open A Darker Fate: Beyond these Walls Chapter Two.

[Tricksters Pride 100]

Shadow

@@Midnight Scribbler, 

 

The idea of storing magic seemed to interest Shadow. He dropped his casually curious manner to a more serious one, reformed into his physical form, and drifted down from his height to just beside Clockwork to get a closer look. He then proceed to eye the creations in question with interest, especially the battery pack. "... This from a non-magical pony hmm?... Impressive..... How do they work?"

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Clockwork Green

@@Tricksters Pride,

 

Clockwork was caught with his previous thoughts suddenly shattering. Was this creature truly interested? Perhaps his ingenuity was a redeeming quality to them after all. "Oh.. Well, er. It uses a specific chemical to retain the energy. The battery currently needs a unicorn to charge it, using a focus cable. They need only send unfocussed energy into the device for it to function. Once the battery is fully charged with magic, it retains that energy within these cells." He opened the flap, covering the battery, and revealed the 6 cell design. One of which looked burned out, and the gauge read empty. "I had an unfortunate encounter with some form of energy I've never witnessed before. It proved too much for this battery. It was like trying to contain lightning, it just isn't possible with this technology yet.. Luckily for me, it only blew out one cell. I still have 5 more, one containing a small amount of healing aura magic. Courtesy of the doctor, Icarus." He replaced the flap, and lowered his cloak once again. "Given time, I should be able to create a mechanism which can generate it's own magic, like a unicorn's horn.. However much work is yet to be done on that design. That is partly why I came along on this little escapade. The amount of arcane magic seemed too great to leave. And if I may be of some assistance, I should like to keep my world intact, and yours too while I'm at it. No sense in working on inventions if the world is ending, is there?" He chuckled as he continued on with the two ethereal beings by him. He was beginning to feel some form or respect from Shadow, which he took comfort in. At least one of these creatures wasn't against him. He couldn't tell what Amethyst's opinion of him was, she just seemed to be abrasive towards anything that wasn't of her own kind.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Amethyst Void

 

@@Geek0zoid,

 

"Do I look like I'm sure?" It was a genuine question - she was still having trouble with any body language that didn't involve annoyance. "We passed a split somewhere back this way. If there's another door, it makes sense that it will lead to it... and that might make it easier to get through."

 

It was a sound plan as far as she was concerned - not that the ponies would know a sound plan if it fell on them from a high place or ambushed them in the night.

 

Amethyst however, had noticed something back in the room. The direction that the marginally smarter ponies were heading had a huge magical aura - not quite like their stupid guardian that they had killed, but not far off. She wanted to find it.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Cinderscribe

[~Sole~ 852]

(why'd amethyst ignore ronin? and she even calls the litany guardian stupid )

 

Ronin sighed as amethyst seemingly ignored him as he walked along with the group. Seemed like everyone was beginning to hate him now, and he wasn't helping that by being so hostile. He remembered when his father told him something along the same lines "only a fool solves all of his problems with violence." He'd scolded. Ronin hadn't been following that too well

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,

 

White Eclipse

"Well, let's make role call of everything we've got to deal with now. We have traps that none of us know anything about, a psychotic, corrupt stallion that's gone AWOL on his team, and our captain is in danger of being killed. Do you realize how much that's at stake here, Amethyst? Two innocent mares could die, and we need to do what we can to rescue them."

 

((I think I screwed something up XD))

[Ihei 712]

@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

"You lost your family too!?" Willow exclaimed in surprise, fake coughing afterwards. "Ahem, what happened?" Willow frowned.

