The Everfree Forest is a vast and rolling sprawl of dense forest that spreads out for miles into the wilderness beyond Ponyville.  It is home to countless animals and monsters alike, as well as the mysterious ruins of an ancient castle that once served as the Princesses' home before Canterlot was founded.  The forest is an incredibly dangerous place and nopony should go in unprepared.  However, for as many risks as these dark woods hold, they also have just as many wonders and amazing secrets waiting to be discovered by someone brave enough for the job.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:32, Sat 14 Apr 2012.

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Day 8 Start!
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A sound in her head. Natra had been meditating for some days on her most recent experiences. It had taken a few days to get everything with the Nature of the Everfree forest all straightened out again and she had been holed up inside a compassionate tree, sick for another day. Her thoughts were surprisingly muddled, darker and more negative than normal as of late. Perhaps something about that experience had rubbed her wrong. She let Nature's Thief get away...

She stood from her place suddenly, that sound in her head. Something in the plants told her something special would happen... Music? Competition? Rainbows? Oh so many strange things the plants talked about, it was... well exactly that, the talk! She made a face of surprise and felt a jangle in her body, like Nature was taking over her will. She gave release to it and let it carry her in a joyous dance about the forest.

"Saki Mika!" She said happily as she thumped a few round gourds to make a happy drumming noise. "Moodi Looni!" She thrummed across some vines, pulled taught from a collapsed tree that had been connected to their anchor tree. The sounds that filled her head made her positive. She thumped on the ground and knocked on trees. Blowing through some plants she knew to be hollow she made a reed-like noise and danced her way through the woods. Everywhere she went, until she reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, was alive with happiness and music. Her hoofsteps went exactly where the grass wanted her to, he body was moving independent of her will. Nature was taking her where she would go. It would be nice to have a healthy change of pace.

-----------> To Ponyville Town Square
This message was last edited by the player at 05:05, Fri 31 Aug 2012.

From Whitetail Woods

Scoots had wandered around, debating whether or not it was a good idea to go into town or not. She had eventually decided against going into town as she would be spotted and sent off to school and thus would end her day of adventure before it had even begun and so she found herself on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. She remembered the last time she had gone in there. It had nearly ended in disaster for all three of the Crusaders.

But that had been at night time.

It was day now and surely all the scary monsters were sleeping or off doing whatever it was that monsters did when they weren't attacking fillies. So it was with a smile and eager trot did she make her way into the forest, sure that she was in for an exciting day of exploring and finding awesome new stuff that nopony had ever found before!

Scoots had to admit, the Everfree Forest? Not so bad during the day. She'd spent awhile simply wandering and seeing what there was. She'd found several caves, though they didn't extend very far, some rather strange looking trees and a river. She'd found a large patch of blue plants but remembered the stories she'd heard from Applebloom about those plants and had avoided those leaves of blue. She'd also found a lake where she'd spent some time throwing rocks into it. She looked back over her shoulder, checking to make sure that crazy squirrel wasn't still following her.

She'd managed to get into a fight with a squirrel and his army of chipmunks. Why he had an army of chipmunks and not squirrels she didn't know. All she knew was that it wasn't her fault his head had been right where she was throwing a rock. She'd tried explaining that but had no luck convincing him. So now she was the sworn mortal enemy of Squirrelicus.

Awesome! I've got a mortal enemy! Buoyed by this thought, and the awesomeness it granted her she examined the gorge she was now facing. She could see the remains of a bridge but it had collapsed who knows how long ago. Not for the first time she cursed her lack of flying skill. If I could fly I could simply go right over this stupid gorge and be done with it! She sat down to ponder this predicament, rubbing at her chin with a hoof as she tried to think of a way across.

Aside from the natural woodland creatures and a thankful lack of monsters to harass her (though the non-monster status of that squirrel was pretty debatable), things had been quit.  However, it turned out that Scootaloo was not alone in the forest.  As she sat on one side of the gorge trying to figure out what to do next, the underbrush on the far side rustled as something shuffled about through it.  All at once a lash of red magical energy swung through the bushes, cleaving them apart and making way for a battered looking Unicorn to stomp through.

The mare looked like she'd seen better days.  Her clashing coat and mane of red and green were difficult to look at even without all the bruises and scuffs she had, plus it appeared as though she hadn't gotten a chance to wash in who knew how long.  She had saddle bags, but they were tattered and held together by makeshift bindings made from bits of vine.  Her Cutie Mark was a chair and coiled bullwhip.

"Stupid forest and its stupid shifting pathways... gonna strangle those Reptans when I find them... cost me so much money..." she muttered angrily to herself as she clambered out of the destroyed bushes with some difficulty, further scuffing her hooves.  The Unicorn was a ways up further ahead and didn't notice Scootaloo at first -- her attention was more on the gorge in front of her and she gave a frustrated groan at the sight of it.

Maybe if I construct an interconnecting series of pulleys, levers and a cata-what was that? Scootaloo's planning session was interrupted when she heard something rustling on the far side of the gorge. Looking over she quickly hit the deck when the magical beam scythed through the bushes even though it didn't come near her. Staying where she was she watched as a unicorn she'd never seen before made her way out of the bushes. She looked like she had seen better days. Even from this distance she could see all the bruises and scuffs on the other pony's body.

Watching the other pony for a few more seconds she pushed herself onto her hooves and gave her a friendly wave and a cry of "Hello! How do I get to the other side? My name's Scootaloo! What's yours? You haven't met a crazy squirrel named Squirrelicus have you? Are you okay? You look like somepony beat you up!" So maybe it was a bit long for a cry but she was curious.

The Unicorn looked up with a start when she heard a voice and looked over Scootaloo's way, though she was quick to smother her initial reaction.  The knee-jerk response was to scowl at the sight of a child, of all things... she hated children.  Noisy little brats.  Still, if there was a kid wandering around in the woods, then they couldn't be far from civilization at all.

"You are on the other side." she called back in an unamused tone as she trotted over to just across the gap from the little filly.  Otherwise she ignored the rest of what she felt to be totally inane ramblings.  "My name is Greenwood.  Look, I've been lost in these woods all week.  Please tell me there's a town nearby..."
This message was last updated by the GM at 01:15, Tue 11 Sept 2012.

Scoot's mouth worked soundlessly for a couple of seconds before she started laughing. When the newly dubbed Greenwood was across from her she settled down and listened to the rest of what she had to say. "Sure is! Ponyville is that way!" She said, pointing a hoof back in the direction the small town was in. "You've been lost? That doesn't sound like fun." She craned her head around to get a look at the other pony, spotting her Cutie Mark in the process. "Hey that's a pretty cool Cutie Mark. What'd you get it for? What does it mean? What's your special talent? Do you know how to get from this side of the gorge to that side? Why were you in the Everfree forest in the first place?"

Greenwood was severely tempted to give the annoying Pegasus a very personal demonstration of what her Special Talent was like she'd done to that blasted Camahueto earlier that week, but she knew better than to go do something so rash.  The kid was a local and the last thing she needed was to get run out of town.  Or worse, arrested.

Instead she answered several of Scootaloo's questions at once as she spied a solid tree that grew out halfway across the gorge.  The Unicorn reared back as her horn lit with an angry red gleam and she tossed her head, lashing out once more with a length of energy that remained linked to her horn.  The end whirled out around one of the thick branches and tethered itself about with a snap, holding solid as the Unicorn took a charging leap and dove across the canyon, swinging from the magical 'rope'.  At the height of the swing she dispelled her hold, tucked into a neat backflip, and landed deftly right before Scootaloo.

"The Cutie Mark is for Monster Hunting." she announced once all four hooves were firmly on the ground once again.  "But look, kid, you don't want to go that way.  All that's over there is more forest and a whole lot of angry Timber Wolves I left tied to a tree.  How's about you show me back to Ponyville, hmm?"

