(Closed) A new old foe... (Icestorm)

[Ashton]

All three of them were silent a moment, shocked at Ice's honesty.

 

Iggy spoke first "I'm sorry for what I said... I have a history with pirates... I'm sure you understand why I assumed the worst... I'm still suspicious... but..." she sighed

 

Cloudy looked over at iggy, suprised "...you told her about jade?"

 

Iggy nodded sadly, hugging cloudy

 

cloudy quietly whispered "you didn't tell her about... other things, right?"

 

she shook her head "she'll find out on her own when she gets home, we're safe till then" she whispered to cloudy

 

Finally jasper spoke up, sounding uneasy "I... I dont understand, m'am... your the captain of some elite black-ops military group... why would you want to be friends with a broken creature like me... I'm not even a proper dragon - I think way too much... or... was that just part of your cover... you were just... pretending to care..."

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

 

The whispers didn't go unnoticed by Frost, but she honestly didn't care. Whatever they could be whispering about was probably about something small and minor that she wasn't going to bother looking into anyway. Iggy apologized for what she had said. She said that she was still suspicious to which Frost immediately nodded. "Being suspicious of something that you don't know about is natural. I can easily understand why you are. Where the situations be reversed I'd be wary of me to. It's a natural defense mechanism and part of how we preserve ourselves," she said before Jasper started talking to her. 

 

The words that he spoke... baffled her in a sense. She honestly hadn't known him long enough to pretend about anything, and even if she had... with what she had just said she would have thought that he'd of understood the fact that she wasn't that kind of pony. Though the thought hit her that she technically wasn't a pony right now. Perhaps that was it? he did make the comment that he didn't think like normal dragons... another comment that made her raise an eyebrow. "Jasper," she said with a very soft, easy-going tone. "I want you to think hard about what you just said for a second. There is no such thing as a proper anything. That's never a bad thing, and it's never a bad thing to think too much. It's good to be perceptive and thoughtful because when you stop for a moment to think, especially on a battlefield, it makes everything slow down and allows you to make the right decisions based on what you know."

 

"It's as I said, I make friends for who I am. The fact that I'm a military leader means nothing unless I'm on one of my bases. Outside of that, I'm just another pony or dragon depending on the form I'm in. And let's be honest here," she said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow? "Based on everything you just learned about me, and everything I just said... do you really think that I even think like a dragon? Do you also think that I would have bothered even showing you this if I didn't care or if it was all a ploy? I would have taken the out that Iggy gave me, said that if you were talking about the dragon that was in here, she left through the window, and been done with it. The fact that I'm still here, and still Frostbite, should speak volumes."

[Ashton]

Iggy had calmed down but her head quickly snapped back to face frost "What?! no, never! I meant I am still suspicious of Captain Blackclaw, not of you, Ma'am! I have zero concerns about you now!"

 

Jasper stared at the ground a moment, silently thinking about what he was going to say "its like I said... I'm almost like a half-breed... I dont think like a dragon and I dont think like a pony... your missing out on a dragon who will rush headlong into danger just because he is too stupid to realize he'll die doing it, and your missing out on a pony who would hold back and stategize and make sure their plan was air-tight before they acted... I would rush in without a plan and try to figure it out as I went... the worst of both worlds... and that's how I do everything... rush in with no plan then panic and try to figure out things as they're happening..."

 

Cloudy smiled "You mean like today?"

 

Jasper sighed and nodded

 

"maybe I'm the crazy one, but looks to me like things turned out alright for you" he smiled

 

Jasper just blinked

 

Iggy smiled "no creature's perfect jasper, and the speculated pony that waited till they had an airtight plan could miss a window of opportunity. Sometimes the best thing to do is go in half-cocked and work it out as you go. Besides, you have others you can rely on to help you, dont sell yourself short like that"

 

Jasper's worried look seemed to evaporate as his lips pulled into a grin and hugged Frost.

