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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 0:24:35 GMT -5
Her questioning tone amused him. There were indeed several types of sea-born ponies, almost as varied as earth-born ponies. Kelpies were some of the most dangerous and predatory sorts, but individuals did make the species worthwhile. He never bothered learning their differences as similarities were easier to regard. The spirit disliked dealing with mortal beings anyway. He knew that, in the blink of an eye, they would be gone before he could fully understand their intricacies as a species. Sometimes he simply enjoyed his time with the Mane, Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He knew how limited it was. Playing every day and having adventures helped him hold those precious memories during those times of change.
Playing such games with the princess surely entertained the spirit, but he also did so because hecared, in a way. He recognized that there was a balance, even if he, himself sometimes failed to accept it. If he gave them all the answers, the spirit risked a grave imbalance that he would be forced to repair or maintain the burden of. It was like giving away all the questions at an exam determining the fate of the world. Give the wrong answers to the wrong being, and you ran the chance of annihilating the very coil you spent your life trying to hold for the sake of... Well it rightly didn't matter why he did it, but this was his realm now. He wasn't going to give it up to the higher powers without a fight, universe be damned.
A great deal did often lay on the line when Discord 'played'. The games had strict, often useless rules he broke or changed to ensure a favorable result for himself. Why was it all so complicated? If one truly wished to know He answer: all they need do is look at the stars. Those were all the realities he was responsible for. Worlds he had to save or abandon were a were whim on his part, yet a cosmically aligned plan. Or not. There was a real understanding Discord. One just excepted the possibility of inevetebility.
Sometimes he hated the game, but in the same breath he did not want to lose them. "Well, typically these explanations come with flashbacks, but it seems, this time around, we were not provided one." It was hard telling if he was being facetious. "What - are you doing?" It was rather amusing watching the mare track her prey from his position.
The draconequus watched her form shift about, his eyes pinching up in beguilement. When she discovered the drained Cokcateice the spirit could not resist the shiver that came with the unnerving sight. His tail could behind him and raised up so the tufted end was in the air. He slithered about with disgust before looking to Luna. His head cocked to the side in thought. He wondered if it was she the gypsy pony spoke of, but of the mare was pregnant she showed no signs, but also spoke nothing of it. Were neithwr of them…? It was a great worry we Celestia was injured. Her condition would be over more critical had she been with foal.
He couldn't leave Luna to hunt such a creature were she too… Though there was a lingering doubt that neither of them… wanted with him… a foal. He chuckled at the thought. Who would want to birth a little hodgepodge meanace? He was too handsome to replicate! His ears swept back as his head lowered. "You're overly protective. I am sure its not that bad." The cockatrice looked really bad.
There was no convincing of that.
Deeper in there were a few nocturnal critters about. A pack of Timberwolves were stalking prey, but something was stalking them. Howls of terror ripped across the pack as the target of worry tore through the thicket of wolves, turning them into magicless tinder. The last wolf fell in on itself, it's dark eyes losing color as their reserves were sapped. The creature did not linger, for its hunger seemed insatiable. The moonlit skies did little to penetrate the forest. As the night ticked along, darkness only became more intimate.
Discord felt his feathers ruffle, worry clawing at his chest. "Come now Lulu~ I am sure we could play this game another time." Were he to ask her to quit, the competitive princess would more forcibly refuse. "It will probably become sate after a bite or two." But his vigilant temptations were cut short by the ailing howls of the Timberwolf pack…
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Post by Mal on Aug 10, 2016 19:08:34 GMT -5
The alicorn's ears flicked back when Discord said something of a flashback. "I do not understand." She really didn't. It was another of those things with Discord that just plain didn't make sense, and something Luna eventually learned not to question or think too hard about. It was better that way, than asking questions one might not like the answers to. They might even make the whole matter more confusing than before. It just wasn't worth it.
"I am trying to follow the creature's tracks so that we may find it and deal with it." There were the drag marks, disturbing the forest leaf litter, and sometimes disturbed undergrowth. If there were any marks on the trees, they were either too faint or Luna missed them in the gloom. Did it have spikes? Spines? Claws? She could hardly imagine what it was, or what it even looked like. Nothing of what she'd seen of its tracks or heard about it thus far resonated in her mind with anything she already knew and there were a great many creatures.
It had to be something very old, or something new.
Luna opened her mouth to speak against Discord's claim of her being 'overprotective,' and she was immediately cut off by the sounds of those timberwolf cries. There was something in those calls and howls that sounded frightened, or pained. What was worse was when they abruptly cut off, one by one. Luna froze, one foreleg cocked up against her chest and her head lifted towards a starry sky she saw only glimpses of through the leaves, those ears perked forward, alert. It didn't sound good.
"'Tis no game, and I do not think a beast like this will give up easily. One need only remember Tirek and his conquest." Luna replied with a stern tone of voice. She didn't want to go anywhere until it was dealt with, not if it might eventually take its fill of the Everfree and move on towards Ponyville. This was her duty. It occurred to her that it was very dangerous, and that if it absorbed magic.. how was she to deal with it? She was an alicorn, and her magic was great. She might easily end up no different than the cockatrice..
