private Whisper II: Kingdom of Darkness

[Lume WMj 228]

@@ActFast231,

 

Lume was, clearly and entirely, astonished. As Moon Crypt flipped up the cards on the table, the pair revealed two cards of the same exact type, just like the changeling inquisitor said. On top of that, when her own cards were flipped and Lord Moon Crypt described the meaning of it - The Chariot - it all started to make perfect sense. That's why her mind felt so puzzled ever since she arrived Delvia. That's why the mixture of fear and confusion took control over her actions and nearly caused her death. The Tarot power... It was true after all.

 

The earth mare kept staring at the cards in front of her with big, round eyes, like if she had seen a ghost. While she quietly let the (recently proven) facts sunk in, she took her time to also relate the other cards with the ponies that picked them: more specifically, Nexus, since he was the one Lume spent the most time with. That's why his wounds disappeared every time he smiled or made a good deed... He was being fairly rewarded by Justice! But... what if he ever felt anger and remorse... She thought, frightened by only thinking about the possibilities. ...I can't leave him!

 

Upon making up her mind, she pushed her seat off the table and was about to go over to Nexus again. However, he was way ahead of her.

 

"Hey Lume, you want to start some basic training now?"

 

Lume turned her head and looked at Nexus, her mane being slightly thrown back along with the movement. She grew a smile. "Yes! Absolutely! I can't wait to get started!" She rose up from her seat and trotted closer to Nexus, making sure that his smile was there as well.

 

"So... Where to, master?~"

[rolle 320]

Scorpiok just looked at the cards unimpressed and not intrested 'what do this even have to do with me? I dont have a bad side i already am my bad side and thats who i am...' he thought as he just looked at the inquistor feeling like saying to him something but didnt since it would most likely just prove the facts, well not that he thought this was real or anything... Its just spirituality, stupid if you ask sane ponies, well not that scorpioks sane.

 

(see what i did there?)

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

"Master? I'm not some old pony with a white beard teaching kids how to fight bullies yet." He said in the first joke he may of ever made. He motioned her to follow, and made his way to the chamber where his armor was. He glanced over to her from time to tome as they walked, her presence just being enough to lift his spirit. The room in question was spacious enough to allow for some training. After dismissing the Inquisitors in the room, he turned to face her.

 

"So, what would you like to learn first?"

[Psych Ward 377]

Arianna, having a feeling they were pretty much done here, got up and went back to the bedroom.  She sat back in the bed she had chosen earlier, the one right next to Midnight.  She opened her book with her hooves out of habit, but used her horn to flip to the correct page.

[Lume WMj 228]

@@ActFast231, 

 

"Master? I'm not some old pony with a white beard teaching kids how to fight bullies yet."

 

"Heheh! Yeah, you're right!" She giggled at his remark. It felt great to have such enjoyable moments of laughter every now and then, so they had something keeping them away from going insane in the ruined city - or at least in her case. Besides, the fact that Nexus had a charming sense of humor made her feel even better when around him.

 

After that, Lume followed him into some kind of chamber. "Well, that's a place I didn't know about..." She mentioned, looking around as some Inquisitors left the room.

 

"So, what would you like to learn first?"

 

"Well..." She thought for an instant. "I could really use a weapon, first of all. A bat, a sword... Anything with which I could strike away some tentacle monsters would be great! ...However, I haven't much experience in wielding any kind of weapon, as well as general combat tips and strategies..." Lume lightly shook her head. "Heh, sorry... I'm making it difficult for you. But I really don't know a thing about survival or fighting... Well, I'm a fast learner though!" She sheepishly looked back at Nexus and grinned.

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Nexus thought a moment, taking into account her physique and race, before coming to a decision.

 

"Well, I usually use my wings as a way to handle other weapons besides claws, but that isn't an option here, so maybe...why don't we learn some hoof to hoof combat first." Nexus stood back and got into an offensive position.

 

"First thing is that being an earth pony, you should be able to hit harder than others. If you want to go for a high hit you get your forelegs up with a small leap and bring you hoof down with the force of the landing." Nexus demonstrated by getting his upper body up, and with his right hoof, he arched it forward and down with a quick motion. The sound of impact made the force very clear.

 

"The key is to keep your hindlegs firmly planted in the ground, as letting them get into the air will throw you off balance. As long as you don't bring your hooves to far forward you should land solidly. Another thing you could do is to bring it under and up. You take a step forward with one hoof, and bring the other hoof up for the hit." He again, demonstrated by bringing his right hoof forward a pace and swinging his left hoof up, the bottom facing up.

