>>391909*"Ten minutes is all it would take, but if you're sure."*
>Ears flattening in an earth pony expression of relief, Dul's outline twitches in black, eyes opening to squint humorously.>Maybe a little bit of stimulation overload.>A shaky, raised fist is poorly redacted after two seconds, only text following it.it better be.
*"To win the war, win the battles, while at the same time winning more smaller fights than losing. I will take the the majority of Razorback's humans, with all of their problems, over spending WEEKS trying to acquire a certain relic, artifact, or hyper-specialized weapon which may not be available let alone exist. We of Tallus do not have the luxury of waiting. Do you understand now?
The Empress isn't dead, that we know of, yet she might as well be since she hasn't answered the summons or calls of several thousand by now. Or her
protege. I always fucking hated him since the first time he stepped into the College, ungracious little bastard-"*
>Receiving a noise that was likely equivalent to 'whatever floats your boat', the Duelist plate turns about smoothly, walking towards the vehicle's rear with little sound other than subdued plate on plate sliding.*"Dante is rough, mentally scarred, a bit ignorant towards ponies, and sometimes touchy. Yet he is a formidable mercenary, hard, driven, motivated, excelling at threat management and elimination. The descendants of Empress Silver are the opposite. Both require a stabilizing influence. Perhaps the prophecy does fit him, perhaps not. It will be decades before one can know for sure.
Lone, lower both hatches, don't extend them yet. And please continue, we need to be closer."*
>Pushing control sticks forwards, the navy man reaches up to set the forward screens into a 90 degree view for each, overlapping across the dome and whistling quietly.*"Few of the real old Navarch lineages have stories about a tree like this, but it was bigger, more colorful. Never did understand what they were referring to. No paintings, pictures, or anything."*
>Sifting through information of Razorback's encounters with flora, none fit until remembering Astra Gallus in the Underground, her words flowing clearly from memory:"Thirdly, the diamond enclosure to the south houses a unique spirit-draining tree from the Elemental Plane of Aether. The tree is off limits, but if you wish to hoofle one of its fruit you may do so. They are safe, albeit.. odd.">Large sheets of semi-clear diamond, well away from any other visible plant life, contain a dull white tree, several visible pulsing fruits hanging from the center of it's branches, the species not matching with any previously seen ones.>Then your own words:“Aether? It bears fruit?”>Hers once more:"As for that tree, yes, though barely. It is hostile to most life and difficult to care for. Despite those of us, myself included, that wanted to destroy it, others wish to study it. However, that is a topic for another time.">Matching the dim, stagnant dual leafed Aether tree from Canterlot Underground, it would have been quite young in comparison, reaching maturity according to fewer equine and presenting an ever familiar appearance.>Studying the leaves, bark, and fruit, this one had been allowed to live outside of carefilly marenaged conditions, taking the form of all fruit-bearing trees combined as one, one which was closer to Moor ecology.>Possibly functioning as a source of energy or life, or perhaps spirit, the Elemental tree was either an archaic native, or had become one with great ease.*"...partially matches descriptions of a tree that mostly disappeared during the Early Dynasty. There's places you can see where something huge was taken out of the ground, nothing grows around those spots. Was part of some.. uh, odd rituals. Don't know which ones exactly, never got a straight answer.
Supposedly when a bunch of ponies intended to create a new town, they'd take the smallest seed after sharing enough mature fruits for all inhabitants, planting it where they intended to settle.
Neighsia still has a few but.. can't visit them, the Eight Queens turn hostile if asked. Jade Princess of Neighpon used to offer duels for the right to touch one, stopped doing that two years ago and disappeared... nopony has seen her since."*
*"You got it."*
>Resuming a 60MPH course, Lonestar drifts the Landbarge II left on a direct facing angle towards the Aether tree, setting a loose half-circle course on the south side.>On and powered quickly, selecting the three functions creates a wide suite of external hololiths.>Displaying the tree along with one, two, and three leafed versions, it was listed under thousands of names, and phrases, the majority translating into: 'Old Life Placed, New Life Borne', 'Home Is Here Now', We Live Under All Colors', 'Peaceful Home', 'Long Rest Here', specifically inviting terms scrolling underneath.>Matching characteristics of pulses to frequency, a notation declares the tree's Element to be Aether, considered to be shifting quadrant Plane directly connected to the spectrums of life, rebirth, spirit, and death, required by the Four Seasons and Alicorns alike.>Displaying two results, the dome's internal composition was an exceptionally new, albeit modified Early Dynasty black diamondine produced within the past 1 year, 6 months, allowing one-way Element passage.>Presumably, the exterior was specialized to filter out coloration, hues, shadows, and shading, allowing viewers to see what the Aether Plane was 'thinking' of through the individual tree.*"Miss Shiibo, need you to so-"*
'The Rerculon has experienced catastrophic feedbacks from vicinity fluctuations, half of secondary and majority of tertiary functions are still active under the analytic, hive, swarm, naval, and radiation modes. I must restore primary processes before cycling damage occurs. You require a proper technician, after all.'
*"Nope, you do that. And thanks."*
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <E.Electronic Warfare: Recovery
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10][1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8]