private The Æther Project

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

On 2022-06-17 at 3:44 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Wildebeast shook off Briar's concern, "I've survived worse, the whole Project depends on this food."

"Doesn't mean that it would be better, off, if you lost a leg in the process. It would hurt in the long run, and I am certain you would miss it. So don't stress yourself out too much. Please."

He understood the point in working hard, and to do so, regardless of injury, but that did not mean, that he wanted Wildebeast to get permanently damaged because of that. Yet if he insisted, Briar supposed, his only real option were to work that much harder, to lessen his burden.

On 2022-06-17 at 3:44 AM, Illiad Easle said:

With Briar and Brittle's help, they would be able to save 75% of the crops before adding in Brair's essence, and about half of what remained could be saved with his essence. While it would leave him depleted, he wouldn't quite run out before they replanted the last crop on the last level. The rest of the workers would leave Wildebeast and Briar to rest while they set to work filling in the empty spaces with some fast growing crops to offset the losses. The creatures aboard the Project would just have to get used to more radishes and spinach than they were used to.

Wildebeast was very winded at the end, and was really starting to show his age, but also his strength in persevering, "You know, I've never seen a doctor before, maybe now would be a good time to start." He chuckled at that, "Good work you two, we couldn't have done it without you."

It had been... Straining, if he had to be honest. Replanting were one thing, and they did generally well overall, in ensuring that they would save the majority of the food product. But the issue were then afterwards, when he pulled out his vines, and took a slight bite, causing essence to slowly drip out from them.

He'd scatter the droplets around as much as possible, among the more affected crops, of those who needed the assistance. He did his to try and focus the ones that took longer to grow, but at some point, he started to get more woozy, and his focus were fading. At the point where he simply couldn't do more, he would have lost about a liter, and as Wildebeast came over to speak with him, Briar's legs would shake heavily, and be unable to hold him up any more. He'd fall flat on his stomach, legs out to the side, and his vines slumping down on the ground. They'd retract, yet slowly, as he felt drained, in more ways than one. He were not used to being this... Lacking, one might say.

He could feel how Brittle's heartrate started to increase as he slumped down, and he'd strain to turn his head, and look at her, with a tired, yet pleased smile on his face.

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Just a little spend. I just need a moment to gather myself."

She'd lie down next to him, and shuffled in to his side. He knew she were just worried. She weren't used to seeing him like this, and she feared being alone. He did not blame her for her response, and wouldn't halt, what he knew made her feel safer.

"If you can give me a moment as well, my friend, we can be on our way. I am not used to be this low on essence. Much as I am different from regular equines, the results from a lack of blood, is rather similar for your kind. As I gave to the lab, now too gave I here, and thus I must preserve what little I have left.

How is your leg feeling?"

If he'd give Briar a couple of minutes, the evergrown would be able to get up on his hooves, and force himself onwards. He just needed to adjust for a moment.

========================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-06-16 at 11:54 PM, Kujamih said:

" Pshhh please.... YOU'VE never had to see your world die. Before you lecture about death with me, step on my level Filly." Light gave an ominous yet creepy smile towards Last Stand. A creepy glimpse of Light's aura can be seen by last Stand as it resembles the chaotic nature of the battlefield. Clearly he is no ordinary pony. 

She still did not look impressed at him. Still just the same, judging, iron neutrality, of one undecided about him just yet. Though also annoyed, as he called her filly. Which she were not.

"Everyone here, have seen their world die, colt."

He might mean he were from another world, that had gone under, but that was ridiculous. Others worlds did not exist, beyond the afterlife. They had the one they were in, and that were it. So unless he were spinning tall tales, or from another planet, she were gonna call nonsense on that.

On 2022-06-16 at 11:54 PM, Kujamih said:

" If you can't swing the sword huddled together... Dosn't that just mean you're not good with a sword?"

For Light, his insults are more of a jest, so he could know more about the pony around him, he wouldn't mind if the pony he insulted would be offended, since he knows what he did. He actually prefer that. Because he could easily know the raw personality of someone through rage, anger, grief, and sorrow. Because this emotions are hard to lie about. 

Now this. This made her glare at him with an ice cold fire, roaring in her eye.

"I know exactly what I am doing. But you are not soldiers. If something happens, some might flail, and my sword cuts deep."

Her words dripped with controlled anger, slowly toning down, around halfway through her reply.

She would hear much, and roll her eyes at it, but she would not hear a civilian, question her skills with a sword. She had spend a lifetime fighting, and knew where to cut, how to do so, and how much force to put into it. Fighting were like breathing, and to hear someone then question it, got to her. He should think himself fortunate, that she were also a mare, well in control of herself, as discipline were another crucial thing, that were taught at the temple. Couldn't have someone get erratic during a siege. Had to have everything, and everyone, in order, and able to keep a level head, even in the worst of times.

That said, she still had half a mind beating him over the head, with a stick of ice, until it cracked. Didn't mean she'd currently act upon it.

On 2022-06-16 at 11:54 PM, Kujamih said:

" You catch up quite Slowly, Last Stand. Everyone here is crazy. Who in there right mind would go down from here?" Light smirked.

He continued to ask Last Stand. 

" Tell me steel maiden? Would you raise your sword with someone who isn't crazy enough to fight by your side and run away from danger? Or a friend who is crazy enough to join you in a battle?"

He then looked at Spiral.

" That's why I don't mind raising my sword to whom you called crazy. I got your back Spiral! The last thing we need in this team is a division, don't jeopardize the mission Last Stand. You're a soldier right, Last Stand? If you're required to dance you dance, if you're required to kill you kill. And now you're required to fight a wendigo... Do your part Last Stand."

This time Light's attitude became serious and is focused on the mission. Quite hard to stomach in since he was quite carefree before. 

"I willingly go here, and on to every single battlefield, I'd be sent to. Because this is war, and war isn't won, unless there's soldiers ready to fight."

She didn't mean right here, specifically. It was more like, in general, as the world were at war, with Discord. Him and his minions, were causing substantial trouble, and it were up to soldiers like her, to band together, and fight him, and what other monsters there might be otherwise, that threatened the survivors. So yeah, she would willingly go down here, as she had. Not because she were crazy, but because someone had to. Might as well be one who were experienced in fighting.

"And I call you crazy, because love and smiles, never killed anything. Last time I saw someone think that, they got cut in half. Show me something that gets hurt by dancing, and maybe I'll stop thinking your suggestion is mad. Until then, I'll trust my sword. 

Besides, I'm not your soldier. You don't have the rank to give me orders."

There were also the fact, that even if he showed her, that dancing would actually hurt them, she wouldn't be much help there. She had never in her life, danced. Unless you counted the swift dance of combat, but she didn't think they meant it like that.

On 2022-06-17 at 12:08 AM, Spiral Spell said:

Spiral casually smiled. "Oh, Light's right. Everyone's crazy, with all that has happened...I wouldn't doubt it if I was crazier than a lot of the ones onboard. Oh, I know for sure I am. With what-" she cut herself off, not wanting to speak of her origins. "But, Last Stand may be right. If friendship and love fails, than we should have no mercy for whatever threatens the project." Spiral said, boldly.

Now this one, she were starting to make more sense than Light. This one, Last would turn to, and give an affirming nod.

"Far more sensible. Try talking sense, and if that doesn't work, eradicate the enemy."

She hadn't much nice to say about diplomacy, as the one time she had seen it, it ended poorly. A former commander, convinced he could talk peace with the manetids, to avoid their unending battles.

They had tossed the parts of his body, down upon their temple, whilst buzzing with laughter. Some creatures, couldn't be reasoned with.

That said, she'd allow them to try. Long as they stayed at a safe distance, and didn't do like her former commander, and get up close, to try and prove he meant no harm.

On 2022-06-17 at 3:44 AM, Illiad Easle said:

"In the dark only blind eyes see, but there's a game we can play that will set minds free!"

"You need to find the key, key, key, unlock the door, door. Step outside with me, be a pawn no more. Mind your hp 'cause I'm keeping score. I've never had such fun FUN before!"

Toward the end the projection danced down the hallway heading North, then disappeared.

"Shove your games, and face me, coward!"

Last would grind her teeth, and take a few steps after this one, as the projection began to wander down the dark hallway, though it were not long, before the jester were gone. Annoying twerp...

"Grr. Annoying coward.

If this is a wendigo, what can we expect from it now? Dividing us in the dark, and try to devour anyone going alone?"

On 2022-06-17 at 4:48 AM, Spiral Spell said:

Spiral remained silent as the Jester wandered the halls and would follow after the Jester, annoyed by his persona. "Hmm, I don't think he's a real being. More like a hologram or projection, to test those who enter, perhaps, built by the ones who built this place? But yeah, we need to put our heads together and figure this out. Maybe we shouldn't fall for it though, finding a key? Seems too simple to me if someone wanted to trap us in here." 

 

On 2022-06-17 at 6:25 AM, Kujamih said:

Light would cast and illuminate a light that's enough for them to see where they're going.

"Hey, at least it didn't tried to kill us . .. yet."

As Ficus point out her sensing something on the west, Light would volunteer as bait and head on first.

"I'll volunteer and lead the way, since I'm more nimble than the rest of you. This way if it's a trap you ponies can run for it." 

"Good, we can see something now. Stay close, and expect an ambush.

Now then, Spiral? I don't know what a hologram is. Is that some sort of illusion? What insight do you have on this?

And you, Light. Don't go too far ahead. We'll need the light source, and you heard the general, before we departed. So best to remain close, while you do your... I dunno, kitsune, changeling- Whatever magic. Doesn't matter, long as it works."

Seemed pretty obvious he were not what he appeared to be, but then, what were he?

Bah, like it mattered. They had to focus on the mission, and just make use of the tools they had at hoof. And first order of business, should be to work out a formation, and then walk grouped up, before someone got lured away, for easy consumptions.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@Blitz Boom

14 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

I willingly go here, and on to every single battlefield, I'd be sent to. Because this is war, and war isn't won, unless there's soldiers ready to fight."

" That just proves that your more insane than us steel maiden. Hehehe" he laughed.

"Owww  foolish filly... On war, no one wins. Remember that. So young... Once your war is over... You will be burned alive... Just like me." Light said with a hint of sorrow within his words that felt jested to her.

14 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

And I call you crazy, because love and smiles, never killed anything. Last time I saw someone think that, they got cut in half. Show me something that gets hurt by dancing, and maybe I'll stop thinking your suggestion is mad. Until then, I'll trust my sword. 

Besides, I'm not your soldier. You don't have the rank to give me orders."

" Well last time I saw someone think that, they've gone mad to the point of becoming a draconicous... The one you saw might've been the best result." He dead pan said straight to Last Stand, with no tone of jest or seriousness. Just plane blank emotion.

" Don't worry I killed that draconicous.... I think."

" Oh and yes I don't own you soldier.... But soldier none the less, follow your commander's orders, soldier."

14 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Shove your games, and face me, coward!"

