open A Darker Fate: Beyond these Walls Chapter Two.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@, Lhee,

 

Blasted Nova

Blast huffed and went over to the collapsed mare on the ground. The horn was a real eye-catcher, but not in a good way. It didn't look like it was meant to be there in the first place. What could've caused something like this to happen?

 

It didn't matter much. Through pure determination, Blast picked the mare up on his back and began carrying her to the nearest bed, struggling.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Aegis Dare
@@Frosty V, 
 
“Yeah, I’m Aegis. Look for the pink streaks in my mane. The tasty smell is bell pepper stir fry, so hot food at long last.” Aegis said, trying to remember this pony’s name. He stirred it a little longer, and moved it off the heat. “Could you find some clean plates, Frosty? And are you ok with me calling you ‘Frosty’?”
 
 
Noble Persona & Gwyn
@@Tricksters Pride, 
 
Noble heard the guard’s undertone. “Very well. Think of it as a generous donation given in good will.” He turned attention back to Strings. “It would be convenient, and my treasury should more than cover most expenses. Compulsive Order, as Gwyn has called it, will not be used if it can be traced back to me. It would undermine everything.”
 
Gwyn, meanwhile, was attempting to get a reaction out of one of the guards by repeatedly poking his leg.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Windbreaker

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Midnight Scribbler

@,

@,

@,

@@SilverHeart,

@@Nomadic,

 

Scribbler followed closely along next to Mirror. Was she beginning to warm up to him? She walked so close, he began to get a feeling that perhaps she truly was interested in him. "Perhaps a bit too hasty? I truly would like to know though.." He thought as they walked along, contemplating weather or not to make a move or ask anything. His thoughts were cut short as Orion began to explain their mission for the first time. He began to feel a little irate. "Why would he wait until now to explain all this? Couldn't we have just learned about it before hand? Bah, no matter.. At least now I know what perils I'm in for.." He glanced to Mirror, wondering about her health still, it had been a while now, and she seemed unaffected. This was comforting for the time being. Taking some time to ponder their situation, and what Orion had mentioned. "I can hear it... feel it. I suppose it's because of the Litany's touch" He turned his gaze to Orion, with a knowing expression. "With magic.. Some doors which we open, might never close again, at least not fully. It's like knowledge.. Once you learn it, you cannot unlearn it. The Litany likely left a trace of it's self within you, and now that you have become part of it, you will never be rid of it.. I only fear that if it were to be destroyed, you may suffer a grave consequence." His expression had a hint of worry, he was sincere about what he'd said. Denarius spoke up, joking about looking for ways to amuse himself. Scribbler's head snapped to face him. "Be wary, friend, for this magic is not to be toyed with. Entertainment is not something you'll find within the depths of a litany chamber.. Not unless you find deadly and destructive to be traits of good entertainment. The Litany can be a great source of power.. but it could destroy all we know and love, were it to be used in an ill way. Noble has already demonstrated this well."

 

 

(OOC Gotta run, I'll post for Clockwork later. Sorry about the delay.)

[Tricksters Pride 100]

Strings

@@Windbreaker, 

 

Strings expression seems to lose focus, almost as if Noble's words opened new lines of thought to him, and after a moment he grins and sounds most pleased. "Well then i suppose that i shall have to expand my overheads... if your paying for the equipment then i can focus on salary and support costs, That should easily double the number of ponies that we can maintain per district. It used to be that i could barely support 2 squads but now i should be able to support 4 or even 5, that's 30 ponies if i can recruit that many..... Anyways its not a matter of tracking, its a matter of manners. One should not force a pony to do anything unless there is no other way." Strings then turns and starts off towards the next district. "Now can we talk along the way, i do not want to miss my scheduled time." The guards however do not follow Strings but instead follow Noble... Apparently they are Noble's guards not Strings'.

 

The Earth pony guard that Gwyn is poking seems to be highly amused by her actions. In response he gestures towards his plate armor and speaks up in an amused drawl. "You do know that i cant feel that, right my Lady?"

