private Quest for the Forbidden Temple-Take 2-RP

[Ice Storm 1,020]

Link to OOC Topic: http://mlpforums.com/topic/35619-quest-for-the-forbidden-temple-take-2-adv/

It was dusk outside. The vibrant display of blended oranges, blues and purples that soared through the vast, open cloudless Equestrian sky. The winds were slowly starting to pick up as the extremely dangerous and at this point, extremely well known Nightingale's Feathers started to blow in from The Everfree Forest. This is where Ice Storm was standing as she waited for the rest of the ponies to meet her here that had agreed to come on this extremely dangerous quest to save Equestria. A quest that would normally call for the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to come together and vanquish this evil from the confines of this harmonic and peaceful land.

 

This occasion was different though. Three of the Element bearers had fallen victim to the horrifying grasp that The Nightingale's Feathers had. The one major disadvantage of having the Elements split across six different ponies. If one of them falls, the rest are nearly useless. They would have to rely on their own strengths and figure out how to get through everything on their own. Without the help from the princesses, the elements, or more importantly, time. The fact that they only have two weeks to find this forbidden temple in a forest that is notoriously known for being full of hazards and predators that can easily slow them down, let alone the sheer number of obstacles that are present that they would have to go around if they got lost or ran into them. Not to mention they only had a vague idea of where the temple was even at in a slightly smaller large section of the forest that they would have to scour in order to find it.

 

The entire thing she could already see was going to be a nightmare as well. the ponies that had volunteered to go with here were all ponies that for the most part she didn't know. The only ponies that she had even interacted with in Ponyville so far had been Twilight and her friends, and Alex and Electrobolt on a few passes. She had no idea what the personalities were going to be like for everypony else and that worried her. If they weren't able to get along and work together, that would hinder them even more and create arguments that would waste precious time that they don't have.

 

While waiting, Ice decided to pull out the map that the princess had given her to try to outline the best route to take. "Well, if we go this way, it could lead to some issues at Froggy Bottom Bog. Especially if that Hydra is still there, best to avoid that at all costs, and the Ursa's den is this way.... Looks like the best way to go would be to go to the Moon Palace, though we have a few different ways we can get to the area that the princess circled from there... Oh well, we can figure that out when we get there. the fact that the Moon Palace is still a sturdy place of shelter will prove welcome in a place like this," she said speaking aloud to herself as she continued to wait for the others to show up.

[Opalicious 799]

"Alright, all I need to do is put this last lens right here...and there we go! The current most powerful telescope in the world!" Planet Skipper pulled his goggle off and wiped his brow. He wasn't going to celebrate, like he had done the first few times he had achieved something new. It was part of his routine now, do this and that, and create something new. He looked at his watch, noting the time, which looked oddly familiar, like he was supposed to be somewhere. Nevermind that, he thought to himself, and he pushed the thought away and headed to the other end of the observatory. Glancing out the window, everything came back, and he couldn't believe he had already forgotten everything! How could he forget something that might mean know one will know of his discoveries!

 

He rushed out of the observatory, goggles back on, as well as a coat, and even a hat to keep his mane from bashing around in the wind. Better cover his ears too while he was at it. He wasn't far from the Everfree Forest, in fact, he was barely any distance from the trail, and the moment he exited the building, he could already see the impatient pony. Rushing up to the icy looking unicorn, quite literally, he apologized hurriedly. "Sorry for being late, I was a bit drawn into my studies, so-" He looked around, and he realized it was just him and the unicorn. "I thought there would be more, am I really as late as I fear I am?"

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Electrobolt walked through his home, as he sighed. It was dark, save for one light that he had turned on. It was the light in his parents' bedroom, as they had remained still and fast asleep in bed, no amount of nudging or noise-making capable of waking them up. Try as he might, nothing worked, as their sleep remained undisturbed. As the young colt entered the kitchen, he took his saddlebag and opened it up. As he walked over to the fruit bowl, he saw that there were quite a few apples and bananas in it. As he began to take each fruit from the bowl and stuffing them into his saddlebag, he thought about his parents again, how they might not wake up from this endless sleep if this mission was a failure.

 

"No... No, get it together, Electrobolt..." he muttered to himself, slapping himself in the face hard enough to make that slapping noise, but at the same time, soft enough as to where it didn't leave an imprint on his face. "I have to keep positive... I can do this... I have to, for my family... But not just my family... For everypony else, and their families! I have to stay strong..." Once he finished with his self-peptalk and loaded the rest of the fruits in the saddlebag, the colt walked back into his parents' bedroom, as he observed their slumber. Seeing them like this, locked in sleep, had brought a tear to his eyes as he leaned over and gave them both a gentle kiss on their cheeks. "Mom, dad... I'll be back, and when I am... The two of you will be awake. I will remain strong, for you... And for everypony else... Goodbye for now..."

 

As he sniffled slightly, he brought a hoof to his face and wiped off the tears before beginning to walk out the door. As he was already on his way towards the Everfree, saddlebags on his back, he turned around to face the house, that one lonely light still on. "I will return... I promise you that." Turning back to the road, he once again headed towards the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. A few minutes later, he had arrived, as he saw Ice Storm and one other pony already there. "Hey, Ice, sorry if I'm late..." Electrobolt stated, before looking away from the forest, and back towards Ponyville. Shaking his head, and looking at his saddlebags, then back to the small group that was here, he then added, "Oh yeah, I brought some food along, although I don't exactly know how long it'll last..."

[Iron Wing 237]

Iron Wing gathered her equipment and some food and prepared her saddlebags. She didn´t know how long it would take to find this damn temple, but she would try her best. She put on her heavy hoove protectors and her big armor and prepared to leave her home. She looked back at the bed of her little sister with a sad expression in her face. "I will succeed Dazzling. Your big sister will handle this..." she whispered nearly as she looked to the bed. She was asleep like the many other ponys in ponyville. Dazzling would not wake up that easily. "Cursed magic. Good for nothing, just causing problems..." Iron mumbled. She left the building and walked towards the meeting point. She would be there within time.

