open Pony Power Rangers: Heroes of Harmony (S1)

[Randimaxis 8,633]

... meanwhile... - Morning - Castle of Friendship - Ranger Command Center

 

The sound of toenails clicking on the stone floor would have been a dead giveaway, had the animal in question not had thick, shaggy fur at the ends of its' extremities.  As it was, the soft whisper of padding along in the various hallways was muffled enough to be rather quiet.

There was a sniff here, a lick there, and generally the kind of behavior that came with a domesticated animal.  Every now and again, however... it was almost as if the subject was listening to a slight snatch of music, or perhaps a distant whistle; in any case, it cocked its' head on occasion, before heading off in another seemingly random direction.

Soon, the animal came to the very door of the room the Rangers had been setting up in - though, at the moment, they weren't exactly home.  However, this didn't seem to bother the little fella in the slightest.  He merely sat down, then let out a single, solitary sound...

"Woof!"

With that, he continued to wait patiently for someone to address him.

 

... also meanwhile... - Morning - Baltimare - The Museum of Magical Wonders

 

The guard at the front door had a feeling SOMEthing was amiss.

Baton Blitz had always relied on his gut to tell him when something was wrong; he'd predicted the changelings storming Canterlot all those years ago, he'd felt it twitch and warble when the Pony of Shadows had been active for that brief period... and now?

His tummy was shifting so much, he felt as though he might get ill.

Having a sensation like that isn't a good thing - in fact, it had Baton worried and afraid.  Today seemed like any othert typical day: He'd arrived on time, checked over the schedule, patrolled the area, and was now just waiting for the doors to open.  This early, he was just another pony sitting around, waiting for his job to start.  But with the way his belly had been acting today, he almost had to strangle down the idea to head home - not even BE here when whatever went down happened.  However, his loyalty was strong, and he knew that he had a job to do... even if it was normally boring, and yet was turing out to be more life-threatening as time passed.

Baton simply continued to stand at attention unti-

>THUD<

THAT wasn't right...

From the wall behind him, he could feel a very large thump - as in the sound of something hitting the floor rather hard - and his heart froze.  Whatever he'd been dreading, it was no doubt right behind him - which, unfortunately, would be the room where a number of rather powerful artifacts were on display as part of the 'Equestrian Historical Preservation Presentation'... or, at least, he'd been TOLD they were powerful, anyway.

Slowly steeling his resolve, he turned to the doorway that led to those back rooms and gulped.  It might've been nerve-racking, but it was still his duty to guard, and he'd be damned if anyone would ever try to accuse him of cowardice.  Taking a deep and steady breath, he pushed open the door and carefully began to slink his way in, hoping against hope that whatever was in there, he would be the one to see whatever it was FIRST.

 

 

 

[Drago Ryder 639]

@Lektra Bolt

Dawn felt her stomach invert as she was teleported to whatever warehouse Lektra had sent them to. It was the same no matter how far she wanted to go via such a spell, but now wasn't exactly the time to complain. Something obviously wasn't right if they were getting sent out so soon after they had actually formed a team, so they need to be alert. It could've been a lot worse, though.

When the unicorn materialized, she immediately noticed that she was within a forest and overheard what Luster had said. "That would make the most sense." Dawn then powered down her own suit and stretched slightly, before doing as she was told and moving ahead.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Drago Ryder

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Randimaxis

"Seriously? Who the heck has been leaving such a mess in the hallway? Where is- Spike! SPiiike! Good grief where is that walking fax machine when I need him. Probably off his bootleg reading comics, or off writing Twilight's check list, cause the damn bimbo can't even read her own horn writing..." said a disgruntled voice coming up the hall way. "You'd think a pair of... siblings? I'm gonna go with sibling, who were practically raised in the royal palaces of Canterlot, would be able to keep house effectively. But then again, I've seen what happens when book princess stops by Five Fillies, Burgers and Chilies. At least Spike can clean himself. Keeps better proper hygiene than the demigoddess of comradere herself. Who knew a bibliophile could be such a slob. And I thought Sunburst had a messy work study. 

Speaking of slobs, who tracked all this dirt in here! Doesn't anypony know how to use a door mat in this tree house!? I am not calling it a castle! It it doesn't have battlements or a guard house or a moat! It's a glorified tree fort. That's somehow bigger on the inside. Giant magical tree fort. Made of rocks. Filled with lazy book worms. I feel like I'm back at my old dorm room over in UEQ-Manehatten, with that weird stalker fan of Twilight, and that weird pony robot made form foreign scrap that the IT department let roam around campus. and the orthodontics department who would throw raves in the front lobby. Huh. No wonder Ponyville seemed so tame by comparison. But even then, all the students woudl do one thing, and that's wipe their hooves before they came in! Or at least use the door mat! 

Seriously what kind of an uncivilized, unkempt animal would wonder into a castle without even bothering to-" Starlight stopped once she rounded the corner. 

Sitting in front of one of one of the many, many doors in the castle, was a dog. A big fuzzy dog. A leonberger, if Starlight's limited knowledge on dog breeds was anything to go by. Just sitting there, in front of a random door. Starlight looked around to see if any pony was there. She hoped not, cause then they'd have herd her private ramblings. Then she looked back to the dog. Just sitting there, as a dog would. 

"Umm...hi?" 

 

 

[Acnologia 167]

Clayton stopped himself from falling over when he materialized in the and looked around to see Dawn and Luster not to far away. When the leader of the group gave her orders, he immediate felt wary of the situation. Maybe he was being too cautious, but splitting up when they had minimal training wasn’t exactly a good idea.

With that in mind, he figured that it would be best to simpky follow orders and not get chewed out by what was essentially his CO. The unicorn then followed Dawn and kept an eye on his surroundings. “Mind if I ask what you can do in a fight? It’d be good to know the limits of our team.” He said in an attempt to start up a conversation.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Acnologia

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Acnologia @Drago Ryder 

"What can I do in a fight?"  Luster said over comms. "Well if you ask the right ponies, a bit too much apparently."  She said as she silently lept from tree to tree. 

