The Coltaran Chronicles: Chapter 1, Dark Moon Rising [Equestria] (OPEN)

[Valencetiger]

(OOC: If you guys want, I can simply bring in all your ponies for after dinner, because there is a special little event I want to do during the party in the evening... as for you, Penblade, the letter was more of a prop than anything XD if you want though, I can make a detailed note.)

[Penblade]

(I would post but I'm waiting to see what's in the letter My mistake. I thought there was something important in the letter. Also, I was looking forward to having dinner with the princesses)

[FermataTheBasse]

(I think a skip to whenever the event happens would be best)

[TotalEcplise]

(Dang, I swear i didn't see that response...dang i'm the tiebreaker I'm going to have to say skip. I looked forward to the dinner, but things are moving kinda slow atm)

[Valencetiger]

(Alright guys, please forgive me for not coming up with a plot-mover over the past week! I was caught in a rut, and had to figure out what exactly we'd do next but now I have a rather solid idea, and I think it'll give this RP an added spice to it! The Princess' party is going to have quite an...interesting...finale.)

Several hours later, when the dinner was over and the guests started flowing in, Cadence watched with an amused smile beside Celestia, whom kept an eye on the entrance as if she could pick out any pony who seemed suspicious. However, after several long minutes, the princess shook her head and turned away from the door, drawing a curious expression from Cadence as her aunt stepped away to mingle with a few of her visitors. Speaking of visitors...her eyes scanned the group, finding Chapeau, Daring Do, GearShift, and Mjolna amongst them. Those four...she still had her doubts, but she trusted Celestia's judgement and knew that there was a good reason why she had chosen them. A stallion dressed in a dark black tux trotted up and whispered something in her ear, causing a frown to spread across her face and whisper something in kind, unheard by any of the ponies around them. Following the stallion, they exited the main ballroom and leaving the rest of the ponies to socialize and enjoy themselves.

One noble in particular took much attention from the masses, dressed in strange foreign clothing colored purple, having a dark black coat and red mane, and bearing an arrogant smirk on his face. With two of his personal guard, he marched into the room with a militaristic strut. The two guards at his side bore shining dark-gray armor that seemed to resemble smoke on their bodies. From the murmurs and speech of the surrounding ponies he had associated with, his name was Count Venomatia...a blue-blood from the Stalliongrad country-side. He was a mystery to many, but he wasn't a complete stranger, for he contributed many soldiers to the Royal Equestrian Army every year from his lands and provided supplies for them as well. The guards kept the other nobles and commoners back quite a bit with their intimidating stares and body postures, as if expecting an order to commit a slaughter at any moment. Taking a seat, Venomatia waited as fellow nobles and commoners alike came to ask him questions and speak with him, all the meanwhile his attention was caught elsewhere...the watch on his right hoof.

[FermataTheBasse]

Daring Do glanced at her counterparts, the ones who had been chosen along with her to be the Princesses envoys- for lack of a better word- to Coltaria. It was the strangest thing, that even in her heyday Daring had never really needed to work with anypony to get the job done. She didn't even know how working in a team was really supposed to go. She assumed it was a bunch of hot blooded banter and back slapping, like in her novels. But that, obviously, was dumb. Heck, she didn't even know who Chapeau and Mjolna were, and she only barely knew Gearshift in passing. Daring idly entertained the thought of going off on her own to do her own investigations and adventures when- if- the Princess restored her wings. But she knew that wasn't possible. Even if she got her wings back, she was older and out of practice. She needed other ponies help.

[colour=#8b4513]"So uh..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Daring fumbled around with a half drunk glass of wine. [/colour][colour=#8b4513]"Why do you all know the Princess?" [/colour]Daring didn't even know if that was the right question to open up with.

[TotalEcplise]

As expected, the dinner was pretty standard and to GearShift standard was boring. Standard meant no innovation and no flavor, mundane, redundant, it made her cringe. The idea of being idle, or a stagnate world was just the worse thing ever to the mare. Her mind continued to roam in around the haze of lala land, going deeper and deeper onto some strange tangent with each passing moment. It wasn't the drink, GearShift had much more of a much stronger brews during her time in Dodge Junction, what she had in her glass right now, might as well be tart and spicy juice. This day was just a little overwhelming, The thought that she would be going on some super important mission with a team of ponies hoof picked by the princesses themselves was a pretty titanic development in her life, despite how nonchalantly she pretended to take it.

