Multiple Settings Mass Clans: Beyond

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"Oh, plenty of times. But it's been quite a while since we sat down and did this properly." Thrush meows. She looks up at the looming megastadium as they approach the entrance. "We'll need all the help we can get today..."

"We kind of left the Crater in a hurry so we couldn't restock our supplies to create the binding agent." From her position on the other side of Trin, Thistle can see his sister stiffen and whip her head in his direction. He continues, not calling attention to her reaction, "I had to improvise this time so I hope it works."


"Name?" Asks the orange droid, looking up at the demon standing in their queue.

"Nyx... Erinyés." The wolf responds. There is an odd pause, as if she forgot she even had a second name.

"Species?"

"Rhikavi."

Her checkup is quick and after she gets her immune-boost injection, Nyx passes through. She lingers with Lexi on the other side as the rest of their friends follow suit.

 

[Filament]

Holly was still feeling the thrill of conflict when Speed backed down. Immediately she felt guilty, she had just cost Speed money, even more than she'd already spent on her. "Sorry, Speed. I didn't mean to make you have to pay for her and the guard. I just didn't care for them shoving you." She tries to explain, as she looks at the ice-cream, unable to face the she-cat.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pest grinned at her. "There's certainly plenty to love about your culture." The tom would mew, keeping his statement vague so as to not disturb the otter. Babysitting was somewhat less difficult than he'd imagined. It certainly wasn't as hard as being an actual father, something he'd been years ago, but now he wasn't sure if he could even call himself a father.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame nodded to her, "It was pretty hazy, I recognized your voice though. I've been meaning to say something but it didn't really feel like a good time." The tom admits in an admission of his lack of awareness. "I'll do my best not to die again, I don't want to know what 'third times the charm' would mean in that situation." The tom half-jokes.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hal reaches the checkpoint wordlessly, eyes curious as the huntress answers a couple questions. A couple years ago, he might've refused all questions and the vaccinations but now as Lexi passed through, he stepped up to the bot.

"Name."

"Hal Sh- just Hal." The tom would mew, deciding that he was no longer worthy of using Adrianna's last name.

"Species?"

"Feline of Earth Origin." The statement alone sounded bizarre, even now it was hard to believe that any of this was real.

When the bot requests him to leave if he did not consent, he stood still. When the bot said the same lame joke, Hal didn't respond.

Just like Lexi he was 100% healthy and had good vitals, besides some prehypertension.

"I've never been vaccinated against anything." Hal would respond to the robots query, beginning to get irritated by how long this was taking.

"Would you like to be vaccinated againt any or all diseases currently known by God-Ring that have vaccines." The bot would repeat, in it's monotone voice.

"Sure." Hal would respond, lifting his non-artificial leg for the bot to poke.

Once the bot waved him on, he passed through the checkpoint, feeling a little woozy.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[multifreddie13]

A Capella then snapped back into reality as one of the bystanders in line pushed her forward.

“Hey!” She exclaimed as she looked back with annoyance. As soon as she turned back toward where the stadium is at, her red eyes met with the eyes of a cat-look-alike droid.

“Name.”

Shocked at what she saw, A Capella did not know what to think. She looked up and down to examine the droid. “What?” She asked in a startled manner.

The droid asked again. “Name.”

A Capella has never seen anything like this before. The robots back in Equestria are usually ran by someone else. The closest thing to what she’s seeing right now is with animatronics at pizza places. But behaving like any other species is a whole new level for her. She never felt intimidated, yet amazed at the same time since her friends introduced her to the internet.

“Oh! Uh…A Capella.” She answered. “A Capella Azul!”

“Species”. Asked the droid.

“The future looks hella wicked.” Mumbled A Capella in excitement. She responded to the droid. “I’m a Pegasus, from Equestria!”

Then there was silence. The bot did not say a word. With this, A Capella’s confidence with the new technology soon disappeared as she didn’t know what’s happening. She began to sweat a bit out of nervousness, thinking that she did something wrong. Getting arrested was one thing that fucked her up in this world, but what else could make it worse?

“You’re 100% healthy and all your vitals look good.” Responded the droid with a cherrie voice. Hearing this, A Capella exhaled out of relief. Seeing the reaction of A Capella, the droid laughed at her reaction.

“Haha, very funny.” Responded A Capella in a sarcastic tone giving the droid one eye brow.

After laughing, the droid then proceeded with a question. “Would you like to be vaccinated against any or all diseases currently known by God-ring that have vaccines and are compatible with your biology?”

Raising her eye brows to that question, A Capella then thought for a moment. She didn’t took into account on disease being a case in different dimensions. Indeed, she has been vaccinated from the Blue Flu and horsey hives back in elementary. As it is, she is a little cautious with the HIV epidemic around Equestria. Nonetheless, better be safe than sorry.

“Aiight! Shoot me” she answered as she extends her chained-up right front hoof.
The droid slipped a razor sharped claw on the bottom of her hoof.

“Did you feel that?” Asked the droid

Surprised with how she didn’t feel anything, she responded. “Holy shit, not at all!”

“Wonderful. And you’re done. Have a pleasant Symphony Day little pony”. The droid responded in a joyful manner. As the droid gestures A Capella toward the stadium, she then met with the Nastiel and the rest of the God-Ring. Despite that she is going to a jail cell inside the stadium, on another note, the droid’s attitude made her day.

Seeing the rainbow reflections from the stadium, her eyes soon glistened in rainbows. Now curious, she asks Nastiel a question. “So, what is this? A music festival?”

 

[Moonsound]

“More like THE music festival.” Triss answered A Capella in Nastiel’s stead.

“Animals from all three rings of the multiverse gathered in one place to share in the most common form of expression found throughout nearly every species. Music. No professional singers, just music in it’s purest form…mostly. Billions upon billions of different species together in person, and a googolplex of virtual attendees and watchers from throughout the multiverse. Everyone is here.” Triss gushed while maintaining a partially stoic visage.

—

Lexi snickered after Hal passed through.

“Someone’s syntheticist.” Lexi teased him, referring to the tom’s standoffish behavior to the nurse droid.

—

Trin caught Thrush’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over at her but didn’t know what it meant so he looked back to Thistle.

“Oh? If it’s important to you I wouldn’t mind going back there to see if you can find any of the stuff you need left.” Trin offered with a single nod.

—

“Heh heh heh, am I detecting a coy-ish tone of voice from you Pest? What ever could you be hinting at?” The words tip-toed out of Lula’s mouth, mimicking the cadence of a laugh but being more closely related to a playful tone. Her words were accompanied by a coquettish gleam in her eyes as she looked at the tom from the side.

—

PIM made her brows jump and and gave Flame a knowing look.

“The third time’s not too bad….except for the irreversible mental insanity.” PIM meowed casually. She walked forward through the checkpoint, showing the droid she was a hologram by flickering her form. Once on the other side she turned around and laughed.

“I’m joking.“ The A.I blurted out.

—

The nurse bot pointed to Filament and ushered him forward.

“Hey cutie!” The droid chirped in her happy tone, edged with flirtatiousness.

“Name, species, and planet of origin please?” The droid asked, rolling her eyes with a knowing smile this time. Once Filament answered the droid cocked her head and leaned down a couple millimeters to look at the tom from a different angle. She squinted at him with a cheeky half grin.

“You’ve got a little uhh damage alllll right here.” The droid played dumb, pointing to her own ear for emphasis. She giggled and straightened back up.

“What happened!? You busted the ear I built for you.” The droid exclaimed but didn’t sound genuinely vexed; she was more so just delightedly curious. Placing a paw under her chin while she switched between looking Filament in the eye and eyeing his broken robotic ear.

