private Whisper II: Kingdom of Darkness

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Nexus entered the room through a door he swore wasn't there 10 seconds ago. He looked out the window of this office and saw an orange light in the distance, the entire landscape bathed in an orange glow. It was bright too, causing the bat pony to shield his eyes, but keeping a lookout on the odd light.

 

"Woah, what the hell is that? Off in the distance. It's bright, whatever it is." 

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, "I'll take it from here. Zat, friend, is ze sun. Let's you and us have a talk." Garrison sat behind the desk and looked to Nexus. "Did you feel nauseous at all, goink srough zat door? No? Odd. Because zat door vas a portal betveen two vorlds. You are now in Steel Gulch, und Delvia isn't even in ze same universe as zis. You follow?"

Edited July 20, 2013 by baman

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

"You can open a portal to different dimensions at will, the sun isn't gone in this one, and Delvia doesn't exist in this dimension. Believe or not, this STILL isn't the weirdest experience I've had. The unicorn tribes north of Canterlot are just bizarre." Nexus looked back over to the setting sun.

 

"So, that's the sun. I can see why older ponies are always upset about the Mist. It's much...warmer than the Mist." He turned back to Garrison.

 

"Alright, so why have you brought me to an alternate dimension?"

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, "To prove a point, und to give us some privacy. As Standoff just said, if you veren't takink us seriously before, you sure are now. Take zis PDA." Garrison produced one from a vest pocket. "Configure it as you vish, and zen report back to us. Oh, und don't go outside. Ze autoturrets aren't picky vis vat zey shoot."

(Configure=voice commands, colour scheme, AI voice, 'home base', etc.)

(Welcome to the Plane-Jumpers! You can now put that in your OC's bio, and use it in RPs accordingly.)

(I told you there was one way out.)

Edited July 21, 2013 by baman

[ActFast231 432]

@, 

 

(Well...Can't say I saw that coming. I'll add that later.)

 

Nexus examined the PDA, as it was called, with fascination. He was aware that technology was advancing rather rapidly in Equestria, but he didn't quite expect it to be this far along. On closer examination, he see's a button that looks like it activates it. Pressing that, the device lights up. A little lence is uncovered and a light flashed out, scanning the pony currently holding the device-meaning Nexus. The bat pony froze at this, unsure what it was doing, before it finished, and it started pulling up all info it could get on him.

 

"WELCOME-NEXUS TERSONA-TO YOUR PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT. STARTING INITIAL START-UP." It spoke in a strange synthesized voice.

 

"PLEASE SELECT PDA PREFERENCES." A few tabs came up on screen, reading AI SETTINGS, DISPLAY SETTINGS, VOICE SETTINGS, and HOME SETTINGS. Nexus, unsure how to proceed, used a free hoof to tap the first option. Next it asked for male or female voice options. He selected female with a shrug. He tapped the third option, again not knowing what he was doing.

 

"AI SETTINGS CONFIGURED." It now spoke in the voice of a British woman. (Think Dead Space 1 AI voice.)

 

He set the display to read with larger text, and for the color of the display to be green. When he got to voice settings, an interesting thing occurred.

 

"VOICE RECOGNITION REQUIRED. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME NOW." This seemed rather odd to the hunter, but he complied.

 

"Nexus Tersona."

 

"VOICE RECOGNITION CONFIRMED. YOU MAY NOW USE VOICE COMMANDS. A FULL LIST OF VOICE COMMANDS IS AVAILABLE IN THE AI SETTINGS MENU." All that remained was the home settings.

 

"PLEASE SELECT A HOME DIMENSION." A map appeared of an inconceivable number of dimensions. A little light was blinking on their current dimension, which was hard to spot over what looked like a map of the cosmos.

 

"Umm, which one of these is the one I just came from?" He asked, looking up at Garrison.

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, Garrison came over, squinted, squinted some more, and then pointed at a dot near the middle. "That one. You're doing well so far, we're going to take you to meet some friends. We'll give you the rules there. One of the functions of the PDA is to let you jump using tech, but we're going to see if you can learn manual. First test-find a plane you want to go to."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Nexus tapped the dot, and the PDA did the rest.

