private Whisper: The City Of Darkness

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

OOC Thread Here!

 

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For the spellcaster that doesn't care about the law, by all means read on, but know this: Celestia and Luna banned the summoning or creation of these beings for a specific reason. These creatures are darkly sentient, and will gladly change and/or take over your body, mind, and soul just for their own personal entertainment, and often on a whim. For this reason, I must warn you- DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY MAGIC THAT IS LOCATED IN THIS BOOK WITHOUT SUFFICIENT ACADEMIC AND MAGICAL PROWESS. DO NOT LET ANY OF THIS MAGIC GO OUT OF CONTROL, LEST THE BEING RELEASED PRONOUNCES YOUR DOOM.

 

-Necronus Mors, Compendium of Dark Magic (Banned from general usage)

 

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Transcript of Canterlot News Report, Oct. 30, S.D. 105

“Here tonight, all of Equestria is in shock. About a month ago, the Royal Sisters made an announcement that they and their Council would be leaving on an expedition to the far reaches of the Kingdom, past the Everfree Forest. After weeks with no word from anyone, citizens of Canterlot spotted the Royal Banner just on the horizon; they triumphantly raised their voice in a call that their beloved Princesses had returned. However, as the barer of the banner drew closer, it became obvious that the Royal Sisters, and everyone else in their Council, were not there.
After the initial confusion, it was revealed that the lone stallion was a member of the Sisters’ Council. He refused to divulge the nature of their expedition, and came only carrying the news that his fellow Council members, as well as the Princesses, were dead…
No one knows quite what to do…With the Princesses dead, the Council member, who has also refused to tell anyone his name, has stated he was put in charge by Celestia herself before her death. Despite the pleading of a broken Kingdom, he remains silent on the cause of death. Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire, and her husband, Shining Armor, has stated they will be journeying to Canterlot to help the new King, and to mourn her beloved friends, whom they both considered family. I’m certain I will not be the only one lighting a candle for our lost Princesses tonight. This is your Canterlot News Reporter, Starlight Spire, signing off…”

 

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As the twilight grey that made up the morning, noon, and night of the world hovered overhead, the winds blew forlornly, the overgrowth of the once-verdant fields of Equestria swaying. If there were ponies nearby, they would, perhaps, enjoy the breeze, relax as it blew the sweat off of their brows, the cares from their minds. At least for a few moments. But there were no ponies around. There were scarcely any animals, to be honest- the bus that was driving through made sure of that.

 

There were five ponies aboard this bus- five friends, having each been chosen by the Canterlot School of Higher Learning to prove themselves by leading an expedition to the Crystal Empire. They were supposed to stop to get more gas of the way there, so the large imposing city bearing down on them from ten miles away did not mean much to them other than another busy metropolis to stop in on their way to their adventure for glory and coin. At least... that's what they thought.

 

With a large crash, the bus suddenly crashed into something, shattering all of the windows and decimating the front end of the bus. The force of the impact destroyed the magical mechanism that was driving them towards their destination, so, with a very loud screech, the bus spun around in a full circle and stopped, creaking slowly as what was left of the crystalline device sparked and then exploded, throwing the bus backwards and, apparently, through whatever force wall had caused them to collide. It reformed behind them, the magic somehow reforming itself behind this bus. With this event over, the five ponies found themselves in a ruined bus, with their equipment directly behind them, in what appears to be a quarantine zone. And, thus, as the eternally-dark sky began to darken with clouds, the city ahead looming over them, and the remains of the device smoking ever-so-slightly, these ponies, knocked unconscious by the blast, began to become conscious...

[Pucksterv 4,508]

There was nothing but black in front of Trivy's eyes. She tried to get up but she could not feel any ground underneath her hoofs, as if she was not really there. Her eyes and ears were not working but her nose, her nose picked up a weird smell, a burning, smokey smell, causing her to wake from the black. Now her sight was blurry and her ears could here a high pitched noise along with a sound of burning. "What in the name of Ninlil happened?" Trivy thought to herself as she slowly got up. She looked around, not recognizing where she was. The crash has caused her to lose her memory of what had happened.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Pucksterv

[Unicorncob 5,684]

One of these ponies was a unicorn mare, of lavender coat and purple-pink mane and tail. The purple striped scarf and blue cloak she was wearing were knocked askew and undone by the explosion.

