Illiad Easle

@Scar An ancient hall of records... I'll finally be able to study the old magics that my constructs are based on. I'll finally unlock their true potential. Or I would... if she were here to join me. His crush would not likely be too fond of him trying to overthrow Princess Sparkle, but that would be a problem for another day. He'd have to see what this archive contained first. Blu nodded at the culmination of their agreement, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Should we set off immediately? Or is a good night's rest in order?"

@Scar Blu raised an eyebrow in intrigue, "Tell you what, you bring me to this golden door, no tricks, and not only will I tell you what I know I'll personally assist you in getting close enough to do some real damage." He floated a glove over, it was the sort of glove that a griffon or Minotaur might wear, made of a dark colored cloth that might be leather. He extended it like a griffon would for a hoofshake, "What do you think? Do we have a deal?"

@Scar What I wouldn't give to be able to lord that over Princess Sparkle... Blu looked intrigued, "Something special about finding it then? Some sort of spell, incantation, or planetary alignment in order to find the door? Perhaps we could have some sort of arrangement later." He snorted, "She's no less legitimate than the rest, but yes. I was, until recently, her ward. She'll tell you she adopted me out of the goodness of her heart, but she took me away from a family that would have loved me, and then couldn't be bothered to even get to know me. Which is why I left, I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't even noticed my absence yet."

@Scar Now that's something interesting. "Stratusburg? I think Princess Sparkle may have mentioned it at some point, but I can't say I'be seen it myself. Given the name I assume it's a cloud city? This door you found would have to either be beneath the city, or you have impressive magical endurance. I wonder though if it is not just some cursed artifact you've found, have you ever had it inspected? Checked for curses or dark magics?"

@Catpone Cerberus Ætheron had a small smile at Ædriga's response, "Glad to hear it." He turned back to the musician and pointed to his harness, "Ponyville's less than an hour from here, we've got to drop off these packages, but we'll return here as soon as we can and see if your village is safe." The musician wasn't too happy, but nodded, "We'll wait here, not like we've got anywhere else to go." Ætheron turned to Ædriga, pointing at the packages they were both carrying, "First, take things to office, second help ponies. Move fast." He hoped she understood as he turned to resume their path before setting off at a full gallop towards Ponyville. Provided Ædriga didn't have any difficulty keeping up they'd get to the edge of the forest in half an hour, reaching the office five minutes later. Ætheron would slow down if she were having trouble though. If Ædriga accompanied him all the way to the office at the edge of town, they'd be greeted by a grey pegasus at the counter. "Hi Æther! Who's your helper?" She looked over at Ædriga with a wave and a smile, "Hi! I'm Ditzy Doo, it's nice to meet you!"

@Scar Blu snorted, "That may be true, but that hardly means one should relish in it. I've seen creatures so twisted by greed they become monsters, slave owners, abusers, so gluttonous for power they'd do anything to get it. The problem with greed is that you're never satisfied, never happy, always hungry." He laughed briefly at that, "They don't exactly sound like the sort that would get along, sounds rather discordant in fact. Still," he focused his gaze again, "Embodying greed as you do, I'm surprised you had to find some abandoned house. Can't you afford some nice hideaway? With enough money you could simply bribe the guard away, turn their own greed against them."

@Scar Blu took a more direct interest in the necklace, "Well, by imagery alone I'd have to say it serves as an antithesis to the elements of harmony, by the diamond, representing generosity, I'd assume it is the opposite, perhaps selfishness? If we are to say that the opposite is not inherently evil you could say that the opposite of generosity is self care, but to be honest you don't look like the element of self-care." He turned his attention back to Cali, "So, is it selfishness? Hoarding? Simple Greed? Avarice? I assume something of the sort?" Inwardly he thought of the implications, If there is such a thing, would the antithesis of Magic be Science? Might I in fact be the very undoing of Princess Sparkle?

@Scar Blu rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it! I was all set to get adopted by this wonderful family, the same family that saved my life, but Princess Sparkle had to meddle with the process." He sighed, "Now, she's not a bad pony, totally unfit to rule of course, but a good sort... usually." He adopted a relaxed posture in the doorway, a bit of a curious look on his face, "But you say something interesting... you hate the princesses yet desire their position? frankly there's a better way, no one can hate you if they don't even know you exist. You don't want to be a princess, you want to be an advisor. More often than not you're the one writing the laws, they just sign them. On the off chance it goes wrong the ponies go for the princess, and the princess has no idea who wrote it, and would never admit to not writing it herself." He chuckled, "more than a few times I switched out Princess Sparkle's proposals for better ones, set up my escape and got her to sign my emancipation all without her knowledge. Now..." His gaze grew more direct, "You said you were an element? An element of what exactly?" Blu carried himself like a full grown stallion, but it was clear he was barely of age, at least physically, his eyes betrayed a much more mature intelligence.

@Scar She was an odd one, that was for sure, "Blu, no e. And I don't want a place like this but it's what I can afford. Being a ward of the state doesn't pay much when your carer funnels all the state money into 'investments in your future' or more accurately just buying more books that she won't let me read." He shook off the dark mood that was creeping up on him, "Still, I know of a number of cheap places to pass a night in the near area, why not stay there? You certainly don't smell like one who couldn't afford it."

