Friends New and Old (Phil the Time Wizard and ShadowStorm88)

[ShadowStorm88]

"Maybe.." Val nodded in agreement, although a small part of him felt apprehensive. Worried about this pony. Trying to shake off his apprehsneive, he shrugged "Maybe". Turning back towards Dazzle, he smied weakly "Well, let's see if we can..ahh over there". Pointing a hoof over towards a nearby tavern, Val was about to step inside when a loud crash eminated from within, followed by some drunken hooting and laughter. "Huh, sounds like a rowdy place" commneted the adventurer. "GET OUTTA HERE YA BUM" a voice screamed, as a unicorn stallion went flying out; half dazed as his tounge drapped outta his mouth; eyes swirling in an almost cartoonish manner. "Huh, make that really rowdy" noted Val, as he looked up at the door. Eyeing dazzle, he smiled weakly "Well, lets see where this goes" as he entered. The room was dark, and had a cool breeze too it; with the only light coming from the open windows. Loud chattering, and drinking ponies were all around, as some of them were passed out on the floor.

[RarityDash]

Dazzle looked all around as they entered the dark tavern. "Wow, I don't think I've ever been into a place like this before..."

She had only been an adult mare for a couple years now. She was still a little young for bars and taverns and the like, and especially for a boisterous one like this. She wasn't even sure they had places like this back in Canterlot. Still she found it kind of fun. She was a hard pony to intimidate. Gruff and rowdy ponies more amused her then scared her. She smiled at the rough and tumble crowd as she passed through them.

"There are a lot of ponies... but who should we ask?" Dazzle started, continuing to look all around.

[ShadowStorm88]

Val stepped over some of the drunken ponies, obviously having tasted abit too much of the ol cider. Wondering who would be the best to speak to, Val looked over at the busy barkeep who was obvioulsy getting alotta buisness today. "The bar keep would be our best bet" Val nodded to Dazzle as he approached the bar. Sitting down, he called over for the barkeep who was tough looking pony, really muscular wiht a rough looking gotee and messy hair. "Can I help you" he asked the two, as he was cleaning some glasses with a free hoof.

[RarityDash]

"Hmm... they don't have coffee in bars, do they...?" Dazzle started in a quiet voice to herself, not really sure, but willing to bet so. Her favorite beverage didn't seem like a bar thing really. She knew bars were mostly for harder drinks, but she was just a little young for that. "How about a glass of tasty apple juice then? Yeah, that sounds good."

She then gave a laugh and widened her eyes. "Oh yeah, and we're looking for some information too!" she chimed and continued giggling. "You wouldnt' happen to know anything about a bunch of ponies all in black with masks on their faces, would you?"

[ShadowStorm88]

Raising a brow, Grit shrugged as he slowly went to make some juice. "Sure, I know about them. They come in here all the time" he responded slowly as he placed the glass down in front of the unicorn. Locking eyes with the two, he explained "They call themselves "The Illusive Squad, a group of ponies that search high and low for valuables and treasures". Returning to cleaning, he snorted "Course unlike most, these ponies dont have any morals. They take what they want, and hurt anypony that gets in there way. Nothing matters to them accept for reaching there goal".

Valoren stared at this pony with shock, amazed that these guys were so well known. If they were well known enough for them to go around, hurting others and takign that they wanted; then they werent exactly saints. "Why are they called "The Illusive Squad? If ponies know about them, how can they be...".

"Mostly from the fact that whenever the local law tries to capture them, they always escape. It dosnet matter what they do, somehow they get away; hence the name" Grit muttered.

[RarityDash]

Dazzle nodded as she listened to the barkeep talk about the mysterious, masked group. "Ah! So that's how he escaped when I tied him up!" she said. "They must all be trained escape artists or something. That's kind of cool!"

"Of course stealing things that don't belong to you and being mean to ponies isn't cool!" Dazzle said resolutely, sipping her juice quickly.

