IceStorm

~~~Ice Storm~~~ The excitement that Myth showed when she mentioned discord was humorous. She nodded when she asked if she knew Discord. "Yeah, we used to be pretty close until I moved away from Ponyville, and then moved away from Canterlot as well. He hasn't come to see me since I moved here. Not entirely sure why. You'd think that a place like Las Pegasus would be prime real estate for the God of Chaos. Although thinking about it, if he showed up he would probably just get blamed for every jackpot. Ponies can be cruel like that and unjustly so towards him. He just wants to have fun. He's like if you gave Pinkie Pie magic that she could control," Ice told Myth as she heard Raven speak up. Apparently she was less tired and more frustrated that the quality of the prototypes that they had were lacking. Ice Storm looked over to them and she saw... A lot of metal. It was precious metals like mithril and silver, bit still metal. Myth didn't seemed to be too thrilled about it either. She began to wonder why the pieces that they were getting for this were so impure. Still, a thought crossed her mind. "What if we're looking at this all wrong? I had s thought once before... And I thought I had made a note of it, but I've been keeping track of so much recently I wouldn't be surprised if I forgot... At the base level we know that crystals can house magic," she said activating the spheres from her amulet. At this myth would see Ice's Aether pool grow to exponentially, and would just look as if it were an extension of her own magic. "Somepony that Swift Squall employs was about to make these using harnessed aether. These are opals, and we're apparently very receptive to magic. We also know that crystals can naturally house magic," she said turning to Raven. "Remember the crystals up north in the mountains?" she continued approaching the materials. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the basic anatomical structure, aside from the Aether lines... It's just bone right? Calcium carbonate. If we could get a crystal to harbor energy and remain stable, could we imbue it inside of a calcium carbonate reconstruction of a horn and infuse it with the aether of the unicorn that it is supposed to be for?" She asked. She wasn't really sure any of that was possible, but it sounded possible. That was a start right?

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer nodded as she listened to Candy continue. She called herself a Yinzer, and while she wasn't entirely sure what that was, it didn't seem like a bad term or she didn't think that the mare would have used it. Still, she made a point. The place where two rivers come together could either be a hot spot, or a washout, in the literal sense of the word. She imagined that flooding could be a problem in the surrounding areas of the river basin, but as long as it was properly maintained she supposed it wouldn't be too bad, unless both rivers started flooding at the same time... then that would be bad. She also talked of an amusement park that she and her family provided the popcorn for, and as such they always had free tickets to get in. "That sounds quite lovely! I've never actually been to an amusement park before, but then again, this entire city is like an amusement park for those who don't live here, so I guess that counts?" she said as their food arrived, and boy were the portions hearty. Windy's own meal had to be brought out on two plates because of how much food there was. "Oh that looks so good," she said with a smile wasting little time taking a bit of the lasagna and letting the melty cheese drip a bit as she bit down. Both of the plates that were in front of Candy were full as well. In fact, both the angel hair and the fettuccine were on the same sized plate and either the waiter pony didn't catch the small, or they simply didn't do small as both had noodles hanging off the sides of the plate. She nodded with her mouth full when she heard Candy said that it was a good idea to get a contract or two out here before asking about her show and the theater that she used. She had to shake her head at that one but smiled. "For that one you would actually have to talk to all of the casinos in the area for because I don't do indoor shows anymore. The force of the winds that I generate in my shows have caused some structural instability in a few arenas before so I'd rather not put anypony in harms way for something that they are supposed to be enjoying. That being said, Golden Bit is the owner here at the Mareage and she has several theaters that other ponies use, and The Fire and Ice next door is also run by a pony that has a decent head on her shoulders. I would recommend talking to them about setting up supply contracts and they can probably get you a couple whole casinos to provide for," Wind Dancer said with a smile.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer eeped a bit as she felt her mom pull her into the hug that she had surrounded Sky with, telling her that she wasn't getting away that easily. She could only took hey eyes and smile a bit before noticing all the ponies overhead as well. A few of them she recognized and after seeing a few faces of shock she saw a bunch of smiles and they continued on their way as her mom suggested heading to the factory to get her dad. Sky send to be for that idea as well since his dad also worked there. On the way, her mom was more than willing to listen to the story to how they met, staying mostly silent whole Sky spoke and then she would continue. "Yeah, I had just finished a day full of meetings with some of the council members in LP and I was strolling through the park on the way home. One of the few green spots in the city. I just happened to be walking under the tree and a leaf fell on my nose. With a sneeze his head popped out of the branch and we started talking," she continued before letting Sky continue once more. ~~~Morning Dew~~~ After a few moments the mother relented hey hug against the two ponies in front of her. They had agreed that maybe home was the best place to continue the celebration of the union that was forthcoming rather than out here in the streets. Still, she was listening in earnest as she heard Sky and Windy start talking about how they met. Apparently all of this started with a leaf blowing in the wind. She smiled at the small irony of that and also how the names matched up. Wind Dancer and Sky Sailing... Applewood couldn't have wrote that one better. And from the letters they were both performers! She knew that Windy had taken off and had made quite the name for herself, and Sky was an amazing singer of the letters were anything to go off of. They would have to make it a point to take some time away and actually go to one of their shows. To Tartarus with the school and the factory for one weekend. Hey little filly deserved to have her momma in the crowd at least once. She would remain silent as their story continued as she looked back to Sky. They weren't too far from the factory now.