[FwM] The Trotting Dead-Mlp without the Kiddy Thread XV

[MCerberus]

Mach's Workshop

Mach sort of looks there stunned by the question. What the hay was going on? Meanwhile, the seemingly cursed piece of magic in the form of the gem in the workshop would giggle if it were sentient.

"What... what, uh, happened?" The pegasus opens the door and allows the two to move in towards the basement.

[PurityIcekiller]

On closer inspection, they actually resemble runic alphabets. More precisely, they looked like these.

There were ten in total, arranged in a concentric circle, just big enough to fit one pony comfortably. Clockwise, the runes were arranged as thus:

GH B D E O NG Æ T H A

Really anypony's guess as to what they meant.

Night Jewel looked over the runes. "Enough to spell 'death'... I really hope that one combined letter isn't used... Hmm. No 'M'. Any insights?"

The mare whimpered a little as she was set onto the ground, her battered wings fluttering slightly. "... Dust Feather... don't go..." she murmured under her breath.

Dust Feather? Who is-

Unfortunately, it looked like Blueshield would have to deal with more headaches. In the distance, the sound of heavy galloping could be heard and closing fast. They appeared to be from the direction of where Blueshield had escaped. Unfortunately, it was rather hard to make out just how many were approaching under the moonlight.

Blueshield didn't even both to look. "Luka, no arguing. Run!" She was off almost immediately. With the burden of the semi-conscious mare divided between them, they would hopefully be fast enough to make it to town.

[Kelvin360]

Daniel/Snowstorm

"This is an if-then situation. All I'm asking is if your answer will change in the event that I can make it work."

---

Starbeam

"Yes...'death' won't work, unless whoever made this is dyslexic. It looks as though the system activates on the triggering of four runes, not five." She frowns deeply. "I wish I'd paid more attention to runic studies...and I feel like I should remember something, here."

She taps her hoof and stares intently at the circle of runes, like she's waiting for them to spell out the answer.

---

Taylor

"If I knew that, I don't think I'd be here." Taylor steps (all right, leads Sandy in and THEN steps) inside. "The best I can tell so far is that whatever he got pumped full of is failing or succeeding a little too well. He's ingested vampire blood for on-the-spot healing-" He looks more than a little miffed at that. "-And apparently some sort of invention of yours has accomplished much the same thing in the past. Problem is, the blood shouldn't be having affects this adverse. He's having a mental breakdown, that I understand, but his body is going through unexplainable havoc as well. I'm hoping we can put our heads together and figure out how to fix this."

[Benson]

The ruby-red unicorn looked first at Snowstorm, then at Daniel, then finally back at Gearstride. "So... in theory, you're saying that you're able to supply the need of a whole host of vamponies." Emerald's lips tightened. "In theory. The entire thing sounds ideal. But what proof you have that it'll actually work?"

Daniel/Snowstorm

"This is an if-then situation. All I'm asking is if your answer will change in the event that I can make it work."

Bureaucracy. Blegh. Gearstride sputter-nickered.

Gearstride shook her hoofless leg. "Yes, in theory and, no we don't have proof, that's why it is a theory. But we can't really do anything more than theorize unless we have a guarantee that we have a shot at letting ponies return to their homes here, in Bridle Shores and letting ponies have a second shot at a better life."

[Luka]

Blueshield didn't even both to look. "Luka, no arguing. Run!" She was off almost immediately. With the burden of the semi-conscious mare divided between them, they would hopefully be fast enough to make it to town.

The colt would slightly seem to want to turn, but when Blueshield talks he just goes along.

[TheAmishPirate]

Taylor

"If I knew that, I don't think I'd be here." Taylor steps (all right, leads Sandy in and THEN steps) inside. "The best I can tell so far is that whatever he got pumped full of is failing or succeeding a little too well. He's ingested vampire blood for on-the-spot healing-" He looks more than a little miffed at that. "-And apparently some sort of invention of yours has accomplished much the same thing in the past. Problem is, the blood shouldn't be having affects this adverse. He's having a mental breakdown, that I understand, but his body is going through unexplainable havoc as well. I'm hoping we can put our heads together and figure out how to fix this."

"'M not sick..." Sandy weakly interjects as he's carried into the workshop.

(Beyond the odd summary from me of his symptoms and whatnot, Sandy will be pretty listless in this scene. Feel free to continue to discuss without his input.)

