Alivda

"Well, I would suggest that noodle shop we ate at my first day... but it might be a little messy... How bout the hayburger place? Wait! Better idea! We take Myth up, and whatever smells good to her?" Raven said, smiling softly. She stood close to Myth, trying to be a gentle presence as she waited for Myth's input. She couldn't help but wish she could do something to help Myth's sight return quicker, especially since it was her equipment and lab that caused it...

Raven smiled as she politely clapped. "It was good. Solid fundamentals in the beginning, and nice tricks in the end. The feather thing was cool too!" She said, taking it out of her hair. She gently set it on the ground, and looked towards the palace. "You know, I can't help but wonder just how long it's gonna take them. Hopefully it's not all day..." She bit her lip, thinking for a second. "Hey, Myth, Feather... I... How do you guys think I'm doing... you know... as the second? I... I never thought about being in this position, but when Icy asked... How could I say no... you know?" She asked, nervousness plain in the way she held herself.

"Hmm... Well, she might be interested in the training rooms, oh, and maybe the control center... Oh! What about the library? Wait... that might not be the best place..." Raven said, forgetting for a second that even if Myth had her sight back, she still was blind when it came to books. She smiled sheepishly, and giggled softly. "Actually, it'll have to wait till tomorrow, but what about the hanger?"

"Yeah, I've heard of other ways of casting spells, but to be able to find the harmonic resonance and counter it with mechanical means... Even magically animated machines. I wonder if they may be open to sharing some information about the machines..." Raven said, before watching Feather take off and go flying. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have wings, but quickly shook her head. She couldn't think about how her life would be different if she was a pegasus, she had too many things to think about right now.

Raven nodded. "Yeah, it's possible." She said, before looking at Myth. "I'll follow behind, just in case." She continued once the infirmary had been explained. She hoped that her soft smile came though on her voice, and that Myth's sight returned soon. She couldn't imagine how worried and terrified she must be...

Raven winced a little as the magical counterspell form the birds washed over them, but nodded. "Yep, that's part of why I want to talk to them about our project. It's an avenue of research that, to be frank, I wasn't that aware even existed. If I could get even just a few scraps of knowledge, it'd really help us out. Not to mention how much it would help other aspects of STAR out. But that's something that can be discussed when we get done with our mission here." She said, looking at the bird curiously, but not moving closer. She wasn't sure what whoever was in charge of security... probably Shiori, judging by her appearance thought of Myth's testing of the waters...

"Yeah... That was a really rare crystal, but it's not that important... I mean... I'm sure Princess Twilight will be willing to help us acquire a new one... Heck, she may even want to hear reports on our progress... From what I heard of her back when she was just Princess Celestia's student, she was an avid scholar." Raven said, smiling slightly as she tried to downplay just how rare that crystal was. It was easy to find lose crystals, but ones like that one, due to size and quality, was a little harder to find. "And yep! It's great to know that my time hasn't been wasted. I mean, I figured, thanks to enchantments and other factors like Icy's spheres, that it'd be possible, but... From what I gather, it's almost a completely new field of research..." She sighed slightly. "But all that can be dealt with later. How bout we finish the tour, once you're up to it, and go wind down in one of the restaurants up top?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah, sometimes anti-scrying spells can be a bit oppressive... I'm actually surprised you haven't ran into any back at base... Then again, the way they use magic here... it's very different... I'm actually thinking about seeing if they could help with the project, or at least let me access some of their research... with Icy's permission." She said. She knew they would still be watched here, heck, it was probably why they'd had the escort, so she didn't want to mention too many details. She wasn't sure how close to the vest Icy really wanted the prosthetic project to be, especially considering she was using STAR's funds now, instead of her own...

"Happened before? Hmm..." Raven said, thinking about it... She had a theory, but first, she needed to confirm it. "I want to test something in a bit, but we can wait till you're better... Wait, you saw something?" She continued, switching gears. She didn't want to hurt Myth, but the small amount of training she'd done with the rest of STAR's forces had, from the unicorns, given her an idea of what her shadowsun was... and if Myth had that happen to her before, she'd be able to confirm it, but she'd need to be healthy for the test. She started to get excited, before she realized something. If she did the test... it could really hurt and frighten Myth... Her ears dropped as she thought about it. She'd need to talk to Icy about it first...

Raven blinked at Myth's request, before she realized that as bad as it was for her, between being around Ponies like Icy, and the fact that she didn't rely on magic to replace one of her basic senses, the thaumic pressure must be much worse for Myth. "My apologies, but I should probably also keep an eye on Myth. Plus, thanks to a foalhood accident, my own sensitivity is also quite high. I probably wouldn't be able to give this meeting as much attention as it deserves. That being said, I do have a separate, much less important matter that I would like to discuss at a later date, barring the commander's permission." She said, bowing to them one more time, before stepping out to be with Myth.