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ Ice Storm would nod to the longma as she explained the reasoning for the architecture. It was.... brilliant actually and something that she herself would have never thought of. "That is quite interesting actually. And the display is quite appealing to look at as well," she said as gears started going off in her mind as to what she could use architecture like that for. Still it would probably be in bad taste to acclimate something that she had just seen into Equestrian Culture without proper consideration. She knew that there were some ponies in Las Pegasus that had their homes built like that, but outside from that she would probably have to get permission or something to start utilizing things like that for strategic advantages. She then picked up a smell that she was already quite familiar with herself. Street barbeque was a thing in Las Pegasus as well, but no where near as prominent for obvious reasons. It seemed to be popular among the carnivores that lived among them though. She then heard Myth ask about everypony here not being ponies and she heard Luna explain it a bit. She could answer a little bit herself as well, but she decided that it was probably best to let the longma answer that question. ~~~Niradaña~~~ Nira had heard the question that the one unicorn had spoken of. She appeared to have some sort of visual impairment, so it would be understandable for the question in that case. She probably had a heightened sense of smell as well. She could probably smell the meats cooking and judging by the looks of a few of the other she could tell that it made them a bit squeamish. She heard the pegasus of the group speak up about what she saw and then she heard the princess speak to clarify as well. "Indeed you are both correct. The Longma, The Kirin, and Even the ponyfolk here in Neighpon, and over the sea in Long Guo, have the blood of the dragon in them. At one point, our race was exactly that. Half-breeds between the dragons and the ponies, as the legendary creatures would fall for the short lived pony folk in the area. AS time went on, and more and more of our kind became prominent in the land, both having longer longevity and more acute senses than most others," she started as they continued to walk. "As we did so, our races began to stabilize, and flourish, as both Kirin and Longma would inherit aspects of their draconic heritage. Kirin can channel magic through their horns as a unicorn can, but they give off a different hue to their aether. Longma like myself also have ties to their magical counterparts and we can channel our magic either through the scales on our hooves or wings, or by emmiting it similar to how a dragon would breath fire. As for myself, I am a healer that practices advanced healing magic and healing techniques. I have found very few problems that I have not been able to diagnose and fix so as long as I catch the diagnosis in time," she continued. "However, that does come with the drawback that our predecessors had as well. Having draconic blood inside of us will sometimes require us to eat as a dragon would in order to maintain the proper balance of health in our bodies. That means that on occassion, we must consume meat of some sorts. You can rest assured that there were no sentient beings harmed during this process. We do what we must to survive, but we are not monsters. Well, most of us... there are some more tribal of ours that live scattered among the islands of Neighpon that have been known to well, hunt anything that doesn't bear the mark of the dragon. I would recommend avoiding those islands while you're looking for whatever it is you're looking for here," she said in a round about way as to not completely give away everything to a pony that might be listening to them as they pass by.

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~ Aloe herself didn't have much of anything else to add to the discussion on the actual hydra itself. Both of the other ponies in the room had much more knowledge than she did on the subject so she chose to remain silent on the matter. She didn't want to make herself look like a fool in front of the princess and by association making Rose look bad as well by saying something stupid. She also didn't have any idea about the REA either. Military stuff just never was her thing. She would treat a few of the ponies that were in from time to time, but that was the extent of her knowledge as most of them were rather quiet clients. She would smile though once the glass of water was brought to them, or rather... poofed into existence. It appeared that Twilight was quite excited about what it was that they had to show her. She was half expecting the mare to pull out a quill and notebook but had yet to do so as Rose started to explain the socks. She couldn't help but poke her tongue back out at Rose when she joked about her knowing what she was doing. Hey, it wasn't her fault that she had literally only tried this for the first time earlier today with no warning. She was shocked she did what she had! Still though, she smiled and nodded when she said that she could control some semblance of magic. What she was actually doing, she had no idea, but once the water was populated and Rose finished speaking, Aloe started to concentrate. When she did, a soft blue aura that matched her mane traveled down the socks lightly and slowly until the water in the class had been magicified. "It's something that I wouldn't have thought possible myself... think of the uses something like this could have!" she said excitedly.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer couldn't help but blush a bit when she started hearing her mom talk about how she'd grown up and what a beautiful mare she'd become. She even went so far to tell her that her wing looked amazing and was proud of how strong it was. She heard Sky add his thoughts to how a real beauty she was, and that they were enchanted at first sight. "Yeah, Aside from the scars on it at the joint, you can't even really tell that anything was wrong at this point. Although it does get a tad bit achy in cold weather. but I just get under some covers and I'm fine," she replied as her mother mentioned that Windy didn't tell her how they'd met. "That's odd... I thought I sent a letter about that, but I sent a lot of letters, I might have forgotten that part," she said as Sky introduced himself. "Actually mom, it's fiance now," she said before she saw her mother's eyes go very wide and she took a quick step to the side for the impending rush... ~~~Morning Dew~~~ Morning Dew nodded as she listened to the two ponies talk, the stallion seeming to mimic her own words about Windy and saying that she was a true beauty. She always knew that her little filly would grow up to be a gem, but she would put her old mom to shame now! She was so excited for her and she nodded to Sky Sailing as he introduced himself. "I'm Morning Dew, but post ponies here just call me Dew," she told him with a smile. Then Windy started talking again, talking about the letters as Sky asked if she had told her how they met. "Now that is a story that I would love to hear!" she exclaimed before her face went slack and her eyes went wide with the words that she just heard Windy speak when she asked about him being her colt friend. "Fiance... FIANCE!?!?" she yelled before she zipped over to the stallion and forewent the hoofshake and went into a full pony bear hug. She noticed the small side step from Windy. "Oh no you don't," she said pulling her in with her wing and locking them all together. "EEEheheh! My daughter is getting married!!!! Oh we must go find your father immediately! If they could have waited before they are going to wait now! My filly's home and she's getting married!" she yelled before getting a large number of looks from ponies that were passing by with raised eyebrows, but then a smile as they passed on. "Maaaaybeee we should go home first before we get arrested for disturbing the peace..." Morning said with a sheepish giggle.