The Rise of the Windigo King

Aoi nodded and took the hoof in her claw and shook it.

Land Lobber shrugged. "Bah! Ya can always jus' give it ta me if yer achin' to be giving it away... I guess buyin' some loyalty be being cheaper pre-emptively though."

Mostly, despite the somewhat inaccurate (but somewhat accurate, he had been paid) description of being a bodyguard, he looked around, getting a lay of the room in case a brawl started. He kept a mental to not think too cheerfully or negatively, since those types of emotions would get an honest fighter like himself dominated right-quick. Of course, that did make him a bit more distant than usual. Necessary losses.

When Lobber finally chimed in - Death Ray simply turned to him and grinned self-consciously. "I'm... uh... not exactly trying to buy loyalty so much myself..."

He paused - then shrugged.

"Buuuuuuut - something to break the... um... ice..." the Doctor ran a hoof through his mane - realizing the irony of his statement as he said it.

-Heh heh... break the ice... and we made the rose out of ice... with a freeze ray... and an ice witch...

I think Ms. Aoihime prefers the term 'ice goddess' sir.

Witch... Goddess... Tomato. Tomahto.

“But - yeah…” Death Ray went on, “Bringing something to… break the ice… is never a bad idea…”

The Doctor paused again to consider Aoi, Lobber... and GREGG… before nodding, “So we’re all agreed then? Okay. Okay! -BREAK!”

Clopping his hooves like a team captain, Death Ray broke from the group huddle and trotted back to Ditto. “Sooooo... um... Alright. Yeah. We’ll be... we'll be... going. up. the. stairs… now?"

…

The Doctor blinked a few times, glanced around for a moment (waiting to make sure nopony would try to stop him), then he added energetically, “-See ya!” waving as he left his ‘favorite’ changeling behind and went for the stairs, GREGG hovering faithfully after him.

Looking back over his shoulder, Death Ray motioned to the others, “You guys... comin'?”

Aoi follows along doing her best not to roll her eyes.

As you head up the stairs you find yourself in a small hallways that connects to a larger open room to your right. There is a small group of ponies at the top of stairs who look at you oddly as you climb up, however two of them seem to recognize Dr. D and quickly whisper something to the others, stepping aside as you climb up.

Looking around the room you see a large gathering of of ponies and griffons milling about, some even seem to be in multiple places at once. Any confusion this might cause though is dispersed immediately by the sight of several changelings in their natural form.

A lot of them seem to be gathering around an almost ridiculously large punch bowl, to the point you half expect it to smash through a brick wall. Others seem to be gathered in various areas of the room having discussions about god knows what. One particularly large group is in a ring around a trio of changelings, one of which appears to be weaving some kind of grand narrative based on the gestures and reactions from the audience.

Suddenly there's a high-pitched shriek from somewhere in the room followed by cries of alarm as a flat metallic object goes sailing through the air, straight towards the stairway. The changelings around the entrance quickly duck and cover as Dr. D jumps handily out of the way. The object slams into a wall beside you with a heavy sound and leaves a noticeable dent before falling to the ground with a clatter.

As you stare at it for a moment you realize that it appears to be a crude metal butterfly made out of a piece of pipe, some door hinges, and some torn bits of a baking tray for wings. Its 'head' appears to be made of tin foil wrapped around one end.

"Sorry!" You hear a young voice call out from the crowd as a very small changeling seems to push its way out of the crowd, being followed by a far more sophisticated looking clockwork butterfly that lands on her horn as she skids to a stop before you, hanging her head contritely. "I didn't mean to let go of it!"

The room seems to be aware of your presence now as most of them stare at you, though most of those quickly go back to what they were doing as soon as they realize no one took a flying iron pipe to the face.

---

The windigo seems slightly surprised by Healing Torch's choice of action but stopping just short of actively shrugging its shoulders and lets out another ghastly echoing whinny. Healing Torch feels cold seeping into his very core as his blood begins to boil and push it out of mind like a haze.

Verana blinks surprised, seemingly stumbling over herself as she tries to think of something she can do at Ragnarok's question. Mentally considering and tossing out options with soft uttering of "No" as her eyes dart left and right as if her options were literally lined up before her.

