[STAR]Welcome to Las Pegasus(and to STAR)(KaityKat & Alivda)

[IceStorm]

 

 

 

It had been a little over a week since Ice Storm and Raven had made their way to Ponyville to attend the Hearth's Warming Festival there, and while the start of the night didn't go over too terribly well after an outburst from somepony she thought was a friend, it turned into a much better night. Raven and her both had met a new pony that was blind, but she could see the aether waves of magic. It was a very rare ability and up until meeting the mare Ice would have never thought it possible. The proof however was in the pudding and immediately after talking with the mare for a little bit, Ice knew that she had to offer her a position in one of STAR's research facilities. The ability to physically see the aether and how it's used would allow her to jump leagues in aether-tech so that they could use the aether around them more efficiently as well as find a way for unicorns like Tempest to regain full use of her magic.

 

Ice Storm herself awaited in her office, standing in her full dress. She knew that today was the day that the new recruit was going to be here and since today was going to be full of official STAR business, it would only be appropriate for her to be dressed as such. She didn't have to worry about starting a panic in LP with her armor or anything of the like because she had an elevator that went straight from her penthouse to her office inside the casino, and one of the three elevators that went to STAR HQ that was three stories in the basement was also in her office right next to each other. She'd lost count of the times on a tiring night she'd taken the wrong elevator and ended up down in the base instead of up in her bed. She knew that Raven would be along soon as well since she was also ecstatic about having another aether expert on the team and could help her with her own research into the Aether Crystals. Any possible way they could increase efficiency and productivity of the aether could mean the difference of life or death on the battlefield when it came down to it.

 

She already had everything folded out nice and neatly awaiting for her arrival. It was a Simple Dress A Uniform with a black coat and an Ice Blue Dress shirt with a name badge that would have her name. She made sure to have the name badge enchanted so that she could see it when she needed to put it on. She also had her Rank Pins ready for presentation which would be three chevrons with a bar under them. In the center of the bar would be a small aether crystal in the shape of a star designating that she was a specialist. Now she just had to wait.

[KaityKat]

// oof I need a smaller one of those lol //

 

Myth was so very excited. She couldn't wait to see the sights of Las Pegasus. With all the lights and shows and stuff there was bound to be plenty of magic to see as well. She bounced up and down in the hot air balloon "can you believe it?" she asked the balloon operator "Las Pegasus! And an honest-to-celestia magic research project!" she bounced again.

The balloon operator made a face "Yes, very exciting. but can we please not try to bust a hole in my balloon's basket? Reweaving straw isn't fun. Plus, I don't want to have to fly down to catch you." Myth giggled. "Sorry," she said calming down a bit "I'm just really excited! I've never been to Las Pegasus." she squealed. the pegasus groaned "So you've told me about a hundred times..." she mumbled "Look. Miss Vision, we're almost there. can you-" Myth interrupted with a high-pitched squeal and started dancing around in the balloon. "Here we go again..."

 

=====

 

After landing in Las Pegasus, Myth wasted no time in exploring the wonders the city had to offer. So much more fun than stuffy old Canterlot. She looked around at the magic that swirled around the city so freely. It was like a party! The ponies all seemed so happy and the magic seemed to be having fun too. She bounced happily  "It's exactly how I imagined it!" she screamed, drawing amused looks from the passers by which she either didn't see or ignored, nopony could tell. She ran down the street and looked at all the lights and the- "Oh my gosh! Is that a fire breathing street performance?" she asked nopony in particular. She watched as the magic manipulated the fire, at first the magic was rigid. just going through the motions to get the effect the caster wanted, but then when she arrived, it seemed to stutter for a split second before it started to dance with the flames giving myth her own private magic show and actually improving how the act looked for others a bit as well. Myth smiled and nodded in the performers direction, acknowledging the effort her best friend always made to give her a show. When the performance finished, she clapped her hooves and pulled out some bits with her hooves to give the performer, nodding happily to him "Very good show, both of you." she winked. The performer raised his eyebrow puzzled , looking around to see that he was indeed alone as he'd thought "Um... thanks?" Myth just laughed in response "Have a good da-" she stopped mid sentence as she saw the sun's position in the sky "oh, celestia! I'm late!" she galloped forward for moment before she skidded to a stop "Wait..." she facehoofed "Where am I going?" she cleared her throat "Does anypony know where the Ice and Fire Casino is?" she yelled

A random pony walking by laughed "You're standing in front of it miss. Don't you read signs?" Myth laughed back "Not usually." she waved a hoof in front of her face and laughed "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she laughed more "You're fine!" she dismissed "Thank you!" she walked into the casino.