Her mind went back to her days at the university--but then the voice of Daring brought her back to reality. *Phew* Somepony broke the ice. [colour=#ffa07a]"Huh?"[/colour] She said as she shook away her stupor. [colour=#ffa07a]"How do I know the Princess?"[/colour] she repeated dumbly. [colour=#ffa07a]"Well I guess it was about eight months ago. I was in Canterlot working on a project for Fancy Pants and decided to explore the city a little bit. A big ruckus was going on near a construction site, so I decided to go check it out. Apparently while digging, they unearthed a huge deposit of charged gems. Princess Luna called in the Head of Enchanting from Canterlot's University of Mechanical and Magic Engineer to check it out. The old coot said the deposit was stable, but I could sense otherwise and by the look in Luna's eyes I could tell that she felt it as well. But she took the stallion's word for it and the crowd dispersed. I wasn't going to leave that time bomb there though, so later that night I suited up and grabbed a saddle bag full of my extraction equipment and went back to the construction site. The I went down to the crystals and began to siphon off their energy and destroy them. Eventually I got into a routine, so I didn't hear the hoofsteps approaching."[/colour] She chuckled a little. [colour=#ffa07a]"I was wearing these when I first saw Princess Luna up close,"[/colour] Gear held up her googles. [colour=#ffa07a]"They were on thermal vision mode when I turned around so all I was was an alicorn shape blotch of colors. Wordlessly, I gave her some magic batteries and charges and we cleared the site."[/colour] She shrugged. [colour=#ffa07a]"The rest is history really, Luna presented me to her sister, I showed them all of my inventions and told them my ideas then next thing I know Im offered a suite in the palace and named Royal Technomagic Adviser."[/colour]

[FermataTheBasse]

Daring smiled at the story. [colour=#8b4513]"So you're a personal friend of Princess Luna. That's quite the honor. On top of your impressive credentials, of course..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Daring recalled the one time she had ever had to deal with a bomb like fixture in her adventuring life. It had been in this very room, actually. She had ultimately dealt with the problem by personally taking the magical concoction rigged to explode and bringing it out of the city in a daring rooftop run. Again, she had barely avoided dying with a combination of skill and luck. As usual.[/colour]

[colour=#8b4513]"Well uh..." [/colour][colour=#000000]Daring figured it was her turn to speak. [/colour][colour=#8b4513]"I was a pretty hotheaded young filly, and I learned that I had a knack for getting myself out of sticky situations. I guess you could say my talent is extreme luck. So I was employed by Princess Celestia as an agent, somepony she'd send to deal with affairs that she couldn't personally deal with. Most of the newer artifacts in the Archives are things I've personally retrieved for Equestria... Of course, I'm retired now. Haven't done any of that adventuring in a while." [/colour][colour=#000000]Daring was purposely omitting her name here.[/colour]

[Penblade]

The letter was... disappointing, if Chapeau was to be honest with himself. He'd known it wasn't likely in but the thief had expected some sort of grand revelation to be revealed in the letter. A secret or a message, even a vague hint would have been exciting. But no; it had mainly just reiterated what Cadence had told him, perhaps in a bit more detail, but nothing more. Oh well, he thought, quickly getting over his disappointment with a shrug, maybe next time. He checked the clock set on a shelf across the room and found it was just about time for dinner. He smirked and adjusted his hat,[colour=#A9A9A9] "Showtime."[/colour]

[colour=#A9A9A9]

---

[/colour]After dinner...

[colour=#A9A9A9]

---

[/colour]

As dinner came to a close and the dishes were carted away by the serving staff Chapeau found he was enjoying himself beyond what any criminal in his position had the right to. The criminal element of Canterlot was clever in its own right, but chatting with nobility presented its own set of unique conversation opportunities. Over the years Chapeau had posed as a lord from afar more than once, and had grown quite fond of the intricate, often unscrupulous games they played amongst themselves. Ahh, palace politics: a vicious yet delicate scramble for power and influence. It was so much fun to watch their plans unfold, and just as much fun to occasionally mess with their plans on the side while performing a heist.

