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IceStorm

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Everything posted by IceStorm

  1. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ The fact the Gloomy had no answers on what could be going on, oh at least reassure her that the magic wasn't dangerous, didn't help soothe Sugar's concerns. She didn't seem to be as panicked about it as she was, which helped as bit. She took a deep breath as Alphabittle then noticed the crystal and asked about it. He said they he'd never seen a crystal like that before. He tapped it on the table and bent a bit... Which was weird. When he asked if it was for him to take a look or if it was a tip, Sugar hesitated a bit. "About that... Um apparently I just made that. I have no idea what kind of crystal it is. I was just talking with Gloomy, felt a rush of energy, felt a tingle in my hooves, and they started glowing green..." She started before feeling the similar sensation again. She lifted her glowing hoof up. "Just like that .. and then when I put it to the counter like this," she continued, setting her hoof to the counter as spoken, there was another poof, and then another crystal. This one was a mix of fire red, yellow, and bright blue. "It did that! I don't know what's happening... Or if it might be dangerous..."
  2. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ To say that Sugar was shocked by what had just transpired would be the understatement of a lifetime. Literally out of nowhere came a burst, a tingly feeling, glowing hooves, and then poof, a crystal. She suddenly felt like all of the attention was on her, and while she was used to that being a model... This felt different, she felt different. She didn't know what this could do... What if it was dangerous? If it just randomly happened... Is it controllable? She didn't want to accidently hurt somepony with it... The other pony that was next to them said something that they blurted out seemingly out of habit before covering their mouth. "I... I have... Magic? Bu.... B.b.b.but how? Even Sunny said it was only the unicorns and pegasi they had magic... And... That's how it was when we left Maretime Bay... You... Don't think this is anything we should have to worry about... Do you? What if I can't control it?" Sugar asked, almost more panicked that she had magic now than happy. She wasn't a unicorn or Pegasus, and add sick she didn't instinctively know how to use it...
  3. ~~~Golden Bit~~~ "Ha! I hope you've made like three of those! That pony can pack away the sweets. Though given how active she is, she no doubt needs all the energy that she can get. Especially now that she's got a new little one to take care of. I can imagine that's going to take a lot of her time now," Golden Bit said with a smile. "And if there's one thing that I've learned about living here in Las Pegasus, is that the only thing that's predictable, is everything is unpredictable. Just when you think you have it figured out, it will blindside you with something wild," she laughed a bit. When Candy offered the backstage tour, she nodded. "But of course! What kind of friend would I be if I were to say now to such a generous offer?" she said, returning Candy's giggle. She listened as Candy continued, saying that she could be the official taste tester, depending on how much of a sweets pony she was. "Well, I'm nowhere near the level of what Windy is, but in my defense, that's a very high bar to achieve. I love candy and sweets about as much as everypony else does though. Being older though, I can't have as much as I used to though, or it will go straight to the flank I tell ya!" she laughed. When she saw the kitchen, she stood there for a moment in awe. Candy had really gone all out in making this the perfect shop for her. The tile was a great accent that was going around the room, and all of the equipment here was top notch. She didn't spare no expense, and it made Golden happy to see. With such dedication like that, she knew that her efforts would be well rewarded. When she mentioned the taffy machine, Golden had to speak up. "Do be careful around those. I have heard stories of ponies getting their manes or tails caught in the machine and getting pulled into it. I can't imagine that would be pleasant at all," she cautioned, as the two of them made their way towards a stainless steel table and she saw the newest treat that Candy said that she was working on. She told her that it was a white chocolate bon bon with candy corn in it. She took the treat in her own magic before taking a bit of it. "Oh wow! This is amazing! Even the candy corn is amazing! That's the best candy corn I've ever had! Though I suppose it would be. IT is your namesake after all so I doubt there would ever be anypony better at making it," she giggled.
  4. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ The mention of a blueberry scone made Sugar's stomach grumble a bit more. A blueberry scone actually sounded delicious. She wondered if it was anything like a blueberry muffin. She wasn't too sure of the black current. She knew that it was a berry of some sort, but that was all that she knew. The fruit was very hard to get in Maretime Bay, so anything made from it was even rarer. Still, if it was Gloomy's favorite tea, it couldn't be too bad and strawberries made everything better. She gave Alphabittle a nod. "Might want to make those double orders, some blueberry scones sound amazing," she smiled as she sat down with Gloomy. Gloomy then went on to talk about the trip after she commented on the establishment. She said that while she would rest for tonight after the journey back, she would be back on the stage tomorrow evening. "Well, then I'll have to make sure that I'm here to watch you work your magic.," she said with a giggle. She then felt a weird wave of energy pass through the area, and afterwards, her hooves started getting tingly. She lifted them up and then raised an eyebrow as she noticed them glowing green. "Uuuummm... Gloomy... do you have any idea what this is?" she asked before setting her hoof on the table. When she did, the green energy poofed into a cloud and then a soft, transparent red crystal sat in the center of the table. "Uhhh..." she said looking at Gloomy with shock.