@Scar Blu wasn't reassured any, if anything he was a bit off put at how similar they looked, sure the colors weren't exact, but they were closer than most other ponies were. Plus she wore glasses like he did, which was a certain rarity in a world where magic eye surgery was easily attained. "I suggest then..." he sighed, "You're going to turn off the lights and jump me if I tell you to leave aren't you?" He stepped back into the bedroom doorway so she could pass, gesturing to the living room with a hoof, "Go ahead and help yourself to whatever's in the living room. As long as you don't disturb me I'll try and forget you were here."

@Scar Blu was a bit put off by the glowing eyes, they weren't typically a good sign in his experience, and so wasted no more time in turning on the light. The bare bulb wouldn't provide much illumination, but it was better than nothing. "What, is it poetry night? I didn't bring my snapping gloves. And well, this house is recently not abandoned, as it is my house now. Which begs the question of what you're doing here? Not many savory types go looking for abandoned houses." He was getting wary, and wished he had turned up the power in his construct, she'd probably be able to take a few hits as it were.

@Blitz Boom Interacting with the mare would bring up dialogue as normal, the mare would speak first, "You're here about the machine, Cabinet Mare, right? It's all anyone ever comes back here for. It's why I came back here." She didn't turn to face Null, just looking at what appeared to be a piece of wood in her hoof, "I've tried to take it apart, tried to fix it, but I don't understand how it works at all! It is truly a marvel, the last and greatest creation it's creator ever made." She turned to face Null, not her character but her in the real world, she seemed more realistic than would normally be possible, it only lasted a moment before the image reverted to normal, "She said if I waited she'd come back to see me, to congratulate me on my achievement, said I got further than anyone else did." She chuckled, "They said I was mad, maybe I was predisposed to madness," she shrugged, "Who knows?" Unlike previous interactions she wasn't given options outside of the microphone and 'goodbye'. (Troy) Peal much prefered the strawberry to the yogurt, "Stah... stah beh bi? stah bear, bear ree, stahberry." she'd point at the strawberries, "Want stahberry!" Pen and Vale moved to go to the sleeping ponies, there was a bit of hesitation as to how they should wake up the others, they were thankful then that Peal was distracted by the call to wake them up, she jumped off Vale's back to run over to the beds, jumping on the bed they had gathered on, "Up! Up! Up!" It wouldn't take long for the young ponies to start moving, especially when Peal started trying to force her way into the pile. Ardee carefully extracted herself from the bottom of the pile by gently pushing the other ponies off and encouraging them to get moving, there was a bit of confusion to her face as she looked around, the recognition slowly coming to her as she looked at the mares at the other end of the room. Teal and Toupé filed off to the bathroom while Ardee came over to where Void was preparing food, "Good... morning? That's what you call it when the sun is going up right?" Peal was now perched on Ardee's back, snugly sitting between her wings.

@Scar A number of things went through Blu's mind when he heard some strange pony in his house, a few of them were how he could make a scene, how he could defend himself against a home invader. But given what he had seen in this world this intruder was more than likely some drunk who had wandered into the wrong house, or... He quietly sighed as he got out of bed, the voice had come from the hallway, he cursed his laziness for not locking the door, not that the doors were that sturdy to begin with, and prepared for the possibility that this intruder would take a bit of convincing to leave. He prepared a small construct, a simple ranged stun charm he held in the gloves he carried everywhere (similar to a low powered taser or a strong static shock) and opened the door to confront the surprise guest. "And what deed might that be?"

@Scar Here's the thread, I'm ready when you are.

OOC Thread (If you want to join ask in the OOC first) @Scar Blu sighed as he looked around the small house, when the realtor said that the place was a fixer-upper... well, barely standing would likely have been a better description. Still, it was watertight, mostly, it would do until winter at least, but he hoped by then to have moved on, Fillydelphia wasn't quite far enough away from Princess Sparkle for his comfort. The house was mostly empty, he didn't own much beyond the clothes on his back, the briefcase in his grasp, and the food that Spike had sent ahead for him. The layout was fairly basic, a combination kitchen sitting area was the first room through the front door, down a small hallway was a bathroom and a single bedroom. He was almost glad that his crush had declined to leave with him, they would have had to be very close to share the space. He set the briefcase down on the bed before heading for the bathroom, he prayed to whatever deity this world recognized that it at least had a working water heater.

@Catpone Cerberus Ætheron thought for a moment before clarifying, "Bad creature, one who cause much fear, pain, and death, attacked a village, caused these ponies to hide here." The musician looked like he wanted to clarify, but decided not to. Ætheron continued, "We can help them, go to their village and see if it's safe, or we can just go to Ponyville and do nothing." He looked over at the ponies around the stump, "I want to help, but I won't make you if you don't want to." He turned back to the musician, "Where is your village?" "Well... it's to the South." The musician pointed in the general direction, there was a faint path that they had apparently traveled to get there.

@Scar Sure, I'll post the RP thread tomorrow, this could be the OOC thread unless you want to leave it open?