 

=====

 

Myth approached the reception desk and looked around. The receptionist seemed busy with something else. Normally, she'd just wait patiently, but she was late. She cleared her throat, but the pony ignored her. She frowned. Her horn glowed as she created an illusory service bell and made it ding. The receptionist fumbled his newspaper and nearly fell out of his chair "W-what? I didn't know we had a bell..." Myth giggled and dispelled her bell "Now that I have your attention, I need to see Icy- I mean Ice Storm. She's expecting me, and I'm late." she smiled wide at him, and he frowned "That seems unlikely...." Myth's smile remained unchanged as she just waited for him "But I guess I could call her office phone." he reluctantly finished. As he dialed, he asked "What's your name?" Myth smiled "Call me 'that crazy pony who thinks she has super powers and wants to help you save the world from imminent doom'..... or... you know Mythic Vision works too." she giggled. The receptionist rolled his eyes. picked up the phone and waited for a second. "Yes, ma'am, there's a pony here asking for yo- yes ma'am. Yes ma'am. I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll send her right up." he looked at myth who just had the biggest "I told you so" grin on her face and he just sighed. "Over there. Elevator 1. Press the 'O' button, it should take you right to her." Myth giggled "Thank you, sir!" then she paused on her way to the elevator and turned back around "Um.... I'm gonna need you to show me which button says 'O'..."

 

=====

 

Myth waited on the elevator as it ascended, then just before it arrived at the office floor, she got an idea that made her giggle, evilly. Just before the doors opened, she used her magic to turn herself invisible, and entered quietly, stifling a giggle at Icy's reaction to the empty elevator. She came up behind her and turned herself visible again "Hey, Icy. How's it going? Nice armor."

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Late... Myth was... Late? Honestly Ice Storm wasn't sure if she should be surprised or not. The more that she thought about it... The more she probably should have sent somepony to the balloon port to pick her up. Las Pegasus was an easy city to get lost in for ponies that could be normal means, let alone with how Myth gets her sight. She was about to send some ponies out to look for her, as there are no some parts of LP that most generator try to stay away from. The ground district being one of them. Thankfully she didn't have to add she caught sight of the pony in question. She looked like she was talking to the receptionist in the lobby. 

 

She saw him pick up a phone though and as soon as he did hers started ringing. She arched an eyebrow. "Really...?" she sighed and picked up the phone. "Ice... Yes, I'm aware that there is a pony there asking for me. I personally sent for her. Now stop wasting her time, my time, and your time and send her up," she replied to him. She knew he was just doing his job, but here's some that kind of thing to Raven before for Celestia's sake... She'd have to talk with him about being over zealous... Or lazy depending on what it was this time, and deal with it... Again... 

 

She smiled when she finally heard the elevator don't but when it opened up... It was empty..? She leaned over and looked to the top of the elevator, and then back inside trying to figure out what happened. She knew Myth got on the elevator... She was about to go into full defense mode when the pony reappeared right behind her with a stifled giggle. She greeted and commented on hey armor. Icy jumped a bit before turning and then relaxed. She was glad she visited the mares room before putting the armor on that's for sure. "By the stars... I thought somepony compromised the elevator... But it's got to see you too Myth." she said with a smile as her heart slowed to a normal pace. "Welcome to the Fire and Ice hotel and casino. When you are ready, we can begin your initiation into star and give you a tour of what we have and then where you'll be working," she said before pulling out a small stack of documents.

[KaityKat]

Myth giggled as Icy reacted to her appearance. She walked back around her to stand where she was meant to in front of the desk while she spoke "Sorry, I had to. It was too easy." She smiled at Icy's words "I was born ready." she winked. Then when Icy got out a stack of papers, myth frowned "I... hope you don't intend me to read that.... she pointed "papers are.... kind of useless to me." she chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

Ice Storm smiled as she shook her head a bit. In a way though she was quite happy about the little display that Myth had done for her. It showed her how easy it was for somepony to actually get to her and not realize it. Anypony else that had a similar ability could get past her guards and eliminate her before anypony knew that they were there, and be gone before anypony knew what happened. That was a major security issue. She would need to talk to her enchanting mages to get an anti-illusionary field put up or something to combat that. "Actually, I'm kinda glad you did that. It's a security weakness that you exploited," she said before turning to another pony in the room. "Sergent, make sure that this issue is noted and that a proper fix for this is found. We don't need all of our hard work undone by a simple invisibility spell," she said before turning back to Myth.