  5. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ The warm welcome was definitely a relief to Sugar, and the fact that he didn't seem to harbor any ill feelings towards her made it all the better. She herself hadn't participated in the fiasco that was at the lighthouse but had managed to watch everything happen from afar. She was particularly frightened when the entire thing came down with Sunny and the unicorn she later learned was named Izzy inside. Her smile grew a bit warmer when she heard Gloomy say that they were a bit more than just friends, confirming that she had felt the vibes between them as well. She wasn't sure if they were moving too fast or not, but it wasn't like they had anything else to go off of. This was new territory for both of them, and Sugar had already agreed to move in with the mare and she was definitely excited for that! She was also ready for any adventures that they might get to go on together. After all, she was hoping to help restore the unicorns to the level of magic they had in the olden times. She'd never been one to believe in them before, but given light to the new events, they made an alarming amount of sense. "Scones and tea will give us glee, It matters not what flavor they be. It can be a treat both sweet or tart, but only if made from the heart," she smiled looking to Gloomy as they found a spot to sit down. "This place is nice. I can see why you like it here so much. Got a nice little stage over there, and the arcade that's here looks fun. I believe you said that's new though. You'll have to teach me how to play some of these games," Sugar said with a smile.
  6. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ Sugar Moonlight saw the shiver and smiled, but found herself following Gloomy to Crystal Tea Room. She heard the grumble of Gloomy's stomach, and her own followed as they got closer and they could smell the tea and the scones. So far everything here has smelled wonderful and excitedly different they the smell of the sea water that was constantly in Maretime Bay. There was the smell of apples, leaves, and various flowers that came from the undergrowth as well, but those faded as soon as they got into the building. Gloomy explained that many of them were the same growing up and that extroversion was something that was new to all of them. Alphabittle it made her wonder if Alphabittle maybe see something that they hadn't coming. She didn't think anypony saw any of this coming. She then mentioned something about bets and how she shouldn't expect to make a wager these days. She raised an eyebrow trying to piece things together as the stepped in. The loud assertive tone of the large unicorn echoed through the tea shop. She immediate recognized him though. He was one of the ones that had come to Maretime Bay on the day that Sprout attacked the lighthouse... He was one of the ones that saw the earth ponies at their worst. She wouldn't doubt if her feelings were tarnished a bit from them. Hell, her own feelings were tarnished a bit. The unicorn was quick to call to Gloomy and then point to her, making her stop cold. Gloomy introduced herself for her and that was a relief because everything seemed to stop. It took a couple moments for her to process everything and then blushed a bit herself. "Thank you," she smiled at Gloomy, looking back to Alphabittle. "We met just over a week ago. It was, unironically a Gloomy day. It was a cool day and the was a storm that was starting to roll in off of the bay, and it was honestly a perfect day for chili! I was in the market picking up supplies when she came through the gates. When I saw her, I had to go and greet her. She seemed a bit lonely after waking all the way there alone, so I went and said hi. I had to make another stop because, as I needed one final ingredient for the chili, but I invited her over to my place so that she didn't have to stay at an inn. I also made sure to make enough tea and chili to share. From there, one thing went to another and now we're here," she smiled.
  7. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ Sugar giggled a bit and nodded as she slid off of Gloomy's back. "And ride you later I will," she said in a sultry whisper in her ear. She didn't want to get too flirty at the moment as they had a little bit to do today. Still out didn't take long to unpack and Sugar nodded when she heard Gloomy say that Alphabittle's tea shop was the best place for breakfast. She added that for the most part, Bridlewood was a bit behind in catching up with things. Most of the "restaurants" here we're ponies opening up their homes to travelers. While it was a nice gesture for the most part, it wasn't very accommodating. Sugar understood that. Looking at all the trees and the lack of land in the area, restaurants would be difficult here. At least until they could rediscover the magic that would let them carve out the trees without killing them. Making new buildings would be impossible, so that was literally the only option that Bridlewood had at the moment. When Gloomy asked about games, saying that her boss would likely challenge her to something, she shrugged. "Honestly, I can't say that I have. At least, not since I was a filly. I've never really had anyone else to play with for the most part, so usually I spent my time reading, or sometimes standing in front of a mirror and trying to act out a scene from a book. I've never let anyone what watch though... Modeling in front of ponies is a lot easier than acting. I just have to walk with a bit of sass and attitude for modeling. Acting involves speaking and emotions, and I'm so certain I'm terrible at it that I've been afraid to even show it," she admitted. "But, I might be willing to learn some games. Who knows, maybe I'll have beginners luck, as they call it."
