MLP The Cycle 2: ETalUSUaSTWG 2 - The Good, the Bad and the Cutie: APØNYCALYPSE

[Derjuin]

"That earring looks really cute on you, Dawn. Now you two are like besties!" Cutie claps her hooves, giving Dawn and Nobility both a big, goofy grin. Turning to Silver, she gives him and unsure smile.

"Whatever happens, I hope we helped the ponies in Mareinev," Cutie squeaks, slowly trotting in a small circle then staring off into the distance. "I feel like, whatever plans Princess Celestia, Princess Luna or the thing that's controlling Princess Lily have, it's probably not as bad as what those angels are doing, or going to do, to the ponies." She takes a few steps toward the edge of the clearing in which the temple is situated, in a direction that seems picked at random; it's not heading towards the tower, nor the path that led your group to it. Then, she turns around and tilts her head to the side, looking to Silver.

"Do you really think we can beat up all the angels?" She scuffs a hoof on the ground, kicking at dirt that crumbles like ash. "I don't know if I can even do anything to them. I haven't been much help in ANY fights," she says with a sigh, then shakes her head. "But, I guess if the Princesses support us, they'll HAVE to listen. But, uh, should we get going? I imagine the Princesses will want us to be there as soon as we can."

[DigoDragon]

Dawn flicks her mane a little, admiring the earring. It does seem nice, doesn't it?

"Don't worry about the fights. We're all only fillies and colts here. Not like we could do much in a straight up brawl, but we're all pretty smart so we can just outwit them."

[igordragonian]

Nobility smiled and flicked her mane on parallel to Dawn


"Pff.. Fights are over rated and barbaric. We will solve it with minimum violence. And yes.. we should go."" she looked back at the temple
"I am worried about the gorgons though.."

[Theoboldi]

"I wouldn't put it like that." Silver comments on what Dawn and Nobility are saying. "We've done pretty well for ourselves so far, haven't we? Both against those shardlings and Night Sight.....and our powers are only gonna grow as heroes."

As he walks down the road leading out of the forest, he gives Cutie a soft pat on the back. "If you want to be more helpful, how about I teach you a little bit about fighting? I'm no big brawler like Brazen, but I can take a punch and know how to turn just about anything into a painful projectile."

[igordragonian]

"Don't corrupt the little filly!" Nobility scolded Silver

[Theoboldi]

"Yeah, like you're one to talk." Silver quipped back, smirking at Nobility. "Besides, you owe me one for staying in that ink-cocoon for so long. I'm gonna toughen up Cutie and that's final."

[igordragonian]

"How come I owe you? I have handled myself just fine, by talking! Geez, Silver, she destined to be fabulous Lady!"

[Theoboldi]

"Well I handled myself just fine by fighting! And I say Cutie gets to be a badflank warrior princess!"

[DigoDragon]

"Alright, alright, you're both very pretty," Dawn giggled. "Lets get to town and we can have a proper break between you two with pillows."

[Zelphas]

"Um," Curtain Call says hesitantly, "Back to what you were saying before... I don't think that we should let the angels know that Celestia is free yet, if w-we can help it. S-sure, the sky might have tipped them off, but we still probably shouldn't let them know it was us who did it. Celestia was captured by the angels once already, right? Making her f-fight the angels again is probably a bad idea, then, at least right now."

[userpay]

"Lets get back to town or something first... Mayhaps keep what we did on the low." Brazen trudges alongside everypony else. "Perhaps what the angels did won't work ah second time one would hope but ah'd rather not find out to soon."

[Derjuin]

"Come on, let's fight the bad guys, not each other," Cutie says, to Nobility and Silver. "Let's get back to Mareinev then."

In the new light, it's much easier to find the path among the trees and debris that would lead you back out of the forest. Many of the trees, scattered almost at random, don't seem to be petrified at all, but instead their bark is a white color not unlike that of a birch. You notice that among both the living and dead trees, there are all kinds of sizes and shapes to them - several alders and hornbeams in addition to the bare and dead branches of pines and hazels.

It's more obvious in the light now, but many of the petrified trees aren't just petrified - they're charred on the face closest to the temple that you'd come from, and there are piles and tiny dunes of extremely fine ash along with the debris of fallen and dead needles and the decomposing forms of leaves. As you continue down the path, the ash and charred trees thin out until there don't seem to be any at all, and you see a defined road through the remainder of the forest, taking you directly to the plains between the Weirdweald and Mareinev.