"Yeah! Those bugs attacked Princess Celestia, of course we do!!" One of the guards speaks up enthusiastically, another slaps him with a hoof quickly. "That's supposed to be kept quiet you idiot!" The other guard hisses, however another whinny from the windigo silences this argument with a wince from the guard. "And why's that? Everypony has a right to know! It's every proud Equestrian's duty to see those bugs pay for what they did!" The first guard speaks up with more conviction. "We should go gather up everypony we can and stamp those monsters out like roaches!" He says with even more fervor, the other guards seeming to agree. They turn towards Torch. "And what about you? You in? Or are you with them?"

Watching as things begin to spiral out of control, Verana seems to make up her mind. "This is the best I can do as I am right now..." She says as the small motes of light that make up her pupils brighten to fill her entire eyes. Ragnarok can feel her necklace heating up straight through her bags as a ball of bright golden light forms on the tip of Verana's horn. The windblown trails of her essence intensify as she draws more magic into her horn, distorting more and more of her shape, her wings and hooves little more than orange streams of mist in an otherworldly wind. Finally she points her horn at the windigo and releases the ball of energy towards the evil spirit in the form of a golden fireball. Before the blast even hits the windigo however Verana's form completely dissipates like a cloud struck by a pegasus. Leaving only little wisps of orange mist that quickly fade away.

The fireball impacts the windigo and immediately causes it to burst into golden flames. It lets out a wail of pain that actually rattles the glass around you as it writhes in the air before flying blindly through the air. The flow of magic from it ceases instantly as it bucks and dives through the air, but while it's no longer escalating the situation on its own, the guards themselves already appear to be at a boiling point as what magic it poured into them and Torch continues to linger as an aura of cold.

For Sub:

As Death Ray had walked up the stairs, he’d waved to everypony - and changeling(though they were probably all changelings in retrospect) - that he’d passed.

“Hey – How’s it going? – Having a good day? – Remember me? –Enjoying the party?”

I… I don’t recognize any of these ponies GREGG…

But I’m picking up some familiar life signs, Dr. Death Ray sir. I believe we met some of them this morning sir.

Like who?

Well sir, that one there with the extra glossy carapace? Wasn’t she in the clouds sir?

Wait. Which one?

And that one there sir? The one with the distinct markings on his thorax? I’m certain I saw him change into a butler.

Who’s that? Him? Or him? No, you must mean… him? –Oh, wait... I think that’s a her…

Dr Blight wrote:Suddenly there's a high-pitched shriek from somewhere in the room followed by cries of alarm as a flat metallic object goes sailing through the air, straight towards the stairway. The changelings around the entrance quickly duck and cover as Dr. D jumps handily out of the way. The object slams into a wall beside you with a heavy sound and leaves a noticeable dent before falling to the ground with a clatter.

As you stare at it for a moment you realize that it appears to be a crude metal butterfly made out of a piece of pipe, some door hinges, and some torn bits of a baking tray for wings. Its 'head' appears to be made of tin foil wrapped around one end.

"Sorry!" You hear a young voice call out from the crowd as a very small changeling seems to push its way out of the crowd, being followed by a far more sophisticated looking clockwork butterfly that lands on her horn as she skids to a stop before you, hanging her head contritely. "I didn't mean to let go of it!"

Death Ray beams at the changeling girl when he finally catches sight of her. Heeeeeeeeeey – Finally, somepony I recognize!

“What’s up Dream?!” the Doctor exclaims, nodding towards his clockwork invention, “I take it you’ve been enjoying the butterfly?”

GREGG, pick up Dream’s other… uh… butterfly please.

Yes sir, Dr. Death Ray sir!

Swooping down beside the less sophisticated metal insect, GREGG’s eye flashes red as his anti-grav generator pumps out more energy, levitating the other butterfly – Dream’s hoofiwork, the Doctor assumes – off the ground and placing it in the air before Death Ray. The unicorn scientist studies the design for a moment, noting how the butterfly’s made of solid iron – outside the foil head that is – and that it doesn’t have a scratch on it either.

“Wow,” Death Ray turns to Dream, “Impressive. Looks… looks like somepony’s been busy, eh? Did you make this little guy?” He grins, nodding to the new butterfly. “It’s nice – and I’d just been thinking your little mech might could use a companion… Oh! And BTW?” Death Ray shakes his head, “Don’t worry about the… uh… the loss of… manual… control there.” Death Ray shrugs, motioning to the rent in the wall behind him, “It… um… it happens to the best of us scientists… believe you me. I mean... if… if I had a bit for every doomsday device I ever made that rebelled against its master and went on a rampage through the lab… um… well…” Death Ray grins, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head with one hoof, “I’d have a… a lot of bits...”

