Snowfall: Equestria - A Snow Day in the Winterland [IC]

[Elanorin]

Then she smirked and ruffled Snow Eyes' mane. "Good job, Snowy. I'm glad you're keeping the town safe."

"You're right," said Charger, voice thick with amusement. "How ridiculous. Have you had breakfast yet?"

'Snowy'?

"No." Jade replied hopefully, her smile brightening markedly at the prospect of breakfast together. Her stomach rumbled again.

"Heh, yeah...ridiculous. ...If the ponies here are okay, then sure, let's get some breakfast. I circled the whole town and I'm starving. My treat today, at least for whatever they've got that passes for food around here. It's probably just more ice cream and snow flowers. God am I sick of snow flowers."

Snow Eyes puzzled Jade and she just knew she'd be mulling all this over later in far more detail than it likely warranted. But the offer of breakfast quickly demanded her attention.

There were about two dozen ponies, all together with the mercenaries. Aside from said mercenaries, a few others hadn't made it either. They were either dead before even coming here, or the rough arrival had done them in. The guards dutifully carried their bodies away. The rest were all the same: unconscious, or nearly so, from sugar shock. Some had wounds and scratches, but nothing difficult to treat.

Angel looked at the unconscious ponies, knowing her place was here. She was torn between her fast-dwindling sense of duty, and her desire for food and good company which was further seasoned by a not insignificant sprinkling of insecurity. To hell with it, she'd done enough on an empty stomach for one morning.

"These guards seem to have this all under control." She waved a dismissive hoof at the sleds of ponies. "There is nothing here they can't handle. I'll just tell them to grab my assistants if they need a hoof." And so she did.

Once on their way Jade Sun walked along next to Charger and gave her a gentle shoulder nudge. "So how are you?"

[Thanqol]

"I'm catching some not so subtle hints that you are sick of snow flowers," said Charger. As one of the only ponies in town with access to higher quality produce she was aware of the subtext. "Never say I never did nothing for you."

With a flourish, she produced an apple - crisp, red, shining and sugary. A rarity and a delicacy in these times. "You two have to share it, so play nice," she said, smiling again.

She'd deflected the question Jade had asked her, but she often did.

[Anarion]

"I'm catching some not so subtle hints that you are sick of snow flowers," said Charger. As one of the only ponies in town with access to higher quality produce she was aware of the subtext. "Never say I never did nothing for you."

With a flourish, she produced an apple - crisp, red, shining and sugary. A rarity and a delicacy in these times. "You two have to share it, so play nice," she said, smiling again.

She'd deflected the question Jade had asked her, but she often did.

Snow Eyes took the apple in hoof before Charger could dismiss the illusion. She expertly slit it in half and handed half to Jade Sun carefully before biting into her own half. She closed her eyes in pleasure at the sweet sugary crunch and the taste of apple juice splashing onto her tongue. "Now see," she said when she had swallowed and exalted in licking the last bits off her lips, "this is why you're cool, Charge. You've always got something up that big sleeve of yours. So, anything you need help with today? I've suddenly found myself with some time on my hooves."

[Elanorin]

"I'm catching some not so subtle hints that you are sick of snow flowers," said Charger. As one of the only ponies in town with access to higher quality produce she was aware of the subtext. "Never say I never did nothing for you."

With a flourish, she produced an apple - crisp, red, shining and sugary. A rarity and a delicacy in these times. "You two have to share it, so play nice," she said, smiling again.

She'd deflected the question Jade had asked her, but she often did.

Snow Eyes took the apple in hoof before Charger could dismiss the illusion. She expertly slit it in half and handed half to Jade Sun carefully before biting into her own half. She closed her eyes in pleasure at the sweet sugary crunch and the taste of apple juice splashing onto her tongue. "Now see," she said when she had swallowed and exalted in licking the last bits off her lips, "this is why you're cool, Charge. You've always got something up that big sleeve of yours. So, anything you need help with today? I've suddenly found myself with some time on my hooves."

Deflection noticed. Jade Sun looked at the half apple in her hoof, she could almost taste it already and her mouth watered. Instead of eating it she used it as a convenient place to divert her eyes for now as her mind turned over and Snow Eyes seemed to need some privacy in her moment with her apple.