 

Though almost instantly he quickly leapt back "Sorry ma'am! sorry! I... er... rushed in without planning" he laughed a little awkwardly a darker blue blush coming to his cheeks, having accidentally demonstrated exactly what he had been talking about...

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

 

Frost couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement with the others as they started talking about Jasper when he started doubting himself. She could easily echo the sentiment to have your plans be open ended. She was then taken back a bit when she felt Jasper latch onto her in a hug. Before she had a chance to try to return it though, he pulled away. The excessive amounts of ma'am was staying to annoy her. She knew it was a respect thing for military, but these individually were not within any ranks. She briefly held up her paw.

 

"Na, the hug was nothing. I was going to return the gesture before you pulled away. There's a saying that we have in the ranks. Plan A never survives first contact. So being able to think on the fly is the best way to think. However, I would appreciate it if you would either call me Ice, Icy, or Frost depending on what form I'm in instead of ma'am. I get that enough from the ponies that are actually in my ranks. Let alone a few friends that I happen to make along the way," she said before giving a smirk. "Though we probably should have saved the hugging for the room," she said with a wink. "That said... We should probably get back to the table. This many creatures in one bathroom. It's gonna attract attention."

[Ashton]

Before anyone else could respond, Cloudy Quickly saluted and said "Yes Ma'am, Miss Frost, Ma'am!" with a stupid grin on his face, causing the others to laugh.

 

"Oh dont worry, no creature's coming near the bathroom" said Jasper "when they felt that hugs magic aura expand everyone thought the place was under attack, most of the customers fled and the staff hid in the back rooms"

 

Cloudy shrugged "we figured iggy was just having another magic surge so we hurried in after her"

 

"sometimes pushing too hard makes her release more than she intended" quipped Jasper

 

Iggy turned red "thats enough, guys...."

 

the others laughed again as they started heading for the door.

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

Frost couldn't help but smile and giggle a bit as they turned their attention back to Iggy, starting to poke a bit of fun at her and making her blush quite a bit. "Alright. We don't need to embarrass the poor mare here. Even if that does sound like a fun time, this is not the place for that," Frost said with a smile as she began to head back out of the door.

 

It was much like the others had said though... the place was empty now. And quiet... too quiet. She remembered what they had said about the aura. "That Aura isn't that strong... it only exists from the ambient magic in the spheres as they orbit. The faster they orbit, the colder it gets because they themselves are well below subzero temperatures..." she informed them, basically giving them the long version of, 'Don't touch them, they will destroy you' warning. She sat back down at the table that they had before and leaned back a bit, watching and waiting to see what else is going to happen now, as well has anything else that her new friends had to add.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ashton]

((the ironic part is I'm sure at least one of the three is right now thinking "oh hey I could use that to make super-fast popcicles!" XD))

 

When the foursome returned it seemed to ease the staff's concerns and they slowly began coming out of the back room. Cloudy excused himself to go and talk to them to explain that everything was OK now - apparently the 'griff was the groups proverbial "public relations" which had a lot of interesting implications as to what he was capable of...

 

As they sat back down, Jasper sent a quick flame over his ham, possibly surprising frost that his fire was blue --- some greater power was really working hard to mess with the dragon's life and make everypony think he was some kind of Ice dragon --- and offered to do the same for frost.

 

It was at this point that something frost would never have expected happened... a familiar stallion entered with a mare next to him. She at first seemed fairly plain, but if one looked closely they'd notice the small details, like her cloak having genuine gold stitching, and her much more flashy clothing concealed underneath. Felix went up to the desk and spoke to the pony behind it, soon retrieving a key and he and his mare companion headed up the stairs to the rented rooms, both seeing in extremely high spirits...

