private Crystal Requiem: The Rise of King Sombra

[EcstaticWind 572]

"What’s your hurry, skippy?" Captain Dare asked, noting Bolt Action. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes, showing a rather lazy and relaxed look about them.

 

"Now, I have no doubt that some of you have heard of me," he gestured to Poppy. "For those of you who haven’t, I’m Captain Aegis Dare of the Canterlot Research Division. You already know Doctor Kinetic Energy. Behind me are Bright Eyes and Silver Heart. Miss Darkeye has already introduced herself. Now, what about yourselves?”

Edited October 1, 2013 by Windbreaker

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight was interested in the research division ponies, they were an interesting mix of ponies, but he had a feeling he'd have plenty of time to get to know them. He hesitated a moment, debating whether to introduce himself now, or wait until the others have. In the end Midnight decided to just introduce himself and get it over with. "Well, my name is Midnight Sky, but more than that is my own business." he said quickly before retreating back to the edge of the group. 'Here's to hoping that nopony gets suspicious about me not wanting to mention anything beyond my name.'

Edited October 13, 2013 by Icy Void

[Gloomfury 243]

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."

 

Gloomfury stares at Snowy with enough burning hatred to melt the  polar ice caps. It seemed like he was quick to jump to the chance to kill him. So why would they willing to pay him in the first place 'Non of the makes any sens.' He thought. He looks around and sees that the others around  him aren't really trying to stick up for him, and that really is his own fault. He know he shouldn't have pulled his knife on Kinetic, but he really hit a nerve. Gloom takes a breath, he knew he had no other choice. "Fine, I'll play nice. But don't expect me to be your lamb to the slaughter." Is all he says. Still hiving Snowy a hate filled stare.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Gloomfury

[SilverHeart 741]

 

 

Gloomfury stares at Snowy with enough burning hatred to melt the  polar ice caps. It seemed like he was quick to jump to the chance to kill him. So why would they willing to pay him in the first place 'Non of the makes any sens.' He thought. He looks around and sees that the others around  him aren't really trying to stick up for him, and that really is his own fault. He know he shouldn't have pulled his knife on Kinetic, but he really hit a nerve. Gloom takes a breath, he knew he had no other choice. "Fine, I'll play nice. But don't expect me to be your lamb to the slaughter." Is all he says. Still hiving Snowy a hate filled stare.

 

"Good. Make sure that you follow your orders from now on." Snowy said as he turned away from Gloomfury and walked a small distance away from the expedition. A light blue aura surrounded his horn as he created a platform out of ice. As Snowy Fields climbed the platform he called for the group's attention.

 

"With the arrival of the research team we will be setting out immediately. You may get to know each other along the way. It's a week and a half long walk. It may be longer depending on how fast we can travel as a group. Now, follow me."

 

With that Snowy Fields descended from the makeshift platform and started to walk North.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@,

 

"Miss Darkeye." Nodded Eclipse in greeting - the first actual introduction he had given to the group since the rest had either already know him somehow or he had simply spoke to in passing. "Eclipse Scribe of the Night Guard, a pleasure."

 

Manners cost nothing: and she at least had given him no cause for concern.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Cinderscribe

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

((OOC:Due to not wanting to start a mention spamming i will not mention any player right now...)) Selune noticed that not many of the ponies were willing to share their information. It seemed as if some of them were of... questionable background? That or she was just being paranoid, Eclipse introduced himself to her a knight of Luna's guard as he said "My friend Terra would have liked you if he was here... he wants to become a knight too." But it seemed that the team was quickly moving on... "It seems the pleasant introduction might have to wait dear Eclipse... i think we should follow Mr Snowy Fields."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

"Indeed." Agreed the unicorn as he turned about to move with the rest of the party.

 

The party seemed to grow even more disjointed with each addition: at least the most recent had some kind of dignity and politeness that the others seemed to fail at mastering.

 

"As you say, let us move on." He added, looking ahead as he began to follow Snowy Fields.

 

It had only been a short while, but the cold was starting to bite at him. The fur cloak was a help but he hadn't been sent anywhere cold like this since... he couldn't even remember. Glaring ahead, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, clearing his mind of the chill, until he could acclimatise.