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer nodded when she heard the Pegasus say that Las Pegasus sounded more like one giant party rather than a city with all the attractions that it boasted. "For the ponies that come for the attractions, it basically is just a giant party. However, for those of us that live there, well let's be honest, most of us live in the surrounding area. We like peace and quiet as much as anypony else, and with where it's at, there's a lot of natural beauty around. The mountains in the area really make the outskirts shine. In the city though, yeah. It's a giant party. The casinos never close and ponies will throw bits at them day or night in hopes of winning big. Then there's the cuisine. Every stands alone restaurant has to be amazing or it can't compete with the ones in the casinos," she said explaining a little bit about the city itself. When she also heard Spring say she find the idea admirable to try to pull attention to smaller groups by using famous ones to pull in the crowds, she smiled. She also nodded when she brought up that it would probably be expensive too. "I am anticipating that actually. But I'm fairly certain that I can foot the bill for them myself. Myself being one of the more popular acts in LP, I make way more than I could ever spend in a lifetime in a single show. Most of the time I just put it back into the local hospital and party for the treatments on those who can't afford it. I call it the Windy insurance," she said with a smile. When she heard the unicorn say that he would be willing to help with decorations, she clopped her hooves together lightly. "Oh that is so good to here. I imagine that there is a lot that is going to need painting, and doing so with an artistic style will help so much!" she finished with a smile. She hasn't even made it we the art district yet and she already found somepony that could help.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ It didn't take too long for Myth and Ice to make their way down the hallway towards Raven's lab. It was even less so before they ran into Raven herself walking out of the lab. It has appeared that she had forgotten that Myth was coming today and said that she would have cleaned up the lab a bit before they got in. Ice smiled a bit and spoke. "Well, it is a lab for experimental magic. If it was clean I'd be concerned," she said to Raven with a giggle. Of course with it being a lab it had to be somewhat upkept to maintain the controlled environment, but the presence of failed experiments meant that work was being done. It was then that Myth apparently put two and two together and realized that Raven was Commander Shadowfire. She then realized that she probably hadn't heard her last name before and she couldn't help but giggle when she said that she felt a bit sheepish now and then turned into a sheep. She knew it was an illusion but it was still funny. "I think you and Discord would get along quite well," she said with a smile. "But yes, Raven is Commander Shadowfire and is in charge of the Aether Team. She'll be the one that you'll be answering to most of the time while you're on base or in the lab," she said before turning to Raven. "Once we finish the tour, we can go relax for a bit. It's not like any of this is going anywhere and you look like you're tired. Besides, The Shadow of Ice's testing mission should be starting soon as well and I'll want to be here for when it sets of. I would love to be on during it's testing, but another matter has been brought to my attention. One that might require immediate attention," she said to Raven. She would need to hear more details first, but considering who the letter was from and what he was suggesting, this could be something that had to be dealt with immediately.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer returned the nuzzle whens he felt it come in from Sky. She felt reassured when he told her that this was like facing a bad dream after you wake up. You remember feeling scare and you remember the emotions that came with it, but that the fear and feelings were only memories. Memories of something that she didn't have to go through any more and had made leaps and she knew herself that she had made leaps and bounds to get past. The voice made her turn around as she nodded to Sky as he asked if it was her mother and then responded to the voice. "Hehe, Surp...." Wind Dancer started to say until she was cut off by a wind-pipe-crushing hug. She was pretty sure she felt some bits of her spine pop as well... She heard her mom talk about how happy she was to see her and couldn't wait to show her father who was in town. "It's... good... to see.... you too... *cough* But... it's.... easier to.... see you.... if I can breathe..." she said as she heard her mom giggle a bit and then lighten her hug a bit and then allowed Windy to do the same. ~~~Morning Dew~~~ Morning Dew saw the nod, but she also saw it being directed towards the colt that was with her. The smile that she saw on Windy's face though was all she needed to see, and with a speed that would make rainbow blush the older mare had Wind Dancer locked in a vice grip of a hug. "Oh my Celestia, Windy!" she said tears of happiness flowing. "Oh my little filly, it's so good to see you! Your father and I have missed you so much. We know you still send letters but it's not the same as coming home! Oh we must tell your father immediately! To Tartartus with the weather factory today, our baby girl is home!!!" she said with a smile noticing both the blue face and the blush of the mare that she was hugging. She also heard Windy's gaspy voice telling her it would be easier for her to see them if she could breathe. Dew couldn't help but laugh a bit before relenting only to find herself in a firm hug. when she finally pulled away she wiped the few tears from her eyes with her wings as she looked Windy over. "Oh my, you've grown up into quite the beautiful mare, and I can tell you must have really made an impression on a few ponies. Your wing looks amazing! and it's so strong!" she said with a smile before popping over next to the stallion that was with here. "So who's this young lad? Oh!? IS this the colt-friend you mentioned a few letters ago!?" she asked with excitement.