed ones possessed, and she seemed to carry herself with quite the bit of elegance and grace.

She'd let them gander, as she lightly threw her head backwards, and let her long, pale-red mane, flow over her neck. Though five seconds after, she'd return with a more subtle flare, to the form she had started in.

"Ah, it is good to let go at times. Yet the ponies are simply not ready for this, regardless of my hives good, yet short reputation."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

"Uh oh spaghettios!"

The yellownpony draconequus moved quickly.

"Just a destruction thingy, not very creative."

Novia stood at a metal detector dressed like a TSA agent.

"NEXT!"

She motioned the other Anomaly, wanting her to go through the metal detector.

[Windy Breeze 15,190]

@Blitz Boom

The doppelganger behind Sorrow watched the struggle. She let out a sigh and turned back into fake Sorrow “Let go of the mare” she told the other one, who is trying to strangle Windy “These two are going to survive unless...” she looks up at the ceiling above her and smiled “We brought down the whole ceiling onto them, it will be fun to hear them screaming in pain than choking”

Windy's doppelganger groaned, then let go of Windy, who collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.

Suddenly, the living room started to shake, and a part of the ceiling fell by the entrance, blocking their only means of going out of the house, the rest of the ceiling began to crack.

[Rising Dusk 27,737]

@Blitz Boom

"Odd title?" the detective repeated aloud, tapping his chin in thought as the parade putted by just like his memory of the event itself.  Princess Twilight's ascension to an Alicorn was a result of her extensive knowledge of friendship.  With her and friends, the other barers of the Elements of Harmony, have save Equestria a good number of times.  Not to discount her efforts in bringing together ponies and all the other creatures of Equestria together.  Evident by the many different races in attendance of the parade.  Most of them filled in from other memories as a good number of them actually weren't present at this particular parade.  Another good indicator to ensure the unicorn was still dreaming.  "Along with being among the most powerful magic users in Equestria, Princess Twilight has worked to teach the land all facets of friendship and spread alliances to so many other lands already.  If the title is difficult, think of her as our Ambassador," Rising concluded with a nod.  It'll probably be too cliche to mention she actually wrote the book on the subject, which she did.

At least it was evident that Alicorns did exist elsewhere, if not so much at the present.  Based on the little bit of a timeline Rising was forming with the bits and pieces of their conversations as it sounded like the fall of their Mistress was a long time ago.  Rising would open his mouth to speak when the moth landed upon Celestia's mane to object, but he promptly closed it.  Twas a dream after all.  The Princess didn't appear to notice the moth that wasn't part of the dream sequence itself.  "That would probably be the Tree of Harmony, if we wanted to think of some sort of Primordial source.  It grants select individuals powers in times of need.  Currently that would be Princess Twilight and her friends.  Ultimately though, most of our power comes from within us.  Princess Twilight ascended to an Alicorn because of her own power.  Before Harrowmark, I've never really had to think about such things as deities.  We've always gotten by by relying on each other and not so much a higher power.  Even before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, before the Tree of Harmony, unicorns raised the Sun and Moon and wielded the arcane, pegasi controlled the skies and weather, and earth ponies tended the land.  If there is a begin that has given us such things, they have long left themselves unknown."  As Rising said all this, the building along the sides of the streets sank into the ground like rabbits hiding in their holes.  Earth ponies ran by, kicking up dust and the scene was replaced by farmland.  A group of ponies planted seeds while a group of pegasi brought in rain clouds to water the plots of land.  Crops sprouted almost instantly under their continued care.  Unicorns off in the distance raised the Sun over the horizon while others used their magic to build homes and towns.  No deity insight guiding them along their paths.  Not that Rising was present in those times to witness such events, but no history book or folk story gave his subconscious the fuel it needed to fill in the dreamscape with such images.

Rising's ear flicked.  There was the subtle creak of a door opening.  It wasn't a sound though that could be heard in the dream.  It was a feeling, at the very edges of his mind.  He glanced over his shoulder out of instinct, but there was nothing there.  Rising was being watched from somewhere in his dream.  The avatar had drawn attention after all.

 

At the O.M.I., Wind Gale was on front desk duty.  The green unicorn fidgeted nervously in the chair, she hated front desk duty.  She so much preferred the isolation and quiet of her cubical where her social responsibility were near zero.  The mare gripped her chair tightly everytime the fogged glass door of the O.M.I. cast a shadow when a pony passed by on the sidewalk.  The poor dear was even less prepared for a large well built Solar Guard busting through their door shouting, swearing at her and all in a panic.  Her image of the steadfast Solar Guard completely shattered and her seat on the Lunar Guard's side now established.  If not for the load time her mind was going through right now.  Squeezing her chair wide eyed well after the hyperventilating pony had collapsed. 

Loading complete resulted in the O.M.I. officer screaming in her own panic.  Luckily the Solar Guard had been loud enough to alter the back office.  Black Jack through the saloon style swinging doors with his own aglow and a paper bag floating in tow.  He cast the brown paper bag to his subordinate's direction, who quickly snatched it up and started breathing heavily into it to calm herself.  "I thought the Solar Guard would have left by now after The Captain reported the threat to be over," the former thief puzzled.  Not that it was the issue at hoof of course.  "Rain Storm!  Fainter!  Stat!" he called back into the office.  A dark grey unicorn mare came trotting out with her own horn aglow and an arcane constructed gurney in front of her.  Stop near Wind Gale to carry her back before she was interrupted by Black Jack, "Not her this time, this guy," he pointed out the collapsed Solar Guard.  The silent Rain Storm shrugged and enveloped him in her grey glow to levitate the young stallion onto the created medical carry.  Toting him away to a backroom for tending to that wasn't in their front lobby.

Minty and Tussle still hadn't returned from their meeting with the mayor and the police commissioner.  Rising was on R&R.  "Yes that means you're in-charge dumb dumb," Gold Mane had poked her head out from between the swinging doors, knowing full well what had given the detective a pause in thought process.  "How far we have fallen," he dreaded and pulled down his fedora to bite it.  Turning about, the unicorn walked back into the offices.  Bash was standing near the door when he entered and gave the unicorn a gruff grunt.  "I know, I know.  Lullaby Sweets and Faint of Heart Boutique.  Who's here?" the last part was rhetorical.  "Flare Blitz and Starbright to Lullaby Sweets.  Gold Mane and Cork, off to Faint of Heart Boutique.  Scarlet!  Scarlet!?" the detective called for.  "Bash, can you hold down the front desk?" barely had he gotten the words out when a green blur zipped through the door and past them into a far cubical.  Wind Gale had taken refuge in her safe space.  "Just when we'd started to build her confidence up," Black Jack rubbed the side of his head.  Bash grunted his reply and took up his position at the front desk.  "What are we in for?" the rare unicorn from Appleloosa questioned the lone detective.  "That's what you're going to find out," the detective tried to sound optimistic, but knew full well how terrible a situation could be when an officer has no information.

 

Flare Blitz and Starbright, a younger mare unicorn with a bright neon purple coat and striking black mane that twinkled multicolored lights, sprint down the street toward the candy shop.  The fit country unicorn who specialized in self-enchantment magics had to slow down every so often to left the mare catch up.  Flare Blitz would soon as charge right into a situation but luckily Starbright was of a clearer mind.  "Stop!" she shouted as they got closer to the store.  She nearly tumbled over the stallion as he stopped abruptly in his tracks rather than slow down as she expected.  "Access the situation," she huffed, spying over his back.  "You need to know if the dance floor is prepared for the party," she whispered even through they were in clear sight for anypony to see.  "Yes ma'am," the country pony pretended he understood and stood there being her cover.  The pair both approached the store, but the mare outside blowing bubbles drew their attention.  While not completely sure this was why they were called to duty, it was at least a logical guess.  "Excuse me, ma'am," Flare Blitz addressed, removing his cowboy hat in greeting.  "You're, uh, melting public... property," Starbright finished in case the mare wasn't completely aware what she was doing.  As a stallion who himself preferred the method of setting himself ablaze, he could understand.

 

Three blocks over Gold Mane and Cork were swiftly making their way to the Boutique.  Cork was a middle aged mare with a chestnut colored coat and forest green mane.  Garbed in the season's yellow dress and matching sunhat.  She was a fashion pony in kindred spirit to Minty with a flair for illusion based magics.  Cork knew the Faint of Heart Boutique well, being as it was located in her territory, or beat in police speak.  The mare was well familiar with most the boutiques in town really, always in the effort to swap territories with Orange Glow who patrolled Manehatten's main fashion district.  Slipping into the shops front door to trigger the welcoming bell, Gold Mane took lead, "O.M.I.!  What's the situation?" she questioned to the whole shop to get out on top.  Only taking till Cork entered as well to see what had actually called them in.  "Mr. Glory, Ms. Stitch!" Cork started to check on the owners.  Taken aback, they didn't so much scream as gasp at the sight of the translucent pony getting fitted with a dress.  A very nice dress Cork added.   "Does that count as public indecency?" Cork whispered to her co-worker.  Gold Mane could just shrug until her thoughts could recollect.

 

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

“Wait, don’t the changelings have more… eh, complete bodies? I… I meant no offense but from what little we’ve heard of the changelings, they have colorful appearances with... less… holes.”

“I was hoping my sister could word that better but I am curious about that, too. We longma don’t really have a solid idea on what a changeling looks like and just assume that you can change the way your form looks. I suppose the same goes for popular things ponies know about. The longma are isolationists and don’t know about well-known things that are common knowledge in pony society.”

The longma would be in a fish out of water situation where they’d pretty much be clueless with ponies, or other creatures in general. Sen and Lin had years to acclimate to an unknown race and they had their share of unsavory experiences, the kind that would sometimes leave poor impressions and justify their isolationism. 

Of course, being in the presence of a well-known and highly esteemed individual such as Queen Cheshire had the siblings forget their manners for a moment. The two would bow, their go-to greeting, though it may come off as the sort of response one would associate with the decorum reserved for royalty. Cheshire does have a title of queen, after all. 

“I suppose this would be a good time to properly introduce ourselves as longma, creatures who look like someone crossed a pony and a dragon. While our wings suggest we could fly, we don’t really do that; it’s more for gliding.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what did you sign us up for? And what was with that floating parchment your fellow changeling had?

[Catpone Cerberus 23,599]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby wouldn't bother chasing the creature, not because she thought it wouldn't be back, but because she didn't think it to be worth it, as she believed the opposite, that it would surely be back. She would let out few warning growls after it though, just to send a message. She would then proceed to disarm the traps and burn the ropes, before lazily making her way back, checking the nearby area in case there was more traps build.

Assuming the trapper didn't attack her, or something else big didn't happen, she would soon enough be back at the cave, and would start speaking the moment she saw Leviathan "Watch your step when leaving the cave, the one who is most likely behind that trap you found knows where we are, they were building traps not far from here...." she put the support back on her leg while she spoke "...I didn't bother to chase them when they ran away, but they will probably be back soon enough." "The traps still used rope but don't let your guard down, that may be exactly what they want, because I don't believe that even the stupidest creature would think they would catch someone like me with a simple rope-trap, just based on my size." it would have to be quite a strong trap to do anything to someone of her weight.

She would then say something to her brother, most likely something in the same lines as she had said to Leviathan, judging from the smaller dragon's reaction, who after glancing into the woods for a moment continued with his eating. Ruby too continued her meal, but she was more guarded than she had been earlier, because while she didn't see the hunter as a threat to herself, she knew that it was always better overestimate than underestimate when you didn't know who you were against.

That may have seemed bit contradictory when considering that Ruby saw everyone as weaker than herself, but it really wasn't, because while Ruby considered herself the strongest, she knew there was those more powerful than her, for example the pony princesses, they were weak, but because of their magic, she had no chance against them.