Scoots watched in awe as Greenwood used magic to launch herself over, doing a back flip and landing right in front of her. Her jaw dropped and she was speechless for several seconds before she exploded into motion. "That was soooo cool! You were all magicky and then all whoosh and then flip!" She rushed around her, looking at her Cutie Mark in depth. "Monster hunting?! That is so awesome! You must be really good to get a Cutie Mark hunting monsters! My friends and I came across a Cockatrice one night when we were out here looking for a lost chicken. You tied up a pack of Timber Wolves to a tree?!" She looked back the way the other pony had come, as though she would be able to spot the tree. "I was out exploring, I wasn't planning on heading back into Ponyville until later tonight but I guess since you've been out here lost all week you probably don't want to spend any more time here than you already have, huh?"

Scoots said, turning back from looking at the forest and standing next to Greenwood, smiling up at her. "Come on, I'll take ya there. You can tell me about all your adventures on the way!" She said, hopping up and down eagerly as she started leading Greenwood back towards town. Or, at least the direction she thought town was in. She was seventy percent sure that she was going in the right direction. Squirrelicus had gotten her a little lost when she fled from him and his army.

As much as Greenwood normally enjoyed having her ego stroked by the abject adoration of her lessers, she wasn't in much a mood for it just then.  Also, she still hated children.  At least the kid was easily impressed -- that would make her easier to tolerate in the long run.  The Unicorn rolled her eyes as Scootaloo chattered away so noisily once more and held back a long-suffering sigh... was Celestia punishing her for her sins already?

"Alright, alright.  You walk, I'll talk." she urged the filly to start leading the way back to civilization.  The sooner they got out of the forest the better.  She was dying for some real food and a bath!  Hopefully some little podunk town like Ponyville would at least have an inn somewhere.  Yet... why did that name keep ringing a bell to her?  She couldn't place it, but somehow it seemed like she'd heard about Ponyville before...

"So, last year I was touring through the volcanic labyrinths carved into the mountains of the Gryphon Archipelago.  The Gryphons say it's perfectly safe, but the truth of it is, there are actually vicious Salamanders living deep in the magma caves..." she began a tale that even she recalled as being particularly thrilling when it had happened, though she carefully left out the fact that she'd been there to capture Salamanders for a wealthy buyer.

It took a couple of tries and several stories before Scoots managed to find the right trail that would lead them back to Ponyville. She had listened with rapt attention to every word Greenwood had to say, enthralled with the stories of daring and heroism. "You are so cool! I wish my life was that exciting." She said, a look of longing on her face as she thought of all the adventures she could do if she was a monster hunter. "Well, here's the trail. Won't be much longer now. Just hope that Squirrelicus doesn't show up again. But I bet you could take him easily!" She stood up on her hind legs and pantomimed striking the squirrel several times. "What else have you done?"

To Ponyville Town Square--->

"Yeah, well, give it a try sometime.  Maybe you've got a Cutie Mark for wrangling Hydras in your future." Greenwood deadpanned as she continued along in Scootaloo's wake.  Maybe if she was lucky the kid would get herself eaten.  At least they were almost to town -- the sooner she could get away from the filly, the better.  Yet she found herself with another demand for story time and heaved a sigh over being so put-upon.  "Well... there was this one time I was campaigning out in the frozen northlands and ended up having to take refuge in a deep ice cave..."

--> To Ponyville Town Square

In from White Tail Woods

Soaring high above the trees, safe from the dangers below the canopy, Luna and her companions soared. In a light response to Starcrasher, Luna gave a bemused and kind smile. "If you'd like, I do not mind. However, both of you. Regardless what we find, I ask you respect my instructions here..." She said gently, her expression turning soft, and forward toward the canopy below. Present company aside, it reminded her of the days whens he would fly over this forest long ago... For all the forest was feared for being an unknown, unpredictable land...  it felt no different to Luna.

--> From: The Whitetail Woods -->

After they had stopped gaining altitude, Starcrasher opened one eye carefully, feeling a little uneasy as she tried to look anywhere but down. Instead, she looked up, finding the clouds to be much closer to her than what she was used to. They flew through a smaller cloud, and Starcrasher wiped the white beard it had left on her away before replying. This flying thing was fun, kinda.

- "Those ruins used to be yours, Princess? I mean... They looked like they'd been abandoned for a long while, and i know you've been around a while, but... What happened down there, anyway? That fog's nothing like i've ever read about before."

The princess frowned gently. It wasn't a tale for fillies, let along one Luna felt comfortable sharing. "I'd rather we not discuss it..." She said curtly, tucking her wings gently to fly lower, as they got closer.

From The White Tail Woods

As he'd specified before, the good captain flew a fair deal lower in altitude than Princess Luna and Starcrasher did, readily drifting from side to side in her majesty's shadow.  With as high and fast as they were flying, it was unlikely any real threat could come from above, especially on such a clear day.  The warm sun on his leathery wings made him feel as though Celestia was also keeping an eye on them all... though he did wish she wouldn't encourage her little sister's mimicry of her own disappearing acts.

"We're approaching the center of the forest, your highness.  Please stay aloft while I scout the area." Captain Equinox asked dutifully.  He soon peeled away from Luna to leave her circling overhead while he dove down, drifting over the tree tops and the remains of the destroyed castle nestled deep within the woods.  He made a few passes overhead before signalling Luna that it was all clear and safe for her to come land down in the largest open area -- the courtyard.

From The White Tail Woods

Meanwhile, Natra Condu was still streaking through the wood. The Everfree forest was a confusing place, even to one as attuned with nature as herself and paths that had been clearly marked just a week before by wild game could easily be entirely non-existent now. Regardless, Natra had been living in these woods, which was more than could be said of many ponies. Natra knew this Forest like the bottom of her hoof; Familiar yet inclined to find something new every so often.

She spied from the trees the ruins and bolted toward them. She'd taken notice of Luna before, though she'd felt the very presence of such an entity was a message, of sorts. A "better hurry up" in a language Nature could say to her clearly. Camahueto had their own Alicorn myths, obviously, though they didn't know them as royalty and Natra Condu viewed such a thing as the Elders bid the Camahueto to; They were gods. Anypony with wings and horn was obviously a solid manifestation of Nature, placed for guidance or Aid and, more often than not, should be embraced but not held in place. as she crested a hilltop to near the ruins she thought about what she would do if she were to meet that deity of a Pony again.

And, as she looked up she had to answer the question herself. Luna's form circled above as one of her guards came down and waved upward. Natra allowed herself to come out of her hiding, her body almost fading in from the foliage, as though she'd been truly a part of it before but had chosen to separate herself from being the woods.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:21, Thu 18 Oct 2012.

Smoothly, the princess tucked her wings and swept down, alighting carefully upon her hooves in the courtyard, opening her wings again to help ensure Starcrasher didn't slip.  Once they were down, she shuffled the mare to her feet, and then turned, focusing her magic outward the push away the mists, so they might have a look about the ruin...

When Starcrasher had used her magic prior, a simple levitation spell flew out of control with enough force to briefly push back the fog a large radius around her.  But Luna, with both greater strength and experience in the area, had a far greater impact -- with a flare of her horn and wings the mists seemed to flee away in an instant, forced back beyond the old stone walls.  The air was still thick with magic, but the group would have no trouble picking their way through the ruins.

Those ancient halls had been left untouched for so long that it was obvious where traces of activity had been otherwise.  In one corner of the courtyard was a place where there had been a camp -- there were stones organized into makeshift seats around a fire pit, and the climbing ivy of the forest had been cleaved away to make space.  A few rough canvas bags lay in shreds and one was partially burned away for some reason.  All around the yard were large scorch marks on both the floor and far, collapsed walls; Starcrasher would remember the crackles of lightning that had leaped from the Thunderbird's body just by proximity alone.  The cages that the poachers had used to contain their captured prey were still there but barely held together at all.  When Natra had freed the beasts, they'd all gone wild and rampaged around, so many of the cages had been destroyed in the havoc while the rest were quickly degraded by the forest itself.  There were still portions left though, and the heavy deadbolt locks used to brace their bars shut.

For Luna though... she could see a whole other layer of the surroundings that was invisible to the rest.  She'd known those halls when they were still whole and glorious, filled with busy Ponies rushing about their duties.  The long-decimated fountain in the center of the courtyard had once been covered in roses and flowing with clear waters that sparkled equally bright in the sunny afternoon or in the depths of midnight.  Images would come to her mind unbidden; the court suddenly back in its full, pristine form as it was so many years ago.