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ "It... Was at the time... But being here now and looking back on it... I don't know if it's because you're here with me, but it seems kinda silly to have been scared of this place for so long. I'll admit I was expecting the memories and everything to be a bit overwhelming. Instead... I just feel like a weight had been lifted off my wings," she told him as she is fact draped one of her wings over his back. It was about this time she heard a bell and then a rush of Pegasus fillies and colts rushed by them. They must have arrived right at the end of the school day. She remembered herself being quite enthusiastic to get home after school herself. She barely had time to recollect herself before she heard a familiar, long overdue voice behind her. "W... Windy? Is that you?" ~~~Morning Dew~~~ Morning Dew would sign and smile as the rush of students left for the weekend. They were always so enthusiastic to leave, but she did her best to make sure that they were happy coming back to. Currently she herself was working with the younger generations of Pegasi that were just starting to learn to fly. It was hey job to get them ready and get them flying properly, and it was a job that she loved. Today's lesson was one that she considered to be one of the most important lessons that a pegasus could learn. How to correct themselves if they lose their bearing in the sky and what they should do during a crash that can save them and cause the least amount of damage. It was one of the only lessons that she taught that she never allowed short cuts on, and how could she? The last thing she wanted was another parent going through what she did with Windy. She smiled as her thoughts went back to the letters that she had gotten from her recently. Her little filly had apparently made quite the name for herself in Las Pegasus. She would love to see one of her shows and just see hey again for a bit, but with the schooling the way it was here at the school, it was busy even when the students left. They spent most of their off time working to prepare for the next semester. She was a bit excited though, in one of her recent letters Windy said that she was coming back to Cloudsdale! Morning Dew would believe it when she saw the mare in front of her though. As soon as she was old enough to leave Cloudsdale, she didn't look back after what happened to her. She knew her little girl was strong enough to overcome her part if she tried but she didn't want to push it. She knew that she would come back when she was ready. She gathered her things and started making her way out of the facility. When she got to the door though, what she saw caused her to drop her saddle bags. Could it be... she thought to herself until she saw the scar on her wing. "W... Windy? Is that you?" she asked preparing for the tightest hug she would ever give if the answer was yes.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ After hearing the response of her crew, Ice Storm nodded. Especially since the Longma said that the tour would be on the way to the palace. Since it wouldn't take them out of their way, it would be a nice way to learn about the culture. "Since it is on the way to the palace I accept. While it is important to address our concerns as soon as possible, taking a moment to learn of the cultures of the area is vital as well. After all, it is important to know what we are protecting just as much as what we are protecting it from," she said to the longma as she followed. One thing that she did notice though, was the differences in architecture. The buildings seemed to curve to their points instead of lust angling down. Such a look was... quite pleasing aesthetically. She wasn't really sure what the difference in functionality was but judging how every building had the almost the same kind of roof, it had to be fairly well off. They wouldn't do something repeatedly like this if it wasn't working. "I must admit, that my curiosity is piqued... your architecture is breathtaking, but why do the roofs all curve upwards at the ends. Wouldn't that trap water?" she asked curiously. ~~~Niradaña~~~ Nira was delighted to hear that they would be taking the tour on the way to the palace. For a group of newcomers like these ponies were... a group that held obvious military might but also and heir of political power, it would be important for them to see how things worked here. The one that had been designated as the leader of this group mirrored that train of thinking. Of course, Nira was still more than a bit surprised that the Princess of the Night was not the one leading this entourage, but she was not one to judge on the matter and this frosty colored mare seemed to have a cool head on her. She couldn't help but giggle internally at her pun. She heard the others voice their thoughts on the idea of the tour as well, and she found herself both relieved and delighted. Often times when dignitaries came to Neighpon they cared very little about anything outside of their own little objectives. There was a sense of that here, but from what little bit she had been let on to know from Ishi and was in the reports, these ponies were hunting somepony very dangerous. She could understand why they would want to be in a hurry, but they still wanted to learn more. This was made more evident when she heard the leader, Commander Ice Storm, ask about the architecture and why the roofs were shaped like they were. Nira smiled. "Here in Neighpon, as well as in our mainland counterpart, Long Guo, we adopted this style due to the natural climates of the regions. In the winter, the sun barely peeks over the horizon, as such the curved roofs allow more light into our homes. In the summer, the sun is directly above us, and the curvature of the roof gives the roof more surface area without expanding the building's size, allowing it to cast more shade for ponies to take shelter under during the hottest parts of our days. Depending on the region, that can be quite extreme," she informed them as they moved along. Before too long, they would be in the market just off the harbor. There would be an array of foods that would be served from an assortment of food carts, produce stands, and something that most ponies wouldn't see too often in Equestria, butcher shops. While it was true that most ponies in Equestria were herbivores, here in Neighpon and Long Guo, that was not as such. The cuisine was vastly different as to some extent, every pony, longma or kirin here had dragon in them. Not all of them gained the features like the Longma or the Kirin did, but that didn't make them any less so, and often times they could get sick from several mineral deficiencies if they did not partake in meat of some sort. "This is one of our primary trader's markets and is where a good amount of the tourism in Kyomo starts. There are plenty of trinket and souvenir shops along the way, as well as enough noodles and street barbeque to sate anypony's needs," she commented. She didn't bring up the meat issue but she was sure that she'd have to explain it at some point regardless.