 

Willow wasnt too sure about Scribbler's last comment. Orion seems too far away from home to retrieve him back. She doesn't know how to stop tis from happening, since, obviously, this has never happened to her. Talking to Scribbler seemed to help.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Midnight Scribbler

@,

 

Scribbler closed his eyes a moment, thinking back. He opened them again, to look at Willow before responding. "Yes.. It was a long time ago. I was only a foal at the time. My main ability is my teleportation spell, which.. back then, was my most volatile and unpredictable ability. One day I just disappeared, and showed up somewhere else in Equestria. I was separated and far from where I had been before. Being that age, I had no idea where I was or how to get home. I grew up without parents or siblings, generally with few or no friends. I am no stranger to that lifestyle. And that is why I feel that I must be here for you. If you should find yourself in that position, I won't abandon you. I promise you that." Scribbler was completely sincere in his words. He couldn't let somepony be subjected to the same fate he'd lived. Especially one who'd basically saved his life more than once. Though there truly was no debt between them, Scribbler had done the same for her, but he still felt responsible for her. She wasn't very old, and didn't seem ready to take the world on, at least not without some aid. He knew if Orion could not be saved, he would have to be the one to watch over her. The difference he knew was that she needed her space. He would not be the overbearing father figure that Orion had become, but more of a mentor, and guardian. Seeing to it that she was given the chance to live normally once this was all over. As normally as possible anyway. Scribbler sat up, looking up the tunnel. "Well, how do you feel? Have you had enough time to rest?" He was feeling quite a bit more energized, for having only a short nap. He would wait for Willow if she requested more time.

[Nomadic 210]

Denarius

@@SilverHeart, @, @

 

Denarius turned back around, it looked like bargaining between the two groups had finally ended. "Oh, I guess we have two more ponies to welcome into are midst", he spouted off, not really talking to any individual in particular.  He moved towards the Odd-Mare as closely as he could. "Well Miss, I see your 'negotiations' were actually successful. Granted, I don't doubt that it would be hard for an individual to argue when there's a metaphorical knife to one's throat. At least, it's nice to see that you were a little bit more welcoming of them than you were of me", his voiced cooed jokingly at the mare. His eyes darted forward, and quickly began to scan over the two captives. They were both clearly important to that group of bandits, and could possibly prove useful if his dealings went sour with Orion's little clique. His mouth curved into a faint smile. "With all of the commotion, I don't believe I've been properly introduced to either of you. You can call me Denarius, and what are your names?".

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

 

"Ceryle, Queen of 'get that stupid smirk off your face before I cut it off'."

 

Sarcasm laced words were really all she had. Well, not so much 'laced' as 'smothered'... but words they were, sarcasm and all. And even though they had no doubt heard her name being said, she wasn't about to cooperate willingly, no matter how logical it would be to do so.

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa and Zintiik

 

@,@@Nomadic,@@SilverHeart,

 

 

"The angry one is Kingfisher, the Guard is Pavisa."  Zintiik answers before Pavisa could respond, turning to look at both of them and grinned.  "Like I said, I traveled with them for a while.  Don't know if Redwave told 'em or not though."  Shrugging, the changeling turns back around to see about getting over the sparks.  The addition of two more boring ponies to the group didn't interest him all that much, other than the fact that these two were likely to beat the tar out of him if he found himself alone with them.

 

Sighing, Pavisa just gestures from across the field of sparks.  "The others are gone...  Can you just help me across now?"  The sooner she could get across to make sure none of them decided they'd had enough of Kingfisher's words, the better.  

[Nomadic 210]

Denarius

@

 

"Thank you Zintiik", he smiled at the bug, at least he was compliant. "Fine, have it our way Miss Fisher, was it? I thought figured simple formalities were in order, despite the less than pleasing circumstances", he said with a simple wave of the hoof. Denarius continued looking at her as his smile faded in response, "I truthfully have no idea why your resisting such menial things as a simple introduction. Would it not be easier on yourself, to a least show a little sense of composure. Are you holding to the misconception that I'm nothing more than a simple sell-sword. It really makes it easier to justify violence against another when you cling so desperately on to such ideas, yes?", he voice was nonchalant as he gave a simple shrug to his own comment.

