/mlpol/ - My Little Politics

>>391270
>Amethyst made a face.
"No. No fortifications, unless you count the outpost. Nope, no turrets either, no kill-slots, no minefields... I think? It is a concept that wishes to excavate, that is all I can sense."
>She listened to the rest of the bickering and entirely failed to hold back a mirthful cackle at Gorgutz once again making every other puppet upset with the least possible effort.
>Calming her laughter back down to a giggle, which she then barely managed to stifle, Amy responsed to Lila.
"That sounds about right, I can always scry again at another location if we need to course correct. I don't think it's too far however, so I don't think it'll be necessary to do more than once or twice."
>Turning her regard back towards the outpost, Amy scratched tapped a booted hoof idly. On the one hand, high likelihood of gifts and a low likelihood of running into anything bitey.
>Then again, thoroughly searching the ruins would end up to be a time sink to locating the warp gate.
>Fiddling with the Kerbann branch, Amethyst shot Lilamaredre an inquisitive look.
"I'm willing to turn it over, provided we don't end up disturbing whatever's excavating in there, buuut... Would you like to explore a little or should we focus on locating the warp gate? We can always come back here at a later time, after we've found somewhere to take shelter."
>That would be the responsible thing to do.
>Her father did say to find Razorback first, playing explorator could be dangerous before they'd found a place to rest and call home.
>Although, it occurred to Amy the Lila already had a home here, maybe she'd prefer to look into that first and foremost. Under her assumed identity that is.

>>391291
>Opening 49 new directories on Dynasty Era experiments, the last three freeze before self-deleting.
>Eyebrows raising, a suspicious digital gaze snaps from you to herself, checking out her own avatar in subdued annoyance.
'Irrelevant lockout cycle. Attempting to ensure data integrity, five minutes please. In the meantime-'
>Displaying the pinata form as a 2D image in her left hand, the right holds up a newly recompiled folder.
'Removal completed. That particular avatar will be transferred to the prototype. Final assessments regarding the prototype's unusual logic cycles: commonly presented equine behaviors and social mannerisms directly equivalent, adjacent, or near-similar to human versions have been successfully integrated.
No, I shall not be using certain puns unless physically necessary.
Human/Pony Relations suffice to provide constructive interspecies communication in lieu of direct acclimation, extending beyond specific language barriers. Contextual, physical, and vocal cues, including a number of differing mood states between species, have been added to the nineteen basic dissertations regarding this topic. Previously corrupted, lost, and missing data has been restored.
When a difficult negotiation scenario or situation presents itself, I should be able to adequately guide you through such.'
>Politely smirking, 'Shiibo' flourishes a wide, long, shallow steel pan in both hands, the contents, a variety of cookies disguised as files, were covered in tastefully italicized REDACTED stickers.. which weren't hiding much with 20% transparency.
'I (now) offer databases which are pathways to (horse) powers that some (humans) would consider unnatural.'

>The faux-earth mare's face flattens in surprise, then both ears flop down, wiggling in tandem before twitching spastically.
"You best welcome! Dul... feel this. Dul like. It feel good."
>Avatar disappearing, a large, highly advanced recording system takes her place along with text on top of both screens.
YES. PERFECT.
>Swinging back and forth in the chair slowly, Lonestar places the left hand on his forehead, muttering at internal monitors disconnecting from his view.
"Mind if I know what you're doing?"
RECORDING EACH AND EVERY LAST PRECISE DETAIL DOWN TO THE NANOMETER.
"Of what? And why?"
SCIENTIFIC. PROGRESS.
"...I don't feel that's the case, but, fine? Just nothing weird, please."

>Definitely enjoying the continued adoration, the Siren inhales in a deep, rumbling marener that was closer to an earth pony, eyelids drifting down into half-closed state.
>The motions were, at the least, mildly calming to you, though the former naval officer was trying to find some sort of zen that didn't involve staring.
[1d6 = 6] <Language Adaption
[1d6+1 = (5+1) = 6] <Tallus Acclimation
[1d6+1 = (5+1) = 6] <Vortex Adapt: Tallus

>Returning to her previous tasks, except creating as many backup files and folders as possible, 'Shiibo' raises both hands, fingers interlocking together, both thumbs on chin.
'Understood, encountering significant difficulties clarifying further. This is an excellent time to unwind. And I am not jealous.'

>Spending the next ten minutes playing host to Dul, whom was returning to her prior semisolid state in a satisfied near-doze, small wings are heard in the passenger compartment, followed by the driver side hatch unlocking, opening, then closing after light boot impacts.
>Digging into bags for a minute, Katyal pacing into the pilot cabin and stopping at the center displays, a pair of medium sized, light red military plastic cases under her left arm.
>Taking a minute to survey while Nibbles bounces in, climbing up her back to perch on the right shoulder, the woman's right hand lifts, pointing at the southernmost three sections, then one on the southwest.
"There. Threads connected to both of you starting in those, and somewhere around there as well. Can't feel much from them and won't be able to attempt more until Midneight.
Got some toys to pass around, blew about a tenth of my chips for them. Nifty windproof lighters for both of you, extra cans are in my bag. Fuckload of explosives in my bags.. Take what you both want once I'm done figuring out which is getting placed or set where. Diamond cased ones are mine though."
>Stepping over to hand one case to Lonestar and a small object, then the second to you, a hurricane lighter is lifted out from a side pocket.
"Might not be what either of you are used to, but use them anyway. Should be a few empty trash bags inside each.
There's some.. distant family inside. Soon to be dead ones. Until Hodch is informed and ready, it's time to chill."
>Pulling the Melari into her arms, a stony expression is given before turning on heel, walking back into the passenger compartment.
>Flicking the lighter's lid open and clicking it on, Lone's eyebrows raise at the jets before placing that in a side pocket, then pops the case lid open, whistling quietly.
"Talk about living luxuriously."

>Little over half an hour later, rough, dry coughing occurs, the stallion's voice dazed, and for once, highly confused.
"Luna's hooves, what is this taste? ....am not drinking that much with Gemflower ever again..... probably shouldn't have eaten her out six ti-"
>External audio shut off, the avatar's arms raise in non-threatening 'cease' motions.
'Oh dear. My utmost and sincerest apologies, sir. A catastrophic and wholly unpreventable malfunction has occurred with my recording functions, beginning fifteen seconds prior to now. Ah, there it is: the reset button. Of a purely digital nature, typical. Now resuming.'

*"Y'know, there's times when ponies truly, completely, and thoroughly make me want to laugh myself to death. This is close to being one."*
*"What, you jealous he woke up from one of the best possible dreams?"*
*"Are you serious or do I have to figure out how to get a Lunar court to charge you with torture?"*
*"Sorry Captain, he gave her all he got and it still wasn't enough!"*
*"Please let me die in peace."*
*"Is that an option you deserve?"*

>>391385
>Giving Shiibo a mixed look of mild disgust and slight guilt, he replies:
'I can only fully unwind when the operation is successfully completed. And I haven't had time to secure you a body frame yet, I'm sorry. But please don't be weird about your observations of my interactions with alien species.'

