private Journey to the Higher Plane

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Nimbus, Stormwing's foal, was curious at what her fellow hippogryph foal was watching. She pushed aside her nervousness and came from behind her mother to watch. Her eyes opened wide as she saw the card tricks.

 

Since it had been decided that they would move on the next morning, Clover set about putting up protective wards to keep out anypony that would try to attack them, tho she charged them with the love and friendship thoughts so that the Keeper would be repelled. Clover took a long time doing this, knowing that she would have to rest afterwards, and hoping that everypony would be alright.

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

@,

"It really is amazing..." Bliss said as Royal concluded his music playing, "I was much older when I lost my dad, he had a heart attack while out on the job. But I can't imagine losing him so horrifically as Artemis did losing his mother... And yet look at him..." she observed him sitting there with all the curiosity of a child. Full of life and wonder.

 

@,

"OOOOOOOOH!!!" Artemis peeped as Royal performed his amazing card tricks. His eyes widened with magical wonder. Even Bliss couldn't help but be amazed by the talent. Both their eyes equally showed amazement and awe. Finally after he concluded with pulling the Ace of cards from behind Artemis' ear, the young hippogryph snatched it eagerly and examined the thin paper card. He twirled upside down, flipping it over and over, trying to figure out how this stranger was able to do such an amazing feat. "Card? Card?!" He squwaked to Bliss and ran past Nimbus who had been watching as well. "Card Blissy! Card!" He squawked again.

 

"Yes that is a card, a lucky one I think," she said looking at his prize. "Better hold on to it my little Artemis, might bring you good luck."

[Jack Baker 698]

Royal smiled slightly at the hippogryphon's reaction to his little trick. "Pretty cool, huh kid? Learned how to do that in Las Pegasus." He sat up, taking off his hat and setting it on the ground. "Wonder how my casino is doing..."

 

Raze looked up at him. "You own a casino?" he asked him.

 

Royal sighed. "For a while now, yeah. But I wasn't always a casino owner, or a card shark for that matter..." He looked at the card he gave Artemis, then sat close to the fire, looking up at everyone.

 

"Before, I'm pretty sure y'all thought of me as some no good, snake-in-the-grass unicorn varmint who conned people for a living. Like a said before, I wasn't always like that. I studied at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, cuz my folks in Apploosa, rest their souls, thought I had a natural talent for magic and whatnot. Apparently, I did. Graduated in the top 10 percent of my class. Before, I made spells to strengthen my magic, like the ones in here..." He held up his spellbook. "But as much as I loved magic, I loved Poker more. So I persued that. Ended up using dirty tricks and some magic to con people out of their money in underground games I held. I loved it; it was fun, being on the run from the authorities and whatnot. Then I met a girl... Aura was her name, and she was a unicorn like me. I won't go into details, but she steered me on the right path, helped me to stop doing what I was doing, and got me back into making spells too. Fell in love with her after that. We hooked up, and she helped me combine my love for cards and magic into the thing I use today..." He took out a card and imbued it with magic, then took the magic back out from the card. "Together, we both worked together to make the spells we wanted to make, and started a casino so I could still enjoy playing cards and make some money. Legally, of course."

 

He paused, then continued. "The rest... is a blur. All I remember was getting captured by Diamond Dogs. For what, I can't remember for the life a' me. I must've been in that prison for so long I just forgot... it changed me. I jumped at the first chance of freedom I took; when the Dogs told me to hunt down y'all..." He looked up. "And here we are..."

 

((OOC: Thought I'd develop Royal's character some more))

Edited March 7, 2015 by TheKidInTheCorner

[Hurricane 159]

Hurricane listened to Royal's story. She was intrigued to learn more about their ex-enemy and fascinated to maybe get answers as to why he had attacked them in the first place. "Well it looks like we have petty thievery in common." She commented. "Who's next to share their life story?" She asked sarcastically.

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

@, @,

 

Bliss was fascinated and found it ironic with Royal's story. It all made so much sense. Granted she didn't approve of others selling each other out for their own issues...but better reason to do it then for freedom? She couldn't bring herself to be suspicious or angry with him anymore. She didn't really think it was her sense of 'peace' that sparked her to think so, it just felt like it was common sense to forgive and forget. Their situation would benefit better after all if they worked together.

 

But it was Hurricane's saracastic remark that drew her away. She blinked at the black mare... Understandably she had been through a terrible time. The Keeper inflicted a lot of mental torture on her when he couldn't get to her own mind thanks to Clover...But still...she was surprised at her sarcastic remark at Royal's romantic story.