  8. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ As soon as they left the castle, Ice Storm could immediately tell something was wrong. Canterlot looked nothing like it did when she had first arrived today. Great, I'm not even in my version of Equestria... she thought to herself. That likely means that any of the resources that I have at home are going to be unavailable. I also have to presume that nothing is as it seems. If Canterlot is a cloud city now, I have to presumed that Las Pegasus is the same, provided it even exists here," her thoughts concluded as she listened to what Applejack was saying. The fact that she was a pegasus should have been something that was a giveaway that something would have been off. In the Equestria that she was from, AJ was an earth pony. Hearing that she hadn't heard of anything named star except the one that was in the Sky. That meant one of two things. Either STAR didn't exist here, or it remained a secret organization. She would need to find this alternate reality version of her and ask her a few questions. At the very least it let her know what resources she had here. The fact that there was no Council of Friendship was also somewhat alarming, but at the same time having the covenant of creatures made sense here if there were more races than just ponies involved. She wasn't surprised to hear that the dragon kin did not want to be a part of it. Dragon Lord Ember was making progress with the dragons in their realm, but it still wasn't there yet. With everything here being different, she wasn't sure if dragons in this Equestria were even safe to be around. Then the next major difference came into the picture. She would have never pictured Rarity having anything to do with the shipping industry, literally in this instant. Though a plus side that she knew the Ice Storm that lived here, saying that she definitely looked the part of her. He and Applejack engaged in some conversation about record times and stuff, and Ice nodded when Rarity asked her to come aboard. As she stepped onto the deck of the vessel, she looked over to Rarity. "You mentioned that I looked the part of the Ice Storm that lives here. Do you know where I live in this dimension of Equestria? Knowing what's going on with my life here, will let me know what resources I have to deal with this. Also, how long will it take us to get to Castle Sonnet?" she asked. If it was going to take longer than a few nights she would need to cast a duplication spell on her supplies so she would have them.
  9. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ Sugar smiled as her playful antics were reciprocated. It didn't go unnoticed they the little show that she put on had caught Gloomy's attention. Of cause the flop and the ear bite has as well because it was kind of hard to ignore the weight of another pony laying on them. When she spoke up asking if she could walk or if she would ride on her back there, she giggled a bit. "As much as I think it would be cute and wholesome, and totally fun to do that, I don't want to give off the impression to others that I'm to lazy to walk. That wouldn't do me any favors in the job hunt here," she smiled, her stomach rumbling against Gloomy's back. "But if you waaant toooo, I won't stooop youuuuu," she added sing songily with a giggle.
  10. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ When Sugar heard Gloomy tell her that the bedroom and the kitchen were both on the same floor, she nodded. Her house was the same way. Like Gloomy had also said, one wrong step and morning breakfast could be a morning trip to the hospital. She watched as Gloomy made some space for her to place her things. The first think that she placed on the shelf was the jewelry box that her and her grandma made, surrounding it with the family photos that she had. She hoped to as more of those with her and Gloomy together. As the two of them made their way up to the loft, Gloomy said that most of her things could do there. She actually only had a couple boxes to put there and started putting things along the shelves and prolonging the experience. She took extra time to tease Gloomy by showing off her long, lean, fluffy, and sparkly body. She even kept the fake unicorn horn that Canterlogic made. Maybe after a bit they could modify it to let her float things like the other unicorns. While that might not be likely, it was still interesting to think about, and magic was unpredictable so there was no trying what could actually happen. Honesty she was just hoping that she wouldn't become a burden being the only pony in Bridlewood without magic. When she finally finished unpacking, she let herself flop lightly over Gloomy's back with a giggle. She relished the feeling of warmth from being next to her. "All done! Wanna go get some breakfast? Those fried apples I smelled on the way here sound amazing. Not as amazing as you though," she giggled nibbling Gloomy's ear playfully.
  11. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ While Sugar was used to having the spotlight on her for the most part, she had to admit that it felt a little weird being the center of attention among ponies that most of whom she didn't know. In fact, the only pony here that she knew right now was the pony that she was moving in with, and following to her house. She was happy though that Gloomy liked her rhyme and even blushed a bit when she said it was cute. She knew that it was genuine from the smile on her face, and nodded when she said that the trick to good poetry was lots of poetry. It was something that she could feel like she would learn easily enough. After all, she had a perfect teacher for it. "I think I'll try once in a while, practicing with lots of trial. To push the limits but never shove, to make smile the one I've grown love," she said, blushing immediately at the way the words came out. She was pretty sure the blush was running up into her ears at this point, making them match the red in her mane. Only a moment later, Gloomy opened the door to her abode. She was a bit surprised that it was unlocked, but also not. Ponies, by their nature, were generally soft-hearted when they didn't have war mongering leaders spreading hate and fear among them to the point where they treated the other races like dirt and made them angry at them. It led to the question of what had actually started the entire feud between the races to begin with. Maybe in their quest to fully restore magic back to how it was, and unicorns could be the grand wizards of old again like they used to be, they could figure that out. Knowing how history was with these things though, it was either one of two things; Something incredibly petty, or something that was so devastating that there was no possible way to recover from it. Regardless though, the point was that most ponies weren't thieves. So leaving a door unlocked was not truly that surprising. When they made their way inside, the lighting was the first thing that she noticed. Even with the curtains open, there was only so much sunlight coming down from the canopy of the forest. That meant most of the light inside was coming from bio-luminescent mushrooms that were casting a light blue hue through the room. As she moved in, the first thing that she noticed was that there was just enough light in the room for the glitter in her mane and tail absolutely shine. The reflections off of the grains could be seen all around her. She briefly wondered if this was similar to what it looked like when a unicorn was looking at a pony's sparkle. "This is beautiful! And way more in touch with nature than any earth pony home that I've been to! And you were right back at my place. It's definitely cozier, but that just means we get to be closer for longer," she said flicking Gloomy teasingly with her tail. Thankfully though, she had heeded Gloomy's warning and didn't pack super heavily. Just some of her essentials, mostly her grooming products, the jewelry box that she and her grandmother had made, and a few other important things to her. She didn't really have clothes, she never had an interest in covering up her coat. Though she wouldn't object to modeling for some fashion designers at some point. Most of what she kept were her family pictures, which she gently started to unpack. "Where would you like me to start placing things?" Sugar asked. This was still Gloomy's house so she wanted to respect that fact by asking for permission on where to put things, rather than just doing so haphazardly and risk moving, or worse, damaging something that was important to the mare.
