[STAR]To Investigate a Problem(STAR Agents/invite)

[IceStorm]

 

 

Neighpon... If Ice Storm didn't have to see it again it would be too soon. It's not that she didn't care for it, but she just had some not so pleasant memories of her last mission here. A mission that involved them recovering an agent that found herself on the wrong side of one too many traps. A mission that also wasn't on any books anywhere. So at least legally she'd never been here before. Now, she was here to try to recover some information on a pony that was brought to her attention. A pony that could prove to be very dangerous. A pony by the name of Hou Shuren. She was brought up to her by Sombra of all ponies. Of course when he brought up a threat, or at least something that he felt like a threat, then she would listen. She saw herself as on par with the former tyrant in terms of overall power, but they never really had a reason to try to display their power to each other, nor had they really had any disagreements. Hell, part of her actually agreed with the actions that he took against Princess Amore back in the day. She'd learned not to say that out loud though. She'd already had one pony of accuse her of being a traitor to Equestria. She didn't want to give any reason to give more ponies to think that.

 

As it was right now, she and the crew that she had gathered for this mission were all on board one of her ships and they were making way to the port in Kyoma. She had sent word ahead of them to the Shogun to meet with them and to try to do things as properly as possible this time around. She was also hoping to get permission to investigate the areas where Hou had supposedly been at within the country. Those locations might hold keys as to what she might be after. She also was concerned about running into Hou herself. After all, it would take a few days for Sombra to get to Saddle Arabia even with her ships flying. In that amount of time If Hou could have even remotely had been tipped off, she'd be gone and likely back here. In fact it wouldn't surprise her if they ran into the pony at the port. She only had a vague description of her though and if she was a powerful mage, well, she could look like anything and they wouldn't know it was her until she wanted them to know. By then it could already be a problem and aside from the Shadow of Ice, which they did not come on for this mission, the other airships didn't have as sophisticated defenses on them for trickery.

 

As they got closer, she got a ping on one of her crystals. "Equestrian Vessel, you are not expected. State your ships name, who you are, and your reason for being here," she heard from it. She was a bit shocked that others had similar crystals such as this, but she did get this tech from Tempest in her adventures with the Storm King, she she supposed others could have done the same.

"This is Commander Ice Storm on board the STR Nightengale. I am here on official Equestrian Business seeking an audience with the Shogun. He is expecting my arrival," she replied.

 

"Give us one moment to confirm this commander," she heard from the crystal. After a few minutes went by the crystal ignited once more. "Status confirmed. Please instruct your helmsmare to use Docking Bay 4, and enjoy your visit to Neighpon Commander."

 

"Copy, Commander Ice Storm out," she said before looking to the mare behind the wheel. "You heard her, Dock four," she said as she prepared herself for departing the ship.

[KaityKat]

Myth bounced along in the airship gleefully, having all but forgotten the real reason she was here, she marveled at the.... essentially oversized air balloon. She'd ridden in hot air balloons before, but there wasn't much to look at there, and it wasn't moving nearly as fast. This was a whole other ball game. Buckball, maybe? Well, in any case, this type of air travel gave her a very strange sensation. She had noticed that her her vision on hot air balloons was a bit off, but not like this. Everything's magic was trailing off of it toward the back of the airship. It's not like this wasn't something she'd seen on trains before, but something was different here. It seemed to be unstable in other ways, creating an effect that was, while really interesting, also very unsettling... to her stomach. Her eyes went wide and she rushed to the bathroom just in time to not make a mess on the floor. "Hm. That's interesting. I haven't even had carrots, today." she laughed to herself. It was getting easier to manage, but the effect that the magic moving in such an odd way had on her was still.... well, having an effect on her. She smiled as she bounced on back to the bridge of the airship. "Commander Icy! I looked out the window— so fun, windows on a hot air balloon —and I saw land! Is that Neighpon? Are we here?" she jumped up and down, then stopped and held back another mouthful of sick.

[PyroBlaze]

Feather wasn’t all that sure about what to expect from Neighpon, since Icy hadn’t really told her anything. It sounded like the unicorn had been to the country before, but she hadn’t given much details about it. The books Feather had been looking at were strange too, though they might be fictional tales. 
 

