Fandom My Little Pony Brave New World.

[Shandragontear]

Shina breathed a small sigh of relief at not being tackled. Her fuchsia eyes lifted to great the round mare, a sweet smile hanging from her lips. As Tilly spoke Shina's head tilted slightly in confusion. "Looker?" She repeated, though she knew the literal translation she was a bit unsure what it meant in this context.


Shrugging it off Shina simply gave a polite bow of her head as she introduced her self, that eastern accent all too obvious. "I am Shina of Neighppon." She replied.


As Tilly continued to embarrassed Firecracker Shina couldn't help but giggle a little. At the mention of foals however those fuchsia eyes flew wide open for a second. The normally white scales on her cheeks suddenly turned bright pink. "Nani!?" (What!?) She blurted out, too caught off guard to even realize what language she was speaking.


Her state of shock was quickly broken by Konton's screech. Shaking off her embarrassment Shina turned her attention to the phoenix, relieved he hadn't burst in to flames, something he'd recently started doing when he was scared or startled. "It is chaos, you should like it." She said to Konton with a dismissive wave of her hoof and a playful grin. Konton simply shot her an irritated glare ruffling his feathers.

 

[KageYuuki]

Fang quietly sighed, closing the ancient tome that lay before her. The Order had various records. tomes, grimoires and the such that didn't exist anywhere else in the world. This was one such book. It held the account of a unicorn who sought immortality through dark means. His very existence was erased from history, lest another tried walk his blood stained path. But that doesn't mean somepony else didn't come up with the same idea... She picked up the book, laying it on a nearby cart.


It was so easy to lose track of time in here. If the myths, legends and history weren't enough to draw you in, the sheer amount of information related to the arcane likely would. But she needed to get back to Hast before the others began to wonder where she'd wandered off to. She wondered if Indicus was up yet or not as she stepped through the portal to return to the cabin. Opening a portal to Commander Soul's little pocket dimension wasn't too draining. But using them to travel across the world? That was a touch on the taxing side.


Back in the little cabin, she pulled her cloak on before stepping outside. She could feel the unicorn's magic a little ways away. Didn't think he'd be up just yet. The bat pony mused to herself as she trotted in his direction. Finally tracking down the unicorn, Fang sat a ways away to watch him practice. He would likely be too zoned out to notice her if she wanted his attention anyway. It was best to just wait.


@Shadow Dancer

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus continued his morning warmups with his sword something that he always tried to keep up on but at the same time did not always do because of time restraints. So to have the time to do them was quite aprcieated, Indicus did not notice Shadow Fang in his trance like state of ducking and stabing imaginary enemies never taking time for fluishes that in a real battle would get him killed. Indicus eventually extited the trance like state and saw Shadow Fang sitting there watching him. "Enjoy the show?" Indicus said with a sly smile.

 

[KageYuuki]

Fang returned his smile, still sitting in the grass. "Always. Though it's always so much more fun when it's a cocky student getting knocked upside the head." There were always one or two of them after all. The air was just now starting to warm up. It seemed the city of Hast was a touch cooler than she'd prefer but it was still a nice place. Perhaps she would take up Steelheart's offer and own a house here. If anything, Hast made for a nice quiet place to escape the usual chaos that came with her life. Not to mention a friend of hers lived there. Something she didn't have many of outside of her little 'family' in the Order.

 

[viska]

Sparky admired the Phoenix as it sulked on its perch; but was careful not to get too close.


Firecracker again tried to speak "we just *caugh*"


Too off in her own world Tilly interrupted "not another word, you get your keester back in bed until I'm done talking with the handsom doctor. He was nice enough to release you into my care once I said I was your mother.


Come along sparky dear."


Sparky replied "coming mamma"


As the round mare left the room.


Just before he to left, sparky turned and said "sorry about mamma. She gets exited really easy, but she means well."


A few moments after Sparky left,


Firecracker walked up beside Shina.


Unable to face her his face so flush with embarrassment he joked -"well that was..a thing."