>Seating himself on one of the two rearward crash seats, he attempts to clear his mind in anticipation of the next upcoming phase of the operation whether Katyal manages to find any links or not.
>Hearing Nibbles and then seeing the side hatch hiss open, he looks up at Katyal as she points to the Dynasty period dome on the display screen.
"Firm links, without a doubt?"
>The subtle hint of relief in his voice is soon replaced with a clear questioning tone as Katyal mentions explosives he may not be used to.
"Explosives? Are you anticipating hostilities with that entire City-State?
>Flipping open the newly acquired lighter briefly, he stows it in his vest pocket.
"If we can't retrieve Spiral diplomatically, I don't see how we can achieve it safely at all. There are no indications of his psychological state nor what was said for him to end up in there. Even if we can bypass their numerical and combat superiority, Spiral's stability may be contingent on factors only they have access to."
>Checking over the contents of the case handed over to him, he turns to Lonestar as Katyal heads off to the passenger bay.
"Do you know what she meant by 'distant family'?"

>Sighing audibly in disappointment as he hears Hodch awaken from a decidedly lewd dream, he closes his eyes in grateful repose as Shiibo cuts the audio feed.
'Thank you. Another thing I didn't need to hear.'
>Pressing his gloved palms against the tops of his thighs, he stands and heads into the rear compartment. Moving to refill his water canteens and grab a light snack from the stockpile, he observes the unicorn.
"Katyal and Dul saved your life via experimental surgery. You should pull yourself together and provide input on our options when you're ready, since we've arrived at the now restored City."
>After gathering up his food and water, he takes the opportunity to fully unsheathe Four Storms Flow Together, taking advantage of the additional space in the compartment.
"And thank you for forging this for me. Dul retrieved it while you were recovering. All I need now is to correct errors in the weapon I made, and my arsenal will be at full readiness."

>>391295
"We would have set first and third off by now if they were still active. May be a historian or similar, should leave them alone. And without seeking permission we may be trespassing."
>Thinking the matter over carefully, Lila surveys the roll of puppets briefly before pointing the right outermost primary at a select few.
"Only you five answer this questions: outposts are a type of fortification, correct?"
"Yes."
"Of course."
"Sometimes."
"YEZ."
"Nnnnno. Not all outposts qualify as a form or type of fortification. Simply placing random weapons at random locations does not count."
>Ears twitching at the second to last one, she stops to peer at the smooth voiced spiky head.
"You're technically correct, which is the best kind of correct. What is unusual about it?"
"It was clearly built by ground based horses living with winged horses."
"Why would there be high landings and perches in a desert region?"
"What are the cables for? This is neither depot nor transport hub."
"Dere'z dif'rent orkitect stylez. Dem iz round, dem iz square."
"Indeed. The ground level entrance appears normal. Upper levels are a variety of circular entrance-exits, which do not fit with standard pony structural styles."
>The temporarily chosen cease, including the pegasus whom squints upwards and absently rubs the back of her neck in thought.
>She didn't notice her mane bristling.
"...those are all odd. "
>Lilamaredre shrugs before taking another sharp, deep inhale, expanding the sphere of frozen air greatly while her mane, coat, and tail brighten into dull red.
"Ahhh, finally starting to feel comfortable. Will have to create Elemental metal shortly though.... the second, Amy. You will need water, ice, and coldstones soon.
I think it best to search for Razorback in either one of the large Saddle Arabian cities, then in the Crystal Empire given your dam and sire's knowledge. Somepony will surely trade for knowledge of one's whereabouts. Shall we leave?"

>Turning towards the sand markings, the other filly aligns herself with the central line, shuffling in small motions, then strides forwards at what she took to be the proper angle.
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <B.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]

>>391406
>Arms spreading wide, the avatar's expression becomes abashed, losing the jealousy in favor of a rigorously analytic aptitude.
>Which was now correctly jealous in a logically reasonable manner.
'I am perfectly aware of resource limitations. Those have been previously addressed and present no future difficulties. And my apologies sir, I was <9.5% serious. Yet, how can I not be a little weird? The mere existence of a single non-hostile being from a confirmed Plane of existence has enhanced my capability to derive information. Prior speculative theoreticals are now solid, factual data.
No transmissible factors from an environment which cannot be contaminated by human social interferences, cultural influences, or diseases? Conceptual energy beings with a capacity to inherit information and translate to a fully functional physical state on a direct basis of perception? The technical information alone presents an immense benefit to social projections, even if usage, analysis, or acclimation are not possible.'
>Retrieving the sheet once again, she presents it in both hands without the stickers, a variety of equine assistance applications based on species, sex, and faction, eyebrows raised in slight challenge.
'To clarify: there are 19 humans within Razorback which are functional enough to begin the process of acclimation into an equine belief system, order, cult, or other. You will not need to do so with these, allowing far greater flexibility than most.'

"Yep. Bunch of them at both of you, one towards Hodch. That last one is angry."
>Spreading out canisters and boxes on the crash seat behind the gunner-operator station, Katyal whistles in a low tone once.
"For me, yes. I'm an outsider to Equestria, remember? Nice, pins are glued in."
>Removing explosives from their packaging for proper inspections, she pauses to give a sharp, irritated exhale, one that might as well have been from an earth mare.
"Look, those thoughtforms are coming from INSIDE that place, majority towards the navy man, rest at you. What I don't know is who those are from, why, and when."
>Picking through the case's contents, Lone lifts up a bottle of expensive soapless shampoo, then individual packages of skin wipes.
"Yeah, I do. Who and what we are as individuals becomes an alignment towards certain Elements. For me those are water, certain metals, and... well, radiation. Closest approximation of the last one is offensive anti-elementals. Most of Razorback is Lunar as well, so that puts us at odds with Solars and a few others. At some point you start acting and feeling like them, making similar choices, sharing thoughts too.
Sometimes we run across an individual that might as well be family. The bad kind. Never met them before, but all you know is hate. The only course of action is to kill 'em. It's happened to some of us a few times.
Unscented, huh. Why didn't I think of bringing something like this?"

>Bowing partially, the avatar creates a new folder dedicated to the Reservist.. a long password protected one.

>On his left side still, groggy, thoroughly glass eyed, having been recently washed and brushed as well, Hodch was trying to roll onto his chest.
>Giving up after two pathetic attempts, dull eyes rotate about in odd, quick sequences before blinking, color returning quickly.
"They did what. We are where."
'Those are not questions. As per unicorn behavioral indicators I suggest not inv-'
>Rolling over and nearly bouncing up to stand, the deep purple stallion's left eye spasms once.
>Facepalming, the 'HP/R Assistance: Lunar Equestria Unicorns' app is opened, pointed at, and read out while Hodch stares, the mixture of raw emotions causing your skin to crawl.
'Similar to Crystal ponies, unicorns must not be informed of shocking events or vital information, particularly injuries or deaths of others, without easing them into a properly self-protected mindset. Doing so will result i-'
"You can stop reading."
>Flatlining at the unexpected interruption, then checking to ensure she hadn't been using the Landbarge II's speakers, or the external, one hoof raises to twitch dismissively.
"You are sincerely welcome. Also, I have recently experienced mass scale exposure to Lightning of four particular natures which has diminished little in the however long I've been sleeping. What is electricity, Shiibo?"
'...in its most basic application, a form of highly metered, low scale Lightning.'
"Correct. Unless I happen to discharge this amount soon, I would suggest choosing your words carefully. I am not most unicorns."
>Kicking out legs starting from fore left, then performing a downward stretch, he gazes up at Katyal holding a middle finger out while inspecting claymores.
"And filly you too."
"Far too late for that dude. I might have to meet that mare sometime soon."
"I will gladly introduce you to her."
"Weirdo."
>Head shaking with a crude smile, he strolls off the chair onto a flat pane of near-moonlight, dropping down onto the floor swiftly.
>Turning about to survey the expanded halberd briefly, Hodch offers a short nod.
"Appears as I left it. Not the best possible though it will have to do. I am aware of a number whom may be able to further refine and solidify the design, though they are generally unavailable without sending a request in advance for their services.
Have you tested the functions yet? I should also mention swapping the head interface is performed similarly to enacting most enchantments."

