Home 19 - Please Contact Your Friendly Neighborhood Realtor

[Rebonack]

[The Shadow Wood Tree]

Sunder is confused!

Thankfully she doesn't hurt herself in her confusion.

"Spring Sonata!" Sunder calls out.

A few moments later a shady arion mare pokes her head in through the door. "Yes, Mistress?" the shadeling asks in a rather melodious voice, giving the troll a quizzical look.

"We have a guest who is in distress," Sunder explains. "Please see her to a room and make sure she's comfortable."

The pony nods. "Of course, Mistress. Miss? Would you please come with me?"

Sunder, meanwhile, fishes out her phone! Gotta call Punch and figure out what's going on here.

[Lost_Deep]

The Shadow Wood Tree

"The last, great concert."

The banjo switches to an electric guitar, and inside the guitar, under the strings and clear case, snowflakes intertwine and turn like gears. She stands up, and strums a single, heavy riff. There's a distortion in the air, a momentary dark red, gear-shaped aura surrounds her, and then she's gone.

[Baeleck]

[Garden Away From Home]

Soon, Rey will happen upon something that cannot be dug through!

It looks to be a big, round, iron slab. It's kinda rusty, which is obscuring the engraved pattern covering its surface. Looks like quite an elaborate, plant-inspired design.

It's also quite hot. Not so much as to burn skin at the touch, but one certainly wouldn't be able to keep their hand there for more than a few seconds without suffering consequences.

Harvey moves in closer to inspect what has been found.

[Deathkeeper]

Garden Away From Home

Lee leans in over his father's shoulder.
"Well uh, that's....that's certainly a thing. Uh....what is it?" he asks.

[Rebonack]

[Garden Away From Home]

Well.

That's interesting.

Rey has no idea what it is.

"I have no idea what this is..." Reynardine admits.

See? Told you.

[The Shadow Wood Tree]

Sunder and Spring Sonata both exchange a confused glance. After a few moments the shady arion (aka earth pony!) trots out of the room whilst Sunder places a call to Punch!

"Hey Punch, this is Sunder. I think one of your old friends just stopped by. Gal with a guitar that makes her vanish? Stop by at my place, we'll have lunch and talk about it."

That'll be fun, right?

[Lost_Deep]

The Shadow Wood Tree

Punch picks up quickly. "Hey Sunder-"

And then the description. There is a pause, followed by space and time getting shoved out of the way and Punch suddenly standing there. Impulsively, Punch tries to grab Sunder and lift the not-light-pony off of the ground. "Long, Spiraled horns? Did She wear furs? Did She have a Banjo? Did She Say her name?"

[Rebonack]

[The Shadowood Tree]

"Uuh..."

Sunder is hefted aloft!

Sunder is a lot bigger than she was when Punch last met her, right around the six foot tall mark. She also looks very much nightmære-y, though she's clearly made of flesh and bone rather than pure spooky shadow stuff. She looks alive, honestly. Feels alive. She's still breathing and everything. And also getting lifted into the air.

"Yes, yes, yes, no, can you put me down, please?"

Whether or not she gets put down, Sunder has some additional information to share!

"She said I would be a good morail for you or... something... like that? And something about being a seer of time, too. Does this all have to do with that weird game you and your friends got stuck in?"

[Baeleck]

[Garden Away From Home]

Harvey is similarly clueless.

'It looks heavy... we'd need a crane or something to dig that out.'

Maybe more can be discovered about it when they've uncovered it all! Harvey begins to scoop more soil away.

[Lost_Deep]

The Shadowood Tree

"Yes! Yes..." Punch sets Sunder back down. Punch will then sit down in a chair if one is available. Sunder may notice that Punch doesn't and didn't have any gloves on.

"How was She? How Did She look? I know you have a lot of Questions, But... I knew her for four and a half Sweeps Before this happened. That Game happened."

[Rebonack]

[The Shadowood Tree]

"She seemed really confused," Sunder reports.

Talking to her was also rather confusing.

"But she still remembered you and stuff. It was like her mind was all scattered or some ****," she continues. "But aside from that? She didn't look hurt or sick or anything. Just a bit cracked."