"Thank you, Charger, this is amazing." She said without looking up from what she just knew would be a delicious apple. "But what about you; aren't you hungry?" She really hoped not, this apple looked so good.

[Deadly]

Oh, the bomb was the easy part. And any day that thought crossed her mind was a real doozy. What's the one thing guaranteed to be in even the most poorly-stocked medical storeroom? Bandages. Adhesive, wraps, gauze, plasters, you name it. And Jade's storeroom was packed with the stuff. In no time at all, she'd fastened a tight bandage around the bomb's trigger, keeping it firmly and safely pressed.

That just left the....blackness gobbling up the floor. Eclipse didn't know what it was, but she knew she couldn't leave it to its own devices. So when she felt the stuff was somehow staring at her, she planted her burned hooves on the ground and stared right back into the darkness. Defying its foul will, and demanding to know how it could be beaten.

[Rolling to Open My Brain: [roll0]]

I have a little question for you, while you're staring into that stream of vile blackness, if you don't mind. What does it feel like, to open yourself and your mind to this sort of thing? Is it different from your first experience in the maelstrom, or is this your first experience?

"These guards seem to have this all under control." She waved a dismissive hoof at the sleds of ponies. "There is nothing here they can't handle. I'll just tell them to grab my assistants if they need a hoof." And so she did.

Indeed they did. They might not be Angel, but they knew how to handle simple wounds and administer shots. They could handle this.

[Thanqol]

Snow Eyes took the apple in hoof before Charger could dismiss the illusion. She expertly slit it in half and handed half to Jade Sun carefully before biting into her own half. She closed her eyes in pleasure at the sweet sugary crunch and the taste of apple juice splashing onto her tongue. "Now see," she said when she had swallowed and exalted in licking the last bits off her lips, "this is why you're cool, Charge. You've always got something up that big sleeve of yours. So, anything you need help with today? I've suddenly found myself with some time on my hooves."

"Would you like to do some farm work?" said Charger. "There's all kinds of back-breaking labour that needs to happen."

Deflection noticed. Jade Sun looked at the half apple in her hoof, she could almost taste it already and her mouth watered. Instead of eating it she used it as a convenient place to divert her eyes for now as her mind turned over and Snow Eyes seemed to need some privacy in her moment with her apple.

"Thank you, Charger, this is amazing." She said without looking up from what she just knew would be a delicious apple. "But what about you; aren't you hungry?" She really hoped not, this apple looked so good.

"I can have apples literally whenever I want," said Charger. "One of the few perks of aforementioned back-breaking labour."

[Anarion]

"Would you like to do some farm work?" said Charger. "There's all kinds of back-breaking labour that needs to happen."



"I can have apples literally whenever I want," said Charger. "One of the few perks of aforementioned back-breaking labour."

"I can. I'm surprised that's the favor you'd ask though. You must not need anyone killed or maimed today." I'm joking of course. All lighthearted. [read a pony: (2d6+1)[3]]

[TheAmishPirate]

I have a little question for you, while you're staring into that stream of vile blackness, if you don't mind. What does it feel like, to open yourself and your mind to this sort of thing? Is it different from your first experience in the maelstrom, or is this your first experience?

Lonely.

I am not of the maelstrom, though it remembers me all too well. In another time and place I stumbled blindly through it, tossed and blown about the smallest breeze. That's a tale for another time, but it yearns for those days of old. Always it prowls like a roaring beast, searching for some part of me to devour anew.

I will not let it. I don't belong to it anymore, and it does not belong to me. To open myself to it is to stand upon a tiny, glowing firmament and behold its forces arrayed against me. How it crows over me, as if surprised to see me again. As if it hasn't watched my every step. As if its will wasn't bent upon my heart at this very moment. But I will not yield. I hold them back at blade's length and listen to them jabber their madness until some twisted thought reveals too much in its zeal. Or did it mean to squeal all along? Makes no difference to me, I suppose. Either I will falter, or it will falter, and that's the honest truth of it.

But by the sun, it's a stinging kick in the rear to see all that wrong of the world, and the only light there is your own.

