[FwM] The Vampony Diaries - Mlp without the Kiddy Thread XIV

[TheAmishPirate]

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?

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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.

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[TheAmishPirate]

(Heh. Deleted the wrong part.)
The sniper slides over and atop Sandy. A soft hoof would have reached out if it were not bloody or armed. The smile was bright but shaky from worry. "How you holding up, soldier?"

The explosion went off behind her, painting her full, curving profile in black against the billowing flames. And though her suit and his armor kept him from feeling the soft touch of her coat, her warmth set his cheeks ablaze. If it weren't for her question, he may have just stared stupified at her until the rest of the venom wore off. "Uh....good! M-ma'am. Sir. Ma'am. I-I'm feelin' pretty good." He partially snapped out of his hungering reverie, wiping his mouth on a foreleg. To his eternal shame, it came away wet with drool. To his even greater shame, his eyes almost immediately wavered to her flank again. Nghh...c'mon, get your head on straight, Shores!

Taking a deep breath, he tried in vain to clear his mind and fixed his gaze where he thought her eyes would be. "Wh-what's our status sweet-ma'am! Ma'am. What's our status ma'am?"

[Grif]

Vampony Rabble

Ze Tunnel of Love and Writhing

The mare threw her forelegs over the lieutenant and quietly teared. "I don't know.....when...that thing looked me in the eyes....it just suddenly felt like my blood was acting on its own and boiling." She sniffled and bit down on her lip.

(I presume Silverpine knew about the UV grenade somewhere.)

"What...?" By far, that was one of the weirdest thing Silverpine has heard today. But he had an inkling on the source. "It's the vampony blood, isn't it?" he said grimly. "Okay, that means we need to finish him fast when he comes back... got that fancy grenade our noble rogue on hoof?"

Arvadraa

She looks uncomfortable. "I....um...." She jumps on Gak's comment like a drowning pony on a floatation device. "That's good to hear! Except maybe awkward. Would that be awkward?"

Gak
Gak shook her head, her neon green hair moving side to side.
"I wouldn't think so. Back in Canterlot, where I used to teach, we had mares and stallions coming in for after school lessons all the time."

"Aaanddd, we're here," Lemongrass declared, gesturing at the compound before him. The school itself was a small squarish building about three stories yonder, with a small garden in the front. An iron-wrought fence enclosed the garden. There appeared to some recently-repaired damage on east side of the fencing and building, but otherwise the school was intact, if a little empty at the moment.

Lemongrass rummaged his saddlebags. "Lessee... ah, the key is here." He hefted a keyring that held at least a dozen solid bronze keys, all looking dreadfully similar. It didn't faze the guard however, and he quickly found the right key and unlocked the iron gate.

[MCerberus]

Vampony Ultimate

Staccata doesn't immediately react. They don't know just what exactly is going on, so she stays in the shadows. Anything that manages to come by confused or angry would be primed for attack, if she retains surprise.

[Luka]

Aero
Aero hugs her still.
"You need not go any further if you don't want to."

She would just remain in his hug, still pretty much broken down.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Idle Chat

"We'll I hardly think it friendly....but darn it all anyway...I'll...I'll find someone...I don't know who...can help....with this special dark...magic wound stuff," He said with fretting eyes and held her hoof with both of his. He looked like a tearful puppy.

Violet would wince again, and after his hold she would give a smile back.
"Thank you- OW!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dreamscape: Breaking the laws of physics, one Knight at a time

Phex smiled at the ensuing chaos, this was going to be.... Delicious. Straightening himself out he begins to concentrate, scraps and pieces of his armor peeling off and disappearing into the void as he continued staring down the panicking horses, trying to force something onto the images of those the host held dear.

And then the chains appeared.

At first they came one at a time, but they struck like lightning and were as cold as death. They appeared in a monotonous pattern, but there appearances got more and more erratic. Crooked, rusty hooks layed at the end of them and they latched onto a panicking pony and dragged him/her screaming off into the void. Eventually they would drag themselves back out, covered in chain lacerations, but it didn't last long before they warranted the cruel gaze of the void again. It was a chaotic swirl of madness as ponies stumbled into each other, stampeded, and even threw each other into the way of the chains as thy attempted to avoid the grisly fate as much as they could. To rub salt onto the wound Phex conjured forth a lesser version of Bane and had it present itself to Luka, clearly on display for him to use as a way to defend his friends from the chains. But the sword would merely bend like rubber around the chains and do nothing, specifically avoiding contact with the chains.

Now.... That would just plain make him panic, enough to forget he has his own sword an pick up Bane to attack the chains, now, it just bending around to not hit the chains would be kind of disturbing to him, he would throw it away and try to stomp the chains or something to break it, both his sword and shield remain on his back, safely held, but he's panicking waaay too much to remember he even has them.

[Benson]

Faeland Brouhaha

"I'm not acceptin' no duel, especially if I don't know what will come to the victor and loser," Ember said trying to be adamant and hoof putting down, it was probably foolish here, among powerful beings, oh well darn it. "And no one call me 'morsel', I am no one's lunch."
==============

Vampony Rabble Rubble

Tunnel

"Nnngggh...we can't just ahh..wait for him to come back....he's going to kill Sandy...he said it himself," She groaned trying to stand up, she referred to the whole 'runt' part which indicated Sandy. "We can't....let him come back....it means...the worse has happened..."

Main Chamber
The jelly cube was probably hit by the flaming sunray bolt, we'll find out, just not now. There was a gross sloshing noise though. The mare vampony tried to tackle Daniel from behind with red tears threatening to fall. There was still no sign of Zippity as her children sans Honor Guard whose body was still attaching itself headed to go recover her fearing the worst.

