open A Darker Fate: Beyond these Walls Chapter Two.

[Ihei 713]

@@Tricksters Pride,

 

Aphrodite

 

"Good, then I wouldn't have to feel left out as usual," Aphrodite chuckled. "What're we training about here? What're we training for?" Aphrodite asks. "Oh, and uh, sorry if I'm asking a bit of questions. I'm pretty excited for this," she laughs, spectating the ponies training for.. something.

 

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

 

 

Willow Starsinger

 

"Well, nopony ratted you out, but I guess I was just worried. I know you wouldn't do it again after all," Willow smiled, before Kricket flitted away. Again. "Oh, Kricket! Don't leave again!" Willow followed the little Aspect again, hoping it doesn't get her into a life or death situation again. Willow tried as hard as she could to get closer to Kricket, but noticed she was slowing down.

 

"W..wait.." Willow chased after the Aspect before tripping over her own hooves and blacked out from the cold.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Shaymin

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Midnight Scribbler

@,

@,

@,

@@SilverHeart,

 

Scribbler watched as the others crossed, gasping lightly as Willow tripped. The mare was clumsy, but lucky as all hell, fortunately for her. He waited for the others to make their way across, anxious to get there himself. He wasn't against magic usually, but this was beyond treacherous, and Orion's seeming lack of interest in their well being was beginning to worry him. Of his leadership skills, he wasn't sure, of his mind's stability, neither. What he was certain of was that Orion was driven, by revenge, by morality, and by his raw will to succeed. He was no weakling, but he wasn't very wise in many cases. Perhaps because of the Litany's touch? He could not say. At Orion's mention of the magical aura knowing they were there, Scribbler's mind began to race back to the dungeon where he'd faced Legion. "It knows? Perhaps Legion had only been a puppet to a greater power?" This thought troubled Scribbler. "How can such a force exist? What sort of creature could have conjured up such raw force?" He wasn't finding any answers here, nor did he expect to yet. He began to fill with worry that he may yet need to call upon his fallback plan. Something he'd been hoping he wouldn't need to resort to. He began to feel the pull. The strong sensation of the magical aura was driving him, compelling him to near it. He resisted for now, trying to hold the bridge for Mirror. He could see the very energy it's self in the wind, flowing like stars into a black hole.

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

 

Clockwork Green

@,

@@Geek0zoid,

@@Windbreaker,

@@Icy Void,

@@Commander Tangent,

@,

 

Clockwork wandered back down the hall, having looked through and finding nopony. His mind was beginning to play tricks on him now. Slight sounds began to make his ears twitch, listening hard to figure out what they were. Nothing seemed rational here anymore, which to him was most disconcerting, being nothing but logic and rationality himself. He began to hear whispers coming from.. somewhere. Was it behind him? Or was he imaging the whole thing? "It simply must be my imagination.." He thought as he descended the stairs. He made his way outside, gathering with the others. Everypony looked frustrated and confused, nopony was certain why Midnight had called them out, but one thing was certain. They all looked like they needed sleep, and badly. Clockwork's gaze met with the snow in front of him. He stared coldly back at the white, as if to challenge it's very nature. Deep in thought, he considered everything he'd felt within the house, and knowing magic had strange effects at times. He began to wonder what properties the house's illusions were working on. Perhaps he'd been cursed? He met Midnight's gaze, and spoke up finally. "I believe Midnight may be on to something.." He glanced around to the others, addressing them all. "Something is very wrong in there, I would believe it to be dangerous myself, just by what I feel, walking alone down the halls in there. It is as if the walls themselves are watching you, feeding from your anxieties and fears. There is magic at work within, we have all seen it. Perhaps you have more light to shed upon this, Midnight? You seem to know something." He fell silent, allowing Midnight to take the stage. Unwittingly he'd made a very ironic statement, which he smirked at once realizing it.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight Sky

 

When Midnight first heard the unfamiliar voice, he looked frantically from side to side, and it took him a moment to realize that the voice had come from within his head. 'All right, this is a bit odd. First off, I can't help that I'm only good with physical magic, sensing illusions is trickier for! Second, what exactly does your help imply? And finally, why do you need my help?' Midnight asked the strange inner voice. He had a feeling that this was similar to that inner entity Orion had had when he possessed the Litany's power, though this seemed different than that, more independent. Hopefully this voice wouldn't bring him to the brink of insanity like the Litany did for Orion and likely was doing for Noble, but only time would tell.