  12. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ The information that Ice Storm was getting from Applejack was a little bit conflicting. While Ice Storm didn't doubt the fact that Luna and Celestia had hidden properties all over Equestria, she did know for a fact that when they had retired. Both Celestia and Luna had originally went to Solstice Heights. Now, whether they stayed there or not, or rather... whether Celestia stayed there or not was anypony's question. After all, Luna hated the retirement and got bored quickly which was why she joined STAR. There was always something to do, either dealing with corrupted nobility, or running covert operations in foreign lands. Still, she had to be right about one thing. Hoofenheim was in Germaney, and Castle Sonne was in Germaney, so the two of them would have had to have been at least somewhat close together. When she asked if Twilight thought Celestia could help them, she nodded. "While she didn't come outright and say it, the message that I got from her is that Celestia is a catalyst for something. At this point in time, I have no idea what that might be. Once I find her though, I'm sure everything will be made clear. Either that or lead to more questions... both outcomes are equally as likely if I'm being honest. As long as they are questions that can be answered though, I'm sure I will find them. The only question that I really need to know... is who I'm allowed to rely on for help. The matters here at the castle are delicate and if the knowledge that things are unwell here gets out it will create unrest not only among the citizens of Equestria, but also create opportunity for any enemies that she may have," Ice spoke. "I know that I don't outrank The Council of Friendship, but I would recommend heavier patrols on the ocean borders around Equestria, just in case. I will increase STAR's regiment as well. Not enough to show our hoof that something might be wrong, but enough to make sure our defenses are ready. We don't need another Tempest incident while we're trying to deal with this mess. Also... you mentioned Twilight trying to remake something... what exactly would she be trying to remake?" Ice asked. Initially it sounded like Applejack was trying to say that Twilight wanted to remake the coronation, but that didn't make any sense. Sure, it may not have gone over exactly as planned, but it was still fun, and it still got the message across. Besides, she liked the applesauce Champaign.
  13. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ Having not seen Bridlewood before magic had been restored, Sugar was somewhat oblivious to how much of an effect the restoration of magic truly had. Sure Gloomy told her the stories about what it was like before, and they had spoke a lot about it on the way back... But there was a big difference in hearing about something and living it. Still, Sugar could see that everypony seemed to be much happier while she let Gloomy take the lead. She was the one that knew where they were going after all. Also add Gloomy had mentioned, her arrival was attracting a decent amount of attention. Seeing the mostly shocked reactions made her blush a bit, and the reaction from the colt with the apple and another filly next to him made her blush a bit more. She did hide a small chuckle when the filly said bing bong. She also imagined that a bit of the shock would be pointed at Gloomy. From what Gloomy had told her about before she left, she probably looked like a completely different pony, and the term of endearment didn't go unnoticed either. "Well, if any of them do decide to say hi, my sparkle will be high as the sky. But if they don't, that's okay to... Because all I really need is you," she smiled giving Gloomy a nuzzle as they got closer to her house. She hoped that she enjoyed her little rhyme. She found herself sleeping into that more and more the longer she'd been around Gloomy, and honestly, she found out challenging and fun. It'd be a while before she was sad good at rhyming as Gloomy was though.