Unlike before, venturing forth onto the plains no longer feels like trudging through a world where time has stopped. A gentle breeze stirs the yellow-green grass and tousles your manes. Grasshoppers and butterflies flit out from the tall tufts of grass on the sides of the road, and once you even spot a small squirrel as it dashes across the stones of the road. The clouds still gather over Mareinev with a single ray of light shining down on the glimmering palace, and they trail all the way to a huge chain stretching between the hills on the horizon and the sky. Now, though, you can see the architecture upon the clouds above the chain, a veritable city not unlike Cloudsdale.

As you near the city, something seems immediately off about the guarded gates - they aren't guarded at all, and the traffic that once littered the entryway is completely gone. Beyond the gates into the fountain courtyard that extends into the bridge connecting the gates to the palace's district, you see a handful of ponies gathered near the edge of the courtyard, where the guardrails end in what is assumedly a large staircase, heading down into the city proper.

Upon entering it, the ponies smile wave to your group and begin to trot down the stairs, and you hear a most raucous sound travelling up from below. From the sounds of it, most of the city's pony population must be down below. Further up on the bridge, you see a pair of angels in glimmering gold armor wielding cross spears. Another angel, covered in blue cloth in addition to his golden armor, floats just behind the two spear-wielding ones.

"I dunno about anypony else, but maybe we should go down and see what's going on down there," Cutie chirps. "I don't really like those angels. Especially not with those crazy looking spears," she points toward the angels and backs away towards the stairs. There doesn't seem to be a way to sneak past the angels, at least at the part of the bridge they're on.

[Theoboldi]

Silver, for one, greatly enjoys to see just how much the world has improved now that Celestia and Luna are back in it. It's almost not even oppressive anymore! He takes a deep breath of the now far more fresh-seeming air, his eyes gleaming when he sees the city that has been hidden above Mareinev all this time.

"Woah.....I wonder who lives up there?"

The city being quite so empty does make him a little nervous at first, but when he hears the sounds of celebration below in the city, his heart does lighten a little. For the first time since he has set hoof into this world, it seems that maybe everything will be alright again at some point.

Silver gives Cutie an affirmative nod, doing his best to act natural. "Good idea. I wanna see why everyone is so excited." More honestly, Silver just wants to see the ponies of Mareinev be excited, the reasons being secondary to him. It's just that much of a welcome change.

[igordragonian]

Nobility has enjoyed the walk as well. She chatted with Dawn about mane style and jewelry, and occasionly argued with Silver about something.

"Well... I am in no hurry for new excitements today. Let's see what the ponies here, so happy about".

[DigoDragon]

Dawn ponders the situation. "I have a really crazy idea, and I've never tried it before, so it might work." She steps forward and spins around to face her friends.

"Want to walk in under the angels' noses without them suspecting it's us? How about we throw together an illusion to makes us look different. Like... adult ponies."

[Theoboldi]

Silver exchanges a couple of glances with the others, then looks at Dawn.

"You can do that? How long is it gonna last?"

Granted, he does wonder how he would look like as an adult. Or rather, what Dawn thinks he'll look like as an adult, given that it's only an illusion.

"Let's check out the city below before we head into the palace, though. Your choice whether you want to cast the spell before or after we do that, as far as I care."

[DigoDragon]

"My idea is an illusion to make us look like adults. It'll last a few minutes, enough time to sneak by the angels. I'll need help with this though, cause it'll be tough. Maybe if everyone focuses with me on a form?"

[Theoboldi]

"Sounds good!" Silver says, looking too enthusiastic about this ambitious idea given the result of that last spell. Illusion spells are one of the few types of magic he can get really enthusiastic about, given his grandfather's focus on them.

"Let me just check out the city first. I wanna see what the ponies think about Equinia no longer looking like a cloudy Sunday afternoon."

Not waiting for anypony else, Silver then just suddenly runs off, shooting down the stairs to the lower city.

[igordragonian]

Nobility looked intrested.
"Hmm.. that most certianly, not orthodox method... but maybe if we could learn from the peasants a thing or two, about what is going on? It might help us, to polish your infliartion idea..."