Princess Luna stalked on at a quickened pace, yet her careful movements still spoke of how she strove for silence over the disturbed forest floor. Her wings were half unfurled over her sides as though she were preparing to take off at a moment's notice. Which might very well be a possibility if she came upon the beast quickly.
Her approach towards where she'd heard the timberwolves' death cries eventually brought her upon their scattered, mossy wooden remains. She stepped gingerly among them, expecting them to reanimate.. but all of their magic was gone. She didn't need to extend her magic out to feel that. It was disturbing, almost as disturbing as finding the cockatrice a near-dried husk. "A whole pack.." Luna murmured, frowning deeply. She walked around the scattered pieces of wood, the signs of their scuffle and struggle, to see if she couldn't pick up the trail again. She would find it, and find a way to deal with it.
How? She couldn't form a battleplan when she hadn't yet seen what all the creature was capable of, short of its leavings. It was a serious matter that Luna was dead set on, despite Discord's apparent hesitation. This was her duty.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 2:28:33 GMT -5
The spirit did sometimes speak of peculiar things, but his extensive knowledge of things past and future had a habit of meshing. Parallel worlds and alternate realities were a staple of his entertsinment. He was sure, there was a him, that never changed for the sisters as he had come to be now. While he did not regret his choice: he did feel that it made watching over them more intimate. They had been his from the moment he saw them. He did not see them as objects… toys to be broken. More to the truth he saw them as dolls. They were precious treasures to be coveted. He had never seen any creature like these alicorn. Naturally he found himself drawn to them, wanting to play. This was all a game for him. The prize was time spent loving to the fullest of existence's possibilities.
He had nearly broke out in laughter watching Luna track her prey. His paw, claw, talon and hoof were firmly pressed to the thickly growing grasses, so his head would be forced to curl to better view the mare's perspective. She explained of her desire to find it and put true actions behind her words. He could understand that, as a princess: she was driven to such. But he felt she was more than a princess.
A fallible title.
He would humor her, seeing as she was stunned by his proclimations, that or the howls of agony ringing from deep within the forest. He was going to go with her being taken aback by his wit, for the latter possibility was more unsettling. The spirit was not scared of much, if anything, but: the utterance of Tirek's name struck him deeply. His face soured for but a second before he regained his oily composure. His smiled, baring his teeth in a calm agreement. No, he did not ever wish for something like Tirek to happen again.
His scaly tail pushed to rest on the ground before it pushed forward. His hind legs raised up, forelimbs holding solid. As Luna moved in the stealthy manner she did, he would hobble along with his tailpushing his hindquarters up and forward. When the touched down silently he would raise his forelimbs to reach out as he crawled, trying to mimic her hushed movements. Once arrived on the grounds where the Timberwolves had met match and we're defeated, Discord would be overcome with a sense of familiarity. His ears pinned back as they tread over the discarded stick bundles.
"Why do I recall a scene similar to this?" It was something in the back of his mind. "At the end of the world…" What world?
The spirit shot up and ambled towards Luna before making move to throw himself against her. A spray of needle-like spines were shot towards them. Discord pulled up his feather covered wing to shield the mare. If not for the well-groomed wing the neddles would have found purchase, but fumbled off the draconequus, leaving him to tsk, in pain. Whatever shot the spines at them escaped deeper into the forest.
The creature was heavy with its meal and moved its way further into the forest. It would eventually come upon a small passage which lead into a water filled cavern where a pony's knees would barely stand above the the water's height. Its trail led towards it before its tracks vanished altogether. The cavern itself led down a narrow path into a more widely open chamber. It was filled with water, but if one was above a pony's average height, they would stand no complications.
Discord was having second thoughts. "I am sure it is fine. Animals hunt each other all the tiiiim." Sheer avoidance. "Luna, it is not safe. I am sure it will live well in the forest with so many animals to feast from!" But just what was feasting had Discord reluctant to find this memory.
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Post by Mal on Aug 11, 2016 15:27:58 GMT -5
Luna never saw the look on Discord's face, nor anything else he was doing, with her attention focused ahead and on the scattered wreckage of the timberwolves. It was grisly fate that would befall anything that got in the creature's way that possessed magic, but perhaps more akin to the cockatrice than the timberwolves.
Her ears turned back towards Discord shortly before her head followed, gaze landing on the draconequus with a questioning puzzlement. "What is this similar to?" Did Discord run into something like this before? He might have, to know what crept through these woods. "End of the world?" That sounded greatly concerning, if the states of the beast's victims weren't already. Her musings were interrupted when Discord launched himself at her, and she caught the briefest glimpses of those incoming spines before the world tilted and she landed on her side. Her wings had been lifted above her back, so the one closest to the ground simply lay stretched across the disturbed earth rather than crumpled awkwardly beneath her. One of her shoes felt a bit loose.
