private The Northern Odyssey

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Steel Accord,

@@Zhooves,

 

Clover looked about at the strangers who'd invited them inside. They all mostly were pegasi, with the odd earth pony, but no unicorns.

 

"Um, if this isn't a rude question," she asked, "But why don't you have unicorns here? I hope I'm not speaking out of place, but I'm curious."

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Steel Accord,

@@Zhooves,

 

Clover looked about at the strangers who'd invited them inside. They all mostly were pegasi, with the odd earth pony, but no unicorns.

 

"Um, if this isn't a rude question," she asked, "But why don't you have unicorns here? I hope I'm not speaking out of place, but I'm curious."

 

Their host shrugged.

 

"Ask your kin, almost none come here. As a result, almost none are born here naturally." He answered simply. "It may have something to do with the cold. Pegasi and some hardy earth ponies being able to take it better." He further speculated.

 

@Everypony

 

"Sheriff." Steel addressed Safe Guard. "I agree with Clover. We could help with these Diamond Dogs."

 

Safe Guard shook his head. 

 

"That's what we thought. We can fight off many at a time, but more packs just keep coming. It's getting worse all the time. Their attacks growing more bold." He added darkly. "Their dens are usually further up north, but something has been driving them out and we know it's not the cold." Safe Guard turned and looked upon the fireplace. "Some other power is at work in our frozen home. Word and song had spread here of your deeds in the southern seas. You are an . . ." He turned to look at the odd compilation of ponies, Red slamming his drink on the table and muttering to himself to complete the image. " . . . . odd group." He said diplomatically. "However if you truly want to help us, as I know at least one of you does." He nodded to North. "Then I pray that you seek out the-"

 

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH

 

An odd, sudden rumbling ripped through the hall. Ponies began to murmur uneasily, mothers holding their foals to them. Some shouted as they felt the ground beneath their hooves surge. Just as suddenly, all went quiet.

 

For a few terrible moments, one could hear a bit drop.

 

"Oh Luna, no." 

 

BOOM

 

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR

 

With a howling roar, a Diamond Dog burst from the ground, not unlike the ones that attacked the crew in the snow except for one key difference. That being his size. This monster was a giant of a hound, his head nearly scraping the ceiling.

 

"Grendel her to etan you pones!"

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Clover reacted instantly, forming the shield to guard the ponies from the Diamond Dog. "Everypony, get out of here!" she cried out. "If you can fight, then stay, but anypony who cannot had better leave!"

 

She felt filled with anger at the dog who was attacking for seemingly no reason. Even if these ponies were strangers to her and her friends, she would not leave them unprotected. However, there was no point in attacking when there were helpless ponies present; they would simply be killed before she could help. The shield would enable such ponies to be able to leave the hall in safety.

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Budding Night

@Pripyat Pony

@Steel Accord

@Zhooves

(Sorry I haven't been very active lately. I've got exams coming up and I needed to study real hard for them)

 

Sterling looked around the hall as they entered. He was stunned at how beautiful everything was inside. Everything was made of rich hardwood, and everything in the room looked so brown. He had never seen anything whiter than this. The ponies were escorted down a hallway with Sterling walking closely to Evening and Applejack making sure to stay away from Red due to her anger. Steel then walked away to another room as he discussed matters with the host ponies. They looked nice enough Sterling thought, but he was still wodnering they were so hostile to them.

 

His thoughts were instantly swept away when the huge, daunting Diamond Dog came among them in full force. Clover had just placed a shield to protect the group and motioned for the ponies to leave if they couldn't fight. As medic, Sterling didn't know what to do. He couldn't fight like the other ponies, but his medical services were needed should anything go terribly wrong! Sterling opted to stay, keeping his wife close by to protect her from harm...