The room itself felt incredibly cold, overpowering the heat from the explosion and sun ray.

Miss M gave herself time to recover as her skin and fur were very chilly and she also caught his scent. "H-He's here..........Sandy watch out!"

In the darkness a shadowed figure moved with great speed, looking at it with night vision would only show a faint shadow. The light from the entrance, which in itself was quite some ways away from where Sandy was at, barely reaching its light back here.

"I GOT YOU!" The shadow figure leapt hooves out with the intent to decapitate Sandy. Zephyr's own senses jumped in, along with his promise. The blue pegasi stallion leapt in the path of the jump of the shadow vamp. He spun back to buck him in the face. But-

It was too late. A light blue stallion's head rolled to the ground. Miss M screamed and clutched her chest and fell over to the ground. Zephyr's body crumpled to the ground.

The shadow figure further solidified as features came into play. There stood an imposing unicorn with a large barrel wearing a heavy black jacket. Dark grey in mane and tail, done in a military style, off white in fur. His eyes took on blue hues as his expression took one of both a pleasant surprise and mild satisfaction. May not have been Sandy but, killing one of his friends felt nice. Though, it would be much better with Sandy dead. Oh how it would be.
=======
=======

Clinic

"So...ah..uh...would you like me to get you anything?" Idle Chat asked.

[Kelvin360]

"Aaanddd, we're here," Lemongrass declared, gesturing at the compound before him. The school itself was a small squarish building about three stories yonder, with a small garden in the front. An iron-wrought fence enclosed the garden. There appeared to some recently-repaired damage on east side of the fencing and building, but otherwise the school was intact, if a little empty at the moment.

Lemongrass rummaged his saddlebags. "Lessee... ah, the key is here." He hefted a keyring that held at least a dozen solid bronze keys, all looking dreadfully similar. It didn't faze the guard however, and he quickly found the right key and unlocked the iron gate.

"I...um...may have expected it to be more sparkly. Or something." Arvadraa says, blushing a bit.

Faeland Brouhaha

"I'm not acceptin' no duel, especially if I don't know what will come to the victor and loser," Ember said trying to be adamant and hoof putting down, it was probably foolish here, among powerful beings, oh well darn it. "And no one call me 'morsel', I am no one's lunch."

"Interesting." Rangolan's smile fades and he turns to look at Lochbed. "You have quite the impetuous one on your hands, it seems. I do hope it won't be a....problem."

Vampony Rabble Rubble

Main Chamber
The jelly cube was probably hit by the flaming sunray bolt, we'll find out, just not now. There was a gross sloshing noise though. The mare vampony tried to tackle Daniel from behind with red tears threatening to fall. There was still no sign of Zippity as her children sans Honor Guard whose body was still attaching itself headed to go recover her fearing the worst.

The room itself felt incredibly cold, overpowering the heat from the explosion and sun ray.

Miss M gave herself time to recover as her skin and fur were very chilly and she also caught his scent. "H-He's here..........Sandy watch out!"

In the darkness a shadowed figure moved with great speed, looking at it with night vision would only show a faint shadow. The light from the entrance, which in itself was quite some ways away from where Sandy was at, barely reaching its light back here.

"I GOT YOU!" The shadow figure leapt hooves out with the intent to decapitate Sandy. Zephyr's own senses jumped in, along with his promise. The blue pegasi stallion leapt in the path of the jump of the shadow vamp. He spun back to buck him in the face. But-

It was too late. A light blue stallion's head rolled to the ground. Miss M screamed and clutched her chest and fell over to the ground. Zephyr's body crumpled to the ground.

The shadow figure further solidified as features came into play. There stood an imposing unicorn with a large barrel wearing a heavy black jacket. Dark grey in mane and tail, done in a military style, off white in fur. His eyes took on blue hues as his expression took one of both a pleasant surprise and mild satisfaction. May not have been Sandy but, killing one of his friends felt nice. Though, it would be much better with Sandy dead. Oh how it would be.

Daniel twists around, almost pirouetting entirely as he grabs the offending vampire around the neck and spins them both. He grabs the front of her muzzle with one hoof and the back of her head with another and roughly spins them in the same direction. Classic neck-snap maneuver.

Then he pushes off and stomps her face into a nearby pew with a hind leg. Whether or not she's out, he hops over one and walks past the remnants of his battle, twisting two arrows out of the heads of some combatants and drawing another, as well as his bow.

"Well hey there, Speck! Always nice to see you rashified. Don't suppose you brought any cream for me?" He says cheerfully, putting years and years of bardic training into making himself sound as annoying, insulting, and punchable to the BBEG as possible.

[MCerberus]

Vampony Final-down

No time for witty retorts, Staccata should still have surprise. This may be the big evil vampony lord, but he's still stabble. The mare leaps out and attacks from the flank. If he's gloating or anything, he'll be extra distracted.

[PurityIcekiller]

"And I could give you all the reasons 'no', but that would cause us to die of old age. Since when do you connect 'Mr. Darkblade Darkness-pants von obviously-a-spy-for-the-bad-guys' with light magic, anyway?"

"For one thing, shortly after the attack, he used light magic to cleanse a boulder that was corrupted or something. The gate guards are witnesses. And then there was breaking the sealing spell around Obsidian Flare here."

"So let 'em gurgle a bit. Having fun is more fun when they can't immediately try and kill you some more."

"That is a good point. Disable first, then destroy. I will remember it from now on."

Night Jewel looked very, very disturbed. "...Say, Stellar, back on the subject of your feud, where do you base your moral standards for judging Dawnstrider?"

