Switchback Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 The Hollow Shades, an area untouched by most of ponykind for many years, lying quiet in its solitude until recent events brought the place to light, still most did not go there, and many would find nothing of too much interest in the dark grim hollow. Coltson was one such pony who would very much have preferred to just admire the place from the pages of a good book, or from the testament of a wearied traveler, however today he stood on a rocky path overlooking the place, already getting chills. He was wearing his bodysuit, with his black formal suit over the top, his sunglasses balanced on his face for now, at his side was a strange saddlebag, made up of the bag on one side, and a large metal canister on the other side with a lid firmly locked over it with an airtight seal. He glances back down to his file; obscure location with nothing much happening too out of the ordinary? Check. Sudden influx of strange activity from ponies who would not act in such a way? Check. Reports of ponies feeling different from normal in an area they had lived their lives in? Check. This had all the hallmarks of an artifact, an item that he would have to seek out and contain however possible so it could be transported back to base for safe keeping for the rest of time. He wanders down into the hollow, his eyes darting around as he looked out for ponies acting strange, or any who seemed to take notice of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Zola was, honestly, a bit perplexed as to what was happening in this town. Her sight had revealed nothing so far, and she couldn’t seem to find anything in her books. She was considering heading to the Guild’s base and seeing if she could find anything there, but she didn’t want to leave these ponies defenseless, as it were. The zebra sighed to herself as she exited her home, locking the door behind her before she began to wander through town. She was looking for more ponies presenting symptoms, as she had brewed up something to counter the effects. It didn’t seem to cure them, but at least it helped. What she found instead though, was a stranger with a strange metal canister. She blinked a little at that before approaching him with a smile. “Greetings, Sir, welcome to Hollow Shades. There seems to be something going around, so I suggest you leave before your sanity fades.” She said, looking him over for any early signs of whatever it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Everypony seemed to be keeping to themselves so far, or at least not deciding to take note of his being there, and while he would have welcomed that anywhere else; here he did kind of need somepony to come along so he can interview them. That was when he saw a welcome sight of, not a pony, but a zebra coming towards him, a strange pattern on her face, one which looked a bit voodoo like, but that was useful; he needed unusual. Quote “Greetings, Sir, welcome to Hollow Shades. There seems to be something going around, so I suggest you leave before your sanity fades.” This was very good, it means that this area was a go for artifact activity. He couldn't help but grin more as she spoke "It's alright, that faded many a year ago." he took out a wallet, showing a badge inside it "Royal Equestrian Guard, just need to ask you a few questions if I may." he snapped the wallet shut as he puts it away, taking a notebook out "Firstly, have you noticed any individuals acting strange and out of character?" he asks, hoping this would give him a baseline of how it was working, locating it would undoubtedly be the harder part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 A guard? To be honest, that was not what she thought he would be, but she only had to look at herself as an example of deceiving appearances. She listened to him speak, keeping an eye on him just in case. “Ponies acting not their best? Yes, that has been a symptom, and none of them were in jest. I cannot seem to cure them of this motion, though I can help with this potion.” She explained, digging out one of the bottles from her saddlebags. She gave it to him, both for a closer inspection and to keep in case he needed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 "Initiative? Good I like it when ponies use that. Come with me." he says as he takes a quick sip of the potion, then levitates the liquid in the bottle out, going to use a little botanist's spell to find out what each of the ingredients was, cross referencing in his mind with any that would have standard effects on ponies in terms of speeding up minds in the way that caffeine would. He walks along into the town "Nice taste. So has anypony new came to this place recently? An arrival that perhaps coincided with the first case of this... illness?" he asks as he runs through possibilities in his mind; it would need to be something that would not look out of place or it would have been removed already, something that could hide in plain sight, either that or this item had dual properties, which in itself was very worrying to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 This certainly was a strange one, trusting immediately that what she gave wasn’t poison. Not that it was, but that was beside the point. The zebra followed the strange pony down the street as he asked his questions and examined her potion. “There are more visitors than you would think, though none seemed to slink. One does come to mind, he seemed a bit maligned.” Zola commented, tapping her chin a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 He notes down the ingredients of the potion, noting a few that would cause spikes in concentration; it would certainly seem the item he was after caused breaks and lapses in concentration when around it, which would explain how the potion took effect in such a way. Made him glad he came prepared already hyped up on quite a few coffees, with a few other items to assist. Quote “There are more visitors than you would think, though none seemed to slink. One does come to mind, he seemed a bit maligned.” "Perfect!" he exclaimed, moving a bit faster to get into town now "Tell me about this one then, I need to know what they were intending on doing here, who it was they talked to, and any items that they may have left behind upon exiting the town." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 “I did not talk to them much, their demeanor did not give the impression they would like to be touched.” Zola shrugged a bit as she walked along with him. “He did not give a name, he seemed not very tame. They did not talk, only walk. They stopped at a few places, only looking at a few faces.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 It seemed like this pony did not leave anything behind that could be seen, but that got him thinking "What if it can't be seen..." he mutters to himself as he looks around the place, thinking carefully on this one; artifacts had all kinds of defensive properties, some not even needing to be in contact with a pony to activate. "perhaps you can take me exactly on the route that this pony went on? And stop at the places he stopped at?" he requests, his horn igniting as he prepared for this walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Zola hummed to herself in thought for a moment before she stopped in her tracks and turned around, heading off towards a specific spot. She had to go towards the epicenter, it would make sense the problem would be in the area with the worst cases. She said nothing, walking determinedly towards the spot she thought of, kinda angry she hadn’t thought of it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 He looks around the area carefully, nodding as he takes out a cup of coffee, walking around the area until he found a place which seemed to drain him of the most of his energy, downing his coffee he winces at the influx