 

"Uuurrgh," She groaned, pushing herself up into a sitting position, ears ringing from the blast, "Whatever just happened, it wasn't me...this time...!"

 

She blinked and looked around while she fixed her outfit. She tightened the scarf around her neck and adjusted the cloak.

The hot sensation came in the form of a fiery wreckage behind her, causing her ears to droop and pupils to dilute in terror.

"Please tell me that wasn't me," she whimpered.

 

Seeing her bag was undamaged, she grabbed it and put it around her neck before seeing that one of the mares was stirring. She trotted over to her.

"Hey, you still alive?" She asked.

[Dust and Memories 557]

Wilhelm tapped his hoof on his book in time with a musical beat only audible to him, darkly contemplating what had lead him to this expedition, one which would normally be far out of his scope if not for the incidents he had participated in before... Well, before the death of Her Majesty, on a journey which he had not particpated in -even though he was technically supposed to be there, as a prominent scientific advisor. However, he had been away in Germane researching a forgotten Pre-Unification cult in connection with their obsession with solar eclipses, and the unusual frequency of such phenomena during that period. He had deemed his research too important to leave, reasoning that his presence was not needed. Perhaps his presence was needed, though Wilhelm didn't know whether he would have simply ended up dead like all the others. Either way, he regretted his decision.

 

Turning mentally back to the matter at hand, Wilhelm sighed. He had taught this group of four stallions and mares after he was transferred from Canterlot University to the new School for Higher Learning, but now, they had begun to regain new, brilliant teachers, and Wilhelm... Well, by the younger staff of the CSHL, he was considered an irrelevancy, a holdover from an older time. Wilhelm had been sent here ostensibly both as the pony with the most experience and as a chaperone of sorts, but Wilhelm knew full well that if this expedition failed, his tenure would disappear overnight. Wilhelm raised his hoof from the book to place it on his temple, already feeling a headache coming on. Either way, Wilhelm thought, this needs to be a success. However, I don't see how it could possibly fail; it's simple enough, and there hadn't been any reports about dangers. If anything else, well... Wilhelm looked down at his side, where there was slung his bow (unstrung), and at his other side, where his sword was sheathed in a clean black scabbard. Shaking his head, Wilhelm attempted a smile. While I'm here, nothing can go wrong.

 

Then, of course, something went wrong.

 

As Wilhelm's head made a very sharp crack against a particularly hard piece of wall, Wilhelm barely had time to mentally get through a self-deprecating I'm not sure what hurts more, the irony or the head trauma before falling unconscious. He would stay that way for longer than anypony else.

[Pucksterv 4,508]

@@Unicorncob,

 

Trivy's sight was returning to normal again, she saw a blue or purple unicorn mare heading towards her. She saw her opening her mouth, she was talking. It took Trivy a while to process what she was saying and to think of a response. "Uhmm I think I'm alive..unless your dead too...Are you dead? wait.. who are you? Do I know you?" 

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

Bramble came to slowly, his head throbbing and with a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Opening his eyes, he turned his head to examine his shoulder, and saw that a shard of glass had become lodged in it. It didn’t look too deep, so he grimaced and tried to pull it free with his teeth. It tugged free without breaking, and he pressed his left fore-hoof against it to stem the bleeding. He would have yelped if his mouth hadn’t been filled with glass, and he spat it out before he cut himself again.

 

“Bandages, I need bandages,” Bramble thought to himself, still not fully awake. The grey pony lifted his head again, this time looking around. He was in the back of the bus, or at least, what was left of it. The front looked scorched and burnt, the chassis was badly deformed and most of the windows were broken. “Magical explosion,” his mind supplied, before adding the rather more alarming, “Secondary explosions in vehicles kill occupants and rescuers alike.”

 

Jerking back into full consciousness, he considered the situation. Several of the other ponies were already up and about, and they all looked like they were in one piece. Grimacing again, he struggled to his hooves, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.“Bandages can wait – we need to get clear,” he thought, as he steadied himself against the side of the bus.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Once In A Blue Moon

[UnicornFilly 56]

Marble grumbled as she flew over the dashboard and though the window. She grumbled brushing glass off herself and getting up stretching, nothing was broken which was good. She tested her wings by flying ontop of the bus before noticing a pain in her right hoof as she landed.