The kelpie extended one of her sticky hooves. "Charmed tae meet ye baith."

"Such fine manners! You weel go far, mademoiselle Lochbed." Precious accepted the offered hoof and shook vigorously.

Blackstreak couldn't think of what to say, so he simply bowed.

"They are very nice, aren't they? Blackstreak is much more behaved than his predecessor, and Precious is most cooperative and collected!"

"In doo time, we will meit faither mah love. A wee duel is guud fur charmin' Faither. He loves sport". The fey Leaned in for a reassuring lick. "What type of duel? Swords? Shapeshifting? Spells? Counting?"

"Ciona thinks it should be Ember's choice. He knows what would be best for him. Although she has a spell-duel format that can accommodate magically challenged ponies..."

"I'm not acceptin' no duel, especially if I don't know what will come to the victor and loser," Ember said trying to be adamant and hoof putting down, it was probably foolish here, among powerful beings, oh well darn it. "And no one call me 'morsel', I am no one's lunch."

"Oh, what a rebellious spirit he has!" Ciona laughed. "A real fighter! Ciona just has to see him in action! And he said that he won't accept not having a duel, so they're on!"

[Kelvin360]

"For one thing, shortly after the attack, he used light magic to cleanse a boulder that was corrupted or something. The gate guards are witnesses. And then there was breaking the sealing spell around Obsidian Flare here."

"Right. Let me show you something." She fires off a magical bolt towards the ground, and makes it circle in midair, pulsing with unreleased force. "Ooooh, corruption or something." She lets out a flash from her horn, the bolt disappearing during the brief interval when sight isn't particularly clear.

"If you control it, you can dissipate it. The only requirement is a light show."

"That is a good point. Disable first, then destroy. I will remember it from now on."

Night Jewel looked very, very disturbed. "...Say, Stellar, back on the subject of your feud, where do you base your moral standards for judging Dawnstrider?"

Stellar gapes at Night Jewel. Just...gapes at her for a long moment. It's revealing of one of her talents, actually; Managing the say 'how stupid are you?' without using any words.

When she speaks, her tone is decidedly not calm.

"Have you ever been a slave? Forced to perform drudgery without rest or hope? Your life in the hooves of ponies who consider you a toy? That's what my life was like for FOUR YEARS. I STILL have the scars. Not all of them on the outside." She lets the insinuation hang there a moment before continuing. "I had to fight, tooth and hooftip, for every second I breathed. When I was too tired to work, I was beaten. When I was too sore to sleep, I was abused. When my magic couldn't put out, I was put down."

"Four years of hell. Because your new best friend decided in the spur of the moment that selling me would be funny. 'Amusing, to see what she will become.' Those were his exact words. You want to know why I am like I am? You want to know why I'm an antipathic psycho? Because I HAD TO BE. Strength or death. And if the pain of ponies who want to kill me is the only way to get my kicks, keep me sane, so be it. Because of him."

She walks slowly towards Jewel, horn glowing, hoofsteps atop air, building rumbling. She's telekinetically lifting herself, the entire building, and most of the nonliving materials inside it. A hooflength upward each, at best. "I could care less if you want to kiss the ground he walks on. If you want to be buddies with a slaving scum-of-the-earth sociopath, that's your business. But take a good long look. I am what you're going to end up as. And DO NOT EVER preach to me about your blessed morality."

With several clatters and a wump, she lets herself, the building, and the various weapons drop. Then she smiles. A twisted, cold smile that's more anticipatory than present. "I'll give him this, though. If he wanted the worst enemy he could possibly have, it worked. You're standing with a unicorn focused on force magic and telekinesis in a room full of sharp objects. Let's talk about cake."

"Ciona thinks it should be Ember's choice. He knows what would be best for him. Although she has a spell-duel format that can accommodate magically challenged ponies..."

"We let the mortals decide for us, now? An interesting prrposition, perhaps..."

[PurityIcekiller]

Stellar gapes at Night Jewel. Just...gapes at her for a long moment. It's revealing of one of her talents, actually; Managing the say 'how stupid are you?' without using any words.

When she speaks, her tone is decidedly not calm.

"Have you ever been a slave? Forced to perform drudgery without rest or hope? Your life in the hooves of ponies who consider you a toy? That's what my life was like for FOUR YEARS. I STILL have the scars. Not all of them on the outside." She lets the insinuation hang there a moment before continuing. "I had to fight, tooth and hooftip, for every second I breathed. When I was too tired to work, I was beaten. When I was too sore to sleep, I was abused. When my magic couldn't put out, I was put down."

"Four years of hell. Because your new best friend decided in the spur of the moment that selling me would be funny. 'Amusing, to see what she will become.' Those were his exact words. You want to know why I am like I am? You want to know why I'm an antipathic psycho? Because I HAD TO BE. Strength or death. And if the pain of ponies who want to kill me is the only way to get my kicks, keep me sane, so be it. Because of him."

She walks slowly towards Jewel, horn glowing, hoofsteps atop air, building rumbling. She's telekinetically lifting herself, the entire building, and most of the nonliving materials inside it. A hooflength upward each, at best. "I could care less if you want to kiss the ground he walks on. If you want to be buddies with a slaving scum-of-the-earth sociopath, that's your business. But take a good long look. I am what you're going to end up as. And DO NOT EVER preach to me about your blessed morality."

With several clatters and a wump, she lets herself, the building, and the various weapons drop. Then she smiles. A twisted, cold smile that's more anticipatory than present. "I'll give him this, though. If he wanted the worst enemy he could possibly have, it worked. You're standing with a unicorn focused on force magic and telekinesis in a room full of sharp objects. Let's talk about cake."

