Celestia's Finest: The Crystal Empire Excursion

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper applauded. It was a bit disconcerting to see just how powerful the strength spell made an individual, but he couldn't deny the potential field application.

He smiled thinly. It was good to see Rose feeling confident and comfortable again.

"I guess I'm up?" Sniper said after looking to Love and Star.

[Elbeyon]

Love stretched her hooves to the ground, made sure she had good hooving, and toted over to Star. "Well, you're welcome to come pick me up anytime." She winks.

She motions Super Scope forward. "I've had my turn."

[DigoDragon]

"Alright, Sniper. Hold still this will just be a moment." Rose weaves another spell, one that takes slightly longer to cast, and this time touches Sniper with her horn. The wispy ribbons of magic work their way around Snipers legs.


(ooc-Rose will give +2 Move/Dodge to Sniper for a minute. feel free to describe the feeling).

[D.KnightSpider]

Everything tingled like his legs and wings had fallen asleep. Sniper twisted his left foreleg. The magic soaked into his pelt, re-enforced his muscles and made him better than he was. Better...stronger...faster. On impulse he dropped to a crouch, snapped his wings open and took off. If they were here for a show, well, he'd give them a show.

Sniper tore across the park, then rose skyward into a wide loop. Correct his orientation. He leveled off and then tucked his wings back to drop back towards the ground. Twist with the wind into a roll. Pump the wings to slow up, aim for the take-off point and-- stick the landing.

The impact was much harder than expected and obviously off-center. Sniper winced as his cybernetics protested the sudden stop. He shook it off and gathered his posture. Hm. So that's what it felt like... He'd have to be careful. He could get used to this.

"Spiffy." Sniper fought off a grin. "I'm impressed."

Spoiler: OoC

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Just FYI, his effective movement speed was 14 throughout that demonstration.

[DigoDragon]

Rose claps her hooves with approval. "You were epic in the air! That roll and dive! Woof. I'll need to look into enchanting you something that give you a few uses of that spell a day."

She sits down for a few minutes to recover. "Alright, I got one more trick I want to show off. Give me a moment to catch my breath here, and while we're waiting, gather up some small objects for throwing;rocks, trash, that kind of stuff. You'll like this finale."

[Miltonian]

Star grins and laughs at Rose's dramatic presentation of her new spells. When Scope lands, she lets out a cheer for him. "Sticks and stones, eh?" she says to Rose's request and begins gathering a few crystalline rocks from the grass around them.

[D.KnightSpider]

Rose claps her hooves with approval. "You were epic in the air! That roll and dive! Woof. I'll need to look into enchanting you something that give you a few uses of that spell a day."

"I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure any Wonderbolt worth their salt would be cringing at how bad that display was."

Sniper shook his head. Showing off at something didn't necessarily mean that you were skilled at that something. Flying wasn't his strong point. Then again, most Pegasus activities weren't his strong point. Flying and weather manipulation had always eluded him. Sometimes, he had to wonder why.

She sits down for a few minutes to recover. "Alright, I got one more trick I want to show off. Give me a moment to catch my breath here, and while we're waiting, gather up some small objects for throwing;rocks, trash, that kind of stuff. You'll like this finale."

"I'm sure we will."

They might not want to gather up the trash: tossing that around could get them fined for littering. Sniper set off to collect an assortment of rocks. Didn't Rose say that she had a transformation spell? That must be her big finale. Curious.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

[DigoDragon]

After a short rest to catch her breath, Rose prepares her final spells. First, she weaves a magical cocoon around herself using two illusions. One creates a form and the other molds it over her body. In a few seconds, Rose stops looking like Rose and now looks like a bright blue unicorn with a flowing purple cape and a large silly-looking witch's hat.

Ahem. "It is I, the Great and Powerful Trrrixie! For Trixie's final act, I--I mean, Trixie will defy your feeble attempts to strike her down. Behold, Trixie's final power!"

Now rose is really trying to concentrate. The illusion disguise isn't difficult to cast, but to maintain it while casting another spell? That is hard! She manages to hold together her weaves of magic as a bubble forms around her and then vanishes. Holding on to both spells together, Rose puts on her hammiest grin.

"Try as you might, my little admirers, but none of you can strike Trixie with those stones! Go on, do your worst, but the Great and Powerful Trrrixie will be untouchable!"