[Elanorin]

"I can have apples literally whenever I want," said Charger. "One of the few perks of aforementioned back-breaking labour."

A point well made and Jade was not inclined to question the gift of this apple any further. She shoved the whole half in her mouth all at once and chewed it happily, cheeks bulging with delicious apple pulp and juice. Her eyes sparkled with delight, she hadn't realised just how hungry she really was until now. She chewed it slowly and savoured it for as long as she could before it was all gone.

"I can. I'm surprised that's the favor you'd ask though. You must not need anyone killed or maimed today." I'm joking of course. All lighthearted. [read a pony: [roll0]]

Jade Sun was just swallowing the last bit of apple when she suddenly started to cough. Whether Snow Eyes was joking or not, Angel wasn't about to let that comment fly.

"No more unconscious or bloodied ponies will come through my door today." She said sternly when she'd caught her breath, with the stomp of a hoof for emphasis.

"I don't mind the odd pony you send my way, Snow Eyes, because it's you, but I still have to go back and kick out your sled rabble before they loot more than just my insulin and I'm not even close to finished dealing with Eclipse's 'killing and maiming' from this morning," Angel said with a determined frown and nod. "Medical supplies don't grow on trees, y'know," she said, poking a hoof at the white mare.

[Anarion]

A point well made and Jade was not inclined to question the gift of this apple any further. She shoved the whole half in her mouth all at once and chewed it happily, cheeks bulging with delicious apple pulp and juice. Her eyes sparkled with delight, she hadn't realised just how hungry she really was until now. She chewed it slowly and savoured it for as long as she could before it was all gone.



Jade Sun was just swallowing the last bit of apple when she suddenly started to cough. Whether Snow Eyes was joking or not, Angel wasn't about to let that comment fly.

"No more unconscious or bloodied ponies will come through my door today." She said sternly when she'd caught her breath, with the stomp of a hoof for emphasis.

"I don't mind the odd pony you send my way, Snow Eyes, because it's you, but I still have to go back and kick out your sled rabble before they loot more than just my insulin and I'm not even close to finished dealing with Eclipse's 'killing and maiming' from this morning," Angel said with a determined frown and nod. "Medical supplies don't grow on trees, y'know," she said, poking a hoof at the white mare.

"Well, how should I know that!" I didn't mean to sound so defensive. Blush again and try to correct. Sigh. "Well, I mean, the only trees I've seen are apple trees, those frozen white things you sometimes see in the waste, and the weird stone ones with the sparkly gems on them that pop up once in a while and then die really fast. There might be medicine trees out there somewhere. Maybe.

Oh and you probably don't have to worry too much about the sled team. Most of them were delivering here, none of the mercs I fought on those sleds are...um...alive. Wait, that didn't, that didn't come out quite how I meant. I mean, the two got away and the rest are ponies that were supposed to be delivering here. That's all..."

[Deadly]

Lonely.

I am not of the maelstrom, though it remembers me all too well. In another time and place I stumbled blindly through it, tossed and blown about the smallest breeze. That's a tale for another time, but it yearns for those days of old. Always it prowls like a roaring beast, searching for some part of me to devour anew.

I will not let it. I don't belong to it anymore, and it does not belong to me. To open myself to it is to stand upon a tiny, glowing firmament and behold its forces arrayed against me. How it crows over me, as if surprised to see me again. As if it hasn't watched my every step. As if its will wasn't bent upon my heart at this very moment. But I will not yield. I hold them back at blade's length and listen to them jabber their madness until some twisted thought reveals too much in its zeal. Or did it mean to squeal all along? Makes no difference to me, I suppose. Either I will falter, or it will falter, and that's the honest truth of it.

But by the sun, it's a stinging kick in the rear to see all that wrong of the world, and the only light there is your own.

You're standing on your firmament, floating slowly, slowly down a river of black filth. Its surface is smooth and black like obsidian tar, winding ever downwards, deeper into the black earth, and you can't tell if the firmament is drifting unsteadily upon the blackness or the whole world is being pulled along with the stream around you like a tapestry caught in the flow.

Disoriented by the motion, slow and winding as it is, you feel sick to your stomach.