The pegasus shrugged as she wandered around the ship. She had been helping out where she could, though recently that had meant helping Mythic Vision out with her airsickness. This time she found the blind mare on the bridge with Icy. 
 

“Hey Vis, hey Boss. We’re almost there, huh? Well, that’s good news for you, Vis, means you won’t be getting airsick.” She smiled, chuckling a bit as she approached the two. 

[dragonofruin]

This airship was the first airship that Luna ever had the opportunity to be upon, and she found it to be a fascinating machine. Throughout the trip she spent most of her time quietly exploring the ship until she'd gotten to know its layout, as well as spending time out on deck or flying alongside the ship to stretch her wings, or in her room reading. All of this, of course, was done at nighttime when most of the ponies onboard were asleep.

 

This would be the first real adventure that she would get to have since her return, and that was excluding her vacation with Celestia, which had become something of a disaster. It was exciting, even though the purpose to this trip was to dig up information on the mysterious Hou Shuren so that they might be able to better deal with her, if they had to. There was also the possibility that Ice Storm was looking for information to send to Sombra, who from the sound of it had gone to Saddle Arabia after the sorceress herself, and Luna had little idea how well that might turn out.

Luna was awoken from her sleep by something that wasn't immediately determinable to her. It might have been the sound of the engines changing, or perhaps they had slowed down a little.. Whatever it might be, Luna found herself awake regardless, and she could see that it was daytime from the thin glow coming from around the edges of the curtain that hung over the porthole window in her room. As much as she might like to go to sleep, she had a feeling that she'd awoken for a reason.

The alicorn carefully stretched in her bed and slipped out from under the covers to go about her usual waking routine of grooming before she headed out into the halls. On bare and quiet hooves, she found her way to the bridge, and from the sound of it a few others were here already. One of them was Ice Storm, while the two others were ponies she hadn't officially met yet, nor had the opportunity to interact with onboard because of the nocturnal schedule she still kept. As was her way, Luna chose to quietly listen in to catch up on any conversation that had happened in her absence to gather what was going on first.

 

 

[Alivda]

Raven sighed as she slipped out of her cabin on the ship, her armor on her. She frowned as she thought about Neighpon, as she usually liked to know more about where she was going. She could remember asking her parents a million questions about where they were going when she was a foal, and that excitability never really left her. She shook her head to clear it. Now wasn't the time to be going down memory lane. Judging by the engines winding down, they'd arrived, and it'd be important to show that the leadership of STAR, at the least, took this seriously. She'd need to be by Icy's side, and it had took her longer than she remembered to put on her armor. She'd have to make sure, when back home, to schedule time in the training room, if nothing else then to take some of the rust off of her skills. She made her way to the deck, her armor clinking softly as the various metal parts overlapped and scrapped each other. She stopped at the door, her uncertainty in her role making her hesitate. With a soft sigh to herself, she headed out, noting that Luna was up and out, as well as the fact that Myth, Icy, and a pegasus from the ranks of STAR that she wasn't sure she met before was already on the deck. She'd definitely need to get more used to wearing her armor, she thought to herself as she stepped up to be with the rest of the group.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

After getting the clearance for them to dock, Ice Storm looked back over the bridge and she saw that a good number of the crew that had come with her had made themselves present. Even Luna was up and about. She'd made it a conscious effort to stay up a bit later than normal recently to try to catch up with hey friends while they were on the way here. Luna was already fascinated with this ship and she couldn't wait to show her the big airship when they were ready to unveil it. She might have to unveil it sooner than expected depending on how this mission went. It has already returned from it's testing missions, or at least, it should have by now. 

 

She could hear the excitement coming from Myth and smiled. "Indeed we are. We might be here on business, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves a small bit while we're here. We just need to be ready for our mission once we get clearance from the Shogun. Without proper procedure we can't continue the investigation. Well, not legally anyway," she said. They were already here, so they were investigating no matter what, but getting permission would make things easier.

 

Feather Blitz was the next one in followed by Luna and Raven. At this moment she felt the ship stop. "Alright everypony. We're ready to depart. I want to thank everypony for coming with me on this. I have no idea what we're going to be walking into. I'm not expecting resistance from the locals or the city itself, but once we start signing into the relics and ruins that she would have been around as well as where Hou had been we might. What we do know is that we will be meeting with the Shogun pretty much immediately after departing. Representatives of the Shogun should be meeting us on the dock. I believe we shouldn't keep them waiting. Let's move out," she said moving to depart the ship.