If something happened however, she would react appropriately.

-----------------------------------------
"Genetics may not work like that, but there still is pony hybrids where the other half is not equine of any kind." Nada pointed out "And they have some kind of parents too....most likely." "Though now that you mentioned Draconequui, it could be the weird hybrids are their work, what I understood from your history, it wouldn't be too uncharacteristic for them." "But if that's the case, it brings up few questions I don't necessarily want to know the answer to." mostly, if they were a combination of two creatures, what happens to the minds of the two creatures combined? would it combine into one mind? would they share the body somehow? or would one of them be erased?

------------------------------------------------
"They tend to do that." Bellflower said "Don't get me wrong, I feel sympathetic towards you and wish I could help you, as I understand how it must feel like, it's like losing a part of yourself, but it is very much expected." "Pegasus lose their wings, unicorns lose their magic, such is the game of Draconequus, they take away what you want to lose the least, but they are not evil...per se, they just find it entertaining to torment creatures." "They also tend to keep their word when it comes to returning what they've taken, so don't worry, it won't be permanent."  

Meanwhile...

"I follow the stallion, not that it matters, his family has tried to get rid of me since I first appeared, so if there was a easy way, I wouldn't be here." the mare explained "I know why I haunt them, as I myself cursed the bloodline, but I made that decision because something else stopped me moving on." "If they knew what it is that holds me here, they would have no reason to hide it from me, because they want me gone as much as I want to leave this world." the same tone continued "And no, Bellflower does not protect the brother, quite opposite actually, she's a newcomer, haven't been here for long, can't say exact time, may be a month, or a year, or a decade, all feel the same to me...." Scarecrow gave a understanding nod, he knew what it was like when time lost its meaning "...and she hasn't used her powers since our meeting as far as I know, but I have also avoided her best I could, because she's the only thing in this world that I fear." 

The last sentence would be proven the moment Lyriel and Bellflower came to view, as the mare would immediately break back into freezing fog and float away. 

Edited August 29, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[Blitz Boom 4,628]

@Rising Dusk

On 8/29/2020 at 2:35 PM, Rising Dusk said:

"Along with being among the most powerful magic users in Equestria, Princess Twilight has worked to teach the land all facets of friendship and spread alliances to so many other lands already.  If the title is difficult, think of her as our Ambassador,"

"𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖆 𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌. 𝕸𝖆𝖓𝖞 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝕴 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖉, 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖑𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝕴 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖊𝖝𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉, 𝖞𝖊𝖙 𝖓𝖔 𝖗𝖔𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝕴 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉, 𝖉𝖗𝖆𝖕𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖐𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖕. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝕴 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖘 𝖒𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖚𝖘𝖊, 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊𝖘, 𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖆𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒. 𝕿𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝕴 𝖘𝖚𝖕𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖊, 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖘 𝖆𝖘 𝖆 𝖋𝖆𝖛𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖘, 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖞 𝖎𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉."

Lowering herself, to think and communicate, in the way of mortals, were at times difficult. It often required her to rely on past experiences, and look at them in the context she were used to. Be if from dreams, or reality.

The way she could engage with mortals in dreams, made her task somewhat simpler, since it provided her an easy access of their minds to view. It eased the process of tuning herself to their wavelength, yet Rising were different. An outsider, with experiences she did not recall seeing before. It made some of the things he were used to, rather alien to her, and something she had to twist herself some to understand. Even when it came to judging by the standards of another land.

To her, titles in and by themselves, were meaningless. They conveyed in some ways what the individual were about, yet what did it matter in the end? All of them lived their short lives, until inevitably, they would die, and be reborn. Even those who lingered in undeath, would eventually return to the cycle.

The title of priestess, queen, wanderer, and whatever else the mortals draped themselves in, were all constructs they had made themselves. It were not to say that she did not see the need for a structure, and a natural order, within the mortal realm. It were required, yet to her, it all simply seemed natural, and fluent. There were little need for titles, or grandiose displays, from her point of view. Yet she obliged when talking with them, as to connect better with these children, and addressed them as such, when needed between them.

Rising had been born witness to this, as she did not refer to Thistle by her title, like all others in Harrowmark did. To her, the spectral mare were a favored disciple, whose name she thought of fondlier than most. Yet her title were meaningless, and Thistle knew this too. She used it when around the lands of Harrowmark, but never when talking with Viz'nay. She knew the pointlessness in such a thing.

On 8/29/2020 at 2:35 PM, Rising Dusk said:

"That would probably be the Tree of Harmony, if we wanted to think of some sort of Primordial source.  It grants select individuals powers in times of need.  Currently that would be Princess Twilight and her friends.  Ultimately though, most of our power comes from within us.  Princess Twilight ascended to an Alicorn because of her own power.  Before Harrowmark, I've never really had to think about such things as deities.  We've always gotten by by relying on each other and not so much a higher power.  Even before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, before the Tree of Harmony, unicorns raised the Sun and Moon and wielded the arcane, pegasi controlled the skies and weather, and earth ponies tended the land.  If there is a begin that has given us such things, they have long left themselves unknown."

"𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖉𝖎𝖆𝖑 𝖕𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖘 𝖆𝖘 𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖆𝖑 𝖆𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖆𝖎𝖗 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖇𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊, 𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖚𝖕𝖔𝖓. 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖑𝖜𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖜𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖘𝖙, 𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖘. 𝕴𝖓 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖜𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖐, 𝖎𝖙 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖔 𝖆 𝖌𝖔𝖉, 𝖆𝖊𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖆𝖌𝖔, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖘𝖊𝖆𝖙 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌. 𝕴 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖛𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖒𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖌𝖔𝖉𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖙𝖔𝖔, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖊𝖉, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖇𝖞 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖕𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋𝖋, 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖇𝖊 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖎𝖙. 𝕿𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖎𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊, 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖏𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙. 𝕲𝖔𝖉𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖆 𝖌𝖚𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊. 𝖂𝖊 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖉𝖎𝖆𝖑 𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖊𝖘, 𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖘. 𝕺𝖚𝖗 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖛𝖊, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖘 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖆 𝖒𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖆𝖑 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖎𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊. 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖆𝖘 𝖎𝖙 𝖎𝖘, 𝖙𝖔 𝖆𝖘𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖔𝖓𝖊. 𝕻𝖊𝖗𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊, 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖕𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖚𝖈𝖍 𝖆𝖓 𝖊𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖉, 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖇𝖊 𝖚𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖆𝖘𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖞𝖔𝖚, 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖆𝖗 𝖇𝖊𝖞𝖔𝖓𝖉 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖉? 𝕬 𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖉𝖔. 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖋𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆 𝖛𝖆𝖈𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖘𝖊𝖆𝖙, 𝖑𝖊𝖋𝖙 𝖇𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖔𝖋 𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖌𝖔𝖉. 𝖄𝖊𝖙 𝕴 𝖋𝖎𝖓𝖉 𝖎𝖙 𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊."

It were nothing Rising had to worry about, more than likely. Ascending to godhood were not a simple process. Even if you somehow managed to collect all of the primordial manifestations within you, it would take long before a god would manifest itself, from the energies being returned to their most raw, concentrated state. Rising would likely have died of old age, long before the ascended being would first make contact, and show itself among the mortals. Though perhaps his children, or grandchildren, might live to witness the rise of a new god.

Equestria would likely not have one in thousands upon thousands of years though, if ever. The ruling order were solidified, and natural order seen as the only functional one. It would take much before it would change. As well as a being of limitless potential, which had to be recognized by the elements themselves. Even Princess Twilight were not that being.

At least not yet. Who knew what time might hold?

On 8/29/2020 at 2:35 PM, Rising Dusk said:

Rising's ear flicked.  There was the subtle creak of a door opening.  It wasn't a sound though that could be heard in the dream.  It was a feeling, at the very edges of his mind.  He glanced over his shoulder out of instinct, but there was nothing there.  Rising was being watched from somewhere in his dream.  The avatar had drawn attention after all.

Time for now though, held a visitor. Maybe more? It were hard to say, as Viz'nay did not hold full control here, and as such, could not tell everything happeneing. Though she did feel the addition of something. A creature had entered this dreamers realm. Perhaps because of her? It were possible, as she were in a way, an intruder. An unwelcome guest to the princess and her stewards perhaps? They would see soon.

Her little avatar spread its wings, and fluttered off the princesses head, and up towards Rising again.

"𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖙𝖔 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖛𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖞𝖔𝖓𝖉 𝖒𝖊, 𝕽𝖎𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌. 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒 𝖙𝖔𝖔, 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖓𝖔𝖙?"

On 8/29/2020 at 2:35 PM, Rising Dusk said:

Flare Blitz and Starbright, a younger mare unicorn with a bright neon purple coat and striking black mane that twinkled multicolored lights, sprint down the street toward the candy shop.  The fit country unicorn who specialized in self-enchantment magics had to slow down every so often to left the mare catch up.  Flare Blitz would soon as charge right into a situation but luckily Starbright was of a clearer mind.  "Stop!" she shouted as they got closer to the store.  She nearly tumbled over the stallion as he stopped abruptly in his tracks rather than slow down as she expected.  "Access the situation," she huffed, spying over his back.  "You need to know if the dance floor is prepared for the party," she whispered even through they were in clear sight for anypony to see.  "Yes ma'am," the country pony pretended he understood and stood there being her cover.  The pair both approached the store, but the mare outside blowing bubbles drew their attention.  While not completely sure this was why they were called to duty, it was at least a logical guess.  "Excuse me, ma'am," Flare Blitz addressed, removing his cowboy hat in greeting.  "You're, uh, melting public... property," Starbright finished in case the mare wasn't completely aware what she was doing.  As a stallion who himself preferred the method of setting himself ablaze, he could understand.

The mare's bubble would burst as she were interrupted by Flare, though this time she didn't let out an annoyed noise, nor phrase, as it happening. Instead she looked over at him, with momentary confusion in her eyes. Then it seemed as if a light went off in her head, and she looked down on the street she stood on, and now finally bit notice in the dripping magma from her mane and tail, making holes in the stones.

"Oh? Oh! Sorry. Sorry. Hold on, I just gotta..."

She closed her eyes, and started to take some slow, deep breaths. In with fresh air, out with frustrations and tension. Breath in... Breathe out...

As she went through the steps, she began to lessen in heat. The fire on her leg lessened and soon vanished, whilst her hooves went from red hot, to a more ashen grey. Same thing happened with her back, where the cracks started to get overlaid with a fresh, hardened shell, that locked in the fire beneath it. As it cooled off in the wind, it would rapidly start to take on the same color as her body otherwise were.

As for her mane and tail, they too would start to stop dripping with magma, and slowly have the redness of them drain out of the tips. It seemed to still be present up to around two thirds of the length, which gave the hairs a red hue, beneath the ashed tips, but it didn't seem to be dangerous anymore.

They would also be able to tell this, as the air around her got less hot, so that she were actually approachable.

It would be around twenty seconds before she opened her eyes, and started to inspect herself.

"Cracks have closed, hardening seems completed... External heat have been redirected once more, and all obvious signs of leakage have been dealt with... Okay, I seem to be safe again."

She'd look up at the agents again after that, with a sheepish, apologetic look on her face.

"My sincerest apologies about that, officers. I'm still trying to test the limits of my current situation, and didn't think this would cause a problem. It seems that an increase in pressure needs to be counteracted more efficiently, before I can repeat this experiment. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble?

My name is Magma Del Ray. Former research assistant at the Center Zero Alchemy Labs. I'd show you my ID, but I accidentally melted that three months ago.

I'd offer you a hoof too, but I'd say it best to give me a minute or two, just to assess if I'm cooled down enough for touch again. There is still a lot of trial and error related to this."