[Elbeyon]

Love claps and cheers at Scope's display. No matter his protects, Love says, "You flew right into my heart!" She chuckles and smirks. "You were really moving up there! A bit of teamwork and you can really fly!" She smiles.

Love will go looking for some sticks and rocks. If she does find any trash, she'll bring it to a trash can. Parks are a treasure that need maintained.

"Great and powerful Trixie! You act is truly wonderful! If my part of the preform strikes you, violently, I'll take away your admin powers."

No worry in her movements. Love stands up on two hooves, dusts her legs off, and reaches down for a rock. She rolls it in her hooves while staring down Rose. The rock gets reeled back, and Love lets it loose baseball style.

Spoiler: Roll

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(3d6)[7] vs 12 (Throwing p. 226) +1 Aim

[Miltonian]

Star chuckles and tosses a rock up and down. "Alright, 'Trixie'. Here goes!"

She throws a rock with all her strength!

Spoiler

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Throwing! (3d6)[11] vs. 8

[DigoDragon]

"Ho ho ho," Rose laughs. She stands there and watches the stones miss her by mere inches. "See? You cannot touch the Great and Powerful Trrrixie!"

She takes bow and then poses proudly.

[Miltonian]

Star huffs and walks towards her. Once in range, she extends a hoof towards Rose's face. "Boop."

[DigoDragon]

Star huffs and walks towards her. Once in range, she extends a hoof towards Rose's face. "Boop."

Annnd just like that the illusion poofs away, leaving rose looking like Rose does.

"Aww, guess I was hamming it up a but much." Rose blushes.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Just a bit. You were an enjoyable ham, however."

Fortunately, it looked like no pony had noticed his inability to throw things at Rose. Shield or no, it was a non starter for him.

Sniper trotted over to Rose.

"I can tell your magic has really improved. That was a splendid show."

[Elbeyon]

Love lets some stress out of her with a breath. It looks like she was right to trust Rose. The bad memories that could have been had if she had accidentally hit her would have been one for the vault.

Love flags her bot over and tells it to return all the rocks from where they took them.

A quick trot to get them. "A show indeed. You really have improved. How many spells do you know now?"

Love does a hay search for the average number of spells a unicorn knows.

[DigoDragon]

Rose smiles but has to sit down. She looks visibly exhausted. "Thank you. I'm proud to have studied so hard to master these spells."

[Miltonian]

"That was pretty sweet, Rose." Star grins and pats her on the back. "Got any other tricks? Maybe one that instantly grooms wings?" Her face loses all emotion. "Seriously. That's a pain. A major pain."

[Elbeyon]

"Yeah, I want to go faster or 'dodge' some bullets some time. You need to treat me sometime too."

Love raises an eyebrow at Star's request. "Groom, how?" Love asks. She moves to grab the wing closest to her. "Your wing looks lovely. Whatever effort you put in was well worth it." Hooves search it for any imperfections or, really, love is mostly checking out her beautiful wings for herself.

[DigoDragon]

"Got any other tricks? Maybe one that instantly grooms wings?" Her face loses all emotion. "Seriously. That's a pain. A major pain."

"There is a spell for that, though I haven't learned it. I'll make a note to add it to my studies when we get back from our next mission. Though... I guess it would be useful in a desert environment."

"Yeah, I want to go faster or 'dodge' some bullets some time. You need to treat me sometime too."

Love raises an eyebrow at Star's request. "Groom, how?" Love asks. She moves to grab the wing closest to her. "Your wing looks lovely. Whatever effort you put in was well worth it." Hooves search it for any imperfections or, really, love is mostly checking out her beautiful wings for herself.

Rose nods, but is too tired to cast for a little while. These spells cost a lot to put up and maintain.

Watching Love hold up Star's wing makes Rose glance over at Sniper's wings. Is having someone groom them for you considered too personal? Hmm, a question for later.

[Miltonian]

Star shudders a little as Love grabs hold of her wing. "Ah! Love. That's...sensitive." It's a shiver of pleasure though, not pain. It also answers some of Rose's unspoken questions. A pegasus' wings have to be sensitive, after all, to help control their flight.

[Elbeyon]

Love smirks and blushes at the same time. "Ah!" She gives Star a light kiss on the wing then releases it. "I am curious about what type of grooming your wings require." She slides up alongside her and nuzzles her neck once.

Spoiler: OoC

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That is really sensitive!

[Miltonian]

Star sighs. "It's the feathers. They have to be perfectly aligned. Takes a long time each morning."