~Sister... hurry thy heavy hooves, or I shall eat all the cake before thou arrives!~ Luna could practically hear the laughing voice of her sister ringing in her ears and the phantom image of the pink-maned Alicorn resting by the fountain.  They used to have meals together there in the twilight hours of dusk and dawn, just as the two traded control of the skies...
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:19, Mon 22 Oct 2012.

The Princess took in the disturbed ruins with a scowl. "It seems there's certainly been an encampment here... Captain, go through the scene with Starcrasher, and what she remembers having seen. I will have a glance about, myself." she said lightly, and turned, walking along to the edge of the cracked and ruined fountain. She put one hoof gently on the remains of the crumbled edge, and jumped slightly as it gave, crumbling further with the light weight of her hoof. Luna frowned, casting her attention from the fountain and back toward the towers - or what was left of them. Her sisters was gone entirely, while her own stood, jagged and broken.

Starcrasher looked around as the fog parted, not knowing what kind of spell Luna had used to do it. In her case, she had just chanced upon a spell that did the same trick, though she supposed with mastery and a bit more strength -- okay, mastery and a LOT more strength -- she would be able to mimic the effects as well to the point where she wouldn't have to continually recast the spell every ten seconds or so.

Upon instructed to, Starcrasher took the Captain for a tour of the grounds, or at least following her own movements in chronological order. It was a bit different while looking at the actual surroundings instead of focusing on Equestrian being spoken just on the verge of understanding what was being said, so she figured retracing her steps would be the best way to handle things. The main encampment was quickly found due to her having been there twice, the cages mostly ruined in a baby animal stampede and the natural wear and tear that came with a forest climate, but she paused anyway to give the guardsman some time to go through the wreckage for any clues.

Should that not suffice -- or it would be more accurate to state regardless of whether it sufficed -- Starcrasher then led him to where she had met the Thunderbird. The reason being that those cages had been removed from the Poacher's pack directly, and with her having opened the cage and the Thunderbird having flown off with the Reptans after having retrieved its young, the cages in that area should still be pretty much in one piece. After all, if the Poacher would have taken the cages she had unfastened after her flash attack into Ponyville, Ponies wouldn't have rallied against Natra in the first place, so they would either still be there, or hidden. Supposedly still there though, she didn't think the Poacher would have wanted to stay around for long in case the Thunderbird would come back.

The Camahueto arrived soon after the others, having taken off on her own,a little impressed for them having arrived first but... The tribal struggled in her own mind to fathom if Nature was constricted by travel times. The presence of Starcracher didn't help to keep things from getting complicated so she shook it from her mind. Nature's presence represented urgency and lesson learning. She didn't have time for thinking of things that didn't rightly matter. What mattered now was the cages.

"Salmu looni, Siki Taka Muna." She said, stepping into the Ruin area, "Condu fight here thief." She said, walking through the ruins like she owned them... or rather that they didn't have a point in being owned, like ownership simply wasn't. She stood at the place where she'd been bound, then stepped a few pony lengths away to where she'd pinned the poacher down, "Natra free here." She told the Alicorn, meaning that it was both where she started freeing the baby animals and where she came after freeing herself. Seriousness took her face.

Captain Equinox saluted Luna sharply as she gave her order and turned to accompany Starcrasher where she would guide him, taking in the surrounding ruins with a keen eye.  There were few with sharper senses than Bat Ponies.  There were clues to be found and he took some scraps with him, tucking the evidence away into his saddle bags while they searched.  But it was when they got to where the conflict with the Thunderbird had taken place that he seemed suddenly more cautious.  His helmeted head turned about from side to side and those long, nimble ears of his pivoted about at the slightest sounds of the forest around them.

"Hold..." he said to Starcrasher and flexed his wing out to bid her to stay still.  There were no sounds of wildlife that near to the ruins -- animals and monsters alike were driven away by the over-saturation of magic in the air and earth.  The quiet itself was almost deafening in its own way.  But then, with a jerk of his head, he would hear it.  In that exact same instant Natra would become aware of it too as the vines at her hooves spoke to her, carrying a message along like the vibrations of a web to its spider.

There was someone else there...

The Captain suddenly leaped to the side, taking Starcrasher with him in a tumble as a set of bolas went whistling through the air out of nowhere.  His swift reaction spared them any pain and the weapon skittered uselessly along the ground.  He quickly rounded back up to his hooves and stood before the filly in her defense, wings flared out to their full intimidating spread.  There was no enemy to face though... whatever had attacked them was well-hidden amid the forest and stones.

Meanwhile, back with Natra and Luna, the Camahueto could sense that there were others about the ruins as well.  Three, she felt, but they were skilled at lurking about undetected.  Before she could raise her voice in warning a sudden hiss sounded out -- something sharp struck Luna's flank and ricocheted off uselessly, plunking itself down into the ground instead.  A blow dart?  Its tip dripped with liquid, meaning it had a poison of some sort on it... Luna's hide was too strong to be pierced by such a thing, but Natra wasn't quite as durable and would still need to take caution.

The Camahueto had done only a bit to jar Luna from her thoughts - it was truly the dart that struck her that attracted her attention over her shoulder, to her own flank. Glaring in the direction it must have come, Luna roared in  the Regal tones she now rarely used.  "Who dares assail the Princess of Night? Show thyselves!" She bellowed, her sheer presence blasting leaves from the brush as she Shouted.

Thu'umm-one was going to feel that one!

As the dart flitted from the cover Natra was about three instants from leaping into the bush herself and tackling whatever was there. She guessed the dart would be poisoned but standing around wouldn't leave the assailant with a lack of darts. However, half way through a backflip with a twist to reorient, Luna's Canterlot Voice exploded around her, catching the Camahueto in midair and surprising the latent acrobatics out of her.

And this, she knew to be true, was a small taste of the power of Luna. The dart had struck her, and was poisoned. however, the Alicorn's flank remained unharmed. And this was just Nature showing her its ultimate force in the smallest of ways.. at least to her tribal form of thinking. Shrugging off a dart, calling out with the force to move people and deafen them. So far all Natra saw from her was small things, comparatively. She instinctively slid behind the Alicorn, opposite the direction from the dart, still very cautious so as to get out of the way of another were it to come flying, "Three..." she muttered to Luna.

- "And over here's where thwAUGH!"

Starcrasher was cut off from what she had wanted to say by the captain barreling into her and sending her crashing into the ground. She was about to ask what he was doing something like that for when the sound of bolas scraping across what remained of the stone floor caught her attention, and she took a deep breath as she got up, safely behind the Captain's cover though her horn lit up in an attempt to be useful in the coming fight.

- "Oh man, i hope it isn't those Reptans again..."

"Reptans?!" the Captain gawked at the very idea of such beings coming into Equestria.

When Starcrasher, Silva, and Natra had first encountered the band of poachers in the ruins, there had been five Reptans working as Greenwood's hired goons.  Two of them had been spirited off by the Thunderbird and there was no telling what fate had befallen them, but three had been left unaccounted for.  That trio had chased after Starcrasher but abandoned the pursuit after she'd given them the slip and things really began to get noisy.  As it turned out, they hadn't gone far at all.  Their boss hadn't made a reappearance all week and, for the time being, they had kept themselves secluded in the forest ruins while they planned for their next course of action.  So naturally when Ponies suddenly showed up out of nowhere, they had good reason to be on their guard.

With a shrill shriek one of the Reptans clambered over a heap of rubble it had been hiding behind and leaped down, glaring maliciously at Starcrasher and Captain Equinox.  Despite its intimidating size and is sharp claws, the Bat Pony didn't so much as blink in the face of danger.  He just stood fast and planted himself between Starcrasher and the Reptan, ready to face down the threat without hesitation.  "Keep behind me.  I can handle this thug." the Captain said over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, over the all in another part of the ruins, Luna's bellow blasted away a lot of the neighboring foliage and ended up revealing the two Reptan hunters hidden away within.  One of them was significantly larger than his partner and the banding he wore had some shiny looking trinkets on it... supposedly an indication of rank, meaning that was the leader of the bunch.  But even so, both looked equally startled over the force the Alicorn put out and seemed reluctant to move from their spot as they tried to figure out what to do.  The Reptans quickly raised their hands and shook them to a three count, at which point the leader held out two fingers while the other Reptan held out his palm flat.  Cursing his bad luck, the smaller Reptan stepped out first, hopping down from amid the trees down into the courtyard.

