Ancre

"Where is this monster, indeed !" Whirlwind suddenly stopped her flight, turning back toward the two other ponies, and floating toward them with a big, evil grin on her face. "He hides in the darkest parts of the night, in fields and forests ..." She started. The spot was a good spot for ghost stories. No lights but the stars. No sounds but the faint howling of the wind. And they were surrounded by pumpkins. In the darkness, even uncarved pumpkins smiled. "And ponies says that every night, you can see a headless horse walking in those pumpkin fields, looking for something. He's only a shadow, most nights, except for this one." She continued her story, slowly coming closer to Powdered Snow, which looked like the easiest to scare. "Some legends says he's a rejected lover killed by his loved one, and that on every nightmare night, he brings a pony with him back into pony hell to be his bride. Others says he's a soldier, from a long forgotten battle, a very brutal and bloody one, against griffins, and that he haunts his ancient battleground to slay another foe before going back to the dead again. But most stories says ..." This was it. Whirlwind was having a lot of fun trying to scare the little filly, and had brought herself closer to Powdered Snow while talking. And now was the best moment ! Next to the little pony now, the pink pegasus took on a terrified face and, suddenly, abruptly cutting her story, screamed in fake fear : " ... that HE'S RIGHT BEHING YOU SWEET CELESTIA HE'S THERE !!!"

The middle of the day. A quiet part of the day for little Moondrop, who, sheltered in her home, was enjoying a cup of tea after a light lunch. There was nothing to do : her parents were at work, she couldn't go outside because of her albinism, so she had all the time she wanted to enjoy her afternoon. Perhaps she'll work on making new toys later. Or read a book. Or put on some music. Or even do nothing at all and take a nap. Or she could check into the kitchen to see if she had any crumpets left, or biscuits, or something else to nibble on. Let's see ... Her kitchen was similar to the rest of her house, not very big, but intelligently organized, and full of tools, from top to bottom. As well as in a big mess right now. Oh, well. Moondrop had all afternoon to clean it up. For now, she would just come back to her seat with a few leftover biscuits. But, just before she could sit in her comfy chair once again, the bell rang, ding-a-ling-ling. Who could that be ? The little pony wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. Nopony was supposed to come back home just yet ! She set her cup of tea and her biscuits on a table aside, and trotted to the front door, opening it curiously ... ... to find a dragon ! A big, scaly, scary, massive dragon, with blazing orange and deep blue and purple colors all over ! Moondrop shivered with fear. She had read about them in books, but this was a real, live, big dragon ! He was accompanied by a smaller pony, a few years younger than the white unicorn perhaps, a red pegasus with a blue mane. "H-hello." she finally managed to stutter. "P-please don't eat me !"

Artax is Art !

Here's fifty six !

Hiiii ! Welcome to Canterlot ! I hope you'll have fun here !

Hiiii ! I love your profile picture ! Welcome here !

Hiiii ! Welcome here ! I hope you'll have fun !

Hiiii ! Welcome to Canterlot ! I hope you'll have fun here !

Sensing how tense and worried Moondrop was, Lightshow did her best to comfort her, with reassuring words and gentle pats in the back. She looked concerned for the frail white unicorn. The other pony presented himself as Miles Quillsworth, or Quills. He was eager to help as well, and picked up Moondrop's broken glasses with his telekinesis before the mare could say anything. He touched the glasses with his horn, floated the broken pieces of glasses toward him as well, and with a little flash of magic repaired them. Quills then returned the glasses to their owner. Moondrop, still a little surprised, carefully took the glasses with her magic, floated them close to her face, inspected them, and put them on. She blinked several times. They were as good as new ! "Thank you !" she answered truthfully. She could see again ! Now that everything was clearer, she looked at Lightshow, and then at Quills, to have a better idea of what her saviors looked like. Quills gently proposed to guide the two mares through the crowd. Lightshow brushed Moondrop's cloak with her tail. The frail albinos unicorn was in a much better state now. The trio of ponies swiftly trotted through the crowd, Quills' magic finding an easy path for them to follow. Soon enough they were all in a little quiet backstreet, leading to little homes with bright yellow light coming from their windows. "I don't know how to thank you enough," the white mare said, smiling, obviously relieved. Everything was much easier to handle now that she was out of the crowd. "I would offer you two to come for a tea or something else, but my house is far away and you probably have a lot to do, so, thank you ?" she finished, not exactly knowing what to do in this situation.

(Ooc : let's revive this thread ! ) Misericord pondered the given informations for a while. The planet was in a state of global war, the taint of Chaos emaned from the Buckinum palace ; and they had to remove it at all cost. She had little else to work on : the mission order that she had been given had given her very few actual informations, in order to protect her faith. One of the guards proposed a frontal assault with a little army on the eastern walls. This was the guard's way, as subtle as a large tank, but it wouldn't be enough to remove the taint from the planet. A global war meant that armed forces were far bigger than anything they could control. And they would lose precious time in organizing such an attack, when they had to strike fast. Perhaps a better idea would be ... "My lord, if I may," Misericord started, detailing her plan. "Brute force alone will not give us the King's head, if the entire planet is at war. I do not know what defenses against teleportation the castle have ; nor the obstacle we may encounter once inside, but we surely have its maps. We could use an army's strike, if we have one, as a decoy to infiltrate the castle, penetrate it deeply, and strike once we've entered its heart." There would be less need to purge an armed force of its renegate members this way, giving them more time and a bait for the King. It wasn't a perfect plan - and Misericord would have to pray the prayers of contrition later this day for such a failure toward the Empress' figure - but it was a start.