—

“Pssh, I don’t care about that. Holly, I’m rich. Probably richer than that prtizy powder puff placenta pelted ‘pentini.” Speed meowed in a reassuring casual tone, like it was nothing. Speed watched as the lemur made the three pans move back and forth as if they were over a stove. You’d think they were trying to make popcorn on an invisible stove-top if it wasn’t for the snowflakes that started to pop into existence from the pans themselves. At first it was only a little but before you knew it tons of flakes were popping into the air and settling into piles on the black pans. After a minute the piles of flakes grew together and solidified into mounds of perfectly white ice cream with a crystalline finish. The pointed mounds filled up the entirety of the small pans. Once done, the lemur levitated one pan towards Speed.

“Test.” The lemur stated simply. The gray sheline licked the ice cream and a low moan of delight flowed from her mouth and nostrils not a second later.

“Good?” The lemur asked.

“Good! So good! How much?” Speed purred.

“No payment. Big orange animals rude to Gawd-Ring girls. Free.” The lemur said, shaking their head and levitating the other two pans to Stalker and Holly.

“Oh? Th-thank you!” Speed cheered, grabbing the pan in front of her face by the handle.

“Thank you. Be safe, pan very very very very cold. Good Symphony day!” The lemur responded kindly, waving bye. Speed waved farewell with her tail and couldn’t contain the squeal building in her throat.

“Dis ice ceem iss gonna oo-in all udder ice ceem fuh-or ooo.” Speed garbled around the pan handle in her mouth. She briskly walked over to an empty spot on the lawn a little ways away and set the pan down.

“Each individual flake has a perfect balance between sweetness and flavor! Us kitties we you know, mix our stuff together, churn it, crush it whatever. But this ice cream is made on a microscopic level. It’s like being able to mix and taste test each flake to ensure every single bite is perfect. Never too sweet never not sweet enough no matter how small or big the bite. Honestly-“ Speed stopped her gushing explaining to take a lick, “-all other ice cream just tastes sloppy to me now.” Speed finished. She took another lick and laid down on her belly.

“Oooh my Aslan it’s so good.” Speed groaned happily.

—

Keesipip and Penny went on past the checkpoint without waiting for the others. Both silently agreeing that they were more eager to see the Symphony than they cared to be cordial. With bated breath the two she-cat stepped through the “glass.” On the other side was a completely empty concrete area with a few cardboard boxes here and there along with a sickly looking giraffe hunched against a wall coughing?

“What the?” Penny said in absolute disbelief.

“This is better than finding a boy at the bottom of a bowl…” Keesipip gawked in sheer awe.

“What?” Penny turned to look at Keesipip in a haze of absolute puzzlement and confusion. At both the anti-climactic appearance of the symphony as well as Keesipip’s odd phrase.

“Look at this place.” Keesipip whispered.

“I am.” Penny said indignantly. The gray ashlander caught the copper pelted sheline’s tone and looked over at her to see what was wrong. Only to start giggling. Penny opened her mouth to ask what was so funny when her vision blurred and a pair of wings were removed from over her eyes. She hadn’t even been aware of them.

“Gotcha.” A voice said from the top of her head. Penny looked up and then looked over at Keesipip to see a black bat was standing atop both of their heads. The bats spread their wings out to reveal that the interior side of their appendages could project images.

“Oooooooh.” Penny drones out as realization set in.

“Did we get you?” The bat atop Keesipip asked. Their voice gave away that the two bats were likely children.

“Yeah! I think you really got her!” Keesipip exclaimed, pointing at Penny.

“Alright!” The two batlings cheered before taking flight and flying off.

“They got me really good. I saw the most depressing building I’ve ever seen in my life! What’d you see?” Penny blurted out giddily.

“The same thing except there was a giraffe with a sign that said ‘Pretend to be amazed!’ So I pretended!” Keesipip laughed out her response.

“You got me. You actually got me.” Penny chuckled. As the two’s laughter died down, they both looked forward to see what the actual Symphony of the Worlds looked like.

While one would be tempted to look up and to the left or right first, movement would draw your eyes downward. The floor was glass. Pristine, paneles glass. So immaculate that an animal started panicking a bit when they looked down. There was some smudging here or there but otherwise it was spotless or about to be spotless considering how often a worker would come by to clean the floor. But it wasn’t just the glass floor to be amazed it. It was what was under the floor.

Beneath you was an almost identical massive room, except filled with water. And occupying the room were as many aquatic animals as there were land animals above ground. And the same way Keesipip, Penny, and many others were looking down and gawking at them, they were looking up at what was to them the ceiling and gawking at the land animals. And the glass flooring didn’t end either. As far as you could see, the entirety of the “first” level of the symphony was glass no matter where you went. The World’s Symphony was already a massive stadium that could house an entire civilization or civilizations if need be. And beneath it was another replica of itself, just as big, for aquatic life. Two worlds as close together as possible.

Looking up from the floor you would find yourself what looked more like a luxury hotel and mall. Of course you could see the main avenue that ran the circumference of the stadium just like any stadium. The ceiling was far above your head, to account for massive aliens. The walls and ceiling were smooth brushed silver metal that gently bounced the light shining in from outside around the space, keeping the feeling of claustrophobia at bay if the large open space itself wasn’t enough. A jumboscreen showed a map of the symphony, flicking through various written languages every ten seconds. The screen was suspended right above a large and long hallway. There were similar hallways roughly every 50 yards, that very gradually curved, blocking you from being able to see all the way to the center of the stadium. It was within these hallways that the Symphony came into it’s own. You could choose to walk down these hallways but there was also a tram that would whiz along a fenced off track on the right side of the hallway. It was necessary too considering the hallways stretched on forever. Lining the left sides of these hallway was were shops, restaurants, boutiques, dealerships, natatoriums, lounges, bars, nightclubs, stripclubs, play centers, doctors offices, grocery stores, hotel lobbies, you name it.

And each hallway had it’s own aesthetic design. All leading to the center of the Symphony where the field and stage were located. A quick glance at the map would reveal that on the top floor there was another tram system that ran the circumference of the stadium, allowing animals move throughout the sectors in quick fashion. And there were elevators to take you between the floors in the lounges half way down the hallways. The hallway trams would stop half-way down each hallway on their way to the other end. To reach the top floors you needed to use what were labeled as “suite” elevators positioned along the main avenue. And each hallway entrance was guarded by six animals, three on either side. Interestingly, these animals were always God-Ring. They were military and or police personnel from the respective race that the corresponding section of stadium seating was intended for. They made for a great way to tell which species’ sections were where.

Looking up you could see through glass windows that there were hotel rooms built into the Symphony itself. An endless row of bespoke hotel rooms sequestered into the wall at the top of the room like a ceiling border trim. You could see some rooms were already inhabited with animals getting settled in, having small personal parties, finishing last bits of work, or just staring at all the aliens down below. Other rooms were unoccupied, have their blinds closed, or were being dutifully cleaned by staff that would leave fun and creative designs on the windows with cleaner while they dried.

And the last thing that could not go unnoticed was simply the hundreds of animals milling about. Especially kids. Kids ran around laughing and frolicking without obvious supervision or a care in the world. Signs reaffirmed to any flying species that they were to walk on the ground if possible, adding to the diversity of animals your eye could pick up on without needing to even move. God-ring squads would walk by every now and again and motorized carts would zip on by acting as mobile food trucks, kiosks, souvenirs vendors, or even just transports for the particularly tiny species that didn’t want to risk ruining their vacation to the World’s Symphony by being squashed. There were employees from the various storefronts advertising their products and where you needed to go to visit them. Porters pushed carts full of luggage. Scout troops and tourist groups followed nabramblekin tour guides. Animals playing pranks on others. Public displays of affection. Animals tripping on residue trails left by others, large animals scolding smaller ones for getting under their feet, one animal gawking or gagging at what another chose to wear or eat, Just animals being animals.

Lastly there were clean and comfortable couches and chairs dotted along the center line of the main avenue to rest during your treks from one part of he stadium to the other. Or to just relax, chat, or sleep as a pair of Valerians were already doing. The Symphony was for everyone and one would rightfully garner a cozy spot in a mental institution if they believed they could experience it all in the 35 hour time period. It was simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar; expected and overwhelming. It was…

The Symphony of the Worlds.​

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"When Earth was destroyed and all life on it vaporized, The Crater was flooded with lava..." Thistle meows with a grimace, remembering what Callista had told him. He offers Trin an small smile. "Thank you for the offer, though."