Blades stirred awake at the shaking. "Don't do that again, okay?" she muttered.

Night Jewel leapt backwards. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure..."

"Drop it." Flare twitched her ears. "Stellar has suggested other topics... What exactly is your name? I see no way to address you that couldn't refer to her as well."

"Night Jewel. Right. Anyway, you like cake? Or do you prefer pie? I guess it really depends on the type of cake and pie..."

Blades groaned and went back to sleep.

Four years... How I feel for her, given that it is an insignificant fraction of my life of imprisonment. My heart weeps. Flare had the sense to keep her sarcasm internalized, but she did show signs of irritation.

[Orzel]

Rainbow

Rainbow was lost in the blue pony's light locks. She counts fifteen specks of sand. T'was her thing. That and his voice, constantly fretting over something. Oh how it both annoyed and attracted her. "Don't about that. You just worry about yourself! I'm highest ranking here. Let me handle things." she ordered.


She just so happens to put on her goggles when a streak of darkness whisks by. An orb rolls on the ground and a body falls. No time to mourn or worry. It is time to fight.

The grim revelation of the boss put Rainbow on guard. She instinctively stands over Sandy and took a defensive stance with a hoofbow aimed at the newest greatest threat.

Lochbed

The fey monster girl clapped her hooves."Yeah! Ah almost didnae think' ye wanted tae duel. Yer hf said "No" but ye mouth said "Duble No". Ye kno'? As the highest rank, ye dictate the terms."

(STUPID Computer! Stop deleting stuff)

[TheAmishPirate]

[Vampony - Final Showdown]

Anything Sandy might've said to Rainbow fell from his mind as Zephyr's lifeblood splattered over him. And then was completely stomped out upon seeing Spectre's smug satisfaction of ending another life.

From the ground, a few things happened at once. The lithe runt of a unicorn leaped and pivoted upon his foreleg, making himself a more difficult target while he tumbled upright. His horn flared to life, bathing the area in light and picking up anything with a substantial amount of sand. His daggers and three remaining stakes flew to his side - one hovering close to Rainbow for protection - while any spare sand was sent straight for his eyes. This scum hadn't earned the right to talk before battle. "You weren't even content t'sentence your own flesh an' blood t'death, y'had to murder another's child with your own hooves?!" Sandy spat at him, both literally and figuratively. The glamour kept him from shedding a single tear; all his grief, all his pain diverted into wrath and contempt for this selfish psychopath.

[Grif]

Vampony Rabble Rubble

Tunnel

"Nnngggh...we can't just ahh..wait for him to come back....he's going to kill Sandy...he said it himself," She groaned trying to stand up, she referred to the whole 'runt' part which indicated Sandy. "We can't....let him come back....it means...the worse has happened..."

Main Chamber
The jelly cube was probably hit by the flaming sunray bolt, we'll find out, just not now. There was a gross sloshing noise though. The mare vampony tried to tackle Daniel from behind with red tears threatening to fall. There was still no sign of Zippity as her children sans Honor Guard whose body was still attaching itself headed to go recover her fearing the worst.

The room itself felt incredibly cold, overpowering the heat from the explosion and sun ray.

Miss M gave herself time to recover as her skin and fur were very chilly and she also caught his scent. "H-He's here..........Sandy watch out!"

In the darkness a shadowed figure moved with great speed, looking at it with night vision would only show a faint shadow. The light from the entrance, which in itself was quite some ways away from where Sandy was at, barely reaching its light back here.

"I GOT YOU!" The shadow figure leapt hooves out with the intent to decapitate Sandy. Zephyr's own senses jumped in, along with his promise. The blue pegasi stallion leapt in the path of the jump of the shadow vamp. He spun back to buck him in the face. But-

It was too late. A light blue stallion's head rolled to the ground. Miss M screamed and clutched her chest and fell over to the ground. Zephyr's body crumpled to the ground.

The shadow figure further solidified as features came into play. There stood an imposing unicorn with a large barrel wearing a heavy black jacket. Dark grey in mane and tail, done in a military style, off white in fur. His eyes took on blue hues as his expression took one of both a pleasant surprise and mild satisfaction. May not have been Sandy but, killing one of his friends felt nice. Though, it would be much better with Sandy dead. Oh how it would be.

Miss M's scream echoed down the dark passage where Silverpine and Gearstride were fumbling about. His ears perked up. "Luna help us. He's already there. C'mon!" He quickly helped her up and dragged her back.

[Benson]

Vampony Rabble


Well, Silverpine and Gearstride would stumble and limp into the main chamber and find a corner of it illuminated by Sandy and his horn buddy. They'd see a familiar corpse though without a head. And of course some pony who sorta looked the role of a BBEG, or maybe it was more that everyone was getting their hostile on towards him. Gearstride reached to her bomb belt which held the UV bomb.

Miss M wept in pain, a part of her dead for good, a special kind of pain that she had never felt before. Not to mention the psychological pain of losing her dear prodigy.
-

Spectre tilted his head with a smirk and dissolved into darkness just as Staccata leapt into attack. He seemed to have disappeared into Sandy's shadow as it was one of the few close areas of shadow, the other being Rainbow's shadow. Anyways, the spy would likely hit one of the two, Sandy or Rainbow, or hit the ground, either three.

Sandy would feel much more cold, a cold uncomfortable touch. Daniel's words went heard but unresponded to. Spectre's first priority was Sandy with Danny Boy at a close second.

"Oooh......Sandy.....I won't be content until I see your head rolling down next to your friend's......" A disembodied voice laughed, a real soulless laugh.
================================================== ======================

Faelands

"No, I'm not accepting a duel," He nickered and shook his head. "Don't twist my words to fit into your own definition of what I meant." He pointed a hoof at Ciona.