 

Ponyville was very quiet, so her heavy metallic steps where heard within the streets as she walked through the little town. She somehow thought it was her own fault, not able to protect the ones she loved. She had trained that much for strength and stamina but couldn´t defend anypony from some tricky magic. Well, she wasn´t experienced with magical problems. After a couple of minutes she reached the meeting point. Some ponys had already gathered, so she walked determined towards them. "Hello there. My name is Iron Wing. I´m ready to help you to find this temple as soon as possible." Iron said and looked to the foreign ponys. She didn´t knew anyone from this group.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Iron Wing

[Dave247 568]

As Daylight sat at his desk in Manehatten drinking his coffee, he used his magic to levitate the days newspaper and began to read. It was mostly full of trivial and uninteresting things that did not concern him. That was, until he noticed the headline of one story...

 

"Mysterious Outbreak In Ponyville"

 

He was in intrigued by this as he always kept up with what was going on in Ponyville having grown up there. The town still held a special place to him in his heart. Most news that came from there were mostly of something small and unimportant but he made sure to read though the whole thing all the same.

 

As he started to read, it quickly became apparent that this was not the case this time. A strange and mysterious outbreak had occurred which caused almost all of the town including most of the elements of Harmony bearers to fall into a deep slumber which they could not be awoken from. There were also a mention of it being constantly quite windy but he had no idea how the weather was related to this at the moment.

 

At the end of the article there was a call for help for anyone who was able to come and assist with a dangerous mission to rectify the problem. When he saw the name of the pony requesting for help something burred deep in his mind came to surface.

"Hmm... Ice Storm..." He thought. He vaguely remembered her moving to Ponyville around the same time that he left.

 

Now that he knew about the outbreak, he felt that he couldn't just sit by and do nothing about it as it wouldn't be right. He wasn't working on any cases at the moment which made it the perfect opportunity for him to go.

"Then it's settled." Day said to himself. "I'm going." As this wasn't a case, he didn't put his uniform on as there was no need to. He thought about taking his notepad and pencial which he usaully never went without, but because he wasen't wearing his shirt and he wasen't going to take his saddlebag just to carry that so he had to leave it. He then immediately caught the next train to Ponyville.

 

---

"Your crazy" the train conductor said as Day stepped off the train. "What type of Pony would willingly walk into a situation like this?"

"One who cares about this town." Day replied to him firmly, before heading off into the center of the town. The conductor just shook his head as the train left the station.

 

The town was deserted, but it was to be expected. No one in their right mind would be outside on a day like this. He could feel the strong wind blowing in his face and messing up his mane. "Well they weren't kidding about the wind then..." He thought, as he fought against the wind to keep moving. "I think... I can feel it blowing towards the Forrest..." As he walked in the direction of the entrance, the emptiness of the town along with the the only sound being that of the wind blowing unnerved him. He had never seen the town like this before...

 

As he came near the entrance of the forest, he saw a small group of ponies gathered there. Naturally, he assumed this must be the group he was looking for. As he walked up to them, he noticed that one of them had a icy blue coat along with her mane and tail being a mix of blue and white. It didn't take a detective like him to figure out that this was mostly likely Ice Storm.

 

"Hello. I am Detective Daylight, but you can just call my Daylight as I'm not currently on a case. I saw the article in the newspaper and I'm here to assist where I can."

Edited October 18, 2012 by Dave247

[Alex Night 870]

Alex had heard that the ponies were actually trapped in a deep sleep that they wouldn't easily wake up from. "Man, this is just not cool at all." Alex thought to himself. Alex raced back to his home in Cloudsdale to gather a few supplies to take with him in a small satchel. Usually on a journey, he would take his saddlebag with him and fill it with plenty of food and water. However, the saddlebag would just slow him down and this mission would require all of his flying capabilities. That meeting with Princess Celestia and the others in the library kept playing back in his mind. Half of the Element Bearers had succumbed to sleep along with most of Ponyville. "Something bugs me though. Why haven't we been affected by this power along with the others?..." Alex thought to himself. His mind tried to come up with a reason why, but he was drawing blanks. Eventually, he finished packing his supplies and wrapped his satchel around his body.

 

Alex was about to go into a nosedive out of the window in his room until Rainbow Dash appeared. "Hey, Alex. Hold up a sec." RD said. Alex faced to towards her. "What's up, RD?" Alex asked to Rainbow. To Alex, Rainbow Dash was one of the coolest mares in all of Equestria, which is why he loved working with the Ponyville Weather Patrol. While working on his shifts, he always made sure to keep an eye out for her doing aerial maneuvers when she is out flying. Alex always kept hoping he could be able to pull off the Sonic Rainboom one day like her. "This mission you're going on. You have to be sure to stick with your group. It's up to you to make sure that you all make it through this alive. You're one of the best young fliers in Equestria. I just wish I could go with you guys." Rainbow spoke to Alex like she was his coach. "You're right, Rainbow. Don't worry about it. As long I'm with them, this big, bad evil won't know what hit him. They'll be sorry that they ever messed with our friends!" Alex said to Rainbow with great confidence and determination while grinning back at her. "Alright, Alex. Go out there and give 'em heck!" Rainbow Dash said to Alex before spitting into her hoof and extending it to Alex. Alex did the same with his hoof and met with Rainbow's hoof. Alex gave her a final wink before jumping out of his window.

 

Alex screamed his head off as he fell towards the ground. He extended his wings at their maximum length to gather more speed. The wind was blowing all around him and his fur felt the wind chill as he fell at an incredible velocity. Alex loved doing this every single time. As he sped towards the ground, his mind flashed back to a certain ivory-coated unicorn he had met when he first came to Ponyville. She was one of the kindest ponies in all of Equestria and was lucky to have met her. In fact, he wouldn't be here as a Ponyville Weather Patrol if he never met her. Now his thoughts came back to the situation that Ponyville was in as his speed approached to Mach Three. "Nearly all of Ponyville are under this eternal sleep. That means she is under it too. Don't worry, I promise you won't stay that way if it's the last thing I do. Alex Night NEVER breaks a promise to a friend, especially you... Just hang on." Alex thought to himself as he approached Mach Four.