Last would grind her teeth, and take a few steps after this one, as the projection began to wander down the dark hallway, though it were not long, before the jester were gone. Annoying twerp...

"Grr. Annoying coward.

If this is a wendigo, what can we expect from it now? Dividing us in the dark, and try to devour anyone going alone?"

" If only that worked.... Life would've been so easy. " He looked at her with smirk in his face. 

14 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

Good, we can see something now. Stay close, and expect an ambush.

Now then, Spiral? I don't know what a hologram is. Is that some sort of illusion? What insight do you have on this?

And you, Light. Don't go too far ahead. We'll need the light source, and you heard the general, before we departed. So best to remain close, while you do your... I dunno, kitsune, changeling- Whatever magic. Doesn't matter, long as it works."

" What's this? The steel maiden is worried for my safety? You make me blush... " He jest. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Blitz Boom

Wildebeast chuckled, "Take all the time you need, I think I'll do the same." He took a seat near to where Briar had laid down, taking some weight off the leg he had been favoring, "It's been better, and it'll heal. Hopefully we won't have another sudden stop like that."

Wildebeast would stay seated when Briar eventually moved to get up, "You sure you're good to go? Don't want you straining yourself now after all."

 

@Blitz Boom @-Solstice- @Kujamih

On 2022-06-16 at 8:48 PM, Spiral Spell said:

"Hmm, I don't think he's a real being. More like a hologram or projection, to test those who enter, perhaps, built by the ones who built this place?

The image of the jester's face appeared on the wall next to them, the mask having been switched to a sad one, "I'm not just some puppet strung up for your entertainment, though I'm locked away only you are in containment."

The face disappeared again after he finished speaking. It seemed the Jester was in fact listening to what they were saying.

 

On 2022-06-16 at 10:25 PM, Kujamih said:

I'll volunteer and lead the way, since I'm more nimble than the rest of you. This way if it's a trap you ponies can run for it." 

Ficus seemed unsure, but nodded.

Turning down the West hallway it seemed to be some sort of serving quarters, they passed a storage area on the South that was full of old wine bottles and sealed casks, as well as some old food preserved by the cold still air as if the whole palace was one big freezer.

As they entered a small room filled with serving trays and carts, Ficus stopped and turned North, through an old swinging door they entered a food prep area, where the servants likely put the prepared food onto plates and trays for distribution, given the large counter in the center seemed in the process of plating up a meal when everyone had left. There was still no sign of any ponies, just the tools they had left behind.

Ficus stopped at the north wall of the room, "It's close, I think on the other side of this wall."

There was another door leading out of the room on the North side just a few lengths to Ficus's East, which opened to a hallway heading North. If they followed that they'd reach a locked door marked 'Utility'.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@Illiad Easle @Blitz Boom @-Solstice-

He'd scan the area for anything interesting or note worthy, like if there's hints of magic, or artifacts, etc.

But if there aren't any, he'd go investigate the Door for the utility. He'd scan the door and what's on the other side. If it's safe he'd touch it and make the material very light that he can break it. 

" Unlocked." He jest. 

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

"I thank you for the concern, but I assure you, I'm fine. Merely drained, is all."

The worst part were getting up on his hooves. That were the biggest strain. It got easier once he were up, though he wouldn't be lifting things for at least a few hours, that had any heft to it. He simply lacked the essence right now, to even use his vines. The last he had in him, were used to slowly draw them back into his body.

"If you will, consider this a history lesson, of sorts.

Six centuries past, when my kin rose from what is now the great Enigma Jungle, but were once the White Sands Desert, we made contact with Equestria. We were a young, inexperienced race, so we sought companionship, and knowledge. You equines looked as us, so to you we were drawn, and for a time, history says it went well.

Then my kin began to disappear. Slowly, but steadily, dozens went missing, with no clue, as to their whereabouts. Until that is, several of them were found on bountiful farms, harvested for every drop of their essence, in the simple pursuit of greed. Ponies live by their farms, and you have seen yourself now, what my essence can do, to plant life. From out stories though, they did not expect it to be that desired. It were something we traded willingly, as I have done here, at The Æther, as it were all we had to offer.

Outrage among my kin, made the elders condemn pony kin, and we secluded ourselves once more, with rare exceptions. A few minor tribes elsewhere would open up, centuries later. Exiles of course, would come out too, but by and large, it were seen by us, like ponies were but driven by selfish greed. And as we had something they so richly desired, we could not trust them.

In any case, the point of the story being, that I am thankful that times have not repeated itself. They saw what I could do, yet not a single being here, thought of saving the rest of the crops, by trying to harvest what I had left. Earth Mother be praised, that these are better times. It makes me feel more confident about when the day comes, that the earth becomes hospitable again, and a new tree shall be raised. This time, not hidden from prying eyes, but open to all.

Hmmm... 'tis a nice thought. The sort of thing, one can look towards, with hope in mind."

He would speak as they moved. He knew of one doctor, that being the one who had examined him in the first place, and generally were the one he went to, for his harvests. He assumed that would be a good one to lead Wildebeast towards, unless he had others in mind.

As for him... It were easy to see he were drained. His steps were heavier, and the foilage of his being, looked somewhat deflated and withering, in a few places. It'd be fine though. Just the results of him, running on a low tank. He'd just need time. And meat. For the love of the Earth Mother, did he need a severe shot of proteins, to hasten his essence production.

========================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-06-20 at 2:31 PM, Kujamih said:

" That just proves that your more insane than us steel maiden. Hehehe" he laughed.

"Owww  foolish filly... On war, no one wins. Remember that. So young... Once your war is over... You will be burned alive... Just like me." Light said with a hint of sorrow within his words that felt jested to her.

She almost laughed at this comment from him. Almost. A dry, hopeless laugh it would've been, but he had to settle for a brief, barely notable smirk.

"Least then, I get to be buried, like the rest of the Shrine Maidens."

The history of her clan, were a thousand years of war, after decades of service to the princess of the night. Service, in which they did the harsh things, that none wanted to do, but some had to. Any who knew their story, knew that getting burned alive, when they were not valued enough, were a distinct possibility, as it had happened before. Yet never had it stopped them, and it wouldn't stop her either. Cause she knew, that she would have done her part, as best she could. To Tartarus with what others might think.

And if it ended up getting her killed... Well, they weren't gonna get her without a fight. After everything, she weren't just gonna jump into the pyre, and laugh.

On 2022-06-20 at 2:31 PM, Kujamih said:

" Well last time I saw someone think that, they've gone mad to the point of becoming a draconicous... The one you saw might've been the best result." He dead pan said straight to Last Stand, with no tone of jest or seriousness. Just plane blank emotion.

" Don't worry I killed that draconicous.... I think."

" Oh and yes I don't own you soldier.... But soldier none the less, follow your commander's orders, soldier."

"I know you're trying to impress, but keep your stories realistic, if you want me to believe them. As if anyone could kill a draconequus."

She utterly ignored how he seemed to mock her station, as a soldier. She had better things to do, than to get uppity at every word, said by someone she got more and more certain, were not only a poser, pretending to be a pony, but also were gonna be utterly useless in a fight. Strong fighters, didn't brag, and make up tales about killing actual demigods. They let their actions, talk for themselves.

Next, he were gonna tell her that he killed actual gods, or something. Despite even her knowing, that the laws of nature, where that if a god fell, it created a vacuum, that needed to be filled. In simpler terms, either the god killer, would be chained to fill the role themselves, or they would have to bring a suitable sacrifice. You couldn't just meddle with primordial beings, without there being consequences. It messed with the basic balance of creation.

"And the one I speak about, were a short term, commander of the Shrine Maidens. Thought to speak peace with the manetids. Pff. Idiot... There's no reason with them. Hopefully the monsters below, eradicated the lot of them.

Didn't know madness caused draconequui though. Another tall tale, or is that sortpart of it? Always heard stories about them being mad, the few times they got brought up."

Probably another lie, but meh. She'd humor this one. He seemed oddly... Serious, about that one. Might just be a good poker face. They'd see.

On 2022-06-20 at 2:31 PM, Kujamih said:

" What's this? The steel maiden is worried for my safety? You make me blush... " He jest. 

"Peh, hardly. Just don't wanna see you die, before I figure out what your whole deal is. Something's off about you."

Maybe a little honest, but she didn't care. What did she gain by lying about things? Not a whole lot. So might as well be brutally honest.

On 2022-06-20 at 7:24 PM, Illiad Easle said:

The image of the jester's face appeared on the wall next to them, the mask having been switched to a sad one, "I'm not just some puppet strung up for your entertainment, though I'm locked away only you are in containment."

The face disappeared again after he finished speaking. It seemed the Jester was in fact listening to what they were saying.

 

"Are you sure this ain't a zebra, messing with us? A lot of rhyming with this one."

She knew very little of zebra, but one thing that came up, were how much they liked to do their rhymes. Always spoke in them. Like this jester did, through whatever weird magic were used here. Though he were still speaking nonsense. Fortunate then, that she'd get an explanation about things, around that time, to understand it better.

On 2022-06-20 at 10:04 PM, Spiral Spell said:

Spiral huffed at the Jester's appearance. "For your information, Last - a hologram is a projection of something else. It is not real no matter how it looks. I suppose in this case, he cannot physically interact with us, but appears to be able to project his form onto us for taunting purposes. It's more likely that he is a real being, somewhere within the walls of this place - outside of our reach. Or perhaps he may be somewhere else entirely. I have a radical proposal here, what if this Jester is one of Discord's tool's, so to speak? I sincerely hope that is not the case." Spiral commented. Spiral appeared to be a bit turned off by Light's eccentric dialog and didn't comment further on it.

Spiral looked about the place that they had entered within, finding it not much of interest. Just for food storage and preparations of food, and she'd lead the group towards the North towards the Utility door. If they had all agreed upon reaching that door, Spiral would have used her shadow magic in an attempt to unlock the door by forming her shadow magic into a key shape, that would unlock the door. 

"So it's like an astral projection? Had a scout in our temple, who did that whole thing.

Intent isn't clear yet, but I'll keep in mind what you said. No point in swinging after shadows."

Not as informative, as she would've hoped for, but it were answering the main thing regardless, rather quickly. So least this one got to the point, and didn't try to just chatter away. Among this group of frankly, mostly non-combatants, Last were thinking slightly more fondly of Spiral, over the others.

She seemed to have some interesting magic too, as they went along. Manipulating shadow, into giving it mass. Seemed useful, to make a variety of tools. Interesting... Maybe if she were taught how to fight proper, she'd make for an interesting combatant. Might have to keep an eye out, to see if there were potential, or if it were all magic.

As for them moving along, Last had volunteered to take the back position, as she could keep an eye on things then, and she were good at dealing with ambush attempts.

On 2022-06-20 at 7:24 PM, Illiad Easle said:

As they entered a small room filled with serving trays and carts, Ficus stopped and turned North, through an old swinging door they entered a food prep area, where the servants likely put the prepared food onto plates and trays for distribution, given the large counter in the center seemed in the process of plating up a meal when everyone had left. There was still no sign of any ponies, just the tools they had left behind.