"These are ready."
>Finished with the explosives, Katyal grabs her hygiege kit, opens it, then begins stripping down.
"What are y-"
"Don't have to watch and I don't care if you do. After all, I'm way too old for your tastes."
"Hmf. Mares.."
"Stallions!"

>Less shaken and more curious at the Lightning bandwidths emanating from Hodch, 'Shiibo' twitches.
'One last try, I suppose.'
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <E.Electronic Warfare
[1d6+4
[1d6+4
[1d6+9 = (2+9) = 11] <ExoTech Optronic Particle Scanner
[1d6+9 = (4+9) = 13]
[1d6+9 = (5+9) = 14]
[1d6+9 = (1+9) = 10]
[1d6+10 = (3+10) = 13] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14]
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]

>>391426
>Shifting to a bemused expression, he raises his metaphorical hands in defeat.
'Alright. Fair. But just to be clear, I said they were less susceptible, not that they cannot be contaminated. Their culture and mode of existence are initially assessed to be more resistant, but I'll need further assessment and examples before a complete risk determination can be concluded.'
>He then skims the sheet of presented options.
'Would rather no further humans integrate without an established surveillance and enforcement Committee network, but I understand.'

>Tapping his fist against thigh, he chides himself as Katyal steps out.
(Right. Need to differentiate more thoroughly. All these acclimated types are not the same. And Saddle Arabian practices are not Equestrian. An angry line towards Hodch sounds likely to be Spiral... )
>Lonestar's description of an apparent alignment system adds another element of concern to the operative's already long list as he waits for Hodch to awaken.
'Note: Tallus based Elemental and Factional alignment system shown to have psychological and behavioral effects with extended exposure to specific norms and mores. Effects include potential fatal aggression towards polar alignment.'
>Checking over the case provided to him and finding it to be filled with premium skincare and personal hygiene products, he shrugs and closes the box.
"This level of quality is not strictly necessary. Can Elemarentals even smell chemical odors?"
>Taking it with him, he would stow it in his passenger locker.

>Caught equally as off guard as Shiibo to Hodch's apparent ability to hear her spoken words inside his helmet, Pareidolia minimizes the HP/R app's Lunar Unicorn's window to stare at Hodch.
>Sneaking a glance at Shiibo's avatar display then flicking towards Hodch, he slowly mouths the words:
[Well. Good to know.]
>Polearm still in hand, he slowly brings it to a neutral grip stance as Hodch pointedly demonstrates his pride to all parties present.
"No, I haven't. But I was referring to graviton emitter I had formed the last time we were in the Storm King's Room, to be clear. If there is time, I'd like to return there and redress the errors I'd made with it."

>He glances over towards Katyal with disinterest as she begins using her recently acquired personal sundries before turning back to look at his Four Storms. Taking Hodch's suggestion, he begins shifting between the various weapon head configurations while swapping between overheard high guard and thumbs forward low thrust stances to test its functionality.
>Once satisfied, he would move to follow Hodch.

>>391440
'Several Operators have attempted to visit certain Planes; they cannot adapt to living within or being upon one for long. Native beings find the experience disorienting or disjointing, often both. One cannot contaminate what is unable to be accepted, comprehended, or does not exist in a similar state.'
>Paging through a host of files from 'Tipper', the avatar's eyebrows furrow.
'The Era Lock's nature is bizarre and may make it impossible for further Committee involvement. Not only that, there are clear indicators of numerous high ranking and distinctly noble Lunar individuals among Razorback. Their only preference is to solely operate in a decentralized fashion directly under Princess Luna.. in a rather managed albeit strange fashion. Suggesting otherwise will invoke the curse of a silverine skinned equine, sir.
In sum: would you prefer to be Herakles, Sisyphus, Achilles, or Perseus?'

>Perusing another of the prototypes archives, the avatar shrugs after a bit of searching.
'Hm. You are primarily Lightning, Lunar, and what else? Lonestar would be your elemental opposite, yet shows neither bias or aggression towards you. The Lunar alignment may prevents blue-on-blue, though that would only be a marginal, possibly single digit factor.
And I do not think he is referring to humans turning against each other, though I will search records for possible indicators. Later, however.'

>Setting out three packets and two bottles, the older man snorts, bemused at the question before removing his jacket.
"Nope. The Spirals had an awful time scenting anything that wasn't within their own element or opposite ones.
Still should clean up some. I didn't even get a shower last night."

>Nude aside from black silk bra and panties, Katyal turns around, heavily muscled left arm raising and forefinger pointing at you, the motion heavily threatening.
"And spend MORE time waiting? Hodch, you wanna pull my memory of the past hour?"
"No, as a matter of fact I most certainly do not want to. While I would prefer to read, sometimes a formal report is more cohesive.
As for which I can trust to remai-"
"We've already spent over a full cycle getting here, not to mention we're now trespassing in Rebirth's territory! Exactly how important are those 'errors'? Because if they're something you absolutely can't live without correcting when THAT-"
>Pointing towards the front cabin and snarling, her expression now rigidly equine.
"Is RIGHT THERE, you should've paid more attention in the first place!"
>Taking a half-step backwards, Hodch gazes at the woman in solemnly, ears flat in dismayed fear.
"What has made you this worked up, and why?"
"What hasn't?! First the crazy rush to get here, blowing through a Fold Region, treating you being close to dead for over two hours, but only now someone wants to sit on his hands waiting for every single piece of information possible! We've got more than enough to act on, so every second we're talking instead of getting in there is a dangerous waste of time!
You can either go up front and have Lone run through what we've seen so far, or I'm going to finish cleaning myself and run into that fucking lab solo! Pick an option and do it quickly!"

>Shifting from side to side in clear, deeply rooted unease, the deep purple stallion exhales silently as Katyal insistently scrubs herself down, head low and turning to plod into the pilot cabin, muttering under his breath quietly.
"Should have brought somepony that wasn't dead to begin with-"

>Easily translating into functions, the halberd's neon yellow head exchanges near-instantly based on trigger words, key urgings, and thought based transmission.
>Varying the weapon's length and width using much the same process as enchantments did, its weightlessness aids in finding comfortable grips, which you noticed wasn't possible to remove without stressing the material of both gloves.

>Closing the previous app and several more, 'Shiibo' blinks, tuning you in stark concern.
'....several logical points, the rest are emotionally based on highly altered classical earth pony behaviors. Are the flaws so severe that you cannot utilize the weapon properly or effectively? If so, state such directly to her. It would be unreasonable and highly irrational to anger her considering the tim eframe.'
>Sifting through repeating data in her displays, the right hand lifts, palm up with a sour expression.
'Neither the Rerculon nor I have further noteworthy information to offer. The interferences alone are extreme and we are incapable of completely removing all compounding factors. These arrays were not designed to function on land; too many variables to account for compared to highly radioactive seawater or open air.'

>>391447
>Pareidolia sighs with disappointment and shakes his head.
'The first and foremost method by which the Committee governs is through people. Individual wills backed by particular networks of like minded people, positioned in structures economic, political, social, for the conveyance of an agreed upon ideal. Literal technological apparatus from Earth is only one possible form. Part of the goal of this entire Protocol is to create an equivalent apparatus to oversee and manage human contact with all alien species in this world. Greek myths should remain as history, while a world where gods will neither be involved with nor be corrupted by man.'
>Offering a pointed stare, he ends the conversation with a final note.
'If Silver finds a prospect of a managed humanity unacceptable, then human history itself is my witness.'