 

When she commented about the stack of papers, she shook her head. "These papers are just the legal forms that need to be signed. Since we're technically part of the Equestrian Military now, there's a lot of stuff to keep track of. And since we don't conform to the normal guidelines, most of them are waivers of liability, which I personally make up for with the insurance that I offer as part of being in STAR, that's also one of the forms. That and I'll go over each one with you so you know what it is that you're signing," she said before hearing that Myth was ready. She nodded, "This first form is The Vow of Loyalty, and is one of the Core Principles of STAR. I need you to place your hoof on this document and then please repeat after me..." she said holding the stack with the first page on top and glowing.

 

 

"I [insert name] do solemnly swear,

to pledge my allegiance to Equestria.

I pledge to assist her and her her allies,

and to all creatures that reside inside of them in time of need.

In the even that I am called upon to protect my great nation,

I will do so to the best of my training and ability.

We are the few, the proud, and the elite,

We are, STAR Force,"

 

When she finished reciting the oath, the document would cease glowing and Ice Storm would begin going over the other forms, glossing over most of the actual Equestrian forms which were nothing more than tax forms that she'd ask a couple questions for and her accountant would fill in for the blind pony. The forms that she did cover in great detail were all of the ones that dealt specifically with STAR and a non-disclosure agreement for anything that was discovered inside the base without her permission or at the very least, not without her knowing of said material prior to. "Alright... I believe that is all of the paperwork except for this last one... As far as your compensation and rank goes you are being brought into the ranks as an E-6 Specialist, as such your pay will be Eight Hundred and Seventy-Five Bits per week. In addition to this all of your medical benefits will be covered in full for the entire duration that you remain with STAR. The minimum service time is 4 years. Increase in pay is based on merit. If these conditions are acceptable I need your hoofprint on this final document here," she said illuminating the spot with her magic and waiting for her to sign it.

[KaityKat]

Myth smiled, hers wasn't really a simple invisibility spell. but that was more complicated to explain than had warrant at the moment, and a magic barrier that dispels illusions would work just fine anyway. Although, it would make entering the office odd for her each time, having to step through an opaque wall.

 

The paper that had been glowing dimly this whole time, which she only just noticed started to glow brightly, and she covered her eyes for a half second before her eyes adjusted and Icy spoke.

 

"I, insert name-" she giggled then corrected herself in a more serious tone "I, Mythic Vision, 

do solemnly swear to pledge my allegiance to Equestria.

I pledge to assist her and her allies,

and all creatures that reside therin in time of need.

In the event that I am called upon to protect my great nation, I will do so to the best of my training and ability.

We are the few, the proud, and the elite, we are STAR Force," she smiled and continued as the paper kept glowing while her hoof was on it "And I also pledge myself to Ice Storm and Raven Shadowfire, and to the ponies and creatures in need that my research will benefit. May my efforts be for the benefit of all." she winked and put her hoof down. As the glowing subsided, her added words scrawled themselves like a nearly illegible side note in the margin. "I hope you don't mind. I recognized the spell and couldn't resist." she winked then giggled "I've never tried that before, did it work?" she peered at the paper, its magic faded back to its dull glow, invisible to the light-sighted, just maintaining its enchantment for later verification, but the words on it written in ink that Myth couldn't see.

 

Myth frowned when she heard that she couldn't share her discoveries outside of the organization, but then realized it had the caveat that with Icy's permission she could, and she decided that was okay. She wasn't sure why, but for reasons she didn't understand, she felt like she could trust Icy. More than she had with any other pony. She smiled as she decided it must be magic reassuring her. If her best friend trusted her, then she could definitely trust her. She wasn't sure what an "E-6 Specialist" was, but- "Wait, I'm getting paid?" she allowed the surprise to show on her face "I would've done this for free, but..." she stamped her hoofprint on the paper quickly. "you've already offered me the bits, so it's too late for you to back out, now." she winked at Icy. Then she laughed "Assuming you told me everything right, that is. There's no way to tell I'm not being bamboozled." she smiled and said more seriously "I'm kidding, of course. I trust you." she nodded.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

Ice Storm nodded and followed as Myth recited the Oath of STAR, and further adding a bit of her own loyalty to herself and Raven. She said that she couldn't help herself and Ice smiled. "That's fine, and yes. It did. You are officially a sworn in member of STAR now and all the benefits that come with it," she said with a smile.

