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#Post#: 1963--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Bastion Date: April 1, 2014, 7:35 am
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Bastion blinked once after the grey maned stallion began
snapping at them before quickly turning his gaze forward and
keeping his emotions hidden behind a steely mask. He didn't
really understand why they were being given this rude treatment,
but it instantly reminded him of the various drill instructors
that he'd had to deal with during the course of training. The
unicorn didn't quite live up to those standards however; this
was much more tolerable than anything the instructors did. The
unicorn just seemed like some crotchety old coot whose shaky,
achy bones were giving him problems than anything else. As such,
Bastion just treated it like he did any of those times, despite
the stinging words the unicorn--Gleam, apparently--tried
throwing their way. Much less mild than things that had been
said before. Even as Blossom responded to Gleam's questions,
Bastion remained this way, knowing that if he showed any emotion
that the pony taking jabs at them would win.
"Instructor Gleam, sir," Bastion spoke up in an even, almost
mechanical voice when Blossom finished, gaze still locked
forward and body still straight and rigid as he stood at
attention, ignoring the gesture given to stay silent and 'play
along'. "With how much faith Her Majesty seems to have invested
in you, you must be very skilled. And given how much you see to
know of our jobs and its requirements, surely you could show
Aurora Noctem what you know? We could learn much from somepony
as experienced in this line of work as you; I have often heard
that instructing at Her Majesty's School for Gifted Unicorns and
the going through the rigorous training for becoming a royal
guard is much of the same," Bastion lied, interested to hear
what Gleam might say to being called out.
#Post#: 1965--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Princess Celestia Date: April 1, 2014, 10:09 am
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"Is that supposed to impress me?" Gleam replied to Blossom as
she answered him, "You think you're the only ones who have
graduated at the top even this year alone? There are a lot of
guards out there who can say the same, and I know of plenty who
have lost their lives in very embarrassing ways due to their own
incompetence. Such a thing didn't impress me when those two
jokers over there tried it and won't work with you either."
"Aww... It didn't?" Thunder said, though the slight jab from
Mana to do so quietly worked as the unicorn hoped to just get
past this ranting as soon as possible so as to focus on why they
were actually here. Thankfully Gleam seemed to have missed
Thunder's voice as he just continued on with the other pair of
guards.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm actually fairly certain there
are many other tin suits who do those exact same duties as
you've mentioned, so I fail to see why you're special. The two
standing outside the doors to this room are defending the
Princess' life right now but you don't see them standing in here
for a briefing. There are other guards escorting VIPs here in
the castle right now, but none of them are being pulled away to
come see us here. And, honestly, being sent far away from
Canterlot can be viewed as a punishment just as easily as
something to be proud of. All in getting here is that the two of
you decided to give yourselves a cute little nickname to try and
stand out, and its starting to seem like you might have been
chosen just because your groups little name might have been at
the top of some list organized by alphabetical order and was
briefly glanced at by some assistant on her lunch break." A
brief glance over his shoulder shot an accusatory look in the
direction of the mare scribbling away, the pause then causing
her attention to focus directly onto the old stallion after
which she only raised an eyebrow and silently assured both that
she hadn't done such a thing and that she wouldn't be taking any
unnecessary crap over it.
Gleam turned back to the guards, the misunderstood gesture from
Thunder apparently managing to serve its purpose anyway as the
male of the duo spoke up, though as his voice carried his
meaning both Mana and Thunder cringed internally. 'Please don't
get him started...' They both thought at the same time, both
Thunder and Mana not wanting to spend the next twelve to thirty
some hours listening to the old pony rattle on and on...
Gleam just smirked at Bastion's words, whatever damage they may
have been hoping to inflict seeming to roll off of him with
little affect. "... You've never heard of the Cortoza, have
you?" He asked before looking over towards Celestia and
legitimately asking, "What do they teach this cannon fodder of
yours these days?" He shook his head and sighed before moving on
to a request, "Is it at all possible for me to make some last
second changes here? What about bringing in that... oh what was
his name... Um... Principe! What about that Principe fellow from
last month? I could trust that one with this... Maybe..."