 

 

 

 

~~~Niradaña~~~

 

 

This was certainly an interesting request that she had gotten recently, and one that she want expecting in the slightest. Diplomats from Equestria had come to parlay with Ishi's brother, though it would likely be Ishi that they dealt with at the moment. The Shogun was indisposed at the moment which made it a bit harder for her. She herself was going stir crazy as she couldn't really get any traction for her clinic right now for some reason and it was starting to drive her a bit. She needed more. After being in the military and being a frontline healer, she needed to be helping ponies, not behind a wall for her skills to only server the super elite. 

 

Before long though, the ship in question arrived at the dock. It was an airship rather than the normal ocean fairing vessels that she was used to seeing. She could also see that the ship was well armed. Interesting, she thought to herself. Coming to a diplomatic meeting off of a warship wasn't generally an occurrence. She wondered what else could be going on here. Her thoughts were silenced though when a unicorn in armor stepped off the vessel with an enterage of others behind her, including one of the royal alicorn sisters. The fact that she was on the ship now made the extra security make sense. 

 

The dark violet longma approached the royal alicorn presuming that she was the diplomat in question and that the rest were her security detail. "Princess Luna, welcome to Neighpon. Ishi is expecting you. If you and your security detail would follow me, I can lead you to the palace," she said to them in a professional tone.

[KaityKat]

Myth followed Icy as closely as she could politely without getting in anypony's way. Not only was she more comfortable next to her friend in this new place, but honestly, she just wanted to get off the airship. She whispered a little "Thank Celestia." when she'd finally set hooves on stationary ground. She looked about at all the ponies milling about their days at the docks. It reminded her of that one time she'd briefly gone to Baltimare in her wandering travels. Except.... something was different. She was still dizzy from the way the magic had moved on the airship, but she could see something was off about these ponies' magic. She tried not to let her face betray her confusion and curiosity, only managing to turn her look into one of concern. She held back another mouthful of sick, hoping that would be the last one now that they were off the airship.

 

Her normal vision... well, normal for her, began returning just as somepony came up to greet them. This pony— well, this creature wasn't really a pony at all. Not one that Myth had ever seen before. He magic was so different from ponies' magic. She looked more.... draconic than equine. Now, myth hadn't met many dragons before, but she could tell this wasn't a dragon, either. Myth's smile grew as she became more excited than confused. This must be a new kind of creature she hadn't seen before! She successfully suppressed a squeal of delight that she was sure would not go over well if she hadn't. She had so many questions, but she had promised herself that she'd be most respectful today for Icy. This was an important mission... tho at the moment, she couldn't remember why. All she could think was "I wonder if She looks like a dragon. She looks   quadrupedal, so maybe not. She must have wings tho. Are they feathery or leathery. He he, that rhymed." her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the new po- creature say Princess Luna's name. Myth's eyes practically bugged out of head as she realised she had been so distracted, she hadn't even noticed one of The Two Sisters was here! How did she miss that!? She stood motionless for a moment, almost entirely missing the fact that the newcomer had just called her a security officer.

[PyroBlaze]

Feather watched the land outside the window as they made their final approach, departing with the rest of the group and sticking near Mythic. She hadn't known the mare for long, but she already felt like they were friends. In any case, she was marveling at the new sights around her, especially those dragon/pony hybrids walking around. Maybe those were those longma some of the books mentioned? The pegasus titled her head, looking at the winged ones and wondering what having those scales on the wings would feel like. She looked over at the one that came to greet them, giving a small hum as the mare addressed Luna and called the rest of them a security detail. Well, she supposed that wasn't entirely inaccurate in her case, with what her job sometimes entailed. Oh well, she stayed silent for now, letting Ice or Luna take the lead.