"How about you? Ever been in a fight? Please say yes. " 

[Drago Ryder 639]

Dawn was a bit surprised when she heard Luster’s voice, but quickly shook it off to respond to Clayton’s question. “I know a few things not involving cryo based magic, and I have seen my share of combat.” She said, giving a slight smile. The unicorn then trotted a bit ahead of Clayton.

[Randimaxis 8,633]

Currently - Morning - Castle of Friendship - Ranger Command Center

 

The dog's tail began to wag happily as he saw Starlight coming his way.  He sat back on his haunches and lifted his paws as she drew close.

4 hours ago, Denim&Venom said:

"Umm...hi?" 

The dog gave a happy bark, then got a strange lookon his face as he began to lift a foreleg to scratch...

"NO!  BAD DOG, NO!"

The confused canine jumped as if he'd been bitten, then circled himself a few times, looking for the one who spoke.  That was when a small speck, what would be appropriately flea-sized, sprang from the dog's head, landing directly in the middle of the floor in front of the mare who'd made her way here.  There was a >POOF!<, and with a grand puff of smoke, there stood Discord, the Lord of Chaos himself... and he did NOT look as if he'd been playing tiddlywinks.

There were numerous bruises, a cut above his left elbow was bleeding slightly, and his goat antler had a rather disturbing crack running down its' length.  The draconequus even had a black eye.  The way he stood spoke of what must have been a bit of pain in his left leg, because he looked even more unbalanced than usual.  Upon appearing, he slumped down into a sitting position, gingerly taking his bent tail in hand.

Looking up at Starlight, he let out a groan of agony.

"... as much as I wish... these wounds were... superficial... I think it m-might be... high time... t-to call in... a doctorrr-r-r-r..."

And with that, he slumped forward and gratefully passed out, just a pile of draconequus in the middle of the hallway.

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Randimaxis

"Oh, Um, we'll. Shiznit." said starlight, at an uncharicteristic situation of the Mish mashed life form falling appart. Uncharicteristcally. 

"I'd better go get a doctor."she started trotting off. Before shortly coming back. "Do I get a doctor? Or do I get a vet? Vet? Doctor? Doctor? Vet? Y'know what, i'm just gonna grab fluttershy. She's pretty much both. Hopefully she doesn't pass out at the sight of you." she said as she trotted off.

Before trotting back. "What I'm I doing? I can just take you with me." She said before teleporting them both to the cottage.

[Acnologia 167]

To be honest, Clayton was only addressing Dawn when he asked his question. With that in mind, he quickly regained his train of thought and nodded. “I figured you could, given the fact that you’ve been on this team the longest.” The unicor then nodded towards Dawn, signaling that he had heard the mare.

”As for my own experiance, I’m pretty good with any weapon, but my masterpiece is definetly a scythe I made out of obsidion. Place a few enchantments on that, and you have a good, durable weapon. The only way it could improve would be if it could turn into some other weapon. A cannon, perhaps?” The unicorn then paused slightly and a light dusted his cheeks. “Sorry. I sometimes go off into my own little world when I talk about weapons, especially those that I make.”

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

Lektra Bolt, Midmorning, Las Pegasus

@Denim&Venom @Acnologia@Drago Ryder @Randimaxis @TBD @Buck Testa

I appeared in an alleyway next to the casino and came out into a lazy morning town, ponies going about their day.

I meant what I said, I was monitoring the situation. As Luster knew and the others were finding out, our Morphers also acted as communication devices. "An obsidian scythe waiting for enchantments you say? Why Clayton, you know that's what I do. If we have some downtime, we could probably get that upgraded for you." Their weapons weren't ready yet, so I hoped they knew how to fight. With help from Sparky and the Morphing Grid, I'd determined appropriate weapons for each. They were being tested in simulation still, and wouldn't be ready for a while. Maybe after this mission. Wouldn't everyone be excited to receive enchanted weapons? "Not that you'll need it." I added cryptically

I was following the holomap Sparky was projecting and it led me across a couple of walkways, bumping into a couple of ponies on the way and apologizing profusely. I ended up at a well maintained building. There was a sign on the main entrance. 'Shuffling Hooves Retirement Home'

I frowned in confusion. They were being held by old ponies? They had been dragged off kicking and screaming when they were captured. Why didn't they just escape? I headed in, my hooves clip-clop on the linoleum floor. There was a lavender Pegasus mare minding the front desk, elderly ponies relaxing and playing Bingo behind her, as well as some board games. This didn't look like a torture prison. "What's going on here?" I asked nopony in particular, looking around.

She looked up at me, finally noticing me. "May I help you miss?"

"Yes." I looked around in confusion as Sparky scanned around, pointing further in behind her and tugging my tail. "I'm looking for some friends of mine. Would you be able to help?"

She pulled out a binder of names. "Sure, what's their name?"

I was still confused. Why would teenagers be in a place like this? Where were their attitudes? Was my tracking system a dud? "Uhmmmm." I shuffled my hooves nervously. How do I tell her I had a magical means to track the previous Ranger team and was being told they were here? "Would you mind if I just look around?"

She looked at me quizzically but didn't press further. "Sure, I'll supervise you."

That wouldn't do. If my old friends were here working or something, we would need to talk privately. Someone who didn't have problems hearing could ruin the whole operation. But why in Celestia's name would they be working here? I motioned my eyes to Sparky to create a distraction. Sparky started to whir oddly and wave his claws, bumping into the table like he was damaged, knocking into the nurse and scattering her stack of papers. "Sparky cut it out." I scolded him, when really we had this kind of thing planned.

"Oh dear, I need to pick this up." She said this as Sparky started to help her out.

"You do that." I replied nonchalantly as I went out onto the floor, looking for any signs of the Rangers.

Nothing. Just elderly ponies. I looked around, shuffling around completely confused. Nopony I recognized. That wasn't until I heard a wheezing voice of a stallion.

