open Beyond these Walls: An adventure through Equestria. (Applications open!)

[SilverHeart 741]

Mirror Image

 

@,@@Midnight Scribbler, @, @, 

 

Mirror Image opened her eyes when she felt something nudge her shoulder. On reflex she cast another illusion to hide her scars. She turned, beginning to cast a spell to blind whatever had touched her. A small ball of light appeared directly above her horn. By the time she had fully turned around, the ball of light had become bright enough that it would be uncomfortable to look at directly. As soon as she realized that she wasn't in any immediate danger she cut off the flow of magic to the spell. "Oh no, oh no, oh no! I'm so so sorry. It's been a very long time since something woke me up that didn't try to hurt me. I didn't hurt any of you did ?"

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,

Blast had awoken in a tent with a sore front leg from his flesh wound he got yesterday. He slowly opened his eyes to see Aphrodite lying next to him on his spread-out bed roll.
"Aphrodite, what're you doing in here?" He asked. "Did you bunk in my tent with me last night?" 

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@, 

 

"Of course it's not how things work...  And it's alright to be frustrated.  But that doesn't mean you have to bottle everything up until you burst."  She tries her best to smile at the other mare.  "Some of us are willing to listen...  Well, I am at least."  

 

@,

 

Before she could say anything else Crimson joined them, and she turned to quietly stare at him as he said what he had to say.  She snorts slightly as he gets to the part about the guards, muttering under her breath "Of course we're not all the same.  They're mostly idiots, I'd hate to be the same as them."

 

 

Zintiik

 

@,

 

"Yeah I'm fine, I just hit my head...  A few more times of that and I should have a nice immunity built up.  Injuries work like disease, right?"  He starts to laugh before it really registers to him just who was helping him up, causing him to smile at Willow and buzz his wings slightly.  "Uh, thanks..."  

 

Zintiik noticed he was still holding Willow's hoof and took a moment to look at their hooves.  He wasn't used to ponies actually touching him when he was in his natural form, let alone them being the ones to initiate the contact.  It feels...  Weird...  Not a bad weird, though.

 

As he looks back to Willow he smiles again.  Huh...  I don't feel like a monster around her the way I do around most ponies.  He was about to say as much when he was distracted by something - the mare seemed to be glowing!  The changeling was confused by this, and the light seemed to be getting brighter...  Bright enough that it was starting to hurt his eyes!  That was when he managed to figure out it was coming from behind Willow, not from the mare herself.

 

@@SilverHeart,@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

"Hey!  Turn off the night light!"

Edited November 4, 2013 by Lhee

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

@,

@,

"..."

 

Even in her foul mood, it was hard for her to argue with the pirates reasoning. After all: it had been Pavisa that had been first to follow her - to ensure she didn't storm int a chasm in her temper of somehow impale herself... the guard was the one to come find her. Glancing aside as subtly as a frustrated, half-hysterical pony in a field of razor shrap spikes could, she did her best to muster a smile to her friend.

 

For years on end she had taught herself to ignore what she felt and focus on what she knew, specifically to avoid situations like this! Shaking her head, she resolved to not make the same mistake again: they had something important to do.

 

"You're right." She sighed heavily. "Sorry, lets just... jus' find the Litany 'n' get outta here."

 

Shaking her head to herself as she briefly lowered her gaze to her (considerably worse for wear) hooves, she resumed her march at a slower, less suicidal pace.

---------------

Orion Starsinger.

@@Midnight Scribbler,

@@SilverHeart,

@,

Without the constant headaches and double streams of thought, Orion managed to avoid reacting defensively: shielding his eyes (poorly) with a transparent wing. 

 

"It's okay, we're not going to... I don't know. You don't need to be so jumpy - we're not going to hurt you." He assured the mare as the light faded, glancing behind him to check that Willow hadn't been harmed as he lowered the ethereal wing.. "You're safe here with us."

Edited November 4, 2013 by Cinderscribe

[RAGESTAR 479]

@

 

Crimson sighed in relief as Kingfisher let the topic die and move on. He then turned to Pavisa with a smile. "Well...that went better than I expected...I thought for sure she would punch my damn lights out...but I guess I was wrong...anyway, let's get hurry up and get moving again, before another fight breaks out, ok soldier girl?" asked Crimson.

Edited November 4, 2013 by ragestar

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

@, @, @@SilverHeart, @,

 

Scribbler shouted in pain, his eyes had been burned out from being so close to the light source. His eyes weren't used to such bright light, as he had spent most of his life in the night time, sleeping during the day. He covered his eyes for a moment and waited, blinking away the retinal burn.

"I-it's fine.. Just a little retina burn, no problem. I haven't seen light like that in many years with my naked eye." Scribbler reached into his bag, pulling out a pair of goggles, and placed them on his head. They were brass rimmed and had little dials on the side.