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~ Aloe herself knew what Twilight was referring to. Because Ponyville is where the elements of harmony lived, it was the proverbial epicenter of every catastrophe since their discovery, the exception being Tempest's Canterlot invasion. And even then, they were all still in Canterlot for that. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed trouble followed them more than others. She'd had to replace doors more than once because of shenanigans that Twilight and her friends got up to. She did notice that Twilight chuckled at her little comment about soap and chocolate before she asked what Rose's plan was. She wasn't entirely sure what kind of a question that was, but she would listen as Rose spoke. Apparently she was working on finding a cure for mortality itself. That was... Interesting to say the least. She wasn't sure if it were possible herself, but she was definitely enthusiastic about possibly being a part of that. She then spoke about the short term and the expedition to the Everfree. "Yeah... I going to test my Hydra wrangling skills. Applejack can wrangle all kinds a different critters so it should be easy right?" She said with a giggle knowing that she would likely be there for pretty much just emotional support. And whatever replacing fragrances she could supply. At this point the soup was brought it and it tasted as delicious as it smelled. Kale was one of her favorite leafy greens. She would have eaten half the bowl already by the time Rose asked her to help display what she was working on. She looked at hey inquisitively for a moment before her eyes went wide and she remembered the socks. "Oh yes!!! That would be splendid! I'm sure the princess will be more than surprised!!!" She said before turning to Twilight. "May we have an extra glass of water for the demonstration please?" Aloe asked.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ "I know..." Wind Dancer said looking into Sky's face, seeing the smile that he wore. She knew that he was trying to help her through this and he wanted her to be comfortable, but this was something that she had to do, or she might never have the courage to try again. "But if I don't do this now, and I back out... I might not ever come back and try to face this again," she told him giving him a nuzzle. It was as much to reassure herself that he was with her than it was out of affection before she took off. It was a few minutes of flying, but that few minutes felt like an eternity to Wind Dancer. She could feel the pit in her stomach building as they grew closer and closer to where everything happened. She wondered how different everything would be now. She knew that they wouldn't chance the entire layout of a city or how they made things because of a freak accident, but even Las Pegasus has change a lit in it's many years. Not everything always stayed the same either. In this case though, she landed on the cloud platforms right out side of the flight school. As soon as she did... she immediately felt a phantom pain in her wing before looking out and then up. "Well," she said shakily, "This is where it all happened..." she said looking looking up to the pillar that she remembered. It still had the crack and the chip on it. "The storm came from over there," she said pointing towards the west with her wing. "And it blew it with such force, that it overwhelmed us. I had just gotten my cutie mark so I thought that maybe I could regain control of the storm. I learned that sometimes nature can be more powerful than we could possibly imagine. Right there is where I hit," she said through a shudder pointing to the cracked pillar. Her voice strained... She took a deep breath. She could do this... It's been forever since this happened... She could finally put this behind her. "I don't remember much about what happened after that until I woke up a couple weeks later in the hospital," she told him. She wasn't sure why... but she was expecitng this moment to be... a lot harder on her than it currently felt. Instead... it genuinely felt like a weight was being lifted off of her.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ Ice Storm shook her head. "Like the princess said in the Library, Weather magic is not illegal. I've even used it myself at times, but there's very little point in doing so anymore because the pegasi have willingly take on the role of the weather ponies. Up hear, the weather is not controlled by ponies. It responds to our magic only if it wants to," she said to him with a bit of annoyance herself. He was technically the reason that they were here, but not because of the weather magic. She didn't want him finding the crystals that she found and possibly using them for illicit acts. He very clearly harbored some sort of resent towards Equestria for some reason. Judging by his posture and tone some of that resentment was clearly directed at her although she had no idea what she did to anger him. It seemed that Harle and the others were wary of him as well and were ready if he were to try to do anything foolish. When he further told them that they would have no interference from him so as long they were only continuing northward. He hoped that she could at least guarantee him that because he didn't do well with surprise house guests. Really now... and why might that be... she instantly thought to herself. Now she was contemplating what he was actually hiding where he lived himself. There was no way thought that she would ever get permission to engage in such an act with so little to go on though. However... they might be able to swing back through on the way back from their expedition and claim that they got turned around in the storms of the land... She'd approach that avenue later though. "I can in fact guarantee that we are going north, but that's as much information that I'm allowed to disclose. I am aware of the dangers that lie to the north as well. This isn't my first time up here," she told him as she awaited what would come next.

If Wind Dancer said that she was looking forward to today, she would be telling... well a really big half-lie. Part of her really was looking forward to today as she was going to be seeing her parents again for the first time in forever. She was also going to be meeting Sky's family as well. It seemed only fitting for them to meet the families now since well, they were going to be part of it soon enough now that they were engaged. They would also eventually have to start planning the actual wedding. Golden Bit already told them that they could use one of the Grand Ball Rooms in the Mareage at no cost, and basically calling dibs on hosting the wedding, but that would have to be something that she and Sky have to determine together. After all, this was his wedding too. He had just as much say about the venue that she did, and honestly she wanted a venue that would work well for everypony. The Grand Ballroom would definitely have the space, but so would the reservoir, and the sky parks in Cloudsdale. And there was the part where she would be lying... She'd been avoiding Cloudsdale for the longest time. She would send letters to her mom and dad frequently, but their jobs made it hard for them to get away for any length of time. She would tell them about her shows and they would always want to come see them, and they always asked her to come put one on in Cloudsdale, but she would always say something like there weren't any safe venues available that she wouldn't blow away. Which in her defense... wasn't entirely false. Not to mention, wind affected pegasi completely different than other ponies, Sky Sailing himself being a prime example of that. In a city full of only pegasi, it would make it really hard for her to go all out. She didn't want to be the reason somepony else had an accident. The accident... that was actually the part that she was dreading the most. She knew that she had to go back there, and she already made Sky promise to not let her back out of it. She needed to go back to where everything started so she can get her final closure, and be able to say that she'd finally overcome that terrible day. She wondered how many ponies would actually remember her here. She landed on the edge of the clouds leading into the city of clouds. "Well, here we are... Good old Cloudsdale," she said to Sky. Her voice wasn't near as full or strong as is usually was as the apprehension could be heard clear as day. "Let's get in there before I get cold feathers... The longer we wait... the more I'll just want to head straight to our folks and not face the past..."