 

"Well..." she turned away from Hurricane to look at Royal. "I'm guilty once again of judging you on first impressions Royal... I apologize," she bowed her head to him as Artemis came to tuck himself in under her new grown wings. "You did appear to be a con artiest from the start, I never did take you for a married stallion. I hope when all this is over you'll get back to your mare and your casnio, it sounds like a lovely place just fit for you."

[Hurricane 159]

Hurricane could sense Lightning Bliss's discomfort at her snark comment. She looked down and shook her head. "Sorry guys. I'm just not feeling well. The whole thing with the Keeper just kinda tired me out and messed with me a little bit. I'm sure sill be fine tomorrow." She apologized with sincerity before turned to a Royal Flush. "Royal, Normally I couldn't sleep knowing you were near, but I'm really tired." She paused. "And I know you wouldn't dare attack us." She said to him with a smile as she rested down to head and closed her eyes. It was meant as a joke, but with a bit of warning.

[Jack Baker 698]

"Uh, right..." Royal said with a bit of suspicion. Something seemed... off about her. Everything she said seemed to have a malicious tone to it... it almost perturbed him...

 

Suddenly, he saw something. A dark aura surrounding the Pegasus. He thought he was imagining things, so he blinked twice to make sure. Then, it disappeared.

 

No... I saw it alright... he thought, adjusting his card holder on his belt. But is it really what I think it is? He shook his head, and decided she would need to be kept a closer eye on. Could the Keeper they were talking about had done that? He thought the soul collector was nothing more than a myth...

 

"Well, in any case," he said, standing. "I'm gon' check outside for some things, and lay out a few a' my own traps." He walked outside, still feeling uneasy about the Pegasus.

Edited March 9, 2015 by TheKidInTheCorner

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@, Clover was still putting out the wards when she saw Royal. "I've put up the protective wards," she said. "They'll allow any of us to pass thru them so you don't need to worry, cuz I included you. They won't allow any enemy to come thru, even if disguised as somepony else."

 

She sighed. "I just wish that I could do more," Clover added.

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

@,

 

As Royal went to assist Clover with the wards her horn bursted up again...sparking with aura and twlight... At this point she was getting very annoyed with the unsingaled use of magic not obeying her commands and attempted to put it out again...but it wouldn't stop blowing. Artemis looked up at it, watching with wonder. He seemed to enjoy the rainbow colors coming off the magical horn and tweeted at it. She smiled to him and patted his head.

 

"Oh sure it looks pretty to you, but try sleeping with it!" She tried to douse her horn into the snow, but it continued with its glowing, metling the snow around it and growing brighter. "Dang it...what is wrong with you?" She groaned with unsureness...wondering if Clover might have an idea.

[Jack Baker 698]

Outside, Royal opened his card holder and drew twenty cards outside, imbuing them with all types of offensive magic, from fire, to lightning, and his signature chain snare spell. He then set them face down in the snow, and they were magically affixed to the spot they were placed on. With a sigh, he headed back into the cave.

 

Meanwhile, Quickdraw and Steel were relatively silent since Royal's arrival. They were both at a loss for words, not knowing what to say to him. They both decided to stay that way, minding their own business. They turned away as he entered the cave.

 

"Well, that takes care a' that," he said, sitting back down. He then took his entire deck out of the holder and arranged the cards in a Solitare pattern and began to play, trying to take his mind off the Pegasus once more.

 

 

The Keeper walked slowly through the blizzard, unaffected by the extreme cold. Thanks to his corrupted magic, he saw the newcomer through Hurricane's eyes, which was projected inside his soul lantern.

 

"Another one joins the fray..." he said. Using the corrupted magic he implanted within the Pegasus, he began to speak to her inside her mind, in whispers.

 

"He cannot be trusted..." the whispers said. "Remember what he has done to you and your friends... You must kill him. Do it... do it.... do it..."

Edited March 10, 2015 by TheKidInTheCorner

[Hurricane 159]

Hurricane was fast asleep. It didn't take long from the moment she closed her eyes to be in a deep sleep. Suddenly she heard the Keeper's words and commands. It was through a dream.

She was in a dark void with an invisible light source. As she heard the whispers, it was apparent she took a second to think about what the Keeper had said, but she shook her head. "I know he tried to kill me and my friends before, but what if he really did change? I can't just kill him if he's doing nothing wrong." She said to the Keeper she could not see. "He maybe a dirty lowlife, but I can't kill him for that." Her corruptedness showed through her insult. In reality, Hurricane was asleep on her side appearing to be at peace.

