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And So it Begins.{STAR Recrutment} (See OOC)


IceStorm

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Tongue Twister nodded politely to Raven - she recognized an oath when she heard one.  They are not given lightly, nor ever abandoned.

 

"Well, I'm feeling kinda out of place here." she began, "I'm not from a noble house.  Nor a fearsome wanderer.   I'm the daughter of a curio merchant and an ex-card dealer from Las Pegasus !  I can speak most languages, so I've been working at the Manehatten Museum for years, doing what I can to keep Equestria safe. 

 

All those 'brave adventurers' recover artifacts and send them there.  Most are harmless, but every once in a great while, I come across something that could be dangerous.  So I 'mistranslate' them, adding or subtracting a few lines on the hieroglyphs.  I would hate to be the one trying to use those items ! 

 

Or smuggle them back to where they came from - I'm very good at making replicas.  Who would to think to look for an artifact from the very location it was taken from ?  When everyone 'knows' that it was taken from a temple, and currently on display elsewhere ?"

 

She sighed.  "One thing from working for a museum is I've seen how many great civilizations there used to be.  I'd rather Equestria not fade into the dusts of history if there is anything more I can do about it.  And we've come a little too close too many times !  Those invading us learn, and try new strategies; using the same old defensive strategies against new attacks will only end in failure, eventually."

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The voices of the others in the room flowed past his ears, and although he paid some attention to what he heard, most of it was upon Miles. The king inclined his head when the koma-inu bowed, pleased to receive such respect. It'd been far, far too long.. and Miles was one of very few who would bow to him willingly. "It was never accounted for, and when my curse was so.. nonspecific. It was only meant to make the empire disappear so long as I was gone, myself. As long as the princesses' banishment held. By the time I'm sure you've awakened, I was either long gone south into Equestria, or it was during the two years I'd been.. piecing myself back together. The Crystal Heart certainly destroyed me, for a time." There was a slight, smug note to his voice, as if he'd achieved surviving its magic himself. Of course he knew that he didn't- it'd been pure luck that it hadn't killed him.

 

Sombra gestured idly at Miles to rise and moved to stand next to the koma-inu so that he'd be able to have eyes on the meeting room again, eying the ponies that were present again. The bat pony still struck him as strangely familiar until it dawned on him: it was Midnight. Thus far, he was the only areion Sombra had seen with a similar color scheme to him: black mane, grey fur. He made a note to talk to the bat at some point, too, as well as getting to know Stormstride, who seemed so passionate and so.. bitter. That bitterness resonated in Sombra himself and it drew him. There was also.. Raven, some of who's story he knew already.

 

His attention drifted again to what questions and answers he overheard, and one answer in particular caught his interest: an archive. Knowledge. Anything any of them would want to know. It was something he was definitely going to stick around for so that he might have access to. His tail flicked and he turned his attention towards one of the new ponies, this Tongue Twister. It was an odd name, but it was Sombra's opinion that most pony names were strange. "It likely won't disappear, not until after the passage of a few millennia. Empires rise and fall, and this one will in time. Just not so soon, if the sisters and their appointed.. champions have anything to say about it." The king spoke up, his voice carrying through the room again.

 

 

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Buck watched his sister lean back in her chair, disregarding most any pony around at this point. She was like that, so focused on her task she couldn't even see the tip of her nose. He sighed and looked around at the other ponies and those that were not pony. Every one seemed to be settling in alright, and he was surprised to see that his sister's attitude had not chased them all away. It was either good fortune or there was some ponies here that had seen their fair bit and knew she was just putting up a show. As he began to relax a bit, he looked at Ice herself. The stallion was calm, as he just observed her. The orbs she had were not to be sneezed at, he could practically smell the magic radiating off them. 