While the Reptans had properly identified Luna and Natra as being the larger threat (thus earning two attackers instead of just one), they didn't seem to understand just what they were up against.  No being who was familiar with the nature of the Princesses would dare draw a weapon on one.  Yet the smaller Reptan loaded up another dart into his blow gun while the leader, hanging back a safe distance behind his cohort, drew out a long, jagged sword from a sheath at his hip.

Luna cast a brief glance at Natra's alert that there would be three of them. Nodding once, she turned her gaze back upon the two who had been revealed to her, and took them in. Reptans... one with a blade, and a smaller, with a blowgun - which had already failed to penetrate her hide - still, she'd take no chances.

As an obviously hostile (if not particularly threatening) pair, Luna still regarded them with a focused calm. Heedless of the smaller one approaching, she spoke again, clear and loud. "DISCARD THY WEAPONS AND EXPLAIN THYSELVES, LEST YOU FACE THE WRATH OF THE MOON!" Luna coughed rather lightly, and raised a hoof to her lips, then added in her usual, softer, sweeter voice. "Ahem... if you please."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Wed 31 Oct 2012.

- "...Reptans."

Starcrasher repeated herself at the surprised look on the Captain's face, unintentionally announcing the arrival of the one Reptan that was threatening them. Though the Captain stood ready to defend her, her horn still glowed with prepared magics, both willing and -- thanks to Twilight's efforts -- capable of helping the Bat-pony to fend off the Reptan's attacks. And she had the flash attack as well, provided of course their opponent hadn't been one of those that had ended up witnessing it personally. But even then, it'd work as a distraction so it could not bring its full power to bear against the Captain.

The two Reptans did indeed speak, but only to each other and in a low, hissing tongue that none of the Ponies would comprehend.  The beings weren't native to Equestria -- Reptans came from a desert region beyond the borders of the equine kingdom, so it was very strange to see them so far outside their territories.  Their intent was obvious though.  In a sudden dash the two split apart to either side, swiftly dashing about to try and flank the Ponies and force them back-to-back or to split up.  Either way, their attention would be divided -- the one with the blow gun kept at range and fired a quick barrage of poisoned darts at Natra while the leader squared off at Luna, swinging its sword broadly for the base of her horn.

Across the ruins, Captain Equinox kept his sharp eyes on the approaching Reptan and lowered himself closer to the ground like a cat about to pounce.  With a sudden flap of his wings he seemed to vanish, taking off in a sudden blur of motion far faster than his armored form belied.  It caught the Reptan totally off guard, not expecting such swiftness from the Bat Pony -- all at once the Captain struck the creature with his full force square in the chest, bowling it head over heels as the two went tumbling away amid the rocks.

Unaware of the predicament Natra and Luna found themselves in, Starcrasher took a few steps in the direction of the rocks the Captain had bowled the Reptan into, though was in fact thinking clearly enough not to get too close to avoid getting pulled into the fight.

Remembering her lessons, she tried to cast a spell on a small stone a little further ahead, trying to get a feel for how her spells would best be able to resist the effects of the mists long enough to keep working. If she had managed a crude form of control without knowing what she was doing earlier, then it should be fairly easy now that she was armed with such knowledge. Maybe a levitation spell with a layer of dispelling around it to shield it from the other dispelling spell the mists had been infused with? It was worth a try.

The Camahueto was quick to dodge the barrage, tumbling backward and then, upon landing, rolling to the side to avoid another couple shots. She took off like a light into the foliage, ready to kill or die. The dart Reptan was her number one priority. They had already shown themselves useless on Luna's hide. Natra could not boast such an impervious coat (Yet another reason for her to view Luna as the goddess she wasn't) and so worried for her own skin. Close range... she needed to close distance between herself and that blow gun. Far away, Natra knew blowguns were dangerous things. It wasn't like her own folk didn't use darts for ambush... in fact they were quite fond of them...

But a dart took time to reload, to prepare with poisons, to aim gently down the tube so as not to miss that valuable shot. Every inch she would have made closer to a trained dart blower would be an inch they knew they didn't feasibly have the time or convenience to ignore. If the target got to close, only the most stupid dart blowers would try to lose another shot. Natra closed on the Reptan goon quickly. She wanted to end this now!

Luna had little use for her battle instincts of late. Even so, they hadn't become as rusty as Merriweather. Having led a revolt against the most powerful mare in recent history, Luna was more than versed in various forms of combat - though she'd never faced a Reptan before, she easily understood the premise of weapons.

With the creature lunging in with a one-handed hack at her horn, Luna was put instantly on the defensive, but it was a position she could handle well enough. Using her wings in a swift downdraft, Luna sprang a couple steps-length backwards, causing the slash to fall short, Rearing to the left, she raised her wings out of the way and launched into a powerful gallop around  her attacker's right side, aiming to elude a second slash on the reverse of the jagged blade while angling her head down, and sweeping it up and in toward her attacker's side, her horn sweeping so as to catch him with its powerful edge and flip him into the air, unless he managed to escape it.

Starcrasher would find that, with Twilight's tutelage well in mind, she'd have a much easier time of handling herself in the odd atmosphere of magical disruption in the area.  Before she'd been able to instinctively feel out how she could get some measure of success, but now with being able to properly figure out how the magic was being affected, she'd manage things much easier.  It would still take a bit of effort to get it just right, but she could cast her spells reliably all the same.

To his merit though, it didn't seem like Captain Equinox really needed the help.  He wasn't a Captain for nothing, after all.  The Royal Guard sported some of the most valiant and imposing Ponies in the kingdom, and he ranked highly amongst them.  The Reptan was a swift scrapper but was not holding its own against the skilled rushes and strikes of an armored opponent.  Even though it kept on getting back up, the Reptan was spending far more time getting bucked flat into the earth over and over again with every attack.  The Bat Pony had little trouble trouncing his foe all across the courtyard.

Meanwhile, over in the other part of the ruins, the other Reptans were not faring well either.  They didn't realize how badly outmatched they were and, like so many other wild species out there, heavily underestimated Ponies.  Luna was far swifter than the Reptan Leader and could duck away from his broad swings with little effort on her part -- his attacks with that nasty looking blade were driven by raw power and had absolutely no finesse.  Each missed swing left deep gouges in the stone or sent up a flurry of sparks into the air.  Their power would be absolutely devastating if they actually managed to hit, but Luna was in little danger of being struck unless she absolutely fumbled over herself.  As the Princess exercised more skill than the Reptan had, she managed to sweep him up easily enough and leave him thudding down heavily onto his back.  Before she could press the advantage he swept his free hand across the ground and tossed a handful of loose gravel and dirt up into Luna's face -- he had no qualms with fighting dirty, after all.

Natra would have much the same situation on her hooves as well.  The smaller Reptan kept her moving as he fired dart after dart; he was remarkably swift with them and seemed to be able to use his serpentine tongue to assist in handling the dart loading.  But there was no room to shoot when forced into close quarters, though the Camahueto would find her opponent no less dangerous without his blow gun to help.  As she rushed to close with him he simply abandoned using the darts entirely, instead lashing out with his razor sharp claws.  Compared to the leader this Reptan was far quicker and more nimble, but lacked a lot of muscle power as well.  It was difficult to keep up with its flurry of strikes though as they raked through the air one after another, seeking to keep the Camahueto's sharp horn at bay or slash across her flesh.

A backflip in mid-stride was the only way the first barrage of claws didn't open Natra up like a fish. Her cloven forehooves dug into the ground as she landed and then inverted out of the way, landing wobbly on her hind legs first and ducking under another attack via claw. It wouldn't be convenient to use her horn just yet, not enough room for those long, arcing slashes that only Camahueto really had the horns for. Instead she slammed into him with her flank to knock him off balance and went in, correctly directing herself toward him, horn and claw striking a couple times as they squared off at high speeds.