[Grif]

Night Jewel looked over the runes. "Enough to spell 'death'... I really hope that one combined letter isn't used... Hmm. No 'M'. Any insights?"

Starbeam

"Yes...'death' won't work, unless whoever made this is dyslexic. It looks as though the system activates on the triggering of four runes, not five." She frowns deeply. "I wish I'd paid more attention to runic studies...and I feel like I should remember something, here."

She taps her hoof and stares intently at the circle of runes, like she's waiting for them to spell out the answer.

The runes stared back, silently. Looked like they'd have to chance guessing the password.

Dust Feather? Who is-

Blueshield didn't even both to look. "Luka, no arguing. Run!" She was off almost immediately. With the burden of the semi-conscious mare divided between them, they would hopefully be fast enough to make it to town.

The colt would slightly seem to want to turn, but when Blueshield talks he just goes along.

(I assume for my own clarity that they're still some distance away from Bridle Shores, around two-to-three hours as the bird flies.)

Wise choice. The thunderous gallop only increased in volume as the trio (or rather, duo with one dead weight) begin to make their way towards the town. To their left, was some rather thick woodlands. To their right, lay a series of well-tended corn and oat fields, with the roof of a farmstead barely visible over in the distance. Either might serve to facilitate their escape from their pursuers. Or they could even take their chances on the open road.

Bureaucracy. Blegh. Gearstride sputter-nickered.

Gearstride shook her hoofless leg. "Yes, in theory and, no we don't have proof, that's why it is a theory. But we can't really do anything more than theorize unless we have a guarantee that we have a shot at letting ponies return to their homes here, in Bridle Shores and letting ponies have a second shot at a better life."

Daniel/Snowstorm

"This is an if-then situation. All I'm asking is if your answer will change in the event that I can make it work."

"If." Emerald echoed. "If you can make it work, then I would reconsider. Until such proof is brought before me, however, consider any proposal to resettle the vamponies here denied."

[Kelvin360]

"If." Emerald echoed. "If you can make it work, then I would reconsider. Until such proof is brought before me, however, consider any proposal to resettle the vamponies here denied."

Daniel opens his mouth, only to quickly be cut off by Snowstorm. "Great! Now, I have my own question to ask, fairly separate from that matter. I'm guessing you've already heard of the impending invasion threat? Well, reinforcements from Canterlot are on the way, but I felt it might be necessary to measure out the exact details, at least as far as the connection between them and Bridle Shores goes."

[Grif]

Daniel opens his mouth, only to quickly be cut off by Snowstorm. "Great! Now, I have my own question to ask, fairly separate from that matter. I'm guessing you've already heard of the impending invasion threat? Well, reinforcements from Canterlot are on the way, but I felt it might be necessary to measure out the exact details, at least as far as the connection between them and Bridle Shores goes."

"Issues of security would fall under the purview of the Captain," Emerald replied flatly.

[Kelvin360]

"Issues of security would fall under the purview of the Captain," Emerald replied flatly.

She nods like it was expected. "Figured that, yeah. Pretty literally didn't hurt to check, too."

[MCerberus]

Mach's Workshop

Despite not being the most physically imposing stallion, Mach would help bring Sandy into the basement workshop. The working space still has the usual assortment of hoofblade crafting materials, tools, spare parts, electrical whatsits and the large healing machine where it's always been.

"What um, sort of magic? I'm talking schools, effects, did you check that sort of stuff when it's fresh? If it's still lingering then we may get a read on it."

[Kelvin360]

Mach's Workshop

Despite not being the most physically imposing stallion, Mach would help bring Sandy into the basement workshop. The working space still has the usual assortment of hoofblade crafting materials, tools, spare parts, electrical whatsits and the large healing machine where it's always been.

"What um, sort of magic? I'm talking schools, effects, did you check that sort of stuff when it's fresh? If it's still lingering then we may get a read on it."

"The most I've been able to glean so far is that it's left a power generation effect in his bloodstream. If I had to guess, I'd say Transmutation, to accelerate his natural healing process. Depending on its composition, it's pretty easy to see why it'd interfere with a separate regenerative substance.

I don't know what you mean by 'fresh', but I'd wager 'no'. The reaction is recent, the magic isn't."

[Orzel]

Cirrus Cargo Bay

"Actually I'm looking for a filly with a nightengale mark, to tell her mom that she's coming back."

