Ashton

Morgan might be shocked when the doors open and he finds another small hallway with only a single door. Apparently when Luna said "midnight's floor" she wasn't beign vague, the warlock had her own floor! these doors showcased etchings that seemed to depict mid in prior battles, including one impressive one where she was decimating an army with 5 spell circles above her head, though these doors also seemed to have seen a lot more wear, as if a certain horn'd pony had repeatedly banged her head against them and scratched them... probably not entirely on accident... the hall also seemed to have a more purple tone to it, while still maintaining the 'elegant hotel' decor. There was both a large knocker on the doors as well as a buzzer next to them.

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

Stepping on the elevator did nothing. It didn't even glow. He would have to use the card to select a floor the same way Orchid had when she had sent him up earlier.

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.

As he left the room, he was again in the tiny hallway leading to the elevator. This was the penthouse, luna had the entire floor all to herself. no matter how much he was avoiding it, he would have to use the magical elevator.

Luna sighed "Storm... He's a confusing... being... I wouldn't even call him a pony anymore... Ponies used to thing my sister and I were mysterious, but we're wide open books compared to Storm. Some say he's got the best at heart for the world, others say he's going to run the world into the ground and couldn't care less" she paused "dont be fooled though if you meet him... what you'll meet is either an impersonator or some kind of shell, like a solid illusion... that's not storm - not the pony in the boardroom, not the pony in the street, and not the pony on TV... none of that is who -or what- storm really is" she paused "Midnight is in her room" luna opened another drawer and pulled out a keycard like the one Orchid had and tapped it against a nearby terminal a couple times, then floated it over to Morgan "that card will grant you access to my personal floor, midnight's floor, Orchid's floor -she's room 424-, and the lobby. try not to lose it, they're annoying to have to replace"

Luna looked taken back, in fact on the virge of showing shock, there was a moment of pause before she spoke "you... you are the first to actually ask me that in years" she admitted "I daresay centuries" she managed to regain her composure "I appologize, that was not very appropriate of me to say that" she admitted "but... thank you, Mr Morgan of Another Land, all things considered... I'd say Im doing alright. Better than some I fear..." she sighed, "I am working hard to try and restore this land and it's creatures, though even wiht my magic I am limited in how much I can do each day. I hope way day to cure them all and finally be able to put the curse of Nightmare Moon behind me forever"

Luna sighed "I wish it were so simple, Rad was even more immortal than myself, and Darkstar close to my own, being a healed Dark Pony, but none of us can locate either. As I said, perhaps they survived as Midnight did... the others... I fear they would not have been so lucky, being far more... susceptible... to death..." she paused, as if unsure whether to reveal the answer to the other question, finally saying "They were sent there by Storm himself, to retrieve an eldritch tome of knowledge that could have held the secret to saving our world" she finally admitted "If you want more details I suggest you speak with Midnight. Though I do not know how much help she will be to you, she has fallen into deep depression after the mission... she considered all of those on the mission to be family and I fear is suffering Survivors Guilt" she sighed "It only makes matters worse that she and Darkstar were mates, and Darkstar was the father of the Foal, from what I understand" As Morgan looked through the report he would see strange incidents of pirates, underground cities, time anomalies, magic anomalies, all written in extreme detail using very technical wording as if the report had been made by a highly trained Scientist or Wizard

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.

Luna shook her head sadly "I am not surprised, though I am disappointed" she said, turning her head, the glow of her horn opening a drawer and pulling out a binder that could have passed as a phone book and setting it down in front of Morgan "This is the final report on what we're referring to as the 'waterworld' incident" she explained "its quite detailed, and of the seven parties involved, we only know of Midnight herself escaping alive. I have spoken with representatives of Storm as well, the one who sent them on this mission, and he is unable to trace their life-forces either." she paused "There are other forces at play, I will be the first to admit that I do not understand the strange form of magic that the Pegasus Rad possessed, and three of the creatures involved were either soulless or developed souls only after leaving our world. As such I cannot say with absolute certainty that they are dead... however... the chances are... almost unfathomably tiny... Midnight has accepted this, which its unfortunate, given the blow it has dealt to her mental health, while Rainbow Dash... she has not. As I said, not surprising, but disappointing and ultimately futile" explained Luna

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.

Luna's eyes narrowed as he swore, clearly taking offence as his overly casual tone, but she said nothing about it, knowing her reputation was still rather in the gutter "Yes, Morgan of another world, I know why you are here. You were sent by Rainbow Dash to try and gather information, though the former element of Loyalty did not explain exactly what information you hoped to gleam from me"

The moment he touched the circle, though, there was a flash and he was facing two new doors, same as the previous ones, which opened before him. He was now in a tiny hallway that still resembled the 5-star-hotel decor of the lobby, but was incredibly tiny and was facing a massive set of oaken doors with no visible handles, but with multiple panels, all carved to show scenes of equestria's ancient history. From beyond the door she would hear a familiar booming voice "ENTER!" and the doors would slowly swing open, revealing... Luna sitting regally on... a pile of cushions, in what would be described less as an office and more as a living room? complete with sunken couch (luna always was behind the times), a large TV screen behind her, and walls lined with small tapestries, paintings, and the entire room carpeted in a deep purple with white stars. This wasn't an office at all, This seemed to be luna's private quarters!