"Do you know what they're currently trying to obtain?" Dazzle asked, hopefully. She thought about the kind of things Arcana might be looking for. "Maybe something ancient or mystical that might have a lot of power. Something that was found in the icy badlands north of town perhaps?"

[ShadowStorm88]

Raising a brow, Grit leaned in close as he got a good look at Dazzle. "You sure got alot of questions, how do I know that your not working with them eh" he said in a low voice.

Going to defend his friend, Val shot back "How do we know your not working for them"?

Seeing the pegasus stare him down, the tough stallion chuckled "Fair enough. I used to run a business of selling quality cider that was so rare, that even ponyville dosent have a supply of it. It was one of the most popular drinks here; I called it "Miracle Cider". Then his voice went low. "Course the Illusive heard about it, and then cleared out my stock, including the list of ingridents to make the Cider, so I got nothing now, but standard drinks".

"Ahh, too bad" Val nodded in sympathy to the guy, as he whispered "Whats in the Icy badlands" to Dazzle.

[RarityDash]

Dazzle sympathized with the barpony, and she could understand if he didn't want to get on the wrong side of the Illusive if they had already cost him so much. She wouldn't press him. She looked at Valoren after his question. Had she not ever gotten to that part? She guessed she must have forgotten.

"The book seller who told me Arcana was up here said she was interested in going North of Stalliongrad, into the unknown norther frontier," she explained with a nod

"I was thinking she might have heard about something found up there. Perhaps some kind of ancient ruins that had long been lost to time only to recently resurface!" Dazzle hypothesized with noticeable excitement.

"I mean, something awesome and exciting, like its right out of a Daring Do novel or something? That would just have to get her attention!"

[ShadowStorm88]

Feeling for the bartender, Val briefly went into his own little world; thinking about what he said. These ponies must be operating through some sort of ranking system. Commanders in charge, or a leader that commanded them. But who was commanding these thief's? For what purpose was he having these things stolen. Was he simply an eccentric pony who had far too much time on his hooves? A million ideas ran through his head, and all of them bad as he grunted "I wonder if I were to find a member, if we could get them to tell what we wanted them to kn...". He was interupted by Dazzle as she spoke about the possiblites of this being like a Daring Do book!! He loved Daring Do yeah, but a small part of him was apprehensive to all this.

"Oh, and thats where your friend is now" Val asked, a slow smirk etching his features at the mention of ancient ruins. That defeintly appealed to his adventerous side, as he thought to himself what wonders could await them?

[RarityDash]

"Well, I don't really know for sure," Dazzle said. "it's just a guess."

She sighed. She didn't know if there was anyplace as cool as that. Were real ancient ruins really as cool as they sounded in Daring Do books, or were they just scary and uncomfortable?

"All I know for sure is that she was going some place north of the city..." she said. "And that being Arcana, she probably is after something linked to magic."

[ShadowStorm88]

"Then lets head there now" Val insisted, as he went to storm out the door as he suddenly halted; realizing he was getting ahead of himself. "Wait, what we need is to find where she is..so...hmm" Val blinked as he looked up. "What we need is to find a member of this gang, and then we can either track him, or convince him to lead us to there hideout!! Then we can find out where Arcana is located, and thus head there immideatly afterwards". Turning to Dazzle, he asked "What do you think we should do since this is your friend?

[RarityDash]

Dazzle nodded. "That sounds like it might work. If we track these ponies, we should be able to find out what they're after, which should be what Arcana's after. That should definitely work," she said after some thought.

She nodded again. "I say we go for it!" Dazzle said, enthusiastic and smiling. "I mean, we don't have any other leads, and I doubt we'll just find ponies in this city willing to get on the bad side of these ponies."

[ShadowStorm88]

"Even if we do get on these ponies bad side, at least we'll have a general idea on where your friend is" shrugged Valoren as he thanked the bartender. Leading the way outside, Val slowly scanned the crowd around him as they stepped out. "Keep your eyes peeled for anypony that looks suspicious" he whispered to Dazzle as he looked intro the crowd. There was a pony with an evil grin on his face, holding a mallet. There was another pony with a sinster snarl, with a scar going down his face as he was looking left and right radpily for trouble. Another pony in the crowd had a a twirly mustache, as he snuck up behind a carriadge and siad "A carriadge..ILL STEAL IT!! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOOOW" before he stole it, riding off with it cackling.