 

Ice Storm did have a bit of a raised eyebrow look though when Myth asked almost with shock that she was getting paid. "Well... Yeah... all STAR agents get paid no matter the job. Only some kind of monster would make a pony work out so research on potentially dangerous objects and expect them to do it for free. That said, pay day is on Friday. Now that we have all the paperwork out of the way, we can move on to the tour. Which is a lot more fun," she said with a smile, opening the elevator that lead down into the base.

[KaityKat]

Myth's smile he as Icy told her about payments. She really would've been happy to the research she was here for just for the sake of gaining a more intimate understanding of her best friend, magic. She had come prepared to make advancements that would benefit Equestria, and hadn't even considered getting paid to do it. She just wanted to help. When Icy said they were going on a tour, she clapped her hooves "Then let it begin!" she said, bouncing her way over to the elevator, her excitement building as she prepared herself to see what she came for. She couldn't wait to see what they had in the research lab. The prosthetic horn project was one thing, and what had drawn her here, but she figured there ought to also be other projects they're working on, and any kind of new ways that magic can be used to help ponies would be the most amazing thing in Equestria. She squealed as her excitement mounted, and the elevator doors closed.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

It didn't take too long for the two of them to descend. The elevator to the basement moving a lot faster than the elevator that was for the casino. She had it specifically designed that way in case she needed to get to the base quickly in an emergency situation. She could teleport to her office and hit the elevator. As it was, she could see that Myth was barely able to contain her excitement. She looked like she was a filly in a candy store that just got a huge batch of her favorite candy freshly finished. It made Ice Storm happy to see her that excited. She then remembers something. "You'll probably want to put these on before we get down there," she said giving her a pair of sunglasses. "With your Aether Vision, my security check point might blind you otherwise..." she said in warning as the door opened up. The checkpoint wasn't much but there was a lot of magic in the air around it. Several unicorns working in unison with an anti-illusionary shield. "We have this level of security to prevent changlings from other organizations or that are potentially enemies of Equestria from sneaking in disguised. This spell automatically reverts everything back to it's natural form," she said as she moved forward.

 

"Please state your name and rank for our vocal recognition spell," a unicorn spoke.

 

"Commander Ice Storm, Reporting in with a new recruit," she replied. The unicorn looked to another who nodded and opened the door.

 

"Recruit, step forward," the unicorn said giving pause for her to follow the order. "For the record and for Vocal identification registration, please state your full name and your full rank," She told her.

 

At this point Ice Storm leaned over and whispered to Myth. "The name of your full rank is Sergeant Specialist. Say your rank first and then your name. I know they ask for it in reverse but that's also part of their testing," she explained.

[KaityKat]

Myth smiled at the sun glasses. There had been times where she wished she would've known that a simple pair of sunglasses would work to protect her eyes from intense magic. It kinda seemed so obvious, now. The sun is magic, sunglasses block the sun. Duh. She stifled a giggle at her past self as she took the glasses and put them on, striking a "cool" pose before the elevator doors opened. The door seemed to be blocked by a solid wall of magic, which myth could see was some sort of detection and dispelling field, and Icy confirmed it as she walked through it. It wasn't like Myth hadn't walked through visually solid walls of magic before, but it never got any easier. She put a hoof up and covered her face as she stepped through slowly. As soon as she was through the field, she shook herself with an audible shudder. "That never gets any less weird...." she said, he voice trailing away as she started paying attention to the magic in the room. Her resting smile faded a bit as she watched the way the magic in this room behaved. This wasn't the same free-spirited happy to meet you kind of magic she loved. This was a more all-business rigid kind. It seemed regimented and serious. Probably because of the ponies it came from. and its job. The magic seemed to frisk Icy as she spoke, checking her for inconsistencies. Then as the unicorn asked for myth to step forward, the magic in the room turned its focus to her. She'd never felt this nervous to interact with magic before. She looked nervously at Icy before taking a breath and stepping forward to the spot she was meant to take. When she was asked for her rank, her heart stopped for a split second as she thought, panicked. "What? I think Icy said.... E-6 Specialist?" she was about to speak when Icy whispered to her and she jumped a little. Knowing what she was expected to say made her relax, just a little. She took a deep breath and spoke shakily at first "S-Sargeant Specialist... Mythic... Vision..." as she spoke her voice relaxed more and her words softened. As the magic that had seemed so regimented and serious earlier frisked her she could feel it was... comforting. She smiled as she realised this is the same magic. It just has a job. A very important job. And that job was to protect her. She nodded to the magic and smiled "Thank you." she whispered. She learned something new from her friend every day. Then she giggled toward Icy "Now, that was fun." she said laughing at herself. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

