PDA

View Full Version : [FwM] The Trotting Dead-Mlp without the Kiddy Thread XVI



Pages : [1] 2 3 4

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-05, 10:12 PM
My Little Pony: Friendship Was Magic

In Equestria, the monsters are kept in safe places, and can be beaten off with hugs and clothing and angry stares.
In Equestria, a benevolent goddess raises the sun and the moon, and keeps the world in harmony.
In Equestria, the concept of danger is barely understood.

This is not that Equestria.

The town of Bridle Shores lies near a lake, and is one of the cities that survived the revolution. The heroic Moon Goddess, and her student, overthrew the Burning Hate of the Iron Hoof, saving Equestria from the searing, unending summer that raged for years. Even now, she tries to hold against the monsters, the literal armies of feral species that attack.

This is not the Equestria you know. Friendship has power, love may yet triumph. But evil is not just a word. Go out into the woods today, and be sure to take an axe, or make sure you have that fireball spell on a hair-trigger. If you want to keep your life... you'd better work for it.

Rules?


Q: So, how dark are we talking?
A: As dark as Exalted or a darkish d&d game, no more. The idea should be that things ARE fixable.

Q: What kind of RP is this?
A: More active than the non-grimdark. The added darkness makes actual adventure-style plots more viable. We could have wars against [unspecified villains], Celestial cults, and dungeoncrawling!

Q: Anything else?
A: Yes. Dark or no dark, keep within the board rules.

Q: Hullaballoo.
A: Calloo callay!

Q: Is that all?
A: No. Whatever you do, do NOT forget about spell 87. Or else. Now have fun.

Previous Main Thread Links
FwM Plot/Recruitment Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209474)
SoftLight Out of Character (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198923)
SoftLight Recruitment (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192140)
Main Pony Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11050271#post11050271)
FwM - Thread 1 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200312)
FwM - Thread 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204691)
FwM - Thread 3 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11439751#post11439751)
FwM - Thread 4 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209857)
FwM-Thread 5 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212519)
FwM-Thread 6 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218173)
FwM-Thread 7 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222561)
Thread 8 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228358)
Thread 9 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=235541)
Thread 10 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240645)
Thread 11 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246172)
Thread 12 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13598028#post13598028)



Thread 13 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255343)
Thread 14 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265127)
Thread 15 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281965)

FwM OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273786)

FwM Plot/Recruitment Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209474)

Miscellaneous forbidding adventures Thread/s (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210597)

Game of Ponies Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296398)

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-05, 10:18 PM
[Holding Cells]

Red Shift had barely shouted when a hoof thrust over his mouth silenced any further cries. "Keep quiet!" one of his guards hissed at him while the other hurried to shut, lock, and barricade the heavy iron door to the holding cells. "I'm sure whoever that is would love to know where they can find some defenseless, unarmed prisoners to slaughter while they're here."

[Walls]

A hail of gunfire tears into the ballista towers, and some of the ballista crew drop dead on the spot. Others are marginally lucky, and only get musket balls lodged in their legs. Those who make it through the salvo uninjured dive for cover behind the stone walls of the tower, before dragging their injured to safety. For the time being, the defensive ballistas have been effectively neutralized.


The walls themselves enter an unsteady stalemate. With the sun glare waning, the defenders' retaliatory shots get closer and closer to their marks - downing a few of the invaders - while their shields continue to foil the onslaught of missiles. However, the momentum of the attackers - combined with the confusion and chaos of a flaming front gate and the added front of gunners from the forest - keeps them on the defensive, and unable to drive them back. At the least Prose's assault on the ballista keeps a third front from opening up.


Staccata is certainly able to find a good hiding spot in all the chaos. Between the smoke and all the action, a sneaky mare might just be able to slip in somewhere she's not supposed to be.


Meanwhile, in the courtyard, ponies scramble to put out the fire without turning into pony torches themselves. A hasty bucket brigade starts to form and strains to soak down the gates before the fire can take them completely, while others beat at the flames with soaked rags and hoof-fulls of dirt. At the Captain's direction, some of the buckets are deposited at the stairs to the walltop, waiting for a chance to be dumped onto the burning outside.


If the defenders could just get a break, then they might be able to seize the momentum for themselves...

(Passe's group/Dawnstrider will be coming later, as I talk over with Grif on proper adjudication of all this.)

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-06, 07:10 PM
[Outside the Guardhouse]

Beyn Counter had just started possibly considering wondering on how he might tell those guards to keep it down when he was bowled over by an armored blur. Both ponies tumbled out to the guardhouse doorstep in an ungainly heap. "N-now see here!" Beyn huffed as he disentangled himself. "This is wh-why there's a rule against galloping ind-"

The guard shoved the clerk aside and sprung to his hooves. "Invaders! They got to the prisoner! Where's the Captain?"

Beyn lay dazed on the ground, struck dumb. He pointed a shaking hoof alllllll the way over to the West Gate, where smoke had just started to rise above the rooftops.

"...buck."

[Inside the Guardhouse]

Passe threw down her sabre the way a child would a baseball bat after losing a hard-fought game. The rest of her guards reluctantly followed suit, laying down their weapons and kicking them over to the invaders. The filly glared darkly at 'Troubadour', her eyes burning with steely venomous defiance. "Traitorous bastard! Cowardly, ankle-snapping brigand! I hope you bite your poisoned tongue and die with a face so ugly and swollen your own mother would call you a monster!"

She stamped the ground in anger, huffing out the last bits of her flaring ire. "So; what now, villains?" she asked moodily.

Kelvin360
2014-01-08, 10:50 PM
Dawnstrider - Outside The Guardhouse

In the fading light of the sunset, a shadow looms over the prone ponies. A tall earth pony, clad in spiked plate mail and a helmet resembling a demon's skull, both black as pitch, edges of sickly green tracing their way between the plates, looks down upon them. He draws his sword, the blade at least half again mimicking his height.

"Go and alert your superiors." He states. "I will keep them in place."

Nearby, another earth pony, this one white and covered in leather, but barely more than a filly, hops down from the side of the guardhouse and nocks two arrows into a bow. "You're not going without an escort." She tells Dawnstrider, a farmer's drawl coloring portions of her speech.

"Acceptable."

HalfTangible
2014-01-09, 02:55 PM
[Cirrus]

Hay Bale's head popped out of a barrel, probably giving whoever was nearby to see a heart attack... or she would have, if anyone had been there to see.

Hello? She called out, climbing out of the barrel. I'm supposed to be escorting two ponies someplace. Got names and everything. Hello?

She pouted. What kind of ship doesn't instantly greet stowaways with a hail of lead and/or magic? She trotted across the room and banged her hoof on the door. OI! YOU GOT A STOWAWAY! COME SHOOT HER!!! HELLO?!

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-10, 09:40 AM
[Cirrus]

Hay Bale's head popped out of a barrel, probably giving whoever was nearby to see a heart attack... or she would have, if anyone had been there to see.

Hello? She called out, climbing out of the barrel. I'm supposed to be escorting two ponies someplace. Got names and everything. Hello?

She pouted. What kind of ship doesn't instantly greet stowaways with a hail of lead and/or magic? She trotted across the room and banged her hoof on the door. OI! YOU GOT A STOWAWAY! COME SHOOT HER!!! HELLO?!

[Cirrus - Mess Hall]

Sandy had been preoccupied with lying face-down in his bowl of oats when distant shouts reached his wine-addled ears. "Snnnnnrk-huh?! Wuzzat?" He sat upright, oats sticking to his face. "Shtowaway? Hnnnnn...ain't got nona thosh...have t'shop somwhere else, missh..." He flowed out of his chair and onto the floor with all the grace and direction of a three-legged camel. "Wooofa...*hic* Hoverrrrrrrrr, shtop flyin' th' ship all wieeeeeeerd..." he whined amid his weaving walk.


Sandy slowly staggered his way towards the noise.

Grif
2014-01-10, 10:30 AM
(Ugh, and I just realised I missed this.)


After the little 'talk' was over, Gearstride was dismissed and she put away the comm. She worked her jaw in silence, furrowing her brows. "Well damn....I didn't even know there was trouble going on in town....ack....I don't like this...I mean...I understand their reasoning...but I don't like not doing anything.."

"... perhaps it's for the best..." Silverpine said softly, drawing the Captain into a hug, though his eyes was drawn towards the town. The town that would soon find itself under siege. "We're in no shape to offer help... much as it pains me to say it."


[Cirrus]

Hay Bale's head popped out of a barrel, probably giving whoever was nearby to see a heart attack... or she would have, if anyone had been there to see.

Hello? She called out, climbing out of the barrel. I'm supposed to be escorting two ponies someplace. Got names and everything. Hello?

She pouted. What kind of ship doesn't instantly greet stowaways with a hail of lead and/or magic? She trotted across the room and banged her hoof on the door. OI! YOU GOT A STOWAWAY! COME SHOOT HER!!! HELLO?!

"Did ya hear that, Captain?" His ears perked up, trying to discern the voice. "... sounds like we have a stowaway."

Benson
2014-01-11, 07:30 PM
The Cirrus


Gearstride stood up removing herself from Silverpine's hug, her ears erect in alert, a single brow raised. "What now..?.." She donned a grim expression and sighed. She briefly kissed Silverpine on the cheek and then began to make headway into the ship.

HalfTangible
2014-01-12, 03:39 AM
Hay Bale eventually decided to open the door and yell more loudly. OI! Somepony get down here and shoot me in the face! I had a whole thing planned, regeneration and snake tongue and smells both erotic and repulsive! Once we're done shooting me, Sandy?! Balboa wanted to see you!!!

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-12, 05:10 PM
Hay Bale eventually decided to open the door and yell more loudly. OI! Somepony get down here and shoot me in the face! I had a whole thing planned, regeneration and snake tongue and smells both erotic and repulsive! Once we're done shooting me, Sandy?! Balboa wanted to see you!!!

[Cirrus - An Unhelpfully Large Distance Away]

Sandy squinted down the blurry, swaying hallway. "Saywha? Zatme? S'gonna...look for me where I am, not where I ain't. That's makin' more sense with your head..." His bit of wisdom shared with the empty corridor, the buzzed engineer continued his teetering, tottering trot towards the tumultuous turmoil.

At his rate, it would take a miracle for him to reach Hay Bale before Gear and/or Silverpine.

MCerberus
2014-01-12, 10:38 PM
At the Walls

While the battle is going on, Staccata waits for a peculiar puff of smoke that can be used as better cover. Because of some easy grips and a few blind spots at the wall, she's quickly over and on the other side. The rogue quickly gets her bearings seeing if there's any enemies in the immediate area.

Equipment for this little adventure: dagger, a few potions in the saddlebag, rope, and wits.

Merellis
2014-01-12, 10:47 PM
[Forest Outside of Bridle Shores]
When the griffon would get around to finally finding Dive Bomb, he would come across a sad sight. A lone pony lying on a tree-trunk, mostly still, but there was obvious signs of heavy breathing and twitching wings.

The closed eyes would open into a fierce glare if the unknown soldier closed the distance, but he otherwise seems pretty out of it.

The odd thing to notice would be if the air got warmer the closer one got to this fallen pony.


------

[Crossbow Team]
The answer to the question that Purple Prose never really asked seems to be most of them. Ponies panic under the sudden panic as two of their number quickly fall, others abandon their post completely because they weren't going to be able handle a whirling avatar of silent death.

Their commander had a different idea of what to do as she charged towards the quiet assailant with only a single sentence before her words became naught but roars of rage and anger.

"Launch the arrow in the name of our Lord!"

The panicking ponies stumble to a stop and turn to face towards the massive weapon of war, their commander already trying to close the distance between herself and Prose.

With a united yell, and a terrified expression, the five remaining soldiers launched themselves towards their instrument of destruction, each wielding large axes and saws as best as they could.

The commander however, throws a far smaller axe at her foe before unhitching the massive one situated on her back.

Looks like the retired Shadow Bolt has his work cut out today! Can he take a second commanding officer?


------

[Bridle Shores Guardhouse]

"That one sounds just like your daughter." Comes a bored voice as the cloaked unicorn steps out from the hole in the wall, managing to prompt a sheepish grin from the white pegasus.

Mask's voice takes on a proud and light tone as he responds. "I know, it's like they're both in play! Isn't it just adorable?" The smile widens of all things, how strange for a stallion so used to lying.

Both ponies seem to start chattering on about how things like that are so cute, though only the male pegasus seems to be enthusiastic about it. It takes of the bowmen tapping on his side to knock Mask out of that pleasurable moment.

The soldier gestures to the surrendering ponies and the smile on Mask's face falls to a simple frown, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips. "Tell us where your prisoners are kept, including the one know as Red Shift. If you don't lie or resist, we'll let you keep your lives, if you do either of those..." He shrugs as the rest raise their weapons in time with his shoulders and wings. "Well, I don't think I need to tell you what happens with that."

"Course, you could just say nothing and my lovely comrade here could pick your brains for a bit." Mask gestures to cloaked mare, a dark aura of magic escaping her eyes as the shadows grow darker. "We'll still leave you alive, but you'd just be vegetables at the point."

"So, any takers?"


------

[Western Gate]

The attackers take to the walls and trenches that they have created, making sure to keep up the assault of arrows and spears as the pegasi providing air support fall back a little to gain some distance. A few even slip off to grab a few clouds!

The strange thing though is the ponies who think they can take to the skies in the middle of an attack, the targets that most of the attackers are aiming for suddenly shift to the ones who for some reason have left the safety of the walls.

Even the unicorns start blasting bolts of magic at them, because really, they're right there.

And even with this sudden shift to the ones showing themselves on the ground and above the walls, there's still plenty of ammunition attempting to keep the defenders pinned down.

Of course, this doesn't stop the arrows and attacks from the ponies defending this town from being able to find some targets. The soldiers of the Dark Army do fall to a multitude of attacks, though a good deal of unicorns keep their magic flowing to hold their walls as a shield to the onslaught.


------

[Inside the Gates]

The water almost seems to cause the fire to spread, rather than taking it out! The dirt on the other hoof is actually helping to smother the flames that spread across the oil soaked ground and doors!


-------

[Hospital]

Sure Strike and Bumble follow the procession from the back, the smaller pony leading her blind companion through the doors. They close with a soft click, as Bumble assesses if they lock or not. Sure Strike though, hesitantly moves to block the filly from view, her empty sockets seeming to gaze around the room as she gives her wings a little flap. Just two ponies to deal with now, and if Bumble could lock the door it'd be much easier.

"I'm not sure how I'll be able to go on like this, who's going to take care of my dear sister when i can't even see a thing?" She says with a depressed sigh, even as her special talent allows her to take in the dimensions and placement of the room.

Whether or not Bumble can lock the door, she uses her larger companion as a blind spot and begins to bite at one of her wings, loosening a small wooden needle that seems to have been stitched there...

Lycan 01
2014-01-13, 03:07 AM
[Crossbow Team]



The answer to the question that Purple Prose never really asked seems to be most of them. Ponies panic under the sudden panic as two of their number quickly fall, others abandon their post completely because they weren't going to be able handle a whirling avatar of silent death.

Their commander had a different idea of what to do as she charged towards the quiet assailant with only a single sentence before her words became naught but roars of rage and anger.

"Launch the arrow in the name of our Lord!"

The panicking ponies stumble to a stop and turn to face towards the massive weapon of war, their commander already trying to close the distance between herself and Prose.

With a united yell, and a terrified expression, the five remaining soldiers launched themselves towards their instrument of destruction, each wielding large axes and saws as best as they could.

The commander however, throws a far smaller axe at her foe before unhitching the massive one situated on her back.

Looks like the retired Shadow Bolt has his work cut out today! Can he take a second commanding officer?

That depends. Can she handle a poison-laced crossbow bolt to one or more of her vital organs?

Purple Prose deftly sidesteps the hurled hatchet, giving her an almost bored look of annoyance. He allows her to close the distance, before springing backwards to stand on his hind legs, wings flared for balance. His forehooves dart to his chest - and to the backup crossbow he strapped to his underside, toxin-laced bolt locked and loaded. He quickly brings up the deadly weapon, and gives the axe-wielding mare an almost pitying look before firing a bolt point-blank into her charging form, aiming for either her face or chest - whichever part is least armored.

Regardless of whether she's armored or not, at this range, the power of the crossbow should brutally slam the bolt through any protection she has on, save for the most heavy and bulky of gear. Even then, the sheer force of the impact ought to slam her back or lay her out, or at the very least slow and wind the attacker. And should she survive the bolt slamming through her armor and into her face or chest, the paralyzing toxin should have interesting results on her already traumatized system.

Whether or not the mare is killed is of no immediate concern to Prose, though. The moment he fires the crossbow, he immediately kicks off and begins to fly towards the ballista, hurling the empty crossbow at the legs of the pony closest to the siege-crossbow. Hopefully it should trip them up, and slow them or some of the other ponies down a bit. He flaps his wings hard, zipping towards the ballista... and then right past it. He aims to simply pass the heavy weapon by - and stick out his wing-talons as he passes the far side of it.

With a swipe of blood-stained claws, he aims to sever the cord used to launch the heavy bolt. If it hasn't been tightened and locked into place yet, then the weapon should be rendered useless and inert. If the bolt is already locked in place and the cord pulled taut, then his claw-swipe may have interesting results.

It may fail to cut through the tight cord, buying the other ponies a moment's advantage as Prose must whirl about to face the ballista again.

Or his claws may sever the cord at its far end, causing a massive whiplash effect as the taut line snaps and swings around to the other side of weapon, likely scything out and slamming into - or through - some of the charging ponies. Normal ropes can be deadly when taut, after all, so the large cord used to operate a ballista is no doubt much the same, if not worse.

Should Prose succeed in cutting the cord, and should it be strained taut, then whoever is on the receiving end of that cord is likely gonna have a bad time.



A little factual backup so it doesn't seem like I'm trying to powergame or anything. :smalleek:

Crossbows in medieval times were brutal. At close range, they were fully capable of punching through the armor of a fully-geared knight. With a few cranch of a winch and locking mechanism, a peasant with a week of training was suddenly equal to a noble aristocrat who'd spent his whole life learning the arts of armored combat. Crossbows were even banned by Pope Innocent II in 1139, supposedly because their brutal effectiveness was a crime against humanity and, simply put, unholy.

As for the kinetic force behind ropes being freaking devastating, I'm pretty sure that's common knowledge. But there are plenty of historical records and accounts of people being killed or having limbs amputated by snapping ropes, even by simple games of Tug Of War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tug_of_war#1997_arm_severing_incident). :smalleek:



So yeah, if this works out, Prose likely just left the axe-mare dead or dying or severely wounded and/or poisoned, and hopefully just disabled the crossbow and took out a pony or two or more, to boot. :smallbiggrin:

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-13, 11:02 PM
[Walltop]

"Hold position! Stay in cover!" The Captain's yells followed the Moon Motes down. The defenders glanced around uneasily; few of them relished the idea of leaving those two to whatever suicide mission they'd gotten into their heads, but better than taking an arrow between the eyes trying to follow them.

The ballista towers remained quiet. Seems nopony wished to risk another volley of musket shot on the off chance that their ambushers had gotten bored and wandered off.

[Walltop - Inside the Gate]

It didn't take the ponies at the gate long to realize that this fire was a greasy, thirsty one. They dropped their buckets of water and filled them with loose earth instead, hurling sand, dirt, and pebbles at the blaze. Others soaked towels and beat at the flames, smothering them with the thick rags.

Little else they could do except wait...

[Outside the Guardhouse]

The guard nodded and saluted the armored pony. Beyn quivered helplessly, wishing this all to be some terrible nightmare that he'd soon wake up from. "I-I'll just, uh, wait out here...somewhere. I-In case any more guards walk p-past."

"Good thinking, Beyn. And here," The guard tossed the secretary a spare whistle.

"Wh-what do I need this for?"

"In case they make it out. Somepony's got to sound the alarm."

Beyn pinched himself. No luck.

"Thank you, whoever you are. I'll have backup coming your way before you know it!" The guard threw one more salute, before tearing off towards the west gate. Beyn had already found himself a lovely barrel to hide make into a lookout post.

The open door to the guardhouse beckoned...

[Inside the Guard House - Passe and Co.]

"I'd rather jump in the nearest ocean and become a seapony rather than have a mannerless churl as a father!" Passe fumed at the chattering ponies.

She fell silent as the terms were read to them. Standard fare, really; cooperate, or die, or worse. The guards shared many a questioning look amongst themselves, some of them eying the weapons they'd just tossed down moments ago. "Hmmph!" Passe's sharp scoff cut through the silence. "I'm afraid there'll be no need for any of that, you unspeakable cad. Leave my ponies alone and unharmed, and I'll be your 'taker'."

"But ma'am-"

"I did not just hear backsass, did I?"

"No ma'am, no!"

"Thought not." With a flick of her mane, she turned back to Mask. "Well?"

Kelvin360
2014-01-14, 12:57 AM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Exterior

Dawnstrider turns to his new compatriot and makes an announcement. "Keep hidden; if my plan fails, a surprise attack is our best chance to keep the outcome relatively in our favor."

"You gonna tell me what this plan is at some point?" Bloom remarks, bringing out a few arrows and threading them in a few choice bits of her armor for easy access.

He nods. "It is simple. I intend to assume control."

She rolls her eyes at him. "So do you take a full-on perverse sort of tickle from being ominous and cryptic, or just the normal out-of-bounds kind?"

He has to stop to consider this for a moment before making his decision. "Just the normal kind."

With that, they enter. Mountain Bloom keeps to the shadows or behind her much larger counterpart, both of them following the shouting voices.

---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

No sooner have they arrived than the doctor takes to work, rifling through the inventory with a fiery intensity of mad scientist proportions. He is cautious to only take items that there are plenty of, mixing them together in a hauntingly beautiful mixture honed by years of practice.

After mere moments, he steps back, sweat beading from his brow as he looks upon his deadly creation...

A sandwich.

Which he then proceeds to devour.

"Much better. I've needed that for a while." Satiated, he glances at the sisters. "Do you two have any favorites? I'm sure I can find something in here to whip into shape." He puts on a faint smile. "Or, alternatively, I could put forth the suggestion that I not worry so much and let you see about your own needs."

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Entrance


Night Jewel considered for a moment. "How long does it last? If you can't keep it going for long, save it for when they're in sight, but if it can hold, then set it up now and we'll be prepared in case someone sneaks in."

"It's only draining when it actually blocks a magical attack. It took me figuratively forever and literally years to find the right abjurative seed for that."

Her horn glows, and violet energy flows off of it like sheets of water from a rooftop. Under her direction, it forms into an orb roughly the size of a head, and floats between them. "When you're ready, make a magical connection with this. That's the first step, and I'll be able to walk you through the rest. Whatever happens, remember to keep calm."

---

Raucous Reprisal - Western Wall Battlements

The lilac pegasus takes a moment to peer over the wall at the commotion below before shrugging at Blueshield. "I don't think she heard you." She flashes the Knight-Commander a grin. "Orders stand, though. Looks like I'm your wing-mate until Tropics regroups." She nocks an arrow. "What's the play?"

---

Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Exterior

The attack? Not planned. The hail of fire from above? Not planned. The raging inferno? Definitely not planned. The jump headfirst into certain death?

Of course!

Coconut hits the ground flat on all four hooves, shield upward. Boon engages a quick hover to keep himself from breaking anything and lands behind her. Now, they're trapped between a flaming gate and a gathering armada. They're not the only thing there, though.

They both turn in unison, acting on an unseen axis, and thrust out their back hooves with all of their might, impacting the end of the abandoned battering ram that they landed next to, spinning it horizontally relative to both the walls and trenches, as opposed to vertically. Without hesitation, they leap behind it on their side, putting a massive wooden cylinder between them and hostile fire.

And not a moment too soon. Coconut notes, snapping an arrow that had lodged itself into her side in half. "Mobile cover obtained!" She shouts back. "Notify us when it becomes necessary to breach the trenches!"

"Remind me why we let you make the plans?"

"Because they don't fall apart this spectacularly."

"That's what you said about the last plan!"

"Yes, it's good to know that I'm getting better at strategic insanity, not worse. Gather what fallen swords you can with your pike - we'll need grips to stop the ram if it begins moving too quickly."

Grif
2014-01-14, 02:47 AM
[Forest Outside of Bridle Shores]
When the griffon would get around to finally finding Dive Bomb, he would come across a sad sight. A lone pony lying on a tree-trunk, mostly still, but there was obvious signs of heavy breathing and twitching wings.

The closed eyes would open into a fierce glare if the unknown soldier closed the distance, but he otherwise seems pretty out of it.

The odd thing to notice would be if the air got warmer the closer one got to this fallen pony.


[Forest]

Corsair crept slowly through the forest, his keen eyes and ears on the lookout for any hostile creatures. Whatever... or whoever it was that might or might not have downed the Captain, the griffon wasn't about to blunder into.

Fortunately, however, he soon picked up the Captain's scent, and that led him directly to the fallen pony after several more minutes of nervous trekking through the dark and eerily silent forest. "Captain?" the griffon gruffly spoke, inching closer, not really minding the warm air, and would try to help him up.



[Western Gate]

The attackers take to the walls and trenches that they have created, making sure to keep up the assault of arrows and spears as the pegasi providing air support fall back a little to gain some distance. A few even slip off to grab a few clouds!

The strange thing though is the ponies who think they can take to the skies in the middle of an attack, the targets that most of the attackers are aiming for suddenly shift to the ones who for some reason have left the safety of the walls.

Even the unicorns start blasting bolts of magic at them, because really, they're right there.

And even with this sudden shift to the ones showing themselves on the ground and above the walls, there's still plenty of ammunition attempting to keep the defenders pinned down.

Of course, this doesn't stop the arrows and attacks from the ponies defending this town from being able to find some targets. The soldiers of the Dark Army do fall to a multitude of attacks, though a good deal of unicorns keep their magic flowing to hold their walls as a shield to the onslaught.


[Walltop]

"Hold position! Stay in cover!" The Captain's yells followed the Moon Motes down. The defenders glanced around uneasily; few of them relished the idea of leaving those two to whatever suicide mission they'd gotten into their heads, but better than taking an arrow between the eyes trying to follow them.

The ballista towers remained quiet. Seems nopony wished to risk another volley of musket shot on the off chance that their ambushers had gotten bored and wandered off.





Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Exterior

The attack? Not planned. The hail of fire from above? Not planned. The raging inferno? Definitely not planned. The jump headfirst into certain death?

Of course!

Coconut hits the ground flat on all four hooves, shield upward. Boon engages a quick hover to keep himself from breaking anything and lands behind her. Now, they're trapped between a flaming gate and a gathering armada. They're not the only thing there, though.

They both turn in unison, acting on an unseen axis, and thrust out their back hooves with all of their might, impacting the end of the abandoned battering ram that they landed next to, spinning it horizontally relative to both the walls and trenches, as opposed to vertically. Without hesitation, they leap behind it on their side, putting a massive wooden cylinder between them and hostile fire.

And not a moment too soon. Coconut notes, snapping an arrow that had lodged itself into her side in half. "Mobile cover obtained!" She shouts back. "Notify us when it becomes necessary to breach the trenches!"

"Remind me why we let you make the plans?"

"Because they don't fall apart this spectacularly."

"That's what you said about the last plan!"

"Yes, it's good to know that I'm getting better at strategic insanity, not worse. Gather what fallen swords you can with your pike - we'll need grips to stop the ram if it begins moving too quickly."

[West Gate]

"Coming through!" a shout came from behind the defenders. Anyone turning to look behind them would see a full fledged cloud formation the size of a quarter of the town moving in at full speed towards the gates, pushed from behind by the entirety of town's weather/aerial team. The tops of the walls and gates would soon be shrouded in full misty cloud cover, possibly throwing off the aim of the attackers, at least momentarily until they could find a way to remove it. With clouds being reflective as well, the flying attackers might be momentarily blinded by the sudden dazzle of the setting sun.

In the midst of the sudden and unexpected loss of vision, the Captain would find someone dropping to land behind him. "Sorry for the late backup. Had some trouble gathering clouds," Stormcloak said. The lieutenant winced as one of his team screamed, followed by a heavy thud on the ground below. "Get into cover!" he bellowed, a little unnecessarily. His team scrambled to obey, with most opting to flying below the level of the walls.

Then he turned to the Captain. "What now?"

[Edge of Forest, Griffon's Nest]

From the cover of the forest, Stuka cursed inwardly. With the gate assault stalled, the backup ballista mysteriously not firing and now this sudden inclusion of misty clouds, her snipers are lacking targets. "You, you, you, you. Keep that two hero down by the ram pinned. If they stick their heads out, I want them dead." A chorus of assent. "Rest of you. Keep eyes on the wall. See any moving shapes, shoot it dead. You, with me. We'll be seeing what's holding up the boys and fire the bloody thing ourselves if we have to." Orders given, Stuka then melted into the forest with one of her griffon in tow.



[Hospital]

Sure Strike and Bumble follow the procession from the back, the smaller pony leading her blind companion through the doors. They close with a soft click, as Bumble assesses if they lock or not. Sure Strike though, hesitantly moves to block the filly from view, her empty sockets seeming to gaze around the room as she gives her wings a little flap. Just two ponies to deal with now, and if Bumble could lock the door it'd be much easier.

"I'm not sure how I'll be able to go on like this, who's going to take care of my dear sister when i can't even see a thing?" She says with a depressed sigh, even as her special talent allows her to take in the dimensions and placement of the room.

Whether or not Bumble can lock the door, she uses her larger companion as a blind spot and begins to bite at one of her wings, loosening a small wooden needle that seems to have been stitched there...




Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

No sooner have they arrived than the doctor takes to work, rifling through the inventory with a fiery intensity of mad scientist proportions. He is cautious to only take items that there are plenty of, mixing them together in a hauntingly beautiful mixture honed by years of practice.

After mere moments, he steps back, sweat beading from his brow as he looks upon his deadly creation...

A sandwich.

Which he then proceeds to devour.

"Much better. I've needed that for a while." Satiated, he glances at the sisters. "Do you two have any favorites? I'm sure I can find something in here to whip into shape." He puts on a faint smile. "Or, alternatively, I could put forth the suggestion that I not worry so much and let you see about your own needs."

[Hospital]

It is quite unfortunate that the nurse noticed neither of the subtle moves the two dastardly saboteurs were preparing. Instead, she was engrossed in looking through the fridge for the plate of cupcakes that somepony had brought earlier through the hospital.

"Well, Doctor, try not to use up all the lettuce. Dr. Hope likes his greens and he gets snippy if he don't find them," the nurse remarked cheerfully as she produces a plate of tastefully decorated cupcakes. "Hope you like vanilla, chocolate or banana. No strawberry though. That glutton Sacred Heart snagged them all earlier." She offered the nearest of the pair the plate...


[Somewhere in Town]

"And that's what you git fer insultin' my wee lass!" Shell Shock shouted, as he trotted out of the shop, presumably with Flash Bang in tow. The demopony only stopped to adjust his beret, before noticing that the streets were deserted.

"Hey. Where did everypony go?" he said, scratching his head.

HalfTangible
2014-01-14, 04:24 PM
[Cirrus - An Unhelpfully Large Distance Away]

Sandy squinted down the blurry, swaying hallway. "Saywha? Zatme? S'gonna...look for me where I am, not where I ain't. That's makin' more sense with your head..." His bit of wisdom shared with the empty corridor, the buzzed engineer continued his teetering, tottering trot towards the tumultuous turmoil.

At his rate, it would take a miracle for him to reach Hay Bale before Gear and/or Silverpine.

She raised up a hoof. I see what's going on here. Clearly the crew was kidnapped by zombie alien pirate pony robots. That are also from Saddle Arabia's secret spy division composed entirely of psychotic orphans. They were then turned into bits of wood for the ship and built into it.

And since nopony owns it now, then by the laws of the sea* THE SHIP IS MINE NOW!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! She adjusted her shades, smirking. First order of business is to get some stallions in here!...And a few mares. Preferably hot.

Then we shall find Chorselu and feed it to its future self, thus creating a temporal paradox that will destroy all of reality!

...Or possibly just turn Equestria into a pumpkin.

---
*Yes, I am fully aware the Cirrus is an airship

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-15, 11:44 AM
[West Gate]

"Coming through!" a shout came from behind the defenders. Anyone turning to look behind them would see a full fledged cloud formation the size of a quarter of the town moving in at full speed towards the gates, pushed from behind by the entirety of town's weather/aerial team. The tops of the walls and gates would soon be shrouded in full misty cloud cover, possibly throwing off the aim of the attackers, at least momentarily until they could find a way to remove it. With clouds being reflective as well, the flying attackers might be momentarily blinded by the sudden dazzle of the setting sun.

In the midst of the sudden and unexpected loss of vision, the Captain would find someone dropping to land behind him. "Sorry for the late backup. Had some trouble gathering clouds," Stormcloak said. The lieutenant winced as one of his team screamed, followed by a heavy thud on the ground below. "Get into cover!" he bellowed, a little unnecessarily. His team scrambled to obey, with most opting to flying below the level of the walls.

Then he turned to the Captain. "What now?"

The well-trained defenders would have shouted in triumph, would that not have utterly destroyed the point of the cloud cover. Instead, they ducked out from under their cover and started firing off a fierce counter-volley at the flying attackers. The wall-mounted and tower ballistas started to swivel back to life without the hail of missiles pinning down their teams. The setting sun proved to be a double blessing; not only did it help to momentarily dazzle the enemy flyers, but it cast dark shadows onto the misty clouds, providing the town guard with no shortage of easy targets. Leaving the entrenched and out-of-sight enemies for later, the defenders worked to clear the skies with deadly efficiency.

The Captain nodded to Stormcloak as he landed. "Keep the cloud cover up as long as you safely can, and get the rest of your team on the gate. We need to get that fire out, now!" He sidestepped a javelin that embedded itself in the stones where he'd been standing. With a practiced flick, he pulled it out and sent it flying back at its owner. "And keep quiet; don't give them any targets." he warned.

PurityIcekiller
2014-01-15, 06:28 PM
[Thou Wall, O Wall, O Sweet and Lovely Wall]

Blueshield fired a red-tipped quarrel at the spot where enemy casters were most concentrated, intending to disrupt their shielding or at least distract them. She followed this up with another spray of shots around the same area.

Before she could fire again, however, the clouds moved in.

What in- Oh, they're ours! About time.

She took advantage of the cover provided to adjust one of her quarrels, waited until she had another clear shot at a dangerous-looking group, then fired. This one had a red tip as well.


The lilac pegasus takes a moment to peer over the wall at the commotion below before shrugging at Blueshield. "I don't think she heard you." She flashes the Knight-Commander a grin. "Orders stand, though. Looks like I'm your wing-mate until Tropics regroups." She nocks an arrow. "What's the play?"

"The plan? Target casters and other dangerous targets. Disrupt formations when you can. And, most importantly, avoid dying."


"It's only draining when it actually blocks a magical attack. It took me figuratively forever and literally years to find the right abjurative seed for that."

Her horn glows, and violet energy flows off of it like sheets of water from a rooftop. Under her direction, it forms into an orb roughly the size of a head, and floats between them. "When you're ready, make a magical connection with this. That's the first step, and I'll be able to walk you through the rest. Whatever happens, remember to keep calm."

"Right. Better to start early, then."

Night Jewel concentrated her magic, feeling for a spot to link with the sphere.

"So how long will this take?"

Grif
2014-01-16, 11:10 AM
She raised up a hoof. I see what's going on here. Clearly the crew was kidnapped by zombie alien pirate pony robots. That are also from Saddle Arabia's secret spy division composed entirely of psychotic orphans. They were then turned into bits of wood for the ship and built into it.

And since nopony owns it now, then by the laws of the sea* THE SHIP IS MINE NOW!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! She adjusted her shades, smirking. First order of business is to get some stallions in here!...And a few mares. Preferably hot.

Then we shall find Chorselu and feed it to its future self, thus creating a temporal paradox that will destroy all of reality!

...Or possibly just turn Equestria into a pumpkin.

---
*Yes, I am fully aware the Cirrus is an airship

"Sorry. Ship's not empty yet." a voice called out from around the corner. An ominous click as Silverpine slid the safety off his shotgun, then peeked around. "Now then. Care to explain who are you and why you're here?"

Presumably, Gear was somewhere behind, hopefully armed as well.

HalfTangible
2014-01-16, 12:40 PM
"Sorry. Ship's not empty yet." a voice called out from around the corner. An ominous click as Silverpine slid the safety off his shotgun, then peeked around. "Now then. Care to explain who are you and why you're here?"

Presumably, Gear was somewhere behind, hopefully armed as well.

Hay Bale, here to pick up a guest for my boss. Who the f%$# are you? She cocked an eyebrow. What kind of moron doesn't shoot the stowaway on sight? Honestly, it's like you never read the manual.

Benson
2014-01-16, 01:16 PM
"Sorry. Ship's not empty yet." a voice called out from around the corner. An ominous click as Silverpine slid the safety off his shotgun, then peeked around. "Now then. Care to explain who are you and why you're here?"

Presumably, Gear was somewhere behind, hopefully armed as well.


Hay Bale, here to pick up a guest for my boss. Who the f%$# are you? She cocked an eyebrow. What kind of moron doesn't shoot the stowaway on sight? Honestly, it's like you never read the manual.

"I'm really not appreciating the language right now or name calling...." Gearstride was grumpy from having her HPK interrupted earlier, she was very sensitive about that!

"Anyways, I am Captain Gearstride and this is my lieutenant. Who is your boss?" The xanadu mare asked, lowering her weapon to her side.
====

From out of nowhere a red blur would appear behind Sandy who was somewhere in the halls. "You really oughtn't drink so much for someone your size...." Miss M commented.

"Anyways...I heard someone...thing....we ought to get to your superiors, they should be this way." She said as if though earlier did not occur between Sandy and herself.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-16, 02:04 PM
From out of nowhere a red blur would appear behind Sandy who was somewhere in the halls. "You really oughtn't drink so much for someone your size...." Miss M commented.

"Anyways...I heard someone...thing....we ought to get to your superiors, they should be this way." She said as if though earlier did not occur between Sandy and herself.

"Waugh!" Poor Sandy yelped and whirled about to face his ambusher!

