PyroBlaze

Scarlett wasn’t really sure why Rose had called her ‘cardinal’, but after receiving the message she got her crew into action on the lift, bringing up the ponies that couldn’t fly up themselves. Once that was done, they went back to their general tasks while Scarlet looked over the group again. “If you know your way around a ship, feel free to help out up here. Otherwise, try to stay out of the way. Anyone helping with navigation should set up in there.” She said once Rose had finished going over the plan again, pointing towards a door underneath where the wheel was. —————— Tiger nodded to Rose’s announcement, riding the lift up and listening as Rose and Scarlet talked.

“Yes, especially if said pony has no artifacts on her and did not drink any potions. Most unicorn spells I’ve seen take longer than that to cast.” Vera said, looking over at the mare. “No need to worry though, revealing your secret wouldn’t benefit me at all, so I have no reason to tell anyone.” ”Somewhat, since building something sometimes involves lifting heavy things. My main strengths are physical, and I like to think I’m good at talking too.” He explained, rubbing the scar across his throat idly at the end. “It would appear so. Where should we go so I can show you how I build underwater?”

Vera raised an eyebrow at the mare’s words about not needing assistance, watching as she dove into the water and changed into a more aquatic form. “A changeling, huh? Interesting.” He mused, nodding at her explanation of the potion’s duration as he looked her over again. “Sounds fair, I suppose. I am no alchemist, my strengths lie elsewhere.” He shrugged again, diving under the water to see what kind of materials they had available for a demonstration.

Vera hummed a bit at the taste, looking down at his body as the changes started. It was all rather familiar, actually, but slower than with the shard. He hopped into the pool before he lost the use of his legs, popping his head back out as it finished. “Well, I didn’t expect to be able to do this without a shard, but the end result seems about the same. In the end, I’d rather carry around a reusable shard than consumable potions to achieve this.” He shrugged, looking over at the mare.

A potion to breath underwater? He supposed that made sense, though he had to wonder what this other potion would do differently than that. Seemed like it might invoke the transition into an underwater form, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to try it. Vera nodded, setting the item he had been examining down before walking out to approach the pool. “Wouldn’t hurt to try, I guess.” He shrugged, picking up one of the potions. After a bit of examination, he popped the top and drank it down.

Vera nodded to the mare's words about hippogriffs, as they were mostly true. True enough, at any rate, so he remained silent as she began explaining about her homeland and what she planned to do at the nearby lake. He tilted his head a bit at that, wondering how that was supposed to work for them, if she actually meant in the lake. "How would an underwater home work for two ponies? Last I checked, you didn't like having water in your lungs." He hummed slightly before continuing. "Also, you're almost right, but we need shards of an old artifact to switch forms, it's not really an innate trait. In fact, I've heard the artifact actually works on ponies, and assumedly other races as well." "As for construction, I wasn't ever a part of any actual construction projects, but I have made little clubhouses or hideouts before, so that's better than nothing." He shrugged, still not sure why two ground-bound ponies wanted a house underwater. "Aloe is that earth pony at the spa, right? I think I recognize the name, but I can't be sure."

That confirms that then. Not only is she new in town, she hadn’t seen one of his kind before. Fair enough, he supposed, though it was unfortunate that she hadn’t said anything about her identity. Oh well, no big deal, they could dance around giving their names all day for all he cared. “Yes, yes I am a hippogriff. Strange land, huh? Guess you’re not from Equestria at all then. Anything you wanna know? I’ll answer if I can.” He said, looking at a bottle with a rainbow liquid in it.

“Nah, just browsing. I take it you’re Rose then? Or working for her at least, I don’t see anyone else in here.” Vera said, setting the bottle back down to turn towards the mare. He examined her in turn, not sure why she was seemingly doing it so closely. Maybe she just didn’t see many hippogriffs? “New in town? I don’t think I saw you last time I passed through here.” He asked, trying to make small talk while he went back to idly examining the products on display.

Well, that could have gone better, he supposed. Coulda gone worse too, so he had to count his blessings. The hippogriff touched down on the edge of town, shaking out the coat he had been wearing and glancing back over his shoulder. It seemed they had given up the chase, or just lost him, but he should probably lay low for a bit still. Heading off into the town, Vera looked around, his eyes landing on an interesting looking shop. Potions and magical trinkets, huh? Seemed as good a place as any to hang out for a bit, so he made his way inside, starting to browse the shop. “Well, let’s hope they weren’t as interested in this place as I was if they make it to town.” He said to himself, picking up a bottle to look at the colorful fluids inside. This pink fluid was supposed to help with stomach issues? Interesting.

“I dunno, Candy’s pretty pointy too.” Caramel chuckled before nodding to Chipper’s words. That made sense, she supposed, growing if they could steal the matter from other plants. “Still, kinda defeats the purpose of immortal plants if you still need to grow other plants to get them to do any growing.” She added with a shrug. “And sure, Chipper, you seem nice. We can be friends if you want.” The talk of the pony in charge switching genders back and forth seemed a little strange, but as long as they were happy and weren’t hurting anyone else, she didn’t see any issue with it. Live and let live and all that jazz. It did make her curious about the mechanics of that though, did both forms have the same amount of mass, just moved around?

