private Crystal Requiem: The Rise of King Sombra

[EcstaticWind 572]

((OOC Thread))

 

Early morning in the city of Canterlot. The palace was buzzing with activity, moreso than usual. Servants bustling around, making sure everything was perfect. But today, there was another reason for all the excitement.

 

 

 

“Your Highness, the team you sent for has arrived.”

 

 

 

“Good. Show them in,” Princess Celestia said. “Luna, please go and wait in your chambers.”

 

 

 

“But, Sister-”

 

 

 

“Go. I promise I’ll make it up to you after, but right now, this is no place for you.”

 

 

 

Princess Luna stormed off, muttering under her breath. “You always say that…”

 

 

 

Once Princess Luna had left, the guards brought the team inside.

 

 

 

“Welcome. Normally I would have time for pleasantries, but this is an urgent mission. As such, I will keep this brief. One of our northern scouting teams has discovered an ancient tomb of sorts and I would like all of you to investigate. It will most likely be dangerous, but I am confident in your abilities, especially since I chose each one of you specifically. You will be transported via portal from the courtyard, and Agent Snowy Fields will escort you to the site and give you more information along the way. If you’ll excuse me, I must attend to my younger sister.” Princess Celestia said, beckoning for the guards to escort the team out, then she left to find Princess Luna.

 

 

 

They were led to a strange looking device with two Unicorns standing beside it and an ash white Unicorn with a faint blue mane standing in front of it. A pale green Earth Pony stood beside him, shifting uncomfortably.

 

 

((OOC: Yes, I am keeping the original post from the Advanced version.))

[Geek0zoid 1,467]

Blasted Nova, one of the youngest of the group, snickered a little bit.

"No problem. An adventure's no fun if there's no danger involved somewhere." He walked with the group to the device. He thought about the mission though.

"Why would the princesses make us delve into an old, dusty tomb. I mean, it's not like this is a movie or something. But, there might be some sort of treasure in there for me to nab. And, if it's as dangerous and life-threatening as they make it out to be, this one should be a pretty grueling experience. Still, it should be nothing I can't handle. Plus, I have these ponies with me. Together, this one will be over in mere moments."

He then noticed the pale green earth pony. She looked a bit troubled, so he walked up to her.

"You okay there? You seem tense." He asked.

Edited September 29, 2013 by Stevenearthpony

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight just stuck to the back of the group, not quite comfortable around these ponies who were to be his teammates on this mission. 'I sure hope nopony wonders why I'm wearing such fine armor. Naturally my sister had to insist I wear my old royal armor, granted I don't mind wearing it, but it's hard to remain unnoticed when wearing ornate segmented armor decorated with gold and detailed with obsidian, with my cutie mark emblazoned on the front chest piece. Now if any pony asks, I'll have to explain how I'm not from Equestria and that I was once royalty. And I wonder why Princess Luna wasn't here to greet us like Celestia was, I would think something as urgent as this would require the attention of both princesses.' Midnight thought to himself as Princess Celestia left. As for the strange mechanism, Midnight could only guess that it was going to focus the teleport spell of the two unicorns standing by it so that the whole group could go at one time, but it could just as easily be just for display, Midnight wasn't really too concerned about it.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

For Eclipse, it was disconcerting that only one princess was present to present their orders - and not his at that - but he listened intently all the same. What it was unusual to receive orders from Celestia, it wasn't unheard of and ultimately he served both of the sisters. An order from one was no less that from the other, officially. As he took note of their objective, he silently observed the 'team' he had been assigned to:

'Not the night guard. Not even guards at all from the look of them - some hardly look capable of following orders...' He thought. 'Mercenaries? Soldiers? Or just brigands picked up from the street? What kind of game is the Princess playing this time? And where is Luna, for that matter? Does she get no say in this, despite one of her own guard being put forward?'

Of course, he knew his place. The questions would either answer themselves or they would not: regardless, he wasn't going to question orders from the Princess herself. Nodding firmly towards the regal Alicorn as she took her leave, he shot a questioning glance at the guards leading them out and fell in line without a word.