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

Bliss struggled to sleep with her horn still glowing in urgency. It would expand its aura every time she slipped nearer to Hurricane. She twisted and turned, desperatly wanting sleep to just fall on her, but the constant involuntairy use of her magic kept her from being in that state of dreaming much like Hurricane. Artemis groaned every time she moved, and at one point jabbed her with his beak.

 

She laid there for a moment, eyes open, just staring at the outside of the cave, not being able to do much else. There were black circles forming under her lids, a true sign of her exhaustion. Letting out a hefty yawn, she decided to seek out Royal and see if he might have a clue to why her horn was reacting so violently. Carefully pulling away from Artemis so he could sleep, she walked up to him, observing he was merely playing solitare.

 

@,

 

"I..." she rubbed her head, her horn less glowing now that she was away from Hurricane, "I don't suppose you could...help me with...this..." she gestured by pointing to her horn. "It won't stop glowing...and I can't sleep..."

Edited March 10, 2015 by Lightning Bliss

[Jack Baker 698]

Royal looked up from his game to see what was bothering Bliss.

 

"Hmm..." he said, observing it closely. "It's definitely reacting to something nearby... some horns do that to warn someone if there in danger, like a built in alarm on your head; and it won't stop until you're far enough away from danger, or you get rid of the danger completely. Question is... what's it reacting to?"

 

The Keeper sighed at Hurricane's urge to resist.

 

"A pity... and here I thought you'd be a dear and cooperate... but you've left me no choice..."

 

He activated his magic, and with it, activated the corruption inside of her. She was completly possessed by it, the way a demonic spirit possesses a normal pony.

 

((So yeah, I flipped the switch on the corruption spell, now she's possessed by it. Ain't evil magic great?

 

Btw, now that she's possessed, try to act the way a possessed person would.))

[Hurricane 159]

((Oooo, twist, but how the hay am I supposed to know how a possessed person acts. Not everyone watches horror movies. Do they just act insane?))

In Hurricane's dream, she was still in an empty dark space. But she began to feel an evil entering her getting increasingly stronger. She tried to fight it. "No, no stop!" She resisted, but to no use. No matter how badly she wanted to wake up, she couldn't. Her body fell down defeated and looked like she had died almost, but she opened her eyes to reveal her now red irises that were once pink. Hurricane's nightmare immediately ended. Her real body twitched once, but she still remained asleep.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Houndoom

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

@, @,

 

((Imagine you are no longer in controll Houndoom, that you're nothing more then a puppet and the Keeper is pulling the strings. He is now you, or you are more like a prisoner in your own mind while he takes over your body and your mind in a way. Or basically he's become you and all you can do is be trapped in the back of your mind and watch what he does))

 

Though she would have been happy to know this was a normal thing for her magic to be doing...Bliss's eyes turned to that of fear...If her horn was reacting to the dangers...then Artemis and the others were at risk too... Suddenly her horn glew even more brightly, the aura pulsing with urgency.

 

"This can't be good then..." she gulped, "the last time it did this, it sent a surge of energy back at me... That was when our friend Blaze was...possessed by that demon inside of him... But we got rid of that entity long ago...What could be sending my magic off now?"

[Hurricane 159]

When Hurricane finally finally woke, her eyes snapped open revealing her red irises. She had a burning anger and hatred inside of her with a hunger to kill and a thirst for blood. All of these feelings were directed at nopony but Royal and she wouldn't hesitate to get rid of anypony who stood in her way. Her one goal alone was to kill that card dealing unicorn. Hurricane was overtaken by the Keeper's possession of her, she had tried to fight him off but to no avail. She eventually stood up and just stared at a wall as if she was lost deep in thought not moving a muscle.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Lightning Bliss, Clover walked up to Lightning and overheard her last words. "I put wards all around the camp," she said. "But that won't help us if there's something already here that's setting your horn off. Maybe we ought to do a thorough search to see if the Keeper's left an amulet or something like that which is making your horn act that way."

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Bliss nodded to Clover and went to pick up Artemis who was still fast asleep. She gently wrapped him up ontop of her back, using her wings as a blanket, when she noticed Hurricane was no longer laying down where she used to be.

 

@,

She looked up then, her horn still glowing brightly, seeing the dark mare standing away from the others, facing the wall.