 

"HOME DIMENSION SET. YOU MAY NOW TRAVEL TO HOME DIMENSION FROM ANY PLANE." A main menu of some description appeared, with the name 'Plane Jumpers' on the very top of the screen. 

 

"PDA CONFIGURATION COMPLETE. DATABASE UPDATED WITH CURRENT USER-NEXUS TERSONA. FREE TRAVEL ENABLED." Nexus looked up from the PDA, an intrigued look on his face.

 

"So, I can just travel to any dimension I want now?" His face grew a smile at that.

 

"Heh, and here I was not 10 minutes ago daydreaming about traveling across the Griffon Kingdoms." Nexus opened the map of dimensions again, and looked over the screen. He clicked a few, and saw a display and information on these dimensions appeared. He eventually saw one that caught his attention. He clicked more info, and saw that it was a dimension where bat ponies were the main populace. Maybe he could learn a few tricks for the mission. He brought the dimension onto full display, so the image offered and the info took the entire screen.

 

"OK, found one. Now what?"

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, "Now, you double-tap, and assuming you're not someplace a door can't be-in the water, in midair, inside a moving vehicle, stuff like that-a door will pop up somewhere near your location. Might take a little time, though. Battle jumping-using Plane-Jumping to get the drop on someone in a fight-is more luck than anything else. Anyway. Double-click on your plane."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Tapping on the icon twice, he found that the door to the office had changed color and design. Assuming that was his cue, he stepped through it, and found himself stepping out of a shop, onto a street. Looking around, he found himself in another bat pony clan, this one much more...extravagant than the one he grew up in. He had to step back to avoid the oncoming traffic of ponies walking by. All of them bat ponies.

 

"Well, I think it worked." He muttered to himself.

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, the PDA binged. "This is Overwatch-I mean, Garrison. This is your first mission. In five minutes, the current Prime Speaker is going to come out those big doors over there, and an assassin is going to kill him. Your job is to stop that from happening, and preventing the resulting chaos. Report back when finished."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Nexus jumped at the sudden sounds from the PDA. He looked down at it, bewildered.

 

"How the hell are you...never mind. I'll see about taking down this assassin." He looked over to see a town hall-what he assumed was a town hall-and decided to search the area around it to see if he could find a spot where a possible hitpony would hide. Soon he saw a pony dressed rather formally walk out of the large double doors. He trotted towards the stairs, looking to be in a rush. That was when Nexus saw something move on the roof of the capital. 

 

"Gotcha now." He muttered from the rooftop across from the capital building. Nexus took off just as the assassin did, and was able to meet him midair. Crashing to the ground, the assassin got up quick, a blade in his mouth. He began swiping at Nexus, who backed up and ducked to avoid it. A crowd started forming, cries of fear and murmurs ever present. Somepony left to get the guard, all while this fight continued. Finally Nexus caught him off guard, crouching down to avoid a swipe, and pouncing into his gut. This caused the blade to fall from his mouth, and for him to fall to the ground. Nexus jumped on top of him, and began pummeling his head. Three blows later, and he was out. The Guard came, pushing through the crowd, approaching the hunter.

 

"What happened here?"

 

"This gut tried to mug me." He responds plainly.

 

"That how this happened?" The Guard asked, referring to his scarred chest. While not nearly as bad as before, it was still noticeable. This caused Nexus to look away, clearly embarrassed.

 

"This? No, I got this a while ago from a...hunting accident." Seemingly satisfied with the answer, he arrested the assassin, and the crowd soon dispersed. When he was alone, Nexus pulled out his PDA, and after fiddling with settings for ten minutes, figured out how to communicate.

 

"Garrison? It's Nexus. I took care of the assassin."

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, "Well done. That'll put a wrench in the Lunar Republic's plans. Okay, do you remember how to return to us? Because you'd better. This is the second part of the test: Operating the PDA on your own. You'll be doing it a lot. I'll have some donuts for you when you get back."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

"Lunar Republic? What...When we're done with the Presence, we need to have a serious talk." Nexus returned to the map, and started looking through dimensions in the general area of where he remembered that one dimension being. He finally found it, and double tapped it. Looking around, he found the door that looked familiar and walked through. He was back in the office.

