User blog comment:Guildmaster Grovyle/JLE Role Play, Spring 2015/@comment-7345250-20150518231822

Great... Even the phony pharaoh might be a challenge with this leg out of shape.


 * The maid reenters the arboretum and then hears a strange hiss. The place is home to a variety of strange flora, so she thinks little of it at first, but her curiosity is piqued. A faint whispering she would not have noticed otherwise becomes audible, and she follows it to a thick row of hedges in a remote corner.


 * There she perceives two voices coming from the other side, one of which is clearly King Aspen's.

King Aspen: "Keep your voice down, you vulgar thing. We shouldn't even be having this conversation in the first place."

Magus: "But I don't understand any of thisz. I recognized you in spite of your appearance, so why did you free me from the deer prison?"

King Aspen: "You told me that the shaggy-looking pony had a changeling detector or something to that effect, so I worry for the fate of the hive if you can't figure it out."

Magus: "...Camouflage?"

King Aspen: "Precisely, my little pest. Camouflage. With you around to throw off their scanner, it will never be able to detect yours truly while I learn the secrets of woodland magic in the heart of Thicket."

Magus: "But then why am I still-"

King Aspen: "Because who knows if they'll come back? They escaped my cave-in and thrashed my marblewolves, but that was all part of the plan. From the look of them, the shaggy one didn't survive, so that's a bonus, but I never expected the wolves to kill them all—maybe that pesky Blackthorn but not them all."

Magus: "So... you knew you couldn't win?"

King Aspen: "No. I knew they couldn't lose. There is a difference, worm. Thanks to their ignorance... which was admittedly jeopardized when you warned them about the wolves... I was able to convince them of their failure. Don't you see? Having failed to apprehend Parlys the Pale out in the woods, they neglected to search for him right under their noses!"


 * The maid can hardly believe what she is hearing. King Aspen a changeling? Dreadful! A million questions race through her head. Where is Blackthorn? Is Bramble safe? How can she alert the Power Ponies?


 * She backpedals and inadvertently dips her hoof into a pond, making a splashing sound resonate through the silent enclosure.


 * She turns around to run but nearly charges straight into the form of King Aspen.

King Aspen: "Looking for someone, my pretty?"


 * The changeling's eyes flash magenta as he readies his spell.