private Golden Corruption

[Aerodynas 439]

@@Charcoal Embers,

 

"So what, ya think after all I've said we can just kiss'n make up?" Sunny growled, highly unusual for the mare...before she closed her eyes sadly as her ears drooped. "...I...wish I could do what ya say...but.." The mare rose up one of her scarred hooves for Charcoal to see. "I know Solar won't die...somepony else will...and when she does, I don't want the wonderful him to die with 'er." 

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

"Sunny, don't think like that. You have no idea what will come in the future. So don't you go saying that this pony is going to die on us. We are a team and we all have to work together and unite to go against a common foe. But we can't do that if two of our team mates aren't feeling 100%. I don't like seeing you like this Sunny. And Solar wouldn't either."

[Skycoaster 698]

@@Frosty V,

Solar Sentinel

Solar waited for the mares to leave before he tapped Jaeger on the sholder.

"Sunny....She toyed with my heart like a yoyo. She offered it to me, than as soon as I offered her mine, She ripped it away. I hurt Jaeger, It really hurt." as Solar plops down. "I thought she was the one. She made me forget about all the rules and regulations on being a Royal Guard. She made the mission fun...but now I can see that isn't the case. I need to go back to the way I was. When the only things I cared about where my unit and Princess Celestia. Never again will I let love block my path." he said.

 

Solar was suppressing his feelings for Sunny. The love. The anger at her. He was locking them away inside him as he did before when his father passed. Keeping his mind on his guard duties, never grieving. Solar closed his eyes for a few seconds, before looking back to Jaeger.

 

"What do you say we go over some mission details and let the mares have some time." he said as he put on a friendly smile.

[Frosty V 309]

@

 

Jaeger listened as he plopped down next to Solar and put a hoof on his shoulder. "You can't just push love out of your life....I did...and look how I turned out. A cold, emotionless....killer." he said, trailing off as he stared at the ground. He shook his head and looked back up at Solar as he offered to go over mission plans. He nodded, "Yes...I...I would like that." He smiled

[Skycoaster 698]

@@Frosty V,

Solar Sentinel

"Jaeger, Your not cold and emotionless. Your efficient and a great asset to the protection of Equestria. A great asset to the mission at hoof...and a trusted friend." He said as he put his hoof on Jaeger's shoulder.

 

Solar began staring off into space. "You saw what happened back there. I lost it. I single hoofededly compromised the mission because I let love get in the way." as Solar looks back to his friend.

 

"So here is the old map of the town from 50 some years ago that was on the airship. I see at least six choke points that we can use if it hits the fan. What do you think?"

[Frosty V 309]

 

Jaeger smiled and looked up at Solar. "Thanks...your a good friend too Solar." He said softly changing to a half smile. He shook off the feeling as he looked over the map and shook his head. "Im sorry...Im not good at strategic analysis....Im better at on the spot planning." He muttered

[Skycoaster 698]

@@Frosty V,

Solar Sentinel

Solar looked over at his friend. "I just want to have an idea of what I'm doing in case something dose go wrong. Our quickest way to get everypony out."

 

He stopped for a moment, trying to think of what he could say to keep himself clam before SHE came back. "So, who do you think Lord Moon Crypt has in mind for our two pony teams. I think we'd make a good team, or maybe me and Lee or Charcoal...." He tailed off, not mentioning Sunny's name. It was hard for the stallion to do, but if he wanted to keep his emotions pressured, he had to avoid her at all costs for he would ether break down crying or explode in an angry rage, nether of which would help the mission. He just had to hope that Lee and Moon Crypt could return before that could happen.

[Aerodynas 439]

@@Charcoal Embers,

 

Sunny looked to Solar and Jaegar, seeing that he appeared to be unaffected now by what had occurred earlier. Her heart stung at the sight but she smirked slightly, happy that her knowledge of him being a strong hearted stallion of ambition and integrity was correct. He had moved on...quickly. The mare would never worry of her own incapability determining the fate of others now...even though she had to give up her purpose and dreams. Not longer after he eyes had set upon Solar did they begin to tear up before she quickly turned back to Charcoal. "Well, it looks like 100% is back for us...Solar has moved on...and I..." she trailed off very briefly as she looked back. "I'm still here...for now."