"Discord!" Luna exclaimed, not out of any sort of aggravation that he might have hindered her from facing the beast, but out of concern. Did he get hit by them? Were they poisonous? She worried over that as she tried to quickly heave herself up, despite the weight of the chaos spirit's long body. If it came after them while they were down and in a tangle..
It didn't. She could faintly hear its faint passage through the trees and underbrush, fading away from them. It left clear tracks up to this point, and Luna didn't see why it wouldn't continue to do so. She felt assured that she wouldn't lose its trail and sat up, provided that she could get mostly clear of Discord's body, and bent to inspect his side. "Are you well? Did any of those spines hit you?" She fussed, reaching for his wing. She could see some of the needle-like spines littered on the ground where they'd fallen. Her snout wrinkled at the sight of them, but Discord himself seemed.. okay. The princess could only hope.
"Indeed, it is not safe. It is troubling. What if it were to devour the magic of everything in the forest and moved on to Ponyville? Each pony holds a kind of magic unique to their species, and a place such as that so close by would become a feasting ground for it. Furthermore, what if it were to find the Tree of Harmony? We do not know what would happen were the Tree to die, or what would happen to the Elements. The six embody them, but nopony knows if their magic will fade with the Tree's." Luna was stubbornly denying giving up on chasing the beast, even if she knew the dangers.
The nightbringer rose to her hooves, adjusting a silver shoe until it was fitting properly, and shook out her wings. Her gaze went off to where the foliage was disturbed, her brow furrowed in thought. It attacked them and fled, rather than showing its face (if it had one) to try to take their magic. Did they have too much magic for it? Careful you don't swallow something that chokes you..
"As much as I may like to ask you to keep your distance for your safety, I fear I may need your help with this creature, too." The princess didn't want to put him in any danger, not considering that she was putting herself in danger too. Overconfidence of the young. Luna strode off towards the part of the undergrowth and tried to find the path down again, if Discord made no move to stop her.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 2:41:02 GMT -5
No needles seemed to penetrate his wing, but they did scrape against the softer flesh of the appendage beneath. The limb remained held over the mare, shielding her. It was an obvious nuisance by the way Discord sneered. While not one to put himself between danger and others, he threw himself against Luna in a calculated fashion. He had been watching the treeline, his easily distracted nature overcome by his overwhelming desire to covet his little alicorn. His body had crumpled over Luna in a purposeful manner. Not one inch of her was left exposed so that, had it decided to pursue them, the spirit would hold as a convenient target. Even his head had settled close to hers, ears pinning flat at her cry.
His paw had slammed down against the ground behind the mare's head, his claws digging into the soils. The manticore limb was strong so as it flexed it would tighten and stretched in such a way that it was denied visible vulnerability. His eagle's claw was curled against his chest, at the ready. Talon and hood were spread apart over the mare, his drafon's tail coiled, with spines out, guarding the rear. His feathered coat had puffed out, heavy breathing apparent as their bodies were meshed closely for what seemed like minutes as the creature made its pass.
It was testing them…
When the mare sought to raise from the awkward position he pressed his tail to the geound, as well as his claw, and pulled feom.her. the azure wing flexed a bit before it curled away against the middle of his back. Her question drew a confused look, at first. He had not realized he acted until he was sitting up. It did no damage to his flesh, or pride, but the scrapes little burned to take notice of. His head lowered and turned away as his body gave full heave to Stan from its position. Once he was standing upright he pinned his gaze against the woods.
"It was an accident." He refused, but it was no accident he pressed himself, just at that miment, against the mare.
The creature pushed through the waters. Its excess weight pushed dirt and mud aside as it slithered into the waters, only to roam clear out and onto the stony embankment. There was a passage that led into a cavern, or more over: a series of cavern dug deeper and deeper into the soils. Many of the walls corners were occupied by multicolored geodes. What was not painted in the glistening blue of the crystals wad layered with glowing, green moss, fed by the darkness. It was a sight to behold.
Discord gave his wings a flex before dropping down to all fours. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when, short of saying no, encouraged the possibility that this was a bad idea. As the king of bad ideas, the draconequus felt they could learn a thing or two! The amount of math required for such seemed, naturally, beyond a warrior princess. He had his theory about the creature. Luna went on to express deeper worries that he had not even considered. What if it did find the Tree of Harmony quite the snack? Could it hurt them?
The idea was planted.
"What was I thinking?" The mare walked passed him, intent on finding the product of the environment, but -- was it?
He moved to amble after Luna, unwilling to leave her a free target for the - whatever it was. Mismatched limbs carried the beast along, the starry tail of the lunar princess kept in focus. She requested his help as well. No ego could ignore such from such an esteemed ruler~! Though moreover it was something ho a beloved required him for.
