private The Tyranny of Princess Cadence

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@~HistoricallyInaccurate~, @@Avolon, @

Swordpoint nodded. "Very well. It has been settled, then." He faced his trainees. "You three shall accompany us to Appleloosa. We shall depart at once. However, though she and I are not in the military, you will be falling under our command for this mission. I expect all of you to grant both of us the same respect that you would grant Dawn Wing." He thought about this for a second. "No... allow me to rectify myself. I expect you to grant us the same respect that you would have granted Shining Armor." He winked at the three soldiers before turning to Sanura. "Shall we depart, then? I trust that the train is waiting at the station."

Sanura nodded. "I checked on the way here, the train is waiting and will continue to wait til we arrive," she said. "I'm not anticipating any trouble, but am prepared for the eventuallity, as always. I expect that you are, too."

 

Sanura was looking forward to the trip; it was always good to go places regardless of the reason.

[RAGESTAR 479]

Crimsons face became serious all of a sudden, "I never said this war would be gloriuos.......but jokes aside.....if we kill cadence, then I promise that all of you who want to lead a normal life, may do so if they wish......if there are remnants then, I'll use my crew to hinder and distract them, they will not bother you as long as other forces keep them at bay......after all.....a leader must do what's best for his team..." said crimson bravely.

[Super Derpy 535]

@Ragestar

"Yes I agree if we have succeeded afterwards you may do so as you wish but we shouldn't look into the future just yet first we have to actually defeat Cadence so we should not be talking about what happens before we succeed. My mom had this little saying don't count your eggs before they hatch so don't be saying we are going to succeed until we have actually succeeded"

[Agent505 661]

Making his way down to the armoury, deep below the palace, Harmonic prepared his tools. 

A pair of smaller-than-average hookswords, designed especially for him to fit snugly under his cape without notice, and a simple hood for his cloak, sewn together with magic to be as strong as steel, but as light as cloth. Finally, he grabbed a pendant from a nearby armour stand and placed it around his neck. The pendant bore the symbol of the Crystal Empire - a crystal heart, this was simply to signify where his allegiance lay.

 

Making his way topside, he quickly found himself at the train station, awaiting the arrival of his generals once again. 

While his own guards would stay here and train, Enid and Myra joined him, their sick and twisted grins piercing through the very soul of anypony who happened to cross their path. "it's going to be a fun day...we'll not be travelling by train however...too slow for my liking." 

[Concord Discord 35]

"Planning ahead means I can prepare for any scenario. What I'm saying is if we do somehow defeat Cadence, what will we have actually achieved? I mean, I want to kill her, but an act like that isn't exactly going to go unnoticed."

He turned to Crimson.

"And how exactly would you propose to keep them all at bay anyway? Everypony is talking about what they're going to do, But they're forgetting the rule of Cause and Effect."

[THE WILD HUNT 213]

"We kill her, and we end her tyrannical reign," Acheron said. "But of course, that would mean one of two things: The Crystal Empire falls into chaos without a ruler, or someone else succeeds Cadenza's throne. We have a lot to prepare for, the successor to her throne being one of the things we have to examine and plan."

Acheron thought about things a little longer before speaking up once again.

"Naturally, we can't take down the entire Crystal Army, so we strike at their commanders. Break their spirits and minds, and then kill them. Without their leaders. Of course, that also opens up the possibility of someone else taking the deceased commanders' places, so to take csre of that, we begin sowing seeds of fear, doubt, and disunity among their own...."

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Pripyat Pony, @, @@Avolon, @~HistoricallyInaccurate

Swordpoint nodded. "Very good. And yes, I am not expecting any trouble, either, but I am ready for it." He turned to face the three soldiers. "Alright, you three, let us depart. We will travel to the train station and ride the train to Appleloosa. Once there, we will meet with Applejack and learn what we can of the latest shipment of goods. The last we heard was that it had not yet arrived, and Applejack suspects that bandits may have a hoof in that." He looked to Sanura. "I believe we are ready. Let us depart." He began to walk toward the train station, pondering how he would handle the bandits if it came down to it.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Sanura walked alongside Swordpoint, making for the station. The train stood there waiting, ready to move off and start the journey to Appleloosa once they all were on board. Sanura boarded the train, which was empty save for those at the front who were in charge of driving the train and keeping it stocked with fuel.