"Hmm, no pony looks suspicous yet" Val mused to himself.

(Heh heh, sorry I was just watching somethin on YT and it inspired this silly post. Yes, when conducing the perfect crime; be sure to loudly annoucce the crime you intend to pull off so everypony can hear )

[RarityDash]

Dazzle Dawn stared in awe at all the bizarre ponies around. Wow. Stalliongrad sure had a lot more unusual characters than she would have thought. Dazzle had always been taken with the unusual. Strange, out of place things left her transfixed and mesmerized. Ponies holding mallets, moving their heads around erratically and randomly stealing carriages were definitely odd.

"Wow, everypony here seems so much fun!" Dazzle started in awe, eyes sparkling. "Nopony does things like this back in Canterlot!"

She gave a nod and trotted along. "but yeah, I don't think any of these ponies are the ones we're looking for."

[ShadowStorm88]

Val shook his head in amusement at the sight, as he fought the urge to roll his eyes. Dazzle was right about one thing. The ponies here did seem pretty silly. "We have some strange characters in Ponyville; but we dont have any on this level of strangeness". Sighing, he agreed "Yeah, none of these ponies are really the ones were looking forward. Mostly because there too silly, and therefore that these illuminated ones are too serious for this". Seeing a sight of black, Val froze as he whisepred "Wait...wait a sec...hold still for a moment". Looking past Dazzle into the distance down the street, he could see what looked like a masked pony lifting bags of bits from carts, taking them and placing them into a cart. "There's a group of them over there" he whispered to Dazzle as he tried his darnest not to stare. "Okay, heres the plan. We both split up, and go around the back allys and make are way to the carriadge. Then we sneak on board as soon as they take off. How's that sound" Val asked gently as he watched the masked pony look left and right before contiuing to lift bits into the carriadge. "Think your pretty clever huh" Val thought in annoyance as he hated how cocky this pony was looking.

[RarityDash]

"I think that would work!" Dazzle started, nodding at the other pony's plan. "You're so smart, Valoren!"

She gave one more nod and then darted off in the opposite direction of the pegasus. This didn't actually seem that hard, especially since she was so determined. She moved swiftly but quietly through the alleys as she tried to work her way back to where the carriage had been. Eventually the carriage and masked ponies loading it came back into sight. She stood there in the shadows waiting and watching closely looking for the exact proper time to sneak onboard.

[ShadowStorm88]

Valoren watched as the group of masked ponies contiued to load supplies onto the cart, as he placed a hoof to his chin. What he needed was extra insurance in order to make sure that they're plan worked well. But what??! Spotting one of the masked ponies, a slow grin etched onto his face. Whistling in the ponies direction, he snuck his head down as the pony slowly apporached him. As soon as he reached Vals position, Val leaped out and jumped him. Powerful smacks, and punches were heard eminating from the alley as Val emerged a moment later, now dressed in full on gear of the shadowed ponies. Spoting Dazzle, he waved towards her; winking that it was him as he looked left and right to make sure that no pony was looking. Slowly, he opened up the flap of the tarp as he beckoned Dazzle to make a break for it.

[RarityDash]

Dazzle watched with glee as Valoren beat up one of the masked ponies and stole his costume. How smart! He really was an impressive adventurer! She giggled softly and nodded to him. When he then opened up the tarp, she ran ahead and jumped in. Soon she was safe and secure in the carriage. She smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything, knowing it may call attention to her. She just lie there hiding, watching to see what Valoren did.

[ShadowStorm88]

Wipping some sweat from his brow, Val stared at the other masked ponies nervously. This plan had to go off without a single hitch, or else he would risk blowing their cover. Peeking under the cloth, he whispered "Just keep your head down, and keep your voice quiet. If we get caught, then I doubt that these guys will be so polite as to say "Oh, please you can stay and spy on us". Pulling it back down, he gulped as somepony called for him to help push the heavy carriadge from behind. Nodding quickly, he rushed over and started to push as fast as he could.