The trail was simple enough to locate, but once they arrived the creature had already made way down to the second, of three chambers. Each subsequent chamber would have more and more signs of being lived in. The second chamber itself seemed to have an abandoned camp, tent and all! It was eerie to think anypony could love in such a heated, pressurized environ. Yet, despite the uninhabited system, there were a few signs of life here and there…
The beast would continue on towards the third chamber of grey stone.
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Post by Mal on Aug 12, 2016 3:09:20 GMT -5
Princess Luna didn't think she ever saw Discord posed such, when he placed himself over her so protectively. It was something she hadn't yet seen until now, and that his immediate instinct was to protect her was touching. Impressive, even. It marked a great change in his development over the months spent together, and forged a new, stronger friendship. Her mind mulled over this while she inspected the tree edge, her ears perked towards any distant rustling sounds as the beast went on its way, growing fainter and fainter every moment. Gone.
The dark lady considered the treeline a moment more before she turned back towards Discord, having heard his admission that it was an accident. Either that was true and he didn't know what he was doing until he'd done it, or he was simply trying to cover up that he did something for another pony. For her. Luna wouldn't push the beast by staying on its heels and let it go on its way for the time being, letting it calm down and think it lost its pursuers.
"We do not know what damage those spines would have caused us, and for you to leap into action to protect me was noble." Luna praised, moving close to the ambling draconequus, her head dipping down to plant a kiss on one of his bony cheeks. There was only so many spells that had been made and learned on combating different poisons and toxins. If there were any in those thrown needles.. She didn't want to think about it. "Thinking, of what?" The night princess queried of him, biding her time a moment longer for his answer. She was picking the right time to head back into the woods to follow it, whether through the Everfree Forest further or to wherever it kept its lair.
Luna was still alert for any unusual noises and chose to move on once she felt their time in the clearing and its scattered timberwolf wreckage was done. She stepped into the trees, one ear tilted back towards Discord to give him her attention and the other perked forward. Her head was lowered slightly, her wings still held half open as the princess crept alone, following the messy tracks left by her quarry. Her progress was eventually halted when they reached the water, and it was there she couldn't determine where it'd gone. It took her a few moments of gazing out at what soon became apparent to her to be a lake. Not only a lake, but the very same lake they landed at, but facing it at a different direction. There was even the distant armoire.
"It lead us in a circle!" Luna snorted, lighting her horn so that a single, small ball of moonlight gathered at the tip to cast light on the dark waters of the lake. Silver moonlight glinted off of the water, and she came to notice the surface wasn't as still as it had been, with only the occasional ripple from a breeze, but greatly disturbed as though something had passed through. Tilting her head, Luna moved to wade into the water, glancing up briefly at the opposite shore. She didn't think there was a trail of tracks over there, and there didn't seem to be. So it was.. underground, perhaps? An underwater lair?
Fighting it there would be rather difficult, and Luna felt she might have to draw it back out to face it on her terms. She cast a quizzical glance back at Discord. "What do you know of this lake?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 16:58:25 GMT -5
The draconequus would not admit to the worry that consumed him when Luna was put in even a modicum of danger. There was something unsettling about the familiarity he had towards the stalking creature of consumption. He had reacted without instinct because it was his nature to be selfish, so the idea he did not purposefully act was difficult fantasy to hold. He never thought himself the sort to interfere, or care. He had shown the same initiative and worry when they had been exploring the burnt down bakery. Twas but a sprain she suffered, but it annoyed him, even angered the chimeric spirit. It was worrying that he was attaching himself to them. Was that what it meant to bond with another?
He had never had such an emotion before.
Luna's words caught his attention, those rounded ears focusing on her smooth tone. When she spoke he felt it in his chest. That commanding force the sisters naturally held. It was his delight to defy them, but hearing he was praised for his actions caused his ego to swell greatly. Hearing the sisters submit to his affluence was -- delightful, but it was also a bit embarrassing. Feeling her muzzle against his cheek caused a light dusting of pink to light his snout. His ears pinned to his skull, touched by the admiration, something he was not often granted by others, unless it was for his capacity for mischief.
She questioned his words, the spirit chuckling. "Sarcasm my love." He offered when she wondered what he meant by thinking. "I see it was foolish to propose our return to the castle after such headway. You are quite the proud warrior~" He returned the praise.
His wings gave another flap. He felt a distinct numbness in his flesh. He was scratched by the needles so, while none stuck to his wings, it did manage to cut and infect. He hoped it was not too bad. Had he encountered the creature before? If so, when? Where? What reality?
He was not worried about poison. While it could sicken his biology, it could not kill him. He was as vulnerable as any mortal to internal ailments such as poisons and magical viruses. But the death associated with them was not a worry. Besides if he became ill than the sisters would care for him, won't they? He always did his best to kiss it better. The thought made him chuckle. He shifted his weight to follow the mare with a reasonable pace, at least as much as a mismatched spirit could.
The spirit was surprised by Luna's claim. "How can you tell?" The forest looked the same to him all around.
