(Closed) A new old foe... (Icestorm)

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

The ship would have been drastically different than most styles of airship that they had seen. It looked very similar to a simple, more fortified sea-faring vessel with a couple rotating canons on her as well as a few side canons on each side. Otherwise, the ship wasn't overly large but still decently roomy. When they got to the bridge, Ice raised an eyebrow. Her guards losing track of Harle wasn't a good thing. She sighed a bit before pointing at a few of the others that were non-essential for the ship to function. "You three stay here and track her down. Keep her out of trouble. Take her to a tavern, let her get drunk, I know she's probably upset over what was heard over the link. Just make sure she doesn't hurt anyone, or herself," she said, the guards holding their hoof to their chest in salute as they departed.

 

"Everypony else, if all other preparations are concluded, set course for Manehatten. Make sure to send word ahead of time that we're coming. They're going to want to know why we're approaching them and we don't want an unnecessary conflict with the REN because of a misunderstanding. We'll be in my chambers. Let me know when we're approaching the target," she ordered. She turned to Jasper and the others with a smile before gesturing down the hallway towards a room in the back. Upon opening it, they would find a rather spacious room for a ship. It was still that though, a room on a ship. There was room for the four of them to be comfortable but any more than who was there could easily start getting crowded.

[Ashton]

"Very impressive ship, ma'am" said cloudy as they walked. 

 

Iggy probably would have said something too but she was too busy looking at everything around her, having never been on an airship before and even the pictures she had seen were nowhere near this advanced... 

 

Jasper was a little less impressed, muttering about Ice's quarters "its almost as big as my closet..."

 

...which of course earned him a kick from cloudy. Jasper looked like he might take that as an opportunity to start a fight, but cloudy and iggy's glares made him sit down and shut up.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

The reaction that Jasper had kinda made Ice raise an eyebrow. She smiled at Iggy's reaction though. It was fairly obvious that she had never been on anything like this before. Still, she knew that there was something going on here. "Jasper, I've only just met you, but I've already gotten to know you at least enough to tell that something isn't right. Would it help if you were able to get some of it off of your chest? I can easily soundproof this room so that we're the only ones that will here about it," she said looking to Iggy and Cloudy for any possible clues.

[Ashton]

"Off my chest? Oh I'm sorry did I dr-" Jasper started to snark but got a swift kick from cloudy and a glare

 

"Jasper, lets talk in the hall. Excuse us, ma'am" said cloudy as he drug the dragon out into the hallway.

 

Iggy was awkwardly silent a few moments before sighing "I kinda figured this was going to happen..." she said "Jasper was born in the dragonlands, I dont think he ever saw a pony growing up, then when he was molting and washed up on equestria, ponies treated him like some kind of sideshow freak and stared or gawked at him, most not bothering or simply not knowing enough to help him... so he has a... distaste for ponies. I dont know if cloudy and I would have gotten so close to him if we'd not been half-breeds ourselves." she paused "dont take jasper too seriously, he's just had some bad first experiences, and I think that somewhere deep down he might feel betrayed that somepony --- or maybe I should say some dragon ---- that he met and thought was special, was 'just another pony'" she paused "Like I said, give him time, he'll get better, but he's got a lot to work out... especially since I think he might have had some feelings for frost... maybe more than just friendship... and now... well..." iggy sighed "I'm sorry... maybe we shouldn't have come... I hadn't considered how you'd react to Jasper's normal snarky dragon-y self..."

 

Meanwhile if Ice listened closely she'd hear that cloudy and jasper were having a much more heated debate, which would be expected of males. Hopefully it wouldn't devolve into violence, though cloudy wasn't exactly the kind to resort to violence.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Yeah, there was definitely something going on. Cloudy and Jasper stepped outside and began arguing, while she listened to Iggy start talking to Ice. How Jasper was born in the dragonlands and that so far his only real interaction with ponies had been them not bothering with him, Helping him, or even acknowledging him. She added that he doubted that they would have gotten along with him if it wasn't for the fact that they were half-breeds themselves. She further added that the whole Frost and herself thing probably didn't help much. To which Ice Sighed. "I tried to warn him, I really did. I was dropping hint after hint without just coming out and doing what I did with you. Mind you, I only did that because we were in the restroom. Had you confronted me out in the open, there's no possible way I could have been so direct about it. It was like I said when we finally got to the restroom. I was happy that someone finally took the bait," she started

 

"As far as what happened to Jasper when he first got to Equestria, that's not surprising at all. For all the talk of harmony and friendship, ponies are vile and vicious creatures. Being a pony, I'll be the first to admit it. What I said in the restroom wasn't hyperbole. I was abandoned by my parents when I was Five because a Noblepony by the name of Golden Hoof, which... ironically as it is, isn't the same Golden Hoof that I'm tracking, came into my parents lives and dumped wealth and status on them. My father, didn't take kindly to the fact that I was five, and that I had yet to show any signs of magic. A unicorn noble family couldn't have a unicorn that couldn't use magic in it, among... other conditions, one of which I never grew out of and never will... So I was considered by my father a blight to the family, and my mother did nothing to stop it."