...which is to say, he stumbled forward ungainly until he tripped over his own forelegs and fell flat on his face. And then he rolled over to see the blurry form of Miss M standing over him. "Ggrrrghhhh...s'only wine, ain't even th' realsh hard stuff," he sullenly protested. Nevermind the fact that he'd nearly downed half the bottle himself; details, details. "S'goin' that over way m'shelf...gotta shtowaway for me an' I ain'tsh ordered no stowawaysh..." He pulled himself up with whatever was close at hoof; walls, railing, Miss M herself, whatever his hoof touched first. "Whatsha doin' out over thish way? Thish ain't down b'low...y'hungry? *hic!* That'sh it?"

HalfTangible
2014-01-16, 03:42 PM
"I'm really not appreciating the language right now or name calling...." Gearstride was grumpy from having her HPK interrupted earlier, she was very sensitive about that!

"Anyways, I am Captain Gearstride and this is my lieutenant. Who is your boss?" The xanadu mare asked, lowering her weapon to her side.

Well excuuuuse me for being upset that I wasn't shot in the face. Half the fun of being a stowaway... She grumbled, adjusting her shades. Balboa Shag. I believe I'm supposed to escort a... Sandy?... or was it 'Candy'?

MCerberus
2014-01-17, 12:21 AM
Past The Wall

Well it seems things are getting... well at least distracting. Without any present danger, Staccata seems free to make it towards the source of the attackers. The mare begins sneaking through the woods.

Grif
2014-01-17, 12:35 AM
Hay Bale, here to pick up a guest for my boss. Who the f%$# are you? She cocked an eyebrow. What kind of moron doesn't shoot the stowaway on sight? Honestly, it's like you never read the manual.


Well excuuuuse me for being upset that I wasn't shot in the face. Half the fun of being a stowaway... She grumbled, adjusting her shades. Balboa Shag. I believe I'm supposed to escort a... Sandy?... or was it 'Candy'?

Silverpine raised an eyebrow. "Now why would one of Equestria's richest want somepony like our engineer, hm?" Unlike Gear, he didn't lower his weapon.

HalfTangible
2014-01-17, 04:13 PM
Silverpine raised an eyebrow. "Now why would one of Equestria's richest want somepony like our engineer, hm?" Unlike Gear, he didn't lower his weapon.

I dunno. Why would he tell the courier? She stuck her tongue out at him. Supposedly he or she or it already knows I'm coming.

Grif
2014-01-18, 02:53 AM
I dunno. Why would he tell the courier? She stuck her tongue out at him. Supposedly he or she or it already knows I'm coming.

Silverpine raised his eyebrow even more. "Really, now?" he replied in a skeptical tone. Then he reached for his communicator. "Mr Shores. Are you there?"

HalfTangible
2014-01-18, 02:56 AM
Silverpine raised his eyebrow even more. "Really, now?" he replied in a skeptical tone. Then he reached for his communicator. "Mr Shores. Are you there?"

Oh for f%$#s sake, YOU HAVE A GUN AND I AM A STOWAWAY, BLOW MY HEAD OFF ALREADY!!! Hay Bale whined. Half the fun of sneaking onto someone else's ship is their heart attack when my head reforms!

Grif
2014-01-18, 03:05 AM
Oh for f%$#s sake, YOU HAVE A GUN AND I AM A STOWAWAY, BLOW MY HEAD OFF ALREADY!!! Hay Bale whined. Half the fun of sneaking onto someone else's ship is their heart attack when my head reforms!

"Trust me. We probably have seen weirder. Though a reforming head would be pretty high on the 'Most Weird' list," Silverpine said with a smirk.

HalfTangible
2014-01-18, 03:26 AM
"Trust me. We probably have seen weirder. Though a reforming head would be pretty high on the 'Most Weird' list," Silverpine said with a smirk.

The heart attack comes when the bits of bone turn into tiny skulls that all start talking to each other, it's super creepy. Then she smirked. I got like 20 minutes before I need to actually leave your humble airship. You two looking for a third sail~? She purred flirtatiously.

Benson
2014-01-18, 05:36 AM
"Waugh!" Poor Sandy yelped and whirled about to face his ambusher!

...which is to say, he stumbled forward ungainly until he tripped over his own forelegs and fell flat on his face. And then he rolled over to see the blurry form of Miss M standing over him. "Ggrrrghhhh...s'only wine, ain't even th' realsh hard stuff," he sullenly protested. Nevermind the fact that he'd nearly downed half the bottle himself; details, details. "S'goin' that over way m'shelf...gotta shtowaway for me an' I ain'tsh ordered no stowawaysh..." He pulled himself up with whatever was close at hoof; walls, railing, Miss M herself, whatever his hoof touched first. "Whatsha doin' out over thish way? Thish ain't down b'low...y'hungry? *hic!* That'sh it?"

"I am not....I am just...mildly concerned," Her muzzle wrinkled as she worked on blocking out his smell.

"You should try to compose yourself before replying back to your superiors on your communicator."
================

The heart attack comes when the bits of bone turn into tiny skulls that all start talking to each other, it's super creepy. Then she smirked. I got like 20 minutes before I need to actually leave your humble airship. You two looking for a third sail~? She purred flirtatiously.

Gearstride had a thoughtful look for a moment.

"Mmm, nah, I think I prefer /Lieutenant handsome, here all for myself." Gearstride concluded.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-18, 09:26 AM
"I am not....I am just...mildly concerned," Her muzzle wrinkled as she worked on blocking out his smell.

"You should try to compose yourself before replying back to your superiors on your communicator."


Silverpine raised his eyebrow even more. "Really, now?" he replied in a skeptical tone. Then he reached for his communicator. "Mr Shores. Are you there?"

Sandy tilted his head at her, until the motion made him so dizzy he had to prop himself up against a wall for support. The unexpected concern cut through the drunken haze and reached some part of his mind still awake and functioning. "I-Uh...y-yeah, yeah. Yo-you're right. Officialsh call. Gotta be official m'shelf." He took some rapid, focusing breaths, before fumbling for his communicator. "*click* Shargeant Shores here, Lieu...lieutenant." He spoke slowly, and no more than he needed to. Every syllable was a slip-up waiting to happen.

Grif
2014-01-18, 12:49 PM
The heart attack comes when the bits of bone turn into tiny skulls that all start talking to each other, it's super creepy. Then she smirked. I got like 20 minutes before I need to actually leave your humble airship. You two looking for a third sail~? She purred flirtatiously.



Gearstride had a thoughtful look for a moment.

"Mmm, nah, I think I prefer /Lieutenant handsome, here all for myself." Gearstride concluded.

Silverpine pretended he didn't hear the exchange. :smalltongue:


Sandy tilted his head at her, until the motion made him so dizzy he had to prop himself up against a wall for support. The unexpected concern cut through the drunken haze and reached some part of his mind still awake and functioning. "I-Uh...y-yeah, yeah. Yo-you're right. Officialsh call. Gotta be official m'shelf." He took some rapid, focusing breaths, before fumbling for his communicator. "*click* Shargeant Shores here, Lieu...lieutenant." He spoke slowly, and no more than he needed to. Every syllable was a slip-up waiting to happen.

Silverpine did raise an eyebrow at the slightly muffled voice. "Sandy. Got a stowaway here who says a Balboa Shags want to see you and that she's here to get you. Do you know anything about this?"

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-18, 01:05 PM
Silverpine did raise an eyebrow at the slightly muffled voice. "Sandy. Got a stowaway here who says a Balboa Shags want to see you and that she's here to get you. Do you know anything about this?"

It wasn't a bucket of ice water, but darn if it wasn't a quick way to sober up. :smallwink:


"Ba-ba-b-b-b-ba...bal...Balboa Shag?!" The color drained from Sandy's face, and his hoof shook uncontrollably. "I-I, uh, I haven't, I mean, no! I mean, this is th' first I've heard of...I haven't gotten any letters I think...I ought to have...Balboa Shag? Mister Shag wants t'meet...me?!" He squeaked in shock. That lunch of oats and wine hit him with a vengeance, his stomach churning and groaning.

HalfTangible
2014-01-18, 02:03 PM
Silverpine pretended he didn't hear the exchange. :smalltongue:


Gearstride had a thoughtful look for a moment.

"Mmm, nah, I think I prefer /Lieutenant handsome, here all for myself." Gearstride concluded.She shrugged. Suit yourselves.


"Ba-ba-b-b-b-ba...bal...Balboa Shag?!" The color drained from Sandy's face, and his hoof shook uncontrollably. "I-I, uh, I haven't, I mean, no! I mean, this is th' first I've heard of...I haven't gotten any letters I think...I ought to have...Balboa Shag? Mister Shag wants t'meet...me?!" He squeaked in shock. That lunch of oats and wine hit him with a vengeance, his stomach churning and groaning.
Now that Hay Bale thought about it, she wasn't entirely sure Balboa had actually said that he'd warned Sandy already. Stupid hormones.

Ooooh, sounds cute. Her ears piqued with interest. Oi, my boss told me you'd know I was coming. If this isn't the case, please let me know now.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-18, 08:41 PM
Now that Hay Bale thought about it, she wasn't entirely sure Balboa had actually said that he'd warned Sandy already. Stupid hormones.

Ooooh, sounds cute. Her ears piqued with interest. Oi, my boss told me you'd know I was coming. If this isn't the case, please let me know now.

Sandy felt grateful both for the fact that whomever this messenger was couldn't see his flushing cheeks, and that he could blame them on the alcohol. "N-n-no, no. No ma'am. S'first I've ever even heard of it...b-b-but a thousand 'pologies if I misshed a letter or call somewhere! Th-that'd be all my fault, m-ma'am."

(For the record, no advance warning was sent. :smalltongue:)

HalfTangible
2014-01-18, 09:02 PM
Sandy felt grateful both for the fact that whomever this messenger was couldn't see his flushing cheeks, and that he could blame them on the alcohol. "N-n-no, no. No ma'am. S'first I've ever even heard of it...b-b-but a thousand 'pologies if I misshed a letter or call somewhere! Th-that'd be all my fault, m-ma'am."

(For the record, no advance warning was sent. :smalltongue:)

...Well, can you come with me anyway? She asked into the radio. Whatever it is, I'm sure it was important if he sent me along to pick you up. She then covered the speaker and whispered, to Silverpine and Gearstride, Don't mean to toot my own fluglehorn but I'm kind of a sexy badass.

Grif
2014-01-18, 10:25 PM
Sandy felt grateful both for the fact that whomever this messenger was couldn't see his flushing cheeks, and that he could blame them on the alcohol. "N-n-no, no. No ma'am. S'first I've ever even heard of it...b-b-but a thousand 'pologies if I misshed a letter or call somewhere! Th-that'd be all my fault, m-ma'am."

(For the record, no advance warning was sent. :smalltongue:)


...Well, can you come with me anyway? She asked into the radio. Whatever it is, I'm sure it was important if he sent me along to pick you up. She then covered the speaker and whispered, to Silverpine and Gearstride, Don't mean to toot my own fluglehorn but I'm kind of a sexy badass.

Silverpine looked at Hay Bale with a quizzical stare. "I'm sure you are, Miss. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but if Mr Shores don't even know you're coming, how the hay do we know you're even representing Mr Balboa here?"

HalfTangible
2014-01-18, 11:09 PM
Silverpine looked at Hay Bale with a quizzical stare. "I'm sure you are, Miss. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but if Mr Shores don't even know you're coming, how the hay do we know you're even representing Mr Balboa here?"

Hay Bale tapped her chin, thinking for a few moments. ...I suppose you don't.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-18, 11:18 PM
"I...I don't mean no offensh t'Mishter Shag..." Sandy's meek voice flitted out from the radio. "B-but it does...all depend on what m'commandin' officersh say. If'n they...order me t'stay put, then...th-then I gotta stay put."

"...that shaid, if'n he wants t'meet me...then I really ought t'go." He added as a timid afterthought.

Merellis
2014-01-19, 08:56 PM
[Guardhouse]
"See, she's smart too." Mask says as the cloaked unicorn snorts, the black aura of magic subsiding rapidly while the shadows seem to lose the dangerous quality.

"Two of you keep your crossbows trained on the little commander here." Two ponies obey their leader as the rest gather the scattered weaponry, the massive pegasus however moves to tower over the surrendering group.

"I'll allow them to live, but I'm not foolish enough to leave them fully unharmed. Bull, knock the lot of them out and catch up." The lying sneak then gestures to Passe with a slight bow. "Well, lets get going then little filly, and don't worry too much about your troops. It'll hurt for a bit afterwards, but they'll live."

Bull moves to knock out the lot of them, two pegasi keep their crossbows trained on Passe. The group splits up, leaving four with Bull, and the rest to go with Mask...

[Hospital]

Sure Strike takes the plate without even turning her head. The unsteady steps from earlier are replaced by swift and confident movements as she spins around to slam a hoof into the back of the nurse's head!

As she makes her move there's a small noise as if somepony was spitting, and the slight blur of a miniscule piece of wood zipping past the blind pony and aimed directly at Doctor Sunshine!

If it strikes, he'll be injected with a particularly strong sedative. Looks like this little filly isn't as pathetic as she seemed!

It also looks like this blind mare is more than meets the eye...

[Dive Bomb]

A single bronze eye snaps open and glares at the griffon, giving the impression that he was about to kill the intruder. Through gritted teeth the pegasus speaks, his voice a slurred whisper.

"Shtai ba. Oisshhhhion" The heat seems to be slowly intensifying around Dive Bomb as his heart beats faster and louder. He winces as the temperature around him suddenly spikes, scorching the immediate area around him!

Blood begins to drip from his face like a faucet as he spasms then goes limp.

The air cools and the rapid thumping of his heart slows...



[Gates]

The sudden cover of cloud catches most of the army by surprise, giving the defenders the needed moment to catch most of the aerial troops. The ones that don't get immediately struck are wounded in their retreat to the earthen walls and trenches.

"Tartarus damn them, where's that artillery support?!" Cookie growls out as she drags two pegasi behind the walls, barely managing to have them escape a red-tipped arrow.

Things were beginning to look bad, a pair of ponies were actually holding the gate, their advantage had been turned against them, and now they'd lost a considerable amount of air support.

"Windy! Windy! Get your team up and check on Splinter! Get the artillery running at all costs!" She see's a pair of similar looking stallions give a quick salute and zip off towards the massive machine of destruction, another four pegasi hefting spears and other weapons before following behind.

"Rock Star, got enough juice to keep this up?!" A sweating unicorn just gives an unsteady nod as another wall pops up to replace yet another broken hiding place.

"Don't just be hiding, Captain Dive needs us to keep this up! So pour it on and keep it up!" Even with those words and the name of their captain to embolden them, the soldiers still aren't able to keep up the accuracy that had assisted them in pushing the defenders back.

"Sage, Rosemary! Get Aegis up and moving as soon as possible, we need that shield back if we're gonna keep up the assault!" Cookie growls out again before turning herself back to the task she needed to perform.

Her horn begins to glow a with a golden-brown aura, the very same aura placing strange marks on the ground between the walls of her legion and the walls of Bridle Shores. The marks quickly formed the shapes of ponies and suddenly there was a good dozen golems of dirt, rock, and root galloping towards the burning gate.

"Push the line, if they get us any further back then this will all be for nothing!"

The soldiers keep up the assault, knowing that the success of the mission depended so much on their efforts.

[Crossbow]

What was keeping Splinter from fulfilling her duties was quite simple, there was a bolt sticking through her heart.

The rest of her command though was still going strong as there always seems to be a pony or two willing to grab hold of the reigns. One of the ones wielding an axe shouts out to get the rest back on track.

"Launch it!" The remaining ponies of Splinter's Squad dive on the machine, taking that crucial moment provided by Prose to release the mechanism.

It's missile surges forwards with a resounding twang, reaching and passing the gap between the earthen walls at an alarming speed. Should it reach the gates, the results would certainly not be in favor of the defenders.

Especially when you take into account the weakened state of the gates themselves.

The cord is still heavily frayed, but it might work for one last shot, unless a certain retired Shadowbolt manages to finish it off.


Not very strong, a bit durable, can defend against arrows, but not the explosive kind.

Benson
2014-01-19, 10:21 PM
Silverpine looked at Hay Bale with a quizzical stare. "I'm sure you are, Miss. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but if Mr Shores don't even know you're coming, how the hay do we know you're even representing Mr Balboa here?"


Hay Bale tapped her chin, thinking for a few moments. ...I suppose you don't.


"I...I don't mean no offensh t'Mishter Shag..." Sandy's meek voice flitted out from the radio. "B-but it does...all depend on what m'commandin' officersh say. If'n they...order me t'stay put, then...th-then I gotta stay put."

"...that shaid, if'n he wants t'meet me...then I really ought t'go." He added as a timid afterthought.

"Is there any way by chance you can get a hold of Balboa Shag? Perhaps things...can be cleared...?" Gearstride said, though of course she herself couldn't help but wonder why the mogul figure Balboa would well, want anything to with them.

HalfTangible
2014-01-19, 11:00 PM
"Is there any way by chance you can get a hold of Balboa Shag? Perhaps things...can be cleared...?" Gearstride said, though of course she herself couldn't help but wonder why the mogul figure Balboa would well, want anything to with them.

You could come with me and see for yourself. She offered.

Grif
2014-01-19, 11:39 PM
The well-trained defenders would have shouted in triumph, would that not have utterly destroyed the point of the cloud cover. Instead, they ducked out from under their cover and started firing off a fierce counter-volley at the flying attackers. The wall-mounted and tower ballistas started to swivel back to life without the hail of missiles pinning down their teams. The setting sun proved to be a double blessing; not only did it help to momentarily dazzle the enemy flyers, but it cast dark shadows onto the misty clouds, providing the town guard with no shortage of easy targets. Leaving the entrenched and out-of-sight enemies for later, the defenders worked to clear the skies with deadly efficiency.

The Captain nodded to Stormcloak as he landed. "Keep the cloud cover up as long as you safely can, and get the rest of your team on the gate. We need to get that fire out, now!" He sidestepped a javelin that embedded itself in the stones where he'd been standing. With a practiced flick, he pulled it out and sent it flying back at its owner. "And keep quiet; don't give them any targets." he warned.

The pegasus nodded, and then stepped back and took off into the now-misty air.



"Is there any way by chance you can get a hold of Balboa Shag? Perhaps things...can be cleared...?" Gearstride said, though of course she herself couldn't help but wonder why the mogul figure Balboa would well, want anything to with them.


You could come with me and see for yourself. She offered.

"... I'm already getting a bad feeling about this," Silverpine remarked, rolling his eyes. He finally lowered his weapon though. If this Hay Bale wanted to attack, she'd already done so.



[Hospital]

Sure Strike takes the plate without even turning her head. The unsteady steps from earlier are replaced by swift and confident movements as she spins around to slam a hoof into the back of the nurse's head!

As she makes her move there's a small noise as if somepony was spitting, and the slight blur of a miniscule piece of wood zipping past the blind pony and aimed directly at Doctor Sunshine!

If it strikes, he'll be injected with a particularly strong sedative. Looks like this little filly isn't as pathetic as she seemed!

It also looks like this blind mare is more than meets the eye...
[Hospital]

The nurse noticed the hoof too late, her eyes widening fractionally for just that split second, before the lights went out of her eyes as she was knocked to the ground with a thud.



[Dive Bomb]

A single bronze eye snaps open and glares at the griffon, giving the impression that he was about to kill the intruder. Through gritted teeth the pegasus speaks, his voice a slurred whisper.

"Shtai ba. Oisshhhhion" The heat seems to be slowly intensifying around Dive Bomb as his heart beats faster and louder. He winces as the temperature around him suddenly spikes, scorching the immediate area around him!

Blood begins to drip from his face like a faucet as he spasms then goes limp.

The air cools and the rapid thumping of his heart slows...
[Forest]

"Captain?" Corsair repeated, looking slightly bewildered as he inched closer.

Then the temperature spiked. Corsair raised a claw to shield his face , grunting in pain, his other claw already rising to put this pony out his misery if this keeps up. Fortunately, the air cools just as rapidly, and the griffon slowly lowered his forelimbs, blinking, looking just a mite singed.

"... Junker ain't payin' me enough for this," Corsair grumbled as he closed the last few feet that separated the two, kneeling to check on the fallen captain. If he found no response, he'd then gamely fling the captain over his shoulder, and then darted off into the darkness, this time heading towards the planned retreat point where what remained of the army, mostly support personnel, and more importantly, medics, had stayed behind.

Otherwise, he'd try to rouse the captain.



[Gates]

The sudden cover of cloud catches most of the army by surprise, giving the defenders the needed moment to catch most of the aerial troops. The ones that don't get immediately struck are wounded in their retreat to the earthen walls and trenches.

"Tartarus damn them, where's that artillery support?!" Cookie growls out as she drags two pegasi behind the walls, barely managing to have them escape a red-tipped arrow.

Things were beginning to look bad, a pair of ponies were actually holding the gate, their advantage had been turned against them, and now they'd lost a considerable amount of air support.

"Windy! Windy! Get your team up and check on Splinter! Get the artillery running at all costs!" She see's a pair of similar looking stallions give a quick salute and zip off towards the massive machine of destruction, another four pegasi hefting spears and other weapons before following behind.

"Rock Star, got enough juice to keep this up?!" A sweating unicorn just gives an unsteady nod as another wall pops up to replace yet another broken hiding place.

"Don't just be hiding, Captain Dive needs us to keep this up! So pour it on and keep it up!" Even with those words and the name of their captain to embolden them, the soldiers still aren't able to keep up the accuracy that had assisted them in pushing the defenders back.

"Sage, Rosemary! Get Aegis up and moving as soon as possible, we need that shield back if we're gonna keep up the assault!" Cookie growls out again before turning herself back to the task she needed to perform.

Her horn begins to glow a with a golden-brown aura, the very same aura placing strange marks on the ground between the walls of her legion and the walls of Bridle Shores. The marks quickly formed the shapes of ponies and suddenly there was a good dozen golems of dirt, rock, and root galloping towards the burning gate.

"Push the line, if they get us any further back then this will all be for nothing!"

The soldiers keep up the assault, knowing that the success of the mission depended so much on their efforts.


[West Gate]

While the attackers recoiled from their new situation, Stormcloak himself had joined the team at the gate frantically putting out the fire at the gate, along with the wing-worthy members of his team. Already, four of his pegasus were injured and had to be carted off. Even with the cloud cover, it didn't save one from (un)lucky hits.

As for our redoubtable duo? Well Lemongrass himself got feathered in the wing in the first salvo and was now groaning in pain as he leaned on a wall close to the gate. Tyrol was fortunately unharmed, and was busy helping one of the tower ballistas to load their deadly ammunition.

(Stuka will join the fray at the crossbow team shortly, probably once Lycan posts.)

Gnomish Wanderer
2014-01-20, 01:04 AM
[Somewhere in Town]

"And that's what you git fer insultin' my wee lass!" Shell Shock shouted, as he trotted out of the shop, presumably with Flash Bang in tow. The demopony only stopped to adjust his beret, before noticing that the streets were deserted.

"Hey. Where did everypony go?" he said, scratching his head."Och, why ye askin' me?" Flashbang asked with a touch of sarcasm as she followed him out, scuffing through the dirt a bit from how she was choosing to drag her hooves as she walked. She took in the air for a second, breathing deep, and tilts her head with her ears twitching.

"Summin' sounds a bit weird, aye? Like fightin'?"

Lycan 01
2014-01-20, 01:38 AM
[Siege Crossbow]



What was keeping Splinter from fulfilling her duties was quite simple, there was a bolt sticking through her heart.

The rest of her command though was still going strong as there always seems to be a pony or two willing to grab hold of the reigns. One of the ones wielding an axe shouts out to get the rest back on track.

"Launch it!" The remaining ponies of Splinter's Squad dive on the machine, taking that crucial moment provided by Prose to release the mechanism.

It's missile surges forwards with a resounding twang, reaching and passing the gap between the earthen walls at an alarming speed. Should it reach the gates, the results would certainly not be in favor of the defenders.

Especially when you take into account the weakened state of the gates themselves.

The cord is still heavily frayed, but it might work for one last shot, unless a certain retired Shadowbolt manages to finish it off.


Prose narrows his eye at the ponies on the other side of the ballista. He briefly weighs his options - before sweeping his wing down, trying to cut the cord with his talons.

Assuming the cable is cut, he kicks off from the ballista, launching himself airborne towards Bridle Shores. With a dismissive look back at the ballista team, he flaps his wings and hurls himself headlong into the dense woods, swiftly flying back towards the besieged settlement. These ponies aren't worth his time or concern; he has bigger things to worry about.

The Shadowbolt zig-zags through the trees, keeping his senses open for any signs of other enemy activity as he heads home. Siege teams, snipers, reinforcements, traps or tricks...



Whether Prose encounters Stuka or any other enemy forces, or returns to Bridle Shores without incident, is likely best left up to Grif and Merellis, I figure.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-20, 11:12 AM
[Guardhouse]


"See, she's smart too." Mask says as the cloaked unicorn snorts, the black aura of magic subsiding rapidly while the shadows seem to lose the dangerous quality.

"Two of you keep your crossbows trained on the little commander here." Two ponies obey their leader as the rest gather the scattered weaponry, the massive pegasus however moves to tower over the surrendering group.

"I'll allow them to live, but I'm not foolish enough to leave them fully unharmed. Bull, knock the lot of them out and catch up." The lying sneak then gestures to Passe with a slight bow. "Well, lets get going then little filly, and don't worry too much about your troops. It'll hurt for a bit afterwards, but they'll live."

Bull moves to knock out the lot of them, two pegasi keep their crossbows trained on Passe. The group splits up, leaving four with Bull, and the rest to go with Mask...

Passe looked down at the bowing Mask with utter, righteous contempt, the pained cries of her once-conscious subordinates still ringing in her ears. "Save your cruel manners for some other mare; they tempt me too much to give your face the beating it deserves." With her nose turned high, she led him down the hallway opposite the one they'd burst through.


Bull and four ponies watching over the unconscious guards, the rest following Passe. She sent a silent prayer to Luna that her backup arrived soon, and that the beating her guards had received would not be in vain. The enemy was now divided, after all...


[Gates]


The sudden cover of cloud catches most of the army by surprise, giving the defenders the needed moment to catch most of the aerial troops. The ones that don't get immediately struck are wounded in their retreat to the earthen walls and trenches.

"Tartarus damn them, where's that artillery support?!" Cookie growls out as she drags two pegasi behind the walls, barely managing to have them escape a red-tipped arrow.

Things were beginning to look bad, a pair of ponies were actually holding the gate, their advantage had been turned against them, and now they'd lost a considerable amount of air support.

"Windy! Windy! Get your team up and check on Splinter! Get the artillery running at all costs!" She see's a pair of similar looking stallions give a quick salute and zip off towards the massive machine of destruction, another four pegasi hefting spears and other weapons before following behind.

"Rock Star, got enough juice to keep this up?!" A sweating unicorn just gives an unsteady nod as another wall pops up to replace yet another broken hiding place.

"Don't just be hiding, Captain Dive needs us to keep this up! So pour it on and keep it up!" Even with those words and the name of their captain to embolden them, the soldiers still aren't able to keep up the accuracy that had assisted them in pushing the defenders back.

"Sage, Rosemary! Get Aegis up and moving as soon as possible, we need that shield back if we're gonna keep up the assault!" Cookie growls out again before turning herself back to the task she needed to perform.

Her horn begins to glow a with a golden-brown aura, the very same aura placing strange marks on the ground between the walls of her legion and the walls of Bridle Shores. The marks quickly formed the shapes of ponies and suddenly there was a good dozen golems of dirt, rock, and root galloping towards the burning gate.

"Push the line, if they get us any further back then this will all be for nothing!"

The soldiers keep up the assault, knowing that the success of the mission depended so much on their efforts.

[Crossbow]

What was keeping Splinter from fulfilling her duties was quite simple, there was a bolt sticking through her heart.

The rest of her command though was still going strong as there always seems to be a pony or two willing to grab hold of the reigns. One of the ones wielding an axe shouts out to get the rest back on track.

"Launch it!" The remaining ponies of Splinter's Squad dive on the machine, taking that crucial moment provided by Prose to release the mechanism.

It's missile surges forwards with a resounding twang, reaching and passing the gap between the earthen walls at an alarming speed. Should it reach the gates, the results would certainly not be in favor of the defenders.

Especially when you take into account the weakened state of the gates themselves.

The cord is still heavily frayed, but it might work for one last shot, unless a certain retired Shadowbolt manages to finish it off.


Not very strong, a bit durable, can defend against arrows, but not the explosive kind.

The storm of missiles finally tapered off to an occasional drizzle, but it seemed the last bolt of lightning had yet to strike.

"Get back from the gates!" The Captain bellowed as he heard the shouts near the ballista. Ponies scrambled away from the still-smouldering gates and hurriedly readied weapons for whatever was coming through.

"Archers! Keep those trenches pinned down! Ballista teams! On the golems!" With one will, the defenders turned their attention to the trenches, giving the attackers a taste of the hail they'd put them through moments ago. The ballista teams - with the help of the guards without bows - finally managed to get their own bolts loaded and fired against the advancing golems.

Grif
2014-01-21, 12:24 AM
"Och, why ye askin' me?" Flashbang asked with a touch of sarcasm as she followed him out, scuffing through the dirt a bit from how she was choosing to drag her hooves as she walked. She took in the air for a second, breathing deep, and tilts her head with her ears twitching.

"Summin' sounds a bit weird, aye? Like fightin'?"

Shell cocked his own ears, listening intently to the sounds of the town for a few moments. "... aye. That sounds like... arrows?" He turns to look towards western side, only to find the entire walls and gates shrouded in misty clouds. "... oy! That cloud wasn't there when we went in." He scratched his head, then reached for his grenade launcher. "Wanna go have a look?"

(Perhaps either the griffon or one of the Moon Motes run into them)

Benson
2014-01-21, 03:27 AM
You could come with me and see for yourself. She offered.




"... I'm already getting a bad feeling about this," Silverpine remarked, rolling his eyes. He finally lowered his weapon though. If this Hay Bale wanted to attack, she'd already done so.


"I don't believe we would even have time for this as you are basically proposing that we leave and travel who knows how long to a destination we're, as my crew, are unsure of," Gearstride said, not mentioning the guests that would be left behind or (yet) the plans already set up for today/night.
============================================

Das West Gates

Idle Chat heaved and hoe'd as he helped the ballista team load their heavy bolts. The earth pony was bruised head to hoof, cuts across his tuckered body, but he had a task to do, and gosh darn it, even if he had to will it, and all that roh roh fight da powah stuff.

"Oh..ow...hnnngh..." The small stallion dragged a bolt and heaved it into one of the ballistas. "Come on team...we can't let these evil doers take our town..!" It was ready.
---

Silent Snow let out a hacking cough as he picked up his halberd and stumbled away from the gates. The large, white stallion, clad in his battered armor from head to hoof was still going strong despite the bruises, burns, and lacerations along his exposed bits.

All the Big Macintosh-sized stallion could think about was how he to protect his home at all costs. He would not let the enemy get the better of him like so many months ago. His leg was never the same since those injuries, but despite that, he of course would still go on. He awaited his captain's orders for the infantry such as him.

HalfTangible
2014-01-21, 01:26 PM
"I don't believe we would even have time for this as you are basically proposing that we leave and travel who knows how long to a destination we're, as my crew, are unsure of," Gearstride said, not mentioning the guests that would be left behind or (yet) the plans already set up for today/night.

So you don't go into space, you don't shoot your stowaways, and you don't know where the house of arguably one of the richest ponies in Equestria is located. Hay Bale pouted. Worst. Space Pirates. Ever.

Kelvin360
2014-01-21, 05:27 PM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Interior

Aside from Dawnstrider's heavy hoofsteps, the duo proceeds in silence. Bloom keeps her aim trained high, low, around, above, and virtually anywhere except at her companion. Whether because she feels he has his own space covered or she doesn't trust herself not to shoot him isn't quite clear.

Regardless, he leads them down a familiar path towards the jail cells, a course that Bloom doesn't comment on.

How Mask and the others react to the imposing 'dark lord' crossing their path sometime soon, well...that remains to be seen, now doesn't it?

Just posting a reminder here that Zaros looks and carries himself like he belongs on Team Evil 100%. Make of this what you will.

---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

The good doctor, his left flank facing his new opponents, raises the buckler attached to his left forehoof, allowing it to connect with the flying threat. He glances at the unconscious nurse, then the 'sisters', his expression only slipping to vaguely disappointed.

"Well. I'm...sorry. I really, truly am. For both of you, actually. It's a pity. Of all the times, of all the places, of all the ponies..."

The light goes out in his eyes. His eyebrows lower and his lips move in the opposite direction they're used to. The light seems to be almost sucked out of the room towards him, and with a sound that can hardly be described as anything other than 'shimmering', a golden construct in the shape of plate mail encompasses his body. Fury still marring his expression, he taps his buckler, and it expands into a full golden targe in the shape of the sun.

"You ended up stuck in a room with ME."

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Entrance


"Right. Better to start early, then."

Night Jewel concentrated her magic, feeling for a spot to link with the sphere.

"So how long will this take?"

"Not long. Perhaps a few literal minutes."

Common folklore holds that the eyes are gateways to the soul. Practiced magicians know this is tomfoolery; it's a pony's magical essence that tells you the most about who they are. And if this is the case, it seems you're about to learn quite a bit about Starbeam. Whether this connection is two-way is, for now, unclear.

Once your magic makes contact with the sphere, it begins to suck you in with the ferocity of a gravity well, such that your physical hooves are nearly caught in the mix, your being shifting closer towards the unassuming violet orb. You hear Starbeam say Relax. Don't resist. but her lips don't move.

---

Raucous Reprisal - Western Wall, Top


[Thou Wall, O Wall, O Sweet and Lovely Wall]

Blueshield fired a red-tipped quarrel at the spot where enemy casters were most concentrated, intending to disrupt their shielding or at least distract them. She followed this up with another spray of shots around the same area.

Before she could fire again, however, the clouds moved in.

What in- Oh, they're ours! About time.

She took advantage of the cover provided to adjust one of her quarrels, waited until she had another clear shot at a dangerous-looking group, then fired. This one had a red tip as well.


"The plan? Target casters and other dangerous targets. Disrupt formations when you can. And, most importantly, avoid dying."

She laughs. "I'm good at two of those three things!"

Nearby, an earth pony and a unicorn run to the top of the ramparts and slide to a stop next to Raucous and Blueshield. Notably, now that the actual battlefield is in sight, Gutter begins averting her eyes. Steel has no such compunction, and is already firing at the trenches. Now that he can actually see his targets, the rain of wood is much more accurate, still curving in graceful arcs courtesy of mathematics.

"I don't think we're going to blow through whatever shield they have over there. I hope the LT has a plan."

"A shame she decided that she needed a much lower elevation. I might have written her a list of advisable places to set that shield of hers." In the process of drawing an arrow, he looks at it curiously and frowns. "Private Flame, I hasten to note that my arrows are no longer engulfed in your trademark conflagrations."

"Aye, jess gimmie a minute..." Far from appearing exhausted, if anything, she simply looks queasy. "It's just, why're we fightin' this lot, again?"

---

Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Bottom

Sinking the final shattered blade deep into the ram, Boon takes a moment to look up over their cover. An arrow flies by and nicks his ear, but he doesn't seem to notice. "Uhhh...LT?"

"Yes, Joyous, what-?" Coconut follows suit and spots the golems. "Ah. Hm."

"Wow, I haven't seen anything like this since Basic."

"No time to waste, then. We'll need to disrupt them ASAP. Push an end - how good are you at running and fighting?"

MCerberus
2014-01-22, 01:40 AM
Forest

Staccata, having snuck forward into some place most ponies shouldn't be, is keeping extra sure not to snap any twigs (even though that always happens when it shouldn't... and the fact the battle would cover it up). For funsies, let's say she happens across a scene with an injured captain.

Not having all the information, the rogue keeps to the shadows to observe. Her dagger can be drawn quickly but is not currently grasped. Shiny metal things may bring attention.

Sniper Cloud

The griffon running into anypony would be quite a feat. He's stuck on the cloud with only one good wing. Plus flapping the cloud along would probably hurt like hell aggravating that entire muscle group.

For now he's still firing tawnee-fletched arrows into attackers that appear important.

Gnomish Wanderer
2014-01-22, 01:44 AM
Shell cocked his own ears, listening intently to the sounds of the town for a few moments. "... aye. That sounds like... arrows?" He turns to look towards western side, only to find the entire walls and gates shrouded in misty clouds. "... oy! That cloud wasn't there when we went in." He scratched his head, then reached for his grenade launcher. "Wanna go have a look?"

(Perhaps either the griffon or one of the Moon Motes run into them)

"Arrows, ey? Let's go, then, I'll follow tha sound a yer hooves." She said, motioning him on in a random direction. She cricked her neck for a second, before pulling out a big red homemade firecracker to stuff between her teeth, readying herself for whatever might come.

Grif
2014-01-22, 12:51 PM
"Arrows, ey? Let's go, then, I'll follow tha sound a yer hooves." She said, motioning him on in a random direction. She cricked her neck for a second, before pulling out a big red homemade firecracker to stuff between her teeth, readying herself for whatever might come.

Homemade firecrackers. It'd seem the two had a very strong affinity for explosives of all kind. Shell Shock nodded, almost as a reflex, even though his companion wouldn't be able to see it, and turned to trot towards the sounds of battles, which seemed to be growing steadily more intense.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-22, 01:55 PM
So you don't go into space, you don't shoot your stowaways, and you don't know where the house of arguably one of the richest ponies in Equestria is located. Hay Bale pouted. Worst. Space Pirates. Ever.

"Uh, beggin' your pardon, Miss?" Sandy peeped up from the radio again. "If'n you don't mindsh me askin', how'd you get here? What if we justsh...went th' same way you did?"

HalfTangible
2014-01-22, 02:16 PM
"Uh, beggin' your pardon, Miss?" Sandy peeped up from the radio again. "If'n you don't mindsh me askin', how'd you get here? What if we justsh...went th' same way you did?"

I broke in through the fourth wall. You'd probably go crazy. Hay Bale lied (she had no idea how she'd gotten there). Though if you're not willing to divert course I doubt we're anywhere near Balboa's mansion...