All along the broken, rocky shores of the black river, the shades of twisted figures walk into the river to bathe and drown in its slick pollution. They dive their heads and emerge slowly, smeared in oily black spume, like nightmare birds struggling in seas of tar and pollution. They're dancing in the vile river, gaunt and all twisted limbs, their motions stunted and slow as the blackness pulls them down. All along the ever-winding shore they're beckoning you, calling you to join them in their opulent filth and twisted revels.

"I can. I'm surprised that's the favor you'd ask though. You must not need anyone killed or maimed today." I'm joking of course. All lighthearted. [read a pony: [roll0]]

Oh my. So intent are you on looking at Charger that you don't even notice the little filly artfully slipping something from your coat before disappearing down an alley with her prize. The little scamp got off with something; it may or may not be of huge material worth, but it is at least of some personal value to you.

Charger catches a glimpse as the filly disappears into the shadows of the alley, and what was taken reveals something to her about Snow Eyes. Charger, what did the filly run off with, and do you tell Snow Eyes, or ...?

[Thanqol]

Oh my. So intent are you on looking at Charger that you don't even notice the little filly artfully slipping something from your coat before disappearing down an alley with her prize. The little scamp got off with something; it may or may not be of huge material worth, but it is at least of some personal value to you.

Charger catches a glimpse as the filly disappears into the shadows of the alley, and what was taken reveals something to her about Snow Eyes. Charger, what did the filly run off with, and do you tell Snow Eyes, or ...?

Of course Charger doesn't say anything. Start some hoof chase against a small kid? Snow Eyes has already committed, like, a quintuple homicide this morning. She needs A) rest and B) not another homicide.

So she excuses herself from the dorky lovebirds, gives Jade a possessive hug and a kiss on the neck, and wanders around the building at a leisurely rate to find her way across to the kid.

Also, I don't know what she stole. Snow Eyes, what did she steal?

[TheAmishPirate]

You're standing on your firmament, floating slowly, slowly down a river of black filth. Its surface is smooth and black like obsidian tar, winding ever downwards, deeper into the black earth, and you can't tell if the firmament is drifting unsteadily upon the blackness or the whole world is being pulled along with the stream around you like a tapestry caught in the flow.

Disoriented by the motion, slow and winding as it is, you feel sick to your stomach.

All along the broken, rocky shores of the black river, the shades of twisted figures walk into the river to bathe and drown in its slick pollution. They dive their heads and emerge slowly, smeared in oily black spume, like nightmare birds struggling in seas of tar and pollution. They're dancing in the vile river, gaunt and all twisted limbs, their motions stunted and slow as the blackness pulls them down. All along the ever-winding shore they're beckoning you, calling you to join them in their opulent filth and twisted revels.

The nausea only grows.

Are these real ponies? Were they real ponies, so long ago? Or are these just twisted refractions through something far worse? They don't answer, of course. One question per customer, as it were, and no complementary pauses to catch your breath. The soulless tar is lapping at the edges of her solid ground, and she must buffet it back with well-timed almost-cuts; even the thought of touching the stuff sets her wings to burning. As for the figures on the shore, they go ignored. Perhaps her defiance will drive them to reveal something new, perhaps she's most comfortable leaving them a worrying mystery.

Either way, she presses on.

[Elanorin]

"Well, how should I know that!" I didn't mean to sound so defensive. Blush again and try to correct. Sigh. "Well, I mean, the only trees I've seen are apple trees, those frozen white things you sometimes see in the waste, and the weird stone ones with the sparkly gems on them that pop up once in a while and then die really fast. There might be medicine trees out there somewhere. Maybe.

Oh and you probably don't have to worry too much about the sled team. Most of them were delivering here, none of the mercs I fought on those sleds are...um...alive. Wait, that didn't, that didn't come out quite how I meant. I mean, the two got away and the rest are ponies that were supposed to be delivering here. That's all..."

Angel blinked once, slowly.

"Did you get hit on your head by one of those mercs, Snow Eyes? Medicine doesn't come from bloody trees." She gestured with a hoof and unwittingly nearly clocked a passing little filly between the eyes. "Well- actually- yes- alright, some of it comes from trees, and these really tall flowers which- oh..."