 

Alex saw the Everfree Forest getting closer to view and eventually, he saw a group of ponies all gathered around together. Alex recognized them as the ones who were with him in the library along with Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Princess Celestia. Alex broke out of his nosedive and went into a glide towards the group near the forest's edge. When he got close, he lowered near the ice-blue unicorn who Alex remembered was named Ice Storm and the green Earth Pony he was very familiar with named Electrobolt. "Hey, guys! Glad to see you all here!" Alex voiced loudly for the group to hear. Alex looked around the group seeing a Pegasus all decked out in a heavy armor, a golden-rod coated Unicorn, and a red Unicorn with a pair of goggles. "Oh, my name's Alex Night if you didn't know." Alex said to the ponies he wasn't familiar with. Alex hovered close to Ice Storm. "So, Ice. What's the plan? Is this everypony?" Alex asked to the ice-blue pony with the same grin he gives with his friends.

[Ice Storm 1,020]

"Actually, I'm just early," Ice responded to the red unicorn. "We were supposed to be setting off a couple hours from now, but I just can't bring myself to sit at home in my shop while all my friends are under some sort of spell that we don't know anything about. If it's up to us to get it done, I wanna get it done as quickly as we can you know?" she told him. She didn't like seeing everypony like this. Her friends had become he family that she had never gotten when she was a foal, and now most of them were sleep stricken, possibly never to wake up again.

 

Ice then caught out of her peripherals, Electrobolt walking over to the group. He also apologized if he was late to which Ice just shook her head. "Not at all, like I was just telling... this gentlecolt here I'm just early," she stated as she nodded to the fact that he had brought food. "I also have a saddle bag of food, and first aid supplies. I don't know what we're going to run into in there, but I'm sure we'll need it," she addressed to everypony. Celestia's sun had now set beneath the horizon, and Luna's Moon was now being raised over it. The blending colors fading into the pinks, purples, and blacks of twilight in the process.

 

After a few more moments more ponies started to arrive. First was a dark blue pegasus that looked to be wearing very heavy armor. She introduced herself as Iron Wing and said that she would do what she could to help them find this temple. Ice nodded in thanks as another, golden colored unicorn began approaching. Ice was starting to feel a bit more at ease with the number of unicorns that would be accompanying them because of the potential for a high magic output should things get difficult. At the same time, that was all reliant on how well, these ponies knew their magic, and what their magic even was. He introduced himself as a detective, and said that his name was Daylight. the name rung a bell for Ice, but she couldn't place it right off the top of her head where she had heard it from, but she knew she had heard the name before.

 

The last pony to show up was Alex. One of the only ponies that she actually had any communication with in this group in the past. He would always work with Rainbow Dash on Ponyville's weather team to help plan the storms and such. It was quite a job actually, and she wished that she could help a bit when winter came, but it required a lot more magic than even she was capable of when it came to ice. He introduced himself to everypony else and then asked Ice what the plan was, and if this was everypony.

 

"Well, according to the list that Princess Celestia gave me, she there were supposed to be six other ponies heading out with me, though she said she wasn't sure about one of them though. It doesn't help that I don't have a name, or what type of pony that I'm to be expecting to look for," she started answering his most recent question first. "As for the current plan, I've mapped out what I believe to be the safest possible route, if such a thing were to exist in the Everfree Forest. If we went straight to the desired location, it would require us to head directly north west and guide us straight through Froggy Bottom Bog. Unless somepony that I'm not aware of has gotten that Hydra that lives there out, that's not an option, and if we go around directly west we risk running into the Ursas. Personally, I don't want to go any closer to those things than I have to.

 

Our safest way to go is to go to the old Moon Palace first. It's a sturdy place of shelter that is surrounded by a cliff side all the way around. It has multiple layers of security for us, and will give us time to decide what to do next. There are three different ways that we can go from there, that we can figure out how to do once we get there. What does everypony else think?" she asked wanting to get input from everypony else to make sure that her understanding of the forest was correct.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

@@Iron Wing, @@Dave247

 

When he heard that he wasn't late, but in fact early, he nodded, as he then looked around at the current group, which just consisted of himself, Ice, and this one currently unknown pony. It wasn't long before more ponies arrived, however. The first to arrive was an armored pegasus, whom was named Iron Wing. Although he was curious about the armor, he pushed that thought out of his mind when he noticed another pony arriving shortly after Iron Wing had arrived.

 

As he looks past Iron Wing, he noticed a goldenrod unicorn having arrived now, as he looked rather well-kept. As the unicorn, known as Daylight, introduced himself, he raised an eyebrow slightly. *So he's a detective, huh? Interesting...* As he then tossed the thought out of his head, he nodded to the both of them. "It's nice to meet you both," he then spoke up to the two ponies that introduced themselves, a small yet friendly smile appearing on his face. Though said smile began to slowly disappear as he continued, "Although I wish our meeting would have been at a better time... Oh yeah, before I forget... The name's Electrobolt."

 

@

 

It was just then he had seen a familiar pegasus zooming down from the sky, before gliding to a stop. As Alex had introduced himself to the rest of the group, his small smile made a return. As he looked around again at the gathered group, he felt as if they had a good chance of returning things back to normal. However, once he caught a glimpse of his house, and a dim light through one of the windows, his gaze froze and his smile suddenly vanished. His mind then flashed back to the morning he woke up, how silent it was, and how his parents were still asleep.