Unfortunately, tonight was not about ripping off old, wealthy stallions or wooing young, wealthy mares. Tonight, whether he liked it or not, Chapeau was on business. At the moment, business involved sitting about with his fellow recruited agents of the monarchy and swapping stories. He smiled fondly to himself as he listened to Gearshift's story, followed by that of the mare in the green dress. This brought back memories of his first night hanging out with the other thieves in a secluded alley. The camaraderie had been intoxicating... much like the wine they'd been drinking quite steadily.

Hold on. What was that? Chapeau banished his nostalgic thoughts and looked at the mare in the green. My, but that face was familiar. Where had he seen it before? Artifacts... Archives... Adventuring... It all seemed to hint at, something. He knew- he just knew -that he'd seen this mare before, and it was nagging at the back of his mind. But he couldn't just ask her straight out, what would be the fun in that? No. As usual Chapeau decided to wait and see. He was definitely going to be paying more attention to this mare. Secrets drew him like moths to a flame.

He set down his cider (they had some really good brews here!) and smiled at the two mares, [colour=#A9A9A9]"I am inclined to agree with our adventurous friend here. That's quite an impressive story. I personally admire ponies who take it upon themselves to get things done on their own. That do-it-yourself attitude is admirable. And an agent of the princesses; remarkable! I feel honored to be meeting both of you." [/colour]He shrugged humbly,[colour=#A9A9A9] "Makes me somewhat disappointed that I don't have such an amazing story to share. I'm just a business rival of the Princesses'. Nothing as prestigious as an agent or a technomage. Actually, you could say that my work is very similar to that of our green and tan friend here." [/colour]He nodded at the mare. Green and tan... this is driving me mad! [colour=#A9A9A9]"I am also in the item acquisition business. This is my first opportunity to work in tandem with the Princesses though, and I am very-" [/colour]Annoyed. Aggravated. Perturbed. Put-out. [colour=#A9A9A9]"-pleased, to have the chance. Ah, but my manners appear to have left me. My name is Chapeau Stunning, and I am very pleased to meet you both."[/colour]

[FermataTheBasse]

Daring raised her eyebrows. A rival of the Princesses? Was that even possible? Daring, as far as she was aware, would have thought that the Princesses would have a say over any sort of competition for... could they even be competed with in anything? She was sure the Princesses wouldn't banish somepony and throw them in a dungeon in the place they were banished to just for some healthy capitalism, but Daring found it difficult to imagine that the Princesses could be outperformed in anything they chose to put their hooves to. Then again, Luna did need a Royal Technomagic Advisor...

[colour=#8b4513]"Daring Do, [/colour][colour=#8b4513]pleased to meet the both of you as well." [/colour][colour=#000000]Daring didn't care about what their response to her name would be, if they would even have one. How popular was her series, anyways? She just wrote the things and sent off the manuscripts to publishers, she had no idea how much profit was in the series. [/colour][colour=#8b4513]"So you are also an artifact collector, Chapeau? In what manner do you go about the task?" [/colour]

[TotalEcplise]

Gearshift sat quietly and listened to the two other ponies stories. She swirled the details around in her head a little bit and let the details sink in. A former artifact hunter and adventure seeker and apparently she had provided a lot of the newer artifacts. Gear's mind was moving a mile a minute, she had asked the princesses where many of the newer artifacts she was asked to examine came from. The answer she always got was Daring Do obtained them. She had read a few of the books and knew that the pegasus was a treasure hunter of sorts, but because it was a fiction Gear had assumed that Daring Do was just a code name for security purposes. Which she didn't mind. So apparently she was looking at the mare who had provided her so much of her study material. She had never really studied the mare, even though she saw her around on the occasion, but something about here felt...Off.