[Rascal~ 657]

Fire was worried about the Princesses, they were sisters and they always had their fights. But as of late they were becoming further and further apart, and Fire Sharp was able to see the sisters everyday. As the Commander of The First edition of special squad she was held up and in control of most of the defensie that the Empire ruled over, a drooling task and role.

But she followed her orders, like the soldier she was.

Fire and the others of her team were escorted through the halls of the palace, a grand place.

Her armour slightly chinked as she walked through the great halls. It was mostly black leather that covered most of her body, and cutie mark, but metal plates were strapped to her shoulders, legs, and back. An unpolished gold to distinguish her position, and for the occasion. She had to wear the gold when in audience to the royals, though iron or chainmail were her usual attire.

She only watched and listened while the others talked, though it was just one pony for the moment. Fire didn't feel the need to comment on anything as of now, she knew that the princesses had sent her and she was to do her duty. Though she had many things to do when she finished this. Though she did wait if the ponies they had been brought too to talk. 

[SilverHeart 741]

(OOC: I've altered this post a bit, so it may seem close to the first but it's rather different.)

 

The ash white unicorn made eye contact with each of the ponies that entered the room before speaking,

 

"Good Morning. I'm agent Snowy Fields. And the mare next to me is Poppy Seed, you may consider her...my personal assistant. Now I'd prefer to skip the useless pleasantries and get straight to the task at hand. Around a month ago there was a powerful surge of dark magic to the far north. The lot of you are going to be guarding a group of researchers and scientists on an expedition. I will only be leading you to the site. I have my own orders that must be taken care of. However Poppy Seed will accompany you throughout the duration of this operation." 

 

Snowy Fields continued to talk as he motioned to the unicorns to prepare the teleportation spell, "Now some of you may wonder why exactly you were chosen for this. I was given the honor of personally choosing each and everyone of you. Some of you I chose for your loyalty to Equestria. Some of you were chosen because of your expertise, and the rest of you were chosen because you are entirely expendable. I have prepared some supplies and gear for those who are ill-equipped for this expedition."  

 

Snowy Fields nodded towards the two Unicorns a moment later the entire group found themselves standing in the middle of a snow covered plain. The first thing everyone notices is how extremely cold it is. A large circle of stones surround the group. A dozen wooden boxes are sitting outside of the stone circle.

 

Snowy Fields calmly walks over to the wooden boxes and levitates two fur cloaks out. He takes one for himself and gives one to Poppy Seed. "If you are squeamish about using the skins of animals as clothing you will need to get over it. You can direct any and all questions to Poppy Seed. Once the research team arrives we will continue on our way. Until then I suggest you learn to work together as a team. If at anytime I believe one of you will hinder this operation's success I will kill you. None of your lives our worth more than Equestria's glory."

[EcstaticWind 572]

“Thank you, sir. As Agent Fields said, I’m Poppy Seed and I’m not some floozy like the ones some of you might have picked up in a bar. Until the mission is finished, you can consider me your boss. Anypony doesn’t like it? Well, tough biscuits, you’re out of luck. Somepeony from the research team will arrive shortly.” Poppy said, putting on a forced tough act and wrapping the cloak around herself.

 

“Hello? My device worked, didn’t it? Oh yes, yes, yes indeed, it did.” An excitable pale peach unicorn trotted up. He was wearing a white coat that was probably warmer than it looked, and he wore black leather armour underneath.

 

Poppy introduced him. “This is Doctor Kinetic Energy, from the research team.”

 

“You can call me ‘Kine’ for short. It rolls off the tongue much more easily. Ah, Agent Snowy, good to see you again. No missing limbs, migraines, motion sickness? Nothing?”

 

I forgot how much he loves to talk… Poppy thought to herself.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Eclipse wasted no time in confirming that all of his belongings had been brought with him: the golden hued half-plate issued to him as a spellcaster of the Lunar Guard had remained intact - though as it was practically a second skin to him this has hardly a surprise. His spear had likewise made the journey unscathed - it's leaf shaped tip made from the same not-gold material looked almost silver as it reflected the colorless surroundings.