[RarityDash]

Dazzle just nodded at Valoren. She would do as told. Sure she was usually a bit of a hyperactive, silly filly but she could be totally quiet and still if she moved. Especially in this case where so much depended on it. She wished she could do more to help Valoren out, but for now, she'd just lie low and wait to see what happens.

[ShadowStorm88]

Keeping himself quiet, Val was going completly insane. He was usually a pony of action, and a side of him was screaming for him to jump these chumps and give them what for, for the crime of hurting Dazzles friend. But he knew better however, that it would only make things worse. Plus, then needed to find out where she was before he did anything rash. "If only I knew where we were going" Val grumbled to himself. He just wished that these ponies were more clear about what the destination was, since whenever he asked they just grumbled "To the hideout". But where was the..oh. As the carriadge was thrown into darkness as he stepped into a giant warehouse, the ponies started to disperse towards a room with a single lite light. THe place was huge, so it would be easy to hide if needed to. "Hey, its safe now" he whispered to Dazzle.

[RarityDash]

At Valoren's words, Dazzle gave a rigid nod. "Okay," she said quietly as she got up and got out of the carriage.

She looked around to find herself in some kind of warehouse."So what should we do now?" she asked. The obvious was to follow them toward the illuminated room, but how to go about that without getting caught?

[ShadowStorm88]

"Up there" Val pointed up to the walkway above. Flying up towards the walkway, he provided an easy access for Dazzle to follow. As the two of them approached the room, Val looked around slowly at the sight below. Ponies with the same mask were all over the place, and were bowing there heads; chanting for something;. Raising a brow, he leaned his head down to see what they were bowing towards. It appeared to be a golden statue of a..sludge looking monster with mishappened eyes, and had its arms raised into the air like it was roaring in anger. "Eew, that is one ugly statue" Val flinched in disgust at the sight of the creature. Looking at Dazzle,he asked "What do you wanna bet that this is where all the stuff they steal goes to huh? But why are they worshiping that thing"? Blinking, he tried to listen in to what they were chanting.

[RarityDash]

Dazzle followed Valoren up onto the overhead walkway to peer down at the strange cult. It was definitely an odd scene. Dazzle smiled. She liked odd things. Still, this was a little uncomfortable for some reason. They had stolen the stuff they were using for this ritual after all.

She gave a nod to Valoren. "I don't know..." she said, shaking her head as she watched. She couldn't honestly think of many good reasons for ponies to worship some sludge monster. "Maybe they're being mind controlled by that thing... or well, not the statue, but the real one, which is probably somewhere... like in a secret room somewhere.... or something..."

"Or maybe they're just weird," Dazzle added, nodding.

[ShadowStorm88]

"Heh, that would be something. They stole all these valuables all in the name of..being weird" Val chuckled as he tried to add some humor to the situation. Celestia knows, they needed some considering what they were witnessing was pretty..abnormal. "Look" Val pointed as a pony approahced the large crowd. The stallion was tall, was a unicorn from the looks of it. Removing the cowl covering his face, he revealed himselt to be wearing a pure white mask that covered almost his entire face save for his left eye. Looking out over the crowd, the stallion bellowed "SILEENCE"!! That seemed to shut the chattering ponies up as he demanded "WE, THE ILLUMINATED HAVE SEARCHED FAR AND WIDE!! WE ARE WELL WITHIN REACHES OF OUR GOAL!! SOON, SMOOZE SHALL RISE UP, AND DEVOUR THIS LAND!! ALL OF THE HEATHENS AND THE NONBELIEVERS SHALL BE ENGULFED BY HIS GREATNESS!! OUR TIME IS NIGH!! THEREFORE, WE MUST CONTIUE THE SEARCH FOR "IT" he called out to the others, inciting a cry from the crowd.