 

"Mind you, this comes after my family being the most joyous family for the first bit. Golden Hoof Showed up when I was almost four, all of that happened in little over a year my own parents, or well... my father went from loving to maniacally obsessed with bits, wealth, and status. I later found out, once I had everything here set up, that the Golden Hoof responsible for the destruction of my family had made a living doing this kind of stuff. That ever since he had been diagnosed with impotency... he made it his life goal to ruin every family he came across that was happy. My only regret is that somepony else beat me to him."

 

"All of that leads us back to the original topic. I was homeless in Fillydelphia before I was homeless in Canterlot. A homeless filly, mind you... and nopony... not a single one, thought to ask anything about it. Not a single pony offered to take me in, especially not in Canterlot. I went there because I had heard the stories about it and I just knew that a city where the princesses lived, everypony had to be nice there right? Wrong. I spent the next several years sleeping underneath a tree under the park, and bathing in the lake in the middle of it. Eventually a few younger ponies caught on to what was going on, and after about three years of that I was finally brought into a household, and put through magic school. What's become of that since, well... you're sitting in it. So I'm not the least bit surprised that Jasper couldn't find anypony willing to help him when he arrived."

 

"I mean... They don't even help their own, and are racist over what type of pony you are to begin with. A dragon? Unless he found the one perfect individual, or individuals as he did with you and Cloudy, Then that's the reaction he would have gotten. Would I have acted that way when I was younger? Honestly, probably not. I would have seen another creature being lamented by the populace. I would have to say that even then, had our paths crossed I would have at least tried to be his friend, just as I am now if he lets me. But, it's because of what happened to me, what happened to Jasper, and I'm sure what's happened to countless others, that I do what I do."

 

"It was the second reason I founded STAR. To protect Equestria from invasions. Despite all of our issues, no one in Equestria deserves to die or be captured and enslaved. To give a home to those that Equestrian Society have failed should they choose to accept it. Like the Harle's, Like the unreformed changelings, like the ponies whom lost everything they had because someone above them wasn't making enough money to be happy. And then the third reason ties into the second. To hold those who would actively seek harm to others or would willingly make it so a pony would fall into the second rule accountable and make sure that something like that can't happen again."

 

"The only way to do that is by making examples. And I don't mean killing them, no. Any noble that engages in activities to punish those beneath them because they can, because they feel like they're better because life dealt them a better hand, will find out what it's like to be on the lower end stripped of titles and assets and must start anew. Unfortunately, only the princess has that power, so before I can do anything to the individual, I must have substantial evidence, like I do in this instance. I do hope that he can find it within him to forgive me. I never once made it my intention to be dishonest with him, and everything I have done so far, was done with the intent of making Equestria as a whole a better place," Ice finished. Iggy would probably notice at this point that with her spheres docked in her amulet, the aura of cold was no longer present.

[Ashton]

Iggy just stared, almost in a daze as Ice explained her past. Finally the kirin sighed "I thought I had it rough... growing up a mute in a mute village because of immature leadership, trying to learn magic and take care of my little brother half the time because since we couldn't talk none of us could tell the others what was going on..." she paused and slowly put her arm around ice, as if unsure if the pony would welcome the embrace or not "I had no idea how bad it was for you, ma'am... or for others like jasper... or cloudy for that matter... but I'll let him tell you his story later if he feels like it... I'm so sorry, ma'am" 

 

after a moment she sighed, but did not remove her arm from ice's soldier "I dont doubt that you meant jasper no harm, ma'am - he is young and immature and doesn't fully understand the world. He's probably hurt and confused right now... thats why he's treating you like he would any other pony he met, with harsh sarcasm and caustic comments... like I said, give him time and he'll probably get everything figured out in his head... right now he's had a lot to take in, and it like nothing he's ever dealt with... hell I dont think he's ever even seen a changeling, so what you did was completely new territory for him..."