"Next time I try to wake you, I'll be prepared with these though." He chuckled. With that, he walked over towards Orion. His horn was still glowing slightly, but growing more faint as it slowly absorbed the energy back into his body. "I'm ready to move out when you are."

[Ihei 712]

@,@,

 

Willow Starsinger

 

"You took a pretty hard fall there!" Willow said lamely, mentally facehoofing. He seemed comfortable with her hoof on his. She smiled at the changeling and held her gaze at him for a good ten seconds until pulling away. "Um.. don't get hurt anymore, okay?" Willow asked, trotting away. Luckily her coat didnt let blush show very well.. "Im so LAME!" Willow sighed, mainly to the Aspect in her mane when Zintiik was out of sight.

 

@,

 

Aphrodite

 

"Um.. to make sure you won't get injured anymore! You were pretty stupid to get past those spikes.." Aphrodite said, narrowing her eyes. Faking, of course.

[Icy Void 19]

"Sure thing, I can't imagine a writer's life is easy." Midnight said before Aegis flew off. Detecting a relatively spike free path to his right that curved around further ahead, Midnight Sky walked off the path and followed this other path he'd found. Midnight hadn't realized that there was a spike tunnel along his path, but he figured he might as well keep on going and went through the tunnel using a simple illumination spell for light. When Midnight finally worked his way out of the cave a little while later he found himself ahead of the others, though not by much. He could see Kingfisher, Crimson, and Pavisa a few yards behind him, and he also saw Neighagra Falls in the distance, much closer than before.

 

'Almost there, the Litany of Magic, the Book of Knowledge, the Scroll of Wisdom, and many more names have been used to reference this relic. Legends of it are spread throughout many cultures, even back home, but now I have the chance to actually see one in person! But no matter what, I must not let it tempt me with it's knowledge. As a pony who has devoted my life to the study of magic I am no doubt more vulnerable to it's temptation than some of the others. But it must be destroyed, Orion is proof of that, that much power is only capable of corruption and nopony has the mental strength to control it. I need to prepare myself for resist the Litany, and hope the others are just as capable of resisting.' Midnight thought to himself as he walked through the shrinking spikes, barely remaining aware of the others behind him.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@, 

Blast raised an eyebrow and simply shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Aphrodite." He said in a sarcastic matter. He was starting to get the feeling that Aphrodite was developing feelings for him. He really couldn't exactly tell, though. As he learned, Aphrodite was good at hiding her feelings. Blast got up and walked outside. "Well, we need to pack up this tent so we can keep moving."

Edited November 4, 2013 by StevenEarthPony

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@,

 @,

 

 

Pavisa smiles at the other mare again, giving a small nod.  "Right behind you, Fisher."  As she starts to follow after Kingfisher again, she turns to smirk at Crimson.  "Y'know pirate, if you're gonna sound that bummed out I can punch ya in her stead.  Would that make you feel any better?"  She snickers and turns her attention back to the trail, wanting to avoid more cuts if at all possible.  The spikes seemed to be getting smaller and less frequent - that had to be good news.

 

 

Zintiik

 

@, 

"I, uhm...  Alright then..."  It didn't matter what he said, Willow was already trotting away.  Oh great, I scared her off.  Way to go, bug-brain.  He still didn't understand why Willow's opinion about him even mattered, just that it did.  Orion and Willow had been the first ponies to ever see him as something other than a monster, and he was going to fight his hardest to keep them from thinking otherwise.

 

With his wings buzzing quietly, he picks himself up to fly over towards Orion.  "Lord Orion!  Err, I mean...  Orion!  Are we ready to go?  Wait, you don't need to eat, do you?"  He often forgot that ponies sometimes preferred a meal after waking up, but he was trying to get more accustomed to pony's habits.  

[EcstaticWind 572]

Having decided that he didn't want to get cut anymore, Aegis flew to the other side of Splinterhoof Hills, where he found Midnight Sky waiting.

 

"Your Majesty, we meet again," He said in a joking manner. He then checked the worst of his cuts, that being the large one down his side and the scratch on his shoulder. 'Well, they're healing up nicely. Next time, I'm going to bring a first aid kit and some medical reference books.'

Edited November 4, 2013 by Windbreaker

[Ihei 712]

@,@,

 

Willow Starsinger

 

Willow picked off the Aspect out of her mane and put it in the grass. "Run along now," she said, "Go play. You can't stay in my mane all day long," Willow said warmly. She trotted after Zintiik and stood next to him in front of her brother.