  14. ~~~Golden Bit~~~ Golden gave a firm nod when Candy started talking about the intricacies of running a candy shop, and making sure that she had the staff to run it if she was going to be as busy as Golden imagined. She listened as the mare in front of her said that would be the hardest part since most of the family recipes were all in her head. "That is a good place to keep them safe from prying eyes, but at the same time. You might want to consider making a record of them at some point. Not saying that you would, but it's always possible to have a lapse of memory and have something go horribly wrong. Unfortunately, I'm old enough to know from experience on that one. I would write them down and lock them in a safe that only you know of. That way you can teach it, and still have a reference yourself. You know, just in case," Golden said with a smile. When the mail pony arrived, she simply waited while she heard Candy read the letter out loud. It did sadden the older mare a bit to hear that her parents would not be able to attend the grand opening, but at least they had the courtesy to write. It helped calm her a bit to know that the words that they were proud of her, were more than just empty words. She did have to briefly remind herself that Candy's family wasn't what would be considered nobility. That didn't bother her in the slightest, but it did mean that things had a little bit different meaning to them and more often than not, those meanings were pure. The downside of being from an aristocratic family was that for most of them, everything had ulterior motives behind them. She used to think her own family was above that kind of tomfoolery, but her brother made sure to thwart that image before he was taken care of. She was happy to hear, however, that her sister was going to be there for the event. "Well, that will be good. Always nice to have family present for something like that, and if I know Windy, she's going to be one of the first in line. Both because she is practically a sister to you at this point herself, and I'm pretty sure that she has a sweet tooth that would rival a foals. You might have to hire extra staff just because of her," Golden giggled.
  15. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ The travel from Maretime Bay to where Sugar was going to be starting her new life was... What's the word she's looking for... Nervous, exciting, filled with anticipation? A mixture of all of the above? There was a single word for all of that wasn't there? Sugar shrugged. The words that described her feelings on the top back failed in comparison to the endless ones that she could speak about how happy she was now with the mare that was next to her. If somepony would have told her a few months ago that she would be leaving Maretime Bay to move in with a unicorn, she would have rolled her eyes at Sunny and probably just ignored it. I'm fact, she was fairly sure that somewhere in her crazy proclamations back in the day Sunny might have actually said something like that. Now she had a real friend! Not to say that any of the ponies in Maretime Bay weren't her friends, but at the same time none of them were in much of a hurry to give her a job when she left Canterlogic. Thankful her home there was a family home, so there was no mortgage or anything on it. It was hers and would stay that way. She would be more than happy to rent it out to somepony though, on the condition that they get to stay there when they were in town. She had no idea how often that would be herself. They still have to get situated here in Bridlewood. When Gloomy pointed out the bioluminescent mushrooms and told her to follow them and it would lead them home, she nodded with a smile. "I can't wait to finally see it! This is my first time outside of Maretime Bay after all. I have to say, the travel was a lot less scary than I thought it would be. Having you at my side the whole way probably had a lot to do with it," she spoke happily.
  16. ~~~Golden Bit~~~ Ever since she started trying to make up for her brother's actions, taking care of other ponies kind of came second nature to Golden Bit at this point. This was especially true when it came to the friends of one of her favorite ponies in Las Pegasus. Sure, she took a vested interest in Ice Storm as the poor mare was a rather nasty and unfortunate victim of her brothers deranged antics. From what she'd heard the mare grew up homeless as a filly. But Wind Dancer held a special place in her. She was another pony that despite everything she had been through, was a pony that gave her everything at what she loved, even to the point of causing herself physical pain. Golden Bit was more than happy that this wasn't the case anymore thanks to herself. Today wasn't about Windy though. Today was about a friend of hers that Golden had met during the wedding between Windy and Sky. Today was all about Candy Corn, a very bubbly mare from Bittsburgh, and had hit it off instantly with Windy. It only took a few minutes with the mare for Golden to understand why. She was a big city pony with a country mare heart. The very nature of the building that she was now standing in front of matched that to a t. The candy shop that she had played a part in putting here was rustic and looked like one of the old fashioned candy shops a pony would have seen a few decades ago. In a day where everything else was modernized, it was relieving to see that someponies still cared about how things used to be. The fact that it was across the street from her was an added bonus. Golden caught sight of the workers starting to put up the sign for 'Kandy Kaleidoscope; Old-fashioned Candy, Sweets, and popcorn'. She also saw, and then immediately heard Candy calling out to her. She smiled and returned the wave before coming over to take a look at the progress herself. She knew it wouldn't be long before the doors opened. She smiled and nodded as Candy commented on the design. "I think old-fashioned is going to be a welcome change. Especially to some of the older generations that Las Pegasus still attracts. It will give the younger ponies a chance to see what things were like when we were young while reminding us of those days and the memories we made in places like this. That alone many ponies would say is worth a million bits. That and your location couldn't be better. With Sky and Windy doing their shows on Sunday's here and it being an outdoor show, you'll make a lot off of selling concessions to the gathering crowd. Plus, being across the street from the Mareage and The Fire and Ice will get you a lot of hoof traffic as well," Gold smiled warmly