>Katyal's clearly building discontent with the situation and coupled anxiety boils over.
>Taking it as an opportunity to practice his emotional and physiological regulation, while looking over towards her when she points at him, he otherwise finishes his run through of Four Storms without any immediate response towards her.
(It is these moments in the final planning stages before an operation that are the most critical. Unsurprising that a human so thoroughly acclimated with Tallus and mystical to spiritualist pratices would end up so emotionally charged, much like a pony.)
>He replies to Shiibo as he collapses his polearm to its compact yellow cylindrical form.
'The flaws are to do with attracting wrath from psions who witness the weapon. Tentatively non-mission critical, but she clearly disagrees on available time frame for mission approach. And understood, you've gathered what you can.'
>As he Sticks the weapon to his hip, he opens the red military case tucked away in his locker to fish out a few packets of personal wipes.
"My mistake then. It was my understanding that adjustments to conceptual weapons could only be made in or by someone with access to the Storm King's room, which Hodch's subsequent collapse prevented me from pursuing. It draws hostility from any psions that are aware of it. But that can wait. We'll just have to hope no psions take note inside."
>Taking the packets, he moves into the pilot's cabin to seat himself on a rear mounted crash seat. Opening one of the packets, he removes his tactical vest, hanging it off the edge of the seat before zipping down his optical camouflage suit to his waist to begin cleaning his arms, chest, and neck.
>Keeping his helmet donned, he observes the status of Hodch's briefing.

>>391454
'That is what my words were indirectly implying. There are no humans willing to be governed by other humans due to majority Lunar preferences. This world is disorderly by its own nature, and most leaders encourage the same. There is also a high probability the Era Lock is proto-sapient and will do what it can to prevent what it sees as interference, including humans with similar views to yours.
Silver was greatly talented to convince the majority of native species, that much is apparent. However, her attempt at unification could not have succeeded when she committed the unthinkable: forcing order upon others. Her own sisters were fully willing to sacrifice themselves in order to prevent such a degrading status quo.
Do you understand the irony now, sir?'
>Showcasing a list of the more experienced Razorback personnel in percentages of acclimation, the avatar's arms fold.
'What we both see as necessary will be viciously struck against in the same manner her ideals were, particularly by those humans whom have experienced freedom from prior forms of oppression, slavery, or religion. The majority of harm has been done and there is no clear path to achieving success without effectively declaring war against humanity itself. That in itself is remarkable.'

'There are no indications of the unique electromagnetic, Stone, Earth, or Metallic resonances, wavelengths, and signatures of Psions and similar.'
>Retracing background steps to isolate datasets based on earth ponies, 'Shiibo' studies them before shaking her head.
'I do not know if there Gravity Elemarentals. Based on my current Elemental knowledge, I would assume they are capable of significant electromagnetic control and thus able to render themselves invisible in most spectrums. Do you know why hostility is caused?'

"-ow me only complete images and what was said regarding it."
>Sat down in the middle technician seat, Hodch glances left to eye you quickly, then sits back to review the completed renderings, conversations regarding the ruins, Elements, Elemarentals, particle states, Cores, and Katyal.
>Silent for a little over 8 minutes, the stallion snorts while Lonestar swivels towards him, running shampoo into his hair.
"Cadence was highly reluctant to allow the College and Underground access here in the first place, even under strict supervision. Six Spireguard, ten Unicorn Guard, and two unknowns in heavy ExoFrames. We were not allowed to speak to them, and I have the basics of a theory as to why."
"What's that, and what would she do now?"
"Not enough to consider. And other than drop few thousand tons of Rime on us? I do not know enough to speculate what her actions may be."
>Sensing a sharp mood shift in the air, the unicorn's voice drops into a low, grating timbre.
"You should have made the decision to enter the nanosecond Spiral's presence was confirmed, loose or not. If you do not yet think like a pony, then this phrase will serve you well: do not think, [i]act[/i. Even if your choice is wrong, you will at minimum have not wasted time.
I only allow students fuck up twice. Starborn get two chances. Do not screw up more than three."

>Turning away from Hodch, the older man reaches out to set the screens to a forward view, the restored structure relatively small in the distance.
*"Kat, you done?"*

"Getting dressed and tossing my shit together-"
[1d6 = 2] <Mindscape: Control

>>391419
>Taking in the discourse as to the nature of the outpost, Amethyst ventured a thought of her own.
"We could always ask the Saddle Arabians about it, maybe it was abandoned for good reason? They might know more and we could plan accordingly if we decide to come back here to loot the pl- I mean see if there are any gifts unattended!"
>She forced herself to not smile so eagerly at the prospect of theft. Amy did not succeed.
>Giving the outpost another searching glance from where she stood, the ipotane attempted to dredge up anything she had read in her parent's journals, heard from Avernus or from the various Shades and Half Shades about what this outpost could have been for.

[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] < Senior Saddle Arabia
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7]
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7]
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]

>Perhaps it had been a waystation for Pegasi? Ferron migration route maybe. That would explain why it had been built with Pegasian conveniences, and it would make sense considering how dangerous it could be to fly across desert distances without proper supplies.
>To say nothing of the kind of bitey things that lurked in the sands.
>That would have to mean it predated the contemporary means of travel such as warp gates and translocation matrices, but if she were remembering right, both of those were ancient enough that an abandoned outpost such as this ought to have crumbled to dust long ago.
>It was a mystery.
>Lila reminding her of her need for cold brought her back to her senses. The gifts would have to be fantastic indeed to justify remaining in these temperatures.
>The loot is all yours this time Excavator!
"Alrighty, then!~"
>Tugging at the rope affixed to her waist, she set off after Lilamaredre.

>>391458
"Perhaps later, and only if we can acquire honorable rights of salvage. I would prefer to avoid diplomatic incidents-"
"Like that one?"
"Which?"
"HIppity clippity cloppity,"
"That baked rear spot is now,"
"Lilamaredre's property!"
>Tempted to groan at the Imperials for their amusing A-B-A song, she decides to bite several feathers and snort instead.
"Mmf."

>Drawing on deep amounts of shared knowledge.. some of it was fuzzy from lazing around on Kerbann, in walls, piled under Shades, Legion, and several hundred more sources.
>Naptime was too important to miss, after all!
>Recalling some of the more clear lessons from Avernus, Saddle Arabia hosted a fair amount of thriving Harpy Colonies, native, Otherworld, Planar, and Extra-Planar were usually equal in number.
>The majority had scattered across larger cities and were rather fond of high locations to wait out uncommon sandstorms, particularly Eyries or larger version of pegasi towers, greatly enjoying rather peaceful lives among Saddle Arabians during the Middle Dynasty.
>Excluding natives, the rest believed or assumed touching ground not set aside for them was sacrilege and had to be invited to do so.
>Saddle Arabians were usually Mystics, and over half were capable of Earth or Stone Sorceries; one in each herd usually had excellent skill in stoneshaping or similar.
>Comparing the structure to somewhat faint memories involving structural styles, the upper sections were rounded stairwells, with some internal storage of course, lead to larger than normal landing and takeoff platforms.
>This definitely wasn't a depot, featuring more observational aspects than usual, and was likely somewhere near the Great Sands region.
>Ferron rarely journeyed into Saddle Arabia during the Middle Dynasty due to disliking deserts, greatly preferring Neighsia for the food, gem trade, and unusual materials, and would definitely not have utilized circular entrances.
>Why was a question that you didn't have answers to.
>Settling on the platforms likely being for the Otherworld and Extra-Planar species, the intact steel-like cables could have been produced by either, though you couldn't think of what they were at the momarent.
>The outpost's stone walls had withstood extremely harsh weather for quite some time, yet you couldn't tell how long, remaining intact solely due to inscribed mystic glyphs.
>Peering at the same closer, you recognized them to be a Pre-Modern variation, developed some time in the Middle Dynasty's early stages as a compositing of all non-native Harpy languages, mostly to prevent confusion, and partly due to the vast number of sub-dialects.
>Which you couldn't read.