 

"Alright, I took care of that, now what?"

 

(Plot within a plot. You have created plotception.)

Edited July 21, 2013 by ActFast231

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, (I am become UnDM, creator of subplots)

"Now? We go to the base. Donut?" Garrison held one out and wiggled it a bit, raising their eyebrows. "Come on, novone's stopping you from havink fun. Live a little! Well, at least he's keeping an open mind. Through here." Garrison pointed to a new door.

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

With a grunt, Nexus grabs the doughnut in his wing, and proceeds to the door.

 

"I find that close minded ponies tend to die a lot quicker. Open mindedness, with a healthy amount of suspicion is always a good thing." He walked through the door, secretly hoping that it would lead him back to his proper dimension. He also realized that he could press a button and get there quicker, but that might upset the 8 foot behemoth behind him.

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, the door came out in a familiar-looking room.

In fact, it was the shared bedroom from Delvia.

Garrison sat down on their bed. "Full circle. Now, don't tell anyone what you just saw, we need as few self-aware entities as possible to know about this. I suggest you get some sleep, jumping can be tiring."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

"I guess I should rest up for the trip to Canterlot tomorrow. And don't worry, I feel like ponies wouldn't believe me if I told them. This ability likely won't be of major use for this mission, but it is an interesting feature, none-the-less." Nexus downed his doughnut in one go, and made his way to his bed, flopping on his back. He was actually rather tired, between training, confessions, and now jumping around the bloody multiverse. So it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@, Solar Flare sighed as he stretched his legs, and then turned to her. "Alright. Now..." He pulled out a medkit. "In the realm of medical skills, it's actually quite easy. The vast majority of it? Common sense. For example, assume that someone just got slashed in the chest. What would you do? You would clean it out- if it has alcohol in it, it will work exceptionally well- and then you would wrap gauze around their chest. Quite easy. However, there are several things you will have to be prepared for as well. For example... Arteries and veins. Especially the major ones. You won't believe how much that they can bleed until you see it yourself. Tose you need to deal with immediately. Apply pressure to slow the flow or stop it, and then you bind it. Tightly. And if worst comes to worst, then apply a tourniquet. Don't do it unless you have to- it may cause them to lose the limb. It works, though." He looked over. "You following so far?"

@@Psych Ward,@@rolle, @@Psych Ward, Inquisitor Moon Crypt nodded. "Alright... let us get started." He frowned and poked Midnight in the back, smiling as he started. "So... combat. Let's start with Arriana, she seems to have had some of the least combat experience. Are you ready?" He turned to the others in the room. "If you two want to spar while you're waiting, that's fine."

Edited July 23, 2013 by Thunder Knight

[Lume WMj 228]

@

 

Lume listened closely as Inquisitor Solar Flare explained the basics of first-aid. She began searching around the med kit he had brought out, carefully inspecting the tools in it and trying to associate each one with an specific type of emergency. She was glad for the most part, since it didn't look as difficult and tiring as a physical training. According to the Inquisitor, most of it was common sense: something Lume proudly had. Thankfully she wasn't afraid of blood or anything like that either. Her mother, on the other hand, would most likely faint if she saw even the smallest cut on somepony's skin. That thought brought a small smile to the earth pony's face.

 

He looked over. "You following so far?"

 

"Yes, Inquisitor." She responded, paying attention to both Solar Flare's explanations and the medical tools she had in hooves. "I think I might get the hang of this pretty quickly..." She then commented.

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

((Alright. Fast fowarding time in five... four... three...))

 

@, Solar Flare smiled. "Alright... let's continue on, then..."

 

---

 

@, @@ActFast231, @, @@Psych Ward, @, @@rolle, @, @,

 

After a tiring day of training and an uneventful night, everypony woke up at various times of day and slowly made their way down to the mess hall, to see a serious-faced Moon Crypt doling out coffee and breakfast. When everypony had arrived and finished eating, he smiled grimly. "Alright... is everypony ready? Arriana, Midnight, and White, stay here. Garrison and Scorpiok, you will be going with My'Kola." My'Kola nodded once before returning to his coffee. "And Nexus, Lume, and Klarix will be going to Canterlot with Solar Flare." Solar Flare inclined his head and stood up towards the door. "Other than that... when everypony is ready to go, you may leave."