 

[Shandragontear]

Shina was silent for a moment. Her gaze watched the door as Tilly and Sparky left till Firecracker came over.


Turning her gaze to the colt a bright smile crossed her lips before suddenly she couldn't stop giggling. Her fore hooves lifted to cover her mouth to try and stifle her laughter. She struggled tobstop and catch her breath so he wouldn't think she was laughing at him.


"Gomen!" Shina said quickly out of instinct. She gave a quick shake of her head trying to compose her self before settling down enough to talk. "Sorry!" She said still giggling a little.


"My parents are completely crazy..." She trailed off a second those fuchsia eyes taking on a playful glint. "And so is your aunt. It is..." Again she paused, only this time it was think of the word she wanted to use or rather the translation for the word are wanted to use. "Ironic."

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus laughed "Yea it is always fun showing a recruit they can't beat over fifteen years of actual combat experience." Indicus sat next to Shadow Fang and continued "So besides watching me dance with a blade what brings you out here this early?" Indicus quickly flattened down his wind blown mane as he waited for an answer.

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Sky Chaser's head turned as a familiar face caught his eye. He chuckled softly, watching Steelheart making her way down the road quite oblivious to everything that had just transpired. Of course, now he remembered he had promised her brunch together, meaning they would be setting off for a nice meal shortly. Perhaps it was for the best. Given his temper right now after being so rudely ignored, it was for the best that he was escorted away from Kadje and the Reindeer before he decided to teach them manners.


He trotted calmly over her to her, stopping quite intentionally in her path so she would inevitably run into him. It had become something of a game for them. At first, it was quite unintentional every time she inadvertently collided with him, now, it was something he did quite deliberately, as it always gave them an excuse to say they 'bumped into each other'. By now, Steelheart knew it was a game for him, and wasn't usually too surprised to bump into his familiar form.


"You're in a pleasant mood this morning. I take it the council meeting went well?" Sky Chaser asked, chuckling softly after Steelheart's inevitable collision. It was strange, it seemed the old unicorn had a bit of a soft spot for the Flutter pony.


Or maybe it wasn't a soft spot at all...


After all, Flutter pony are quite well known for their magic...

 

[KageYuuki]

The mare quietly chuckled, nodding in agreement. Why students always seemed to think they could actually take on their instructors was beyond her. Crimson hues fell on him as he asked what had her up and moving so early. "Likely the same thing as you. Damned sun's just too bright to really sleep." She shrugged, sticking a blanket up in front of the wind seemed like a viable fix but she was already awake.


Fang quietly sighed as she returned her gaze to the sky. The bat pony's expression grew more solemn as she thought over the contents of that tome. She turned, lightly nuzzling him while being wary of her horns. "We . . . need to talk," she said softly as if worried someone would overhear them. "Alone. Perhaps Commander Soul's little realm?"


Whatever it was she wanted to discuss would likely be important if she was taking such lengths to ensure they couldn't be overheard.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus was a bit suprised at the sudden request to talk in private but nodded, "Okay then lets go to Commander Soul's realm and talk." Indicus then opened a portal using the spell that Soul taught him so that he could acsses the realm at any point he felt neccesary. Once the portal was open he let Shadow Fang through and stepped in after her.

 

[KageYuuki]

Stepping through the portal, Fang glanced around where she'd just been only a few hours ago. The sky seemingly locked in an eternal twilight was oddly peaceful. A shimmer rippled through the sky briefly before vanishing. Likely the result of a rejuvenation spell cast by Soul. Great lengths were taken to ensure this pocket dimension of his wouldn't collapse. Let alone when someone was actually inside it. How he was able to keep it up without exhausting himself, she wasn't sure.