Spoiler

This section has optional sad music playing in the background:

"Lektra.......That.......You?" I turned towars his direction. He was in a wheelchair nearby, heading over. It looked like a Bolt Solutions model, in fact. Shades of green, with a stick control. He wore Magitek hearing aids in both ears.

"Um yes sir, who might you be?" I bowed to him respectfully.

He coughed and took a puff from an oxygen tank. I was still confused. "No need for the bow, as you'll soon see. But of course you don't recognize me. Why would you? Those buggers got us good." He could speak normally without wheezes now, his voice softer. Almost familiar.

"No, should I?" I looked over the tan gray stallion with a red headband. Who is this? Red headband? Wait......

He spoke with a whisper into my ear, barely audible. "Magitek Source, Harmony Force." Then he ruffled what was left of his hair and moved his right forehoof with his Unicorn magic. It looked broken originally, and he wasn't moving it. On his hoof was a Morpher Bracelet, not unlike the one I wore. A Red gem, a dim crimson color signifying it was worthless and worn for decoration now, cracked and missing some pieces. Then he hid his hoof again under his blanket.

"No........H.....How........" I let out a gasp. I knew right away who this was, but couldn't believe it. I was seeing it, but how could it be? I moved backwards, horrified. "Huck? Huck Pomodoro?" I tripped over myself and faceplanted, raising myself up slowly. I felt like I'd just gotten slapped in the muzzle and tripped on all hooves at once.

He took a strained breath from his oxygen tank again. "It's me. You can stop being weird now. I held out hope beyond hope that if anypony could fix this, you could." He led me to a spare table. I sat down on a chair while he wheeled over.

I could only say one word while raising an eyebrow. "Explain." I was too horrified and confused to say anything else.

He took a puff of his oxygen tank again. "Not much to explain really, that I remember. You know I was dragged off by the cultists right? All of us were."

I nodded, biting my lip. "Yes, and by the look of your Morpher you lost your powers." I was right that his powers had been reclaimed by the Morphing Grid, but that didn't explain the way he looked. "Are you under cover here? It's a very convincing disguise. Where are the others? Are they ok?"

"Well there's more, and that depends on what you mean by ok. We're not dead if that's what you're asking, but this is definitely not a disguise." He took a puff from his oxygen tank again, a stray tear escaping his right eye. "I very much wish it was."

I gasped, almost falling out of my chair. "How?" The full realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted to throw up, just heave my breakfast and leave it on the floor in a mess of color. I still felt sick and was shaking, holding the gag reflex back, lightheaded. I did everything I could to stop myself.

"Our life force. They took our life energy........." He wheezed and took a long puff on his tank. He was preparing to say more than one sentence. He looked like he had been saving and rehearsing it. "Someone called Void? Yes that sounds about right. Galaxy Void, maybe? Something having to do with stars. They kept referring to something called a Great Plan. Not all of them were ponies." He took a long puff on his oxygen tank as a Griffin with blue hair accents that was very old as well came over. On her right claw was a blue bracelet in the same state as Huck's.

"Skyla?" I wanted to throw up again, holding it with everything I had. The previous Blue Ranger. Her eyes were completely blank, like she was blind but something more than that. She was missing many feathers in places, and her claws had no talons at all.

"Lektra? I can't see you but I know it's you. Thank the sisters." She spoke in a whisper in a moment of clarity, then seemed to lose it. "Crystal! Huge! Not all ponies! Beware the Void!" Skyla yelled this out, then collapsed on her back and started to shake on the ground, ripping feathers off as orderlies ran over to try to calm her and save the poor Griffin. She was carried off on a stretcher, breathing heavily as she was given a potion to drink while the second orderly gave her a massage on her chest to even try to calm her a little. The last I saw of her she stared at me with tears in her eyes, as if begging me to hear and understand, or maybe to put her out of her misery myself. It was confusing, but I had to get as much information as I could for now.

"Huck, what happened to Skyla?" I shuddered to think about this, unsure I wanted to hear the answer.

"Skyla was horribly and brutally tortured....." He wheezed and took some more oxygen. "They broke her, literally. None of us really knew anything of use to them, so this was a complete waste. This was before they even took our life force. She was a bloody mess the next time I saw her, brought back into our cell barely alive. These cultists don't play around. Don't underestimate them." He wheezed, took some more oxygen, and I could see tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry." I was tearing up as well at this point, as well as trying very hard to not throw up all along.

"I don't know how long I have, but it doesn't look like I have much time. Celestia Almighty, please tell me you have a way to fix this? I could feel my mind going, what sanity I have left. We all received a degree of torture both physical and mental. Last time I saw Swirl she didn't look like she had a lot of time, less than me. She could go any day now."

"Swirl........." She was the Yellow Ranger. How do I tell him age spells weren't my specialty? How to tell him he really didn't have long and I couldn't do anything? I looked over the stallion, the desperate look in his eyes, the completely broken right hoof he was now concealing again. I hung my head in sorrow, unable to say anything. "I...."

"You don't have to say anything." He started to wheeze and took a puff from his oxygen again, then coughed. "I understand." He started to cry on the table.

"Huck I promise I will find a way to fix this. I don't know how yet, but I promise I will try. If you don't make it, I promise I will avenge you."

The elderly unicorn coughed and raised his head with a happy smile, his eyes teary still but hopefully those were tears of joy. "Thanks, that's all I ask. Now get out of here before the nurse kicks you out. We'll try to hang on as long as we can and play some Bingo." I nodded solemnly.

I then hugged him delicately and headed out, by which time Sparky had helped the nurse with her paperwork and she seemed to have forgotten about me. When I was leaving she looked up with a remembering look, but seeing as I was leaving she said nothing more.

When I was safely back in the alley about to call for a pickup, I realized I'd left my comm open. The others had heard everything. With a gasp I spoke into the bracelet directly. "What....what do we do guys? How do we save them? Can we even? Luster love, please advise." I was so distraught I just sat down and all that could be heard was sobs.