 

Midnight focused back on the space around him when Clockwork asked about what was going on. "Oh all right, I suppose it's safe enough to tell everypony now. You know that theory I mentioned earlier? Well I proved it right with my tests, this gem has the ability to tear away and break through illusions, wards, and probably any other form of barrier magic. And you know how those journals described this place as run down? Well it actually is, it's just cloaked in a powerful illusion that effects all five senses, and the illusion is protected by a ward that disguises it's own magical signature. But without a caster nearby, the illusion and ward needed a power source, which is how I found out that it drains both magic and life energy from anything within it's premises. That allowed it to maintain and even repair the illusion and ward, as we saw when Eclipse shot a hole through it with his new magic. This all means that if we had stayed here for the night, we all would have died from having our life forces drained even before we started experiencing hypothermia! The whole lodge is just one big death trap. And I suspect that the reason we didn't find any remains from previous ponies unfortunate enough to stay here is because it's life force draining effect is so thorough that it completely converts organic matter into life energy, though I'm not sure of that yet." Midnight explained to the others. He decided to leave out the part with the voice contacting him for now, he'd wait and see where that went before making the others worry about it. Besides, this all was proabably enough of a shock for today.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Clockwork Green

@@Icy Void,

 

Clockwork turned back to glance at the cabin, feeling a chill run up his spine with the old building looming over them. Looking back to Midnight, he had an expression of both wonder and confusion. "So.. Are you saying this house is.. alive to some degree? Extraordinary.." He was lost within a swirl of thoughts. What implementations could this sort of magic hold? "What potential!" He thought enthusiastically of possible methods for gaining magic this way instead of needing a unicorn. Perhaps it was possible to drain energy from one's very surroundings. He held his gleeful thoughts within, and maintained a cool and collected body language. His eyes glimmered with a slight interest, that was about all he would allow to show. "Perhaps this place was set up for use.. recently. Who knows, perhaps somepony is following us? Trying to do us in? Or perhaps it's the work of that blasted elemental, wherever that confounded thing is now. I pray it does not find us, now that we are without shelter once more. We have determined this place to be unfit for us, but where do we go from here? Is there no safe place to lay one's head in Equestria anymore?"

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Midnight Scribbler,@@Icy Void,

 

White Eclipse

"Well, whatever's going on, it's not good. Far from good. We just need t-" Suddenly, it kicked in. The spell had proved to be too much for the unicorn, and the next thing he knew, he was kneeling down on the ground, clenching his head. "No... not... now..."

And then... he blacked out.

[Nomadic 210]

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

 

Denarius watched as Zintiik approached Willow. He fell back, trailing slightly behind the pair. His stride turned into a seemingly-carefree swagger, yet he still carefully watched his step. A tumble into the pit would not be the most beneficial decision for him today. He let out a mild groan, all of this seriousness of today did not suit him at all. Such an attitude conflicted his usual demeanour as purely a pony of pleasure. To think merely a few days ago, he would probably be sipping glasses of cider with random ponies and others with influence. Oh, what a strange twist of events had occurred just as his life was seemingly becoming banal and routine.

 

Willow tripped in front of him, he rolled his eyes at her misfortune. She was probably chasing after her silly little wisp, once again. For the short time that Denarius had known this mare, it seemed like this was a common occurrence with her in this group. She would most likely be fine, and he found that her presence provided a pleasing contrast to the others here.

 

"You might not want to rest in the snow too long there Miss. Here let me help you out of it", Denarius told Willow, letting out a small chortle in the process, as he extended a hoof, and gently flicked off any flakes of snow now piled upon her fur.

[RAGESTAR 479]

@ @@Midnight Scribbler

 

Crimson raised an eyebrow at Clockwork, half confused and half intrigued. "Wait...so what your trying to say, is that this house eats ponies? Bones, blood, and all? Wow...that's weird, even for my type of adventures...and I've been on some really weird adventures...I've seen evil islands that feeds on souls, but I've never seen a house that eats ponies..." he mused, rubbing his chin in thought, and for a moment, forgetting his depressed thoughts.

