Ashton

"welll..." iggy kinda trailed off Cloudy sighed "We do a lot of oddjobs depending on what people need, in my case I do a lot of underwater salvage and recovery as well as some fishing and occasionally flying if there are no pegasai or griffons around" then corrected himself "I mean pegasai, griffons or Zebasai" he laughed awkwardly "And iggy does stugg with magic and jasper... he moves heavy things and lights fires..." Jasper smirked "They're trying to dance around the nerdyness of calling themselves adventurers" Cloudy and Iggy both blushed brightly at that "Or the shame of calling themselves grave robbers" added jasper "hey! retrieving an ancient artifact from a booby-trapp-filled temple or barrow..." "Is still grave-robbing" finished jasper with a vicious smirk Iggy just pouted again "As for me, I like to curl up in a patch of sunlight and listen to heavy metal" "He's a layabout" "complete bum" "hey!" jasper's lips pulled back in a snarl as steam began wafting out of his nostrils... but one harsh look from the other two and he just sat down and pouted like iggy. Clearly the two had a lot in common...

Iggy shook her head "Now that I know its not dangerous I can think more openly about it... my best guess is that since it was a divination spell, the reflected effect was likely still some form of divination effect... exactly what I dont know, and why it was reflected I dont know... but given the fact that Princess Twilight wasn't worried, it must not be detrimental, so... yeah... makes the most sense" "Nothing with you makes sense" smirked Jasper Iggy rolled her eyes and crossed her forelegs, annoyed Cloudy just laughed at the reaction.

Harle finished drying herself off and retrieved another item from the pool. It looked stylistically like her old lightning gun, but much smaller and more compact "Hey, water's not going to damage this thing, is it?" "No" said Singlestone "Just make sure its dried off" Harle started drying the weapon, which oddly enough seemed to be made of a dark purple metal, inlaid with ornate brass symbols and markings, though the inlays were so purposeful that they couldn't possibly be just for decoration. This weapon also had a more... sinister... feel to it. Clearly it was being powered by some particularity dark magic... Harle sighed "So you want to know about Felix's bloody parents, eh?" she asked as she cleaned it "They're high-ranking nobles. Used to be in fillydelphia -no doubt they still have connections there, sense the blokes robbing the museum- but now they've moved to canterlot to try to become even more highbrow than they were before" she paused, having finished drying the weapon and returned it to its holster in her coat "Their names are Goldenhoof and Flawless Amethyst. Felix, is their son - his real name though is Silvermane... neither of us liked the name so I gave him a griffon name - 'Felix'" she sighed "you'll find them anywhere there's a fancy party where important ponies gather --- and note I said ponies, not creatures, if you cant guess from their treatment of me, they think ponies are a superior race and all the rest of us are below them" Harle frowned "I dont know their home address, but I can give you their company office's address. Their company specializes in luxury items - gold and gemstone goblets, diamond necklaces, emerald-lined chamber pots, that sort of thing"

So, they were going to play it like that? then so be it. Iggy giggled "Yes, go tell the princess that you couldn't handle a dragon-whelp and a lone hippgriff. I'm sure she'll be impressed with how you let a single kirin sneak inside her castle, that is quite professional of you" he smirked, letting her lips curl back menacingly to show her fangs The guards snorted and took a step back, realizing that Iggy was right, instead of being heros, they'd be looked on as incompetent "This isn't over you dragon-blooded freak!" exclaimed the guard "Oh, so we can add petty insults and racism to your report, I'm sure the princess will want to promote you immediately..." mocked Iggy The guard's nostrils flared as he snorted again, he was raging, but he knew he'd been beaten "Lets go, hoof, we'll report that there was an incident and the culprits were gone when we arrived" "But sir...!" "Thats an order!" the other guard gulped and nodded "Yes, sir..." "I wont forget this you freak, I'll be watching, and next time you slip up...." he turned on a dime and stormed off so angry you could almost see it radiating from him. After a moment, all three of them slumped to the ground, leaning against the castle wall "I didn't think we could pull that off" said cloudy "Me neither" said Jasper "I'm just glad they were embarked enough to retreat. That could have ended badly" commented Iggy, smiling at Angel, clearly glad for the push to take them on.