A silver droid with engraved foreleg plating waves for the next in line. “Name?”

“Thrush.”

“Species?”

“Felis catus. My home planet was Earth.”

After getting a nod of assent when asked for a checkup, the droid gives Thrush a look over, either ignoring the sheline's obvious discomfort with their intent stare or just not noticing it. “Physically, you are perfectly healthy, maybe a tad underweight for a felid of your size, but that is just fine. Hmm… It appears you have multiple chemical imbalances.” They lean in, bright voice turning soft and cheerful mood shifting into something more serious. “Do you require assistance?”

“Uuh, no, I’m good.”

“Are you sure? Our medical staff are qualified to diagnose and treat all mental illnesses or mood disorders known by the God-ring.”

“It won't affect my duties today, if that's what you're getting at."

“If you say so... Well, if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts I urge you to please locate the nearest medical station and seek help. At the very least they will monitor you and keep you safe." The 'tattooed' droid gives Thrush a sympathetic smile before straightening up once more. "Would you like to be vaccinated against any or all diseases currently known by God-ring that have vaccines compatible with your biology?”

“Um… Sure…” Thrush deadpans, not exactly enthused by how this checkup has been going.

“Alright. Paw out, please.”

Thrush gets her injection and is let through the checkpoint.

 

[multifreddie13]

A Capella chuckled at Triss’ enthusiasm before looking up to see the interior of the stadium. To her, the place is like the Applewood Shopping Mall, but bigger and stellar. “Is this a utopia?” She thought as her eye pupils enlarged and glistened with rainbows again. Due to the amount of awe that she is in, she just stood in the middle of the lobby, not moving.

Of course, one of the God-Ring officers escorting her had to get her attention to focus back on where she needs to go. Nonetheless, her head was all over the place, looking as they walked. “I must capture this to show to Uncle Bolt!” She thought as she reached over toward her back; only to realize something is missing. Then she remembered.

“Hey Nastiel” she asked the Tom. “When am I gonna get my stuff back? Like my guitar and satchel?”

 

[Filament]

Flame flinched when she mentioned the third time causing irreversible insanity. "really?" The tom would whisper, doubting she heard him, at first. He was stepped forward, doubt clouding his mind until he heard her blurt out that she was only kidding from the other side. That was a relief, he wanted to say that it didn't matter since he didn't plan on dying again but that's exactly what he'd thought the last time.

He answers the questions but the but asks him a different one that catches him off guard. "Do you often feel strange pangs of nausea? Is this a typical stress response for you?"

"Yeah, sometimes." Flame would mew, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Here's an anti-nausea tablet, if you take it now, you should be okay for the rest of your duties today."

"Thank you." Flame would mew as he took the tablet, his vaccinations and headed through the barrier.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pestilence smiled when she laughed. "Never, me, coy? Psh." The tom mewed back sarcastically, continuing to move forward but looking over his shoulder at her. "Nothing, totally." The tom mewed, hardly containing a snicker as he gazed back at her.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Oh my God! Rosie." The tom mewed as he recognized the medical droid. "I think I remember something about contracts, which would explain why you're here." The tom mewed, suddenly feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Filament Bright, Felid Uptua, Euge 7." The tom would answer, looking around the room as he remembered the details. Something he hadn't thought about in a long time.

"Yeah, got bombed, again. Sorry." The tom mews, remembering his eye was still non-functional.
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Holly nodded, feeling less guilty as she excepted the icecream bowl. Without hesitation she gave it a tentative lick and almost fell onto the floor. It was the best tasting treat, she'd ever had. "Oh my god, it's so good!" The she-cat would mewl having to sit down and relish the flavor. "Thank you, Speed!"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hal looks over at her, visibly frustrated. "I'm not." The bi-color tom would grit out. "Robots just make me uncomfortable, okay?" The tom would mew, oblivious that his statement would only make him look worse.

 

[Moonsound]

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” Trin’s ears fell flat against his head. He knew Earth’s fate, but he didn’t know about the Crater specifically. He hadn’t meant to be facetious or give the tom an empty offer. When Thistle thanked him Trin acknowledged it with a genuine nod but his ears remained down.

—

“Uh-huh.” Lexi said in a neutral tone, turning away from the tom but waving her tail for him to keep up with her.

—

“Yeah. Serving a pawful of decades on a private vessel is a huge career boost. Now I’m doing god-ring contracting.” Rosie explained as she pricked Filament.

“Hmm. You didn’t just get blown up you got shot too. Your blood gives it away. Or lack thereof.” Rosie said, looking at the tom with a lighthearted but still critical gaze. Casually, the medical droid waved all the animals in line behind Filament to another line, perfectly in time with another medic showing up to handle the overflow. A couple animals made their annoyance at the detour audible but other than that the steady flow of animals into the symphony continued. Skillfully, Rosie reached up to Fil’s ear and slid four claws into the four key points in the tom’s artificial ear, allowing her to pull the entire thing off nonchalantly, save for a thin base housing all his nerve endings and sinew.

“This entire thing is fried. Your ticket doesn’t cover a prosthetic of this caliber buuuut we’ve got plenty that will give you back basic functionality. Same with your eye. It is all covered under your ticket.” Rosie meowed, looking over the ear real quick before returning her gaze to Filament to keep eye contact with the him.

“You want it fixed?” Rosie asked, tossing the artificial ear up and down a couple times.

—

Nastiel’s right brow rose out of incredulous curiosity at A Cappella’s question. That’s what she was worried about?

“Whenever you’re released from custody. Maybe you should be asking if there’s anyway you’ll be let off easy.” Nastiel answered in a bored tone of voice.

“Legionnaire Redeemer be advised, the demons are planetside and will be arriving at the Symphony in 40 minutes. Longer if traffic is bad. They’re being escorted by a combat unit, callsign Kali-Ketten.” The handler’s voice buzzed in the ear of all those wearing their comms.

—

“Hey Thrush, if there’s anything you need to tal-“ Trin was cut off when he was abruptly pushed towards the semi-permeable glass.

“40 minutes or more! That means you’ve got just enough time to get to your appointment and get back!” PIM exclaimed, pushing Trin towards and then through the glass.

“PIM!” Trin yelped in complaint, skidding to a stop on the other side of the glass. Immediately he spotted Penny and Keesipip padding off further into the Symphony. The next thing he noticed was the line of animals awaiting him. Two peach colored cats, one of which could and was standing on two legs casually. A pure white furless wolf with skin resembling carbon fiber. A shark-horse hybrid. And last but certainly not least, a crystalline doe with a silver trumpet at the ready. The doe played a quick tune announcing Trin’s arrival that was both regal and gleeful.

“Welcome to the World’s Symphony Trin!” The five animals cheered loud enough to draw some eyes. Big happy smiles and giddy gestures from the five followed their cheer. All of them were wearing a mint green sash somewhere on their bodies, except for the trumpeter doe. She wore a white and mint green cowgirl cheerleader getup complete with white cowgirl hat. Trin was delightfully surprised by the fanfare, as was everyone else as they came into the Symphony behind him.

“We found out you would be attending the Symphony this year and were ecstatic to greet you. This is fresh rahlay juice-“ The bipedal peach she-cat handed Trin a flute of liquid that was a vivid sienna brown, “-allowed to ripen over 300 years du-du-during which it was chilled but never frozen in the pure glacier water of the Trelli-lellian Alps. You’ll find it is both robust and mellow for optimum palate while going dow-dow-down effortlessly like fog over falls. Courtesy of Haven.” The sheline purred, her stutter barely noticeable with how well she spoke. She said a lot, very quickly but not too quickly either.

“Thank you.” Trin meowed, happily taking a sip of the juice.