Looked like she needed some professional help.

Unfortunately she went and vanished.

And there is a chair! Mostly for other people to sit in.

Chairs and equestrians are not friends.

[Deathkeeper]

Garden Away from Home

Lee smiles a weird, equine grin.
"I dunno, Dad. Dig it free, and maybe with some ropes and a pulley I could pull it out. Magical horse and all." he says with a whinny-like laugh.

[Rebonack]

[Garden Away From Home]

Kelpies ARE known for being supernaturally strong.

Tree branches, though, aren't.

Rey begins digging around the edge of the box as well.

What could it be?

A treasure chest, maybe?

A coffin with a vampire in it?

A time capsule full of old letters to people in the future?

Who knows!

[Baeleck]

[Garden Away From Home]

And so, the shed building has become an exercise in archaeology!

Harvey nods at his son's words, and begins shovelling double-time.

The round slab appears to be a cover for something. Because pretty soon, Reynardine is scrabbling against unhewn, volcanic rock. As more earth is uncovered, the air above it begins to waver, like a mirage, in the heat from the plate.

It's a good six feet in diameter, and doesn't look like it just slides off. Maybe there's a locking mechanism, or a hatch somewhere?

[Deathkeeper]

Garden Away From Home

Lee takes a step back or two. "I don't think I like all of the heat coming off of that thing. Maybe we ought to get professionals to handle this thing? What if it blows up or something?" he asks.

[Rebonack]

[Garden Away From Home]

The heat doesn't bug Rey one bit. Huldra are creatures of fire after all.

"Wow, this thing is really warm," he comments as he pokes at it with his paws. "It might be a seal on something. Like... maybe a djinn? Some kind of fire elemental?"

Weird thing about Reynardine is that he seems to drift back and forth between modern and archaic speech styles.

It's most fun when he's being fancy!

[Lost_Deep]

[The Shadowood Tree]

"She seemed really confused," Sunder reports.

Talking to her was also rather confusing.

"But she still remembered you and stuff. It was like her mind was all scattered or some ****," she continues. "But aside from that? She didn't look hurt or sick or anything. Just a bit cracked."

Looked like she needed some professional help.

Unfortunately she went and vanished.

And there is a chair! Mostly for other people to sit in.

Chairs and equestrians are not friends.

"That's Good. She's alive. Still Broken, But alive. That's the Best I Could ask for. Maybe... Someday she'll Be fixed." Punch smiles. "That's hope. That's Solid hope. More than I've had in a while."

[Rebonack]

[The Shadowood Tree]

Sunder gives a little nod to this. She's glad her friend is glad, but it sure would be nice if there was something more she could actually do to help. Alas, there isn't. Aside from being a friend to Punch.

"Oh! I wanted to show you around my place," Sunder says as she rises to her hooves. "There's some weird stuff down in the roots of the tree that looks pretty cool. After the tour we can get something to eat. A couple of my little ponies are pretty amazing chefs."

Having your own chefs?

Wow.

Sunder is really moving up in the world.

All she had to do was devour some undead and turn them into her minions!

Yay minions!

[Lost_Deep]

The Shadowood Tree

Punch nods, smiling. She doesn't usually smile. "That Sounds nice. I've Been wanting to Come Check On you. How many Ponies Do you have By now?"

[Rebonack]

[The Shadowood Tree]

Sunder laughs at that question, closing her eyes for a moment, her ears twitching to sounds only she can hear. "One thousand nine hundred and twenty six," she replies, shaking her head. "Crazy, right? Most of them are out in the Gloom, expanding the boarders of my holdings. Every undead we take down becomes another little pony."

Every.

Single.

One.

"Usually that's why undead plagues are so nasty. Heh... but instead the undead have got to deal with a plague of life," Sunder says with a toothy grin. "Serves them right."

All's fair in love and war, or so they say.

[Lost_Deep]

The Shadowood Tree

Punch is a bit surprised at that number. "Interesting to See you turn your Obsession into Something Constructive, I'm Surprised you were able to keep Up with that number. It hasn't Been very long Since you Started, are there Just that many Undead around?"