Ice would likely be at least mildly surprised as she entered to see harle, engulfed in flames, leap into a pre-prepared foal-pool full of water to extinguish herself Singlestone was making notes on a clipboard "that one was probably overheating causing a focus inversion...." He glanced up from his notes at ice long enough to nod as he scribbled more things a dripping-wet, and rather scorched and burned Harle sat up in the pool, turning to face Ice "eh? what did we do this time?" she asked, taking a nearby towel and drying herself off enough not to cause any water damage before reading the paper "this... I didn't do this! I've been here the whole time, and all of my crew! I swear!" she exclaimed, mistakenly thinking Ice believe her to be the actual culprit

Jasper and Cloudy grinned and quickly returned to iggy's side "There are more of you? What kind of twisted plan is this??" asked one of the guards "You think you can take all four of us on?" asked Jasper with a grin only befitting a savage carnivore such as a dragon, though considering how the fight before involved him taking care not to harm the guard, this was clearly just intimidation... hopefully... The guard frowned "The princess will hear of this! She wont take kindly to a group of thugs destroying her old home!" "Thugs? us?" asked cloudy "Were I less forgiving I'd rip out your tongue for that" Iggy frowned, this was not going to end well if she let her male friends continue this overly macho act, on the other hoof, if she just gave herself up, they'd all probably end up in prison... this was a very bad situation... the kirin glanced over at the zebasus, letting angel be the deciding factor in how they handled this...

The flames instantly vanished and iggy blinked "how did you get it open? when I tried before it was locked..." Meanwhile, outside the guards were trying to arrest cloudy and Jasper, both of which were putting up quite a fight, or, well, were being an annoyance... cloudy was flying circles around the guard trying to apprehend him, while jasper without fail kept sending the guard who was after him, onto the ground with a series of throws and sweeps. Never actually hurting the guard, but no doubt bruising the guards ego quite a lot...

Iggy held on a few more seconds before she let go and stood up "I suppose we should go out there" she paused "You'll probably want to either stand really close or really far away for this..." the flames began to materialize again... Iggy seemed to think the best way to head outside, near several living creatures she (hopefully) wanted unharmed... was to use the same magic that just all-but destroyed the room she was standing in... Wisdom and Knowledge clearly were at a bit of a disconnect right now... though given what iggy just went through it was more understandable... at least a little... maybe... Twilight did warn angel about iggy's overzealous use of magic...

Iggy smiled "Thank you" she said "Yeah, I guess your right, nothing really bad happened" "-WHY ARE WE UNDER ARREST?! WE DIDN'T DO THIS!!!" Iggy sighed "I had to tempt fate by saying that didn't I?" she asked, holding tight to angel again, trying to gather up the mental strength to go face the trouble she caused

Harle Blackclaw Singlestone It had been several weeks since harle and her crew joined up with Ice, and in this time, unsurprisingly, Harle's name had been completely cleared of any past crimes (though it was still hard to believe some of those were even allowed to be added to the list given how ridiculous they were...) Things seemed to be going well, not only had harle's name been cleared and she returned with the blueprints for her ship (though she was an emotional wreck for several days afterwards...) but Singlestone had contacted an old college of his about the aether technology (taking creat care to limit what information he passed on so he never strayed outside the exact wording of the NDA -honestly that unicorn could have been an extremely effective lawyer...-) and had in turn made great progress on his research... though he refused to demonstrate any prototypes yet and when asked about his research he pulled out a 3-inch-thick binder filled with complex formulas that would have made any but the best scientist's heads spin... ...but things are never that simple, are they? A report came in that there had been a robbery at a museum in fillydephia that was being pinned on Harle... though all of Ice's servailence would clearly show that she and her crew had been in the LP base's research center for the last week (with enough damage to the testing facility to more than adequately back up the servailence...) It seemed that despite Ice's best efforts, somehow Harle was still getting blamed for crimes she had no capability of committing (which did lend credence to the griffon's claims that they were false) but which set up what would turn into an ongoing problem if not nipped in the bud...

Iggy sighed "I dont think she ever burned down a castle just be teleporting in..." she said, watching one of the burning banners fall to the ground as its support rope succumb to the flames, but she seemed a little less depressed. No doubt the fact Twilight had spoken kindly of the kirin helped. Iggy finally returned the hug "I'm sorry... I got carried away..." Angel would feel warm tears falling onto her shoulder, iggy likely fully realizing how much trouble she'd caused with just this one careless use of her magic. ((the sad irony is that this is the only way iggy can teleport... granted she can refine it so she doesn't burn down any building she's teleporting into, but at the least she'll always leave a scorch-mark... it's just part of her being a kirin))

Iggy was silent for several more seconds before speaking stiltedly "is... is this... why?" she asked, quietly "Is why the Princess wont speak to me... because every time I get excited... I destroy everything around me...?" clearly iggy had realized his how much damage she had caused and while her current state did still tie into twilight, it at least wasn't front and center... though if Angel didn't approach this situation carefully, iggy's reaction could be devastating in any number of ways including but not limited to violent magical outburst or crippling emotional scars...