[~Sole~ 852]

After another moment of thinking while they traveled he turned to amethyst. "You can feel emotion right? I mean, you've got enough sarcasm and fake smiles to prove that." He said with a shrug "do you feel other emotions? Like jealousy or love?" He asked curiously

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Amethyst Void

@@Geek0zoid,

"Yeah, there is all that... but we're alive aren't we?" She flitted about the cavern to appear before the unicorn - hovering backwards casually. "Anyway, what's 'innocence' really? We all do what we have to so that we survive - nothing more, nothing less. Don't pretend that you wouldn't have done the same if you had the chance."

 

@,

 

At the other, more personal question coming from the stupid pony, she flitted through the air again to appear above him. In Arcana she might not have traveled about in the same way - but this world felt so heavy... even flitting about was starting to actually take effort. She put the matter down to this world being starved of any significant forms of magic and ignored it.

 

"You're very curious aren't you?" She asked, avoiding the question.

[SilverHeart 741]

@,@, @@Nomadic, @@Icy Void,

 

Mirror waves a goodbye to Sunshine and her brother as they leave the room. Satisfied that everypony that was dangerous had left, Mirror nods at Pavisa. "I'm ready to help you cross over whenever you are. There are probably a few ways we can do this. The easiest would probably be to have you lay down and I'll use my magic to pull you over....though I'd understand if that isn't your first choice."

 

While she waited for Pavisa's response, she spoke to both Zintiik and Denarius, "Denarius, while I'm sure that I could have been a bit more kind, your sudden appearance was a bit too...convenient. I had no reason to believe you weren't some other pony that had it in for us. Though we can talk about this later. If the two of you would be so kind as to go fetch Scribbler and Willow? We can't afford to let them get captured by the others. It would put us in danger. In the meantime, I'll get the guard over here and start working on clearing a path for us."

[~Sole~ 852]

Amethyst Void@@Geek0zoid,"Yeah, there is all that... but we're alive aren't we?" She flitted about the cavern to appear before the unicorn - hovering backwards casually. "Anyway, what's 'innocence' really? We all do what we have to so that we survive - nothing more, nothing less. Don't pretend that you wouldn't have done the same if you had the chance." @, At the other, more personal question coming from the stupid pony, she flitted through the air again to appear above him. In Arcana she might not have traveled about in the same way - but this world felt so heavy... even flitting about was starting to actually take effort. She put the matter down to this world being starved of any significant forms of magic and ignored it. "You're very curious aren't you?" She asked, avoiding the question.

Ronin was looking up at her as she moved above him, but blushed at her question and looked down at the ground again "m-maybe... What's it to you? I'm just asking a simple question." He said, attempting to change the subject back to her. If she knew he liked her in such a way...

[EcstaticWind 572]

Aegis Dare

 

@ Team Brandy

 

Aegis marched ahead, heading to the front of the group and fishing out his wingblades. He strapped them on with care and with every intent on using them. Then, he called back to the others. 

 

“Let’s keep it moving. The sooner we reach this other entrance, the sooner we can rescue Pavi and Fisher. Then we save Equestria. So move!”

 

He didn’t care much for the group politics. They can play that idiotic game later. His first concern was to rescue Pavisa and Kingfisher, then saving the world. And he found himself less and less concerned about how he was going to do it…

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Windbreaker,

 

Blasted Nova

Blasted Nova was still a little bit tired. Mostly from the wounds. They weren't fully healed yet, so he was still staggering a bit here and there. He limped his way over to Aegis, happy to see his friend once again.

"Hey, Aegis. I'm back on my hooves again!" Blast said in a rather joyous tone. "But, shame that I can't celebrate that. Now we have two mares to save. I still want to give those guys a piece of my mind. Who do they think they are, calling us bandits, monsters, and whatnot?"

 

@,

 

White Eclipse

"In case you haven't noticed, Amethyst, I'm trying to be one of the more reasonable ponies here. Problem is, no one seems to get the meaning of REASONING." Eclipse exclaimed, a bit set off by recent events. "Two of our members, one of them being our captain, has been kidnapped. Pavisa may have willingly went along, but she could still be in danger. We've all tried to reason with them, and they refused to compromise. Now, the time for talk is over."