 

It was about this time that she would hear a communication from the guards still in canterlot "We found Harle. She looks like... like she just watched a foal die in her arms or something... she gave us back the communicator and asked to deliver a message to somepony named Singlestone. Message follows" then a string of seemingly nonsensical numbers and letters were spoken, matching no known cipher - completely useless without the decoder, likely even ice and her crew would have no way of making sense of it given it was so short.

 

Meanwhile outside the arguing had gotten quieter, but it was clear that cloudy and Jasper had not come to a conclusion in their discussion yet...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

Ice Sat back and listened as the realization of the larger picture, or at least a portion of the larger picture began to unfold for Iggy. When she started thinking about she herself had had if rough, which, Ice wasn't going to deny. Living in a Mute village trying to raise somepony else would be difficult for anypony. but when she Added that she had no idea how bad it was for her, Jasper, and Cloudy. She said that she'd let him tell her the story of his upbringing later should he choose to do so. Ice nodded. There was no pretense here. No, I told you everything so now I must know as well, attached. She was honestly hoping that she would have been speaking loud enough so that the others would have heard her outside or that they would have returned as she was finishing up the conversation to overhear a good percentage of it. As it was she could still hear them outside, granted not as loud.

 

When Iggy added that Jasper was still young and immature, and that he was probably hurt and confused right now, Ice nodded. "That is only to be expected honestly. When all you're ever shown is hatred, it's hare to respond to kindness. Everything becomes, 'Okay, they're being nice... what's the catch?' type situations, and please. My name is Ice or Icy. Friends don't require formalities as such. Although, it's honestly probably for the better that he hadn't run into any changelings before, considering the other options he'd have been subjected to. The most honest truth I can say in regards to situations like ours, is... who acts first. And what I mean by that is... Who's the first pony or creature to give them a chance? Take them in, train them, show them kindness, and give them what everything else in the world was refusing to."

 

"A classic example here. Do you really think that the Storm King would have lost if he had found me instead of tempest? You see before you what I was capable of accomplishing here in Equestria with the help of a few friends that reached out that night in Canterlot. Now, Give me commander Tempest's training, and nothing to betray my trust with later. No promises of recovery, no false promises, and absolutely no loyalty to Equestria... Equestria and her ponies would be serving the Storm King now, had he found me instead of tempest," she said as her communicator went off and she listened to the message.

 

"Captain, Relay the message to Singelstone and follow all of his instructions to the letter. If that encrypted code is meant for him, then he will know what it means. It also mean's he's probably the only one that can stop it if it's anything bad," she said into the communicator before getting a 'roger' in response. She turned back to Iggy. "Sorry about that, but yes... so far everything is pointing to one thing..." she said leaning back in her chair a bit. "It's a good thing I found you all when I did before somepony with far more sinister intentions did," she finished.

 

 

[Ashton]

Iggy merely smiled at that last part, in her head thinking 'oh if only you knew...' very glad that this was Ice's first time meeting them, knowing that if she learned all their dark secrets it would likely be their last...

 

"Like I said, Jasper's never had to deal with any creature that could radically change like that, I mean sure cloudy can turn into a seapony but it's pretty obvious he's the same... but you and Frost... I'm sure he'll come to terms with it himself soon enough"

 

At this point the other two re-entered the room "Sorry about that, just some things that needed to be talked about" said cloudy.

 

Jasper just leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and looking annoyed. Exactly what cloudy had said to him was anyone's guess, but at the least it seemed to have calmed down the dragon's snark for now.

 

The guard answered in the affirmative and presumably went off to find Singlestone.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

"Believe me when I say that I can fully understand where he's coming from," Ice stated. "Like I had just got done saying with Iggy here. It's hard to respond to kindness and unusual circumstances if you've only every been shown hatred. Sometimes, that descent of hatred plummets to a point where it's unsalvageable, and others, with a bit of dedication can be pulled out of the frays of the fire and back to at least an indifference to those around them or acceptance.

 

There will be others that don't care one way or another, and in some instances he's not wrong. Individuals can be nice, polite, friendly, intellectual... But in general the pony race, and this is coming from a pony, is a vile, vicious, and dangerous species. All of them are, and despite the preaching of friendship and Harmony most wouldn't know what those words meant if it but then on the flank. Most friendships in the world of ponies exist out of convenience. Only those that actually care about friends and the friendships they make take the time to try to weather a storm. Everypony else flees," Ice concluded. After a brief pause she spoke again. "We should be getting close."

[Ashton]

The trio exchanged glances

 

"I wouldn't go quite that far" said Iggy "Sure ponies are xenophobic, but baring a few exceptions they seem to mostly be fairly nice and trusting to each other"

 

"Yeah, and I think after the war with the storm king, they're starting to open up a little to other races... but only a little... we wont see complete equality in any of our lifetimes... well Jasper might..."