When she got into the room, it was not a pleasant sight... The banners on the walls were still burning, along with quite a few pieces of furniture, though some stronger magic seemed to keep the castle itself from collapsing, though given the fact it was built almost entirely out of crystal, it was probably impervious to fire... The floor held a massive circular scorch-mark that went up as high as several feet up the walls, and sitting int he center, head hung low, was Iggy, looking miserable... though whether she had realized how much damage she had caused or was simply upset at not seeing Twilight was up for debate...

When they got closer, iggy was already banging on the doors and calling out for Twilight. There was of course no response... Suddenly iggy's eyes and horn lit up as flames began swirling around her "Iggy! Dont!" called Cloudy "You stupid dragon-horse your gonna get yourself killed!" shouted Jasper, perhaps hoping that an insult might penetrate iggy's head better than works of kindness... or perhaps he was just angry... dragons tended to be rather abrasive at the best of times, and Jasper was no exception... Iggy didn't seem to hear them as the flames completely encircled her and compressed until she vanished. moments later there was hte sound of an explosion inside the castle and a window shattered outward, releasing a huge gout of fire... Cloudy sighed, glancing at angel "Iggy's teleportation is... not perfect yet..." " 'not perfect'? Your giving her way too much credit" said Jasper with a sigh, looking at the shattered window and the smoke coming from it... they were going to be is so much trouble....

What would no doubt surprise Angel was that Cloudy and Jasper both grimaced when she spoke about her adventure in the castle Iggy sighed "Well thats A relief I-" she froze "t-t-twilight? Princess Twilight?!!?" her eyes were absolutely sparkling as she leapt up and ran towards the castle at an incredible speed, leaving burning hoofmarks in her excitement "I think now would be a good time to inform you... Iggy has a bit of an obsession with the princess" said Cloudy "We already have several unofficial restraining orders from members of the castle staff..." groaned jasper as he lowered his head in shame Cloudy sighed "we better go check on her, she's bound to do something stupid" Jasper nodded

The trio seemed to jump ever-so-slightly, but turned to listen as angel spoke Iggy didn't speak at first, but seemed a little relieved Jasper winced and shook his head "I'm a dragon who literally breathes fire and that stuff is too hot for me... that Rainbow pony is brutal..." Cloudy nodded Iggy finally spoke up "ok, so at worst it seems like there's an incubation period before the plague sets in" clearly she was still more than a little scared she had just doomed the town, or atleast made them all intensely sick... she really was hard on herself "I've already been researching how to cure it" she said, nodding to a book that was left open on the table "I just... I dont know if I can handle a spell like this..."

Twilight smiled "Farewell" she said, as her horn glowed Angel would likely be surprised that when she blinked she was no longer in the castle at all, but rather standing behind the trio from before, though they seemed to have not seen her or heard the teleport... though she had not heard one herself, perhaps Twilight had used some silent teleport spell, no doubt specifically so none of them would notice the spell had happened at all.

Twilight smiled, there was a hint of mirth in her eyes "Chromatic plague?" she asked, shaking her head in amusement "Azure will figure out soon enough what happened. Learning from your mistakes is the best way to grow, but I will lay your worries to rest, it is not any sort of magical illness. Had she indeed summoned such a thing, I would not be here speaking to you, I would have taken action immediately to reverse it. Besides, such foul magic is near impossible to cast on accident, even I myself would have to spend considerable time purposefully crafting such a spell" Though the way she spoke, it was clear she was leaving out something in her explanation, though she was speaking of a very powerful and evil magic, so that was to be expected "Learning about your friends is the best way yo become closer. I would be a poor princess of friendship if I did not encourage you to get to know them" she paused "if you are worried about anything though, you dont need to be, they are all good creatures"