----------

Applejack was still angry at Red. Even if she stayed some distance away, she could see Red sadly mumbling about Neon. It made her furious. Couldn't he see that she already loved him for who he was?! Why did she have to go through so much pain just for her best friend to love her?! Why did he even have to meet Neon in the first place?! She stomped in anger, but before she could delve deeper, the Diamond Dog had attacked with full force. She opted to stay and trotted over to Clover and then spoke,

 

"Clover! When do you want us to attack?! Ahm ready to attack if you are!"

---------

Young Applejack ran across the fields to wherethe rest of her family were gathering apples. She started to buck them with her back hooves as she normally would everyday. She called out to Red, pointing at herself to indicate to him the ways of apple-bucking.

 

"Here Red! This is how you do it! Give it a go!" Applejack spoke as the rest of her family also worked away with the rest of the apples...

Edited December 9, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Clover was glad that Applejack had opted to stay. The blonde maned earth pony was a good pony to have by one's side in a scrap; there was iron strength in those hooves.

 

"Once all those who are unable to defend themselves are clear," she said, noticing several mares with foals disappearing from the hall to safety. "Then we fight. I will not tolerate such nastiness in our hosts's hall!"

 

To Sterling, Clover said, "Even if you do not wish to fight, you can defend. Could you perhaps use your magic to maintain this shield? It would be quite easy, now that I have it up. If anypony is injured, I can levitate them behind the shield where they would be safe."

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Pripyat Pony

@everyone else

 

Applejack instantly nodded when Clover told of her plan. She then motioned to everypony else, shouting,

 

"If y'all can't fight, then vamoose to somewhere safe! If y'all can fight or defend, then help us fight against the Diamond Dogs!"

 

Meanwhile, Sterling could hear Clover and Applejack shouting at the others, and Sterling too reiterated what Applejack said to the others with a shout. With that done, Sterling motioned for Evening to move along with him, worried that she would be vulnerable to attack by the huge Diamond Dog. Sterling then stopped by Clover and turned his face towards her, wondering what he was supposed to do next. Thankfully, the shield was still there, so they could collaborate on a plan...

Edited December 9, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Sterling Crimson, Clover saw Sterling's look, and motioned with a hoof. "Now that I have the spell shield in place," she said, "Any unicorn can keep it up. Remember how the shield stayed up in Zecora's hut during the time we were fighting Raven? I finetuned the spell for that very purpose. All you have to do is direct your magic towards it and the shield will stay up. Evening can help as well."

[Commander Bubbles 1,343]

@Sterling Crimson

 

@Zhooves

 

@Steel Accord

 

@PinkieShyFlutterPie

 

@Pripyat Pony

 

Red Talon's brooding session was interrupted by a loud crashing sound, revealing a massive Diamond Dog.

Dammit, Red thought to himself, reaching for his revolver, Guess we've got one more bad guy to dispense of...

Quickly pulling out his gun, he loaded a few rounds into the chambers, spun it, and clicked it into place. He raised the weapon, hoof on the trigger, and the rounds left the barrel with the sound of firecrackers and the smell of sharp gunpowder accompanying them. The silver hornets screeched through the air, tiny kamikazes that struck the flesh of the dog, spewing the liquid of life on the wooden floor. The dog shouting in agonizing pain, Red quickly reloaded, and fired at the head.

 

***

 

Red Talon watched the young filly stand with her hind legs facing the tree, only to kick the trunk and spew apples from the branches.

"That looks like fun!" Red chimed in, eager to imitate his new friend. He lined up, pushed out his back hooves, and fell over the top of his head.

"Ow!" Red exclaimed, giggling a little bit.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Ragin' Red Talon

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Steel was staring wide eyed at the beast before snapping himself back to reality and drawing Donkey Jote.

 

 

 

The dog shouting in agonizing pain, Red quickly reloaded, and fired at the head.

 

((OOC: Just so you know, the results of your actions are left to me. How do you know I wasn't going to make Grendel immune to physical damage of any kind? I'll let it slide this time, just try to keep your combat descriptions on what you are trying to do and not what happens as a result of it.))