And she knew then instantly that THIS was what she was destined to do. She'd always been a strong fighter and ample acrobat. Her whole life in the tribe had been set to finding trouble and stopping it. Her very cutie mark called for survival. As a stray claw brushed along her she felt the sting of the cut, rolling aside just barely in time to get out of the way of a much more deadly strike. A growl showed her razor sharp teeth. Ponies were made for civilization. Camahueto had the plus of literally being evolved for battle. The fact that Reptans came from deserts and Natra from jungles meant that all the trees around them gave Natra a clear upper hand. Trees were her playground. Natra and her kind had played climbing games back home all the time, the only being to make sure nopony else was in the Tree. Natra was a champion at that sort of game. She wondered if the Reptan she fought could climb a tree even half as well as she. If it got dicey she'd press distance and fall back to classical Camahueto guerrilla combat... So many places to disappear and reappear.

The regal mare staggered back as the Reptan flung dirt and sand from the ground into her eyes. They stung sharply, and even she couldn't shake the effects easily. She'd been prevented from closing in and eliminating the threat, rearing up and back, and slamming both forehooves into the ground, making the earth around her rumble, and throwing off the Reptan's effort to get back to his feet, as Luna turned her head, horn alighting as she endeavored to breeze the particles from her eyes via magical focus -  It didn't stop the stinging, but at least she could open them again, watering now as they were, and reddened with the irritation.

Captain Equinox used his surroundings to a good advantage during the scuffle.  The Reptan was obviously quite overwhelmed with his opponent and didn't stand much a chance at all, so it came as no surprise when the Bat Pony finally finished things off by kicking the staggered enemy toward the stone that Starcrasher was levitating.  The Reptan's legs caught against the rock and it pitched over onto the ground, tripped to slam chin-first onto the stone with a dull 'whud!'  That was enough to firmly put it out cold and the Captain huffed as he flexed his wings.

"Alright, that takes care of that.  Come on." he waved Starcrasher along.  The sounds of battle coming from the other side of the ruins were impossible to miss, especially with Luna's royal voice booming out as it did.  That thug wasn't going anywhere for a while and now their companions needed help!

Meanwhile, Luna's efforts to keep the Reptan Leader away from her were much more effective than she really intended.  Her powerful stomp to the ground sent a rumble through the earth as the unstable stones quaked, splintering beneath her hooves.  The Leader couldn't press his advantage as he wheeled about to keep his balance, and the Reptan fighting with Natra lost its own footing as well.  A brief wobble and break in defense was all the opportunity the Camahueto would need; for a moment the Reptan's guard was wide open.  Her quick strikes landed and sent the beast toppling back clutching its marred chest -- its scales were amazingly thick and the wounds weren't deep as a result, but it was enough to take the fight out of the scuttling beast.

- "Wohoo, nice one!"

Starcrasher was visibly pleased as her actions played off in tripping up the Reptan, mostly thanks to the Captain having guessed what she was up to. Caught in the moment, she ran after Equinox to see what Luna had ran into. As they ran she looked around, expecting to see Luna any moment now, after all, when she had heard her shout she sounded really close by.

With her vision stinging but reclaimed, Luna wasted no time in capitalizing on the moment. She used her wings to launch into a low leap, extending both forehooves to slam the unstable Reptan to the dirt, trampling him down with both forehooves, as she turned to glance along toward Silver Crescent's approach.  "See these creatures detained at once, Captain." she ordered. "I don't suppose they've a connection to the poaching, but  they did attack royalty and those under my protection. You have done well." she smiled encouragingly to the captain, still casually pinning the Reptan to the ground.

- "Actually, yeah. The poacher was talking to a group of five of them, i thought the Thunderbird carried a couple off earlier so that leaves these..."

As she talked, Starcrasher looked around, adding the Reptans she could see here to the one defeated by Captain Equinox. The distance between where Luna was and where she thought she'd be was attributed to the mists altering the way a voice carried. It couldn't be anything other than that -- well, short of Luna using a PA system -- or magic, and the matter was quickly put aside.

- "...Three."

The Captain was a stoic fellow and not one to relish in celebration.  Both Starcrasher and Luna's praise, no matter how different in enthusiasm, were met simply with a curt nod before he got back to work.  Between Luna and Natra's magic, it was no trouble at all to tightly bind up the Reptans with thick vines, rendering them quite helpless as they were bundled up together.

"I would not be so quick to dismiss them, your Majesty.  Reptans are well-known for criminal activities when found outside their home region, and that they tried to ambush us at the scene of the crime speaks ill of their innocence." Captain Equinox advised.  He turned to the Reptans and glared sharply -- only the Leader refused to quail under his edged glare.  "Speak, criminal scum.  What were you doing here?"

The Reptan Leader did indeed speak up, but his language was nothing more than hisses and clicks that none present would recognize.  Of course, given the mocking smirk the Leader wore on his scaled face, it was likely whatever he said wasn't exactly helpful.  All the same, the Captain turned his attention back to Luna.  "I doubt he will be of much help to us.  Either way, we should send word to Canterlot and have these thugs arrested and deported."

Natra had aptly pinned down her respective opponent down by the time everything was "wrapped up." When the others approached to tie her foe down she stared cold at the leader who had fought Luna. Her sharp teeth bore in a hostile fashion. "One led." She pointed at the leader. "Talk Poocha"

She turned to Luna and gave her a look of uncertainty. She could understand that they didn't believe that there would be help in this, though she knew these to be the true enemies, the allies of that poacher. There was, for a time, a silent stare aimed at the Alicorn. Natra herself half expected the being to simply disappear now that her work was, more or less, done.

The Princess gave an affirming nod to the Captain after the brief interrogation. "I shall send immediately, then. Given the circumstances, we can hardly carry them all out on our own, and Ponyville is ill-suited to housing  offenders - I wouldn't wish the burden on them either." She paused, then closed her eyes. Her horn lit up, and it seemed to take a bit of doing, along with a sputtering of the glow about her horn...  odd, that, before a scrolled up bit of parchment materialized, hovering in midair - upon which enchanted self-luminescent silver ink began lettering the order and report of the situation.

Such it was that Natra had plenty of time to gape at the royal unnoticed, as she scrawled everything out briskly and efficiently, but legibly. notably, her written tone was still sharply more formal and antiquated than verbal, but it would get the job done. Once she was finished, she rolled the page up, and her horn flashed a brighter, green flame, devouring the parchment and casting it off in a wiff of smoke. Sister's Dragon-mail spell, of course, not that any of the others had seen it used before.

Luna rubbed a hoof to her temple as the glow died down, able to feel the tension behind her horn that Lotus had spoken of more sharply now, her channeling of magic now, after Lotus's careful work at releasing some of that pressure made it apparent now, to Luna, but be it actually palpable or just in he rhead, she felt it. The sensation wasn't particularly visible externally, aside from the momentary look of focus as she tried to rub out the subtle, physical-feeling headache a moment.

"There..." She chimed as she put he rhoof back to the stone flooring. "Reinforcements on the way to address this. I sent for enough to handle all three, and the pony, if we should need to arrest her. At this rate, there's solid evidence of wrongdoing, but we still need confirmation it is the one you claim, little one." she glanced to Starcrasher with a kind smile. "However,it will take them some time to arrive. Captain, your advice on what to do with these Reptans while we wait?"

Luna then turned her attention to their final companion, the... figure who had darted off into thee woods when she had first met with Twilight, and now, had arrived here. "And you... What is your part in all of this, exactly?"

A step back as, instead of disappearing, the Alicorn turned on Natra and asked her, "What is your part in all of this, exactly?" This was something, thankfully, that she understood... save for the last word but she didn't need the whole thing. She supposed it was as reasonable a question as any. There were questions that Nature set forth not because it lacked an answer but because it wanted to hear another speak it. Although that was more her rationalization of it than the truth of the matter, obviously.

"Natra Condu Natra Condu." She said simply, forgetting that her name was both designation and title. Upon the Elder naming her Nature's Conduit she had become Natra Condu. The two meant the same thing. Unlike Ponies, Camahueto didn't receive names until they got their cutie mark. It was, to them, like naming something that hadn't yet been given a name. Until their cutie mark every Camahueto foal was just "Young One" or "Little Kid" or some other youthful pet name that children were enamored of. "Natra live Nature. Natra Guard Ev-Free" She stumbled over the word.