Ficus stopped at the north wall of the room, "It's close, I think on the other side of this wall."

"Makes you wonder where they all went, in such a hurry... Not a single sign of combat in here. Doubt they got ambushed in this room."

Unless magic, or gas, were used in some fashion. Yet it seemed more likely, they had rushed off for some reason, and then just never come back. Yet what would've drawn them in? She supposed, that's what they were here to find out.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

On 2022-06-21 at 6:31 AM, Kujamih said:

@Illiad Easle @Blitz Boom @-Solstice-

He'd scan the area for anything interesting or note worthy, like if there's hints of magic, or artifacts, etc.

But if there aren't any, he'd go investigate the Door for the utility. He'd scan the door and what's on the other side. If it's safe he'd touch it and make the material very light that he can break it. 

" Unlocked." He jest. 

Edited: @-Solstice-

Light was quite impressed with Spiral's magic.

" Shadow magic huhhh... Impressive indeed....  I on the other hand study Light magic. You and me are like ebony and Ivory. " He winked at her.

@Blitz Boom

10 minutes ago, Blitz Boom said:

know you're trying to impress, but keep your stories realistic, if you want me to believe them. As if anyone could kill a draconequus.

"Draconicous are like gods... Once no one believe in their cause or existence.... They die... So what I did is killed everything she believed in and anything she could hold on to.... She ain't laughing now... No one is."

17 minutes ago, Blitz Boom said:

"Peh, hardly. Just don't wanna see you die, before I figure out what your whole deal is. Something's off about you."

" Admit it... You like me. " He jests. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Blitz Boom

Wildebeast listened to everything Briar had to say, "That's an unfortunate story, I hope things have actually changed as much as you think. I left pony society for similar reasons, everyone so concerned with getting ahead, they forgot to be alive." He shrugged, "I can make it the rest of the way, you should get some food in you before you fall over." With that Wildebeast would split off to head towards the hospital area as the doctor Briar was familiar with was part of the research area anyway.

If Briar went to the cafeteria he'd find it emptier than usual, but given it seemed like there was only the griffon manning the counter there was a bit more of a line than usual. Those waiting seemed just as exhausted as Briar did. They'd eventually get to the front, "Sorry, we don't have a lot of options today for prepared dishes, the sudden stop got a bunch of the cooks injured and all that. What can I get you?"

 

@-Solstice-

Merlot Cloud was under one of the wings of her craft, working to replace some of the cables that had been damaged when it had tipped over during the stop. It had taken several hours just to get it upright and separated from the other small crafts, but a few more replaced cables and it would be air-worthy again. Helping her was a new arrival to the project, an energetic earth pony colt named Crank, who would power the propellers of the craft when they were flying. He had only been recently assigned as her partner as her previous one had gotten pregnant. "Hey, Cloud? It occurs to me that this is the longest we've spent together when we aren't flying, and that outside of flying we don't really interact. Maybe if we got to know each other better, we'd make a better team in the air?"

 

@Blitz Boom @-Solstice- @Kujamih

Spiral was able to get the door unlocked with only a little bit of trouble, then the door itself was rather stiff to open, it had clearly been a long time since it was last opened, and the hinges had gotten stuck, but with enough effort they'd be able to open it without issue.

Inside the Utility room were the standard cleaning supplies and tools one would expect, and the preserved corpse of a unicorn stallion with a key hanging around his neck. The corpse was remarkably well preserved, likely owing to the cold temperatures and stagnant air, but if they touched it the preserved outer layer would slough off, revealing the advanced decay beneath. The smell made Ficus retch and flee a short distance back the way they had come. Nonetheless, they would have a key now, whether it would end up useful was yet to be seen.

(Feel free to investigate the room further if you like)

Once the others were done with the corpse in the room, Ficus would lead them back to where they had deviated from the main path, then led them North until they reached another crossroads, where she once again paused, "Can feel a few things now, something very powerful that way," she pointed North West, "something else powerful that way," she pointed North by North West, "and two important things, maybe more keys? that way." she pointed North by North East. She turned towards the others "What do you think we should go after first?"

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@-Solstice- @Blitz Boom @Illiad Easle

2 hours ago, Spiral Spell said:

She turned to light and gave him a bit of a scornful look. "We are in the presence of an ancient intelligence - and in such a hazardous place. It would be wise for you to keep your immature thoughts to yourself, White Light. I am sure you are more useful if you would keep quiet and stay attentive to our surroundings. Idle banter is not befitting of this place

Light would shrug it off,

" Uuuu so harsh and cold, what's with the sudden attitude? Didn't like my praise? If everyone's gonna be too up tight, the stress is gonna get you in the end."

2 hours ago, Illiad Easle said:

Once the others were done with the corpse in the room, Ficus would lead them back to where they had deviated from the main path, then led them North until they reached another crossroads, where she once again paused, "Can feel a few things now, something very powerful that way," she pointed North West, "something else powerful that way," she pointed North by North West, "and two important things, maybe more keys? that way." she pointed North by North East. She turned towards the others "What do you

" Perhaps we should go to the safe routes first? " Light suggested. 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

On 2022-06-23 at 3:48 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Wildebeast listened to everything Briar had to say, "That's an unfortunate story, I hope things have actually changed as much as you think. I left pony society for similar reasons, everyone so concerned with getting ahead, they forgot to be alive." He shrugged, "I can make it the rest of the way, you should get some food in you before you fall over." With that Wildebeast would split off to head towards the hospital area as the doctor Briar was familiar with was part of the research area anyway.

"Safe travels, my friend. Yet let me leave you, with but a few words, if I may?

WHen one day, we can return home, things will change. We can all have another chance, at shaping the budding civilisation to come, in what minor, yet potentially important ways, that we can. And for us who remember worse times, and missteps, it is important to try and help them steer towards better horizons."

After his... *Few* words, Briar would give a bow of the neck towards Wildebeast, and then be on his way. He could feel a certain longing to simply slumping down once more, and enjoy a momentary respite of unconsciousness, while he body regained some energy. Yet it were not the time, and he would not let Brittle see him like that. It would greatly scare her, and thus, he had to keep moving. He could collapse later, when in the vicinity of a bed.

On 2022-06-23 at 3:48 AM, Illiad Easle said:

If Briar went to the cafeteria he'd find it emptier than usual, but given it seemed like there was only the griffon manning the counter there was a bit more of a line than usual. Those waiting seemed just as exhausted as Briar did. They'd eventually get to the front, "Sorry, we don't have a lot of options today for prepared dishes, the sudden stop got a bunch of the cooks injured and all that. What can I get you?"

It was a long line, to get to the front, but he'd be patient. Just smile calmly, and take deep breaths. Plant his hooves, and keep the straight, as to not show weakness in the knees. He were an oak. Unbending, and resilient. Just needed patience...

He would admit, that when finally it became his turn, he were starting to be less certain, that he could keep up the internal pep talk, for much longer, yet he would not show grievances to the poor griffon serving. More were here than normal, and he were but one. Delays were inevitable.

"I understand, and I hope your colleagues are at good health, or will be so soon.

I would like some meat, if you please. What kind, are of somewhat lesser importance, and if some are unprepared, it would actually be preferable. I am in need of proteins. Brittle?"

The changeling would try and cover herself behind Briar, to have as many creatures as possible, on the other side, of the barrier that were him. Yet she'd briefly turn, and shake her head, before going back to angling herself. She were not hungry right now. 

========================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-06-23 at 1:06 AM, Kujamih said:

"Draconicous are like gods... Once no one believe in their cause or existence.... They die... So what I did is killed everything she believed in and anything she could hold on to.... She ain't laughing now... No one is."

She'd argue against this, as draconequui, were not proper gods. They were concepts made flesh. basic rules of the universe, like fear, or chaos, given form. Seemed unlikely to be driven back by something like that.

Now, it would maybe work to greatly weaken a god, if the idea were, that they were empowered by belief, but even then, they were apparently still beings of primordial power. Such raw energy, would need to go somewhere. And what were any sentient being, harnessing such power, if not a god?

But that was a whole, theological discussion, and this frankly didn't seem the place to argue faith. If ever there came a point, where she had odd small talks with him, perhaps it would come up again, but for now, she'd just note his opinion - and insane story - before moving on to other things.

On 2022-06-23 at 1:06 AM, Kujamih said:

" Admit it... You like me. " He jests. 

"I liked my cousin more, and that still didn't stop me from piercing his traitorous heart."

Family were important, but more than that, were loyalty. He had betrayed them, by trying to get to the innermost chamber, using force and coercion, with the intent of giving the manetid what they wanted, to end the conflict. It were a day of sorrow for her, yet she did what had to be done, when it became clear, that he would not listen to reason. Her last acts of kindness, being to make it as painless as possible, and then ensuring he'd be burned, according to tradition, regardless of his change of heart. Let him stand before their ancestors, as they'd tell him, what she did: That whatever they were guarding, were not something that should be let out, and that if the manetid got it, they'd stop their manageable swarms, and instead descend upon them like locusts, now uncaring how much destruction were made in their wake. No need to be *gentle*, when you had what you wanted, from the place you were attacking. The eternal queen herself, may well just stomp them down. She were large enough to do so, with little they could o to stop her, but to take as many with them in the last battle, as they could.

On 2022-06-23 at 3:48 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Inside the Utility room were the standard cleaning supplies and tools one would expect, and the preserved corpse of a unicorn stallion with a key hanging around his neck. The corpse was remarkably well preserved, likely owing to the cold temperatures and stagnant air, but if they touched it the preserved outer layer would slough off, revealing the advanced decay beneath. The smell made Ficus retch and flee a short distance back the way they had come. Nonetheless, they would have a key now, whether it would end up useful was yet to be seen.

Last would wander towards the dead pony, and examine the corpse more thoroughly. She wanted to know what had killed him, and the smell... Eh, she had smelled worse. Wasn't always, they could get to the other Shrine Maidens with any degree of haste, to put them on a funeral pyre. Sometimes, it took a few weeks or months, as the body laid in the sun. Quite a pungent smell, but you got used to it, to a certain extend. Became feasible to sorta just tolerate it at least, and tolerate it one should, as there might be important clues on this corpse, and these squeamish ponies sure weren't gonna do it.

"...Outta keep an eye out for more. Gather them up when we're done here, and torch them. Let their spirits be free."

She'd speak while she worked, on going over everything she could here, to learn od what had happened, to this stallion. Had to be something else, than just a key, to get out of this one. Hence, why she'd search him, as well as the utility room, with a narrow, trained eye. Could be something small, that'd end up important.

On 2022-06-23 at 4:08 AM, Spiral Spell said:

Spiral walked in and looked at the corpse of the stallion without much of a reaction. She's seen lots of corpses before, and it didn't cross her mind at how bad this stallion's fate may have been. She marched up without much of a thought and snagged the key off his neck. "I am sure there are many more of these throughout the place. Not that we need them. I'm the only key we need here." she spoke. "But a good failsafe, just in case." she commented casually.

