private Corrupted Harmony IC (1x1 with Driz)

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@Driz

There was no reply to Lory. There was not a single sign of Twilight there. She must be gone. Sunset Shimmer held her head with a pained look, Starlight much the same, They look to Helios. They nodded. "More or less...but what was that? Where is Twilight?" 

[Driz 1,552]

"Gone, it seems." He responded, keeping an eye on Lory while speaking to Sunset and Starlight. "Escaped before becoming defeated; perhaps a wise choice... Lorianne had her bested." He narrowed his eyes. The professor was still amazed by what had happened. All of the studies he had done prior, now seemed to be untrue. It was something he did not account for. It was back to the drawing board for him.

"...Perhaps we should make our leave soon." He suggested. "Encountering Princess Sparkle was not in our plans. We should rest: revise our advance." He then looked over at Starlight. "What of your tunnels? Are they fit for us?"

In the meantime, Lory did not cease her search for Twilight, like a rescue dog sniffing any and every trace they find. She looked behind houses, behind trees, inside the doors, in the sky and beyond.

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer sighed. "I highly doubt thats the last we will ever see of her. She will probably be tending to her wounds and pride...she will come back eventually..." she mutters. Starlight nodded. "For the most part. However they might be flooded or blocked off. Hopefully not." 

Unfortunately for Lory, her search is fruitless. 

[Driz 1,552]

"This is bullcrap!" Lory shouted from the distance. Steadily, she began trotting back towards the group, giving up on her search. "That coward ran away! I was this close to capturing her, too!" She pouted, annoyed.

Helios raised an eyebrow at Lory and kept staring at her with an inquisitive expression. Likewise, Lory returned the stare, feeling uncomfortable.

"W...What?" She asked coyly.

The professor sighed. "You are evidently unfamiliar with the nature of that spell you executed, are you not?"

"Wha--..." Lory leaned back, stuttering. She bit her lower lip and avoided direct eye contact. "I... Of course I know what spell I used! I mean... Wh-Why wouldn't I?... I'm not stupid!..." She choked, slightly blushing and swallowing dry.

"Right..." Helios rolled his eyes, unconvinced. "Well, this is definitely an event well-worth researching... I shall go back to my studies as shortly as possible. If my intuitions fail me not, this might be the beginning of something spectacular." He nodded, then turned to face Sunset Shimmer.

"Shall we head back to the Empire then?"

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer sighed, and nodded. They started to head back. Starlight looked at Lory. "That ability of yours was impressive." she remarked along the way. "What do you think of Twilight's tactics, and what do you think she might do next?" 

[Driz 1,552]

"Th...Thanks, 'Stache." Lory replied, still acting somewhat bashful. "...My bad for hitting you guys too, though... Guess I sho--" She cleared her throat. "--should've warned everypony about it before doin' it, y'know? Heheheh~..."

Helios lowered his head while walking, thoughtful. "It is difficult to reach a conclusion on that, Miss Shimmer." He stated. "Princess Sparkle was, indeed, awaiting our arrival just as we feared. What baffles me, however, is how she - herself - decided to face us." He inquired. "Such a bold decision, was hers... I did not imagine she would willingly leave the Tree of Harmony in order to chase us down... This is a delicate situation. We ought to rethink our strategy just a little."

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@Driz

Starlight shrugged at that. "Maybe next time." she said. Sunset Shimmer agreed with Helios there. "Perhaps...however didn't she say something about being a spirit or something? Quite strange...she also seems to be rather...crazed and maybe a little insane." 

[Driz 1,552]

"A spirit from another world..." He reminisced, deep in thought as habitual. He wondered one - two - three many possibilities of what Twilight's saying could possibly mean. The professor was brainstorming: as eager as ever to arrive at his room and dive into his tomes once more. Things were starting to pick up.

"That does raise a few questions..." He continued speaking while walking. "If anything, we are safe to assume that the Princess Sparkle we once knew, no longer is present. Whatever terrible fate fell upon her spirit, her mind, her body... One could only wonder."