“Yes you would sir. A whoooooooooooooole lot of bits.”

Death Ray paused – then added dryly, “Thank... Thank you GREGG…”

“You’re welcome Dr. Death Ray sir!”

Aoi just stood there silently for a few moments until she realized what she was waiting for wasn't happening. She looked at GREGG and made a small pointed cough.

GREGG zipped up beside the dragonnel, "That's quite the nasty cough Ms. Aoihime. Can I interest you in a Death Ray Cough Drop? I'm capable of dispensing Poisonberry Punch, Radiation Lime, Bwahaha Blueberry, Grape-xplosion... and Cherry.

-The Doctor's particularly fond of Cherry."

"I suppose it was too much to expect that your maker having no sense of subtlety that he would have given you any either. Would you introduce me?" Aoi said inwardly terrified of what could possibly be in "Cherry".

"Oh!" GREGG piped up energetically, "Yes mam, Ms. Aoihime mam!"

Rising upward until he was nearly touching the ceiling, GREGG gave off a slight sound that resembled somepony clearing their throat. A compartment in his gold frame slid open and a tiny horn extended outward.

Spoiler:

Though the horn was tiny, it still made quite a bit of noise - which GREGG then followed up with a royally resounding -

"HERE YE, HERE YE! INTRODUCING THE LADY KONGOUSEKI AOIHIME, HEIR TO THE GREAT DRAGON GODDESS OF THE WINTER SNOW, HAILING FROM THE BEAUTIFUL ISLAND OF NEIGHPON, MAJOR EXPORTER OF VIDEO GAMES AND ALL THINGS PONIME!"

Then lowering his volume just a tad, he added -

"This evening, the Lady is accompanied by my creator, Dr. Danger Prone Death Ray, Mad Scientist and Super Villain Extraordinaire, Holder of a Ph. D in Horribleness from the distinguished Halls of DDU – along with unofficial Ph.Ds in physics, astrophysics, robotics, laser technologies, ray technologies, engineering – and acting; along with Mr. Land Lobber, Friend of Dr. Death Ray, Adventurer of the High Seas, and Expert in All Things Nautical!"

GREGG lowered himself back down and turned to the dragonnel, "How's that, Ms. Aoihime mam?"

"Could use some work but, I suppose it was well enough for an improvisation." Aoi replied.

Ragnarok walks up to the most inflamed of the guards and slaps him across the face  and immediately launches into a tirade. "How dare you! How dare you turn your back on your Princesses to align yourselves with the forces that very nearly brought the entire world into ruin! The exact same force that was the drive behind the attacks that occurred not even a single day ago. Have you forgotten what happened there already? Have you forgotten the oath to serve and protect that all of you swore? Have you forgotten the tradegy that unfolded so many years ago when the very same words that you now speak where spoken by one pony to another? I shall admit that some Changelings did attack Canterlot but should you judge the whole by the actions of the few? Before you answer did you hunt down and kill every single Unicorn after what a single group attacked this island? "

Roll:

Torch feels rage cloud his mind, adrenaline flooding his body. He thinks to himself, Windigo. Can't give in, need to be able to think clearly. Revenge is a dish best served cold, after all. However, some part of him wants to give in, and he can only summon halfhearted resistance. He hears the guards and says, "I'm absolutely in. Let's get those damn bugs." He stops at Ragnarok's lecture, then says angrily, "Did those unicorns attack a princess? NO! This IS the oath, we're gonna protect all of ponykind from these... monstrosities! WHO'S WITH ME!

Endurance:

Persuasion:

Ragnarok briefly glares at Torch as if demanding that he keep his mouth shut. "I ask of you three things. First are all the ponies in the world forsworn to a single lord? Have the Changelings that have lived here acted out against this fair island even once? For what reason do you even think that these Changelings are even related to those that attacked Canterlot?"

The little filly giggles slightly as Dr. D looks over her crude little butterfly. "It doesn't move by itself really." She admits sheepishly as she reaches over with a hoof and pushes one of its wings up and down to demonstrate. She stops and blinks, looking between the crude iron butterfly in GREGG's magical grip and the one currently perched on her horn. "Rebelled? Why"

Following GREGGs introduction the entire room has once again stopped and is staring, this time at Aoihime.  Some whispering and a few awkward coughs pass through the crowd as they continue to stare and stare. After a few moments a few green flashes pass through the crowd sporadically.  Where they were there are ponies and changelings with strange angular light and dark patches in their coats as they look themselves over before staring again.