Edited February 20, 2014 by Geek0zoid

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@SilverHeart,

 

Frowning at the idea, Pavisa sighs and shakes her head.  Putting herself completely at Mirror's mercy to cross the sparks?  What would stop her from just tossing her into one, or leaving her stranded in the middle of them?  But time was important...  With a quiet groan, Pavisa lowers herself to the floor and tries to make herself as small of a target as possible.

 

"Are you sure this is going to work?  No offense, but I really don't like this idea.  Those things hurt."  At least she didn't have to worry about them conducting through her armour anymore - all she had left of that was the thick plate around her left foreleg.  She realized now that her saddlebags had also been attached to her armour, causing her to groan quietly to herself.  At least there hadn't been anything in there she couldn't live without.

 

 

Zintiik

 

Waving a hoof, Zintiik quickly takes off back down the way they'd come from.  "Yeah sure I'll do it catch up later!"  To the changeling, going back for Willow and Scribbler seemed like a much safer course of action for him than staying with the two mares he'd been antagonizing this entire time.

 

@,

@@Midnight Scribbler,  

 

The buzzing of his wings would have been the first thing to echo through the tunnels, but eventually Zintiik would make his way back down the path.  Slowing down his somewhat-frantic flight as he gets closer, Zintiik lands and trots around the corner to where they'd left Scribbler and Willow.

 

"Hey guys!"  Zintiik's voice is fairly casual, considering the changeling was still burned and bleeding from the spark he had run into a short time ago.  "So, crazy story, but those bandits from the Falls are here in the caves with us.  I came back to get you guys because Mirror sorta took two of them hostage and now they're all sorts of pissed.  Oh, and Orion left a bunch of booby traps behind him so we're having trouble catching up to him..."  

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Clockwork Green

@,

@,

@@Windbreaker,

@@Geek0zoid,

@,

@@Icy Void,

@@Frosty V,

@@Tricksters Pride,

 

Clockwork overheard Amethyst speaking of innocence and morality, dismissing it nearly entirely. This made Clockwork grin, and nearly spoke over Eclipse as he replied. "The universe is hostile and impersonal. Devour to survive, so it is, so it has always been. I must agree with Amethyst on that, morality has no place if one is to survive. We may have the chance to save them, but with the entirety of the world.. er, both our worlds, pardon me. We cannot truly afford the lives of a couple of our group over the entirety of two world's fates. It is simply a matter of letting go, I am certain if they truly are your friends, they will understand this." He said as he moved along with the group. He knew this ideology was likely unwelcome, but it was realistic, and in this situation, he had no doubt it was the cold, sharp truth. If the others were intelligent, they would see the truth in it, regardless of how displeasing the idea was. He wasn't there to comfort them at any rate, he had no interest in that. He had much greater ideas in mind.

[Frosty V 309]

@@Midnight Scribbler

 

Frost overheard the exchanging of words between Clockwork and Eclipse, nothing that they said really interested him except for one phrase which caused him to trot over and tap Clockwork on the shoulder. "Hey Clockwork sorry for eavesdropping but what did you mean by both of our worlds?" He asked, tilting his head as he spoke with curiosity

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

White Eclipse

"I at least see hope for this world, Clockwork, as well as this other world." Eclipse said to the scientist. "Thing is, I don't think you see that. What exactly do you plan on doing after we save the worlds anyways? Will you just put this behind you and forget about it, caring not of the prices you had to pay?"

[Ihei 712]

@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

Willow Starsinger

 

"Don't you want to try and find your family?" Willow asked. "You could be out of this situation. There's a big chance that we won't survive here. You could try a teleportation spell again and you could find them. I'll be fine on my own." Willow smiled tiredly. But she knew well that she wouldn't be able to face Orion's wrath on her own. All the others are in danger because they followed her and Orion. She wasnt surprised if they had regretted their choice.

 

@,

 

It took Willow a few minutes to register that Zintiik had appeared out of the blue, talking fast and panting. "Zintiik, what's happened to you? You've got dried blood all over you!" Willow frowned, standing up weakly. "Did they do something to you? I mean, I know they wouldn't, but.. well, why are we holding them captive?"