From behind, the rebel mare came casually jumping in a gleeful manner, barging into the conversation. "Can't we just agree Twifart went coo-coo-crazy and the only prescription is a good flank-beating?" She proposed. "You guys ain't gonna get nowhere just making theories and other boring stuff. We gotta force the answer outta her!" She lifted her snout up in the air, proud. "It's like we used to say back in my hometown: 'Violence is always the answer'."

Edited October 2, 2017 by Driz

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer nodded to Helios. "Her powers and abilities are something equestria has never seen, but at the very least...its quite high level. Before...her corruption as we may call it. She didn't have these powers or abilities....something had to happen to hear...its anyones guess." she looks to Lory. "That might be an option, but if we can't find her, or defeat her, then we won't possibly know..." Starlight Glimmer sighed and looked to Helios. "She called me a fellow spirit, however theres that another world part..." 

[Driz 1,552]

"Indeed..." Helios pondered. "By simply interpreting it at a surface level, 'another world' could mean a plethora of different things. Not only that, she deliberately left out the keywords necessary to complete this puzzle..." He brought his eyes back to the road ahead. "I am afraid we will end up requiring to squeeze these words out of her, one way or another."

Lory looked at him with a smug. "Byyyyyyyyy?..." She waited for the professor to finish her sentence.

Helios sighed, slightly bothered. "...By engaging in combat."

"By beating the crap outta her." She corrected, gleaming proudly. "See? That wasn't so hard!"

"Mind you, Lorianne, we will need Princess Sparkle to still be able to speak in order to lend us the information we seek. It is a drastic measure we would be taking, let alone its risks. If unnecessary, we shall not willfully hurt our Princess."

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer agreed. "Although if she chooses not to resort to answers what then? And what will we do if and after she is taken down?" she asks. "Put the princesses back in power....speaking of which...they kinda seem to have vanished haven't they?" Starlight asks. They keep walking down the road, eventually arriving in the crystal empire.

[Driz 1,552]

"Holding her captive might just be the best for all of us." Helios explained. "We should be able to identify what has caused her sudden change of soul, and from there, we could find a solution to bring her back to what she used to be." Once they arrived at the Empire, he stopped walking, turning around to face Sunset Shimmer.

"It is advisable that we refrain from allowing Lorianne to take such reckless onslaughts." He sent a glance towards the mare, away from her earshot. "I will be keeping an eye on her and studying her patterns as usual - if today's mission was any indicator of what sort of power she has stored deep within her."

Lory then came hopping right behind. "Yo, I'm gonna bounce by old man Shade's before heading home. Anypony wanna tag along?" She asked the others eagerly.

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer nodded to Helios. "Yeah, we will try to do that, and keep paying attention to her like that..." she says, turning to Lory. "Sure." she says, Starlight says she would like to go aswell. However the sky seems to changing and shifting a bit, it starts to go slightly darker. 

[Driz 1,552]

Helios bowed. "I appreciate the offer, but... I shall take my leave. I will return to my quarters at once and delve into my studies anew." Another polite bow. "Pleasant evening." And he began walking back to the castle.

Lory waved a hoof at the professor and turned around, moving towards her friend's bar. While on their way, however, she slowed down her speed slightly in order to look up at the sky.

"Huh..." She exhales, intrigued. "Looks like it's gonna rain..."

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@Driz

Sunset nodded and looked up into the sky. They saw that the sky in one point seemed to have a distortion part to it, of swirling black and dark blue colors to it, no rain fell. The black clouds just seemed to swirl around this point, being sucked into it like a vacuum. Quite strange, indeed. "What is that...?" Sunset Shimmer asks. Suddenly, there was a loud roar up in the sky, blasting all of this away. It became night time, a moon was over the sun.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Twilight Witch

[Driz 1,552]

Lory held down her ears once the roar took place, startled by the sudden sound emitted from the mysterious clouds. Looking back up at the sky, she stared at it in bewilderment. In the blink of an eye, it seemed to become night time.