[Umbreon 569]

Zintiik

 

@@Nomadic,@@Midnight Scribbler,@, @,  

 

"Willow!"  Seeing Willow collapse pushed all of the other thoughts out of the changeling's head, and he quickly buzzes over next to her prone form.  A visible look of worry crosses Zintiik's face as he lands next to her, leaning down to nudge her gently with his nose.  "C'mon Willow, you can't stop now, we'll freeze out here..."  

 

It was no use, she seemed to be passed out.  He crouches down next to her, trying to pull one of her forelegs over his back before turning to look at Denarius.  "Hey, help get her onto my back, would ya?  Carefully though...  I'll carry her, can't leave her like this in the snow and so close to...  Whatever is happening back there!"  The implications of trying to carry the mare himself didn't even cross Zintiik's mind at this point - it didn't matter if he wasn't the strongest one to carry her, he had to do something to help Willow!

 

 

Pavisa

 

@(Team Brandy)

 

Pavisa groans out loud at Midnight's explanation of what was going on, muttering under her breath "Just bloody figures, we can't catch a break...  So much for having a place to rest for the night..."  She moves to stand next to Kingfisher, wincing slightly and holding a hoof to her head rather than speaking up.  The throb in her horn still wasn't dying down, but she could deal with it for now.  

 

As Aegis and Eclipse both went down she groans again, shutting her eyes for a moment.  "Oh great, we're dropping from exhaustion and now we don't have a shelter..?  Don't suppose that map had anywhere marked on it that we could rest, does it?"

[Nomadic 210]

Denarius

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

 

He waited for her usual gentle voice to reply, but no answer came. With a fall like that, she had probably injured herself. Damn, these ponies seemed uncannily accident-prone, and if this kept up would probably soon begin dropping like gnats. His head shifted towards the bug seemingly barking orders at him, yet he found himself complying as he lobbied a small dissatisfaction with the bug's plan.

 

"I doubt that you could carry her yourself for too long. Would it not be quicker and simpler to spread the weight between the two of us. If you insist though I will proceed, I guess".

[Umbreon 569]

Zintiik

 

@, @@Nomadic,

 

 

"No," Zintiik grunts out as he tries to brace himself to start carrying Willow.  "I can do it...  I'm a drone, I'm used to work.  Besides...  If the ground starts giving out again, it will be best if the one that can fly is the one carrying her, right?"  As he speaks the changeling starts to glow with a green light, soon taking on the form of the pegasus Tactic Wind.  As much as he was starting to despise changing into Tactic, the pegasus body was at least a little bigger than his changeling one.  It would make it easier to carry Willow's weight.

 

Satisfied that Willow is safely on his back, Zintiik turns to look at Denarius again.  When he speaks his voice remains the soft buzz of a changeling, rather than Tactic's droll and boring tone.  "Thanks...  And thanks for offering to help too."  Nothing to worry about...  I might be a bug, but I can at least make sure to take care of Willow...

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight Sky

 

Midnight sighed as he heard Crimson's response to what he had said, though it was accurate to some degree. "To be fair, it doesn't 'eat' ponies in the normal sense. The magic enveloping the lodge just drains away the life force and magic energy of anything inside of it with a 100% conversion rate of organic material to life energy, so any living, once living, or magic thing which enters the lodge gets transformed into energy." Midnight said, unable to resist the urge to correct Crimson, even though he wasn't sure just how well the ponies present who weren't familiar with magic could understand it entirely. At Pavisa's mention of them not having shelter, Midnight remembered something ridiculously simple, he just had been too focused on the strange magic phenomena to remember it. "Whoever said we're completely without shelter. We can just make one out of snow, I can use my telekinesis to mold the snow into a shelter large enough for all of us. After all, how do you think Sunshine and I survived almost a full year in an environment like this?" Midnight said confidently. In truth he didn't know if he could make a single shelter that large on his own, if Eclipse were conscious then they could combine their telekinetic prowess and they'd probably be able to make one easily, but Eclipse had his own problems to deal with right now.