 

At first, he didn't really think much of it, believing that his mother and father had chosen to just sleep in that morning, as he went about his daily morning routines. However, considering that it was noon, and his parents had not revealed any signs of waking up, he was concerned. Sleeping in is one thing, but sleeping in until noon? He felt something was wrong, so he entered his parents' bedroom and leaned in close to them. After confirming that they were still breathing, he proceeded to poke them gently, to no effect. He then began to nudge them, and when that failed, began to make loud noises. Whether it was clanging together pots and pans, or jumping around vigorously, or whatever, nothing woke them up.

 

After having tried everything he could possibly think of, he collapsed next to the bed as he began to cry. Why were his parents not waking up, he wondered? What is keeping them fast asleep? Was there anything he could do to wake them up? These questions had eventually been answered, as he heard a knocking on the front door. Picking himself up and clearing his face of tears, he slowly began to leave his parents' bedroom to answer the door. As he did his best to stay composed and such, he opened the door, seeing Ice Storm standing outside. She had explained the situation to him, as he then realized what had caused his parents to fall into deep sleep. As he tried to keep his emotions in check, his voice slightly betrayed him when he agreed to undergo this journey, in the hopes of waking everypony in Ponyville from their deep slumber.

 

@@Ice Storm

 

However, his thoughts ended as Ice had started to speak up, saying that she was uncertain about one of the ponies that might be joining them. As Electrobolt began to regain his senses and composure, she began to explain what routes were available to them right now, as he nodded at each point she made. After having mentioned taking the path through the Moon Palace first, then continuing from there, he nodded. "I think that would be the better course of action to take. After all, I'd rather not deal with the hydra, or the Ursas for that matter..."

[Iron Wing 237]

Iron Wing nodded to the green stallion. "Nice to meet you too, Electrobolt." she answered. Electrobolt seemed somehow reserved. *This will be interesting. I don´t have any clue what could be his specialty.* she thought. She wasn´t good at getting friends but Iron got more excited about the group. Some other ponies appeared and introduced themself.

 

Iron observed the other ponys. It was very interesting to see what kind of companion would join this mission. A golden stallion unicorn joined the small group and introduced himself as Daylight. Iron got curious as she heared that Daylight was a detective because she never met a real one. The amored pony just knew that a detective solved crimes guardians had failed to prevent. In that case this pony should be perfect for the job. Perhaps he could find some clues about who freed this horrible magic.

 

The next pony Iron had a look at was a light blue pegasus stallion that was more athletic than most normal ponies. He probably could take a hit or two. It was always good to have some strong ponies within a group. Also he looked like a good and fast flier. Of course Iron Wing was a good flier too, but she wasn´t that fast. But considering her strength and the weight of her armor, that not everypony could lift just like her, she had gained the respect of the garrison where she was trained.

 

Then Ice Storm started talking about the mission. *So i guess she is the leader.* she thought while observing the icy blue unicorn. She listened to the plan Ice explained and what route they should take. Iron couldn´t believe that there was a Hydra living within this forest, but she heared a lot of storys about this place. She didn´t know this location well because it was just two weeks ago that she moved to Ponyville. Ponyville had started to build new houses and farms, so Iron was here to help at some construction sites. She had moved into the an old house with her little sister. They had a lot work to do renovating this old building. Within that time she was barely seen within town. The only thing she was interested now was how to break this curse.

 

She looked at Ice Storm who wanted to hear the thoughts of everypony . "Well, i think you have good knowledge about this place and it´s dangers. Since i don´t know that much about this area i will trust you with leading this mission. Also your plan sounds very well thought out. This Moon Palace may be a good landmark. If somepony gets lost we can meet at the palace to regroup. Just one tactical suggestion: I don´t know your abilities at all, but i think the strong ponies should protect the front and the back of the group." Iron mentioned with a determined but gently voice.

Edited October 17, 2012 by Iron Wing

[Dave247 568]

"It's nice to meet you both," he then spoke up to the two ponies that introduced themselves, a small yet friendly smile appearing on his face. Though said smile began to slowly disappear as he continued, "Although I wish our meeting would have been at a better time... Oh yeah, before I forget... The name's Electrobolt."

"Likewise" Day replied to Electrobolt. As Day took a good look at him, a memory of a young green colt running around Ponyville always playing games came to mind. Day smiled as he looked at him all grown up and with a cutie mark to go with what he loved to do.

 

Ice then started talking about this mission and Day listened carefully to what she had said. It had been a number of years since he lived here and he was unsure how much things had changed in that time. He agreed with what she had said about the Moon Palace though. He had a vague memory of the bog in which the Hydra was still there and he doubted it wasn't anymore otherwise he would of read something about it in the paper. It wasn't likely that it would just pack up and leave either as it was the perfect conditions for it.

 

When she mentioned the Ursa's although he had never been that far to see one, he had gotten very close one time for a case and the stories he used to hear stopped him from going any closer. It ended up him not finding what he was looking for because he wasn't going to risk running into a Ursa by him self.

 

As for the Moon Palace, he had been there a few times and everything was fine except for a general eeriness that he always felt when he was there.

"I agree with taking the Moon Palace route." He said. "It's the safest option, or at least was. Although I haven't been here for a couple of years I doubt things would have changed much that much since then and become infested with some sort of creature."

 

He he then listened to the suggestion that Iron Wing said who arrived when he did. it was then that it struck him that he would have to be working in a group. This was new for him as he was used to working on his own when he was on cases but he doubted it would be that difficult as long as he followed the others instructions.

 

Just one tactical suggestion: I don´t know your abilities at all, but i think the strong ponies should protect the front and the back of the group." Iron mentioned with a determined but gently voice.

A idea hit him as he said this.

"Maybe we should all briefly explain our abilities before we set off so we all know what our group will be capable of?" Day said. "Other then having the skills as detective I can also use light magic, which can be used to produce light as well as give me the power to heal wounds."

