[FWM] Backstage: CUT!

[Kelvin360]

Blades laughed. "Of course! I'm not keepin' ya from yar sister! Just as long as ya don't get too... well... magic-y in what ya're talkin' 'bout, okay?"

She then looked over Arvadraa carefully. "Make sure ya're warm enough, 'Vadraa! I don't want to find ya as an ice sculpture out there."

"If she needed warmth, I could draw up magma and-"

"If ya burn her, I'll make yar ribs into silverware."

"...Got it."

And so, after a bit of time for preparation, the two groups would go their separate ways.

"You don't have to worry." Arvadraa assures them. "According to Horne, the insulation my shadowskin provides should work on cold as well as heat. Whatever that means. I think it means snow won't give me hypothermia as easily. I wouldn't know."

As they part, Stellar decides to default to the opener that she finds the most interesting. "...What kind of silverware? I mean, I could see spoons, knives, maybe even forks, but could you pull plates, too? Ooh, or maybe a cutting board!"

Meanwhile, Arvadraa and Flare are joined by Seeker for their trip, the owl having picked up a miniature scarf at some point when we was wherever forgotten animal companions go. "It's nice, I think. The snow. I don't think I've ever seen it like this before. In the forest, it's mostly the aftereffects of whatever a weather team makes, so it's not as well-kept."

"A dead harem, then. Unpleasant for both sides of the arrangement." Blueshield grimaced. "And he is still trying? After a time, one might expect a pony of such misfortune would either find an exception or give up upon realizing none exists."

"He's gotten better. I think he even has a speech prepared. Something like an oath of service, but more along the lines of 'if you want to stay near me, know what you're getting into'. I just...I don't know. After all he's been through, I'd say he deserves to be happy. But life doesn't leave some of us alone, you know? I'd say he needs to work with what he knows he has, but none of us now can really offer that specific kind of companionship.

I'm getting off track, though. We're not exactly up here to listen to me whine about the universe supposedly conspiring against my dad."

[Clouds Above Bridle Shores] "Of course, it certain does help for an adventuring group to have some authority and powerful backing behind it. Or within it," Prose muses aloofly. "Once can operate outside a system and still draw power and influence from the system to aid in your operations. Assistance, intel, resources, so on and so forth."

"That makes sense. At the least it explains why Rigmund and Moonshine operate like that even when they complain about it so much."

"True. However, when it is necessary to correct issues within the system, you either work within the system to correct it or take it down and replace it with a new one. The former requires influence. The latter requires open revolt."

"I'd go so far as to say the real problem is that we're pretty much incapable of making a flawless balance between tyranny and anarchy. Most governments straddle a middle ground, but it's like a toss-up between which one you're most comfortable with."