"These two were chosen for a reason," Celestia answered both to
clarify that the presence of the two ponies he'd been yelling at
hadn't been determined by the lucky draw of names from a hat and
to deny his request, "I am confident that they can handle this
task just fine. Have some faith in the new guard, Gleam, and
take a breath before you pass out." The Princess advised, her
using her magic to spread out a map on the table as she had
decided the old stallion had criticized enough for now and that
it would do them all some good to move on, the mage grumbling a
bit but not protesting. "Now then, the job we have for you two
shouldn't be very complex or difficult on its own, but the
location will bring some danger on its own. What well need you
to do is head into the Everfree forest and travel to the old
castle there." The map displayed was of the forest, Celestia
assuming that everypony present already had the route memorized
but wanting the map for another purpose. "We need you to
retrieve an artifact from the old vaults in its lower levels
then bring it back here with the utmost subtlety."
"The item in question should look something like this," Gleam
chimed in, his own magic being used to pluck one of the scrolls
off of the table and unroll it for the pair of guards to see. It
was some kind of jewel, most likely precious and cut into a
diamond shape, set into a star that was carved out of a material
that wasn't obvious just from the drawing, colored in as green
for the gem and a dark purple for the star, the apparently large
medallion, if the note scribbled under it regarding its size was
to be believed, had several several arcane symbols etched into
its points, however each one was also accompanied by a question
mark that made it obvious that such things Amy not actually be
present on the real thing. "Though, I've never had the chance to
actually see it myself to know of any finer details beyond
that."
"Nopony has for over a thousand years," Celestia informed as the
scroll was offered by Gleam to the guards for them to study, the
old stallion needing to bite down on his tongue to avoid telling
them not to rip it or something similar, "even my memory is
fuzzy on it, as back then it didn't spend much time outside of
the vaults. What I do remember is that, in low light conditions,
the star should glow a dull purple. If its as dark down there as
I'm suspecting that might help it to stand out some. On top of
that the lower levels of the castle can easily double as a maze,
and while I can provide you with a general floor plan, much of
the old magic and plenty of the old traps down there are still,
last we checked, active and can cause any map I gave you to
become confusing as some hallways may shift or change depending
on how you proceed through them."
"Also, the vault is locked," Gleam spoke up again, "though I
personally am confused as to why that still is. Figured those
old enchantments would have died by now, and that the whole
thing would have crumbled after a millennium of zero
maintenance."
"We built it to last, Gleam. And, yes, the vault is still
locked. You two will need to use a specially enchanted shard to
open it." Another glow of magic and a small box on the table was
opened, a black and sharp looking stone that appeared to be
similar to the blade of a knife being carefully removed then
laid out onto the map that covered most of the table. "You'll
find the old royal symbol carved into the vault's door," the
Princess went on to explain, "just beneath it will be a small
slit big enough for the shard to fit into. Just slip it inside
and the magic will do the rest. It's single use though, and the
enchantments aren't indefinite, so you'll only have a small
amount of time to collect the artifact before the vault door
shuts behind you. At most you will have two minutes, but given
how old the magic in the door is, I can't have full faith in it
holding out that long. This is, at best, an estimate made after
I crunched the numbers, so you may have a few seconds more or
less. I advise one of you stay back to watch the door while the
other collects the star. If the worst does happen and you both
get trapped inside the vault, don't panic. That's part of the
reason I wanted Mana and Thunder here to be present." She nods
towards the other pair of guards, Thunder smiling while Mana
just gave a nod of his own to Blossom and Bastion.