Edited October 18, 2012 by Dave247

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Upon hearing Daylight's suggestion of discussing what their abilities and all is, Electrobolt looked towards the ground, looking slightly awkward. *My abilities... To be honest, I don't really know what my abilities exactly would be...* pondered the young colt as he recalled his past, when he had obtained his cutie mark. He clearly recalled that he had been a blank flank one moment, and then the next, after having returned home, realized he had suddenly obtained a cutie mark. To this day, he is still uncertain about what kind of cutie mark he obtained, when he obtained it, and what the meaning behind it is.

 

Upon lifting his head up and looking around at the current group, he had noticed that he was the only Earth Pony of the group. There were three unicorns, along with two pegasus ponies, and they seemed to know more about what their special talents are than he does. Day had even proven his thoughts, as he explained how he was able to use light magic, and heal wounds. Looking back to the ground and stirring his leftmost forehoof around slightly, he thought, *I... To be honest, I kinda feel out of place right now... I don't even know my special talent, and I'm the only Earth Pony here, too...*

[Ice Storm 1,020]

Ice listened as Iron Wing mentioned that since Ice had a vast amount of knowledge on the area and it's dangers that it would be best for her to lead the mission, and so far, everypony has seemed to be in agreement to take the Moon Palace route, as no pony has spoken up otherwise yet. Iron Wing also mention a marching order, stating that the stronger ponies should be in front. "Hmm, while that is a good idea, we have to tread carefully with it. I don't want anypony to feel like they are completely useless, and everypony depending on how their abilities are used can be strong," she stated as Daylight said that his abilities were mostly light and healing related. Ice nodded, though it appeared that Electrobolt seemed to be worried about something.

 

"Okay, well that being said, Daylight I think that it would be best if you were in the middle of everypony. that way things would have a rough time getting to you while you will still be in range to heal anypony if they get hurt. As for myself, I can create and control ice. I can materialize it into anything that I wish. I can use it to make armor, weapons, or weaponized spells." she announced to the group. "With that versatility, I can get around the group easily enough, so any position is fine by me.

 

I should probably be in the middle as well considering at least to my knowledge I have the only map, and everypony would hear me better if I was in the middler vs one side or the other. Iron Wing, you're most definitely the most heavily armored of us, so you should either take point, or follow behind. We should have our two heaviest hitters on either side to avoid flanking. A lot of the things that we are going to run into in the forest are intelligent. They will use tactics, so we have to be prepared for those tactics," she stated as she looked to everypony else to see their opinions on the subject.

[Iron Wing 237]

Iron Wing was impressed by the knowledge of Ice Storm. It seemed she had read some basic tactic books and some other military readings. "This sounds good to me, i will take point. Just tell me where to go then." she answered. She looked at Daylight who wanted to know the abilities of everypony. Wasn´t a problem to explain though. "Well, as you can all see i am wearing a huge armor. Thats not just for show, i was trained within the Canterlot garrison as a guard. I know military tactics, scouting and combat. But my speciality is my strength. I can lift huge weights into the air because i trained for years on construction sites. Even with this armor on i can fly with full potential, but i am not a fast flier." Iron said.

 

But Iron Wing didn´t like combat. She was more a defense character and wanted to defend others. The position Ice Storm had proposed were perfect. Iron Wing knew scouting so this task was fitting. Even if somepony or something wanted to attack head on, Iron Wing would have to chance to prevent that. She noticed that the green stallion looked to the ground. "Electrobolt was it, right?" she asked. "Everything alright?" she wanted to know with a calm and nice voice. Iron Wing didn´t know what was on his mind, but she knew that everypony who helped with this quest was worth protecting. Every help was needed, independent of the type and amount of help.

Edited October 21, 2012 by Iron Wing

[Electrobolt 2,069]

While he was staring at the ground, Electrobolt continued to ponder about his past, and what his ability might be. *Although I might be strong with my kicks, Iron Wing seems to be pretty strong as well. How else would she be able to use that armor if she wasn't...? And since I'm not a unicorn, I don't have any magical talent... So what is there that I have...?* As he closed his eyes to think on something, a memory from his past resurfaced. He saw himself when he was still young, along with the other ponies he used to play with in the past.

 

But this memory wound up revealing one thing to him. After one of the various games he played, one of the other ponies complimented him by saying, "Wow, Electrobolt... You sure are quick on your hooves!" Another pony then chimed in, adding, "Yeah, you're really nimble! You must have impressive reflexes or something!" In his mind, Electrobolt pondered, *Reflexes... Quick on my hooves... Maybe that's what I'm good at...? Hmm...*

 

She noticed that the green stallion looked to the ground. "Electrobolt was it, right?" she asked. "Everything alright?" she wanted to know with a calm and nice voice. Iron Wing didn´t know what was on his mind, but she knew that everypony who helped with this quest was worth protecting. Every help was needed, independent of the type and amount of help.

 

Once he had heard Iron Wing speaking out to him, his ears perked up as his attention was brought back to the group around him. Realizing that he must have looked pretty down to the others, he then tried to replace his worried look with a calmer one, before looking over to the armor-clad pegasus. "Oh, um... Yeah, I'm alright. I was just lost in thought, I suppose..." As he looked around at the group, he then recalled that Daylight had mentioned something about everyone's abilities. *Well... I have nothing else I can really go by right now...* he thought. "Anyways, um... I'm not sure how useful it would be, but... I'm pretty good on my hooves, and my reflexes aren't all that bad, either..." Although he had something to go on, he was still uncertain about whether or not he would be able to do much in the group.

[Alex Night 870]

"Well, according to the list that Princess Celestia gave me, she there were supposed to be six other ponies heading out with me, though she said she wasn't sure about one of them though. It doesn't help that I don't have a name, or what type of pony that I'm to be expecting to look for," she started answering his most recent question first. "As for the current plan, I've mapped out what I believe to be the safest possible route, if such a thing were to exist in the Everfree Forest. If we went straight to the desired location, it would require us to head directly north west and guide us straight through Froggy Bottom Bog. Unless somepony that I'm not aware of has gotten that Hydra that lives there out, that's not an option, and if we go around directly west we risk running into the Ursas. Personally, I don't want to go any closer to those things than I have to. Our safest way to go is to go to the old Moon Palace first. It's a sturdy place of shelter that is surrounded by a cliff side all the way around. It has multiple layers of security for us, and will give us time to decide what to do next. There are three different ways that we can go from there, that we can figure out how to do once we get there. What does everypony else think?"