Well, that settled that it seems. Ishi nodded to Shiroi’s words, gesturing to the guard to bring in the rest of the reports. As per Ice’s request, he started by sliding the more recent reports over to the mare, letting Shiroi take a look at the ones after the naval change first if she wished. Ishi was willing to trust this group, but there was only so far blind trust should go, especially when Shiroi was in the room. ———————— Feather had started this flight as just exercise, which had turned into training, but now it was turning into more of a show. Once she realized her flight had the attention of both the unicorns, Feather smiled and made her moves more flashy as opposed to just practical. A simple stop and turn turned into a flip to push off the wall, a sharp turn became a spin, and she even started stalling out in midair occasionally after a climb to strike a pose before continuing the flight. At the end of the impromptu show, she realized she had a few loose feathers, which was perfect for a finale. As she went for one more pass, she went into a spin that dislodged the feathers while she got into position. After a second of them floating normally, they moved on a gust of wind from Feather’s wings and a couple tucked themselves behind Myth and Raven’s ears. After that, she came in for a landing, the rest of the feathers that had been dislodged floating to the ground around her. “So, what’d you think?” She asked, suddenly looking at the two hopefully. She may enjoy her position here, but that didn’t stop her from aspiring to a Wonderbolt position too.

“I dunno if it’d work like that, Kettle. I don’t think dead stuff would grow, no matter how animated it was. Might be cool for Nightmare Night, though, having an undead corn maze.” Caramel hummed to herself, sitting down as she rubbed her chin in thought. Necromancy could be really bad, obviously, but so could basically everything. It all depended on how you used it, she supposed. While lost in thought, she idly munched on the treat Kettle was sharing. “Caramel is good.” She nodded idly, enjoying what Kettle had made for them. No bias here as far as liking caramel, clearly. None at all. “I wonder if I could make fake corn that looks undead, if we couldn’t get the real thing...” She added to herself quietly, already trying to figure out the logistics of that and any devices for scary noises and such.

I’ve been distracted, so I’ll try to get something out soon.

Caramel was used to Kettle jumping on her, so she barely gave any indication that anything had even happened on that front. “Nah, I think your corn is safe, Kettle.” She hummed, watching as the bits fell right through the creature and back onto the floor. The mouse was interesting to try and figure out how it moved, aside from the obvious answer of magic. She looked up when a couple of colts came out, the disheveled one apparently the one that had cast the magic. “Physically, I’d say we’re all fine. Looks like the only loss was that corn there.” Caramel shrugged, giving Chipper’s offered hoof a shake. “I’m Caramel Corn, and this is Kettle Corn.” She said after the other filly’s tirade had finished, gesturing to her little sister as she introduced her. It didn’t seem like anyone else was introducing themselves, so she had to take it upon herself.

Caramel had been unpacking until the scream sounded. The filly blinked a bit, looking around to see that Kettle had deposited part of her load before heading out again, so Caramel went to investigate. At least it wasn’t hard to find Kettle, since she was right around where the scream had come from, and it also wasn’t hard to see why it had happened once the filly got closer. She stopped slightly between Kettle and the skeletal mouse, tilting her head as she looked at it. Sure, it was kinda scary, but it was also interesting that it could move without any physical muscles or anything connecting the bones. “Well, at least it seems to like your corn, Kettle.” She shrugged as she watched it.

Caramel was actually looking forward to this, the whole friendship school thing. Especially with her sisters here to help her move in. Not only did Ponyville seem like a good town, her older sister stayed in town too, so they’d be able to get together more. Looking around after departing the train, the earth pony filly started making her way towards the school, enjoying the scenery. It was kinda loud in the school itself, but that was fine, she could roll with it. Besides, she liked tinkering with machinery, and that stuff could get loud. After a bit of wandering, she found her room, blinking a bit as she looked at the white line dividing the space in half. Were all the rooms like that, or did she just end up with someone really serious about their space? “Huh. Oh well, no big deal I guess.” She shrugged to herself, setting the boxes she had been carrying down on the unoccupied side of the room.

Tiger watched Aloe go off on Strong Copper, giving a low whistle as she finished. “I can see why you like her, Rose. Looks like a good choice of marefriend to me.” He whispered to Rose, nudging her slightly. ———————— Scarlett simply stood there, scrutinizing the group with her one eye. Her wings ruffled a bit as Aloe spoke, seemed the mare had some fight in her after all, that was good. After a moment, she shrugged to herself before digging into her coat and pulling out a device that should’ve been somewhat familiar to Rose. “Here. I’m gonna go make sure everything is ready up there, so call us when you’re ready to board.” She said, giving the device to Rose before taking off and flying back up to the ship.