 

Grendel grabs a stallion trying to flee and lifts him up to his maw. Red's bullets dart at his back, the monster growls in annoyance and turns to see his attacker.

 

The massive hound tosses his would be meal to the side, dashing him across a table. Grendel bounds toward Red, snarling and slavering from jaws as big as a doorway.

 

Steel launched from the relative safety of Clover's shield and intercepted Grendel with a slash across his muzzle. He shook and ran into a wall, causing the building to shake once more. Steel hovered behind the monster, weapons still ready.

 

"Ha! It will take more than raw force to stop us- Oof!"

 

Steel was interrupted when Grendel spun around and wildly backhanded him with a paw the size of a cart. Evidently Grendel's hideous size belied just as unnatural speed.

 

Worse yet, the injuries inflicted on him by blade and bullet seemed to have already scabbed over.

[Zhooves 843]

North kept on listening, when suddenly, his ears pointed completely up, and his face turned to a slightly more serious look. Very soon after that, the giant diamond dog appeared, and North stood up and took a few steps away from it.

 

Staring at it, North couldn't do much, but hide behind a broken table in a corner.

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Clover shot a spell at Grendel, to force him away from Steel. She leapt out from behind the shield, leaving Sterling and Evening to maintain it, and galloped to Steel's side. Burning with both love for Steel and hatred for his attacker, Clover stood in front of him to protect him, her horn blazing with magic. She could only hope that since no unicorns lived in this part of Equestria, that the giant Diamond Dog was unused to unicorn magic.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Pripyat Pony,

 

No such luck, the Hound from Hell took Clover's spell blasts with only a burn mark to show for it, looking more pissed off than anything else.

 

"Youn awierdnes me!" He snarled and gave a swipe with it's massive paw. 

 

@Everypony

 

Whoosh-CRACK!

 

Grendel found his wrist ensnared by a rope, the end of which was held by none other than Applejack.

 

"You ain't hurtin' these folks anymore!" She declared around the rope before giving the rope a hard yank. Grendel was pulled off balance and fell to the floor, his weight enough to make the ground shake. Applejack leapt on to the monster's chest and bucked him in the face, dazing him.

 

"It's no use! There's no stopping this monster!" Safe Guard said. "All of you! Head west by northwest! There you will find allies in stopping this madness. We will try to buy you time!" Safe Guard said as he readied his spear.

 

((OOC: Crew poll: Two options exist for you at this point. You can either stay and try to subdue this feral juggernaut, or heed Safe Guard's words and escape. Place your responses in the OOC thread please.))

[Inactive01 5,299]

(Sorry @Budding Night for God-modding you, and sorry to everyone for being inactive. I'm just finishing up exams in time for the Christmas holidays!)

 

Applejack flung her rope at the huge monster, hoping that it would cause some damage. While it didn't deal much damage, the monster was clearly dazed after her bucking. She gave herself a look that said, "a job well done" but was quickly stunned at the monster's roar. She quickly headed back under the shield that was being maintained by Clover, Sterling, and Evening. Applejack heard the guards shout out the uselessness of trying to destroy the monster because he was too big. Sterling too noticed this uselessness, and he as a leader, shouted out to the others,

 

"Guys... the guard's right. We can only keep this shield up for so long... and no matter what we give to the monster, it won't give in. We've gotta rush away and find some other way to defeat it! You guys go, while we keep the shield up! Once you're off, we'll catch up with you guys! And Evie! Go with Steel! He'll protect you while I keep the shield up for you!"

 

After Sterling said all that, he kept the shield, hoping that the others followed suit... Applejack sure did. Noticing the size of the monster, she cried,

 

"C'mon y'all! Let's get on outta here!" as she ran towards the exit...

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

Clover realised the sense of this; the monster was taking no heed of any of their attacks. She stood beside Sterling and directed her horn magic at the shield in order to maintain it so that the others could escape.