The bat pony shifted slightly as she waited for Indicus to rejoin her. How was she even supposed to bring this up? Let alone figure out a way of going about this whole mess. All she'd wanted was a small vacation to get some much needed rest. Not deal with an assassination plot and . . . Whatever the hell this was. Seeing Indicus walk over to her she cleared her throat. "I'll be honest, I'm really not sure how to explain this whole thing." Her gaze had returned to the sky, a sign of her discomfort. "But, you remember Sky Chaser from last night, don't you? Really tall cloaked unicorn, apparently a good friend of Steelheart's?"

 

[viska]

In her usual cheerful dispoition Steelheart replied "it did , but I'm just glad to be done for the day so early."


Smiling brightly back at Sky Chaser, she was oblivious to the to the chaos that enveloped the streets only moments before.


Holding a thoughtful hoof to her chin she asked."so, what would you like for brunch? I was thinking of some nice fresh bread from Tilly's bakery, but I heard she's out of town seeing a relative. We could always go to McDoogles on the corner."


With an exited hop she blurted "oh! Maybe after that we could go dress shopping and you could help me pick..."


Stopping cold, it dawned on her that the Winters Ball was something she should t be bringing up.


Lowering her head, she said "I'm sorry." in a quiet mousey voice.


She seemed to be more insecure then usual today.


Perhaps as a result of hearing Anda's voice.


Though she hid It from most ponies, Steelheart struggled with PTSD from the events at Equinox.


While everypony thought she was unconscious, she was actually aware of everything on the island.


This includes her grandmother's demise.


It was about this time Rosie finally came outside.


Walking up to the Scene from earlier , she leaned on splash and derby's cart and yawned.


In a tired voice she asked the two "any pony wanna tell me what in the hay was all that racket about?


Rosie never was the most well mannered of pony.


But it stimmed from her treating everypony like family.


She meant no disrespect by it.


- in Canterlot - Firecracker couldn't help but


Join in Shina's laughter .


His aunt was so over the top that it often embarrassed him, but he loved her dearly.


To hear that her family was even remotely as strange was comforting .


As their laughter died down Firecracker pressed his shoulder against hers as if to half way hug her.


Curious, he couldn't help but ask "is your family really as strange as aunt Tilly?"

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Sky Chaser nodded his head. "Yes, sadly our baker is out of town, but she should be back in a few days tops. McDoogles I think will suffice in the meantime" He agreed, but he couldn't help but notice how sad she got only moments after excitedly talking about dresses. He leaned down, gently nuzzling her cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Steelheart. I wouldn't mind taking you dress shopping, if you'd like. Just because I can't go doesn't mean you shouldn't go and enjoy yourself, right?" He suggested to cheer her up. He knew how much the Winter Ball meant to her. After all, it would be her first one since arriving in Hast.


But he couldn't go. Not with the Two Sisters there... He couldn't let them find him. It would undo all of his carefully planned work. If they knew he was still alive... No, he couldn't let them find out, because then Steelheart would learn everything. No doubt then her friends would do everything in their power to keep her away from him if they found out, and he would never be able to finish his plan... He couldn't allow that to happen...

 

[Shandragontear]

Now that one Shina had to think on a moment. It was easy for her to say her parents were crazy but she wondered if it would seem so from the outside looking in. "Yes, but in a different way." For a second she but shyly at her lower lip, unsure if it was safe to explain just how they were crazy.


"Both my mother and father come from a long line of warriors." She said finally, careful in her wording so as not to scare Firecracker off. "I think they may enjoy battle a little too much..." If only he knew. Whenever their parents started arguing, and there were days when they seemed to look for reasons to, Shina and her brother usually made a run for it. Not to avoid the shrunken or swords flying around in the inevitable sparring session that followed, but rather to miss their parents mad rush to the bedroom after. Shina shuttered a little at the thought, no child ever wanted to see their parents getting romantic towards each other.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus nodded, "Yea I remember him interesting character seems to have plenty of secrets. Anyway what about him?" Indicus was genuinly curious as to why she was so nervous about bringing him up.

