private A Temporal Odyssey

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling continued to give a blank face to Blue Note as she continued to ask him whether her idea about using some spells to gather the attention of the other members out in the jungle... But Sterling was also worried. This pony was an assassin. If he got the signal too, then he would know that there were two others friends coming around... He wanted to find his friends, but at the same time, he wanted to keep his own presence a secret...

 

"Is there a way for us to specifically target our friends and not the assassin? He'll know we're here if we give out a spell that brings out an observation that can obviously be detected by the pony eye or ear." Sterling asked back. They needed to be stealthy like the assassin if they were going to beat him...

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

As the bear collapsed, Steel trotted up to Clover.

 

"Thanks, didn't think of that." He said as he sheathed his swords.

 

 

@@Steel Accord, "Then you fight the assassin!"

 

"Wait, where? Why do you think this was his doing?" Steel was many things, intelligent even, but quick on the up-take he was not. He would never connect the bear attack with a possible ploy until long after on his own.

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

@@Pripyat Pony

@@Steel Accord

 

Watching in shock as the bear knocked the mighty swordspony to the ground, DJ quickly turned to Vinyl. "Vi, get out of here. Now." he said quickly. "I have to help Steel on this." He nodded briefly in Chronos' direction. "Stick with Chronos, he'll prote... he'll... Protect him!" With a slight grin, he turned back to the fight, desperate to help his comerade.

 

Vinyl dashed off to where Chronos was hiding, watching anxiously as her marefriend entered the fray. "Please... be careful DJ..." she whispered.

 

As DJ galloped towards the battle, he unfurled his wings, and in one powerful stroke he was in the air. "I may not have a sword, but these hooves weren't made for picking daisies!" he said to himself as he readied himself for the fight. Circling behind the huge bear, he kicked out with his back hooves, smacking the beast in the back. Hearing it's angry roar , he knew it wasn't hurt much, only angered. It turned to face him, teeth bared, snarling. At least I can distract it long enough for Steel to recover! DJ thought to himself. He flew a little higher to make sure he was hopefully outside the bear's reach when it advanced.

 

(Edit) Suddenly, the bear was enveloped in a strange green light, shortly, it toppled over, falling asleep in front of them. "Oh... Uh..." DJ murmured, a little confused. As he landed, he realised it had been Clover's handiwork. "Well, that made things a lot easier!" DJ said with a grin. He trotted over to Steel, looking anxious. "Are you ok Steel? That was quite a smack that bear gave you!"

Edited July 9, 2014 by DJ-BRONI3

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Steel Accord, "It just seemed a bit convienent, that's all," Clover replied. "You know, that a bear comes and attacks us while we're chasing the assassin. Anyway, I didn't want to kill the bear cuz it's not maliciously trying to attack us like the assassin is; it's just defending its lair. I just thought that Fluttershy wouldn't want us to kill a bear, and since we're working to save her and her friends, I'd like to take her wishes into consideration as far as animals go. I know that sounds a bit silly, but it makes sense to me."

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

Steel had honestly not considered that. While he wasn't trying to kill the bear, he wasn't consciously avoiding it either. He suddenly looked to the sleeping animal with new eyes.

 

He put a hoof on it's head.

 

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." He leaned down to kiss it behind the ear, which fidgeted a little. "You really think that our quarry caused this? I guess it makes sense, but why would he not strike us himself, why throw this poor animal in our-" 

 

Facehoof

 

"Oh I'm so stupid!"

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

@@Steel Accord

@@Pripyat Pony

 

"It was certainly a cunning trick of his..." DJ commented. Suddenly a thought struck him. "This assassin must really know the jungle very well if he knows exactly where to lead us to try and trap us! I mean , it's unlikely he was just lucky enough to stumble upon a bear's lair during the pursuit! We're dealing with a very powerful enemy here..."

 

Vinyl trotted back out from where she had fled on DJ's order. "Everything alright?" she asked. "He doesn't seem so fierce to me anymore!" She rubbed the top of it's head gently, smiling at the sleeping creature.

 

Even Chronos came out of hiding. "Well, I'm glad that's over!" he said, still sounding a little nervous. "I'm glad I stuck with you ponies! I think we'd better find this mysterious pony soon, in case something like this happens again..."

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@,

 

Steel snorted.

 

"Powerful? Clover, is powerful. You are powerful. A powerful foe would face us himself, not send innocents as his living shield. Say what you will about Raven, he at least came at us head on. Even Emperor Penguin, he didn't fight us directly because he didn't even know we were there until the end!"

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling continued to give a blank face to Blue Note as she continued to ask him whether her idea about using some spells to gather the attention of the other members out in the jungle... But Sterling was also worried. This pony was an assassin. If he got the signal too, then he would know that there were two others friends coming around... He wanted to find his friends, but at the same time, he wanted to keep his own presence a secret...

 

"Is there a way for us to specifically target our friends and not the assassin? He'll know we're here if we give out a spell that brings out an observation that can obviously be detected by the pony eye or ear." Sterling asked back. They needed to be stealthy like the assassin if they were going to beat him...