[Icy Void 19]

'Well this aught to be fun. A nice long walk through a snowy wasteland accompanied by a group of ponies who seem hardly capable of operating as a team. Oh how this reminds me of the days I spent traveling through this same wasteland on my way to Equestria, except then the only other pony I had to worry about was my sister. I guess it also helps that this time there isn't a blizzard to get lost in, somehow I doubt our group would do so well in keeping together.' Midnight thought as he followed Snowy Fields onward. At this point he was glad for his armor, it may be flashy but it was made to be usable in any weather, granted Midnight could still feel the cold working it's way through ever so slowly. He just hoped that the group made it to their destination without any mishaps.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Captain Dare chuckled to himself as he walked up to Midnight Sky. “Well aren’t you precious? You want to be mysterious, but you’re not doing it to be left alone. You want to be noticed. Why else would you wear such ornate and decorated armour, Mr Prince?” He grinned at the younger pony, waiting to see his reaction.

 

Poppy kept a stiff but brisk pace. She had worked hard all her life, enduring the racial slurs and ugly names that the Canterlot nobility threw at her, yet her efforts saw no reward. Normally, she was composed and business-like on the job, but polite and fairly sociable at home. But now, she felt like she was the only pony taking their mission seriously.

 

Kinetic had never had so much fun in his life. Aside from being threatened by an overly moody Earth Pony, his day had been simply fantastic. “Well, they haven’t killed each other yet, but alas, the day is still young.”

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight winced at Aegis Dare's remark as if he had been hit. "Trust me, if I had armor that was less... shiny, I would have gladly worn that instead. And I would have to request that you refrain from calling me 'prince', I doubt such a course of action would benefit our mission." Midnight said tightly, seething that this pony who he'd never met before was already scarily close to his past.

 

While Midnight recognized that his leaving home initially was childish, things had turned out for the better and he didn't want one of his greatest failures too be so publicly known. His sister in Equestria and his siblings back home except for his eldest brother all knew why he left, and that was enough. 'If this pony drags this out, then we'll see where he ends up if he needs my help. Even if I am being childish, I left that life in the past, I'd prefer that it stay there.' Midnight thought angrily.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Icy Void

[EcstaticWind 572]

Aegis said nothing. He simply wrapped a fur cloak around Midnight Sky. “To keep you warm. Sorry to have upset you.” He said before re-joining the rest of the research team.

 

Poppy trotted up beside Snowy, hoping he might shed some light on the choice of the research team. “Sir, I was wondering why Captain Aegis Dare and his team was chosen for this mission. They’re not taking their job seriously enough to be here.”

 

Kinetic absent-mindedly tapped on the side of the box he was riding on, having grown quite bored and enchanted it to move in the same direction as the others. The weather could be better, though his leather armour was at least insulating him, but there was nothing to see, and no entertainment to be gained, and nothing for him to tinker with. “This is incredibly dull…”

Edited October 2, 2013 by Windbreaker

[Th3 Chaos Theory 89]

Bolt let out a sneeze. "Well that's great. I would say that the main enemy here is the snow making me sneeze.." @@Windbreaker, He turned his head to Captain Aegis Dare and responded "Oh, and da skippy's name is Bolt Action. I'm sure you'll get it captain." He turned back, following Agent Snowy and thinking how long the walk will be until he collapses.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight had been about ready to hate captain Dare, but the pegasus's apology had caught him off guard. And he didn't show it, but he was grateful for the fur coat, even though he didn't need it since his armor was made with winter survival in mind, the fur covered the armor nicely and made him feel less conspicuous. 'Well, that was strange. It seems that this trip may not be as bad as I feared. These research team ponies don't seem all too serious, which may be a problem, but at least they're not all grim and serious like agent Fields and his assistant.' Midnight thought as he retreated back to the edge of his group of companions. 'Hmm, now that we all seem to be here, I wonder when we'll head out. We still have no idea who or what that surge of dark magic came from, and it is a possible threat.' Midnight though as he did another check of all his gear.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

The wind was unforgiving, Selune had originally grown in Manehatten and was surely not used to this weather. However her job on the research team did not allow her to "get used" to ANY type of weather... be it the Saddle Arabian desert, the snowy fields of Stalliongrad or the cosy valley around the mountain of Canterlot. He aproached her leader officer Doctor Kinetic Energy or Kine as he liked to call himself...

"So... doctor... what are we to expect when we reach our destination? I am unsure whether or if the source of the magic would still remain present in that area. More likely it has moved..."

She wanted to get closer to the original area of the spell. Being close to it would allow her to get a better hang of the magic, allowing her to define the "signature" of it.

"If we were closer maybe i could identify the "signature" of the magic, that way we could know where to look for it next. I doubt we have seen the last of it."
 

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

'Magic...'