After enjoying the kiss, and the fact that Berry seemed more than happy to lean on him like this, Tiger smiled warmly. It didn’t last too long though, unfortunately, as Berry’s mood seemed to be tanking. “Hey, it’s okay Berry, I’m here now. You’re not alone anymore.” He whispered gently, hugging her with a foreleg as TT and Jade spoke. Rolling his eyes a bit at Jade’s antics and Twister’s response, he decided to intervene. “Oi! Jade, she clearly wants to leave, so let her. It’s her choice if she doesn’t want to stick around, with or without the whole dark magic thing.” He said to Jade before turning his attention to Tongue Twister. “It was fun hanging out with you, TT, maybe we could do it again sometime. For now though, see ya later.” He finished with a friendly smile and nod, letting her go about her business. There was little point having someone around that didn’t want to be there, and forcing ponies into things was generally not a good strategy to getting them to like you. For now, Tiger enjoyed being Berry’s emotional support and letting her decide how far tonight would go. He wanted this budding relationship to last, he could feel something for Berry that he didn’t feel for most mares he ended up with.

Tiger wasn’t exactly scientifically minded, so he wasn’t exactly sure what that explanation meant, but Rose seemed to know what she was talking about so he just nodded along. When her voice turned though, a smirk grew on his face. He always liked where that kind of voice lead. “Well, in that case let’s test this thing out.~” He responded, winking at her and leaning in a bit to whisper the next part in her ear. “You do have some good ‘wares’ to observe. What say we try some out while we’re back there~” He purred out, smiling right back at her.

"Sounds good to me. I'll look at that later then." He said, glancing back towards the pond for a moment before Rose started explaining charging methods. Drawing on his inherent mana seemed fine enough, he probably wouldn't be staying swapped for long periods anyways. And he could always talk to Blueblood about other options if he wanted to stay switched for longer. He raised an eyebrow at her words of drawing on the energy of others. "You do know I'm a guard, right? My whole job is helping and protecting others, not stealing their energies. Drawing on my mana sounds fine, I guess, especially if it only does it while active." He said, looking at the bottle and making sure to remember the warning. "Can't say that I have, no. Noted on the warning though, thanks."

Tiger wasn’t entirely sure what Tonto meant, but the rest of Rose’s words were interesting. He nodded a bit, entering the shop at her invitation as he thought about the options before him. “Well, the artifacts are interesting. What kind of charging methods are there?” He asked, looking around at the inside of the shop. “Although a potion might be better for the trial run.” He shrugged. “That seapony potion sounds like a fun thing to try too.”

“Well, somepony’s happy, huh? I take it you’re having a good day.” Tiger chuckled, pausing after she finished speaking to try to find the right words. “Well, as you know, I work for Blueblood now. Ever since I found out about his ability to switch genders, I’ve wondered what being a mare would be like. The more I think about it, the more I want to try it.” He said, nodding a bit. “Preferably with the ability to switch back and forth.”

The first to approach Rose’s store was an earth pony stallion, one who had met Rose in the past but had never seen her shop before. Tiger looked over the outside of the building, taking it all in before he decided to approach fully and greet the mare. “Yo, Rose! Nice place you got here, really interesting. What kinda stuff you sell here?” He asked, smiling over at her. “Or, I guess, what kind of stuff can I not get here? I’ve got a bit of an idea of something I’d like to try out.”

Dox didn’t have anything to really say in response to Hou’s words during the night, since he largely agreed with her anyways, so he had let things sit as they were and go back to his reading. When they eventually came into sight of the Palaces of Thought the next day, he smiled and nodded to the bath comment. When she mentioned Sombra, he closed his eyes briefly as he concentrated, confirming Hou’s claim as he felt Sombra’s magic out there. “You know there’s easier ways to do that, right? At least for a target you are familiar with, like you are with Sombra. It’s how I watched you during the Running of the Leaves. How’d the meetup go afterwards, by the way? With that bat stallion and earth mare you seemed to have your eye on.” Dox said, giving her a playful nudge at that last part. Hou had certainly cast a successful and functional scrying spell, but he still felt the method he used had been sufficient, and it did not require blood like this one had.

Feather hummed slightly, looking around again as Myth and Raven seemed to just want to talk to each other. She couldn’t really contribute to talks about magical stuff like this, so after giving Myth a brief hug with a foreleg she lifted off into the sky to get some exercise, flying around the area. While it was initially just flying in circles, it began turning into more acrobatic maneuvers, tight turns, sudden stops, stuff like that. ——————— Ishi nodded to Ice and Nira’s words, looking up as the guard returned with some others to bring in the reports. He agreed with Nira about the older reports, so he directed those ones over to Ice and the members of her group that stayed in the room. “These are older reports, but hopefully they will still provide some helpful information. As for the naval alliance, I welcome those talks when the time is right.” He said, turning towards Shiroi next. “What do you think, Shiroi? Should we let them view the potentially sensitive materials here under supervision or wait until we can produce altered copies? I am willing to trust them with this and let them review the original versions that pertain to the mission.”