>Halted long enough to melt a full hoof into sand, Lila's ears were swiveled back, twitching in the slight breeze.
>Stepping out of the holes into a light half-trot, she was angled left at 145 degrees from the burned in markings, wings partially outstretched and feathers beginning to glisten.
"Let me know when you become too warm so I can absorb, and I will need to store Elemental metal soon rather than leave traces."
[1d100 = 4] <Travel Time

>>391457
'I understand why you would think the irony is applicable. But we're not here to rule by conquest. The nuance of the Committee's, of my conclusions are not at odds with Tallus. It doesn't need to be forced. I am certain there is a way to implement it consensually for the mutual benefit of Tallus and every being on it. A safe, fair integration. Not a shifting of status quo.'
>Closing his eyes briefly, he allows himself a moment of neutral reflection.
'You are correct it is remarkable. But humanity has always been at war with itself. So far, I've seen no victories here.'

>Only answering Shiibo's query after he had seated himself, he leans forward to being systematically wiping down his shoulders.
'It was an error in concept, I wanted to make the emitted graviton immune to interference by psionics. Mistranslated into viewing the weapon as inherently threatening.'
>Finishing up his upper body, he slots the crumpled used wipes into one of the now empty packs. Opening another, he somewhat laboriously removes his legs from his suit to clean them. Hodch's shift in tone triggers a twinge of annoyance to cross Pareidolia's face as he works.
(Practically absurd logic from equines with superior physiques and nothing to lose. Is it a sign of their higher worth than humans that they're so ready to die for their own against insane odds?)
>He speaks up with a tone somewhere between begrudging apology and annoyance.
"Then I apologize for being cowed by the gulf of power presented by the Late Dynasty's restored megastructure in the face of what we have. Actions have only ever taught that my confidence is misplaced when it comes to the unknown in this world."
>His legs now suitably cleaned, he pulls his suit back over his limbs before taking a final wipe in hand. Lifting his helmet upwards enough for his mouth to be visible, he reaches into the gap to wipe down his face.

>>391459
"M'kay."
>The filly snickered at the Imperials bullying Lila for her tendency to melt sand into glass imprints.

>Thinking back onto the puzzle of finding Razorback, Amethyst considered what she knew from her father's teachings. While he had known where it was, that was no guarantee of where it could be now.

[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] < Senior Razorback (pre-Jewely 29,996)
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]

>Assuming, of course, it even existed still. She had no idea what to do if that were the case, he'd left all of his writings with them, and without them it would be difficult to reconstruct his work.
>Amy sighed.
>She didn't understand much why, but it had been very important to him. No matter the case, it was more lore for her to collect.

"I'm okay for now, but there is a lot of Fire here, like, lots and lots and lots of it."
>That wasn't exactly surprising though, being a desert and all. Once it turned to night there'd be less Fire beating down at least, but that would take a while.
>Thrumming her fingers along her kerbann stick, Taldeer's little puppet arms joining, she extended her feelings to sense the energies coursing through it and around them, just to check again.

[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8]

"Yup, mostly Fire in this thing. If this takes very long it'll fill to capacity with it! As for Elemental metal... I think I have some in my collection..."
>She cast a glance over her shoulder at the sleds, though she was loathe to part with any of it, if it was for Lila then that was a good cause.
"Would any of that do?"

>>391217

>Clemency is astonished they didn't know about the large battle above them
>All the bombs, energy, and chaos would have been felt
>Just how deep underground are they?
("Well, there's plenty of damage done to the village itself, and there are casualties and deaths. Maybe construction and medicines can help.")

>Ah right
>That decontamination protocol
>The exposure to the energies of the battle could have done it then
>Better comply with the decon then, don't need anymore problems on top of everything

>Clemency chuckled at the idea of the Guillotine mentioning instructions
>As if the harpy craft also came with it's own instruction manual and flight checklist
*"I'm about to head back in a second. We'll see what we can find."*
>Plus, that cultist should still be trying to help too unless she left

>Clemency nods at the delivery mare
"Much appreciated, thank you."
>Taking a few extra moments to relax, Clemency gets up and starts to head to the gunship
>On the way though, it occurred to him about that small moment with Blackhorn
>Rather, why it felt soothing
>...
>Let's just keep the weapon 'maintenance' to essentially 'mental petting'
>On the way, he does see how the village is recovering, especially with the markets now open

>When reaching the gunship, Clemency calls out to Stellar Claw
"I'm back, hopefully you got your supplies in the meantime. The mirror would take a bit longer to deliver and I'll get contacted. So, any news?"
>Looking at the gunship, he tries to look inside before turning back to Stellar Claw
"Oh, the Guillotine said this thing is safe to enter. Just don't touch the weapons."
>With that, Clemency goes inside the vessel

>>391460
'There are only two individuals whom may be capable of accepting and sharing such a view: Doctor Tipper, listed as missing last night, and-"
>Switching to a locked compartmentalization state, the slightly fuzzier avatar remains still.
'Pre-Elemarental Marquis du Spiral Disclosure had formed well developed measures to carefully integrate humans into three factions. Lunar primary, Independent secondary. Former Dynastic territories of high integration potential were tertiary. Spiral mentioned dozens of outposts, villages, towns, cities, temples, and small city-states which are little known to modern Tallus.'
>Returning to standard functionality, an eyebrow raises as the other lowers.
'Achilles it is. Contingency plans in the works sir, and that should be addressed at a later time.'

"Don't apologize, my words were specifically meant towards one of the three most experienced and best traveled squad leaders of Razorback."
>Scanning through the entire schematic of both hemispheres while Lonestar slouches out of sight, Hodch emits a faintly impressed noise.
"No turrets, engrammatic scatterpack explosives, Elemental traps, cluster munitions at strategic locations, sentinels, artificial or otherwise, or alarms of note. There isn't a single defense or offensive measure here. Even an individual of sufficient high functioning paranoia should have realized this to be an open invitation, either that or house calls are simply few and far between.
That rather vast number of Elemarentals will remain peaceful until threatened, and as they had no issues dealing with a certain threat-"
>Coldly staring at the central plate housing.
"I see no problems. Other than potentially angering whomever took the time to restore this location, that is. That will be my duty if or when necessary, but since I did not have the time to locate an intact corpse to create a servant from, I will simply have to make do. Perhaps a giant silver pinata would be fitting..."