Chapeau opened his mouth and Gear instantly distrusted him. She scanned over him quickly, going through a checklist. Breathing, posture, eye movement, and speech patterns all calm, and smooth. Strange, she thought. Too composed, even the other mares at the table had shown some sort of nervousness at the situation, heck one of them had admitted to being pretty much a death defying adventure seeker, Gear regularly handles things that could potentially level cities and make physics perform a back-bend But they had ticks, the tan mare had fumbled with her wine glass and Gear had spaced out to escape the situation...Chapeau did nothing. It could be argued that when one was use to this sort of arrangement (like his story suggests) they wouldn't be nervous anymore. To which Gear would have to say horse-apples . She'd seen Celestia and Luna in different court meetings and social gatherings. She'd noticed the way the sun princess fluffed her wings occasionally during conversation and how the moon princess shifted he weight from right to left while listening to complaints during night hearings. If two immortal god princesses can't pull of a perfect demeanor then the refused to believe this stallion could. She didn't let it put her in a sour mood though because she trusted both of the princesses judgement.

When the stallion finished speaking he made a light bulb turn on in Gear's head...she hadn't introduced herself. Yep, classic Gear. Bad with ponies all the time.

She was about to introduce herself, but the pegasus beat her to the punch.[colour=#ffa07a] "PFFFT!!"[/colour] was the only sound she could make. Wine quickly found its way travelling down the wrong pipe. That's what happens when you gasp and try to swallow at the same time. [colour=#ffa07a]"Daring Do...as in the Daring Do from the novels? Wow,"[/colour] She facehoofed. [colour=#ffa07a]"You know, the princesses told me EXACTLY who got those artifacts, but I assumed that when they said Daring Do they were using a handle or something I mean the coincidence was just to obvious."[/colour] She patted her chest to help jostle free any hanging wine or mucus that could possibly choke her up again. [colour=#ffa07a]"I assumed you were real, most fiction stories have a decent amount of their content grounded in reality, I just didn't expect that to actually be your name."[/colour] Looking back on it, didn't the Daring Do books describe what she looked like, and weren't their pictures on the front of them...

[colour=#ffa07a]"Anyway, nice to meet you Chapeau and nice to actually formally meet you Daring. I'm GearShift."[/colour]

[Valencetiger]

(Due to the possibility that Templar may not be able to RP Mjolna anymore, I've decided to either remove the character or hand her off to somepony else who understands her, so we can keep moving along. If any of you would like Mjolna, let me know in the next day or so.)

[TemplarFrost]

(Woah! Hold up. I'm still alive here! Just give me until evening to post. Sorry that I am late )

[Valencetiger]

(Lol, forgive me Templar ^^' I guess I might be getting ahead of myself and all...sorry.)

[FermataTheBasse]

Daring was startled when Gear suddenly made a noise halfway between a laugh and a choke, and for a moment appeared to actually be choking. Thankfully, she seemed to recover fast enough. And sure enough, the mare's spasm had been the result of Daring's name. At least she wasn't being skeptical, that made Daring's job much easier. On a side not, just how many ponies did the Princesses have running around doing things of national sensitivity for them?

[colour=#8b4513]"Yes, well. The fictional series did very well in hiding me in plain sight, didn't it?" [/colour][colour=#000000]Daring wondered if people who knew the series thought that she was just some crazy pony cosplaying a mare from young adult novels. Hay, she wondered if that explained why her first classes of the year always whispered behind her back so much. [/colour][colour=#8b4513]"I ghostwrote those books, actually. The series ended after Sapphire Stone because my actual adventuring ended with that as well."[/colour]

[Penblade]

[colour=#8B4513]"Daring Do, [/colour][colour=#8B4513]pleased to meet the both of you as well." [/colour]

A click sounded in Chapeau's mind as all the clues came together with that admission. He'd never been particularly fond of the Daring Do books, but with its mass popularity it was nigh impossible not to have heard of the series, and now he remembered where he'd seen this mare, this Daring Do, before. Carbon Copy had been reading through the series recently and Daring's visage had been plastered on the front of each one, often with her in the middle of some exciting act.

