heyfreemagic | [Open] Like a Grouchy Green Thief in the Night

[Staying in hiding seemed fairly prudent with that awful Rose Quartz about, but there were necessities, things to be done. She had eyed the warehouses as a fair location for a hideout, but there was still too much foot traffic there...which is to say, any at all.

But a base needs protection, and protections comes from technology. For now, motion sensors would do. She could certainly booby trap any place she found later, but hiding and running would do. It would need to be portable. And quiet. And she would need to do it with inferior human (is that what this was?) tech.

That was a snag. Another one is that the shops seemed to not want to let her have what she needed. Apparently, she needed green pieces of paper and very specific small metal discs to exchange for the components she required. This made absolutely no sense to her because the paper and the disks had no apparent use whatsoever. The first few attempts had gone poorly, with lots of screaming and accusations of an activity called "shoplifting" which was apparently criminal. Attracting that kind of attention with so many enemies around seemed...unwise. Very unwise.

However, she had determined that there was another way to obtain the objects she needed. During the night, the owners left their shops, leaving them protected by only a relatively thin layer of glass, one that couldn't stand up to even a fraction of the punishment that Gem barriers could. One that was down, it was simply a matter of taking what she needed (or thought she needed, it was so hard to tell with such primitive technology.)

She has been doing this multiple nights. Human tech apparently needed a lot of little bits, and she was learning as she went. Replacements...different sizes...different models...she simply had to adjust as she goes.

So that's where she can be found often enough: about to break a window into a store, rooting through that store, or about to fly away from same. They've started to increase security, but nobody escapes like Peridot...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you're doing what I think you're doing, you probably should not.

[Celestia is not intentionally sneaking up on people from the sky and harassing them out of surprise. She's just... used to being quite visible in the day. Sometimes she forgets that when she flies around at night, it's dark! And she's not a very loud flyer!]

[So yeah, flying pony totally saw Peridot's shenanigans from up high. She's pretty sure that the woman (?) is indeed gearing up to break that window...]

GAH!

[Peridot hates when creatures sneak up on her, but then again she hates...well, most things. Celestia caught her in mid-window-punch.]

Don't do that, you colorful clod! And I don't know what you think I was doing but I'm certain you're mistaken. Now please leave.

[The insult skips right off Celestia as the pony drops to the ground, landing gently.]

I am very curious as to how I could be mistaken. I would love to see what gesture exactly resembles you smashing open a window, but isn't that!

[Celestia's bright smile and cheerful tone don't literally scream 'busted', but they might as well.]

[YOU'RE NOT HER MOM, PONYLADY.]

Obviously, your eyes are defective. I hope you're cured the next time you regenerate if your kind regenerates.

Now leave, I have very important work to do.

Oh, if it's important, I'd hate to leave you to handle it all alone. [The terms of engagement having been defined, Celestia drops into a more mischievous mode.] That would be rude of me!

...Then you...plan to help me?

[Gems can lie, but they don't quite get sarcasm.]

[Worse, it isn't even quite sarcasm. Irony, perhaps?] Well, you say it is important, and it isn't smashing the window...

[Oh great, she's trapped herself. The hoofed beast is clever.]

I require the components for a motion detector. I'm being hunted. By a madwoman.

A motion detector and a madwoman? That sounds like quite a story. Could you elaborate?

[Celestia seems pretty intent on getting some information here. And yes, she IS clever.]

Well...when I arrived in this stupid city, I was tailed by the one called Rose Quartz, a traitor to my people. Now she's out to get me! She's already thrown rocks at my head!

[Oh no. Rocks.]

A traitor to your people? In what fashion?

[Her gem's in her head! She could've been cracked!]

Is starting a civil war over a hunk of rock enough to be considered a traitor to Gemkind? She's a dangerous menace!

A civil war over a hunk of rock? This sounds like quite a story. Would you mind giving me the highlights?

[SIGH. Can no one just take her word for it?]

Rose Quartz was tasked with claiming a resource-rich planet for the Gem race and turn it into a production hub for more Gems. For whatever reasons, she decided to protect the planet and turned her forces against our Homeworld. Most of her army was wiped out in the ensuing fight and me and my allies were tasked to pick up the pieces...until I was dragged here, of course.

[Celestia is a curious pony. And also a suspicious pony, since she DID just catch Peridot about to smash a window.]

Oh, your people travel to other worlds? That's very impressive, I have to admit... but you say you are 'produced', or am I being confused?

It's a complicated process. [Her tone is very much implying that she wouldn't understand the whole thing.]

In simple terms, we are born in the crust of a planet, injected deep into the surface where our gems can form. [She taps her own gem to demonstrate.] Once that happens, our bodies are projected outwards from our gem and we tunnel out.

Oh, 'Gem' is very literal for your people, then, isn't it? [Celestia peers at that gem she tapped, wishing she had her magic back so she could perform some spells. She wants to know so much.] So it is much like natural gem formation, except that you are, of course, alive.

Precisely. [OK, we've got that all straightened out. Now back to the important bit.]

So...will you help me?

But wait, why do you need other planets to do this? [Hold on, there are still a few fine points she would like clarified.]

We require raw minerals to form our gems, and our own Homeworld has a limited supply.

[FINE the world stops when hoof-creatures have questions.]

[Damn straight.]

Ah, I see. So this traitor of yours thought for some reason, it was unacceptable to use that planet's resources that way?

Yes! Exactly! And she was the one who led our troops to that planet in the first place!

I wonder what made her change her mind.

[Oh if only some Gem would enlighten her, hint hint.]

[Oh, Celestia, you are barking up the exact wrong Gem.]

I have no idea! I've been to that planet! It's nothing but plants and clods!

Clods? You mean of dirt?

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