Well that was the intention any way. In a roundabout way it's not likely that will turn into a lie. "Is miss M around?"

Well she'd be in the cargo hold actually since the hanger and cargo hold are different things. Anyways! A few of the civilian vamponies groaned. "I can't believe we need to gain citizenship again..we live there already! I have a home with a mortgage!" Flambe shouted, new fangs bared in frustration.

"I still got my cats to feed!" Bear Hugs exclaimed as she clung to Flambe who just looked annoyed even more.

The vampony couple nicknamed Stone Hurler and Stone Shifter kept very quiet throughout the entire ordeal.




Most of the vamponies looked at Staccata in confusion, some shaking their heads. "I didn't see a mare with a nightingale cutie mark among our group." Flambe said. "As for your Miss M, no, she's probably with your lady captain or something."

"I've seen beither of those vamponies. And I've seen a lot of Vamponies lately." mummbles Rainbow. She was not good at this at all. She's a shooter not a writer. The sniper longs for a shot of tequila. "Now. How many cats where there?"

[PurityIcekiller]

"Yes...'death' won't work, unless whoever made this is dyslexic. It looks as though the system activates on the triggering of four runes, not five." She frowns deeply. "I wish I'd paid more attention to runic studies...and I feel like I should remember something, here."

She taps her hoof and stares intently at the circle of runes, like she's waiting for them to spell out the answer.

"Well, that puts a damper on things. It's got to be something clichéd, given who made it, but what? There aren't the right letters for most of the typical words..."

Hold that thought, girl. Do you remember the things you've overheard? You know, from that paladin?

Night Jewel then brightened up a bit. "Wait. I think I remember something Dawnstrider mentioned. A strange syllable, and it was related to these guys. What do you think?"

Wise choice. The thunderous gallop only increased in volume as the trio (or rather, duo with one dead weight) begin to make their way towards the town. To their left, was some rather thick woodlands. To their right, lay a series of well-tended corn and oat fields, with the roof of a farmstead barely visible over in the distance. Either might serve to facilitate their escape from their pursuers. Or they could even take their chances on the open road.

Blueshield chose to turn left. Thick trees would be far easier to evade pursuers in.

This will be difficult. If we're really lucky, we'll find a river to ditch them with, but otherwise, we'll just have to risk getting lost ourselves to escape them.

[Grif]

Blueshield chose to turn left. Thick trees would be far easier to evade pursuers in.

This will be difficult. If we're really lucky, we'll find a river to ditch them with, but otherwise, we'll just have to risk getting lost ourselves to escape them.

The woodlands were predictably, full of trees. Large hulking trees that seemed almost ancient, dating back to even before the time of Discord. Blueshield and Luka would quickly find themselves losing all sense of direction in the thick undergrowth and the darkened eaves of the massive trees. Even the moonlight was obscured by the thick foliage. Let's hope the two brought a navigational equipment or two. On the bright side, the sound of pursuit seemed to have died down, to be replaced by the gentle singing of the night creatures.

[Benson]

"I've seen neither of those vamponies. And I've seen a lot of Vamponies lately." mumbles Rainbow. She was not good at this at all. She's a shooter not a writer. The sniper longs for a shot of tequila. "Now. How many cats where there?"

"Ten, oh my poor babies!" Bear Hugs squeezed Flambe who let out a throaty choking sound and tried to wiggle his way out of the hug to no avail.

"If." Emerald echoed. "If you can make it work, then I would reconsider. Until such proof is brought before me, however, consider any proposal to resettle the vamponies here denied."

If Gearstride could clench her hoof like a fist she'd be doing it right now. The spirited captain just saw this as an unfairness. She didn't want to speak to Emerald anymore, she just felt she would get into a shouting match. She tagged teamed her lieutenant for the rest of this.

[Mindfreak]

Unfortunately, the only three magically-sensitive ponies in the room were unable to detect this on account of ignorance, apathy, and stacking, respectively.

"Well in any case, the school should be safe now. And, well, that's what matters." Ignorance supplies happily.

No, what really matters is the scientific method of which you apparently have a crippling dislike. Apathy mopes, completely silent to all except she whose mind's eye he occupies.

"Sheesh, at least he gets paid to be selfless." Stacking motions idly at Lemongrass. "But between you two," She squints at Gak and Arvadraa. "I'm tasting sugar like, all the time. What's your excuse?"