  17. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ "I mean, I can't really say much on that myself. I was homeless when I was a foal, so I know exactly what that feels like. Though I suppose it might be different choosing to be alone rather than having it forced upon you," Ice replied to Blizzard's comments. "And I suppose the mess would be quite the upgrade from an igloo kitchen... although sometimes I'd rather have the igloo kitchen if I'm being honest. Like I said, the life in a city like LP is a bit more hectic than I would like. Nevermind the fact that I'm hardly there anymore. Always on some sort of mission anymore, or helping the princess in some way," Ice said, before smiling. "I suppose that's what it means to be dependable though. When a pony needs something important done, they always come looking to you. It is a bit of a prideful feeling, though I'll admit I wouldn't mind sharing that dependability a bit," she laughed a bit. At that point, their food arrived, and Ice could already smell the noodles, taking in a bit sniff. She levitated up the chop sticks that were provided with her magic and wasted no time in slurping up half of the first bowl. The wonderful flavors of the Miso and the Spinach combining. She would get to the sprouts and the water chestnuts here in a bit as she swallowed. "Oh, that really hits the spot," she said, drinking some of the broth. "But you really should. I know you don't wanna leave the princess high and dry, and believe me, I don't either. But even Twilight would know that everypony needs a break every now and again. Not everyone can sit in a library or an office for a week straight and call it a vacation," she giggled. "Plus I'm sure Mythie would love to see you again, in her own way. You really made quite the impression on her," she said, tilting the first bowl back to finish it off before pulling the second bowl over. "Plus," she said between munches. "Like I said, you wouldn't even have to pay for anything the first time. Just whenever you're ready, and Twilight has enough staff for it, you should come out some time. As often as I've been getting called away for missions recently, I can't guarantee that I personally will be there, but I'll make sure that my staff know that you're coming and everything will be comped. Well, mostly. I'm willing to go comp up to fifteen hundred bits for the casino, but if you lose fifteen hundred in one setting iiiiit's probably time for you to stop anyway," she laughed again.
  18. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ The information that Ice Storm was getting didn't seem to make much sense to her. However, she knew that was to be expected at the moment. Among all of the assumptions that she could make at the moment, there was one constant. Nothing about this was normal. It was almost acting like Twilight had somehow acquired Discord's magic. Actually... now that she's thinking about it Discord might actually be a good start for her investigation. Having met, and befriended the spirit of chaos before, she knew that he likely wasn't behind something of this magnitude. Unless Discord was specifically testing her for some reason. The more likely outcome though would be an enraged Discord that somepony could potentially be trying to copy his magic. That could have unintended effects for Twilight if things aren't what they seem. Things rarely are though when dealing with aspects of time, reality, and chaos. Hearing Twilight say that Celestia had always been missing and never lived, but sometimes had and was talking about correcting things. Then as quickly as things had went chaotic, everything had returned normal and Ice Storm was back in the throne room as it was supposed to be. It took her a few minutes to get her bearings straight. She heard Applejack speak up next to her, before wrapping a wing around her. She had to admit that was odd, and was probably something to do with what was actually going on. "Well, if I'm being entirely honest I don't know anything of what I need. At least not yet. I know what I have to do, and that's find Princess Celestia. However, what I need in order to do that I haven't been able to determine yet. Something tells me though that I don't have a whole lot of time to scout out locations and devise the best course of strategy. I know that she is in Castle Sonne, or at least that's where she's supposed to be. So directions on how to get there would be a good start," Ice Storm spoke. Something told her this was going to take a bit, and she would need a send a letter home at some point to let them know that she was on a very important mission. Knowing her girls though, she was almost certain that they would want to come with her, and she wasn't' sure if that would throw things off or now. All she knew, was that whatever Twilight that was, seem to have most of the answers but not, and was already putting them on the correct path to succeed. She wasn't sure if adding more variables to the path would lead to an undesirable outcome.
  19. Well, I guess that means Windy will have to be there to!
  20. I would be up for something like this.
  21. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ Sugar would nod and smile a bit as she heard Sunny try to rhyme. It wasn't even a bad one, but it was still cute that she was trying to go along with Gloomy. That adorable bashful smile that Gloomy had from it said everything that Sugar needed to know, before she turned to grab her own smoothie. She took a sip from her smoothie while she was watching Sunny gather up the boxes before answering her statement to her. "Oh, I'm still planning on being around Maretime Bay often enough. My family and most of my friends are here, what few I actually have now. Though with that in mind, we could probably use your help at some point. You're the only pony that's gone on a grand adventure and come back in one piece. Well, you and your friends that is, when you brought back magic. Granted... you only went to cities that were populated with other ponies and not scary, possibly pony eating monsters... do you have any advice to get a new pair of adventurers, or perhaps... might wanna come with us?" she asked giving almost a pleading smile.