[DigoDragon]

Dawn shrugs. "Eh, you can lead a pony to water. Just try nit to draw attention to yourself."

She tries not to stand out following her friends.

[igordragonian]

"Yes. Silver? SIlVER!!!" Nobility groaned, and flew. (but probably not any faster than Dawn's gallop.)

[DigoDragon]

Dawn trots gently rather than gallop. Just not trying to catch attention from the angels.

[Zelphas]

Curtain Call nods enthusiastically at the mention of disguises and opens his mouth to speak--only for Silver to dash off before he can say anything. He sighs and trots after him. "M-maybe will get a chance to go in disguise later..."

[DigoDragon]

"M-maybe will get a chance to go in disguise later..."

"Definitely later," Dawn says in a quiet tone to Curtain. "The angels are gonna want to know who released Celestia, and I doubt it'll be so they can reward us some exp, if you know what I mean."

[userpay]

Brazen brings up the rear of the group as they move. Illusions didn't sit to well with the colt but then again they wanted to avoid conflict with the angels...

[Derjuin]

As you dash, trot, and/or saunter down the stone block steps, it seems as if an entire city opens up beneath you. The stairs run alongside the outer wall, which descends into the earth; down below, you see streets, rows of stone and wooden houses with peaked roofs, street vendors hawking wares, and a whole slew of ponies, running through the streets and under the huge stone arches that support another bridge that leads from the outer wall to the Palace district. Something you don't see down below, however, is angels.

About halfway down the huge stairwell, you encounter a short platform with a balcony over the lower city and a sign; according to the sign, continuing downwards will take you toward the 'Stone district', as well as the 'Crystal Court'. Back up the stairwell leads to 'Lily's Promenade', which is probably the bridge you used before to enter the Palace district. Suddenly, a group of laughing and shouting foals led by a pink earth pony filly gallop past you, heading down into the city as fast as their hooves will take them.

As you reach the bottom of the stairs and truly enter the city proper, you see banners, posters and leaflets everywhere, decorated with a pink six-pointed star and containing an invitation to attend a 'Celebration of Magic', set to be held at the Crystal Gardens. Helpfully, there are signs - some hoof-made, others official-looking - pointing towards the celebration itself. A pair of mares - a unicorn and an earth pony - descend the stairs moments after you do, each wearing the heavy golden breastplate of the guardsponies, though neither is wearing a helmet nor appears to be carrying a weapon. They glance at your group for a moment, before looking as if they're about to head off in the direction of the signs.

Meanwhile, a few scant street vendors still with shops set up perk up at the presence of ponies who do not immediately pass them, some pushing balloons, flowers or baked goods to the front of their stalls. Cutie, distracted, stares off into a bundle of balloons, watching as the salespony behind the stall folds and twists a long balloon into a shape vaguely reminiscent of a pony.

[Theoboldi]

Silver comes to a screeching halt at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes widening as he observes the festival before him. He seems stunned for a moment. And then, he laughs, the whole situation being too absurd not to.

He turns around, waiting for Dawn to arrive, and greeting her with a huge grin. "Looks like you're getting some magic after all. Come on, let's see what this is all about!"

Flattening his cape into place, and making sure that the elements are still firmly hidden, he approaches the two mares. With genuine curiosity that seems not just for his own sake, but also that of the others, he asks them "Excuse me, is there some kind of celebration being held? What for? We were out of town for a bit, so we didn't hear about it."

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah, seems like just a... Sparkle of magic. Anyone else feel like this shouldn't be a thing, but it is so why is it here?" Dawn looks around for anyone with an answer because she sure as heck doesn't know.

[igordragonian]

Nobility landed with the grace of a turkey, feeling wobbly a bit.
"Well.. it sure looks.. lively." She keeps an eye over cutie, to make sure she isn't running off.
"Well. When you unlocked the ARK, I have seen the cutie marks of the four princesses glowing there. So.. Twilight Sparkle of some sort.. should exist here..."
She looked at the vendors, and checked if Princess Lilly gave them bits..

[DigoDragon]

"Well. When you unlocked the ARK, I have seen the cutie marks of the four princesses glowing there. So.. Twilight Sparkle of some sort.. should exist here..."

"Four? Hmm, so I guess at tome point we'll see Cadance's mark. Yeah, I'm at a loss for what this means."