Sparky attempted to pat my head with a claw as I finally threw up, my breakfast ending up on the clean morning ground.

Discord's comm was getting this also, though I hadn't heard from him in a while.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Lektra Bolt

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Lektra Bolt @Drago Ryder @Acnologia @Randimaxis

If luster needed to breathe while in ranger form, she would've taken a deep calming breath to Steele herself.

"B-be advised, i'm putting by armor into lock down. Cause I'm going to break something if I dont."

just as she did that, the other ranger coms would visualize the notice, as well as a locator, signialing an emergency for a ranger to do something like that.

"Dammit... goddess dammit... GODDESS BUCKING DAMMIT!!!" she screamed out. "All their service, all their hard work, all their selflessness... and this is how fate repays them!? 

she growled. "This was why I was against using civilians, regardless of what the morphing grid said. The grid chose those them for some asinine reason, and look what happened! I was built for fighting! They weren't! And now this war, this little war Equestria is pretending that it's not a part of, is about to claim it's first casualties!

This... this is why the princesses are not involved. They would still try to solve things diplomatically. They would still compromise. They would still try to turn our enemies into friends. Well I don't want to be friends with anything that would be so cruel to those fighting for their home! I will not make them my friends! I will make them extinct! Slaughter every single one of them!  Even then... it'll be a fate too merciful for them..." 

She was quiet. Quiet for a moment  or two too long. 

"Isolate the hate... compartmentalize it... store it away. I shouldn't... but I can. Store it away... save it for later...to be excoriated at another time... whether that's constructively... or not." she said in a monotone voice. The only indications of it being a person and not a recording, was the slight tremble in the words. 

Another few moments that seemed to last too long. "And...done. Solutions to this problem." she continued, her tone oddly level and succinct in comparison to before. "We could use cryo-spells. The same kind used in the medical profession to keep ponies in suspended animation when they have a terminal illness with no known cure, as well as to keep a patient stable for transport. It won't reverse it, but it'll buy us time. You may also consider using your cryo-tech, the same technology implemented in preserving historical artifacts, but you'll need to make adjustments for them to preserve entire beings. It'll be a huge power and magic strain based on rough calculations.  

There is a case of reverse aging spells being used, but that was only in conjunction with a dangerous artifact, one that had a habit of corrupting the will of the user." 

[Gabriel 560]

Rocky Roads, Midmorning, Las Pegasus
@Lektra Bolt

 

Rocky walked along the packed roads of Las Pegasus, whistling a tune whilst swinging his body from left to right to the rhythm. His saddle bags were clattering due to the excess movement, filled with all sorts of cooking related items that his mother had sent him to pick up. He knew it wasn't a coincidence that he had been sent here the exact minute he had signed up for something other than his mother's bakery. She was a bit like that, a bit too overprotective for her own and everyone else's good, but he didn't mind it in the end. What could he possibly be missing out anyways, some sort of a secret military grade project that would make him the hero of the nation? Sure, that's what the form said but salesponies always exaggerate things.

He chuckled at his own thoughts, continuing his journey back to the train station in order to return to his mothers shop back at Manehattan. After passing through the shopping district and the more famous casino area, he only had to continue through one local neighborhood before he would reach the station. As he was passing by an alleyway he could not help but notice somepony laying on the ground. He stopped his whistling and slowed his walking pace until he was halted entirely in the middle of the street, stretching his neck to get a better view from over the dozens of ponies that passed by him every moment. It was nothing new for him to see a drunkard passed out on the street, especially not around this city, but there was something different about this one.

Yes, she was wearing a rather unusual set of apparel, looking almost like a mechanic or something, and her facial features too, there was just something rather...familiar about them, almost as if he'd seen her somewhere before. The emerald earth pony ditched the train station plans as he turned ninety degrees, making his best attempt at painlessly wedging past the crossing stream of ponies that did not show any happy faces when he got in their way with his huge saddle bags that were filled to the absolute brim. After he got to the alleyway he dropped the sheepish grin and made a swift beeline to the pony that was currently laying down quite comfortably on her own puke.

"Heyy, how's it hangin' pal?" He greeted in the most jolly voice one could ever imagine, crouching in front of the yellow unicorn. He got no response. Rocky frowned a little at this as he gently lowered his bags onto the concrete ground, trying to figure out a way to wake her up before somepony with ill intent decided to rob her or something. He snorted, as if anypony would do that in Equestria, he had been reading too much comics lately for sure. What was true, however, was that he would never make it to the train in time if he stayed here for as long as another second.

He decided against it, not prick enough to just leave somepony there in that kind of state and rush home so that his mommy wouldn't get angry. Rocky ruffled his Elvis-esque hair with his front hoof and bit his lip in thought, eventually realizing that helplessly staring at her wouldn't work out and instead aimed his attention towards his bags, opening each of them and rummaging the insides in hopes of finding something useful. After several minutes of digging, working and fine tuning he wiped the sweat off his forehead, proud of his work. It would not wake her up but it would most certainly surprise her when she did.

The yellow unicorn had been dragged and placed against the wall so that it looked as if she was just sitting regularly, a red and white picnic cover set on the ground in front of her which had a small rocky road cake and a bottle of lemonade nicely set on top of it. The vomit had been wiped from the ground into a nearby drain with the help of a brush he salvaged from a trash can next to them. Now the green earth pony was just sitting there with a proud grin, waiting for her to wake up so that he could ask where he knew her from.

 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Crewman

[Drago Ryder 639]

Dawn was a bit caught off guard by Luster’s silence and felt a bit uncomfortable. She tried to get an enotional read off Clayton, but the helmets kind of made that difficult. “Umm, I could help with that.” One could tell that just by the tone of her voice that she was worried. Did this have something to do with the last team. At the point, thoughts on what might've happened to them began to play out, and that only served to worsen her mood. "What exactly did we sign up for?" She thought to herself.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Drago Ryder

[Acnologia 167]

To be honest, Clayton felt a put form in his stomach. From how Luster had reacted, something had more likely than not gone wrong, meaning that whatever caused it was still here. “Dawn, go help Luster. I’ll patrol the area to make sure that whatever caused the mess she found isn’t still around.” He said. At the very least, it would help him take his mind off of what was going on.