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

Frost watched as the three did there stuff in the joint and paid attention as they did their proverbial damage control for the situation that had just transpired. She looked around and watched as Jasper spewed some fire onto the ham. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the blue flame. It was indeed hot, which would have been the two possible outcomes. After all, blue flame was the second hottest flame in existence short of white, or it could have been similar to hers and that it froze. Of course, her breath wasn't fire at all, it was just more of a cone of intense, subarctic cold.  When he offered to flame hers as well, she nodded. She was getting ready to take a bite when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

 

Everything she was watching got put on hold though the moment she recognized felix walk into the room. He seemed to be with another mare, and they were both in quite happy spirits. The mare that he brought with him was definitely one that seemed out of place for the area that she was in, as Frost could easily pick up on the fancier wear that the mare had on under her plain robes. She gestured lightly to them as they made their way upstairs into the room. "One of my targets have arrived," she said softly to Jasper and any of the others that had made their way back over to them at this point. "The stallion that just walked into that room was the son of the ponies in question. Likely using it as a brief escape When they come out of the room, I will be making a move," she said before tapping the communicator. "Contact Felix Spotted with Mare Consort. Tavern, southern district. Keep watch from a reasonable distance and await further orders," she spoke in a low, but authoritative voice making it clear that the last statements were orders to her regiment.

[Ashton]

Iggy motioned cloudy back over as they followed, all looking a little apprehensive and surprised, though probably not too surprised given the revelations a few minutes ago

 

"Ya know, I always expected us to be part of a guard sting operation, but I always figured we've be on the receiving end, this is much more fun" quipped Jasper

 

The other two roleld their eyes but smiled a little awkwardly, confirming they likely felt exactly the same...

 

meanwhile when they got to the room, the door and walls were thick enough that they couldn't make out any exact words, but it quickly became apparent that the two insider were not discussing any kind of business deal... at least not one being paid in cash for sure...

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

 

"Yeah... these types of things do tend to be more fun when you're on the giving end of them. Thankfully, I've never been on the receiving end..." Frostbite commented as they made their way up to wait by the room. At this point over her communicator she heard that all guards were in place and she sighed. She looked over to Jasper and the others real quick as well. She couldn't really hear anything that was being said through the walls but she had a general idea of what was going on on the other side. "We don't need to interrupt them, as they aren't the primary targets of the sting, but they have information. Honestly, who this Felix chooses as his love interest doesn't affect me anywhere near as much as it affects Harle. I'm only here to put a stop to the slanderous accusations that are being made against my ranks. Judging by what I saw though," she said turning to Iggy.

 

"Steer Clear of Blackclaw. I know she's not guilty of the things she's been accused of, but that doesn't mean she won't become unpredictable in the event that this goes the way I think it will. Once he comes out of the room, I'm going to activate my communicators, and everything that's said will be transmitted through the rest of my guards. Even if she didn't have any weapons with her, she's still a griffon and can do a lot of damage on her own just as we can. The rest of my guards will know how to intervene and the appropriate actions to take," she told them. "No matter what though, do not flee from here. They will be watching for any individuals running away from here to apprehend in questioning in regards of Felix, and the grittier parts of this investgation I'd rather not involve my new friends in unless I have to. At least not without being on the same side of the table," she smiled off-hoofedly extending them an offer to join in on the hunt without really getting caught up in too much. 

[Ashton]

The trio nodded, trying to keep quiet, though they all looked a bit more grim as she spoke of how harle might react to all this... no doubt they all had their own ideas what a griffon so ravaged with emotions that she was nearly rabid could do... though likely cloudy was the closest since he was almost a griffon himself... unusual for them, they were all quite quiet right now.

 

The noise from the room continued for a surprisingly long time, but then faded and stopped, it seemed now was when felix would be coming out so the group would best get into position...

 

 

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

 

Frost paid attention to the sounds coming from the room, and she has little guess as to what was causing them. It mattered not for her though. She needed information, and he was going to give it to her. She moved herself in front of the door and here her guise. If she had to drop it them she would, but for the time being remaining as Frost would be more advantageous to the later tracking of the parents once they got a location. As soon as the door opened, she smiled. "Felix," she said with an almost sinister smile. "We've been expecting you."