~~~Ice Storm~~~ The docks in Neighpon were... well, pretty much every bit of what she had expected from what little intel that she had on the place. From the one time that she 'wasn't' here she could remember that everything here was centered on thousands of years of tradition. Something that Neighpon and Equestria weren't really too different on. Unfortunately being too caught up in tradition meant that they could be blind to issues that could arise later because of it. She didn't have time to take in the scenery though as a longma approached them. Surprisingly she approached Luna first expecting her to be the one to be running the mission. She couldn't say that she actually blamed her. After all, she herself wasn't sure how fast news traveled it was entirely possible that no pony over here knew that she was retired. She could also see that Myth was more than happy to be back on dry land. Even though technically they were in the air, Myth was still able to get sea sick. Raven and the others followed suit as well with Raven moving to the side of her that Luna wasn't. It appeared that everypony was awaiting to see what her reaction to the Longma would be. She would simply wait a few moments and let the princess address her, and then step in when she needed to. And then as if on cue, the princess replied and informed the longma, who's name they had yet been graced with, that it was she herself that was commanding the regiment today. Ice nodded. "That is correct, although I can understand the confusion. I am as Luna had said, Commander Ice Storm. It is somewhat of a recent development myself but one that I am not displeased with. It is good to have my friends working with me on this matter. Now, I believe you said you were here to escort us to the palace? The matter that we wish to speak of is urgent," she spoke to the longma. Truth be told it still felt weird to her to say Luna's name without princess in front of it. She would always be Princess Luna in her eyes. ~~~Niradaña~~~ Nira stood there for a few moments but then she went slack jaw when she heard the response of the princess, and then the blue mare that was standing next to her. Her armor certainly signified her as a mare of rank, but she presumed that she was one of the elite guards. Not the other way around and that they princess was part of her security detail. She wondered what was going on in Equestria. There didn't seem to be any sort of power struggle so perhaps it could be something simple. Still, as it was, this blue mare that was introduced as Commander Ice Storm had an aura about her that was powerful. She also seemed to have the backing of the ponies that followed her. That was important. She briefly shook her head for a moment to recollect her thoughts so she didn't accidentally blurt something out and let her mind catch up to where she was. "Of course, my apologies princess. Commander Storm, like I spoke to the princess, if you would follow me please, I will lead you to the Royal Palace. It's in the center of the city so it is a little bit of a walk from here. While we're walking would you like me to give you the tour of Kyoma on the way?" she asked them. She wasn't sure if any of the Equestrians had been to Neighpon before so knowing where everything was and where were places to avoid would go along way. Especially since the locals loved to lure tourists in for whatever plots they might have running for them.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ After getting the clearance for them to dock, Ice Storm looked back over the bridge and she saw that a good number of the crew that had come with her had made themselves present. Even Luna was up and about. She'd made it a conscious effort to stay up a bit later than normal recently to try to catch up with hey friends while they were on the way here. Luna was already fascinated with this ship and she couldn't wait to show her the big airship when they were ready to unveil it. She might have to unveil it sooner than expected depending on how this mission went. It has already returned from it's testing missions, or at least, it should have by now. She could hear the excitement coming from Myth and smiled. "Indeed we are. We might be here on business, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves a small bit while we're here. We just need to be ready for our mission once we get clearance from the Shogun. Without proper procedure we can't continue the investigation. Well, not legally anyway," she said. They were already here, so they were investigating no matter what, but getting permission would make things easier. Feather Blitz was the next one in followed by Luna and Raven. At this moment she felt the ship stop. "Alright everypony. We're ready to depart. I want to thank everypony for coming with me on this. I have no idea what we're going to be walking into. I'm not expecting resistance from the locals or the city itself, but once we start signing into the relics and ruins that she would have been around as well as where Hou had been we might. What we do know is that we will be meeting with the Shogun pretty much immediately after departing. Representatives of the Shogun should be meeting us on the dock. I believe we shouldn't keep them waiting. Let's move out," she said moving to depart the ship. ~~~Niradaña~~~ This was certainly an interesting request that she had gotten recently, and one that she want expecting in the slightest. Diplomats from Equestria had come to parlay with Ishi's brother, though it would likely be Ishi that they dealt with at the moment. The Shogun was indisposed at the moment which made it a bit harder for her. She herself was going stir crazy as she couldn't really get any traction for her clinic right now for some reason and it was starting to drive her a bit. She needed more. After being in the military and being a frontline healer, she needed to be helping ponies, not behind a wall for her skills to only server the super elite. Before long though, the ship in question arrived at the dock. It was an airship rather than the normal ocean fairing vessels that she was used to seeing. She could also see that the ship was well armed. Interesting, she thought to herself. Coming to a diplomatic meeting off of a warship wasn't generally an occurrence. She wondered what else could be going on here. Her thoughts were silenced though when a unicorn in armor stepped off the vessel with an enterage of others behind her, including one of the royal alicorn sisters. The fact that she was on the ship now made the extra security make sense. The dark violet longma approached the royal alicorn presuming that she was the diplomat in question and that the rest were her security detail. "Princess Luna, welcome to Neighpon. Ishi is expecting you. If you and your security detail would follow me, I can lead you to the palace," she said to them in a professional tone.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer listened as she heard Candy Corn tell her that Bittsburgh was a growing city, but it still wasn't anywhere close to the size of Filly or Manehatten. She talked about how the city was built on the fort of it's namesake Fort Bitt. She also commented about how the city's colors were black and gold. That concept alone intrigued her. She wasn't aware that most cities had their own... Colors persay, but she supposed that there would be a color that cities tended to use more often than others. Canterlot was very much a white based city. Almost every building in Canterlot were white or had white accents in them. Las Pegasus shared at least one of those colors. Gold was the color of wealth and this city was all about that. It was the easiest city to either win big or go broke. Unfortunately for many, the latter of those two options seemed to be the easiest. It still took a lot of hard work to get to the spots where she was in the city. The ones who were fake would get weeded out pretty quickly. She was also interested about the talk about Mount Celestia and the view from the top of it. She imagined that it would probably be close to the view that she had from Canterlot when she was there not overly long ago. With it being located on a mountain, the view down to the valleys below were spectacular. Especially in the setting sun. The Corn farm also caught her attention. "Popping corn seems to be quite a popular treat here in Las Pegasus. With as many shows that are going on here, there's always ponies buying it. You should consider possibly setting up some business with some of the theaters here. I'm sure they would love to get their popcorn straight from one of the sources rather than paying the middle pony mark-up for it," Wind Dancer suggested. "Also it sounds like a nice homey place where you're from. It's definitely a far cry from what it's like here in LP."