[Katella Avenue 28]

Mad Life had taken refuge in the Appleoosa's sole tavern for the night, renting a room with what remained of her bits. She didn't need them, and soon the owner probably wouldn't either. When she awoke, having slept on all fours as she always did, she noted that the sun was up bright and shining over the city. Perfect weather for slaughter, Mad Life had to give the Princess of the Sn regards on that one. She figured it would be best to wait in her room, which had an excellent view of the bustling little outpost in it's entirety. 

[Ano170 162]

Making his way down to the armoury, deep below the palace, Harmonic prepared his tools. 

A pair of smaller-than-average hookswords, designed especially for him to fit snugly under his cape without notice, and a simple hood for his cloak, sewn together with magic to be as strong as steel, but as light as cloth. Finally, he grabbed a pendant from a nearby armour stand and placed it around his neck. The pendant bore the symbol of the Crystal Empire - a crystal heart, this was simply to signify where his allegiance lay.

 

Making his way topside, he quickly found himself at the train station, awaiting the arrival of his generals once again. 

While his own guards would stay here and train, Enid and Myra joined him, their sick and twisted grins piercing through the very soul of anypony who happened to cross their path. "it's going to be a fun day...we'll not be travelling by train however...too slow for my liking." 

 

The morning sun warmed Arrow's coat, but the wind brought a chill to the air. Beneath his right wing, strapped to a harness, hung a sheathed sword. After leaving Chaotic Harmony the day before, Arrow had headed back to the palace armoury in search of a new battlesaddle. His search proving fruitless, Arrow had then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening inquiring at several promising shops - his only reward had been blank stares and the occasional snort of derision. With shocked disbelief, Arrow had come to the regretful conclusion that guns and other projectile weapons had been forsaken in the future in favour of more traditional weapons. Indeed, none of the ponies Arrow had spoken to had appeared to know what a battlesaddle 

was.

 

The sword had been Arrow's compromise; on the whole he preferred something more long range, but Arrow could handle a blade well enough.

 

At least nopony else will be using guns either, he reasoned. Nevertheless, Arrow felt ridiculously unprepared for the upcoming battle - this "Appleloosa" hadn't even existed in his time; he had no idea what kind of place it was.

 

Still, Arrow had been reluctant to purchase any Crystal Empire heavy armour along with the sword; he found it cumbersome. Instead, Arrow had visited a unicorn tailor and had the outline of a crystal heart emblem threaded into his light-armoured black vest in vibrant, gold thread. 

 

"Sir!" Arrow called out, saluting as he spotted Chaotic Harmony standing at the train station. As he approached the platform, Arrow tried not to look too impressed or overwhelmed. Train stations had certainly gotten bigger and grander since his time, much like the majority of other buildings. Arrow imagined that trains themselves had come a long way, too; he remembered witnessing the first journey of Stevenhoof's Rocket, cheering wildly along with all the other young foals as the steam belching machine had roared down the tracks. How quaint would the ponies consider such a memory?  

[Agent505 661]

@@Ano170,@@00Pony,

 

Harmonic, Enid and Myra all turned their attention to Arrow as he called out, with the latter pair sharing a look of confusion, before looking back at Harmonic. "Glad you could finally join us, Arrow. It's going to be a fun day after all, wouldn't want you to miss out" Harmonic smiled malevolently. "Where's your squad soldier? While I could take Appleloosa down with nothing but my bare hooves, things will go much faster with our units." 

 

Looking off into the distance, he had to smile as at least 25 flying chariots landed just outside the empires gates. "We're just waiting for Sanguine and his assassins now...as soon as he gets here we'll be on our merry way. You two, gather the rest of the Crystal Onyx guard unicorns and bring them to me, now." Again the two mares with him nodded in unison and vanished almost instantly in a puff of purple mist. 

[The Original 571]

@@Pripyat Pony,@@Justin ZW, @@Avolon

(The whole thing with the 'feel her glare' speech felt a bit like meta-playing, but alright...)

 

Fiera followed Swordpoint and Sanura into the train without complaint. She might as well stay quiet and do as she was told, it wouldn't keep her from thinking what she did though. She didn't want to be trained to command a squad, she was a terrible commander. She knew she would be best as a solo unit or part of a task force. She didn't understand why Celestia would put her in training to be anything other than that.

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 20]

@Justin_ZW

Phylomon Steps on to the train and asks Swordpoint "is there someplace that I could drop my armor and my sward? It is not easy to carry this stuff around you should know." Phylomon Takes of his armor and bundles it up into a sphere and then takes of the sword sheath and sets it down next to the bundle.