Orchid was a little surprised that morgan didn't comment on the immortality, but just assumed Dash had indeed explained it to him so he just glossed over it. As he waled the locals did indeed look his way, some of them with a look of hunger in their eyes, clearly knowing he was from the mainland and wanting to steal his soul, but they also saw who he was with and knew better than to take any chances - they would be lucky if they just ended up in the ocean again, Orchid might not be so kind to them... arguably the were more fearful or perhaps more accurately, more cautious of her than they were of him.... If morgan could look past the city's unique architecture and fashion, he would see that it was not unlike any other city with ponies going about their normal lives and jobs. Perhaps these ponies were a little more aggressive than the ones he was used to, but the city was at its heart just like every other city he had visited. Entering the castle though would be quite a shock from the outside, the floors were polished marble tiles with carpets down the centers and leading to every door. There was a receptionist behind a large oaken desk looking over appointments who barely even glanced up at them, mostly to just nod at Orchid, having been expecting them. "This way" said orchid as she lead him towards a large set of doors like one would expect from an elevator, inside though was instead an inactive magic circle. Orchid pulled a card from a previously unseen pocket of the skintight soul and tapped it on a corresponding symbol on the wall, which caused the circle to start glowing "After you" she said quietly and politely.

"If you mean the beach, dont worry, most of them will be fine. I guess Dash didn't explain to you about us... remember I told you about the water drowning you over and over for a week... after that week of torment your spit back out, transformed into one of us. The water steals your soul so death rejects you, and the seas heal your body. Becides the torture you go through for a week though, you also have to pay the fee - it costs five souls to be brought back, and I'm sad to say most of the ponies here steal souls of the mainland ponies, again changing them into us, so they can be sure death wont be permanent. Some ponies are even known as Soul Brokers who buy, sell, trade, and collect souls for that specific reason. Once you wash up on the shore its just a matter of reclaiming your identity -and hoping nopony else stole it while you were in the sea, which is rare but can happen- and getting back to your normal life." she paused to let that sink in "Luna has been working on curing us from this though. She can only cure one or two dark ponies a day, but the cured ones can no longer steal souls, and if they die, the light of the moon will bring them back... of course this means if you die someplace the moon cant reach and nopony drags you out into the open or at least under a window, your dead forever, but its better than stealing souls" As they reached hte docks and Orchid tied up the jetski she paused again "oh and as a warning... uncured dark ponies cannot feel pain, so some of them are pretty... unpleasant to look at... its also why so many have body modifications" They began walking through the city, it was a strange place as it felt dirty and grimey, though there was almost no dirt or litter to be seen - it seemed as clean as any other large city morgan would have seen, but the atmosphere was different with the imposing buildings and looming darkness of alleys and shadows. There were, of course, places that were different, as the city did seem to slowly be moving away from the older darker motif and becoming more modern, but it was a long process and only slow and incremental changes. "At night its actually both much worse and much better" explained orchid, answering morgan's question after a short time "bright neon signs and lights that seem to give the city a whole new life, but the shadows are deeper and darker around every corner so its also a lot scarier" They were headed towards the massive spire in the center of the island, a bizarre hybrid of castle and skyscraper, which appeared to have originally been built from stone, but many new additions were steel, as well as many of the repairs, giving it an almost patchwork appearance.

Orchid was a bit quiet before speaking "I wish I could relate... I guess I kinda understand, with some of my closest friends, but I never had siblings" a notable change from the pony she seemed to resemble from morgan's world. "While I hope does does not get stuck here, I hope that you find somepony similar. I'm sure Dash gushed about her so-called sister Rad, who was really just another Dash from a different world; I understand a lot of different ponies get sucked through the gate, some are similar to the ones we know, some are very different. Mid said that during her travels with Rad she saw many different versions of ponies she had known, some radically different in one way or another, including their family." she seemed to be rambling a little, no doubt in thought "Keep in mind you may find a pony who 'is' your sister but is so changed you would despise her, dont let that soil your memories, more than once I've heard stories of these things..." clearly she had some experience with this that she would rather not go deep into. As they neared the beach now he would get his first glimpses of these dark ponies. Their fur was mostly gray of varying shades and their tails black or white, making them looked like combinations of ghosts or shadows. No doubt NMM's intention. The ones on the beach looked lost and disheveled, as if they had just been thrown ashore from a shipwreck. He even got to see one pony slowly emerging from the black sea and collapsing on the sand, looking like she had just endured the worst experience of her life. As they moved away from the beach, which was oddly enough fenced off, and towards the docks, he saw a different sight. These ponies looked a bit different. The word 'punk' might be used to describe them as they tended to wear a lot of black clothing with vicious looking spikes and studs, their manes and tails were styled in a harsh and often spiky design, and were often colors that were clearly not natural, given how they seemed to be fading or growing out on some (and the fact that the beach showed their colors were rather monochromatic) most also had at least a few visible tattoos, piercings, or both, sometimes en mass, even their makeup was less to enhance their appearance as it was to give them a more fierce and strange look. While this of course was on a scale and varied from one pony to another, it was no doubt another part of NMM's original plan to have her soldiers and invaders looking dangerous and different from mainland ponies. Morgan would also notice their eyes - while the schlera was still white and the pupils black (though slitted), their irises were almost exclusively a pale silver, almost blending in and giving them a somewhat grim and ghastly appearance. Some, however seemed to have more normal eyes, though it wasn't common, and they seemed to be a little less menacing and more lively. Dash had spoken about luna trying to clean up her mess and perhaps these ponies had somehow been 'treated' to have some of the darkness removed from them.