 

Next was Sombra. Buck felt... odd about him. He had never seen another pony like himself and his sister before. They were both gray, though hers was mottled and varied in tone it was still gray. And like Sombra, both their horns curved. Buck's horn just had a more pronounced curve. It was not a problem really, more a curiosity. Buck watched Sombra a bit before letting his eyes keep drifting. Raven was interesting, though not too out of the ordinary. Polite, well mannered, clean. All the things that pointed out she was not the average mercenary or vagabond like he and his sister. As he looked at Tongue Twister, he felt more curious. A museum worker, mixed into all this? Though knowledge was a better weapon than a sword many times, so Buck nodded and figured that Twister was likely here because she had a vast knowledge of older and more delicate things. How to handle artifacts of power and danger might be her forte, which was probably best because he and his sister had no idea how that worked. 

 

On and on Buck's eyes roved the room, though he did glance at his sister when she started to snore. She was ASLEEP!!! He wanted to reach over and thump her on the nose, but he knew better. She was exhausted, having pulled their cart all night while buck slept. They had arrived in town early enough to get food and a very fast wash so their faces were at least clean. Rolling his eyes he settled into his chair and waited for someone to address them, knowing that there were likely questions about why a musician like himself was with a mare like his sister, let alone traveling without a home. 

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After the small charade between herself and Storm, and Ice Storm announced for others to speak up. She looked around waiting for the first individual to speak up. This individual was Raven. She spoke a lot about her family lineage, and how throughout the ages there had always been somepony from Dupone representing the family in the REA until her. Having to completely relearn how to cast magic kept her out of the REA, but would not keep her out of this. She felt this was the chance to continue her family's legacy. Ice Storm nodded and let her continue. This was indeed going to change her family's legacy. Something that she was going to be able to look back on and be proud of. The fact that something like this needed to be built... showed how complacent and lazy the Equestrian Military had gotten. Stormstrider wasn't wrong. If she was, well.... this meeting wouldn't be happening.

 

As the ponies continued, the next one to speak up was Yoru, who gave a simple greeting while Tongue Twister seemed a bit more open. Even Sombre seemed to open up a bit more. Tongue Twister spoke about knowing many languages, and archeological digs to recover artifacts.  Most of the artifacts they recovered were indeed harmless, but even then, old tombs had dangers that most ponies wouldn't know what to look for. Just navigating them meant she'd have a keen eye. She also addressed how eventually... Equestria will fall. Every empire always did, and over time, this would likely be true. However, they can take the steps necessary to make sure it's not in this lifetime. There was one thing though, that she needed to address, and she needed to address now.

 

"Let me proclaim now, absolutely nopony. Is ever meaningless or without title. Not in this organization," she said standing up tall. The air of confidence and conviction spreading from the Mare that had addressed her, to Ice herself, even moreso than she had before. "Do not, let anyone tell you that you are meaningless. Do not let anyone tell you you don't deserve what you've accomplished. Don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't aspire to anything that you believe. Life is filled with detours, road blocks, broken ledges. Obstacles that are meant to drag us down," she said looking through the room. She looked to the sleeping Stormstrider. It was probably good that she was asleep as she did not apparently share this same viewpoint of the world. "Life is full of them, and they always hit at the times that we can consider to be the worst possible at the time. None of these events make us happy. Events that have hurt us. Events that have broken us. Events that many ponies, Unicorns, pegasi, Qirin, Yokai, and griffon alike would go back and change if they could..."

 

"Everyone has setbacks, and I'm fully expecting missions to end up unsuccessful in someway. That is the nature of war, my ponies. Even when we take in everything that we can, there is always a wild card, something unaccounted for. A linchpin that can go off on a moments notice and send everything tumbling in a downward spiral. These things happen, and in my organization you will not be looked down upon for failure. No, How you will be judged will be how you respond to adversity. Things happen that are beyond your control, so don't try to control them. It's true that most everypony here comes from a jaded past. And that is perfectly fine. Never forget those you hold dear to you, but always remember. What's done is done. Learn from it and move on. You," she said pointing to Raven, "You took a very dangerous situation with your horn that most ponies would have given up on and turned it into a new way of thinking. From the records I can determine the recovery was not easy. "

 

"Storm and Thunderbuck were able to push through things that no pony should ever have to be forced to deal with. Something that I myself dealt with. A pit of loneliness and despair that only those that have encountered a similar past can know. The past is just that though, past. Our past does not define our future. Every single pony in this room, has the potential to one day take over this organization, and let it be a light for those who have no where else to go. Let it be the savior that Equestria needs to ensure more ponies don't have to suffer what we had to. What any of us had to, to get here. We are more than just flesh. We are more than just a beating heart. At our core, we are all ponies, one way or another, and together, as a unit, we will change Equestria for the better..."