"Lochbed...I..I can't duel...I wouldn't know what sort of duel...I can't dictate the terms....I don't even want to duel." He frowned, feeling overwhelmed.

[PurityIcekiller]

"No, I'm not accepting a duel," He nickered and shook his head. "Don't twist my words to fit into your own definition of what I meant." He pointed a hoof at Ciona.

"Lochbed...I..I can't duel...I wouldn't know what sort of duel...I can't dictate the terms....I don't even want to duel." He frowned, feeling overwhelmed.

Ciona was aghast. "What is Ember saying? He lied? It is unthinkable! Ciona never lies! She tricks, she schemes, but she never lies! She will not be lied to!" Her dark aura grew, and her face became wolflike.

"He probably meesspoke. Maybe he eentended to say he deed not want a duel, but said eet twice eenstead of once? Eet was nozing more zan a meestake."

"Precious has a point. Ciona is still hurt, though."

[Kelvin360]

Blades stirred awake at the shaking. "Don't do that again, okay?" she muttered.

Night Jewel leapt backwards. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure..."

"Drop it." Flare twitched her ears. "Stellar has suggested other topics... What exactly is your name? I see no way to address you that couldn't refer to her as well."

"Night Jewel. Right. Anyway, you like cake? Or do you prefer pie? I guess it really depends on the type of cake and pie..."

Blades groaned and went back to sleep.

Four years... How I feel for her, given that it is an insignificant fraction of my life of imprisonment. My heart weeps. Flare had the sense to keep her sarcasm internalized, but she did show signs of irritation.

"Sorry, boss." Stellar murmurs to Blades, avoiding eye contact with everypony else in the room. She sits down and looks annoyed at a random wall. "Yeah. Never liked custard, for some reason...always made the association with a condiment. Tasted off." She starts to smile, maybe. Somewhat. Wait, is that a grimace? It's hard to tell. "Horne makes this great two-layer slice with spare alchemy ingredients and some illusion magic."

Vampony Rabble


Well, Silverpine and Gearstride would stumble and limp into the main chamber and find a corner of it illuminated by Sandy and his horn buddy. They'd see a familiar corpse though without a head. And of course some pony who sorta looked the role of a BBEG, or maybe it was more that everyone was getting their hostile on towards him. Gearstride reached to her bomb belt which held the UV bomb.

Miss M wept in pain, a part of her dead for good, a special kind of pain that she had never felt before. Not to mention the psychological pain of losing her dear prodigy.
-

Spectre tilted his head with a smirk and dissolved into darkness just as Staccata leapt into attack. He seemed to have disappeared into Sandy's shadow as it was one of the few close areas of shadow, the other being Rainbow's shadow. Anyways, the spy would likely hit one of the two, Sandy or Rainbow, or hit the ground, either three.

Sandy would feel much more cold, a cold uncomfortable touch. Daniel's words went heard but unresponded to. Spectre's first priority was Sandy with Danny Boy at a close second.

"Oooh......Sandy.....I won't be content until I see your head rolling down next to your friend's......" A disembodied voice laughed, a real soulless laugh.

So this is what being emotionally torn feels like. His head looks between his two targets...then...slides his bow and arrows away.

Then he makes a beeline for M.

"C'mon, c'mon, look at me!" He says, attempting to nudge her head up. "You need to focus. This is not the time. Let me tell you without the slightest hint of ignorance or condescension that I know exactly what you're feeling right now. But you need to get up. That smug son of a mule over there just killed your brother. He's laughing. Get over there and feed him his hooves.

For Zephyr."

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Faelands

"No, I'm not accepting a duel," He nickered and shook his head. "Don't twist my words to fit into your own definition of what I meant." He pointed a hoof at Ciona.

"Lochbed...I..I can't duel...I wouldn't know what sort of duel...I can't dictate the terms....I don't even want to duel." He frowned, feeling overwhelmed.

Ciona was aghast. "What is Ember saying? He lied? It is unthinkable! Ciona never lies! She tricks, she schemes, but she never lies! She will not be lied to!" Her dark aura grew, and her face became wolflike.

"He probably meesspoke. Maybe he eentended to say he deed not want a duel, but said eet twice eenstead of once? Eet was nozing more zan a meestake."

"Precious has a point. Ciona is still hurt, though."

"Don't worry, selective interperetation isn't lying." Rangolan points out dryly.

"Think about it this way, pet." He offers to Ember. "What are you best at?"

[Orzel]

Rainbow

She loses sight of the murderer. Too many of her sensual resources were diverted to knowing Sandy's position.

"Watch it." Then Staccata's failed attack comes. The sniper would leap in front of Sandy. On one shot and three legs, the taint of uselessness creeps into mind. And with Zephyr gone, her psyche is pierced. Though she despised vampny, she considered him under her care.

Lochbed

Tears sought Lchbed's eyes as she looked at Ember. "Ember, ye seek tae embarrass me? Ah thooght ye cared? Wai snub th' realm ay friendly competition? Wai When ye hae sae much power, ye deny me th' pleasure ay witnessin' yer greatness in front ay others?" she sniffled. "Canna ye do anything fo us tae spare me da shame?"

[Benson]

Faelands

Oh boy howdy did Lochbed have the dolt colt wrapped around her glamoured hoof. He awkwardly smiled a toothy nervous smile and gulped. Though he never remembered saying he had such great power himself.

Gulp anyways.