 

Blue Note considered this. Callaloo had seemed unconcerned about the assassin getting to them, only their friends. But their friends would need to respond somehow, and Blue Note was not sure if the risk was worth it. "Well, we could either try to send them a signal that only they would recognize, or... we could try something a bit more unorthodox, with no guarantee of working." Blue Note had apprehensions that her idea was a stupid one doomed to fail, but she was running out of options. "We could try to turn the jungle into an orchestra of sorts, calibrated to pony footsteps and segmented off into different instrument sections. We could probably find them by following their sound." She wrinkled her nose. "That would take all of our combined magic though, and I've never applied that spell on such a scale, so I think the former option would be easier. But I have no idea what sound would be recognizable to them and only them." Sterling knew them far better than she did, so she hoped he would have something.

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

@@Steel Accord

 

"Even so, I would not want to underestimate this pony," DJ replied. "Powerful or not, he's cunning, and cunning is pretty dangerous!" He smiled, hearing the list of friends and foes alike that Steel respected. "Emperor Penguin you say? Now he sounds like an interesting foe! I'd like to have met him! I'll have to hear some more about your encounter with him... uhh... when things are a little more relaxed anyway! I'm pretty sure I was considered more than a little dead when you guys met him!"

Edited July 9, 2014 by DJ-BRONI3

[Inactive01 5,299]

(Hey @lincolnshirepony!)

 

Sterling had to think of something that only the ponies could recognize... Just what exactly could that possible sound be? He tried to think of a particular sound, but nothing came up to mind... That was until Sterling's mind began to wander to Evening's voice... Wait... what if he managed to mimic Evening's voice to his friends... 

 

"Blue Note... would Evening's voice do the trick?" Sterling asked Blue Note. Evening was indeed a very quiet pony who was only closely known to he and his friends... Maybe the assassin would think of the sound as one from the heavens rather than just a friend who was sick...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Blue Note had apprehensions about this idea. "How would we prevent the assassin from hearing it?" she asked. "I suppose I could use the spell at a barely perceptible level, though we have no idea how sharp this pony's senses are... Also," Blue Note hesitated. She did not want to remind Sterling of Evening's absence, knowing how heavily it must be weighing on his mind. "How are we going to get Evening's voice?"

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling scratched his head, feeling dumb about his suggestion to use Evening as the voice... It was a dumb idea... They needed Evening here... even if Sterling remembered Evening's voice, it wouldn't make much difference because the assassin was going to notice...

 

"Never mind... I don't think I've got anything..." Sterling sighed in reply. He sounded dumb right from the start, and he wasn't sure what to do now... He felt pathetic without his beloved Evening...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Sterling sounded so dejected; Blue Note guessed that his thought about using Evening's voice was only a tiny fraction of what was going on inside his mind. It had to have been hard leaving her behind to get treated for a terrible illness. Blue Note decided to try being gentle with him, despite gentleness clashing with her usual attitude. A little kindness could go a long way, she had learned. 

 

"It's okay," she said. "What's your take on turning the island into segments of instrument sounds? Like I said, it would take our combined magic to have a chance of working. You're a musical pony, so I don't see why you couldn't use the spell." Blue Note paused, as something occurred to her. "If the assassin is away from them, we could theoretically hear him too. Though for all we know, this might not work. It could be a cacophony of jungle creatures walking around, or sound so terrible we can't find anything. Not even mentioning the possibility of the spell not reaching far enough. However, if it works, we'll hear every step anypony takes out there."

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

Sterling gave a weak smile to Blue Note after she gave her kind words. Normally, Sterling would expect to be called a dumb pony, having been feeling nostalgic about missing his wife after she was forced to stay home from illness. Instead, he received an a-ok from Blue Note, a pony who was from the University of Manehattan... It was a nice gesture from Blue Note that he didn't expect, but he still felt his heart shatter from the dumb suggestion he made... At least Blue Note was trying to help Sterling be involved...

 

"Well I guess I can help the trees make some sounds... it would most certainly distract the assassin too while we're at it! I guess that's a better idea! But I'm not sure I can pull it off... I'll try, but I only really started music magic this past year after all my medical school work finally let up..." Sterling replied, bereft of confidence once he was asked about his magical abilities... Hopefully he had enough to pull the trick off...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"Well, I've never done this spell on anything bigger than a piano, so you're the not the only one worried," Blue Note said. "We'll need to try to extend the spell across the jungle, making it so that a pony walking will project a musical instrument sound across the island. We listen for the group of eight, and avoid any lone pony sounds. Holding the spell while getting to them will be the hardest, but if we can get it to work for at least a little while, we'll have an idea of where to go." She took a deep breath. "I hope this works," she said. "Any problems to address before we try?"

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

Sterling nodded in reply. He couldn't come up with anything better at the moment, so he had to stick with what Blue Note came up with. Besides, it was a good idea for a Manehattan music student. Sterling then replied with a nod,

 

"I'm ready. Let's hope this works..."