He smiled triumphantly to himself as an indulgence. The mystery had been solved, but what to do now? Gearshift seemed to know exactly what to do though: choke to death. Well, almost. The thief continued to smile to himself at the look of shock on the mare's face as she reacted to the revelation. He nodded respectfully at the two mares in turn as Gearshift introduced herself, [colour=#A9A9A9]"A great pleasure to meet you both miss Gearshift and miss Daring, if somewhat of a surprise. I for one never even considered it possible that you were real. One mare doing so many heroic deeds? Preposterous. Aw, but it seems I was wrong in that assumption. Tonight is full of surprises, isn't it?"[/colour]

[colour=#A9A9A9][colour=#8B4513][colour=#8B4513]"So you are also an artifact collector, Chapeau? In what manner do you go about the task?"[/colour][/colour][/colour]

Chapeau picked up his cider again and smirked over the rim of the glass at Daring, [colour=#A9A9A9]"Such a question suggests that, while we all know your name the moment it is uttered, you do not recognize mine. Excellent."[/colour] He took a sip, [colour=#A9A9A9]"I acquire my artifacts in much the same way you do I imagine. I find a location where objects of wealth lie dormant and unused. I plan my mission very meticulously over the course of several weeks usually, which I believe would be one of two things that separate us, since, if I'm not mistaken, you seem more like the spontaneous type. After that there is a considerable amount of sneaking, hiding, tricking, soaring, running, locked doors, and hats. And at the end of it all I am usually in possession of the aforementioned wealth, which I then auction to the highest bidder, to fund my next business venture." [/colour]Oh this was just so much fun, stringing them along. Chapeau always found the best lies to be those that weren't even lies at all, just a skewing of the truth. Now then miss Do, he thought, grinning over the rim of his cider again, you're smart. Let's see you figure me out. [colour=#A9A9A9]"Oh, and as for hiding in plain sight, I admire that as well. Very clever if I do say so myself."[/colour]

[FermataTheBasse]

Daring turned away, slightly embarrassed. [colour=#8b4513]"Uh, not like I did that many heroic deeds..." [/colour][colour=#000000]​It was just one subverted assassination attempt. And half the Canterlot Archives. And getting a total psychopath banished where he belonged. And a couple more assassinations, though those had been more low key than the magical bomb... And she had kind of almost died in every single one of those events... Okay, a lot of heroic deeds. That only made her blush, and she coughed. She considered what Chapeau was saying next. There was something about his tone, the way he was acting, the stallion was playing at something... Daring's old semi-empathatic instincts were beginning to activate, the same instincts that had saved her own life multiple times before. This stallion was shady... She'd have to keep a careful eye on him, and probably do something dumb like stalk him after hours.[/colour]

[colour=#8b4513]"Eh, I'm amazed more ponies haven't found me out yet. As you said, I am spontaneous. I have a tendency to nearly die any time I attempt to do anything; and that's on top of whatever else I manage to cock up and only barely fix by the time I'm done. But that part of my life is behind me... Well, it was until this morning."[/colour]

[TotalEcplise]

[colour=#ffa07a]"Quite ingenious, Daring. I give you that,"[/colour] she said while scratching behind her left ear. [colour=#ffa07a]"Those stories are quite impressive. I guess I should thank you for bringing in such interesting pieces, quite a few have helped me in my recent studies."[/colour] She gave Daring a small smile, truly the thing the pegasus did where both amazing. She wanted to ask her why she stopped adventuring, but if that were to come out then Daring herself would mention it.

GearShift snorted at the sound of the honorific "miss" placed in front of her name.[colour=#ffa07a] "Please,"[/colour] She giggled. [colour=#ffa07a]"No miss, just GearShift."[/colour] the mare was barely containing her laughter.

As she listened to Chapeau again she continued to study the stallion. Every move he made and the fluctuations in his voice told her what she needed to know. GearShift sat back, grinning ear to ear. [colour=#ffa07a]Were did the princesses find this guy?[/colour]

[colour=#ffa07a]"Yeah, I can't say I expected today to go like this either Daring."[/colour]

[Heretic]

Arton the zebra marched triumphantly through the front gates of Canterlot. "Ah, finally! Canterlot! It has been a long day!" He had exclaimed this so loudly that the two guards who had just let him in gave him a concerned glance. Arton ignored the stares and trotted down the road. He kept his eyes on the signs of the buildings as he passed, keeping an eye out for a suitable inn. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally found one. "Perfect." He grinned, reading the title. "The Soggy Apple" Arton cracked his neck, checked his jet black Mohawk, tightened the sheathe on his waist, and entered the inn.