 

Eclipse trudged along through the snow, focusing on listening in on the voices of the others to help keep his focus away from the cold: having something to watch or listen to made focusing so much easier. Head down against the bitter breeze, he listened.

 

'Good that we have somepony who seems to know it from a scholars point of view.'

 

With the thoughts breaking his concentration, he grunted in annoyance as the feeling of the cold became too much to ignore: stopping and closing his eyes as he conjured a spell that he had never really mastered, a smaller flame than he would have liked flickered into life - following him as he began walking again.

[EcstaticWind 572]

“Just call me Kine. And to answer your question, we won’t be able to tell until we get there. Dark Magic isn’t exactly a specialty in Canterlot.” Kinetic said in response to Selune.

 

“For good reason.” Aegis added.

 

“But that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Kinetic asked, grinning excitedly.

 

Aegis was aware of the group listening in. Behind his lazy and relaxed stare, his mind worked fast. “I don’t know why they’re so serious. It’s really wearing me out.” He said yawning widely.

 

“Indeed, the grim attitudes are tiring. But they probably wonder why we don’t appear to take it as seriously as they do.” Kinetic said.

 

“So they haven’t heard that looks can be deceiving?” Aegis asked.

 

“I suppose not. Do you think they’re paying any attention to us?” Kinetic asked, flicking a tiny snowball at Poppy Seed. He was swiftly smacked in the face with a larger one.

 

“I hope so. It should make it clear that we’re just as serious, even if we don’t look it.” Aegis said, putting a fur cloak around Eclipse Scribe’s shoulders as they passed him.

 

Bright Eyes was still feeling ill. He hated teleporting, and constantly felt like he was the only one to suffer from ‘teleport sickness’ every time they teleported to a location. He ducked to one side of the group, dug a hole in the snow and threw up into the hole. “Why the hell did I take this job? Ugh…”

[SilverHeart 741]

@,

 

 

A light grey mare with a deep purple mane trailed behind the rest of the group. Trudging through the endless white was beginning to become dull. The only ponies that she knew were busy talking. How in Celestia's name can they be so chipper...well maybe there's somepony else I can talk to.... She took a moment to look at each member of the guard team. The first pony that looked even remotely familiar to her was the Lunar guard. Oh he conjured flame too. Well that settles it. The mare sped her pace up as she used her magic to tighten the cloak around herself. After a few minutes of walking she caught up to him.

 

"That's a nice flame you got there..."

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

@@Windbreaker, "You will find that things can be taken seriously or joke-ingly no matter what you do... It is the choice of the pony to either handle it seriously or not. For me.." How did she take the situation? Well she was both interested in the magic, and terrified by what she might discover. "Believe it or not i am both... i'm VERY interested in finding out what all this "dark magic" fuss is about... but i'm afraid of what i wish being more than what i can handle. Nevertheless i do not intend to stop looking for it... I guess life wouldn't be interesting without some sort of danger spicing it up every now and then now would it?" 

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@SilverHeart,

 

"It helps keep my concentration... not to mention the warmth." Eclipse nodded in appreciation as he turned to look at the mare out of curtesy. The flame flickered dangerously low with his lapse of focus before flaring up again when more effort was applied to the spell. As it did, he manipulated it between the two of them: there was no sense sharing its warmth with only the snow after all.

 

"My apologies, have we met? I do not recall." He asked her. Was she one of the group who was at the portal, or one of the research team? He should have remembered - it wasn't fitting for him to fail to notice details like that.

[SilverHeart 741]

@, 

 

Silver Heart pondered as she got comfortably close to the flame. "I'm fairly certain we've never met before. I could be wrong..." The mare paused for a moment to look at Eclipse, "It's possible we've walked past each other at the castle. Or if you've ever been injured while training there's a possibility that I helped to patch you up. Other than that I don't think we would have met.... Well if we haven't met before my name is Silver Heart. Officially I'm a member of the Research Team but I could probably just as well have been placed on the Guard Team. Um...not that combat is really a specialty of mine or anything...I'm just a medic."

 

@@Windbreaker, 

 

Snowy Fields looked at Poppy with slight irritation, "I'm not sure why they were chosen. I only had a say in the Guard team." He said nothing else as he continued to walk forward.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@SilverHeart,

 

"I see, perhaps it is just in passing that I recall your face. My name is eclipse, it is an honour."

