Icy Void

"Course Kingfisher." Blizzard said quickly. He hadn't even planned on not keeping an eye on Steel, until Steel proved himself Blizzard would be watching him like a hawk. He watched especially closely when Steel went around passing out pills, possibly pain killers, to the injured ponies, just in case they were some sort of poison, but when Steel took some of his own pills Blizzard got the feeling that the container wasn't rigged and thus the pills must be safe. Midnight barely even acknowledged that Kingfisher had said anything to him as he walked over to where the Pavisa and Chivalry were yelling at each other. While normally Midnight would try to avoid involvement, an argument this big could tear their group apart, which they really didn't need after that beating they got at the hooves of this mystery alicorn. "How about you two quit arguing about who did the wrong thing! You both had good intentions, based on what you've been yelling, but regardless of who's idea was better, it's in the past now! Arguing about it won't do anypony any good, so instead we should focus on tending to our wounded and planning on how we'll handle our next run-in with this alicorn. So could the two of you just drop it, now is not the time for infighting." Midnight said in a lecture kind of voice, like an officer scolding his troops or a parent scolding their child. After he finished his little lecture, Midnight didn't back down but he did feel a tad awkward about getting himself so involved in the dispute.

"Well Steel, if you really want to prove yourself it will just take time. Save some ponies from dying, protect ponies from threats, do stuff like that and maybe I'll start trusting you. As for the mare, I honestly don't know, you'll have to figure that out on your own if you want to sway her." Blizzard said to Steel, wondering how he'll respond, when he heard some pony from below ask about the newcomer, who Blizzard assumed meant Steel. "Looks like one of our leaders would like to meet you." Blizzard said to Steel, signaling towards Kingfisher.

"Well that's easy. You haven't done anything in particular to earn my trust. You prove you can be trusted and then I might start trusting you. Until then, you'll just have to deal with it." Blizzard said matter-of-factly. He didn't really focus too much on why Steel would ask such a question, even if the answer seemed obvious to him, Blizzard just focused on scanning the area around the camp for signs of danger.

"Sure, I guess. Just don't try anything." Blizzard said in a lot more relaxed tone than what he's used with Steel so far. He was still plenty suspicious of the pegasus, but with all that had happened today, and how hurt some of his companions were, Blizzard wasn't going to turn down an offer of help.

"Well, whatever happened, it must've been rough. You all look like you had the stuffing beat out of you." Midnight remarked, since the other ponies had stayed silent. He walked with the others back to camp, holding up the rear in case whatever or whoever caused this came back, but it was all quiet. Once he was back at camp Midnight decided that maybe he should stand guard, since he was one of the few ponies not banged up or injured. So keeping his armor on, Midnight walked to the middle of camp and sat down, positioned so he could scan the whole treeline around their camp. Blizzard could tell that whatever that blue glow had been, it must've hurt. He was up on his cloud when the others began coming back, and they all looked rather beat. At this point his determination to stand guard no longer focused on his mistrust of Steel or Crimson, though he still kept an eye on them both, but now it focused more on protecting their group from whoever had been in the woods. "A wonderful first day of our expedition. it's barely night and most of our team has already been taken down in a fight. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow." Blizzard said sarcastically to himself.

Midnight sighed with resignation before replying to Steel. "Yeah, I suppose we should go check on the others. Why don't you come with me Steel, since I don't think Blizzard would want you staying in camp alone with the other two. Blizzard, keep an eye on things here." Midnight said before turning and running into the woods, not looking to see if Steel actually followed him or not. It didn't take long for Midnight to find the others, the burnt trees and blast area coupled with a residual field of magical energy were good clues. "What in Equestria happened out here?" Midnight asked the others when he found them, noticing that they all looked fairly beat up.

"No doubt it's a spell, and a strong one at that. So I see no problem if you have one knife to defend yourself if something goes wrong." Midnight said, levitating one of Steel's knives back to him. He was finishing putting his armor on when he felt a new burst of magical energy, and looked over his shoulder to see a blue glow above the treeline. "Now that, was some powerful magic. I hope the others are okay." Midnight said, wondering what could've caused such a burst of magical energy. Blizzard really didn't like the idea of arming Steel, who he still didn't trust, but he also didn't want him to die because they wouldn't let use a weapon. What made him decide it totally fine was the sudden glow from above the trees, no doubt from the same source as the lightning. "Yeah, one knife is okay." Blizzard said reluctantly.