Ice watched as the security did their job. Considering that Myth could see the magic itself working. She actually kinda wondered what something like that would look like for her. To see magic in that way would make things a lot more interesting. She definitely wouldn't want to give up her normal sight for it though

 

Thankfully it didn't seem to bother her to much. She did from a bit at first but seemed to relax as the magic washed over her. The security mare have Icy a nod. "She's good to go commander," she said before turning back to the recruit. "Sergeant, welcome to STAR. It's not everyday a new recruit gets brought in with a high rank. You must have really done something to impress," she said as the doors opened for them to continue, and continue they did.

[KaityKat]

Myth smiled at the mare performing the security check and giggled "Oh, please call me Myth. Just seeing some things differently, that's all." she turned to Icy and gave her a puzzled look as she followed her through the door "Is it really that high? I don't need like special treatment or anything, just want to help your research." she explained "But... I guess if it's what I need to do the most good, then I'm happy to take whatever title you need me to take." she smiled. She wasn't really one to take on titles. She preferred to just be Myth, but she was ready to do whatever it took to get in there and do as much good as she could do.

 

After a moment, she stopped and waited for Icy's attention. When she got it, she spoke up again with a seriousness in her voice that felt almost unnatural, but perfectly appropriate "I promise, Icy. I'll work as hard as I can to earn my rank. My hooves, my horn and my eyes. They're yours to command for the benefit of Equestria..." she smiled again "Commander." she winked.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm smiled as Myth asked if her rank was really that high. That she didn't need special treatment or anything. She was just here because she wanted to help out with the research. "Making you a Sergent Specialist will give you the most funding for your research on the project as well as denotes you're experience with your specialization. Since you're the only pony in STAR that can actually see magic and how it works, then it makes that your position reflects that. Aside from Raven, everypony else on the Aether team will answer to you. If you detect an irregularity or anything potentially dangerous with any sort of experiment or test, you have the authority to immediately terminate it. This will save us both in supplies, and medical bills," she said with a hopeful smile... She knew that the LPMC and the Infirmary on the base were getting tired of treating aetheric burn wounds.

 

When Myth then told her that she would work extra hard to make sure that she would earn the rank that she felt that she was given, Ice nodded to her. She told her that her hooves, horn and eyes were hers to command for the benefit of Equestria and couldn't help but giggle a bit at the wink when She called her commander. "Well that's good, because we're just about to Commander Shadowfire's labs," she said with a smile.

[Alivda]

Raven frowned as she ran the latest prototype past the microscopes, the normal one showing no problems, but the much more detailed one showing the pathways she'd asked for had been badly formed. She couldn't blame them, trying to recreate something that most ponies would never know about, even those that used it everyday, would be hard work, but she was getting a little frustrated by the lack of progress. She couldn't even test if the silver and mithrial hybrid would hold magic well, as the pathways being screwed up would mean any magic going in would just feedback and detonate it. She sighed, and put it with the others. Somehow, she couldn't bare to toss the failed prototypes, especially since she could explore some of the more promising ones again. She sighed as she looked over her lab, and all the specialized equipment in it. With the prototype being flawed, She'd just be wasting the day if she stayed in here. Maybe she'd go spend some time in the casino, it'd been a while since she'd relaxed like that. She nodded to herself, and hung her lab coat on the hook next to the door, before stepping out. She didn't make it far down the hall before she ran into Myth and Icy. "Oh! Hey! Tour day? Wow... That snuck up on me..." She said with a laugh. "If I'd remembered, I'd have cleaned the lab up a bit." Or at least hid all the failed prototypes... She thought to herself

[KaityKat]

// 'member that Myth never got Ravens last name o3o //

 

She nodded when Icy explained the reasoning behind her rank. She wasn't familiar with how the military worked but she knew that if they were going to be working with experimental magic, magic vision could indeed be invaluable.