She mostly looked at Flare Blitz as she spoke, though glances were also sent to Starbright. She just didn't catch her attention as much as the stallion, wearing a hat that quite frankly, not too many could carry with any sort of success. It were nice to see one whom it just fitted on as well as it did with him, though it clearly weren't guard attire, so who might these two be? IT still sounded like they were part of some form of regulatory body. Maybe local undercover detectives?

On 8/29/2020 at 2:35 PM, Rising Dusk said:

"Mr. Glory, Ms. Stitch!"

"I have a hammer, right there!"

She glared to the side, where right enough, there were a hammer. Why it were there, were up for debate, but likely had to do with something that needed repairs. The two of them tended to deal with minor issues themselves, such as a floorboard being uneven, or a pipe dripping. Small, every day stuff really.

"N-Needle, please. Deep breaths, okay? You are but a few stitches away. You can do this. Eeeasy."

Needle drew some strained breaths, and kept on with her work in silence. Glory however, were done with the mane in question, so he could let go of the scissors and address the mare a final time, before turning to the officers.

"Your mane is done miss, as requested."

"Thanks! It looks amazing."

"Kind words miss, kind words. Uhm... Officers? A word if I may, before something goes awry?"

He would guide them a little away, to allow the translucent mare and Needle, to finish the last stitching on the dress in peace, as well as allow him to speak to them out of the former's earshot.

Looking back and giving off a strained, yet good smile, he'd then quickly turn and look at the officers with concern in his eyes. As well as a sense of relief going over him.

"I don't know who called you here, but thank the sun they did. We are not in any danger, but this mare she... She showed up out of nowhere, and scared the other patrons away. We take pride in never turning away a paying customer, but I beg of you to please ensure that she is guided out of here, once Needle is done. Whatever is going with her, is clearly more your department to deal with, and she is scaring the locals. I'm sure they'd feel more comfortable, knowing that esteemed members of the O. M. I. were handling the situation.

And please attempt not to rip the dress. I fear what she might do, if that happens."

And he were not talking about the unknown mare. It were Needle whom he referred to. The one he had to deal with afterwards. And if she saw her stress and concern about causing a grand mess, ruined right in front of her eyes... He didn't know what she might do, but he rightly feared her ire.

"Finally. I'm done. It's finished."

The stallion would give a last, pleading glance towards the officers, before turning around and put on his best customer service face, as Needle fell back on her rear, and let out a long, drawn out sigh. The tensions were nearly flowing out of her pores, really showing that she had not had a calm time with this job.

The mare the dress were fitted on though, seemed overjoyed, and went a little closer to the mirror to look at herself. She even did a little twirl, to see her mane and dress, flow elegantly with the movement.

"*gasp* It's perfect! You two are the most talented fashion creatures I've ever run into. If anyone back home saw me like this, they'd surely think I were a glamorous princess"

"You're too kind miss. Too kind."

"No she's not. This is the hardest fitting I've worked on in my life, so. I'm gonna take every nice word that comes our way."

"Understandable. You worked very hard on this Needle, and it clearly shows."

"Uhuh. And here's your payment for it."

The mare's eyes would flicker, and so would the air next to the mirror. Within seconds, a lump of raw gold had gotten into focus, attached to a rope going straight through, making for a rather crude, and undoubtedly heavy, necklace of sorts. Reforged into bits, this would cover the dress, as well as the cost of such an endeavor, though they could always just sell the lump to a jeweler, and earn a little more on that. She didn't care really. Let them have the tip. She had a far better accessory going for herself now, in the new dress.

"Thank you. Now if I may, I would like to introduce you to these two fine, esteemed members of our town. The galant mare here is named Cork, whereas the stylish madamme that follows her, are Gold Mane. I think you may find them agreeable to talk with. Now if you will excuse me, if there is no further need for my services, I need to tend to my coworker."

Which he'd go and do, if there were nothing else, whilst the mare would slowly, and calmly, walk up to the officers with a smile on her face. Something to focus on, over what went on beneath the skin, where the pale skull, carrying two very dark eyes, would face them. It depended on what they chose to focus on here, really.

"Oooh, you two are braver than the others. Nice to meet you! My name's Grave Omen. Are you guards or something? Hmhm. Wanna frisk me down? Go ahead, I got nothikg to hide. Or anywhere to hide it either really, hehe."

She looked at Cork as she said that, though the tone and the way she pulled her tongue ever so slightly at her as she said this, made it somewhat clear that she were joking. These ponies seemed nice, so surely that wasn't gonna be an issue, right? They could deal with a little teasing joke.

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

The old draconequus were starting to look angry, as these insolent beings were toying with her. Small dark sparks seemed to form around her, as she prepared to simply remove the lot of them, and this entire place from existence itself. Let that teach them a le-

"Chaaaarge!"

Anomaly came rushing out of the ground, looking like a giant snake with tank tires and a bulldozer shovel, poking out of her nostrils. Via this, she'd hit her old self, and push her through the metal detector. Which due to it's iron based properties, were likely going to cause her to have the same reaction as Anomaly. That being, her powers turning on her, as the air crackled around her, and imploded, several times, as if folding upon itself.

After about half a dozen, she'd be standing there, barely larger than Rose in her current form, and swaying from side to side, in a daze. Though as Rose came over and poked her, she'd fall down, unconscious.

"I've tried this before too. It sucks, and hurts a lot."

"Doesn't it kinda count as cheating if we win like this? Oh well, who cares? Time to loot! Oooh, a +3 flute. Dibs!"

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

 

@Windy Breeze 🥧

It was a relief to see that they finally stopped trying to choke the life out of Windy, though it were less nice to see some of the ceiling collapse, and block the entrance. And then it got worse when a rumbling indicated that it were not the last thing that were going to fall. And considering where they were standing, that was a really bad thing!

"W-Windy! Get up fast. The ceiling is about to give in! We have to get to another room, quickly!"

Sorrow would drag her new friend along if she had to, but one way or another, they'd hopefully be able to escape to another room. Before the main hall here, ended up as gravel city. With them stuck beneath it. She weren't able to really do anything about them getting crushed, so they had to get a move on, and fast. There were no telling how long they had left, but she doubted it would be long. And like she had said: If they died here, they'd be stuck here. Frankly, they both had far better options for their afterlives, than being stuck in an expanding ghost town, ruled over by a poor soul, who had fallen deep, deep into her own hatred, brought along by her untimely, meaningless death.

...*sigh* It must be nice to be a regular pony sometimes, and have normal worries. Like *What's for dinner?* *Does so and so like me?*. That kind of thing. Instead of having to juggle with worries about death, ghosts, the afterlife, poltergeists, etc. It was important, but it must be nice sometimes to have more down to earth problems.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

On 8/29/2020 at 3:23 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“Wait, don’t the changelings have more… eh, complete bodies? I… I meant no offense but from what little we’ve heard of the changelings, they have colorful appearances with... less… holes.”

“I was hoping my sister could word that better but I am curious about that, too. We longma don’t really have a solid idea on what a changeling looks like and just assume that you can change the way your form looks. I suppose the same goes for popular things ponies know about. The longma are isolationists and don’t know about well-known things that are common knowledge in pony society.”

Cheshire let out a pearly, joyous laugh at what these two were saying. Changelings the way they described them? oh, the poor unfortunate souls. Such outdated information they must have of her kind. Such a thing must promptly be rectified!

"I see you've heard of Thorax's hive then. That's good, they're a nice, gentle representation of what we can be, but ohoho, dearest me, they're far from the standard.

What they have underwent, are still highly irregular among the hives. They're referred to as *Reformed changelings*. They're a new variant in our evolution I suppose, whom share emotions between one another, rather than harvest it from others. Considering the way Chrysalis ran them before, that is nothing but a boon for them, and I can imagine, will be something to strive for in the long run, for any hive that wishes to expand over a certain number of members. It gets dangerously hard to feed everyone, the more your hive numbers, which is one of the reasons why mine have only a dozen changelings. We are able to sustain ourselves well enough with that number, without causing trouble, nor starving. After all, joy is pouring in from everywhere when we perform. There is no need for us to worry about starvation. In fact, we even keep a reserve, just in case some poor hiveless enters Las Pegasus. They might not all trust us, but Hive Cheshire is a hive of good, caring changelings. We would never turn away a kin in need.

In any case, what you see with us, are the basic changelings. We survive on emotions brought in externally, and we are recognizable by the holed bodies we posses. Though most still prefer to wander in disguise. We might be legal now, but not everypony is ready to accept us. And queens in particular, which is why I present myself as more to the standards that ponies like. At least for now.

And I know you must wonder: Why do we not just all change like Thorax have, and no longer worry about hunger, nor the need to harvest emotions? Quite honestly, many hives reasons are that they consider his path an abomination. A twisted evolution that should not have been. Others are hesitant, because they fear they will lose who they really are, even if the change is beneficial.

Me, personally? Well, my hive does not need to go this route, unless we one day expand, and I still have questions that makes me hesitant to embrace his ways. Especially when it comes to our abilities. As performers, it is vital that we have your transformation abilities at their highest output, and if that is impeded, it will simply ruin our shows! That cannot be allowed, so I prefer to wait and see what happens, and what others find out over time.

Besides, as I say, we try to keep a surplus of emotions, in case some of our kin have need of it. If we can no longer collect, we won't be able to help our kind in the same way. As we can get ours without hurting anypony, it doesn't seem bad to remain as we are now anyway. It were much different if we had done like Chrysalis, though thankfully, that is not the case. Urgh, the thought alone, nearly makes me gag."

Her nose wrinkled, as she imagined the process of forcibly draining the emotions straight out of a pony. It was revolting, to say the least. And to do so with a precious emotion, like love? What were life, without that? Just as life were hollow without joy, which were why she would never drain it from somepony. She would rather they get on stage, deliver a grand performance, and they then simply collected the excess joy that their performance caused. It would only add to what they felt, and what radiated off them, were wasted otherwise. It were merely collecting that, and storing it, so that they could feast and stay alive. Without hurting anypony. She considered her hive to be above such vileness, even if they were very far down the totem pole, in the order of changeling hives.

On 8/29/2020 at 3:23 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“I suppose this would be a good time to properly introduce ourselves as longma, creatures who look like someone crossed a pony and a dragon. While our wings suggest we could fly, we don’t really do that; it’s more for gliding.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what did you sign us up for? And what was with that floating parchment your fellow changeling had?

"Pure flair, my dear. We could simply just remember your looks, in case you ever came around to our theater, but we are performers at heart. Puling out a parchment, writing down the names- It's all part of the grand show, that is life itself. As for what the signup were for, it is an offering of a free performance, if ever you find yourself in Las Pegasus. I simply cannot let it stand, that you have not seen even one of the great classics performed on stage.

You'll find that each hive tend to have some part of them, that reflects in the whole. Something inherited from the queen. For us it is performing skill, for others it might be strong mind reading, increased physical strength, an urge to steal shoes, and so on, and so forth. Usually you will find that there is a dual side. One being related to power, one to behavior. Such as performers, being increasingly strong in transformation. Stronger ones? One hive I know of like that, are avid fishers.

And then there are the... Less than nice ones, from outside this country. Ones such as the Slaver Queen, Onache. Intensely strong mind manipulation powers, which are used in a way the name implies. Supposedly, they're also nomadic in nature. Feeling uncomfortable staying in one place, for prolonged periods of times. Thankfully not an issue we have to deal with here in Equestria.

And no, she is by far not the worst. Being made a willing slave is one thing, but some others are... Well, I'd prefer not to talk about it. I have heard rumors alone that gave me nightmares, and I find it best to just try and ignore they are out there. Life is too short to worry about creatures far, far away from you.