[dragonofruin]

The former princess's tendency to be silent and blend in with the background while everything went on its way was both a habit and a skill of hers; between herself and Celestia, Luna considered herself the more observant of the two. It came to little surprise to her that nopony was startled by her presence when nopony but Ice Storm and Raven seemed to notice her, at least for the time being when everypony's attention was on the airship coming down to dock. She filed out of the bridge and off of the ship with the others, sticking somewhat close to Ice Storm and her marefriend.

 

Once they were out on the docks, Luna was momentarily caught off guard when the approaching longma addressed her as the leader of their small group, which suggested that news of her 'retirement' hadn't spread to other kingdoms as of yet.

 

Luna managed to keep much of her composure other than an uncertain glance towards Ice Storm, and noticed during her look that the blind mare (whose name she hadn't learned as of yet) seemed to be gawking as if she'd just realized Luna was there. The other mare, the pegasus, seemed perfectly at ease with this, enough to make Luna think that it was just the habit of ponies to look to her first.

 

"I am not the one of rank you have to address here. That would be Commander Ice Storm, but we would be grateful if you would escort us to the palace," Luna replied smoothly. Hopefully with that, it would easily transfer attention onto Ice Storm to take charge.

[Alivda]

Raven nodded, falling in next to Icy. She hadn't really practiced anything like this, but figured that staying near Icy was the correct thing. She smiled though as she looked around the docks, the beauty of the city already apparent. The longma wandering around, the nature seemingly built into the city, though she could tell that there was several areas where the city was taking over. It looked amazing. She wasn't surprised when their contact had mistaken Luna for their leader, but she couldn't help but wonder what Icy thought.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

The docks in Neighpon were... well, pretty much every bit of what she had expected from what little intel that she had on the place. From the one time that she 'wasn't' here she could remember that everything here was centered on thousands of years of tradition. Something that Neighpon and Equestria weren't really too different on. Unfortunately being too caught up in tradition meant that they could be blind to issues that could arise later because of it. She didn't have time to take in the scenery though as a longma approached them. Surprisingly she approached Luna first expecting her to be the one to be running the mission. She couldn't say that she actually blamed her. After all, she herself wasn't sure how fast news traveled it was entirely possible that no pony over here knew that she was retired.

 

She could also see that Myth was more than happy to be back on dry land. Even though technically they were in the air, Myth was still able to get sea sick. Raven and the others followed suit as well with Raven moving to the side of her that Luna wasn't. It appeared that everypony was awaiting to see what her reaction to the Longma would be. She would simply wait a few moments and let the princess address her, and then step in when she needed to.

 

And then as if on cue, the princess replied and informed the longma, who's name they had yet been graced with, that it was she herself that was commanding the regiment today. Ice nodded. "That is correct, although I can understand the confusion. I am as Luna had said, Commander Ice Storm. It is somewhat of a recent development myself but one that I am not displeased with. It is good to have my friends working with me on this matter. Now, I believe you said you were here to escort us to the palace? The matter that we wish to speak of is urgent," she spoke to the longma. Truth be told it still felt weird to her to say Luna's name without princess in front of it. She would always be Princess Luna in her eyes.

 

 