The unicorn then trotted away from the mare and slowly surveyed the area. At the moment, he couldn’t really do much anything else that would be of use. “This is probably a terrible idea, but at least I can keep them safe.” He thought to himself.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Acnologia

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

@Crewman @Denim&Venom

Sightly earlier, just as Rocky had finished cleaning up Lektra

Sparky came whirring into view from the street, carrying a large Double Chocolate Fudge Cream Cake, chilled. It had absolutely zero non chocolate-based cake or batter ingredients in it, as Sparky knew this was the only thing in existence that could rouse his creator. Like Smelling Salts, but for her. Momentarily passing by the Earth Pony gentlecolt like he wasn't even there, Sparky moved by, whir-mumbling to himself. Noticing the excellently laid out eating environment he took the slice of cake and placed it to the side of the one he just brought, forcing it to her muzzle with a couple of comforting whirs as he then dunked her face into the side of the cake, with zero remorse whatsoever. After all, he had been asked to when things like this happened.

Lektra Bolt, Midmorning, Castle of Friendship, Las Pegasus

Star Swirl the Bearded. Everywhere. As far as the eye could see. I was in a paradise of a convention for the mage of old, having a fun time with my favorite pony. Just as we had decided to take a break and share a kiss, time slowed down. Twilight and I were leaning in to kiss passionately and I was anticipating and hoping for this the whole time, but then we both just stopped. I couldn't move as much as I wanted to. Couldn't move my eyes even. Then suddenly time moved again and all I smelled was my favorite cake and the sound of Sparky's whirring.........

Spoiler

Relevant video

The effect was instantaneous.

I groaned. "NO! Twilight! Kiss me! Don't stop!" I shook my head, fully awake. "Sparky? What?" looking around, regaining my composure and licking parts of cake off my face. I proceeded to do nothing but eat the cake slowly, noisily, but neatly without a crumb wasted. I then did the same with the slice of cake nearby. This took all of five minutes and was followed by a burp of satisfaction as I laid on my back. As I'd threw up what was most likely most of the contents of my stomach, I had been extremely hungry.

Covering my mouth as I burped and relaxing from my brunch I finally spoke. "Oooop, excuse me sir. Sorry, not sorry." I winked at him with a giggle.

Finally Sparky noticed the stallion. One could hear Sparky seemingly saying 'Who's this' as he proceeded to electrify his claws and move menacingly towards the gentlecolt with speed one wouldn't expect from something of that stature.

I jumped between them just as he was about to do something not nice. "Sparky stand down!" Sparky was hesitant. "I said down! I'm fine, this gentlecolt seems to have saved my life." Not that he knew the way to wake me, but he did help out by cleaning me up, yuck I could still taste barf even after all this and my mouth was a bit dry, but he did clean me up and protected me in this helpless state.

On 11/8/2017 at 1:00 PM, Denim&Venom said:

"We could use cryo-spells. The same kind used in the medical profession to keep ponies in suspended animation when they have a terminal illness with no known cure, as well as to keep a patient stable for transport. It won't reverse it, but it'll buy us time. You may also consider using your cryo-tech, the same technology implemented in preserving historical artifacts, but you'll need to make adjustments for them to preserve entire beings. It'll be a huge power and magic strain based on rough calculations.  

There is a case of reverse aging spells being used, but that was only in conjunction with a dangerous artifact, one that had a habit of corrupting the will of the user." 

Speaking of which, I immediately got a reply from Luster, as if on time with what had happened. How much time had passed, exactly? Maybe the Morpher waited until I was up to hear it? Oh well, this pony heard the reply as well, not that he knew what it meant.

I remembered everything that happened and frowned, my previously cheerful expression sullied. "Thanks. So who might you be sir, what are you doing here, and were you looking for some kind of reward?" I finally turned to the stranger, licking my lips of residual cake and frosting. Let's not tell him about what else was going on.

Sparky whirred and bumped me. "What? I'm supposed to know him?" Now that he mentioned it, there was something about him. Sparky projected a small stack of papers in my face, the application our Ranger applicants filled out. I turned to the stallion, wondering if he knew anything about this or would recognize it, and the writing. The name was facing his face, not mine. Silly Sparky, I tisk tisked

Edited November 13, 2017 by Lektra Bolt

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Lektra Bolt @Drago Ryder @Acnologia 

"Look, I'll be fine for the moment. We have a mission to accomplish. Nothing else we can do but complete it. Focus on what you can do int he here and now, rather than trying to change the past. And I told you both to power down. The goal is to survey the area and enter the quarry undetected. And right now, you both stand out like a badger in a bee hive. Yeah, going in blunder buses blazing and wreaking havok in a full frontal assault is pretty fun.  But for the sake of time, resources and own own well beings, it's best to take advice from Steed Tsu: “There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.” So it's best to approach undetected if we can, and fight only if we have to. Our enemy knows what a ranger is, but may react differently to a p[air of hikers lost in a forest."

[Acnologia 167]

Clayton paused for a moment, before simply shaking his head. “Sorry about that. A lot had happened during those few seconds that I probably didn’t hear it.” He said. Of course, he was referring to the cause of Luter’s outburst. Apparently, he failed at trying to be the emotional support of the team. 

After getting out of his suit, the unicorn almost felt a but naked now. The current situation didn’t help either. He figured that whatever  fabric was used to make the suit offered more protection than skin. “That probably depends entirely on what they’re doing.” He said, before glancing at Dawn and turning off his communicator, if only temporarily, “Look, I know you have a special somepony and that he’ll probably kill me for asking this, but would it make sense if we at least tried to act like a couple.” 