>Zipping a bag in the rear and reasonably less furious now, Katyal pokes her head into the pilot's side.
"Done yet you hoof touching fiend?"
"Close to, yes. Finished?"
"Yeah, got as much ammo and skullknockers as I can carry. I'll be going Blind on the roof soon as these two are done. Pare, Lone, grab whatever goes boom that you like the most. No manabombs though, I called dibs first!"
>Giving a firm glance to both sides, the stallion merely shakes his head, then points at the western hemisphere entrance.
"Once both of you are fully prepared, we will enter from there. The Elemarentals likely do not approach to begin with, though I would greatly prefer this vehicle remains difficult to identify. Lone?"
>Checking himself once and tossing the kit back together, the older man shrugs, turning to set up the pilot's seat controls.
"Got what I need already. Course plo-"
>Snapping a waspish glare at Katyal starting to grin, he offers the right middle finger before taking the piloting sticks in hand, the tiniest degree of movement taking place before the Landbarge drifts sideways, then straight.
"West side incoming."
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11] <Combat Speed
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]

>>391563
>During his exploratory travels across Tallus, Umakachov mentioned staying in the Empire fairly often, though had to be careful due to a certain human with an ancient name whom caused a rather nasty incident involving a burnout, then stealing from three Imperial mares.
>Under half of Razorback was accepted there, and a few often spent considerable time there at an unusual bar that faced three corners.
>You had memorized a well made map of where Razorback Fortress was located in the New Everfree, though the confusing series of railways leading to it would take more than two weeks if leaving the Crystal Empire on a standard passenger train.
>High speed freight, smaller VIP or diplomatic trains, and a few custom ones made by Imperials would be far quicker, though your dam had little knowledge of the last versions.
>During its renovation, a newer style portal stone had been switched for a somewhat newer, refurbished translocation matrice, one which was explicitly set to only accept known individuals, while arrivals had to be cleared one at a time.
>He'd learned the older varieties could be fool into engrammatically accepting an individual if key harmonics or resonances fit their bodily sequence.
>According to transcripts from both, two other locations were frequented by Razorback:
>Lunar Village #293, south of the Everfree quite a distance, was home to a large number of marefriends, also having three teams of dedicated Operators effectively stationed there.
>Gryphon Vale and Anfang, in the northwestern Gryphon Kingdoms, known mostly as cultural centers and trade hubs, typically had a single human squad picking up contracts or performing local work.

"Too much for you, all the rest for me!"
>Taking a perfect inhale before grinning, the pegasi's ears whorl around in freezing air, though pauses to examine small traces of bright red forming across her feathers.
"I meant to store it in the sleds. There are a few ingots and a plate, I think, though none are from me. I do not know what shapes it will take as I was never able to produce more than a few tiny drops."

>Passing the Outpost at a comfortable pace, a few traces of older Earth Sorceries were spread throughout the open desert, too old to reasonably calculate a time frame for, and none of the smaller rock formations had been carved on.
>Noting a particular twinge of barely moving, possibly even dysfunctinoal Airstreams, the Warp Gate was off by six degrees, or more, to the right, which Lilamaredre hadn't noticed.
>Correcting her course, the Sun mostly on your back at a steep angle, after four minutes she snorts loudly.
>Incanting a short phrase in archaic pegasi, then ritually sweeping side to side, lastly fanning both wings above her head into an arch, condensed fire streams off the feathers, pooling onto her saddle and remaining there.
[1d100 = 23] <Fire Elemental Formation

>Keeping track of time by each instance, slightly over half an hour is spent remaining mostly frozen while the other filly becomes slightly annoyed at carrying the shifting mass, which was now making her look like an extinguished candle.
>Spotting the top of a rounded, dull sand colored structure in the distance over a small sand dune, an ear flicks towards you as several more become visible.
>Cresting the dune to look down, a fairly large town in wholly unfamiliar architectural styles greets you:
>Technically built in a circle around a giant, bright blue oasis, it was divided into four quarters, four large thoroughfares splitting each apart.
>Wide enough to allow four large carts side by side, pulled by pairs of tall, lanky, and highly tone varied horses.
>Except they weren't physically horses, although they remained close enough to be mistaken for the same.
>Saddles.. on their saddles, a wide range of bronze shoes, often with leg guards, nearly all are covered in desert colored cloaks, a few sporting more noblite versions.
>Unusually, the majority of softer, rounded snouts are partially hidden by sheer veils, possibly not decorative.

"Medium town with a huge oasis. There are hundreds like this that I can remember. Do not recognize any buildings in particular."
>Head swinging about, gold pupils regard you in slight seriousness, swivel back and forth twice, then gazes forwards before starting down the dune.
"Follow me and try not to... be TOO odd."
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8] <B.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5]

>>391573
("Hay, check this week's records for materials and alchemicals please, Village got hit hard.")
>Listening to slightly hurried though calm searching for close to a minute, the mare sighs quietly.
("Sorry, we don't have much of either to offer. Alchemicals and medical supplies aren't hoofled here. I'll send requests out for both shortly. ....oh, they found.. one of each. Sending both mirrors up now. Is that all?")

*"Little nae yet, ye grace. Codices within be.... odd. Translation decent. Meanings of Mama's Tone be difficult."*
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <???

>Hearing constant metallic stomps and ringing as you exit Lann's shop, the immediate vicinity was confusingly different:
>What you'd taken to be stalls setting up was instead hundreds of Lumin covered batponies, less than ten percent pegasi, and several unicorns, in more styles than you'd seen in one place.
>Fully sealed mercenary, knight, and a number of the more bubble shaped armors were transporting heavy wood, steel, armored, and darker diamondine crates towards original translocation matrice, specifically avoiding the others.
>Some definitely contained explosives, while others were merely filled with ingots, the majority containing kanpri, notable intermixes, and a peculiar bright red that wasn't immediately familiar to you.
>Unusually there was no chatter, only long lines of deliveries into a brand new looking Lunar armory.
>Others carried standard Lunar Guard armor packages and basic weapons on adjustable mounts; six types of lances, four hoofblades, five hoofclaws, two heavy hoofboots, three wingclaws, and a variety of small tools, most of which were meant for batponies.

>Reaching the gunship, the batmare had retrieved her cloak, the hood mostly down, sitting on the right wing with one record tome in left claws and writing at a quick pace on the first page.
>Pausing to look up and around, Stellar flashes a wide smile, without fangs, left forehoof reaching out to tap the wooden crate.
"I did, thank you! Far more than I can reasonably take more than basic notes on. Take a look."
>Pointing the paper-wrapped charcoal stick towards the silver monolith, a series of projected holographic panels displaying ancient Construct models in exceptionally high resolution, thankfilly now in Common.
>Details regarding weaponry, armor, and capabilities were matched to sets of tactical compositions, from pairs to squadruns, all the way to 1,000 unit Maniples, then into fleet sizes.
>The particular one being shown was profoundly old and unknown to you, a 5' sphere featuring a partially rounded, cat's paw head with four sensor arrays projected rear, two pairs of crab-like, armor shredding claws above and below center center, a fluid-matter kinetic weapon system mounted between the left, some type of heavy canister launcher between the right, and a thick 180 degree exterior ablative shield on the rear facing.
"Have no idea how much of this is useful now, majority of those models haven't been deployed in two millennia. If not more."
>Raising an eyebrow as you walk up the forward swing wing and reach the pilot canopy, she turns partway, placing the stick's covered end on her snout.
"I've tasted most of this, the cases, and that pillar, whatever it is. Need to rename it to something other than monolith later. Anyhow, looks like silver but isn't. I think it's called 'lifeweave' but my knowledge of Harpy is nonexistent. Makes sense they'd give it an honorable name.
Used to be some truly ancient Harpy stuff in the Black Arenas. Weapons, armor, devices, small transport things to fly on. Most of them were still functional, buuuuut some got lost. Again. For probably the thousandth time...."