If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all. The leylines here were so crisscrossed that he could hardly sense his way. The only point of reference he had was the Tree of Harmony and the Sister's old castle. They were back at the lake they previously explored. The serpentine spirit slithered passed the armoire and would give pause, his head raising as he looked toward the wardrobe. His tail's tuft fluffed as it formed into a hand-like shape. The grabbing tuft moved to the door's handle and pulled it open. Had it been used recently? It was a sturdy artifact. So mucah so that, over the years of its existence, it is claimed to be invincible. The lock looks to have been forced, scratching the metal. Forcing it open in such a way alters the transmutation spell on it.
He scoffed. "This was a gift from a decent king I once knew." His tail flicked as he turned to follow Luna. "He was well meaning, harsh, but never one to interfere too deeply in his kingdom's affairs." But his kingdom didn't last.
The caverns went quite deep. The trail from the beast had stopped at the edge of the water within its confines. But, instead of going in the water, it veered off and was straight for a stone pillar. The trail ended there. But while they were outside, the pair had naught but a muddy trail to follow. Walking up the the lake's edge he came to a stop, Luna's vocals causing his ears to twitch.
"It did not used to be a lake, but a river." Much of which was underground now. "This whole area had been a bit different from when we were younger. Or perhaps we are bigger… the stoned were larger, the water used to flow. Now it is still. The cult, from what I recall, had a temple inside a nearby cave, but the land has changed." How long had it been?
There was so much he couldn't remember.
A chill rushed down his spine feeling a breeze crawl up from -- below? He moved to walk up toward the mare's side before leaning up against her, chuckling in a mischievous tone. "What do you remember of this place? Certainly things were always as they were?" No, much has changed.
Where ever Luna decided to go, though, he would follow. He had come this far with her.
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Post by Mal on Aug 12, 2016 18:47:24 GMT -5
The night diarch had something of an ego herself, but she was capable of keeping a good handle on it. To hear Discord praise her as a proud warrior pleased her along the way, but she didn't let it disrupt her focus on trying to discover where the beast went. Standing in the water now, Luna thought to move back onto dry land and removed her regalia, placing them in a small pile. She didn't need them and they'd just float off of her underwater anyway.
"I can tell because I once explored the Everfree Forest extensively in my youth," it was as close as she could come to referring to that time without always saying 'a thousand years ago' or 'before my banishment.' She glanced towards Discord when he mentioned the pony, a king, who he'd given the armoire to. Was it possible for a decent king to exist? The only king Luna knew of was King Sombra, and he existed back in the Canterlot castle. "I see."
"The lake does look somewhat unfamiliar, but I can see how that could have changed over so many years. A cave would make sense for a creature like that, or any creature." Luna replied, her eyes turning away from where Discord inspected the armoire again to the shore, studying it and any nearby signs of her quarry's passage. She leaned back against the spirit when he returned, her gaze still focused elsewhere. Her head dipped down to gently rub her head against Discord's before she gently extracted herself from him, moving towards the pillar and what looked like part of a dark, gaping cave mouth. Some of it was above the water. Luna didn't mind the possibility of getting wet and began to wade right in to inspect it. Was it the cave Discord mentioned or just a shallow dip in the rocks?
She cast a glance back. "The Everfree Forest, from what I have seen of it, has changed somewhat. Most of the trees are still where they have always been, but life changes as it grows. It is familiar to me, but only in appearance. Like meeting an old friend after being many years apart and discovering that you cannot quite connect as you once have." Luna gave her reply before she moved into the cave-like space, shedding light into the dark within as she thought to explore it first. There was nowhere else.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2016 3:45:18 GMT -5
Discord rummaged through his memories. He wondered if half the ones he had of the armoire were even true, or of this world. There was no telling how many places he had crossed, or the artifact had traveled, until either of them ended up here at this point. Perhaps that was the trouble with immortality. The prospect of seeing everypony around you ending before their time, was not something one as aged as he could remorse for he had no attachments and neither was he able to regard the time spent with other beings as anything but a moment in what is an infinitely turning realm. It was also hard to find worry when you wield the capacity to travel back, long before their end.
Perhaps that was the secret to his immortality It was not a long life, but one that never had an end, nor a beginning. But he did begin somewhere. He had a mother and he had a father, through the latter he had never before seen. He was raised, and he continued long after all his kind vanished, scattered. Amongst the wind there were pieces of his race, somewhere. It was one of the few puzzles he could not solve. Where had he come from? Had he remained, would he have still found Celestial and Luna? Part of him questioned the chance he had finding them, but a much larger part denied the process of luck in their meeting. It was design that led him to them.