 

"I'm not holding my breath" snarked the dragon

 

There was a bit of an uneasy silence, thankfully it was broken by the crew announcing that they would be arriving in 3 minutes

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

Ice heard Iggy and Cloudy both talk, saying that whole ponies were xenophobic, but that they weren't necessarily all bad. That most seemed to be nice and understanding. Perhaps they had run into the better ones than they had in the past. "Well, you will if I have anything to say about it. It's not something that will happen overnight, but it's the kind of fight that I've been fighting the last few years," Ice commented as she stood, feeling the ship come to a stop.

 

She steeled herself for the next chain of events that were about to happen as she opened the door and gave a stoic smile as she motioned for the three to follow. "Alright, let's go start changing Equestria. One pony at a time," she said before passing by Jasper and saying to him alone. "I hope that you can come to trust me, for you and I have far more in common than you might believe," Ice said before arriving on the bridge. "Captain, open the door. Let's go get out suspects."

[Ashton]

The trio stayed quiet from her on, not sure exactly what to say and also trying not to interfere with Ice's job.

 

Though when they arrived, the ponies in question were waiting for them outside what was no doubt a room with a fancy party, given the expensive gold-inlayed carved oak doors. Not to mention the complex mane style the mare was wearing and how intricate and expensive her and the stallion's respective dress and suit looked. The mare's cutiemark was hidden by her lavish ballgown, but a dark blue question mark inside a cloud was visible on the stallion's flank.

 

"Well well, well, if it isn't Ice storm. Oh forgive my slip, Captain Ice storm" she said with a smile, her eyes though were like those of a viper looking for a place to strike. "And I see you brought guests..." her eyes seemed to almost glow with malicious glee. She had found her target. "What interesting... creatures... you surround yourself with, captain" she said, looking at them all in turn "A two-bit necromancer"

 

"Thats a lie!" exclaimed Iggy

 

"oh my! you mean that incident in vanhoover was on purpose?" she asked in fake shock

 

Iggy blinked "What?! No! I had no idea I was standing on lay lines! I never meant to..."

 

"Oh, so it was an accident... you ripped souls free of their final resting place, desecrating their bodies... and then couldn't even control them... not even a proper necromancer... just a two-bit one" she smiled deviously

 

Iggy's eyes narrowed and a few trickles of smoke began rising from her fur

 

"Ah, yes, and the spy"

 

"I prefer information expert" said Cloudy with a frown, knowing where this was going.

 

"Your right, let me be more clear... the disgraced spy... the only reason your head is still on your shoulders is because you knew so little that it was more effective to dishonorably discharge you from the military and banish you from the aerie for your crimes...."

 

Unlike iggy, cloudy knew better than to speak

 

"And lastly... the pickpocket of horsehoe bay..."

 

"They never...!"

 

"Right, they never caught you, but once you left all the pick-pocketing suddenly faded away... oh but you didn't reform or even go for more testing targets, you weren't that skilled... you sank even further... Instead of picking pockets of the living, you were stealing from the dead..." she shook her head sadly (though not genuinely)

 

"I'll have you know...!"

 

"Oh I know, I know about several instances of desecration and grave robbing... all of you... so vile..." she then turned to Ice "And you, Captain... my, my, my... what would ponies say if they found out you were employing such creatures, or worse... were friends with them! So many of the upper-class would be reviled and revolted... even with your connections you would be lucky if you weren't discharged... and then where would you go? you have no family... join up with this lot and become a criminal low-life? prove your parents right that you weren't worth keeping?"

 

a tiny voice in the back of Ice's head seemed to whisper "she's right...."

 

"by the way, my real name is Cassandra, cursed to speak only the truth and for almost all of my warnings to not be headed until it's too late..." she raised a leg to her forehead dramatically "But... maybe I'll get lucky just this once and you'll listen to me... leave me be and head my warning, and nopony had to ever know about any of this... otherwise....." she shook her head sadly.

 

once again that little voice seemed to whisper "she's right... we should..."

 

indeed as the mare spoke, the two imperial guards at the door were looking at ice and her friends with very serious eyes... it was clear the mare's words got to them... given the right time and the right place, this mare and her silver tongue could turn entire crowds to her side... she was dangerous... but worse... from the trio's reaction, she seemed to be telling the truth...  a distinct feeling of doubt seemed to settle on Ice's mind...