of energy meeting the draining feeling. "Now, if it is hiding behind our eyes, then the only thing needed to do is..." he looks to Zola "Throw some powder down at my hooves, any kind just quickly." he says, the urgency laced through his tone as he downs another coffee, stood bolt still as he fights the feelings in his head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Zola nodded, throwing him the powder before she sat down cross-legged and concentrated through the strange feelings until she entered her own form of trance. She looked around with her special sight, trying to follow the traces of magic and the strange effects to see its source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 He picks up the powder, before tossing it onto the ground "After all, if we cannot see this, then instead we should cover it in something that we can see." as the powder erupts on the ground, it forms up over a mask like shape, Coltson looking down to try and look, but still finding his eyes overlooking it, Zola however would get a good view of it suddenly, as the powder had been tossed down with the help of magic, it still held magical residue, allowing her to view the mask at last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Zola’s gaze fixed itself upon the mask, her eyes narrowing a bit as she pointed directly at it. “There. Mask.” She said to him, keeping her hoof pointed directly at it as she kept watching in case anything happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 "Okay good, quickly pick it up and put it in the container at my side." he says as the lid drops off with a hiss, the sides coated in a dark looking material "And cover your eyes as you do it." he instructs, placing his sunglasses over his eyes as he prepares himself for what was about to happen, getting ready to slam the lid on top again as soon as he heard a thud of it landing in the container. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Zola breathed out a slightly annoyed sigh at that, but soon brought herself out of the trance and headed for the mask. Once there, she looked between it and the container to make sure she didn’t miss as she picked it up and closed her eyes. She wasted no time in moving it over and dropping it into the container, only opening her eyes once she heard it close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 As the mask dropped into the container, a series of bright flashes and hisses would be heard as he quickly slams the lid on top of the canister, it sealing with a slow hiss as he breathes a long sigh of relief "Okay, that should be your problem over now. All those affected should start slowly recovering from what they have been through. Strange how this just ended up here though... But that's a mystery for another day, thank you again for your help." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Zola nodded as she looked at the closed container, wondering if that artifact was in fact in the Guild’s libraries. It probably would be, but it might be hard to find considering she couldn’t tell what it actually looked like. “Thank you, stallion. Without you there could’ve been enough to fill a battalion.” She said, smiling a bit as she looked over at him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 "Well actually it would be trying to fill a battalion, I should think, as this mask seems very similar to a sword we came across a while ago, most likely from the same historical warlord. The sword caused sleeping ponies to start trying to fight anypony who the sword wielder bore a dislike to. And looking at what this mask caused, I would think that if used together, one could build an army overnight." he explains as he goes to walk towards the way back "You best be coming with me now, miss." he says as he makes his way along, canister swinging at his waist "Can't be having witnesses to these items without processing them first." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 Well, that was interesting to hear. Didn't really sound like something you would want to store close together though. Zola had been following the stallion for a bit, though at his last words she stopped, her eyes narrowing a bit. Processing? That did not sound like something she should comply with. Really, she would prefer not to fight him, but she was more than willing to do so if it came to that. "What does this processing entail? If you hurt me, you will have to learn braille." She said, completely serious now. There was no way she was going to let him delete her memory or whatever he was planning. Maybe she should just take the mask back to her Guild, as she should have done in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 It was at the moment she made her threat that he turned around, his head tilted at a slight angle "The item. Without processing the item." he enunciates carefully "What good would processing a pony do anyway? I don't want ponies in my storeroom, I don't want anything in my storeroom except what is inside the canister." he taps the side of it with the hefty metallic clang. "Oh and by the way, if you refuse or try to take the item back, it classes as assault on a royal guard and is punishable by the laws that would govern acts of treason, so keep the words to the business amount we have decided upon already, thank you." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 "Why do you need me then? I have responsibilities here, helping ponies with their fear." Zola blinked, more confused than anything now. What was he talking about not wanting witnesses for then? She was still very suspicious of him, but she followed after him soon enough, still ready to act at a moment's notice. He wasn't going to get the drop on her, especially since she wasn't sure she believed him about being a guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 "I am sure, but they should recover now the item has been disabled. And I need to make sure that nothing goes wrong in the rest of the retrieval. And so until this is neatly shelved, I am afraid I must keep you in my sight for your sake as well as mine. Do try not to make too much of a scene. Ponies shall be along very soon who probably want this mask back out on the streets, and they will do a lot to make sure such happens. Hence the secrecy." he says as they finally arrive at a station, where he quickly boards the train, beckoning her on board as well, his eyes keeping on scanning the area around them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroBlaze Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 She could certainly understand that reasoning, she knew the need for secrecy in many matters. It came with the job, both the potion making and being part of the Guild. The zebra nodded slightly, boarding the train silently, keeping an eye out for trouble much more subtly than he seemed to be doing. No matter, any threats that came their way would likely have no idea about her capabilities. Even he didn't know her full capabilities, only her potion making and her sight to some extent. Yes, she understood secrecy much more than he could know at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switchback Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 After the train journey had finished, she would find herself being quickly led through the currently quiet town of Ponyville, along the humble streets and past all the shops, ponies seeming to mostly ignore them, he smiles as he wanders along "Perfect place this, no matter how out of place something may be, it's all part of the norm for Ponyville. Well... most things are anyway." he says as they arrive at a reasonably sizable book store "Here we are, item lockup." he says as he unlocks the door, swinging it open and walking into the shop, heading for a back room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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