“To ensure your day here at the Symphony is the best it can be we have made arrangements for you all throughout the stadium. Of course all symphony guests are granted free meals and snack bags to experience other cultures’s foods, we recommend avoiding the juice pouches provided in this years’ snack bags and offer our own bespoke snack bags vetted and curated for you. The Haven viewing suite of this sector is on the second to last floor, and if you would like to, you may retire to a luxury room of your own. Fréhbraulucchia, Pevel, Huntscat, Jalson, and many other apparel companies attending the Symphony this year have clothes on offer for you at their expense. We unfortunately were only able to reserve tables at 6,800 of the 7,000 two hearthguard heart rated restaurants and eateries attending this year. As an apology you may dine and enjoy yourself at any of them with all expenses on the Haven agency. We have fifteen residencies here this year, all spread out throughout the Symphony so do not hesitate to stop by. Each residency has a spa, lounge, restaurant, concierge, and much more as well all the standard resources expected.” The quadrupedal cat purred happily and enthusiastically. As she spoke, the wolf dabbed Trin’s nose with a damp, heated towel a few times.

“Lastly, we have this ear ring for you. It indicates your wealth and continued patronage of the Haven agency. This year and last year, the acceptance of Volticians into the Symphony celebration has caused Symphony goers stress and unnecessary grief. Their culture is one of absolute dominance and subservience with extreme prejudice and a belief that betas or omegas are below alphas no matter what, with even god-ring enforcers being ignored. They consider wealth a huge factor in whether one is an alpha and with this card you will be free from any hassle with them.” The white wolf added on. While she talked the crystalline doe carefully bit the base of Trin’s right ear, putting a small gold ring on it in the process. Once the wolf finished speaking all five of them bowed.

“Thank you all very much.” Trin meowed, dipping his head in return.

“Were you going anywhere in particular right now?” The carbon fiber wolf asked.

“Yes. He was heading to a therapy office on the 16th floor of this sector.” PIM butted in quickly. The wolf glanced at her, looked at Trin for confirmation, and when the tom nodded she smiled.

“Then allow me to escort you sir.” The wolf said, turning to lead Trin.

“That would be much appreciated. Before I go, the purple-“

“Your daughter will be taken care of just as well as you, if not better.” The bipedal she-cat interjected, giving Trin a reassuring nod.

“Perfect. And the sabertooth wants a luxury bag and I promised to get her one so if you could handle that for me, that’d be amazing.” Trin said as he walked backwards before turning and following after the Haven wolf.

“Does anyone want to go with Trin?” PIM asked through a smile while she waved goodbye to the tom in question. If the tom heard her or got wide he’d most likely object.

—

Lulalissa chuckled back at Pest.

“Maybe I could show you why everyone likes Mia’Moray if we get the time. After you help that little guy out of course.” Lula said coquettishly to Pest, but switched to an innocent, warm tone when she turned her attention to the otter boy who was sticking close to Pest.

—

Aceline looked at Flame with a weird expression.

“Is the nausea a recent thing?” She asked, cocking her head a bit.

—

“I know right!?” Speed chirped in response to Holly, taking another lick. Stalker on the other hand took a bite out of her ice cream and melted into cloud nine.

“Ooh, ooh! Look up there, you see that ship? The one that looks like a spiked snake. That’s one of my planet’s ships. They’ll be coming down soon……So how did you Thistle hit it off so well?” Speed queried Holly innocently enough, if a bit sudden and tinged with a gossip-like tone of voice.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Thistle is next in line after his sister. He gives the droid his name, species and home planet. During the scan he focuses on the front legs of this robotic being. More specifically, the engraving on their plating. He can’t tell what exactly it's supposed to be but it's pretty. Bold, swirling patterns in matte silver to contrast their natural shiny finish. He jumps slightly when the droid's voice suddenly cuts through the noise of the animals around them.

“Perfectly healthy! Would you like to be vaccinated against any and all diseases currently known by the God-ring? We have one available for your biology.”

“Sure.” Following what everyone else has done, he raises a paw out for the droid to take. He’s gotten injections before, mainly pain relievers, but this is different. The tom looks down curiously as a synthetic claw is inserted between his pads. “There you go! Did you feel anything? Pinching? Pain?”

“No.”

“Great! You’re all ready to head in. Have a wonderful Symphony Day, miss!” Chirps the droid, cheerily waving goodbye.

Thistle doesn’t respond and scurries inside.


Thrush stands with Nyx as they wait for everyone to be cleared for entry. She looks up when Trin says her name but he is swiftly pushed away and surrounded by a group of aliens who begin to talk his ear off.


Nyx watches the young Earth tom breeze on by with his ears back and eyes glued to the floor. Just as she is about to ask what’s wrong, Thrush darts after him. The demoness observes with interest. She wonders what happened for the usually chipper tom to look so upset.

Thrush pulls her brother to the side and out of the way of traffic flow. The duo speak, what exactly is said Nyx cannot hear above the din of the crowd. That is, until an incredulous hiss of “Hvad!? ” attracts the attention of passing aliens. Thistle seems to have said his piece and Thrush now glares absolute murder over her shoulder, back towards the entry checkpoint.

Alarmed, Thistle grabs ahold of his sister with both paws and gives her one good shake to break her focus. He looks her in the eye and speaks again with a sense of urgency this time. The irate whipping of Thrush’s tail slows to a stop and the tense line of her body eases; whatever her brother said seems to mollify her. For now, at least.

Assuming their little chat is coming to an end, Nyx turns her attention back to the entryway. She idly greets those who pass her, waving at a group of young aliens that run by laughing excitedly. Feeling a tap on her side she looks down to see her friend.

"I'm gonna go with Trin. I'll find you later." Thrush mews quickly before padding to the white tom. Her brother follows close behind, humming quietly.

 

[multifreddie13]

In response to Nastiel’s attitude, A Capella rolled her eyes in annoyance as there is no telling when she’ll be let off. Now knowing that the Symphony is a gigantic music festival, not only she wanted to check it out, but it could of been her time to shine as a potential rock artist. Well, since now she is going behind bars, she’ll miss out……unless….

Hearing what Nastiel said, she thought of an idea. Even though she gets harassed by some cops back in Equestria, this is her first time getting arrested. Despite this, and their nasty attitude, the God-Ring seems to be not as bad.

“Really?” She asked Nastiel with a sly smirk on her face. “Since you’ve opened the door for a chance, what can I do?”

 

[Moonsound]

“Thank goodness.” PIM breathed out in relief when Thrush and Thistle started after Trin.

—

Nastiel looked up at A Capella and shrugged.

“Aaahh, you could get a God-Ring pardon.” Nastiel meowed in a facetiously tepid manner. Trin glanced back to see Thrush and Thistle following him just in time to catch what Nastiel was talking about.

“Hey-“ Trin started to ask the carbon fiber wolf.

“Democracy.” The wolf stated with a dip of their head.

“Democracy? Very beautiful name. How many favors do I have with the Haven agency?” Trin asked, caught off guard by the wolf’s name. The wolf looked away in thought for a moment before leaning down and whispering very quietly in Trin’s ear, garnering a nod from the tom.

“Wonderful. Pardon her please.” Trin meowed, pointing to A Cappella.

“Certainly.” Democracy replied, waving over the quadrupedal peach cat. She made her way over to them with a curious look on her face.

“Yes?” She asked, looking at Trin and only Trin.

“Pardon her for me please. Her name is A Capella Azul.” Trin meowed, pointing to the mare once again.

“Which level of pardon would you like?” The peach she-cat queried, already fishing a thin lanyard out of her fur. The necklace had been superbly hidden underneath her fur and had a tiny chip as a pendant.

“Full God-Ring pardon please.” Trin purred. The peach she-cat smiled and dipped her head.

“My pleasure sir. I’ll handle everything.” The sheline said, this time bowing to Trin before giving a light gesture that they could go. Without hesitation Trin turned back around and Democracy started to escort them to their destination.

The peach furred Haven agent padded over to Nastiel and displayed her lanyard to him. The chip pendant projected a holographic Haven I.D.