So she excuses herself from the dorky lovebirds, gives Jade a possessive hug and a kiss on the neck, and wanders around the building at a leisurely rate to find her way across to the kid.

The hug utterly derailed Angel's train of thought and the kiss on the neck forced one of her own blushes to surface. She nuzzled Charger's mane a little, knowing it would fill her head with thoughts of caramel and sunshine, and it did.

"...bye." She watched Charger go with an unsubtle stare until her head had twisted to the point that her neck ached and she turned back to Snow Eyes.

"-but my point was medical supplies are not for free. Powder Snow is a pushover but he still has a business to run." She pulled a face of distaste. "And I don't have time to spend endless hours foraging and distilling. Not with as many homicidal ponies around as there are in Windbreak," she said, with a significant look at Snow Eyes. "Also, just because a pony is dead doesn't mean they can't cause trouble, as I've just found out..." she said, with a grumble.

[Rolling to Read A Pony: 5]

[Anarion]

Of course Charger doesn't say anything. Start some hoof chase against a small kid? Snow Eyes has already committed, like, a quintuple homicide this morning. She needs A) rest and B) not another homicide.

So she excuses herself from the dorky lovebirds, gives Jade a possessive hug and a kiss on the neck, and wanders around the building at a leisurely rate to find her way across to the kid.

Also, I don't know what she stole. Snow Eyes, what did she steal?

Okay, this is cheesy as hell, but, whatever, I've got a locket with a picture of my parents, my Dad High Tide, and my Mom Moon's Eyes. I wear it tucked in under my armor. It's shaped like a heart with a gold chain. None of you have ever seen my parents or know anything about them, so money guess is that this is 100% of my memories of them. Stupid filly must have caught the gold chain and swiped it.

[gonna wait on replying to Angel until we see her read failure.]

[Deadly]

Of course Charger doesn't say anything. Start some hoof chase against a small kid? Snow Eyes has already committed, like, a quintuple homicide this morning. She needs A) rest and B) not another homicide.

So she excuses herself from the dorky lovebirds, gives Jade a possessive hug and a kiss on the neck, and wanders around the building at a leisurely rate to find her way across to the kid.

You find the filly sitting on the steps outside one of the crammed houses along the alley, licking away at a big chunk of rock candy with a freckled grin behind her bright blue eyes. Her little hooves kick idly at the steps, but her eyes follow you down the alley.

The nausea only grows.

Are these real ponies? Were they real ponies, so long ago? Or are these just twisted refractions through something far worse? They don't answer, of course. One question per customer, as it were, and no complementary pauses to catch your breath. The soulless tar is lapping at the edges of her solid ground, and she must buffet it back with well-timed almost-cuts; even the thought of touching the stuff sets her wings to burning. As for the figures on the shore, they go ignored. Perhaps her defiance will drive them to reveal something new, perhaps she's most comfortable leaving them a worrying mystery.

Either way, she presses on.

Blood runs down your wings, soaking feathers and seeping into the blades of ice, coloring them a deep red like savage cut rubies. The blackness seethes and froths with each drop, and the twisted shapes wave their struggling limbs at you, hungry for you.

You buffet and slash at them, but the grace of your ruby blades no longer seems to keep them at bay. The vile darkness seeps into the blades, and they grow hard and black as obsidian, red streaks of blood pulsing deep within, smothered by the black. The black river wants it, seeks it, but you've got two wing-fulls of red, and there's a whole river of black.

You can no longer tell if the river is winding downwards or upwards.

"-but my point was medical supplies are not for free. Powder Snow is a pushover but he still has a business to run." She pulled a face of distaste. "And I don't have time to spend endless hours foraging and distilling. Not with as many homicidal ponies around as there are in Windbreak," she said, with a significant look at Snow Eyes. "Also, just because a pony is dead doesn't mean they can't cause trouble, as I've just found out..." she said, with a grumble.

[Rolling to Read A Pony: 5]

You look at Snow Eyes, and then your eyes drift behind her at the pony hiding in the shadows, rifle aimed squarely at the back of your friend's head. You have a split second to possibly push Snow Eyes out of the way, knowing that you may get hit instead. Do you?