"So you can feel it too. I don't think anypony in our group has a magical talent of that level, even my strongest spell doesn't radiate that much energy. But I'm sure the others are fine. To be sure though, Blizzard, could you fly up and see if you can spot anything?" Midnight said, hoping he was right. Just in case though, Midnight quickly began to levitate his armor back on. If worst comes to worst, he'd rather be ready to fight than taken by surprise. "Sure thing Midnight." Blizzard said quickly before shooting up into the air. Once he was high enough, Blizzard looked over and saw what Midnight and Steel had mentioned. Off a little ways in the distance Blizzard could see electricity arcing through the woods, and could hear his companions yelling out from that same area. He thought he caught a glimpse of an alicorn, but there was just no way, so he assumed it was just a trick of the light. "It looks like some magical lightning is causing them problems, a lot of lightning." Blizzard reported as he flew back down.

"True enough. And you're heading to Canterlot? That's where we departed from. And those must be some dangerous blades indeed if they're bound for Luna's armory. Where'd you get them?" Midnight asked, deciding to make small talk with Steel. Thankfully this pony hadn't asked him much, so Midnight was beginning to feel somewhat comfortable around this pony. Although the main reason for his making small talk was the fact that he felt that something was happening in the forest in the direction all the others had gone. Midnight couldn't tell much, but he heard thunder and could practically feel the magic radiation coming from that direction, so he knew something big was happening. Midnight half wanted to run off and see what was going on, but he was one of the last four members of the expedition left in the camp. And the only others that were there were Blizzard, the dragon, and the silent mare, add in Steel and that left a very mismatched group. And because who was still here, Midnight felt that he was the one "in charge" so to speak, and would blame himself if anything happened here. So Midnight just had to hope the others could handle whatever was happening, even though he doubted any of them had studied magic like he had, and there had to be some strong magic at work.

"Well, that's very generous of you. We'd be very grateful, but if it truly is so expensive then you needn't worry over giving us some. I'm sure we could manage without." Midnight said to Steel, nodding at Blizzard that it was okay. Even then Blizzard hesitated before finally tossing the pouch to Steel. While his intentions were good, Midnight couldn't help but think that sometimes Blizzard was too suspicious for his own good. No doubt the pegasus thought there were small bombs or maybe some lethal poison in that pouch.

"I guess you could say we're on an expedition. Us and several other ponies are travelling to retrieve an old artifact. Although the camp is pretty empty right now since most of the others chased after two other ponies who came near our camp." Blizzard said, keeping it as vague as possible. Even if this pony was here on unrelated matters, he didn't quite trust this pony and didn't want him to cause trouble. "You're quite welcome Steel. Although I must admit I'm by no means a professional medic, I just learned a few tricks from my old travelling days. I would recommend you stay here with us for now, there's a trained medic in our group who could give a better diagnosis of the cut." Midnight said as he wrapped a bandage around the wound. While he was confident that he had done everything right in treating the cut, it couldn't hurt for this pony to stick around and meet the others. Even if Steel was hostile, Midnight was confident he and Blizzard could hold their own until help arrived, but he doubted it would come to that.

"The name is Blizzard Blitz. So what's your name anyway? And did you catch this 'Demonblood'?" Blizzard asked skeptically. He had to admit the story made sense, but he had to be certain. There was just something about this pony that Blizzard Blitz didn't trust. "My name is Midnight Sky." Midnight said shortly as he continued to work. The cut wasn't too bad, thank Celestia, but Midnight stitched it up anyway to be safe. Levitating the needle and thread through the air, Midnight worked quickly to make the sewing as painless as possible for the newcomer.

"Well thank you then. And since you so generously offered, who are you and what are you doing alone out in these woods this late in the day?" Blizzard asked, staying by the pile of weapons and keeping an eye on their guest. 'He may have surrendered his weapons for the time being, but we'll see what kind of pony he is soon enough. It's too odd that we have three total strangers come near our camp at the same time, two of them running off and one bleeding and entering our camp.' Blizzard thought, full of suspicion towards the stranger. "You're welcome, and thank you. Now hold still while I fix up you leg." Midnight said to the new pony before getting to work cleaning the cut, which thankfully didn't seem too bad. Regardless, Midnight wanted to be certain that was clean enough to not become infected. He knew from a rather bad experience the pain of an infected injury, and he didn't want any other pony to suffer through that.

