AzureNightLight

@@Hederik, @@SilverHeart, @@Once In A Blue Moon, @@Colenso Rivers, At that moment, Azure’s mind was in turmoil, Star’s words echoing around in her head, again and again. She wasn’t the leader type, she would usually be the one hanging behind in the group, like a wallflower, until she felt the need to step in. But, she thought to herself, she was the only one with that level of expertise; she was the only one in her group who stepped forward. She shook her head. She was just going to have to suck it up then. As they neared the mouth of the cave, Azure trotted out to the front and turned around so she could face them. “Right,” She looked at Cat. “As I mentioned earlier, I want us to walk in single file, I’ll be at the front, and I’ll keep track of where we are going. I want Midnight to be next; I would assume that they would have quite a considerable amount of changelings if they decide to charge head-on. Following Midnight, will be Star… doing her… thing.” Azure scratched her head; she still wasn’t exactly sure what Star was doing exactly. “After that,” She continued. “Will be Silver, followed by Cirrus and Cat, bringing up the rear. You, Cat, will be tasked with making sure nopony gets the jump on us. Silver and Cirrus will be able to respond quickly, should that happen.” She paused, looking around. “I guess that’s about it. We need to get a move on.” As she turned around, she quickly spoke up again. “Oh. One more thing. I think it’s common sense for everypony to be alert, just some more than others. The reason why we’re in a single file formation is so that everypony can keep an eye out to the sides.” With that, Azure trotted through the mouth of the cave. She snuck the rest of her team a look before she left. They were all looking at her with a some-what proud aura emanating from their expressions.

@@Once In A Blue Moon “Well…” Azure started. “Usually, it would be single file, one scout at the front and another at the back. The first scout is tasked with scouting ahead and keeping an eye out for their enemies. And the last has to keep an eye on the rest of the team as well as making sure they don’t get ambushed from behind… but.” She sighed. “It’s Star’s call in a situation like this; she knows the most about those and I’d say it’s best to follow her lead.”

@@Once In A Blue Moon Cat suddenly started looking for something in her bag. Azure observed, intrigued. She fished out what seemed like a black ball. She dropped it on the ground and stamped it out of shape. She looked up and tossed the object at Azure. She caught it in her aura. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it. She looked up at Cat, a confused expression plastered on her face. “Take this. If you need to prove that it’s you, just chuck it back – even if they can make an illusion of a bullet, that’ll break down the moment I try to catch it.” A pause. Huh. Interesting. Azure thought. I didn’t really think about that. “Have you got anything for me to have?” She continued. “Not because I’m paranoid, but because I want some free stuff.” Cat turned away from Azure hiding a grimace. It took her a moment before she realised but when she did, she smirked. “Oh, shush, you. Here,” she levitated out one of her unfinished crossbow bolts. “Take this. It’s one of my bolts that I haven’t gotten around to finishing.” Azure turned back to face the front. She snuck a quick glance at the small group that had assembled them. This was enough for them to track and take down the changeling group, right?

This is a massive one for me. Basically HiE in general. I know there are some good ones out there but this is a popular topic and is bound to draw in some more of the edgier stories which all seem to follow the format of: Woah, a magical portal! I wonder where that leads? Oh shit. I'm in Equestria. Time to meet the mane 6. Pinkie Pie's welcome party. "That, Twilight, is what you call a smartphone." "What? How are you levitating that?" *Insert problem that gets fixed because the human is in Equestria at that exact time.* Intense study session. Some climax. Human goes back to Earth. Or... maybe its just me.

@@Hederik, @@Colenso Rivers, @@Silver Heart, @@Once In A Blue Moon It wasn’t very hard work, chopping wood. It wasn’t hard but it was boring. Very boring. It was swing the axe, pull it back, swing the axe and pull it back. But it had to be done at some point or else they’d all be freezing in the dark. Azure’s thoughts was interrupted by a voice. "We've got incoming!" She jerked back, quickly raising her axe and preparing herself for the worst. She turned just in time to see a bluish-green blue land on the ground, revealing herself as General Hardy. General Hardy. Huh. False Alarm. Something didn’t sit right about her though. Didn’t she head off with that unit? Then why is she here? /*---*/ Azure ground her teeth. Changelings. She thought. She had never seen one before. Well, it would probably be very hard to see one because they all probably would be hiding beneath a facade. The thing is she had seen ‘General Hardy’ before she took off with Unit A. She had been fooled. Along with every pony else. She was a scout! She was supposed to be ready for these things. Yet, she blindly walked straight into the trap. She made a mental note to be extra observant about her surroundings and other ponies so she would be ready should the inevitable impersonation of another pony happens again. /*---*/ They had reached a cave in pursuit of the kidnapped Unit A. Star had asked for volunteers. At first nopony stepped forward. Azure couldn’t blame them. Sifting through dark tunnels where you couldn’t even trust your closest friends. Teammates and allies that you have bonded with and trusted over the course of the last ten years. It would scare anypony silly. Yet, she stepped forward. Why? She didn’t really know. Maybe it was because if she didn’t she would feel responsible for the death of an entire squad. Maybe it was because if she didn’t she would be jeopardising the chances of success. Either way, she that even though she was scared she still had to do something. She stood next to Carto Sketch and waited for Star’s word.