"I can't speak for Gabriel, but I feel that helping ponies is its own reward."

"Well, sure, but what do you get out of it? Tangibly?"

"I think you need to research the definition of 'selfless'."

Bar
Gak thinks for a moment.
"I just do good things because it feels natural."^_^
She telekinesises her drink up to her mouth as she takes a deep gulp.
She silently wondered if Arvaada still wanted an explanation for that puddle thing back at the school.

[Luka]

The woodlands were predictably, full of trees. Large hulking trees that seemed almost ancient, dating back to even before the time of Discord. Blueshield and Luka would quickly find themselves losing all sense of direction in the thick undergrowth and the darkened eaves of the massive trees. Even the moonlight was obscured by the thick foliage. Let's hope the two brought a navigational equipment or two. On the bright side, the sound of pursuit seemed to have died down, to be replaced by the gentle singing of the night creatures.

Luka doesn't, he planned to get lost, not travel around.
"Did you bring something to guide? like a map?"
He would ask, but if stuff got too hard he would just fly up and try to guide himself with the moon, assuming it goes East-to-west on this planet.
He also would try to look around for the plants, maybe he would find some medicinal plant or something he could find to help the wounded one a bit, like a willow or something until they can get to a town where she could recover.

[TheAmishPirate]

[Mach's Workshop]

Between the two ponies, Sandy is half-led, half-dragged down into the basement workshop. The exhausted pony looks around for a bed or something to lie on, just to rest his hooves a moment...

(Mcerberus: If you need a refresher, I can pull up the details of what Mach noticed with Sandy after he used the blood-power-ma-jigger healy thing.)

[MCerberus]

Cirrus Cargo Bay

Well now that it appears that this is a dead-end, Staccata can only roll her eyes at the crazy cat lady action going on. "And does anypony know where I could find either of the two?"

Mach's Workshop

Ah yes, unusual power drain. Still, for what Mach knows about healing magic, it doesn't explain what's going on with Sandy. The unicorn would be lead over to the healing machine to lay down and wait for his 'shots'.

"The magic here is instantaneous. With the current system set up it would be wise or, uh, possible to leave residue in line with what it does." The pegasus hoofs over a needle assuming Sandy has filled in Taylor about the transfusion thing. Any further questioning along this lines may or may not end in a long theoretical discussion of flash-healing.

"But has Sandy uh, taken anything else with magic involved... drugs or potions?"

[Kelvin360]

[COLOR="Purple"]"Well, that puts a damper on things. It's got to be something clichéd, given who made it, but what? There aren't the right letters for most of the typical words..."

Night Jewel then brightened up a bit. "Wait. I think I remember something Dawnstrider mentioned. A strange syllable, and it was related to these guys. What do you think?"

"Dark? Evil, clichéd, and moron are all multiple syllables."

Bar
Gak thinks for a moment.
"I just do good things because it feels natural."^_^
She telekinesises her drink up to her mouth as she takes a deep gulp.
She silently wondered if Arvaada still wanted an explanation for that puddle thing back at the school.

"...Altruism isn't natural. Self-preservation as a defense mechanism is formed around the necessity of the opposite. If anything, 'good ponies' are an aberration."

"Stellar." Arvadraa growls warningly. Then she sighs and addresses the other two. "Sorry. She has a...trust complex." Looks like the entire issue has all but slipped her mind.

Mach's Workshop

Ah yes, unusual power drain. Still, for what Mach knows about healing magic, it doesn't explain what's going on with Sandy. The unicorn would be lead over to the healing machine to lay down and wait for his 'shots'.

"The magic here is instantaneous. With the current system set up it would be wise or, uh, possible to leave residue in line with what it does." The pegasus hoofs over a needle assuming Sandy has filled in Taylor about the transfusion thing. Any further questioning along this lines may or may not end in a long theoretical discussion of flash-healing.

"But has Sandy uh, taken anything else with magic involved... drugs or potions?"

Taylor gives him a flat look. "...You want to inject him with more magical fluids after what I just told you. I was adverse about the sedatives and surface mending I gave him, let alone in-depth treatment. To answer your question, unless he has a sorlaic hisperamine addiction that he's been indulging while I wasn't looking, the only things I gave him were direct contact regenerative spells and nervous anesthetics. Both unicorn magic."

Yes. I just now made up the phrase 'sorlaic hisperamine' to make 'healing potion' sound more science-y. Sue me.