Alex listened on as Ice spoke of a plan on moving through the Everfree Forest. It seemed logical to him. Although Alex never faced off against an Ursa before, he has seen one up close when an Ursa Minor was attacking Ponyville a couple of years ago until Twilight used her magic to lull it to sleep and send it back into the forest. He also wasn't particularly excited about meeting one face to face anytime soon. "Well, that's sounds like a solid plan. Although, I don't know much about this Moon Palace. Is it connected with Princess Luna?" Alex asked her. It was at this moment he heard another pony speak up about tactical movement and placement of ponies. Alex looked towards the pony in question and saw that she was a Pegasus as well. This Pegasus was very different from him though, as she sports what looks like a heavy piece of armor making her look like a tank. It also makes him wonder how fast she could fly though with something that heavy.

 

"Okay, well that being said, Daylight I think that it would be best if you were in the middle of everypony. that way things would have a rough time getting to you while you will still be in range to heal anypony if they get hurt. As for myself, I can create and control ice. I can materialize it into anything that I wish. I can use it to make armor, weapons, or weaponized spells." she announced to the group. "With that versatility, I can get around the group easily enough, so any position is fine by me. I should probably be in the middle as well considering at least to my knowledge I have the only map, and everypony would hear me better if I was in the middler vs one side or the other. Iron Wing, you're most definitely the most heavily armored of us, so you should either take point, or follow behind. We should have our two heaviest hitters on either side to avoid flanking. A lot of the things that we are going to run into in the forest are intelligent. They will use tactics, so we have to be prepared for those tactics,"

Alex listened on as Ice took on the advice from the Iron Mare. He learned that the strongest ponies belong in either the front or the back. The Iron Mare volunteered to take the front, which seemed like a smart choice to Alex. Alex looked towards Ice Storm. "Well, I'm pretty quick on my feet and even faster in the air. I can take the back to cover everypony. I've taken my share of licks in the past back when I was just a colt in Fillydelphia." Alex said to Ice Storm. Alex looked around the other ponies wondering. He saw Electrobolt looking uncertain at the ground. When hearing his opinion about his position, he decided to give him some encouragement. "Don't sweat it, buddy! Whatever is in there, I know you'll help us pull through. Right, Bolt?" Alex said to Electrobolt, smiling while holding a brohoof for him.

[Ice Storm 1,020]

When Alex asked about the Moon Palace being connected with Luna, Ice Storm nodded. "To my knowledge, it's actually connected to both princesses. If my memory serves me correctly, it's where Princess Luna and Princess Celestia lived before Luna's banishment. I never did ask Luna why her sister left the Moon Palace, but then again, that was a part of Luna's past that I'd rather not have to make her retell. It was bad enough for her to live through it once and still, a millennium later, be suffering the consequences from it. I would love to go much further into detail about Princess Luna herself and how different she is from everypony's blatantly misconstrued beliefs of her, but that can wait until we are in a safer position and once we've gotten some dirt behind us," she concluded waiting for everypony else to speak up.

 

When everypony else starting listing their abilities and what they thought that their strengths were, Ice Storm nodded once more. It had appeared that the stratigic placements that she had mentioned would indeed be the best placement for the ponies that they had in the group giving the ability ranges. She shuddered when she heard Alex mention Fillydelhpia. "Please do not remind me of that wretched place... I've had... worse than horrible experiences there," she told him before turning to everypony else, listening as Electrobolt say that he was fast and quick on his hooves, but didn't really know what else he was able to do. "That's actually really good. Electro, I want you to be between Daylight here and Alex. That way if things start getting rough in the back you can assist him with your speed. with speed generally comes a lot of power, use it to your advantage," she told him with a smile.

 

"Okay, we have everything basically set, and it appears that we are all ready to go. So whenever everypony else is ready, Iron Wing, lead us forth down the path that's directly in front of us. It won't be a straight shot to the palace, but it's the straightest shot that this forest is going to give us. We'll have a river, and a sea serpent to deal with in that direction, but from what I've heard from Rarity, the sea serpent shouldn't be a problem. Especially if I tell him that I'm a friend of hers, at least if the story she tells me about him is true. That should let use get past without any issues, and perhaps we could even persuade him to help watch our backs for us in case anything tries to come after us from behind," she explained as she began to take formation waiting for Iron Wing to lead them forth.

[Iron Wing 237]

Iron Wing nodded to Ice Storm and got into the front position, starting to walk into the Everfree Forest. She walked down the path that was directly in front of the group. Wasn´t to hard to follow Ice´s instruction. With her armor on and ready to defend she looked carefully into the forest. It was her first time to enter this forest and after all she heard many rumors about this place. Many of the guardians were afraid to enter because of the suspected monsters and beasts within the woods. Iron wasn´t the kind of pony to believe in rumors just like that. Like her father she had to see a threat with her own eyes. She remembered the things her father told her. *Remember... just because you see something dangerous doesn´t mean it´s automatically a threat. If something attacks you for real, then you can count it as a threat.*

 

Iron Wing looked back to the group. It was unusual for her to spend time with ponies at her age. She didn´t have many friends until now because most ponies avoided talking to her. Iron knew it was about her armor and beeing a guardian, but she liked her job. She was told that ponies from Ponyville were more different than in Cloudsdale or Canterlot. She didn´t live here since a long time so she had decided to be careful with approaching other ponies. Iron Wing tried to listen to the other ponies within the group. Maybe they were more talkative than Iron Wing. Perhaps she could join within a conversation or something like that.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

When Alex had spoken up, trying to get him to feel better, Electrobolt looked at him, a small smile on his face now. And when Ice Storm had added in her remarks, the smile grew a bit more. These two ponies had said that his speed would most likely be of help in what could come, and that he would be a good assistance to the team. Seeing Alex holding his hoof up, poised for a brohoof, Electro lifted his hoof up and bumped hooves together. "You got that right," responded the young colt with a chuckle. He was no longer worried about whether he'd fit in or not, but instead he felt happy, glad that he had such good friends to be there for him.