[Ashton]

Felix looked quite suprised, looking around at the two dragons, 'griff, and kirin, then sighed "I swear there are more 'insurance' agencies here every day" he muttered, pulling out a pouch of gold "Ok, how much does my 'protection' cost from you?" he asked, completely nonchalant and clearly used to being approached by criminals demanding money not to cause him trouble

 

Iggy's eyes seemed to turn to coins as she grinned, clearly very tempted to take advantage of this 'opportunity' though cloudy less-than-gently thwapped her in the back of the head and nodded at Frost and Jasper. Iggy frowned, looking like she might sit there and pout, more than a little annoyed that when free bits presented themselves, she couldn't claim them...

 

Jasper glanced at the others, trying to figure out whether he was supposed to be acting casual or intimidating... clearly used to having to intimidate others... yeah... these three were trouble makers... reasonably good-hearted troublemakers, but troublemakers none the less...

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

 

Frost however had no qualms about using the misunderstanding to her advantage when Felix asked her how much his protection was going to cast from them. She spoke up, almost with venom dripping from her voice. A tone that Jasper or the other three hadn't heard from her yet, clearly showing that one, she was now actually in intimidation mode, and had the demeanor of a dragon that was really, really, ticked off. "Bits? You think Bits will save you from this Felix? You and your parents have crossed lines that weren't meant to be crossed within their dealings. In doing so, you've started a war that you can't win against a very, very powerful entity. No Mr Felix, Gold and bits will not save you, but information will. All you have to do is simply tell us where your parents are, and you're free to live your life as you see fit so as long as you play by the rules... Failure to play by the rules... well... I cannot guarantee the safety of you or any of your loved ones," she said looking to the mare beside him. "Do note, I know exactly how, and where to find you, as well as possible escape points for you from Canterlot, so if you lie to me, it will be the last mistake you make." she finished, taking the mob-boss angle that she had been presented with.

[Ashton]

Felix let out a chortle "you really think they'd tell me where they were?"

 

"yeah if we knew we'd be back in silver's bedroom instead of in this slum" said the mare

 

"Yes, indeed, so whatever you want with my parents, you can tell Harle that unless they're right in front of my nose I dont know where they are, they keep that secret from even me --- and yes, I can tell harle sent you, pretty obvious when you didn't want money"

 

Iggy facehoofed and glared at cloudy asif to say 'you should have let me!'

 

Felix sighed "Now that we're done here, I suggest you move. Unlike you lot of worthless so-called pirates, I have real contacts in these parts, and it would be unfortunate if something were to... happen to you..."

 

"Dont you threaten her." said Jasper with a growl

 

"Oh and what are you going to do about it? Sing sad emo songs at me? you wouldn't dare hurt me with my connections, you would be best to just stand aside"

 

steam was now rising from jasper's nostrils dangerously, the one thing you did NOT do was threaten his friends! Though exactly what he would do was up for debate...