Now, how about we talk about something more pleasant? Such as you? I find your king to look rather fascinating. Wings that cannot fly, but can still help glide? Draconic and equine traits? You remind me of the Kirin in a way, yet your visage are even more like a direct lineage between equines and dragons. I'd almost wonder if that is your legacy, but I find it near impossible. The two doesn't like one another that much more often than not. And I have already seen the offspring of a dragon and pony before. Somewhat close to you, yet fairly distinctive. So I know that cannot be the origins. More than likely just a curious case of evolution, going in wondrous ways."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

On 8/29/2020 at 8:05 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

She would then proceed to disarm the traps and burn the ropes, before lazily making her way back, checking the nearby area in case there was more traps build.

She wouldn't find that there were more traps, but as she burned the rope, she'd find that it appeared to be glittering. Some sort of spell had been placed upon it, but it had been torched before whatever spell were on it, came to fruition. This hunter of theirs, might have had more sneaky methods in mind for dealing with them, than a mere rope snare would suggest.

Beyond that though, there would be no further actions taken by the hunter. Whoever it were, were done with them. For now at least.

On 8/29/2020 at 8:05 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Watch your step when leaving the cave, the one who is most likely behind that trap you found knows where we are, they were building traps not far from here...." she put the support back on her leg while she spoke "...I didn't bother to chase them when they ran away, but they will probably be back soon enough." "The traps still used rope but don't let your guard down, that may be exactly what they want, because I don't believe that even the stupidest creature would think they would catch someone like me with a simple rope-trap, just based on my size."

"Might be magical. There's so many magically infused items in the world these days, it's hard to say if someone is just really stupid, or using subterfuge. Or as you say, they're trying to make us lower our guard.

Whoever it is, is pretty brazen, to attack three dragons like this. Even with traps, that's a power move, to think that you can deal with that. I wouldn't rule out that we're dealing with a group right now honestly, so we're best off staying close to one another. More for the sake of the little one than us. We can fend for ourselves, but in his state, I doubt he'd be much of a challenge to anyone."

Right now, she were honestly rather happy that he did not understand what they were saying. It would probably just have made him even more nervous, and it were already bad whenever Ruby were around. Too much bad blood with that bloodline... *sigh* Hopefully they'd both do better, than their mother had done. Even if they took up some of the same habits, with chasing off their own young, one could at the very least, hope that they would do it in a gentle way. Like, let them know in advance, that they had to learn to fend for themselves, rather than having a cold connection to their parent, up until they told you to scram.

The part about not telling him though, seemed to be moot, as Ruby began to explain things to him. Or so she thought anyway. She still had no idea how to discern what exactly their words meant, beyond judging reactions. Seeing that, it appeared the small one were indeed told that there were someone after them, but seeing as he didn't panic, and returned to eating, he were maybe also told they'd keep him safe. Or he just assumed so. Either way, it would be right. Whoever were after them, would not get to the little one. Not long as she had a say in it.

As nothing seemed to happen as they finished their respective meals however, she'd relax a little more. Like Ruby, she'd still remain alert to sounds, though she knew well that Ruby would detect things far before her. Her senses were fine-tuned for things such as this.

"...Might I ask something? What's his name? Your half brother I mean. I keep referring to him as the little one, but it seems demeaning to just treat him like that."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"You might be right. Chimera are real, and they're mixed bodies and minds. Same with draconequui, who're made up of all sorts.

...Hmm, maybe some sort of creature like this, carrying some degree of shark gene in them, could have mated with a pony, and produced a strange, chimera-like offspring? That, or a draconequus were involved. My bet's still on them. I've seen and heard lots of the weird creatures that Discord could make, so that's possible.

Like Fah'lina, right? She's part of a reeeeal old race, that came about when Discord were ruling Equestria. I dunno why they didn't revert like most other things he had meddled with though. Maybe the chaos were too ingrained, over generations? Whatever the reason, she's proof there can be all sorts of odd creatures that comes about, due to draconequui meddling. Pretty sure nature doesn't have a need to make squirrels into water-dwelling predators normally. Same with making a shark land-based. It just doesn't fit evolution.

Also, I'd prefer to think on that, rather than imagining the inter-species fun time that lead to a shark pony. It would burn a hole in my mind space."

Ziggy would physically shake, as she got a faint image in her head, and had to then violently shake her head and think of something else. Some things were not meant for the mortal mind to think about.

Meanwhile, Fah'lina would be working on licking her palms, and trying to push her fur down again. Which she were finally having some luck with, though she were still far off. Soon as she managed to get to her head though, it'd help on things. If she could at least see and hear again, it would make this whole thing less annoying. Being sensory deprived were not pleasant.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

On 8/29/2020 at 8:05 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

They tend to do that." Bellflower said "Don't get me wrong, I feel sympathetic towards you and wish I could help you, as I understand how it must feel like, it's like losing a part of yourself, but it is very much expected." "Pegasus lose their wings, unicorns lose their magic, such is the game of Draconequus, they take away what you want to lose the least, but they are not evil...per se, they just find it entertaining to torment creatures." "They also tend to keep their word when it comes to returning what they've taken, so don't worry, it won't be permanent."  

"I pray you are right. I know ponies and the like does not go through life such as this, but I am a child of nature. I cannot live like this. The silence is deafening."

She were not deaf in that sense, but this mare seemed to understand the plight, and would surely know what she meant.

Hearing that this were a common thing with draconequui games though- Losing what were most important to you, whilst the games went on... It scared her to think that this were normal for them. What matter of creature would toy with others, in such a fashion? How far removed from them must you not feel, to consider the world, and the creatures within them, little more than play things? Were they... Were they gods of some kind?

This thought made her pale a little, and feel somewhat sick to her stomach. She were not sure how well she could cope, knowing that some gods acted like this, and were roaming free.

On 8/29/2020 at 8:05 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

The last sentence would be proven the moment Lyriel and Bellflower came to view, as the mare would immediately break back into freezing fog and float away. 

The trickster did not have time to respond to this, before the ghost vanished, at the sight of Bellflower.

Not that it were sure what to say either. The concept of time and losing things were not something it could relate to all that much, as it weren't anything before. It were a fresh soul, formed around pieces of the forest floor, and given some baseline instinct, intelligence, and then set out into the world. It had nothing it could have lost. No past that were long away. And really, no semblance of understanding, of what Scarecrow and the ghost went through.

Maybe it were best that she had vanished for now then, to give it time to think on this, rather than just ask more questions. Though due to what it had learned, the response to turning around and seeing Bellflower, were a resounding *nope!* reaction, as it took off, and flew over behind Scarecrow. Whilst covering behind him, it let out a hollow caw, but otherwise kept silent, and just observed behind its undeath shield.

"Please, be at ease. Bellflower here have agreed to part with some ectoplasm, but asks that she gains something in return. From you that is, Scarecrow.

She have interest in gaining some small pieces of you. I did not wish to make a decision on your behalf, as it is your body, and therefor your choice what happens to the parts of it, so we have come for you two to make a decision between one another. If you do not agree with this action, it's okay. We will find another place that holds what we need. It will merely take some time to try and find.

Whatever the decision may be, it is fully up to you."

Edited September 1, 2020 by Blitz Boom

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

Lucid noticed a sword. He picked up the loot.

"Aw! This is a level 18! I'm only level 9!"

"Yeah! This game is pay to win!"

Lucid ate the sword.

"Why don't metal detectors detect themselves?"

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

“I suppose there may be a chance to hear Thorax’s take on his hive one day. I wonder if he knows about the other changelings outside of his group…”

“And going to see one of your shows in Las Pegasus is not something we could pass up. Maybe we’d see what makes these performances so popular. We don’t know where to begin and some ponies might turn us away because we don’t look the part. From what I hear, these stage performances are reserved for those who are wealthy and cultured. And, there’s… us.”

Sen knew this feeling better than Lin, but her assessment was still fairly spot-on. If someone were to ask the longma exactly how he survived, the response would be a mixture of disappointment and resentment. Here was a creature whose appearance was so bizarre, a mixture of unassuming and ferocious, and not taking advantage of those traits. Some would argue that this strength should evoke power but not everything works the way one expects, and Sen would have years of experience to back that up. Still, it gave him insight into how pony high society works, the uglier side of it, at least. 

There was a look of bitterness that ran across the longma’s faces. Forlorn yet somehow feeling disappointed in themselves that to experience the things loved by others outside of their own kind, they have to rely on meeting the right creatures to even have an inkling of an impression. The siblings didn’t want to keep this up but at the same time, they met some of the most wonderful creatures they never thought possible. Perhaps this line of thinking will change one day but it would take a long while to see it happen.

It was fortunate that Queen Cheshire decided to move the topic of conversation along to something else to get the siblings to get their mind off their conflicting thoughts. 

“The longma like to think that we were something much more ferocious before we settled into a forest. Maybe we were able fly at some point in the past but being cooped up in the shaded woods made our ancestors realize we don’t need the wings as much.”

“If we had the chance, we’d like to learn about how we really came to be, find our origins. There’s so much to our history that doesn’t add up that if we could just go far back enough, we’d be able to set the stories straight. I wish we could help you piece our background together but even we are in the dark with no answers or certainty.”

“I mean, one possible answer we could give you is ‘this is how it’s always been.’ It’s a boring answer but that’s probably the safest way we could explain ourselves. It might go the same way when someone asks a pony or a changeling how they came to be, right?”

Edited August 31, 2020 by EQ_Theta

[Catpone Cerberus 23,599]

@Blitz Boom
Ruby just nodded, her brother was exactly why she even brought it up, though they shouldn't underestimate him, he is part of her kind after all, even the weakest of her kind were a formidable foe for unprepared, and what they lacked in strength and skill, they made up with speed and agility, that's probably how he managed to escape the homelands in the first place, outrunning the bigger dragons. 

"We don't have names in the same way you do, we earn them rather than are given them, though sometimes the earned name is a negative one." "If using our way of naming, he would be called 'Red' as he's too young to have gained name for himself. My name for example was 'Charir kethend' which translates to 'Red gem' or as you call it 'Ruby', red, because I'm red, and gem because I tended to steal gems, though it was not on purpose." "But I'll ask him if he was called anything that wasn't an insult." she would then do just that, presumably, as there still was no way to tell what she was actually saying.

After getting a response, she looked at Leviathan again "As I thought, just insults, but I suggest we call him 'Charir', as it makes sense to him, and it sounds like a name for those who don't speak our language." 

--------------------------------------------------
Nada just nodded thoughtfully, she had never really thought about it, she had kinda just accepted that all kind of creatures exist and that she will never know where they all came from, especially when they seem to be the only creature like that rather than part of a species, since that suggested they weren't a natural creation."Nature can make quite weird things too though, like Timberwolves, I mean, I know it's the forest's magic that creates them, but I'd consider that nature." "Or those clearly intelligent vines that seek out living creatures, or poison joke." the forest in general was very weird, maybe the whole forest was handiwork of a draconequus? that would make sense.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bellflower looked at the 'bird' , then at the ground where the frozen tracks of the mare were, and then back Scarecrow and the 'bird', she knew why it was hiding, but the friendly smile never left her face.

As to be expected, Scarecrow had no visual reaction to any of this, nor did he show any reaction to what Lyriel had said, he just turned to look at Bellflower, who started speaking when he turned towards her "You are very unique creature Scarecrow, your kind doesn't usually mutate like you have, and my brother would like to study why you are like you are." "It will be only tiny pieces from here and there, you won't even notice them missing." "If he finds something, will it be shared with me?" "Yes, we know that those like you have a desire to move on, and thus we wouldn't keep such information from you." "Then go ahead." he opened his wings and just stood there, waiting for Bellflower to do her thing.

If Lyriel was one to notice such things, she would be able to notice few things that didn't seem normal. First, Scarecrows voice, there was something different about it, a level of anxiety that hadn't been there before, it was small yet noticeable change, the rest were small actions of his body, his wings and hind legs tensing up, as they were the closest thing to a muscle in his body, and him looking just generally uneasy, or at least as uneasy as someone like him could look like.