 

"Will it be dangerous, yes. Every time we leave, there's a chance we won't go home. But, that's the price to pay, to make sure what happens to Stormstrider and Buck, doesn't happen to anypony else. What happened to you Raven, doesn't happen to anyone else. Sombre, I don't even wanna know what began your decent into the darkness, but I know great evil usually comes from great loss. I know that something happened even if I can't place what... I won't imagine to know the pain you felt, but we can prevent from happening again. Together, we will build a future that you can be proud of. That everyone involved will be proud of. Everyone in this room, and everyone that joins us in the future, is our family. We may not always like each other, we might not always see eye to eye, but we will respect each other. At the end of the day, we are all ponies, and none of us are meaningless," she concluded. She hoped that at least some of the inspiration and conviction would spread to the others.

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She wasn't really paying attention to much anyone else, she thought that if she was going to learn about others, she should do it in a more personal way, not like an info dump. Compared to others, it seemed that she was the youngest and as such, had the least interesting tale to tell, but this wasn't really about her, it was about Equestria as a whole, and every little bit counts.

 

"If anyone of us really was meaningless... than they wouldn't be here right now. The fact that any of us made it here means we have a purpose and we want to fulfil that purpose. I can say that our current purpose, is to fight so that the ones who can't don't have to, but maybe, it will become more than that in the future. Fighting is more than just combat, like my proficiency, it is doing what you can to oppose what's wrong to bring what's right," She said before turning to Tongue Twister. "I'm not from a noble house either, but that doesn't matter to me at all. If anything it gives me more hope. There are no absurd expectations placed on me at all, so really I have free reigns in my abilities to help, even with the restrictions I already have, but really, what would I be if I didn't have those restrictions?"

 

She noticed her short ramble and chuckled. "I bet you only understood half of that, guess I'm not much of a speaker, am I? Whatever..." she said lounging back waiting for the next of Black Ice's Speeches, speaking of which... "Hey, you're not actually Black are you? Sounds like a code name or something. I don't know why. Not that it'd really matter."

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Raven sat back down as the commander stood, a little displeasure on her face as she listened. It seemed that either they misunderstood her family's oath, or it's meaning was overlook in favor of the words that were actually spoken. She breathed deep, however, letting out a slightly audible sigh as she did. This did the trick, relaxing her. In truth, she felt that she had to prove herself to everyone here, seeing as most of them already looked like very capable fighters, not to mention eminently more established, judging by the size of their files. All Raven had was a handful of months of modified training, and her Shadowsun...

 

There was her assets, too, a fact that no one seemed to care about. She knew House Dupone wasn't high on the list of nobility, but they still had a lot to give, and she was determined that their wealth would be used. She had taken a risk, not to herself, but to the people of Canterlot. Some of the wellness programs in the lesser known neighborhoods depended on her contributions, and she had felt that she needed to lessen what she gave, to be able to prove she deserved to be here. "If I may, Ma'am, I know that I am more than ready to move forward with this organization, and I doubt with the prying eyes, as well as other appendages, of the other noble houses, that we are to be based here in Canterlot. If that's so, how soon after this meeting will we be expected at home base? I may have a few things to track down and take care of before I can leave Canterlot..." Raven spoke up once everyone was done. She didn't want to sound like she was rushing the meeting along, but to be so close to her dreams, her destiny as her parents called it... She would be remiss if she didn't admit that she was chomping at the bit, as it were.