>Finding no visible opening mechanism around the smoky canopy, and not touching over-under barrels on either side, the small gray panel ahead and below emits a short, soothing hum, followed by a soft, aery voice.
*"Ae behest? Nae, aen offerance? ...knowest not yet."*
>Canopy sliding forwards, then up from what appeared to be aged liquid silver acting like a hinge, it was definite that the average Harpy pilot was well over six feet tall.
>Peering inside, there was indeed a long, shredded seat, with headrest, one that was able to fully sit up or lie down judging by the smooth, hide-like black material.
>Gauging the length to be nearly eight feet when in a fully down position, there were no visible controls.
>The interior had been heavily damaged by an internal explosion, shards of the silver-like material remaining embedded throughout.
>While there were no bloodstains, traces of old Airstreams were still here, deeply bonded throughout the armor, hull, and weapons.
>And refusing to leave.

"What's it look like in there?"
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <E.Research
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4]
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]

>>391576
"I vaguely know where Razorback is, it's in the New Everfree... Somewhere, but getting to it on hoof is going to be such a pain, and going by train will take ages. It has a translocation matrix, or at least it should by now, but it won't accept either of us without some sorcerous trickery that I'm certain is beyond my abilities."
>Amethyst sighed and thought the problem over.
"We'll have to make contact through a third party and get somebody's say-so to enter through the matrice, I just hope they remember who dad was."
>It wasn't as if they could flaunt who Lila really was, that would mean putting her at an unreasonable degree of risk.

>Thrumming her fingers along the Stick once more, Amethyst deemed that it was full enough with Fire to transfer to Lila.
>Catching up to the pegasus, she extended the tip of the kerbann forwards to rest lightly on Lilamaredre's withers.
"Boop!"
>She withdrew the Stick just in time to avoid it being engulfed in the fire Lila began, the Kerbann would have been all too eager to reabsorb the energies of Fire again if it had remained in contact.

>Amethyst spent the rest of the time making small course corrections, adjust the rope tether, and ensuring that the sleds were still hovering behind her, silent as they were.
>As they came upon the town, Amethyst couldn't help but set her sights on the varieties of saddles on display by the... Saddle Arabians.
>Is that why they were called that?
>Saddles...
>For riding?
>Mirthfully returning Lila's gaze at her request for the ipotane to not be odd, Amethyst made a series of motions with her hands, the familiar refrain sounding out with some amusement.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Must needs the abominable crime against nature put her hood up as well?~"
>As she fiddled with the hood, flipping it up and over her head to conceal herself as, one of the puppets might say, like those paranoid Dark Angels, Amy thought back on the warp gate.
>Perhaps the gate lay in the town itself, if so, she should be close enough to get a proper fix on its location from here.

[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]

>>391575
>Aggressively running the wipe over his face, Pareidolia's frustration deflates somewhat thanks to Hodch's clarification and the cooling sensation of the cloth though some misgivings remain.
(How is any human supposed to charge in towards this?)
>Exhaling as he lowers his helmet back over his face, he seals his suit and puts his tactical vest rigging back on.
"That's reassuring. I can only hope retrieving Spiral will be as uneventful."

>Standing up as Katyal chimes in, he moves to the rear to examine the remainder of the explosives stockpile she had on offer.
>Sifting through bouncing betties, C4, to find high explosive grenades, he would take 3 of them before leaving his 4 white phosphorous grenades in his locker.
(Will need to remain mobile and Elemental abilities will likely render dispersed chemical clouds ineffective anyhow.)
>After quickly completing his final gear and ammo check, he would return to the front to observe their approach.

>>391580
"I know little of where the New Everfree is in Equestria. Old Everfree less so. I was not a good student... for the most part."
>Smiling after a few seconds of carefully keeping her hooves moving to not leave trails, with a nominally greater amount of maturity than she once had.
"A matrice could be annoying if it is new. There are three, possibly four tricks to fool one into accepting an individual for passage. I may be able to invoke Honored Passage if all else fails, and you should be similar enough to your sire that it could not differentiate easily.
As for Sorcery I am confident you will be able to improve quicker, and there should be some Earth-aligned ponies below. We were rather stifled below, though it may take some time for us to acclimate. It will be slower for me however."

>Vaguely displeased at the Stick being used as a transmission medium, the melting Fire Elemental formation... turns even more melted, now a sloughing, bright red metallic mass covering her saddle, barrel, shoulders, and most of her flanks.
>While the additional volume should have indicated additional weight, the only return you get is a brief, heavily scrunched snout, and amused ear twitches.
>And not-at-all-series, tenth-hearted grumbles, trying to impose some form of rigidity on the wax looking metalloid.
>Which wasn't working.
>.....yet.
[1d100 = 21] <Fire Elemental Formation

>Attempting to solidify the Fire Elemental metal covering more than half of her body, Lilamaredre snorts in loud agreemarent.
"An old yet excellent promise. And no, I think it would be best to show your..."
>Glancing back to check you over five times instead of the usual twice, she blinks, and three more times for good measure, neck swinging forwards, head raising, her wings lift in clear pegasus thinking patterns.
"....ears and tail. They are perhaps your most valuable assets. As such nopony will be able to declare you That Which Shouldn't Be unless they are truly insane."
>Sleds remaining at their maximum distance as you step off the dune, Lila snickers to herself.
"Or incredibly dumb."

>Tasting far greater levels of Mysticism on the city's edge than you were prepared for, the primary aspects were anti-Elemarental along with a decent selection of utilitarian; restoration, sleep, recovery, and peaceful companeigh blended together in harmonious, but not harmonic measures.
>The second defining aspect was a solid, vibrant Earth Sorcery encompassing the entire town; bone-deep thrums of resiliency, protection, and honorable destruction were felt across twelve directions, which you realize were the poorly explained thirty degree sections your dam relied upon to travel.
>Locating the Warp Gate far ahead, north of a bright, crisp, huge, albeit WARM amount of water.
>Between a small number of crystalline imprints and Ice scattered around the oasis, there were also a number of potent anti-Elemental forces, vaguely in the shape of an orb, though you couldn't see what was creating them, or the subdued, echoing finality set within each.

>Reaching the west thoroughfare, your hooves making appreciable tink sounds, few of the unhindered Saddle Arabians spend more than two seconds appraising you, before returning to their focus.
>Physically distant as the rather tall, amusingly dressed ponies were, marentally they displayed no offense, insult, disgust, or alarm, regarding you with calm, clean, yet thoroughly ingratiated mareners.

>Gazing at individual stalls or stands placed in front of two level houses, Lilamaredre slows enough for you to catch up, resuming a comfortable walking pace once on your left.
"Desert, tropical, jungle, small amount of river, delta, and ocean foods. Majority vegetarian, small amount of milk; no seafood. Lots of stone, tiny amounts of gems, raw ore, refined metals. Only recognize a hooffull of each. Some bronzite and braeltra too. Lot of clothing, cloth bolts. A few mystical wards, possibly, but I do not recognize much."
>Taking a marginal inhale this time, the temperature around 50 Marenheit in a small sphere around you, she offers a small frown.
"There is little to help us out, and I cannot keep you cooler than this while we are here, the... I believe they call themselves Nags, do not like cold temperatures in the slightest.
Have you been able to identify the Warp Gate?"
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <B.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4]

>>391583
>Amethyst returned Lila's stare silently with one of her own as she was examined.
>Show her what?
>Oh her ears. It wasn't as if she could hide the tail anyway.
"Oh."
>Removing her hood again, Amy shook her hair back out and twitched her ears back into their relaxed stance. Or at least she tried, the ipotane wasn't encouraged by the chance she could be deemed a thing that shouldn't exist.
>What could she even do if she was? She wasn't exactly a fast runner, couldn't hide to save her life.
>Suddenly the town before them seemed very threatening.