 

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

It didn't take too long for Ice and her regiment to get where the two unicorns were. They were every bit as vile and disgusting as Harle had told her that they were, immediately attacking Iggy and the others and spouting off information about past crimes they had committed and tried to bully Ice into backing down on the bribe that they wouldn't let the information get out. She said one phrase though that you never say to her. She brought up her family. She then felt something off in the back of her mind... Yeah, no not happening. 

 

"Cut the horse apples Amethyst, I didn't get this far be falling for parlor tricks and empty bribes. By the time I'm through with you, your word will mean nothing," she said before attempting to secure an inhibitor ring on their horns. When arresting unicorns, you always made sure to have them on hoof otherwise they could potentially just teleport away and the hunt would start over. At the very least this should prevent them from infecting the minds of others.

 

"I also do that you've reverted back to the sleazy manipulative tactics that have allowed you to slander," she said dropping a binder, "extort," another, "blackmail, embezzle, and once I'm finished with the investigation of your Warehouse in Canterlot that you left Felix in charge of, tax fraud, smuggling, and conduct unbefitting of nobility," she said dropping binder after binder, after binder of evidence, weakening all of the claims that they had just made. She was still going to have to question Iggy though, as her reaction warranted some merit to it. She'd have to get to the bottom of that and figure out exactly what happened.

 

"You don't have much of a leg to stand on in calling others vile," she said noticing one of the guards glaring at her. At this point she made it a point to make sure her rank was clearly visible to him, making it known that she massively outranked him and that he had no business interfering. "Now, you can either come quietly, or the hard way. And after the remarks you made, please... Choose the hard way," she said her eyes squinting and the orbs rapidly shining around her dropping the air temperature around then rapidly. "That would just make my day."

[Ashton]

Amethyst did not change her tone or expression "What you have are allegations, what I spoke just now was the truth. Remember that" she said

 

Hoof simply said "we have the right to send for our lawyer"

 

They did not resist though, knowing that even if the guards did not give them a chance to send for the lawyer, he would be there... and they also knew that he was one of the most expensive, most versatile, and most unscrupulous lawyers money could buy. They were confident that he could make all of this go away... possibly even ice herself now...

 

As soon as the pair were lead off, iggy slumped against the wall, clearly it had taken a lot out of her, and they had touched on something deep.

 

Jasper and cloudy nelt down next to their friend, putting their arms and wings around her tight to comfort her. Whatever they had done in the past, they were very caring creatures, that much was clear.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm didn't bat an eye at the couple. They didn't intimidate her with their little tricks. They might be able to play their games with their guards, and they might have a good lawyer, but all of Ice's t's were crossed here. All of the intel that she had gotten and the evidence that she had obtained were legally acquired through the use of public domain and were documents that anypony could get access to if they wanted to dig hard enough to find them. They did a good job trying to cover it, but when you're running a base of operations, especially a covert one, you need to have your own legal team in well versed in the loopholes of the law. When Hoof said that they had the right to send for their lawyer, she nodded. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the Princess's courts. You have the right for an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights that have been read to you today?" she said making sure every line was covered.

 

As the guards took the other two away, Ice made her way over and placed a hoof, gently, on Iggy's shoulders. "Do not worry about things too much. Those ponies are notorious liars and have been known to fabricate stories. I will need to ask you about it in the future though, to see whether it was mind magic at play or what truths and falsities are in her claims. That's not something that will be conducted here though. At the very least, I'm not going to let somepony like that slander anypony they want just because somepony finally had the apples to stand up to them. Let's head back to the ship, and we can talk more about this there." she told them before following behind her units, the spheres still orbiting her and generating the small aura of cold.

[Ashton]

Jasper and Cloudy gave iggy a reassuring smile, but none of them looked particularly relieved... it was clear that there was at the least some truth in what had been said. The big question now was whether iggy would be willing to explain everything to Ice... or whether she would use her disastrous teleport magic... a thought that made her friends nervous, knowing just how bad a fire-teleport was...

 

The two ponies that were taken into custody said nothing. They had been through this before, and unlike the trinity, they didn't seem the least bit concerned, thinking that their lawyer would be able to get them off the hook with, at most, a few fines, as usual for them.

 

After a little prodding, iggy stood up and followed her friends, or rather, walked between them, clearly needing the proverbial support. Despite looking worried themselves, the dragon and 'griff both looked determined. Whatever was going to happen to iggy, they would be there for her, whether just to give her reassurance, or to fight to the death for her. Whatever their collective pasts held, they were a close-knit family now. Not even jasper was being snarky, which spoke volumes as a dragon such as himself.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

Ice Storm slowly lead everypony through the streets. There were definitely eyes on her as they walked and she hoped that by the time that everything was over and done with, the ponies of the nobility knew that there were those that weren't going to put up with the corruption anymore and had the power to finally do something about it. Perhaps they would then start thinking twice before engaging in underhooved dealings that would intentionally cause the fall of another business or market just because they looked at them funny. The hierarchy needed to be changed, and Ice was going to do that one pony at a time, all the way up the line if she had to.