  22. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ It was apparent by the Princess's reaction to what Ice Storm was saying, and then confirmed by her words that they had already explored the avenue of the nightmare virus. IT did confuse her a bit when Twilight said that she had possibly even considered it with her. She certainly didn't remember it, but then again, this might have been akin to what Rarity was suggesting earlier and was the likely cause. The planar boundary between the dimensions of time and space were non-existent here. That also meant that any boundaries between other parallel universes, were they to exist... would also be drastically weakened. The preceding conversations, and the evidence from traversing through the halls of the castle suggested, and even collaborated the fact that they very much did exist. The Princess went on to say that if the problem was merely emotion based, then that would be an easy problem to solve... Would it though? Would it really? Ice Storm herself had been through a hell of a lot, both when she was growing up and as an adult, moreso within the past recent years, with childhood issues getting progressively worse, being told that it will eventually lead to the loss of control on basic bodily functions... though at least that particular side effect came with elevated magical power. Living homeless as a filly, watching a building fall on others... if it wasn't for the friends that she'd made along the way, Ice Storm was fairly certain that she would have broken by now. Ice also knew though, from her teachings with Luna, that ignoring your emotions is a surefire way to make sure they reach a boiling point that you can't do anything about. Ice definitely didn't have a problem showing emotion, though she knew she did have a problem with getting overly passionate about things. When Twilight said that what she needed was completely different, Ice raised an eyebrow. She said something about it not being successfully done yet and she felt like she's run out of time and options. That it was hard to understand reality at all at this point. Fire raced across the land itself, giving Ice a bit of pause, but it never reached them before their reality shifted into that of a tropical island. Well, she could at least understand why it would be hard to understand reality at the moment, when the very fabric of reality had been torn. Ice kinda smirked internally for a second. The fabric of reality... no Wonder Rarity was put in charge of handling most of the aspects regarding it. IT was then that Ice Storm actually got her mission. The mission was to find Princess Celestia. She was supposed to be in Castle Sonne in Germaney, but Twilight couldn't sense her. She could sense everything else except Celestia. She couldn't feel her at all, and she said that now more than ever, she felt like she absolutely needed to. She added that she also had a feeling that Ice needed to feel Celestia for Twilight. IF the situation wasn't so dire, Ice Storm would have made a joke about having to take her out to dinner first, and after her bond with Luna, that would be the equivalent of being intimate with her aunty, but now was not the time for such jokes even if the humor would help bring light to a darkened mood. "So, Celestia is in Germaney. I should probably through some feelers out in HQ as well to make sure Luna is safe. She was there when I left, but if this disappearance is recent, then perhaps she's not as safe as we thought. However, it's also possible that there is no disappearance at all and that for some other reason, magic around Celestia just isn't working. Either way, the first course of action is to go to Castle Sonnet and see what I can find there. Perhaps while I'm searching there, I can uncover some more clues about what this could be," Ice said looking to the others. She presumed that they would be wanting her to head to the castle immediately, so she would wait to be dismissed before attempting to make her way to the exit.
  23. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ Ice was thankful that Blizzard didn't seem to mind too much about her large order. She was a bit surprised when she heard that Blizzard hasn't been to a restaurant for years and generally preferred canned goods. "Wow, yeah we seriously need to get you out more often. You're missing out on a whole bunch of stuff," Ice replied, taking the offered egg roll in her magic before taking a bite. "I mean, like you said... Old habits do die hard. It took me a couple years to get used to how Las Pegasus runs, considering the only places I'd lived prior to were Canterlot and Ponyville. Ponyville is laid back and easy going, where Canterlot tends to the more sophisticated. It at least that's like they want to believe. Ice been working on trying to make the nobility better, but it's a slow process." When Blizzard brought up Las Pegasus, she nodded. "Yeah, LP is practically littered with them. Every casino has three or four inside of them with their main restaurant being a buffet. But nothing in that city ever stops. It's like a constant party and there's always something to do. When you live their though and have to deal with the logistics of it all... It can get a bit overwhelming. But, at the same time... That's what a good staff is for. And the way you get good staff is by building relations with them and listening to the ponies who work for you, you can get a great team. Obviously you can't always accommodate everything, but there's always a work around," she said, finishing her egg roll. "You know. The next time you have some free time, you should come out there. You can stay at my hotel in a suite on the house. I can even throw in a few shows while you're at it. Just unwind and see some sights. You were in the north for how long? Equestria's changed quite a bit the last few years, and you deserve a bit of fun."
  24. ~~~Sugar Moonlight~~~ Sugar couldn't help but give a slight giggle to see Sunny stumble over the the poetry at first. She had to admit she had the same issue when they met at first, but it was also fairly easy to piece together. She wasn't a poet herself and want sure if her trying to make a rhyme would be seen as offensive or not. She didn't want to appear like she was mocking Gloomy after all. Sunny started working on her smoothe and smiled when Gloomy said she'd have the same. When she asked about the boxes, it was Sugar's turn to blush a bit. "Well, given recent events... Between leaving the Canterlogic factory after the reveal of their warmongering owners... And there not really being much else for a model here... And after meeting Gloomy here... I've decided to move to Bridlewood and see what kind of magic is there, and I don't know... Maybe see if I can help the unicorns figure out how to use their magic like the old days. Where they could do more that just levitate things," she replied, taking hey smoothie.