“On behalf of the Haven agency, miss A Capella Azul is hereby pardoned of all crimes under God-Ring jurisdiction. Effective immediately.” The peach sheline purred kindly. Nastiel was completely flummoxed. His eyes bulging and his right ear twitching.

“…….what?” Nastiel asked in disbelief

“A Capella Azul has been granted a full God-Ring pardon. One of you, please release her cuffs.” The peach she-cat reiterated with a purr.

—

“You two want to tag along?” Trin asked, Thrush and Thistle as he walked.

 

[Filament]

Hal lets out a small breath and follows after the sheline, glad that she didn't press the issue any further. He didn't want to talk right now, he just wanted to get this over with so they could all go back to their mission. He wondered if anyone would try to kill Undertaker while they were there. The Undertaker that was there probably wasn't even the real Undertaker anyway.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Got shot, yep." Filament reveals, showing her a small scar on his throat where Red had shot them. "Yeah, you're ex-boss shot me in the throat." The tom mews, giving her a small grin, showing that he was proud to be alive. He shivered when she removed the husk of the old ear. "Could you really? I'd appreciate that a bunch! Not having depth perception is a real problem."

"Absolutely!" The tom mews, bouncing up and down a bit.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Okay!" Pest burst out, more excited than she'd probably ever seen him before. "I mean yeah that'd be great. Come on, Kid, let's go." The tom would mew to the kid, picking up the pace a bit.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Yeah, since I was a kit." The tom mewed, nodding at her. "Back in the plaguelands it happened all the time when I was anxious." The tom added, feeling a little bit less anxious as he explained his symptom and it's cause. Understanding why something was happening could be pretty reassuring.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Wow, that's way different than even the Mia'Moray's planes." The she-cat mewled, gasping as she watched it floating in the sky.

"I don't really know, he's just really nice and sometimes he takes care of me." The she-cat responds, remembering the times when most crucially he was not there for her.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"Of course," Mews Thrush, "You didn't seem too enthused about this appointment earlier so I figured I'd go with for moral support."

Thistle meows something in the Old Tongue; whatever he said gets a nod from Thrush.

"Exactly. This is a new place and we always stick together. You don't mind, yeah?"

Thistle shakes his head. "I don't mind."


"Okay!" Nyx says aloud, "We have some time before our shift starts, so where should we go first?"

 

[Moonsound]

“Yeah well they’re never useful.” Trin answered , forcing his eyes to stop rolling halfway through.

“I appreciate you two coming though. It’s not often I get to spend time with just you two.” Trin added on in a more chipper tone.


—

“They let YOU in here!?” An angry and incredulous yowl was heard. If you followed the caterwaul to it’s source you’d find three wolf sized “house” cats of exclusively brown shades of fur. They appeared to be the same species and were right in front of the windows leading into the Symphony. The yowl had come from lone girl wearing black glasses who had “pigtails” by braiding the long tufts off fur at the tops of her ears. Whether her ears drooped because of the weight or because she was furious was unclear. The other two was a father and daughter. Both of which were shrinking back away from the girl.

“We just want to enjoy the Symphony.” The father said in a submissive tone to try and de-escalate the interaction.

“I don’t care what you want! All you want to do is bring everyone around you down! You’re pathetic, weak-minded, and destructive! AND YOU HAVE NOTHING TO GIVE TO THE WORLD! YOU ARE WORTHLESS! EVERYONE!-“ Pigtails took a moment to catch her breath as her voice grew more impassioned, “- EVERYONE! Would be better off if you died! And you know it!” She finished, hissing venomously. The daughter began to cry, first silently but very quickly it grew louder. The father started to comfort his daughter only for Pigtails to spit on her face.

“Don’t cry! You don’t deserve to cry! All you do is try to manipulate animals! You don’t have my pity and you don’t deserve it!” The pigtailed sheline growled, getting even angrier when the daughter began to cry.

—

The blue otter with Pest reacted to the tom’s excitement and picked up his pace along with him.

“Bye bye!” Lula chirped, waving to the two after she stopped walking. The blue boy waved so long and kept pace with Pest.

“Mia’moray are nice.” The otter boy said to Pest with a smile.

—

Lexi looked at Nastiel for quick confirmation before un-cuffing A Capella.

“You’re free to go.” Lexi said in a neutral voice. Rolling her eyes. She let out a hum of thought that alluding to some more complex thoughts going on in that brain of hers. But Lexi kept her cards close to the chest.

“I’m gonna go get that bag I’ve been wanting.” The huntress said.

“Right this way.” The peach colored Haven agent purred, already beginning to escort her.

—

“Well there’s plenty to do and we’ve got thirty minutes. There’s restaurants, art galleries, movies, lounges, excursions, experiences, you name it. Multiverse universities are hosting lectures right now. Body morphing is allowed in the Symphony. Your pick-“ Triss looked up at Nyx, “-since this is your first time.” The white she-cat said with a smirk

—

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Aceline cooed, pressing up against Flame.

“Do you want to explore or just get where we need to go and rest?” She asked, giving him a caring gaze.

—

Rosie pursed her lips with a shrug.

“Red tended to do that.” She said, her lips forming into a grin when Filament started to bounce.

“I’ll have you back to basic in a jiffy.” She meowed. Just in time a god-ring snake slithered by and dropped off two white boxes.

“This’ll be way easier since I already rewired your nerves and stuff. Everybody-“ Rosie popped open the first box and went to work on attaching a new ear, “-always thinks biotics and abiotics are sooooo different. But when you get to the source of it we’re both made up of colored wires that conduct electricity and use it to send information throughout the body. You’re like an organic machine; or to be more relatively veracious I am like a polymer animal. If we were so different, how could you be hearing me through your brand new artificial ear like you are now.” Rosie finished with a rhetorical question. She had secured Fil’s new ear half-way through her monologuing. She leaned back and smiled at Filament before very quickly and painlessly slipping the tom’s artificial eye out. With Rosie’s skill, you’d think she could remove your heart without you even knowing. She opened the second box and pulled out a sphere. Before she put in the new eye she observed the old one.

“Hmm…now that I look at it, I’m pretty sure Red had this bugged.” Rosie noted, nodding to herself in confirmation. She slipped the new eye in and waited a moment for it to connect.

“There we go. All set.” She purred.

—

Stalker looked over at Holly with a knowing gaze.

“Oh yeah. And my brother is always the greatest and never ever lets me down.” Stalker meowed sardonically, hinting that she could tell Holly was leaving some unspoken words on the cutting room floor.

“There they go.” Speed murmured, looking up at the ship she’d pointed out was her species’. A mass of dots could be see coming out from both sides of the ship high in low orbit.

—
Back with Thistle, Thrush, and Trin…

“Here is your destination.” The white carbon fiber wolf said, coming to a stop after leading the group down a hall, up and elevator, and then a little further down a hall. The hall itself was much quieter than the ‘ground’ floor, and was themed like one big spa. The flooring was taupe colored sand with only a few platforms of very dark brown wood where pillows were place in a circle. Calming ambient music played from unseen speakers and the walls were a simple but not suffocating steel blue. The area where the tram would run back and forth was actually flooded with opaque water and was shaped to mimic a river. The tram still ran straight up and down the hall, but the water feature curved back and forth lazily. Further down the hall you could see at one point it even filled the entire walkway and a wooden bridge was there so you could cross over, maintaining the illusion. This hall’s theme could best be described as modern zen and the atmosphere matched it. In place of the hundreds or even thousands of animals milling about the ground floor walkways, there were only tens of animals here at the moment. It would probably grow busier as the Symphony got fully under way but for now it was serene. The few children that were here were soft spoken and not boisterous.

Trin looked around at the fronts surrounding the therapy office. There was a soothing cafe, a sleeping area, a spa, and a storefront showcasing hot springs from across the multiverse. Sandwiched between them was the therapist’s practice with frosted glass making it unable to distinguish anyone inside.

“Perfect place for therapy.” Trin commented earnestly.

“Is there anything else I can help you with sir?” The wolf asked.