 

"Odd...?" She approached Hurricane cautiously, not sure if the mare was sleep walking or upset. "H-Hurricane?" Her horn bursted brightly, forcing Bliss back into a skid. It work Artemis up with a start and he began to cry heavily. "Oh darn it..." she turned to calm the hippogryph, "Hurricane?" She called to her, her horn now seeming to be bursting brightly the closer she got. "Hurricane...? You ok?" She forced herself closer despite her horn was giving off intensive magic trying to push her away from the black mare. "Hurricane...!"

[Hurricane 159]

As soon as Lightning Bliss yelled her name, she whipped around to face her with fury in her deep red eyes. "Shut up you useless alicorn!" She shouted before she turned her head to look at Royal Flush. The moment she set eyes on him, she didn't hesitate to lunge herself toward him and pin him up against a wall. She stared him down and grabbed her dagger. "It's over now!" She said with her weapon on his throat.

[Jack Baker 698]

Royal had no time to react when he was assaulted by Hurricane, the cards from his Solitare spread scattered in all directions.

 

"I knew it..." he said quietly, slowly reaching for his card holder, and silently drawing a card. He imbued it with a small teleportation spell, which would bring him to wherever the card was thrown. He quickly threw it to the far end of the cave, and activated the spell, quickly blinking to safety.

 

"That's some grade-A corruption magic there..." he said, quickly drawing cards from his holder.

 

Quickdraw, abruptly awoken from the quarrel, looked around quickly, watching Hurricane attack Royal. Thinking he had gone traitor once again, he drew his gun on him.

 

"You really haven't changed one bit... A mighty fine act you've put on, Flush, you really had me going... but no more..."

 

"I think you oughta take a closer look at the situation," Royal said to him, not taking his eyes off Hurricane.

 

The gunner looked at the possessed pegasus, and saw she wasn't acting normally.

"What in tarnation..."

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

@,@,

 

Bliss was agaped by Hurricane's insult as she walked past like she wasn't even there. Her horn still glowing violently from her presence. But to see her attack Flush and now they in a stand still with he having his cards out and Hurricane holding her dagger at the ready. She could see the mare's eyes glowing red with anger... but even what was more omnious...was the fact she could see the cut from the Keeper gave her...was glowing as well... Even though it had healed thanks to Royal's aid... the mark was still present...the mark of the Keeper, glowing an evil green...

 

"Oh Luna...It's the Keeper!" She whinnied and flew up to safety, taking Artemis in her hooves. "The Keeper! It's possessed her!" 

[Hurricane 159]

Hurricane snarled in frustration as Royal teleported away. She heard Lighting Bliss's yells. "I said to shut up!" she yelled once again at her. Her voice seemed louder and more slightly more raspy than was normal. "Now don't get in my way any of you!" she warned everypony as she flew toward Royal at incredibly high speeds. Once she got close to him, she did a small front flip giving her knife momentum as she released it and sent it flying in his direction. "This stallion will die tonight!"

The Keeper had complete control over her. Her morals and character went out the window. The only thing she knew was to kill Royal Flush and she wasn't afraid to die trying.

[Jack Baker 698]

Royal quickly threw one card in the direction of the knife, though it missed by mere inches, grazing the steel blade. He was about to dodge it, when suddenly Quickdraw stepped in front of him, taking the hit for him. He grunted in pain.

 

"Well? Don't jus' stand there!" he said to Royal.

 

The card master nodded, and quickly spun around him, throwing three more cards at Hurricane, then proceeded to throw more at a quick pace, not trying to hurt her, but to distract her long enough to think of a plan.

Edited March 20, 2015 by TheKidInTheCorner

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

Bliss flew to Clover, placing Artemis* down, then fluttered to Quickdraw's side.

 

"Quickdraw!!??" She whinnied and held him up, "how bad are you?? Can you walk? We need to get you out of the way!" She tried to lead him away as Royal and Hurricane ducked it out. She wasn't sure even if her magic did listen to her demands...that she'd be able to stop this possessive madness.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Lightning Bliss

[Hurricane 159]

Hurricane dodged the first two cards with the third one cutting her ear. She didn't seem to notice it though. She landed back on the ground and scoffed at Quickdraw. "That's what you get for defending that no good pony. It's too bad your sacrifice will be in vain!" She said before immediately retrieving her weapon and turning her attention back to Royal Flush. "These ponies can't save you! And it's no use running like the coward you are!" Hurricane charged him once again, but on hoof.

((Just let me know if I need to be more or less harsh))