"And before you ask, no, you can't have more than one shard to
take with you," Gleam again, this time speaking as if he knew
such a question was on its way already, "not only is there no
slot to use on the inside of the door for you to stick it in,
but the materials used in creating them are extremely finite,
and the magic very difficult to weave. They're for unlocking
what was the most secure vault of its time after all. Pending
collapse not withstanding." Honestly believing that such an
event was doomed to happen soon, Gleam glanced over at the
Princess, eyes sending what wa apparently a silent plea that
went ignored by the royal pony. "Time also presses us to want to
get this done sooner rather than later."
"Mana, Thunder," Celestia addressed with a gesture for them to
come closer to the table, "there is something you can help them
with when it comes to the Everfree, yes?"
Thunder hummed as he approached the table, whatever she was
talking about slipping his kind for the immediate moment while
Mana only gave another nod and recognized immediately what she
meant. "We've set up a number of emergency supply caches in the
Everfree," he told the second pair of guards, Thunder then
giving an 'ooooh' as he remembered the week he and his partner
spent burying stuff.
"Right, in case the creepy crawlies get you or you eat the wrong
kinds of berries."
"Dry rations, clean water, small medical kits, maps and
compasses in case you get lost and lose yours."
"Basically whatever you would need should things suddenly get
unpleasant."
"Just to be safe," Celestia chimed in, "I doubt any of these
will be needed as this shouldn't take you very long, but you
should at least commit a few of these stashed to memory. Mana,
if you would please show them?"
"Yes, Princess." The unicorn agreed, him taking up a pen on the
table and proceeding to circle locations on the map where the
other guards could find what they needed should they need it.
"Oh! Don't forget this one!" Thunder reminded his partner, the
pegasus tapping the Mao with a hoof and earning a rolling of
Mana's eyes because of it.
"Thunder, I can't possibly imagine a time when somepony would
need juice, cookies and a few comic books while out in the
field."
"Everypony could use juice, cookies and comic books out in the
field."
"Do you have any questions so far?" Celestia asked Blossom and
Bastion as the other two guards went about marking the map for
them.
#Post#: 1982--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Blossom Gale Date: April 2, 2014, 2:29 pm
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Blossom didn't even flinch at Gleam's verbal lashing, not once.
She knew that no matter what he said, the things that Blossom
listed were in fact achievements to their own right. If she had
time and both rank and order didn't matter, she would give him
her own two cents about things, but at this point, that would
only make them look bad. Self-control among all things was
something to keep in the presence of superiors, especially one
as important as the princess. Perhaps he was simply trying to
provoke an outburst from one of them to make them lose control
just like that. She smirked to herself as she looked at him,
knowing that if there was one thing that could piss off an angry
pony without necessarily getting into trouble, it would be to
simply smile as though you didn't care, which was exactly how
Blossom thought. She did not care for this instructor.
In the end, it ended up making her feel better as the princess
stood up for them in the end, reassuring, despite the old
unicorn's chastisements, that the two of them were specifically
chosen for this task. With her sense of pride once more renewed,
she walked over to the table where Princess Celestia had spread
a map, taking a good long look to familiarize herself with it.
It was indeed a map to the old castle from ages ago, and it was
a place that Blossom had never personally been, but the way too
it and the lessons on its history had still stuck with her all
this time, so the assumption that they would have already known
the way would have been correct. But just what could have been
so important to go back to retrieve, but not important enough to
take at first?
Then the instructor pony unfurled a drawing of what looked like
some sort of medallion, as well as taking mental not of all the
details that were given with it. Glowing slightly in the dark
would most definitely be a key factor in finding it, but the
circumstances surrounding the vault and the length of time that
it would remain open were very concerning. She set herself to
taking a map for herself, copying down the route that they would
be taking, making sure to make note of all the stashes that
would be along in the Everfree, staying quiet while letting
Bastion handle the questions involving the castle itself should
he have any. After she finished copying everything, even
Thunder's specific location for some reason, she turned to Mana
and asked, "How did you mark these stashes and how easy are they
to access?"