 

Once they were back on the ship, the guards made an effort to surround the others until Ice waved them off. "But Commander... the claims..."

 

"The claims that were made by Amethyst and Golden are Allegations and have no sustainable evidence backing them. Besides, Espionage and Petty theft are not crimes that we bother ourselves with. If we worried about every petty theft case, then we'd never get anywhere on the investigations that we actually need to run, and we use spies in the field. There will be an interrogation, but you are to stand down until I give any orders to do otherwise. Am I understood?" Ice spoke with unbridled authority.

 

The rest of the guards backed down and she turned back to the other three. "You three, come with me. We will discuss these matters without the watchful eyes and ears of others surrounding us. Then, so that I might make the best possible informed decision, you're going to explain to me everything that I need to know about what happened in Vanhoover. Only then, will I make any sort of judgements. Know that if you aren't honest with me, I will find out, and I've been completely open and honest with you. I would expect the same courtesy in return," she said leading them back into her captains quarters and then instantly casting a silencing spell around it so that they could now communicate in private.

[Ashton]

By the time they were back to the private quarters, the trinity all looked incredibly on-edge

 

Iggy sighed hard, then took a deep breath "Fine. They were telling the truth. I'm a necromancer" she said "but not the kind that raise armies of zombies and ghosts and try to manipulate the weave of life and death... well ok, I guess I do the last part, but..." she paused "Mostly I just use it to communicate with spirits, to try and pacify poltergeists or other restless spirits, or to try and give closure to creatures that have lost a relative." she paused "but... in vanhoover..." she hung her head "I had no idea they had built their cemetery on an intersection of laylines. I was trying to give closure to a family who had lost their father/husband abroad. But when I tried to raise the ghost to let them speak... incredible power coursed through me, ratcheting up the spell many times what I ever intended to cast... I didn't raise a ghost, I raised a zombie - and not just one, all the nearby graves broke open... but because I'd not performed a binding spell they were mindless revnants, we were able to protect the family and re-kill the zombies thanks to it being night and the cemetery locked. Though one guard did come check on things... it was almost funny, a zombie tried to attack him and the stupid undead bit him, its a wonder that its jaw didn't break off... but we got everything re-killed and re-buried and bandaged the guard's wound. Thankfully he never reported it"

 

The disturbing thing was the way Iggy spoke about all this... she was nervous only because of what Ice was going to say and/or do, she herself didn't seem to have even the slightest hint of disgust, unease, or horror at necromancy as some would. She actually smiled a little in humor at the stupidity of the zombie that bit the guard... 

 

Cloudy and Jasper just stood nearby, both watching ice with eyes of a predator. They really didn't want to hurt her, but if she attacked iggy they would fight... even though they both knew they were likely to die in said fight... and possibly be resurrected by iggy as zombies to continue the fight... but they were still willing to protect her.

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

The story that Iggy told was... intriguing, captivating, and a bit disturbing on a few levels. She listened how Iggy explained the fact that she was indeed a necromancer, but it wasn't in the traditional way of things. Well, that it was in that particular instance, but not by intent. She explained that she used her abilities to allow their families to communicate to those that have passed and get closure for them upon leaving this world behind. The notion of it was actually quite sweet that no matter what with a pony like her around, the families could always get one last good bye and hug from those that they lost. That can actually go a long way to helping the recovery of those that were lost. With a pony like that.... maybe she could finally actually apologize to all of the souls that she wasn't able to save with the Crystal Spire fell. So many never made it out of that place...

 

Then she heard about the fact that Vanhoover was build on a leyline. She almost instantly knew where that was going. Leylines are a natural source of power to begin with. They amplify everything. Canterlot is also built on one. In fact Ice was fairly certain that the Crystal caves beneath the mountain was the Aether Epicenter of Equestria. Whether that was actually true or not, Ice didn't know. She didn't have enough resources to try to figure that out yet. However, if she were to protect everypony in this nation, knowing exactly how powerful the leylines were would go a long way for that. That would be something that she could ask Raven and the rest of the Aether team back at the base about later.