Bellflower wouldn't even need to get close to take what she wanted, she just calmly levitated the empty jar and a small knife to Scarecrow and took tiny pieces into the jar with the knife, and like she had said, they really were small, she also scratched one of the bone-spikes that grew out of him to get bit of them into the jar too. Lastly she pulled out a small feather from his wing, but was surprised when it turned into a shapeless blob the moment it connected with the smaller pieces of the growth already in the jar. Assuming she could do this without Lyriel interrupting her, after finishing she would levitate the ectoplasm jars next to Scarecrow and smile at him "Thank you for your cooperation, it's always nice when these things can be done peacefully." 

If the 'bird' tried to intervene in any way, he would find that any attempts to grab on either the knife or the jar would be stopped by Bellflower calmly holding it in place with her magic until she was done.

If Lyriel intervened, anything less than straight up attacking her would just cause her to focus on Lyriel while continuing on taking the samples, assuring that everything was fine.

[Blitz Boom 4,628]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Where I'm from, we used to have a name for those who treated their pups like this: Exiles."

Leviathan sounded bitter as she heard yet another tale spoken aloud, from the big book of *Reasons why some dragons are awful*. A figurative tome, that were opened up basically every time, Ruby started to talk about how things went in her country.

It were a bias thing to some extend, and she were well aware of it. To Ruby, it all made sense, and the family dynamic of this neck of the world, seemed meaningless, and radiated weakness. Whereas to Leviathan, the opposite were true. She saw family and bonding with others, as a sign of personal strength, and the sort of family dynamic that Ruby and Charir knew off, as barbaric and reprehensible. She couldn't see the real power that came from this. Doubly so, since as she said, she were used to others treating their off-springs like this, to be banished from the flock.

Dragons from this part of the world would wary in their own look on this matter, but she hardly knew anyone, who would think this to be fine. Even if they disliked their own family for varied reasons, most of them still wouldn't agree to treat them like dirt from the start, then boot them out and scream *Fight or die!* at them. The few who were treated that way, tended to find others to wander around with, and didn't care about whatever their family didn't like to talk with them, since it were only the dragon lord, and some of the assigned elders, that guarded varied important areas in Dragon Land, who could technically force you out for good.

As for the sort she grew up with... Well, most who got exiled from their packs, tended to perish on their own, or find new ones, after they learned their lesson through prolonged exposure to loneliness. She were used to seeing this, along with most other races, and understand loneliness as actual weakness. Sure it were good to have some personal power, but you could only go so far on your own. She would give the ponies that to an extend, that they understood that much. Even if their version were a little different.

But be that as it may, she had better things to do than focus on this again. There were enough messing around with a hunter - or maybe even a group of them - trying to snare them in. She did not need more negativity in her day already.

"Anyway, Charir you say? Sounds like a fine name, and one which he'll react on, if I have to call him out at some point.

I'd ask what sort of insults come out of your neck of the woods, so to speak, but I don't want him to hear them again. From what you say, he's been battered by insults enough as it is. It can't have done anything good for his self confidence. What little might have been left, after the judgement from being a runt.

*sigh* We're gonna have a lot to work on there. One step at a time though, I suppose. I mean, he doesn't seem terrified right now at least. That's something positive, compared to earlier."

Might be because he were eating, but she liked to think that things were just calming down a little for him, even if he reacted when Ruby focused on him. It weren't just gonna be fixed in one day though, and she knew that. It was a process, and like any process, it had to be taken one step at a time.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

"Yeah, timberwolves are weeeeird. How does tree parts just kinda lump together, and start walking around? How do they grow, when they're not setting roots? Eat and process meals? Reproduce? Hay, how can they be regular, living creatures, when they can split apart, and then sorta assemble themselves later? It's seven kinds of crazy.

Somepony I went to medical school with, said that she were sure they weren't technically living creatures like we know them, but some sort of forest spirit, possessing trees and making them partially elemental. Y'know, like the living stone creatures, that aren't golems? Or uhm... Water spirits, that use lake water to make a body, when they manifest. That sorta thing.

I never really got all her theories or weird jargon for it, but she sounded convinced. I think she even went and wanted to write a documentary about it? Huh... Maybe I should check the library for her name, the next time I'm there? Might be she did something with this."

Whilst Ziggy went off the rails, and seemed to space out, the clock started to go off again. One particular one, with a wooden bird poking out, that had Agni fly over and just miss it again. So he'd stand and annoyingly pecked at the door for a few times, before returning with a low caw. He'd get to it sooner or later.

"A-N-Y-Way, you might be right too, about it being forest magic. I dunno. I do medical stuff, not forest studies, hehe. I do know to stay away from poison joke though. Nasty stuff, affecting you like you're part of a draconequus game. Yuck.

I don't think I've heard about intelligent vines before though. What're those? Is that slang for some sort of snake? Or like, actual tree stuff, going out to snatch ponies? is... Is the foal-eating trees real? *meep*"

She seemed somewhat spooked by that idea. An old story she had been told when she were much younger, about trees that would munch on foals who strayed from the patch.

She were pretty sure it were just scare stories, to make sure foals didn't go and get lost in the woods, but it were hard to say really. Nature were full of crazy stuff.

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

23 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"You are very unique creature Scarecrow, your kind doesn't usually mutate like you have, and my brother would like to study why you are like you are." "It will be only tiny pieces from here and there, you won't even notice them missing." "If he finds something, will it be shared with me?" "Yes, we know that those like you have a desire to move on, and thus we wouldn't keep such information from you." "Then go ahead."

Lyriel were relived to find that Scarecrow agreed, and that seemingly, things went on between the two of them rather peacefully.

However, she couldn't also help but notice that he seemed more.. Tense, during the process? He were acting unusually fidgety, and his voice seemed different too, as he had inquired about a potential breakthrough, which could lead to him passing on from this mortal realm. If she did not know better, she would almost think that he might be afraid of Bellflower.

Usually she had an easy enough time to read others. Sweating, facial expressions, that sort of thing. It were all fairly easy to read, when you knew what you were looking for. And seeing as how she often had to deal with animals, who at times were not ones with a great vocabulary, understanding signs, undertones, and other such things, came fairly okay to her.

Scarecrow were a hard creature to read though, as he were not like those she knew of. He were not living, so heart-rate, sweating, and so on, she couldn't rely on. Facial expressions were also obviously out of the picture, and as he were intelligent enough to speak, he didn't make use of much in the way of signs, so that were a no go either.

And yet, he seemed to act in ways that did make her think of how others were, when they showed signs of nervousness. However, she just didn't feel sure about whatever or not that were the case. She would have to ask him later, though if he seemed to act worse, she would have to intervene in some fashion, as there might be something they had been told, that made him think he were justified in fearing this mare. The frost on the ground, told her that the ghost had been with them recently at least. As did the fact, that she had seen the mist gather near them earlier, before she went to the house. Who knew what she might have told them?

As for the trickster, it would not intervene, though it more clearly felt the discomfort of Scarecrow. Being this close - yet not touching him, or the disguise would go on him - the thing could feel his reaction to this, in some small way. Came from being tuned to fit his biology correctly, so that it could provide him with a costume, as needed. It gave it a small bit on insight to things it could feel out on the same wavelength. Though mind reading were far beyond their weak bond, and it couldn't track deeper emotions. It were just sort of a vibe, of things that were rather surface level, when it came to Scarecrow. Might be this would stop over time, but who could say for sure, when it came to draconequui creations?

23 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Thank you for your cooperation, it's always nice when these things can be done peacefully." 

The trickster would begin to scratch at the ground, and write upside down, from its own perspective - hence in a way that meant that Bellflower could read it - a few words, ending with a crude question mark.

"Is that all?"

It seemed like so little, that Bellflower had taken. And clearly, from what the ghost had said, she could just simply take it, if she wanted to. It seemed odd to make this deal, over something this minute. Didn't even take an eye from any of them. Or something else that seemed to be a good deal more impactful.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

On 8/31/2020 at 11:56 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“I suppose there may be a chance to hear Thorax’s take on his hive one day. I wonder if he knows about the other changelings outside of his group…”

“And going to see one of your shows in Las Pegasus is not something we could pass up. Maybe we’d see what makes these performances so popular. We don’t know where to begin and some ponies might turn us away because we don’t look the part. From what I hear, these stage performances are reserved for those who are wealthy and cultured. And, there’s… us.”

"Oh honey, Honey! Eeeease yourself there. Sure some theater is only for the high nobles, but the Cheshire Theater welcomes all, and offer low price points, based on what we know a regular being can afford. Seeing as the performances doubles as our food source, we consider the overflow of joy that are being provided by the audience, to be part of the price. Hence, the cost in bits are a good deal lower.

And yes, we do inform everypony at the door, that this happens. I pride myself in having a transparent hive, to promote trust and understanding between us, and the regular citizens. The less they distrust us, the better life will be for us, after all. That also means that we do not exclude anypony from joining us in te theater, based on what they are. The only things excluding some are bad behavior, or immense size. Our theater have room, but some dragons are simply too big. For their amusement, we have the occasional street performances. It's delightfully fun, and the tourists have come to enjoy it. And if there's one thing that can endear you to the regulars in Las Pegasus, it is to entice, and attract tourists."

Cheshire nearly purred, as she responded to Lin's assessment of the theater world. A fairly accurate one, when it came to most, but one that were highly detrimental to their own theater. They did not need immense amounts of bits, despite the hard work they put into things, as they dealt with most things themselves. Repairs, special effects, and most costumes, were a good deal of a regular cost they didn't need to deal in. Nor had they expenses for extra housing, due to them living in the building, and as for food... Well, the majority of what they ate, came from the performances themselves, so they did well enough,

They still needed some bits though. There were taxes, the electric bill, certain stage things they couldn't just simply handle themselves, popcorn and soda for the audience to buy... And they did like to have some spending money too, to share around between them. They just weren't immensely greedy about the whole thing. And Celestia be willing, they never would be.

"As for Thorax, he knows well a good deal of hives. He sent word to may of them even, to try and reason with them, and find cooperation. I still haven't heard anything, but my hive is small, and only somewhat recently got into the spotlight. I'm sure we'll catch his eye eventually. He needs all the allies he can get after all. His hive might be the biggest in Equestria, giving him a boost in power, but not too many are thrilled about what he represents currently. Puts him in a fairly tense situation these days, I can imagine."

On 8/31/2020 at 11:56 AM, EQ_Theta said:

“The longma like to think that we were something much more ferocious before we settled into a forest. Maybe we were able fly at some point in the past but being cooped up in the shaded woods made our ancestors realize we don’t need the wings as much.”

“If we had the chance, we’d like to learn about how we really came to be, find our origins. There’s so much to our history that doesn’t add up that if we could just go far back enough, we’d be able to set the stories straight. I wish we could help you piece our background together but even we are in the dark with no answers or certainty.”

“I mean, one possible answer we could give you is ‘this is how it’s always been.’ It’s a boring answer but that’s probably the safest way we could explain ourselves. It might go the same way when someone asks a pony or a changeling how they came to be, right?”

Ah, such a delightful twist in topics. Theater, politics, the way certain races were treated, in an equine society- She loved it all. Made her fondly think of a few dramatic performances, that could be used on stage one of these days. Ah, such inspiration. But it would have to be for another night. They had a planned few performances for this night, and a potential other one to test out, if the mood struck them. Which is fairly often did, when it came to their hive. hard to just stop performing, when the crowd were all cheering, and clamoring for more.