 

"When we go," she said to Sterling, "I'll receed the shield back so that it covers our retreat."

[Zhooves 843]

Watching as everything did not seem to go in their favour, he was almost frozen where he sat, staring at the huge diamond dog. As Applejack and the others motioned and said to move out of there, he regained his movements, found his way around the chaos, and over to Clover and the others, behind Clover's shield. "Okay, let's go..."

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Sterling Crimson, 

@@Budding Night,

 

Steel stood close to Evening.

 

"You can count on me Doctor." He said to Sterling before turning to Evening. "I'll make sure you're safe." He said to his other friend.

 

@Everypony

 

The crew made their way out of the Hall. Grendel appeared to be distracted by the town's militia. As they all made their way to safety near the edge of the town, a terrible groaning and cracking resounded. What was once a place of warmth and merry-making was now a pile of splinters and broken beams.

 

@@Zhooves,

 

"North . . . I'm sorry." Steel said as he put a hoof on his shoulder. This couldn't be easy on him, seeing his home after so long only to leave so suddenly. No doubt that tavern held all manner of memories for him. "Once this is all over, we'll come back and help rebuild, I promise you that."

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

They were able to retain the supplies they had in Trotheim and Clover kept her warming spell up, but that didn't make their journey into the ever darkening blizzard any easier. 

 

Safe Guard had told them to seek out allies North west, but all the ponies could see in front of them was more snow. The wind picked up, and harsh, biting chill ran through them, as if whatever forces at work were trying to drive them back.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Sterling looked back at Steel and gave him a trusting nod. Evening was in good hands, a stallion who knew his way around the place and knew how to fight. As Sterling waved away at Steel telling them to go, all he could think about was the huge monster that was still trying to blast through their shields. How long could Sterling and Clover hold the shields? All he could do was hope that all the other ponies were safe and sound before they lost the shields...

-----

Applejack was now walking through the halls... She wasn't sure where exactly they were supposed to go. All she could do was run away from the huge monster that would rush after them all. Further, how would the dragon make leave once everyone got away? The thought frightened Applejack as she simply ran...

[Budding Night 1,043]

(My friends! I'm so so so so so sorry I haven't been posting or in contact with you guys. Certain things are currently happening around me that are making me a bit of an introvert, and I just don't really have the energy to talk to others or.. do anything really. I honestly feel so bloody guilty, I've been talking to almost no one without any warnings. I still need some time to get myself back on track and get my energy back, but I know this won't be until next year. I know that's really close, but in about a week I'll be traveling to Bali, Indonesia for 20 days and I'm not sure if I have any connection, but I'm almost 100% sure that place will lift my spirits back up again and I'll be happy once more. Again, so so sorry, I'll try not to let this happen again.)

 

@@Sterling Crimson
@@Steel Accord

 

Evening's reaction to the event was just like everypony else's; shocked and scared, but she found her already high level of fright go up when Sterling left Steel to protect her. It wasn't that she didn't trust Steel or didn't think he could protect her or anything like that, but more she was scared for her husbands sake - what if something happened to him? She'd be in shattered if something fatal were to happen.

 

She quickly scowled herself, she was just going to make herself worry even more. 

 

She stayed close to Steel as the group moved, though kept enough distance to not look too tenuous. When hearing a horrible crack and groan from behind them, she looked back to see the place that had provived temporary warmth now in shambles.

 

~

The mare tried her best to keep her footing heavy as they trudged through the falling snow. This was for certain one of the worst weather she had been it, she could only hope that they'd be through it soon or that the weather would calm, but she had a feeling that neither of those would be for awhile..

 

(I had no sleep last night, sorry this post is a bit meh)

[Zhooves 843]

((It's been 2014 here for a couple of hours now, so I guess I shall begin~))

Coming with the others as they left, he looked back once the others seemed to stop at a safe distance. Listening as Steel spoke, he replied:
"Fear not... We are tough in the north. Rebuilding will probably be no problem, though harm to others be a different story..." he said, suddenly looking around a little. "Hm..."