I won't be here this weekend (starting this friday afternoon) as I'll be in Burgundy.

Hiiii ! I have to say, I quite like your signature. Welcome to Canterlot ! I hope you'll have fun here !

*insert foreign coin*

Hiiii ! Welcome here ! There's also this link for pony drawing guides : http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/01/pony-drawing-guides.html Enjoy your stay !

Hiiii ! Welcome here ! I hope you'll have fun !

Hiiii ! I love your avatar ! Welcome here !

Hiiii ! Welcome here ! I hope you'll have fun !

The stranger mare gently tried to reassure Moondrop, going as far as offering to bring her back home if she wasn't living too far away. She presented herself - her name was Lightshow - and asked the white unicorn her name as well, with a smile in her voice. "I am Moondrop," the toymaker mare answered. "And thank you for your offer but ... I do live far away actually," she explained, embarassed, eyes shifting to the right, rubbing her neck with a hoof. "I mean, I live in Canterlot, but it's a walk from here, I was, uh, I was careless and went too far away I guess." She couldn't just ask Lightshow to walk her home. "Eep !" Somepony bumped into the tall white mare, surprising once again little Moondrop. Both ponies were still in the middle of the crowded street. The newcomer, a green stallion, quickly apologized, then proposed his help. "Well ..." Moondrop was distressed, on edge, her glasses were broken, her toys had been trampled upon, and everypony stepped on her red cloak. "I don't know. I mean, I don't know what to do. I mean, let's just move to a quieter street ? Let's not stay in the middle of traffic." she proposed, trying a smile, and standing up, ready to move.

"So you work in a little artisan's workshop then ?" Whirlwind resumed Swift Kite's explanations. "Awesome ! My parents own a little shop too, but we don't make anything, we just sell a lot of stuff. That's what they like to do, I think." The little pink pony was completely oblivious to her fellow pegasus' unease. For her, it was an interesting topic, and nothing to be ashamed of. Big stores, small stores, they all had their uniqueness and working in one sounded fun. "So you make your own toys too !" Whirlwind continued. "And buy others to sell back too I suppose ! What kind of toys d'you make ? Kites ?" she made an educated guess. "And who are the other two ? It must be cool to work there." The pink filly gave a passing glance to Mojo's business. The hippie pony had three customers already, but fortunately, he was assisted by Jubilee and Starflower, so everything was running smoothly. Everypony was chatting happily, presenting themselves, asking for the kind of goods they wanted to buy. The blue pegasus was on her way to buy a lava lamp, the grey unicorn wanted to know the story behind the goods, and the white pegasus colt was talking about travels and adventures with Mojo.

Insight gently explained to Moondrop why he wasn't using magic. He wasn't because he couldn't. "Oh !" the unicorn mare said softly. He was blushing : he looked embarrassed, worried about what she could think, perhaps. Moondrop was uneasy as well - she didn't knew what to do. Should she talk about her own handicap as well ? Or simply not say a word about it and let it pass ? She didn't wanted to let him start a day with gloomy thoughts over a curious enquiry. In a word, she was thinking too much. She did her best not to show anything, and smiled as usual. She took a sip of her tea. Fortunately Beauty Brass rescued her. She said simple, but wise, words, that did not pity the unicorn but sympathized with his pain, then completely changed the subject with music. Calming down, Moondrop sipped her tea again and listened. And what a music it was ! The earth pony was absolutely marvelous. Her music had peaceful tones and a gentle rythm, not too fast, not too slow, as if it was waking up with the world, and starting a bright new day. It was delightful to hear. 'I should sculpt a band of musicians as the next toys I'll do' Moondrop thought with a silent chuckle. Insight was charmed by the music as well, and said so out loud, still writing in his journal. "Oh yes, it's wonderful !" Moondrop agreed, "There are so many things ponies never see in Canterlot ! The buildings, the parks, the mornings, they never see how pretty their city is." Perhaps were they blind to it because they were used to it ; after all, everything was also new for the white unicorn.

"I should have the stone ?" Bumble Buns asked. "Well, ok ! But if any of you want it, I'll gladly share it !" she offered. The monster and the warrior stared at each other. For a few seconds, none of them moved. Then, the Cerberus wobbled, and crashed on the ground, dead. A strange glowing stone appeared and fell on the monster's corpse. 'This place had some strange magic' the warrior thought. Gold Rush immediately knew what it was : a shield stone. He said it aloud, and Thunderhoof sheathed his sword and picked it up. Instantly the warrior felt safer, as if he was wearing an armor better than his. He put it in his saddlebags, and turned toward his companions. "Everypony's ok ?" he asked, especially worried about the druid, who had been thrown around by the monster. "This place is more dangerous than I thought. We shouldn't stay in the same spot for long. Let's keep on moving, if we can." Thunderhoof also remembered the calls for help they were trying to investigate - anypony lost in this forest would need help as soon as possible, and they couldn't let them wait.