 

Rather than bow - which would have been difficult in the snow, while moving and maintaining the spell - he simply lowered his head for a moment. They had been sent with an actual healer: regardless of how they had assigned her. Somepony had made the decision that whatever they might find merited healing beyond standard first aid, which was almost cause for concern considering how little they had actually been told.

 

"Healing is an art for which I have great respect, but little skill. It will be good to have you with us, Miss Heart." He continued politely.

Edited October 6, 2013 by Cinderscribe

[SilverHeart 741]

@@SilverHeart,

 

"I see, perhaps it is just in passing that I recall your face. My name is eclipse, it is an honour."

 

Rather than bow - which would have been difficult in the snow, while moving and maintaining the spell - he simply lowered his head for a moment. They had been sent with an actual healer: regardless of how they had assigned her. Somepony had made the decision that whatever they might find merited healing beyond standard first aid, which was almost cause for concern considering how little they had actually been told.

 

"Healing is an art for which I have great respect, but little skill. It will be good to have you with us, Miss Heart." He continued politely.

(OOC: Typing this from my phone. Also let me know when you guys want to get to the site. I personally love it when there's downtime for "Character Building". So I really don't mind long transition scenes.)

 

Silver Heart returned Eclipse's bow and smiled at him, "Likewise, it's an honour to make the acquaintance of such a fine gentlecolt. Thank you very much for both the compliments and sharing your flame..." Silver Heart allowed her smile to drop as she looked around at the endless expanse of white, "It's far too cold here. I don't think I was built for this weather."

 

Silver Heart looked around to see how close the other ponies were. Once she felt assured that no pony was within listening distance she dropped her voice to a whisper, "So, do you know much of what's going?"

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight Sky trudged along through the snow, keeping apart from most of the others. While he at least trusted that most of them were amiable, he wasn't all too comfortable with the idea of getting to know them, at least not yet. As they walked Midnight saw that the night guard pony and one of the research team ponies were deep in conversation, as the night guard seemed to be maintaining a ball of fire between them.  Further ahead he could see Poppy and agent Fields talking briefly, which wasn't a surprise. Part of him wanted to go and talk with the others in their little group, seeing as they would probably have to work together once they got to their destination. On the other hoof, it wouldn't do much good to make friends with them when some of them might not make it out of this mission alive.

 

'Ah, what the hay. My sister has always said I should be more social, I guess now's as good a time as any. If things really are as dangerous as it seems, then I guess it's better to die with friends than mere associates.' Midnight thought as he pulled the fur cloak tighter around his armor. It didn't do much to conceal his royal armor, due to his helmet, but it helped. Looking around at the others, he decided the night guard and other pony looked friendly enough, though he hoped he didn't interrupt them. Midnight Sky began working his way towards the two ponies, but as he got closer he lost his nerve and just hovered nearby, too nervous to approach them. 'Maybe I shouldn't. They might ask about my past, or wonder why I wear such fine armor. Perhaps I should just continue on in silence like I have been, but then I won't even be able to say I tried to at least be friendly. I think I'll just stay at this distance, if they notice me and call me over then I'll talk with them, if not then I'll walk alone. Yes, that will work.' he thought as he glanced over at the guard pony and the other pony.

[EcstaticWind 572]

@,

 

Kinetic grinned. “No need to get so philosophical about it, Miss Darkeye. It’s interesting, for sure, but philosophy isn’t our department. We’re just here to take a look, determine the cause, and report our findings. It’s just another mission. Right, Captain?”

 

Aegis didn’t respond. He was lost in thought and thinking of times he couldn’t let go of.

 

@@SilverHeart, 

 

“I understand, sir. I suppose it was Princess Celestia’s idea.” Poppy said. But why him of all ponies? She thought to herself.

 

@@Icy Void,

 

With his companions busy, Bright Eyes decided to get to know some of the others better. He moved closer to Midnight Sky. “Umm…Hi. My name’s Bright Eyes, and I’m…uh…” I’m about to die of shock and cold. Come on, Bright. You can talk to one pony, can’t you?

Edited October 6, 2013 by Windbreaker

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight nearly jumped when he heard a voice address him, and he looked at the pony who had just introduced himself as Bright Eyes. 'Looks like this pony is about as awkward with others as I am. Might as well talk with him.' Midnight thought before responding. "Well hi, Bright Eyes. Nice to... meet you. My name is Midnight Sky." he replied awkwardly. 'Great job Midnight, now we can play the awkward conversation game. I guess it could be worse, I could be talking with our grouchy mercenary instead.' Midnight thought silently.

Edited October 13, 2013 by Icy Void