 

"You want to aim for the bottom of the chin with that to maximize damage." He stepped back to the edge of the arena.

 

"Now you try."

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, "Actually, zat isn't too smart." A hulking pony stood in the doorway. Almost twice the size of a regular one, his coat was a mottled combination of blue and brown. The most noticable feature was that it split right down the middle of his face, making a blue side and a brown side. The brown side's upper face was scarred.

Just like Red's.

Edited August 4, 2013 by baman

[ActFast231 432]

@,

@, 

 

Nexus was considered large. Not in weight or girth-though he did have muscle from years of hunting-but in height. He stood above most ponies. This was not one of them. Never has he had to look up at a pony. But he did with this one. This day was full of firsts. He noticed the mix of blue and brown, most noticeably on the face. He saw the scar on the brown side, and frowned.

 

"I'm not sure how a fusion of this level is possible, but weirder stuff has happened here. Sad to say, but I don't think any level of surgery could fix this." He said. He couldn't fix two ponies fused together as it would likely kill one of them. Internally, he was kind of pissed that these two not only screwed up in the most inconceivable way imaginable, but simply came into a room he was pretty sure the Inquisitors were suppose to keep others out of. But he would not show his frustration towards the joined mercs, especially not after hearing his Tarot reading. He didn't realize it, but he ended up standing between Lume and this beast of a pony. He must of subconsciously moved between them.

 

"May I ask, how this happened? Maybe get a better sense of what we're dealing with?"

 

(Keep in mind that the training session is a way to further the character interaction between Nexus and Lume, so don't interfere to much please.)

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, The two sides started talking at once. "Well, I think that's what happens when two ponies are literally in the same place at the same time." "I don't know how it happened, but zis is FUN!" The side that was presumably Standoff grimaced. "This will take some getting used to. As I was saying, don't go up on two legs in a hoof fight. You're just asking for a boot in the knee."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

The two sides talking at once was definitely going to take some time to get used to it, but again, not the weirdest thing to happen to Nexus.

 

"I learned that the hard way. You are too unbalanced on two legs in a fight. The attack I demonstrated, however, has you up and down in two seconds for the hit. It isn't full proof, as I have encountered enemies fast enough to get under you in that two second gap, but it has served me well over the years." 

[Prince Midnight 817]

Mdidnight smiled and looked over at arianna, before turning back to his practice and tried something completely new, shutting his eyes, his hooves sparked before a double of him appeared across the room.

When he opened his eyes "hello....." he blinked as it followed his movements blinking right back, the only problem was the transparency, if he wanted to fool somepony with it, he was either gonna have to get better....or do it against something black.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Nightmare Rarity

[Senor Citizen 516]

@@ActFast231, "Can't argue with that." "Hey, if you need knife trainink, I sink I can still put up a fight." A unanimous sigh, and then the two left.

 

You know, being able to tell what the other's thinking and all, you'd think this'd be easier. Well, hey, it's not like I think before I talk. Said it yourself.

[Lume WMj 228]

@@ActFast231

@

 

Lume listened carefully as Nexus explained the basics of hoof to hoof combat. Indeed, it shouldn't be too hard for her, being an earth pony and all. She mentally mimicked his demonstrations and studied each step: paying attention to a class was something she was very good at, for one.

 

"Now you try."

 

"Oh, um... Okay! Here it goes~" Lume took a deep breath and stepped closer to the arena, just to be interrupted by somepony else standing at the door.

 

"Actually, that isn't too smart."

 

She slowly turned her attention to the doorway, searching for the owner of the voice - a rather familiar voice, for that matter. However, upon turning her head and meeting the mysterious pony, she lost balance and, consequently, her fighting stance as her legs started trembling.

 

Immediately, Lume dashed behind Nexus and tried to hide behind him in an impulse of, evidently, fear. From all of the monsters she had seen out there, that one standing still at the doorway topped them all in the "scary" category. She just hoped that that wasn't some kind of challenge Nexus purposely threw at her, or else she would have failed shamefully: it was completely unexpected after all.

 

Nexus, for one, didn't show any slight sign of fear at all. In fact, he started talking to the monster. Only then Lume realized, "the monster" was a fusion between the German marksman from before and his partner. H-how did that happened?? She thought to herself, still a little bit shaken due to the scare.

 

As the two - or rather, three - colts calmly discussed about the fighting stance Nexus had just taught, Lume just stood behind the bat pony and listened to them, waiting for an agreement to come.