She turned to light and gave him a bit of a scornful look. "We are in the presence of an ancient intelligence - and in such a hazardous place. It would be wise for you to keep your immature thoughts to yourself, White Light. I am sure you are more useful if you would keep quiet and stay attentive to our surroundings. Idle banter is not befitting of this place." she said, her eyes narrowing slightly, before looking to Ficus and where she pointed. "Perhaps that's the source of our 'friendly' jester..." she mused.

"I'm with her on this. We don't know exactly who or what our enemy are, and if there are more. We either stay sharp, or we might end up like this stallion.

Also, your magic's nice and all, but magic can be jammed. Might be we'll need that key, so try and keep it safe."

Not that she had access to anti-magic, like... Ever, but she knew it was a thing. Who knew what sorta thing they could end up facing here? Could be they'd shut off magic, and then if they reached a few doors, needing keys, they'd be in serious trouble.

On 2022-06-23 at 6:33 AM, Kujamih said:

Perhaps we should go to the safe routes first? " Light suggested. 

 

On 2022-06-23 at 3:48 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Once the others were done with the corpse in the room, Ficus would lead them back to where they had deviated from the main path, then led them North until they reached another crossroads, where she once again paused, "Can feel a few things now, something very powerful that way," she pointed North West, "something else powerful that way," she pointed North by North West, "and two important things, maybe more keys? that way." she pointed North by North East. She turned towards the others "What do you think we should go after first?"

After they inevitably left, and then had to make decisions on where to go next, they all seemed to have their suggestions. She for one, were thinking one thing in particular, and were ready to argue for it.

"North by North East. We still don't know who our enemy are, so we should get some intel. Searching those two, important things, might provide some answers."

Now, she were not one to veer away, from a good fight, but she still preferred it to be with an enemy she had some semblance of idea, what were. Otherwise, it were less of a brave stance, and more  a fly, buzzing closer and closer, to a spider's web. They'd stand more of a fighting chance, if they knew what the metaphorical spider here were, rather than rush into its net.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@-Solstice-

Crank rolled his eyes, "Nothing stopping me except you always running off as soon as we land, but you're right, no time like the present."

He came over when Merlot beckoned him, but he chuckled when she suggested that she might teach him, "Sorry, I guess I didn't mention that I helped build several of these? I mean sure, you can always learn more, but when you've repaired them as often as I have," He quickly caught a loose bolt that was just about to fall out of the wing, "Maybe I'll be the one teaching you?" He chuckled again, "But I understand, every pilot wants to be as in control of their craft as they can be. I respect that. I was thinking more that we could talk about who we are outside of the craft, you know? Like what we like to do when we're not flying? I for one like to read out on one of the observation balconies, though it's far too cold out there to do that this cycle. How about you?"

He would pass her tools and materials as she requested them while they talked, if she were up to it.

 

@Blitz Boom

The griffon nodded, "Raw meat I can do, provided you don't mind it being fish, and partially frozen, and I'll give you a small portion of changeling gel for the little one for later. I hope Joy suits her, because that's what we've got a lot of."

Assuming that was acceptable to them, the griffon would step away from the counter, returning a few minutes later with a few large fish wrapped in brown paper and a small container that likely held the changeling gel, "Best if you ate that elsewhere though, wouldn't want to make the ponies queasy. Anything else?"

 

@Blitz Boom @-Solstice- @Kujamih

The chain the key was on was pulled through the corpse's neck rather than breaking, causing the head to fall to the floor and roll a short distance, nearly bumping against Spiral's leg.

Light's closer investigation would reveal that the corpse, although showing signs of advanced hypothermia, had not died from the cold, but rather the corpse seemed drained, like the life had been sucked out of it. The utility room didn't have much in the way of useful materials, unless they wanted to start cleaning up the place, there'd be enough flammable liquid and a box of matches to burn the corpse if they wanted to though.

Once they picked up the key the projection of the Jester appeared behind them, the mask once again smiling as he sang, trotting along the wall back they way they had come, "Bring me the broken keys, bring joy back to my heart, we shall all be set free, I can do anything. Do you enjoy this game you play within your hearts? This world cannot be tamed, we cannot cut the strings." Then he disappeared again.

 

Ficus looked slightly annoyed when Light suggested they take a safe route first, "I don't know which way would be safe, I only know where things are."

She seemed relieved when Last made a decision for her, and she led the group into the large room to the East, then headed to the exit on the North side. The room itself seemed to be a sort of dining area with several large tables, there were plates set out, some still with portions of food on them, but again there were no ponies to be found.

The room to the north seemed to be some sort of barracks, ancient weapons and armor hung from the walls in remarkable condition considering their age. Ficus led them to another locked door, this one seemed especially complex, it was labeled Munitions.

If Spiral attempted to pick the lock with her magic she'd feel the door, or the metal it was made of, draining the energy away. It seemed it had been enchanted to prevent magical attempts to open it, which made sense given the society was fully unicorns, if anyone could unlock it with magic why have it locked at all?

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@Illiad Easle @-Solstice- @Blitz Boom

 As the head rolls, an awkward silence would surely happen before they could process what gruesome thing just happened.

light would quickly break that silence and say.

"...... Nice. I guess this will be our fate if we aren't careful... Sucked the life out of you and frozen to death, then getting your head cut off.... I say it's over kill." He sarcastically said.

but then Spiral just had to burn the corpse for no apparent reason.

" Aaaaaand you also put in the list of getting burned to dust.... Why exactly did you do that Spiral? " Light said with a bit of worry from this heartless pyromaniac.

"I know we're crazy and all, but you don't have to go all out crazy on us." He tried to jest.

As they tried to unlock the magic draining door. Light would give it a try.

At first he'd try to sense it if it's the same material as the Changeling crystal, which absorbs none changeling magic. If it is he would then release a spike of that changeling crystal, (the black shards ) from his hooves and stab the part where the magic is, then absorb it and become part of his body.

If not he would still find the source and use his shards to extract the magic absorbing material, like a surgery... But a door for a patient.

He would try to be careful and test out first if his shards and the material is volatile when neer each other as they want to avoid an explosion. If both materials try to absorb each other and is reacting quite violently, he'd stop the operation. If not. He'll try to absorb the magic and see if it disables it, and continue to extract it, as it could be a valuable material to use. If light could harness this technology, even changelings aren't safe from him now. 

 

 

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

On 2022-06-26 at 12:16 AM, Illiad Easle said:

The griffon nodded, "Raw meat I can do, provided you don't mind it being fish, and partially frozen, and I'll give you a small portion of changeling gel for the little one for later. I hope Joy suits her, because that's what we've got a lot of."

"In my condition, I am not one to be picky about the selection. I'll accept, with a sincere thank you. And while it seems Brittle is not currently hungry, I will gladly take the gel with us. It may be she will end up being so soon, after this... Eventful day. Although I fear it is not yet done, being tumultuous."

He'd patiently await the offered food, and when it were presented, would at first, move to use his vine, as he so often did. Then he felt a certain... Well, sharp pain, as he attempted to poke one of them out, and halted that idea. Instead, electing to use his mouth, as he had felt earth ponies do, to get the bagged fish on the edge, then use his head to have it roll down his back. It almost went a little bad, but Brittle would use her magic to keep the package stable, on his back, to avoid it maybe sliding down on the floor.

On 2022-06-26 at 12:16 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Assuming that was acceptable to them, the griffon would step away from the counter, returning a few minutes later with a few large fish wrapped in brown paper and a small container that likely held the changeling gel, "Best if you ate that elsewhere though, wouldn't want to make the ponies queasy. Anything else?"

"I understand. Especially on a day such as this, it is best for me to show some restraints around them. They have had enough to test their minds for now as it is. We shall return to our room, and finish it there.

And that shall be all. There is access to water near our destination, so we have the essentials. Thank you once more, for the help. I wish you a good day."

He'd groan slightly, as he bend his neck some, for the helpful server, and would then turn around, to begin the trek to his room. A testing endeavor, now that he could not sit and eat in here, but he had to keep moving. Just... Take a few breaks now and again, and don't try and sit down, and he should be fine. If he tried sitting, he had the feeling he would not get up again with any ease, for several hours.

(assuming there is water in the rooms, via sinks. If not, and nothing nearby available, he'd ask for some water too)

========================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-06-26 at 1:42 AM, Spiral Spell said:

Spiral would watch as the corpse's head separated off and looked down with an almost cold yet cruel look across her face as she moved away and would light the body on fire, leaving it to burn as they left the room without looking back. She didn't object with the direction they were going and stayed largely silent as they proceeded about the halls. The keys were definitely something she would keep to herself. Seeing the plates with food on them was eerie, but what interested her the most was the armor. Last could definitely tell that armor called out to Spiral - for she too was tactically minded.

 

On 2022-06-26 at 3:36 AM, Kujamih said:

" Aaaaaand you also put in the list of getting burned to dust.... Why exactly did you do that Spiral? " Light said with a bit of worry from this heartless pyromaniac.

"I know we're crazy and all, but you don't have to go all out crazy on us." He tried to jest.

Last would watch the corpse as Spiral burned it. Not gazing away, as the decaying corpse would be consumed slowly, by the flames engulfing it. She'd at most, move some things away, if they were too near, to a point where it seemed they'd catch on fire. They might need this room again later, so best to not torch everything yet.

She'd respond though, once Light went and opened his mouth, calling Spiral out for being crazy.

"Leave her alone, Light. She gave him a warriors burial. That's more respectful, than leaving his carcass to rot on the floor. Frankly if she hadn't done it, I would've."

She had her thoughts about how useful Spiral might be in combat, as she hadn't seen anything yet, but beyond that, Last were actually starting to like the mare, and have some respect for her. She were a tough mare, standing by her words, and wouldn't back down, from what she'd seen so far. And now, it were also shown, that she seemingly had respect for the dead. That was more than she would've given the mare credit for, when she first saw her, and currently, made Spiral her favorite creature on this trip.

As for the jester... She refused to give him the attention right now, he so desperately showed that he wanted. Though she were making some thoughts about him. A few of his words, and what they were currently doing, were making her question a few things, though she'd mull it over a bit more, before voicing her opinion.

On 2022-06-26 at 12:16 AM, Illiad Easle said:

The room to the north seemed to be some sort of barracks, ancient weapons and armor hung from the walls in remarkable condition considering their age. Ficus led them to another locked door, this one seemed especially complex, it was labeled Munitions.

If Spiral attempted to pick the lock with her magic she'd feel the door, or the metal it was made of, draining the energy away. It seemed it had been enchanted to prevent magical attempts to open it, which made sense given the society was fully unicorns, if anyone could unlock it with magic why have it locked at all?

Last's attention were mostly on the armaments, after giving the place a look over. She'd wait a bit, but she were intending to go over, and examine closer, how well these weapons were. It never hurt, to have a spare blade, or spear, at the ready. And if they were functional, after how long they must've been here, it told a good deal about their sturdiness. Or they were barely held together, and mostly ornamental at this point. She'd find out the old fashioned way.