[Drago Ryder 639]

It didn’t take Dawn long to return to Clayton, and the idea he had proposed did make some sense. Assuming that these were just thugs, then they would most likely leave two unarmed civilians alone. After turning off her own communicator and powering down her own suit, the mare gave a slight nod, “That could work in theory. Let’s just hope that whatever we encounter decided to ignore us.” 

[Gabriel 560]

Rocky Roads, Midmorning, Las Pegasus
@Lektra Bolt

 

The green earth pony was not taken aback by her sudden wake up call nor her resulting confusion. What did baffle him, however, was that weird robot thing that had passed by him, finding its place next to the unicorn and dipping her face into the pastry it was carrying. He had wanted to stop it from assaulting her, but somehow it had looked like it knew what it was doing, so Rocky had let it do its job. And Celestia in the heavens, it had worked out brilliantly. What was next on the menu for this rather unusual day, a random circus convoy that wanted to offer him a free ride back to Manehattan?

He stifled a laugh as he actually gave this odd day a little bit of thought, almost ignoring the now lively unicorn speaking to him. Swiftly regaining his attention, he responded with an awkward chuckle as his ears perked to her direction, a little unsure on how to proceed from this point onward. He didn't have to say anything though, as the small robot that was now accompanying them took matters into its own claws, deciding that it would be a good time and place to murder him on the spot. Rocky merely reeled back slightly, never rising up from his seated position, squinting his eyes, flattening his ears and gritting his teeth in an emotion that would best be described as a mix of shock, terror and absolute confusion. The moment of tension was luckily short lived as the yellow unicorn hastily jumped in between them in order to stop the metallic menace, managing to do a fine job at it, too.

Rocky exhaled as he relaxed his muscles, intending to finally ask her the question he had in mind. Naturally this didn't happen as she was interrupted, by some sort of a radio call this time. He couldn't help but overhear the words as a fly on the wall, this and that about...cryo spells? Reverse aging? Corrupting the will of the user? These ponies sure were into some heavy stuff, but it did remind him even more about his question. If he knew her from somewhere, he sure hoped she wouldn't remember him if that cryo-age-corruption thing was good these days. He calmly waited for the unknown pony on the other end of the line to finish before opening his mouth. Well, wouldn't you have guessed, he was beat to it by her. It was unbelievable how fast these ponies worked, it was almost as if they were some sort of professionals or something.

Her questions came at such a rapid pace that he couldn't do anything but stumble over his words. "I, um...I'm Rocky Roads and...I was just picking this stuff up for my mom and..." He gave a swift over the shoulder glance at the saddle bags still sitting on the concrete before continuing. "...no, no reward needed! Uh, I was just passing by! I actually thought to ask if..." He hesitated for a second too long as now it was the robots turn to take her attention, bumping her and speaking in some sort of...robot tongue that she appeared to understand perfectly. The robot knew something about him, and this probably meant that so did she. Yikes. 

And so he stood there, frozen like an ice pick, ogling at the form of the very same application papers that he had filled not too long ago, floating in front of him. He swallowed nervously, giving it a nice cough, too. Had he just found Lektra Bolt herself laying in her own vomit on a castaway street corner? At least the looks and apparel matched now that he gave it a bit of thought. Yeah, probably should not have joked about how the day couldn't possibly get any sillier a few minutes ago. 

"I uh...I uh...I...uhm." He started, shifting his eyes from the form to the unicorn. "I...just signed this thing a few days ago. Am I...in trouble now?" This had to be a prank or something, it just bloody had to be.

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

@Gabriel

Lektra Bolt, Midmorning, Castle of Friendship, Las Pegasus

I raised an eyebrow at this and nodded. Clearly he was nervous. "Why no, no you're not in trouble. I'm wondering why you didn't show up earlier though, and we had to randomly bump into each other like this. Maybe the teleporter couldn't latch onto you before." I looked him over rather matter of factly. "It's nice to meet you Rocky. You probably met one of my marketing agents earlier so you know who I am, at least vaguely." I looked around at what he'd done with the place a second time. You'd never think I got sick here at all. Speaking of which, it might be good that I didn't leave yet.

Heading out of the alley I levitated the picnic blanket over to Rocky to pick up, then heading back to the Old Folks Home again. "Come with me please Rocky, then we'll be on our way." Sparky rolled along behind me. I wanted to apologize to the attendant on duty but there seemed to be no need. As soon as I went in she came over to greet me. I raised an eyebrow at this.

"Good that you're back, Miss." She shoved some forms in my face to sign.

Grabbing it with my magic as well as the quil I started to unfold it. "What's this?" My eyes moved over the form. "A next of kin form? For five?" Oh no I hoped they weren't planning to do what I thought they were planning to do.

"Mister Pomodoro and his companions want to name you their next of kin, and you will have unlimited visiting rights." She said, confirming my worst suspicions. I signed off in the right places, levitating it back for her to take back with a wing.

"There you go." I said this with a smile that belied my sadness, already making calculations. It would be so much easier to get in here to get in range to 'steal' them away later. She gave me back an ID tag.

"Wear this when you come back, and don't let me catch you coming in without one again." She said this with a well meaning but stern smile. "Do you understand? You could have startled somepony just wanting to enjoy themselves on the way out. We want them to be comfortable."

"No no I completely get it. I'll be back later then." I said this as I levitated the ID into Sparky's storage compartment, motioning Rocky to come back to the alley. Hopefully this time I wouldn't decorate it, as I really wanted to both enjoy and digest the contents of my stomach.

We'd be leaving for real this time, soon.

Edited November 17, 2017 by Lektra Bolt

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Lektra Bolt @Gabriel @Acnologia @Drago Ryder 

Mid morning. Quarter mile outside Bolt Solutions refinery.

 

Luster would watch on as Dawn and Clayton entered a clearing.