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Clockwork Green

@@Geek0zoid,

@@Frosty V,

@,

 

"Yes, both of our worlds." He nodded towards Shadow, gesturing that he meant the ethereal world and their own. Eclipse's response would have caused him to facehoof, that is if it didn't require all of his hooves to continue walking. He sighed instead. "To the contrary, Eclipse. I do see hope for these worlds, you have misheard me, clearly. What I said was that we need to let go of the other two who we've left behind, in order to save time. We have a chance to change things, so why squander it by wasting yet more time?" He paused, pondering what he truly did want out of this adventure. He wasn't about to share everything, especially not with this pony. "I do not believe I will have to sacrifice much more than my time and possibly a bit of blood and sweat. The pay off however.. Would you not count being the saviour of two entire worlds payment enough? I mean, really, what more do you expect? This isn't a game, there is no giant treasure horde at the end of the trail.. that we know of. The whole reason I came along was to gain more knowledge, and I intend to gain it if I can. But the fate of our worlds is above and beyond any of my desires. With no world, there is no more goal to achieve." He hoped this would be enough for him.
----------------------------------------------

 

Midnight Scribbler

@,

 

Scribbler sighed, and smiled. Willow was very sweet, but she had no grasp of his teleportation magic yet. "If only it were so simple, Willow. Besides, I can't leave you behind.. not here, not now. Too much is at stake for me to just turn around now. If I did, I might throw the fate of Equestria away to Celestia knows who." He was nearly cut off by Zintiik showing up suddenly from the tunnel ahead. He was relieved to see the bug, or any familiar face for that matter. He slowly got up from the ground, and listened to what Zintiik had to report. Upon hearing the part about holding captives and getting the bandits mad, Scribbler's eyes shot wide open. "She did what? Oh no.. We have to get back to them quickly.. Come, we must go now." He gestured to Willow, as he got up to his hooves, and began to get his bearings once again. He felt much better from the rest. Things seemed clearer now, clear enough to notice Zintiik's marred frame. "Goodness, Zintiik, are you alright? Forgive me, but, you look like you took a lightning bolt." He Frowned. "If you require any healing, I will help you out, but for now we must get back to the others or my powers may be devoted to that role more than I care to know... Oh, and.. thank you Zintiik, for the information." He began to move along, making sure the others followed him.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Midnight Scribbler,

 

White Eclipse

"I believe that there will be much more to sacrifice as we continue down this road, Clockwork. Two worlds have collided, and now we're in the midst of what could be the end of both world. You're right. We must put both of these worlds before these two. It's for the greater good, but I can just see so many more things being lost down this road that'll drift away from us like sand in a desert." Eclipse walked up to Clockwork and looked him in the eyes. "The question is; are you ready for these hardships if they DO come?"

[Nomadic 210]

Denarius

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

 

Denarius chuckled at bit at Mirror's response. "Wouldn't it be rather droll without some random aberration like myself", a little disappointed that she had taken his sarcasm so seriously. She carried on and mentioned something about meeting up with Willow and Scribbler, his mind recoiled at the mention of Willow. He had forgotten entirely about her over all of the frenzied arguing. He stood there just shaking his head for a moment as his mind sorted out the mere facts of his situation. "Sure, as long as you're positive that neither of these two will stab you in the back while both of us are gone". Looking around, he noticed that Zintiik had already left. He silently strode out of the room trying to catch up to Zintiik on his way back.

 

Denarius had begun to make his way back to the little encampment that Willow and Scribbler had made. As he wandered through the hallways, he began to hear clacking of hooves against the stone and the chattering of a certain black bug. "Zintiik, I see you left without me", his tone uncaring towards the subject. Advancing towards the other two, he carried on his voice grew a little bit more lively "I'm sure Zintiik has already told you about are new acquaintances". Exhaling deeply, he aligned himself with the others for their trip back to Mirror.