[Recaiden]

[Charlotte and Tanya's House]

Knock!Knock!Knock!

There's a person here! Not just an ominous flower like last time.

[Ionbound]

[Charlotte and Tanya's House]

Charlotte opens the door as she says, "Hello?" unaware of who the visitor might be.

[Recaiden]

[Were-house]

It's a Cleo, holding out to the werebat a batch of very alive tulips.
"Hey Char. How's your quest for revenge coming?"

[Rebonack]

[The Shadowood Tree]

"The cool part is that I'm basically giving the a second chance to be alive. Eerr... sort of alive," Sunder replies, waving a hoof. "You know. Most undead are slaved to some undead master or their own instincts to eat living people. But when they become one of my little ponies? They've got their own will again. I think it messes with some of their minds, though," Sunder admits. "I've got this one gal working for me now, Myrrh Balm? She's in charge of a lot of the legal nonsense. But she used to be a mummy before I busted into her tomb, and redeemed her servants and her. She was working on a spell to create a sand storm that would give everything it touches mummy rot."

Sunder continues walking down through halls for a bit before elaborating.

"Mummy rot is bad, in case you didn't know. Makes stuff it infects crumbles into dust like that dude from the third Indiana Jones movie."

The one who chose poorly.

"After I made her into one of my little ponies she swears up and down that she must have been bat **** crazy to ever consider doing something evil for no good reason."

She didn't answer the question about how she got so many!

Maybe she just got distracted talking about Myrrh.

[Ionbound]

[Were-house]

Charlotte smiles brightly when she sees Cleo and says, "Oh hey, Cleo! Come in!" She leads Cleo into a nice living room, complete with couch, chair, and TV as she says, "Not so well, I'm afraid. I went to VIGIL, and someone scried for me, but by the time I got to where he directed me, the culprit was gone...And now I'm out of leads again. Any ideas?"

The tulips are placed in a vase, full of water on the way to the living room.

[Recaiden]

[Were-house]

Cleo follows into the nice living room, then into the "kitchen full of water". An interesting architectural choice, to be sure, but she kind of likes it, the narrow bands of linoleum to stand on, with the interconnected pools on all sides. The hum of the filter is nice too, of course, and the hovering table is just wonderfully elegant.

"That's a shame. I'm afraid my advice is still to give it up. You're hurting yourself more than her. Spend time at the temple making it safer and better, rather than hunting for just one enemy."

[Baeleck]

Garden Away From Home

Lee takes a step back or two. "I don't think I like all of the heat coming off of that thing. Maybe we ought to get professionals to handle this thing? What if it blows up or something?" he asks.

[Garden Away From Home]

The heat doesn't bug Rey one bit. Huldra are creatures of fire after all.

"Wow, this thing is really warm," he comments as he pokes at it with his paws. "It might be a seal on something. Like... maybe a djinn? Some kind of fire elemental?"

Weird thing about Reynardine is that he seems to drift back and forth between modern and archaic speech styles.

It's most fun when he's being fancy!

Looks like opening it might not be a great idea, thinks Harvey. Lee was a sensible boy, though there was no denying Reynardine's curiosity. The man takes a good few steps back as well.

'I think I agree, son,' he says. "I mean, even if it doesn't explode, it's probably containing something dangerous. That why you lock stuff up, right?'

That's certainly one of the reasons.

That said, another reason for heavy metal seals on things is for keeping something valuable safe.

[UncleWolf]

Harpy Apartment

Spoiler: Warning: Possibly Triggering involving family issues.

Show

Heather was confused. All she'd done was answer the door for a really tall and pretty white Harpy who was nice and smiled at her, but Veronica had told her and her brothers to go to another room, sounding angry. Wasn't she supposed to be nice to strangers? "Why is she angry at me?" Heather asks her brothers, sitting down on the carpet in their room and holding her knees to her chest. Richard, the eldest, shakes his head and gives a sigh as he sits on the edge of his bed, shoulders slumping as he tries to ignore the yelling that was going on in the rest of the apartment.