Raven followed them in, her steps slowing somewhat as it felt like she encountered a wall of pure magic... at least, the pressure on her skull suggested that. She'd have to find out what Myth saw later, and do her best to grit her teeth and pull through right now, though, despite her head feeling like it was in a vice. She followed them through to the room where apparently there were to discuss their mission, and the pressure seemed to lessen enough to where she could really pay attention. As she looked over the delegation, again, a thought came to mind. If they can make 'living things' using magic... they might be able to help with the prosthetic project. I should bring it up with Icy when we get out of here.

Raven hurried with, wincing every now and then as her head exploded in pain from the headache. "Trust me, Just let Icy do her thing... You can't talk her out of being protective when she gets like this." She said, a soft smile on her face as she helped to hold Myth on Icy's back. "Besides, that was basically a magic surge... While most are harmless... I've heard stories of ponies being turned into plants from some of the more powerful ones. You may feel fine now, but have polka dots in a day or so." She continued, right as they passed into the med bay. "To elaborate, She saw a resonance between the Canterlot crystal, and the commander, and wanted to try something out. There was some kind of magic surge, and the crystal was shattered on the ground. Her sight that allows her to see while being blind is now gone." She said, still wincing. Oddly enough, the feeling was starting to remind her of when she'd overtax herself trying to learn a new spell.

Raven marveled at the gardens as they were guided through. It was even more impressive than the ones at Canterlot castle, though maybe that was just because she'd been in the Canterlot one a few times with her family. As they started to head deeper, her step faltered, the magic in the air pressing against her and causing her a slight headache, but she quickly shook it off, and stepped back up beside Icy. When they met the royals, she waited for Icy's introduction, and bowed when she was indicated. It was basic courtesy when meeting royals, so she figured it would be of little harm.

Raven kept a close eye on the thaumeter, noticing it going up as Icy powered up her orbs, before a weird pushing sensation pressed against her horn and caused a headache. The meter topped out for a brief second, and then plummeted. "That... Was interesting..." She said, as she turned around, noticing the broken crystal. Just her luck, it was the Canterlot crystal... Maybe the princess would let her get a fresh one, but she didn't have high hopes. However, she was paying more attention to Myth at the moment. Something seemed off, and her suspicion was proved correct when Myth stated she couldn't see. She quickly put aside any worries about the crystal as she followed Icy and Myth.

Raven smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she'd probably know some pony to teach as well..." She said. As Icy did what Myth suggested, she went over to the thaumeter. Somehow, she'd yet had a chance to get a measure of Icy's spheres, and she was going to take advantage of it... though, she was a little worried that she'd probably also blow the thaumeter out, too. She doubted that though, the device did have a high rating. "I'm ready whenever you guys are." She said, watching the device.

Raven smiled. "I'm not sure about the microscope. Normally, they use light refraction to magnify the object, but who knows?" She said, before listening to Icy's words. She bit her lip in thought, and nodded. "Well, bone, blood vessels, nerves and aether lines... But your idea isn't a bad one... Only problem is, still need to get the structure right... or teach a different way to cast to every unicorn... I suppose we could fund a rehab/magic school... Though we'd have to find unicorns that don't actively rely on spell forms... perhaps spell researchers?" She said, starting to ramble and mutter mostly to herself. She shook her head, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, that happens from time to time... I get a little absorbed in my thoughts." She explained to Myth.

Raven took another step towards the stranger, slowly, but stopped as he turned and left. Soon enough, all traces of him having been there had disappeared, and she sighed. Before anyone spoke, she started to cast a spell, wincing as the magic sparked across still sore pathways. A bubble appeared from her horn, and passed through the igloo harmlessly, going out a decent distance. "He's gone, at least beyond the range of normal scrying..." She said, heading back to rest by the fire again...

Raven followed along, looking at the buildings with interest, though her attention was more on the art styles. However, all of her attention was diverted when they came to the market. Hopefully, their mission here would stay peaceful, as she would love to look through the market. That's when the scent hit her. It wasn't one she was too familiar with, but having moved to Las Pegasus, there were a few restaurants that had 'exotic' meals in them, for the ones visiting from other lands. Meat. And it didn't go unnoticed to the rest of their group, it seemed. She said nothing, however, as Luna explained. She simply nodded, and waited to see if their guide would explain farther.