Could you also do my OC Midnight Sky? There's a link in my sig for him. [blarg character limit, qwertyuiop[]\asdfghjkl;'zxcvbnm,./`1234567890-=, random name to reach the character limit is: Derpy Hooves]

Blizzard was conflicted on what to do, on one hoof he couldn't just leave this pony to bleed out, but on the other hoof this pony was a complete stranger who happened to also be quite well armed while several of his companions were off in the woods chasing after the two voices they had heard earlier. "Fine, follow me. We'll get you patched up, don't need a dead pony so near our camp." Blizzard said distrustfully before turning and flying over to where Midnight sat by his shelter, looking over his shoulder at the stranger most of the way. "Hey Midnight! You remember how to fix up wounds? This pony could use some help in that department." Blizzard called over to his friend. Midnight had been focused on polishing his armor when he heard Blizzard Blitz call his name. When Midnight saw the new pony he instantly got up and levitated his first aid kit from it's compartment in his armor. "Of course I remember how! I'll have that leg fixed up in no time!" Midnight called back in response. Normally he wouldn't be so eager to help a stranger, especially one who looked to be armed, but the bleeding looked just bad enough for Midnight to make an exception. He just hoped this didn't come back to haunt him later.

"It has too, there is no way a burst of dark magic that potentially threatens the safety of all of Equestria should'nt concern both princesses. Although I must admit, I have been hearing rumors that the sisters aren't getting along as well as they used to, which could explain why Luna was sent away. And if those rumors are true, I don't want to imagine what a schism between the princesses could cause." Midnight said to Bright Eyes. While he waited for Bright's response, Midnight began making his shelter. While he was sure that somepony had a spare tent, Midnight always opted to build his shelters with the available resources since it was a skill he already had and meant he didn't need to carry a tent. In this case Midnight began using his magic to dig a hole in the snow, which he planned to make into a little cave-like structure with a raised platform for a bed.

Blizzard had been watching Blast chase after the two voices when he noticed a glint in his peripheral vision. Looking over he spotted the quiet pony who had been with the dragon running away from some new pony who looked injured, but seemed to be putting on a bundle of weapons. The stranger sounded like he was calling for help from the mare, but Blizzard didn't want to take any chances. "Hey! What are you doing here!?" Blizzard demanded of the new pony as he flew down and hovered in front of the new pony to try and block his path. Blizzard may not know the silent mare, but she was part of their group so she was at least a comrade for the time being, so Blizzard made sure to keep himself between the stranger and the mare as she ran. Besides, anypony who carries that many weapons has to be trouble, you usually don't meet friendly ponies that are heavily armed out in the woods.

"They could be able to help, that's true. Or they might be trying to lure us from our camp to rob us or they might be innocent ponies in trouble. They could even be the enemy that's also after the magic book, though I doubt we are that lucky, or it could have even been your imagination. I say we ignore it, we have more important things to worry about than voices in the night." Blizzard said in reply to Aphrodite before going back to standing guard on his cloud. In truth Blizzard planned to go and investigate the voices himself later, no need for those who were actually chosen for this mission to endanger or distract themselves like this, but better they didn't know. Although Blizzard was fairly certain Midnight Sky knew exactly what he planned, the two of them have been friends for long enough that the unicorn knew how Blizzard thought, but at least Midnight wasn't the kind to rat out his friends if they had foolish plans like his.

Well I'm learning German in high-school currently, but I'd also love to learn Japanese, Russian, and Latin. German and Japanese because I love both countries, and Russian just for the sake of knowing Russian. Latin just cause I really like history, particularly western history, and it's essentially the root language of Europe, with some exceptions.

Usually if I'm nervous I'll start pacing, but if I can't pace for whatever reason then I start tapping my foot. I also seem to have the tendency to become more talkative when I'm nervous. And if I can't do any of these then the nervous tension just kinda builds up until I can release it, usually by running and/or jumping(once I'm alone, that would be awkward with other people around) since it builds up like energy.