 

@,

 

Aphrodite

 

"Sure, whatever you want to do, do it yourself. I'll get us some grub. The group must be famished," Aphrodite said. She trotted into the depths of the forest.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight winced slightly when he heard Aegis refer to him as "Your Majesty". "I forgot to mention that I prefer to not be called by any royal titles, they bring back too many bad memories. It was an honest mistake, but try not to do it again please." Midnight said to Aegis as he looked over his cuts, glad that none of them were very bad. He quickly bandaged them up as he turned to wait for the rest of the group to catch up.

[EcstaticWind 572]

@@Icy Void,

"No worries. Wasn't that funny anyway," Aegis said. Obviously his attempts at humour were going nowhere fast. In a bid to salvage the conversation, Aegis quickly changed the subject. "Any sign of our terrifying pursuer? Furthermore, what's the story behind this Orion Starsinger? How did you guys manage to aggrivate a rogue Alicorn?"

[Icy Void 19]

"I don't hold it against you, you didn't know, but thanks. And no sign of him yet, but I'm sure our luck won't hold. As for how we met Orion, well let's just say we noticed him spying on our camp and a few of our more hot-tempered members ran after him and his sister. Now he thinks we're trying to hurt him and his sister and otherwise preventing him from 'saving Equestria from evil' as he put it. But to be honest I'd bet most of that was just the Litany of Magic corrupting his thoughts. But anyway, what were you doing in the forest on your own?" Midnight said, changing the subject to try and learn more about this pegasus.

[EcstaticWind 572]

"I was on my way to Baltimare and decided to take a detour through the forest, in case I ran into anything that would inspire me to write. But there was just birds and trees and a babbling brook. Some ponies would find that relaxing, but I find it boring. I like to relax with a good book and a cup of tea, not listening to a stream and the chirping of birds. Anyway, just a normal day until I see this flash of light in the distance. Naturally, I decided to investigate. That's when I saw you guys running away from Orion. I didn't get a good look at him, but I could tell that he wasn't too friendly at the time," Aegis said, happy to have somepony to talk to.

 

He paused for a moment, realising that he hadn't planned for any of this. If he had, he would've brought more supplies. "Then, I followed the others, saw them argue, snapped a twig and got caught. And that's how I ended up here. You see what I meant when I said that I leave my wanderings in the hands of chance?"

[SilverHeart 741]

Mirror Image

 

@, @, @@Midnight Scribbler, @,  

 

"Thank you. I'm ready to go when you are." Mirror Image said to Orion as she joined the others. She made a sidelong glance at Midnight Scribbler, "I wanted to apologize to you again. I didn't hurt your eyes too much, did I? It's been a long time since I've traveled with anyone..."

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

@@SilverHeart,

Scribbler smiled at Mirror warmly, seeing her concern was sincere and respected her for it. His eyes were still burned out slightly, seeing reddish circles over his vision, slowly fading away. He turned to Mirror, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"I'm alright, I appreciate your concern, Mirror. You're kind to care as you do."

He withdrew his hoof and glanced back to the alicorn, awaiting Orion's lead, not knowing where they were off to at all.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

 

@,

@,

 

"C'mon, 'least we can wash 'n' patch ourselves up at the falls." Kingfisher called out behind her, not just to the pair but to anyone within earshot as they left Slingerhoof.

 

"Would be a load easier if th' foal took the book in summer when the trains ran this way..."

 

@@Icy Void,

@@Windbreaker,

 

Spying the pair up ahead, she flicked a hoof in what was supposed to be a wave.

 

"Leavin' the fun for the earth ponies eh?" She smirked somewhat sarcastically at the two, glancing back at the rest of the group.

"Well, earth ponies and the rest of us." She added, stepping over a patch of spines that was no taller than a patch of long grass and looking ahead towards the waterfall.

 

"Guess we jus' kind of, patch up 'n' look for it now?" She suggested blankly: realising that Redwave had been the one with the letters outlining everything they actually knew about finding the ruin. She had been following his instruction - she didn't know how to find the place!

 

---------------

 

Orion Starsinger.

 

@,

 

"I'm fine Zintiik, and Willow has food for herself I believe. Can you fly up and see how close we are?" Orion asked, looking about for the changeling: flexing his ghostly wings uneasily. "I'm still, uh, getting used to these things."

 

@,

@@SilverHeart,

@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

"I suppose if we're traveling together..." He said, turning to the other two. "First, proper introductions: my name is Orion Starsinger. This is my sister Willow, and Zintiic - yes, he's a changeling."

 

Something stirred in his head: a twinge of pain but nothing significant. He continued.

 

"We're looking for a book, I think it's called... The Litany of Magic. By my calculation it should be somewhere near the Neighagra falls, so that's where we're heading. There's a group of thugs trying to stop us, they're determined to get their hooves on it no matter the cost... that's what happened to their leader."