Edited January 19, 2014 by Tricksters Pride

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@,

@,

@@Icy Void,

@@Commander Tangent, 

 

Pavisa groans when she feels herself get picked up, starting to struggle briefly.  Her eyes flutter open and she stops resisting when she sees that it was Blast picking her up, gazing around the room at her friends.  "Ugh...  Buck me...  Wh...  What hit me..?  My head feels like it's on fire..."  She starts to lift a hoof up to her head, blinking and looking at her hoof when it comes away covered with blood.  I'm...  Bleeding?  She tries to look at her reflection in the surface of her leg armour, blinking when she sees the bent reflection of the bloody horn in her forehead.

 

"Celestia...  There's...  There's something stuck in my head!"  From the twisted reflection she'd been able to see, the ex-guard's first thought was she'd been impaled by something.  The other possibility wasn't even in her thoughts - it was ridiculous!  She looks to her friends for help, a brief look of fear on the mare's face.  "Were...  Were we attacked?  Is everypony else alright?"

 

Even as she asked, what the others had said was starting to register in her mind.  Cellular Growth...  Grown a horn...  "...WHAT?"  She staggers to her hooves, smiling thankfully at Blast for his help but too busy freaking out to be carried to a bed.  "How could I have grown a horn!?  I don't WANT a bloody horn!"  Pavisa was scared now - it looked strange on the normally stalwart mare's face, but she didn't know what to do.  "I...  What..."  She slumps down to sit on the floor, touching a hoof to her new horn in disbelief.  She shudders slightly, her voice getting quieter as she runs out of protests.  "But...  I'm an earth mare..."

[Frosty V 309]

@

 

Frost smiled and nodded. "Sure you can call me Frosty....a lot of ponies do, think I'll have to change my name to that by the end of this year so I won't be confused." He said as he began to rummage through the cabinets in the search for some clean plates. "Bowls....bowls..plates!" He murmured to himself as he pulled out a stack of clean white plates and layed them on the counter next to the stove. "Warm food indeed! I must say I never really had a liking for peppers, but today I could care less." He laughed. "Anything else you need me to get....I plan on hanging out around here for a little." He said as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He was about to light it, but stopped and looked at Aegis. "Do you mind if I smoke? You can have one if that's your fancy." He chuckled

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

Icarus moved to her.

 

"Calm down, right now your body is freaking out, I'm sure as a guard you know what I mean. You need to think rationally.Right now all you need to do is rest." He says as he turns to the group.

 

@,@,

 

"I need you two to calm her down, I don't think she trusts me just yet. I need her to calm down so I can look at the horn and take measurements of her vital signs, for her body to suddenly generate this must have taken a major amount of resources and energy" Icarus said. 

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,

 

Blasted Nova

Blast put the mare down on the nearest bed. He ran to the faucet and brought back a small cup of water for Pavisa.

"Hey, hey, settle down, Pavisa. We're going to help you out. We'll get things resolved" He said, handing the ex-guard the water. How would they solve the issue? He didn't know. This came out of absolute nowhere. Maybe it had something to do with the lockboxes that Eclipse and the others brought back with them. Though, he couldn't be sure.

 

"Do you have any idea what could've caused this?" Blast asked her calmly.

[RAGESTAR 479]

@ @

 

Crimson awoke from the sound of Pavisa's screams of pain, he had apparently fallen asleep, while drinking. "What the hay was that?! Was that just Pavisa?!" he asked aloud, before noticing that everyone was gone and, judging by the commotion upstairs, they were now there. Crimson quickly dashed upstairs and ran into the room, only to see Pavisa in a rather confused and panicked state, and Crimson could see why, she now had a horn, this cause his eyes to widen in shock. "She has a horn!? How the hell did that happen?!" he thought. Crimson then trotted up beside Pavisa. "Are you alright, soldier girl? What happened?" he asked in calmly, trying his best to keep the confusion out of his voice. After a few more moments of trying to calm her down, Crimson noticed the pile of notes next to her helmet, picking them up nd looking at them. "What the buck are these?" he mumbled.

Edited January 19, 2014 by ragestar

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,@,@,

 

Icarus got up and whispered to the group. 
 

"Keep her calm, I'd rather not have her start firing off spells  due to her inability to control the magic. Keep her calm and try to keep her focus on the here and now. I'm going t grab my medical bag." He instructed the group.

 

Icarus went back into were he had left his bag and picked it up, being sure that everything was there.