"What the..." She murmured, unable to properly form words to describe what had just happened. It's as if the Royal Sisters of the Sun and Moon had a sudden heated argument. Utterly confused, the mare then looked over at Sunset, attempting to retrieve any answers possible from her.

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@Driz

Sunset looked up into the sky with a bewildered look. "This can only mean one thing...Nightmare Moon has returned...I'm probably wrong though." she mutters. A sort of dark blue portal opened up high in the sky, and a dark, midnight black alicorn emerged, not much can be seen from this height though. Sunset Shimmer eyes went wide and she gasped upon seeing this.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Twilight Witch

[Driz 1,552]

"Oohhh..." Lory exhaled upon Sunset's guess, and returned to stare at the odd sky. Just moments afterwards, however, she came to her senses-- "Wait, WHAT!?" --snapping back to stare astonished at her. If her ears didn't deceive her, Sunset Shimmer suggested Nightmare Moon had returned. Not a minute too late, the assumption was seemingly proven true.

The rebel mare simply stared, just as shocked as her companions. Her eyes accompanied as the Alicorn slowly descended, completely speechless - her mouth held agape and her eyes shot wide.

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer bowed her head down to the alicorn just incase. The alicorn wasn't heading towards them though, descending just outside the empire. Sunset Shimmer looked over, the alicorn walked away into the horizon. Sunset Shimmer was shaking a little.

[Driz 1,552]

For the entire duration of the scene, Lory remained paralyzed. Her thoughts still were unable to fathom what had just happened: it all felt like a weird dream, something simply impossible. After a few seconds of staring blankly into the horizon, Lory turned back to face Sunset Shimmer.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NIGHTMARE MOON HAS RETURNED!?!?" She inquired, panicking slightly. "What does that mean!? Why!? What is she doing here-- How did she get here-- Why is Nightmare-bucking-Moon here right now!?" The mare bombarded her with question.

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer huffed slightly. "I do not know the answer to any of that. The only answers you can get is from....her herself. Lets go tell the others of this...if Nightmare Moon can comeback, who else can?" she asks herself, walking towards the castle where Helios went.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory nodded, rapidly trotting after Sunset towards the castle. In a faster pace than her, the mare managed to reach she castle's entrance first. "PROFESSOR DORK!!" She immediately called out into the distance.

From one of the corridors, Helios could be seen calmly walking out. Albeit he was already on his way before being ridiculed by his student's name calling.

"Professor Dork!" She began trotting towards him. "Dude, you won't believe what just happened! Ni--"

"Nightmare Moon has returned." He completed her sentence before she could finish. "Yes, I am aware."

Lory stood for a few seconds in a shocked silence, staring blankly at Helios. "...H-How did you know?" She lowered her head, narrowing her eyes even more. "...Are you a psychic?" She inquired. "Wait... I know... You're working for Nightmare Moon, aren't you!? That's how you knew she would be arriving!"

Helios took a deep breath, furrowing his brow. "Lorianne. There is a window in my room. I was simply gazing at the sky just like yourself."

"Oh." She responded, relieved. "Right..." She blushed.

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer sighed. Starlight stayed silent for the most part. "Okay...we can establish the fact that she has returned. Nightmare Moon is back, but why? And how? I am thinking that we could try to see where she landed and where she had went...though it may be too dangerous...if Nightmare Moon is back...where could Celestia be..." 

[Driz 1,552]

"This is unlikely to be a mere coincidence." Helios suggested. "There needs to exist a reason behind Princess Luna's resurgence. Princess Sparkle's behavior and Princess Celestia's absence may prove as such possible reasons." He began moving past the group, towards the outside. "We could attempt to follow her and check for ourselves. I am positive we can be of assistance, one way or another."

"Hold on!" Lory interjected. "...I still need a weapon, you know! Just in case."

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer nodded. "Yes...yes.. this makes sense now." she looked to a guard and told them to get a weapon for Lory. The guard came back and handed Lory a sort of black crystal sword. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight started walking towards the horizon.