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~ To hear the princess talk about the school of friendship... it... was a lot to take in. It was more about what the concept of friendship was and how it was experienced rather than explaining how friendship was taught. Being a pony that aside from running her spa had spent most of her time alone recently, the notion of friendship seemed distant to her herself. There was of course, Compass that she'd met and then she looked over to Rose. There was a warm smile that washed over her face as the locked eyes as Twilight spoke. What she spoke of might have been true in the grand sense, but could it really be taught on such a grand scale? The school was successful sure, but to what extent? Sure friendships will form at the school, just as it did at all schools, just as she had with some clients, but most of those were more along the lines of what she would consider acquaintances. Rose had definitely made it to a level well beyond that, but their first mare's night out with Compass would be the test if she and Rose could get along with her outside of a workplace environment. She seemed like a very nice mare though so she wasn't too overly worried about it. She then listened to the princess continue to talk about how it wasn't the princesses that had saved them, or Discord, or any of the professors or the likes. It was friendship that saved them. She supposed at the very base of an alliance a friendship had to be involved or at least a mutual goal. Most of the surrounding areas knew that if Equestri fell, as powerful of a nation that it was, what ever caused it to fall would be taking them over soon enough. So she still wondered how much of it was friendship and how much of it was Self-preservation. Either way, they were still here to discuss it so the proof was in the pudding. When Rose asked if Twilight had meant that Discord though, Aloe nodded. "Yes, actually. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness was actually able to make him pretty nice... although he's still... well, Discord. He's not bad, but soaps not supposed to be chocolate flavored..." she commented.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ Ice Storm watched and she heard Harle ask about the units of which aether was measured in. She nodded at Raven's answer that she gave. Yeah, qualms is what I've always referred to it as... Although now that we're actively researching magic and it's properties, I suppose having a uniform vocabulary for that would make things easier for other researchers to understand. Rather than trying to guess how much someone means by thaum, qualm, or any other term that somepony might use," she commented. It was about this time that she heard a voice. More importantly, a vice that was not a part of the ponies that made up this endeavour... A vice that sounded familiar. She wasn't the first to notice and Magnus shot up and Ice did as well... She wasn't hostile, but she was defensive. This was the one pony that she was hoping to avoid on this mission. Still... While she felt she had reason to not trust him, she didn't need to give him a reason to become fully violent towards her or anyone here. He also hadn't really don't anything to harm anytime yet so as far as Ice was concerned he was just a misguided pony that choose to abandon society as a whole. "Blizzard Blitz... I can't say that I was expecting to see you here... We're actually on a classified mission, so I can't go into to many details. Just that we will be going deeper North," she commented to him. She wasn't rude, but not exactly courteous either. She had a new professional tone than anything right now. She did stay alert just in case he tried something bit she wasn't expecting it. He was drastically out numbered and she was positively certain she was a stronger ice mage than he was. She could defend them if needed.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer nodded when Sky mentioned using tempo fluctuations once he got better at riding her winds. So far this morning they had gone through a couple more of the songs and she felt pretty confident in where they were. Sure they had basically just mapped this song, but it was mostly freeform. That meant it would change anyway depending on what she was feeling during that performance. Sky as well for that matter, since he was going to be the one that was riding on the winds that she was making... She couldn't help but giggle a smaller bit when he asked about putting a parasail on his keyboards. Them she thought about it. "You know, that would be a great opening effect coming in. I don't know how safe that would be thought once everything started really picking up. I wouldn't want a chord to snap or something and it fall on an unsuspecting pony. I'm sure that thing is heavier than it looks, but it's definitely doable for a couple of effects," she said with a smile.