~~~Niradaña~~~

 

 

Nira stood there for a few moments but then she went slack jaw when she heard the response of the princess, and then the blue mare that was standing next to her. Her armor certainly signified her as a mare of rank, but she presumed that she was one of the elite guards. Not the other way around and that they princess was part of her security detail. She wondered what was going on in Equestria. There didn't seem to be any sort of power struggle so perhaps it could be something simple. Still, as it was, this blue mare that was introduced as Commander Ice Storm had an aura about her that was powerful. She also seemed to have the backing of the ponies that followed her. That was important. She briefly shook her head for a moment to recollect her thoughts so she didn't accidentally blurt something out and let her mind catch up to where she was.

 

"Of course, my apologies princess. Commander Storm, like I spoke to the princess, if you would follow me please, I will lead you to the Royal Palace. It's in the center of the city so it is a little bit of a walk from here. While we're walking would you like me to give you the tour of Kyoma on the way?" she asked them. She wasn't sure if any of  the Equestrians had been to Neighpon before so knowing where everything was and where were places to avoid would go along way. Especially since the locals loved to lure tourists in for whatever plots they might have running for them.

[KaityKat]

Myth shook herself to snap out of her shock. The princess was here. Now she needed to get over it. As her sight continued to settle down, she began to see more that she had been missing. This creature was intriguing to say the least, but now that Myth had gained her faculties more, she could see she wasn't the only one. In fact, It appeared that these creatures made up a good portion of the population. It was at that moment, she realised something about them. She wanted to ask to make sure, but she didn't feel like she had place to ask such questions, just yet. Maybe she'd talk to Icy or Raven later. Besides, it wasn't really that important what she was. That was just Myth's curiosity. She thought for a moment, and decided she would do something she doesn't normally ever do. Hoping her earlier reaction could be played off, easily enough, she began to stare forward and focus more on her other senses. It was strange to recreate the appearance she used to naturally have, but she decided if she could play herself off as completely blind, which she felt like she was doing rather well, she might be able to gather information she otherwise couldn't. Also, if her question did come up, it wouldn't seem so odd.

[PyroBlaze]

Feather chuckled slightly as Luna directed attention onto Ice and she took charge of the conversation. The pegasus listened idly, looking around at their surroundings until it seemed like they were about to head out. 
 

“Yeah, a tour sounds great to me, especially if it’s on the way to the Palace anyways.” Feather said, giving Nira a friendly smile and heading off once the group started moving. She was pretty excited to explore this new country, and she couldn’t help but start flying along, zipping back and forth nearby the group and looking at the sights. Sometimes she would zip back to the group, trying to tell Myth about all the cool stuff around since she couldn’t see it like Feather could. 

[dragonofruin]

To see the longma with the slack-jawed expression on her face left Luna feel slightly uncomfortable behind the calm facade she put up around these ponies, and creatures, respectively. To know that she was no longer a princess of the country she had always sworn to defend ever since she and Celestia took the crown was something that would haunt her for quite a while, when there was so much more she wanted to do to catch up on all the years she missed because of her banishment. She understood why Celestia wanted to retire, because her sister had that time and did nothing but work it all alone. Luna didn't. To be talked into retiring by her stubborn sister.. it was like something was being stolen from her.

Luna heaved the quietest sighs as she followed the longma and the small group, who she idly glanced over. Raven and Ice still walked together at its head, and she noticed that while the blind one was no longer gawking in her direction, the pegasus was zipping around in a manner befitting a hummingbird. Luna could overhear snippets of the details Feather relayed to Myth in excited tones, and she wished she could feel some of that excitement now.

 

Neighpon was certainly a lovely sight, that was something she was sure of, and even from afar Luna could admire the different shapes to the roofs, the way they- especially the corners- curved up.

[Alivda]

Raven followed, nodding. "If you would. While we are here on business, I know that at least I would like to experience the culture and beauty that Neighpon has to offer." She said, hoping that she wasn't ruining the angle that Icy was trying for. If she was honest with herself, she had no idea how to begin to be in a leadership position... though, there were two ponies here with her that could help. Heck, Luna alone would probably be a gold mine of information...

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

After hearing the response of her crew, Ice Storm nodded. Especially since the Longma said that the tour would be on the way to the palace. Since it wouldn't take them out of their way, it would be a nice way to learn about the culture. "Since it is on the way to the palace I accept. While it is important to address our concerns as soon as possible, taking a moment to learn of the cultures of the area is vital as well. After all, it is important to know what we are protecting just as much as what we are protecting it from," she said to the longma as she followed.

 

One thing that she did notice though, was the differences in architecture. The buildings seemed to curve to their points instead of lust angling down. Such a look was... quite pleasing aesthetically. She wasn't really sure what the difference in functionality was but judging how every building had the almost the same kind of roof, it had to be fairly well off. They wouldn't do something repeatedly like this if it wasn't working. "I must admit, that my curiosity is piqued... your architecture is breathtaking, but why do the roofs all curve upwards at the ends. Wouldn't that trap water?" she asked curiously.