PurityIcekiller
2014-01-22, 02:58 PM
[The Gates]

Cookie immediately found herself dealing with an explosion right in the middle of her main force, then four crossbow bolts flying straight at her backside and face while she cast her spell. One of them had a blue tip and trailed bits of ice, promising a swift and cold demise should it strike.

Apparently, in a dark area, lighting up your horn and standing around to focus on powerful spells made you a prime target for sensible archers, and ignoring high explosives was not actually that bright an idea.

It was "think fast or die" time.

~

Blueshield took a moment to watch her shots streak toward her target, then turned her attention back to the ponies around her.

"They are willing to kill their own to succeed. That should be all the reason you need." Drat it, they're going to be making zebra jokes about that. "Now, if you please, reduce the philosophical debates and emphasize ensuring our continued survival."

[Ze Cleeneec]

Night Jewel did her best not to get sidetracked by the sudden second-person narration. She let the magic draw her closer, closer...

Her ears perked up. A sound had come from one of the nearby doors.

She resisted the urge to back out, knowing that disrupting the spell at this point could be dangerous. However, she was clearly still anxious "Starbeam... I don't know if we have a few minutes..."

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-23, 12:04 PM
I broke in through the fourth wall. You'd probably go crazy. Hay Bale lied (she had no idea how she'd gotten there). Though if you're not willing to divert course I doubt we're anywhere near Balboa's mansion...

Sandy paused. "...I could getsh her up an' ready t'fly Cap'n. So longsh as we don't pull anythin' fancy, we could make a short flight there." And I could get time t'sober up he silently added. "It'd be milesh easier than findin' a unicorn t'teleport ush."

Benson
2014-01-25, 01:11 AM
I broke in through the fourth wall. You'd probably go crazy. Hay Bale lied (she had no idea how she'd gotten there). Though if you're not willing to divert course I doubt we're anywhere near Balboa's mansion...

"Well, I am not willing to divert our course, unfortunately we still have some...issues and concerns that we must deal with first, however--



Sandy paused. "...I could getsh her up an' ready t'fly Cap'n. So longsh as we don't pull anythin' fancy, we could make a short flight there." And I could get time t'sober up he silently added. "It'd be milesh easier than findin' a unicorn t'teleport ush."

"That isn't a bad thought....teleportin that is....that would be more...better if found a way....also....I'm considerin having A.I.D.A go with you Shores, to watch over you." Gearstride said tapping her chin.

Grif
2014-01-25, 08:11 AM
I broke in through the fourth wall. You'd probably go crazy. Hay Bale lied (she had no idea how she'd gotten there). Though if you're not willing to divert course I doubt we're anywhere near Balboa's mansion...

Silverpine raised a hefty eyebrow at that remark.



"Well, I am not willing to divert our course, unfortunately we still have some...issues and concerns that we must deal with first, however--



"That isn't a bad thought....teleportin that is....that would be more...better if found a way....also....I'm considerin having A.I.D.A go with you Shores, to watch over you." Gearstride said tapping her chin.

"Teleporting?" Silverpine echoed thoughtfully. "Technically, that could be done. I mean, A.I.D.A. has that experimental teleportation beacon device that we never got around to testing..."

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-25, 11:18 AM
"That isn't a bad thought....teleportin that is....that would be more...better if found a way....also....I'm considerin having A.I.D.A go with you Shores, to watch over you." Gearstride said tapping her chin.


"Teleporting?" Silverpine echoed thoughtfully. "Technically, that could be done. I mean, A.I.D.A. has that experimental teleportation beacon device that we never got around to testing..."

"I-I...uh, yesh, that it does, that it d-doesh..." The voice on the radio suddenly struggled for words, as the pony on the other end felt his throat going dry. How exactly could things go from "looking up" to "unmitigated disaster" so quickly?

Speaking of reversals...

[West Gate]

*FWOOM-CRASH*

...a thunderous blow trailed by a squall of splinters hailed another swing in the tide of battle. The ballista bolt had sailed unimpeded across the battlefield, over the heads of invaders and allies alike, before meeting its destiny at the gates. In a testament to their craftsponies, the mighty timbers held together and stopped the giant arrow from passing through and injuring anypony on the other side. But the ramming, fire, and spells had all taken their toll; the gates now sagged dangerously in their hinges, half-splintered by the massive shot. One more furious charge, and they would swing wide open.


"Form up behind the gates! Two ranks of spears, flyers above them!" The Captain bellowed from the walltop. "Everypony else, keep their heads down! If they want a charge, make them pay for it!"


The ponies scrambled to action, forming up a defense and launching another furious salvo of arrows at the distant trenches. The outcome of the battle hung as precariously as the gates; one misstep could spell disaster for either side...

Merellis
2014-01-26, 11:57 AM
[Hospital]
Sure Strike and Bumble aren't like most villains, while others would allow the hero a chance to get through the transformation scene, these two generally just carry on with their work.

With that in mind, Sure Strike immediately leaps up and smashes a glowing hoof into the ceiling opening a hole that's not quite big enough for her, but the action does it's job as the room is covered is soon filled with dust and inhibiting vision even further as the light shifts towards the good doctor.

There's a faint buzzing noise and then nothing but the sound of Sure Strike's voice. "I'm certainly trapped, but so are you. Your friend here has a few minutes to live, so surrender and I'll allow you to save her." Her sightless gaze is locked into where the shimmering stallion stands, despite the obvious lack of eyes.

If he manages to get to the nurse, he'll find a small wooden needle stuck inside her neck, he'll also note eventually that there are only three in the room now.


[Hospital - Second Floor]
Bumble squeezes through the hole and takes a swift look around, frowning at the fact that she does not see a single guard around the immediate area.

The little assassin sighs and buzzes through the halls to find a guard to assist her in her work. Given that this is the area for operations and doctor offices, she'll soon move onto the third floor...


[Guardhouse]

The cloaked mare snorts and responds to the filly with a mocking tone. "Then you'd be a cute little vegetable on the floor and we'd be walking straight to our destination without having to listen to you prattle on like this."

"We're nearly there, so stow the chatter for now." Mask says while peering around a corner.

The two groups meet at the cells themselves, with Mask merely raising an eyebrow as his troops immediately take a guarded position, crossbows and spears pointed straight at the pony in dark armor.

Divine Knowledge, in all her cloaked mystery, merely powers up her horn while also raising an eyebrow at the sight.

"Mmm, looks the part, but you don't really seem all that awe-inspiring." Is the first observation by Mask while Divine shoots him a look.

"What? Our Leader is awe-inspiring, this one just has cool armor."


[West Gate - Cookie]

Given that Cookie is standing behind walls that were made to prevent this kind of thing, the explosions don't do much beyond causing the a shower of dirt and rock as the shield of earth crumbled again. The ponies behind it immediately leap to the side with Cookie catching the blue-tipped arrow in the leg and the others getting caught up by soldiers near her.

Of course, the same can be said for a number of them as the arrows and bolts manage to find their marks all over the place, leaving wounded and dying soldiers all over.

The wall is soon replaced again, Rock Star breathing heavily as the continued casting starts to take it's toll on her.

Elsewhere, the two medics that had been tasked with dealing with Aegis, manage to awaken and stabilize him. His horn glows brightly and a shimmering wall of magic materializes, bringing a small rest for the army as the two medics poured their magic into him.

"Get yourselves situated, I can hold them off for a couple minutes at most.." He says groggily as he closes his eyes and concentrates on keeping this shield active.

Rock Star nods and begins to fortify her walls behind the shimmering shield, including adding some between the gate and the trenches this time as there has not been another shot as of yet.

"They need to keep an eye on their gate anyway, so keep up it up!"


[Forest - Support Personnel]
They quickly take Dive Bomb from the griffon as the poor captain had given no response to the underpaid mercenary and set to getting him healed up, one unicorn in particular casting a quick spell that echoes in the heads of a few particular ponies

Relay reporting in! Captain Dive Bomb has been located! He's injured and unconscious, but alive for now. Resources show that the gate has been compromised, finish your assignments quickly and make for the rendezvous point at the Eastern and Southern walls. Will be sending escort teams to extract you after the sun is down.

A messenger soon shows up and relays what's been happening with the gates, bleeding all over the place.

"Of course we're getting pushed back." Relay says with a frown before powering up his spell again.

Rock Star, fall back and take over command for Cookie Cutter, get a medic or two to keep you stable and try to hold out a bit longer. We'll see what we can do about getting you a bit more support.

"Oi, get Captain Dive Bomb up and functional again as soon as possible! Don't care if you all drop from exhaustion doing so, just get it done! I've gotta contact home base about something, so get it done! Soldier, return to the battlefield and keep that wall occupied!"

Kelvin360
2014-01-26, 01:31 PM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Interior

Glowing green eyes shrink behind a helmet, examining the scene before them. He tilts his head slowly, pulling out the gravitas he earned from 27 years of out-Dothing Doth. "Lower your weapons or lose the limbs holding them." He says in a volume most conversational, though the tone holds a threat of performing much worse acts than those promised. His head turns to Mask and Divine, then, as if their lackeys were not there. "I see this phase is going well, barring a problem I will address shortly. Your setbacks were minimal, I trust?" He indicates Passe.

Behind him, Mountain Bloom looks as though she's trying to wake herself from a dream, but can't quite manage it. Her eyes, glazed over, shift from movement to movement, but never hold contact with any other pair.

---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

There is a scientific theory regarding the existence of 'white holes', objects in space that are much akin to the relativistic reverse of black holes. In this case, while the latter attracts mass and light in its pull, a white hole would push them away with likely the same force.

After pulling in the room's light, Taylor the White Hole decides to do something about that excess energy. A brief instant occurs in which his manipulation of energy is at its equilibrium, and his magic is stilled. This is followed by an explosion of light and concussive energy that pushes with the force of a charging bear on everything in the room.

With the debris cleared (for the moment), he follows up with a blast of superheated plasma, disgorging the energy from his horn towards any of Sure Strike's limbs that he can get a bead on - though notably not at any fatal locations.

The speed of sound, meanwhile, is occupied. "SOL ET LUNUS INVENIRE GLADIATOR!

---

Snowstorm - Clinic Interior, Elsewhere

There used to be no sense of urgency to her search. In a way, there still isn't.

Snowstorm had just begun a conversation with one of the nurses, inquiring politely as to Dr. Sunshine's whereabouts. Then she (and everyone else present) hears shouting, an explosion, a sound like a sci-fi laser, and five more shouted, very clear words. All originating from the pantry.

"Nevermind." She deadpans. "I think I found him. Did that sound like 'invenire gladiator' to you? 'Cuz that second bit means everyone else in there is trying to kill him, first means at least one is pulling a Hoodini. Who'd he go there with, exactly?"

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Entrance

"We have plenty of time." She says soothingly. Then the explosion occurs, and she frowns. "All right, perhaps not a great deal of time, but enough."

As you are drawn in to the grasp of Starbeam's magic, you are able to suss out the general underlying structure of it. At first, even this simple sphere is overwhelming - far and away from being a basic, one-note spell, it appears to be a combination of dozens of minor enchantments. Much like an overly complex machine, each gear clicks and turns in an array of dizzying movements. It looks and feels like utter chaos.

But Night Jewel is quite good with mechanisms.

What looks on the surface like a bundle of inexplicably useless extra parts turns out to be a functional system, with each separate piece adding its specific function to the whole. Every tiny bit of the spell has a unique purpose. You realize that Starbeam, as a spellcaster, has next to no raw power. Any she does have comes from setting up these spell clusters, like supports added to a bridge, which must take an immense amount of concentration. But you, with your particular talents, also take note of the inherent disadvantage. If even one piece is lost, the entire system fails.

No sooner has this become apparent than her voice speaks within your mind again. I'm opening up a section for you. I want you to place a spell trigger in the opening. It can be any magic you have access to, but make sure it's the easiest spell in your repertoire for you, specifically. You'll need to keep it active at all times.

In the middle of the spell's composition, a gap opens between several triggers, and it grinds to a halt, becoming inert until that gap is filled.

---

Raucous Reprisal/Gutter Flame/Mental Steel - Western Wall, Top

"I concur vehemently. Weep later, reciprocate now!"

The trio resume fire. Steel's shots remain accurate, though that barrier doesn't help matters. Raucous is with most of the regular guard, spraying arrows and hoping one of them hits something. Flame adds magic to as many outgoing projectiles as she can, though it's notable that they're just on fire now, not explosive.

---

Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Bottom

What these two are now pulling would be utterly cartoonish if they weren't actually cartoons. Weapons drawn, they are moving forward, slowly but surely, putting the battering ram in front of them. They crouch, which impedes their alacrity, but keeps the cover working as it should. The ram itself is picking up speed, and its momentum is quite a bit harder to stop than that of the ponies pushing it ahead...right towards the hunkered down opposition.

Whenever a golem passes within hooves' reach, they swing out their weapons to destroy or maim them. With their orders being, presumably, to charge the gate and not two random ponies, it shouldn't be hard. And if the ram happens to crush a few while it rolls, well, so much the better.

Grif
2014-01-27, 02:52 AM
"I-I...uh, yesh, that it does, that it d-doesh..." The voice on the radio suddenly struggled for words, as the pony on the other end felt his throat going dry. How exactly could things go from "looking up" to "unmitigated disaster" so quickly?

Speaking of reversals...
[Cirrus]

"So what do you think, Mr Shores? That sound good?" Silverpine continued, cheerfully oblivious to any sort of hesitant behaviour from his engineer. :smalltongue:



[West Gate]

*FWOOM-CRASH*

...a thunderous blow trailed by a squall of splinters hailed another swing in the tide of battle. The ballista bolt had sailed unimpeded across the battlefield, over the heads of invaders and allies alike, before meeting its destiny at the gates. In a testament to their craftsponies, the mighty timbers held together and stopped the giant arrow from passing through and injuring anypony on the other side. But the ramming, fire, and spells had all taken their toll; the gates now sagged dangerously in their hinges, half-splintered by the massive shot. One more furious charge, and they would swing wide open.


"Form up behind the gates! Two ranks of spears, flyers above them!" The Captain bellowed from the walltop. "Everypony else, keep their heads down! If they want a charge, make them pay for it!"


The ponies scrambled to action, forming up a defense and launching another furious salvo of arrows at the distant trenches. The outcome of the battle hung as precariously as the gates; one misstep could spell disaster for either side...
[West Gate]

What fortunate timing. Shell Shock flinched as a piece of metal from the gate sailed right in front of him just as he was about to turn the corner.

"Oi! Don't you know these things can maim somepony?" he called out cheerfully to the defenders as he peeped around, raising a hoof to stop Flash Bang from progressing further once she caught up with him. "Now who's tryin' to ram the gates down?"

(I leave it to whoever to answer. I believe there's quite a number of characters at the gates.)




[Hospital - Second Floor]
Bumble squeezes through the hole and takes a swift look around, frowning at the fact that she does not see a single guard around the immediate area.

The little assassin sighs and buzzes through the halls to find a guard to assist her in her work. Given that this is the area for operations and doctor offices, she'll soon move onto the third floor...

While Bumble was zipping through the second floor, she might notice she was at the centre of attention of the medical personnel. Understandable, really, given that she had just squeezed out of a hole on the floor right in the middle of the corridor. But any questions they had was quickly stilled by the concussive explosion that rocked the hospital, with many quickly scrambling for cover. The third floor seemed open to Bumble... and she could see was several featureless corridors leading to numerically named wards.

Snowflake had to lean against the door to steady herself against the sudden shudder in the building. The pegasus guard quickly glanced back to make sure her charge was okay, then peered out of the room again, warily wondering just what the hay was going on.





[Forest - Support Personnel]
They quickly take Dive Bomb from the griffon as the poor captain had given no response to the underpaid mercenary and set to getting him healed up, one unicorn in particular casting a quick spell that echoes in the heads of a few particular ponies

Relay reporting in! Captain Dive Bomb has been located! He's injured and unconscious, but alive for now. Resources show that the gate has been compromised, finish your assignments quickly and make for the rendezvous point at the Eastern and Southern walls. Will be sending escort teams to extract you after the sun is down.

A messenger soon shows up and relays what's been happening with the gates, bleeding all over the place.

"Of course we're getting pushed back." Relay says with a frown before powering up his spell again.

Rock Star, fall back and take over command for Cookie Cutter, get a medic or two to keep you stable and try to hold out a bit longer. We'll see what we can do about getting you a bit more support.

"Oi, get Captain Dive Bomb up and functional again as soon as possible! Don't care if you all drop from exhaustion doing so, just get it done! I've gotta contact home base about something, so get it done! Soldier, return to the battlefield and keep that wall occupied!"

Corsair let the ponies do their work. It wasn't his job any more, and he had no intention of upsetting that situation. Without another word, he turned and disappeared back into the forest.



Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

There is a scientific theory regarding the existence of 'white holes', objects in space that are much akin to the relativistic reverse of black holes. In this case, while the latter attracts mass and light in its pull, a white hole would push them away with likely the same force.

After pulling in the room's light, Taylor the White Hole decides to do something about that excess energy. A brief instant occurs in which his manipulation of energy is at its equilibrium, and his magic is stilled. This is followed by an explosion of light and concussive energy that pushes with the force of a charging bear on everything in the room.

With the debris cleared (for the moment), he follows up with a blast of superheated plasma, disgorging the energy from his horn towards any of Sure Strike's limbs that he can get a bead on - though notably not at any fatal locations.

The speed of sound, meanwhile, is occupied. "SOL ET LUNUS INVENIRE GLADIATOR!


Poor nurse. First poisoned, and now blown and flung against the wall, with only a small whimper to indicate her distress. One wonders if she had suffered injuries, being flung around like that.


[Siege Crossbow]
Prose narrows his eye at the ponies on the other side of the ballista. He briefly weighs his options - before sweeping his wing down, trying to cut the cord with his talons.

Assuming the cable is cut, he kicks off from the ballista, launching himself airborne towards Bridle Shores. With a dismissive look back at the ballista team, he flaps his wings and hurls himself headlong into the dense woods, swiftly flying back towards the besieged settlement. These ponies aren't worth his time or concern; he has bigger things to worry about.

The Shadowbolt zig-zags through the trees, keeping his senses open for any signs of other enemy activity as he heads home. Siege teams, snipers, reinforcements, traps or tricks...


[Forest]
Prose might or might not notice that he was being shadowed for several moments.Just as he passes a particularly large tree, a bulky figure lunges at the pony from the side, attempting to tackle him to the ground.

If that succeeds, Prose might notice the tell-tale glint of sharp talons slashing down on him even as they tumble towards the ground.

If he managed to dodge that, he'd inevitably instead run headlong into an awaiting Stuka, knife already out, barring his way. "Line ends here, pony," the griffon snarled, before diving in to attack.

Lycan 01
2014-01-27, 03:08 AM
[Forest Ambush]

Prose notices he's being shadowed at the last moment. He looks back to see who or what his pursuers are, unfortunately just as the ambush is about to be sprung. Prose is caught off guard, and finds himself slammed to the ground by the griffon who tackles him.

However, the griffon has chosen the wrong batpony to grapple with, as hoof-to-claw combat happens to be Prose's best fighting style. As such, the moment the griffon tries to come at him with claws, the odds immediately turn against the grif's favor. "Unwise," Prose states simply, narrowing his eye as he moves to defend himself.

Prose twists himself around a bit, and angles himself to that the talons miss his flesh and instead strike the armor over his shoulders, sending sparks flying as the blow glances off. He then follows up with a pair of strikes of his own - a forehoof slamming upwards into the griffon's throat, attempting to strike and possibly collapse his trachea, and a raking swipe of his left wing's talons, attempting to slice through the griffon's extended forearm and several his major tendons and arteries. Neither strike should be immediately lethal, but a crushing blow to the throat should leave him gasping and possibly trying to pop his trachea back open, while such a devastating blow to the wrist could cause severe bleeding and perhaps even permanent loss of function for that hand without proper treatment.

Essentially, the griffon has invited himself into a world of hurt by trying to go toe-to-toe with the Shadowbolt. Assuming he's disabled by the one-two strike, Prose flings the griffon off of him, hops up, and looks to see if there are more attacks coming his way.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-27, 07:33 PM
[Cirrus]


"So what do you think, Mr Shores? That sound good?" Silverpine continued, cheerfully oblivious to any sort of hesitant behaviour from his engineer. :smalltongue:

Every fiber of Sandy's being dreaded the disaster that awaited if he couldn't stall this plan. But the questions that would inevitably follow his protests terrified him even more. "Y-yeah. Sure doesh." He faintly heard his own voice as if it were speaking from another plane entirely. "Just...gotta take a few an' spruce up...get my goodsh uniform on...clean up from th' enginesh...be right there." He switched off his communicator, and immediately a wave of nausea struck him square in the gut, forcing him to lean against the wall for support. He cupped his forehead in his hoof, struck dumb from shock and the utter hopelessness of his predicament.

[Guardhouse]


The cloaked mare snorts and responds to the filly with a mocking tone. "Then you'd be a cute little vegetable on the floor and we'd be walking straight to our destination without having to listen to you prattle on like this."

"We're nearly there, so stow the chatter for now." Mask says while peering around a corner.

The two groups meet at the cells themselves, with Mask merely raising an eyebrow as his troops immediately take a guarded position, crossbows and spears pointed straight at the pony in dark armor.

Divine Knowledge, in all her cloaked mystery, merely powers up her horn while also raising an eyebrow at the sight.

"Mmm, looks the part, but you don't really seem all that awe-inspiring." Is the first observation by Mask while Divine shoots him a look.

"What? Our Leader is awe-inspiring, this one just has cool armor."



Glowing green eyes shrink behind a helmet, examining the scene before them. He tilts his head slowly, pulling out the gravitas he earned from 27 years of out-Dothing Doth. "Lower your weapons or lose the limbs holding them." He says in a volume most conversational, though the tone holds a threat of performing much worse acts than those promised. His head turns to Mask and Divine, then, as if their lackeys were not there. "I see this phase is going well, barring a problem I will address shortly. Your setbacks were minimal, I trust?" He indicates Passe.

Behind him, Mountain Bloom looks as though she's trying to wake herself from a dream, but can't quite manage it. Her eyes, glazed over, shift from movement to movement, but never hold contact with any other pair.

"...I hope that problem is this brigand's utter lack of decency." Passe mutters moodily, just loud enough to be 'accidentally' overheard. Inwardly, the filly despairingly cast her thoughts to the Princess. Where was her feathering backup? She'd lead them on the most circuitous route to the cells she could think of without arousing too much suspicion. There had to be something, anything she could do to buy time.


[Walltop - Western Gate]

The defenders enter an uneasy stalemate.

By all accounts, the battle should be theirs. With the injuries inflicted on the enemy, combined with the freedom to return to their ballista, only time separated them from driving them off. They had bolts to spare; the enemy only had so many unicorns making shields, and siege engines never grow tired. But lurking at the forefront of everypony's mind is the gate.

Battered, burned, and now blasted, the once-sturdy gates could collapse with one successful charge. And if the enemy could manage to breach the walls with the forces they had left, not a pony could predict the kind of damage they'd inflict, or even if they could be stopped before the fight turned into a full rout. And with enough archers and mages and musket-griffons on their side, a counter-charge was out of the question.

There was little else they could do but exchange arrows, hammer away at their fortifications, destroy any golems that got too close, and pray to Luna that they lacked the forces for a decisive strike.

[West Gate - Ground Level]


Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Bottom

What these two are now pulling would be utterly cartoonish if they weren't actually cartoons. Weapons drawn, they are moving forward, slowly but surely, putting the battering ram in front of them. They crouch, which impedes their alacrity, but keeps the cover working as it should. The ram itself is picking up speed, and its momentum is quite a bit harder to stop than that of the ponies pushing it ahead...right towards the hunkered down opposition.

Whenever a golem passes within hooves' reach, they swing out their weapons to destroy or maim them. With their orders being, presumably, to charge the gate and not two random ponies, it shouldn't be hard. And if the ram happens to crush a few while it rolls, well, so much the better.

Before the two ponies can make much headway, a voice beckons from behind them. "Hold! You two! Bring that ram back to the gates!" Should they peer over their shoulders, they'd spy an armored head peering out from between the splintered gates and waving them back.

(I leave repsonding to Shell Shock in the hands of some other pony)

Grif
2014-01-28, 11:36 AM
[Forest Ambush]

Prose notices he's being shadowed at the last moment. He looks back to see who or what his pursuers are, unfortunately just as the ambush is about to be sprung. Prose is caught off guard, and finds himself slammed to the ground by the griffon who tackles him.

However, the griffon has chosen the wrong batpony to grapple with, as hoof-to-claw combat happens to be Prose's best fighting style. As such, the moment the griffon tries to come at him with claws, the odds immediately turn against the grif's favor. "Unwise," Prose states simply, narrowing his eye as he moves to defend himself.

Prose twists himself around a bit, and angles himself to that the talons miss his flesh and instead strike the armor over his shoulders, sending sparks flying as the blow glances off. He then follows up with a pair of strikes of his own - a forehoof slamming upwards into the griffon's throat, attempting to strike and possibly collapse his trachea, and a raking swipe of his left wing's talons, attempting to slice through the griffon's extended forearm and several his major tendons and arteries. Neither strike should be immediately lethal, but a crushing blow to the throat should leave him gasping and possibly trying to pop his trachea back open, while such a devastating blow to the wrist could cause severe bleeding and perhaps even permanent loss of function for that hand without proper treatment.

Essentially, the griffon has invited himself into a world of hurt by trying to go toe-to-toe with the Shadowbolt. Assuming he's disabled by the one-two strike, Prose flings the griffon off of him, hops up, and looks to see if there are more attacks coming his way.

[Forest Ambush]
Wildcat wasn't having the best day. Having a hoof slammed into your throat would do that to anypony. The griffon let out a weak gurgle as his airways momentarily was cut off, staggering backwards in rapid confusion and shock, and only narrowly missing what would have been a double blow by pure chance, sustaining only a nasty laceration on his forelimb. Of course, Prose would be able to push off the griffon easily, who quickly slumped to the ground.

"Impressive work, pony. But your time ends here," Stuka said from the shadows of the forest above Prose, mere moments before she flinged the knife she had held in one paw, before launching herself directly at the Shadowbolt. Not one for subtlety, griffons.

Lycan 01
2014-01-28, 03:12 PM
[Forest Ambush]


[Forest Ambush]
Wildcat wasn't having the best day. Having a hoof slammed into your throat would do that to anypony. The griffon let out a weak gurgle as his airways momentarily was cut off, staggering backwards in rapid confusion and shock, and only narrowly missing what would have been a double blow by pure chance, sustaining only a nasty laceration on his forelimb. Of course, Prose would be able to push off the griffon easily, who quickly slumped to the ground.

"Impressive work, pony. But your time ends here," Stuka said from the shadows of the forest above Prose, mere moments before she flinged the knife she had held in one paw, before launching herself directly at the Shadowbolt. Not one for subtlety, griffons.

"Ack!" Prose squawks in surprise, jerking his head to the side to barely avoid the knife flung his way. He then frantically flaps his wings to jump to the side, barely managing to dodge the griffon's lunge, as the remaining bolts in the quarrel on his back rattle loudly. Whatever poise and subtlety he had before seem to have evaporated in the face of a capable, threatening rival. He hurls himself back a bit to put more distance between himself and the attacker, before landing awkwardly and staggering back a bit. His right hind leg nearly buckles, and he winces in pain. It would seem that being tackled left him injured, or he was already nursing a wound from before.

"Hey now, can't we talk about this?" he asks, sounding strained and pained, uncertainty and a hint of fear in his eye as he looks at the griffoness who is no doubt circling around for another attack. "C'mon, I'm sure we can... urg... come to a reasonable understanding?" he asks, grunting in pain as he limps back a bit, like a cornered animal trying to put as much space between itself and its predator.

It's all an act, of course.

He purposefully cut it close with dodging the knife and tackle, and he's faking the injury and fear. Deception and misrepresentation are favored skills of the Shadowbolts, after all, and Prose's own talents at communication and expression are quite useful for expressing truths... or lies.

Hopefully the griffoness will think he's easy prey, underestimate him, and either be obvious or leave herself wide open with her next attack, allowing for him to either counter with his own cunning brutality, or keep up the masquerade until a suitable opportunity presents itself.

PurityIcekiller
2014-01-30, 12:17 AM
[The Wall]

That magic looks familiar... You? I should have killed you when I had the chance. But for now, you can feel some pain. Blueshield took aim at the location of Aegis's horn-light, then let fly with a green-tipped acid quarrel.

She next fired her last green-tipped bolt at Rock Star. To whom it may concern: My apologies for the distraction. Hopefully, the acid would either mess up their concentration or melt through their defences, giving other archers a clear shot.

With her special shots exhausted, Blueshield turned toward her companions. "I should go. The gate needs reinforcing. Keep them occupied!" She then started heading down from the wall.

[The Clinic]

Night Jewel glanced up for a moment, hearing the sounds of hoofsteps above. "Hurry..."

Less worrying, more getting things done.

With that little bit of self-reminder, she turned her attention back to the task at hoof.

I'll have to use my invisible light spell for this. I don't have other magic of the "cast and leave going" kind, and focusing on two spells at once is a little overwhelming.

She carefully tied the spell into the matrix as a power source. She wouldn't be able to see as far in the dark or make mechanical adjustments as quickly, but it was a small price to pay.

Is that it?

Patience, girl. Do you want the spell or not?

I want it, but I don't want to be too late to prevent disaster.

Grif
2014-01-30, 11:19 AM
[Forest Ambush]
"Ack!" Prose squawks in surprise, jerking his head to the side to barely avoid the knife flung his way. He then frantically flaps his wings to jump to the side, barely managing to dodge the griffon's lunge, as the remaining bolts in the quarrel on his back rattle loudly. Whatever poise and subtlety he had before seem to have evaporated in the face of a capable, threatening rival. He hurls himself back a bit to put more distance between himself and the attacker, before landing awkwardly and staggering back a bit. His right hind leg nearly buckles, and he winces in pain. It would seem that being tackled left him injured, or he was already nursing a wound from before.


A small smile graced Stuka's normally stoic expression, as her predatory eyes watched the pony stumble. For so long, she had answered the dignified call of ranged combat, and forgone her griffon heritage. Seeing how she seemed to have not lost her touch was gratifying. Stuka casually walked over to retrieve her knife, lodged in the ground, and hefted it again with an easy grace.


"Hey now, can't we talk about this?" he asks, sounding strained and pained, uncertainty and a hint of fear in his eye as he looks at the griffoness who is no doubt circling around for another attack. "C'mon, I'm sure we can... urg... come to a reasonable understanding?" he asks, grunting in pain as he limps back a bit, like a cornered animal trying to put as much space between itself and its predator.

"Seeing how you seemed to have made short work of our siege team, perhaps not." Stuka raised her knife again, stalking forward menacingly. "Say your last words, my little pony. Your death would be painless, I promise." Then the griffon broke into a run, closing in fast, her knife held in one clawed hand. She'd try to slam her shoulder into Prose, and use her momentum to drive the pony to the ground and slice his throat cleanly. It's quite likely Prose could easily fend off this attack though. :smalltongue: Stuka wasn't quite up to date with her hand-to-hand combat skills, but she still has the speed and power of a griffon behind her.

MCerberus
2014-01-30, 11:29 AM
[Forest - Support Personnel]
They quickly take Dive Bomb from the griffon as the poor captain had given no response to the underpaid mercenary and set to getting him healed up, one unicorn in particular casting a quick spell that echoes in the heads of a few particular ponies

Relay reporting in! Captain Dive Bomb has been located! He's injured and unconscious, but alive for now. Resources show that the gate has been compromised, finish your assignments quickly and make for the rendezvous point at the Eastern and Southern walls. Will be sending escort teams to extract you after the sun is down.

A messenger soon shows up and relays what's been happening with the gates, bleeding all over the place.

"Of course we're getting pushed back." Relay says with a frown before powering up his spell again.

Rock Star, fall back and take over command for Cookie Cutter, get a medic or two to keep you stable and try to hold out a bit longer. We'll see what we can do about getting you a bit more support.

"Oi, get Captain Dive Bomb up and functional again as soon as possible! Don't care if you all drop from exhaustion doing so, just get it done! I've gotta contact home base about something, so get it done! Soldier, return to the battlefield and keep that wall occupied!"

Forest

Well, it seems Staccata managed to come across an enemy mercenary band. While it would be unlikely that they'd be amiable to talk before calling for help, there may be some paperwork or messages to rifle through. Plus they're distracted so there's that.

The mare waits for one of the mercs to get themselves separated. Then she'll sneak over and introduce somepony's back of the skull to a blade hilt.

Benson
2014-01-30, 01:08 PM
[Cirrus]
Every fiber of Sandy's being dreaded the disaster that awaited if he couldn't stall this plan. But the questions that would inevitably follow his protests terrified him even more. "Y-yeah. Sure doesh." He faintly heard his own voice as if it were speaking from another plane entirely. "Just...gotta take a few an' spruce up...get my goodsh uniform on...clean up from th' enginesh...be right there." He switched off his communicator, and immediately a wave of nausea struck him square in the gut, forcing him to lean against the wall for support. He cupped his forehead in his hoof, struck dumb from shock and the utter hopelessness of his predicament.


"Sandy Shores....do you require...assistance?....You seem to have taken an unwell turn, in which I will presume is due to the orders your superiors gave you, which in turn, makes me assume you do not want to do this." Miss M raised a brow and stared at the little stallion.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-30, 04:17 PM
"Sandy Shores....do you require...assistance?....You seem to have taken an unwell turn, in which I will presume is due to the orders your superiors gave you, which in turn, makes me assume you do not want to do this." Miss M raised a brow and stared at the little stallion.

Sandy peeked out at her over his hoof, eyes glassy and devoid of their usual luster. "You don't undershtand nothin'...Balboa Shagsh th' richest an' biggest pony in all Equestria...Luna besidesh...I can't turn down a meetin' with him. But I can't...I'm drunked!" He threw his forehooves into the air, sliding down the wall onto his haunches. "Drunked on duty an' Bobla Hag wantsh t'see me?! Howsa...how'm I shupposhed t'do that, when I can't even trot shtraigtsh? M'gonna make a fool o' me an' th' ship an' th' crew an' th' Cap'n...ohhhhhhhhh Cap'n......m'sorry....."

What little emotional fire he had left sputtered out, leaving him stranded and wallowing in a wine-soaked despair. The little stallion turned pleading eyes upon the vampony. "Please...Missh M, you gotta help me..." he begged her.

Lycan 01
2014-01-30, 06:43 PM
[Forest Ambush]

Prose looks even more fearful as she picks up her knife, and he awkwardly limps a bit further back. Mentally, though, he's running countless scenarios through his head, estimating odds and considering various grapples and counters that work best against knives. "I didn't sign up for this..." he whimpers with faux cowardice.

His eye goes wide in terror as she charges him! He looks like a deer in headlights, totally petrified in fear and indecison!

At least until the last second. Just before she slams her shoulder into Prose, the batpony gives a sudden flap of his wings, hurling himself up and to the side, moving to aerially sidestep Stuka so she charges right past him. And since she was leading with her shoulder, that should mean she's turned slightly, so sidestepping her should allow Prose to have a shot at her back as she passes.

With lightning speed and precision, Prose spins around in mid-air, before lashing out with both hind legs to deliver a crushing kick to the back of Stuka's head as she passes him by. Her forward momentum should mitigate most of the potential damage, at least enough to avoid being outright killed or knocked out. But a hit like that is still sure to cause some damage, perhaps even stunning or disorienting her.

Gnomish Wanderer
2014-01-30, 08:14 PM
[West Gate]

What fortunate timing. Shell Shock flinched as a piece of metal from the gate sailed right in front of him just as he was about to turn the corner.

"Oi! Don't you know these things can maim somepony?" he called out cheerfully to the defenders as he peeped around, raising a hoof to stop Flash Bang from progressing further once she caught up with him. "Now who's tryin' to ram the gates down?"

(I leave it to whoever to answer. I believe there's quite a number of characters at the gates.)Flash Bang skitted to a stop when Shell Shock called out, coming just short of his hoof to slow her, ears twitching this way and that excitedly. She scuffed the ground impatiently. "We goin'na stand around here all day then?"

Benson
2014-01-31, 04:20 AM
Sandy peeked out at her over his hoof, eyes glassy and devoid of their usual luster. "You don't undershtand nothin'...Balboa Shagsh th' richest an' biggest pony in all Equestria...Luna besidesh...I can't turn down a meetin' with him. But I can't...I'm drunked!" He threw his forehooves into the air, sliding down the wall onto his haunches. "Drunked on duty an' Bobla Hag wantsh t'see me?! Howsa...how'm I shupposhed t'do that, when I can't even trot shtraigtsh? M'gonna make a fool o' me an' th' ship an' th' crew an' th' Cap'n...ohhhhhhhhh Cap'n......m'sorry....."

What little emotional fire he had left sputtered out, leaving him stranded and wallowing in a wine-soaked despair. The little stallion turned pleading eyes upon the vampony. "Please...Missh M, you gotta help me..." he begged her.

Miss M winced and stepped back. "And how is it that you hope for me to help you? You're not going to ask me to glamour you into thinking you're sober are you?" She raised a brow and wrinkled her muzzle, the latter due to his smell.

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-31, 09:25 AM
Miss M winced and stepped back. "And how is it that you hope for me to help you? You're not going to ask me to glamour you into thinking you're sober are you?" She raised a brow and wrinkled her muzzle, the latter due to his smell.

"...would that actshully work?" Sandy asked timidly, awkwardly clopping his forehooves together.

Benson
2014-01-31, 12:34 PM
"...would that actshully work?" Sandy asked timidly, awkwardly clopping his forehooves together.


Hoof in mouth and all that jazz. "Uh...eh...perhaps..in theory it can block off the parts of the brain that dictate itself to be inebriated, though when it wears off you may be in for a massive hangover, mayhaps."

TheAmishPirate
2014-01-31, 11:51 PM
Hoof in mouth and all that jazz. "Uh...eh...perhaps..in theory it can block off the parts of the brain that dictate itself to be inebriated, though when it wears off you may be in for a massive hangover, mayhaps."