 

She glanced at one hoof which was bleeding and began licking it fiercely. She enjoyed the slight salty taste but soon it was all sealed and her concentration turned to the matter at hoof. Marble glanced down at the other ponies from the top of the bus. Who should she sue and how much for. She settled for suing the driver 500 bits, while deciding the 'most experienced' pony should be sued 5000 bits. (unlucky Orion Caelum)

 

Marble was quite pleased with her reasoning and glanced down looking for the most injured pony, she saw some pony asking for the name of another and asking if they were dead. This looked promising, amnesia would really boost the amount of bits she would be given, she could then decorate her cave like she wanted too, though looking around this dark place was rather 'homely'. She was nocturnal after all being a bat pony.

 

She didn't like the look of the city though, cities were large, noisy and generally a pain to fly in. She had been given a fair few warning for 'flying out of hours', Whatever that meant. She then returned her focus back to herself wondering how to go about demanding a raise or some sort of compensation, maybe limping around and pretending she had a broken wing for good measure, she decided that would be sufficient for now. 

 

she returned back observing the small group, being grey coloured it was doubtful anypony would notice her, she wasn't the most 'popular' pony, since she missed most classes due to 'sleeping'. She never understood why they never had night classes, these ponies were rather, 'strange'.

[Unicorncob 5,684]

Trivy's sight was returning to normal again, she saw a blue or purple unicorn mare heading towards her. She saw her opening her mouth, she was talking. It took Trivy a while to process what she was saying and to think of a response. "Uhmm I think I'm alive..unless your dead too...Are you dead? wait.. who are you? Do I know you?" 

"Nah, I ain't dead," The mare confirmed, then glanced around again, "At least, I don't think so..."

 

She blinked at the last two questions, starting to look a little fearful.

"Trivy, it's me," She said, putting her hooves to her shoulders, "Y'know, Lavender Gleam? We go to school together? We're friends? Any of this ringin' a bell?" She shook her shoulders gently, as if to try and joltstart her brain.

[Pucksterv 4,508]

@@Unicorncob,

 

"Trivy? Why are you calling me that? My name isn't Trivy. My name is.....my name is...uh...my name is Trivy?" Trivy said confused. "And your name is... Lavender?" Trivy stood up slowly, looking around in panic. "Why can't I remember? What happened? Did I hit my head? Why are we in a bus? What happened? I...I'm scared...where are we? Why do I smell fire?" She said, tears coming up to her eyes.

[Unicorncob 5,684]

"Trivy? Why are you calling me that? My name isn't Trivy. My name is.....my name is...uh...my name is Trivy?" Trivy said confused. "And your name is... Lavender?" Trivy stood up slowly, looking around in panic. "Why can't I remember? What happened? Did I hit my head? Why are we in a bus? What happened? I...I'm scared...where are we? Why do I smell fire?" She said, tears coming up to her eyes.

 

"Hey hey, calm down," Lavender said softly, keeping her hooves on Trivy's shoulders, "cryin' won't get us anywhere. World would be a mess if it did." She added offhoofedly.

 

"You must've gotten some bad amnesia from the crash," She deduced, inspecting the other mare's head for injuries, "Lemme have a look, are you sore anywhere?"

[Pucksterv 4,508]

@@Unicorncob, 

 

"Well, my head does hurt, near my neck." Trivy said, touching her head with her hoof while using the other hoof to wipe away her tears. The spot by her neck felt wet, as if she has been laying with her head in the rain. She pulled back her hoof, seeing her beautiful sand colored coat had turned into dark red. "I suppose this is not a good sign."

Edited August 5, 2015 by Pucksterv

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

“Everypony out!” Bramble bellowed, grabbing his bag from the floor and hurling it out of a window. He saw that Dr Wilhelm was still on the floor; though whether he was unconscious or mapping out the constellations of stars floating in front of his vision was anypony’s guess.  Lavender was helping Trivy, and Marble was nowhere to be seen, so he lowered his left hoof from his shoulder and tentatively stepped towards Wilhelm.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Unicorncob 5,684]

"Well, my head does hurt, near my neck." Trivy said, touching her head with her hoof while using the other hoof to wipe away her tears. The spot by her neck felt wet, as if she has been laying with her head in the rain. She pulled back her hoof, seeing her beautiful sand colored coat had turned into dark red. "I suppose this is not a good sign."

 

Lavender looked to Trivy's neck, wincing as she saw the dark bleeding gash.

"Stars almighty," she gasped, swallowing a fearful breath, "you're lucky, any closer to your jugular and we wouldn't be sittin' here chattin' right now."