"Evolution is a curious thing, isn't it? You have wings, but in time, you don't need them a lot, so they start to grow weaker, while your muscles and bones grow stronger, since you have a much bigger need for that in a dense forest. Why, I can imagine your night vision, smell, and/or sense of smell, must have improved too, due to the shaded woods, not providing much light. Thestrals have it much the same way, do they not, my little ray of gloomshine?"

She said this to Rosa, with a small smirk on her face, and a cheeky wink. He had been looking rather neutral through all of this, rather than crack a smile, so she found it fun to poke at him with this. And seeing how his muzzle did rise a bit, she saw it had worked. That, and she could feel his emotions. It made things far easier to track, though somewhat simplistic in it. Some might even call it cheating, but what they did know?

"I doubt it is to the same extend, but yes. Thestrals did evolve over time, due to night conditions. As well as certain environmental needs, that had to be met."

"Such functions evolution, more often than not.

As for your origins, Sen and Lin, worry not. There are history books spanning millennia out there, and beings thousands upon thousands of years old, who might well have witnessed the very birth of many a race. It's very enticing to think of the sources one might find out there, if only you're willing enough to explore.

Us changelings have it somewhat simple, when it comes to our origins, though it is not a pleasant tale. Quite frankly, it is best left to the history books, or in due time, a theater performance, which needs to warn of a certain element of horror to it, and add an age limit. I think it best to simply look more at the present, rather than the grizzly past for our race. Though I completely understand why you'd want to know about your own. Might be a riveting tale there to tell."

"As riveting a tale as trying to falsify a tale of a dragon and pony hybrid, you have actually seen?"

"Who is falsifying? I've met her. I could give you a name and a face to go with it, but as a member of race, whom do not wish to be ratted out, I'm sure you can understand why I would not want to do that to her, hmm? You are a smart cookie, are you not?"

"...If true, it would present an interesting bonding point, between two, historically warring races. However, certain extremist factions on both sides, would also be considering said offspring, as an abomination. And such beings have a tendency in being very direct, in how they deal with issues that goes against their world view."

"See? What did I say? A smart cookie indeed. Have a gold star dearie."

A spark of the horn, and he'd get a glimmering, golden star glued to his chest. On it, in a silvery, fluid motion, would then be written *Clever colt*.

"Lovely."

"Uff, don't have to be an emotion eater to taste That degree of sarcasm.

In any case, might I suggest you make some degree of haste to the center of town? Soda are soon to spark the festival open, and I'm sure he'd find you a riveting bunch as well, no? I'll follow you on the way. I am going in that direction as it is anyway. It is the main stage, after all."

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

 

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Pff, you're a draconequus, right? You look at it all wrong! It's not level 18. It's-"

Anomaly would snap, and a plus sign would show up between the 1 and 8 on the sword stat page.

"- level 9! Doesn't help when you disenchant it then though, silly silly."

As the sword had already been eaten, Anomaly considered the page fair game, and would snap a few times, which made it start to go blank, then float on its own. Right over the varied creatures, and when it were above them, it would display their stat page, until it hit a new being.

As it passed Rose, it seemed like she were level 15, Omen were level 289, Harry were level 2, and the others were whatever. They were draconequui, and spawn thereof. These numbers varied wildly, and likely had some cheats in them. Why, as it passed over Henry, he shook one of his meaty fists at it, and it changed to level 7.

Going over the old time Anomaly though, it would display her level as being unknown, afflicted with a *Curse of Weakness* and apparently, her name were Buzzkill.

"Hehe, totally fitting. I bet they used to call her Buzzy or something like that."

Oh, and as for the shadow bear from before, Harry had grabbed it, and were now currently scratching it behind the right ear. It seemed to like it, judging by the pleased growl, and stubby tail wagging.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

Lucid pet his lizard pet and thought for a moment.

"So, was rebuilding successful? Maybe we could destroy the progress with the tank!"

"Yeah! Let's ruin all the progress!"

Lumen looked at them.

"It might interfere with other stories, I don't think that's allowed."

Lucid took an ursa major and threw it through a portal into the author's house. A screen popped up so they could watch the drama unfold.

[Windy Breeze 15,190]

@Blitz Boom

Windy quickly stood just in time for a piece of wood to shoot down to the floor where her head lay just seconds ago. She started blankly in shock at the debris before regaining her senses when more parts of the ceiling began to fall down at them she glance around for an exit.

“There!” she said to Sorrow before galloping the staircase “Head to the second floor.

As the rumbling continues, a loud wail is heard, sending chills to Windy and Sorrow.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,599]

@Blitz Boom

Ruby did notice the bitterness in Leviathan's comment, but she just acknowledged the words with a nod and didn't otherwise react, she knew Leviathan didn't approve of her kinds way to live, so there was no point in making that a conversation.

"I didn't ask for specific insults so I wouldn't be able to tell you regardless of you asking or not, but if they are anything like what I was called, they are just different ways to say how useless and weak he is." Ruby explained even though Leviathan didn't ask "They are the most insulting ones for our kind as you may have guessed." and probably the only ones that would stick, since for example insults relating to what they looked like didn't do much because the opinions of others didn't matter to them since everyone else than they themselves were wrong.  

"And he isn't scared, because he can't sense me as clearly, the food is filling his senses" "He isn't stupid, so he has most likely realized that I won't kill him, but because of his upbringing, his fear of me is instinctual, and I can tell you, getting rid of such reactions isn't easy." she would know, there was lot of things she had to get rid of to be able to live as a pony. "And don't take that as me praising him, our kind just generally isn't stupid, even the youngest ones, bit narrow-minded maybe, but far from stupid." the thing about hating everyone, or in Ruby's case, almost everyone, was that you could easily critique your own kind even when you saw them as the superior species, because you hated them as much as you hated everyone else. 

It wouldn't take long until Charir had finished his food too, leaving only the slightly damaged pelt and bones like Ruby usually did, but he didn't bury them, not because he usually wouldn't, but because he was too scared to leave the cave to do so, and instead he backed away and laid down, he wasn't going to sleep, but after such meal it was good to rest a bit, though resting didn't mean he didn't keep his eye on Ruby. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nada smiled at Agni's reaction, simple lighthearted things like that were nice after everything that had happened. She again listened without interrupting, she didn't really know anything about different spirits or golems but they didn't sound like the most unbelievable thing out there.

"I don't know if they're actually intelligent but the way they move is not normal for plants...though then again Lyriel spoke with them so there hast to be something...anyway, I don't know if they eat ponies, I have never seen them catch anything, but they have tried to catch me few times, especially lot during that one time when the forest was overrun by them until they suddenly vaporized." "I have also seen these giant flytraps that let out some kind of gas and seemingly hunt meat." 

---------------------------------------------
Bellflower seemed surprised that the creature could write, but other than that her expression didn't change "Yes, in fact, it's more than my brother needs for his tests, I didn't expect the feather to turn into..." she looked the now closed jar from closer "...whatever that is."  she looked towards Scarecrow in a way that indicated she expected him to explain but Scarecrow just shrugged. "I'm done here, so until any of you have something you want to ask or say, I'll wish you good luck in the game and will leave you alone." and so she would do if there was nothing more, the ectoplasm was already next  to Scarecrow so that was not a worry either. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

“When you put it that way, it does make going back to Las Pegasus a little more enticing,” Sen replied as he scratched the back of his head. “I can never really see myself returning when the most prominent reason to come back is to play games of chance. That is especially true when the games are rigged against the player.”

“But because you also perform in Las Pegasus, I think we’d like to see one of these shows.”

The siblings were thrilled to have Queen Cheshire tag along with them to the center of town. As they had a chance to look back on their adventures and meet the most interesting personalities they knew so far, there was a feeling of elation that filled the siblings, most notably Sen, who could only imagine what else is there to come. A shame the other longma don’t feel the same, even with Omen having a home in their village. Perhaps it needs time and more exposure to the others. That much is true for the villages and the other elders who are new to the idea.

Sen would have a look at that little trinket Cheshire materialized on Rosa’ chest and it got a hearty chuckle out of him. It was clear the changeling queen is a fun-loving sort, and energetic with the way she carried out her public performance. There might even be a lesson in drawing attention in her tone and voice, the good kind that commands the eyes and ears to take notice before giving a memorable performance. Though it wouldn’t necessarily translate well to a meeting with other longma, it could be a hint at how explaining the concept of theater and theatrics to the folks back home. 

“The other longma back home wouldn’t believe the things we’ve seen and the creatures we’ve met! I know we said we’re an isolated sort but seeing your performance with our own eyes… the spectacle would really make them speechless.”

“Since we could probably find ourselves watching one of your shows, Queen Cheshire, what would you say is a good place to start learning about the kind of shows you do?”

[Blitz Boom 4,628]

@Lucid_Nightlight

You lot are staying away from the main story. It's muddled up enough without the need for you to make it worse. Besides, there's already a version of Anomaly there, and it would cause issues if there was a second one.

"Ooooh, so That's where I left the last fraction of me. I sorta wondered where I'd put her."

You literally forgot a p- Aaargh! Bear!!!

"Uuuh, let's see what happens then. It appears to emptying his fridge- Jeez, that's a lotta juice. Anyway, fridge emptied, couch stomped to pieces... Aaawh phooey. It's yawning and taking off for a mountain. Lazy lazy is just going to go hibernating. Well, not like it weren't so big it didn't leave half his house in ruins anyway, so it still left a mark.

I wonder if it's gonna meet Godzilla... Meh, probably not that lucky. It might eat that big truck full of canned goods though.

Yep. Yep. Theeere it goes. Hehe, just look at them running away, screaming in terror. Silly monkey things are so funny."

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

 

@Windy Breeze 🥧

On 9/2/2020 at 1:24 AM, Windy Breeze 🥧 said:

“There!” she said to Sorrow before galloping the staircase “Head to the second floor.

As the rumbling continues, a loud wail is heard, sending chills to Windy and Sorrow.

*Meep!*

Sorrow nearly jumped out of her own skin - figuratively. She wasn't like Great Aunt Skin Snatcher - when part of the ceiling fell down near them. Far, far too close for comfort. And as could be seen as she looked up, they were not out of the woods yet. The entire thing seemed to be aimed at hammering down over their heads, to avoid them reaching Autumn.

Thankfully Windy saw a spot they could go, and not a moment too soon either, as the rumbling started to increase, leaving them to have to haul flank. Which Sorrow did, as fast as her long legs could carry her. Something told her that if they didn't hurry, the stairs would crumble or something, to try and capture them down here. But if that were the case, they fortunately both had wings. One way or another, they'd make it upstairs to uhm... Well, the closest this place had to *safety*, she imagined.

As for Legion, they would urge Windy to keep moving as well. As she now wore the necklace, and had shown that she were able to hear them, when having physical contact, Windy would be more than capable of hearing what they said, whenever the skull made physical contact with her body. A little taste of what it were like, to be part of Sorrow's family, if you would.

"Run and fly, but beware: We feel the darkness is close. Do not fall prey to its anguish."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

On 9/2/2020 at 9:41 AM, Catpone Cerberus said:

"I didn't ask for specific insults so I wouldn't be able to tell you regardless of you asking or not, but if they are anything like what I was called, they are just different ways to say how useless and weak he is." Ruby explained even though Leviathan didn't ask "They are the most insulting ones for our kind as you may have guessed."

"I could think of at least seventy insults then, right off the top of my head. Several times more, if I were allowed to string together words. And I don't much care to use any of them."

It were perhaps not the most imaginative, wide ranging thing, to speak about ones weakness, yet Ruby had a point. When it came to their kind - and runts such as herself - you'd tend to hear quite a few commenting on your weakness, as an easy way to insult you. It might not be a very wide array of insults, but what did it matter, when the ones slinging them out, knew that it worked? Or at least thought it did at times. Some were too inept to make a proper insult, so it felt flat on its face. Others were far more efficient, and would pick just the right time, with the correct tone, to verbally make you feel whipped.