"D-don't cry....I'll..okay fine...fine...I'll duel....I just...can't think of what sort of duel, too many options, too overwhelming." He hung his head now feeling bad for making Lochbed sad.

His eyes glanced at Rangolan. "I...I guess I'm best at fencing...but...right now I have a bum leg and wing...I'm not at my best form..." He didn't feel he was really good at anything else, or 'best at' as it were put. He looked at Ciona. He didn't think he lied, but then again he didn't even realize he used double negatives. He's a dolt colt.

[Grif]

Vampony Rabble


Well, Silverpine and Gearstride would stumble and limp into the main chamber and find a corner of it illuminated by Sandy and his horn buddy. They'd see a familiar corpse though without a head. And of course some pony who sorta looked the role of a BBEG, or maybe it was more that everyone was getting their hostile on towards him. Gearstride reached to her bomb belt which held the UV bomb.

Miss M wept in pain, a part of her dead for good, a special kind of pain that she had never felt before. Not to mention the psychological pain of losing her dear prodigy.
-

Spectre tilted his head with a smirk and dissolved into darkness just as Staccata leapt into attack. He seemed to have disappeared into Sandy's shadow as it was one of the few close areas of shadow, the other being Rainbow's shadow. Anyways, the spy would likely hit one of the two, Sandy or Rainbow, or hit the ground, either three.

Sandy would feel much more cold, a cold uncomfortable touch. Daniel's words went heard but unresponded to. Spectre's first priority was Sandy with Danny Boy at a close second.

"Oooh......Sandy.....I won't be content until I see your head rolling down next to your friend's......" A disembodied voice laughed, a real soulless laugh.

"Captain, when you're ready, let him have it..." Silverpine said in a low voice, glancing about. Then he limped forward towards where Sandy and co was. "His head stays on, now leave him be!" he shouted, shotgun already in mouth.

[Mindfreak]

Aero
Aero keeps hugging her.
It's the best idea at this point.

---

Gak
Gak smiles when the school comes into view.
"Yay!"
She stomps lightly, obviously quite excited.

[MCerberus]

Vampony Final-down

Well at least Staccata doesn't go crashing off into another pillar. She rolls into empty space and thinks for a moment how badly that could have gone without her rogue-d-ness. Of course she's now in the open and doesn't know where the enemy is.

[Kelvin360]

Lochbed

Tears sought Lchbed's eyes as she looked at Ember. "Ember, ye seek tae embarrass me? Ah thooght ye cared? Wai snub th' realm ay friendly competition? Wai When ye hae sae much power, ye deny me th' pleasure ay witnessin' yer greatness in front ay others?" she sniffled. "Canna ye do anything fo us tae spare me da shame?"

Faelands

Oh boy howdy did Lochbed have the dolt colt wrapped around her glamoured hoof. He awkwardly smiled a toothy nervous smile and gulped. Though he never remembered saying he had such great power himself.

Gulp anyways.

"D-don't cry....I'll..okay fine...fine...I'll duel....I just...can't think of what sort of duel, too many options, too overwhelming." He hung his head now feeling bad for making Lochbed sad.

His eyes glanced at Rangolan. "I...I guess I'm best at fencing...but...right now I have a bum leg and wing...I'm not at my best form..." He didn't feel he was really good at anything else, or 'best at' as it were put. He looked at Ciona. He didn't think he lied, but then again he didn't even realize he used double negatives. He's a dolt colt.

"Oh, fencing? Hmmm..." The flutter pony considers this for a while. "Feeling out of it, then? You know, if your keeper doesn't object, I'm sure I could render some...assistance."

Gak
Gak smiles when the school comes into view.
"Yay!"
She stomps lightly, obviously quite excited.

"I wonder if it has books..." Arvadraa wonders aloud. "Or is there another building for that?"

[TheAmishPirate]

Vampony Rabble

Spectre tilted his head with a smirk and dissolved into darkness just as Staccata leapt into attack. He seemed to have disappeared into Sandy's shadow as it was one of the few close areas of shadow, the other being Rainbow's shadow. Anyways, the spy would likely hit one of the two, Sandy or Rainbow, or hit the ground, either three.

Sandy would feel much more cold, a cold uncomfortable touch. Daniel's words went heard but unresponded to. Spectre's first priority was Sandy with Danny Boy at a close second.

"Oooh......Sandy.....I won't be content until I see your head rolling down next to your friend's......" A disembodied voice laughed, a real soulless laugh.

Icy claws clutched at Sandy's heart, and in the sudden chill he swore he could see his breath in the air. "More like y'won't be content until you've personally wiped out your entire race! the unicorn quipped back. Whatever dark magic Spectre was up to, it didn't take a genius to realize it'd be bad new for him. But as was often the case, complex magics could have very simple weaknesses. In this case, there seemed to be something important about his shadow.

The solution? Get rid of it.

With a leap and a twist, Sandy launched himself into the air, twirling so his horn and head faced downward and bathed the area in light. Whatever shadow he might've had was obliterated, and with any luck, so was Spectre's connection to him. His blades and stakes hovered nearby, each facing a different direction. Should Spectre jump at him again, he might be eating a face full of stabbity. As/If he landed again, the weapons would shift back towards the earth, ready to counter the inevitable strike from the most likely angle of attack.

[tldr: Sandy jumps in the air, shifting his light so that he no longer casts a shadow on the ground. While in mid-air, his weapons hover around him to keep himself covered from mid-air strikes. As he lands, the weapons shift to face the earth, thinking that Spectre will likely lunge at his neck once his shadow returns.]