[Thanqol]

You find the filly sitting on the steps outside one of the crammed houses along the alley, licking away at a big chunk of rock candy with a freckled grin behind her bright blue eyes. Her little hooves kick idly at the steps, but her eyes follow you down the alley.

"Nice lift," said Charger, not approaching close enough to startle. Body language; relaxed, too comfortable to give chase. "What'd you get?"

[Deadly]

"Nice lift," said Charger, not approaching close enough to startle. Body language; relaxed, too comfortable to give chase. "What'd you get?"

"Some gold neck thingy," she said and popped the whole candy in her mouth, then popped it back out. "How much d'you think I can get for it?"

[Thanqol]

"Some gold neck thingy," she said and popped the whole candy in her mouth, then popped it back out. "How much d'you think I can get for it?"

"Depends. Does it do magic? Does it have gemstones?" asked Charger, sitting down. "Is it real gold?"

[Deadly]

"Depends. Does it do magic? Does it have gemstones?" asked Charger, sitting down. "Is it real gold?"

"Didn't look close," said the filly, a pegasus, so probably not too knowledgeable about magic. But then, you never knew. Her coat was an almost neon-bright azure with a white mane. Her cutie mark looked like some kind of wavy cone of air and clouds. "Looked like something a pony might value, is all."

[Thanqol]

"Didn't look close," said the filly, a pegasus, so probably not too knowledgeable about magic. But then, you never knew. Her coat was an almost neon-bright azure with a white mane. Her cutie mark looked like some kind of wavy cone of air and clouds. "Looked like something a pony might value, is all."

"Then look now. Put it on, wave it around, see if it does anything cool," said Charger. "After all, there's a difference between something ponies value and something one pony values, right?"

[Elanorin]

You look at Snow Eyes, and then your eyes drift behind her at the pony hiding in the shadows, rifle aimed squarely at the back of your friend's head. You have a split second to possibly push Snow Eyes out of the way, knowing that you may get hit instead. Do you?

Yes. There aren't many ponies I would do this for but yes, I throw myself at Snow Eyes in a rough tackle to try to get her out of the way of the shot.

[Deadly]

"Then look now. Put it on, wave it around, see if it does anything cool," said Charger. "After all, there's a difference between something ponies value and something one pony values, right?"

The girl shrugged and chewed a bit at her candy. "I don't have it anymore."

Yes. There aren't many ponies I would do this for but yes, I throw myself at Snow Eyes in a rough tackle to try to get her out of the way of the shot.

You heard the deep booming of the gun just as you shoved Snow Eyes out of the way. You felt the shot like the snap of a whip in your head and a burning streak along your flank before your body went limp. [3 harm - 1 armor, 2 harm total, plus 1 s-harm: any action you perform is Under Fire]

Snow Eyes, you neither saw nor heard a thing - no shot or shooter - but as Angel shoved you to the ground you felt an eerie cold touch for just a second, as if Death had just brushed you with a bony hoof. Or had it been somepony else? Something was off.

[Thanqol]

The girl shrugged and chewed a bit at her candy. "I don't have it anymore."

Charger gave her a long, slow look. "Then go and get it, silly," she said, quietly but firmly.

Manipulate: 2d6+3 (brushied): 10

[Anarion]

What the hay? They were in the middle of town. And Angel was bleeding. "No, you idiot!" I'm shouting as Angel is on top of me. I meant it too because why the hell would the doctor ever take a bullet for me?! Though a small part of me was oddly thrilled, and I had an instant of very distinct heart flutter. Then I immediately replaced it with paying attention. I'm feeling death here and I want to know his shape.

I open my brain to see what's here: (2d6+1)[7]
[also, are we entering battle where I need to roll visions of death?]

[Deadly]

Charger gave her a long, slow look. "Then go and get it, silly," she said, quietly but firmly.

Manipulate: 2d6+3 (brushied): 10

The filly glanced at a clock tower in the distance. "I could try," she said, like she knew full well she couldn't make it in time but didn't mind making a show of trying. "If you'll pay more than the mare who hired us, that is. Or I can tell you what she looked like, for just a little jingle ..." She held out a hoof and wriggled it with a grin. "And where we were meeting her. I'll tell you that too, 'cause you're pretty," she added to sweeten the deal.