 

Back to the topic at hoof though, Iggy said that there was validity to the claim that she had accidentally raised the entire graveyard and that since there wasn't a binding spell cast, they all rose as zombies. They'd managed to get everyting subdued and everignthing put back to normal, with minimal injuries and nothing was ever reported. "Nothing was ever reported?" Ice asked making a note. She now wondered if Amethyst and Golden had their hooves in that plot to, trying to frame these ponies for something much more haneous than they had done yet. As it was, that information would have to be handled delicately. The situation with Iggy was one that Ice could tell was not done intentionally, but it was still done. Therefore there would have to be some sort of atonement for it.

 

"You do understand that there will have to be an atonement for this. The fact that it was never reported makes it that much easier, but I have no doubt that those other two that we arrested aren't going to try to pull something. However, by doing so they are likely to incriminate themselves in the process of doing so, so perhaps not. After all, if that incident was never reported, where did they get the information from unless they had somepony on the inside that could have potentially caused the spiral? I wouldn't put it past them. However, given the nature of your abilities and the fact that you aim to do good with them, and that the occurrence in Vanhoover was a one time fluke that resulted in no casualties. Your atonement shall be simple," Ice said leaning back with a smile.

 

"All three of you, are hereby appointed agents of STAR, and your atonement will be providing your services to help protecting Equestria as a whole, not just the individual ponies that live here, but all the dragons. griffons, and everything in between as well. I always have needs for skill sets such as those you can provide. We'll have to talk about your skill set a bit though Cloudy. Natrually we don't want you getting outed. That wouldn't end well for anyone involved, and the three of you would be my personal team for any mission that required absolute political invisibility. Not a single one of you are a pony, at least not purely so. Therefore it would be easy for anyone outside of Equestria to think that you're not associated with them. It will make blending in and finding out targets a lot easier. Oh, and did I mention that all of you will get paid, and well? You'll be able to move to Las Pegasus and take up residence in Headquarters there if you so choose. You will also receice communicators like the one that I was wearing today and like the ones that you see on my ship so that we may be able to contact you if we need to. Otherwise, your lives will continue as normal. Except preferably in Las Pegasus with a lot more bits to work with than well.... none," she said with a smile.

[Ashton]

When Ice commented about the incident in vanhoover being a fluke, iggy opened her mouth to say something but a quick nudge from cloudy and she shut her mouth again silently. Clearly she was about to say something stupid and likely detrimental to her current position.

 

When Ice finished, everyone seemed to relax a little, this time iggy did comment and cloudy didn't stop her, clearly he had learned to read the cues about when she was going to say something stupid... probably one of the reasons he tended to stay with her so much... 

 

"well, that certainly makes our next research expedition a lot simpler" commented iggy "we wont have to worry about finding enough loot we can pawn to make rent!" she laughed

 

The other two laughed a little too, unsure whether to admit iggy wasn't joking, considering they were in the presence of the captain of the guard

 

"Though I'm not sure about moving to las pegasus, I mean the whole reason for moving from fillydephia was to study the everfree"

 

Jasper rolled his eyes "the reason you wanted to move is to be near twilight's palace, and we all know it"

 

Iggy turned a bit red at that comment, clearly it wasn't far from the truth

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

"Then Everything here is settled. If anypony else asks, what happened was a memory that was implanted by the suspects using mind alteration magics which they have already displayed in having at least to some extent. The fact that it was never reported means that we can use that fact to our advantage and we can make it look even more like a hoax and more incriminating to the two ponies that will be withstanding trial," Ice commented before activating one of the Crystals. "Take us directly to the docking bay of Twilight's palace, and arrange fir an immediate hearing. These ponies are a massive flight risk and detaining them for any length is unwise. Of course, we will have to hold off long enough for their lawyer to get there, provided Twilight allows them to be present."

 

She knew that Twilight would, being a stickler for protocol and making sure everything is done by the book to the letter. If the princess wasn't already.... well the princess, she would make one heck of a lawyer herself. She looked back to the three that were still with them and smiled. "Well, if you were to take up residence within the base at Las Pegasus, the rent would be included. You don't have to pay to live in HQ, you just gotta pay for the extras, like the food, and extra luxuries that you might want for your living quarters. We don't furnish them so that our workers can still have their individuality. It's kinda interesting to see how some of them decorate their homes. And don't worry, I'd make sure you got paid enough to where you could actually enjoy some of the nightlife in Las Pegasu as well. The longer I've lived there, the more fun a place it is to be. There's always something to do there when we're on down time. That and Twilight and I are good friends, so she pays visits to the casino all the time," Ice smirked playing the card that Jasper had set for her.