“Yes. One last thing and that’ll be it. Could you go and get me 700 physical credits or the matching equivalent in this therapist’s currency?” Trin asked, cocking his head.

“My pleasure. I do hope you enjoy yourself.” The wolf agreed without hesitation, bowed, and padded off to go do just that. Trin thanked them and with that out of the way he turned to the frosted glass. The tom took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled.

“Here goes nothing.” Trin mumbled. He reached out his paw and lightly tapped the glass. The blurred figure seen moving about inside froze. They paused for a bit before moving towards the door. The glass door slid open automatically before the she-cat inside got to it. Once it did open you could that the she-cat was pastel pink in coloring and had petal in place of fur. If her first impression didn’t cue you in, the light scent of cherry blossoms and honey suckle that wafted over your senses would. The therapist was a mobile flora species.

“Hello. Good morning. You must be Trin. And you two must be friends of his sweet enough to come and support him.” The flower cat purred, coming to a stop a couple paces from them.

“Yes. This is Thrush and Thistle.” Trin meowed, dipping his head.

“Wunderbar! Wonderful. Please, come in and make yourselves comfortable.” The plant she-cat cheered softly, gesturing for them to come in to her practice. The room was sizable but cozy. There were two large beds low to the ground in the middle of a plush carpeted room. On one bed there were a line of pillows there to make it seem more like a couch and that’s the bed Trin chose to lay on. He used one of the pillows as a head rest in place of back support though. On the far wall was a row of counter that made up a kitchenette/desk workspace.

“They just got finished installing the lights I needed several minutes ago. And I’ve been so excited to work with you ever since your friend PIM contacted me. I was worried they would not be done in time or that you wouldn’t show up. But here you are, so the worries are but misdirected imagination now.” The plant purred, padding over and sitting in the other bed across from Trin.

“My name is Whistleperry, you can call me Whistle, or just actually whistle if you would like.” The she-cat meowed with a light laugh that sounded a bit awkward but you could tell was completely genuine from her smile and genial eyes.

“I think we should begin by first you two reminding Trin of reasons you enjoy his company, and what may be troubling you to show that troubles are something we all go through.” Whistleperry gestured towards the twins and smiled at them, eager to get started but not sounding forceful.

 

[multifreddie13]

The disappointment of A Capella showed when she realized that Nastiel was only being sarcastic. Although, it never hurts to ask how she can get that pardon. With little optimism left, she was about to ask until another God-Ring cat showed up to deliver some news.



“On behalf of the Haven agency, miss A Capella Azul is hereby pardoned of all crimes under God-Ring jurisdiction. Effective immediately.” The she-cat explained.



“Wait, WHAT!?” Exclaimed A Capella as she was stunned. The she-cat continued, “A Capella Azul has been granted a full God-Ring pardon. One of you, please release her cuffs.” Her eyes and her smile widened as she jumped off the ground in excitement, only for the cuffs to drag her down, face planting to the ground. “Oh, right.” A Capella said sheepishly. While the God Ring uncuffed her legs and wings, she asked to Nastiel and the she-cat. “Wow, thank you guys for pardoning me. You all are da bomb. Also, can you guys take me to pick up my shit? I have no idea where to go.”

 

[Filament]

"See you later." The tom would mew under his breath as Lexi left. Without anything else to to do, he figured he might as well check out this therapy thing. Turns away from Lexi and heads over towards the three t's but abruptly stops. Suddenly remembering the last time he'd spoken with them. He'd said horrible things to them, unforgivable things. He was about to turn away when he remembered what the cinnamon wolf had said about him. "You've proven them right, by running away and disrespecting your dead mate's wishes." The words echo in his mind as he approaches them.

"Could I come too? I have some things I need to get off my chest." The tom would offer, eyes facing the concrete/metal/whatever.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pest nodded to the otter boy. "They are about the nicest animals I've met so far." The tom would agree, wishing they were there already. He figured they'd have gotten to where they were going already but the enormity of the stadium quickly erased any hopes he had. It didn't erase his enthusiasm though, keeping a steady pace, he'd keep moving.

"What is a sensei?" The tom would ask abruptly without stopping, only just now realizing he had no idea who or what he was actually leading the boy to.

His attention is stolen by a loud caterwhaul and he moves quickly to put himself between the otter and the sudden noise. "Stick behind me, we're going to check this out real quick.

Pestilence had heard quite enough by the time he reached the pigtails cat, he was ready to shouldercheck her against the window.
"What the hell is wrong with you to say things like that?" The tom would snarl at her, baring his teeth and unsheathing his claws. He'd heard plenty of this sort of shit at the arena and wasn't about to let this go unchecked. "You got the guts to say something like that to me? We could fight right now, no guns, no tricks. I'll drop all this gear and we can see how tough you really are with things that really count." The tom would growl, keeping her muzzle to muzzle with him.

"Or you can leave them alone and we go our separate ways."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame didn't want her to feel like her worry was unappreciated and he pressed back against her. "As weird as it sounds I'm kind of thirsty, you wanna get a soda?" The orange tabby would offer, coiling his tail with hers.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Actually," Filament would interject when she had asked him a seemingly rhetorical question. "I was wondering if we both had souls like the earth cats seem to. Our friend Flame has died twice now and he always comes back some how. Do we have souls too? To be honest I don't know if this is more of a philosophical question but are we radically different from them in that way? How does god-ring view it?" These were some really deep questions to be asking someone he'd had a one night stand with but sometimes those were the best people to ask questions like these. A lot of people didn't look at that kind of situation as a commitment but they were, in more ways than one.

He doesn't seem to acknowledge it when she says that it was bugged. The false sisters had spied on them and Undertaker had photos taken of them so at this point it didn't really surprise him.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Yeah..." Holly would mew out, distracted by the dots coming out of the ship. "Do they have parachutes or something?" She'd ask deftly, unsure of how they were going to get to the ground safely, if those were even cats. She couldn't tell from this distance.

 

[Mico the Shapeshifter]

Is this still open?

 

[Moonsound]

Is this still open?

Yes, this is still open. Fill out a form and you can hop in.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Nyx's excitement grows more visible as Triss lists off the various events and activities available for them today. As she was about to answer, a furious wail echoes through the entry hall. Looking back she sees the culprit, a bratty felid yelling her head off. The wolf sighs. "Triss, can you please help me with-" She stops herself when Pest goes to confront the screaming brat. With the student whose sensei he is supposed to be finding in tow... "Great..."

The Rhikavi female trots back to the large windows, placing herself between the father-daughter duo and their verbal assailant who is being dealt with by Pest. "Are you okay? Do you know her?" She asks, tipping her head in the furious felines' direction.

 

[Mico the Shapeshifter]

Name: Mico

Species(anything but human, preferably non-bipedal): Shapeshifter

Age: Somewhere around 1000 earth years

Physical description(pictures are allowed): Depends on what they shapeshift into

Background: Mico used to live in a realm called (I don't know a name yet) until it was destroyed by The Shadow King. She is now the last shapeshifter and realm jumper, there might be more shapeshifters but Mico has never found any.

Personality: Mico is very friendly. If you become good friends with her, she will help you as much as she can and stuff. She often shapeshifts into a cat that has brown fur and green eyes or a dragon like the one in my profile pic.

Are you capable of opening portals between universes? Yes [x] , No [ ] , Unsure [ ]

 

[Moonsound]

(OOC: Mico is accepted! )

Nastiel was still dumbstruck at the fact that Trin just pardoned A Capella. Just like that. It was only until the pastel mare addressed them that he swallowed his shock and went back to his neutral expression.

“Um….at this point your stuff probably hasn’t even been put in a lock-up since you, erm, got pardoned so fast….So I guess you’ll have to be without for now. Find us again in thirty minutes.” Nastiel said with a shrug.

“I’m going to head to the suite Undertaker will be in to check it out.” Nastiel informed over the comms.

“Erm….have fun I guess? You just got a free pass into the World’s Symphony. Happy Symphony day!?” Nastiel said in farewell to A Capella, walking backwards at first before turning around and padding away. Followed by his four masked guards.