  25. ~~~Ice Storm~~~ Hearing the tone that Rarity was using... Ice Storm could immediately sense that something was amiss and wondered if it had anything to do with the letter that she had received. Rarity apologized for the two of them crashing into each other and helped her retrieve the items that had been strone about. In the past she might have been worried about what somepony had seen, but at this point, with everything that she's dealt with up to this point and the ponies that she already had to help her through things... if other ponies had a problem with her they could buck off, especially over something that she could consider petty at this point. No, what got her attention was the sounds of an aether backfire coming from the inner castle. Working with Aether Crystals in Star, and researching ways to let them be used as prosthetic horns that could not only restore a unicorn spellcasting ability, but potentially improve it. Pegasi and their wings were a little bit more complicated as well. You'd thing that without magic it would be an easy feat to recreate a funtioning wing, but this was proving to not be the case. In fact, it wasn't until Equestria's last encounter with Tirek did Ice start to understand the magic of the other races. The flight that a pegasus had came directly from their magic. Without it, they couldn't fly, and she then learned that this magic was tied to their wings. Thus was the primary source of the crystal failures she's been experiencing here recently. Trying to make them lightweight enough so that they wouldn't create an imbalance on the poor pegasus, but durable enough to sustain the amounts of magic required, which was a lot more than previously thought. That wasn't important right now though. How she was able to recognize the disturbance didn't matter. The fact that it even happened here mattered. When she heard Rarity say that Twilight was very ill, and neither medical or arcane experts can figure out what's wrong. That didn't surprise her in the slightest. After being overseas and seeing things abroad, Equestria's Health and Magic Care systems were heavily outdated. That was the primary reason that when she got back from Neighpon the last time, with the directive of the Longma Nira overseeing them. A part of her wondered if Nira would be a better selection than herself. That was until the actually entered the castle. The entrance way was a void of sorts. Black, inky tendrils oozing from areas while pictures seemed to float in bubbles around them. The paintings were constantly changing and cutlery seemed to be acting as if it were alive. The ground underneath them wasn't spared either. It looked like it was getting both parched from age and back to the vibrancy that it had that it was new, and then different levels in between. AS Rarity finished her description, they opened a door and the void was gone, replaced by a dessert. The effects were immediately apparent on Ice Storm as she had to stop for a second to one regain her vision, and secondly cast some protection spells on her to counteract the heat. True, she lived in Las Pegasus now, and Las Pegasus was in a desert. But she wasn't outside for all that long most of the time until the evening. Nights in the desert were more her strong suit because the sand never retained heat. That meant the nights got cold. It was not unusual to see a fifty degree difference between the day temperature and the night temperature there. Right now, this dessert seemed to be at the most blistering part of the day. Enough so that for a brief second before her magic kicked in it was actually making her nauseous. Still, she listened as Rarity continued. She explained further, that whatever was causing Twilight's illness, it was having chaotic effects on her magic. Time and Space didn't exist anymore. This wasn't just exclusive to object though, apparently. As they made their way through the dessert Rarity told her that she herself had been rendered non-existent a few times. The fact that she could remember it was most displeasing to her. Even more confusing was when she said that she was pretty sure that she had walked this exact path with Ice before. Ice certainly didn't remember any of that, but if time and space are moving on their on volition, then it's quite possible that Rarity was seeing herself in multiple dimensions at this point, and one of the ones that she got sent to during one of her periods of non-existence could have been the time period where this event had already transpired. Then Rarity seemed to dig through the sand, pulling on a knob and asking for help. Ice nodded, before the door popped open and they went from a desert to freefalling in a dessert tundra. Now this was more like it. Ice was quick to detach her orbs and channel enough magic to make a slide under the two of them so that their fall wouldn't be dangerous or lead to possible injuries. Once on the ground, Rarity seemed to be leading them to some sort of obelisk. From there she heard Rarity speak out for Applejack, and got a faint reply before hearing Twilight reach out. A purple aura shot from the obelisk towards Rarity. A few words took place before Twilight noticed Ice Storm. Though the first thing that Ice noticed was her eyes. Specifically, the red around the irises. Her magical aura was darker, and a multitude of very dark purples were radiating over her. She was taller, sleeker, and was starting to get somewhat of a mad scientist look to her. "I know exactly what this is... or at least, a very, very strong suspicion." Ice Storm started. "You have to remember. While Twilight here was a protege of Princess Celestia, I was a protege of Princess Luna, albeit much later. During my tutelage with her, being taught to keep my emotions in check was one of the biggest things that she taught me. She also told me what the warning signs were for The Nightmare Virus, as she called it. That," Ice said, pointing to Twilight. "Is all of them, and it's caused by a triggering emotion. One that starts off small but then grows into something more sinister," she said before hearing Twilight say that she'd been waiting for her. "I will be happy to help in any way that I can. Most of this should be reversible, we just have to figure out how."
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