[Psych Ward 377]

Arianna was quickly lost in her book, not paying any atttention to Midnight and his practice.  Shee almost fell asleeep a couple times as she read and eventuallly had to put the book down so she wouldn't doze off.  She looked up, watching Midnight now.

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Once the strange hybrid left the room, Nexus turned to face Lume, who was right behind him, fear evident. This caused a strange mix of emotions, ranging from concern for the mare, and anger towards the mercs, among others. It was a strange melting pot of feelings, but he did his best to focus on the here and now.

 

"Hey, it's OK. He...or they, left. No harm is going to come to you here." He said softly. Though he knew that they would face horrors out in the field, that was probably the most intimidating organic being he has seen all day. But he would not show fear. 

 

"I have yet to see anything that intimidating yet, save for a giant robot I destroyed, but you need to be be strong. When ponies are in a scary situation, they enter a 'fight-or-flight' mode. Meaning they either take the fear head on or try to escape from it. You need to use that Tarot power in you and make that fear your strength. I know you can." Nexus looked up to see if anypony was in the room. Nope. He returned his focus to Lume, hoping his words did the trick.

[Prince Midnight 817]

midnight poked his double, and his double lifted a hoof and touched it to his, "huh..." he smiled then let it dissappear, "cool." he looked around before letting his hooves spark up again, but as he shut his eyes, he saw a white flash.

 

"huh?" he quickly looked around, and was on what he throught was the moon, he kicked the dirt again, and it floated up slowly....then landed again, "what the..." 

"hello..." midnight looked up and blinked, there was a pony there, she was only a shadow, an outline, and he couldnt tell who she was.

 

"h-hello..." midnight opened his eyes, he only said that too himself, then looked around and blushed, at lease it was only arianna watching him, but at that he only blushed brighter.

[Psych Ward 377]

Arianna laughed softly.  "You okay?" she asked.  "Maybe you should take a rest.  You seem to be a bit tired out."  She got up a bit.  "You shouldn't push yourself so hard, especially after all we've all been through the past few days."  She put her book in her bag carefully.

[Lume WMj 228]

@@ActFast231

 

She kept watching the scene until the two unfortunate ponies left the room, but still wondered how could something like that have happened. She had never seen anything like that before, even with the use of unicorn magic. It didn't take too long, though, for her fear to completely vanish: it had been something momentary.

 

"Hey, it's OK. He...or they, left. No harm is going to come to you here." He said softly.

 

Lume snapped out of her thoughts, swiftly hopping aside and regaining her posture. "Y-yeah, I know that!... It just caught me off guard..." For a moment, she was slightly bothered by the way Nexus tried to comfort her: she felt like he was addressing her as if she was a filly. However, at the same time, she knew that she had to change her attitude. He was treating her that way simply because she was obviously hopeless, so she should be the one to change in order to become independent and stop worrying the others. Besides, the last thing she wanted was to complain.

 

"I have yet to see anything that intimidating yet, save for a giant robot I destroyed, but you need to be be strong. When ponies are in a scary situation, they enter a 'fight-or-flight' mode. Meaning they either take the fear head on or try to escape from it. You need to use that Tarot power in you and make that fear your strength. I know you can."

 

"It's easy to say that!" Lume sighed, sitting down. "...I know my Tarot said that I have to balance my feelings in order to gain control over them and all of that, but I was simply born a coward! And as much as I trust you and feel safe around you and everypony else, I just can't help it!... I freak out whenever something jumps out of nowhere." She bashed both her hooves against her face. "I'm such a failure. I wasn't supposed to be here. You guys are all hero-like, and I'm just an ordinary bookworm... I'm already feeling like a dead weight."

 

She ended complaining after all. Quite a lot.

 

"...I'm sorry. I'm being way too annoying right now." She rose up from the floor, shaking all the bad feelings off. "Okay, enough drama then. I came here to train. And I will. Because I want to become stronger and fight, no matter how afraid I am!... You'll help me, right?" It was perhaps about time to start acting more mature.

[Prince Midnight 817]

midnight nodded and rubbed his forehead, "nng, i....saw somepony...on the moon..:i know this sounds crazy, but when i first met fen...that earthquake.." he trotted over and climbed onto his bed, "i had this short vision where i was on the moon...." he shook his head and laid it down, "it was weird, and i dont understand it."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

"I will do all I can to prepare you for whats to come. And for the record, quite a few of us are just normal everyday ponies." A particular statement ran through his head though, and it may have caused the pain to spark to life.