Everything was bound to happen, after it happened, thus once it happened it was set in apart from the reality that it did not happen. No measure of stepping back in time would change, here, what already happened. But there were also two different types of time travel… the latter he would never participate in. Not after what it had once created. Somewhere there was a world that was no more because of such interference…
That all aside Discord could see that even within such a short time the Everfree had changed more than he could offer credit for. As the god of chaos, creation and change were at the forefront of his abilities. Though confusion and strife were paramount to his better know afflictions he was not some disease that rolled around when a species was doing well. It was a balancing act, one he had perhaps ruined in his jealousy and anger toward the sisters. Thoigh, he would never tell them that! He did suspect they may know… The affectionate touches from Luna, from either of them, was proof of their forgiveness and love, or foolishness. He hadn't decided.
Discord was not inclined to wade his way through the water as easily as Luna. In fact he was so remiss to do so that he sat up in the dry land evading the inevitable as long as he could. Was it the cat in him, or the fact he had very thick, feathers that were not oiled for watery enterprises? No, it was far more ridiculous.
"And me without any sunning oil or my bathing suit." He grumped. Though complaining he would stand up on his hind legs and follow Luna at a slackened pace. "The guides didn't say anything about ancient, sunken caverns. I would suggest filing a complaint with Tia and getting your bits back!" He looked around the cavernous maw.
Stalagmites and stalactites littered the ground and ceiling, respectively. To them was a sense if age. They were numerous and of various lengths and widths. Though much of the walls were a dull, repetitive grey, the calcified, limestone structures were nearly as clear as crystals. The whiteish-silvery hue reflected the water, lit aglow by the fungi radiating fairy fire. The blue-green glow was unnatural, likely the cause of migrating Breezies or other faefolk. Soft dripping caused the water to ripple, forcing what should be silent, still water into a symphonic display of natural disorder creating order. The drips made soft, rhythmic sounds, causing aquatic inhabitants to move, scurry and travel. Some of the local fish would attempt to nip at the soft fire of the traveling mare in search of motes and ticks that could be gathered while loafing about the woods.
Twas awe-inspiring.
But it also his a predator that could do them harm. Discord pressed his paw against the structure of a stone. He was knee-deep in water and found such highly unpleasant. He dragged himself after the mare, the water fighting his forward march. It was not until a shadow moved across the walls showing something slithering overhead, upon a overhang of stone that sat above the water. There was no room to fly, but one could leap and make it above were they agile enough. There was purchase for one's hooves and a whole secondary ecosystem that had begun to grow there.
It was clear the cavern was submerged recently. Or, at least, resubmerged. Fungi, flowers, and moss grew along the lime-path, but a portion was disturbed, leading into another chamber, one far larger, and deeper underground, than where they were. The deeper the two would travel, the hotter it became.
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Post by Mal on Aug 13, 2016 4:12:05 GMT -5
The lack of knowledge Luna had on the creature she stalked was something she worried about, and creeping into the dark cavern that lead underground began to make her feel nervous. She made sure not to show it just in case Discord grew concerned. She didn't know if he was, he might've been. He was cracking more of his typical vein of jokes which Luna took heart in, despite the danger that might lie ahead. She let them roll over her, soothe her, with their lightheartedness.
Her eyes picked out the bioluminescent fungi that lined the damp stone walls with interest, studying them for a brief moment in passage. The Everfree Forest was capable of so much, and it still amazed her what it tended to churn out once in a while. Even here, down in a cave. Her going was made easier without her shoes, where there was no chance they might try to slip off her wet hooves or trip her up while she walked carefully. It was difficult to stay quiet while wading through water, and she could hope that the beast was either far away enough to not hear them entering its lair, or it had fallen asleep after its violent hunting.
"I didn't know this cavern even existed." Luna admitted in a hushed tone of voice, striving to not allow her voice to be carried and echoed by the stone walls. Her eyes briefly went down to the movements of the fish in the water, which she disregarded as nothing more than a minor distraction if there were no biting ones among them. Her gaze moved back up to the path ahead as her horn lit the way with shining moonlight, easy on the eyes and one's night vision compared to the harsh glare of sunlight.
The shadow prompted Luna to stop in place and look up quickly, attempting to shed the light of her horn on the ceiling overhead. What was that? It didn't make any overly loud noises, or any noise at all that Luna could discern. It might not be what she hunted, but she gave the ceiling a wary study nonetheless. Provided that whatever moved didn't come for them, she struck on to move down deeper into the caverns. It was unusual that it should be so warm underground; Luna thought it would've gotten colder, instead. She kept a sharp eye out for any sign of her quarry; not that she'd recognize it, when she never even got a clear look at it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 2:34:30 GMT -5
The waters were strangely cool, despite the growing heat, the deeper they went. Discord found that this venture was quickly becoming a disservice. He had only meant it as a joke, a wild goosing! But he was becoming increasingly stranded by the idea of trouble on the horizon. Sure he would start off with a sound plan, but along the way the choices made drove his plots off course. It was not usually something that discouraged him. He was a god of chaos. Nothing could be planned for without the inevitable discord that followed. Self induced puns were rife, this situation stinking of sabatoge. Night Prophet was still suffering Celestia's punishment, of sorts, so it was not him. Discord had become overly concerned with the solar maiden's distress to infer strife of his own.