"Hangoversh better than th' alternative. Headachesh go 'way; demeritsh go on your...permanent record." The little stallion shuddered; fate worse than death, that was. "It'sh either y'suck out th' alcohol, I getsh too beat up t'go, or glamoursh. Th' firsht's impossiblesh, Rainbow'll kill me if I get busht up, so that jusht leaf th' sparkly eyes." Sandy blinked, then set his wide eyes upon Miss M's. "I'm ready whenever yoush are."

Benson
2014-02-01, 11:46 PM
"Hangoversh better than th' alternative. Headachesh go 'way; demeritsh go on your...permanent record." The little stallion shuddered; fate worse than death, that was. "It'sh either y'suck out th' alcohol, I getsh too beat up t'go, or glamoursh. Th' firsht's impossiblesh, Rainbow'll kill me if I get busht up, so that jusht leaf th' sparkly eyes." Sandy blinked, then set his wide eyes upon Miss M's. "I'm ready whenever yoush are."

Miss M hesitated for a moment, looking at the desperately eager stallion before her. After a few moments she looked him in his eyes, locking on to them. Her eyes flicked its magical blue aura, hypnotizing the stallion. Within Sandy he would feel an odd mental command take hold of his mind.

A moment later Miss M closed her eyes and took her gaze away.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-02, 12:19 AM
Miss M hesitated for a moment, looking at the desperately eager stallion before her. After a few moments she looked him in his eyes, locking on to them. Her eyes flicked its magical blue aura, hypnotizing the stallion. Within Sandy he would feel an odd mental command take hold of his mind.

A moment later Miss M closed her eyes and took her gaze away.

Sandy blinked back to reality, wondering if he'd even left in the first place. Already his mind had filled the gap in his memories and blurred over those few seconds. Even thinking as hard as he could, nothing seemed to-

I can think straight again!

He tested a jog in place, then standing on three hooves, then two, then a little backflip for good measure. His legs were as sturdy as the metal they were standing on. "I...I think it worked!" he exclaimed, then checked his forehead. "No headache. I'm talkin', I'm talkin', sing a song o' six pies an' m'voice is back t'normal too! It worked!" With a triumphant laugh, he wrapped his forelegs around Miss M - heedless of her chill body - and hugged her tightly. "Thank y'Miss M! I...I owe you..."

Sandy's throat choked with a rush of emotion, and he squeezed the undead mare tighter. Then just as quickly, he let her go, feeling intensely ashamed and embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry...t'ask more of you. It w-won't happen...I'll chuck out th' rest of th' wine...uh..." He slowly backed away. "I...I ought t'go get ready t'go...thanks..."

Grif
2014-02-02, 12:29 AM
[Forest Ambush]

Prose looks even more fearful as she picks up her knife, and he awkwardly limps a bit further back. Mentally, though, he's running countless scenarios through his head, estimating odds and considering various grapples and counters that work best against knives. "I didn't sign up for this..." he whimpers with faux cowardice.

His eye goes wide in terror as she charges him! He looks like a deer in headlights, totally petrified in fear and indecison!

At least until the last second. Just before she slams her shoulder into Prose, the batpony gives a sudden flap of his wings, hurling himself up and to the side, moving to aerially sidestep Stuka so she charges right past him. And since she was leading with her shoulder, that should mean she's turned slightly, so sidestepping her should allow Prose to have a shot at her back as she passes.

With lightning speed and precision, Prose spins around in mid-air, before lashing out with both hind legs to deliver a crushing kick to the back of Stuka's head as she passes him by. Her forward momentum should mitigate most of the potential damage, at least enough to avoid being outright killed or knocked out. But a hit like that is still sure to cause some damage, perhaps even stunning or disorienting her.

What the... was the thought that flashed through Stuka's mind as the injured pony magically disappeared from her view. The griffon sailed past the Shadowbolt, already trying to adjust and pivot to avoid the inevitable retaliation.

All in vain. Prose's aim was true and the griffon lurched forward sickeningly, flung to the ground by the force of the kick head-first, the knife clattering to the ground some distance away. There, for a moment, Stuka lay disorientated, her world swirling about in a blurry slush. But her griffon instincts was strong, and even in her state, she tried to push herself up. Anything, to stave off what would be the killing blow.

Prose would have a golden chance to end the fight now, if he wished.

Benson
2014-02-02, 01:25 AM
Sandy blinked back to reality, wondering if he'd even left in the first place. Already his mind had filled the gap in his memories and blurred over those few seconds. Even thinking as hard as he could, nothing seemed to-

I can think straight again!

He tested a jog in place, then standing on three hooves, then two, then a little backflip for good measure. His legs were as sturdy as the metal they were standing on. "I...I think it worked!" he exclaimed, then checked his forehead. "No headache. I'm talkin', I'm talkin', sing a song o' six pies an' m'voice is back t'normal too! It worked!" With a triumphant laugh, he wrapped his forelegs around Miss M - heedless of her chill body - and hugged her tightly. "Thank y'Miss M! I...I owe you..."

Sandy's throat choked with a rush of emotion, and he squeezed the undead mare tighter. Then just as quickly, he let her go, feeling intensely ashamed and embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry...t'ask more of you. It w-won't happen...I'll chuck out th' rest of th' wine...uh..." He slowly backed away. "I...I ought t'go get ready t'go...thanks..."

The red vampony was taken aback, her eyes slightly wide, her body frozen as it also tensed up. A soft gulp sounded from her throat as she stared at Sandy awkwardly, though his odor was still offending, there was something about feeling the warmth of this happy and grateful stallion that she did not mind it. You know, rather than swat him away for invading her personal space.

"Uh...uhm...you're welcomed Sandy Shores," She said awkwardly, it was weird feeling, a warm hug. She had only hugged Zephyr a few times and those were of course, cold ones.

Lycan 01
2014-02-02, 03:36 AM
[Forest Ambush]

Lucky for Stuka, there is no final death blow.

Unlucky for Stuka, Prose does however follow up with another powerful roundhouse kick, bucking both of his hind-legs to deliver a crushing blow to her nearest wing. Should it land, the strike should snap bone, bruise flesh, and rend out feathers with ease, leaving her wing completely ruined until she can get proper medical attention.

The strike won't end her life. But it'll certainly end her role in today's battle, and perhaps others to come.

Whether the strike lands and fully does its job or not, Prose quickly takes flight. He plucks up Stuka's fallen knife in his teeth, before zipping back into the trees, and making his way back towards Bridle Shores.

Hopefully he can get back to the town without any further interruptions or ambushes...

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-02, 04:03 PM
The red vampony was taken aback, her eyes slightly wide, her body frozen as it also tensed up. A soft gulp sounded from her throat as she stared at Sandy awkwardly, though his odor was still offending, there was something about feeling the warmth of this happy and grateful stallion that she did not mind it. You know, rather than swat him away for invading her personal space.

"Uh...uhm...you're welcomed Sandy Shores," She said awkwardly, it was weird feeling, a warm hug. She had only hugged Zephyr a few times and those were of course, cold ones.

And thus, the most awkward hug in the history of all the Cirrus concluded, with both parties slinking their separate, horrendously confused ways...

[A few minutes later...]

Sandy Shores - now clean, sober, and in his freshly-ironed dress uniform and cap - marched to where Hay Bale, Gearstride, and Silverpine were waiting. He'd considered a pair of goggles to hide the slight blueish tint in his eyes, but reasoned he could get away without it. One could hardly see it in the daylight, and only if they looked too closely. He'd be fine.

He threw his Captain and Lieutenant a smart, decidedly-not-drunk salute. "Sargent Sandy Shores, reportin' an' ready for duty. 'Pologies for th' wait, engines needed a last bit of tunin'."

As for Hay Bale, it would appear as though either the crew was playing an incredibly elaborate prank on her, or Balboa's guest of honor was no more than 12. And knew how to fix an airship. And had made an impressive rank for his age. And spoke with a stallion's voice.

...a very ambitious 12-year-old, then. :smallwink:

HalfTangible
2014-02-02, 04:37 PM
[A few minutes later...]

Sandy Shores - now clean, sober, and in his freshly-ironed dress uniform and cap - marched to where Hay Bale, Gearstride, and Silverpine were waiting. He'd considered a pair of goggles to hide the slight blueish tint in his eyes, but reasoned he could get away without it. One could hardly see it in the daylight, and only if they looked too closely. He'd be fine.

He threw his Captain and Lieutenant a smart, decidedly-not-drunk salute. "Sargent Sandy Shores, reportin' an' ready for duty. 'Pologies for th' wait."

As for Hay Bale, it would appear as though either the crew was playing an incredibly elaborate prank on her, or Balboa's guest of honor was no more than 12. And had made an impressive rank for his age. And spoke with a stallion's voice.

...a very ambitious 12-year-old, then. :smallwink:

And thus did most of Hay Bale's numerous fantasies deflate as she stared at the 12 year old. ... You look kinda young to be an engineer or a sergeant for that matter but okay. Shall we go?

Benson
2014-02-02, 10:39 PM
The Cirrus

Oof, a very awkward hug indeed. After Sandy left, Miss M disappeared somewhere on the ship...
--


"Heya Sergeant Shores, no need to apologize, the wait wasn't that long," She smiled at him and gave him a salute back, then glanced at Hay Bale. Just then a robotic voice announced its presence.
--

"Unit A.I.D.A reporting for duty, what are my orders?" A brown, black with a few yellow highlights clockwork mini dragon wheeled into the middle of the pow wow standing a few feet from Sandy. It whirred and buzzed, its optic eyes briefly flashing over Sandy for a moment, for reasons. It then turned to face Silverpine and Gearstride.

Grif
2014-02-03, 08:55 AM
The Cirrus

Oof, a very awkward hug indeed. After Sandy left, Miss M disappeared somewhere on the ship...
--


"Heya Sergeant Shores, no need to apologize, the wait wasn't that long," She smiled at him and gave him a salute back, then glanced at Hay Bale. Just then a robotic voice announced its presence.
--

"Unit A.I.D.A reporting for duty, what are my orders?" A brown, black with a few yellow highlights clockwork mini dragon wheeled into the middle of the pow wow standing a few feet from Sandy. It whirred and buzzed, its optic eyes briefly flashing over Sandy for a moment, for reasons. It then turned to face Silverpine and Gearstride.

Silverpine was just about to echo Gearstride's sentiments when AIDA inevitably cut him off. The lieutenant glanced at the robot with a little frown, noting yet again that it has somehow managed to sneak up on him without his knowledge. "Ah yes, A.I.D.A. Mr Shores and our guest here require urgent transport to Manehattan*. You do have that artificial teleportation device installed right?"


[Forest Ambush]

Lucky for Stuka, there is no final death blow.

Unlucky for Stuka, Prose does however follow up with another powerful roundhouse kick, bucking both of his hind-legs to deliver a crushing blow to her nearest wing. Should it land, the strike should snap bone, bruise flesh, and rend out feathers with ease, leaving her wing completely ruined until she can get proper medical attention.

The strike won't end her life. But it'll certainly end her role in today's battle, and perhaps others to come.

Whether the strike lands and fully does its job or not, Prose quickly takes flight. He plucks up Stuka's fallen knife in his teeth, before zipping back into the trees, and making his way back towards Bridle Shores.

Hopefully he can get back to the town without any further interruptions or ambushes...

Stuka thought she was prepared for death. She wasn't prepared for the exquisite pain of having a wing crushed. The sheer intensity of the sensations coursing through her body made her squeeze her eyes shut, a pained, tortured shriek escaping her throat. The griffoness collapsed back onto the ground, whimpering incoherently, her entire body paralysed momentarily from the shock of pain.

With Wildcat still struggling to get up from his previous injury, the way seemed clear for Prose to quickly get back to the town...

Benson
2014-02-03, 01:29 PM
Silverpine was just about to echo Gearstride's sentiments when AIDA inevitably cut him off. The lieutenant glanced at the robot with a little frown, noting yet again that it has somehow managed to sneak up on him without his knowledge. "Ah yes, A.I.D.A. Mr Shores and our guest here require urgent transport to Manehattan*. You do have that artificial teleportation device installed right?"

"Yes Lieutenant Silverpine Last Name. Teleportation device installed and operational. Whirr." The clockwork dragon replied without a beat.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-03, 01:43 PM
[Cirrus]


And thus did most of Hay Bale's numerous fantasies deflate as she stared at the 12 year old. ... You look kinda young to be an engineer or a sergeant for that matter but okay. Shall we go?

Sandy struggled to maintain his firm salute, straining to smile politely. "B-beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but I ain't that young. S'at least one pony my junior on this crew."

Awww, how cute. The little colt was playing grown-up. :smalltongue:

"But aye; ready t'leave when you are, ma'am."


"Heya Sergeant Shores, no need to apologize, the wait wasn't that long," She smiled at him and gave him a salute back, then glanced at Hay Bale.

Sandy stood at attention, stiff and stern and unshakable-




"Unit A.I.D.A reporting for duty, what are my orders?"

"Yipe!" He leaped away from the clockwork dragon that just appeared next to him. The little engineer shot the dragon an irritated glare, before snapping back to attention.

HalfTangible
2014-02-03, 02:12 PM
[Cirrus]



Sandy struggled to maintain his firm salute, straining to smile politely. "B-beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but I ain't that young. S'at least one pony my junior on this crew."

Awww, how cute. The little colt was playing grown-up. :smalltongue:

"But aye; ready t'leave when you are, ma'am."

She blinked at this, then glared at Gearstride and Silverpine, eyebrow cocked. Don't they have laws against things like that? Or is Sandy actually 35 and got hit by a misfired age spell or something? That happens a lot.



"Yes Lieutenant Silverpine Last Name. Teleportation device installed and operational. Whirr." The clockwork dragon replied without a beat.

Without missing a beat, Hay Bale proceeded to give the exact coordinates for Balboa's front door. How she knew this off the top of her head was anyone's guess.

Merellis
2014-02-03, 07:05 PM
[Hospital - First Floor]
The wave of light surged towards the blind mare as she reared up in apparant surprise. There was no way to dodge this, no way to break it, no way to escape the room in time. So all she could do was meet it head-on and endure what was coming.

Two glowing hooves smash into the oncoming surge of magic and Sure Strike, instead of being thrown away, was being shoved back. The floor showed a deep groove from her back legs were, but how did she manage that?

That pause, the ever so brief pause, was all the time she needed to smash her legs into the floor and anchor herself. As the effect of the surge fell away she slammed her fore-hooves into the floor and attacked the wall behind her with a vicious bucking of her hind-legs!

The results of those two near simultaneous attacks was immediately apparent. The ceiling above began to crumble apart as did the floor below with everything falling towards the basement.

While Sure Strike would usually take this moment to get air-born and smash her way past the falling rubble, there was no chance for that as she had to throw herself to the side to avoid the beams from Doctor Sunshine.

Lets see how things fare for the dueling duo in the basement shall we?


[Hospital - Third Floor]

Bumble buzzes through the doors to the third floor even as she skids to the scrambling halt from the cracking and shaking of the floors below losing some integrity from the attack of her partner. The assassin briefly ponders about going back down and assisting her companion in whatever sort of trouble she found herself in, but the situation could be anything... Could even be her walking into the death of her comrade.

The buzzing bee of a pony zips through the third floor looking for any sign of a guard. If Sure Strike was dead, it sure as Tartarus won't come at the cost of a failed mission.


[Support Group]

Dive Bomb soon finds himself able to stand, though still feeling a bit woozy from his early ordeal. The attendants that had been assisting him back off immediately as his manic stare meets every one of their fearful ones.

"I need a teleporter, now." His voice is raspy, weak, and he looks like he can barely stand. Even so, Captain Dive Bomb throws on his goggles and spreads his wings. "No time for questions, just one of you teleport me where I tell you to as fast as you can then shift back to here."

"Relay, get some backup en-route while I get our troops in order again!" He orders with a semblance of his usual enthusiasm and bravado. With that said and done, a unicorn charges his horn and both he and the captain disappear.

Relay walks off to get some peace and quiet for the annoyance of chatting with home base, they were always so annoying about procedure there. Sadly, this pony had no idea there was a sneaky fighter from the town just looking for somepony to wander off from the herd.


[Far, Far, Far Above the Gates.]

They pop into existence again as a duo before the unicorn fades away again, leaving only Dive Bomb as he already begins to angle himself for a dive. "Cloud cover isn't worth much when it's boiling your troops alive is it?" The pegasus then dives straight down from so far above that to any with normal sight, the town itself is a mere marble against a sea of green and blue.

The shimmering field of heat starts to gather again, growing larger and larger as he keeps his course locked tight. Pity to those who are below, but not too much pity.


[West Gate]

The shimmering wall of a shield holds against the onslaught for a bit as Rock Star closes the gaps between the walls and even strengthens them as two healing ponies pour their magic into her. Aegis's shield soon falters though, allowing the ranged assault to begin hitting their defenses again, but this time the ponies are ready and able to fight back while hiding behind their strengthened walls and trenches for cover.

The very walls that the Dark Army hides behind seems to have taken on a peculiar sheen, happening just as Aegis' magic faltered.

It would seem both sides are at a stalemate when it comes to cover now.


[Guardhouse]

"Lets be honest here, the gate isn't breached yet and you weren't sent in with our other strike teams." Mask says with a disappointed sigh at this rather sad sight of a bluff as a good number of his soldiers trained their weapons onto the pony in dark armor, with one of them still keeping her own crossbow on their filly of a hostage.

"You're a good deal too early to even be playing that card, and lets not even get into the details about how idiotic your approach was." He lets out a laugh as the bars from the jail cells are torn off by supposedly solid shadows, each a metal spear pointed directly at the duo that had interrupted them.

And just to make matters worse, the massive pegasus and his four soldiers round the corner, immediately hoisting up their own weapons at the sight of Mask and Divine engaging with the enemy.

"Now how about the little one lowers her weapon, you take off the armor, and the day doesn't end with your head on a pike for trying to impersonate an officer."


[Golems]

The mindless beings are now without their mistress' commands and can only follow the ones that had been given to them in the first place.

Kill the two idiots over there.

The duo who had expected them to charge the gates would soon find it to be a very different and difficult situation as the lot of them immediately tried to ram and attack them as they got near, the hooves and parts of their body attempting to attack having jagged stones stick out to increase the damage done.

Some did fall to the attacks and the battering ram, but the small horde of golems are determined to follow their orders.

Kill those two, rip them apart

Benson
2014-02-04, 11:32 AM
[West Gate]

What fortunate timing. Shell Shock flinched as a piece of metal from the gate sailed right in front of him just as he was about to turn the corner.

"Oi! Don't you know these things can maim somepony?" he called out cheerfully to the defenders as he peeped around, raising a hoof to stop Flash Bang from progressing further once she caught up with him. "Now who's tryin' to ram the gates down?"


Idle coughed and sputtered on the debris, his body almost spent from this ordeal.

"You!...take cover sir, mister, you!" Shell Shock would hear from the wall top being shouted towards him.
===============

The Cirrus

[Cirrus]
Sandy struggled to maintain his firm salute, straining to smile politely. "B-beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but I ain't that young. S'at least one pony my junior on this crew."

Awww, how cute. The little colt was playing grown-up. :smalltongue:

"But aye; ready t'leave when you are, ma'am."

Sandy stood at attention, stiff and stern and unshakable-

"Yipe!" He leaped away from the clockwork dragon that just appeared next to him. The little engineer shot the dragon an irritated glare, before snapping back to attention.


She blinked at this, then glared at Gearstride and Silverpine, eyebrow cocked. Don't they have laws against things like that? Or is Sandy actually 35 and got hit by a misfired age spell or something? That happens a lot.

Without missing a beat, Hay Bale proceeded to give the exact coordinates for Balboa's front door. How she knew this off the top of her head was anyone's guess.

"Oh, Shores, is just one of those older than he looks sort of fellas, I assume he did not drink a lot of milk as a child," Gearstride faintly grinned.

"Coordinates accepted, commencing teleportation bubble in one minute, commencing countdown..." A.I.D.A said as something within it began to charge.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-04, 11:56 AM
(Battle posts will be coming after I've had more time to think them over.)

The Cirrus




"Oh, Shores, is just one of those older than he looks sort of fellas, I assume he did not drink a lot of milk as a child," Gearstride faintly grinned.

Sandy nodded in confirmation. Should Hay Bale study the little stallion again, she'd find that, yes, a few things here weren't quite right. His face bore the weathered look of a pony who'd seen a few things, not the clean - or acne-ridden - face of a young colt. His legs, while still lanky, were built tough and toned; made to last instead of on the brink of a growth spurt. Same with his back, neck, head, and...well, everything, really. The more she looked, the more she'd realize this Sandy was no colt, but a fully-grown stallion. A fully-grown stallion in a smaller, travel-sized package.

Whether or not this was adorable, weird, or what was up to her. :smalltongue:



"Coordinates accepted, commencing teleportation bubble in one minute, commencing countdown..." A.I.D.A said as something within it began to charge.

"This ain't gonna teleport the floor too, Cap'n?" Sandy asked with growing trepidation as he reluctantly scooted closer to his clockwork ride. "I just finished polishing it last week..."

Benson
2014-02-04, 01:19 PM
"This ain't gonna teleport the floor too, Cap'n?" Sandy asked with growing trepidation as he reluctantly scooted closer to his clockwork ride. "I just finished polishing it last week..."

"Oh....I'm sure it won't Shores...it will be fine.." Gearstride said taking a step back. She leaned in and whispered to Silverpine to step back himself, just in case.

Grif
2014-02-04, 07:32 PM
"Oh....I'm sure it won't Shores...it will be fine.." Gearstride said taking a step back. She leaned in and whispered to Silverpine to step back himself, just in case.

Silverpine blinked, then hastily took a step back as well. :smallbiggrin::smalltongue: "Well, we already tested it on inanimate objects, but this is the first time we transported anything live that's bigger than a cat..."

(Will respond to the other posts in due time.)

Lycan 01
2014-02-04, 09:52 PM
[Skies Above Bridle Shores]

Purple Prose makes his way back towards Bridle Shores, zipping through the woods for most of the way there. Once he nears the town, though, he pulls up out of the forest, and ascends to get a look at what's going on around the town. "Feh, way too organized for bandits," he growls to himself. "And organized lots like this don't let weak witnesses escape," he scowls. "The Troubadour will wish he'd been caught by bandits by the time I'm done with him..."

However, before Prose can descend on the town and inform the Captain of his spy problem, he spots something up in the sky. Something he's not really happy to see. "Great," he growls, ears pinning back in annoyance as he watches Dive Bomb start to hurtle towards the town like a meteor. "Looks like it's up to me to save the daaaaay..." he groans in exasperation, before kicking off and zipping up to intercept him.

He doesn't directly approach Dive Bomb, though, but rather tries to head him off at an angle. With a look of grim determination, he flies headlong towards the blazing pegasus, giving the indication that he intends to directly tackle him and try to physically divert the flaming fiend's path.

Dive Bomb, if he notices Prose zipping up to hit him, will probably just find this amusing. After all, what good will tackling him do when anything that gets too close burns and melts?

At the last second though, as his body drips with sweat and his armor starts to steam, Prose flashes a twisted little grin, halts in mid-air, and gives a quick flick of a hoof.

Stuka's knife flies directly into Dive Bomb's path. Prose wouldn't mind if it actually stabbed Dive Bomb, but that's not what he's hoping for. No, what he's hoping for is that the intense heat around Dive Bomb will melt the knife into a glob of superheated steel, which will then subsequently splatter itself all over the pegasus.

He may be immune to his own fire, but molten metal? That's probably going to leave a mark...

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-05, 01:51 PM
[Western Gate]

The stalemate continues, the defenders ducking shots and plinking away at the enemy fortifications. Nopony seems to notice the fast-growing orange dot in the sky; the clouds giving them cover block their view of the skies. For now, nothing much happens on the walls apart from trading shots.

In the courtyard by the gate, however...

"They have how many?!"

Passe's remaining guardspony flinched at the Captain's bellow. "Didn't see, sir. Heard at least a half-dozen, maybe more. They've got a unicorn too; powerful, by the looks of it. They must've teleported into the refugee's room-"

"-while we were occupied here at the West Gate." The Captain swore and ground a chunk of gate debris into dust underhoof. In hindsight, it all seemed so obvious. Send an attacking force to make a flashy attempt on the gate, while a small group of sabateurs flashed their way behind them. Aided by the "refugees" they'd just let in, no doubt. And now they couldn't even commit their whole force, lest the West Gate should fall. "Harten; take command of the defenses! Hawk Eye; take a group of guards and secure the hospital! You lot, with me!"

Two groups of fifteen guards apiece - one led by the sniper Hawk Eye, the other led by the Captain himself - broke off from the West Gate at a gallop. The former branched off towards the hospital, the latter towards the guardhouse...

[Guardhouse]

Passe turned her nose up with a cultured huff. "I am not with these rabble, whoever you are. When their insubordination earns them a spanking, it's only just you spare my fair flank." In reality, she was watching the single crossbow trained on her out of the corner of her eye. There might just be an opportunity there, provided this new mule of a pony didn't decide to beat them all senseless.

Kelvin360
2014-02-05, 05:53 PM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Interior

"Hm. You have an appreciable, if misguided, sense of caution. You are correct - I did not come through the gates or as part of a strike team. I have been here for days. You didn't think we would be foolish enough to leave a target location without an advance operative, did you? I haven't even been hiding - your prisoner as well as any other guards have seen me repeatedly, they are simply largely unable to tell friend from foe unless one waves a weapon in their face. I imagine you had them eating out of your hoof before you engaged...it appears to be universal.

As it stands, I will see about getting you proper clearance when this fiasco has ended. Lacking information of this kind is simply unacceptable. This entire assault is premature, in fact - almost no time was given to secure proper intelligence, and every detail I do not know comes out of somepony's hide.

However. There is nothing to be done about it as yet. As you pointed out, the gates have not fallen, and we lack a secondary local hoofhold. Repelling the main assault will be trivial. I suspect you have little time to deal with Red Shift and move on."

He fixes Passe with a long, uncomfortable stare. "You are a resource, guard. It would suit you well to act as such. Speak when spoken to and you will live longer."


---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

As his opponent leaped to one side, so does he. Taylor plants himself above the ragdoll nurse and produces a hemispheric golden shield around both of them. "You get once chance to leave. Three seconds after I heal her before I come for you. Get out and stay out."

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Entrance

When the spell clicks into place, you immediately feel some of your energy being drawn into the weave of the spell. It's sudden, but brief. What's more, your coat seems to be a lighter shade than it was a moment ago. Then you realize it's because you now emit a soft glow, and you can feel the hold of Starbeam's spell on you dull somewhat.

"You can halt that radiation with concentration." Starbeam notes. "You shouldn't feel any different if the spell blocks hostile magic, but if you need to break off the enchantment suddenly, send three pulses through the network, like so."

You feel three quick bursts of energy slide from Starbeam's horn through the spell and into yours, like small taps on your skull. "Small telekinetic bursts, directly into the fabric of the enchantment. Then, carefully disengage the spell you chose from the web and turn it off. I'll send you the same message if I ever need the spell disengaged. How do you feel?"

---

Raucous Reprisal/Gutter Flame/Mental Steel - Western Wall, Top

They keep firing, though it looks like Gutter is running out of juice. Flaming missiles are fewer and further between.

And then the golems start charging the ground team.

"They are engaging the Lieutenant and PFC Boon." Steel says urgently.

"Oh, BUCK. Hey! Other archer ponies and such! KILL THOSE GOLEMS, Coconut and Joyous are buying us time!!"

"Funny, that." Gutter grimaces and starts pouring more energy into the arrows of most of the others on the wall, not just her two companions. "I got NAE problems wastin' a couple'a mud squares."

---

Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Bottom

"Wow, he's gonna be really mad if we live, isn't he?" Joyous asks, glancing back at the Captain up on the wall.

"'If'? Why, Private First Class, I'm disappointed in your lack of faith. ...Does their formation seem odd to you?" It's about that time when a golem hits Coconut with enough force to ring her helmet like a bell and toss her away from the ram. Both she and Joyous disengage, leaving only momentum to pilot the thing.

Coconut turns her roll into a tumble, only barely managing to land with all hooves on the ground. "Boon, take to the sky! Keep them on us, not the gate!" She grips her shield and slams it down, tucking hooves and tail inward, rooting herself to the ground like a turtle in plate mail.

Joyous leaps straight up and surveys the area below them. He grimaces for the first time in quite a while and gets to work, supplementing the two sets of flaming arrows raining on the golems with assaults via his pike from a safe distance above his nonsentient foes.

---

Crescent Squad - Guardhouse Exterior

Firehooves and Voidgazer stand off to the side, the former tossing an explosive device into the air in a one-object juggling maneuver, the latter swirling a miniature nebula around his hoof with glassy eyes.

Station and Reprisal are standing inexpertly next to Moonlight, who waits for the Captain to get within conversational distance before speaking. "Captain. I have two questions. What is your recommended MSD for explosives near the entrance to the guardhouse, and where do you need us?"

PurityIcekiller
2014-02-05, 09:07 PM
[The Hospital]

Night Jewel let the spell click into place, then pranced impatiently while Starbeam elaborated on the workings of the spell.

"All right. Everything's fine. Now let's get moving!"

As soon as she could, she made a dash for the upper floors, chasing the sounds of some suspicious pony making fast movements away from vaguely where there was an explosion.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-05, 11:18 PM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Interior

"Hm. You have an appreciable, if misguided, sense of caution. You are correct - I did not come through the gates or as part of a strike team. I have been here for days. You didn't think we would be foolish enough to leave a target location without an advance operative, did you? I haven't even been hiding - your prisoner as well as any other guards have seen me repeatedly, they are simply largely unable to tell friend from foe unless one waves a weapon in their face. I imagine you had them eating out of your hoof before you engaged...it appears to be universal.

As it stands, I will see about getting you proper clearance when this fiasco has ended. Lacking information of this kind is simply unacceptable. This entire assault is premature, in fact - almost no time was given to secure proper intelligence, and every detail I do not know comes out of somepony's hide.

However. There is nothing to be done about it as yet. As you pointed out, the gates have not fallen, and we lack a secondary local hoofhold. Repelling the main assault will be trivial. I suspect you have little time to deal with Red Shift and move on."

He fixes Passe with a long, uncomfortable stare. "You are a resource, guard. It would suit you well to act as such. Speak when spoken to and you will live longer."


It is then that Dawnstrider produces a miracle.


Passe fixes the armored pony with a glare that could kill a lesser soul at twenty paces, her mouth scrunches and pouts in furious indignation, but she remains silent.

HalfTangible
2014-02-06, 10:22 AM
Silverpine blinked, then hastily took a step back as well. :smallbiggrin::smalltongue: "Well, we already tested it on inanimate objects, but this is the first time we transported anything live that's bigger than a cat..."

(Will respond to the other posts in due time.)

Hay Bale blinked twice. ... On a completely unrelated note, this thing can teleport things that aren't ponies, right?

... It may occur to Silverpine and Gearstride that Hay Bale had been an earth pony when they found her (hence why nopony assumed she'd teleported on) and now had a pair of wings folded at her sides.

Grif
2014-02-06, 10:53 AM
[Hospital - Third Floor]

Bumble buzzes through the doors to the third floor even as she skids to the scrambling halt from the cracking and shaking of the floors below losing some integrity from the attack of her partner. The assassin briefly ponders about going back down and assisting her companion in whatever sort of trouble she found herself in, but the situation could be anything... Could even be her walking into the death of her comrade.

The buzzing bee of a pony zips through the third floor looking for any sign of a guard. If Sure Strike was dead, it sure as Tartarus won't come at the cost of a failed mission.


Fortunately for Bumble, the third floor was relatively deserted, with most of the staff having retreated for the safety of available cover. That made Snowflake, being the only pony still cautiously poking her head out, wearing armour and having a shortsword strapped by her side, quite conspicuous.

If Bumble were to approach, the guard would speak up. "Hey you! What's going on outside?"


Idle coughed and sputtered on the debris, his body almost spent from this ordeal.

"You!...take cover sir, mister, you!" Shell Shock would hear from the wall top being shouted towards him.


"What, and miss out on the fun?" Shell Shock called out again, a slightly crazed grin lighting his face. "Sounds like y'all need help."


[Western Gate]

The stalemate continues, the defenders ducking shots and plinking away at the enemy fortifications. Nopony seems to notice the fast-growing orange dot in the sky; the clouds giving them cover block their view of the skies. For now, nothing much happens on the walls apart from trading shots.

In the courtyard by the gate, however...

"They have how many?!"

Passe's remaining guardspony flinched at the Captain's bellow. "Didn't see, sir. Heard at least a half-dozen, maybe more. They've got a unicorn too; powerful, by the looks of it. They must've teleported into the refugee's room-"

"-while we were occupied here at the West Gate." The Captain swore and ground a chunk of gate debris into dust underhoof. In hindsight, it all seemed so obvious. Send an attacking force to make a flashy attempt on the gate, while a small group of sabateurs flashed their way behind them. Aided by the "refugees" they'd just let in, no doubt. And now they couldn't even commit their whole force, lest the West Gate should fall. "Harten; take command of the defenses! Hawk Eye; take a group of guards and secure the hospital! You lot, with me!"

Two groups of fifteen guards apiece - one led by the sniper Hawk Eye, the other led by the Captain himself - broke off from the West Gate at a gallop. The former branched off towards the hospital, the latter towards the guardhouse...

Stormcloak, somehow getting hold of a crossbow off another injured guard, cast a sidelong glance at the Captain's sudden departure, but then it wasn't his place to question his decision.



Coconut/Boon - Western Wall Bottom

"Wow, he's gonna be really mad if we live, isn't he?" Joyous asks, glancing back at the Captain up on the wall.

"'If'? Why, Private First Class, I'm disappointed in your lack of faith. ...Does their formation seem odd to you?" It's about that time when a golem hits Coconut with enough force to ring her helmet like a bell and toss her away from the ram. Both she and Joyous disengage, leaving only momentum to pilot the thing.

Coconut turns her roll into a tumble, only barely managing to land with all hooves on the ground. "Boon, take to the sky! Keep them on us, not the gate!" She grips her shield and slams it down, tucking hooves and tail inward, rooting herself to the ground like a turtle in plate mail.

Joyous leaps straight up and surveys the area below them. He grimaces for the first time in quite a while and gets to work, supplementing the two sets of flaming arrows raining on the golems with assaults via his pike from a safe distance above his nonsentient foes.


Alas. If there wasn't snipers in the trees, Joyous might have gotten away with it. The griffons, silently waiting for the clouds to clear and having finally found a target, opened fire on the pegasus. All twelve of them. This might sting a little.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-06, 09:55 PM
Hay Bale blinked twice. ... On a completely unrelated note, this thing can teleport things that aren't ponies, right?

... It may occur to Silverpine and Gearstride that Hay Bale had been an earth pony when they found her (hence why nopony assumed she'd teleported on) and now had a pair of wings folded at her sides.

Sandy, sticking close to his side of AIDA, failed to notice their guest's change of species. The unfortunate pony had other things on his mind. "I-I think it ought to. Teleportin' usually takes everythin'. M-my uniform ain't made of ponies, an' it oughta teleport....with......me....."

A pause.

A concerned glance at his currently-stepping-back Captain.

"...r-right, Cap'n?"

Benson
2014-02-07, 01:25 PM
Silverpine blinked, then hastily took a step back as well. :smallbiggrin::smalltongue: "Well, we already tested it on inanimate objects, but this is the first time we transported anything live that's bigger than a cat..."



Hay Bale blinked twice. ... On a completely unrelated note, this thing can teleport things that aren't ponies, right?

... It may occur to Silverpine and Gearstride that Hay Bale had been an earth pony when they found her (hence why nopony assumed she'd teleported on) and now had a pair of wings folded at her sides.


Sandy, sticking close to his side of AIDA, failed to notice their guest's change of species. The unfortunate pony had other things on his mind. "I-I think it ought to. Teleportin' usually takes everythin'. M-my uniform ain't made of ponies, an' it oughta teleport....with......me....."

A pause.

A concerned glance at his currently-stepping-back Captain.

"...r-right, Cap'n?"

"Well you two, we could just cancel---------"

MINUTE UP!

A shimmering semi-trasparent blue bubble of energy expanded, centering on A.I.D.A with Hay Bale and Sandy within the radium. A strange grinding whirring sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMlle0gBZ7Q) was produced. The three began to fade away, as if though their bodies were disappearing into thin air.

What was left were some minor scorch marks on the floor. "Well that was interesting....eh...we should probably follow up with trying to contact Shores via communicator." She told Silverpine as she inspected the scorch marks.
=====================================


CANTERLOT- BALBOA'S ESTATE

Twas a weird sensation traveling through compressed space, though it lasted all but a few moments. Hay Bale and Sandy would reappear with AIDA in tow in what could only be the front door to Balboa's estate, five feet above the ground. They would be unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, the two guards at the front doors nearly having heart attacks from the sudden appearance of the three. Though recognizing Hay Bale prompted them lower down weapons.

"Ma'am.." One of them awkwardly saluted and greeted. Meanwhile, AIDA produced a pair of inflated cushioning for its wheeled /feet/ or whatever you want to call them. It gently touched the ground, sucking back in the inflatable whatits and wheeled over to Hay and Sandy.

"Destination Arrived."

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-08, 12:17 PM
"Well you two, we could just cancel---------"

MINUTE UP!

A shimmering semi-trasparent blue bubble of energy expanded, centering on A.I.D.A with Hay Bale and Sandy within the radium. A strange grinding whirring sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMlle0gBZ7Q) was produced. The three began to fade away, as if though their bodies were disappearing into thin air.

What was left were some minor scorch marks on the floor. "Well that was interesting....eh...we should probably follow up with trying to contact Shores via communicator." She told Silverpine as she inspected the scorch marks.
=====================================


CANTERLOT- BALBOA'S ESTATE

Twas a weird sensation traveling through compressed space, though it lasted all but a few moments. Hay Bale and Sandy would reappear with AIDA in tow in what could only be the front door to Balboa's estate, five feet above the ground. They would be unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, the two guards at the front doors nearly having heart attacks from the sudden appearance of the three. Though recognizing Hay Bale prompted them lower down weapons.