Twilight smiled "knowing rainbow, she's probably taking a break or procrastinating, she IS a wonderbolt after all" Spike rolled his eyes, clearly seeing this as Twilight making excuses... "I mean the trio you met today, I've heard about them. Azure shows great promise but is a little impulsive with her magic... she reminds me of myself when I was first learning magic, she has a powerful gift if she can simply learn to control it better" explained the alicorn "I hadn't even arrived yet and I felt the shockwave from her spell"

Twilight sighed "My friends all have their own lives. Part of what I remember so fondly was none of us having much responsibility so we could just all get together anytime we wanted... now, outside of our annual meetings, we cant really carve any time out that we're all free. It would be wrong of me to ask them to take away from what they're doing anyway. So I come here myself, remember the good times, sometimes I fly over the town or walk through it invisible, just to see how things have changed or stayed the same..." she smiled "I daresay, history it seems is setting up to repeat itself with your new friends"

Twilight smiled "Ponyville holds a special place in my heart. I may have been whelped and raised in canterlot, but it is here that I met all my friends, and we went through so many adventures... you might say that I was born in canterlot but I was reborn in ponyville" she explained, but at the second question she sighed and shook her head "That would be too... distracting... for the town" she paused "everypony here has their own life and responsibilities, but almost all of them would drop those things in an instant if I were to return... partly from worry that the world was in danger yet again" she smiled a little at the thought "I care for my subjects, I do not want to cause them trouble, and my sudden reapearance here would do just that" "...and despite being princess of equestria, she's still a huge ball of nerves and has enough butterflies in her stomach to fill the everfree..." came another voice from behind angel "Spike!" chastised the alicorn, though Twilight actually blushed at his comment, making it clear that even if she had taken over the mantle of "wise unfallable god-queen" from celestia and luna, deep down Twilight was still that socially awkward unicorn that was drug to this town all those years ago... well slightly better... The familiar dragon was leaning on the door, wearing his own cloak that matched Twilight's - no doubt he had been walking through the castle reminiscing himself

The figure chuckled "Gold digger.. oh, I'm sorry, you prefer Angel, don't you?" said the figure as a bright glow was seen from within the hood The table began to glow brightly and magical holograms appeared, showing all six elements of harmony in their respective thrones, along with Spike the dragon int he smaller one, Though silent, a scene began to play out, though at an extremely fast speed "This table has a great power, connected to all of our world, it can sense disharmony, and it once sent champions to counter it, to bring the land together" she paused "But that is not what you were asking, was it?" The figure's hood glowed and was pulled back to reveal a likely familiar purple mane with a magenta stripe, along with a crown atop the figure's head, as she turned, the full visage of Princess Twilight came into view, an unseen wind blew the cape back to reveal the princess in her full glory, who merely smiled at the zebasis for several moments untill the wind faded and the cape fell back onto Twilight's back, she glanced at the table and the magical holograms of her friends "I have fond memories of this castle, of ponyville, of all its residents. I enjoy coming back here on occasion to reminisce and reflect on those simpler, yet happier times"

((er... it was a door, not a window...)) As she entered the voice would slowly become more clear "...really let this place go to waste now... its so sad..." if angel ventured further she would eventually come to the throne room with the seven thrones - each displaying the mark of the elements of harmony plus the small unmarked throne sitting adjacent to the larger one reserved for the Element of Magic, a cloaked figure was standing there in the shadows, since the lights were not lit, a hoof gently caressing the table in the center, causing it to spart a few times with magic before it properly activated, showing the world as they knew it, though the images was fuzzy and seemed to flicker now and then. Clearly whatever spells were woven into the table had not been used in a long time and were, at best, taking some time and effort to return to their full power, or, at worst, the time it had spent inactive had damaged the spells and it was not functioning fully. The cloaked figure was staring at the table, seemingly not noticing the zebasus.

As she was flying past she might notice something unusual... one of the doors on an upper tower of the old castle was open... and if she glanced inside she would see hoofprints in the dust that covered the floor, not to mention hear a quiet voice from somewhere deeper inside....

((eh... that's kinda the only bit I came up with... I mean you can go talk to trixie about it if you want or something, but honestly, its not going to take iggy much thinking to puzzle out what happened... >.< like I said I'm kinda running on empty plot-wise right now... T_T)) Dash sighed "yeah..." she said " 'later" and hopped down off the cloud gliding down to scootaloo and putting her hoof on the filly's sholdier. whatever she said was too quiet for angel to hear but it seemed to be calming down the filly, even if she was still coughing a bit and looked a bit ill... at least dash learned her lesson... maybe... at least for a day or two...