 

~~~Niradaña~~~

 

 

Nira was delighted to hear that they would be taking the tour on the way to the palace. For a group of newcomers like these ponies were... a group that held obvious military might but also and heir of political power, it would be important for them to see how things worked here. The one that had been designated as the leader of this group mirrored that train of thinking. Of course, Nira was still more than a bit surprised that the Princess of the Night was not the one leading this entourage, but she was not one to judge on the matter and this frosty colored mare seemed to have a cool head on her. She couldn't help but giggle internally at her pun. She heard the others voice their thoughts on the idea of the tour as well, and she found herself both relieved and delighted. Often times when dignitaries came to Neighpon they cared very little about anything outside of their own little objectives. There was a sense of that here, but from what little bit she had been let on to know from Ishi and was in the reports, these ponies were hunting somepony very dangerous. She could understand why they would want to be in a hurry, but they still wanted to learn more.

 

This was made more evident when she heard the leader, Commander Ice Storm, ask about the architecture and why the roofs were shaped like they were. Nira smiled. "Here in Neighpon, as well as in our mainland counterpart, Long Guo, we adopted this style due to the natural climates of the regions. In the winter, the sun barely peeks over the horizon, as such the curved roofs allow more light into our homes. In the summer, the sun is directly above us, and the curvature of the roof gives the roof more surface area without expanding the building's size, allowing it to cast more shade for ponies to take shelter under during the hottest parts of our days. Depending on the region, that can be quite extreme," she informed them as they moved along.

 

Before too long, they would be in the market just off the harbor. There would be an array of foods that would be served from an assortment of food carts, produce stands, and something that most ponies wouldn't see too often in Equestria, butcher shops. While it was true that most ponies in Equestria were herbivores, here in Neighpon and Long Guo, that was not as such. The cuisine was vastly different as to some extent, every pony, longma or kirin here had dragon in them. Not all of them gained the features like the Longma or the Kirin did, but that didn't make them any less so, and often times they could get sick from several mineral deficiencies if they did not partake in meat of some sort. "This is one of our primary trader's markets and is where a good amount of the tourism in Kyomo starts. There are plenty of trinket and souvenir shops along the way, as well as enough noodles and street barbeque to sate anypony's needs," she commented. She didn't bring up the meat issue but she was sure that she'd have to explain it at some point regardless.

[KaityKat]

Myth giggled at Feather's enthusiasm. She herself was having to hold back much of the same energy as she tried to keep her cover of appearing blind. But she could let some of that excitement show in response to what others were saying. Each time Feather related to her what she mostly could already see, Myth would giggle happily and ask little clarifying questions. Until, at one point, she smelled something that gave her pause. Her smile faded a bit and she looked, trying to make it look more like turning to hear or something, one of the vendor booths seemed to have chunks of something hanging out. Her heart stopped as she was visibly shaken. The smell, coupled with the sight of what she knew to be the faded and dying magic of a corpse, told her all she needed to know what it was. Meat.

 

She knew there were creatures who ate meat, but she'd never really met any of them, and if she was honest, the very idea of eating a dead animal just made her stomach churn. It also filled her with sadness to see their corpses hung out for display. She put a hoof on her chest as she tried to regain her composure. After a few moments, she asked tentatively. "F-forgive me, but..." she turned toward their guide, attempting to keep her cool, and hoping she hadn't give herself away too much, but if she had, she decided it was okay "is uh.... everypony here... not ponies?" she smiled weakly "I'm sorry. I'm new to being outside Equestria, and I'm just.... not sure how to ask... I hope I'm not being offensive?" she wondered if she might just have to explain her sight in order to explain why she came to that conclusion.

[PyroBlaze]

Feather, emboldened by Myth’s response, kept telling her about what was around them. The pegasus had kind of forgotten that Myth wasn’t completely blind, and even if she had she wasn’t entirely sure how much the unicorn could see. When Myth stopped short, she followed her friend’s gaze to the meat stand. It gave her a bit of pause too, but she was more used to seeing meat-eating creatures around. 
 

“I dunno for sure if they’re the cause, but it looks like there’s some kind of pony/dragon hybrids around.” Feather responded to Myth, looking around the area. For all she knew though, there could be griffons around somewhere. That was something that their guide could answer though. 

[dragonofruin]

Luna paid attention to the longma on the way towards the city, intrigued by the information that they were given concerning the architecture. With Ice having noticed the shape of the roofs too and voiced her curiosity out loud, Luna now had an answer for their shape: the local climate, and how it changed in the seasons. She made a soft sound of interest in her throat in response and lapsed back into her usual silence.

Behind her, she could still hear Feather excitedly informing Mythic about their surroundings, which were drifting away from the docks and towards the busy markets. The overlapping smells of various foods soon drifted by Luna's nose, and among them she could pick up the less savory ones of seared flesh. To an herbivore like her, she found it entirely unpleasant and had to keep her composure so she wouldn't be seen wrinkling her snout at it.

 

When the pair behind her spoke, Luna glanced back to spy Mythic's apparent confusion. "Longma aren't herbivores like we are, and there are likely other carnivores and omnivores living here that I am not aware of. As for the longma themselves, I suppose it is apt to describe themselves as such, though I'm sure they are their own species the way griffins did not spawn from birds and lions, although they have that hybrid look to them as we might view it."

[Alivda]

Raven followed along, looking at the buildings with interest, though her attention was more on the art styles. However, all of her attention was diverted when they came to the market. Hopefully, their mission here would stay peaceful, as she would love to look through the market. That's when the scent hit her. It wasn't one she was too familiar with, but having moved to Las Pegasus, there were a few restaurants that had 'exotic' meals in them, for the ones visiting from other lands. Meat. And it didn't go unnoticed to the rest of their group, it seemed. She said nothing, however, as Luna explained. She simply nodded, and waited to see if their guide would explain farther.

[IceStorm]

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

 

Ice Storm would nod to the longma as she explained the reasoning for the architecture. It was.... brilliant actually and something that she herself would have never thought of. "That is quite interesting actually. And the display is quite appealing to look at as well," she said as gears started going off in her mind as to what she could use architecture like that for. Still it would probably be in bad taste to acclimate something that she had just seen into Equestrian Culture without proper consideration. She knew that there were some ponies in Las Pegasus that had their homes built like that, but outside from that she would probably have to get permission or something to start utilizing things like that for strategic advantages.

 

She then picked up a smell that she was already quite familiar with herself. Street barbeque was a thing in Las Pegasus as well, but no where near as prominent for obvious reasons. It seemed to be popular among the carnivores that lived among them though. She then heard Myth ask about everypony here not being ponies and she heard Luna explain it a bit. She could answer a little bit herself as well, but she decided that it was probably best to let the longma answer that question.

 

 