 

"Commander Shadowfire?" myth asked, raising an eyebrow "Well, I'm excited to meet her—" Myth's sentence and thoughts were both interrupted when who should they bump into but Raven! "Raven!" she exclaimed, smiling widely "My 'aether' buddy." she winked, referring to their shared connection to the way they cast magic, and the new word she'd taught her to refer to it. She came in for a hug. It was at this moment that she finally made the connection, and facehoofed, laughing at herself "You're Commander Shadowfire! Of course! Boy, do I feel sheepish!" she used an illusion to turn herself into a sheep "Lead the way, commanders." she gestured with her sheep leg. Upon moving, she'd drop the illusion and follow. "So you're both commanders, then, huh? That's pretty neat! I guess I made friends with the right ponies, didn't I?" she laughed

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

 

It didn't take too long for Myth and Ice to make their way down the hallway towards Raven's lab. It was even less so before they ran into Raven herself walking out of the lab. It has appeared that she had forgotten that Myth was coming today and said that she would have cleaned up the lab a bit before they got in. Ice smiled a bit and spoke. "Well, it is a lab for experimental magic. If it was clean I'd be concerned," she said to Raven with a giggle. Of course with it being a lab it had to be somewhat upkept to maintain the controlled environment, but the presence of failed experiments meant that work was being done.

 

It was then that Myth apparently put two and two together and realized that Raven was Commander Shadowfire. She then realized that she probably hadn't heard her last name before and she couldn't help but giggle when she said that she felt a bit sheepish now and then turned into a sheep. She knew it was an illusion but it was still funny. "I think you and Discord would get along quite well," she said with a smile. "But yes, Raven is Commander Shadowfire and is in charge of the Aether Team. She'll be the one that you'll be answering to most of the time while you're on base or in the lab," she said before turning to Raven.

 

"Once we finish the tour, we can go relax for a bit. It's not like any of this is going anywhere and you look like you're tired. Besides, The Shadow of Ice's testing mission should be starting soon as well and I'll want to be here for when it sets of. I would love to be on during it's testing, but another matter has been brought to my attention. One that might require immediate attention," she said to Raven. She would need to hear more details first, but considering who the letter was from and what he was suggesting, this could be something that had to be dealt with immediately. 

[Alivda]

Raven giggled softly at Myth's antics. "Yeah, the commander thing is recent, and I don't really use my full name unless it's for official things, like dealing with my house in Canterlot..." She said, before noting what Icy said. "I'm not really tired, just a little frustrated by the quality of the prototypes... but then, I can't expect engineers to understand the structure of a horn like a horn specialist... not to mention, I think the material choice just might be flat wrong... might not be able to get the right level of detail in it... But that can wait till we get Myth settled in..." She said, turning and leading the way to her lab. As she opened the door, the room was revealed to have a few sets of chemistry gear, with the coats and goggles to go with it, as well as a pair of microscopes, both normal and high detail. Then, there was the more esoteric pieces of equipment, like the thaumeter, and the aetheric density meter. finally, laying on some of the tables were bits of crystals, mostly from the frozen north, as well as one sample from Canterlot that was in a special case just so she could tell it apart. Layered here and there, over all of this, were a bunch of papers, scribbles messily covering their surfaces, each one a reminder of a path that didn't go anywhere...

[KaityKat]

Myth gasped at the mention of the Lord of Chaos "Do you know him!? I am a huge fan! I would just die if I could just lay my eyes on him and see his crazy magic!" she bounced excitedly.

 

"Relaxing sounds like a good idea." she said with a wide smile. "Maybe you can tell me more about Discord. Maybe you can tell me something I don't already know." she winked. 

 

Myth looked around at the equipment. Most of it just looked like "things" and "ma-bobs" with no real refined form to them. She put her hoof on one of the microscopes, and upon giving out what it was, turned her attention elsewhere. There were also crystals. Oh she knew crystals. Crystals that resembled Crystal Empire crystals, and one that appeared to have magic consistent with Canterlot. She pointed at the assortment and asked "Are these what you're using for the horn project?" she examined the one from Canterlot closely without touching it with her hooves or magic. She squinted at it, then gingerly touched it with her hoof. Then she frowned before returning to a standing position, smiling at Raven "I'll be happy to see what I can do to help in here. Maybe I'll even be able to find a way to use some the equipment! I've never used a microscope, before. I wonder if it'll even work for me." she said the last part with genuine excitement at the prospect of learning new things about her vision. 