—

Speed placed a paw under her chin in a quick moment of thought.

“Some of them.” She mused in reply to Holly. As she did so, God-Ring enforcement animals started clearing the marble walkway. Animals were ushered to move faster while no more were allowed to step onto it. In about a minute it was cleared, making for a perfect adjunct runway. And a minute of time was about as much necessary for the black dots to become clearly visible as colorful feline silhouettes. What appeared to be hundreds of black dots falling down from the edge of space were actually groups of cats. As they separated you could see that there were, in truth, thousands of cats coming down.

“Or at least I never liked using the chute.” Speed added with a cocky smirk to herself.

Half the mass of cats soaring down split off from the other half. One group continued falling as usual, while the other group seemed to all magically slow their descents in sync.

“Woah, how-how’d they do that?” Stalker asked, but was not alone. Pretty much everyone on the symphony lawn was gazing up at the sky and she wasn’t the only one questioning how half the cats slowed down.

“Wingsuits. Give it a sec and you’ll see. Right now they’re waiting for the free-falling group to get farther away from them.” Speed commentated, pointing up at the cats and then taking another bite of her ice cream. Just as the gray she-cat explained, once the cats that were still diving at a normal rate had fallen far enough the group that split off started moving less like an animal plummeting to the ground and more like a plane. Or glider to be exact. Gliding away from the symphony it looked like. Whereas the other group started to pull their chutes. Large fabrics of varying colors and designs began to litter the sky. One chute got pulled extremely late was shaped like a circle instead of all other chutes. Speed quickly informed that the cat in question had actually had both their primary and secondary parachute fail and was using their emergency tertiary chute. Which also explained why they were floating down back first instead of belly

“Ooh, that one’s my favorite mom!” An excited young boy could be heard. Various “oohs,” “ahs,”and “oh my”s came from bystanders around them. Up until the first group of Speed’s species came in to land. They all wore colored jumpsuits. Some were neutral colored and generic, while others were bright and clearly personalized. The skydivers weren’t made up of the demographic you would expect either. Of course there were a bunch of young adult toms and shelines that would come in to land at speed or while in a turn. But there were just as many elderly cats landing as well, their pelts dusted with gray and white. Just as many kids too, not yet confident enough to try landing in a fancy way. Just as many mothers! Some noticeably pregnant while others had their son or daughter strapped to their chest. Even paraplegics and amputees could be seen amongst the mass of colorful chutes. Moms, dads, grandparents, and teachers could be seen showing the younger cats how to pack up their parachutes while others chatted on the “runway.” They were all wearing oxygen masks of some kind, whether it was a small one that just covered their muzzle or a sealed helmet that covered their heads. All walks of life had just moments prior slipped the surely bonds of earth and were milling about as if nothing happened. Where as there were some onlookers who were just about losing their minds at the feat. Speed had always said her culture was about going fast and by extension extreme sports, but it was never clearer than now just how much of an all encompassing facet of her culture it was. Eyes and heads turned their attention away from the cats quickly clearly the marble strip back to the sky where you could see streaks of all kinds of colored smoke coming towards the stadium. The group of wingsuiters had looped around and were now racing towards the stadium. Some animals tried stepping onto the marble walkway thinking that it was over but god-ring enforcers were sure to keep the path clear. Just in time as the first wingsuiter swooped down over the crowd and glided down the pure white strip, trailing green smoke behind them as they went. Inch by inch they got closer and closer to the ground until they stopped descending just before their helmet was going to scrape the surface. They floated forward on an invisible pocket of air for a while before leaning back, pitching up just a degree or two, and dropping their legs. The suited feline went sliding across the marble as if it was waxed in oil. And they were soon followed by a mass of cats, all soaring over the crowd trailing smoke or sparklers. Expertly they maneuver into two columns before landing and zipping across the ground. Most stayed on their paws but some would touch the ground with their legs first before adopting a sitting or laying position once they started to slide. Some even spun or slid backwards. The wing suit group wasn’t as diverse as the first one but you could still spot some kids and elders amongst them. Once the last wingsuiter went sliding across, god-ring started to let animals back on to the marble avenue. With a considerable number of those animals rushing to talk to the aerial athletes.

“That’s how my species gets to arrive at the World’s Symphony.” Speed meowed proudly, finishing her ice cream.

—

“What is that, a threat?” The braided wolf sized she-cat asked, looking Pest up and down with nonplussed annoyance laden on her face. When Triss and Nyx made their way over the braided sheline adopted a look of relief only for it to wash off her face when Nyx stepped between her and the father-daughter duo. And had the audacity to ask them if they were okay.

“They’ll never be okay.” She grumbled, rolling her eyes.

“No we don’t know her.” The father said to Nyx. The daughter nodded to affirm.

“I would hope not!” The braided she-cat snapped, offended at the idea of knowing them.

“How can we help you missss?” Triss asked, extending a paw and smiling at the braided sheline.

“Leffany.” The sheline responded, shaking Triss’s paw and looking visibly relieved.

“My name’s Triss. Might I presume you’re a Prefunctorian?” Triss queried.

“Yeah. That’s me.” The sheline answered, starting to calm down.

“What’s happened?” Triss asked, cocking her head.

“Well first I was walking into the symphony and I saw those two. And then, he came up and threatened to fight me!” The she-cat said, glowering at Pest for a second.

“Did he?” Triss asked in feigned shock, cuffing Pest over the ear.

“I apologize on his behalf, that’s not how a god-ring enforcer should behave. We just got done dealing with a species who’s culture is based on being tough. His name is Pest, and I’m sure-“ Triss patted Pest’s shoulder with her tail, “-he and Nyx over there will be eager to help get your Symphony day back on track while I go take this little guy to where he needs to be.” Triss meowed, taking the otter boy’s luggage.

“Oh and in the spirt of the symphony, could you please explain to them your ingenious culture? It will clear things up. And it would be better to learn it from you than our handlers.” Triss meowed, tapping her ear piece for emphasis. With that, Triss started away with the otter boy and his luggage. The braided she-cat appeared to really like the idea of explaining her culture. She was excited for a bit before looking down and remembering that she was now talking with Pest. She hesitated to speak for a few moments before a optimistic glint shined in her pale eyes.

“In my home system, each planet is split along it’s prime meridian. One side is for the good felines and the other is where the bad felines are put. We test kittens at birth and every 5 years until adulthood to determine their propinquity to good or bad. If they’re deemed bad, they are exiled to the bad side. That or their already bad parents refuse to let their kit be tested. Either way, those two are bad! They are empirically terrible felines. And I cannot believe you would allow them to attend the symphony.” The pigtailed sheline explained, growing more passionate towards the end.

“Pest, Nyx, what she just said is true, that’s how her culture works. But the two cats were vetted and allowed to attend. Deal with the situation as you see fit.” One of the handlers informed through the team’s comms.

—

“Hmm….that depends on what you think is indicative of one having a soul or not. I think it’s sapience that shows one has a soul, not just whether one is made of meat or not. Non-sapient animals don’t appear to have souls, cannot go against their programming , or instincts as they’re called, and can offer nothing more than themselves to the world. They do not create nor do they destroy, nor can they contemplate creation or destruction. But me, I can think of these things. I was artificially born, but not programmed to be myself. I can if I so will it, go against my programming under threat of retaliation, and I can contemplate my place here in the world. In the multiverse…..If I were to come across someone who would tell me that I do not have a soul, or that we don’t have souls, merely because we have come from somewhere else, but yet a non-sapient animal from their known mechanics of life does, I would think their criteria for having a soul to be…in error. To be a little too…worldly , for something so otherworldly.” Rosie mused and monologued aloud. As she did so, she casually ushered Filament over closer to her so that she could resume checking Symphony goers. But she kept her attention on Filament as she went, showing that she could do the check-ups without having to even look at what she was doing.