 

[KageYuuki]

Another slow breath. Gods, how was she supposed to approach this? "Well . . . for starters . . . " She shook her head before looking at her partner. "He's not a unicorn, he's an alicorn. And a heavily scarred up one at that." Fang decided it would be best to let him process that bit of new before continuing. Her gaze once again drifting to the strange, wispy black clouds that drifted above them in this strange Twilight Realm.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus chewed on the information before responding "That explains the cloak and the hermit like isolation from the main part of town, but I imagine there is something more you want to talk about."

 

[KageYuuki]

"It may also explain why he's scared to death of the Sisters finding out where he is." She continued, looking back towards Indicus. "Now why would a heavily scarred up Alicorn with a broken horn want to remain dead to them?" It wasn't so much the fact he was an Alicorn that bothered her in the first place, but the whole 'avoiding the princesses at all costs' part. It just didn't make much sense to her. Again the bat pony waiting for the information to be processed and gave Indicus a chance to express his thoughts.

 

[Shadow Dancer]

"More then likely he did something in the past that he is not very proud of and belives that the sisters will not forgive him, he dose not seem to be in anyway horible nor carries any malisious intent that I'm pretty sure of."Indicus replied giving his own thoughts on the matter.

 

[KageYuuki]

"Well there isn't any obvious malicious intent," Fang said with a slight sigh. "I don't know, Indicus, something just feels wrong about the whole thing." She sat down, mist once again trailing from her eyes as a couple crystals grew from the ground by her feet. She levitated one in front of her as it glowed faintly. "You're a unicorn, you should know a unicorn's soul forms the base of their horn." Her crimson eyes fell back on him, "Such a stable form compared to the souls of other creatures. The source of anyone's magic is their own soul after all. Unicorns and Alicorns just naturally have a conduit to access it with."


Fang allowed the crystals she'd created to crumble to dust and vanish. "You've only been with the Order for a few months now, so you likely haven't looked through the amount of history stored in their archives that doesn't exist anywhere else." She shrugged, "Well maybe outside of the tomes and grimoires laying around." The unicorn always held a deep interest for the arcane. Particularly the arts that were no long or barely practiced any longer.


"That said, you would never have heard of Umbra the Soul Thief." Normally she would have paused to wait on a response from him. But she already knew the answer, there was no way Indicus would have known about him. "It was bout five hundred years ago that he showed up. Stealing the souls of unicorns, absorbing their magic in an effort to match the power held by Celestia and ascend into an Alicorn himself." The bat pony gave a small snort, "Wouldn't you know the bastard actually did it? He stole enough souls, gathered enough magic to actually force his body to ascend to that of an Alicorn. He was powerful too, raised a lot of hell before the Order and Celestia herself put him down."


"His whole story, the fact he even existed was erased from history. Don't want somepony deciding they're going to walk the same path, you know. We're the only ones with records about him, including the few surviving remnants of his research." Again Fang's gaze stopped wandering and rested back on Indicus. "I've actually read through the spells he crafted, they were mostly methods of stealing another pony's magic and absorbing it. One spell in particular was meant for holders of particularly powerful magic. It could only be used on the night of the Winter Solstice. Like all the other magic stealing spells of his, the extraction would kill the target. But this one had a particular catch: if the target held a deep trust in the caster, then their soul would be absorbed as well."


Fang sighed, shaking her head. "It's not like the whole 'unicorn's soul is in their horn' thing is all that obscure. Even with the info on Umbra being hidden it's really not all that unlikely that another would have figured things out like he did. I don't know, maybe knowing about him is one of the reasons this whole thing feels off." She shifted a little, "Not to mention . . . Steelheart is the vessel of Anda's spirit now. Something that powerful and the fact she's already 'more magic than mare' in her words?" Fang figured she'd talked enough, now it was just waiting for a response.

 

[viska]

Relieved that Skychaser wasn't angry about bringing up the ball, she began to cheer up.


As the two walked to their brunch, she nudged against him more then usual.


It seemed like she was being a bit needy.


Arriving at McDoogles she ordered a oat mcmuffen and the two sat down.