"I assume there is something that merits my attention on this matter? I should be at my post - was the night princess even informed of my departure?"

There had been rumors about the sisters... rumors were nothing new but still, with them flitting between ponies as they had been and combined with his princesses recent reclusivness, he felt that he was needed more than ever doing what he should be - not out foalsitting rookies and mercenaries.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight had a feeling this mission was probably not going to be very peaceful, seeing as a few of his 'teammates' appeared to be associated with the royal guard or otherwise proficient in combat, and Poppy Seed's impressive speech did rather well at showing that their objective was really important to the princesses, considering they were mainly just a security detail. Right after the speech, Midnight Sky did a quick check to ensure that all his belongings were present. 'Looks like my armor is all intact, and all my things seem to have made it through as well.' Midnight thought to himself as he finished checking his small stash of supplies he had tucked into small pockets in his armor.

 

Now that this rather talkative unicorn had approached the group, Midnight wondered just what kind of mess he'd gotten into now. 'Funny how I left my home and family to get away from my problems, and yet here in Equestria I now find myself with more problems than before, and helping out with the royal issues of another land had never been on my to-do list when I ran away from my royal position back home! On the bright side, I guess I'll never worry about complaining that my life was uneventful.'

[Th3 Chaos Theory 89]

Bolt Action didn't pay attention to the cold as he is already prepared. He checked nothing but his lethal equipment, hoping that he can kill (You see what I did there? Nevermind...) off the boredom by killing hostiles in this task. He told himself "Crossbow, knife, smokes... Got everything I actually do need for the task." He was lead to a state of curiosity when he realised his 'team' had to protect the research team and asked a question to Agent Snowy Field's assistant. "Ahem, was it your name Poppy Seed I suppose? What are exactly going up against if we're tasked to protect the research team?" Bolt imagined the look of an enemy's face with an arrow on their head. "Well I'm way too amazed already..."

[Gloomfury 243]

Gloom scoffed and pulled out is two layer bear hide coat he made himself and put it on. He also pulled out a flask and took a swig. The whiskey slowly warms him up inside. He look over the group he'll be working  with. Most of them are in the royal guard, there for pony loyalists. What a joke.

 

 

 

"I assume there is something that merits my attention on this matter? I should be at my post - was the night princess even informed of my departure?"

Gloom turns to Eclipse and smirks. "What's wrong little lapdog, missing your masters already?"

 

(I'll will be filling the role of the asshole of the group.)

[EcstaticWind 572]

@@Th3 Chaos Theory,

 

“If we knew that, we wouldn’t have hired you. Any other obvious questions?” Poppy asked. When none came, she turned away and picked up the saddlebags marked out for her. “Are you all going to stand around enjoying the weather, or are you going to pick up your stuff and move? You’re not being paid by the hour.”

 

 

 

Gloom turns to Eclipse and smirks. "What's wrong little lapdog, missing your masters already?"

 

“Aren’t you? I’ve never known gryphons to give up their prize pony, so to speak.” Kinetic said without an ounce of malice. He seemed interested in Gloomfury, though from a purely scientific stance. “Likewise, I’ve never heard of them taking in an Earth Pony. What use would you be to them?”

 

 

 

"I assume there is something that merits my attention on this matter? I should be at my post - was the night princess even informed of my departure?"

 

As Kinetic passed Eclipse, he leaned in uncomfortably close. “Don’t worry, good sir. It was dear Princess Luna who put your name forward. Congratulations.” He said, steadily raising the pitch of his voice as he darted away out of their range. There was one thing Kinetic was not: an idiot.

[Gloomfury 243]

 

 

“Aren’t you? I’ve never known gryphons to give up their prize pony, so to speak.” Kinetic said without an ounce of malice. He seemed interested in Gloomfury, though from a purely scientific stance. “Likewise, I’ve never heard of them taking in an Earth Pony. What use would you be to them?”