[D.KnightSpider]

"That was pretty sweet, Rose." Star grins and pats her on the back. "Got any other tricks? Maybe one that instantly grooms wings?" Her face loses all emotion. "Seriously. That's a pain. A major pain."

Yeeeeup.

Watching Love hold up Star's wing makes Rose glance over at Sniper's wings. Is having someone groom them for you considered too personal? Hmm, a question for later.

The glance triggered a wry-sweet-Celestia-have-mercy look in response. Weak point: identified. He shrugged in helplessness.

"Try dye-ing them sometime." Sniper replied to Star's grumbling.

[Elbeyon]

Love pouts at the horrible news. She motions back to her ChromeBot. "I could give you a Chrome or Love bot to help out in the morning." She puts claps a hoof to the other. "Don't worry, Sunshine. Scientist Love is on the case!"

[Miltonian]

Star looks to Sniper and blushes. "Alright Love. This is fun and all, but let's stop talking about you and grooming and my wings. In public. Pegasus thing. Tell you later."

[Elbeyon]

Love puts a hoof to the feather in her mane then winks. "Too much? How about a distraction?"

Love trots over to her ChromeBot and starts digging through its bags. She removes a tiny transparent clear spray from it. Everyone here must have seen the bottle itself in Love's house, but, maybe, they've never experimented or tried it. Love fiddles with it and walks over to Scope to try to spray him with it.

Spoiler: OoC

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If Love can hit him with it, it'll turn a one sq foot area any color of your choosing in about 30 seconds! It has a bit of process time. If you want me to pick the color, I'd pick pure white.

[D.KnightSpider]

Spoiler

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We'll call this revenge for their last boxing match. I rolled for the big location and got a boring response. Oh well.

Also, Sniper normally dyes his pelt and wings black, hence the comment. Right now he's in his natural brown.

Unprepared for Love's aerosol attack, Sniper was unable to fully evade. A fine mist peppered his chest as he leapt backward to go airborne.

"What did you do?"

Sniper received his answer as a swath of his brown pelt slowly faded away to stark white. He rubbed at it with a hoof. The stain remained. The way it ran from shoulder to hip almost made it look like a bandolier.

"Um." He looked at Love. "This isn't permanent?"

[Elbeyon]

Spoiler: OoC

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I'm glad Love didn't spray him in the eye.

You didn't want Scope gold or blue?

Love puts a hoof to her chin. "I should." Her eyes light up when his spray spot starts turning an entirely unnatural white. "Ah! I did. I got you with a nano-spray! Its dyeing your coat." Love flashes him a winning smile. "You said dyeing was a pain, right? Well, I can't straighten feathers right now, but I can dye your coat!"

Love offers the "deodorant stick" to him. "No more games! I'll show you how it works! Its not permanent... Well, the coat trimming mode is sort of that way, but, luckily, I didn't set your coat to balding. Now, you can go brown or black on demand. Blue or pink too, if that's what you want." She motions him down. "No more tricks!" She looks innocently to the side.

Spoiler

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Yours to keep.

Grooming Spray (TL10)

This device looks like a deodorant stick with a small control at the base. It is an applicator-programmer that releases a swarm of microscopic machines (“groomers”). The user sets the groomer to “mark,” then sprays out boundary-marker machines that delineate the area to be groomed; the spray nozzle adjusts to cover an area from a square inch to a square foot. Then the user resets to one of a dozen “groom” settings and releases groomers into the bounded area, which they won’t leave.

The groomers trim body, facial or head hair or fur down to the setting-specified minimum length in millimeters (a setting of zero will depilate). They also can be set to remove dirt or dandruff, or to apply dye. The job takes about 30 seconds. Used ‘bots self-destruct within an hour or two: they are non-toxic and will degrade harmlessly if exposed to ultraviolet light or intestinal flora. Grooming spray is $10, 0.1 lb. (30 uses). LC4.

[DigoDragon]

"Note to self, learn a color spell too." Rose is a little amused at the paint job Love gave Sniper, but the spray device is quite interesting. Isn't that one of Love's inventions? Might be a neat thing to use on a mission when there aren't any showers.

"Is the dye water resistant?"

[D.KnightSpider]

"Uh huh. I can't say as I've ever felt the need to be pink. Or bald."

Sniper lowered himself to the ground. He accepted the 'deodorant stick' and looked from the stick to his new dye job and back again. Okay, then.

"How's this stuff work?"