[IceStorm]

~~~Frostbite~~~

 

 

 

"You're contacts do not frighten me. Please, go a head and call them forth so I can add you to the list of ponies that need to be held accountable for the destruction of lives," Frost told him. As he and Jasper both tried to push by, in an instant, her paw was in the door frame, hitting it hard enough that it left a sizeable dent before. "I don't think it's sank it to your pea-sized brain who I am and who I represent yet. The only reason you are still walking around is because the night would frown on resorting to suck an action. Should you bring your contacts in to try to make do on your threat," she continued a freezing aura once again surrounding her more located on her maw this time as light blue "steam" began flowing from her as she spoke.

 

"Oh, and I may be with Harle, but she didn't send me. I came cause I grow tired of ponies like you who disgrace the Noble name by preying upon the less fortunate rather than helping them," she told him, clear as day she wasn't going to get anywhere here as Frost. It he didn't vote Friday as nobility that wouldn't hold any weight. One of the wealthiest and most influential ponies is Equestria though... She tapped her amulet and reverted back to her fully armored pony form.

 

"Now you can cut the horse feathers, or you can take the fall with them for being an accomplice in the crimes of extortion, slander, conduct unbefitting of nobility, and fraud. If you want to remain free, you will arrange a meeting with them in the same way you would normally. I know what they look like, and the aliases they go by, so if you tell them to flee, I would like you to know that all exits to Canterlot are guarded, aerial and otherwise. I know where your Warehouse is, and I know where you live. You can cooperate, or lose everything like they are about to."

[Ashton]

When Ice shifted back, jasper and the others backed down and took a few steps away, clearly expecting a fight to break out... also quite possibly the whole Ice/Frost thing was still messing with their heads... and clearly it did seem to have some effect on jasper...

 

Felix sighed "Ice Storm, former commander of the lunar military" he said "To think somepony once so great has fallen so low as to run around with riffraff such as the blackclaw pirates, at least find a competent crew to join" he paused "and I'm sorry, Miss Storm, but you dont scare me, my record is clean and you have no evidence to hold me on. There is no crime for having lunch with a friend"

 

the mare giggled "friend" she repeated, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

"And still acting Captain of the guard," she said before setting Felix's binder down. As well as his parents. "You've done well to hide your tracks to try to appear as the innocent one, but you still have dirt on your hooves. Mainly being," she said turning to the first documents of the warehouse he'd taken over "Since you are the current owner and proprietor, and manger of operations of your parents warehouse, it falls upon you to make sure everything gets fired properly," she stated setting the initial documents down. 

 

 

"After having guards in your Warehouse, the amount of traffic that goes through the warehouse and the amount claimed on the annual tax reports are drastically different. Enough so that because of the nature of your parents and the potential flight risk you impose, I can detain you for the entire duration while my guards and I conduct a tax evasion investigation on the business. One that no doubt, knowing the nature of your parents, will bare fruit.

 

Now, you having but only recently taken the business over, would have little involvement in what actually happened and how the taxes were filed, but since you are the current owner, well... You are the one legally responsible. With you're cooperation, I can forget what my guards saw and relayed to me and we can forgo tax evasion investigations. You'll never hear from me, or my guards again. That is unless of course, you follow in your parents hoofsteps. Then we'll be having this conversation again, except this time there won't be any talking your way out of it," She stated, setting all the documents right there for him to see. 

[Ashton]

Felix sighed "perhaps I overestimated your mental skills. I stated that I have no idea where my parents are and I do not regularly contact them, they randomly show up to harass me about my life and look over the business." he paused a moment to let that sink in "Secondly, this is a matter that will have to be brought up with my accounting department, however I believe you will find all the records to be immaculate and up to date. Once I took over the business my team went back several years to ensure nothing had been misplaced, beyond the normal Statute of Limitations"

 

All this time, the others were giving felix increasingly dirty looks. They knew a snake when they saw one and unlike Ice, they weren't bound by law or duty in what they could do... even if everything went felix's way, there was no telling what might happen later...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

"Don't play me for a fool, Felix. I want born yesterday. You just told me that they still have contacts within the business, otherwise they wouldn't know when they need to come check up on you. You've been running the business long enough to know who those contacts are. You also never mentioned not contacting them. In fact, your statement was said as follows, 'unless they are right in front of my nose, I don't know where they are at.' I've been doing this long enough to know when somepony is bull****ing me. And since your so insistent, I will take you up on your offer.

 