[Nomadic 210]

Denarius

@, @

 

"Fine, you have your fun. I guess I will see you on the other side then", Denarius said nonchalantly as he helped place the body of Willlow upon the carapace of Zintiik. Granted while he was in disagreement over the course of insect's actions, time was short and arguing would be no doubt mostly counter productive for his long term health as the magic holding this bridge together would likely not last forever. 

 

Zintiik changed back to his prior persona. Such a bizarre sight seeing a single entity physically change into another. Denarius merely gave the facsimile known as Tactic a nod before he continued his trot upon the rigid pathway. 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Nomadic

[Tricksters Pride 100]

Bolt

@, @, 

 

*'Great one of those nobles... Not much better than the council these nobleponies but if Ice wants to work with em i ain't arguing.'* Bolt backs up a few steps and makes a gesture at his friend (Who takes of toward Noble at a leisurely pace.), making every attempt to seem apologetic and non threatening. Not really intimidated by the ponies in front of him but unwilling to go against his instructions. "Alright, alright, you want to speak to em directly then Wings'll go get em. I'm sorry if i've offended you with my presence here but we figured that it would be less threatening to send a a small group. Your just doing such a good job protecting the outer city that we wanted to help, would be so much harder to keep it peaceful if we fought each other and we don't want to make further trouble for the ponies here."

 

 

@@Windbreaker, 

 

Wings lands in front of Noble and makes a small bow before leaning in and reporting to him in a low tone, after doing so he positions himself back in formation and awaits further orders.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Noble Persona

@@Tricksters Pride, 

 

Noble considered the report, then nodded at Wings, replying just loud enough for the Pegasus to hear. “You’ve done good work. Group up with the Unicorns and await my signal. I’ll send Bolt your way soon, and have him get in position.”

 

He gestured to the Earth Pony guards as a signal to follow and approached Bolt and the three ponies.

 

@, @, 

 

“Greetings to you! I am Artorias, the employer this fine gentlecolt spoke of. I have not come to threaten you. However, I was told that you wish to speak with me directly. Well, here I am, Miss Emerald Gaze. And I have an offer for you, if you are so inclined.”

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

 

@,

& The group.,

 

Rolling her eyes sarcastically, Kingfisher feigned sudden realisation.

 

"Yeah! There was this nice little bed 'n' breakfast just down past the next glacier..." She grumbled - managing a half hearted grin before raising a hoof to her face in dismay.

 

"Ugh... I'm not feeling so great. No, this looks like the only pony-made place around. There might be some caves or something further into the mountains? Shelter from the weather at least - if we stay low enough."

 

It wasn't a perfect plan: it wasn't even a good plan - but it seemed like a better idea than staying where they were or risking traveling out in the open with that...

 

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

 

A sound echoed in the distance - like thunder but deeper, coupled with the dire howling of some unnatural wind.

 

Snow began to fall.

 

As the fog started to approach and the sky start its surreal light show of supernaural colours, an ominous presence could be felt approaching: a terrible, uncaring presence of immeasurable power descending on them with great speed.

 

There was a small blessing though: this time, they saw it coming.

 

From the north west rolled in the obscuring vapour - closing on them like some grey total wave. Sparks of some kind of magic - purple and blue and white - could be seen following it as the shadowy presence thundered onwards. It was still a good distance away, but it wouldn't be for long.

 

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

 

Kingfisher stared forward - not really believing their run of bad luck as the dense tide of obscurity rapidly approached. She held out a hoof in warning for any of the ponies too tired or injured to have noticed.

 

"Whatever we're doing, lets do it quick!"

 

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

 

~?~

 

@@Icy Void,

 

'Litany of... ' The intruding voice burst into laughter - bright and happy and... strangely cruel sounding, all at once.

'I'm insulted! Litany of magic... You call that magic? I mean, you obviously don't fully understand the arcane but... really? You think... oh now this is just too much!'

 

There was another bout of cold, bright laughter.

 

'Okay, help, yes. If you can do this before you all die, that would be best for all of us... It's simple really - just break the gemstone. Well, your species sorry excuse for magic won't work... but I'm sure you can think of some primitive way of breaking it...'