I don't know about your guys but for me, 'gray' seems happier and hence less grey than 'grey'. I hope that makes sense.

@@Hederik “Morning call! Up, up, all of you!” “Gah!” Azure jerked awake. The last thing she expected was Colonial Twine’s voice. “I’m up! I’m up. Yeesh.” She scrambled to her hooves and attempted to make straighten her unkempt mane. Attempted. It was a fruitless effort. She didn’t really know why she even tried every morning but her mane always seemed to have its own ideas about where it wanted to stay each morning. She resorted to sorting through her saddlebags to check if everything was still there. She had a dream last night. Not a strange occurrence. It was a peaceful one for a change. Not like the nightmare a few days ago. She shivered. Maybe it’d be best not to remember. The eldest unit, or ‘Unit A’ as they had called them, were sent off to scout the area. The other two units were left with the most basic and menial of tasks. Clearing the camp and gathering firewood. Well, it had to be done at some point. Azure moved over to the edge of a group of trees, an axe in her aura. Comet and Verdant were already there. Knowing them, they were probably bickering about something petty again. She rolled her eyes. Typical. She raised her axe and swung.

@@Wolves, Azure took the lasagne in her magic and quickly flashed a grin along with a 'Thanks!' before galloping off in the general direction of the stage. She arrived just in time to see a pony wheeling something on stage. Good! I haven't missed out on too much. She found a spot in between a mare and a stallion and began to enjoy the show.

@@Unicorncob, @@Wolves Azure levitated three bits and placed them on the table. A faint voice floated over the top of the stalls. "First of all, I'd like to say, welcome everypony! And I do hope you enjoy this first act of the evening." The first act? Azure's eyes widened. Shoot! It's starting!

@@Unicorncob Azure trotted up to the stall. “Oooh! What have we got here?”, she mused to herself. A mare with a red mane and dull yellow fur stood behind the counter, with various foods piled atop. Azure eyed the lasagne. Lasagne was actually the only food she recognised on the counter before her besides pizza. She only had it once, when she was visiting a relative and she happened to make it for dinner. It was a bit of a new experience but she liked it nonetheless. “How much for that a potion or lasagne?”, she asked, reaching for her saddlebags.

Azure had found a spot somewhere in the crowd just in time for the show to start. “Mares and Gentlecolts…” /*---*/ @@Unicorncob With the introductory performance finished, Azure couldn’t help but sigh. This was first Shining Star Festival and it was already living up to the tales told by her friends. As the crowd started disperse, she decided that some food would be in order. She scanned her surroundings and sure enough, there was a stall selling food.

“Dear visitors and performers! The gates to a week of parties and fun is about to be opened. The grand opening shall start in fifteen minutes at the main stage, so please do hurry over there as soon as you get in. We wish you an exciting and memorable Shining Star Festival experience!” Azure looked up again. This was it. The Shining Star Festival was finally starting! She could barely contain her excitement as she got up and practically pranced over to the gate where most of the others were. @ A white unicorn with a brown and blue mane stepped up. A member of the Guard, Azure thought to herself. Well, it is a big event. Somepony has to keep everything under control. He turned and nodded to the rest of the guards. They moved to the side and began unlocking the gates. Everypony started pouring in, like water rushing through after its dam had broken. Azure was quick enough to keep just ahead of the crowd and avoided getting trampled on at the same time. After she managed to get away from the initial rush of ponies. She checked her saddlebags just in case she had lost something and made her way to the stages.

“This train has arrived at Manehattan. Currently, in Manehattan is The Shining Star Festival, an annual event where performers gather together en masse for the sole purpose of entertaining! We wish you a safe and pleasant journey and holiday and thank you for taking the Friendship Express.” Azure looked up. That was her stop. She picked up her newspaper and stowed it back into her saddlebags and exited the train. The sun was just above the horizon. She would have approximately one hour to get herself to the location of the festival, two if she was lucky. The Shining Star Festival. She had longed to go but for the last three years, by pure chance or insane luck, some problem or event had happened at the Observatory and Azure had to go and deal with that. Not this year, though. Not this year. /*-----*/ She arrived at the main entrance just before the sun made its departure. There was a crowd of visited milling around the main gate, their mumbling causing a cacophony of sounds. She sat down on a bench, placed conveniently near the gates and levitated out a book. Azure was prepared to wait.