#Post#: 2000--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Bastion Date: April 4, 2014, 7:06 am
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As Gleam tried insulting Aurora Noctem by saying it was nothing
more than an attempt to stand out, Bastion couldn't help but let
a little grin of pride show on his lips as he continued to stare
forward. Little did he know he'd pretty much hit the nail on the
head. That was the entire reason Bastion had suggested they
create a team name. To be part of something truly special. To be
part of something that he'd eventually hoped to turn into
something so much more alongside Blossom. Though, as Gleam went
on to answer Bastion, he grew confused at what the seemingly
senile stallion meant, his confusion being locked away. He'd
never heard anything at all about any 'Cortoza'. If they were
anything important, his instructors surely would've deemed it
necessary to teach them about it... Right?
Simply brushing that off after that conclusion, Bastion looked
to Celestia before a small, proud smile shone for a moment or
two before he followed Blossom forward to inspect the map, many
of the same lessons Blossom was likely thinking of running
through Bastion's head as well. He listened with ears perked as
their mission was detailed out for them, his eyes also searching
the places marked on the map. The whole 'short amount of time to
find the objective' was somewhat disconcerting, but they had
their orders. Get in and get out. As Blossom copied the map,
Bastion looked up and looked between both Celestia and Gleam as
he spoke. "Yes, Your Majesty. The artifact; is there any chance
of either of us activating it on accident? Given that it's in
this vault, I can only presume it's something powerful. And is
that the only thing you wish us to retrieve? If we're already
there, and the materials for these keys are finite and difficult
to make, could we not gather other things as well to be more
efficient?"
#Post#: 2005--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Princess Celestia Date: April 4, 2014, 11:54 am
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"It depends," Mana replied with a flick of his eyes up at
Blossom before turning them back to the map to finish marking
it, "we tried to stick with a maximum of three different styles
when hiding them. They're either hidden inside a hollowed out
tree trunk," he went continued to explain, tapping the map as he
went to point out examples of each that he could remember,
"buried at the base of a tree and covered with a small pile of
stones, or tied onto a tree branch. Each location has the royal
seal burned into the nearest tree's wood, not the tree or stump
its actually found inside, on or under, and all of them have
their own minor enchantments set into place for different
effects. The hollow stumps don't sound hollow when you knock on
them, the piles of stones are 'glued' both together and in place
so they remain where we need them and can be recognized while
the caches in the branches are semi transparent and give off no
scent so as to blend in. The royal seals are also protected from
being scratched or otherwise destroyed by the local wildlife, so
as long as you go to these specific locations and look around
you should be able to find them without much difficulty. They're
relatively easy to spot when you know to keep an eye out for
them."
"I don't believe there's much of a chance of you accidentally
activating the artifact," Celestia answered Bastion, "it
requires a certain careful approach to how its handled to
properly function, so you both should be safe from it doing
anything on its own."
"Not that its really even dangerous on its own if handled
correctly and for the right reasons anyway," Gleam added, "even
if it does activate itself I doubt you two would even notice."
His ears perked up a little when he heard Bastion mention
bringing more than just this one item back from the old castle,
this being something he himself had brought up with the princess
previously. "I think this one actually went and accidentally
showed some small trace of wisdom, Princess. The vault is old
with the magic meant to ensure its security becoming
increasingly outdated and out performed with every passing year.
I have more confidence in my medicine cabinet keeping things
secure than that crumbling problem waiting to happen. Why not
bring a few of the smaller things back at least? Like that...
Um... What was it called..."
"We built it to last, Gleam," Celestia repeated herself, "the
contents of the vault will be moved, but they will be moved when
the time is right. I can't deny that it would be safer keeping
them here, but moving such items needs to be done carefully and
only when we are sure its safe to do so. Putting all of our eggs
into one basket because we want everything here now could spawn
countless problems and threats should the worst come about and
something happened to Blossom and Bastion on their way back. No,
for now, the vault will hold. Just as it has for a millennium."