[Ano170 162]

@@Ano170,@@00Pony,

 

Harmonic, Enid and Myra all turned their attention to Arrow as he called out, with the latter pair sharing a look of confusion, before looking back at Harmonic. "Glad you could finally join us, Arrow. It's going to be a fun day after all, wouldn't want you to miss out" Harmonic smiled malevolently. "Where's your squad soldier? While I could take Appleloosa down with nothing but my bare hooves, things will go much faster with our units." 

 

Looking off into the distance, he had to smile as at least 25 flying chariots landed just outside the empires gates. "We're just waiting for Sanguine and his assassins now...as soon as he gets here we'll be on our merry way. You two, gather the rest of the Crystal Onyx guard unicorns and bring them to me, now." Again the two mares with him nodded in unison and vanished almost instantly in a puff of purple mist. 

(OOC: Last post for tonight I'm afraid. First day of sixth year tomorrow, WHOOO!).

 

"Ah, yes, my squad..." Arrow couldn't help frowning slightly. He had on occasion worked with ponies before, of course, but he had never been an official leader; he preferred to follow his own plans when given the opportunity - a privilege the army of course stole from him at every opportunity - and respected the right of other ponies to do the same. He had neither the experience nor the desire to lead a squad, but he sensed that to argue with Chaotic would be pointless, and possibly even dangerous.

 

After shopping, Arrow had spent the rest of his day selecting ponies for his troop; earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, both stallions and mares. All strong, all fighters, and all ready to serve and die for their empire. 

 

As to be expected from the Crystal Empire Army, Arrow thought dryly.

 

"I shall send for them at once," Arrow told Harmonic with reluctance. 

[Justin ZW 396]

@,
(OoC: It's not that hard to see someone giving you the evil eye. I probably wrote felt because I was drunk and didn't really think about conveying my meaning.

 

Also, if I must... Swordpoint has been training the Equestrian military for awhile. He's seen plenty of mares, and the ones who are discharged are usually up in arms about it because they believe that it's their gender that's being discriminated against. It's only logical that he would figure out why Fiera was upset.)
 
@@Pripyat Pony, @@Avolon, @~HistoricallyInaccurate~

Swordpoint turned to Phylomon. "Yes. Feel free to find a seat." He walked to the front of the train to speak with the conductor. "Are we on schedule?"

 

The conductor nodded. "Yeah. It's just gonna be a couple minutes before we get everything ready to go. I'd suggest getting all settled in for the ride."

 

Swordpoint shook his head. "I thank you for your concern, but I have business to attend to."

 

"Suit yourself," the conductor said with a shrug.

 

Swordpoint stepped back out into the passenger car and motioned to Sanura. "Please come with me. There are several matters I would like to discuss with you." He trotted into the next car, which was empty and quiet.

[longgone 873]

Golden Age walked in nonchalantly. "Clever he is" he said to himself, referring to Swordpoint. "Treat the two with the respect of Shining Armor, clever indeed.". 

 

Not that there was any reason he wouldn't. Neither Swordpoint nor Sanura had given any reason for them to earn his distaste. Although he guessed Swordpoint did not intend it for that manner, he found it witty nonetheless.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@,

(OoC: It's not that hard to see someone giving you the evil eye. I probably wrote felt because I was drunk and didn't really think about conveying my meaning.

 

Also, if I must... Swordpoint has been training the Equestrian military for awhile. He's seen plenty of mares, and the ones who are discharged are usually up in arms about it because they believe that it's their gender that's being discriminated against. It's only logical that he would figure out why Fiera was upset.)

 

@@Pripyat Pony, @@Avolon, @~HistoricallyInaccurate~

Swordpoint turned to Phylomon. "Yes. Feel free to find a seat." He walked to the front of the train to speak with the conductor. "Are we on schedule?"

 

The conductor nodded. "Yeah. It's just gonna be a couple minutes before we get everything ready to go. I'd suggest getting all settled in for the ride."

 

Swordpoint shook his head. "I thank you for your concern, but I have business to attend to."

 

"Suit yourself," the conductor said with a shrug.

 

Swordpoint stepped back out into the passenger car and motioned to Sanura. "Please come with me. There are several matters I would like to discuss with you." He trotted into the next car, which was empty and quiet.

Sanura nodded and followed Swordpoint into the empty carriage next door. She wondered exactly what it was that he wanted to talk about and choked down her natural paranoia. After all, it couldn't be anything bad; they had only met each other the previous day.

[00Pony 286]

(OOC: I apologize for my lateness, I was without connection until now.)

 

@, @Ano170,

 

Sanguine had spent the day since awakening watching speaking with his officers, discussing tactics, who to bring etc.