"Ma'am.." One of them awkwardly saluted and greeted. Meanwhile, AIDA produced a pair of inflated cushioning for its wheeled /feet/ or whatever you want to call them. It gently touched the ground, sucking back in the inflatable whatits and wheeled over to Hay and Sandy.

"Destination Arrived."

Sandy - true to form - landed face-first onto a gopher hole - lurking just below ground - and promptly got his head suck. Mercifully, his uniform had teleported along with him. :smalltongue: The little stallion pushed, pried, and strained until he came free with a loud *pop!* "Gah! Where are...we...?" A colossal mansion, easily the biggest house he'd seen in his short life, towered over him like some sort of ancient behemoth. Everywhere he looked, opulence and luxury had left their mark; batpony gargoyles, carvings of ponykind's triumphs, marble pillars inlaid with gold and gemstones, every inch of this mighty home had been carefully planned and constructed. A far cry from the spartan, patchwork accommodations aboard the Cirrus.


"O-oh....my...." Sandy fumbled for words, sitting stunned on his haunches at the awe-inspiring sight.

HalfTangible
2014-02-08, 09:22 PM
"Well you two, we could just cancel---------"

MINUTE UP!

A shimmering semi-trasparent blue bubble of energy expanded, centering on A.I.D.A with Hay Bale and Sandy within the radium. A strange grinding whirring sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMlle0gBZ7Q) was produced. The three began to fade away, as if though their bodies were disappearing into thin air.

What was left were some minor scorch marks on the floor. "Well that was interesting....eh...we should probably follow up with trying to contact Shores via communicator." She told Silverpine as she inspected the scorch marks.
=====================================


CANTERLOT- BALBOA'S ESTATE

Twas a weird sensation traveling through compressed space, though it lasted all but a few moments. Hay Bale and Sandy would reappear with AIDA in tow in what could only be the front door to Balboa's estate, five feet above the ground. They would be unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, the two guards at the front doors nearly having heart attacks from the sudden appearance of the three. Though recognizing Hay Bale prompted them lower down weapons.

"Ma'am.." One of them awkwardly saluted and greeted. Meanwhile, AIDA produced a pair of inflated cushioning for its wheeled /feet/ or whatever you want to call them. It gently touched the ground, sucking back in the inflatable whatits and wheeled over to Hay and Sandy.

"Destination Arrived."
The guard's awkard salute would be met with fluttering eyelashes and a brief wiff of pheromones. Lookin' good, Stalwart~. She winked at the guard before turning and putting a wing around Sandy. Let's go. We got a rich ol' stallion to see.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-08, 10:17 PM
The guard's awkard salute would be met with fluttering eyelashes and a brief wiff of pheromones. Lookin' good, Stalwart~. She winked at the guard before turning and putting a wing around Sandy. Let's go. We got a rich ol' stallion to see.

The wing around his shoulders shocked Sandy out of his awed daze. "R-right. Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am. Didn't mean t'keep you waitin' ma'am." He hurriedly dusted off his formal uniform, when his nose twitched. A strange scent hung in the air; faint, but heady with a slight thrill of spice to it. Was she wearin' perfume just now? I can't remember. Smells awful nice though... Whatever it was, it left as quickly as it came.

Weird.

Nothing for it but to shake it off and fall in step. That mystery could wait until he didn't have a meeting with one of Equestria's most powerful and influential stallions. The little engineer gulped audibly and followed Hay Bale through the front door.

Benson
2014-02-09, 01:06 AM
Balboa's Estate

The poor guard found himself with hearts fluttering around his head, his pupils taking on the forms of hearts as well. He dopily smiled at Hay Bale as the other guard popped the fluttering hearts that just kept appearing again.

"Ma'am," The derp struck guard said as he opened the doors for Hay Bale while AIDA wheeled immediately right on through. The doors would slam on Sandy's flank (assuming he entered last) after he stepped on in. Sandy's senses would be smacked around with the utter opulence of the entryway. Be it the grand double staircase gilded with white and yellow gold, a luxurious red carpet cascading down the steps. Or the massive crystal chandelier that hung from the high vaulted ceiling, glistening upon the marble tilework. Or the large number of maids and butlers that lined the sides, heads bowed.

"Greetings Miss Hay Bale and Guest," The twenty or so servants said in unison. In the center stood the head butler Feather Duster, an elderly distinguished looking stallion with a thinning peppered mane and a practiced expression of indifference.

"Master Balboa, is waiting for you in his office...of course..." Feather Duster replied in a dead pan and a slight roll of the eyes. He was pretty sure Balboa lived there ninety percent of the time.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-09, 02:48 PM
[Balboa's Estate]

The door hit Sandy's flank with an audible *smack!* and with good reason; he'd stopped dead in his tracks not two steps into the foyer.

If the outside of the house had been beyond his wildest dreams, then this was a glimpse into heaven itself. Gems, gold, priceless antiques - he'd have to stay far away from those on his pay grade - a small army of servants keeping it all spotless, a carpet as lush as any grassy field, and this was just the entrance! Each and every doorway, hallway, and closet he could see hid another fortune in luxury. "How...there can't be that many bits...one pony..." he babbled with crystals dancing in his eyes. His mind reeled, utterly starstruck and only faintly hearing the butler's welcome. He nodded along with a dorky, dumbfounded look plastered on his face.

HalfTangible
2014-02-10, 02:35 AM
[Balboa's Estate]

The door hit Sandy's flank with an audible *smack!* and with good reason; he'd stopped dead in his tracks not two steps into the foyer.

If the outside of the house had been beyond his wildest dreams, then this was a glimpse into heaven itself. Gems, gold, priceless antiques - he'd have to stay far away from those on his pay grade - a small army of servants keeping it all spotless, a carpet as lush as any grassy field, and this was just the entrance! Each and every doorway, hallway, and closet he could see hid another fortune in luxury. "How...there can't be that many bits...one pony..." he babbled with crystals dancing in his eyes. His mind reeled, utterly starstruck and only faintly hearing the butler's welcome. He nodded along with a dorky, dumbfounded look plastered on his face.

(i thought i responded to this some time ago. With a paragraph and a half. I am too hungry and tired right now to retype all that :smalltongue:)

Hay Bale draped a wing over Sandy and gestured with her hoof in a wave, as if to say 'behold. Soak it in!

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-10, 10:27 AM
(i thought i responded to this some time ago. With a paragraph and a half. I am too hungry and tired right now to retype all that :smalltongue:)

Hay Bale draped a wing over Sandy and gestured with her hoof in a wave, as if to say 'behold. Soak it in!

(Oofa. >_<)

Soak it in indeed. Sandy could sit here until his mane turned grey, and he still couldn't possibly fathom everything this room had to offer. What right did a tiny, luckless, screw-up of a pony like him have to walk in these magnificent halls? Flashes of a powerful, enormous stallion, sitting on a throne of Bits and towering over a minuscule ant, flashed through his mind. He worked in an airship the scale and power of which Equestria had never seen before, and yet this one room made him feel truly small and insignificant.

He unconsciously huddled up beneath Hay Bale's soft wing. "M-mister Shag....y'sure he w-wanted t'see me?[/SIZE]" Sandy squeaked out. "I-I think y'might have...I'm not sure I'm...quite th' pony you're lookin' for..."

Benson
2014-02-10, 12:07 PM
Balboa's Estate

Feather Duster glanced at Sandy. "I am beginning to wonder myself if there was some....error." He snarked. "Regardless, Sandy Shores of the Cirrus Crew, come."
---

Feather Duster would lead them up the grand staircase, AIDA requiring some extra assistance getting up stairs. He would take them down the left wing corridor of mahogany and gilded accents. Painted portraits of the stallion Balboa Shag lined the walls. A dark brown red coated stallion with black and somewhat peppered mane, coiffed and slicked back, an intimidating gaze on several while others held smug triumph. Sandy as he taken down this corridor would spy one portrait to have been covered with a white sheet.

He would eventually come to see two guards standing on the sides of two large carved doors of lacquered tulip tree wood and rosewood wood. Sandy could probably guess the handles to be made of something expensive. A certain pony with a shock of red hair broke his practiced look of a guard's indifference and happily waved at Hay Bale with a derpy smile.

Feather Duster rolled his eyes and rapped against the door with his hoof. "Announcing Sandy Shores and...company."

A short moment later the door opened, except twas a pretty mare of a light pink coat and a somewhat mussed strawberry blonde mane and several dark red bruises on her neck, Hay Bale of course would recognize them as hickies. She smiled bashfully as she apologized as she closed the door fixing her mane a little. "Mistah B is inside...he's uh waiting for ya." She awkwardly inched away until she was in the clear down into the hall. Feather Duster rolled his eyes again and opened the door.

Twas quite a big study room, books lined shelves that lined walls, a nice big comfy looking fancy lounger could be seen with several pillows strewn about. Plush dark red carpeting underneath Sandy would feel so heavenly underneath his hooves. The room lit by a fancy ceiling light cast its light on a massive desk made of rich dark reddish woods. Behind the desk was the stallion himself running a hoof over his mane, slicking it back as a short wavy tendril poked out over his forehead.

"Aaaah...so this is the famous Sandy Shores...." Balboa stared at him with a lazy smile, taking in the details. His voice, for Sandy who probably had all these assumptions of something intimidating, would be surprised by the warm, inviting voice that spoke to him. A voice that made you feel comfortable to a degree and make one want to lower their guard.

"What an honor it is to meet the young Sergeant, welcome welcome," His choice of words probably surprising the short stallion. Balboa walked around from his desk and stood in front of Sandy and offered his hoof. He smelled faintly of whiskey, cologne and very faintly of lady perfume.

HalfTangible
2014-02-10, 02:29 PM
Balboa's Estate

Feather Duster glanced at Sandy. "I am beginning to wonder myself if there was some....error." He snarked. "Regardless, Sandy Shores of the Cirrus Crew, come."Hay Bale's eyes narrowed at the old butler, a rare frown crossing her features.


A certain pony with a shock of red hair broke his practiced look of a guard's indifference and happily waved at Hay Bale with a derpy smile.

Feather Duster rolled his eyes and rapped against the door with his hoof. "Announcing Sandy Shores and...company."

A short moment later the door opened, except twas a pretty mare of a light pink coat and a somewhat mussed strawberry blonde mane and several dark red bruises on her neck, Hay Bale of course would recognize them as hickies. She smiled bashfully as she apologized as she closed the door fixing her mane a little. "Mistah B is inside...he's uh waiting for ya." She awkwardly inched away until she was in the clear down into the hall. Feather Duster rolled his eyes again and opened the door.Hay Bale chose those moments waiting for the door to open to give the stallion a hicky of her own.

Hay Bale also eyed up the pink mare as she left. The yellow mare had made it as clear as she could to Red Shift that their relationship was both open and non-exclusive.


Twas quite a big study room, books lined shelves that lined walls, a nice big comfy looking fancy lounger could be seen with several pillows strewn about. Plush dark red carpeting underneath Sandy would feel so heavenly underneath his hooves. The room lit by a fancy ceiling light cast its light on a massive desk made of rich dark reddish woods. Behind the desk was the stallion himself running a hoof over his mane, slicking it back as a short wavy tendril poked out over his forehead.

"Aaaah...so this is the famous Sandy Shores...." Balboa stared at him with a lazy smile, taking in the details. His voice, for Sandy who probably had all these assumptions of something intimidating, would be surprised by the warm, inviting voice that spoke to him. A voice that made you feel comfortable to a degree and make one want to lower their guard.

"What an honor it is to meet the young Sergeant, welcome welcome," His choice of words probably surprising the short stallion. Balboa walked around from his desk and stood in front of Sandy and offered his hoof. He smelled faintly of whiskey, cologne and very faintly of lady perfume.

Hay Bale was silent and standing stalwart, the picture of professionalism. Aside from her amused grin and wing around Sandy, anyway.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-10, 09:35 PM
Balboa's Estate


Feather Duster glanced at Sandy. "I am beginning to wonder myself if there was some....error." He snarked. "Regardless, Sandy Shores of the Cirrus Crew, come."

Sandy's ears drooped at the old butler, a common frown crossing his features.


Feather Duster would lead them up the grand staircase, AIDA requiring some extra assistance getting up stairs. He would take them down the left wing corridor of mahogany and gilded accents. Painted portraits of the stallion Balboa Shag lined the walls. A dark brown red coated stallion with black and somewhat peppered mane, coiffed and slicked back, an intimidating gaze on several while others held smug triumph. Sandy as he taken down this corridor would spy one portrait to have been covered with a white sheet.

He would eventually come to see two guards standing on the sides of two large carved doors of lacquered tulip tree wood and rosewood wood. Sandy could probably guess the handles to be made of something expensive. A certain pony with a shock of red hair broke his practiced look of a guard's indifference and happily waved at Hay Bale with a derpy smile.

With each passing portrait, Sandy slunk lower and lower, hiding more and more of himself underneath Hay Bale's wing. By the time they reached the imposing double doors, he wished for nothing else than the ground to swallow him whole, everypony to just forget he ever existed, and the chance to live out the rest of his days as a lowly mole or some manner of burrowing rodent. Anything would be better than the inevitable train wreck of this meeting...



Hay Bale chose those moments waiting for the door to open to give the stallion a hicky of her own.

...almost anything, that is.

Shockingly, hearing - he daren't look directly at them - his escort pour sloppy affections on Mister Shag's guard failed to improve his self-esteem. Sandy screwed his eyes shut and discreetly plugged his ears, but it was too little, too late. His mind was all too eager to provide many a detailed mental image of what the ponies not a few paces from him were engaged in, despite his best efforts to stifle them.

Nothing else to do but wait and hope Mister Shag didn't notice his bright red cheeks.


A short moment later the door opened, except twas a pretty mare of a light pink coat and a somewhat mussed strawberry blonde mane and several dark red bruises on her neck, Hay Bale of course would recognize them as hickies. She smiled bashfully as she apologized as she closed the door fixing her mane a little. "Mistah B is inside...he's uh waiting for ya." She awkwardly inched away until she was in the clear down into the hall. Feather Duster rolled his eyes again and opened the door.

Geez...that mare looked pretty beat up. Hope she's alright... Sandy watched her leave with concern, before Hay Bale ushered him into Mister Shag's personal office.


Twas quite a big study room, books lined shelves that lined walls, a nice big comfy looking fancy lounger could be seen with several pillows strewn about. Plush dark red carpeting underneath Sandy would feel so heavenly underneath his hooves. The room lit by a fancy ceiling light cast its light on a massive desk made of rich dark reddish woods. Behind the desk was the stallion himself running a hoof over his mane, slicking it back as a short wavy tendril poked out over his forehead.

"Aaaah...so this is the famous Sandy Shores...." Balboa stared at him with a lazy smile, taking in the details. His voice, for Sandy who probably had all these assumptions of something intimidating, would be surprised by the warm, inviting voice that spoke to him. A voice that made you feel comfortable to a degree and make one want to lower their guard.

"What an honor it is to meet the young Sergeant, welcome welcome," His choice of words probably surprising the short stallion. Balboa walked around from his desk and stood in front of Sandy and offered his hoof. He smelled faintly of whiskey, cologne and very faintly of lady perfume.


Hay Bale was silent and standing stalwart, the picture of professionalism. Aside from her amused grin and wing around Sandy, anyway.

Whisked from one unpleasant surprise to a...shockingly pleasant one. Plush, inviting carpet underhoof, warm lighting overhead, a friendly wing across his back, and Equestria's richest, most powerful stallion excited - excited! - to meet the lowly engineer. Sandy blinked, momentarily stunned, before good manners and training took over and gingerly shook the proffered hoof. "P-pleasure's all mine, sir. Mister Shag. Sir. I-I mean..." The little unicorn straightened up, standing stiff at attention. "Sergeant Sandy Shores, sir! Reportin' for...er, some manner of meetin', sir!"

His nose twitched at the sudden onslaught of whiskey and expensive perfumes. There's another funky smell...is that what bein' rich smells like?

MCerberus
2014-02-10, 10:04 PM
[Support Group]


Dive Bomb soon finds himself able to stand, though still feeling a bit woozy from his early ordeal. The attendants that had been assisting him back off immediately as his manic stare meets every one of their fearful ones.

"I need a teleporter, now." His voice is raspy, weak, and he looks like he can barely stand. Even so, Captain Dive Bomb throws on his goggles and spreads his wings. "No time for questions, just one of you teleport me where I tell you to as fast as you can then shift back to here."

"Relay, get some backup en-route while I get our troops in order again!" He orders with a semblance of his usual enthusiasm and bravado. With that said and done, a unicorn charges his horn and both he and the captain disappear.

Relay walks off to get some peace and quiet for the annoyance of chatting with home base, they were always so annoying about procedure there. Sadly, this pony had no idea there was a sneaky fighter from the town just looking for somepony to wander off from the herd.

In the Forest

Staccata just happened to be in listening range for at least part of that. Luckily the whole 'act fast because they're about to talk to other ponies' thing came at the end. So that was heard.

Well Relay seems the kind to not have a battle-hardened pony-skull. That should work out well. The mare rogue sneaks up and, unless something else happens, bashes a metal hilt followed by a hoof into the back of the poor radio-pony's head.

Benson
2014-02-11, 01:08 AM
Balboa's Estate

Red Shift's tail had totally sproinged in cartoony effect when Hay Bale roughly smooched his neck, leaving him a small bruise. He was close to melting a little. Alas yes he did know about their open and non exclusive relationship, and while that made him a little sad, just gosh darn it, the mare was just so pretty and unpredictable that he didn't care, or so he told himself.
========

Balboa eyed the short stallion, his gaze falling briefly on his eyes, he piqued a brow. "Call me Balboa, tis my name after all. Tis I who should be referring to you with a title hahah. Please, please have a seat." He gestured to one of the two plush cushions in front of his desk. Sandy may end up needing to stack both on each other to see over the desk.

Balboa's eyes fell upon AIDA, his jaw working a little. "Miss Hay Bale, could you please fetch Astrid for me? She should be in the library, or tennis courts. Plus, I would like some privacy for myself and Mister Shores for a bit, thank you darling."

HalfTangible
2014-02-11, 02:23 AM
[Balboa's mansion]

Hay Bale took her wing off of Sandy. He seemed fine now. 'course sir. Any special instructions for her? She asked, already turning to leave.

Assuming the answer was no, she would leave for the library or the tennis courts, whichever was closer, shortly followed by the other if Astrid were not there. (winking at red shift on her way there).

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-11, 09:15 AM
[Balboa's Office]

Sandy pawed uncomfortably at the plush carpet, forcing himself at ease. He failed to notice Balboa's raised brow, so put off was he by the unfathomably warm reception. "In that case Mister Balboa sir, just 'Mister Shores' is fine. Th' title ain't necessary." The little unicorn trotted over to a cushion and sat himself down, coming eye-to-eye with...

...the side of Mister Balboa's desk.

He scurried to stack the two cushions together, flushing red with embarrassment.

Benson
2014-02-11, 12:03 PM
[Balboa's mansion]

Hay Bale took her wing off of Sandy. He seemed fine now. 'course sir. Any special instructions for her? She asked, already turning to leave.

Assuming the answer was no, she would leave for the library or the tennis courts, whichever was closer, shortly followed by the other if Astrid were not there. (winking at red shift on her way there).

Astrid could be found on the tennis courts, aggressively engaging in a match between herself and Balboa's instructor. She had a very intense expression as she served the ball at high speeds you'd swear you saw flames forming around the ball. The poor instructor seemed out of his league at the moment, mostly moving out of the way to avoid getting beaned.


[Balboa's Office]

Sandy pawed uncomfortably at the plush carpet, forcing himself at ease. He failed to notice Balboa's raised brow, so put off was he by the unfathomably warm reception. "In that case Mister Balboa sir, just 'Mister Shores' is fine. Th' title ain't necessary." The little unicorn trotted over to a cushion and sat himself down, coming eye-to-eye with...

...the side of Mister Balboa's desk.

He scurried to stack the two cushions together, flushing red with embarrassment.

Balboa looked upon Sandy in amusement before reaching under his desk and brought out two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. "Care for a drink Mister Shores?" he asked as he started to pour the bottle into the two glasses.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-11, 12:11 PM
Balboa looked upon Sandy in amusement before reaching under his desk and brought out two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. "Care for a drink Mister Shores?" he asked as he started to pour the bottle into the two glasses.

Sandy briefly considered the advantages of a mind unaffected by drink. Almost immediately, the stern faces of his Captain, Silverpine, Rainbow, and Miss M appeared before him, shaking their heads disapprovingly. "Just water, si-Mister Balboa. Sir." he quickly replied, hopefully before Balboa had filled his glass. "Cap'n wouldn't approve of me drinkin' on duty."

Benson
2014-02-11, 12:20 PM
Sandy briefly considered the advantages of a mind unaffected by drink. Almost immediately, the stern faces of his Captain, Silverpine, Rainbow, and Miss M appeared before him, shaking their heads disapprovingly. "Just water, si-Mister Balboa. Sir." he quickly replied, hopefully before Balboa had filled his glass. "Cap'n wouldn't approve of me drinkin' on duty."

Balboa had already filled both glasses, but casually shrugged and slid the glass meant for Sandy towards himself. "Hmmm, well, let me have me a servant fetch you a glass of water then." He stood and strutted out his door and gave some instruction to Feather Duster who would relay it to one of the maids near by.

He returned and sat down at his desk. "It will be a moment, pardon the inconvenience. But anyways, tell me a bit about yourself Mister Shores." Not that Balboa hadn't already read the stallion's profile or had his own copy. But sometimes it was nice to hear it from the pony's mouth.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-11, 04:15 PM
Balboa had already filled both glasses, but casually shrugged and slid the glass meant for Sandy towards himself. "Hmmm, well, let me have me a servant fetch you a glass of water then." He stood and strutted out his door and gave some instruction to Feather Duster who would relay it to one of the maids near by.

"Thank you, Mister Balboa." At least the whiskey wasn't going to waste. That glass and its contents probably cost more than he made in a year.


He returned and sat down at his desk. "It will be a moment, pardon the inconvenience. But anyways, tell me a bit about yourself Mister Shores." Not that Balboa hadn't already read the stallion's profile or had his own copy. But sometimes it was nice to hear it from the pony's mouth.

Sandy sat straight and proper in his cushion, the very model of a good little soldier. "A-as y'wish." His eyes wandered around the room confusedly. "I'm th' engineer onboard th' good airship Cirrus. When things break, I-I, uh, I go an' fix it. Try t'fix it, anyhow. In battle, I'm responsible for keepin' th' engines runnin', fixin' any hull damage, keepin' the props goin', repellin' boardin' parties, and helpin' 2nd Lieutenant Rainbow Pepper keep our guns operatin'. If th' Cap'n calls for it, I join th' away team for any land-based missions." Reciting duties; even he'd have a hard time messing that up.

Benson
2014-02-12, 02:32 AM
Balboa's Estate

"I've heard about the Cirrus Ship," He paused, his eyes on Sandy as he took a sip of his drink. "You must be quite the engineer to keep such a state of the art ship running, commendable. But, with my question, I meant /about you/ not necessarily what /you do/, duties wise, my fault for not being clear. Who is the engineer when he is out of the engine room?" Balboa lightly chuckled. He was curious to how the little stallion saw himself.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-12, 11:37 AM
[Balboa's Office]

Sandy bashfully pawed at his cushion, half from high praise from such a distinguished stallion, and half because his host had steered straight into uncomfortable territory. "I'm afraid there ain't much to th' engineer when he's not got his engine room," he admitted with a frown. "I do m'job, I help m'crewmates, an' if I'm lucky I get some shuteye an' grub somewhere in-between. Y'won't find much else but fixin' in this pony."

The little stallion fell into an awkward silence. Sandy wondered if it was too late to have that whiskey, when he remembered it wouldn't even faze him anyway. Nice goin', Mister Shores. One smart move after another there...

Benson
2014-02-12, 11:48 AM
Balboa's Estate


"I see," Balboa said standing up as he opened the blinds, letting the sunlight strike through, probably temporarily blinding Sandy until his eyes adjusted. "Tell Mister Shores, what are your thoughts on the current happenings with Equestria and her neighbors?" He asked facing away from Sandy and looking outside.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-12, 12:04 PM
[Balboa's Office]

Sandy squinted and shielded his eyes from the sudden light. "Equestria's neighbors, Mister Balboa?" He fell silent, running answers through his head until he felt a migraine coming on. Negotiations and meetings were the Cap'n's business, not his. "If I'm bein' honest...it's rarely anythin' that ain't worrysome, but there ain't much I can do about it. Seems there's always somepony lookin' t'fight, or somebody mad over somethin', but my job's fixin' engines, not diplomasizin'. I do my job as best I can, leave it to th' ponies who can handle it, an' just hope it all blows over. There's already monsters aplenty in Equestria without us flyin' across borders." He remembered the cruel, sneering face of Spectre, and involuntarily shuddered.

Benson
2014-02-12, 12:22 PM
"Quite a...naive outlook, hoping that it will all blow over, as if it were a simple matter of fighting over who gets the last slice of cake," He hummed and turned his head to look at Sandy with a lazy smirk.

"Do you consider yourself a patriotic Equestrian?" He casually asked cracking open a window.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-12, 12:50 PM
[Balboa's Office]

Sandy winced; a disappointing response from a stallion he couldn't afford to displease. Literally, he probably had some way to sue the little unicorn for the shirt off his back if the mood took him. "I-I'd consider so, Mister Balboa sir. I served in th' royal army for a few years before th' Cirrus...er, snapped me up. I do my part t'keep Equestria an' her ponies s-safe." He anxiously fidgeted with his hat, clutching it between his forehooves. "Tr-try to, anyway..."

Benson
2014-02-12, 01:17 PM
"That is all she can ask for, brave ponies such as yourself, loyal to her, protecting her from the inside. You know, we're not that different in that aspect, whilst you protect her from monsters, I do my best to protect her from the ponies that don't care for her as you and I do." He donned a small smile and returned to his desk.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-12, 11:30 PM
[Balboa's Office]

"It's...an honor t'be compared t'you, Mister Balboa." Sandy offered a gracious, if forced, smile of his own. "It's good t'see a pony's efforts comin' up roses. Means there's still good work thrivin' in Equestria."

HalfTangible
2014-02-13, 12:19 AM
Astrid could be found on the tennis courts, aggressively engaging in a match between herself and Balboa's instructor. She had a very intense expression as she served the ball at high speeds you'd swear you saw flames forming around the ball. The poor instructor seemed out of his league at the moment, mostly moving out of the way to avoid getting beaned.

CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAALL!!

Hay Bale came in from above, screaming out the above. The tennis ball slammed into her side and shot into the ground, giving Astrid a point that Hay Bale sincerely hoped was the match point.

Hay Bale's next immediate words were OH LUNA THIS HURRRRRTS! ...well duh, she'd just cannoballed into solid concrete. And she hadn't upped her density, so the concrete wasn't cracked at all.

Her lower half, on the other hoof, had exploded.

Hay Bale turned her head sloooooowly to look at Astrid, eye twitching. Mr.Shag would like very much to see you, Miss Astrid. She said politely and formally, without the slightest hint of flirtation or amusement. Also, I would very much like a bucket and some morphine.

Astrid would probably know perfectly well by now that Hay Bale didn't need morphine. Ever.

Benson
2014-02-14, 03:13 AM
[Balboa's Office]

"It's...an honor t'be compared t'you, Mister Balboa." Sandy offered a gracious, if forced, smile of his own. "It's good t'see a pony's efforts comin' up roses. Means there's still good work thrivin' in Equestria."

"And hopefully it will continue so, it would be unfortunate to see Equestria fall by those who would like to see her burn, metaphorically speaking," He sipped from the other glass of whiskey.

"Tell me Mister Shores, do you know what I do? My line of business."
==============



CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAALL!!

Hay Bale came in from above, screaming out the above. The tennis ball slammed into her side and shot into the ground, giving Astrid a point that Hay Bale sincerely hoped was the match point.

Hay Bale's next immediate words were OH LUNA THIS HURRRRRTS! ...well duh, she'd just cannoballed into solid concrete. And she hadn't upped her density, so the concrete wasn't cracked at all.

Her lower half, on the other hoof, had exploded.

Hay Bale turned her head sloooooowly to look at Astrid, eye twitching. Mr.Shag would like very much to see you, Miss Astrid. She said politely and formally, without the slightest hint of flirtation or amusement. Also, I would very much like a bucket and some morphine.

Astrid would probably know perfectly well by now that Hay Bale didn't need morphine. Ever.

The poor tennis coach fainted at the sight of whatever the frack just happened to Hay Bale. Astrid donned a look of indifference. She simply just tiredly sighed setting her rack down on the ground.

"Well....that's not disgusting as all get, nope, not at all," She said in stoic sarcasm. "Mmm, I am pretty sure there are some buckets in the utility closet near the kitchen. I shall have a servant fetch one for you." She said as her transparent wings began to flap like a hummingbird's as she flew away in no rush she could perceive.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-14, 01:01 PM
"And hopefully it will continue so, it would be unfortunate to see Equestria fall by those who would like to see her burn, metaphorically speaking," He sipped from the other glass of whiskey.

"Tell me Mister Shores, do you know what I do? My line of business."

"It's...investment, innit?" Sandy scratched at his chin nervously. "Entrepreneurial work? I ain't th' most familiar with your work, but I hear about it in th' papers now an' then. Mostly about new tech or facilities y'help fund."

Benson
2014-02-17, 11:30 AM
"It's...investment, innit?" Sandy scratched at his chin nervously. "Entrepreneurial work? I ain't th' most familiar with your work, but I hear about it in th' papers now an' then. Mostly about new tech or facilities y'help fund."

"I am a businesspony, with a variety of businesses I have bought from others, from food chains, to steel manufacture, etc. However, I, primarily, deal with weapons manufacture. For example," He dramatically paused and lazily smiled at Sandy. "My company oversaw the construction of a certain air ship of yours."

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-17, 02:07 PM
"I am a businesspony, with a variety of businesses I have bought from others, from food chains, to steel manufacture, etc. However, I, primarily, deal with weapons manufacture. For example," He dramatically paused and lazily smiled at Sandy. "My company oversaw the construction of a certain air ship of yours."

If Sandy's had his water, he'd have just dropped it all over the expensive carpet. "Y'mean...ya'll helped build th' Cirrus?!" he gasped. While the ship was funded and run by the mysterious Backers, the particulars of its construction had always struck a chord with the little pony's curiosity.

Wriggling off his cushions, Sandy peered over the top of Balboa's desk. "Mister Balboa, sir? May I have th' honor of shakin' your hoof, as a pony responsible for that wonderful machine? She's saved more lives than I...I-I could ever count." His voice choked up with emotion.

HalfTangible
2014-02-17, 02:22 PM
The poor tennis coach fainted at the sight of whatever the frack just happened to Hay Bale. Astrid donned a look of indifference. She simply just tiredly sighed setting her rack down on the ground.

"Well....that's not disgusting as all get, nope, not at all," She said in stoic sarcasm. "Mmm, I am pretty sure there are some buckets in the utility closet near the kitchen. I shall have a servant fetch one for you." She said as her transparent wings began to flap like a hummingbird's as she flew away in no rush she could perceive.

That's okay... She said, a slight shiver to her tone. I'll just regrow my flank and clean up the blood myself.

Benson
2014-02-20, 12:22 PM
If Sandy's had his water, he'd have just dropped it all over the expensive carpet. "Y'mean...ya'll helped build th' Cirrus?!" he gasped. While the ship was funded and run by the mysterious Backers, the particulars of its construction had always struck a chord with the little pony's curiosity.

Wriggling off his cushions, Sandy peered over the top of Balboa's desk. "Mister Balboa, sir? May I have th' honor of shakin' your hoof, as a pony responsible for that wonderful machine? She's saved more lives than I...I-I could ever count." His voice choked up with emotion.

Balboa looked down on him, smiling still. "Well, I suppose I could entertain that wish." He chuckled and offered Sandy his hoof to shake. "She is a beauty isn't she? A majestic symbol, telling ponyfolk that they need not fear, the Cirrus us here."



That's okay... She said, a slight shiver to her tone. I'll just regrow my flank and clean up the blood myself.

Astrid stopped in her mid hover flight and looked back. She quirked a brow. "Very well then, I shall leave you to clean up after yourself."

Merellis
2014-02-21, 01:08 AM
[Above Bridle Shores - Dive Bomb]

He doesn't pay the retired badass of a Shadowbolt any mind as he focuses on keeping his aim precise, no telling what would happen if something were to make him flinch.

Something like molten metal partially splashing against his face and armor for one.

The pegasus veers far off course and leaves his aura of heat and flame to fly off it's mark. Instead of hitting the wall and roasting all atop while burning away the cloud-cover... It instead slams into the middle of town and spreads quickly while the sound of a dragon's roar erupts from the center of it. The torrent of flame and heat lights up houses and ponies alike.

Chaos may reign withing the walls, but at least the soldiers on top of them weren't caught in that.

All hail the conquering Shadowbolt!

Dive Bomb meanwhile spins around to get the liquid death off his face and uses the dive to escape into the town under the cover of flames, smoke, and chaos.

Will Purple Prose dare follow Dive Bomb into the hell he'd just caused or will he help the countless trapped and injured civilians of the calamity his actions brought upon them?


[Hospital - Basement]

Sure Strike doesn't need any more words than that, though it's gonna be hard for him to heal the nurse that was poisoned then slammed into a wall from the pony that's supposed to be her comrade. Especially in three seconds.

She immediately zips into the air and takes off to the second floor without bothering to stop, she doesn't even pause there as the buzzing of her companion's wings was clearly above her.


[Hospital - Third Floor]

"Enemy at the gates, enemy at the gates!" She screeches out in terror as she moves to close the distance only to be genuinely surprised as the floor below her bursts open and tosses her straight over the guard.

Sure Strike flaps dusty wings and stares down at the pair with empty sockets as the wind gathers around her hooves. A blank expression, a silent flap of wings and yet it feels as if she knows exactly where the guard is.

"Save me!" Hollers the filly as she skids down the hall a bit, sharp eyes watching the guard as the floating idol of power and destruction lands quietly on the cracked and ruined floor.

That's about when a number of windows crack and shatter, the burning wave of death washing over the hospital and lighting it up with the intense heat and hungry flames.



[Guardhouse]

Those words are all quite logical, and have some sound reasoning. Though, they sadly seem to be coming from a lack of knowledge about who they were spoken to. They also would take a bit to say so the cloaked pony happily sharpens and strengthens the mass of metal bars floating around the speech making pony in the armor, because there is seriously enough time to do that. Just try saying it all out loud, it takes a while.

Mask, Divine, the large pegasus, and every soldier there just kind of give Dawnstrider a blank look before the pony who called himself Troubadour lets out a quiet snort and taps a hoof on the floor. The response is immediate as the mass of magically sharpened and enhanced spears surge forwards, as well as the crossbow bolts, and the massive spear from the pegasus behind the armored pony. As if this wasn't enough, the shadows along the hall and in the cells streak towards the duo looking quite solid.

"I only answer to two ponies, so please cut the crap and just be a good little corpse for me today." Mask says coldly, his voice only registering mild surprise as there's this sudden heat all around.

Almost as if the Guardhouse is on fire too.

(Gates post will come after I see some reactions to the flames or tomorrow morning. For now, I know I shouldn't laugh... Oh what the heck, I'll laugh anyway. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWDozBLKdJ4))

Lycan 01
2014-02-22, 01:52 PM
[Pursuit of Dive Bomb]

Prose curses under his breath. He'd hoped to stop the flame-wielding pegasus' attack entirely, not just weaken it.

Because obviously if the pegasus' interrupted attack is that obscenely powerful, then a successful attack would have been utterly devastating. All hail the conquering Shadowbolt indeed, because clearly things would have been much, much worse if he hadn't intervened somehow. A pity his heroic actions could not have been more successful.

Regardless, Prose has no time to waste. He can't concern himself with the ponies endangered by the flames; more lives will be threatened or lost if that psychotic pegasus is not dealt with. Prose should have ended him earlier when he had the chance; he won't make the same twice.

Quite like a bat out of hell, the Shadowbolt drops into a sheer dive, flapping his wings with great speed and ferocity as he blitzes after his wounded, hindered foe. Heedless of the flames singing his fur and blistering his skin, Purple Prose grimaces with determination as he closes the distance with Dive Bomb, refusing to let his prey out of his sight or out of his grasp.

Dive Bomb can run. But he sure as hell can't hide.

And the moment Prose catches up to him, he's going to lash out with his hooves, talons, and/or teeth, attempting to grab one of Dive Bomb's wings... before attempting to expertly bend it in ways it is definitely not meant to be bent.

Flames aren't the only things that will be snapping and cracking, more than likely.

Grif
2014-02-23, 11:40 AM
[Hospital - Basement]

Sure Strike doesn't need any more words than that, though it's gonna be hard for him to heal the nurse that was poisoned then slammed into a wall from the pony that's supposed to be her comrade. Especially in three seconds.

She immediately zips into the air and takes off to the second floor without bothering to stop, she doesn't even pause there as the buzzing of her companion's wings was clearly above her.


[Hospital - Third Floor]

"Enemy at the gates, enemy at the gates!" She screeches out in terror as she moves to close the distance only to be genuinely surprised as the floor below her bursts open and tosses her straight over the guard.

Sure Strike flaps dusty wings and stares down at the pair with empty sockets as the wind gathers around her hooves. A blank expression, a silent flap of wings and yet it feels as if she knows exactly where the guard is.

"Save me!" Hollers the filly as she skids down the hall a bit, sharp eyes watching the guard as the floating idol of power and destruction lands quietly on the cracked and ruined floor.

That's about when a number of windows crack and shatter, the burning wave of death washing over the hospital and lighting it up with the intense heat and hungry flames.

Snowflake gripped the pommel of her short sword tightly in her mouth, her wings flaring a little in readiness. The sacred cry of the little filly zipping towards her and the sudden, explosive appearance of the apparently blindfolded mare told Snowflake all she needed to know about the situation: the enemy is here.

"Miss. Hide, now," Snowflake hissed, as she stepped forward to interpose herself between the apparent opponent and her charge. She stared intently at Sure, waiting for her to make the first move... Giving Bumble all the opportunity needed to backstab her, if so came to it.