"My my, that's quite an entrance!" Says one of the changelings, finally breaking the silence. A purple changeling approaching your group from the crowd, shadowed close behind by a rather bulky looking orange changeling, who keeps a close by cautious distance. "And to what do we owe the honor? Deities and Super villains aren't exactly within our normal fare here." The mare speaks with a grandiose tone as she regards you.

---

The guards look confused for a moment as Ragnarok chews them out, glancing between each other. Their expression shifts to a hostile one however as they glare, and just as one is about to speak up Healing Torch cuts in. The guards join in with Torch's argument with enthusiastic cries of "YEAH" and "Those MONSTERS!!"

They're taken aback in confusion once more as they're suddenly questioned, halting in their cheers as they think. " Well...no they aren't." One responds to the first question after a moment, looking off with a confused and glassy-eyed expression as he shakes his head. Another grits its teeth at the second question. "Teeeechnically no....I guess they haven't..." He says, obviously hating every minute of conceding that. "They........they're changelings?" The last utters out a response doubtfully, looking to the others for support who all seem just as generally confused about what to do now.

Meanwhile above, the windigo continues to writhe in agony as it burns

Aoi waited for a moment for Death Ray to respond but, after a moment it was evident he was more interested in playing with Dream. "Death Ray wanted to visit and I wished to make my introductions as I have had an amicable relationship with the Hives of my homeland. We bring a small gift that I hope will be considered a token of friendship. Gregg, if you would?" she says and indicates to GREGG that he should bring forth the ice rose. "Might I inquire as to the name of your Hive and your Queen?"

Torch watches as the guards listen top Raggy, then says, "Yes, they're changelings! They're sick monsters that feed on emotions, feed on love, like you or I would hay fries! We have to protect our families from these things, before it's too late! These things may not have attacked yet, but they're obviously biding their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity! I've seen communities torn apart by these things, mares and colts alike murdered in front of their families, and hearts and souls ripped to pieces!" As he speaks, he attempts to conjure images of the changeling attack on his home, the burning homes, the crying children, the corpses lying everywhere, in grizzly heaps.

Magecraft:

Ragnarok redoubles her glaring at Torch. "Do not listen to this Pony his mind has been consumed by his hatred and magic. Now I shall be safe in assuming that each of you have at least met a pony that fed a Changeling. Have they ever changed in the slightest amount did they turn their back upon their friends and family? I to have personally met quite a number of Changelings I found them to be no different to any Pony from a similar situation." Ragnarok moves closer to the guards trying to consume as much of their field of vision as possible while at the same time changing her tone to what one would use to lecture a foolish youth. "Also I ask of you one thing would you ever destroy all the hay in the world? The Changeling are dependent upon others to live. So then why would anyone of them other than one that is already mad ever chose to antagonize those that they need?"

Roll:

Dr Blight wrote:The little filly giggles slightly as Dr. D looks over her crude little butterfly. "It doesn't move by itself really." She admits sheepishly as she reaches over with a hoof and pushes one of its wings up and down to demonstrate. She stops and blinks, looking between the crude iron butterfly in GREGG's magical grip and the one currently perched on her horn. "Rebelled? Why"

Death Ray had vaguely noticed the regal-sounding changeling as she trotted up, but he found himself more concerned with Dream’s question presently.

“Oh. Well...” Death Ray rubbed his chin, deep in thought, “Hmmm…”

Little help here GREGG?

Don’t look at me, Dr. Death Ray sir. The psychology of doomsday devices escapes me sir.

You’re a big help GREGG.

Thank you sir.

The Doctor paused for a long moment, staring at GREGG – then to Dream he said, “Uhhhh… Well… I’m… I’m glad you asked that question. You see… You… you can’t learn anything if you don’t ask questions… Nope. Sure can’t… sooooo… so that’s why it’s good. Good to ask… questions… questions are good to ask… Yes sir-reee… Questions are good… Can’t have a world without… without questions…” Death Ray chuckled awkwardly, “Heh heh – yeah. So… why… why would an invention… rebel? Why would it rebel? Why. would. it… rebel?”

–Heh. I ask myself that all the time…

The Doctor ran a hoof through his mane, grinning stupidly, “Well… You see Dream… You see…”

Think Death Ray, think! How do you explain the intricate workings of robotics, physics, astrophysics, psychology, and reasoning to a filly? Got to… make it relatable… somehow…

-OOH!