 

The voice was interrupted by a distressed looking Kingfisher.

 

"Midnight, what are you doing? We need to go, right now!"

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Clockwork Green

@,

& the rest of Team Brandy

 

Clockwork gazed down at Eclipse's prone form. His collapse was sudden, and unexpected, though Clockwork payed little mind to it, he was exhausted as much as anypony else, but apparently he was better off than some of them. The magic didn't seem to have affected him as intensely as the others, although his battery had suffered. He noticed something growing in the corner of his eye. Turning to look towards where he thought it was, his eyes focused on the looming mass, growing and speeding towards them. Kingfisher's hoof poked out in his peripheral, he turned to her, and glanced around the rest of the ponies standing there. He said nothing, but ducked down to Eclipse's side, and hoisted him onto his back. He wouldn't be able to fly like this, but he could still keep a good pace if he used his wings to propel his movements as he ran. He didn't particularly like Eclipse, though he knew he had to save him. It didn't seem the others had clued in yet. "RUN, YOU FOOLS!! IT'S BACK!!" With that, Clockwork began galloping off in the opposite direction of the growing clouds, as fast as he could with Eclipse on his back, wings aiding in his speed.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight Sky

 

Midnight was torn with what to do first. On one hoof this entity that was communicating through the gem had said it would help them, though he wasn't sure he could trust the whatever it was, but on the other hoof that magic creature was back and closing fast. There was no way they could outrun it with Eclipse and Aegis down. "Right, I'm coming!" Midnight said to Fisher as he started to run after her, nudging his sister to do the same. While he didn't doubt that the entity in the gem had the power to help them, Midnight did doubt it's motives and what it would gain. 'Sorry, but I'm not dumb enough to do favors for something that I only just met. We can finish this discussion later.' Midnight said to the voice. He would at least go through his own bag of tricks before doing what that voice told him to. For now he'd bring up the rear of the group and if that thing got too close he'd hit it with his chaos burst spell, though it will take most of his magic energy that's left after staying in that lodge for so long. If that didn't stop the thing then he would break the gem as the voice says, but only as a last resort. "Everypony go on ahead of me, with Eclipse down I have the best shot of at least slowing that thing if it catches up to us!" Midnight called out to the others. Midnight couldn't help but be amused that he was volunteering to bring up the rear once again, who would've thought that this adventure would cause him to develop such a habit.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Icy Void, @@Midnight Scribbler,

@Team Brandy

 

White Eclipse

Vision blurred, Eclipse woke up on Clockwork's back, but he didn't feel like himself. He felt... he felt GREAT, actually. Stronger, to be more accurate. His eyes had a faint glow to them, and his horn was giving off the aura of the new magic. Before he couldn't use it, but now, he felt like he could mend it, bend it, manipulate it.

Perhaps even use it properly.

 

Without a single word, Eclipse jumped off of Clockwork's back and ran next to Midnight. "Midnight, what're we up against?? It's time I put this new magic to some use!" Eclipse shouted to him.

[SilverHeart 741]

Mirror Image

 

Mirror Image was the last to cross over the bridge. she looked back, waiting for Scribbler to teleport over. He had shown more care for her than the others had. Even coming back to help her. Perhaps she could repay him after they got back to civilization....if they got back to civilization.

 

Looking away she watched as Zintiik and Denariius worried over Willow. It was odd that Orion wasn't there beside her.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Orion Starsinger.

 

Voices: so many voices speaking so many thousands if words which no longer made any sense to him. Only a couple of weeks ago he would have listened to them - learned from them and become strong... but now? Nothing. They didn't speak to him any more - wend around him instead: taunting him and urging him onwards.

 

Orion paused - hoof in the air mid-step. The sound of icy wind was the only sound he could make out - that, and the static ringing in his ears. Had he drifted off while walking? That couldn't be safe... and where were the others?

 

He looked back - they weren't far at all in truth: he was surprised that he couldn't hear them - the wind wasn't that loud after all.

 

'We cant afford to keep going as slowly as we... wait a minute, where's...' His eyes fell on the prone figure draped across the back of a certain not-pegasus. "Willow!"