[PurityIcekiller]

"Sorry, boss." Stellar murmurs to Blades, avoiding eye contact with everypony else in the room. She sits down and looks annoyed at a random wall. "Yeah. Never liked custard, for some reason...always made the association with a condiment. Tasted off." She starts to smile, maybe. Somewhat. Wait, is that a grimace? It's hard to tell. "Horne makes this great two-layer slice with spare alchemy ingredients and some illusion magic."

"...Right. Sounds interesting." Sounds like an assassination method. "So with the illusions, it's a confection of deception?"

"You little ones seem to like bigger words," remarked Flare.

"Only sometimes," said Night Jewel. "I once knew a knight commander who could make simple sentences all but impossible to decipher."

"Don't worry, selective interperetation isn't lying." Rangolan points out dryly.

"Ciona knows that! She does not need to be told what is lying and what isn't!"

Oh boy howdy did Lochbed have the dolt colt wrapped around her glamoured hoof. He awkwardly smiled a toothy nervous smile and gulped. Though he never remembered saying he had such great power himself.

Gulp anyways.

"D-don't cry....I'll..okay fine...fine...I'll duel....I just...can't think of what sort of duel, too many options, too overwhelming." He hung his head now feeling bad for making Lochbed sad.

His eyes glanced at Rangolan. "I...I guess I'm best at fencing...but...right now I have a bum leg and wing...I'm not at my best form..." He didn't feel he was really good at anything else, or 'best at' as it were put. He looked at Ciona. He didn't think he lied, but then again he didn't even realize he used double negatives. He's a dolt colt.

Ciona cheered up, causing her tail to grow in size. "Good! Lochbed has him well-trained. Ciona hopes he has plenty of skills. The more skill he has, the more fun to watch! Blackstreak will use swords, right?"

"Yes. Will fight. Can fight well."

"Perfect! They will see if mortal skill can beat fey tricks! Someone must fetch them the swords."

"Oh, fencing? Hmmm..." The flutter pony considers this for a while. "Feeling out of it, then? You know, if your keeper doesn't object, I'm sure I could render some...assistance."

"Eef he ees not een a good state, zen he weel need a leetle assistance. Eet ees only fair, oui?"

[Kelvin360]

"...Right. Sounds interesting." Sounds like an assassination method. "So with the illusions, it's a confection of deception?"

"I guess. That latter bit is more to make it look more appealing. Kind of like a placebo effect, but with cake."

"You little ones seem to like bigger words," remarked Flare.

"Only sometimes," said Night Jewel. "I once knew a knight commander who could make simple sentences all but impossible to decipher."

"Why, is our multifarious loquaciousness causing a particularly vast discrepancy in your ability to integrate on a social level? If so, it's possible we could accomadate a more banal level of linguistics as per your revealed interest.

...Darn. I probably should've worked a 'hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian' in there."

[Orzel]

Faelands

Oh boy howdy did Lochbed have the dolt colt wrapped around her glamoured hoof. He awkwardly smiled a toothy nervous smile and gulped. Though he never remembered saying he had such great power himself.

Gulp anyways.

"D-don't cry....I'll..okay fine...fine...I'll duel....I just...can't think of what sort of duel, too many options, too overwhelming." He hung his head now feeling bad for making Lochbed sad.

His eyes glanced at Rangolan. "I...I guess I'm best at fencing...but...right now I have a bum leg and wing...I'm not at my best form..." He didn't feel he was really good at anything else, or 'best at' as it were put. He looked at Ciona. He didn't think he lied, but then again he didn't even realize he used double negatives. He's a dolt colt.

"Thank ye fo' sparing mah 'onor"

"Oh, fencing? Hmmm..." The flutter pony considers this for a while. "Feeling out of it, then? You know, if your keeper doesn't object, I'm sure I could render some...assistance."

"Ciona knows that! She does not need to be told what is lying and what isn't!"



Ciona cheered up, causing her tail to grow in size. "Good! Lochbed has him well-trained. Ciona hopes he has plenty of skills. The more skill he has, the more fun to watch! Blackstreak will use swords, right?"

"Yes. Will fight. Can fight well."

"Perfect! They will see if mortal skill can beat fey tricks! Someone must fetch them the swords."

"Eef he ees not een a good state, zen he weel need a leetle assistance. Eet ees only fair, oui?"

"Och, wat type o' assistance?" Lochbed motioned to Layla to find something. The older mare departed.

[Benson]

Its the Vampony Countdown!


"You...don't...have you ever had a part of soul literally ripped from you? The bond between a Sire and their Child is like no other...I-" Everything just felt wrong for this mare. She tensed her body, equivalent to tightening one's fists. But damn it the bard was right, she couldn't allow for that smug satisfaction-


The smoke cleared and there stood a misshapen cube split almost fully down the middle. Its sides wiggled and oozed and wangled, and flopped its misshapen corners. Somehere in front of that was the third degree burnt victim Zippity, she looked like a ghoul from Fallout Equestria but still fresh and the blood still pouring from blistered muscle. Her wings were just bones with bits of flesh still hanging on. He Children swooped in on horrible sight of their Sire and grabbed her before she was engulfed by Cubey.

Behind the mess were just the confused officers, even the civvy vamps showed expression, some looking at each other while Clover just made this of 'Gyaaah...' in that good thing that turtle paced cube was in front of them face. And it still was of course, so they couldn't just march in themselves. But at least they didn't walk into any traps.

Meanwhile, back in the main of the temple.

Just as right around Sandy moved in his way to rid himself of his own shadow, Spectre released himself from Sandy's shadow and flew into Rainbow's small shadow. She would feel very cold and a pressure around her neck.