 

 

 

"I'm such a failure. I wasn't supposed to be here. You guys are all hero-like, and I'm just an ordinary bookworm... I'm already feeling like a dead weight."

 

 

"Believe me, you are nowhere near a failure. I know what failure looks and feels like. I have seen ponies suffer because I wasn't fast enough. The scars that litter my body are a constant reminder of my...biggest failure. One that had a very high cost. So trust me, you are not a failure. And normal ponies can be heroic when they need to be. I...try, but I'm no hero, as cliched as it sounds. The ponies I've killed? I killed a mare that was in love with my target because...because she was in the way. She tried saving it by attacking me and I just ended her. Does that sound like something a hero does? No, at the end of the day I'm a killer for hire. And now I got to teach you what I know for the sake of survival." He mutters the next part to himself.

 

"Because I don't think I could take watching the ponies I care for die again." He spoke up.

 

"Sorry, you shouldn't be shackled with my grief, but I just wanted to ensure you that you are far from a failure, and to help you differentiate a hero from a killer." 

[Lume WMj 228]

@@ActFast231

 

"I... I'm so sorry..." After hearing all of that, Lume immediately wished she'd never said those things. She wasn't the center of attention, and she also had no idea what kinds of situations the others went through. And even though she still wanted to mention that Nexus had been hero so far to her, at least, she decided it would be best to leave the subject behind. She wasn't the best at comforting after all: in fact, she was afraid of worsening the situation.

 

"You're right... I'm sorry, sometimes I speak garbage like that." That was, indeed, something that should be fixed asap. "Look... I may not know even the slightest bit about your past. But something I can clearly see is that you have a kind heart. And that's all that matters to me. I honestly couldn't have been more lucky of finding somepony like you in a dead-end place like this." She trotted closer to him and held his hoof between hers. "I promise, I will become strong. I'll overcome every single fear of mine and we'll survive, together. No matter what it takes." With that, she smiled, and hopped her way over to the center of the arena.

 

"So! What was that move you were trying to teach me again?"

[Psych Ward 377]

Arianna frowned, a bit confused.  "You need to relax.  The stress is getting to you and I'm sure the newly developing tarot powers aren't helping."  She patted his back lightly with a hoof.  "In the morning you can talk to Moon Crypt.  Maybe he'll know something."

[ActFast231 432]

@,

 

Nexus allowed a smile to form at her kind words. He was afraid of telling her everything because of the fear of her coming to hate him and who he is. Who he made himself into for the sake of revenge. It was amazing to see her look past his actions like that.

 

 

 

She trotted closer to him and held his hoof between hers. "I promise, I will become strong. I'll overcome every single fear of mine and we'll survive, together. No matter what it takes."

 

 

The close proximity and physical contact caused another strange reaction in Nexus. His heart rate increased to rapid pace, and he could feel his face warm up. What this meant, he did not know, but he decided that was a mystery for later.

 

 

 

With that, she smiled, and hopped her way over to the center of the arena.   "So! What was that move you were trying to teach me again?"

 

It took a second for Nexus to regain his senses, but he quickly turned to the earth pony in the center.

 

"Oh, right. Well, why not try the first punch I showed you? Remember, the forelegs are the only parts that leave the ground, you bring your hoof forward, and bring it down with the force of the fall. You need to be quick, the longer your on all two the more vulnerable you are."

[Prince Midnight 817]

Arianna frowned, a bit confused.  "You need to relax.  The stress is getting to you and I'm sure the newly developing tarot powers aren't helping."  She patted his back lightly with a hoof.  "In the morning you can talk to Moon Crypt.  Maybe he'll know something."

Midnight nodded, "yeah, your right, sorry arianna," he put his hoof to hers, "its all new to everypony....but this whole tarot thing....is it real? do these....powers, actually work or do something? i know i should just go along with it, see it for myself, but...im just so full of questions, but ive gotten no answers yet and its bugging me."

he laid his head down on the pillow trying to relax.

 

[Senor Citizen 516]

Garrison muttered grumpily to themselves, trying the trigger guards of various weapons and tossing them aside.

Hmm. Nope. No. Close, but no... Hey. Yes? You want to go to the training arena? Why? I have a hunch. Food first, though.

@, Garrison walked into the hall and sat down, snagging the two bowls of slightly wilted salad. "Oh good. Food supply's good if you have fresh veggies." "Vegetables. Bah."