[Frosty V 309]

@

 

Jaeger stared at the map trying to think of good exit points for different scenarios. When Solar mentioned teams he frowned slightly. He wasn't one to work with others, but he knew that him combined with Solar would be a strong force. "Well.....I can't say for sure, Moon did mention the possibilities of demons...thats my area...I don't know if he'll want a team on that or not. I prefer to work alone but I trust you Solar....if we can request teams ill ask for you." He said with a smile

[Skycoaster 698]

@@Frosty V,

Solar Sentinel

"I'm sure that Lord Moon Crypt has his mind made up on who's going with who, but if you want to ask, I won't object." he said with a smirk. "I don't want to show favoritism to anypony being in a command position, I'm sure you understand." as he slowly stood up. "Don't tell anypony I told you this, but I've had a funny feeling for a while about this mission. Ever since I got that piece of paper. It has me worried. As my father was dieing, he said something weird to my mother to tell me. She said he said 'To find glory and the truth at Golden Spruce'...and here we are at Golden Pines. I guess my feelings for a particular mare had me forget about it...until just a little bit ago. I have to make sure this mission goes off without a hitch or else I feel that I'll be disobeying an order...from my father."

 

Solar looked across to the mares. "Jaeger, would you mind letting them know that I would like to go over some mission details with them please?"

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@, Quick Shot started to say something, but a glare from Rock made him stop and turn to confront him. "Glare at me all you want," he snarled, "But if you ain't careful, you'll wake up with a crossbow bolt through that bucket of porridge you call a head." He then proceeded to leave the table.

 

Before the next game could begin, Moon Crypt- or, at least, his disguise- sidled over. "Come on, partner." He said with an accent. "These nice folk have got places set up for the rest of the party. Guess we need tah get back and get 'em." 

Edited December 22, 2013 by Sly Cooper

[Trevor Bright 872]

@ @@Charcoal Embers @ @ @@Frosty V

 

Lee nodded at Moon Crypt and stood up from the table, downing the rest of is drink as he did. "Right, well, good game and I hope you all have shome fun with that money I losht." He winked at them, feeling just the slightest bit tipsy and followed Moon Crypt. He knew that he was a little tipsy, he wasn't so drunk he couldn't tell, but he also just didn't care. He knew that was his lack of inhibitions talking but he couldn't find the reason to care as he almost stumbled behind his mentor. He stopped for a second and shook his head trying to clear it. "Thish ishn't good. I think I had to mush to drink." He started following Moon Crypt again, pulling a small container of straight black coffee of his vest as he walked and took a drink. When they reached the middle of the woods, he shifted back to his normal unicorn form. "That's better." He took another drink of the black coffee, savoring the feeling of the caffeine running through his veins, clearing his head. He let out a contented sigh and put the container back in his vest, smiling at Moon Crypt. "I don't know if it's just me, or if it's all changelings, but I've found nothing clears one's head faster then caffeine, and black coffee seems to be the best source of that. Plus, the bitter taste is quite savory." He walked through the cover of the forest and in to the clearing where all the other ponies were and nearly fell over from the emotions that hit him. He righted himself after staggering and looked around, seeing Solar and Jaeger at one side of the clearing, while Charcoal and Sunny were at the other. He walked over to Charcoal and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear, "What the hades happened? It feels like a nuclear bomb of emotions was set off. The...love, the...wow, the heart break. What happened?" He had felt a lot of the emotions coming off of Sunny, so he had thought it would be best to ask without her hearing which is why he whispered his question to Charcoal. He could also feel a lot of emotions coming from Solar's direction, but those seemed muted, almost like they were being bottled up. He'd learned from experience that those types of emotions could be explosive, and were best avoided. He sat back, waiting for an answer to this conundrum.