She strode to a nearby sprout and concentrated on it, trying to will through the magic twisting fog, a small power. She put a cloven hoof over the sprout and concentrated harder, her horn glowing the deep green aura that was normal for her as the sprout slowly, visibly grew. It was just a few inches but it bushed out as well, appearing more healthy, in fact, than it had been before as well. "Natra guide." she pointed to Starcrasher, "Natra guide Young One and Silva. Find poocha." She pointed back at the reptans. "Thief Nature." She said with a straight face

Starcrasher grinned at Luna as she agreed there had been traces wrongdoing in the area. Everything was starting to fall in place now, and while they would still actually need to link the crime to the poacher she felt confident that that too would work itself out as long as they kept on this track. After all, first they had doubted there had been a crime committed at all, now they had tangible evidence.

When Luna turned to Natra, she listened to Natra's explanation, listening to what the Camahueto was saying and nodding her head in agreement. She was starting to get used to the way Natra spoke, it seemed.

- "Yeah... Me, Wordsmith, Pansy and Silva were all kind of lost in the forest, and Natra was guiding us to Ponyville when one of the Reptans came running by and bumping into us. That's when we found the Thunderbird chick and decided to investigate. Natra followed the trail after pointing out the way back to Wordsmith and Pansy."

With the Reptans well under control, the Captain returned to his investigation of the area.  Their captives could do nothing but mutter and glare while they were under binding and watch of Luna and Natra, which left the other two Ponies able to go about freely.  The Captain was vocal in his findings as he came across them and gathered evidence, but overall it didn't look positive toward their initial reason for coming there.  There was plenty of obvious evidence that there had been animals about, cages, and the intent of the Reptans, sure, but there wasn't a shred that showed the red-coated Unicorn had been present.  It wasn't as though the crime scene had been untouched, after all; the Reptans themselves had lingered there the entire week.

It would be some time in waiting before Luna would get any response from Canterlot.  But oh, what a response it was.  She had merely sent for airborne troops to come collect the Reptans, but when she felt an all-too-familiar hum of magic prickle up her spine, she'd know something much grander had answered her call.  But the better question was: why?  She'd have the opportunity to ask that herself though.  Overhead a brilliant flash of light burst out of nowhere, coalescing into a glowing form so similar to that of Luna's own.  The lights faded away only a little by the time it smoothly descended to the old stones and landed with a sharp metallic clatter, coming down into a graceful trot in a place she had not been in some time.  The Reptans cringed from the flare of light but otherwise remained defiant, even as Captain Equinox quickly dipped into a low bow at Luna's side.

"This wasn't exactly what I thought you meant when you said you were on vacation, Sister.  Have you ever considered going to the beach?"  Princess Celestia's tone was airy as she folded her broad wings down at her sides.  Luna had called for reinforcements yet gotten her elder sister instead... just what was that about?

The waiting had left Luna with little to do.  Natra was particularly confusing to converse with, and so, once all seemed secure, she had been about to go explore the tower's ruins, when  Celestia simply teleported herself into their midst.

The flashy, radiant display would bring other ponies to kneel, but Luna simply trotted into the glow, and gave her sister an affectionate nuzzle. "Oh~ What are you doing all the way out here, Sister?"

She paused, then laughed a little. "Oh, I was actually about to leave for Canterlot when this caught my attention... I thought perhaps  to lend some aid before heading home..." She glanced back to the ponies there, then looked back at her sister,hesitantly. "That... isn't a problem, is it Sister?"

Starcrasher was looking about the ruins as well, finding much less than the Captain did obviously, when she could feel the hum of magic. Trotting over to check what it was, she was momentarily blinded by the resulting flash, though she giggled while hastily covering her eyes.

- "Heh, happened to me too when i was casting a lightheywaitasecond."

She blinked at spotting Celestia, not having expected the arrival of the ruler of all Equestria, and for that she could only end up staring. Luna's reaction snapped her out of it though, and she hastily tried to make up for the stunned silence she had been in.

- "Oh yeah, she's been a great help, we were busy finding clues and couldn't have gotten this far without her and... I'm babbling, aren't i? Yeah, i am, Holy Alicorns i'm making a fool of myself. *ahem*... I think i'll shut up now. Yeah."

Settling into a low bow, her face close enough to the ground that she hoped they would not notice her reddening cheeks, she focused on keeping her mouth firmly shut as she felt the cool mists around her, hoping it would help cool herself off before she'd make an even bigger fool of herself.

It must have looked very foreign to both the Alicorns and the Ponies, that there was one that didn't bow when Celestia appeared. In point of fact she did the opposite. Natra Condu stood , eyes wide open, almost leaning closer to Celestia as she appeared.

Her mind was almost literally blown open at the very sight of it. She struggled with the ideas in her head for a moment, wondering if she'd done something wrong in the eyes of her beliefs, perhaps Nature was needed to more directly intervene even now. The manifestation of the universe not only had appeared to her in one aspect, but another. The Sun and Moon, she noticed as she spotted the cutie mark of the ruler of Equestria, never having heard of her or seen her (mostly out of a lack of interest. There was no need for her to bother looking into the local royal culture. The very concept of royalty didn't even make sense to her.

And everypony around her was bowing. The two Alicorns were speaking and she was full of confusion. Skeptically she stepped closer and extended a cloven hoof to touch the Princess of The Sun on the flank in wonderment, without words. She had to prove to herself that these beings even existed, if it wasn't just a vision by Nature, that this all wasn't just a dream in her meditation. Now, of all times, she couldn't even be sure if it wasn't days ago, still gently meditating after the crisis on what could have been.

Princess Celestia offered a serene smile over the gathered Ponies even given the somewhat chaotic setting.  She gestured for those bowing to rise up instead, though the bulk of her attention was admittedly given to her younger sister.  It might have struck those unfamiliar with the two regal Alicorns that royalty would behave so much like... well... just normal siblings.  Celestia dipped her head down to return Luna's affectionate gesture with one of her own before rising back to tend to duties.  At least she did before Natra appeared to prod at her flank, making the Alicorn pause briefly and give her a curious glance.  She excused herself politely all the same.

"Actually, that is part of why I'm here.  I had planned to send Philomena with a message, but when your letter arrived I thought it best to simply come on my own." she explained.

"Your Majesty... not to press, but you did tell the guard you were leaving, right?" Captain Equinox asked in a flat tone.  Celestia gave an innocent expression and rolled her eyes a bit, which left the soldier groaning in frustration.  No doubt his peers back at the castle were in a proper fit trying to find their Princess at that very moment.

"First, let us tend to matters here.  Poaching is a serious crime, after all... dangerous not only to the citizens of our land, but the animals as well." The Princess cast her gaze over to the bound Reptans.  Their leader just scoffed and muttered something in their hissing language that made the other two chuckle, though Celestia's glare only sharpened.  "Leave our mother out of it."

The Reptan Leader looked startled at that and quickly hissed once more, to which Celestia simply nodded in reply.  He hadn't been expecting any of the Ponies to actually know their language, after all.  Still, it made little difference.  He made a quick retort that left Celestia only to sigh and shake her head.  "He's refusing to cooperate.  They'll be interrogated further in Canterlot, but I doubt we're going to get much information at all.  Reptans aren't known for being particularly helpful creatures." she muttered.  Ultimately they'd just have to deport the Reptans back to their homeland and let their own government, loose as it was, deal with them.

"Oh, don't send her with my messages~ I fear she'd light me ablaze!" she laughed, a little, and stood at her sister's side, turning to joinher as she looked to Natra. Luna raise da brow slightly at the odd  pony's behavior, then eyed the Reptans.

Celestia's retorting-translation sharpened her glare at the leader, but she softened up as she looked to Celestia. "Ah...  Well then. I was going to have the soldiers do that when they arrived, but I figure it would take some time. I can't quite drag them all back to Ponyville right now, either." she said thoughtfully. "There's still the matter of their boss, who we suspect is in Ponyville currently." Luna nudged her sister. "But you didn't come out all this way just for this... What's going on, Sister?"