What the hay? They were in the middle of town. And Angel was bleeding. "No, you idiot!" I'm shouting as Angel is on top of me. I meant it too because why the hell would the doctor ever take a bullet for me?! Though a small part of me was oddly thrilled, and I had an instant of very distinct heart flutter. Then I immediately replaced it with paying attention. I'm feeling death here and I want to know his shape.

I open my brain to see what's here: [roll0]
[also, are we entering battle where I need to roll visions of death?]

Oh my no, there's no battle here. Not ... now.

You look up, and for an instant you see a pony, and Death is there with her. You can't see her face through the haze of time, but you know that pony is - was? - meant to die in that moment, like you've known so many ponies who would die ... only, in that very instant an angel appears from the haze and takes the shot.

And then it's gone, the vision, the angel, and Death as well, and you're back to lying beneath your bleeding friend.

Tell me, what did the angel look like when she appeared, and what did Death look like in that moment?

[Thanqol]

The filly glanced at a clock tower in the distance. "I could try," she said, like she knew full well she couldn't make it in time but didn't mind making a show of trying. "If you'll pay more than the mare who hired us, that is. Or I can tell you what she looked like, for just a little jingle ..." She held out a hoof and wriggled it with a grin. "And where we were meeting her. I'll tell you that too, 'cause you're pretty," she added to sweeten the deal.

It was impossible for a casual observer to notice, but now there was a faint coldness behind Charger's eyes - the same coldness that had been there when she'd been talking to High Pride in the bathroom from before.

"I've got nothing on me," said Charger. "Come with me down to the farm and I'll fix you up there."

With a swish of her tail she turned and started walking.

[Deadly]

"I'm not an idiot, or blind," the filly said. She didn't get up. "Look, she didn't pay me to be silent. I'll tell you what you want to know, but can you blame a girl for trying to earn an extra coin or two?"

[Thanqol]

"I'm not an idiot, or blind," the filly said. She didn't get up. "Look, she didn't pay me to be silent. I'll tell you what you want to know, but can you blame a girl for trying to earn an extra coin or two?"

Charger turned around with another swish, and walked back towards the filly. This time there was hostile intent, colder than the snow around her.

"I don't care about what you know," she said. "I don't care that you took the damn necklace. I care that you tried to bargain with me."

As she came, she undid the knot on her cream white overcoat, letting it fall to the snow. Underneath was a vest of burnt umber, buttoned with orange-gold, wrapped through with wires.

"And if we are going to bargain then I can mention that I heard that gunshot as clear as day and I am not an idiot or blind either. Which means that my friends just got hurt and you are directly responsible. If we are going to bargain," she said, looming over the filly, faint sparks of electricity running along her hooves, "then I have a claim on you equal to the hurt on them."

"Or," she said, bending down a little, "you can come to my farm. I'll serve you a meal and you can eat your fill. We can talk about whatever we want and you can leave whenever you're ready. We can be ponies to each other, not threats operating at hoof's length."

[Anarion]

Tell me, what did the angel look like when she appeared,

The angel looked like Angel. Jade Sun right there before me, her form pure, even in the swirling blizzard haze of the psychic maelstrom. Her blood is the cleanest red I've ever seen, redder than the apple I just ate. Ask me a hard question sometime...

and what did Death look like in that moment?

Oh, you did. I can't put a face on death. It's hard. It's not a pony I know, not me, not Jade, not Charger or even Eclipse. Nor is it some kiddie thing that would be easy to laugh off, like a big skull face with a scythe cutie mark. That'd be too easy. Honestly, I think death looked old. Thin and pale, like she'd lost a lot of blood. Her hair was white and wispy, hanging over her face so that her eyes seemed to glow a sickly yellow out of the darkness. Her body was hunched and shapeless, like she had a cloak on, only the fabric wasn't quite visible, lost in the shadow of the blizzard. Just those yellow eyes, staring out at me, boring into me. Nothing but yellow eyes.