 

After this, he selected his team: six officers, each with one fourth year initiate serving under them.

 

His orders to them were simple, "Kill everything, but leave the Element Bearer to me."

 

Eventually, the assassins arrived, Sanguine giving a simple nod to Harmonic and Arrow, "Forgive us for being late. Ran into a bit of trouble with some of the more rowdy initiates. They are being stealth with as we speak." He gave a sinister chuckle at that.

 

All of his assassins wore a uniform much like his, dark greyish black leather with crimson undertones, overlaid with steel plates and underlined by chain mail, complete with hood and face mask, with the Crystal Empire insignia emblazoned over the left side of the chest, covering the heart.

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Pripyat Pony

Swordpoint turned to Sanura. "There is something I must share with you, Sanura. It is privileged information, but if Celestia trusts you, then I shall also trust you." He took a deep breath. "I don't suppose you've heard anything from the Crystal Empire, lately? The last communication which Celestia had with the empire was over a week ago. Shining Armor sent word that Cadence was growing distant, and that he was worried about her mental condition." He stood again and glanced out the window as the whistle blew and the train suddenly jarred into movement. "I can only hope that everything is alright."

 

He spun around again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be troubling you with this before our mission. I just wish to know if you've heard anything from the empire... even idle rumors."

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Pripyat Pony

Swordpoint turned to Sanura. "There is something I must share with you, Sanura. It is privileged information, but if Celestia trusts you, then I shall also trust you." He took a deep breath. "I don't suppose you've heard anything from the Crystal Empire, lately? The last communication which Celestia had with the empire was over a week ago. Shining Armor sent word that Cadence was growing distant, and that he was worried about her mental condition." He stood again and glanced out the window as the whistle blew and the train suddenly jarred into movement. "I can only hope that everything is alright."

 

He spun around again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be troubling you with this before our mission. I just wish to know if you've heard anything from the empire... even idle rumors."

Sanura replied, "I've heard a few unsubstantiated rumours, about much what you've just said. I don't trust gossip, however; to find out fully what is going on, a pony has to go to the place themselves and find out. I'd be willing to go, if Celestia sends me. We need to find out more tho, before we can act."

[Agent505 661]

@@00Pony,@@Ano170,

 

"Then we are ready..." there was a clear glint in Harmonic's eye, one that betrayed a burning desire for blood. "The chariots await outside the city gates, once you're on board, there'll be no stopping until we return, we hit the ground running." Just then, the entirety of his Crystal Onyx guards unicorn faction teleported behind him in a wall of purple haze, revealing 6 highly disciplined, highly trained and incredibly powerful unicorns, as well as Enid and Myra. "I would have asked yours to fly low, Sanguine, but you're not afraid of the fall are you?" he grinned, and then quickly turned around, as did his squad as he marched through the streets towards the chariots. 

 

(we're underway Finally!) 

[Justin ZW 396]

@@Pripyat Pony

"Wise words, indeed," Swordpoint affirmed. "But for now, let us concentrate on the task at hoof. I trust we shall arrive within two hours. Perhaps we should rest on the way there. I am sorry to trouble you, Sanura." Swordpoint stood and headed for the next empty train car in silence.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

 

"Wise words, indeed," Swordpoint affirmed. "But for now, let us concentrate on the task at hoof. I trust we shall arrive within two hours. Perhaps we should rest on the way there. I am sorry to trouble you, Sanura." Swordpoint stood and headed for the next empty train car in silence.

"No need to apologise," Sanura replied. "I understand your concern." She found herself a seat in the other carriage and pulled a book out of her saddlebags. Sanura never went anywhere without at least one book to read on the journey to and fro. She wasn't really one for small talk with other ponies.

[THE WILD HUNT 213]

(My group is still stalled ... speaking of which, only me, Super Derpy, ragestar, and MinecraftBronyFTW are the only ones posting...)

 

Acheron continued to wait for the others to decide amongst themselves who to elect. As he did, he began to have an uneasy feeling due to inactivity. Though mostly meaningless kills, Acheron found it productive to kill Cadence's soldiers, whittling down their numbers while caising some potential soldiers to run away and never return out of fear of being next. It was still not enough, but it was something.

[RAGESTAR 479]

Crimson grinned mischeviously at curse, "how would I keep them at bay you ask? Well.......would this be a bad time to mention that I lead an army sized pirate crew? I couldn't bring them with me for two reasons, one being there a freaking army of pirates! I can't bring them to this city on an assasination mission, two, their currently helping in celestias navy for the enevitable war with cadence, any other questions?" Asked crimson.