Though Starcrasher was no longer bowing -- as per Celestia's instructions -- she still tried to keep out of the conversation. Partially because she didn't really know Reptan aside from some random sounding hisses of which the accompanying glare told her they likely weren't anything good, but mostly because the two Alicorns running the entire nation were having a chat with one another, and she'd burn a hole in the ground out of sheer shame if she'd interrupt them. Again.

"It was only that one time..." Celestia rolled her eyes a bit at the mention of her beloved fire-manifesting pet.  Still, there was business to be had.  She flared a wing to curl across Luna's back and draw her aside so that she could speak with her sister in a low tone away from the rest.

"Sister, I'm afraid I need to ask you to stay away from Canterlot for a time." she explained with a hush.  "I wish I could explain matters more, but to be honest, I'm rather at a loss as to what is happening myself.  An... affliction... has hit many Ponies within the castle and we've had to seclude them away.  There is a strange magic at work with this.  I will be calling Twilight Sparkle and her friends to Canterlot soon as I feel the Elements of Harmony will be able to help in this."

Luna drew aside with her sister, and raised her gaze to meet her Celestia's, settled beneath her wing. The Princess seemed surprised though, at her sister's warm but hushed whisper.Tipping her head, Luna bit her lower lip, then replied with a soft whisper. "You wish me to... stay away?  I see... Of course, if you believe it to be the best strategy in this case, Sister." she paused, and raised her hoof to her chin. "Though, are you certain I'd not be more useful helping you and the Element-Bearers?" she asked, with a certain disappointment in her voice. If there was trouble, she wanted to help. Still...

Luna nudged her head into Celestia's neck, and sighed. "Fine, fine... Just promise that you will be careful as well, Sister - and if I should not receive word within a  few days of their departure...  I shall return to Canterlot to do what I can."

"Thank you, Sister."  Celestia gave a grateful nod in return.  "I have sent word to Cadence and Shining Armor as well, just in case.  I do not fully grasp what's befallen our Little Ponies.  I know I can trust you to watch over us."

Part of it was strategy and another part sisterly concern.  Celestia needed to know there were other bases covered in case things got out of hand, but at the same time, she wanted to keep her little sister out of the way of any potential danger.  She gave Luna a squeeze with her wing before she stepped aside as graceful as ever.  "I'll keep in touch.  If all else fails, seek me out in our dreams."

With that, the Princess of the Day flared her wings out... literally.  As she stretched out her full wingspan, her body shimmered with a dazzling light that burst with a brilliant glow.  When it faded away, both Celestia and the Reptans were gone.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:36, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

Starcrasher kept waiting while the Princesses talked, keeping their voice too low for her to hear what they were talking about. Not that she tried to listen in of course. Not deliberately anyway. But still, she could not hear what they had been discussing. On a completely unrelated subject, she made a mental note to ask Twilight if she knew a spell that would improve her hearing, You know... just in case.

And then Cerlestia cast a spell of some kind, and both she and the Reptans were gone. While that did solve the more immediate problem of finding a way to take the prisoners back to Ponyville and lock them up somehwere, it also meant there was now little else they had left to do at the ruins.

- "Okaaay, that was new... Umm, Captain, did you find what you were looking for with the cages?"

Luna turned back to the three of them, with a sigh as her sister departed. She was quiet for a few minutes, while Starcrasher spoke with the Captain. But she did finally speak. "Well done. We shall return to Ponyville and detain the mare responsible for this - We can keep her here in Ponyville under guard. For now, however - I am extending my vacation." She announced, looking to the Captain. "So I've matters of my own to arrange. When I return to Canterlot, we shall bring that mare with us." She gave her guardsman  firm nod, hen turned back to Starcrasher.

She let her gaze linger a moment, then flicked her eyes toward the Captain. He.. might be able to handle her, but she didn't want to risk the filly. "I shall take you along back to Ponyville, Starcrasher." She levitated the foal up to her back, pausing to look to the others.

Starcrasher didn't object to being levitated, and had had some experience on the trip to the ruins to make her more familiar with riding on Luna, so as soon as she was placed on the Princess' back she already got into the position that was easiest for her to maintain during the flight. Something occurred to her at that moment, causing her to shoot a concerned glance at Natra.

She could recall from one of her lessons that climbing on the back of another was considered an act of establishing dominance with some animal species. While a resident of Ponyville might be able to put her riding on Luna into context simply due to her inability to fly, the fact was that Natra did not have such a frame of reference. Given that she had been the one to talk to -- and successfully calm down -- an enraged Thunderbird, and considering the Camahueto's reaction to Princess Celestia's appearance earlier she had a nagging feeling that Natra would now be recategorizing her as Empress of the Universe or something.

She hoped her hunch was wrong though.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Tue 11 Dec 2012.

The Captain shuffled his hooves a bit as Luna stated they would be apprehending the suspected mare once they got back to town, but spoke up promptly all the same.  "Actually, your Majesty... I couldn't find any linking evidence." he stated directly as he looked amid the gathered mares.  "There's obviously plenty of evidence here to show the guilt of the Reptans, along with their attack on us, but I haven't been able to find anything that places the Unicorn here.  If the Reptans were her accomplices then they could implicate her, but if they don't confess..."

The Bat Pony could only shrug helplessly.  As far as an overall investigation went, it had been successful.  They'd caught poachers and kept them from further threatening the wildlife or, worse, Ponyville.  But there still wasn't any suitable evidence to link Greenwood to the scene of the crime.  All there really was to gather had been fragments of the ruined cages and some scorched traveling bags.

The princess's ears drooped slightly at the news of no confirming evidence. "Oh.. I see... This complicates matters. I suppose the most we could do for now is to keep an eye on the mare in question and await news from Canterlot - which, I fear, may be delayed for some time. We could search the grounds once more, just in case..."  Luna suggested - but clearly, if their first search had failed, the second wasn't likely to turn up anything new...

"I will conduct another search, your Majesty.  In the meantime, I advise that you return to Ponyville with Miss Starcrasher.  It's best not to linger in the Everfree Forest any longer than necessary." The Captain saluted sharply.  "We can rendezvous with Silver Crescent later to see what he has learned about the suspect."

The jungle pony watched on as the Alicorns left. it was even more divine, in her definition of the word, than the week before with the Thunder Bird. This time impossibly more so, in fact. There was a moment she simply stood and stared on, however, there was a sound in the situation that made it seem like the search for the Thief was not going to be as successful as she had hoped.

There was, so it seemed, only so much even the powers of Nature could achieve this close to civilization... or perhaps it was something altogether different. Perhaps it was something that civilization brought to block the natural order of things instead of Nature's lack of the ability to reach such a place. They were, after all, in a forest even now.

She slipped away in that strange sort of way only a Camahueto in the forest could, right after Starcrasher stopped glancing at her. Fortunate for Starcrasher, her hunch wasn't all that accurate. The Alicorns were worth notice far more than the involvement of anypony. That aside, Natra realized just as well as anypony what carrying somepony looked like.

Briefly she stayed in the surrounding area. Then an idea came to her mind. There was, at the very least, one Pony that seemed to accept Natra Condu. Pinnie Pie? A surprisingly easy name for such a complicated culture. Surely such a thing of exuberance and positivity would be known of by the local plant life! Yes, flowers were always so chatty about positive individuals and Ponyville fortunately was very full of nice flowers. Natra found herself relieved that, above all, at least there was a hardwired Camahueto instinct to not care as much about being judged. Camahueto really DID understand their place. Natra had no illusions of living in Ponyville permanently. If she had to see Nature's Thief again she'd best wait, as well, until said thief leaves town, if she would have anything to do with her at all.

-------------> To Ponyville  --- Sweet Apple Acres

Luna frowned slightly, looking the ruins over. "See that as little as possible has been disturbed... this place shouldn't be dug through." Luna said softly, before taking wing with Starcrasher on her back, rising into the late afternoon sky.

Luna settled down some distance away, just outside of the edge of the forest, though still some distance from Ponyville. "Ah, do excuse me a moment,  my little  pony. I must raise the moon now, though. Give me a moment?" she chimed, before looking skyward, and focusing her magic, waves of it cascading about her invisibly, and focusing through her horn, igniting it with a midnight glow that swallowed up the sunset light, as the moon began to rise into the sky above the horizon.