[TheAmishPirate]

Mach's Workshop

Ah yes, unusual power drain. Still, for what Mach knows about healing magic, it doesn't explain what's going on with Sandy. The unicorn would be lead over to the healing machine to lay down and wait for his 'shots'.

"The magic here is instantaneous. With the current system set up it would be wise or, uh, possible to leave residue in line with what it does." The pegasus hoofs over a needle assuming Sandy has filled in Taylor about the transfusion thing. Any further questioning along this lines may or may not end in a long theoretical discussion of flash-healing.

"But has Sandy uh, taken anything else with magic involved... drugs or potions?"

Sandy lies down on the table by the healing machine, limp as a ragdoll. The voices of the two other ponies drift and meld into a steady background hum, but sleep does not take the little unicorn just yet. The thought of being stuck full of needles tends to do that to a pony.

Taylor gives him a flat look. "...You want to inject him with more magical fluids after what I just told you. I was adverse about the sedatives and surface mending I gave him, let alone in-depth treatment. To answer your question, unless he has a sorlaic hisperamine addiction that he's been indulging while I wasn't looking, the only things I gave him were direct contact regenerative spells and nervous anesthetics. Both unicorn magic."

Yes. I just now made up the phrase 'sorlaic hisperamine' to make 'healing potion' sound more science-y. Sue me.

If Taylor knew the amount of information not being told to him, he would not be faulted for strangling the unicorn on the spot.


Sandy had given Taylor the briefest of briefs on the flash-healing device. In other words, he told the cleric he'd been hooked up to a blood-magic-healy machine and called it a day. He or another crewmember might've been able to let him in on how the transfusion process worked, but that is mere speculation at this point.


Additionally, there were those peculiar drugs - both the combat stimulants and the depressants - from the Backers injected during the vampony fight...but Taylor had also not been made privy to that information. Either by negligence, an effort to keep classified materials classified, or just forgotten in the wake of that awful mission.


And who could forget that one time when he'd been foalnapped? True, they found no odd trace of chemicals in his system, but that Sleepwalker's Ring was rather difficult - and painful-looking - to remove.


Oops!

[MCerberus]

Mach's Workshop

It takes a moment to register that Taylor wasn't filled in on exactly how the machine works, with the blood cycling and all. "I need to run blood through the system to impart the effect. Sandy I uh, it doesn't look like he's exactly strong at this point. Due to the nature of the device it has to be a match for the magic matrices of the receptiant, so unicorn to unicorn and uh, all that."

"But with the instantaneous effect, any corruption would have to occur at the point of application. Nothing seemed to happen while his magic reserves where being restored, nor has anypony else reported side-effects." Mach's just going to source the earlier anomaly to Sandy's drained status then. That does leave an interesting experiment on the table. Observe what's happening while Sandy's being healed.

[Kelvin360]

Mach's Workshop

It takes a moment to register that Taylor wasn't filled in on exactly how the machine works, with the blood cycling and all. "I need to run blood through the system to impart the effect. Sandy I uh, it doesn't look like he's exactly strong at this point. Due to the nature of the device it has to be a match for the magic matrices of the receptiant, so unicorn to unicorn and uh, all that."

"But with the instantaneous effect, any corruption would have to occur at the point of application. Nothing seemed to happen while his magic reserves where being restored, nor has anypony else reported side-effects." Mach's just going to source the earlier anomaly to Sandy's drained status then. That does leave an interesting experiment on the table. Observe what's happening while Sandy's being healed.

Taylor shakes his head. "Kid's been through a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if this is just a matter of stacking trauma all of a sudden. Of course, there's the most likely scenario that it's just the inherent danger in using the life essence of evil undead as an impromptu healing potion," He enunciates it clearly. Whether in hopes that Sandy can hear or just because he's still really sore about it is unclear. "But I'm ranting."

He pauses to consider the needle. "Mine, huh? ...Don't suppose there's another way? Using mine might not be...safe. Mind you, I'm not entirely sure that it isn't, but at the very least it could sting."

[TheAmishPirate]

Taylor shakes his head. "Kid's been through a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if this is just a matter of stacking trauma all of a sudden. Of course, there's the most likely scenario that it's just the inherent danger in using the life essence of evil undead as an impromptu healing potion," He enunciates it clearly. Whether in hopes that Sandy can hear or just because he's still really sore about it is unclear. "But I'm ranting."