 

As the group had gotten in formation and began to move, things began to get pretty quiet, rather fast. As he looked around at the group, he could hear nothing but pure silence. The whole moment was getting him to feel quite awkward. He would have tried to bring up a subject to talk about, if only to break the silence. But whenever he tried to think of one, nothing came to mind. But then, he recalled that he was curious about Iron Wing's armor. However, he vaguely recalled that she had mentioned that she had been trained to be a Canterlot guard. So with that idea dispelled, he was left without any subject to bring up, so he just followed in silence.

[Ice Storm 1,020]

Ice followed behind Iron Wing as they began to make their way into the forest. As soon as they stepped into the forest the change in climate was noticeable. It was almost like walking into a veil of water the vapor was so thick on the ground level. The further that they went into the forest the denser the fog started to become. Keeping a close tab on where Iron Wing was so that she could stay within range of her. With the fog that was in the area, verbal communication was the only form of reliable communication that they had at the moment. "Everypony stay close. A misting fog like this is easy to get lost in. We should probably take it slow to make sure that we stay on the correct path. That being said, I can barely see the map let alone the path," she stated as the winds began to pick up in the area sending chills down her spine.

 

The winds felt a bit different. Colder than the winds that they had felt outside of the forest, and it was still fairly deep in the summer time so a cold wind being felt this time of year was most definitely odd. Night even the Nightingale's Feathers had this tinge of coldness enshrouded among them. It made ice a bit worried. "Does the air here feel colder than it should around this time of year?" she asked everypony else around them. the fact that she was the one asking that particular question being a dead giveaway that something was off. Slowly though the winds picked up, and the fog was mostly blown away, but the winds had now gotten bone-chillingly cold, at least for her, almost to the point where she couldn't move. "Is anypony else having a problem with these winds? They feel.... even more different than they are supposed to!" she stated unsure of whether it's an illusion on her or if the winds were affecting everypony else as well.

[Dave247 568]

When the group set off, Day followed in the middle of the group next to Ice storm. As they got deeper and deeper into the forest the light also got darker and darker until it became incredibly hard to see where they were going. The fog that had set in only made things worse making it imposable to see the pony in front of you. Day then heard a voice from next to him say something.

 

"Everypony stay close. A misting fog like this is easy to get lost in. We should probably take it slow to make sure that we stay on the correct path. That being said, I can barely see the map let alone the path," she stated as the winds began to pick up in the area

"Why didn't I think of this until now?" Day thought to himself. "This should help!" he said aloud so the whole group could hear, then used his horn to provide a bright shining light. As the fog was quite thick, no matter how bright he made it it didn't make much difference and only lit up a small surrounding area around the group. At lest now they could see the shadows of the other members in the group.

 

@@Ice Storm

"That's the best I can do." He said to Ice Storm who he could clearly see next to him now. "I'll have to stay near you so you can clearly see the map. At least now we can kinda see where were going."

 

"Does the air here feel colder than it should around this time of year?"

A strong cold wind then began to resonate thought the forest. He had been in the forest a number of times in the past but he had never felt anything like this before, especially for this time of year.

 

The wind then picked up, and blew most of the fog away and thanks to his light spell, more of the surrounding area was now visible. It became increasingly cold though due to this and he couldn't help furiously shivering to the point where he felt like to just stop and curl up somewhere.

"Is anypony else having a problem with these winds? They feel.... even more different than they are supposed to!"

@@Ice Storm

"Yes... there is something very wrong with this wind." He replied. "At least it blew away most of the fog so my light spell is more effective but it just feels so... cold. Icy almost." He then looked at Ice and waited for a reply. She was and expert on all things Ice so maybe she knew something about the wind.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As soon as the group had entered the forest, Electrobolt began to feel some sort of different sensation from before. As opposed to the area being clear and visible, there was instead a rather dense fog lurking about, and it only grew denser the further they went in. Eventually, the fog got so dense that it was hard to see where everypony was going. The young colt started to grow nervous, as how the fog was getting denser, he thought the group would possibly get separated the longer they lingered in this fog.

 

"Everypony stay close. A misting fog like this is easy to get lost in. We should probably take it slow to make sure that we stay on the correct path. That being said, I can barely see the map let alone the path," she stated as the winds began to pick up in the area sending chills down her spine.

 

"This should help!" he said aloud so the whole group could hear, then used his horn to provide a bright shining light. As the fog was quite thick, no matter how bright he made it it didn't make much difference and only lit up a small surrounding area around the group. At lest now they could see the shadows of the other members in the group.

 

It was at this moment when he heard Ice speak up, commenting about the fog and how they should stick together, when Daylight had begun to emit some light from his horn. It was then that he was able to see where the others were in the group as he let out a small sigh of relief. *At least now we can see everypony...* the young colt pondered, as he then felt a breeze of wind blow by the group. This wind caused him to shiver slightly, as Ice spoke once again.

 

"Does the air here feel colder than it should around this time of year?" she asked everypony else around them.

 

"Is anypony else having a problem with these winds? They feel.... even more different than they are supposed to!" she stated unsure of whether it's an illusion on her or if the winds were affecting everypony else as well.

 

When Ice brought up the first question, he was about to answer. But then the wind began to pick up as it caused him to shiver more, only for the wind to keep growing stronger. It was then that the fog started to lift, even though the wind only grew stronger, causing him to feel the chill. When she had asked the second question, Daylight answered as he commented on the wind. "Y-yeah.." Electrobolt responded after Daylight finished. "This wind... It... It's almost unnatural..."