 

He motioned towards the statue of Redwave: stubborn to the end, the stallion had managed to be frozen in time not with a look of defiance or horror but instead, indignantly. He looked annoyed of all things - stone sword and stone bottle hung from the stone belts of the blustering stone pony.

[RAGESTAR 479]

@

 

Crimson chuckled and followed the mare. "No, that's fine, I've been punched by a mare I liked way too much as it is...well, I DID anyways...but I would prefer to keep all my teeth, if its all the same to you..." said Crimson with a smile, seemingly back to his brave and cocky self, as he trotted along with Pavisa to the falls.

[EcstaticWind 572]

@,

“Well, it'd be selfish of us to have all the fun to ourselves, Captain," Aegis said, grinning at Kingfisher. He couldn’t stop himself yawning as he realised that he’d been awake all night. "If I may offer a suggestion, we should probably stop and rest a while. That'd give us time to patch up and get maybe a few hours of sleep so we don't collapse halfway there." 

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

@, @, @,

Scribbler bows his head to Orion.

"Midnight Scribbler, at your service. I have a great knowledge of magic, and magical items, though I have little knowledge of this Litany. It does sound familiar to me, but it may have been long ago when I read of it. I will aid you as best I can. With an array of magical spells and enchantments at my disposal, I think we will stand a good chance of finding the book you seek."

 

@@SilverHeart,

Scribbler turns to Mirror "Do you need something to eat?" He pulls an apple out, offering it to her. "I have enough for 3 days travel on me, provided we don't find anything along the way."

 

This adventure had begun to interest Scribbler now, feeling more comfortable with his standing with the alicorn. Things didn't seem as bad as he'd thought the previous night, though he was still slightly wary of the changeling, still unsure what to make of this strange alliance. Was it possible this creature was capable of being more than a heartless monster? The thought made him feel at ease for the time being.

[SilverHeart 741]

Mirror Image

 

@, @, @,

 

"My name is Mirror Image. I'm a professional Illusionist and sleight of hoof artist. I have many abilities that range from simple pick-pocketing, which the crowds always love, to creating illusions and short term hypnotism. I don't know if I should mention this, as it is rather unethical, but we are dealing with bandits and thugs. I've learned two rather useful applications for my magic. I can assault a pony's mind directly and make them believe they have been injured...which seems to have a lasting effect. And last but not least if I'm given enough time alone with somepony I can make them my thrall. All of my skills are yours for now. You need only ask."

 

@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

"I think I'll pass for now. Thank you though." Mirror Image said as she flashed a smile at Scribbler.

 

(OOC: I won't be able to post for about 12 hours...or possibly even until tomorrow. If you need or want Mirror Image to cast a spell feel free to.)
 

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,

Blast began packing up the tent when a greenish aura appeared around it. The tent's iron bars began to manipulate and the tent was put away. Blast turned around to see Eclipse with the aura around his horn.

"We need to continue on to the Falls, Blast." Eclipse commented. "The group already left, so tell Aphrodite to hurry. We don't have much time to waste."

Blast turned to the forest. "Aphrodite, could you please try to hurry??" He called out.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.
 
@@Windbreaker,
@@Icy Void,

"Aye, we'll set up at the falls 'n' scout 'em out from there." Kingfisher nodded as she noticed tghe ground turning back to grass as they moved onwards: the falls could be heard quite clearly from this distance: a constant, crashing rumble in the morning light. "It's gotta be hidden pretty well for nopony to have found it already."

---------------

Orion Starsinger.
 
Orion winced, instinctively moving a hoof to his head. Before reaching it however, he stopped himself: acting pathetic in from of the others he was now responsible for wasn't going to help in any way: and Willow didn't need giving any more reason to worry.
 
'What the...' He started to think before a wave of dizziness confirmed his thoughts: the dual streams of thought had started again. It wasn't so bad this time: whether because he was growing used to the feeling, or whether the sleep had helped in some way - for one reason or another the pain this time seemed duller. 
 
'You'll grow accustomed to the feeling: it becomes easier...' The voice answered his unasked question before doing something new: it asked its own. '... are you certain we trust these not to betray us?'

@,
@@SilverHeart,
@@Midnight Scribbler,
@,

 

Shaking his head as if to wake himself up, Orion cleared his throat - perfectly aware of having frozen up for at least a couple of minutes.

"A... A pleasure. Both of you." He finally responded - dispelling the remainder of the sparks in the air (which had diminished significantly now that the Aspect seemed to have developed a taste for them) he turned to motion for his sister to follow.

 

"One last thing..." He paused. "I'm tired of trying to play nice with strangers only for them to try and hurt us, so I'll just say it now - I wont let anything... anything... hurt my sister. Not them, not anypony. Please, don't make me regret this."