"She's not angry with you. It's...that...that's your mom. Our mom. I forgot you hadn't seen her before." The Crane says, sounding defeated. "Sam ran into her once while young, but it's been a long time."

"Why'd she leave us?" Heather asks, sounding saddened by the very idea of someone leaving the family. At that, Richard shakes his head again. "I don't know. None of us do." He admits before hanging his head, closing his eyes, and tries to ignore the argument a short distance away.


Harpy Apartment - Door

Veronica knew she should be slightly more hospitable to someone at the door, but for this person, she refused to budge even a single inch as she looked up at the taller woman with a deadly glare."You aren't welcome here, mother so what are you doing here?" She asks with a hateful edge to her voice. The other harpy seems unconcerned however and just raises an eyebrow. "Don't take that tone of voice with me, young lady." She replies. "I'm here to see my other children so step aside so I can go in. I'll even make lunch." When the older Harpy begins to step through, Veronica's wing snaps up, blocking her. "Set one foot in this apartment and I'm calling the cops to haul your ass off." She threatens.

The Albatross finally seems a bit shocked before scowling and standing straighter. Before she can respond though, Veronica presses on, her jaw clenching in anger. "Did you really think you could just waltz back in here after eight years of being away like it was okay? DID YOU?!?" She shouts before backing up a step to barely avoid a slap. "I did NOT raise you to talk that way to me!" Her mother yells right back. "I have every right to be here. Those three obviously need me! I am their mother an-"

"YOU ARE NO ONE'S MOTHER!" Veronica shouts at the top of her lungs. "You aren't Richard's Mother, you aren't Samuel's Mother and you sure as hell aren't Heather's! I am their mother now! You gave that up when you decided to leave you ****ing harlot!!" She screams in pure anger and accusation, forcing the harpy back several steps in defense. "A mother raises her children! She bathes them, feeds them, clothes them, and she sacrifices every god damned waking moment of her life for them! You did NOTHING! You weren't there when Samuel broke his arms. You weren't there when Heather first sang. You weren't there when Richard was so heartbroken by your departure that he didn't speak for months! You sure as hell weren't there when I, at sixteen, had to sell our house just to have enough money to pay the debt collectors. I've saved and scraped together every copper I could over the past few years for them, giving up everything I ever wanted to do so. I don't even have a ****ing bed because of you! I set aside every single one of my dreams to raise the children you left behind." She shouts, her face read and tears freely flowing from her eyes as she lets it all out. Veronica takes a couple steps, snapping her wings in front of her to shove her mother against the far wall of the hallway. "And you think you can just come back like it never even happened? You...you...bitch. You think just because you laid our eggs that you are our mom? YOU. ARE. NOTHING!!" she screams at the now-cowering woman. "Get the **** out of our lives and stay out!"

Veronica barely keeps the tremors from her wings and legs as she watches her mother leave without a word, flying out the hallway window. Only after she's gone for several seconds does she return to the apartment and shut the door, latching it before collapsing on the ground to sob and shake.

Richard quietly shuts the door to his room as he stops peeping and gives out a long sigh. Heather, on the verge of her own tears, is given a gentle hug by him and Samuel both. "Wh-What do we do?" The girl asks, wiping her nose on her wing. Richard lets go and goes to the window to open it as he gives another sigh. "You two are going to stay here. Let her cry it out. I'm going to go get something to make her happy. I'll be back as quickly as possible." He promises before leaping out the window to head towards Jace's workshop, hoping his sister's boyfriend was there today.

[Deathkeeper]

Garden Away From Home

Lee gives a snort. "I haven't really been paying attention to local metallurgists, though. I certainly don't know who to call."

Jace's Workshop

Jace is in today! He and Zebes are finally relaxing after all the wacky shenanigans, sitting quietly in the shop, reading some magazines. They haven't had an order today, nor any inspiration for a project, so Jace isn't busy actually making something.

[Lost_Deep]

The Shadowood Tree

Punch raises an eyebrow. "I Don't know those movies, But you Didn't answer my Question. How are there So many Ponies all Of a Sudden? How Do they Stack Up to the normal Ponies?"