~~~Niradaña~~~

 

 

Nira had heard the question that the one unicorn had spoken of. She appeared to have some sort of visual impairment, so it would be understandable for the question in that case. She probably had a heightened sense of smell as well. She could probably smell the meats cooking and judging by the looks of a few of the other she could tell that it made them a bit squeamish. She heard the pegasus of the group speak up about what she saw and then she heard the princess speak to clarify as well. "Indeed you are both correct. The Longma, The Kirin, and Even the ponyfolk here in Neighpon, and over the sea in Long Guo, have the blood of the dragon in them. At one point, our race was exactly that. Half-breeds between the dragons and the ponies, as the legendary creatures would fall for the short lived pony folk in the area. AS time went on, and more and more of our kind became prominent in the land, both having longer longevity and more acute senses than most others," she started as they continued to walk.

 

"As we did so, our races began to stabilize, and flourish, as both Kirin and Longma would inherit aspects of their draconic heritage. Kirin can channel magic through their horns as a unicorn can, but they give off a different hue to their aether. Longma like myself also have ties to their magical counterparts and we can channel our magic either through the scales on our hooves or wings, or by emmiting it similar to how a dragon would breath fire. As for myself, I am a healer that practices advanced healing magic and healing techniques. I have found very few problems that I have not been able to diagnose and fix so as long as I catch the diagnosis in time," she continued.

 

"However, that does come with the drawback that our predecessors had as well. Having draconic blood inside of us will sometimes require us to eat as a dragon would in order to maintain the proper balance of health in our bodies. That means that on occassion, we must consume meat of some sorts. You can rest assured that there were no sentient beings harmed during this process. We do what we must to survive, but we are not monsters. Well, most of us... there are some more tribal of ours that live scattered among the islands of Neighpon that have been known to well, hunt anything that doesn't bear the mark of the dragon. I would recommend avoiding those islands while you're looking for whatever it is you're looking for here," she said in a round about way as to not completely give away everything to a pony that might be listening to them as they pass by.

[KaityKat]

Myth was no less disgusted at the prospect of consuming flesh than she was a moment before, but at least now, she understood a little more. she took a breath "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. It's just..... different, I guess." she tried to put off the thoughts that swirled in her mind of poor defenseless animals being— she swallowed "So you're descended from dragons, huh?" that sort of confirmed her earlier suspicions. And now she had a name for it. Two different names, in fact. The race facts about magic the Longma shared made her so curious she almost wanted to blow her cover and just ask a million questions. What she wanted most was a demonstration. If she truly could control magic akin to a Unicorn through her scales, that had to look spectacular. She took a breath to calm herself. Maybe later, she thought. It was getting harder and harder to keep up the guise of total blindness. She caught herself glancing at the Longma several times trying to catch a glimpse of her magic to see if she could see any signs of this healing skill in her scales, but didn't look long enough to see anything.