Edited December 22, 2013 by ~Evil Toa Tahu~

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

Charcoal smiled and hugged Lee now that he was back. She took out her cigar and smothered it on her hoof before wrapping it up and putting it in her bag so it wouldn't catch fire. "Well... to my understanding Sunny told Solar how she feels and something happened to where Sunny kind of broke his heart and now Sunny is broken hearted because she thinks she won't be able to love him and if she somehow could that it could put somepony at a liability. And that's pretty much the gist if it. Now why do you smell like alcohol?"

[Trevor Bright 872]

Lee nodded. "A broken heart? Geeze. That explains it. Huh, I felt enough of those in Canterlot that I'm surprised I didn't recognize it." Upon noticing the cigar, he raised on eyebrow but didn't say anything about it, instead, blushing a little at the mention of alcohol. "Hmm, well I...you see..." He paused a bit to get his bearings before coming up with a reply. "Right, so me and Moon Crypt went to the tavern to try and glean some information. I got a drink and sat down with a group of suspicious looking blokes to play some cards with, and try and get intel out of them. You do know the suspicious looking ones always know the best stuff. Anyways, I may have had a bit to much to drink while I was there. I felt a little tipsy on the way back, so I had some coffee to clear my head. Caffeine works wonders on changeling anatomy you know. Anyways, I didn't have to much to drink. I know when to stop. A little while back, I was involved in a little fiasco that involved me drinking a bit to much and...well...almost half of a bar all saw me start shifting like crazy. Luckily it was a night guard only bar and most of them were do drunk to remember anything the next day." @@Charcoal Embers

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

Charcoal laughed at Lee's story. "That's great. I like that story. And because I know it is going to coke up eventually, yes, I am a smoker. I because addicted when I was little and didn't have anything else to turn to when I was feeling down. Alright, got that over with."

Edited December 22, 2013 by Charcoal Embers

[Trevor Bright 872]

Lee merely nodded, his face losing it's mirth. "Right. I won't say anything." He sat for a moment before looking over at Sunny, a little ways a way. Then he looked over his shoulder at Solar and Jaeger. "Sheesh. You can't feel it, but the tension is...well, it's as thick as butter. I feel like I could cut it with my horn." He sighed again. "This is going to be fun." He said, his voice laced with sarcasm. @@Charcoal Embers

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

Charcoal nodded. "Oh most definitely." Charcoal agreed sarcastically. "So you said something before about coffee being really good in changeling anatomy. Would you mind telling me about that?" Charcoal asked, her fascination with changelings surfacing once again.

[Trevor Bright 872]

Lee grinned at that. "Sure. See, so when I was a drunk the first time, I'd heard there were multiple ways to become sober again. Most of them are old mares tales and don't work, though one stuck out to me. When I was in the hive where I lived for some sixty odd years, we would often use caffeine to help us loosen up, energize, and rejuvenate after shifting to fast and to much which can be hard on a changelings body, or other strenuous things. Most often, we used it after battles or invasions. I've learned what it does to ponies is similar to changelings, though its a bit more healthy for us. It's also just as addictive, if not more so. That's why when I use caffeine to help myself, I often take a very watered down version of it in the form of straight black coffee." @@Charcoal Embers

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

Charcoal nodded. "I personally don't drink coffee myself, but caffeine does help ponies have energy. Most ponies drink it in the morning to help them wake up, or at night to help them stay awake. Me, I just get up early and am fine. I can go about two days without sleep, since some of my projects have required me to do that on occasion."