Windy Breeze, to her credit, had already sought shelter under her bed, and was relatively safely hidden from view... for now.





[Guardhouse]

Those words are all quite logical, and have some sound reasoning. Though, they sadly seem to be coming from a lack of knowledge about who they were spoken to. They also would take a bit to say so the cloaked pony happily sharpens and strengthens the mass of metal bars floating around the speech making pony in the armor, because there is seriously enough time to do that. Just try saying it all out loud, it takes a while.

Mask, Divine, the large pegasus, and every soldier there just kind of give Dawnstrider a blank look before the pony who called himself Troubadour lets out a quiet snort and taps a hoof on the floor. The response is immediate as the mass of magically sharpened and enhanced spears surge forwards, as well as the crossbow bolts, and the massive spear from the pegasus behind the armored pony. As if this wasn't enough, the shadows along the hall and in the cells streak towards the duo looking quite solid.

"I only answer to two ponies, so please cut the crap and just be a good little corpse for me today." Mask says coldly, his voice only registering mild surprise as there's this sudden heat all around.

Almost as if the Guardhouse is on fire too.


Red Shift could only begin to wonder what was happening outside. Certainly, from his point of view, the shuffling and muffled exchange outside was worrying. Of course, that view soon turned into outright alarm as he registred the spike in temperature. He began to rattle the magically enhanced steel bars. "Hey! What's going on?! You can't leave me here!"

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-23, 11:54 PM
Balboa looked down on him, smiling still. "Well, I suppose I could entertain that wish." He chuckled and offered Sandy his hoof to shake. "She is a beauty isn't she? A majestic symbol, telling ponyfolk that they need not fear, the Cirrus us here."

(Town post coming tomorrow, when I am less dead. x_X)

Sandy shook the stallion's hoof, trembling like a schoolfilly before her idol. "If Equestria had a hundred ships like her, we wouldn't have troubles like we do. An' that's th' honest truth, Mister Balboa."

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-24, 07:03 PM
[Bridle Shores]

Dive Bomb's meteoric heat wave shuddered from the knife's impact. It cracked, it strained, it split apart and veered wildly off-target. Ponies at the walls felt the heat upon their necks, and gazed in awestruck horror at the orange comets hurtling into the town. Some were fortunate enough to strike the older buildings, and dissipate harmlessly against their stone walls with only a few shattered windows as casualties. Others were less fortunate, touching down in the markets, the shops, the homes, and even the hospital. Many of the newer structures were hastily built with wood, and the intense heat unleashed young, hungry flames upon them.

Somewhere, a pony screamed in terror, and others soon took up the cry of panic. Like clockwork, teams of fireponies streamed from the Public Works Guild, making a beeline for the more critical buildings and tackling any fires in their paths. By bucket, by dust, or by wet cloth, they stymied the advance of the flames.

They would not be long without help...

[Captain - Approaching Guardhouse]

The Captain regretfully split a half-dozen ponies off from his strike team, sending them to fight the fires and calm the panicking citizens. Fires could be dealt with by anypony with a bucket of water and a cool head; trained soldiers could only be killed by experts.

They galloped around the last corner, and the Guardhouse came into view...

[Hawk Shot - Near the Hospital]

The quiet sniper sent the bulk of her guards into the Hospital's front entrance. Melee fighters could dispatch fire and foe more easily from inside. The remainder of her snipers took up positions on the rooftops, scanning the windows for any sign of movement...

[Harten - Walls]

With the setting sun reducing their effectiveness, Harten ordered the weather teams to pull back the clouds and get some rain onto the city. Anything to help the fires from spreading. He sent as many ponies as he dared to help with the firefighting efforts, but with the enemy still at the ruined gates, he could hardly send more than a few squads. The rest of the defenders continued their work of sniping the golems with ballista bolts and sending arrows arcing over the enemy fortifications.

Hopefully, it would be enough...


[Passe - Guardhouse]

No saviors in sight, death fast approaching whomever this armored pony was, the filly could only think of one, possible way she might be of assistance;

"FIRE!!!"

Her shrill voice pierced through the sounds of imminent battle. She frantically gestured behind them, where one could see tongue of fire licking at the wooden walls of the guardhouse. Though much of the original structure was stone, wooden walls, fixtures, and furniture were commonplace.

The enemy strike team now had a pressing time crunch, and a shriek ringing in their ears. Hopefully, neither proved a panic-inducing distraction. :smallwink:

Benson
2014-02-26, 01:06 PM
(Town post coming tomorrow, when I am less dead. x_X)

Sandy shook the stallion's hoof, trembling like a schoolfilly before her idol. "If Equestria had a hundred ships like her, we wouldn't have troubles like we do. An' that's th' honest truth, Mister Balboa."

"Unfortunately...The Cirrus may be one of her kind, the material she is made out of...is rather rare, alas. But yes, had we a hundred ships like her, and...dedicated crews such as hers," He paused for a moment, taking a good look at the small stallion. "Equestria would not have to worry about the bad stuff." Indeed.

HalfTangible
2014-02-27, 10:47 AM
Astrid stopped in her mid hover flight and looked back. She quirked a brow. "Very well then, I shall leave you to clean up after yourself."

'Kay. Hay Bale began to drag herself across the ground, eye twitching. The paaaaaaaaaaaaain... This seemed so funny when I thought of it... dear sweet Luna, the paaaaaaaaaaaain...

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-27, 11:11 AM
"Unfortunately...The Cirrus may be one of her kind, the material she is made out of...is rather rare, alas. But yes, had we a hundred ships like her, and...dedicated crews such as hers," He paused for a moment, taking a good look at the small stallion. "Equestria would not have to worry about the bad stuff." Indeed.

Sandy shriveled up and shrank away under the heat of the stallion's appraising gaze. "It's...it's a good crew I serve with, sir," he delicately deflected the undeserved praise. "I think if we could just stroll out and find a hundred crews like them, that'd be an Equestria no amount of beasts or badness could stand against."

Grif
2014-02-27, 12:36 PM
[Harten - Walls]

With the setting sun reducing their effectiveness, Harten ordered the weather teams to pull back the clouds and get some rain onto the city. Anything to help the fires from spreading. He sent as many ponies as he dared to help with the firefighting efforts, but with the enemy still at the ruined gates, he could hardly send more than a few squads. The rest of the defenders continued their work of sniping the golems with ballista bolts and sending arrows arcing over the enemy fortifications.

Hopefully, it would be enough...


Lucky for the weather team, the clouds were handy close by. Unlucky for them, this meant they needed to expose themselves to the off-chance that the army outside the gate would pepper them with arrows and all other projectiles. But they showed no hesitation as Stormcloak gestured to relay Harten's command, the navy blue pegasus himself nearly getting feathered by a lucky arrow as he took off.

And soon enough, a light drizzle started all across town, the weather team hard at work to bring the worst of the flames under control...

PurityIcekiller
2014-02-28, 01:58 AM
[Heavy Metal Ironworks]

The shop window shuddered and cracked as the wave of fire struck, but the building itself was made of nonflammable materials and came out mostly unharmed. Even the fine wooden door managed to avoid serious burning.

Flare glanced up, then used her magic to fuse the window glass back into shape before turning back to card games.

[La Clínica]

Fantastic. Another one.

Night Jewel raced through the second floor, taking every shortcut up she could. With the shield active and her mind occupied elsewhere, she didn't even notice the fire.

As she approached the third floor, she took out the knife she'd stolen from Daniel. She hoped she wouldn't have to stab anyone, but had some other uses in mind. Hopefully, the attackers would be distracted long enough for her to have the advantage of surprise...

[The Walls]

Blueshield felt her armour heat up and grimaced. As if it were not disaster enough... How in a thousand years - no, a thousand lifetimes - would so many complete sociopaths with such inexplicable aptitude for magic manage to gather together?

On ground level, she approached the gates and gestured to the least occupied-looking ponies. "Withdraw to deal with the internal combustion. An incinerated town is not worth defending. I'll hold things down here."

She then looked for a good choke point, raised her hammer and shield against the golems, and braced herself for the worst.

Benson
2014-02-28, 01:15 PM
Sandy shriveled up and shrank away under the heat of the stallion's appraising gaze. "It's...it's a good crew I serve with, sir," he delicately deflected the undeserved praise. "I think if we could just stroll out and find a hundred crews like them, that'd be an Equestria no amount of beasts or badness could stand against."

He gave Sandy a wan fatherly-like smile and sat back down. A moment later there was a knock on the door as Balboa told for them to enter. A maid appeared with a silver tray with a pitcher of ice water and a glass. Balboa gestured for her to set it down on his desk, she did so and offered up a glass to Sandy, and then left.

"So, naturally, I can assume you are a very loyal and outstanding citizen to Equestria eh?" A playful smirk formed on his mouth.



'Kay. Hay Bale began to drag herself across the ground, eye twitching. The paaaaaaaaaaaaain... This seemed so funny when I thought of it... dear sweet Luna, the paaaaaaaaaaaain...

"Ack!..." A groundskeeper stallion yelled out and cantered over to Hay Bale. He had been pruning some tree branches off of tree to keep them all nice and uniform.

"Madam...ma'am...ack...what what...hauh...do ya need me to call for emergency??" He was confused, really confused, like brain not properly functioning confused.

HalfTangible
2014-02-28, 01:50 PM
He gave Sandy a wan fatherly-like smile and sat back down. A moment later there was a knock on the door as Balboa told for them to enter. A maid appeared with a silver tray with a pitcher of ice water and a glass. Balboa gestured for her to set it down on his desk, she did so and offered up a glass to Sandy, and then left.

"So, naturally, I can assume you are a very loyal and outstanding citizen to Equestria eh?" A playful smirk formed on his mouth.




"Ack!..." A groundskeeper stallion yelled out and cantered over to Hay Bale. He had been pruning some tree branches off of tree to keep them all nice and uniform.

"Madam...ma'am...ack...what what...hauh...do ya need me to call for emergency??" He was confused, really confused, like brain not properly functioning confused.

No, no, I'm good, I'll regenerate... sooner or later. She looked behind herself at the trail of blood. Just need a bucket. And a mop. She then looked at the groundskeeper and cocked an eyebrow. Ya busy tonight?

Benson
2014-02-28, 02:02 PM
No, no, I'm good, I'll regenerate... sooner or later. She looked behind herself at the trail of blood. Just need a bucket. And a mop. She then looked at the groundskeeper and cocked an eyebrow. Ya busy tonight?

"Of course!...I shall go fetch one right now--" He was ready to turn when Hay Bale asked her random question.

"Uh, I am," He raised a brow and tilted his head. "I have my daughter's cello recital to attend to tonight."

HalfTangible
2014-02-28, 02:09 PM
"Of course!...I shall go fetch one right now--" He was ready to turn when Hay Bale asked her random question.

"Uh, I am," He raised a brow and tilted his head. "I have my daughter's cello recital to attend to tonight."

Well f%$#. She half-pouted. Just the bucket and mop then, if you plea- ah, pain's gone.

TheAmishPirate
2014-02-28, 03:35 PM
He gave Sandy a wan fatherly-like smile and sat back down. A moment later there was a knock on the door as Balboa told for them to enter. A maid appeared with a silver tray with a pitcher of ice water and a glass. Balboa gestured for her to set it down on his desk, she did so and offered up a glass to Sandy, and then left.

"So, naturally, I can assume you are a very loyal and outstanding citizen to Equestria eh?" A playful smirk formed on his mouth.

Oh thank Luna, something to occupy his hooves. Or horn, rather. "Thankee, Miss" Sandy nervously tipped his hat to the maid as she left - eyes lingering on hers for a few moments - and then busied himself with pouring. The cool, refreshing water soothed his dry throat, bringing a little quiet to his racing heart.

"Yessir!" He nodded vigorously. "I wouldn't ever do nothin' t'bring harm t'my friends, m'family, or m'country."

Kelvin360
2014-03-02, 04:07 PM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Interior

Something to be said for the 'infiltrators', at least, is that they're quick. One just a bit more than the other. Spotting a bolt on a direct path for one of the spaces in between plates on Dawnstrider's armor, Bloom launches her arrow, knocking it aside into one of its brethren and leaving her original missile on the floor beside Passe. That, it appears, is all she can do before the cage completes its trap.

The darkness and the iron bars, however, are apparently unable to come within a certain distance of the paladin. He acts in a single fluid movement. First, locking eyes with Passe, just for an instant, and the green orbs within his helmet disappear.

He draws his sword, cuts through the bars, bisects the javelin (sending the pieces spinning in front of him) and deflecting most of what crossbow bolts remain. One bounces off his side, and the other connects with one of his hind legs.

Regardless of this, for now, when he finishes his blade's arc, two things happen in very quick succession. First, his helmet and armor shift both color and form, blazing silver and gold with a look not unlike that of one of Celestia's old royal guard. His face is visible now, a black coat and dirty blonde mane rippling in an unseen wind, eyes closed.

His sword strikes the ground, and a light appear on the tip, quickly spiraling into a soundless and harmless explosion of light. For a given value of 'harmless' - the effect is not generally unlike looking directly into the sun. What's more, for those able to see, it appears to have a rather debilitating effect on the magical darkness, an effect familiar to those who had seen his previous performance combating the tentacles at the gates.

---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

There are two things about his situation that Taylor finds notable. First, that it's still as easy as ever to play sleight of hoof when he was being fearsome and commanding. And second, that producing illusions of light shields still worked as a defensive option, for some reason.

In reality, he had already begun the healing process the moment his hoof touched down on the nurse's coat, disguising the output of energy with the impressive (but ultimately intangible) shield of light. He restricts himself to delay tactics; if he uses his full allotment, it might incapacitate him, which does no one except the intruders any good. Instead, he focuses the spread of healing energy on the poison's path, restricting its flow and pulling it back.

It's only a temporary measure, but it should serve until something more permanent is done. He's unwilling to put more into it, in case it's something absurd like gloomium blood thinner or a similar toxin that he's at least passingly unfamiliar with. That would be just his luck.

Shearing off some of his focus, he grips his mace and throws it at the door handle, imbuing it with a small force field (real this time). When his side of it breaks, he opens the door telekinetically, then returns mainly to his task.

"You can come in, now. And somepony get me a case of antivenoms."

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Third Floor Stairwell

What are we doing? Starbeam projects her thoughts through the spell and into Night Jewel's psyche, outfitting herself with a minor inertial barrier while she does it. I'm operating under the assumption you have a plan.

Her physical body is a good few ponylengths behind her companion, trying to keep her harsh breaths as quiet as possible past the strain.

---

((Reposted here now that it's present tense, with alterations.))

Crescent Squad - Guardhouse Exterior

Firehooves and Voidgazer stand off to the side, the former tossing an explosive device into the air in a one-object juggling maneuver, the latter swirling a miniature nebula around his hoof with glassy eyes.

Station and Reprisal are standing inexpertly next to Moonlight, who waits for the Captain to get within conversational distance before speaking. "Captain. When and where do you need us?"

---

Snowstorm - Hospital Exterior

At first, it was all about the debris. It fell on the surrounds like rain from hell, and leeched more moisture from the air than the pegasus was remotely comfortable with. Without waiting, she dove out the window at full tilt, drawing up her reserves to unleash a blizzard. With a flap of her wings, she sent a cold front rushing towards the worst of the mess, and had concentrated her attack on the residential district when...

You've got to be kidding me.

---

Western Wall

It looks like Blueshield's going to have to wait a while, because the golems are still busy mindlessly swarming around two soon-to-be-corpses more than a dozen meters away from her.

Benson
2014-03-03, 12:44 AM
Well f%$#. She half-pouted. Just the bucket and mop then, if you plea- ah, pain's gone.

He was a little taken aback by the swearing, but nonetheless disappeared and returned some moments later with a bucket and mop as they plopped on the ground.

"So uh...how is this going to work?" He asked staring at the bucket. "Will I need more?...I admit....this is new to me, ahem. Cough."



Oh thank Luna, something to occupy his hooves. Or horn, rather. "Thankee, Miss" Sandy nervously tipped his hat to the maid as she left - eyes lingering on hers for a few moments - and then busied himself with pouring. The cool, refreshing water soothed his dry throat, bringing a little quiet to his racing heart.

"Yessir!" He nodded vigorously. "I wouldn't ever do nothin' t'bring harm t'my friends, m'family, or m'country."


"Good, good, a prime example of a loyal Equestrian, tis an honor for me to meet such a pony," He gave Sandy a warm smile and then stared at him.

"You must be wondering why I requested this meeting eh?"

HalfTangible
2014-03-03, 12:54 AM
He was a little taken aback by the swearing, but nonetheless disappeared and returned some moments later with a bucket and mop as they plopped on the ground.

"So uh...how is this going to work?" He asked staring at the bucket. "Will I need more?...I admit....this is new to me, ahem. Cough."

Just leave it here, I got it. She sighed, a horn sprouting from her head. She grabbed the mop with magic and started to clean up the blood, still with no rear legs. Hate it when my regeneration slows down. Makes everything a nightmare.

TheAmishPirate
2014-03-03, 08:55 AM
"Good, good, a prime example of a loyal Equestrian, tis an honor for me to meet such a pony," He gave Sandy a warm smile and then stared at him.

"You must be wondering why I requested this meeting eh?"

"Th' thought had...er, crossed m'mind once or twice," Sandy admitted. His glass shook with nerves as he gingerly took another sip.

TheAmishPirate
2014-03-05, 11:52 AM
(Will deal with the remainder of NPC reactions until after Merellis posts. Just handling a few relevant details.)

[The Walls]


Blueshield felt her armour heat up and grimaced. As if it were not disaster enough... How in a thousand years - no, a thousand lifetimes - would so many complete sociopaths with such inexplicable aptitude for magic manage to gather together?

On ground level, she approached the gates and gestured to the least occupied-looking ponies. "Withdraw to deal with the internal combustion. An incinerated town is not worth defending. I'll hold things down here."

She then looked for a good choke point, raised her hammer and shield against the golems, and braced herself for the worst.

Amid the scramble of hooves leaving to deal with the fires, a solitary earth pony in heavy armor - carrying a shield borrowed from one of the retreating defenders - steps beside Blueshield. "We'll hold things down." He dug in his hammer-hooves and readied his shield. "They shall not take this ground from us!"


Western Wall

It looks like Blueshield's going to have to wait a while, because the golems are still busy mindlessly swarming around two soon-to-be-corpses more than a dozen meters away from her.

Another volley of ballista shots stave off the golem swarm, but not for long.

Within the safety of the gate towers, the team swears and strains to load another bolt before the inevitable. If they only had a few moments, a small window of opportunity, then perhaps they could somehow bring the fallen Motes home. But barring a miracle, they're nothing more than bodies awaiting graves...

PurityIcekiller
2014-03-05, 11:15 PM
What are we doing? Starbeam projects her thoughts through the spell and into Night Jewel's psyche, outfitting herself with a minor inertial barrier while she does it. I'm operating under the assumption you have a plan.

Her physical body is a good few ponylengths behind her companion, trying to keep her harsh breaths as quiet as possible past the strain.

Night Jewel slowed down for a moment to answer. We're going to find out what we're dealing with, then improvise from there.

Please try not to distract the filly. She needs to pay proper attention if we want to stop them. With a quick kick of her hooves, she went back to full speed.


Amid the scramble of hooves leaving to deal with the fires, a solitary earth pony in heavy armor - carrying a shield borrowed from one of the retreating defenders - steps beside Blueshield. "We'll hold things down." He dug in his hammer-hooves and readied his shield. "They shall not take this ground from us!"

"They'll at least find their skulls turned concave for their efforts." Blueshield gave the other pony a nod. "Keep them from flanking. Two can protect far better than one can."

She switched to her crossbow to fire at the golems, but would go back to her hammer the moment she saw them turning their attention towards her. She couldn't tell at this distance whether the other ponies out there were alive or dead, but whatever the case, the golems were occupied and she had a projectile weapon.

Merellis
2014-03-05, 11:54 PM
[Bridle Shores - Area near Hospital]

Dive lands heavily and immediately rolls into a dark alley, a hoof viciously tapping onto the still cooling metal to keep it from spreading more across his face. The goggles were mostly destroyed and the magic within them had stopped functioning since the attack with the knife.

With a disgruntled sigh the valiant captain stows the useless item away in a pair of specially prepared saddlebags, taking care to strap a short sword to his side and to continue on his way towards the hospital.

His path would take a series of loops and backtracks, but Dive was confident he wouldn't be followed by any random stragglers. No, he certainly didn't want any interference in the duel that was sure to come. The knife was certainly Stuka's and the only pony he'd seen so far today that could take that was definitely the mysterious stalker who'd shot him earlier.

And it seemed that instead of dealing with his subordinates, the determined hero wanted him dead.

A smile forms as he turns another corner...


[Hospital - Third Floor]

Sure Strike lands on her hind legs and throws a shimmering hoof forwards with the intent to simply smash through her adversary's neck and be done with it. There was no time now to waste with long battles or with hostages, the pony with the wave attack could come at any moment with reinforcements, and if his previous treatment of allies was the norm, she did not want to see what would happen in such small halls.

And while the silent striker was worrying about such things, the little assassin was already striking from behind with a very familiar attack. Her own hoof was shimmering, though not even close to the degree of Sure Strike's. Her own target was one of Snowflake's back legs so that they might have a way out if things went even worse.

Either way, they needed this pony down and they were going to do it one way or another.


[Outside of Bridle Shores - Away from the army]

Relay never does see what takes him out, too busy connecting back to the main base and updating the ponies there. How far he managed to get with the update and call for reinforcements would possibly not be known for now, given the hilt slamming into the back of his head and the quiet thud of his body collapsing on the road.


[Bridle Shores - Guardhouse]

Shadows are strange things. In perfect darkness they don't exist, they can only be created by the sun, by the light. A funny thought that comes to any mage who learns to control the power of the shadow, no matter how much they shun the light, they need it.

For no matter how bright the light, there is always a darker shadow cast.

Mask and the others are relieved to find that the light does not bother them, or anypony for that matter as the shadows converge and surround the pair of Dawnstrider and his lackey, just at the edge of where they'd first found themselves unable to press forward. The shadows hold long enough to block the light, though they soon dissolve and fall to the floor as an inky mess.

Though, the shadows did their job already as the massive pegasus was already swinging what remains of his spear to sweep the armored pony's legs out from under him. The others had spread out a bit and were reloading their crossbows with quick and steady movements, though Mask just seemed to be keeping a close eye on their adversary, looking rather calm despite the power displayed.

"Passe, do be a dear and back up with Flash there, and please leave the bolt where it is." He says this pleasantly, the same voice he'd used when first being escorted, adding a final sentence with a chilling tone. "Or else you're gonna move from hostage to liability." He lets the open threat hang in the air, mind already working away at what they could do.

If Dawnstrider isn't too busy dealing with the mass of ponies reloading and attacking him, he might be able to notice a disturbance in the ceiling off to the corner of the room and the fact that there are two ponies missing. The cloaked one and another one of the crossbow users!


The light is blinding for a moment, but the shadows that appear from this blast are even darker than before. Passe can see the cloaked unicorn simply pour the magic into her horn and immediately send these shadows to converge on her saviors and block out the light. The next few moments are quick as the unicorn she'd seen previously wielding a number of magical pickaxes swiftly carves a hole into the roof and is swept into it along with Divine and her own rising shadows.

Even as the shadows disappear, there is no doubt that something has gone very wrong here.

You also notice that the only one to really jump and seem terrified from the fire is the very pony guarding Passe! Her eyes keep shifting towards the flames, towards the pony in armor, and back to you. A shame she seems to calm a little from the spoke order of Mask, but maybe she's not all there anymore.


[Bridle Shores Guardhouse - Second Floor]

Two unicorns walked away from the hole in the floor and stopped to rest a moment, the shadows gathering and forming a circle on the floor, the insides of it's area filling with odd symbols.

"So you brought the mundane ones, correct?" Divine asks with a quick down the hall while Mine Craft roots through his saddle bag. "Because they certainly have an anti-magic zone for their mage criminals."

"Yeah, brought both kinds just in case. But how're you gonna find tha traitor?" He responds with a drawl before looking and scanning the opposite end of the hall, already having found what he needed.

"Just getting to that actually."

The circle was complete and with a press of the hoof the shadows that formed it gave off an eerie glow before shooting off through the halls. The oddest thing about these shadows was that they seemed sharper, and moved as if they were alive.

And lets not forget the countless eyes that were beginning to form all over.

One eye on the cloaked pony closes as the mass of shadows and eyes spins it's web across the second floor before starting to dig into the rock. They'll soon dig into the first floor to take a peek, or if they manage to find the anti-magic area of the guardhouse, there will be nothing.

Either way, Red Shift will soon be found...


[West Gate]

The golems continue their assault on the pair before them, though the constant chipping away from the arrows and the ballista bolts have weakened and slowed a number of them considerably. Strangely though, the dozen of them that are closest to the gate start to stomp and march towards the duo of Blueshield and the Earth Pony.

The seven that are left with the Motes who had leaped from the walls still continue their attack unheeded, even with the slowing property of the arrows peppering them and the shattering potential from the ballista bolts.

Though, there is a slight change now from the army hiding behind the makeshift walls and trenches.

They noticed the lack of clouds and begin to fire back against the wall top warriors in earnest!

Lycan 01
2014-03-06, 10:02 PM
[Bridle Shores - Area near Hospital][/CENTER]


[CENTER]

Dive lands heavily and immediately rolls into a dark alley, a hoof viciously tapping onto the still cooling metal to keep it from spreading more across his face. The goggles were mostly destroyed and the magic within them had stopped functioning since the attack with the knife.

With a disgruntled sigh the valiant captain stows the useless item away in a pair of specially prepared saddlebags, taking care to strap a short sword to his side and to continue on his way towards the hospital.

His path would take a series of loops and backtracks, but Dive was confident he wouldn't be followed by any random stragglers. No, he certainly didn't want any interference in the duel that was sure to come. The knife was certainly Stuka's and the only pony he'd seen so far today that could take that was definitely the mysterious stalker who'd shot him earlier.

And it seemed that instead of dealing with his subordinates, the determined hero wanted him dead.

A smile forms as he turns another corner...

...and there's nopony there! Looks like Dive is in the clear!

Up until the Shadowbolt slams down on him from the sky out of nowhere, at least. Without a sound to herald his approach, Prose plummets from on high to fall upon Dive Bomb like a falcon on a rodent.

Prose attempts to impact Dive at a slight angle, slamming down on his right shoulder so as to throw him onto his left side. Upon hitting him, Prose's forehooves lash out, and attempt to grab Dive's left wing, and pull it over his shoulders and onto his right side, over-extending the limb well past its natural limits.

He then gives the limb a rather brutal twist, gruesomely bending it in ways it was never meant to bend, no doubt shattering the bones and dislocating joints to render the wing utterly useless.

Assuming Prose manages to ravage the wing, Dive will no doubt be at best grounded, and at worst overcome with agony and unable to act or think.

If Prose is unable to get a grip on the wing when he slams into Dive, he'll instead aim to slam his hooves into the sides of Dive's neck, or whatever unarmed locations he can strike, aiming to knock him out or target pressure points to leave his body or limbs severely handicapped.

And if Dive manages to avoid the initial sky-tackle entirely, Prose will jump up and try to dropkick Dive, using the impact to hopefully knock Dive back and propel himself back and away from his foe, giving him room to move and plan his next course of action.


Prose is comin' in like a bat out of Tartarus, and he's done playing games. :smalleek:

Also, checked with Merellis, he was okay with Prose having kept up with Dive.

So yeah. Plan A: Tacke + wing grab + wing shatter. If wing grab fails, Plan B is: Tackle + throat/pressure point strike. If the tackle fails entirely, Plan C is: Dropkick + create distance.

Grif
2014-03-08, 11:49 AM
[Hospital - Third Floor]

Sure Strike lands on her hind legs and throws a shimmering hoof forwards with the intent to simply smash through her adversary's neck and be done with it. There was no time now to waste with long battles or with hostages, the pony with the wave attack could come at any moment with reinforcements, and if his previous treatment of allies was the norm, she did not want to see what would happen in such small halls.

And while the silent striker was worrying about such things, the little assassin was already striking from behind with a very familiar attack. Her own hoof was shimmering, though not even close to the degree of Sure Strike's. Her own target was one of Snowflake's back legs so that they might have a way out if things went even worse.

Either way, they needed this pony down and they were going to do it one way or another.

Snowflake had no clue. None at all. Just as she steeled herself at the sight of the blindpony making her move, disaster struck. The first warning she had of the betrayal was the excruciating pain of having a leg broken by Bumble's sudden attack. The pegasus cried out in pain, her hind leg buckling, while her sword fell from her mouth and clattered onto the floor.

Ironically, this very act might have saved Snowflake; her sudden motion causing Sure to miss ever so slightly, just a few inch, really, to connect solidly with her guard helm. But even the force of that was enough to send Snowflake flying into the air and against the nearest wall, punching a neat hole as she landed in a crumpled heap in the next room. The guard was out of this fight, no question about that, though the duo might be wondering whether they should be finishing the job or not.

And in the span of the five seconds it took for the two to knock the guard out, a gasp emanated from underneath the bed, the pegasus merchant watching the entire scene unfold with stricken, wide eyes. She held a hoof out feebly, perhaps in her own way, wishing that she could have helped her guardian. But no. A moment later, she lowered her hoof, and quickly muffled her cries, trying her best to escape the attention of the two murderous villains.

It was after all, what she was good at: hiding while braver ponies tried to defend her.





[West Gate]

The golems continue their assault on the pair before them, though the constant chipping away from the arrows and the ballista bolts have weakened and slowed a number of them considerably. Strangely though, the dozen of them that are closest to the gate start to stomp and march towards the duo of Blueshield and the Earth Pony.

The seven that are left with the Motes who had leaped from the walls still continue their attack unheeded, even with the slowing property of the arrows peppering them and the shattering potential from the ballista bolts.

Though, there is a slight change now from the army hiding behind the makeshift walls and trenches.

They noticed the lack of clouds and begin to fire back against the wall top warriors in earnest!

And while the army busied themselves with flinging arrows, the griffons shifted their attention back to juicier pickings. Like the defenders manning the ballistas. Although with the advent of the dusk, their firing positions might be now be discerned by the sharp-eyed.

PurityIcekiller
2014-03-08, 04:31 PM
[The Clinic, Third Floor]

Night Jewel arrived just too late.

Drat it... Okay, Starbeam, don't start anything dramatic. I need to size this up.

She stepped forward carefully and addressed the two clearly-visible ponies. "What happened here? Was somepony attacked?"

[At The Gates]

"All right, stand steady, let them come to us, use reach, and-"

The sound of arrows whizzing overhead was then heard, and Blueshield muttered something elaborate that might have offended the ears of a pony who could hear and understand her.

On the ground, the golems were completely expendable, but every pony who fell was a devastating blow. The attackers were firmly entrenched and didn't seem like they would run out of arrows soon, while half the defenders were busy making sure the damage done inside the town didn't get any worse. While she couldn't keep track of the casualties, Blueshield was certain they were even at best, and with the odds as skewed as they already were, the losses being even was actually a disadvantage. And now, knowing her luck, the main strength of their defences would be wiped out by shots fired from far away and in the dark. Unless a miracle happened, they had already lost even if the town held out.

"Change of plans. Once the others get back, make a diversion and we'll send another squad around to shoot those rats in their filthy little holes." She advanced a bit to shield-slam the nearest golem and follow up with a hammer strike. Even if survival was out of the question, spite was not.

MCerberus
2014-03-08, 11:21 PM
[Outside of Bridle Shores - Away from the army]

Relay never does see what takes him out, too busy connecting back to the main base and updating the ponies there. How far he managed to get with the update and call for reinforcements would possibly not be known for now, given the hilt slamming into the back of his head and the quiet thud of his body collapsing on the road.

Hmm, with the line open, they may notice the sudden dropout and investigate. It may be time to use some of those acting abilities. Messing with a few dials, Staccata attempts to use static to disguise her voice and hopefully make it sound like it's breaking up.

"Technical difficulties... repair underway."

The mare takes another look around... before putting a hoof down onto a part of the radio that looks a little bit smashable. She probably can't break it, but may shake up something vital.

If things are clear, the rogue takes a look see if the pony she knocked out has any useful papers on him.

TheAmishPirate
2014-03-09, 02:32 PM
[Gates]

"What manner of diversion could we produce?" The Earth Pony spun about and delivered a devastating double-buck to a pair of advancing golems. "It would take something spectacular to capture the attention of those rats."

Blueshields assessment of the walls fails to account for three important facts. First, momentum. With the enemy fortifications already under heavy bombardment, the enemy archers have to time their shots carefully lest they be picked off instead. Secondly, gravity. The enemy was forced to shoot upwards at the walltops, while the defenders could send arrows arcing into their trenches with ease. And thirdly...


And while the army busied themselves with flinging arrows, the griffons shifted their attention back to juicier pickings. Like the defenders manning the ballistas. Although with the advent of the dusk, their firing positions might be now be discerned by the sharp-eyed.

"Fire!"

...patience.

As soon as the first shot rings out, arrows pepper the trees all around the musketeers. A team of archers - under the clever Harten's direction - had secreted themselves all along the corner of the West and North wall. From the safety of the parapets they could rain vengeance down on the snipers, aided by the sounds of their own muskets. And now, by their pained shrieks.

[Inside Guardhouse]

Passe wisely backs up with her captor, her sharp eyes noting the scene unfolding around her. "Oh, absolutely, sir," her voice drips with sarcasm. "Stay, fight, burn to death; see if I care. Those two won't find a safe room in time for all of you."

She keeps backing up until dear, frightened Flash tells her to stop. Which, if he doesn't, takes them right to the end of the hallway...

[The Eyes Have It...]

The shadow-eyes creep over the second floor, covering as much ground as possible before digging into the floor for a peek. Her mind floods with images of offices, barracks, hallways, weapons storerooms, mundane holding cells, training rooms, firing ranges, all of them empty and abandoned. However, a notable few eyes turn up empty blackness before dissolving away completely, banished by some arcane force.

[Will chat with Grif to determine what/where her eyes poof away.]

Just as she's about to report her findings, her eyes catch some movement by the entrance...

[Outside Guardhouse]


Crescent Squad - Guardhouse Exterior

Firehooves and Voidgazer stand off to the side, the former tossing an explosive device into the air in a one-object juggling maneuver, the latter swirling a miniature nebula around his hoof with glassy eyes.

Station and Reprisal are standing inexpertly next to Moonlight, who waits for the Captain to get within conversational distance before speaking. "Captain. When and where do you need us?"

The Captain's depleted squad arrived on the scene, the burly earth pony barely breaking a sweat. "Right now, inside the guardhouse. We've got an unknown number of hostiles, potentially eight friendlies, and fire inside. Deal with whatever you come across." Orders given, they all filed inside with weapons at the ready. "The refugee was a plant; kill or capture him. Same with the rest."

[Hospital - Closet]

Taylor peeks out to find a few brave ponies trying their hardest to look as though they hadn't been peeking around the doorframe. They scramble over themselves to fill his request, and the three return moments later with a kit filled with herbs, salves, anything a doctor might want to mitigate a poisoned wound.

[Around Town]

Aided by the rains and the extra guards, the fires don't spread any further. Neither to the civilians fall into a panic. If the calm can be kept a while longer, they may well die out...

Benson
2014-03-13, 02:39 AM
"Th' thought had...er, crossed m'mind once or twice," Sandy admitted. His glass shook with nerves as he gingerly took another sip.

"I have something else to ask you, but first, I shall let you know, that I know about your unique blood, Mister Shores," Balboa said as he watched Sandy gauging for his reaction, even the littlest of them before he would continue on.



Just leave it here, I got it. She sighed, a horn sprouting from her head. She grabbed the mop with magic and started to clean up the blood, still with no rear legs. Hate it when my regeneration slows down. Makes everything a nightmare.

"Eh uhm..is there anything else I can get you ma'am...like an ambulence?" The groundskeeper asked nervously.

TheAmishPirate
2014-03-13, 12:09 PM
"I have something else to ask you, but first, I shall let you know, that I know about your unique blood, Mister Shores," Balboa said as he watched Sandy gauging for his reaction, even the littlest of them before he would continue on.

Sandy choked on his sip of water. "Hwuh?!" he sputtered and coughed, gaping open-mouthed at Balboa. But beneath the confusion his hackles inched up, his muscles tensed; the fine, homey office had turned into a fine, exposing cage. And animals behaved most...unpredictably when cornered.

For the moment, Balboa had the chance to continue.

Benson
2014-03-17, 11:19 AM
Sandy choked on his sip of water. "Hwuh?!" he sputtered and coughed, gaping open-mouthed at Balboa. But beneath the confusion his hackles inched up, his muscles tensed; the fine, homey office had turned into a fine, exposing cage. And animals behaved most...unpredictably when cornered.

For the moment, Balboa had the chance to continue.

Balboa looked at Sandy and then behind him, and then back at Sandy. He faintly smiled and tilted his head, running his hoof through his black mane. "Sometimes you just have to rip off the week old bandage, ahem. Yes, as a stallion who has his hooves in many projects, it should be of no surprise to me that I would invest in those running a beloved project. Learn about them, understand their backgrounds, all that."

HalfTangible
2014-03-17, 12:12 PM
"Eh uhm..is there anything else I can get you ma'am...like an ambulence?" The groundskeeper asked nervously.

Nope, that's it. Hay Bale replied, still mopping up her blood.

Kelvin360
2014-03-18, 10:56 PM
Dawnstrider/Mountain Bloom - Guardhouse Interior

The light dies immediately, replaced with a low hum as the paladin's armor finally kicks in, reacting to an offensive blast from moments ago. The power surge expands around him, shifting the air and shadows, pulling them towards him like a vortex. When the effect fades, his armor is back to its original form, blacker than ever, crackling with energy.

He stands on his hind legs, kicking them into the ground. His left fore is occupied breaking off two spikes and tossing them forward. One flies at Mask, an easily dodged projectile. The one aimed at Flash is a good deal more accurate.

He backflips over the charging pegasus, bringing his sword low and shearing the top of Bloom's cage off as he lands on it, the force tilting one side up, like a lid. It pops off, and the filly grabs hold of an extended leg. With another tumble, both ponies stand further down the hallway, landing in the middle of the group of archers. Incidentally, crossbows versus a greatsword in quarters that close may get a little uncomfortable.