"... And ignore the smiley face underneath one of the royal
seals," Mana mentioned to Blossom, "that would mean you found
Thunder's 'special' stash."
"Hey, that just means they'd get extra out of it! You should
keep an eye out for it! You'd get what the others have and
more!"
"The juice is probably sour by now, Thunder."
"Pfft. I'd still drink it." This, along with every other
important, nay, nearly vital piece of information being shared
among the pokies in the room was, of course, recorded by the
mare taking notes.
"If you say so, Princess..." Gleam muttered, the old stallion
not agreeing but not exactly about to argue with Celestia either
since it was clear shed made up her mind on the matter.
"Now, is there anything else I can help you with?" Celestia
asked Bastion and Blossom as Mana finished his marking of the
map and kneed Thunder when the pegasus almost asked him if it
would be a good idea to visit all of the supply caches again
soon to add certain small crumbly baked goods to them for the
sake of restoring moral to anypony who used them, "If not, then
I'd like to ask that you all wait outside for a few minutes
while I discuss a few things with Mana and Thunder."
Thunder, suddenly paranoid he had indeed caused trouble because
of his stop on the way here for his tasty and hot beverage,
raised a slightly concerned eyebrow at the mare who hadn't
spoken yet, her returning the look with a small smile and and
equally small wave of her hoof to dismiss his concerns.
#Post#: 2064--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Blossom Gale Date: April 6, 2014, 11:48 pm
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Blossom kept a mental note in her head all of the different
things that Mana told her, including all of the different ways
that he had hidden the stores of supplies in the Everfree. There
was quite a variety to the methods that the supplies were
hidden, as well as a variance to the ways that they were to be
found. Perhaps Mana and Thunder weren't as bad of a team as she
originally thought. Mana was clearly a little more serious about
his job than Thunder was... or perhaps more competent but she
wasn't one to judge, and since she hadn't seen them fight
together before, she was certain that there was some sort of
synergy that they had with each other despite the childishly
goofy nature of Thunder. Still, the different ways that he
showed that nature still gave Blossom pause, as she stopped her
copying for a brief second to look up at Mana with a 'you can't
be serious' look when he mentioned the emblems with the smiley
faces under them. Whatever, at least she knew which stockpiles
would be more useful than the others now.
With that out of the way, she rolled up her map and then looked
at Bastion as the Princess asked if they had anything else that
they needed to ask about their mission, making sure that he
wasn't about to say anything, and if he did ask anything, making
sure to let him say it before she said, "No, your highness, we
have no further questions. We shall await your arrival." After
saying that, she turned around with Bastion and exited the room,
making sure to close the door behind the two of them before
standing off to the side with Bastion, staying quiet for a few
seconds before whispering, "Tell me that you are not the only
one who is excited for this, s'il vous plait. We finally have an
important mission given by the princess herself! Oh, mon pére
would be so proud... So what do you think this amulet does? I've
never seen nor heard anything of it before."
#Post#: 2066--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Bastion Date: April 7, 2014, 8:51 am
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Bastion shook his head slightly after Gleam said Bastion might
have 'accidentally' shown wisdom. Crotchety old coot indeed. He
wondered momentarily if the stallion had forgotten to take his
medicine that day, before perking his ears up and turning his
attention to Celestia when she responded. Being the obedient
soldier he was, Bastion deferred to her wisdom and bowed his
head in acknowledgement, before shaking his head after he was
asked if there was anything else. This was then followed by him
exiting the room alongside Blossom, an excited grin having been
unable to be kept from his face. He glanced over to Blossom as
she spoke before snickering at her words, unsure if she meant to
mess them up as she did. "I dunno, Salmon," he whispered back,
glancing around the immediate area for a moment to make sure
there were no prying ears before continuing.