So what was this?
The caverns were … far less habitable than they had been in his memory. This used to be a shrine, but now it was something akin to a grave. His digits flexed, body moving through the waters with a more awkward pace. His tail tried to remain above the waters, but skated against the surface, disturbing the fish in hiding, darting from Luna as she approached. The spirit would cross his gorelimbs over his chest and put on his thinking face. His thinking cap immediately appeared atop his head: a rainbow colored skullcap with a spinning fan atop it. Luna's words were heard. He would agree on the ignorance of the caverns existing.
"They didn't before. Something has changed." Discord has spoken up, his usual, scathing tone of sarcasm now rolling with curiosity. "Well hopefully we don't field the secret origins of nomadic ponies. I would be remiss to find another lascaux," he rumbled. "It's become a karst, in the very recent." He stroked his beard with interest.
For the water to have appeared like this, so recently, something fantastic would have had to happen. Had somepony come down here and remove the armoire? He would almost think that Nereid stayed behind, but… The spirit waved his claw dismissively only to freeze when something, soundlessly, skulked through some shadows. Luna turned he light upon the walls above, but nothing… The star littered mare moved along ahead, Discord quickly following.
"You know I have half a mind to put an end to this darkness!" But the other half was sort of …woozy?
The spines had been venomous, but the spirit hadn't felt anything terrible aferwars. He was starting to feel a little woozy now. Dizzy. When they entered the next chamber the hum of crystals filled one's senses. It would explain the intense heat for this entire room reverberated with magical harmonics. It was a strange phenomenon around areas with strong, magical fountains. Leylines, and whatever else dispensed magic into an environment were sometimes known to generate organic crystals that could be used for mafic. Sometimes they became gems, other times they remained in natural states, just as these. The quartz-like stones looked like Spears and swords embedded into a warrior's geaveyard.
If a creature that consumed magic wanted to be anyplace: here it was. Discord was no longer able to withstand it. The heat, the magic, the poison combination… he would collapse against the crystalline waters with a splash. When the spirit fell the beast crawled from its hiding spot. It had been the reason it was not seen. It was the fact it could not be heard… a body like a snake, but the black scales of a dragon. In had no eyes and down from its skull to its neck were spines, barbed for the displeasure of enemies. It seemed to have green-glowing gills it exhaled excess magic it fed off from.
Discord opened an eye, half his head pressed to the water. "It's slow…light…wrym." he murmured between the stabs of achiness and sleep from the poison. The wide mouthed wyrm hissed out and dove behind the numerous, reflective crystal pillars. It sought to take a bite from its collapsed prey. That was how it hunted: ambush, poison, and stalk.
((Bad rolls. Discord was eforced by the poison minimally (34% resist), but (2) rounds drain his stamina))
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Post by Mal on Aug 14, 2016 10:12:37 GMT -5
It wasn't as difficult for Luna, with her long legs and stride, to wade through the knee deep waters. It was slow going, but not difficult. The coolness of the waters helped against the rising heat, the deeper down into the caverns they went. Why was it so warm down here? Was there a natural hot springs somewhere, or perhaps some sort of heat vent? It was awfully close to the surface, if so. An ear tilted towards Discord's sarcastic tone of voice as he spoke of the ponies that once used this place, what it'd become. It took her a moment to search her memory for what exactly Discord was saying, words she hadn't heard used in a long time; or they just never came up in everyday conversation.
"I am trying my best to keep the caverns lit, and it will only go so far. I can try to make it brighter." Luna offered casually at Discord's bout at the natural darkness. It didn't bother her so much. She was made to deal with the darkness, with shadows and all manner of things that sheltered in it. It eventually turned out that she didn't need to put any more magic into her light, when they reached the next large cavern. She sensed the magic emanating from it before she saw the light of the crystals and the scene laid out for them. There were so many magically powered crystals here.. Was this the beast's lair? And if so, why didn't it simply feed off of the magic of the crystals?
Luna's brow furrowed and she was disrupted from her train of thought by a splash beside her, and she turned to him even as she heard Discord's uneven voice. "Discord?" The diarch asked, concerned, about to bend to check on him when the creature she'd been hunting made its appearance. It was, indeed, like nothing she'd ever seen before. Her wings flared out when it moved, coming for them - rather, for Discord. When it lunged, Luna pushed herself into the air with a flap of her wings, half leaping at the creature and bringing all four hooves up to bear. It was a physical response, and she attempted to kick it in the face in an effort to shove it away from Discord.