Mountain Bloom drops low, an arrow already lined with her string. She fires under the pegasus (an easy task, given his size), and lets loose at Flash, who at this point is probably either sighing in relief for having dodged the spike or distracted by the sudden pain of having been impaled by it.

---

Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

Grabbing a needle from his available supplies, Taylor sticks it into the nurse's wound and drags the resulting mix of blood and toxin across his tongue, muttering something about needed to learn more divination spells. He applies a clotting agent regardless, and works at telekinetically extracting as much of it as he can. Meanwhile, his mind works past the taste of salt and iron in an attempt to recognize the flavor and effects of the poison, and thus how best to counteract it.

---

Starbeam - Clinic Interior, Third Floor Stairwell

Did you just refer to yourself in-? No, nevermind.

Stopping a meter or two behind and below her companion (conveniently far enough down the stairwell to be out of sight), Starbeam begins piling on the magics. She stacks invisibility and disguise into a spell web and projects it through their bond, changing her own appearance to that of an earth pony nurse and hiding Night Jewel's knife.

Only after she's been safely disguised as such does she peek her now-white head up with a look of concern. However, she doesn't speak. Different specialties for different situations.

Needless to say, those inertial barriers are still around, though.

---

Crescent Squad - Guardhouse Exterior/Interior

"Understood. Crescent Squad, perimeters. Teams of two. If you see an alternate exit, cover it. If you don't, regroup and stay outside. Try not to destroy the building." With that, Moonlight's glasses snap closed, and he draws a shadowy hammer from, well, hammerspace.

"Ach, wha' aboot tha main, iffn they beat us an' come out through?" Firehooves asks.

Moonlight's horn glows bright white, and for a moment, a sigil is visible on the ground in front of the main entrance. It's a circle, with words carved into its center that are, essentially, the words 'chaos' and 'insanity' in numerous different languages. Then it fades. It's still barely visible, but now the same color as the ground beneath it.

"That problem should take care of itself." With that, he darts inside, dropping into the suddenly-plentiful shadows.

While the other guards have undoubtedly been noticed by the seeing eye shades, however, to that particular spell, the Moonbringer appears to be no more than an ordinary part of the shady scenery.

---

The Wall

A miracle, indeed.

No sooner have the ponies manning the ballista successfully reloaded it than they are subjected to a friendly takeover. A wordless Mental Steel, focusing all of his not-inconsiderable brainpower on one particular set of equations. Firing a bow is trivial. Firing a giant one is only slightly harder. And firing accurately under these circumstances, well, there IS a reason for all of these algorithms.

As he takes aim, the world around him dissolves. Everything is not an object, but a geometric shape. A series of velocities, areas, masses. He can feel the wind before it appears, and trajectory if his next bolt nothing more than a slightly twisted arc. Eminently calculable.

Reaction time, adjusted for fatigue. Noted 'swarm' factor, movement pending. Velocity and air resistance of a projectile approximately...

He fires.

"NOW!"

The end of the ballista's payload lights up with a final hurrah from Gutter Flame, held in place by force of will. The bolt bounces off of the ground, curving back up just as a golem makes a leap, and one of its brethren under it shifts...

The bolt impales the golem midair and explodes, showering those directly below it with superheated shrapnel and massive force. With the way they were arrayed, if any of that force hit Coconut or Joyous, it's likely they suffered minimal damage.

Steel's mouth twists into a smile that can only be described as savage. "Tally-ho, lads. Who needs archery when I can kill you with my brain?"

TheAmishPirate
2014-03-19, 10:39 AM
Balboa looked at Sandy and then behind him, and then back at Sandy. He faintly smiled and tilted his head, running his hoof through his black mane. "Sometimes you just have to rip off the week old bandage, ahem. Yes, as a stallion who has his hooves in many projects, it should be of no surprise to me that I would invest in those running a beloved project. Learn about them, understand their backgrounds, all that."

Sandy's breathing slowed. Marginally.

"B-but, how?! How can you even know that?" Sandy anxiously glanced over his shoulder, following the stallion's gaze, before turning back to face him. "Doc only ran his tests yesterday; he never said he were gonna tell anypony. I haven't told, he hasn't told..." He huffed, grasping for answers. "Why th' hay am I th' last pony t'find out about my own blood?!"

Grif
2014-03-19, 11:42 AM
(Hopefully I'm not missing anyone.)


[Gates]
"Fire!"

...patience.

As soon as the first shot rings out, arrows pepper the trees all around the musketeers. A team of archers - under the clever Harten's direction - had secreted themselves all along the corner of the West and North wall. From the safety of the parapets they could rain vengeance down on the snipers, aided by the sounds of their own muskets. And now, by their pained shrieks.

A clever ruse. The first warning they had that their positions were given away was the whistling of arrows in the dying light. Shrieks of anger and pain soon rang from the treeline. An arrow managed to strike an unfortunate griffon true in his heart, and the creature already dead before his body collapsed to the ground. Nor was he the only one. The hail of arrows grazed and wounded several others, the griffons quickly descending into disarray.

"Retreat. Get back into cover! Now!" one of the griffons shouted. In the continued absence of Stuka, command defaulted to the lowly sergeant, and even he knew enough that their position was untenable. Surprise was their main strength, and with that gone, the griffons were just inviting unnecessary losses given their inferior numbers.

Spitting the last few shots of defiance, the squad quickly melted back into the trees, the healthy helping the wounded along. And soon, there was silence. At least from that part of the forest.



[Hospital - Closet]

Taylor peeks out to find a few brave ponies trying their hardest to look as though they hadn't been peeking around the doorframe. They scramble over themselves to fill his request, and the three return moments later with a kit filled with herbs, salves, anything a doctor might want to mitigate a poisoned wound.



Sunshine - Clinic Interior, Pantry

Grabbing a needle from his available supplies, Taylor sticks it into the nurse's wound and drags the resulting mix of blood and toxin across his tongue, muttering something about needed to learn more divination spells. He applies a clotting agent regardless, and works at telekinetically extracting as much of it as he can. Meanwhile, his mind works past the taste of salt and iron in an attempt to recognize the flavor and effects of the poison, and thus how best to counteract it.


(I'll leave to Merellis to answer this.)

The nurse seemed comatose, her white coat stained and bloodied from several cuts and lacerations. But she was breathing, albeit shallowly, for the moment. At least Taylor wouldn't have needed to deal with a live patient.



[Around Town]

Aided by the rains and the extra guards, the fires don't spread any further. Neither to the civilians fall into a panic. If the calm can be kept a while longer, they may well die out...
Stormcloak was expediting the process of putting out fires, where possible, directing his severely depleted weather ponies to concentrate on the biggest fire, which seemed to have taken a liking to the central market.

Benson
2014-03-31, 12:04 PM
Sandy's breathing slowed. Marginally.

"B-but, how?! How can you even know that?" Sandy anxiously glanced over his shoulder, following the stallion's gaze, before turning back to face him. "Doc only ran his tests yesterday; he never said he were gonna tell anypony. I haven't told, he hasn't told..." He huffed, grasping for answers. "Why th' hay am I th' last pony t'find out about my own blood?!"

"Because Mister Shores, it is very important to me to know everything I can about the crew who man my dearly beloved Cirrus," He said, a little hammily, bringing his hoof to his cheek. "I have my ways on obtaining information quickly." He flashed a smile that could be taken as a little unnerving, and winked.

"Tell me Shores, what do you know about your own blood."

TheAmishPirate
2014-04-02, 10:16 AM
"Because Mister Shores, it is very important to me to know everything I can about the crew who man my dearly beloved Cirrus," He said, a little hammily, bringing his hoof to his cheek. "I have my ways on obtaining information quickly." He flashed a smile that could be taken as a little unnerving, and winked.

"Tell me Shores, what do you know about your own blood."

"I know somethin' ain't right with it," Sandy replied cautiously. His eyes flitted to the windows behind Balboa, gauging the distance he'd have to run. And the height he'd fall from. "I know it's some sorta magical nonsense. An' I know I were only told yesterday, in person."

Benson
2014-04-08, 03:28 AM
"I know somethin' ain't right with it," Sandy replied cautiously. His eyes flitted to the windows behind Balboa, gauging the distance he'd have to run. And the height he'd fall from. "I know it's some sorta magical nonsense. An' I know I were only told yesterday, in person."

Balboa watched his body language and then let out a warm laugh and shook his head. "You really have no reason to be....nervous. Now now...I would not say that your blood 'ain't right'....as a matter of fact, I myself, would consider it a gift rather." His tone took on one of assurance as he moved over to sit down next to Sandy on another seat cushion.

TheAmishPirate
2014-04-08, 11:53 AM
Balboa watched his body language and then let out a warm laugh and shook his head. "You really have no reason to be....nervous. Now now...I would not say that your blood 'ain't right'....as a matter of fact, I myself, would consider it a gift rather." His tone took on one of assurance as he moved over to sit down next to Sandy on another seat cushion.

Sandy shifted uncomfortably. Unsure. Traps usually didn't give you a reassuring prognosis on your medical woes. Normally they just kept you calm long enough to, y'know, trap you. "A gift? How d'you figure that?" he asked, still treading lightly.

Benson
2014-04-15, 10:22 AM
Sandy shifted uncomfortably. Unsure. Traps usually didn't give you a reassuring prognosis on your medical woes. Normally they just kept you calm long enough to, y'know, trap you. "A gift? How d'you figure that?" he asked, still treading lightly.

"Well, considering the nature of your blood, it has the possibility of helping other ponies, making others better," He replied with a big wide smile on his face.

TheAmishPirate
2014-04-15, 04:28 PM
"Well, considering the nature of your blood, it has the possibility of helping other ponies, making others better," He replied with a big wide smile on his face.

Sandy's ears pricked up instantly with interest. "It could?" he asked confused, the aggression draining out of him. "Doc never mentioned nothin' about it bein' helpful. Just said if nothin' went wrong I could just...keep on livin' like normal."

Benson
2014-04-22, 01:50 PM
Sandy's ears pricked up instantly with interest. "It could?" he asked confused, the aggression draining out of him. "Doc never mentioned nothin' about it bein' helpful. Just said if nothin' went wrong I could just...keep on livin' like normal."

"You should have gotten a second opinion," Balboa gave him a wink. "Any whom, but yes, you are special Sandy Shores, and it would be great to harness that for others. Your blood....can make others stronger, better, I have the technology and great minds to make it so, tis just up to you, sir. Of course I won't make you go any deeper than this, it is your decision after all to pursue more about this venture, you are free to decline right now and we can pretend this never happened." His eyes fell upon Sandy in a judging gaze, eye contact, waiting.

TheAmishPirate
2014-04-26, 04:59 PM
"You should have gotten a second opinion," Balboa gave him a wink. "Any whom, but yes, you are special Sandy Shores, and it would be great to harness that for others. Your blood....can make others stronger, better, I have the technology and great minds to make it so, tis just up to you, sir. Of course I won't make you go any deeper than this, it is your decision after all to pursue more about this venture, you are free to decline right now and we can pretend this never happened." His eyes fell upon Sandy in a judging gaze, eye contact, waiting.

Poor Sandy's neck ached from yet more whiplash. First he was shocked to even be here, then he was in awe of his host, then he was certain this was all some elaborate deathtrap, and now he was apparently some grand gift to ponykind? "I...that is t'say, that's awful generous of you t'say, b-but I don't know. I can't just pretend this ain't nothin' if I really can be a help t'ponies, can I? But there's th' Cirrus an' my crewmates - I ought t'talk t'Miss Rainbow about all this - an' our mission, an' now there's technology an' high-falootin' scientists all doin' Luna knows what with my blood..." He rubbed his aching forehad. "It's a lot t'take in, Mister Balboa sir. An' I'm just an engineer. This here's outta my pay grade by a country mile."

Benson
2014-05-07, 08:44 AM
"You know what Mister Shores, I will give you some time to mull and think it over, how about that?" Balboa offered and gently smiled. Though in his head, his mind was racing with ideas that regardless of what Sandy' chose in the end, he would have this stallion's blood in some way or another.

TheAmishPirate
2014-05-08, 09:17 PM
"You know what Mister Shores, I will give you some time to mull and think it over, how about that?" Balboa offered and gently smiled. Though in his head, his mind was racing with ideas that regardless of what Sandy' chose in the end, he would have this stallion's blood in some way or another.

Oh sweet merciful Celestia. Sandy exhaled, feeling the weight of millions and millions of bits sliding off his chest. "Thank you, Mister Balboa sir. That'd be much appreciated." Now that the pressure of an immediate decision was off, his brain frantically worked to gather his disparate thoughts into something resembling a cohesive whole. "Er, if y'don't mind my askin'...what exactly is it y'want me t'do? Would I have t'leave th' Cirrus for long? Would I ever be able t'go back?"

"...can I even talk t'my friends about this?" he added meekly, fearing the answer.

Merellis
2014-05-12, 09:38 PM
[Bridle Shores - Dive Bomb vs the Sneak]
To say that Dive was surprised by the sudden weight slamming into him was an understatement, he was utterly flabbergasted over the sneak attack. Luckily he had something to snap him out of this shock induced stupor, agonizing pain!

His wing twists in ways it is not meant to and Dive certainly doesn't help by continuing to roll in the opposite direction a murderous gaze hopefully meeting Prose's as the last few tendons tear away and
the enthusiastic puller is left pulling on something that's not attached to anything at all. That should at least shock the veteran a little, right?

If not, the glowing hoof jabbing out to slam right into his armored chest should take his breath away. Literally, it looks like it might dent the metal enough to impede breathing or crack a few ribs. Though if Dive were to miss he would use the momentum to swiftly get up on his legs and face the batpony with a fierce stare that is strangely enhanced by the cooled metal on his face and the fact he has a stump of a wing at the moment.

The captain breathes heavily and keeps his eyes focused on Prose, there seems to be something unsettling about the bloody, molten-headed, pegasus.

The bloodthirsty grin probably isn't helping matters much either, though that might be for show considering the amount of pain he's in. Or not, Dive is a weird one that way.


[Hospital - Sure and Bumble]

The two assassins stare down the hallway for not even a moment, there was no point in trying to keep their cover anymore, especially if they wanted to find their prey.

Speaking of which...

While the gasp may have escaped the notice of Bumble, her buzzing wings making a good amount of noise, it did not slip past the blind monk. Sure Strike leaps into the room, dragging Bumble along as she immediately grabs the fallen sword. The door slams shut and the tell-tale sound of a lock clicking is the very next noise for all to hear.

"Under the bed, Bumble. Make it quick." She says sharply while backing away from the door.

"Not my first rodeo~!" Is the enthusiastic response as Bumble buzzes right to the hiding spot, sword held at the ready in her mouth. "If you let me do this without resisting you get a nice, easy, quick, death! Isn't that great!? No pain, no struggling for life, just a nice quick slash and you get to see that darling brother of yours again."

(Rest to come tomorrow, will post in OOC when adding.)

Lycan 01
2014-05-13, 11:22 PM
[Bridle Shores - Dive Bomb vs the Sneak]



To say that Dive was surprised by the sudden weight slamming into him was an understatement, he was utterly flabbergasted over the sneak attack. Luckily he had something to snap him out of this shock induced stupor, agonizing pain!

His wing twists in ways it is not meant to and Dive certainly doesn't help by continuing to roll in the opposite direction a murderous gaze hopefully meeting Prose's as the last few tendons tear away and
the enthusiastic puller is left pulling on something that's not attached to anything at all. That should at least shock the veteran a little, right?

If not, the glowing hoof jabbing out to slam right into his armored chest should take his breath away. Literally, it looks like it might dent the metal enough to impede breathing or crack a few ribs. Though if Dive were to miss he would use the momentum to swiftly get up on his legs and face the batpony with a fierce stare that is strangely enhanced by the cooled metal on his face and the fact he has a stump of a wing at the moment.

The captain breathes heavily and keeps his eyes focused on Prose, there seems to be something unsettling about the bloody, molten-headed, pegasus.

The bloodthirsty grin probably isn't helping matters much either, though that might be for show considering the amount of pain he's in. Or not, Dive is a weird one that way.


Prose is actually caught off guard! For a moment he sits there slightly confused and surprised by the fact that he has a severed wing held in his hooves. Even more so by the fact that his foe is still moving and functioning, rather than being reduced to a shrieking, sobbing, or unconscious wreck on the ground.

His momentary confusion costs him, of course, as the glowing hoof slams into his chest and knocks him back into reality. Prose is thrown back a bit, his armor absorbing most of the impact and force, but not all of it. The armor may not have dented into his chest or otherwise impeded his breathing itself - a veteran Shadowbolt should be expected to have some rather resilient armor, after all - but he's still left winded and sporting several cracked ribs.

And then just as quick as he's taken off guard, he's back into focus, and with a renewed sense of determination and urgency. "You have one chance to stand down," he growls through grit teeth, eye focused on the grievously wounded pony in front of him. "By my authority as an Inquisitor, I order you to surrender. Give up now, and you'll be given proper care, and treated in accordance with the law. But if you continue..."

Prose's wings flex slightly, his talons glinting in the firelight as the town burns around them.

"You'll wish for death before I'm through with you."

There's something in the batpony's eye that Dive may notice. Something that betrays the fact that no, he's not bluffing. Prose is not one to make such threats idly...

Benson
2014-05-21, 01:48 AM
Oh sweet merciful Celestia. Sandy exhaled, feeling the weight of millions and millions of bits sliding off his chest. "Thank you, Mister Balboa sir. That'd be much appreciated." Now that the pressure of an immediate decision was off, his brain frantically worked to gather his disparate thoughts into something resembling a cohesive whole. "Er, if y'don't mind my askin'...what exactly is it y'want me t'do? Would I have t'leave th' Cirrus for long? Would I ever be able t'go back?"

"...can I even talk t'my friends about this?" he added meekly, fearing the answer.

"Of course Mister Shores you will eventually get to return to the Cirrus in good time, however....I would prefer to keep it on the hush hush. Please understand, this is all...sensitive information, I already risk a lot simply by talking to you, mentioning it, when there is the chance you will decline," Balboa replied with a grim expression.

TheAmishPirate
2014-05-21, 01:05 PM
"Of course Mister Shores you will eventually get to return to the Cirrus in good time, however....I would prefer to keep it on the hush hush. Please understand, this is all...sensitive information, I already risk a lot simply by talking to you, mentioning it, when there is the chance you will decline," Balboa replied with a grim expression.

Sandy's ears pinned back. "I-I understand, sir. Sensitive information. I-I won't mention a word of it." With every question he asked, this tangled mess grew ever more confusing. Now he couldn't even rely on his friends for some extra insight; he had to navigate these waters alone. Thank Luna such a fateful decision had come upon a pony so qualified.

"W-well, do y'think it'd be possible t'do th' science in smaller chunks?" He asked hopefully. "I could leave on a...a sorta 'classified assignment', do science, an' then get back to th' Cirrus later that day. I-if I said 'yes', then that'd mean I could do some good here without abandonin' th' rest of th' crew."

PurityIcekiller
2014-05-22, 07:27 PM
[Hospital - Third Floor]

Huh! More cowardly than I expected.

Night Jewel darted up to the door and casually undid the lock with her magic. The assassins had bought themselves less than a second, and most of that was simply reopening the door.

As soon as she was inside, she raised the knife. "Move aside! Now!" She then threw towards the bed. While she wasn't aiming directly at Bumble, the pegasus running into the blade if she wasn't paying attention was still a distinct possibility.

Change of plans, Starbeam: Start something dramatic, quickly.

[The Gates]]

Blueshield paused, and barely avoided getting smacked in the head by a golem.

"Ah... I was so focused on the pawns, I forgot that we had a vizier still in play."

She ducked back a bit, then brought around her hammer for a quick strike. "So we do have decent firepower. Perhaps if we could concentrate it more on the actual casters rather than their glorified training dummies, we could cover for a team to capture weapons..." She blocked a golem's swing. "But it is not an opportune occasion for discussing major tactical adjustments. Better to concentrate on our current tasks."

Kelvin360
2014-05-22, 08:04 PM
Hospital - Third Floor

Something dramatic...

No sooner has the door swung open than there is a mighty flash of light, and a tall green-and-black unicorn mare, clad in steel-colored flowing robes, appears in the center of the room. Her horn flares, and a wall of force envelops the bed under which the prisoner is hiding. It might get hard to breathe under there, but its protective value can't be denied. However, the pony lacks emission of sensory information aside from light and the telltale sound of magic; she has no scent, and doesn't appear to be breathing. Not something the average pony would notice, but if one lacks eyesight even under normal circumstances...

Meanwhile, the real Starbeam, still disguised as a nurse, adjusts her position so as to have a better view of the room, and prepares for another barrage...

Benson
2014-06-03, 10:15 AM
Sandy's ears pinned back. "I-I understand, sir. Sensitive information. I-I won't mention a word of it." With every question he asked, this tangled mess grew ever more confusing. Now he couldn't even rely on his friends for some extra insight; he had to navigate these waters alone. Thank Luna such a fateful decision had come upon a pony so qualified.

"W-well, do y'think it'd be possible t'do th' science in smaller chunks?" He asked hopefully. "I could leave on a...a sorta 'classified assignment', do science, an' then get back to th' Cirrus later that day. I-if I said 'yes', then that'd mean I could do some good here without abandonin' th' rest of th' crew."

"Days would be more like it, think of it more like taking several business trips and coming back in a few days, you wouldn't be abandoning your crew like you seem to fear so much," Balboa replied in a leveled tone. "At the moment, I can't say how many 'business trips' it will be, that we would find out with the first one."

TheAmishPirate
2014-06-03, 12:25 PM
"Days would be more like it, think of it more like taking several business trips and coming back in a few days, you wouldn't be abandoning your crew like you seem to fear so much," Balboa replied in a leveled tone. "At the moment, I can't say how many 'business trips' it will be, that we would find out with the first one."

Sandy fidgeted restlessly in his cushion. "O-oh. That's, I see, er, I think that's better than, uh, well that's somethin', at least," he mumbled.

Days! Whole days, gone from his friends and filly and job, doing some complicated science experiment he couldn't hope to understand. Who thought it'd be a good idea to put this sort of responsibility on his tiny shoulders? How was he - a pathetic, screw-up of a pony - supposed to know what to do here? Argh, if only he could talk to Rainbow, or even the Cap'n; they'd know what to do here. They'd have an answer on the spot, and wouldn't waste Balboa Shag's time.

Speaking of wasting time, he really ought to say something before Mister Shag lost any more patience with him.

"Uh, how would I get there? To th' science place?" he offered weakly.

Well done, Mister Shores. Because you couldn't think of 'teleportation' on your own, could you?

Benson
2014-06-03, 01:36 PM
"Naturally of course I will be providing the transportation and other accommodations, you need not to worry about it. Someone will be sent to fetch you and take you to our facility." He replied.

TheAmishPirate
2014-06-03, 01:49 PM
"Naturally of course I will be providing the transportation and other accommodations, you need not to worry about it. Someone will be sent to fetch you and take you to our facility." He replied.

"That's...m-mighty kindly of you, Mister Balboa." Sandy replied meekly, guilt piling up higher. "Though speakin' of accommodations, how am I supposed t'tell you my answer once I've thought it over? O-or is it so secret that you, er, need an answer b-before I'm allowed t'leave?"

Benson
2014-06-11, 11:25 AM
"That's...m-mighty kindly of you, Mister Balboa." Sandy replied meekly, guilt piling up higher. "Though speakin' of accommodations, how am I supposed t'tell you my answer once I've thought it over? O-or is it so secret that you, er, need an answer b-before I'm allowed t'leave?"

Balboa glanced at AIDA and warmly smiled at Sandy. "You do not worry about that,your little friend AIDA here will handle that for you, just consult it when you have the right answer ready."

HalfTangible
2014-06-12, 05:02 PM
Hay Bale sighed and put the mop away. She'd healed up, and cleaned up her blood and most of her bone shards. Back to work.

She returned to Balboa's office and stood outside the door, patiently waiting.

TheAmishPirate
2014-06-13, 11:28 AM
Balboa glanced at AIDA and warmly smiled at Sandy. "You do not worry about that,your little friend AIDA here will handle that for you, just consult it when you have the right answer ready."

Sandy shrunk a few centimeters shorter. "Wh-when you put it like that, s'almost like all I need now is time t'think, don't it?" He made a noise that was supposed to be a chuckle, and glanced nervously at the door.

Benson
2014-06-16, 11:44 AM
Sandy shrunk a few centimeters shorter. "Wh-when you put it like that, s'almost like all I need now is time t'think, don't it?" He made a noise that was supposed to be a chuckle, and glanced nervously at the door.

Balboa nodded his head. "Which you have." He continued to warmly smile and then stood up. "I suppose this concludes our little meeting unless you have any questions for me."

TheAmishPirate
2014-06-16, 12:18 PM
Balboa nodded his head. "Which you have." He continued to warmly smile and then stood up. "I suppose this concludes our little meeting unless you have any questions for me."

Sandy sprang to his hooves like the cushion was made of lava. "N-no more questions sir. You've been awful helpful w-with everything." The bedraggled stallion nodded stiffly.

Grif
2014-06-19, 01:45 PM
(Time to move this along, let's see if we can't get somewhere with this.)




[Hospital - Sure and Bumble]

The two assassins stare down the hallway for not even a moment, there was no point in trying to keep their cover anymore, especially if they wanted to find their prey.

Speaking of which...

While the gasp may have escaped the notice of Bumble, her buzzing wings making a good amount of noise, it did not slip past the blind monk. Sure Strike leaps into the room, dragging Bumble along as she immediately grabs the fallen sword. The door slams shut and the tell-tale sound of a lock clicking is the very next noise for all to hear.

"Under the bed, Bumble. Make it quick." She says sharply while backing away from the door.

"Not my first rodeo~!" Is the enthusiastic response as Bumble buzzes right to the hiding spot, sword held at the ready in her mouth. "If you let me do this without resisting you get a nice, easy, quick, death! Isn't that great!? No pain, no struggling for life, just a nice quick slash and you get to see that darling brother of yours again."

Windy Breeze could only recoil from the maniacal eyes that somehow managed to find her under the bed. "N-no... get... g-get away!" she pleaded, her hooves and wings rising to shield her face, even as she backed up against the wall.


[Hospital - Third Floor]

Huh! More cowardly than I expected.

Night Jewel darted up to the door and casually undid the lock with her magic. The assassins had bought themselves less than a second, and most of that was simply reopening the door.

As soon as she was inside, she raised the knife. "Move aside! Now!" She then threw towards the bed. While she wasn't aiming directly at Bumble, the pegasus running into the blade if she wasn't paying attention was still a distinct possibility.

Change of plans, Starbeam: Start something dramatic, quickly.



Hospital - Third Floor

Something dramatic...

No sooner has the door swung open than there is a mighty flash of light, and a tall green-and-black unicorn mare, clad in steel-colored flowing robes, appears in the center of the room. Her horn flares, and a wall of force envelops the bed under which the prisoner is hiding. It might get hard to breathe under there, but its protective value can't be denied. However, the pony lacks emission of sensory information aside from light and the telltale sound of magic; she has no scent, and doesn't appear to be breathing. Not something the average pony would notice, but if one lacks eyesight even under normal circumstances...

Meanwhile, the real Starbeam, still disguised as a nurse, adjusts her position so as to have a better view of the room, and prepares for another barrage...

(Merellis would want to respond to this, I think.)

Benson
2014-06-27, 11:46 AM
Hay Bale sighed and put the mop away. She'd healed up, and cleaned up her blood and most of her bone shards. Back to work.

She returned to Balboa's office and stood outside the door, patiently waiting.

Red Shift stood at the door, doing his best stoic guard expression. Though it was broken when he saw Hay Bale. He grinned like a goof and waved his hoof at her. "Heeeeya there!"
===

Sandy sprang to his hooves like the cushion was made of lava. "N-no more questions sir. You've been awful helpful w-with everything." The bedraggled stallion nodded stiffly.

"Very well, allow me to see you out of my office young sir," He lazily smiled and stood up, walked over to the door and opened it.

"Oh greetings there Hay Bale, things going well for you?" He asked Hay Bale upon seeing her outside of his office.

TheAmishPirate
2014-06-27, 12:34 PM
Hay Bale sighed and put the mop away. She'd healed up, and cleaned up her blood and most of her bone shards. Back to work.

She returned to Balboa's office and stood outside the door, patiently waiting.



"Very well, allow me to see you out of my office young sir," He lazily smiled and stood up, walked over to the door and opened it.

"Oh greetings there Hay Bale, things going well for you?" He asked Hay Bale upon seeing her outside of his office.

Sandy trotted silently behind Balboa, trying to appear as small as possible. Poor stallion looked as though he'd been run over by a train, a carriage, a herd of buffalo, and a manticore, then asked what color was the carriage-driver's eyes, and told if he got it wrong then his and his friends' pays would be docked and their houses foreclosed.

If that was a friendly chat, Luna only knows what a "mildly disappointed" chat would do to him.

HalfTangible
2014-06-27, 03:02 PM
Red Shift stood at the door, doing his best stoic guard expression. Though it was broken when he saw Hay Bale. He grinned like a goof and waved his hoof at her. "Heeeeya there!"
She batted her eyelashes and grinned slyly at him in response. She opened her mouth to hit on him invite him to her bedchambers for a night of dirty fun flirt talk, but...



"Very well, allow me to see you out of my office young sir," He lazily smiled and stood up, walked over to the door and opened it.

"Oh greetings there Hay Bale, things going well for you?" He asked Hay Bale upon seeing her outside of his office.
Very well sir. She purred.

Sandy trotted silently behind Balboa, trying to appear as small as possible. Poor stallion looked as though he'd been run over by a train, a carriage, a herd of buffalo, and a manticore, then asked what color was the carriage-driver's eyes, and told if he got it wrong then his and his friends' pays would be docked and their houses foreclosed.

If that was a friendly chat, Luna only knows what a "mildly disappointed" chat would do to him.

Hay Bale's grin vanished and she cocked an eyebrow at the small stallion. ... You don't look too good.

TheAmishPirate
2014-06-27, 04:34 PM
Hay Bale's grin vanished and she cocked an eyebrow at the small stallion. ... You don't look too good.

Sandy's eyes flitted up to the older stallion, and he swallowed hard. "No ma'am, I-I'm doin' just fine," he lied, shaking his head. "S'Been a real honor t'be asked here, an' I'm grateful for th' chance t'chat with such a distinguished pony."

HalfTangible
2014-06-28, 11:52 AM
Sandy's eyes flitted up to the older stallion, and he swallowed hard. "No ma'am, I-I'm doin' just fine," he lied, shaking his head. "S'Been a real honor t'be asked here, an' I'm grateful for th' chance t'chat with such a distinguished pony."

Hay Bale's eyebrow remained cocked. I see. She looked up to Balboa. Shall I escort our guest out?

Hay Bale's job was beginning to look less like 'bodyguard' and more like 'escort/enforcer'.

Benson
2014-07-03, 02:08 AM
"Oh no need Miss Hay Bale, for I myself would prefer to have the honor of escorting such a fine Equestrian citizen as Mister Shores here," He put on a smile that held a mixture of warmth and a boyish eagerness as if though he wanted to impress Sandy. "However, if you so desire my dear, you may accompany us, I am sure Mister Shores would enjoy your company as well."

HalfTangible
2014-07-03, 10:22 AM
"Oh no need Miss Hay Bale, for I myself would prefer to have the honor of escorting such a fine Equestrian citizen as Mister Shores here," He put on a smile that held a mixture of warmth and a boyish eagerness as if though he wanted to impress Sandy. "However, if you so desire my dear, you may accompany us, I am sure Mister Shores would enjoy your company as well."

Of course, sir. She tilted her head downward in acknowledgement of the order as she sidled up next to both of the stallions. As you wish~

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-03, 11:26 AM
Sandy breathed out a quiet sigh of relief, sticking close to the mutant pony's side. Even a one-pony buffer between himself and Balboa was a blessing. He managed a small, grateful smile for Hay Bale, before hanging his head again and falling into line.

HalfTangible
2014-07-03, 11:40 AM
Sandy breathed out a quiet sigh of relief, sticking close to the mutant pony's side. Even a one-pony buffer between himself and Balboa was a blessing. He managed a small, grateful smile for Hay Bale, before hanging his head again and falling into line.

Hay Bale draped a wing that she definitely hadn't had a minute ago over the short stallion.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-03, 11:48 AM
Hay Bale draped a wing that she definitely hadn't had a minute ago over the short stallion.

Sandy gave a little shiver and huddled closer to Hay Bale. For warmth. Big old houses like this one were always so drafty. "Thankee, ma'am." He nodded to the pegasus-

Wait, pegasus?!

Sandy stared at the wing draped over his back, following it all the way to where it very clearly connected to her body. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

...I need more sleep. he concluded, shaking his head wearily.

HalfTangible
2014-07-03, 04:21 PM
Sandy gave a little shiver and huddled closer to Hay Bale. For warmth. Big old houses like this one were always so drafty. "Thankee, ma'am." He nodded to the pegasus-

Wait, pegasus?!

Sandy stared at the wing draped over his back, following it all the way to where it very clearly connected to her body. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

...I need more sleep. he concluded, shaking his head wearily.

Oh, it's not a problem dear. She purred. She noticed him looking along her wings and grinned. She was about to ask if he saw anything he liked (hur hur), but stopped herself. That would be mean to do to someone so evidently nervous.

You're not going crazy, I was a unicorn earlier. She said instead, ruffling her feathers along his coat.Mr.Shag didn't just hire me for the eyecandy. She grinned at "Mr.Shag" and held out a wing, offering to snuggle him into a wing as well.

Balboa may or may not want to do that.

Benson
2014-07-07, 08:34 PM
Balboa just smirked and politely declined, tis not like it would be his only opportunity for mutant wing snuggles tonight.

"Indeed, Miss Hay Bale is quite a unique pony and I am very honored to have her by my side," He proudly smiled and then formed a dweeby grin.

"Go on Miss Hay Bale, show him the thing, I am pretty sure he'll get a kick out of it heheh," Balboa encouraged as he leaned in towards Sandy. "You'll like this."


I have no idea what the thing is, go have fun with that xD

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-07, 09:33 PM
Oh, it's not a problem dear. She purred. She noticed him looking along her wings and grinned. She was about to ask if he saw anything he liked (hur hur), but stopped herself. That would be mean to do to someone so evidently nervous.

You're not going crazy, I was a unicorn earlier. She said instead, ruffling her feathers along his coat.Mr.Shag didn't just hire me for the eyecandy. She grinned at "Mr.Shag" and held out a wing, offering to snuggle him into a wing as well.

Balboa may or may not want to do that.

Sandy stared incredulously at the wing stroking his back. "Wow. That's...that's really...wow." He worked his mouth, but words were long gone. Though his speechlessness was not out of horror or shock; the little stallion was left awestruck by Hay Bale's abilities. After all the monsters he'd seen, finding a pony of her talents not trying to bring about the end of Equestria was a welcome sight.


Balboa just smirked and politely declined, tis not like it would be his only opportunity for mutant wing snuggles tonight.

"Indeed, Miss Hay Bale is quite a unique pony and I am very honored to have her by my side," He proudly smiled and then formed a dweeby grin.

"Go on Miss Hay Bale, show him the thing, I am pretty sure he'll get a kick out of it heheh," Balboa encouraged as he leaned in towards Sandy. "You'll like this."


I have no idea what the thing is, go have fun with that xD

Sandy looked up at Hay Bale, eyes wide with fear and excitement.

HalfTangible
2014-07-08, 12:03 AM
[The Thing]

Hay Bale grinned and took a sudden sharp turn into a hallway with multiple paintings of ponies (most of Balboa, of course, because that kind of ego needed more than one painting) and smirked. She held out a hoof to have the other two stand back. She then turned to face them and grinned.

Gentlecolts...

A songfought rendition of the chorus to...

The lights grew dim and began to focus, as if Hay Bale were on stage to perform and the paintings were her back-up singers.

Lovely Lorelei.

The paintings and Hay Bale suddenly burst into song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pSYRLZj8xs).

"And the winds would cry,
And many mares would die,
And all the waves would bow down

To the Lorelei!

And the winds would cry,
And many mares would die,
And all the waves would bow down

To the Lorelei!"

Hay Bale fell to one knee as the lights suddenly went out, and when they came back on she was back where she started, draping a wing over the young stallion.

... ya know, there's a lot of things you come to expect that could be considered out of the norm, especially in a world as magical as Equestria. A sudden musical number peformed by paintings is generally not one of them.

You'll notice: No unicorn horn.She whispered into the stallion's ear. I also do parties, adult shows and anything you could ask of a mutant aberration.

Hay Bale is so casual with her use of songfighting here compared to LS primarily because she's less likely to be hurt by it. Both of them could technically perform in a calm scenario like this, but if anything went wrong, Hay Bale would find it easier to recover cuz, ya know, mutant pony.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-08, 08:51 AM
[That Was A Thing]

Sandy had been expecting some grand display of physical prowess, or maybe even some mind-blowing transformation magic. Or maybe Hay Bale was some sort of changeling, reformed and working for the good of Equestria. Or maybe she was cursed like him, and she'd learned to make the best of a bad hand.

A song and dance number with Mister Balboa's paintings? Not so much.

Sandy watched the performance in slack-jawed amazement. 'Unique pony' was just scratching the surface. Then, as quickly as it began, her performance ended and Miss Hay Bale was gone. He yelped in surprise, feeling her wing on his back and her breath in his ear. "I-I did notice. You, erm, s-sing...very good," he stammered out. "So. Th-this here's th' song an' dance hallway?" The little engineer glanced around, looking for whoever had been messing with the lights. And while he was at it, he wondered who'd animated those paintings. Or maybe they were enchanted? He couldn't see any runes on the frames, and he hadn't been able to see their backs...

HalfTangible
2014-07-08, 09:33 AM
[That Was A Thing]

Sandy had been expecting some grand display of physical prowess, or maybe even some mind-blowing transformation magic. Or maybe Hay Bale was some sort of changeling, reformed and working for the good of Equestria. Or maybe she was cursed like him, and she'd learned to make the best of a bad hand.