First though, they seemed to have a lock to deal with.

On 2022-06-26 at 1:42 AM, Spiral Spell said:

When they reached the door, she attempted to unlock the door but failed to do so. "If anyone has any non-magical abilities to open this door up, go ahead and do so. Other wise, we'll all find something to pry this thing open..." she then smirked. "Or blow it's hinges off with the ancient weapons in those halls." 

"Or we could try that key you yanked off of the corpse. See if it fits.

If it doesn't, I second going for the hinges, but with care. We don't know what's in there. If its explosive, or there's a trap on the door, we could all be dead, if we try and force our way in."

And then of course, Light would try to do something... *sigh* Let him have his attempt. What was the worst that could happen?

...A trap triggering, and them all exploding. Or a poison attack of some sort. Honestly a fair few things that could go wrong, if the door were boobytrapped. But assuming it wasn't, it couldn't hurt that he tried his things, while she took a few steps backwards. Exploding when opening a door, were not high on her list, of ways to die.

On 2022-06-26 at 3:36 AM, Kujamih said:

At first he'd try to sense it if it's the same material as the Changeling crystal, which absorbs none changeling magic. If it is he would then release a spike of that changeling crystal, (the black shards ) from his hooves and stab the part where the magic is, then absorb it and become part of his body.

If not he would still find the source and use his shards to extract the magic absorbing material, like a surgery... But a door for a patient.

He would try to be careful and test out first if his shards and the material is volatile when neer each other as they want to avoid an explosion. If both materials try to absorb each other and is reacting quite violently, he'd stop the operation. If not. He'll try to absorb the magic and see if it disables it, and continue to extract it, as it could be a valuable material to use. If light could harness this technology, even changelings aren't safe from him now. 

She'd watch him for a time, but if nothing seemed to happen, Last would go and grab one of the weapons, that she had looked at before, and weigh it in her hoof. Get a feel for it, before trying something more drastic, like striking at an object, to see how it would hold up.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@-Solstice-

Crank looked surprised, and a little intimidated, by Merlot's response, "Wow, that's... far deeper than I expected. You're sure different from the rest of the pilots, I'll give you that. And I don't doubt that you've read more than me, speaking like that, I just read for fun."

He seemed somewhat disappointed at their apparent differences, "Well, how about food? I've noticed that the quality has gone up recently, I heard they found a special plant pony on one of the recent missions and they're to thank. I mean, the food was fine before, but it's even better now. I guess I'm pretty passionate about food, how about you?"

 

@Blitz Boom

All the rooms were equipped with sinks that provided clean water, so they had plenty to drink. As he passed through the hallways he found them less crowded than before, indicating that the hospital staff was making good progress taking care of the injured creatures. He would not be disturbed on his trip nor as he ate, if he didn't leave there would be a knock on the door a short time after he finished, Brittle's tutor was on the other side of the door, "Oh good, I thought I'd come around and make sure Brittle, and yourself of course, were still doing alright? I hope you found Pom and Plein alright as well?"

 

@-Solstice- @Kujamih @Blitz Boom

In regards to the corpse, Ficus would agree with Spiral and Last, "While the traditions of my kind prefer planting something over the corpse, like a tree, cremation is acceptable in this instance over the alternative. Leaving them to rot could spread disease, maybe."

 

In regards to the armory, looking around at what was available revealed an adjacent room that appeared to the the quartermaster's office. The documents within were written in Unique, the language of the unicorn nation before the unification. If Spiral could read them she wouldn't find much of interest, just lists of soldiers who had died of starvation and those who had deserted. There were a few references to a project called the Nexus, but none of the documents had details on it.

The weapons around the room had clearly been designed for Unicorns to wield, many of them holding gems that allowed for the storage of spells or boosted casting potential. Most were short ranged, to be used when the enemy got too close for ranged spells. None would be too useful against the door.

The door was not related to changeling crystals, in that it didn't seem to absorb magic, but rather magic seemed to just splash harmlessly off of it like water. Trying to grab it with magic felt... slippery, like it was pushing back against the magic. They'd also find it more difficult to cast magic the closer they were to the door, like it was making the magical field more rigid in it's presence.

The door seemed to be made entirely of this material, so it could not be extracted without removing the door entirely. Approaching the door with the crystals he would feel the magic in the crystals being pushed away, and the metal was hard enough to not be damaged or punctured by the crystals.

 

Last's idea to use the key they had gotten would prove fruitful, the door swinging open slowly along with half a decaying corpse that had gotten stuck to it, another key around the neck.

 

Inside the munitions room they'd find barrels of gunpowder and cannon balls, several with powerful runes carved into them sitting in cases of the same metal as the door to keep them from activating.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@Illiad Easle @Blitz Boom @-Solstice-

As Light failed and pondered at the material, he grinned and an evil look on his eyes would show.

" Tsk... I cannot allow a door to have bested me...."

as spiral once again burns another corpse down, Light would question and ask a request from spiral and the others.

" Hey Spiral? I'm not really sure if you're doing this stuff for respect or religious belief... But I'd want my corpse to be left alone, I'm sure you won't even consider burning my corpse. But just in case.... If I die just live it be."

Light would then help Spiral take out the  munitions. 

then he'd focus on the door.

" Hey I really want to test something from that material, so I'ma break that door. o, please make distance since I'll be bombarding it with projectiles."

he would put quite a distance between. Him and the door. Grabs a cannon ball(making sure it's not the same material as the door or else he won't be able to use magic.) make it zero weight. Then apply zero weight to himself. Then he'd release his black shards of claws from his hoof to anchor himself to the ground and the cannonball. He'd also cover the cannonball with his shards and form it aerodynamically. He'd make a swinging position and focus. He'd make a longer arm by using his dark shards so he'd make a bigger swing then release the cannonball to the door.

As the speeding cannonball reaches the target. The cannonball's weight will return to normal and the shards around it would detach from it, as the door tries to deflect the magic out from it. Making it back into a regular cannonball

" Let's see if you can handle raw physical strength." 

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Kujamih

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

Briar would be halfway finished on a fish, when she entered. The flesh tearing from the lightly frozen carcass, as he were caught in a somewhat awkward moment. He'd try and move past that, by taking the piece in, and close his mouth whilst he chewed that, then put the wrapping around the rest again. He weren't sure how the tutor would react to this sort of thing, so best to be on the safe side, yes? Though he wouldn't speak, until he had chewed, and swallowed the bite. It wasn't decent to speak, with food still in your mouth.

"AH, pardon me for that. You caught me at an... Inopportune time. And please forgive me for not standing and bowing this time. I am sadly unable to rise up at this current point in time. Nothing to worry about. Just ah, gave more of myself, than I normally would, one might say.

In regards to Plein and Pom, they were at good health, and well supervised, among the veterinarians. We have informed Silver of the situation as well, so that she would not worry.

Ah yes, and of course, Brittle is quite alright. It have just been a... Trying day for her, as it have for many others. Which speaking of, how are you doing, if I may ask?"

Brittle were indeed okay, though she were currently sitting in her bed, under a blanket, and munching slowly on the joy gel. She'd poke her head out eventually though, as she heard it were the tutor. Her gaze were anxious, and looking around the doorway, fearful that others had come too, and were going to do something. Maybe blame her, for what had happened? Or just to take advantage of Briar's weakened state, to go and torture her? M-Maybe put her back in a cage? She knew he wouldn't let others normally, but he had issues even standing up currently. Much less use magic, or his vines. W-What could he do if... If... *meep*

She'd cover herself under the blanket again, whilst her heart rate started to rise. It appeared some sort of transformation happened under said blanket too, but it wouldn't be possible to see properly. All that were visible, were a long tail, with porcupine needles, flopping out from the blanket, and laying lazily on the floor.

========================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-06-28 at 11:57 PM, Illiad Easle said:

In regards to the corpse, Ficus would agree with Spiral and Last, "While the traditions of my kind prefer planting something over the corpse, like a tree, cremation is acceptable in this instance over the alternative. Leaving them to rot could spread disease, maybe."

"Or they could reanimate. Nasty ambush attacks."

She had seen that sort before. Not in the regular sense though. It were only with those, affected by the horrors from the forest. The strange bugs that began to crawl into the victims, and the spores... It did things with beings, living or dead. Thankfully it were fairly easy to test, without getting close enough, when they were doing sweeps, in the calm hours at times, but it were still some nasty stuff. And she had heard about regular reanimation too. Dark magic, getting corpses up. Right big pain in the flank, if that came to pass here.

On 2022-06-29 at 1:10 AM, Spiral Spell said:

There she quickly looked around at the papers for a bit, being sure to be careful of any traps. She was in there for a few minutes, finding little of interest besides the papers about project Nexus. When she was out of the office, she would speak, "The offices contained something about a 'project' Nexus - perhaps that may be a key as to what has happened here." she mentioned, and would try the key on the lock, thus opening up the door successfully. There she'd take the key around the neck of the corpse.

She'd also burn that Corpse too, after taking the munitions out of the place so they wouldn't light up too. 

"Another corpse, another key. Peculiar... Starting to wonder if there's more to it, than just the doors we've gotten to by now. I grew up a place, where we guarded something that shouldn't get unlocked, and we'd give our lives to keep it like that. The jester thing was talking about prisoners. We might need to think before we open too many doors."

She didn't need to see the burning corpse, to know it was there. She could smell it. Burning bodies gave off a certain, unmistakable odor, that she couldn't easily miss.

On 2022-06-30 at 12:31 AM, Kujamih said:

" Hey Spiral? I'm not really sure if you're doing this stuff for respect or religious belief... But I'd want my corpse to be left alone, I'm sure you won't even consider burning my corpse. But just in case.... If I die just live it be."

"Fine. We'll just leave a knife in your forehead then, to make sure you'll stay down, if you die. Better?"

That seemed like a nice compromise then. If he for some reason, didn't want an honorable burial. Though she didn't get why not. Did he think he'd somehow get back to life? Maybe he were more mad than she thought.

On 2022-06-28 at 11:57 PM, Illiad Easle said:

The weapons around the room had clearly been designed for Unicorns to wield, many of them holding gems that allowed for the storage of spells or boosted casting potential. Most were short ranged, to be used when the enemy got too close for ranged spells. None would be too useful against the door.

Magic weapons... Eh, long as it had a hilt. And she wasn't against weaponry that could be magically charged. Fair few useful spells one could have there. Question really were, if it were usable. So if there were a wooden chair or something of the sort, out of reach of the others, she'd go over and swing it down. Normally she'd hold a blade with her mouth, but as she did not know what might be in this hilt, she'd swing with her hoof for now. Just to be sure.

Or she would've, if she didn't first had to address a bigger issue, which cause hed to instead just hold it, as she were gazing upon... Whatever Light were. Some sorta monstrosity.