 

 

Gloomfury looks at Kinetic with dark eyes. "I may have been a military dog back then. But I was no lapdog. And the reasons why I quit are my one dame reasons. But I joined out of respect of my mother. They let me in cause they thought they could use me as a punching bag....they thought wrong." He walks up walks up to Kinetic, draws his knife and points it at his throat. "And I'd watch my tongue if I were you. Or I might gut out your liver and fry it up with onions." He gives a evil smile, showing off his canines. "Am I clear?"

[SilverHeart 741]

@@Gloomfury, 

 

"What part of 'if you hinder this operation, I will kill' you did not you understand? I I suggest you put your little toy away before I make an example of you." Snowy said to Gloomfury as he walked towards him. "If you believe me to be joking, then please continue."

[Gloomfury 243]

@@SilverHeart, Gloomfury stares at Snowy for a bit. Then he sheaths his knife and smirks." Only making my point clear. And I'm not getting payed to kill you or anyone else. So I see no point in trying to." He then gives Snowy a evil look. "And if you even try to make an example of me, I'll rip your horn off and castrate you with it. Head bastard, sir." He says with a mocking salute and walks off to the other end of the group.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@SilverHeart,

 

Lowering his spear, Eclipse glared at the traitor as he moved away.

 

"Personally, I would have killed him. He's a liability, and how am I supposed to protect us from attacks coming from within?"

 

He fixed the spear back into place at his side.

 

"Traitors and scum... was it truly necessary to bring them?"

[Geek0zoid 1,467]

@@Gloomfury,

Blast lightly slugged Gloomfury's shoulder. "Oh, lighten up, dude. We're about to go on an adventure!" He said in an enthusiastic tone.

 

@,

 Blast shrugged at Eclipse. "You never know. He could be a liability to us at some point in this quest." He said. "Let's not make any big judgments too soon."

[Th3 Chaos Theory 89]

@,

"Well I think you already know that it might happen soon, just sayin' mate." He tilted his head pointing at the direction of Gloomfury.

 

Bolt Action was surprised that someone had the mood other than him. He let it aside and thought to do something about that later because he's focusing on the task.

[Icy Void 19]

While the others argued about loyalty, Midnight made a clear point to stay out of it and moved to the edge of the group. He was beginning to wonder how they could succeed as a team, when they're already prepared to kill each other when they only just got here! 'I hope this doesn't become a problem. We'll need all our strength if this source of dark magic really is a threat, and we won't if we are fighting each other the whole time. Hopefully these warrior ponies will calm down soon, I'd rather not have to intervene.' Midnight thought as he watched the others argue.

[Gloomfury 243]

 

 

Blast lightly slugged Gloomfury's shoulder. "Oh, lighten up, dude. We're about to go on an adventure!" He said in an enthusiastic tone.

 

Gloomfury scoffs. "Heh, yeah. There ain't nothing like traveling through a icy hell hole with a Pony loyalist @@SilverHeart, a pony scout lapdog @, a pony who thinks he's smarter then everyone else @@Windbreaker, and a kid." He says whole looking at Blast. "Yeah, this is going to be a great adventure." He says sarcastically. "Please, I had better adventures back in my pirate days."

[SilverHeart 741]

@, 

Snowy looked at Eclipse, "I may kill him yet. He's proving to be exceedingly worthless. After all what use is a mercenary that won't follow orders? If you have any other questions I ask that you wait for a few minutes."

 

@@Gloomfury, 

Snowy started to walk over to where Gloomfury retreated to, "I've decided that for your recent actions you will now be paid in a different manner than the others. You shall now be paid with your life. You will not receive any fiscal compensation at the end of this operation. Assuming you even survive this you may end up living the rest of your life in the peace and solitude of Canterlot's dungeons. I suggest you thank me for being so merciful."

Edited September 30, 2013 by SilverHeart

[EcstaticWind 572]

Kinetic watched the exchange from a safe distance. This was starting to get interesting.

 

“Hey, Kine! We’re here! Help us out with some of the equipment, would ya?” Somepony called from the distance. Several ponies in similar white coats to Kinetic’s were pushing heavy boxes towards the team.