"Probably won't matter in the long run." she said over the comms. "Obsidian will want to keep anypony and everypony away from the refinery. The only thing that will change is what they send and how many. As you are, you'll appear to be a low risk, and might only be engaged once we're in sight of the refinery. But as rangers, we would've been engaged by now. So good thing you de-powered. It's an inconvenience rushing rookies like yourselves into the fray. Sometimes you have to run before you can crawl. But that only got us so far with the last team. Like a sports team hiring a star athlete just based on athletic talent. They may be good early on, but as time passes, the flaws will show. The novelty wears off. There's nothing else to fall back on. They might be good, but they won't be great. Not without a grasp of the fundamentals. Not without experience. Not without knowledge. Not without-"

Suddenly in a blur of movement, figures leaped out from the trees and bushes. Back flips, back flips, back flips and more back flips as equine like figures landed all around the pair. Faceless, camo-colored, robotic ponies flanked all around them, scurrying from side to side, awaiting an oncoming attack. 

"Training.... buck.

Listen, whatever you do, do not morph unless you have to! This looks like a recon unit. I'll try to jam their coms. But if you morph, the whole facility will detect it! We'll get swarmed with their big guns while they entrench themselves and turn that factory into a fortress." 

The jumpy squad of around a dozen bots began to encircle them and slowly start to close their distance.

 

[Drago Ryder 639]

Dawn looked at the bots and steeled her nerves. Panicking would only get someone killed, and that was the last things they needed at the moment. “Expect questions when we get back to base.” The unicorn then scanned their body for weak points. It would’ve been easier if they could utilize some stealth, but she didn’t have a spell like that in her arsenal. Granted, they might’ve still been able to detect them, meaning that the magic used would’ve been wasted. “Any plan aside from don’t die?”

[Acnologia 167]

Clayton couldn’t help but smirk at Dawn’s banter. Still, they weren’t exactly in the best of positions. “Eat your heart out, Murphy.” After the thought crossed his mind, the unicorn then glanced at Dawn. “I’d say try to cover each other’s back unil we punch a hole that we can escape through. Either that, or just act casual.”

Clayton’s eyes then widened as he ducked under a swing that would’ve hit his head. “Never mind, If you have magic, don’t go for a war of attrition. Freeze these tin cans.” A slight glow from his horn indicated a spell, and the grunts that had attacked him was essentially slammed like a club into a few of the others that had come with it.

[Denim&Venöm 16,451]

@Lektra Bolt @Acnologia @Drago Ryder 

"Well, you're both in the thick of it now. I'll be up here keeping coms traffic from getting heavy. But now you have to make sure that none of them escape and run back to the refinery."

Seeing the display of power from the two intruders, the robo ponies spun out what looked like a shock baton from the side of their left foreleg, before charging in to attack. 

"If we want to get out of this alive, then the only way around them, is through them." 

Spoiler

 

 

Mid-morning

Fluttershy's cottage.

Ponyville

 

@Randimaxis "Alright Bartholomew, it's time for your daily medicine. Now I know that it doesn't taste the best, but the doctor did say that-"

*Knock knock knock!*

"Oh? Who could that be I usually don't get visitors until the afternoon." Fluttershy said as she trotted to her door. Opening the top half a crack as she usually would, the demure pony was surprised at her visitor. "Oh! Starlight! I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to be here either, but I think we've got ourselves a bit of an emergency."

"Emergency? Did you find an animal in need of help? Oh the poor thing, no wonder you came by."

"Well kinda sorta. I guess that sorta depends-" she stopped before face hoofing. "Ugh, I left the darned thing at the castle! One sec." 

*bamftch!* in a flash she was gone but for a few moments before reappearing in a flash of light and magic Shy's cabin. And beside her was a big dirty and dusty  dog. 

"So, this guy wondered into the castle somehow-"

"Oh my! A Leonberger!" Shy rushed up to it to inspect. "Goodness! you're coat is all dirty and unkempt. And I don't see any collar or parting in the fur to have held one. You poor thing, you must be a stray. Well don't worry. Thanks to Starlight, we'll be able to get you back on your paws and find you a good home!" she said while taking the pups muzzle in her hooves and ruffling his jowls.  

"No wonder you were here so early. I can see why this would be an emergency."

"Actually, that's not the emergency I was gonna talk about, though he kinda started it I guess?" Starlight said as she walked back to the door.

"Started it? Whatever do you mean?" 

"Well, that big guy had a visitor on him."

"Oh I'm not surprised. I can get you whatever anti-flea shampoos  and repellents you need."

"It-it wasn't that kind of a flea FlutterShy. Well in a sense you can think of him like that. I often do. But the visitor he brought over probably needs your help the most, cause I can't think of anywhere else to take him." Starlight peered over the door. "Now be warned, this won't be pretty." As she began opening the bottom door. 

"Oh I'm sure I'll be able to han...dle..." she trailed off as she saw the mangled remains of the already mangled looking Discord. Her mouth hung agape as she silently screamed. 

"Yeah. Yeah I thought it was that bad too."

The butter yellow Pegasus began hyper ventilating. "Wh-wh what? What happned!? Discord! Discord!" She rushed over to the fallen draqoniquis. "What did this to him?! Where's he been!?"

"I-I don't know! Like I said, he hitched a rider on top of that dog and re-appeared in the castle asking for help!"

"What could do this! Does Twilight know! Does she know!?"

"No! I haven't told her yet! I headed straight here! I thought you were the only one who can help him!"

"Right.... right..." she took a few heaving breaths to try and calm herself. "I uhh...I... just help me get him inside first! Everyone! Clear a space for Discord!" she yelled inside the cabin as her animals began dispersing and moving things around. 

Starlight began levitating Discords limp body over to the couch when the saw something fall off the chaos god. "Hmm? What is..." she picked it up while walking Discord over. "Why would Discord need a watch? Isn't he opposed to the concept of time?" Her ear flickered as she heard something. Radio static. Coming from the watch. Starlight looked over to the frazzled Fluttershy as she raided her medicine cabinet, various wild life bringing supplies to her aid.

"I'm gonna go get Twilight. She probably has a better idea of what to do than I... yeah."

"Yes yes! that's fine ! Go get help!" she said, not really paying attention as Starlight walked out of the cabin, inspecting the device in hoof. 