[Iron Wing 237]

Iron Wing could not see where to step with her hooves within this fog. It was hard to tell where the way was leading to and she could not see far distances. She looked back and could barely see Ice Storm. Ice told everypony to stay close and to take it slow. That was something Iron could handle. She slowed down a bit and watched her steps. A fresh breeze would be fine to blow this fog away... Iron Wing thought. It didn´t take long for Iron Wings wish to step in, but this wind was a bit different. Iron was used to cold winds because she usually was flying in great hights. On the first couple of minutes the wind was refreshing but after that, Iron knew that something wasn´t normal about this wind.

 

The fog cleared up a bit so it was good to see again. Ice, Day and even Electrobolt said that this breeze was something unnatural. Iron wasn´t sure about that. "If this wind is gone within the next couple of minutes we should not worry about it. Sometimes cold winds are blown to the ground by the force of nature. Then the temperature feels like winter even it´s a sunny summer day. But if this wind isn´t gone with the next minutes..." Iron Wing stopped and looked into the air, feeling the cold breeze in her mane. "... perhaps it is a magical wind, or perhaps the wind that was released from the temple..." she finished her sentence. She turned around again and continued the way into the forrest.

[Ice Storm 1,020]

Ice was both relieved and worried about the fact that the winds were affecting everypony else as well as her. On one hoof, it meant that she wasn't imagining things, but at the same time, they could pose a very real danger to the mission. Iron Wing though had made the comment that sometimes cold winds where blown to the ground through the force of nature. that they should only start to get worried if they persist for longer than a few minutes. Chilled winds being blown downward was one thing. Winds that were cold enough to nearly paralyze a pony who deals with ice is another. "I've never felt a wind this cold before, and I've walked through several blizzards and cold windy days in Canterlot in the winter. I normally rarely get bothered by cold winds," she responded in a somewhat calm, chittery voice from her teeth clattering. "That being said though. These aren't those winds... Those winds, I can't really describe them as anything other than prickly."

 

They pressed on, and much to Ice's dismay, the winds didn't dwindle down at all, and in fact, intensified. To make matters worse, night had fallen, and the prickling winds of the Nightingale's Feathers had kicked in, and blowing with the strange new winds. It had gotten to a point to where Ice had to create her ice armor around her to block the wind from reaching her body. Oddly enough the ice that coated her body was warmer than the winds that were blowing towards her. "Iron, I don't think that we're going to get much further in these conditions like this. We should seek a shelter until either the winds die down, or until we can thing of a solution to get us to the Moon Palace. With both sets of winds blowing now, we don't have a chance out here unsheltered," she commented turning to Daylight. "Daylight, how far can you make your light reach?" she asked him

[Dave247 568]

"I've never felt a wind this cold before, and I've walked through several blizzards and cold windy days in Canterlot in the winter. I normally rarely get bothered by cold winds," she responded in a somewhat calm, chittery voice from her teeth clattering. "That being said though. These aren't those winds... Those winds, I can't really describe them as anything other than prickly."

This worried him greatly as he would have thought that Ice wouldn't be bother with the cold so much as she said so herself yet he could clearly hear her teeth chattering near him. There was something very wrong going on but there wasn't much else they could do but press on.

 

As the group walked on, the wind only intensified adding to the new gust of wind the night had brung. he saw Ice create a shield of Ice around her to ironically keep her warm, which only made him wish that he had brought his cloak as he couldn't stop shivering.

 

Ice then began to speak and suggest that they should stop for the night. "Y-yes. I-I a-agree." He responded to Ice. He couldn't help chattering now as the cold was really getting to him. "W-we ne-need to-to find sh-shelter!" Ice then went on to ask him a question. He tried his best to stop himself form chattering before answering.

@@Ice Storm

"I-it depends. I ca-can make it a lot brighter bu-but it will tire me out very quickly." He then proceeded to increase the brightness of his horn which instead of just lighting up the vicinity around them, now extended a great deal in every direction. He Stumbled slightly as he cast the spell and could already feel most of his energy being drained away from him. He wasn't used to producing this much light as he rarely needed to. "I c-can't keep this up for l-long though. W-we'll need to find so-somewhere to rest very soon."

[Iron Wing 237]

@@Dave247, @@Ice Storm,

 

"Iron, I don't think that we're going to get much further in these conditions like this. We should seek a shelter until either the winds die down, or until we can thing of a solution to get us to the Moon Palace. With both sets of winds blowing now, we don't have a chance out here unsheltered,"

"Understood! I try to find something for the group!" she aknowledged Ice Storms command.Of course Ice wasn´t Iron Wings commander but thinking like this was a habit. She looked around and searched for something that could harbor the hole group. But there was nothing much to see. It was too dark to look at long ranges, but there was no help. The wind got colder every minute. Iron noticed that Ice did some ice magic to shield herself against the wind, also Daylight started to stutter because of the freezing temperature. Also Iron Wing had her problems. Her armor was padded in the inside of course, but since it was pure metal on the outside the armor got freezing cold. "I think it... will be a... a problem if we don´t... find anything..." she stuttered.

 

She did notice that Daylight tried to create a bigger light using his magic abilities. It seemed to be very exhausting. Iron Wing decided to help the others a bit, even if it wasn´t much she could do. She spread her wings to the their full size and turned them a bit up. With this done she had created a little shield for Daylight so that he wouldn´t have to worry about the cold wind vor a short time. Of course now the wind could reach Iron Wing on every spot of her body so she wouldn´t be able to maintain this for a long time. "With this... i think... you may be able... to concentrate better..." she suggested to daylight. Iron stepped further with hope to find a shelter or something the group could hide from the wind. It was very tiring wearing a huge armor, to lift up her wings to be a shield like that and to withstand the wind. But Iron was determined to keep things up until Daylight could find something.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Iron Wing