 

((Alright everypony. Head on over to the OOC to receive information regarding tarot powers. I will explain how they work and when you get them.))

Edited July 24, 2013 by Thunder Knight

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Nexus got up after finishing his meal and walked over to Solar Flare by the door. He slept heavier that night than ever before in his life. Then again, he did fight off a giant mech, train for hours, confess his love to Lume, and jumped across the multiverse to stop an assassin for some faction called the Lunar Republic. He made a mental note to get answers from Garrison when this was over. His dreams consisted from Lume to exploring the world, sometimes both together. He looked back to his two other teammates, keeping his expression neutral.

 

"OK, if there is anything last minute that you need to take care of, best to do it now." 

 

@,

@, 

Edited July 25, 2013 by ActFast231

[Lume WMj 228]

"Alright, missy... You've arrived this damned place a couple of days ago, clueless about the situation. Lord Moon Crypt revealed that you are a Tarot user and assigned you to a whole group of Tarot users. Your mission is to stop the Presence... whatever that thing is. You've been trained. Prepared. You're no longer a coward, waiting for your inevitable demise or hiding behind your comrades! You're a hero!! Are you ready!?" Lume spoke to her own reflection in the restroom's mirror. "Good! Because we're not turning back now!" She left the room, bringing along all of her belongings.

 

She had most of the training she needed: close quarters combat, defense, first-aid basics and weapon handling. Basically, this would be everything she needed to know in order to fight off the Presence's menace - without dying. One and a half days of training didn't sound like much, but she was feeling confident. Having that last conversation with Nexus helped lifting her spirit up to its peak. The time to act had finally arrived.

 

Lume climbed down the stairway. She was already fully equipped: A heavy, full armor set with a pair of small shields attached to her forelegs, a large broadsword resting on her back and first-aid tools occupying the space on her saddlebag. Lifting all of that weight wasn't very easy (in fact, she had no idea how she was being able to do it), but she was slowly getting used to it. She arrived the dining hall, greeted all of her companions and soon finished the breakfast. Moon Crypt then proceeded to give some orders. The armored mare got up and slowly walked towards the main door, gazing upon its enormous size and its seemingly unbreakable structure.

 

"OK, if there is anything last minute that you need to take care of, best to do it now." 

 

"I'm ready to go, Nexus." Lume smiled. She was happy for being in the same group as her beloved one, even though their spending-time-together would consist of slaughtering monsters from then on. She looked over to her other two partners, Klarix and Inquisitor Solar Flare, and showed them both a warm smile as well, turning her attention back to the door afterwards.

 

"Well... It's time."

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight looked around then nodded, "sticking around here might be benifical, espically since i cant leave my fen.....no, daughter, here alone, i know the ponies here could take care of her, but shes my respinsibility, i decided that when i brought her with me."  he smiled then looked down at fen before looking back up his set of light changeling armor fitting too him well, his bow hanging off his side, his quiver of arrows off his leg.

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@, @@ActFast231, Solar Flare looked at the group- Klarix, Nexus, and Lume- and nodded once. He flipped out his giant blade and said through the blade in his mouth, "Once we're out of the city, we're home free." He opened the door and, seeing a zompony, divedinto the bushes. It paused, but it didn't stop. When it was past him, he snuck up behind it and, with a single heft of his blade, chopped it into two rough halves. It didn't even have time to react.

 

He grimanced as the blood rushed onto him, and he turned to the others. "You know the city better than me. We need to get out of it, any ways possible. Even if it's the exact opposite side of where we want to be. You mind getting us through this part?"

[Senor Citizen 516]

Garrison checked the spring-action on their Thresher (they'd designed it, and the Agency had come through) and walked towards the door. Stopping at the doorframe, they looked back. "You know vat, I'm just gonna call you Cola. Ve leavink, Cola? Or are ve vaitink for somesink?"

Edited July 25, 2013 by baman