A song and dance number with Mister Balboa's paintings? Not so much.

Sandy watched the performance in slack-jawed amazement. 'Unique pony' was just scratching the surface. Then, as quickly as it began, her performance ended and Miss Hay Bale was gone. He yelped in surprise, feeling her wing on his back and her breath in his ear. "I-I did notice. You, erm, s-sing...very good," he stammered out. She kissed his forehead. Glad to hear it.


"So. Th-this here's th' song an' dance hallway?" The little engineer glanced around, looking for whoever had been messing with the lights. And while he was at it, he wondered who'd animated those paintings. Or maybe they were enchanted? He couldn't see any runes on the frames, and he hadn't been able to see their backs...

Nope! That was all me. Hay Bale grinned and adjusted her shades. ... Well okay, the paintings belong to Mr.Shag, but I make 'em sing!

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-08, 01:20 PM
She kissed his forehead. Glad to hear it.



Nope! That was all me. Hay Bale grinned and adjusted her shades. ... Well okay, the paintings belong to Mr.Shag, but I make 'em sing!

Heat surged to Sandy's face. All of his questions and curiosities rapidly boiled down to one, heart-stopping realization:

What am I - a taken stallion - doing gettin' this friendly with an incredibly fetching mare?!

"Th-that's an incredible bit of magic r-right there." He slowly inched away from her side, trying to free himself with minimal fuss. "That have t'do w-with th' whole 'unicorn/pegasus' thing, o-or a different talent altogether?" Just keep her talking, get escorted out of the house, and get on with life. Nothing to worry about. Everything was fine. He could handle this.

HalfTangible
2014-07-08, 02:53 PM
Well, see, m'friend and I went crazy this one time and- She cocked an eyebrow as she moved out from under her wing, but simply put them back at her sides before changing into an earth pony again. -we found a way for Earth Ponies and Pegasi to use magic. Short version: We sing a musical number and the world follows music video logic for a bit. She gestured as they walked out. Hence, painting song.

Benson
2014-07-09, 01:41 PM
Balboa smirked in amusement as he himself watched the little show and then out a chuckle at Sandy's response to it all as the three continued on with walking and talking as they made for the grand staircase.

Twas a shame really on Balboa's end, if he could, he'd have found a way to somehow utilize just what exactly made Hay Bale the mutant way she was. But alas, could not be a thing, so the next best choice was to make himself an ally. He glanced at Sandy and thought about the prospects with this one, of course a lot of it weighed on him giving him his full cooperation of his own supposed free will. For a moment Balboa spaced out nearly missing a step as he climbed down the staircase but he caught himself and kept composed.

"Hmm, yes, perhaps I may have to borrow you for my birthday when it may be Miss Hay Bale," He let out a low chuckle as they were silently greeted by servants as they passed.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-09, 09:54 PM
Well, see, m'friend and I went crazy this one time and- She cocked an eyebrow as she moved out from under her wing, but simply put them back at her sides before changing into an earth pony again. -we found a way for Earth Ponies and Pegasi to use magic. Short version: We sing a musical number and the world follows music video logic for a bit. She gestured as they walked out. Hence, painting song.

Sandy followed along, gears grinding away in his head. Against common sense, he was trying to puzzle out this whole song-and-dance routine. "S-so, it's like...a group song, but y'sing with th' world around you?" he asked hesitantly. "Like when y'get a bunch of folks together, somepony starts hummin', an' then, er, everypony starts singin' a long. But in this case...th' other singers ain't really...alive?"

He felt his headache returning with a vengeance.

HalfTangible
2014-07-09, 10:01 PM
Sandy followed along, gears grinding away in his head. Against common sense, he was trying to puzzle out this whole song-and-dance routine. "S-so, it's like...a group song, but y'sing with th' world around you?" he asked hesitantly. "Like when y'get a bunch of folks together, somepony starts hummin', an' then, er, everypony starts singin' a long. But in this case...th' other singers ain't really...alive?"

He felt his headache returning with a vengeance.

Sorta. She shrugged. Those musical numbers happen a lot more often - and more happens during them - than you think they do. If you can get yourself... She pursed her lips, looking up at the ceiling a moment. Er... 'Outside', I guess? ... and see how the world conducts those song-and-dance routines then you can direct the numbers yourself, as if you were in a music video. It's not simple, and if you weren't crazy before you will be then.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-09, 10:16 PM
Sorta. She shrugged. Those musical numbers happen a lot more often - and more happens during them - than you think they do. If you can get yourself... She pursed her lips, looking up at the ceiling a moment. Er... 'Outside', I guess? ... and see how the world conducts those song-and-dance routines then you can direct the numbers yourself, as if you were in a music video. It's not simple, and if you weren't crazy before you will be then.

"...I-I think I'll just stick t'background hummin', ma'am." Sandy replied meekly.

(Will respond to Backstage tomorrow when I am less tired.)

Benson
2014-07-11, 03:20 AM
"Oh Balby-baby~" Suddenly crooned what could only be one of Balboa's gals. Balboa found himself physically cringing at the dreadful nickname though he quickly composed himself and put on a smile. Over towards the hall that lead into the lower west wing stood two of his marefriends. The two began to trot over to the trio in a quick gait. The two pretty mares nuzzled up in which Balboa reciprocated in turn.

"Uh, is there anything you need ladies?" He asked them as he turned his head to Sandy and mouthed an apology about this distraction.

"Oh...well ah~" One of them began, a pinkish crimson pegasi with a burgundy mane. Her wings were a little unique in that they were magically dyed to have a gradient of blue, dark red, and purple hues.

The other mare, an earth pony with a creamy orangey-pink coat and a light orange mane done up in curls sidled up against Balboa. "Oh Mister Balboa~" Her voice had an odd southern belle accent to it. "We, and by 'we', I mean us girls had an inquiry we would just love to have settled."

"Very well Peachy, if you could make it quick," Balboa responded with a warm smile.

"Oh that, well, it is better if you just head with us to the foyer~" Peachy responded back with a playful smirk. She then seemed to finally notice Sandy and flashed him a smile. "Oh my, pardon my manners sirs, seems I forgot all manner of courtesy. Peachy Delight is the name." She lent out a dainty hoof for Sandy to politely kiss, though Sandy being Sandy might mistake it for an ordinary hoof shake. :smalltongue:

Balboa smirked and amusedly rolled his eyes, if this were an important guest other than Sandy, he may have had found himself having to have a private talk with Peachy about the actual manners she ought to have when he entertained guests in his home. "Right, this here is Sandy Shores, an exemplary Equestrian and member of the Cirrus crew." He gave Sandy a little wink.

"Wha?...The Cirrus? That's amazing!" The pegasus mare gushed ad turned to face Sandy. "I had a cousin who was saved by the Cirrus from a monster attack, well his whole village, but he's part of that village so uh yea...Anyways, so cool to be meeting one of the members."

While that happened, Balboa turned to Hay Bale and gave her a tilt of his head. "If you'd be so kind to head to the foyer and see what the girls want, I'd appreciate it."

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-11, 10:45 AM
A moment ago, Sandy had watched a hall full of paintings come to life and sing back-up for Mister Babloa's bodyguard. Now, an extremely attractive mare was staring at him with her big, gorgeous eyes and heaping mountains of praise upon him.

He wasn't quite sure which one confused him more.

"Huh? Oh. Erm. T-tain't a worry, Miss Peachy," he stammered out, shaking her hoof unsteadily. "J-just doin' m'duty is all, keepin' ponies safe. A-anypony could've an' would've done th' same in my shoes." In spite of his modesty, he couldn't hide the blush spreading over his little cheeks.

HalfTangible
2014-07-11, 11:31 AM
"Oh Balby-baby~" Suddenly crooned what could only be one of Balboa's gals. Balboa found himself physically cringing at the dreadful nickname though he quickly composed himself and put on a smile. Over towards the hall that lead into the lower west wing stood two of his marefriends. The two began to trot over to the trio in a quick gait. The two pretty mares nuzzled up in which Balboa reciprocated in turn.

"Uh, is there anything you need ladies?" He asked them as he turned his head to Sandy and mouthed an apology about this distraction.

"Oh...well ah~" One of them began, a pinkish crimson pegasi with a burgundy mane. Her wings were a little unique in that they were magically dyed to have a gradient of blue, dark red, and purple hues.

The other mare, an earth pony with a creamy orangey-pink coat and a light orange mane done up in curls sidled up against Balboa. "Oh Mister Balboa~" Her voice had an odd southern belle accent to it. "We, and by 'we', I mean us girls had an inquiry we would just love to have settled."

"Very well Peachy, if you could make it quick," Balboa responded with a warm smile.

"Oh that, well, it is better if you just head with us to the foyer~" Peachy responded back with a playful smirk. She then seemed to finally notice Sandy and flashed him a smile. "Oh my, pardon my manners sirs, seems I forgot all manner of courtesy. Peachy Delight is the name." She lent out a dainty hoof for Sandy to politely kiss, though Sandy being Sandy might mistake it for an ordinary hoof shake. :smalltongue:

Balboa smirked and amusedly rolled his eyes, if this were an important guest other than Sandy, he may have had found himself having to have a private talk with Peachy about the actual manners she ought to have when he entertained guests in his home. "Right, this here is Sandy Shores, an exemplary Equestrian and member of the Cirrus crew." He gave Sandy a little wink.

"Wha?...The Cirrus? That's amazing!" The pegasus mare gushed ad turned to face Sandy. "I had a cousin who was saved by the Cirrus from a monster attack, well his whole village, but he's part of that village so uh yea...Anyways, so cool to be meeting one of the members."

While that happened, Balboa turned to Hay Bale and gave her a tilt of his head. "If you'd be so kind to head to the foyer and see what the girls want, I'd appreciate it."Of course sir. Hay Bale had not dealt with the girls much, but she had relentlessly hit on both him and the girls whenever they were in the same room. This would be the first time she was alone with them.


A moment ago, Sandy had watched a hall full of paintings come to life and sing back-up for Mister Babloa's bodyguard. Now, an extremely attractive mare was staring at him with her big, gorgeous eyes and heaping mountains of praise upon him.

He wasn't quite sure which one confused him more.

"Huh? Oh. Erm. T-tain't a worry, Miss Peachy," he stammered out, shaking her hoof unsteadily. "J-just doin' m'duty is all, keepin' ponies safe. A-anypony could've an' would've done th' same in my shoes." In spite of his modesty, he couldn't hide the blush spreading over his little cheeks.

She leaned in and whispered in his ear a bit more. You're almost out. She assured him. 'Balby' likes to scare his guests, but he wants your cooperation, ya got nothin' to worry about. And the girls like to flirt with guests, but they only got eyes for their boss. It's what they're paid for, after all. She added dryly before pulling back and resuming her normal speaking volume. Oh, and say hello to the dear captain for me, would you? I don't think I left a good first impression.

She turned to follow Peachy Dream and the multicolored pegasus mare, eyeing them both up as they went. Mmmmmmm~... Balboa sure knew how to pick 'em...

I don't think I caught your name, miss... She purred at the pony that wasn't Peachy Dream.

Benson
2014-07-11, 12:31 PM
Balboa gave Hay Bale a look when he referred to him to Sandy by that lousy nickname. Peachy herself had an expression of minor disappointment when Sandy just shook her hoof but she herself kept a practiced smile.

The other mare while still grinning at Sandy like a fangirl turned her head to Hay Bale."Right, o-of course heh, Berry Tart, one of the newer girls." She did a proper curtsy. She herself already knew who Hay Bale was, practically everyone in the household knew who Hay Bale was, she was a popular topic among the staff as well.

"Mmm, don't be so humble Berry as to simply introduce yourself as one of 'my girls'," Balboa smirked and nuzzled Berry. "She is also a gifted painter, what was your style again dear?"

"Oh uh uhm well neo expressionism but uh I wouldn't say 'gifted', it is more of a hobby really," She blushed a little, though of course she would be no match for the King of Flushed Cheek, Sandy.

"Oh nonsense, don't listen to her, she is just trying to downplay her skills," Balboa stated with a dismissing hoof gesture at Berry Tart's apparent nonsense.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-11, 01:07 PM
She leaned in and whispered in his ear a bit more. You're almost out. She assured him. 'Balby' likes to scare his guests, but he wants your cooperation, ya got nothin' to worry about. And the girls like to flirt with guests, but they only got eyes for their boss. It's what they're paid for, after all. She added dryly before pulling back and resuming her normal speaking volume. Oh, and say hello to the dear captain for me, would you? I don't think I left a good first impression.

She turned to follow Peachy Dream and the multicolored pegasus mare, eyeing them both up as they went. Mmmmmmm~... Balboa sure knew how to pick 'em...

I don't think I caught your name, miss... She purred at the pony that wasn't Peachy Dream.

Sandy didn't reply beyond a little nod, but his shoulders did seem to relax some with her reassurance. If they weren't really serious with their flirting, then what did he have to worry about?

(Also, I think Balboa asked Hay Bale to go to the lobby and check out what the mares were up to.)


Balboa gave Hay Bale a look when he referred to him to Sandy by that lousy nickname. Peachy herself had an expression of minor disappointment when Sandy just shook her hoof but she herself kept a practiced smile.

The other mare while still grinning at Sandy like a fangirl turned her head to Hay Bale."Right, o-of course heh, Berry Tart, one of the newer girls." She did a proper curtsy. She herself already knew who Hay Bale was, practically everyone in the household knew who Hay Bale was, she was a popular topic among the staff as well.

"Mmm, don't be so humble Berry as to simply introduce yourself as one of 'my girls'," Balboa smirked and nuzzled Berry. "She is also a gifted painter, what was your style again dear?"

"Oh uh uhm well neo expressionism but uh I wouldn't say 'gifted', it is more of a hobby really," She blushed a little, though of course she would be no match for the King of Flushed Cheek, Sandy.

"Oh nonsense, don't listen to her, she is just trying to downplay her skills," Balboa stated with a dismissing hoof gesture at Berry Tart's apparent nonsense.

Feeling a tinge less concerned, Sandy went to shake her hoof too. "H-howdy Miss Berry. I'm s-sure your paintings are lovely, er, at least better 'n my sand-statues. That's more of a hobby if'n you ask me. I don't even know what sorta style you'd call 'em." He chuckled hollowly.

HalfTangible
2014-07-11, 01:33 PM
Sandy didn't reply beyond a little nod, but his shoulders did seem to relax some with her reassurance. If they weren't really serious with their flirting, then what did he have to worry about?

(Also, I think Balboa asked Hay Bale to go to the lobby and check out what the mares were up to.)



Feeling a tinge less concerned, Sandy went to shake her hoof too. "H-howdy Miss Berry. I'm s-sure your paintings are lovely, er, at least better 'n my sand-statues. That's more of a hobby if'n you ask me. I don't even know what sorta style you'd call 'em." He chuckled hollowly.

(Yes he did, and I said she was going with them. And then they stayed for some reason.)

Hay Bale was glad to see Sandy relax somewhat. He'd been far too nervous by this whole escapade.

Benson
2014-07-11, 01:51 PM
(Their reason they stayed was because Balboa was referring to the other girls who were in the foyer, to go check up on the other three, my bad on the miscommunication on my part ^^;)
====


"Siiiigh...what is with folks and downplaying their skills and abilities, tsk tsk, you two oughta take more pride. Why if I had such artistic and creative skills, why'd I let the world know, 'here is what I can do and I am proud of it!'" Balboa nodded his head assuredly and lightly nickered. Berry Tart sheepishly smiled while Peachy nuzzled up against Balboa's side and casually flicked her tail at Sandy's side.

"I am proud of my artistic ability to take the best selfies to always look fetching at all times~" Peachy purred.

HalfTangible
2014-07-11, 01:57 PM
Hay Bale rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. Enjoy yourselves, you four~ She trotted off for the foyer, whistling all the while.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-11, 02:01 PM
Sandy waved good-bye to Hay Bale, then made a noise halfway between a nicker and a squeaky toy as Peachy's tail stung his side. The poor engineer flushed bright red at the brazen - but totally not serious, everything here was not serious - flirtation. "R-really sir, t'ain't nothin' special. Just a lil' somethin' I work on b-between fixin' engines an' such. Keeps m-m-my horn sharp."

Merellis
2014-07-12, 10:24 PM
[Dive Bomb]
The Captain takes stock of his situation for a moment while keeping his focus on the slippery batpony before him. Missing wing, leaking all over, half-blind, and all I've done so far is create a disturbance. Dive sighs and raises his remaining eyebrow as a crazed semblance of a smirk crosses his face. That and get his attention.

"Not that dumb, Prose."

"... It is Purple Prose, right?" States the injured pony as he regains his composure, mind working towards a way out... or at least a way to continue his eternal service. "Retired Shadowbolt, intelligence area, and recognizable by both the missing eye and the very... flowery speech." He flexes his good wing, at least that still worked well enough. Legs were still working well enough, no broken bones to speak of. "Also noted in a few corners of Equestria as a pony to talk to if you want information from an enemy of the kingdom."

"But that's not important, what's important is that it really doesn't matter if I surrender or not, all that matters is if I keep you here." The pony cracks his neck and despite the wounds, the missing wing, the metal cooling on half his face, and the fact he'd been running around most of the day with burns, he looks just as menacing as when he was bringing down a ball of flame upon the town.

The odd thing to notice in the light of the fire is that the Captain isn't bleeding much at all, his damn wings off, he should be bleeding all over the place!

"So if you want to know what I do, you'll have to do a lot better than ripping out a wing!" He ends with a shout before moving to close the distance, moving far too spry for one who had just lost a wing, for one who was poisoned, burned, and slapped with liquid metal.

Just what in Tartarus is going on here?



[Hospital Third Floor]
The force-field shimmering into being is the only thing that saves Bumble, well, that and the shout from their little intruder. The assassin neatly side-steps the blade and returns a volley of her own, the shortsword of the previous guard spinning towards Night Jewel's head. The arrival of the cloaked pony was certainly a surprise to her, but the fact they were already surrounded was definitely not an optimal situation.

"Sure, getting crowded here!" The bumble bee pony shouts with a bit of a squeak as she snatches up the knife.

An intense pressure fills the room, and if Night Jewel were to look away from the spinning death heading towards her, she'd notice the elephant in the room, or rather the pink-maned pegasus slamming her hoof into the floor with a bright flash of light.

This flash is swiftly followed by everything in the room falling towards the second floor as the material holding them up gave way under the might of Sure Strike!


[Hospital First Floor]

The poison is a deadly combination of vemons, but one that is certainly easy enough to cure with a few of the anti-venoms on hoof in a hospital. The only issue is going to be the injuries from being tossed around and smacked in the back of the head could produce complications or further injury... She'd certainly need to be looked over carefully as the concoctions made to save her did their work.

[Guardhouse First Floor]
Flash is caught off guard by both the spike and the bolt from the crossbow, both catching her in the chest and neck respectively. She falls over dead, leaving Passe free to do what she needed to do. Though, not for long.

The huge pony of muscle skids to a halt and turns, swinging the heavy haft of his spear in a wide arc to catch his legs again, or smack his small companion's head off her shoulders. It's a pretty impressive swing in regards to speed from a pony that's this large, but nothing that Dawnstrider wouldn't be able to block, well, except for the other melee ponies that charge forwards as the crossbow wielders instinctively retreated.

Mask sighs as with a tilt of his head the spike pierces the wall behind him, this was going to start getting annoying. "No more hostages, if they're here then we're going to have company soon. All ponies are now liabilities, so get to it!"

His few soldiers with the blades are certainly showing a range of expertise as they closed the distance on the pair, though Mask doesn't seem to be moving much.


[Guardhouse Second Floor]
"Three areas that I cannot see into, which is fine, two of them are close enough." Divine pulls her hoof away from the circle as the shadows dissipate, her covered face showing a hint of a smile. "But we are far too late now to reliably handle the access of such areas."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Asks the explosives pony with the ever growing smile.

Divine can only nod as she forms another circle on the ground before her, the shadows soon spreading again with a an array of wispy hooves and eyes. The unicorn with the bombs happily puts some into the shadows as they disappear into utter darkness, being carried off around the second floor. "Yes, with your expertise and my power we're just gonna get this job finished. The sooner the better."

The slithering shadows cross over the building, carrying a hidden cargo that would certainly make this evening a booming success.

[Gates]
A strange thing begins to occur, the arc of the arrows and projectiles begins to shift a bit and slowly change their arc. Any pony that has good night vision would possibly see that the attacking army is beginning to pull back, but their volley of death still continues, just to cover the escape.

The golems though, continue their rampage of the pair they were ordered to kill, the arrows doing nothing, the ballista's managing to do some major damage though. Fire only seems to make them flaming golems if anything, not a real decline in their danger.

Benson
2014-07-13, 11:41 AM
Hay Bale rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. Enjoy yourselves, you four~ She trotted off for the foyer, whistling all the while.

In the foyer were the other three mares, Strawberry Fizz, a young strawberry blonde earth pony mare, newest addition to the harem, Summer Tea, a pale orange furred unicorn with a light brown mane, and Melon Squeeze, a light green unicorn with a light red mane. There was a clear theme to Balboa's girls, he sometimes called them his Specialty Drinks. Melon Squeeze seemed to be in some sort of rivalry with Peachy Delight as both had more assertive and forward attitude, a rivalry no one cared about.

In the foyer, Melon Squeeze was laying on the couch and reading a magazine that she held in her magical hold. Summer Tea was hovering over a sitting Strawberry Fizz with a shot glass floating over.

"Oh come on..it will be fun...don't tell me you don't like doing body shots?" Summer Tea grinned as she leaned in on Strawberry who seemed to be shying away from the proposition.

"Eh uhm...its just that..." She then looked over in surprise upon seeing Hay Bale and capitalized on this distraction. "Oh hey uh hello Miss Hay Bale." This prompted Summer to turn around and temporarily ceased her proposition.
============

Sandy waved good-bye to Hay Bale, then made a noise halfway between a nicker and a squeaky toy as Peachy's tail stung his side. The poor engineer flushed bright red at the brazen - but totally not serious, everything here was not serious - flirtation. "R-really sir, t'ain't nothin' special. Just a lil' somethin' I work on b-between fixin' engines an' such. Keeps m-m-my horn sharp."

"You know, I am completely now pondering asking if you do commissions, I do not think I would mind having a sand sculpture of my wonderful self," Balboa said, because clearly he did not have enough images of himself littering his own home.

HalfTangible
2014-07-13, 11:49 AM
In the foyer were the other three mares, Strawberry Fizz, a young strawberry blonde earth pony mare, newest addition to the harem, Summer Tea, a pale orange furred unicorn with a light brown mane, and Melon Squeeze, a light green unicorn with a light red mane. There was a clear theme to Balboa's girls, he sometimes called them his Specialty Drinks. Melon Squeeze seemed to be in some sort of rivalry with Peachy Delight as both had more assertive and forward attitude, a rivalry no one cared about.

In the foyer, Melon Squeeze was laying on the couch and reading a magazine that she held in her magical hold. Summer Tea was hovering over a sitting Strawberry Fizz with a shot glass floating over.

"Oh come on..it will be fun...don't tell me you don't like doing body shots?" Summer Tea grinned as she leaned in on Strawberry who seemed to be shying away from the proposition.

"Eh uhm...its just that..." She then looked over in surprise upon seeing Hay Bale and capitalized on this distraction. "Oh hey uh hello Miss Hay Bale." This prompted Summer to turn around and temporarily ceased her proposition.Hay Bale grinned slyly. What's this i hear about body shots?

Benson
2014-07-13, 01:46 PM
Hay Bale grinned slyly. What's this i hear about body shots?

"Oh its just Strawberry not wanting to be fun," Summer chuckled and playfully booped Strawberry on the muzzle.

"Hey..! I am not unfun...I just don't wanna..." Strawberry raised her voice though she trailed off towards the end.

"If Balboa asked you, you probably wouldn't hesitate in a heartbeat," Summer Tea teased and glanced back at Hay Bale a thought forming in her head. "You like fun right Hay Bale? Come on, we got a bar full of liquor and a bunch of cute shot glasses heheh."

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-13, 09:05 PM
"You know, I am completely now pondering asking if you do commissions, I do not think I would mind having a sand sculpture of my wonderful self," Balboa said, because clearly he did not have enough images of himself littering his own home.

Sandy's jaw dropped. "Bwuh-uh, I-I mean, c-c-c-c-commisions?!" he sputtered, eyes wide and cheeks burning. Somewhere in him, a little flicker of a dream stirred. "I, th-that is t'say, I-I ain't never done a commission before, s-so I don't rightly know if I'm, er, if I'm even qualified t'offer them t'such a-a distinguished client," he babbled.

Benson
2014-07-14, 12:12 PM
Sandy's jaw dropped. "Bwuh-uh, I-I mean, c-c-c-c-commissions?!" he sputtered, eyes wide and cheeks burning. Somewhere in him, a little flicker of a dream stirred. "I, th-that is t'say, I-I ain't never done a commission before, s-so I don't rightly know if I'm, er, if I'm even qualified t'offer them t'such a-a distinguished client," he babbled.

"Bah, you're qualified if you believe in your work, and you believe in your work don't you?" Balboa leaned down towards Sandy and raised his brow.

HalfTangible
2014-07-14, 12:22 PM
"Oh its just Strawberry not wanting to be fun," Summer chuckled and playfully booped Strawberry on the muzzle.

"Hey..! I am not unfun...I just don't wanna..." Strawberry raised her voice though she trailed off towards the end.

"If Balboa asked you, you probably wouldn't hesitate in a heartbeat," Summer Tea teased and glanced back at Hay Bale a thought forming in her head. "You like fun right Hay Bale? Come on, we got a bar full of liquor and a bunch of cute shot glasses heheh."

Oh, rawr~ Hay Bale grinned wickedly. Sounds like fun~ She bound for the liquor.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-14, 12:27 PM
"Bah, you're qualified if you believe in your work, and you believe in your work don't you?" Balboa leaned down towards Sandy and raised his brow.

Sandy gulped, sweating bullets, but nodded slowly. "I-I may not be good for much, s-sir, but I do put my all into my s-statues."

PurityIcekiller
2014-07-14, 03:59 PM
The force-field shimmering into being is the only thing that saves Bumble, well, that and the shout from their little intruder. The assassin neatly side-steps the blade and returns a volley of her own, the shortsword of the previous guard spinning towards Night Jewel's head. The arrival of the cloaked pony was certainly a surprise to her, but the fact they were already surrounded was definitely not an optimal situation.

"Sure, getting crowded here!" The bumble bee pony shouts with a bit of a squeak as she snatches up the knife.

An intense pressure fills the room, and if Night Jewel were to look away from the spinning death heading towards her, she'd notice the elephant in the room, or rather the pink-maned pegasus slamming her hoof into the floor with a bright flash of light.

This flash is swiftly followed by everything in the room falling towards the second floor as the material holding them up gave way under the might of Sure Strike!

Night Jewel quickly dropped prone and let the blade sailed over her. Being small had its advantages.

However, she didn't have time to quip back before the crumbling began. She turned and leapt for the door, and when the ground fell away, she barely managed to get a grip on the top of the wall below the doorframe.

Listen! That little one must be laden with mechanisms!

We have more important things to worry about right now.

Still something to keep in mind if you can distract those two.

[The Gates]

Blueshield noted the change in arrow angle "Do not abandon the walls. Knowing the nature of the wretches, I suspect this to be a feint."

She continued to strike at any golems left in reach, aiming mostly for limbs.

Benson
2014-07-15, 11:11 AM
Oh, rawr~ Hay Bale grinned wickedly. Sounds like fun~ She bound for the liquor.

Summer Tea bounded over for a few more shot glasses. "Alright, do you wanna go first? Though I'm game heheh."

Melon Squeezed looked up from her magazine and glanced at the entrance to the foyer with an annoyed look. "Ugh...where is that damn Peachy? She had one task and she's taking forever." She grumbled.

====


Sandy gulped, sweating bullets, but nodded slowly. "I-I may not be good for much, s-sir, but I do put my all into my s-statues."

"You really oughtn't belittle yourself, it starts to look like you have no confidence in yourself," Balboa stated and then sighed.

TheAmishPirate
2014-07-16, 09:53 PM
"You really oughtn't belittle yourself, it starts to look like you have no confidence in yourself," Balboa stated and then sighed.

"Yessir," Sandy replied submissively, looking down at his hooves. "What sorta statue would y'like? I'm afraid I don't have much in th' way of rates, so I ain't too familiar with standard costs. I-I could do some...er, digging..." he mumbled.

Lycan 01
2014-07-16, 11:06 PM
[Woodland Road to Bridle Shores]

Luck is a funny thing. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. And sometimes, it's just odd.

"GIMME BACK MAH HAT!!"

Case in point. One moment a pegasus lands in the woods to make a campfire and cook some lunch. The next, the stack of wood he's trying to light turns into an angry wolf monster that wants to eat his face. Or, as luck would have it, his hat.

With a feral growl, the Timberwolf tried to jump away, only to be tackled into the bushes by a brown pegasus sporting a few scars, his handsome features twisted in a scowl of annoyance. "C'mere ya varmint!" he snapped, hooves smacking on bark as he tried to pummel the beast into submission. The forest entity managed to twist and writhe out from under him, and quickly leaped back to put some distance between them. A battered black desperado hat dangled limply from its wooden jaws, and mischievous malice burned in its emerald eyes.

Cold blue eyes glared back, as the pegasus reached for the weapon slung over his shoulder and between his wings. "Alright, you asked fer it," he growled, his voice gruff and sporting a very distinct Badlands accent, marking him clearly as hailing from the Equestrian south. "Time for me ta turn ya into kindlin'!"

And with that, the pegasus unslung a scoped crossbow, leveled it with the Timberwolf, and fired a heavy bolt point blank into the creature...

...only for the Timberwolf to totally not care. If anything, it gave him a flat, rather unimpressed look as the bolt lodged itself firmly in the creature's chest and accomplished absolutely nothing.

"...oooooh riiiiiight," the pegasus slowly nodded. "Wooden bolt. Wooden monster. Pointless. Makes sense..." he mused.

The two briefly stared flatly at each other for a moment...

...before the pegasus lunged at the surprised Timberwolf with a feral snarl, repeatedly smacking it with the stock of his crossbow. "GIMME! BACK! MAH! HAT!" Each word was accompanied with a violent smack, creating a cloud of dust, bark, and splintered wood. Soon the Timberwolf lay shattered and destroyed, at least for the time being, and with a tired sigh and a proud smirk, the pony reclaimed his hat and set it back upon his head. "Heh, glad that's over..."

A low growl alerted the pegasus to the presence of several more Timberwolves, which looked none to happy to see their friend (briefly) pulverized.

The pony's ears pinned back, and he frowned in disgruntled annoyance. "Oh gimme a break..." grumbled Lucky Break, as he hefted his crossbow and prepared to gather firewood the hard way.

HalfTangible
2014-07-16, 11:56 PM
Summer Tea bounded over for a few more shot glasses. "Alright, do you wanna go first? Though I'm game heheh."

Melon Squeezed looked up from her magazine and glanced at the entrance to the foyer with an annoyed look. "Ugh...where is that damn Peachy? She had one task and she's taking forever." She grumbled.

====



"You really oughtn't belittle yourself, it starts to look like you have no confidence in yourself," Balboa stated and then sighed.

Hay Bale took the now-empty shot glass away from her mouth. Sorry, what?

Benson
2014-07-17, 11:26 AM
Balboa's Estate in Canterlot



Hay Bale took the now-empty shot glass away from her mouth. Sorry, what?

Melon Squeeze glanced over at the two and rolled her eyes at their antics. She then sighed and rubbed a temple with a hoof.

"Had Peachy and whatsherface Berry go fetch Mister Shag, probably meandering about, uuuh."


"Yessir," Sandy replied submissively, looking down at his hooves. "What sorta statue would y'like? I'm afraid I don't have much in th' way of rates, so I ain't too familiar with standard costs. I-I could do some...er, digging..." he mumbled.

"Well a statue of me of course," He said as he did a little regal pose and then wet all Blue Steel for the cameras. The girls giggled and practiced their own Blue Steels in the background. "Money is no problem for whatever it may cost."

HalfTangible
2014-07-17, 12:46 PM
Balboa's Estate in Canterlot

Melon Squeeze glanced over at the two and rolled her eyes at their antics. She then sighed and rubbed a temple with a hoof.

"Had Peachy and whatsherface Berry go fetch Mister Shag, probably meandering about, uuuh."

Oh, they're with Balboa right now, actually. He wanted me to come see what they were inviting him for. She poured herself another glass. He's talking with a guest right now, he can't come yet.

Benson
2014-07-18, 02:17 AM
[Woodland Road to Bridle Shores]

<and with some permission for certain things from Lycan>


A winged shadow would pass over Lucky and the timberwolves from up above and then disappear. Again it would appear though this time in front of a low sun causing the figure itself to be shadowed. Though despite the detailless shape, it was clearly one of a griffon. It then climbed up as something....no three somethings were dropped from the griffon as they fell towards the timberwolves who were dead set upon Lucky.

Bang! Bang! Bang-Baboooooooooom!

The sound of dynamite sounded around him causing the timberwolves to burst into splinter as rocks, dirt and twigs just flew everywhere, some knocking into Lucky though he himself would be caught on the fringes of the blasts and most likely just stunned silly and swirl eyed.

"Hoooooooweeeeeeeeee that was a biggun' heheheh," The griffon swooped down next to the derp eyed Lucky and sported a wide beaky grin on her face. "Oh that was so awesome hahahahah!" The griffoness sported an ecru colored coat with a steely black armor chest piece. Her wings were a taupe grey color, in which the tips of her head feathers matched her wings, and her eyes a steely blue. Slung over her back appeared to be a clockwork rifle of some sort and at her waist, sheathed, what looked to be a machete. The griffon then casually with one talon, grabbed Lucky's hat and placed it neatly on her head. "Ooooh I look good dontcha think? Hahah!" And with her other talon she scooped him and brought him close. Personal space is for chumps.

"Ain't that just one of the purtiest sights ya ever did see?" With a swooping gesture of her free talon, she well, gestured to the timberwolves.

======



Oh, they're with Balboa right now, actually. He wanted me to come see what they were inviting him for. She poured herself another glass. He's talking with a guest right now, he can't come yet.

There was a slight annoyed grunt from Melon, though for the most part she kept herself fairly composed. "Well I had them try to get an audience since we had something to talk about with him, altogether."

Grif
2014-07-18, 12:20 PM
[Woodlands, probably close to Bridle Shores]

"Shortcut, she said. It'd save t-time she said," the brown unicorn muttered under her breath, as she continued to run ahead into the thick undergrowth. The fact that she was carrying two different saddlebags didn't even slow her, such was her fear. Her dusky red eyes flitted left and right, scanning frantically for any sign of the predators currently on their trail. Alas, even with the light spell, she couldn't anything out past her muzzle. "B-Bitter, we probably s-should hurry," she whined, glancing back to her companion.

No answer. And no sight of her friend either. The shadowy eaves of the trees stared silently back.

"B-Bits?" The mare fearfully called out again, slowing her speed, looking frantically for any sign of her companion. "Bitter Herb?" The unicorn gulped, as realisation dawned. "O-Oh no..." The snarling and howling only got louder.

Pulp Fiction was entirely alone. With a pack of timberwolves on her trail. This really wasn't going to be her day.

She started running.

Lycan 01
2014-07-18, 12:51 PM
[Woodland Road]

Lucky managed to avoid the first blast. The second staggered him slightly. The third sent him cartwheeling through the air like a feathery ragdoll. The pegasus ended up landing in a crumpled heap, eyes swirling and tongue lolling out. When the griffoness grabs Lucky, he offers no resistance. In fact, he just kinda flops around limply in her grasp, eyes still swirling in stunned disorientation. "Yuh-huh," he nods along, clearly spaced out and dazed. "Purty. Purty bird-lady. Griffons are so purty. My head hurts," he babbles with a slight slur.

My, isn't he forward?

Benson
2014-07-18, 01:02 PM
[Woodland Road to Bridle Shores]


"Tell me something I ain't knowin already heheh," The griffoness continued to grin as she surveyed the mess. She puffed her feathery chest with a sense of pride. One confirmed nod later she glanced at the derped Lucky.

"I saved your life, ya old me it now." Because that is totally how it works, cough.

Kelvin360
2014-07-18, 09:07 PM
Hospital - Third Floor

The moment after Sure Strike's hooves push down, when there's a tiny gap between her and the falling room, Star strikes. She moves the force field encasing the bed into a thin, flat floor separating the empty space above from the new level below. It leaves Bumble downstairs with the pegasus and Starbeam's doppelganger, and Sure Strike upstairs with Snowstorm.

I'll provide the distraction. She sends to Night Jewel. If you think you can disable her by using that to your advantage, do it. Don't sacrifice a victory for evasion, either; that inertial barrier won't take away the pain, but the knives aren't going to kill you.


Hospital - Second Floor

The Starbeam clone produces a flash and teleports herself between Bumble and the debris where the pegasus and her bed now rest. With a low hum, she summons two violet discs that expand into airborne spinning razors. She throws them forward, their weaponry tossing up gusts of wind as they pass.


Hospital - Third Floor

Alighting on top of the new barrier between the battlefields, Snowstorm pauses to take measure of her opponent. She exhales, her wings flare out, and the temperature drops roughly sixty degrees as ice coats her chest and forelegs. "You can go ahead and pretend I spouted the cliche of your choice."


Gates

Raucous and Steel keep firing. Raucous has speed, Steel has accuracy.


Guardhouse - First Floor

Operating under the assumption that his compatriot is better with one-on-one confrontations than fighting a crowd, Dawnstrider turns in a full circle, knocking the halberd aside while building momentum to swing at the approaching melee combatants. He takes the moment bought by this wild charge to position himself firmly and low to the ground, then goes about his engagement, picking off ponies to either side of him rather than those in the middle, presenting the rude quandary to the archers as to whether its worth the good chance of hitting their allies to get to such a small, moving target.

Mountain Bloom takes a step back, nocks and arrow, and fires. That her opponent is so large likely renders her prodigious aim nigh-pointless, but she doesn't take any chances - neck shots, straight at the gap between helmet and chestplate, larger than the skull but precise enough to be lethal.