 

She lowered her head toward the gash, her horn glowing a soft lavender and pointing right at it. Within a matter of five-to-ten seconds, the gash had mostly closed up.

"That oughta do it for now," she muttered, halting her magic, "just go easy with twigs and knives and stuff." She added with a goofy grin.

[UnicornFilly 56]

“Everypony out!” Bramble bellowed, grabbing his bag from the floor and hurling it out of a window. He saw that Dr Wilhelm was still on the floor; though whether he was unconscious or mapping out the constellations of stars floating in front of his vision was anypony’s guess.  Lavender was helping Trivy, and Marble was nowhere to be seen, so he lowered his left hoof from his shoulder and tentatively stepped towards Wilhelm.

 

Marble heard yelling from inside the bus, she licked her hoof and smirked "not very clever these diurnal" she remarked to herself, she thought she was safe enough ontop of the bus, but she waited for them to scurry out of the bus like ants. She then glanced at the black city and frowned wondering what it was, she couldn't recall any cities being out here. Though she didn't really look at maps of Equestria so she wouldn't know all of the cities.

 

From the top of the bus a pair of orange eyes glowed dimly, the only sign that she was actually there, her grey coat and dark blue mane blended into the darkness behind her, the orange eyes stared curiously at the city before a strange feeling came to Marble, she frowned before continuing glancing around slowly realising that they were trapped within the city.

 

"maybe I can't sue anypony after all" she grumbled, 

 

 

[Pucksterv 4,508]

@@Unicorncob,

 

"Thank you....uh...Lavender." Trivy said while slowly starting to walk. Her head still felt fuzzy, her entire body felt dizzy and the world around her was moving a bit. She heard somepony yelling to get out. She crawled over scrapped metal, searching for an exit. The side of the bus was ripped open, a perfect way to get escape. She pushed herself through it, looking behind her to see if Lavender had followed her.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Pucksterv

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@@Unicorncob, @@Pucksterv, @@Once In A Blue Moon, @@UnicornFilly, 

 

Almost prophetically, the mechanism in the front of the bus began to spark and smoke again as the pressure from the rest of the device bearing down on it was too much for it without the magical energies of the other gems. The gem looked like it was about to crack, and, when it did, the gem would either leak out its energy slowly, or completely explode and take half the bus with it. As the gem began to start squealing, it could be assumed that the latter was more likely.

[Unicorncob 5,684]

Almost prophetically, the mechanism in the front of the bus began to spark and smoke again as the pressure from the rest of the device bearing down on it was too much for it without the magical energies of the other gems. The gem looked like it was about to crack, and, when it did, the gem would either leak out its energy slowly, or completely explode and take half the bus with it. As the gem began to start squealing, it could be assumed that the latter was more likely.

 

Lavender let out a fearful squeak as she heard the bus's engine begin to squeal and leak from the pressure. She didn't know much about mechanics, but she knew enough that 'crash plus leaking equals RUN'.

 

She followed after Trivy, climbing over the wreckage and escaping after her friend.

"Wait!" She yelped, looking back to the bus, "What about Bramble and Doctor Wilhelm?!"

[UnicornFilly 56]

@@Unicorncob, @@Pucksterv, @@Once In A Blue Moon, @@UnicornFilly, 

 

Almost prophetically, the mechanism in the front of the bus began to spark and smoke again as the pressure from the rest of the device bearing down on it was too much for it without the magical energies of the other gems. The gem looked like it was about to crack, and, when it did, the gem would either leak out its energy slowly, or completely explode and take half the bus with it. As the gem began to start squealing, it could be assumed that the latter was more likely.

 

Marble ear twitched as she picked up a strange cracking sound. She trotted to the front of the bus and glanced down as the hood began to smoke. She frowned wondering if it was meant to do that, trying to remember if it had looked like that while they were traveling. She decided that it would probably need to be mended, since she didn't have the correct skills she trotted to the back of the bus, minding the large gap in the side as she went. 

 

She spotted Trivy slowly get off the bus, she smirked down at her "Orange, you might want to move faster, quickly " she suggested before flying into the air, she decided being 50 meters up should be safe enough. She watched the events from up high wondering if Trivy will take her advice. 

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

Bramble winced as he saw the amount of blood running down his leg. It hurt to walk, but he didn’t have the luxury of waiting - he could smell smoke now, and Wilhelm had quite a nasty head wound and clearly wasn’t going anywhere. Lifting the professor half onto his back, Bramble hefted him out of the broken window, followed by his gear and then by Bramble himself.