Death Ray plopped down on the ground and clopped his hooves together, immediately brightening as a thought came to him.

“You see Dream,” he said – growing steadily calmer now that he had a plan of attack, “the reason why doomsday devices – or creations in general – rebel, is simply because they’re like… well,” he shrugged, “they’re like babies!” He nodded, grinning at his own genius. “Yes, they’re just like babies, cute little foals – but not just any foals. Oh no.” Death Ray pointed a hoof at Dream, “They’re your foals – which makes them extra special. I mean, with your own hooves,” Death Ray nodded to Dream’s little hooves, “you breathe life into them. Without you, your creations wouldn’t even exist…

“It’s a great feeling,” Death Ray continued, taking Dream’s crudely-made little butterfly in his hooves, “that moment when your work’s complete, when your creation finally takes shape, when you ultimately give your dreams wings and let them take flight!” Death Ray was practically glowing at this point, caught up in the thrill of his speech as he lifted the butterfly high into the air – and GREGG, taking this as his cue, made the butterfly’s wings beat softly with his gyroscopic stabilizer; making it appear to even fly as it floated out of the Doctor’s hooves.

-At this, Death Ray flipped down his black goggles and laughed maniacally.

Then, as GREGG lowered the butterfly back down into his hooves, the Doctor lowered the butterfly back down to Dream, placing it in her hooves.

After pausing for dramatic effect, Death Ray grew more serious as he added, “-But bringing life into this world is no simple task,” –and he leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially, “– I imagine you could ask your mother about that one.” Nodding, the Doctor stepped back, “-and even after you give birth to your creations, you’re not done yet. No indeed.” Death Ray shakes his head slowly, flipping up his goggles – then nodding to Dream’s butterfly, “You have a responsibility to your babies. You have to take care of them, watch over them, give them regularly scheduled maintenance, updates, and repairs; feed them on a steady supply of energy; and teach them how to behave with proper programming…”

“Even then,” Death Ray shrugged, “babies will be babies, kids will be kids, and orbital deep space death lasers will be orbital deep space death lasers… Sometimes your children won’t understand, sometimes they’ll get confused – sometimes they’ll get hi-jacked or hacked. They’ll throw temper tantrums, they’ll rebel. It’s a sad fact, but if you give your creations free will – as you should – then sometimes they won’t do as you’d hoped. Sometimes they’ll break your heart…”

Death Ray paused, remembering some of his own experiences – then he shook his head and kept grinning, looking into the little changeling filly’s eyes even as his own eyes started to water.

“Even then though Dream, even then you can’t be discouraged, you can’t give up. You just can’t. Not on your creations – because they’re not replaceable, they’re not a dime a dozen, they’re not just some toys you play with either. They're your creations, your children, your family. Even when everypony else is too blind to see their beauty, you can never stop loving your children. They may rebel, they may go on a rampage, they may break every inch of your secret laboratory that they can get their greasy, metallic claws on – but you always need to be there to pick up the pieces and rebuild. You need to learn from your mistakes, fix them, and always move... move forward... Don't let anypony tell you otherwise.”

Rubbing his eyes and sniffling a bit, Death Ray looked away and cleared his throat, “Um… Sorry. I… I get sort of emotional… when I talk about these kinds of things.” As he tried to regain his composure, the Doctor glanced back at Dream, wondering how much of that she’d understood – and hoping he hadn’t lost her somewhere in the middle of it all...

Then GREGG’s thoughts came into his mind – Sir? Dr. Death Ray sir?

…

Dad?

What’s up GREGG?

Ms. Aoihime wishes for me to present the temporal rose sir. Do I have your permission to do so sir?

Give me a few more moments here to finish up with Dream GREGG. I want to be prepared when you unveil it.

Yes sir, Dr. Death Ray sir. Understood sir.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GREGG’s red eye flashed as he turned to Aoihime.

DANGER! DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!

OBSERVATION: Master has put me in a precarious position.

STATEMENT: Utmost caution must be utilized in order to relay the master’s commands while also not hurting Ms. Aoihime’s feelings.

INITIATE ROYAL ATTENDANT PROTOCOL 0010102

GREGG’s eye flashed a royal blue, and then his golf-ball sized frame lowered slowly in something of a supplicating bow before the dragonnel princess. “Apologies milady, but the Doctor has requested that we postpone the gift’s unveiling until he has temporarily concluded his chat with Lady Dream. If I may milady, this course of action seems quite reasonable. Considering that the two of you worked together to create your masterpiece, it would seem only appropriate that the two of you would present your work together.”