 

Stumbling weakly through the snow as the ringing in his head dispersed and his own thoughts once again took command, the unicorn pushed back amongst the ones he wished he could call friends. "Zintiik, what happened?!"

Edited February 2, 2014 by Cinderscribe

[Frosty V 309]

@

 

Frost looked up when he heard the last sentence exit Kingfisher's mouth. He seeing the fray wave, it was blurry to him, but he noticed it well enough to see its dangerous nature. He grabbed his saddle bags and tied them down as he went to stand with the others. He looked around not sure who to ask his eyes just fell on Kingfisher. "Wha-what do we do just book it in the opposite direction?That thing could be faster than us! What if somepony breaks a leg?!" He spouted out his questions before regaining his calmness, "Just...just wondering...I guess its something we should have answered now!" He looked over to the grey vapor once more, eyes wide with fear.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Midnight Scribbler

@@SilverHeart,

@,

@,

@,

@@Nomadic,

 

Scribbler waited as Mirror made her way across. Once she reached solid ground, he released the spell holding the land together. He began firing his horn, when the ground below him began to suddenly heave, splitting between his hooves. He struggled to keep his balance, and stumbled to the side, trying to stay on solid ground. Suddenly he realized there was nothing below his hooves, and he slipped. He gave a brief look of horror as he realized where he was suddenly going, time seemed to slow down as he tried to grasp what he could possibly do in the face of this peril. The light below was ominous, and seemed to grow towards him, as if it were ready to receive him as a morsel of food. Overwhelmed with fear, he was finding it difficult, but at the last moment, he forced himself to concentrate against all odds, firing his horn as he plummeted towards the light. With a snap of energy, he appeared, mid air, between mirror and the others. His body flopped into the snow unceremoniously. He groaned, having hit harder than he'd expected. "Let's not go back this way.. I've had enough with floating islands for one lifetime."

[SilverHeart 741]

@@Midnight Scribbler,(And the others)

 

Mirror Image

 

 Mirror Image watched Orion for a few more moments, somewhat satisfied that he had finally acted somewhat like he had before. Where was Scribbler? He should have been here by now. She looked back to the floating island, half-expecting him to have collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. The sight that greeted her didn't seem right. She hadn't given much attention to the island's shape earlier, but it looked like different. Almost like a part of it was gone. Where was Scribbler? He couldn't have fallen, right? Mirror inched closer to the ledge and looked down, she couldn't see anything among the bright lights from below.

 

There was a flash behind her followed by the sound of something hitting the ground. Mirror sighed in relief, she shouldn't have worried, he was fine. Was teleportation always instant? Probably not. Shrugging she Walked over to him and offered her right foreleg to help him up. She frowned as she noticed that her leg was shaking. Shaking her head she spoke, "Are you alright? It took you longer than I expected."

[Umbreon 569]

Zintiik

 

@,

 

"I don't know," Zintiik said worriedly.  "She just collapsed...  Cold, maybe?  Or exhaustion...  I don't know, I'm not great with the details of pony anatomy."  He turns to look over his shoulder, first at Willow and then at Mirror and Scribbler.  Their ragged little party wasn't looking so well...  Zintiik had fed quite a bit in Canterlot before they left, and he still felt mostly fine, but it was starting to look like the ponies weren't holding up as well as he was.

 

"I can make sure she gets to safety...  But do we have a safe place to get to?  Orion, I'm not sure if everypony is going to make it if we run into another trap like that...  I'll look out for Willow, but I can barely fly with her weighing me down.  I won't be able to do much for everypony else if something happens."  

 

 

Pavisa

 

Pavisa groans and taps her horn with a hoof.  If this thing was going to show up, it could at least help us out...  Turning away from the mass of...  Whatever, was approaching, Pavisa waves a hoof in the opposite direction.  "Why are we even thinking about fighting something like that?  We should be running now!"  

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

Icarus nodded and stepped towards the group.

 

"I agree highly with the  guard, the logical optin right now would be to avoid any contact" Icarus said before turning to Eclipse.

 

@@Geek0zoid,  

 

"And you need to be careful, whatever is empowering you at the moment could very easily be the thing that kills you if you are not careful " Icarus' eyes glared at Eclipse.