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

The excitement that Myth showed when she mentioned discord was humorous. She nodded when she asked if she knew Discord. "Yeah, we used to be pretty close until I moved away from Ponyville, and then moved away from Canterlot as well. He hasn't come to see me since I moved here. Not entirely sure why. You'd think that a place like Las Pegasus would be prime real estate for the God of Chaos. Although thinking about it, if he showed up he would probably just get blamed for every jackpot. Ponies can be cruel like that and unjustly so towards him. He just wants to have fun. He's like if you gave Pinkie Pie magic that she could control," Ice told Myth as she heard Raven speak up.

 

Apparently she was less tired and more frustrated that the quality of the prototypes that they had were lacking. Ice Storm looked over to them and she saw... A lot of metal. It was precious metals like mithril and silver, bit still metal. Myth didn't seemed to be too thrilled about it either. She began to wonder why the pieces that they were getting for this were so impure. Still, a thought crossed her mind.

 

"What if we're looking at this all wrong? I had s thought once before... And I thought I had made a note of it, but I've been keeping track of so much recently I wouldn't be surprised if I forgot... At the base level we know that crystals can house magic," she said activating the spheres from her amulet. At this myth would see Ice's Aether pool grow to exponentially, and would just look as if it were an extension of her own magic. "Somepony that Swift Squall employs was about to make these using harnessed aether. These are opals, and we're apparently very receptive to magic. We also know that crystals can naturally house magic," she said turning to Raven. "Remember the crystals up north in the mountains?" she continued approaching the materials. 

 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the basic anatomical structure, aside from the Aether lines... It's just bone right? Calcium carbonate. If we could get a crystal to harbor energy and remain stable, could we imbue it inside of a calcium carbonate reconstruction of a horn and infuse it with the aether of the unicorn that it is supposed to be for?" She asked. She wasn't really sure any of that was possible, but it sounded possible. That was a start right?

[Alivda]

Raven smiled. "I'm not sure about the microscope. Normally, they use light refraction to magnify the object, but who knows?" She said, before listening to Icy's words. She bit her lip in thought, and nodded. "Well, bone, blood vessels, nerves and aether lines... But your idea isn't a bad one... Only problem is, still need to get the structure right... or teach a different way to cast to every unicorn... I suppose we could fund a rehab/magic school... Though we'd have to find unicorns that don't actively rely on spell forms... perhaps spell researchers?" She said, starting to ramble and mutter mostly to herself. She shook her head, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, that happens from time to time... I get a little absorbed in my thoughts." She explained to Myth.

[KaityKat]

Myth nodded when Icy said crystals house magic. She knew this fairly well. In fact she'd become something of an expert on the types of crystals that worked best for different kinds of magical applications. It was then that Icy activated the spheres on her amulet. Icy had mentioned these spheres before and their ability to enhance her magic, but she'd never demonstrated them before. When she activated them, Myth threw up her hoof to shield her eyes but then lowered it and looked at the orbs. "These are the orbs you mentioned before? Intriguing. They're acting like an extension of your horn." she said looking between the orbs and her horn. then he smile faded "I'm guessing you've already tried this for the horn project. It wouldn't work. Their energy is not independent. They're piggy-backing off your horn." she pointed to unseen streams of magic that connected the two, the brightly glowing orbs feeding her horn with extra aetheric energy. "Kind of like.... an extra fuel tank." 

 

When Icy walked by the materials, something caught her eye. She visibly changed her look and stared. "No no no, calcium carbonate is a really... inefficient crystal for.... magic propagation." she spoke distractedly, staring at the materials while the others spike for a second, then she said with a little more focus "But i think you're on the right track with using the subjects' magic to tune the crystals and somepony who can cast with an open mind will definitely have a greater chance of success. Icy, could you bring you and your orbs closer over to this table? And like... power them up a little. but just a little try not to bind me."

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

"Well, the calcium carbonate would have only been so that the prosthetic horn would look natural. The crystal that would have been the one empowering the magic would have been inside of it," she replied as Myth said that calcium carbonate would have been a sub optimal material for housing the magic. If course it was always possible that there was a lot more to a unicorn's horn than what she had thought. I'm fact that was highly likely. She herself was not an aether expert. She just had a lot of magical power because of the spheres. 