"Very well, but I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling me 'prince', I have a lot of bad memories tied to that title." Midnight said to Crimson before heading back over to his shelter. Using his magic, Midnight quickly removed his armor and laid it neatly within his little shelter. He doubted, or at least hoped, that he wouldn't need to be armored this late. "Whatever you say, but I think I'll stand guard overnight too, just to feel secure." Blizzard said, still not entirely trusting Crimson and was determined to make sure nothing went wrong with their group overnight. Deciding he would keep watch easier from the sky, Blizzard flew up and found a cloud of just the right size to use as a platform and a bed, and brought it to float above the campsite. "Tonight we'll see just how trustworthy some of our companions are." Blizzard muttered to himself from his perch on the cloud.

"Oh, no harm could come from innocent talk. To be honest I was also baffled as to why Princess Luna had not been present, and now to know that it was her sister that sent her away..., well, it is all quite intriguing. And that fact that the captain was hand picked by Celestia, well that just adds to the mystery and intrigue. But if this discussion makes you uncomfortable, we can change the subject. I know how it feels to discuss something that you'd rather not discuss." Midnight said to Bright Eyes, wondering once more over the rumors that a rift was forming between the sun and moon sisters. He did not say it, but Midnight was also immensely curious as to what his 'file' had said about him. How much did the princesses know about him or his past?

"Well what is worse? To seem a fool or to be a fool? I agree with our guard friend, Crimson, no need to tire yourself with guard duty when there are so many ponies in this group, and it is unnecessary for punishment, even self inflicted punishment, when you recognize your error. So don't tire yourself for no good reason." Midnight said to Crimson before walking off and beginning to put together a shelter. While some ponies would likely sleep in tents, Midnight preferred to use nature to make a shelter, mostly because he learned how to make all kinds of shelters during his journey to Equestria and didn't want to waste that knowledge and skill. Using his telekinesis, it wasn't long before Midnight Sky had built a simple lean-in shelter against a tree. 'It may not look pretty on the outside, but this thing is certainly sturdier than any tent. Score one for the scholarly rogue prince.' Midnight thought as he made certain his quickly built shelter did not have any major flaws. Blizzard knew instantly that he didn't want some self acclaimed pirate with a drinking problem to be guarding over all of them on his own, at least not one he didn't trust. "If Crimson is so set on doing guard duty all night then so be it, but then I'll be here all night too!" Blizzard said, his mistrust very clear in his voice.

"I'll have to agree with Aphrodite on this one, we're wasting time arguing about who should be in charge when we should just be worried about why we're all here. So how about every pony just calms down and we continue on our way, all this infighting is slowing us down and could get somepony killed later on. And I could care less why Redwave is on this quest, I know why I'm here and that's enough for me." Midnight said, hoping at least some of these ponies would see reason. From his view Midnight could care less who was in charge, for him what mattered was recovering and dealing with the Litany, everything else was more of a detail. But if everypony spent their time arguing over who wanted to be leader, then they might never reach the Litany. Also, he would rather not see a member of their group die from any sort of schism, that just wouldn't be a very good way to die.

"Well, if we end up having to go to the Crystal Mountains then this little expedition may take awhile. I've only been through those mountains three times, and none of those were pleasant. And I have a feeling we may miss the Litany at the falls, it's never that easy." Midnight said, cautiously joining into the conversation to get to know some of his companions better. 'That and I'm never that lucky. Irony dictates that we'll have to travel all the way north to the Crystal Mountains, one of my personal least favorite places in the world. I just hope this will all be worth it in the end.' Midnight added to himself. "I must agree that the ruins be inside the falls, there is just no way a structure like that could be missed at Equestria's biggest tourist destination. As such, if it weren't inside the falls then it would have been discovered and placed under guard long ago." Blizzard said matter-of-factly. Blizzard was glad somepony here recognized that, and he wondered who else had but just hadn't said anything. He had no doubts that Midnight Sky shared the idea, and he suspected that Redwave and Kingfisher both also had that idea. Which if his suspicions are true, then Blizzard would be relieved that this expedition's crew was competent. Blizzard knew that he may yet have to protect his friend Midnight, but then that was his whole reason for tagging along uninvited, he just hoped that there were enough fighters in tthis group to survive a fight.