Personally, she preferred to hit with more personalized insults, if she were to use them at all. Oftentimes she were just snarky, sarcastic, or angry. Actually flinging out things that were just insults felt icky to her most of the time. Sometimes it felt lazy, or overly harsh to do that, but mostly, she just didn't think it were warranted. Not unless she were trying to goat someone, or were caught up in an emotional pitch. Which could tend to happen often, depending on the situation. Her mixed heritage were both part of rather emotional dragon sub types, and she were far from immune to that. She were fairly emotional, which were also one of the reasons why she could never see herself accepting the ways that Ruby's kind took. It were cold and clinical. Far from something she could ever take part in herself. Frankly, a better chance her whelps would end up trying to run away, because she got too clingy, instead of being chased off.

On 9/2/2020 at 9:41 AM, Catpone Cerberus said:

"And he isn't scared, because he can't sense me as clearly, the food is filling his senses" "He isn't stupid, so he has most likely realized that I won't kill him, but because of his upbringing, his fear of me is instinctual, and I can tell you, getting rid of such reactions isn't easy." she would know, there was lot of things she had to get rid of to be able to live as a pony. "And don't take that as me praising him, our kind just generally isn't stupid, even the youngest ones, bit narrow-minded maybe, but far from stupid."

"I'd never say you were stupid, Ruby. Indoctrinated maybe, but not stupid.

Your brother is likely not either. He have learned his entire life that he can't trust other dragons, and especially not your mother. Since you look somewhat like her, I can understand that it isn't idiocy that keeps from trusting you. It's survival instinct. The hardest thing to overcome, for any sensible creature.

I'm hoping that over time, as he gets more positive experiences, he'll begin to question things. Eventually start to judge this new place, based on those new experiences, rather than his old ones. I had just hoped that he were feeling a little more at ease already, rather than simply being too focused on his food right now."

She'd take a big crunch off her fish, after she said this. A few sentences which were maybe a bit naive of her, but who could blame her, for hoping for the best? They were working diligently on making Charir understand their intentions were not harmful towards him, so it were not a baseless assumption. Just a little premature.

After Charir had finished eating, and went over to lay down, Leviathan would wander over and aim to take the pelt he had left, and clean it up. A little water magic, a little wind magic, and it would be getting on its way. It still needed time to dry off properly, but at least this way, it were usable for a while, for the dragon to lay down upon. Not the best hide all in all, but better than the cold stone floor, right?

She'd do all of this fairly close to where the hide had been left, unless he seemed uncomfortable, in which case she'd move back a little bit.And she would leave the hide nearby too, where it might dry easier.. Not as well as if it were out in the sun, but one did with what they could at times, yes?

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@EQ_Theta

A light bulb seemed to go off above Ziggy's head, as Nada talked a little more about the vines.

"Oooooooh, you mean the Plunderseed thingies? I were told about those. Like, big dark vines with spikes, and weird grabber thingies that spat gas at others. I heard those things went real nasty, and almost took over the forest, and Ponyville. Apparently, the Elements of Harmony had to be offered up to some sort of special tree, and they all went away? I think that was it, anyway. I heard a lot of stories when I help out here and there. This town have a lot of weird tales."

And this was one of the tamer ones. The real scary ones, like when Discord and Tirek had first come to town, were downright crazy. it was a miracle that nopony had died in either assault. Well, at least with Tirek. She sorta guessed that Discord didn't want to kill, but just have his fun, even if said fun wasn't what a pony would think of as a laugh.

"If the things that spat gas were connected to vines, that were totally them. Though there are other sorts of flytraps, that just sits around, and wait for prey to get close. Like rats. Nasty plants those are, even if they're usually not dangerous to ponies. Unless you have allergies, or a really weak immune system. Lots of things in nature are dangerous then. I for instance, can't handle certain enzymes that are in scorpion venom. I figured that out one time when I visited my brother, at the wildlife reserve. There were a small accident, and things got a little... Eewie. Got through it perfectly fine though."

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

 

@Catpone Cerberus

The trickster did not add anything else, and remained solidly behind Scarecrow. Even without expressions, it were fairly easy to tell that it did not trust Bellflower.

However, Lyriel would address the mare before she left, with a graceful bow towards her. She too were nervous, and unsure of what all of this might lead to, but she were a creature with manners and standards. She would push through her worries, to ensure that the mare were said farewell to, in the way that one should those who helped. Even if it were a matter of trade, rather than just helping.

"Thank you for the aid in fulfilling our task, Miss Bellflower. May the Earth Mother watch over you."

Once she would eventually get out of sight, Lyriel would turn to Scarecrow, and look at him with concern in her pale-green eyes.

"Are you okay? I know you have spoken about losing parts, not harming you, but you seemed... Hesitant, to deal with her. And the way that feather of yours seemingly melted, makes me worry for you, as I do not know if that is intended to happen. Please, speak truthfully, Scarecrow: I wish only to help."

She were worried about him, most certainly. Yet she didn't understand his situation all that well, and as such, had a hard time sorting out if he were in pain, distressed, or anything. Even the notion that he might have been scared before, were nothing she were sure of. Which were why her voice carried the worry and want to ease his pain, as her eyes shone though as well.

Much could be said about Lyriel, but having the ability to hide her emotions well, were not one of them.

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

 

@EQ_Theta

On 9/2/2020 at 3:51 PM, EQ_Theta said:

“When you put it that way, it does make going back to Las Pegasus a little more enticing,” Sen replied as he scratched the back of his head. “I can never really see myself returning when the most prominent reason to come back is to play games of chance. That is especially true when the games are rigged against the player.”

“But because you also perform in Las Pegasus, I think we’d like to see one of these shows.”

"The casino's can be a place to truly rip you off, but you ca still have a bit of fun, if you go in with some ground rules.

Start with an amount of bits you don't mind losing. Then play them through. If you win something from them? Great, you have the chance of a few more runs. But never enter with more than you're willing to play for. At worst then, you will have had a bit of a fun time seeing what it's like in those places. At best? Maybe you'll leave with a bit more earned, than you came with.

Oh, and stay at the low roll tables, or single bit machines, if it is. The high roller tables are for the filthy rich, and the pros. You don't wanna mingle with that sort. It's best left for those who knows how to play others."

The glimmer in her eyes as she said that, made it rather telling that Cheshire were able to do so, if need be. Though she were playing the siblings a little too. She wouldn't gamble the finances of her hive away like that, even if she might be able to fidget the games in her advantage at times. Besides, she wasn't a fan of those places personally. She had a few of her drones who liked to use a minor portion of their allowance to try out some things here and there, but she made sure to teach them restraint. Herself though, she had only been there twice, and that were to do something not on her own behalf.

Once being to get out a changeling of hers, who had been caught by the security, and accused of cheating, due to her winning at one of the slot machines. Something which were not possible for them to prove, and they had to rescind and apologize a lot, once they got found out by the local guards. They learned the hard way that she were well able to obscure more than just herself from sight, and oh, the amount of fines they got, and settlements they had to pay, were quite damaging. She were honestly thrilled to hear the board of the place, firing the old CEO of the place, due to his part in this. And also money laundering. Turns out once the guards starts digging, they could find all sorts of things.

The second time, were of a less personal note, and more to help a fellow she met on the streets, who had a hard time. She might have snuck him in there to get a shower, well perfumed, and shaved, so that he might be able to get to a job interview, and get back on his hooves. He were a good stallion, who were just needing that tiny bit of a hoof to get back on track, so she had been happy to help him. Besides, a shower and a few splashes of perfume, along with a single shaver? They would barely notice the water used, and the other things were in such minuscule quantities, that it were negligible at best too. She did leave them a few bits to cover the costs though. Anonymously, of course.

Technically it were breaking the law, but it had been before she were able to go open in town,and she didn't see it as a true crime, since nothing were really stolen, and no harm were done. In fact it helped somepony get back on track. And man oh man, were he doing well for himself these days. Got into a nice job as an accountant, working for - among other places - the same casino that she had snuck him into. He were also helping with their papers, and refused to take payment for it, no matter how much she insisted. He kept saying that he simply owed them too much, to be able to accept that.

Heh. She really should visit him again one of these days, actually. Or maybe send Lullaby? She'd seen the sort of glances she had sent towards the pony, when he weren't looking. Hmhm.

Anyway, that were for later. For now, they were on the way to the main stage, and there would soon be a stallion up and ready to give the opening speech. And what luck! There were still some good spots left. Though in fairness, that were partially made true, due to Cheshire's hive keeping an area reserved for them, with a few extra seats, as they had assumed Sen and Lin would want to join in, along with the others.

Several of them didn't mind sharing some space, or standing on top of one another, depending on who were the strongest. One pair were so used to it in fact, due to some of their performances, that they honestly preferred it.

The lot of them would wave at the group as they approached, but didn't say anything, as to allow them some privacy with their queen. There were 8 in total. A few were still in Las Pegasus, due to unrelated business, and two others were setting up, so that they could collect the excess joy from the performance later. As for the ones here, they each seemed friendly, and wore some kind of stage outfit. Except for one, who were standing so close to a more elegantly dressed changeling mare, that she nearly seemed glued to her. That particular changeling mare, were wearing a clown's outfit, and used her magic to honk the big red nose in greeting, when the others showed up.

"See, this is a great time to cover part of your last question: How to learn about the sort of shows we do. Everypony, what's the best way?"

"To see it with your own eyes."

They all spoke in tandem as they answered the question, brought forth by Cheshire. Cheerfully, and with a small giggle from a few of them.

"See? It could scarcely be said better. Though I suppose you could go to the Canterlot Public Library, and ask them where they keep their literature on theater. A lot of the classics are described in those books, though we do also do some lesser known plays, and are working on our magnum opus, in fact: The first changeling focused musical, ever brought to stage. Aaah, it will be wonderful when one day, it is finalized.

As for your kind being isolated- It is a shame to hear such a thing. Do tell, how would they react to impromptu performances, by creatures they had never seen before? I do enjoy baffling an audience at times. There's a certain professional pride, and genuine enjoyment, to get from enticing an unsuspecting audience. Unless they start hurling spears. Once were more than enough, thank you very much."

[Windy Breeze 15,190]

@Blitz Boom

Windy and Sorrow managed to go to the second floor just in time for the entire staircase behind them to collapse, leaving a large cloud of dust behind them. Now they are in the second floor, they could now hear more of the sobbing.

The second floor consist of two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a study room.

[EQ_Theta 459]

@Blitz Boom

Although Sen appreciated Cheshire’s words and tips on how to have fun while gambling away some bits, it still wouldn’t be enough to convince him to try his luck at the casinos. Despite Omen hauling around their money, the longma is aware of the numerous other ways of spending it, especially in little-to-no risk purchases that will let him sleep better at night. Besides, there was always a more attractive use for them, the kind that leaves his stomach full.

But, returning to Lin’s question, the resounding response from the nearby changelings gave the siblings the most straightforward and expected answer. They wouldn’t question it, however, as it was the most sensible thing in mind. No matter how strange and foreign something was, being able to see, listen, and understand was the best way to learn. Perhaps it is true for the longma to see one show for themselves to know what makes them so popular. Maybe not so much to the more isolated longma back home but Sen and Lin were more receptive to the idea, and receptive to unfamiliar ideas in general.

“If the longma back home were to find themselves in a random performance, they’d probably be confused.”

“Confused? Try violent,” Lin snidely remarked. “Depending on who watches the performance, they would pick a fight with you. Some would do it on reflex, and others really just don’t like outsiders. The longma just aren’t receptive to the idea of meeting someone who isn’t like them.”