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@,

@,

 

Pavisa mumbles something under her breath as she takes a drink of the water.  It seemed she was still having difficulty processing what had happened to her.  "I don't...  My head was hurting...  So I came up here...  I thought I heard music, like from that train car, but I think I might have imagined that part..."

 

She tentatively touches her new horn with her hoof again, wincing slightly as she does.  "And...  I looked at the papers on the table...  I could read some of them, and there was a map...  I was going to bring them downstairs for everypony to look at when the pain started getting worse..."  She shakes her head briefly.  "I don't think...  I don't think it had anything to do with the papers though...  My head was hurting as far back as the cave..."

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,@,

 

Blasted Nova

"Well, just remain calm, Pavs. Whatever it was, it doesn't matter at the moment. We're going to help you get through this." Blast said to the likely terrified mare, taking the glass back gently. What kind of papers was the mare even reading. He was too busy talking with Aegis and Icarus to really wrap his mind around it. "Crimson, see if you can find those papers and bring them here. However, if you do so, don't look at them. Don't even take a peek." The scarlet stallion requested to the pirate.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight Sky

 

Midnight nodded at what the doctor had said. "Right, the shock of all this alone could make her magical energy unstable. Even if she has not developed any magic with that horn, it's better to be cautious." Midnight said in agreement with Icarus. Midnight wished he could do more to help, but this was all beyond his capabilities. All he could do is confirm that the growth of Pavisa's horn is due to some form of magic, but that was pretty obvious. When he heard Pavisa's account of what happened, something caught Midnight's attention. He doubted that Pavisa hearing the music she had heard from the train car could just be her imagination or some coincidence, though the implications weren't exactly clear. But if when she said her headaches had started is true, then there are a few possibilities Midnight had in mind for what had caused this horn to grow from Pavi's head. "So your head has been hurting ever since our time in that cave. Interesting." Midnight said, more to himself that to Pavisa. The first and most likely possibility in Midnight's mind was that the Litany pedestal from the train had caused this, and that the music had just triggered the reaction. After all, he did vaguely recall seeing the pedestal dissolve when it was struck by that magic lightning. It's possible the residual Litany magic from the pedestal, rather than disperse, just absorbed into the nearest thing that can hold magic energy and it just so happened that Pavisa was closest. But even if his theory was true, Midnight had no idea what this could mean in the long term.

[RAGESTAR 479]

@ @

 

Crimson puts a hoof on Pavisa's shoulder. "Just try lie down and relax, ok soldier girl? Just say calm, we'll figure this out..." he said, before trotting over and gathering the notes, taking them over to Blast. "Just so you know, it's not the notes that did this to her, she said she's had the headaches since the cave, so the notes aren't dangerous..." he said, still holding the notes.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

 

@,

 

That look of fear - on her usually stalwart friends face it was just so out of place, so... alien that it was, to Kingfisher, the most unnerving thing about the situation. It was also the thing to bring her to her senses - though still not as much as she had liked.

 

Reaching out a hoof, she pressed comfortingly against the no-longer-earth mare - it was the least that she could do after the guard had gone out of her way to help her when she was vulnerable .

 

"I don't think we bet on anything like this happening..." She smirked weakly. "You're awake though - that's a good sign. C'mon - we'll figure this out but you need to keep yourself together. Besides... Could be worse - least you've not lost anything."

 

Sure she had seen some strange things at sea - not to mention over their last adventure - but this? She didn't have any answers to this.

 

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

 

@,

 

Some of the languages that the papers were written in we're fairly commonplace outside of mainland Equestria: easy to decipher for anyone who frequented the other coasts. Again: there were further charts, graphs and tables analysing seemingly everything that the author had witnessed on their journey - most useless thanks to a lack of context - but another fragment of what seemed to be a journal of sorts stood out.

 

... all rotten though. A shame that this place seems to be in such a state - but the longer we spend, the more potential I see! The kitchen - which Harlequin claimed would be a hazard to ones health to even enter on first glance, actually appears to be relatively clean. I can only presume that he was being overly cautious in his approach...

 

A final scrap - one written again in Equestrian and seemingly more weathered - as if it were older and decay had set in, was barely readable at all.