On 2022-06-30 at 12:31 AM, Kujamih said:

" Hey I really want to test something from that material, so I'ma break that door. o, please make distance since I'll be bombarding it with projectiles."

he would put quite a distance between. Him and the door. Grabs a cannon ball(making sure it's not the same material as the door or else he won't be able to use magic.) make it zero weight. Then apply zero weight to himself. Then he'd release his black shards of claws from his hoof to anchor himself to the ground and the cannonball. He'd also cover the cannonball with his shards and form it aerodynamically. He'd make a swinging position and focus. He'd make a longer arm by using his dark shards so he'd make a bigger swing then release the cannonball to the door.

As the speeding cannonball reaches the target. The cannonball's weight will return to normal and the shards around it would detach from it, as the door tries to deflect the magic out from it. Making it back into a regular cannonball

" Let's see if you can handle raw physical strength."

"If that hits me, I'm going to test this blade on your skull."

She had no idea what he were, but it wasn't the worst she had seen. And as she had lived isolated, she were gonna assume this were normal somewhere. Somewhere she didn't care for, but somewhere, sure. Though she did wonder what it'd be like fighting a thing like this. Might be somewhat interesting to brawl one like this.

"What are you even? Some sorta changeling mutant? Or just a changeling? Never saw your sort where I came from, so I dunno what's normal. Looks more normal than the horrors anyway."

This still had a pony shape, and seemed equine in nature, more or less. The stuff from the forest, were different. Most times, when there were one in a pony shape, it were one of their bone hives. A pony, manetid, or whatever else caught, teeming with the bugs. All needless components removed or consumed, then the rest rearranged, more thick bone structure set in, to make the creature more useful for them, and then full control of motor skills, and functions.

Sometimes, they had looked at them, and seen recognition in the eyes, and a plea for help... To think they were still alive and aware, whilst being more or less holed bone structures, used as living hives for those pests and their eggs... There were no worse fate in her mind. And she had seen a lot of ways to meet your end, since the crisis happened. Princess Luna be willing, Discord and his ilk had at least done the world a favor, and found a way to torch that forest to the ground. They had tried plenty of times, but never succeeded. But if they had destroyed it, and every one of those horrid little anomalies inside, they'd at least have done one good thing. Though that wouldn't make up for all the bad. Not one bit.

If things seemed to go at least relatively sound here, she'd turn around, and swing the blade into a surface, to test it, while the rest were likely distracted by Light. Less questions for her. Probably. Depended on if they had any idea what he were.

Edited July 1, 2022 by Blitz Boom

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@-Solstice-

Crank nodded along as Merlot spoke, happy that she seemed to share an enjoyment for food. He perked up a bit when she mentioned her worries for other issues, "Well, why don't we wheel it over to the staging area and run through a preflight check? That should tell us pretty quick if any of the wires or hinges need replacing."

Their craft was a typical Trojan design for a 2 pony glider, weatherproof canvas over a reinforced wooden frame, often the empty space inside the wings would be filled with clouds to make it easier to fly at the cost of speed, though regardless of Merlot's preferences they would be empty now as they were not prepping to fly. The front had a large clear dome, which had thankfully not cracked in the stop, and which gave the pilot and unobstructed view in all forward directions. The dome had a hinge at the top and a lock at the bottom to keep it from opening while in flight. Behind the dome was the cockpit where the pilot would hang suspended in a harness allowing them to use their wings to control the flaps of the craft as if they were extensions of the pilot's own wings. Pilots had to be trained not to flap their wings while strapped in, lest they damage their wings or the wings of the craft. To either side of the dome attached to the wings were propellers powered by the second pony in the craft who sat in a space behind the cockpit in a bicycle type contraption providing the forward thrust of the craft. In the tail section of the craft there was space for a third pony or cargo. 

Spoiler

Crank would help Merlot get strapped into her harness, making sure everything was properly affixed and properly tightened. Once Merlot was secured Crank would get one of the several copies of the pre-flight checklist that were hanging on the wall, calling out various movements for her to do and checking that the flaps were properly responding as well as asking if Merlot felt any stiffness in the cables which would indicate damage either to the cable or the cover they slid through. Occasionally he'd oil a flap joint and that seemed to clear up most of the issues, but they did find that one of the tail flaps were binding and that cable would need to be replaced. But otherwise the craft was ready to go, at least from the pilot's side.

Crank would help Merlot get out of the harness, then go to check his station, "Keep an eye on the propellers, I'll try to hold them at a steady speed, let me know if you see any wobbling or imbalance in power." With that he'd strap himself in and start spinning the propellers. While they didn't seem to be wobbling, one was spinning slightly slower than the other.

 

@Blitz Boom

The tutor didn't seem repulsed by the sight of Briar eating, but she did look away, "Sorry, if I knew you were eating I would have come by later."

She looked visibly relieved to hear that Pom and Plein were alright, "I'm sure we'll hear all about it in class tomorrow, assuming it's safe to do so."

When asked as to her own wellbeing she looked surprised, "M-me? Oh, I'll be fine, I'll get some rest once I'm sure all my students are alright. Many of them, like Pom, don't have any family to take care of them, so I do what I can to help."

She had a faint smile when she saw Brittle's reaction, "I'm glad to see she's active at least, I hope this hasn't set her back too far. She's come so far these past few weeks it would be a shame if this forced her to start over." She shook her head, "I'm sure she'll bounce back. I'll come by tomorrow at the usual time to see if she's up to it, if that's alright?"

 

@-Solstice- @Kujamih @Blitz Boom

Light's attack on the door would yield the results of an EXCEEDINGLY LOUD *KLANG* and a sizeable dent in the door, the cannonball having lodged itself in the door. The door itself swung quickly slamming against the stone wall at the other end of it's range of motion and overwhelming the hinges, causing the door to fall to the ground with an equally loud *KLANG* If there was anything left alive in this place, they had certainly heard that. They could still hear the echoes reverberating throughout the stone passages.

 All of their ears were ringing from the onslaught of sound, such that even if they noticed the Jester's appearance on one of the walls, wearing a mask that seemed to indicate fear, they wouldn't be able to hear what he told them. He'd disappear again before they could hear again.

Ficus looked understandably shaken by the noise, and once they could hear again she asked, "Could we not do something like that again? We don't know what else is down here, and now whatever is hear knows we're here."

Last would find a suitable blade, while it wasn't the level of craftsmanship one would expect for a weapon, it was flawless in it's beauty and balance. Put against most other blades, edge to edge this one would break first, but it was very sharp, easily devastating against unarmored opponents.

 

Once everyone was recovered, Ficus would lead the way North out of the armory into another hallway, traveling West a short distance before stopping short of a T, she whispered, "There's danger between us and the next item. Maybe right around this corner."

If they listened closely they'd hear something moving, like stone against stone. If they looked around the corner they'd find an immaculately carved marble golem patrolling, it seemed almost supercharged with magic.

If they physically peaked around the corner they would get spotted, and if anyone but Spiral were spotted the golem would move to attack, shooting large spikes of ice at them.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

On 2022-07-02 at 6:27 AM, Blitz Boom said:

Fine. We'll just leave a knife in your forehead then, to make sure you'll stay down, if you die. Better?"

"I said..... Leave my corpse alone!?" Light said with jest.

On 2022-07-02 at 6:27 AM, Blitz Boom said:

What are you even? Some sorta changeling mutant? Or just a changeling? Never saw your sort where I came from, so I dunno what's normal. Looks more normal than the horrors anyway."

This still had a pony shape, and seemed equine

"Me? I'm just an experiment..."

 

6 hours ago, Spiral Spell said:

Once they could hear again she agreed with Ficus, saying that Light should never do something so reckless like that - not unless the situation called for it. She'd remain silent as they headed north. Spiral would raise a hoof in the air, nodding to Ficus. Her hoof raised clearly indicated for nobody to go forward, and would quickly look to see the marble golem patrolling the place.

If nobody else looked, she'd tell them what she saw.

Light would wait for Spiral's report and would suggest.

" Would you like me to handle it? Since it's a golem, it lives on magic.... So if there's no magic on it, it dies right? I'll just stab one of my shards at it, without being seen, of course." Light, this time waited for their approval, since he didn't want them to be mad at him again.

" And if it didn't work we can always use the cannonballs...." 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Kujamih

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

On 2022-07-02 at 8:43 AM, Illiad Easle said:

When asked as to her own wellbeing she looked surprised, "M-me? Oh, I'll be fine, I'll get some rest once I'm sure all my students are alright. Many of them, like Pom, don't have any family to take care of them, so I do what I can to help."

She had a faint smile when she saw Brittle's reaction, "I'm glad to see she's active at least, I hope this hasn't set her back too far. She's come so far these past few weeks it would be a shame if this forced her to start over." She shook her head, "I'm sure she'll bounce back. I'll come by tomorrow at the usual time to see if she's up to it, if that's alright?"

"I have hope, that she will be okay by then. She simply needs a little time, to see that things are stable, and there are no danger. Soon as I am more... Able-bodied, it should help her too, as she feels nervous when I am incapacitated somewhat. Fear not though. Some meat, and rest, and I will be perfectly okay again."

Not at the top though. It'd be days before he were completely on top once more. Normally not the case, but then again, normally he were not drained to this extend. Alas, such things had consequences. This were his, though he'd remain alive. That were important. Time and proper diet, would solve the rest.

"And might I say, that it is great to hear, that in this tumultuous time, the less fortunate, still have you to rely upon. Earth Mother be praised, they do not stand alone now.

I wish not to keep you from them, yet are you certain that you are okay? Your voice wavered, as I asked. I apologize, if it seems as if I am prying. I simply worry for you. You do amazing, important work, impacting not just Brittle, but many others. Some who are in even worse situations than her. Both for concern for them, and as a friend, I worry you may be trying to hide injuries. If not, I give you my sincere apologies."

======================================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-07-03 at 1:04 AM, Kujamih said:

"Me? I'm just an experiment..."

An experiment? What sorta messed up answer were that? Gave her more questions than answers really, though now, were not the time to ask them. She did not even have the time to respond to it, before the noise would start.

On 2022-07-02 at 8:43 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Ficus looked understandably shaken by the noise, and once they could hear again she asked, "Could we not do something like that again? We don't know what else is down here, and now whatever is hear knows we're here."

Last would find a suitable blade, while it wasn't the level of craftsmanship one would expect for a weapon, it was flawless in it's beauty and balance. Put against most other blades, edge to edge this one would break first, but it was very sharp, easily devastating against unarmored opponents.

Bloody hay, that was loud! She had grown up in as warzone, and not even there had she felt her head ringing like this. What kind of madman were Light, to think this was a good idea in the first place even. Hay, she needed to hammer that sword into a surface afterwards, just to avoid her strong urge, to thwack Light with the blunt side of this sword. Not bad quality all things considered, Didn't splinter, and the balance were good. She'd keep it. Never hurt having another blade, and while this might be weaker, it could be charged with magic. Meant it could theoretically, be given an advantage, depending on what she could get in here. Sort of depended too, on whatever or not it would last their journey. If it did, she'd take it back, have it polished, and then take it from there.