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Stormstride came around after her impromptu nap, stretching just a bit before settling back into her seat, wide awake. She had heard some of the conversation, but only enough to guess that ponies were introducing themselves. "I'm Stormstride Cloud. Mercenary from Maretonia recently moved back to Equestria. I am skilled in... settling worker disputes, if you catch my meaning. That aside I am proficient with the volatile magic of lightning. This is my brother Thunderbuck Cloud, Musician, soothsayer, oracle, cook, and any number of things I can't figure out how to do. Basically, if I can't do it, he probably can. If it requires stealth or force, I'm your mare. Honeyed words and public presence are his forte." While Stormstride smirked at Ice, she kept mental tabs on the number of ponies around. She was fast approaching the limit for what she deemed safe for her brother to be around in an enclosed space. She had no fear of being unable to defend him, and his shield spells were top notch. Still, why take unnecessary chances? It was then she heard raven mention the prying eyes of the Nobility. Stormstride openly scoffed at that. "I would not worry about the nobility. If they are anything like Maretonian nobility, which they undoubtedly are, they are very timid when faced with a display of force superior to what they can immediately summon. And there isn't a pony in this city that can stand against the force assembled in this room. That said, I have to agree with the merit of the thought. I do not like being close enough to smell the stench coming form that palace up the hill there. It sickens me being this close to Equestria's seat of power. When can we move out? Right after the meeting or are we expected to hang about and delay our trips to prevent suspicion from arising?" The mare pulled her sword from the table top and slid it back into the sheath on her body. As it clicked into place, she took a long breath in and sighed it back out. Her glittering mane flew back behind her head as she flicked her head back. Her emerald eyes locked onto Ice with the glare of a pony determined to figure something out. 

 

Buck was calmer and smiled at every pony. "Raven and Twister make valid points I think. As well, I think what was said by Black does make sense. We all have pushed through problems in our lives. Ours was... It was exceptional. Not every pony will encounter something like we went through. And that is a good thing. Ponies should never be faced with these kinds of things. And I think That is what we are here to ensure. That no pony outside right now should have to face the possibility of losing a loved one or a family member the way we did. Things happen, dangerous things. We can help stop them before they become too dangerous. We just have to remember, we can not ourselves become that danger. IF a time comes when we are becoming a threat to Equestria, I expect us all to face up to that fact and surrender ourselves to the proper authority." His little speech done, he leaned forward and put his hooves on the table. Looking around, he understood that many ponies here were not going to understand things from his perspective. But that was a bridge to cross when they came to it. He was more concerned with the ponies that had never seen combat like he and his sister had. The worst he had personally been in was accidents and bar fights. But those could be dangerous enough. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

EelWvW1.png

 

When Ice finished, she looked around, and instantly caught on that one of the new comers seemed to be a bit disappointed. Perhaps there was additional meaning to the words that she spoke that Ice Storm had over looked with the broadened situation at hoof. It was entirely possible. Tongue Twister seemed to echo her own words before picking up on the fact that she wasn't black. That she must of been using a code name! Ice smiled as Raven spoke out. She commented on the fact that she was very much ready to move forward with the organization and was wanting to know when they would need to report to the home base. That she doubted with the prying eyes and other appendages that nobles had here in Canterlot, that they were going to be based here. Ice Smiled again. Storm and Buck also seemed to somewhat echo what she had said, though Storm more echoing the fact that they wished to get out of Canterlot.

 

"You would be correct in presuming that the primary base of operations will not be in Canterlot. The primary base for this operation, will be deep underground. In the sub basement of a Hotel and Casino that I am having built in Las Pegasus. The base itself will be funded completely out of pocket by the casino, and because there's enough hoof traffic in and out of a casino, and Las Pegasus already being a shady city to begin with. It's the perfect place to set up an organization like this because of how easy it can be hidden there and the questionable legality of it once our missions start coming in and we get our informants. Ponies can go in and out without raising questions. Attached to this base, through a series of underground tunnels, will be an underground air ship yard, where our flagship," she said placing a device on the table showing the concept art for the ship in question, and showing it's size compared to a standard airship. "I have seen first hoof the kind of fire power other nations have that are coming at us. I want them to fear that ship, and know just what Equestria's borders will soon have protecting it. Once it's finished, The Shadow of Ice will be a mobile base of operations for the organization." She said turning to Raven.