He pauses to consider the needle. "Mine, huh? ...Don't suppose there's another way? Using mine might not be...safe. Mind you, I'm not entirely sure that it isn't, but at the very least it could sting."

Sandy groans at the sudden intrusion into his personal mentality bubble. "Nghh...ain't true...Miss M an' Zephyr ain't...Z-Zephyr ain't...urghh..." The engineer curls up and shivers, his eyes screwed shut.

[MCerberus]

Taylor shakes his head. "Kid's been through a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if this is just a matter of stacking trauma all of a sudden. Of course, there's the most likely scenario that it's just the inherent danger in using the life essence of evil undead as an impromptu healing potion," He enunciates it clearly. Whether in hopes that Sandy can hear or just because he's still really sore about it is unclear. "But I'm ranting."

He pauses to consider the needle. "Mine, huh? ...Don't suppose there's another way? Using mine might not be...safe. Mind you, I'm not entirely sure that it isn't, but at the very least it could sting."

That would illicit a raised eyebrow from the pegasus. Sandy's rambling doesn't even register. "Unless you've got another unicorn around here somewhere... there something wrong with you? Except for a spellplague I, uh, don't think there's much that gets in the way."

[PurityIcekiller]

"Dark? Evil, clichéd, and moron are all multiple syllables."

"No, no. What I meant was... something that isn't a word I've heard before." Night Jewel sighed. "I don't know what exactly it was. Maybe we should have brought Dawnstrider; he'd be able to explain. But do you know anything that isn't a common word which could be related to this army?"

The woodlands were predictably, full of trees. Large hulking trees that seemed almost ancient, dating back to even before the time of Discord. Blueshield and Luka would quickly find themselves losing all sense of direction in the thick undergrowth and the darkened eaves of the massive trees. Even the moonlight was obscured by the thick foliage. Let's hope the two brought a navigational equipment or two. On the bright side, the sound of pursuit seemed to have died down, to be replaced by the gentle singing of the night creatures.

Luka doesn't, he planned to get lost, not travel around.
"Did you bring something to guide? like a map?"
He would ask, but if stuff got too hard he would just fly up and try to guide himself with the moon, assuming it goes East-to-west on this planet.
He also would try to look around for the plants, maybe he would find some medicinal plant or something he could find to help the wounded one a bit, like a willow or something until they can get to a town where she could recover.

Blueshield shook her head. "I have a compass, but the map I have wouldn't be particularly helpful. You see, the thing about maps is you need some reference points to actually use them.

"Of course, the forest itself is a reference point. According to my geographic knowledge, there's a rather large and dangerous forest to the north of Bridle Shores. If this is that forest, then proceeding south would be the optimal course of action, and we had best be cautious. I am unfamiliar with this place, but considering my fortune, I suspect we will run afoul of something unpleasant."

[Kelvin360]

That would illicit a raised eyebrow from the pegasus. Sandy's rambling doesn't even register. "Unless you've got another unicorn around here somewhere... there something wrong with you? Except for a spellplague I, uh, don't think there's much that gets in the way."

"I just figured that my blood might cause problems if he still has the vampiric stuff circulating. I'm....kind of overflowing with light magic."

"No, no. What I meant was... something that isn't a word I've heard before." Night Jewel sighed. "I don't know what exactly it was. Maybe we should have brought Dawnstrider; he'd be able to explain. But do you know anything that isn't a common word which could be related to this army?"

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I spent a majority of my time in Canterlot researching methodology and defense, not their history."

[MCerberus]

Mach's Workshop

Mach flips a switch to cut off the machine from the town's systems and it begins to charge up. To Taylor's concerns, the pegasus, seemingly as a reflex, spits back something from back at school learning about this.

"The magical effect is not the method." Healing in particular has a lot of different ways to skin that cat.

[Kelvin360]

Mach's Workshop

Mach flips a switch to cut off the machine from the town's systems and it begins to charge up. To Taylor's concerns, the pegasus, seemingly as a reflex, spits back something from back at school learning about this.

"The magical effect is not the method." Healing in particular has a lot of different ways to skin that cat.

"I don't think you quite understand...if the majority...or even a sufficient minority...of his blood is still vampirically enhanced, I could roast him from the inside out. You'll have to be very quick on the draw, here. And exact. Are you at least one hundred percent certain you can make this work?"