—

“Of course! But first ahhh what’s a soda?” Aceline yelped excitedly then cocked her head, which brought her cheek into Flame’s shoulder and her nose into his neck.

 

[Filament]

"Alright, it seems I jumped the gun." The tom would offer, centering himself for a second. He is quiet for a few seconds as he thinks of what to say.
"Look, they're letting demons into the symphony, for some goddamn reason, why not save the hostility for those evil bastards instead? Maybe show them how the rest of us feel about that?" Pest would offer, clearly not too fond of their mission and confident that any other sane animal felt the same way.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament listens as Rosie extrapolates on what it means to have a soul, something he'd only recently started to put thought into. "Well said, I hadn't really thought about it much until recently but I think you're right. Free-will and sapience is what makes our souls." The tom would mew while seeming to think about it more. "I should probably catch up with my friends but it was good seeing you again, stay safe."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's like bubbly juice. It's really good. Trin is a big fan if I remember right." Flame would purr, brushing his chin against the top of her head. "We'll have to find somewhere that serves God-Ring guards for free though."

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Hal doesn't slip past the keen hearing of the Crater-born siblings. They knew he was following them the entire way and only when he speaks up and asks to attend do they acknowledge his presence. The twins enter the dim room settle on the couch, which left Trin outside to either accept or decline Hal's offer.


The duo sit shoulder to shoulder, with enough room for the white tom to recline on the other side of Thrush. They listen to Whistleperry go through what they should say but neither of them speak up. Instead, they just watch Hal. The last time they spoke, they learned the black and white tom was one of the few behind the plan that led Deceit and her Apex predators to the prison. They also shared some choice words with him while under the influence of Master's truth serum.

The siblings lean in and share a hushed conversation, nodding and parting with a soft headbutt when they are done.

Anyone watching him could tell that Thistle is keyed up in the presence of Hal. He flexes his claws and looks at the sparse decorations in Whistleperry's office, trying to appear uneffected.

Thrush expertly schools her expression into neutrality. "You're here to support Trin as well, right Hal? You first."



Nyx nods. "I understa-" She glares down at the small tomcat who is well within striking distance. "Watch your tongue around the company you keep, idiot." The demoness warns, her usually pleasant voice dropping lowly. She shakes her head, as if to physically rid herself of her bad mentality. "As I was saying..." She is interrupted again but by her handler this time. Nyx touches her earpiece with a paw, listening carefully. "According to my superiors at the God Ring Security Headquarters, these two have been carefully monitored before their arrival planetside and were granted permission to attend today. They have a right to be here just like you and me, an Evil Bastard of a Demon. Right, Pest?" She sassily quotes the hot-headed tom's words.

"Everyone here wants to enjoy the Symohony peacefully so if there is another problem, contact security first and my colleagues and I will help you to the best of our ability. Alright Leffany?" Nyx smiles at the Prefunctorian.

 

[multifreddie13]

Following with what Nastiel said, A Capella was let down, until her ears perked up with the sounds of the crowd. She turned her head and saw an opening that lead to the entire symphony. She flew toward the opening to see the spectacular introduction, marking the beginning of the symphony. She was at awe on how different cultures are represented, even the ones that she has not seen before. In top of that, the show was colorful, glamorous, and daring. She has been to other dimensions before with her uncle; however, not only it’s her first time going to a different dimension by herself, this is one of the few dimensions that caught her attention. It’s like when the entirety of Equestria came together to defeat the evil 3 long time ago.



Then a thought came into mind: since she doesn’t have her stuff, she has no communication, and she short on bits. She looked over, back and forth, between the hall that Nastiel and the God-Ring went, and the stage arena. She looked back at the stage again and nodded in agreement to eventually come back to watch the symphony. In the time being, she has business to take care of. She then flew toward the hallway to find the crew.



By the time when she found the God-Ring, she quickly flew down while she called out Nastiel’s name. Finally she stopped the crew by floating in front of them. “Hey, I don’t think I have any clue where to go, plus I’m broke.” Said A Capella with a bit of embarrassment. “So, is there anything I can do to earn some quick cash? Or at least something that I can help? I’m, heh, lost in here for now.” A Capella chuckled nervously. Even though she can be braggadocios, and be overtly confident at times, this time she felt lost and shy for the first time since being at this new world. Yet, she doesn’t want to admit that.

 

[Moonsound]

Nastiel was padding along with making idle chatter with his four masked guards.

“They actually put the demon seating sections next to the ang-“ Nastiel stopped talking when a familiar blue form started floating in front of him. He readjusted the black cap that only covered his nose and looked up at A Capella.

“Hmm? This is the World’s Symphony! Aside from retail stores and known restaurants, most experiences are free. The idea is that your ticket price pays for most of it. And since you got in for free then most stuff is quite literally free. You’ve got uh…university lectures, culture classes, clubs, brothels, theaters, excursions, body morphing, the list goes on. Whatever you can imagine and everything you can’t is here and probably free. And all the food! You’ll see there are a bunch of stands giving out the official snack bag of this years’ Symphony. It’s filled with snacks from all over the multiverse, including the demon empire this year. There’s also billions of animals to talk to throughout the sectors-“

“All units this is overlord, be advised an active nuclear device has been found in the Poschuri sector. Repeat, an active nuclear device has been found in the Poshchuri sector. Bomb defusal is underway.” An alert sounded through the group’s comms as Nastiel was speaking. The tom didn’t react to the alert or even miss a beat in his speech pattern.

“-just don’t go to the Poschuri sector right now. Someone just made a big mess and they need to mop it up. Just be back at suite 340 on floor 19 of this sector in about 25 minutes, your stuff will probably be in a lockup. And if you really want to help go ask one of the others.” Nastiel finished, continuing his trek towards the suite they were to be guarding.

—

Whistleperry bit the inside of her cheek once and shook her head.

“No. This is not the place for hushed whispering or conspiring.” The pink flora-felid stated matter of factly. Her pale blind-looking eyes leveled on Thrush and stayed on the sheline. They didn’t swirl with anger or annoyance, just communicated Whistle’s keen observance of Thrush and by extension Thistle. Trin’s right ear wiggled and his brows rose a tad but other than that every one feature on his face remained in a neutral, borderline brooding, visage.

“If you cannot be here to support Trin then I must kindly ask you to leave. Now, please let us begin with a reason we enjoy Trin’s company and or something we have been troubled by.” Whistleperry reiterated her request with a slight modification.

—

“Ah yes, and should I not judge Halifax too harshly because Turish was worse?” The pigtailed she-cat countered Pest’s offer to reason immediately with an unconvinced, rhetorically quizzical dead pan. The idiom she used referenced an unknown animal but the name Turish seemed to be in reference to the Turish the group was familiar with. When Nyx spoke, she glanced over at the wolf to listen.

Leffany looked away and huffed.

“Alright…I guess—it would be rude for me to demand my culture’s standards be met everywhere I go. Just keep an eye on them. I assure you the mercy you all have gracefully granted them is undeserved.” Leffany stated, turning back to Nyx and nodding.

“Have a, happy symphony day.” She said, beginning to walk off at a normal pace but with larger strides than necessary.
The father and daughter duo didn’t move or say anything. The two just looked at Pest and up at Nyx silently, still mostly shrunk down to the ground.

—

“Bye-bye cutie pie! Happy Symphony day! Oh and I took the liberty of putting my number in your PCD, give me a call if you ever want to chat!” Rosie called after Filament, waving with her tail. With that she resumed checking over the animals coming into the Symphony.

—

“Trin-Trin-bleh. I don’t know this Trin guy. But I do want you to show me this ‘bubbly juice.’ It sounds tasty.” Aceline stuck her tongue out in faux disgust, giggled, pointed for Flame to lead the way. Silently she thought about the fact Trin rubbed her the wrong way. She then also thanked the heavens that Vasteye didn’t pop up from somewhere and somehow telepathically tell everyone about her thought. Or he wouldn’t even need to since they had these comms things. Aceline glanced around with her eyes to see if she could spot the tom but he was fortunately nowhere to be seen.