She briefly bit notice in the jester, but the fear mask didn't mean a lot to her. She had never been to a theater, so to her, it were all just masks. This one just looked like a potentially scared one, which at best, she'd assume were a taunt, rather than actual fear. What had it to fear really here? The way Light looked? The dent? The noise? Perhaps, but the clown had done nothing but taunt them so far. Why would now be different?

On 2022-07-02 at 8:43 AM, Illiad Easle said:

Ficus looked understandably shaken by the noise, and once they could hear again she asked, "Could we not do something like that again? We don't know what else is down here, and now whatever is hear knows we're here."

Last would find a suitable blade, while it wasn't the level of craftsmanship one would expect for a weapon, it was flawless in it's beauty and balance. Put against most other blades, edge to edge this one would break first, but it was very sharp, easily devastating against unarmored opponents.

"Anything with ears, will know just where to find us too. So much for the element of surprise."

Only ones who'd have an ambush chance now, would be those they were going to face. Brilliant, eh? Just made this potentially a fair bit harder. Good she had two swords now then, she supposed.

On 2022-07-02 at 6:21 PM, Spiral Spell said:

Once they could hear again she agreed with Ficus, saying that Light should never do something so reckless like that - not unless the situation called for it. She'd remain silent as they headed north. Spiral would raise a hoof in the air, nodding to Ficus. Her hoof raised clearly indicated for nobody to go forward, and would quickly look to see the marble golem patrolling the place.

If nobody else looked, she'd tell them what she saw.

 

On 2022-07-03 at 1:04 AM, Kujamih said:

Light would wait for Spiral's report and would suggest.

" Would you like me to handle it? Since it's a golem, it lives on magic.... So if there's no magic on it, it dies right? I'll just stab one of my shards at it, without being seen, of course." Light, this time waited for their approval, since he didn't want them to be mad at him again.

" And if it didn't work we can always use the cannonballs...." 

Last would halt, before moving around the corner. She did not take orders from others, but she heard something, and the less faces, the better, so she'd let Spiral do it, since she seemed to insist on it. Whatever were there, had likely heard them before, so she'd do best on getting ready to draw her primary blade, and go to town on whatever might pop around the corner.

Nothing seemed to do at first though... And then of course, an unreliable fighter, would make his move. One that she did not trust to do things correctly, yet at the same time, she had said she wanted to see his fighting prowess...

"Fine. See if that works then. If you get pummeled back, I'm going in next. Whatever a golem is, things tend to stop being an issue, once you cut off their limbs.

If he goes in, rest of us should stay close, and ready. If his plan ain't working, we need to be swift."

The other blade would be put on the ground, and she'd draw her other sword, holding the hilt in her mouth, with teeth clenched down hard. If things went this way... She'd be ready.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@-Solstice-

It wouldn't take long to replace the cable, the whole craft had been designed with easy repairs in mind, just like most Trojan technology. Crank would be able to find that a few of the gears had lost teeth, causing the chain that ran one of the propellers to start skipping, which is why it was running out of sync with the others. It would take him about as long to replace the faulty gears as it would take Merlot to replace the cable, then Merlot would be able to help Crank stress test the remaining gears and cables to make sure none of them were on the brink of failure, which revealed another gear and cable to be replaced.

That done their craft was officially airworthy, and not a moment too soon as they were approached by Lt. General Prop, a pegasus mare who was one of the few survivors of the Pericles after it had been downed in Cervidas during the Summer War, She nodded at the both of them, "Pilot, Engine, is your craft airworthy?"

Crank nodded, "Just ran the checks."

Prop nodded, "Good. Suit up, they've just confirmed that the AA defenses are disabled, we need you to establish some areal reconnaissance."

Crank nodded, "We'll take off immediately."

Prop turned to leave, unless Merlot had concerns, it seemed like a standard recon mission, they typically sent out most of the crafts upon arrival each cycle anyway, they had just been delayed this time due to the sudden stop. It would essentially involve them flying around the area, marking off spots where resources or survivors might be picked up, as well as areas to potentially avoid.

Crank seemed excited, "Good thing we ran those checks, we can get right out there, isn't it great? What do you think we'll see out there?"

 

@Blitz Boom

The tutor sighed as Briar prodded deeper, "I'm not hurt, not physically at least, but this whole experience has me shaken. We've been safe, secure, for a few years now, but things like this remind you that we're one big mistake from everything falling apart. We're lucky that HE wasn't what stopped us, or we'd all likely be dead now. Still though, while I may be shaken, scared to my core, it won't help anyone to spread that to the foals. So I have to be strong, to keep them feeling safe."

She paused as she turned away, "Still, thank you for your concern." With that she'd head out, on to the next child that needed reassurance that everything would be okay.

 

@-Solstice- @Kujamih @Blitz Boom

(Notice, while I said what would happen if anyone else peaked, I didn't say what would happen if Spiral did. You could call it a trap, but that's what you get for having your characters act on information they did not have.)

On 2022-07-02 at 10:21 AM, Spiral Spell said:

and would quickly look to see the marble golem patrolling the place.

As soon as Spiral stuck her head out she was spotted by the golem, which started making noise akin to speech. While Spiral knew how to read Unique, she had never heard it spoken as it had died with the birth of Equestria, and thus would be unable to understand the golem. Still though, she was grasped by the same multicolor light that held the Project still, and was lifted in the air to be carried off behind the golem as it turned around, taking Spiral deeper into the palace.

In lieu of receiving Spiral's report, the Jester would appear where she had been grabbed from, assuming the others didn't immediately go after her, "I tried to warn you, and now she's being taken to join the other unicorns in their captivity. Unless you save her. You'll have to be clever clever though. These were designed to stop even the most powerful of unicorns from resisting."

The Golem was now facing away from the group as it headed East down a wider hall, it seemed to big to fit through the narrow hallways, though it had demonstrated it could still attack them down narrow ones if it saw them. Spiral was carried in a magic bubble on the Golem's back. The bubble would only get stronger the more magic Spiral tried to use to escape.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@Illiad Easle @-Solstice- @Blitz Boom

Knowing Last Stand, she would immediately take action. 

Light would hold everyone off and avoid the rest of the group getting captured or seen.

He would put his hoof at his mouth, a sign to stay quiet.

" Please everyone don't panic... It seems the golem, is quite powerful. I believe it  won't harm her... If the jester speaks the truth, it would be wise to follow them cautiously to where they'll take her."

 

"We won't abandon her." He made sure to say to Last Stand.

He would cast his ability to make themselves light as a feather to avoid heavy foot steps. And avoid what spiral did.

" We should be really careful, we have no idea how the golem could easily detect Spiral." 

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle

Before she left, there were a few words that Briar would say. And yes, remarkably enough, this time, it actually were just a few words.

"A conviction, and reasoning, I can relate to. Take care."

He understood, as he did much the same with Brittle. Even on his worst days, he needed to keep himself looking, like everything were okay, and that he were in control. If he didn't, she'd just get rattled, and even more concerned than normally, and he were well aware of it. She had even a few times, brazenly said, that she only felt safe, when he were there, because she knew he wouldn't let others hurt her

The circus he had saved her from, were years past now, yet she still couldn't forget it. Nor how he had broken her out, when he came across it, and witnessed the vile treatment, she went through.

*sigh* He hoped someday, she would gain some confidence, and be able to brave into things, on her own accord, but with how things had gone in recent years, he feared this were yet far off.

He'd think of things such as this, as he ate the rest of his meal, and if nothing happened, the two of them, would rest up. Either until they were awakened, due to something happening, or later, after a long, long sleep.

======================================================================

 

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-07-09 at 8:01 AM, Illiad Easle said:

In lieu of receiving Spiral's report, the Jester would appear where she had been grabbed from, assuming the others didn't immediately go after her, "I tried to warn you, and now she's being taken to join the other unicorns in their captivity. Unless you save her. You'll have to be clever clever though. These were designed to stop even the most powerful of unicorns from resisting."

The Golem was now facing away from the group as it headed East down a wider hall, it seemed to big to fit through the narrow hallways, though it had demonstrated it could still attack them down narrow ones if it saw them. Spiral was carried in a magic bubble on the Golem's back. The bubble would only get stronger the more magic Spiral tried to use to escape.

Last turned, and looked at the jester, with thunderous rage, roaring in her eye. She'd then say something... Not meant for a younger audience to him. Something in a few, yet incredibly rude words, before she took a step forward, ready to go in, and do something, rather than letting the golem leave with Spiral this easily.

On 2022-07-09 at 1:51 PM, Kujamih said:

" Please everyone don't panic... It seems the golem, is quite powerful. I believe it  won't harm her... If the jester speaks the truth, it would be wise to follow them cautiously to where they'll take her."

 

"We won't abandon her." He made sure to say to Last Stand.

He would cast his ability to make themselves light as a feather to avoid heavy foot steps. And avoid what spiral did.

" We should be really careful, we have no idea how the golem could easily detect Spiral." 

"If we don't get her, before they get too far in, we will already have abandoned her."

She were used to something simple: If one were taken prisoner, it meant they were being dragged off to be tortured. And even if that wasn't it, but instead Spiral would be made to just be imprisoned somewhere, there were still the fact, that the further in she got, the more into uncharted territory they'd go. Territory, which might include locked doors, or barriers they couldn't pass. Either being bad, and more so, since Spiral had the bloody keys they had gathered, and were their lockpicker! They need her free, and the more they waited, the worse this would be.

So she'd step out, and raise her voice, new sword on the back, and the sword from The Æther, ready to strike, with the hilt sat firmly in her mouth.

"Hey, ugly!"

She weren't one for witty retorts, so this were all she'd go with, before dashing on, and keeping her eye closely on the golem. She'd see how fast it moved, and if there were obvious weak spots she could aim for, such as joints. If there weren't, her aim would be the bubble that Spiral were in, rather than the golem itself, at first. And it being rock, weren't something that'd bother her. Metal were another thing, but rock? She'd crushed rock before with her blade, and she'd do so again, if she got the chance.

As one raised on a battlefield, and having survived the ordeal, Last were quick in her step, and reacted quickly to motions. And when it came to striking, it would depend again, on what her target would be. The bauble, would be best struck at, in an upwards swing, to avoid hitting Spiral. Maybe a sideways, if she positioned herself in a crouching position, leaving more room up top. If it were the golem though, some hard hits had to be taken into consideration. Maybe even involving one of her favorite moves.

Or well, harder hitting ones, at any rate. Simplistic in nature, it were speed, giving momentum, then jump up, swinging with the blade in a downward curve, and then striking down hard. Either the golem would get hurt, or the blade would shatter. That were the only outcomes she were used to, with a top to bottom strike like this. Though if the joints were smarter choices, it would depend on the movement, and would primarily involve her avoiding a hit, to then strike at an exposed joint. Depending on the weight of the golem, she'd also be able to intercept strikes, with her blade, parrying it. She had done so with heavy hitters before, but she had never fought a golem. If it were too weighty, from the movements, she wouldn't even try. Her neck, and the blade, would snap then.