 

Hearing Raven mention setting up a rehab and a school for unicorns that might have to cast magic differently or had magical abnormalities made Ice nod as well. Myth seemed to like the idea as well saying that would make recovery a lot easier as well. "I think that's someone that we'll need to run by a few others. Maybe I can run it by Twilight at she point as well to see if a school like that would need to be EEA accredited or not. Since it would be specifically meant for unicorns, then I don't know if it would be required," she said as Myth asked to take a closer look at the orbs. 

 

"Yeah, but outside of the amulet I can't make them stop orbiting," she said as she started to draw upon them a bit making them glow in the room lightly and their orbit got slightly faster. "I would also recommend not touching then. The last thing that tried touching them while they were active was Discord when he first saw them and it nearly gave him frostbite. Now it was Discord, so take that as you will... but I don't see why he would take that while he and Twilight were working on teaching me to control these," she concluded as she got closer to the table for Myth to look at them the best she can.

[Alivda]

Raven smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she'd probably know some pony to teach as well..." She said. As Icy did what Myth suggested, she went over to the thaumeter. Somehow, she'd yet had a chance to get a measure of Icy's spheres, and she was going to take advantage of it... though, she was a little worried that she'd probably also blow the thaumeter out, too. She doubted that though, the device did have a high rating. "I'm ready whenever you guys are." She said, watching the device.

[KaityKat]

Myth smiled at the mention of Discord's frost bite. Knowing who he was, it could very well have been a joke. Tho it seemed Icy didn't feel like it was.

 

When Icy stepped closer to the table, Myth watched the crystals that were on it as they reacted to the magic she was using. Her eyes widened as did her smile, and without warning, she picked up the Canterlot Crystal in her hooves and touched it to Icy's horn.

 

What resulted all happened at once. Icy's magic drained from her horn into the crystal suddenly, not completely but enough for the effect to be felt, her orbs supplemented the magic at the same time which kept her from really feeling much drain, but also overloaded the crystal, which became hot to the touch, burning Myth's hooves slightly, but more importantly, it also flashed brightly. Brightly enough that seeing ponies could see it flash as Myth dropped it and covered her eyes Aaah!" she screamed as she dropped the crystal which broke in half on the floor.

 

She sat on her haunches, still covering her eyes, and then started laughing "Well, that wasn't as good an idea as it seemed in my head..." she said as she began laughing harder, her hoof still covering her face. "Sorry about your crys-" as she was speaking, she put her hoof down, but stopped talking. She blinked her eyes. She looked around, and blinked some more, her breathing getting faster and harder. Her heart beat like a jackhammer as she failed to find words. She scrambled to the side, desperately feeling with her hooves until she found the table. She sat there clinging to the table like a child clinging to the side of a swimming pool. "G-guys?" she asked the air "I-I.... I can't see...."

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm watched carefully as Myth watched how the magic worked from the spheres and the horn. She was looking closely and then something happened and Icy didn't have hardly any time to react to it. Myth grabbed the crystal that Raven had gotten from Canterlot. She must have seen something or something caught her attention as she touched the Crystal to Icy's horn. The effect was immediate. Ice Storm felt a small drain on her magic, definitely not enough to hinder her at this point but enough to make sure that she had felt it. The crystal itself glowed for a bit before becoming very hot and became blindingly bright. Ice heard the crystal break upon the ground.

 

It too a few moments her self to her to shake the spots out of her eyes and she began to see that the crystal lie on the floor in pieces, but the effects were lingering in her mind. She heard Myth say that it wasn't as good as an idea as it seemed in her head... "Actually... that might have been a very good idea with a bad target... Most unicorns aren't going to have four very powerful artifacts that were made specifically for them to amplify their magic. For an unicorn of an average power level... that... might actually work, and we could manipulate the crystals to be like these where they are better attuned for whatever the unicorn is good at doing them... I think that you made a great discovery already!" Ice said with a smile before hearing Myth say that she couldn't see, and seeing the mare, she could tell that she meant literally. She seemed to be clutching at the table for dear life. Ice didn't wait for an okay, she just lifted the mare and placed her on her back. "To the infirmary, now!" she said as she made her way out the lab door and down the hallway.