[Trevor Bright 872]

Lee nodded at this. "Changelings are both nocturnal and day creatures. We have to be. It's how we survive. If we weren't, then most of our invasions would end in miserable defeat and horrible losses. We actually usually just sleep when we need to. Mostly to keep our cover from being blow." At the mention of invasions and staying in disguise, he felt a sudden wave of saddness wash over him as he was hit with a memory of times past. He looked at his hooves and felt his horn before sighing and walking a few steps away. "Right. Staying in cover" He whispered this last part, almost hoping no one would catch it.  @@Charcoal Embers

 

(((thats my last post for now, I gotta get ready for work now. Sorry!)))

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

((Ah, I don't mind. Work is important. I'll see you when you get back.))

 

Charcoal caught on to Lee's sadness. She walked in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Lee, I might not be able to read emotions, but I know sadness when I see it. What's wrong?" Charcoal asked.

[Trevor Bright 872]

Lee looked up at Charcoal, unsure about how to explain. "I...well. Have you ever wondered why I'm always...me? Why I chose this form as my main form, that is me?This tan unicorn stallion?" He looked away, the reflection of this memory obviously the cause of a great amount of sadness in his life. "This form was actually a real pony at one point in time. About some seventy odd years back, I-" His voice actually choked at this point, he looked away, his eyes tearing up. He wiped them and took a few deep breaths before continuing. "During one of my hive's invasions, I was to take the place of this stallion. He was a blacksmith by trade. He had a wife and child. It was my first kill. I'd never killed anypony before. He didn't even resist. At first he did defend himself valiantly, but after I disarmed him, he-...he didn't even try to fight back. I stood over him, about ready to kill him and he just looked at me. He just looked at me and said 'well, we all have to do what we need too to survive. I did my part and fail. Time for you to do yours.' I killed him then. I killed him and hid his body. I threw it in a lake. I didn't even bury him properly. I took his place. I lived there for five months. FIVE MONTHS! With his wife and daughter. It didn't bother me then, what I had done, but each day of those months comes back to haunt me now. I-I use his form in hopes of finding redemption. I hope that he can forgive me if I do good while in his form. For my past transgressions to him and his family. Everypony thought I was him in the town. On the day of the invasion, I was called by the guards to come and fight my brothers off. They didn't know I was a changeling. I killed everyone who found out though. We lost that battle and were pushed back. I never went back to that city you know. Or, actually I did, once. I went back as that black pony you've seen me use before. I asked around about the Smith and his family. Apparently his wife was killed in the battle protecting their daughter. His daughter...she-she was told he that the smith died a hero in battle since no pony actually knew what happened to him. I...I talked with her. I-"  At the mention of this, he broke down again. Sobbing this time. He took a few moments to catch a hold of his breath, then continued. "I talked with her. I asked her if she knew anything about her father. She said he died a great hero. That he killed many changelings in the war when they were driven back. Every pony in that town remembers that war. Her father is a celebrated hero. I didn't have the heart to correct her. I-" He looked away, unable to continue.

 

@@Charcoal Embers

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

@, Hoofsteps behind you- followed by a changeling hoof on your shoulder- revealed that Moon Crypt had walked up behind him. He didn't even say anything, but you could feel the sympathy flowing from him, mmore than he could ever say. After a few minutes, he took his hoof away and walked towards Solar.

 

@, Moon Crypt approached Solar from behind, smiling and shaking his head. He walked over. "So, what happened when I was gone? There's enough distress here to feed a Windigo for weeks. I also have some most interesting information for you..."

[Charcoal Embers 169]

@

 

Charcoal didn't even hesitate when she hugged the stallion. "Shh, there there. It's okay." Charcoal thought about what she could say to cheer him up. "Lee... I know I probably can't do much to cheep you up, but for what it's worth, I think if you can survive this mission with this form... I think you will have done much good."

[Trevor Bright 872]

Lee smiled. He looked over his shoulder as Moon Crypt walked away mouthing the words "thank you" after him. He then felt himself being hugged and just sunk in to it, enjoying the feeling of some pony holding him and caring for him. "Thanks Char. That means more then you could know."

 

@

@@Charcoal Embers

Edited December 23, 2013 by ~Evil Toa Tahu~