Raven giggled softly at Myth's antics. "Yeah, the commander thing is recent, and I don't really use my full name unless it's for official things, like dealing with my house in Canterlot..." She said, before noting what Icy said. "I'm not really tired, just a little frustrated by the quality of the prototypes... but then, I can't expect engineers to understand the structure of a horn like a horn specialist... not to mention, I think the material choice just might be flat wrong... might not be able to get the right level of detail in it... But that can wait till we get Myth settled in..." She said, turning and leading the way to her lab. As she opened the door, the room was revealed to have a few sets of chemistry gear, with the coats and goggles to go with it, as well as a pair of microscopes, both normal and high detail. Then, there was the more esoteric pieces of equipment, like the thaumeter, and the aetheric density meter. finally, laying on some of the tables were bits of crystals, mostly from the frozen north, as well as one sample from Canterlot that was in a special case just so she could tell it apart. Layered here and there, over all of this, were a bunch of papers, scribbles messily covering their surfaces, each one a reminder of a path that didn't go anywhere...

Raven followed, nodding. "If you would. While we are here on business, I know that at least I would like to experience the culture and beauty that Neighpon has to offer." She said, hoping that she wasn't ruining the angle that Icy was trying for. If she was honest with herself, she had no idea how to begin to be in a leadership position... though, there were two ponies here with her that could help. Heck, Luna alone would probably be a gold mine of information...

Raven nodded, falling in next to Icy. She hadn't really practiced anything like this, but figured that staying near Icy was the correct thing. She smiled though as she looked around the docks, the beauty of the city already apparent. The longma wandering around, the nature seemingly built into the city, though she could tell that there was several areas where the city was taking over. It looked amazing. She wasn't surprised when their contact had mistaken Luna for their leader, but she couldn't help but wonder what Icy thought.

Raven frowned as she ran the latest prototype past the microscopes, the normal one showing no problems, but the much more detailed one showing the pathways she'd asked for had been badly formed. She couldn't blame them, trying to recreate something that most ponies would never know about, even those that used it everyday, would be hard work, but she was getting a little frustrated by the lack of progress. She couldn't even test if the silver and mithrial hybrid would hold magic well, as the pathways being screwed up would mean any magic going in would just feedback and detonate it. She sighed, and put it with the others. Somehow, she couldn't bare to toss the failed prototypes, especially since she could explore some of the more promising ones again. She sighed as she looked over her lab, and all the specialized equipment in it. With the prototype being flawed, She'd just be wasting the day if she stayed in here. Maybe she'd go spend some time in the casino, it'd been a while since she'd relaxed like that. She nodded to herself, and hung her lab coat on the hook next to the door, before stepping out. She didn't make it far down the hall before she ran into Myth and Icy. "Oh! Hey! Tour day? Wow... That snuck up on me..." She said with a laugh. "If I'd remembered, I'd have cleaned the lab up a bit." Or at least hid all the failed prototypes... She thought to herself

Raven had shot up when the stranger spoke, her stance tense and hard. It wasn't often she got surprised by others coming near, but here lately, she found herself getting lost when fire was nearby. The stranger didn't seem openly hostile, so she stood down, though she did move away from the fire, as she could feel the tension Icy had in dealing with him. Icy's voice alone was a giveaway for those who knew her. She would stay wary and ready, especially as she knew nothing about this stranger.

Raven sighed as she slipped out of her cabin on the ship, her armor on her. She frowned as she thought about Neighpon, as she usually liked to know more about where she was going. She could remember asking her parents a million questions about where they were going when she was a foal, and that excitability never really left her. She shook her head to clear it. Now wasn't the time to be going down memory lane. Judging by the engines winding down, they'd arrived, and it'd be important to show that the leadership of STAR, at the least, took this seriously. She'd need to be by Icy's side, and it had took her longer than she remembered to put on her armor. She'd have to make sure, when back home, to schedule time in the training room, if nothing else then to take some of the rust off of her skills. She made her way to the deck, her armor clinking softly as the various metal parts overlapped and scrapped each other. She stopped at the door, her uncertainty in her role making her hesitate. With a soft sigh to herself, she headed out, noting that Luna was up and out, as well as the fact that Myth, Icy, and a pegasus from the ranks of STAR that she wasn't sure she met before was already on the deck. She'd definitely need to get more used to wearing her armor, she thought to herself as she stepped up to be with the rest of the group.

Raven stirred once more, at the question of Qualms. "It really depends... There's not a standard notation, it seems... I prefer the term thaum, but that's just me... As long as the term refers to the tiniest detectable trace of magic, you can basically call it whatever... Should probably talk with someone about that... Maybe even see if I can't talk to the princess... Seems like as good as she is with magic, she'd be a good one to help with a standard for it... would make research a lot easier..." She said, talking mostly to herself about halfway through. It was something that kinda annoyed her, researching into how unicorns cast spells as much as she did, which made her one of the only creatures in the world that seemed to research magic itself... Having said that though, she went back to her fire watching, inching a little closer to it as she shifted around...