"It could literally be anything. A magical focus, a key to
something else, an object for scrying, something imbued with
some kind of spell, a power source... I mean, it's an object
from the old castle. The possibilities are really endless. Who
knows what sort of treasures are in that vault? Secrets long
buried? We'll be the first in years to see it. We'll be
unearthing history. It's just a shame we'll only be retrieving
the one item... But, orders are orders," he said with a shrug
before playfully smirking to her. "As for whether I'm the only
one excited for this... That's a good question. Are you excited
for this?"
#Post#: 2133--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Princess Celestia Date: April 10, 2014, 11:07 am
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"Simply picking up a few extra rings would surely fail to grab
any notice," Gleam grumbled a bit, he too having been asked to
grant the Princess and her guards privacy and leaving the room,
"a scroll, some gems, maybe a small weapon or two. Would rather
we risked it than lose everything when a tremor brings what's
left of that castle down..." Passing by the other two ponies
outside the room without so much as a glance, the stallion
continued on with a few more grumbles before vanishing with a
pop as he decided to teleport elsewhere in the castle. Meanwhile
the only other pony to leave the room was the mare with her
notebook, her stepping out and exchanging a few words with one
of the door guards before trotting off to the side and sitting
down, the mare then flipping through her notes to review the
recorded conversation and extra information gathered.
#Post#: 2154--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Blossom Gale Date: April 11, 2014, 6:07 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Blossom smiled at Bastion, "You have no idea how excited I am
for this Bastille. We are finally doing something other than
guarding a door for hours on end, something that the princess
specifically chose us to do, and..." she trailed off as she saw
the door starting to open again, instinctively snapping back to
attention. Was the princess already coming out to see them so
soon? Nope, it was just Instructor Gleam, muttering to himself
about how the two of them were not asked to get anything else
from this vault. He didn't even glance their way as he left the
room, which didn't bother Blossom at all. He was just being
salty. The only other mare to come from the room was the mare
who kept track of everything that was said during these little
meetings, and seemed to follow Celestia wherever she went.
After watching her go and sit down nearby, Blossom then turned
to Bastion again and said, "Only a few seconds to get in the
vault and get back out though... that could be pretty hard to do
for even one amulet. It is probably for the better that we are
only being sent to find one thing. I don't want to think about
what it would be like to be trapped in there, with nothing but
your own humiliation to keep you company while you wait to be
rescued, hoping that you don't starve to death, or worse." After
saying that, Blossom looked back at the mare looking over her
notepad before deciding to walk over and ask, "Puis-je vous
demander, mademoiselle, why is the Princess suddenly so
interested in going back to the old castle to get this amulet,
and even then, why only just the amulet?"
#Post#: 2181--------------------------------------------------
Re: Float Like a Parasprite, Sting Like a Manticore
By: Bastion Date: April 15, 2014, 6:21 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Bastion smirked playfully to Blossom when she mentioned being
excited about doing something other than door guarding, the
large unicorn knowing exactly how she felt. They'd finally be
doing something that was something other than just standing
around. His gaze moved over to the door briefly to see who was
leaving, only to roll his eyes slightly when he saw it was
Gleam. Nothing too important. The mare who had been keeping
track of everything coming out of the room was a surprise to
him, though. He'd have thought she'd still be needed in there...
Bastion perked his ears and glanced over to Blossom as she began
expression her worries over the possibilities of what could
happen while they were retrieving the amulet, a slight shrug
offered to her in response. That was just part of the job,
wasn't it? And there wouldn't be much humiliation to it, not if
it was a very real possibility that the door wouldn't stay open
for very long... Bastion couldn't really voice any of these
thoughts though, as Blossom directed her attention to the nearby
mare. Shrugging it off with a slight rise of his shoulders,
Bastion also looked over to the mare, then after Blossom was
finished, piped up with his own question of, "And might I ask
why you've been sent out here? I would have thought you'd still
be needed inside..."
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