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Pripyat Pony

Sterling saw the others making their way out of the room. By now, only he and Clover were left, still trying to maintain the shield to ward off the huge predator. After he saw everyone flee to safety, Sterling asked Clover with a warning,

 

"Clover... Everypony's gone now... should I... should I retract the shield now? Or should I wait slightly longer?"

-------

Applejack had found a safe room to be in where all the others had left. She was still very angry at ['member=Ragin' Red Talon] for ignoring her like that. The more she waited around for Sterling and Clover to come, the angrier she got at Red. She probably would never have had to come along if it weren't for Red. She probably would never have to worry about a childhood stallion and face such... betrayal and... heartache. That got her thinking... why did she care for Red so much, despite the fact she already had the Mane 6? She could have easily given up on Red and enjoyed herself with the other Elements of Harmony! 

 

But it wasn't that easy... a huge lump in her heart remained... the fact was... she was still very close friends with Red... and Red gave her a huge impression... it wasn't something she could remove so easily and willingly...

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Sterling Crimson, Clover nodded.

 

"Yes, we'll retract it together to cover our own retreat, then once we're clear, I'll do the warming spell again and we can catch up to the others. They shouldn't be too far off, so if we go at a fast trot, we ought to catch up to them easily."

 

She shivered and not just at the cold. This adventure was becoming more and more dangerous, and she just hoped that she was up to it.

[Inactive01 5,299]

@Pripyat Pony

 

Sterling saw Clover's nod and prepared to retract the shield with Clover. As he prepared, he continued to worry about Evening, hoping that Stell was doing more than enough to protect her for as long as he could. Sterling too gave out a nod in reply,

 

"Clover... after a count of 3, we're going to retract the shield and run as far away as we can from the monster. We'll then catch up with the others..."

--------

Young Applejack giggled when she saw Red trying to buck the trees like she did. It was really cute how Red tripped over he tried. She replied teasingly and with a cute wink,

 

"C'mon Red... you can do better than that!"

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Sterling Crimson, Clover looked grim with determination as she glanced over at Sterling. "Right," she said. "I'm ready and waiting for the signal."

 

Clover looked around the hall. It was empty of ponies, and the giant monster dog seemed to be retreating slightly, probably cuz it was baffled by the shield and didn't understand why it could not attack.

[PinkieShyFlutterPie 408]

Neon got up and stepped back as she saw the monster diamond dog. She looked at it scared then grabbed a glass cup of the table with her mouth, throwing it at the monster dog. It hit it but of course didn't do anything, nothing was doing anything to it. As the others decided to leave she followed. As she followed them she shivered from the cold, and from being frightened about what had just happened...Or, everything that had just happened. 'Of course when we find somewhere nice it just had to be attacked by a monster diamond dog..' Neon thought 

 

(OOC: Sorry i haven't been on much! D: Anddd, now i'm thinking about Frozen while reading the posts...I have seen that movie 3 times, haha) 

[Steel Accord 6,660]

((OOC: Apologies for the long absence everypony. If you'll further excuse me for a little rail roading, it's in the name of getting this show back on the road!))

 

The friends set out against the cold and unknown. Their only shelter in this land now seemingly gone, with only the promise of a clue guiding them against the biting haze.

 

Sterling held Evening close as he lead his friends. North kept them on the correct heading while Clover did her best to keep them from freezing to death with her warming spell. Neon and Red tried to give each other space despite the looks the latter was shooting the former. Meanwhile Steel and Applejack took up the rear.

 

"We need to find shelter!" The apple farmer shouted to be heard over the gales.

 

After a bit of searching, they found a cave in the side of a mountain, all spreading out and engaging in their various rituals and conversations. Considering the recent events and their relative lack of visible progress, the tone is far from chipper.