Times like this, she really wished she had her sisters weapons, from before the crisis. Extendable leg blades, helping to cause every movement of her limbs, to be able to work as a sword, in a given situation. She kept meaning to try and get hold of something like that herself, but there just hadn't been time and reason for it yet.

In regards to the golem, if it were shooting ice spikes at her, she'd either avoid them as she moved on, or if need be, slice them. Ice were nothing special, if you had a nice, sharp blade, and knew how to handle the force being but against the blade, when the two impacted one another.

That said, this could well be all tossed out of the window, if this thing just used magic, to lift her up, and stop her from moving. Which were bloody cheating, mind you. Hopefully Light would make himself useful here, and put his weight into the situation. Literally. That stunt might actually be helpful now.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@-Solstice-

The two of them would get into their winter flight suits given the temperature outside while members of the flight crew filled their wings with clouds to offset the reduced reaction times caused by the bulky suits. Then they'd each get strapped in before their craft was towed over to the elevator, where it was lifted up to the flight deck then towed out to the runway. Merlot got the signal to go, which she would relay to Crank, who would start peddling the engine, spinning up the propellers to get them moving, and soon enough they were off the project and flying about in the still cold air.

From Merlot's perspective flying the craft was very similar to gliding under her own power, tilting her wings and moving her tail would adjust the external flaps to adjust the trajectory of the craft just like she would if she were gliding. She had been trained not to flap, as that would trigger the eject, she had levers she could use to indicate to Crank in the engine whether to increase or decrease power, as well as a set of gauges that told her how fast they were going, how high they were above sea level, and what direction they were headed. Merlot also had a small desk that she could pull forward to take notes and mark points of interest. The crew on the Project had already detailed the topography they could see from the observation platforms, Merlot's job was to take a closer look and see if there were anything of interest or danger that had not been spotted from above.

They were presently near the top of a mountain, the statue that held the Project sitting on a large outcropping apart from the valley where the ground teams had landed to investigate the city and palace built into the mountain. The statue and the palace were likely part of the same large structure, connected inside the mountain. They could also see evidence of the city extending down the mountain in each direction, it was no doubt larger than Canterlot or Troy had been in their prime.

 

@Blitz Boom

(There won't be much happening on the ship until the Palace crew get further along, so we'll come back to this branch later.)

 

@-Solstice- @Kujamih @Blitz Boom

As Last Stand had ignored Light's suggestion, by charging ahead and drawing attention to herself, the Golem stopped advancing down the hallway and started turning in place. While the golem was large and heavily armed, it was not fast moving nor quick to turn. It became obvious that the weapons it had were not independently aimed, meaning that the whole golem had to turn to aim each weapon. Effective at long range but less so if they moved quickly or got close enough.

The golem made another series of sounds in Unique, unintelligible to those gathered, then started firing magic spikes of ice toward whoever came around the corner.

It would exclusively focus on whoever was closest, so if one of them wanted to draw it's fire while the other attacked from range, it would be helpless to the latter's attacks.

That said, the golem itself was very robust, magic deflector shields appearing to block Last's attacks and keep her from getting too close, though repeated attacks and dodges would cause the golem to retreat backwards down the hall.

Last would not be able to dodge forever though, if they didn't come up with something soon she'd no doubt get hit by a spike.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

@-Solstice- @Blitz Boom @Illiad Easle

"DAMN FOOL!!" Light shouted out of frustration. He would also instantly join in as well to assist Last Stand.

Luckily Light has already applied some support magic to the whole team making them very light, hence them nimble and they won't easily get tired.

Light would now focus on the offence.

To further assist Last Stand he would make fake images of himself and Last Stand by distorting the light, but this will only work if the golem detects through vision though. 

" Zero Gravity!" 

Then he would cast one of his spells to the golem, if not applicable to the target, he would target the ground where it steps instead.

The golem will experience weightlessness. Making a simple vibration or touch to course it to lose it's footing or have no proper force to apply to its swing since it won't end up pushing it's initial target but push itself instead. 

Further more whenever Last Stand would deal a strike he would multiply the weapons weight making her strike more powerful if not able to cut the golem if Last Stand's swing is fast enough.... Which surely would. ( Mostly would be applied to a downward strike to avoid harming Last Stand.)

If an opening would then present itself he would strike one of the joints. Making that specific body part extremely Light that he could easily destroy the joints if he returns back the golems gravity, getting crushed by it own weight, or either be pulled off.

Or by applying more weight on his Black sharded Fist.

( Note:His black shards can absorb none changeling magic)

" Spiral! Hang in there! It gonna be a bumpy ride for you..."  

Edited July 11, 2022 by Kujamih

[Blitz Boom 4,620]

@Illiad Easle @Kujamih @-Solstice-

On 2022-07-11 at 10:50 PM, Illiad Easle said:

The golem made another series of sounds in Unique, unintelligible to those gathered, then started firing magic spikes of ice toward whoever came around the corner.

It would exclusively focus on whoever was closest, so if one of them wanted to draw it's fire while the other attacked from range, it would be helpless to the latter's attacks.

That said, the golem itself was very robust, magic deflector shields appearing to block Last's attacks and keep her from getting too close, though repeated attacks and dodges would cause the golem to retreat backwards down the hall.

Last would not be able to dodge forever though, if they didn't come up with something soon she'd no doubt get hit by a spike.

So, the overgrown rat wanted to fight dirty, huh? Well then, it could bring it on!

Last dodged a few spikes, then the third that came her way, she'd swing her sword against, cleaving it, though getting pushed back a little from the pressure. She'd move forward from there, avoiding what she could, and if the spikes got jabbed into the ground, potentially even using them as cover a few times, but her progress were slow. Slow as the golem were, its attacks had a hard range, and it fired rapidly. She were a melee combatant. What some might call a grunt, meant to take attacks on with the ones up close, whilst the ranged attackers would fire off the artillery, for the troublemakers out of reach.

Much as she'd dodge, cut, jump, and parry here, and do it admirably, even she knew that if she didn't get some backup soon, she'd be on her flank eventually. And annoyingly, the one time she did get close enough to strik, with a hit that's normally at least crack rock, it seemed the cheater were using magic shields. Cause of course, nothing could just be bloody easy! And she had to jump back a fair bit after that, to avoid some attacks, so she were not making a lot of progress.

"Light! Come make yourself useful!"

Granted, she felt his interference some, a little prior to this. The hit she had made, felt like it were hitting with a heavier swing than she had anticipating, with the position she had been in at the time, which would fit his odd magic. But it weren't gonna be enough.

She were NOT a fan of him messing with her own weight though. That nearly made her get hit, and caused a spike to leave a small cut on her right shoulder, due to her instincts reacting confused for a moment. She'd need to have a word with him. She had one in mind even. It started with an I, and had to be said at high volumes.

On 2022-07-11 at 11:50 PM, Kujamih said:

Then he would cast one of his spells to the golem, if not applicable to the target, he would target the ground where it steps instead.

The golem will experience weightlessness. Making a simple vibration or touch to course it to lose it's footing or have no proper force to apply to its swing since it won't end up pushing it's initial target but push itself instead. 

Further more whenever Last Stand would deal a strike he would multiply the weapons weight making her strike more powerful if not able to cut the golem if Last Stand's swing is fast enough.... Which surely would. ( Mostly would be applied to a downward strike to avoid harming Last Stand.)

If an opening would then present itself he would strike one of the joints. Making that specific body part extremely Light that he could easily destroy the joints if he returns back the golems gravity, getting crushed by it own weight, or either be pulled off.

Or by applying more weight on his Black sharded Fist.

( Note:His black shards can absorb none changeling magic)

" Spiral! Hang in there! It gonna be a bumpy ride for you..."  

If she were the decoy in this, she'd continue to keep the attention, and just do her best, to not get impaled. Though if the onslaught got worse, she'd need to retreat. She didn't like that one bit, but she couldn't help Spiral, if she were dead.

If Light were the decoy, she'd push on relentlessly, slashing away, until either her sword would break, or the bloody thing ran out of battery to power that thing! Even if it went on retreat, that didn't means he'd stop. This thing moved slowly. Surely it couldn't run away from her that easily.

Then again, it could teleport perhaps... Oh, it better freaking not.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@-Solstice-

On 2022-07-11 at 3:35 PM, Spiral Spell said:

Perhaps down there someone will find clues for why this city got locked under the ice. I hope they can find something of note. Perhaps there can be technology or working things of value that can prove of use to the Project."

Given the configuration of the craft they couldn't see each other, and Crank had a very limited view outside the craft, "Well, at the very least the statue is working, and until recently the anti-air defences were working. Maybe they could recover whatever's powering everything? That would certainly help the Project, as would automated defenses."

 

On 2022-07-11 at 3:35 PM, Spiral Spell said:

"Looking at the statue there, if we didn't have anyone down on the ground I would suggest we blast that statue to bits, maybe that's where the source of our woes lies. There's definitely gotta be someone, or something down there with intelligent character. I refuse to believe it's a mere fluke or long standing system that was put into place." she added.

"If you're right, I wonder how they survived so long? And further, why haven't they done anything more than just stop the Project? Are they curious? Lonely? Anyway, we don't know if breaking the statue will even help, it could mess with the magic and seriously damage the Project if it goes wrong."

 

Flying a bit further out they could see a path that seemed darker than the others heading down the mountain to what looked like a frozen port, the top of the sails of a ship sticking out of the ice, the front half of the ship also sticking out, which revealed another interesting point, the ice suddenly stopped at a certain distance from the shoreline. They couldn't fly close enough to confirm, but it looked like the frozen portion of the ship, and the whole port, were full of ponies trapped in the ice.

 

@-Solstice- @Kujamih @Blitz Boom

From inside the bubble Spiral could see the trails of intricately carved runes that ran all over the Golem, powering and controlling it's every action. She could also see the tattered remnants of some parchment that had been affixed to the Golem, it was written in Unique as well, and it said something to the effect that all citizens were to report to the throne room, and would be brought by force. There was more to it, but the rest of the document was tattered beyond legibility. Clearly she wasn't the first to have been captured by this golem.

 

The magic shields on the Golem would only be strengthened by Light's attempt to cast magic through them, and reducing the weight of the ground didn't have much effect as the entire hallway was smoothly carved out of the mountain itself. However, increasing the weight of Last's strikes would allow her to have greater effect against the shields.

Ultimately though, Light's changelings spikes would prove the most effective, passing through the shields without issue and disabling the runes they came in contact with. They would start to be overwhelmed by the amount of power they were absorbing, then the Golem suddenly went stiff, as if it had been suddenly cut off from whatever was powering it, dropping Spiral unceremoniously to the floor.

Once things were quiet again, Ficus came trotting up behind them, "Is... is it safe?" She sighed, "The next, possibly last, item is close, likely just on the other side of this wall." She pointed North, "But we should be careful, there could be more of these things patrolling."