Neighpon... If Ice Storm didn't have to see it again it would be too soon. It's not that she didn't care for it, but she just had some not so pleasant memories of her last mission here. A mission that involved them recovering an agent that found herself on the wrong side of one too many traps. A mission that also wasn't on any books anywhere. So at least legally she'd never been here before. Now, she was here to try to recover some information on a pony that was brought to her attention. A pony that could prove to be very dangerous. A pony by the name of Hou Shuren. She was brought up to her by Sombra of all ponies. Of course when he brought up a threat, or at least something that he felt like a threat, then she would listen. She saw herself as on par with the former tyrant in terms of overall power, but they never really had a reason to try to display their power to each other, nor had they really had any disagreements. Hell, part of her actually agreed with the actions that he took against Princess Amore back in the day. She'd learned not to say that out loud though. She'd already had one pony of accuse her of being a traitor to Equestria. She didn't want to give any reason to give more ponies to think that. As it was right now, she and the crew that she had gathered for this mission were all on board one of her ships and they were making way to the port in Kyoma. She had sent word ahead of them to the Shogun to meet with them and to try to do things as properly as possible this time around. She was also hoping to get permission to investigate the areas where Hou had supposedly been at within the country. Those locations might hold keys as to what she might be after. She also was concerned about running into Hou herself. After all, it would take a few days for Sombra to get to Saddle Arabia even with her ships flying. In that amount of time If Hou could have even remotely had been tipped off, she'd be gone and likely back here. In fact it wouldn't surprise her if they ran into the pony at the port. She only had a vague description of her though and if she was a powerful mage, well, she could look like anything and they wouldn't know it was her until she wanted them to know. By then it could already be a problem and aside from the Shadow of Ice, which they did not come on for this mission, the other airships didn't have as sophisticated defenses on them for trickery. As they got closer, she got a ping on one of her crystals. "Equestrian Vessel, you are not expected. State your ships name, who you are, and your reason for being here," she heard from it. She was a bit shocked that others had similar crystals such as this, but she did get this tech from Tempest in her adventures with the Storm King, she she supposed others could have done the same. "This is Commander Ice Storm on board the STR Nightengale. I am here on official Equestrian Business seeking an audience with the Shogun. He is expecting my arrival," she replied. "Give us one moment to confirm this commander," she heard from the crystal. After a few minutes went by the crystal ignited once more. "Status confirmed. Please instruct your helmsmare to use Docking Bay 4, and enjoy your visit to Neighpon Commander." "Copy, Commander Ice Storm out," she said before looking to the mare behind the wheel. "You heard her, Dock four," she said as she prepared herself for departing the ship.

~~~Wind Dancer~~~ Wind Dancer saw the look that was on Candy Corns face when she ordered her meal and she couldn't help but chuckle a small bit. It was always funny to see the reactions of ponies that didn't know her see the amount of food that she actually ate. With her live-style, the dancing, the practices, the fine-tuning of routines, and sometimes the on the spot shows for a few of her fans, she burned a lot of calories. She heard her add a fettuccine alfredo to her order as well. "What?" She asked with a smile. "You didn't expect me to one of those dainty show ponies that go out and only order the smallest salad they can get. A mare's gotta eat to keep up with what I do," she said nodding in response when she heard Candy say that she must burn a lot of carbs in her shows. "Shows, practices, shoot just traversing through Las Pegasus during the summer would burn off most of that plate as warm as it can get here at times. it is a desert after all, cloud city or not," she said with a smile. "Being a pegasus does help with that, cause I can just fly higher until it's cooler. That still burns more calories though," she said as she started taking a sip of her wine. "So, why don't you tell me about Bittsbergh a bit? I don't believe I ever got to make a visit there when I was a traveling dancer," she told Candy.

~~~Aloe Blossom~~~ Aloe couldn't help but giggle a bit when Rose added the caveat that he had well behaved around mares like them. Aloe herself didn't mind too much of a flirt. She was after all, a spa pony. Sometimes this profession lead down different avenues than most ponies would expect them to. That, however, would be for another time. Right now was not a place for those kind of thoughts. At least, not this time. Perhaps on another visit. When Compass brought up that he would be fine, and that he was gay anyway so that wouldn't really be an issue to him Aloe smirked. "I never heard a thing," she said when Compass asked for them to not repeat what she had said. Apparenlty she wasn't supposed to tell anypony that. When she asked about the minerals that were in the bath, and what herbs, mention that Rose would probably know a thing or two about those. "Well, this particular bath is actually more herbal than mineral at the moment. It does have a small amount of zinc and an even smaller amount of copper to help with shimmer but this is mostly a relaxation blend with lavender, chamomile, willow, and rose oils and fragrances. The willow and will actually help sooth any aches and pains that you might have as well, and the chamomile is the primary relaxant that is in the water," she replied.

~~~Ice Storm~~~ Ice Storm smiled as Myth asked if her rank was really that high. That she didn't need special treatment or anything. She was just here because she wanted to help out with the research. "Making you a Sergent Specialist will give you the most funding for your research on the project as well as denotes you're experience with your specialization. Since you're the only pony in STAR that can actually see magic and how it works, then it makes that your position reflects that. Aside from Raven, everypony else on the Aether team will answer to you. If you detect an irregularity or anything potentially dangerous with any sort of experiment or test, you have the authority to immediately terminate it. This will save us both in supplies, and medical bills," she said with a hopeful smile... She knew that the LPMC and the Infirmary on the base were getting tired of treating aetheric burn wounds. When Myth then told her that she would work extra hard to make sure that she would earn the rank that she felt that she was given, Ice nodded to her. She told her that her hooves, horn and eyes were hers to command for the benefit of Equestria and couldn't help but giggle a bit at the wink when She called her commander. "Well that's good, because we're just about to Commander Shadowfire's labs," she said with a smile.