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Blue Note took one last deep breath. Sterling was ready, and she had to be too. She closed her eyes and visualized the island, trying to imagine how far the jungle extended. She opened her eyes and nodded at Sterling to signal their start. Her horn began to glow, and she imagined an orchestra. Normally, she used the spell on her piano to see how her compositions would sound when played with the correct instrumentation. Now, she was extending this spell on a further, wider range than she was used to. It required her to imagine the instrument sounds she wanted. She divided her mental image of the island up into segments, thinking of the sounds it would make when the ponies took a step. 

 

She turned to Sterling, slowly, so as not to break her magic. "I think I'm getting a hold on the island. It should start to work soon. How are you doing?"

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

@@Steel Accord

@@Pripyat Pony

@

@@Zhooves

@@Wayzer

 

"I think we'd better keep moving after the assassin," DJ announced. "He was nearby there, I'm sure, so he cannot have gone too far!" He looked around the group. "Any ideas where we should try going first? He must be pretty nearby!" DJ hoped they would be able to confront this mysterious pony soon. He didn't know how many more traps they could avoid...

[Zhooves 843]

@, @@Steel Accord, @@Pripyat Pony, 

Both North and Midnatt jumped as they noticed the bear running at them. Backing off a little as to not get stepped on, North tried to make himself useful by looking around for the assassin in case it still was nearby. Midnatt stood slightly in front of him as if to protect him.

 

When the bear had been dealt with, they went over to the others. "This assassin is either not here, or it is hiding very well..." he said, looking down.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Zhooves

[Inactive01 5,299]

Sterling began to imagine an orchestra with Blue Note, trying his best to play along. Like blue Note, he was apprehensive about the plan. Would it really work, or would it backfrie and lead the assassin back to the village? Sterling was now imagining the strings of the orchestra... He wanted the branches to fly like bows caressing the strings of its own wood... 

 

His horn began to glow a bright red, hoping to get the effect that Blue Note was looking for... He then imagined the cellos and the basses... He wanted the roots to start playing bass notes in hopes of covering up the sounds and preventing the assassin from being able to notice anything amiss...

 

"I'm trying here... I'm not sure this will work, but I'm giving it my all Blue Note..." Sterling spoke with a grunt...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

@Zhooves

@Steel Accord

@Pripyat Pony

@Wayzer

 

Blue Note nodded at Sterling. She was not sure how this was going to work out either. The spell would definitely take a toll on her; it was taking an immense amount of her energy to complete. But she sensed her spell surround the island. All she had to do now was keep a hold on it, and hope for the best. "Okay," she said, letting out a breath. "If this works, no pony will be able to make a move on the island without everypony hearing." 

 

For a second, there was silence. She took a tentative step forward, and was assaulted by a blast of clarinet sound. "Well, it's working for us," she said. She adjusted the spell to give them a buffer of silence, for now at least. They needed to hear their party to find them. "I hope it's this loud around the rest of the island."

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling continued to use his magic until Blue Note stopped using. Once she finished, Sterling stopped and looked up... Nothing else had changed much... did the spell really work? But when Blue Note stepped on the ground, a wave of clarinet notes resounded throughout the island, leaving every zebra and Sterling in complete shock... Sterling could only marvel at the sound that was made after just one stomp... Imagine if there were 7 ponies stomping... or an assassin stomping around as quietly as he could...

 

"Wow Blue Note... it really worked..." Sterling spoke in amazement... It seemed that the zebras too agreed...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"Okay, I think I'll maintain silence around us for now, so we can actually hear them as we're walking." Blue Note's horn glowed a brighter blue. "Now, all we have to do is listen. Hopefully, we'll hear a group of eight. And if we hear we hear a lone pony walking around, we'll know to avoid them at all costs. I'm not sure how long I can hold this spell for, so we'll have to move quickly." She was already feeling strained, but kept pushing herself through. This spell was her last idea.

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

@@Steel Accord

@@Pripyat Pony

@

@@Zhooves

@@Wayzer

 

DJ decided it was time they moved on, before the bear woke up. "Ok guys, let's go! I think we should keep going in the same direction we've been going. If the traps are getting more frequent, we must be getting closer..." Striding forward, he trotted off deeper into the jungle, Vinyl following alongside and Chronos galloping behind. Hopefully they'd find the assassin soon...

[Wayzer 1,418]

NightStrike was many things but he wasn't stupid. After all, what was the use of throwing himself straight into a fight with a group of trained ponies ending his life in a blaze of glory. After all, what's glory worth when you're dead NightStrike thought. But now it was about time he faced them. He wasn't planning on killing them at first, after all, he could have easily hit his first shot. This group seemed determined to bring him down though, so he saw no other way than confronting them himself. He could kill some of them off by trapping them in more.. deadly traps but that wasn't his way. Unlike what most ponies thought of him, NightStrike does not randomly take contracts from the highest bidder, he took contracts that he thought where right.

 

He prepared to face them head on... well head on in his own special way.