Finally she spoke "can I ask you a question?"


Blushing she looked away from Sky Chasers direction even though she couldn't see him.


After a seemingly long silence she asked a very random question. "Am I pretty?"


It was the first time she had ever asked such a question and seemingly out of the blue.


With a thoughtful expression on her face she continued " I kept hearing some of the council's stalions talk about hearing Rosie sing at the ball.. They said she was so pretty.. Many times. But am I?"


- in Canterlot -


A bit confused Firecracker could only respond with " o-ok."


Nuzzling her slightly he asked "are you sure your ok with going with me to Hast?"


A concerned look came to his face as he asked .


He felt bad dragging her so far away at such short notice but didn't want to go without her either.

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Sky Chaser smiled softly as he heard her seemingly random question. "Beauty, Steelheart, is a strange thing. It's only found in the eyes of the beholder, and physical beauty is, as you may have heard me say before, only skin deep. The true measure of a pony is how beautiful they are inside." he began, his remarks sounding much more like a lesson than an actual answer, but he was going somewhere with this.


"Though, since you asked me, I feel it only right I give you an answer.. In the eyes of this beholder, you are very beautiful, both inside and out" he concluded, a playful gleam in his eyes, as he was quite certain before that last statement she would have assumed he was going to take a roundabout, philosophical way to avoid the question.


Of course, he knew he himself was far from handsome. He was more scar than skin. Any good looks he had before were long marred by some unknown force that had injured him. Not to mention his broken horn... Of course, Steelheart only knew about the scars. She didn't know his horn was broken, or much else about him for that matter.


Of course, to him, all that mattered was that she trusted him and enjoyed his company... He couldn't care less about his looks...

 

[Shadow Dancer]

Indicus took a moment to absorb all of what Shadow fang just said before responding, "Shit, your worried that Sky Chaser could know this information and spell and intend to steal Steelhearts magic and even her and Anda's soul." Indicus shook his head. "I honestly hope your wrong because if he dose hold malicious intent things could take a turn for the worst but on the same note It is quite possible that even if your wrong about him. That another knows about the spell and intends to do something very similair and with the Princesses coming here soon then said unkown could try and use that power to imprison or kill them and take the throne."


Indicus paused before continuing rubbing the side of his head "Honestly what would be quite a bit worse was if theis unknown was a shapeshifter and used Sky's form to do the spell. Anyway what you just told me could spell desaster if there is at least one person here that knows about the spell. For now I'll keep what you said in mind and keep an eye out for anyone that exibits odd behavior." Indicus sighed his mind racing with every senario that could go wrong and how this could be worse then Catch Penny's scheme.

 

[viska]

Steelheart smiled with a slight blush . being blind she didn't bother to look away in modesty.


In a soft voice she said "th, thank you. You are very kind to me. "


Picking at her food she seemed like she still had something on her mind.


As she stared off her eyes began to glow again, ever so faintly as if in the presence of a strong magic.


Popping her head up she looked at Sky Chaser with a straingly fixed gaze.


For a moment it almost seemed as if she was really looking at him.


Soon the faint glow fadded and with it her stare became distant again as she finally spoke again " Mr. Sky Chaser.. I feel like I can tell you anything.. Can I tell you something strange? You must promise not to tell any pony ."

 

[One Mean Ghost]

"You have my word, I won't tell a soul" he remarked softly. Something in her voice, in the way she seemed so fixed on him, told him this was not an opportune time to correct her on calling him 'Mr.' again. Frankly, he felt old enough as it was some days, and that didn't help too much. Which, again, was ironic, considering he still looked every bit like a young stallion.


He thought forward to the future. He wondered what her expression would be then, when he put his plan into action. Would her eyes show fear at what he had done? He supposed he would find out when it happened. For now, the important thing was to handle what was on her mind. Clearly she had to trust him a lot in order to tell him something in confidence like this. He wondered what it could be. Did it have something to do with that glow in her eyes? Could she somehow already know what he was plotting?