@Scar Blu would prefer to live on the outskirts as to not be disturbed, and he was more focused on getting out of Ponyville than getting anywhere in particular (I also don't know canonically what life in Equestrian cities would look like so I just guess.) We could say Fillydelphia or Baltimare,

@Scar I used to be like you. I'm not partial on the location, just knowing where they are so I can describe scenery. As to time I prefer before Tirek as I didn't really watch past mid season 4. I'll give you a choice of character, either one could be the owner of the presumed abandoned building: If you want a city area, Blu Baseplate. If you want a forest or plains area, Glen Conegher. Blu is a young unicorn stallion, an orphan who was under the care of Princess Twilight before he ran away to be on his own. He has a navy blue coat with black mane and tail, his mark is a runic/lineart butterfly representing his skill in magical constructs. Glen is a doe pathfinder who lives by herself and works as a guide for adventurers and caravans.

@Scar I'm first of all impressed by your quick response. Second I'm intrigued by the premise, it's simple but has many possibilities, I've got a few characters that would work well. You have a time period / location you'd prefer? I'm partial to the season 4 era myself (Between princess Twilight and Tirek)

@Scar I'm up for this on the condition that I'm not in charge (IE I don't want to be the driving force behind events.) Tell me what you have in mind and I'll pick a character to be.

I can't tell if you actually know the twists I have planned, or if you're just joking. If you do know a twist already I would like to know so I can refine my foreshadowing so later twists are less obvious.

@Blitz Boom (NP) The bouncer guard didn't respond to her statement, and wouldn't react unless she had tried to get past him. Going back to the highlighted shed, there'd be an interact button on one side that switched the view back to first person. There was a door that was slightly ajar, on the face of the door was the same logo she had seen on the side of the game. If she pressed to interact again she would enter the shed. The view went back to overhead, the shed was small inside, about the size of a bedroom in total, against one wall was a bed, against the other three were desks covered in scattered papers and arcade machines in varying states of repair. In the middle of the room was a faded chalk outline of a pony, like one would see at a crime scene. At one of the desks there was a young mare with disheveled mane and unkempt tail, she was muttering to herself, which appeared in a bubble next to her head, "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Could you explain this to me again, please?" She didn't seem to notice Null. (Troy) Peal giggled at the attention, though remained catlike in regards to the direct affection, avoiding Void's attempts to stroke her like it were a game, moving about and standing with the aid of her wings to avoid her hoof. She seemed to recognize she was being talked about. Pen and Vale looked about in the cupboards and quickly found the requested utensils so Void could begin. Void regained Peal's interest by calling her name, whenever Void was standing still Peal would stand with her hind legs on her withers, her forelegs and chin on her head, in an attempt to look over Void's head to see what she was looking at and doing. She seemed content to watch Void work, not reaching for anything, but if something was offered she would sniff at it before trying it. She wasn't a big fan of the yogurt, "sour" she called it. (I imagine it's fine, just more tart than things she's had before if my knowledge of natural yoghurt is anything to go off of.)

@Blitz Boom No worries on the possible actions, they were properly formatted as if-then, feel free to do similarly when you think it necessary. As to their genetics, these clones are in fact natural clones of the ponies they look like, with a few twists: I'm operating under the assumption that alicornism is not always a genetic trait, there are natural alicorns rarely in the world, but most known alicorns are ascended from the other races due to great feats or great responsibilities. Luna and Celestia were a pegasus and a unicorn respectively before they were made responsible by the tree of peace to dethrone Discord (You may have noticed that Luna is more physical, flys more, while Celestia is more magical, rarely flies under her own power.) As such their clones were genetically a pegasus and unicorn. I decided that RD's mane got the rainbow color from her feat, and as the clone has not performed the sonic rainboom she does not have the rainbow mane. Pinkie's mane only went curly after the rainboom, as the clone has never seen it she retains the straight hair and serious demeanor that Pinkamena had prior. There's another twist, but you haven't found it yet. In short, there's no genetic relation between the clones and the sisters.

@Catpone Cerberus (No worries, I hope things are better now?) (The AI seems to have an arc in mind, whether we go with it is up to you.) Ætheron considered the methods by which they may have cleared so much since they had last passed through, and while it wasn't impossible for them to have cleared it without powerful magics it wasn't very likely. More likely was that this was an illusion by some mischievous kitsune or similar. He decided to lead the way around the edge of the clearing while keeping an eye on those gathered. One of the musicians took notice of them and waved before approaching, "Excuse me Sir, but what do you think of our little camp?" Ætheron was a bit blunt in his response, "When did you all get here? This clearing wasn't here last week." The musician looked a bit chagrined, "We arrived only a few days ago, we were staying in a village before, but..." Ætheron looked a bit incredulous, and the musician continued, "But the Nightmare Tyrant arrived and threw everybody in the pit of despair!" Ætheron's expression became more concerned, "The Nightmare Tyrant?" "Yes, you've heard the stories haven't you? She came and took over the..." The musician looked very uneasy. Ætheron looked back at Ædriga, "What do you think? Help ponies or keep moving?"