[Randimaxis 8,633]

- Mid-Morning - Ponyville - Fluttershy's Cottage -

 

... and when the butterscotch squirrels decided to name me the Floopiest Floopy What Ever Done Flooped, we spun around and around and around, over and over, until the crumbs fell off the edge of the world...

On 11/25/2017 at 3:34 PM, Denim&Venom said:

"Wh-wh-what? What happened!? Discord! Discord!"

... ohhhhhhh, what a beauuuuuuu-teh-full MORRRRRRRR-NINNNNNNNNNNN'...

On 11/25/2017 at 3:34 PM, Denim&Venom said:

"What did this to him?! Where's he been!?"

"I-I don't know! Like I said, he hitched a rider on top of that dog and re-appeared in the castle asking for help!"

"What could do this! Does Twilight know! Does she know!?"

... another cookie from the Timberwolf Fairy Queen, Mrs. Nesbit?  Why, I'm positively STUFFED - couldn't eat another smidge, I assure you.  My sincerest apologies to the entire Pancake Kingdom, and the Five Knights of the Flibbertyjibbit...

On 11/25/2017 at 3:34 PM, Denim&Venom said:

"I'm gonna go get Twilight. She probably has a better idea of what to do than I... yeah."

"Yes yes! that's fine ! Go get help!"

It took a moment, but something about what he was hearing finally stabbed through the hazy miasma of unconsciousness.

He was only just becoming vaguely aware that he had, in fact, not died.  The matter had been up for debate for a moment by all the individual organs roaming around inside the draconequus' noodly form.  Though his vital parts seemed to be hunky-dory, there were a number of dissenting opinions from the representatives of Heart, Spine and Extremities... and Head was still in the process of trying to even acknowledge the whole 'still alive' thing.

However, ears worked rather well - which was when the connection between voice and pony collided with each other so fiercely, it made his noggin throb.  He opened one eye and swiveled the red dot of his iris across the sea of yellow to lock on his dear, earnest friend.  She looked so worried about him, and that alone was enough to make him smile inside.  Outside, might be a moment more... but mentally, he was lapping it up like a kitten with cream.

A chaotic, unpredictable kitten with vast magical ability... but still a kitten.

"Ohhhhhh... did anyone... get the license plate number... of that zeppelin?"

Rubbing his head with a paw while his claw supported his weight, Discord pulled himself into a sitting position - regretting it instantly, as his back gave a twinge of real pain when he twisted to get comfortable.  He also didn't quite feel... all that awake, still.  Kinda tired.  Achey.  Puffy-AND-bleary-eyed.  

Honestly, he just felt... drained...

But regardless, he still had enough presence of mind to realize that he would have to keep his head on and wits sharp about this; with everything that had been going on, he'd never told ANYONE about his exploits with Lektra, working to save Equestria behind the scenes... uncharacteristic, due to his usually brash, arrogant and bragging nature - but that's why it works: 

It's completely unexpected of Discord to help without accolades or recompense - hence the reason he did it.

He wanted to tell her... about everything.  She'd understand, wouldn't she?  Perhaps she could even give some advice, or maybe demonstrate what she's-...

But he couldn't.  He KNEW he couldn't, because then she would possibly become the target instead of him... or worse, BECAUSE of him; Discord would rather be the one to suffer, as long as it meant his dear Fluttershy didn't have to.

"Well, if it isn't... *cough* my dearest friend and companion... here to cure my ails and ease my suffering, no doubt?"  He smiled broadly, displaying the fact of a couple of teeth missing.  "I certainly hope you don't think... I did this on purpose... because I swear to you, I had NO idea that dragons could... get so upset!"

"I mean, REALLY - what's a few harmless jokes at someone's expense?  So what if that someone just happens to be a dragon?  Not... not my f-fault if they can't take a good ribbing!"

He actually disliked lying to her - Tirek had made him do it once, and he'd swore he'd never do it again - but he didn't want to put his best (and perhaps only true) friend in jeopardy... so he had to compromise.  He just hoped she'd take the bait, and would simply scold him and be done with it.

As long as any other pony didn't show up to bollix his story, things would work out fine.

 

...meanwhile... - Mid-Morning - Baltimare - The Museum of Magical Wonders

 

Baton Blitz watched as the jet black crystalline growth slowly crept up his barrel, making a beeline for covering his entire head.

He continued, undaunted (well, perhaps a LITTLE daunted...) in his bid to try crawling to the alarm button before this stuff, whatever it was, completely sealed around him.  Everywhere it touched felt like ice water, rapidly freezing whatever extremity it lit on and simultaneously making him so very tired... it would just be the simplest thing in all the world to just... close his eyes...

NO!!!

His spirit flared, and the set look of determination on his muzzle said he wasn't giving up just yet.

The sign for the 'Equestrian Historical Preservation Presentation' hung askew from its' frame, and the destruction all around him made him even angrier; all the time he'd spent guarding this place, all for naught as his eyes rolled over the ruined paintings, broken pottery and otherwise smashed artifacts from all over Equestria's fair lands.  He'd lost this battle... but he'd be a donkey's uncle before he gave up the proverbial war.

As he reached the wall where the shiny little display case covered the red button marked "Break Glass In Emergency", he looked back over his onyx-encrusted flank to see if that... that... THING was there, watching his slow progress towards-

IT WAS THREE STEPS BEHIND HIM.

Baton let out a yelp of surprise, then turned to the button and lifted a hoof... 

Lifted a hoof...

Lifted...

...

The black substance had finally covered enough of his torso and forelegs to render them immobile, and he was mere inches from the button!  He agonized internally for a moment, then swiveled his head to face the wall and, with a comically large backswing, he slammed his forehead into the wall.  The glass broke, and the button depressed - and a shrill ringing pierced the morning air, the cry of victory for the unsung museum guard.

He smiled defiantly as the onyx crystal substance closed over his muzzle, leaving him a perfect, pitch black statue.