Once the moon was in the sky, Luna slumped back gently, taking a few heavier breaths from the exertion of the magic, nodding to Starcrasher. "A moment, and we shall return to the town~"

Starcrasher nodded, and carefully jumped down on the ground to allow Luna to focus her magic on the moon. There was a good chance Luna was more than capable of doing that while carrying her of course, but it was the thought that counted. She watched the rising of the moon, feeling a little giddy over what felt like a private performance. And in a way, it was: The clearing held just her and the younger of the Royal Sisters. As Luna took a moment to regain her breath she sat down as well, just watching the moon and giving Luna all the time she needed to catch her breath again.

As it turned out, sitting seemed to have been a very good idea.  While she caught her breath from the exertion of raising the moon, Luna looked down to Starcrasher with a slight smile, but didn't say anything to the young filly.

Leaning forward, a tension furrowed Luna's gaze, and she raised her regal hoof to rub against the base of her horn. Ow.. owww.... She gave a slight groan at a sense of tension, and tried rubbing her hoof in slow circles, her wings tensing up a little... "O-Owww..." she complained.


Her physical stimulation to the nerves at the base of her horn released a spark of magic up the gleaming midnight edge, and Luna bit her lower lip at the sensation.  A ghastly, darker glow enveloped her horn upward from the base, and as she trembled, a haze of shadow mist began to draw about her, thick and black as pitch, shrouding her mane and then rolling out from where she perched on the grass.

It seemed to be some sort of magical discharge, but Luna didn't seem entirely in control of it... The sound of  faint thunderclaps echoed, but there was scarcely a cloud in the sky.

Starcrasher shyly smiled back at Luna when the alicorn looked at her, not really sure what else she was supposed to do, but as long as she didn't make a foal out of herself she figured it'd be just fine. She stood up once Luna started groaning a bit though, looking at the black mist a bit hesitatingly as if to determine whether it was something dangerous or not before finding out firsthand.

Figuring that since it was coming out of Luna's horn it had to be something magic, Starcrasher's own horn lit up in response to gently prod the mist to see what kind of a reaction it'd have on it. Though she didn't say anything, it was clear the shadowy mist was making her feel a little uneasy. Was it the source of her headache, or something cast to alleviate it?

Starcrasher's  magic-unraveling poke  caused the mists she directed her energies towards to dissolve rapidly, unweaving the admittedly simple, almost automatic energy that formed them.

What was left began to billow, and the sound of thunder emanated from the cloud, which was engulfing Luna slowly.  Starcrasher was sure that, if all of the cloud was that easy to unwork, she could easily outpace the threatening, menacing cloud as it wafted around Luna.

Starcrasher blinked as the cloud she had tried to poke unraveled with such an amount of ease that it almost seemed like it was... Well, like anyone other than an alicorn was trying their hand at weather magic. Still, she didn't really like the thunder coming off the cloud, so her horn lit up again as she tried to dispel it before it would have the chance to zap anyone. From what she could tell, it was slow enough for her to avoid getting caught up in it as well, and Luna hadn't told her to stop so there'd be no harm in trying it out and see what it does, right?

Starcrasher's sweeping movements of her magic were like an eraser over the pencil-scratching of the clouds. Stripping hem away, she eventually got to Luna beneath, who had at some point collapsed, and hand her hooves over her eyes. As the miniature storm faded, the Princess looked, and saw Starcrasher, standing by her with that concerned look.

The Princess slowly rose up and shook her head, wordless for a moment, as she stretched her wings out...  She was confused, and now, markedly different - afraid? The Royal mare looked up at the risen moon with a sigh.. "Thank you...  young Starcrasher." She lowered her gaze then, to the young Unicorn. "You seem rather gifted with anti-magic... Your teacher, miss Sparkle, must be very proud."

Luna bit her lip, and glance doff into the forest from whence they'd come, wings ruffling uneasily. Whatever that had been, or whatever she'd seen, she was upset by it.

Starcrasher smiled, though it was more out of relief that her initial actions were right. She was happy to have been able to lend a hoof as well of course, but the thought of not having done anything wrong was still stronger. She tended to rush into things a bit too much, according to her teachers.

- "Oh, i've actually been able to do this ever since i started using magic. Twilight's... helping me control it."

She bit a corner of her lip, suddenly finding a tuft of grass particularly interesting. Putting her hoof forward, she started dragging a circle around it.

- "It umm... kept interfering with my own magic, and ponies back at the Academy did kind of get upset when i kept accidentally destabilizing all their spells."

Luna sighed, finally...  "That...  what ... exactly did you see?" she questioned the filly, as she lightly lifted her up onto her back again, to take off, , back toward Ponyville and off the ground on the edge of the Everfree.. not far to go, now...

- "What... I saw?"

Starcrasher gave Luna a puzzled look, not really having expected the question. She was there, so she would have seen it too, right?

- "Well, you started groaning like my professors do when they get a headache. And then there was this shadowy storm cloud thingy that tried to envelop you. It was magical though, pretty easy to dispel actually. What was it?"

"Oh..." Luna said softly... had she seen something else? She shook her head gently. "'Tis nothing to concern yourself with, little one. But I thank you for being there, and for helping as you did." Luna lowered he rheada little in flight, spotting he town proper. "We've arrived..." She poaused gently, and spoke to her again. "I must ask you something - tell  no pony  what you've seen tonight, with me. Not even Twilight Sparkle..."

- "Uhh, sure."

Starcrasher found Luna's request to be a little odd, but if she was in some way ashamed about it then she could understand. She would not tell anyone about it. On the other hand, if there was anything wrong that somepony should know about...

- "You sure you're going to be okay, princess?"

There was some worry in her voice, while she could keep a secret she didn't want to be the pony that knew all along when it started affecting Luna's health. Sure, she lived with Celestia and if she couldn't tell what was going on pretty much nopony else could, but she still felt she should ask regardless.

"yes, my little pony..." Luna chimed gently. "Point me to where I should let you off, so you can get inside and to bed... You owe me a few dreams, I should think, up so late..." she laughed gently, more trying to comfort herself than amuse the girl.

- "Oh, i'll be dreaming about this for a while, that's for sure."

Starcrasher looked down -- surprising how fast somepony could get used to those things -- and looked at the houses, taking a little longer since the angle at which she saw them was all wrong. She eventually spotted the library though, and that meant the Summer Song would be around... there! Okay, now all she needed to do was retrace her steps using those reference points and that meant the Workshop would be...

- "Oh, over there's where i live. Next to the house with the blue roof."

When she had arrived she honestly couldn't understand who a pony would have paid bits to have their roof painted blue when one could barely see it at street level, but all things considered she had to admit the different roof colors did look kind of nice from above. She stifled a yawn, feeling a shudder go down her spine before leaning closer to Luna in preparation for the descent.

Luna swept her down gently to the ground, and helped the little filly off her back. A hoof and wing around her, she nuzzled the girl in an affectionate, friendly manner, then put a gentle peck on her forehead. "You've done very well today, and I'm very proud of you. I shall be in town for some time more, and should anything come of my guards' investigation, I shall inform you... but for now, go to sleep little one." she nudged her on toward her home, and watched her go, humming a soft lullaby that would follow the filly all the way to bed.

Starcrasher smiled at feeling solid ground under her hooves again. It wasn't that the flying had been uncomfortable, far from it. It was just that she wasn't a pegasus and didn't want to get used to asking others to airlift her around. She was no longer a foal after all. Turning around, she gave Luna a deep bow -- despite being in Ponyville she was Canterlot raised -- and backed up to the door, knocking on it to let Quill know someone was at the door that would like to come in. After a few seconds of waiting, she'd test the door, trying to turn the handle with one hoof and pushing it open the way she sometimes did when she had her hooves full of books. Regardless, she'd eventually find herself in Widget's Workshop.

--> To: Ponyville Business District - Widget Whatsis' Wondrous Works -->

With the filly dropped off, Luna took wing, but she wasn't going far... she skimmed the rooftops gently, settling down anxiously near Ponyville's spa...


Exit to Ponyville Spa- Night

This message was last edited by the GM at 03:04, Tue 23 June 2015.