Oh, and tax evasion... Has no statute of limitations, it is a federal offense, and the government will get it's money regardless of how old the file is I find. And I only need to find one that you missed. So, I'm going to need you to come with me while I'm conducting the investigation. Oh, and I should say as well, any document record that you have that doesn't match the records in the Equestrian Treasury logs or that remain unsubmitted can and will be classified as tampering with evidence. As these logs were produced from the Treasury department here in Canterlot little over two hours ago. So these are the most current records on file. So you can cut the games, or I'm arresting you now for admitting that you've altered documents of an investigation," she said before smiling maliciously at him. "It's not as fun, when you're on the receiving end of your family's little escapade is it? The difference here, I have hard evidence. You and your family? A couple witness testimonies, with no evidence at all."

[Ashton]

Felix sighed "Your wasting your time, Captain Storm." he explained "If you insist on this charade, then fine, I wont resist, but if would be nice if Jasmine could return home, she's likely to be missed and actually has family that will worry about her. I'll accompany you to the dungeons peacefully" it was clear at this point he was highly annoyed and wanted to get this over with, confident that this investigation would turn up nothing and this will have been a huge waste of his time.

 

It was at this time that a voice spoke over the communicator: "Commander we have a positive ID on the suspects, they are attending a party in Manehattan, we're already preparing for launch as soon as you return"

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

"Of course she's allowed to leave. No documents reflect your two being married, so she's completely innocent. The only reason you are being detained is because you could easily try to flee Canterlot. Then when I found anything, I'd have to..." Ice Started before hearing her communicator go off. A positive ID, in Manehatten? A bit unexpected, but only a minor setback.

 

"Well, seems I've found my targets. If I were you, I'd pay very close attention to what's about to happen, and then determine if what they will have to answer to is worth you following in their hoofsteps. You both are free to go, however... I will send my guards back to you warehouse in a few months to investigate, and they will arrive unannounced. You and I both know there's more going through that warehouse than pottery. Don't throw away what you have, to follow a couple of ponies whose already proven they'll do anything they can to make that fail," she said turning to Jasmine. "I'm presuming his parents don't know about you either, and until I find them, it's probably best you keep it that way. Unless you want to be the next victim of their haneous actions."

 

At that point she turned to Jasper and the other three. "So, what about you three? Care to do a bit of free sight seeing in Manehatten? Can see a little bit more about what it is I aim to change. Plus you'll get to see some interesting gadgets," she smiled to them. All and all, she liked Jasper. He was a good dragon. She respected the other two as well for being so quick to defend each other. Even if her and Iggy initially got off on the wrong hoof, everything seemed okay now. 

[Ashton]

Felix snorted but said nothing as he lead his marefriend away, clearly wanting to make some snarky remark, but knowing that it would be best to hold his tongue in this situation.

 

The trio looked at each other a bit uncertain

 

Iggy voiced their concerns "Well, we'd love to go but... its a long way to have to get home"

 

"Yeah, especially since we have to take turns carrying this one" Jasper nodded at Iggy

 

"-And dont you even suggest teleporting, you know what happens... I dont want to see the place we're renting burn down..." cloudy gave iggy a firm look

 

Iggy laughed a little awkwardly but said nothing, clearly there was unfortunately some truth in cloudy's comment

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

"What, you think I'd leave you stranded somewhere? We're coming straight back to Canterlot anyway. I don't have the authority to do what needs to be done to these ponies. Twilight however does, so they need to be brought before her in her court, and the evidence needs to be presented. So we can have you back before, well I'd say before nightfall, but it would more likely be morning. I've got plenty of food and places on the ship to sleep. I didn't mobilize with the full crew on the ship cause well... Let's face it... I'm not doing and battles remotely close to Canterlot. That's just got bad written all over it," she replied to the three as Felix left. "Besides, we've only just met. I'd like to get to know you all a bit more, and I'd rather this not be the last time I see you, regardless of form," she smiled. 

[Ashton]

"well, that's still a bit of a distance, but its a lot shorter flight than all the way from manehattan" said iggy

 

"Not to mention it's all downhill" added cloudy

 

"too bad there wont be time to check out any of the record stores, they have a wildly different variety than even this place does" commented jasper

 

"So, I guess its unanimous, if you really want us to, we'll come along" smiled iggy

 

When they reached the ship, though, they might find it odd that Harle was nowhere to be seen, and the guards all commented that they assumed with Felix showing up that harle would have been with Ice...