 

Bramble saw that the other ponies were making their way out of the smoking ruins of the bus. Lifting Wilhelm onto his back again, he staggered away as quickly as he could, cursing quietly under his breath, “Ah, that stings, two ponies really need more than three good legs between them,” he thought, before his right foreleg gave out beneath him and he fell to the ground with a resounding thump.

“HAY! That hurts!” he swore.

Edited August 5, 2015 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Unicorncob 5,684]

@@Once In A Blue Moon

 

Lavender smiled and gave a sigh of relief as she saw Bramble escaping the wreckage with Dr Wilhelm on his back. They were both badly hurt, but perhaps her healing skills could help somehow.

 

Squinting as she witnessed Bramble collapse to the floor, she trotted over to the two stallions.

"Can I lend a hoof here, sirs?" She offered with a half-grin, and used her basic healing spell to close up any open wounds she could find on the two.

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

@Unicorncob

 

Exhaling with relief as the flesh on his shoulder knitted itself back together, Bramble gave Lavender a quick nod of thanks before turning to examine Wilhelm again. He opened one of Wilhelm’s eyes, covered it with a hoof and then uncovered it. When the pupil failed to expand or contract, Bramble swore under his breath again.

 

“If the pupils don’t contract, that’s a serious head injury, isn’t it?”  he asked, addressing Lavender, “I know basic battlefield first aid, but head trauma isn’t something you can just bandage up and hope for the best with.”

Edited August 5, 2015 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Pucksterv 4,508]

Trivy stumbled outside as a attempt to run after seeing sparks fly from the front of the bus. She ignored the pain inside her body so that she was able to move away faster. She had trouble breathing as her lungs had filled with the smoke from before. She sat down on the road, hoping she had moved away from the bus enough.

[Unicorncob 5,684]

“If the pupils don’t contract, that’s a serious head injury, isn’t it?”  he asked, addressing Lavender, “I know basic battlefield first aid, but head trauma isn’t something you can just bandage up and hope for the best with.”

 

"Pupils not contracting?" Lavender repeated, then grimaced as she put a hoof to her chest, "Yup, that's definitely a concussion."

 

She blinked and perked up as she realised something. "Wait, hang on a sec!"

She swung her bag around and used her magic to open it and look around inside. She scowled.

 

"Nuts!" She barked, swinging her bag back around, "I don't have enough ingredients with me for a head trauma remedy. Oh what a time to be alive, when a mare can't have some dandelion seeds and rainwater when she needs them!" She added with an overdramatic swoon, hoof to the forehead and all.

[Once In A Blue Moon 895]

 

 

"Oh what a time to be alive, when a mare can't have some dandelion seeds and rainwater when she needs them!"She added with an overdramatic swoon, hoof to the forehead and all

"Well, an ice pack would be a start, if you can freeze things," Bramble interjected bluntly, "And we need to move him carefully from now on. If you can check him over for broken bones, I need to find my bag."

 

So saying, Bramble looked back at the still-smoking bus to check that they were far enough away, before looking around for his bag. He hadn't been paying a huge amount of attention to it at the time, but it had his magical head-torch, knife and bandages in it, which he needed now. It had his waterproof coverall and a sleeping bag in it too, which they were going to need if they couldn't move Wilhelm.

"A pity I didn't bring a tent," he thought, as he spotted his bag stuck in a bush. Going to fetch it, he looked around at the wider scenery for the first time, and saw the magic shield. "A shield?" he thought, "A big one too. Who's powerful enough to hide such a large area? It must be the King's ponies - there can't be anything else that powerful around."

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@@Unicorncob, @@Pucksterv, @@Once In A Blue Moon, @@UnicornFilly, 

 

At this point, the machine gives a final, ear-shattering wail that echoes around before you hear a huge crack and then the inevitable explosion, with metal and crystal shards going everywhere. As the ground stops shaking, however, you can see that the damage mostly had been cosmetic- well, except for the fact that the back half of the engine was completely totaled, as well as the front half of the chassis. But, as far as you could determine, your belongings were alright- they were in the very back of the vehicle for the most part, and the explosion was still here.

 

Despite the loud wail, you can't tell if there is anything in the city that actually heard you. It's rather quaint and quiet, all things considering, especially now that the shrieking is gone.