Sen sighed, though did not mean to sound exasperated. He understood his sister and her deep-seated dislike for the old attitudes harbored by the folks back home. It is true that some are curious but without regular exposure to creatures who aren’t longma, it would take a while for them to come around. 

“I guess Lin and I don’t represent of the longma well. We’ve led very different lives from the folks back home, so much that we behave more like the ponies of Equestria. I mean, just look at us. Dragon-like features that could instill fear but you had us scared back there. That’s probably the opposite of what you were expecting.”

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Blitz Boom

"Banned from the main story not allowed in any McDonalds in America and Burger King isn't that enjoyable. What now?"

"Oh! What about we go out for drinks? Lucid! You can pay the tab!"

"Hmm... I do feel down for some laundry soap! Liquid soap is nice. Gets a draconequus all weird feeling! And then I get a headache in the morning! Sounds like fun! Also, why not let Anomaly pay?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,599]

@Blitz Boom
"As unexpected as it may be, I hope that too." Ruby admitted "Because as little as I care about the survival of weaklings,  I'm not fan of my mother's actions." "I don't know if it's spite or something else, but I want the last thing she sees be the weakest of her blood standing over her while she takes her last breath, and if that means I have to ensure the survival of my sibling, then so be it." "But for me to be able to ensure that, he first needs to trust me, because he's inexperienced, but won't listen anything I may teach him if he's in state of fear." 

Charir didn't really mind Leviathan, as long as she didn't do any sudden moves, from the two females Ruby was the bigger threat, so maybe bit stupidly he ignored the lesser threat, though his attention got away from threats altogether when he saw Leviathan doing her magic, because while he felt fear towards Ruby, he was still just a kid, and his curiosity took over when he saw something he had never seen before.  

-----------------------------------------------
"Matches the description." Nada simply agreed, she obviously didn't know what they were called, but what Ziggy explained sounde like what she was talking about. What came to the Elements of harmony, she didn't know much about them, she knew they were a thing but she hadn't yet fully understood what exactly they were. "They tried to get me when the forest started to get overrun by them, but I managed to avoid them until they were gone." "And it's not just the town that has weird tales, Equestria as a whole is quite the odd place, it was before I went to hiding, and based on pony history, it hasn't really changed, though I have barely gotten past the few years after I went to hiding, so I can't say much about the current day." 

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Scarecrow waited for moment longer before answering, being able to sense Bellflower he could tell when she was really gone "Firstly the feather, that's expected, my wings look, feel and work like they're covered in feathers, but they're not, they are made of the same black growth that you can see on my hind legs, it just has taken the form of feathers, a form that it loses when separated from me." he took the two jars and offered one to Lyriel as he spoke "And for the rest.....there's something I didn't mention when I told about this place, I can feel something in this place, a presence, a powerful one in that, which the ghost and our companion can also feel." "This presence frightens me for reasons I don't know, and as it turns out, that mare, Bellflower as she was called, she is the source of that presence." 
 

 

 

 

[Rising Dusk 27,737]

@Blitz Boom

If such beings walked the lands of Equestria, they have long been forgotten, if they'd even been recorded at all.  There is always the chance too that whatever gods Equestria did have, chose to remain in a state where they don't interact with their recreation.  For whatever reason that may be.  It was difficult to fully understand beings that existed so far outside the mortal realm.  If anypony were able to search for such beings, the moth here fluttering around in his dreams had the best chance.  Maybe the connection between the two lands later down the road could rouse any gods of Equestria from their hidden recces.  Too much thinking being done for just a dream.  Hopefully this still sounds as REM sleep and he wakes up rested, not tried from brain sweat.

More pressing matters were at hoof though.  Rising could feel his dream was being invaded again, what a popular guy he is tonight.  Normally when a Warden or the Princess herself checks in on him, he isn't all that aware unless they were careless.  Likely though, the unicorn was in a slightly more heightened state having been in attendance to the avatar moth.  Either that or his dream door could use a little oil.  Not that that's how it really works, the door wasn't a physical door in the Dream Realm, but the concept was similar nonetheless.  "I have a squeaky dream door," he replied, casting his gaze out over the micro scape that was his subconscious's retelling of the founding of Equestria.  Dream Wanders were really good at hiding when they were in observer mode, able to manipulate the dreamscape without harming a pony's dream.  Pulling from the subconscious itself, it wouldn't be as easily mistaken for belonging like the avatar was.  They could be any of the trees that were sprouting from the earth pony farms or even a cloud the pegasi were moving around to dump rain on different parts.  Not even withstanding they could be any of the ponies themselves, wearing their bodies as a disguise until they are needed to aid a pony in a nightmare.

He was pretty sure there was a sign on his dream door that warned any Warden that he was an aware dreamer and to take extra caution.  A Dream Warden still needed to use magic to walk in the Dream Realm though.  The degree of which Rising had access to his magic sense was a bit different in his dream.  Easily catching wafts of magic that didn't belong to his body, like the smell of a pie cooling on a windowsill.  

Standing up, he put his snoot to the ground and started sniffing like a blood hound on the hunt.  Moving about toward the fields that had quickly become full orchids at the unrealistic pace his subconscious grew crops.  Weaving between trees and back tracking over his own path to and fro.  Making his way to a bush nestled by a few of the back orange trees.  He circled the bush a few times before sitting down in front of it.  Reaching out, he tapped the bush, "Boop."  The bush rustled and the poof'd away, revealing a young mare with a night sky dark coat and lavender mane.  A simple uniform that consisted of a moon white vest with crescent moon clasp that marked her as a Dream Warden.  A couple badges were pinned to her vest, marking some awards she'd won at her station.  Warden of the Month with two small star pins further attached to that badge meaning she'd won it twice and a Silent Dreamer badge.  She sat there, rubbing her booped snoot, "You're more than simply an aware dreamer, no fair" she complained, giving credit to his theory there was a sign on his dream door.  "Could have knocked," the detective retorted, only guessing that was how it worked.  Her raised eyebrow told him otherwise.  She sighed and got on her hoofs, brushing her flank off of... did his dream actually cause dirt?  Nah, likely just an automatic motion practiced from outside the dream.  "I'm just doing my job.  A Dream Quake originated from your dream and I'm investigating," she explained, evident in her tone at her own disappointment in being outed so easily.  Rising could respect her mission as a detective and gave her a smile.

 

Flare Blitz was pleased to see the mare was capable of cooling herself down, at least removing the need for the two agents to intervene immediately.  "Ma'am, were from the Office of Magical Investigations," Flare started, removing his officer badge from his hat.  The open golden spell book with his name and badge number engraved upon it.  Starbright did the same, removing her own badge from her saddlebag and presenting it.  "We're here because a Solar Guard reported an indecent here at the candy shop," she explained.  Putting her badge away and the using her horn to retrieve her officer notebook and a pencil to start jotting down notes.  "Ms. Del Ray, do you have a permit to conduct experiments within city limits?" Flare asked, which he was pretty sure probably met the same fate as her ID if it were the case.  "Can you tell us about your encounter with the Solar Guard?" Starbright asked as well, hoping the young guard didn't just go hopping to an officer just because he didn't understand something.

 

Magic without a horn was pretty unique in Equestria, but neither of the agents expected for transportation magic through a mirror.  Very advanced for even a unicorn with a horn, let alone without.  At least she paid her bill and wouldn't need to be sighted for skipping out on payments.  "Leave it to moi Mr. Glory," Cork offered before finally getting to address the strange mare.  Still not the strangest thing the pair had seen.  Each removing their respective badges from their saddle bags, "We're with the Office of Magical Investigations.  We received a report from a Solar Guard about an incident here at the Boutique."  "It appears the young lad jumped to conclusions," Cork added.  Tilting her head at the tongue and cheek comment made by the other mare, "No... not yet," she replied.  Gold Mane cleared her throat though, "Ms. Omen, mind if we ask how this came about?" she asked pretty straight to the point, motioning to her transparent coat.  Plenty of scared ponies were off put by her appearance and the question of decency was outside the scope of the O.M.I.  Neither her or Cork had other law enforcement law books as memorized as Rising.  Cork's horn glowed and a soft grey veil shimmered around the trio, casting the three in an illusion of fog.  For the outside viewers of course, inside the glamour they all looked the same.  "Where might you be off to in such a lovely gown?"

 

[FanOfManyShows 396]

@Blitz Boom

Skall had little reason not to immediately step through, finding himself wherever it lead and he cared not if Grogar meant to never be discovered.

"Friend!" He shouted out. "I need your help to destroy Tartarus!"
Skall spread his arms out, to greet Grogar, smiling wide.
"And perhaps you can even rule over Equestria as a bonus."

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

Suddenly a hoof stuck out of the cauldron soon following what Emerald said, following it was Sapphire's head as she gasped for air, her hair wet with blood as she climbed out. Chariot seemed to jump a little at her appearance, Sapphire lacking the gem in her eye, rubbing at her face as she realized she had two eyes, instead of just one.
"Did- did that separate the gem from my body?"
She seemed to not mind the blood so much, perhaps she's been soaked in blood before?

Iron looked over to her with a smile. "Glad you made it back alive."

[Sekel 694]

@Blitz Boom

KARMIC FATE & ATZY

KARMIC

"I don't know about the slave-keeping, honestly. The one we're travelling with is ... different as far as he tells us anyway," Karmic told the bat pony. She had no idea that sphinxes kept ponies as slaves. Now she was glad Enzo wasn't like that. Although, now she has to think of something to sate the guard's curiosity. Here's hoping Atzy can stick to this story when Karmic gets back. "My sister and I were exploring one of those abandoned mines. We stumbled across a large pile of fur and feathers which turned out to be Enzo down one of the many passageways. We all came to an agreement and decided to explore places together. But settling in Canterlot for a bit wasn't something my sister and I had planned," she explained to the bat pony. Hopefully that would be enough to sate her curiosity for a while.

ATZY

"Never would have picked you for a philosopher," Atzy giggled, stepping out from behind Enzo once the foal had gone back down. Upon reflex she had hid behind him so the foal wouldn't get too scared but now she was back and looking down at the gardens with him. "But I think I get what you're saying. Try to do things your own way, I guess. I ... want to know why I have a memory blocker, why my memories aren't there, what actually happened but, forcing them ... that will only hurt me more, I think."

@Blitz Boom

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

Twilight's own eyes darted between the strange mare, the skulls over her body, and the tower behind her itself before settling on the mare. It was strange to look at a pony with odd decorations, despite being used to seeing it with Zecora. The manetid's screech and Last's decoration got her out of her thinking though and she shook her head a bit. She observed the barrier and figured the four of them were safe for the moment dsespite the terrifying forest directly behind them. "Yes, Madame Macabre, we are looking for Marepunzel. We figured her tower would be here with hopes of her still being alive if she proved real. How do you know about that though? Not even this flying friend of ours knew about it," she spoke loud and clearly to be heard, gesturing to the manetid beside her.

@Blitz Boom

AURORA LIGHTS

"O-Oh, you fight," Aurora said nervously, her feathers turning paler than they already were. "U-Um ... I-I d-don't think I n-n-need to hear more of that," she stammered, looking away from Flaxx and Lulu to stare  at the forest they were walking towards. She knew that lots of creatures fought. She didn't think to meet two of them who did it so lovingly and carefree. It made her feel slightly queasy but not enough to show any sort of visual feedback for it.

@Blitz Boom, @Widdershins

DAZZLE GLEAM

"Sunny is the big mare isn't she?" Dazzle guessed as she looked towards the sun-yellow giant of a mare. "Okay, if I get squished I'm blaming you," she told Stare with a couple of chuckles before wandering up to the giant mare. "Hey, uh, Sunny, right? You helped stop the fight between Shorty and I, remember?"