[PyroBlaze]

Well that was a bunch of interesting information about the races around here. Feather listened, humming a bit as their guide explained things. It was kinda fun learning about this place, and she was looking forward to seeing more of it. For now, she flew along near Myth, sticking with the group. 
 

“I wonder what all they get from dragons. Can they eat gems like full dragons?” Feather wondered, speaking more to Myth than Nira or the rest of the group. “Hey, Vis, what do you think those golem things will be like? I’ve never seen one before.”

[IceStorm]

~~~Niradaña~~~

 

 

 

For the most part the tour that Nira had taken the visitors on through the town while they were on the way to the palace had went uneventful. There were a few of them that had more questions about different aspects of their culture. Questions that Nira answered with pride. Things were the way they were here for a reason, and it wasn't simply because that's how they had always done it. Everything, just like the roofs all had a practical reason for why they were. She would be the first to admit though that there were a couple things that were tradition that she still didn't care for and were no longer practical in today's age. But she figured there were issues like that everywhere. The biggest thing that she wanted to do though, was get out of the Shogun's hold. It wasn't that she didn't want to help the Shogun anymore, but the Shogun, Ishi, and the Royal family were all perfectly health, and if she was only ever in the palace then she felt her talents were being wasted. She needed to be treating and helping the sick.

 

As she began to approach the gates of the palace, Nira took a deep breath and began to give the general disclaimer for meeting with the Shogun. "Beyond these gates reside the current acting Shogun of Neighpon. While within these walls, only the highest levels of respect will be tolerated. You will be addressing the royalty of Neighpon directly. You will speak when spoken to, as to speak out of turn is a sign of the utmost disrespect. Any command given by the Shogun is expected to be followed. You might be powerful diplomats from Equestria, but you are still in Neighpon and subject to it's sovereignty while you remain. We ask that you would show our leaders the same respect that we would show yours," she finished as the gates opened and she gestured for them to enter.

 

~~~Ice Storm~~~

 

 

So far the new sights and sounds of Neighpon were a lot to take in. When she was here before, Ice Storm never really got to take in any of the scenery. When you're on a mission to get back a missing agent, you don't really get a lot of time for sight-seeing. She paid very close attention to the tour that she and the others were being given. This was for multiple reasons. First she was genuinely interested about how things were done here, but she was also looking for any clues that the tour itself was any sort of stalling technique. She had no idea who they could trust in this country, and while this longma said that she was from the palace and was one of the guards sent to retrieve them, she could be literally anypony and they wouldn't have any idea otherwise. No matter how genuine this mare seemed, she still kept her guard up and kept her eye around her surroundings for anypony that would be acting more suspicious than she would expect to see around a group of Equestrians getting escorted through the streets.

 

When they got to the gates of the palace, Ice Storm noticed that the demeanor of the Longma changed ever so slightly and she took on more of the guard roll that she had. It seemed legit, and as she listened to her speak it sounded very much like something she herself would have said when she would lead foreigners to meet with Luna and sometimes Celestia when she was a part of the Lunar Guard herself. It all boiled down to treating everypony with respect and decency. Any pony with a modicum of common sense would know how to behave around ponies that could very easily hold their lives in their hooves. Ice Storm gave the longma a nod before heading into the palace gardens like she had gestured.

[KaityKat]

Myth's normal, excited attitude returned over time as they continued along the tour. She had asked a couple questions that may have seemed a little out of the blue, but not too much so. Mostly, she just smiled and reacted with interest at Feather's continued interpretations of the sights of Neighpon.

 

Then they arrived at a place whose atmosphere was visibly (at least to Myth) very different. She could feel the reverence and seriousness of Nira's sudden mood change as she began to speak to the group. Myth's smile disappeared as she payed close attention to what she had to say, her eyes locked on Nira. "Don't speak unless spoken to" might be difficult for her if things get too interesting, she knew her weaknesses, but Myth nodded with a serious look on her face as she silently vowed to do her best.