He protected her from the spines, so she would protect him in turn; but it wasn't just because of that. It was because he was her mate and she would do anything to protect him as much as her own sister. If it was going after Discord because he was weakened, she'd have to keep fending it off.. although Luna did quickly consider she might have to simply whisk him away and try another time. There was no way she could fight it and protect Discord at the same time, no matter how great a warrior princess she might be.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 11:59:40 GMT -5
Discord had recalled it, but a bit too late. Wyrms were often annoying creatures famed for their venom. Normally they were found in mountain ranges, burrowing along the rockfaces, but this one was quite far from home. Feeding primarily off magically imbued phoenix's and simurghs, it was primarily a consumer of avian magic. But if that was the case… why were the Timberwolves targeted? Discord tried to think, but his head was achy, like he missed out on his napping times.
The wyrm was not a nimble creature, by any account. Thus slithering mass, though silent thanks to having precise control of its muscles, was slow and clumsy. It lunged, only for it to be assaulted by the hard hooves of a pony. It let out a shriek, a grotesque sound splintered between the wail of a cockatrice and a sheep. A bizarre comparison, but the creature was already quite strange! Discord was not hirt, but he was not well either. He seemed to have suddenly lost all his energy, but it had been a gradual sensation. When Luna attacked it as such she would, perhaps, be allowed the chance to feel that it was soft to the touch, like a ln earthen worm. It would explain it's hunting tactics. It likely poisoned and ambushed weak prey.
Cowardly in a sense, but persistent.
It seemed quite threatening, mostly due to its length and its red and grey coloration.
It hissed out and would arch it's back, presenting a hood of quills in which it would expand its body and shoot a few out! It wasn't a fantastic display. The quills were flimsy and likely hollow, filled with their venom. After it reacted defensively it would turn to slither away between the resonating crystals. The reason it was lured here, but could not feed, was to the fact: the crystals were hard. It had no eyes so likely could not, at first, differentiate betwixt prey and objects. It was a subterranean beast, blindness often a result of such habitats.
It tried to push through some of the crystals, but became stuck, its body fattened from its previous meals. It was no bigger than a Cragadile, lacking the menacingly, stubby limbs and sturdy carapace.
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Post by Mal on Aug 15, 2016 12:47:32 GMT -5
Luna used her attack against the creature to push herself away from it, bringing her wings forward in a flap that shoved her back with the motion, creating some distance between her in the creature should it try to take a snap at her. It was focused on her now, and at the sight of those spines, she brought up a glowing silver-blue shield between herself and them so that the spines might clatter off of the magic uselessly. If Discord was just now reacting to whatever poison that might be within them, she had no desire to end up with the same fate; they'd both be stuck here, snacks for the wyrm. Her ears were pinned back, teeth bared in a silent snarl. Her eyes followed it when it retreated and she dropped her shield, slowly fluttering back to the water.
The dark lady watched it a moment where it became stuck between two crystals and decided to leave it there for the time being, so that she might check up on Discord. She knelt by him, despite the water, reaching a hoof to gently lift his angular face and stroke a cheek with a soft wingtip. "Are you well? I may deal with the beast now and fly you back to Canterlot, if you can hold out." Luna was already devising ways she could fight it using any part of the environment rather than her magic directly. If she so wished, she could easily find a way to collapse this cavern to trap it here to starve - forever. If it could feed from the crystals somehow, perhaps not, but Luna doubted it if it went hunting the animals of the Everfree Forest.
Luna wanted to wait for Discord's answer. She didn't like the idea of simply leaving him here in the water while she fought the wyrm, not if he was ill or suffering from the effects of a poison unknown to her; and she didn't know many poisons. She was worried for him and his well-being. In truth, she was more concerned with Discord than she was the Everfree Forest. Animals were capable of reproducing, but there was only one Discord (or many, if one thought of the other worlds) but it wasn't the same. She didn't know he was deathless, and after Tia's close brush, she fretted.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 16:37:29 GMT -5
There were many things that existed in this world that were difficult to understand, but others were quite simple. Being trapped in an unfamiliar environment, critically lacking in avian prey, the Wyrm was likely forced to feed outside of its prey sphere, lest starve. a pack of Timberwolves proved too much for its belly, causing it to overeat. There were various creatures of magic in the Everfree that would have lured a magic eater like a Wyrm here, but there was a critical piece of information missing. Wyrms were not native to Equestria. They were, in fact, native to Saddle Arabia, and other desert regions. It was possible this critter simply -- became lost after some of the trouble over yonder, but there is another possibility that it was --
While the pudgy, overfed Wyrm was stuck, Discord was tended to by Luna. It was obvious it was not very clever. "Oh please.." Discord snorted and raised his head, though barely. His muzzle was still laid against his paw as he struggled with a tough act. "I am hardly wilted by that pathetic poison." It seemed to despoil him more as it was made to weaken magical creatures. His only weakness, go figure. "I'm fine. Kick his butt. I'll hold your flower baby..." He was probably delirious from the poison, or being Discord. It was always hard to tell that one.
The spirit was not out of the count yet as he was able to open a bleary eye towards the menacing Wyrm. "While its fond of moonlight, it hates heat." He expressed. These crystals, heated up enough could send it running, but trapping inside was another option. Such an invasive, non native species could prove to endanger Equestria.
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