 

...is dead, though this is still the best shelter available... immediate area for food: supplies are... do not... warded against hostile magic - perplexing exactly how this happened.

[RAGESTAR 479]

@

 

Crimson read the text with growing confusion. "Warded against hostel magic...I wonder...does it mean this cabin? Hmm...I have a hunch, but it's a bit farfetched..." he thought, taking the notes to Kingfisher. "Hey Kingfisher, I have some interesting notes here...it's says something about wards, which gave me a crazy theory...care to listen?" he asked.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,@, @,

 

Blasted Nova

"Thank you very much, Crimson. Now, if you don't mind, I want to look through these notes, just because of curiosity." Blast took the notes from the pirate and began reading through them. These pieces of paper seemed to be big a fairly ancient. It actually kind of stunned him to read it. 

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

Icarus returns with his bag and sits down next to Pavisa.

 

"Now this is optional, but do you want me to run you through a quick check up? To be sure that you are ok? " He asks her, his mask revealing nothing of his emotions or thoughts. 

 

While he asks that he pulls out his medical journal and puts it next to him, as it might have needed knowledge.

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@, 

@,

@,

@@Commander Tangent,

 

Pavisa smiles gratefully at Kingfisher before turning her attention to Icarus when he returns.  She still didn't feel happy about all of this, but it did help a little to have her friends there with her...  Part of her wished her brother was there too.  The rest of her was glad he wasn't there to see her like this.  

 

"Uh, sure...  I'm not going to like...  Explode or anything, right?"  She tries to smile at what she meant as a joke, but it sort of falls dead on her lips.  As crazy as it sounded, she was less afraid when they had been going against mysterious powers that they couldn't combat that was intent on killing them...  At least then she had been able to distract herself by trying to keep her friends safe.  But this...  This was her own body betraying her!

[EcstaticWind 572]

Aegis Dare

@@Frosty V, Everypony upstairs

 

“I don’t mind if you smoke, but I’m not a smoker myself. I love my bell peppers, though.” Aegis said, putting out the stove and moving the food over to the counter to serve. “You may want to cover your ears. Apparently, I can be very loud.”

 

Aegis took a deep breath and yelled upstairs “COME AND GET IT!”

 

Noble Persona & Gwyn

@@Tricksters Pride,

 

“Aww… You’re no fun.” Gwyn said, giggling as she went back to Noble’s side.

 

“Admittedly, my paranoia may be getting the better of me, but I hadn’t considered that. Perhaps I’m too used to having enemies that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have friends. Regardless, I would request that you leave the budgets to me. I’m sure you know why.” Noble followed Strings, eager to see what it was Strings was leading them to.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Windbreaker

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

"Ok, first I'm going to use a spell on you, it will give me a general feel on how you body is doing. But for it to work I need you to focus on me ,just stare at my mask and try not to lose mental focus" He says as his horn starts to glow. For a few seconds Icarus seems to be focusing, not on Pavisa, but almost as if looking through her.  

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@Commander Tangent,

 

Pavisa nods slightly before her body gives off a small shudder, trying to keep her gaze on the doctor.  Staying focused was more difficult than it sounded - she was still in a state of near panic after what had happened, and the fact that she was growing increasingly aware of the horn at the very upper edge of her vision wasn't helping.  Especially not when a drop of her blood dripped from the tip of the horn to splash on her nose.  Trying to block that all out, the mare takes a deep breath and tries to focus on Icarus' mask.

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

"Ok your overall being is good, now I am going to generate a light with my horn, I need you to follow it with your eyes without moving your head" He said to her as he horn began to glow.  

 

He moved it in several directions, making sure to watch her eyes and face carefully.

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@Commander Tangent,

 

The ex-guardsmare does as she's told, following the light without moving her head.  Anytime that Icarus raises the light and she's forced to look upward Pavisa starts to tense up as the end of her horn comes into focus, but other than that she doesn't seem to have any issue.  "Is all of this really necessary..?  I feel like a foal being taken to the doctors by my mother..."

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

"Sorry, just making sure you have no brain injury. Now, out of curiosity, how noticeable is your horn to you ?" Icarus asked as he sketched some things down in his journal. 

 

I wonder if her brain has adapted to the horn as well.... odd, this is something that really peaks my interest.