This seemed to have a calming effect on orchid as the began to near the land. "...was there sompony you left behind?" she asked tentatively, in a somewhat quiet voice that once again would remind morgan of fluttershy As they neared the land, morgan could see the buildings were exactly as they had appeared from the distance, very angular and gothic, dangerous looking. The occasional bright glowing lines on some of the buildings (retrofitted on the old, built into the new) gave a huge contrast. The city seemed to be built half in the gothic style and half in a mor modern techno-punk inspired style. Not too suprising given the direction the world had taken. It was still too far to see any of hte inhabitants clearly, but at the beach ahead of them morgan would see many camp fires and makeshift shelters.

She turned her head slowly towards him, and no doubt behind that black visor was giving him a terrifying death glare. But she kept the craft moving forward, not even responding to his lunacy, though it seemed she wasn't joking, more than likely if he did something dangerous and crazy, he would indeed get shoved into the water and learn first-hoof if indeed the water did drag you down and kill you over and over and over like orchid had warned...

The jet-ski came to a top, still a long distance from the ocean as orchid let out a growl, slowly turning her head back towards him "I dont know what kind of a sick f--- you are, but you pull one more stunt like that and so help me I'm PUSHING you into the dark sea, so help me Luna! Maybe you think it's just a joke, but I dont like knowing that if I hit a bump I'm likely to lose my head!" it was clear orchid was getting tired of Morgan's antics and felt like, at best, this was some kind of sick joke, and at worst he was purposefully trying to kill her "You touch one more da---d weapon and you will learn a new meaning for the word torture! got it?!" She slowly started the machine back up and it was several tense moments before she answered his question and still with gritted teeth and some anger in her voice "No. Not more than an introduction. Mid and Star talked to her, and Luna a little bit. I barely met her."

"I dont suggest trying to nap... this isn't normal water, this is the Dark Sea... you fall in here you will drown over and over and over, experiencing death for a full week straight before its over... even if you managed to climb back aboard you'd still drown, once you touch the dark sea, it doesn't let go of you..." warned orchid as they cut through the black water

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...

"If your that hungry we'll grab you a burger or something as soon as we land, its only going to be about 20 minutes" said Orchid "or a pizza or, well, whatever you want, I dont want yo see you starve yourself and eat Styrofoam" it was clear that even if she was a little harsh, she really did care a lot about other ponies

"She has adjusted quite well, much better than her sister did" commented Orchid "She has one of the largest super-computers in the world, known as Artemis. Though what she uses it for is anypony's guess... though I'm told its used in part for offloading some of Mid's data-crunching that her AI does" she paused "Over the years she's also... I suppose the term one could use is 'mellowed out' and is a lot less agressive than she used to be, I think having to work so hard to clean up her own mess has humbled her a bit... but dont take her lightly, she's still the queen of the land after all" she paused "Just show her respect she deserves and you should be fine. Remember she is a queen, so of course keep a little distance, bow, address ehr regally, all the normal formality. If you miss something she wont vaporize you or anything, but try to be appropriate"

"Not too long, we're on a high-speed lay-ski, then we just need to walk to the castle and take a teleporter up... unless you need something - I can slow down a little and take us on a more scenic rout if you need me to" she explained As they neared He would begin to make out the shape of buildings, most were constructed of contrasting white and black stone, with a lot of metal accents. The architecture was extremely Gothic and, honestly more than a little dangerous looking. Every building had sharp edges and spikes on it, it was clear that the original architects were trying to build a city that screamed "this place is EVIL with a capital E!" but as much was to be expected from nightmare moon. There were some more modern and less vicious looking structures though, as the island was either trying to move away from the past association or was simply evolving with and catching upto the modern times. He couldn't make out too much specifically yet though, despite the speed they were traveling at, the island was still a long ways off.

"I used to be one of the Elements of Chaos" explained Orchid with a sigh, clearly this was one of the things she didn't really want to tell people "We were ment to be a counter to the elements of harmony, but by the very nature of being a team that had to work together, we were kidna doomed from the start. We never really saw any action, except Mid, who went on to become Nightmare Moon's -and now luna's- Warlock. Her powers are so great that I think now even Luna herself fears Mid... or atleast fears what she could do, anypony that knows mid wouldn't be scared of her since even when she's angry she holds back" she paused "After Luna's return and banishment o the darklands I've been one of her main special agents, since my work as a model lets me travel all around equestria without suspicion"