GREGG then turned towards the changeling in purple and bowed again, “May I also extend an apology on my master’s behalf for not giving you his immediate attention Madame. I assure you that he has not forgotten your presence, nor will he keep you waiting much longer. He will be with you shortly.”

Aoi gave a frosty sigh and nodded, figuring it best not to attempt to rush the madpony. She looked around and smiled at the changelings attempting to imitate her. It would be a bit of effort and practice before they could get it right but, beauty was something worth working for. Not that she herself ever had to do much aside from bathing and grooming her mane and tail. Though one might be surprised at how much time her attendants had spent trying to groom her nonetheless. She recalled a particularly exasperating day when they had made her sit still for two hours just focusing on her claws and spikes.

The purple mare gives a very melodramatically sorrowful sigh. "We have no Queen to name I'm afraid. All of us here are outcasts, undesirables cast out to die in the cold gathering together to survive. We are the hive of the hiveless. The closest thing to a Queen we have here is the landlady, though she is most certainly not that."

Dream blinks, tilting her head slightly as she seems to ponder over what Dr. D said. You get the distinct impression some of that probably went right over her head considering her age but she seems to have caught the meaning in general and be puzzling out the gist of it. "So it's alive? Even though I made it from stuff I found under the kitchen sink?" She asks as she looks over her crude butterfly curiously. Almost on cue, a door on the other side of the room opens and a spray of pressurized water can be seen jetting out before slowly losing force. Shortly after a rather annoyed, and soaked, looking changeling mare in an apron with a large wrench clenched between her teeth steps out and mumbles something in annoyance to another changeling before walking towards another room.

The purple mare blinks, taking a step back as GREGG floats up before tittering quietly. "It's quite alright little...whatever you are. I am not wholly without somepony to speak with. And speaking of..." She says as she follows Aoi's gaze to the other changelings attempting their transformations. "I see you've noticed that you yourself have been..heh.. noticed madam? If I may ask as to your rather unique, and somewhat literal, luster?"

---

The guards seem somewhat physically ill at the images Torch conjures. Their expressions quickly turn from ill to very angry though as they all turn and glare AT Torch. "Listen bub, you better cut that our right quick if you know what's good for you." One of them growls out in a menacing tone that's only slightly diminished by one of his friends throwing up in the back. "We get it lady..., your friend's crazy! Oh Celesti-urk" said guard shouts out feebly before emptying his stomach again.

meta:

Torch stops, surprised, goes quiet.... and turns around, running back the way he came. They won't, I will.

Assorted Checks:

"No Queen? Well, that is of no matter to me. You seem to be doing well enough for yourselves here. Better off than some hives I've heard of even. In that case may I ask your name and that of your landlady? As for myself, my father was a crystal pony and my mother was a dragon." Aoi responds.

Ragnarok quickly turns to the guards. "Can you try to head him off at the Changeling's cafe? I shall try to follow after him." With that Ragnarok flies as fast as she can after the fleeing unicorn.

Rolls:

Dr Blight wrote:Dream blinks, tilting her head slightly as she seems to ponder over what Dr. D said. You get the distinct impression some of that probably went right over her head considering her age but she seems to have caught the meaning in general and be puzzling out the gist of it. "So it's alive? Even though I made it from stuff I found under the kitchen sink?" She asks as she looks over her crude butterfly curiously.

“Well…” Death Ray feigned hesitation, pretending to carefully consider the butterfly again, “only you can say when you’re creation’s truly alive – and if… if it’s not alive now… well then…” the Doctor shrugged, grinning, “-That just means you’re not finished with it yet. If you want some help, GREGG and I could assist you. We could have a partnership venture. It’d be fun.”

Dr Blight wrote:Almost on cue, a door on the other side of the room opens and a spray of pressurized water can be seen jetting out before slowly losing force. Shortly after a rather annoyed, and soaked, looking changeling mare in an apron with a large wrench clenched between her teeth steps out and mumbles something in annoyance to another changeling before walking towards another room.

Death Ray had looked up past Dream at the spray of water, raising an eyebrow as he’d watched events unfold. Turning back to Dream, he frowned, lowering his voice as he nodded towards the commotion, “I might ought to… um… check to see that everything’s… okay… over there… They look like they might could… uh…use a little… help… perhaps…” Then he brightened up and shrugged again, “-You can come with me if you want Dream. Who knows? We might be able to find some more parts for your butterfly.”