[Ashton]

((sorry it took me so insanely long to respond, a lot of... stuff... happened IRL... trying to get back into RPing now though))

 

"The princess shows up regularly?!" asked Iggy, her eyes widening and an almost painful grin crawling across her face

 

Jasper chuckled, knowing that would cinch the deal, given iggy's obsession and the choice between just living near an empty former-residence and living where she would possibly see the princess herself. 

 

Cloudy glanced at jasper and frowned, knowing this had been the dragon's plan to convince iggy to move out of the little podunk and back to a major city... he wasn't so convinced this was the best thing for them, but he also wasn't going to start an argument here.

 

Meanwhile Ice would get a report that singlestone had just visited the two prisoners and was delivered the message from harle... and now he was acting... erratic... and demanding to see Ice immediately... clearly that message had been something very, very, important...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

"I mean, she usually shows up to make sure that I'm not doing anything stupid. She says that she's only there to check up on me as a friend and make sure I have everything that I need for the operation, but I also know that's not the only reason she shows up to the base. I can't say that I blame her. Somepony with the resources I've grown top acquire, and the tools that I now have at my disposal, if I were Twilight, I know that I'd wanna keep an eye on it." Ice Storm said in response to Iggy as she heard the report that Singlestone wanted to see her immediately. That he was demanding to see her. She sighed. "No doubt he wants me to go back for Harle, which normally I'd do, but I want to get the two we have on board dealt with as soon as possible..."

 

She looked over to the crystal once more. "Go ahead and send him in. We've finished the confidential parts of our discussion." Thankfully Ice Storm already had an idea with the situation. She wasn't sure what the encoded message that they got, but seeing that Singlestone was frantically trying to get to her, it couldn't be good. She was also fairly certain that at this point he was probably the only pony that would be able to stop her from doing whatever it was she was planning. Ice was sure as Tartartus that Harle probably wouldn't listen to her at the moment considering everything that just happened.

[Ashton]

Iggy nodded, working hard to hold back a grin. None of them realizing just how real what she said was... at least not yet...

 

Indeed singlestone almost kicked down the door when let in "You have to go back." he said with an almost rude commanding tone "The message My captain said was one to transfer control of she ship, crew, and assets to me because she would not be returning alive."

 

The three looked a little suprised but not too concerned, clearly they didn't have any concern for harle, especially Iggy given her past with pirate

 

"If you think I'm jumping to conclusions, I suggest you talk to your guards" he said, tapping his headset "Repeat to your commander what you told me after you delivered the message"

 

There was a moment and one of the guards came on, explaining that as soon as they reported the message was delivered, harle returned her headset and a holster containing some strange weapon (which ice would recognize from the description as the prototype 'aura manipulator' that harle and singlestone had been testing previously when this mission had begun) and then walked off, telling them not to follow her. Looking like she'd just had a foal die in her arms.

 

"Before you claim she just went to a bar, let me remind you she turned in her headset and weapon - she had no plans of coming back. If we dont find her fast whatever we do find will be dead." his eyes were so fierce it was almost terrifying, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that singlestone was 100% sure that harle was about to and her pain in the worst way possible.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

It was about as expected when Singelstone came into the room to confront Ice Storm. He reminded her that Harle had turned in her headset and her weapon, which he further said could not be mistaken as it was the prototype that they were working on. From hearing the response from the guard, it corresponded with what Singelstone was telling her. She let out a small sigh before beginning.

 

"No. It cannot be me to be the one that goes after her. If I don't hold the ones responsible for the destruction of her life and making her the way she is today, then everything she lost today would have been done in vain, including if she decides to take the avenue that you mention. However, judging by the fact that the encrypted message was for you, and you alone, then it stands to reason that you must be the one that has to reason with her. I have no doubt she's at the very least a bit bitter with me because I'm the one in charge of the entire operation. I won't deny that she needed to hear what Felix said straight from his mouth, but I also cannot imagine the pain that she is feeling. Among everypony on board, you are the closest one too her and probably the only one that can talk any sort of sense in her," she started.

 

"So, with that in mind, you're going to need to go to her, and I'm not about to tell you that you can't. Talk to one of the guardsponies. They well get a vessel ready for you so that you can return to Manehatten. We aren't that far away yet, so it should take you but a few minutes to get back there. Once all the preparations are completed, which should only take a couple minutes, as since they don't have aether cores it's just a matter of letting the balloon go through it's rapid pressurization process. You'll be able to go to her, and once I've dealt with our two prisoners, I will be back to get the both of you. I cannot however, let these to sit for any longer than necessary before their trial. You know as well as I do if we turn our backs for a moment they'll be gone."