 

“You had me worried there, Captain. How was the teleport? I must know how my device worked. Anything we should look out for? Limbs ending up in a different location, dizziness?” Kinetic asked excitedly.

 

“Bright Eyes back there threw up, but that’s about it.” The white Pegasus who had called out before stood before the group. His build was slim and one could easily mistake him for a mare, since his voice was the only sign that he was a stallion. His mane was jet black with lighter shades of pink at the top and streaked through his bangs. His eyes lingered over each one of the group for a moment, as if sizing them up. “This is the security team? Well, variety is the spice of life, or so they say.”

 

“Yes. They’re a wonderful bunch, but the Earth Pony over there is a little moody.” Kinetic said.

 

“Seems your charm doesn’t work on everypony, Kine. And now I get to say ‘I told you so’,” Captain Dare said calmly.

 

“Are we going to move out now?” Poppy asked, her impatience showing. There was something about this Captain Aegis Dare that really irritated her. Maybe it was his attitude of cool indifference.

 

“Relax. We’re professionals and we’ve done this before. Did you really think Princess Celestia would hire idiots for the Research Division?” Captain Aegis responded. “Selune? Where’d you go?”

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Nodding in agreement with Snowy's statement, Eclipse watched as the research group arrived: he wasn't impressed. To their credit, they at least seemed to have some level of competence but still, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were all too cheerful out in this wasteland.

 

The one who called herself Poppy seemed to have her wits about her at least: the others, he was unsure about. Kinetic in particular seemed... like there might be more than met the eye -perhaps not quite as harmless as he might appear. On the other hoof, maybe he was simply as crazy as he seemed: Eclipse resolved to keep an eye on him as well, just in case.

 

Looking away, he focused energy into a wave of telekinetic energy. Forcing and twisting it from a shapeless force into a dense ribbon-like stream. Manipulating this along the back of the armour where he couldn't reach, he routinely checked the buckles and straps for flaws, letting the energy 'feel' for him.

 

'Pristine, as expected.' He thought: a combination of enchantment, perfect fit and routine inspection meant that it had never failed yet - he did not intend to tempt fate by neglecting to care for it just because he was out of his usual post.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

Oh the wondrous adventure of the archeologist. Like the Daring Do books Selune was attracted, like a big magnet, towards adventure. No danger wasn't her middle name... and she didn't do crazy escapes like the fictional character, but is she wanted she was more than capable of doing so. There wasn't adrenaline coursing through her veins, or the feeling of danger... at least most of the time, this project however promised otherwise.

It was "magic" that attracted them to this place, the "Big Bang" as she called it happenned some days ago... She felt it like a thermal shock, and a little bit later the others confirmed it. She could still sense it, and sometimes "see" it in the air... the remnants of the dark-magic still dispersing in the air, the ley-line energies were "infected" by it... like oil coursing into water not really mixing with the local magic but still being distinct. It was really intriguing for Selune, she wanted to know what caused it... it made her eyes sparkle with the interest of discovery like every unicorn who values knowledge feels, and it made her heart pump faster.

Of course there was the honor to work with other ponies, making friends was another thing she valued-especially when they had the same area of interest. That and the fact that she was invited by high ranking members of pony society-who answered directly to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna-who were now calling for her. Time for her to make an appearance trying out her new teleport spell... Two twin dark halos with red glowing outline appear like forming an atom and as they spin togother from a dark sphere within she appears near her commander shattering the rest of the effect into a puff of smoke.

"You rang?" She says with a smile as she turns to look both Aegis and the rest "As my dear Commander might have mentioned my name is Selune Darkeye. Now Captain... might i know the names of my team-mates-to-be?"

Edited September 30, 2013 by nioniosbbbb

[Th3 Chaos Theory 89]

Bolt turned around to seemingly see a unicorn who just appeared. "Zeh Bolt Action, just sayin' mate." He responded with his accent. He turned back to see that the research team as arrived. "Well, not what I expected them to look like but fuck it..." He checked his equipment and their lethality once again before he was ready to go. "Looks like it's time to shut up and get the hell out of here." He made a sigh and hoped for the best.