"Hahah...good try Sandy my boy, but still no, I won't be content until I see you dead.....or even better.....my obeying servant....." Said the disembodied voice. The pressure around Rainbow's neck would tighten, almost a choking sensation. If Spectre was solid right now and not some punk shadow, he'd be grinning at Sandy.

Gearstride looked on in a confused manner. "Where did he go? I feel like I'm missing something important here. I hear his annoying voice but...."

[Kelvin360]

"Och, wat type o' assistance?" Lochbed motioned to Layla to find something. The older mare departed.

"It's really quite simple a charm. For you or I, it would merely equate to patience, or perhaps a bit of euphoria. For a mortal, it's rather like a full night's rest, or two. With all the physical recouperation that comes with it." Oh great, he's giving her the 'used cart salespony' smile. Not a good sign.

Its the Vampony Countdown!


"You...don't...have you ever had a part of soul literally ripped from you? The bond between a Sire and their Child is like no other...I-" Everything just felt wrong for this mare. She tensed her body, equivalent to tightening one's fists. But damn it the bard was right, she couldn't allow for that smug satisfaction-


The smoke cleared and there stood a misshapen cube split almost fully down the middle. Its sides wiggled and oozed and wangled, and flopped its misshapen corners. Somehere in front of that was the third degree burnt victim Zippity, she looked like a ghoul from Fallout Equestria but still fresh and the blood still pouring from blistered muscle. Her wings were just bones with bits of flesh still hanging on. He Children swooped in on horrible sight of their Sire and grabbed her before she was engulfed by Cubey.

Behind the mess were just the confused officers, even the civvy vamps showed expression, some looking at each other while Clover just made this of 'Gyaaah...' in that good thing that turtle paced cube was in front of them face. And it still was of course, so they couldn't just march in themselves. But at least they didn't walk into any traps.

Meanwhile, back in the main of the temple.

Just as right around Sandy moved in his way to rid himself of his own shadow, Spectre released himself from Sandy's shadow and flew into Rainbow's small shadow. She would feel very cold and a pressure around her neck.

"Hahah...good try Sandy my boy, but still no, I won't be content until I see you dead.....or even better.....my obeying servant....." Said the disembodied voice. The pressure around Rainbow's neck would tighten, almost a choking sensation. If Spectre was solid right now and not some punk shadow, he'd be grinning at Sandy.

Gearstride looked on in a confused manner. "Where did he go? I feel like I'm missing something important here. I hear his annoying voice but...."

"I-" Daniel blinked as his vision flashed red. His brow furrowed. What the...? He looks down at his fourth-degree-burned hoof, his various nicks, and felt broken bones quite a bit more acutely than a moment ago. "Oh. Damn it."

At least my brain words...ow...think...

Tactical assessment; Shadowskipper, single-target mindset. No brains according to third-party information. Possibly biased. One of these things just doesn't belong...here...

"M!" He gasps, putting his mouth to her ear and speaking in a tone that is as close as you can possibly get to no sound at all, almost entirely blocked out by the infinitesimal sounds of his lips moving.

Spoiler

Show

"Lead the fight over here. When he goes into a shadow, toss the owner at the jelly. Close enough that the shadow is cast on it, but not so they get melted. Use the torch to forcibly cast it."

He points at the torch used to fire the sunray bolt.

He falls over backwards and looks at Honor Guard. "OI! Now would be a great time for you to conjure up some heroic willpower!"

[Grif]

"I wonder if it has books..." Arvadraa wonders aloud. "Or is there another building for that?"

"Well... we have a library for actually storing books, but the school has enough books on its own for teaching..." Lemongrass shrugged again.

Its the Vampony Countdown!


"You...don't...have you ever had a part of soul literally ripped from you? The bond between a Sire and their Child is like no other...I-" Everything just felt wrong for this mare. She tensed her body, equivalent to tightening one's fists. But damn it the bard was right, she couldn't allow for that smug satisfaction-

The smoke cleared and there stood a misshapen cube split almost fully down the middle. Its sides wiggled and oozed and wangled, and flopped its misshapen corners. Somehere in front of that was the third degree burnt victim Zippity, she looked like a ghoul from Fallout Equestria but still fresh and the blood still pouring from blistered muscle. Her wings were just bones with bits of flesh still hanging on. He Children swooped in on horrible sight of their Sire and grabbed her before she was engulfed by Cubey.

Behind the mess were just the confused officers, even the civvy vamps showed expression, some looking at each other while Clover just made this of 'Gyaaah...' in that good thing that turtle paced cube was in front of them face. And it still was of course, so they couldn't just march in themselves. But at least they didn't walk into any traps.

Meanwhile, back in the main of the temple.

Just as right around Sandy moved in his way to rid himself of his own shadow, Spectre released himself from Sandy's shadow and flew into Rainbow's small shadow. She would feel very cold and a pressure around her neck.

"Hahah...good try Sandy my boy, but still no, I won't be content until I see you dead.....or even better.....my obeying servant....." Said the disembodied voice. The pressure around Rainbow's neck would tighten, almost a choking sensation. If Spectre was solid right now and not some punk shadow, he'd be grinning at Sandy.

Gearstride looked on in a confused manner. "Where did he go? I feel like I'm missing something important here. I hear his annoying voice but...."

Silverpine cantered to a stop and glanced around, a little confused by the turn of events. Why did Sandy jump... and why is Captain Obvious now strangling Rainbow... His eyes fell on the shadow Rainbow was casting. Shadow... like in the tunnels. "It's shadows, Captain. He's using shadows to hide in." He raised his shotgun high, and fired one of the two remaining shots in the air. The flash of his weapon should eliminate Rainbow's shadow for a moment, possibly coaxing Spectre to rematerialise.