 

"While I won't necessarily need help with funding the organization, since I'm basing it out of a casino, I appreciate any of the assets that your family might be able to bring to us. Assistance can mean a lot more than just bits. Whether it's land for an outpost, or simply staying alert for, and giving us valid information when they can. If you also wish to help fund the organziation I will not stop anypony from doing so. It just means we can reach our goals sooner rather than later. As far as where we should set up in the mean time, as the main base is under construction but should be finished by the end of the year, with all of the latest gadgets. For now, I have some arrangements with the Mareage for some of their private VIP rooms on demand. As far as they know, they are business meetings. They are also providing lodging for workers that are there. If you need board until the hotel or the barracks of the base is finished, they will provide it, and charge it to me," Ice told them looking around the room. It would take a bit for ponies to get to Las Pegasus, and for those who eould volunteer, the mission to acquire the prints for the ship was going to take them much farther north. She already had that mission brief prepared for another time.

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Raven looked thoughtful. Las Pegasus, one of the few places her parents hadn't taken her when she was younger. Probably because of the very properties that made it good for a secret base. "I could try to acquire some land around the city that we could use, though it would need to be done slowly, if we are to retain anonymity." She said softly, as if she was more voicing the thought to herself. It wouldn't do for her to be getting hotheaded when she wasn't exactly the most qualified here, after all. 

 

"I do have one last question though... Will we have covers with the hotel that's being built, or will we pretend to be guests? I'm personally going to have a hard time to think of why I'm constantly hanging around one specific hotel, If it ever even comes to that." She could easily explain dropping off the grid and not being around Canterlot as her travelling to remote places, like she used to with her family, but being seen at a casino repeatedly could cause problems, especially with those of her station likening to vacation there. She always rolled her eyes when they called it exotic, never seeing what they saw in that city. 

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Yoru hadn’t really expected everyone to be giving their life stories in their introductions... She wasn’t even sure she had much of a story to tell. At least, not without revealing In’ei, and that was something she wasn’t sure she wanted to do at this point. In any case, she remained silent as she took in the others’ stories, smiling as she learned she wasn’t the only academically inclined pony here. Honestly, she had been a bit worried about that, that she would have no one to share her passion for learning with. 

 

——————

 

Miles rose at his king’s gesture, standing guard over Sombra as they both turned their attention back to the rest of the room. Finally, he had been reunited with his king! He wasn’t going to let anything else happen to him. 

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King Sombra allowed his voice to fade back into silence and glanced around the room, studying each face there in turn. His eyes eventually settled on Buck, who was looking his way, and he steadily met the other stallion's gaze, sharp red eyes looking into gentle green. The way Buck was looking at him was enough to make him curious about what that pony could possibly be thinking of. Sombra waited until Buck looked away before he moved again, glancing over at Miles for a brief moment and approaching the table to place himself back in the seat he'd occupied some moments ago.

 

He made himself comfortable and continued to let the various voices of the ponies in the room wash over him, focusing more so on Black Ice as she rose to address the room again with a speech, acknowledging each of them and their struggles. It appeared that Black Ice, despite what information she'd managed to gather on him, didn't know why exactly he chose the path he had. His sharp teeth became visible in the brief tooth-baring smile he gave her. "There are a few, smaller reasons beneath one particularly large reason why. I don't feel like expounding upon my past in a room of strangers, so perhaps if you're ever curious we can sit down together for a nice, little chat," he offered. Sombra looked away towards Stormstride and Buck, as if quietly indicating that he was willing to get to know them, too. His gaze briefly shifted to the small object Ice placed on the table that showed something interesting: it looked like a small, glowing model of an airship, next to an even smaller one for scale. It was certainly.. impressive.

 

There was a lot about the others' worries that didn't particularly affect him. He wasn't worried about getting hurt, though.. he could only ever admit to himself that he was afraid of the permanence of death, which seemed unlikely to him after the Crystal Heart failed to destroy him utterly, and imprisonment. It was perhaps the worst, and he knew it from experience. To become a prisoner again by somepony's hooves would be unbearable. He kept it to himself, surveying the others and deciding to chip in when Raven expressed a concern.

 

"I'm sure the excuse of being on a nice little vacation would work. Any simple excuse would do- the general rabble will eat up anything you tell them."

 

 

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