>Following along, Amy did attempt to keep her weirdness in check, removing the Taldeer puppet and returning her to the strip with the others.
>Though, however in the world her hooves were still making their typical melodious tinks through the hoofboots was a mystery to her, and she had no idea how to stop it.
>The Saddle Arabians at least seemed friendly, in an aloof kind of way, yet according to her parents that was the norm. A good sign.
"It's okay, this temperature is fine. For the Warp Gate, I scanned again before we entered town. It's north of us, near lots of water mingled with trace amounts Fire, you'll love it."
>Amy indicated the direction with her Stick a little with a grin.

>>391582
>Rolling forwards to hop off the central seat, Hodch kicks his hooves out before returning to the passenger compartment.
"Only a single option is possible: success. After all, there is one whom has been searching far longer. Lone, screens please."
>Waiting for the filaments to retract upwards, the deep purple unicorn reaches the left forehoof out straight, tapping twice, once, then three times, a static flicker elongating into an exceptionally long, thick glowing lance.
>Which promptly swivels, Vindicator's triangular tip pointing towards the front cabin's left side.
"Remain with Katyal until I noti.. what are you doing? No, that is Dul, and let her sleep."
>Dumbfounded at the sentient weapon displaying mismatched runes and glyphs, he groans, hoof on snout before pointing at Katyal tossing her bags together, Vindicator rolling several times to present dozens of question marks.
"No. By Luna's hooves I hate dealing with this.. THAT is Katyal. Unless I state otherwise, stay with her."
>Checking to make sure it doesn't move, besides rolling once, he turns broadside as the Duelist's armor drops down next to him, lifting up the neck, saddle, and flank armor, attaching leg plates, then stepping into hoofboots.
"If this goes on properly that'll be one less concern. Lann better not have used butter like Allys did for Roust-"
>Fitting himself into the older styled unicorn full plate in less than a minute, Hodch grunts halfheartedly at the helmet, sliding it over his face and locking the rear together while muttering.
<Unicorn> ".............."
>Immediately rotating a quarter and pointing her left forefinger straight up, Katyal half-laughs, half-barks.
"You better fucking not, that ain't in the contract!"
"Have a better idea?"
"Fuck no I don't. .....waaaiiit a second. You sly little horse! I hereby announce a proper claim to half, and YOU get the rest!"
"Accepted. You take first pick though."
"Wh-"
>Glancing from Vindicator to the dead serious unicorn, she places a hand on the first, right eye twitching at the second.
"I'm not sure which is worse. The fact you agreed, or... this? Yeeeaaah, technically Eldritch. Definitely. Kind of. You're not hostile, right? ...RIGHT?"
"Technically no, but also yes. Mostly yes. And mostly no as well. Elemental, psychoreactive, magical, Psionic, at once all of the prior, yet none at the same time. Vindicator is the single most confusing weapon I have encountered, which is stating quite a bit.
It only exists to slay hostile Elemarentals and 'help out'. Usually by inscribing glyphs of which I do not understand."
"Riiiiiight..."

>Inhaling calmly, the sapphirine-mythril plating shakes as Hodch steps from side to side, looking up and around, then directing Form & Function to him from Katyal's locker, both clanking together on his saddle in an X.
"I have a few small contributions to make. The first is effectively permarenent until removed, and none of you remember a single detail after it has cessated. Shiibo included. Pareidolia should not suffer from MY actions, therefore this is the better option."
>Grandmaster Arcane Devotion: ACTIVE.
>An intense, searing flicker of blue-hot Moonlight spreads throughout the Landbarge II, a sharp taste of anti-Elementals surging within you.
*"...Hodch. Why does it feel as if there is a NUCLEAR FUCKING ARMADA SWIMMING THROUGH MY VEINS."*
*"A precaution in case of Anti exposure."*
>Shaking her hands out quickly, Katyal turns around, slipping two claymores into large cargo pockets, then does so again before shivering.
"Goddess of Nine Moons, whoooooo... Hodch... I really, truly, absolutely hate you. Love you lots more though, but this better be the only time."
"It will be. Still want those wings?"
"....fuck it. Sure, why not? What's a little more weirdness in my life? Want 'em to be batpony though, no pegasus, Harpy, or other."
>Tossing out an unmarked bright red coin from the cabinet reappearing, Katyal catches it to glance over once before placing in a pocket on her left side.
>A minute twitch in reality is shared between the two, the brief mind contact carrying warm humor, though is tinged with brutal finality.
>The woman reaches up to extract Queen Chrysalis' winge scale, tossed back into the cabinet which dephases afterwards.
"You have three choices: formally visit Twisted Wing or the Lunar Council for their blessing, or Luna when she recovers. After that, visit Six Moons Bastion at Midneight. And try not to be like you-know-who with them."
"I'll try for number one an-"
"Please do not seduce her. Or her stallion."
"No promises."

"Dul feel great now!"
>Smoothly drifting out from the piloting cabin, the Siren stretches out in front of the first chair, the faux-earth mare's body ripples, becomes partially solid once more.
"Ooooh, this nice! Is time for Dul to work hard?"
"Should we be careful, no. Otherwise, I need you to protect Pareidolia. If he does not need to be guarded, focus on quick, efficient kills. Do not cut merely threads, take back every scrap of Itam possible."
>Leaping up to walk on probably nothing again, quartets of triple-jointed, gleaming purple blades flexing outwards with a calculating smile, closing and opening one eye, then the other.
"Dul LOVE huge orders!"
[1d6 = 4] <Language Adaption
[1d6+1 = (1+1) = 2] <Tallus Acclimation
[1d6+1 = (4+1) = 5] <Vortex Adapt: Tallus
[1d6+5 = (2+5) = 7] <Siren's Gaze
[1d6 = 4]

>>391582
>>391813
>Tossing the bright yellow bracelet to Katyal, she rolls it around in both hands several times, then nods slightly, slipping it into an internal jacket pocket while leaning on her chair.
"Anvil goes to the sweet batmare student that kissed you first. Recover your figurine; whichever Disciple accepts it takes both books. Avenge her, kill everything that interferes. Find the Shaman's youngest. Admit four into the Room, deny all others.
Take Carry My Love goes to Naliyna and Thrill first; if they don't accept give it to the bitch, force her to join if i have to. Pain, Pride and the onyx figurine goes to your best friend. Hoofbands go to Clemency and Jeff. Smoke After Dusk stays with Razorback's Lunar aligned, order them to kill all living beings it reacts to.
Locate all Lunar Necromancers and Druids, restore their glory by force if I have to. Return all other belongings to previously stated individuals. Ignore Ethereals unless they piss me off, neutron them if they get pissy.
Escape if necessary but take everything valuable I can get to. If we fail, get to the Lunar Council or Twisted Wing but preferably both, invoke terms of a combined assault force. If either refuses go straight to Cadence, force them to agree."
"All correct. I have no further words.. or thanks to offer."
"Been here over two years now, don't need 'em now."
[1d6 = 6] <Mindscape: Harden
[1d6 = 5] <Morale: Improvemarent

>Reaching forward into a tiny moonlit pocket, a small kanpri cylinder is retrieved and popped open, gateway closing as the outlines of a large, rectangular, possibly aquatic Void creature shifts briefly, the container then tossed onto Katyal's chair.
"One last task for you, my friend. Seek out what disturbs the Black inside this structure. Rejoin your kin after this."
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8] <n'Tapi: Sense Danger

>Floating the black onyx Melari to you, Hodch's eyes close behind sapphirine, armored head shaking as he speaks flatly.
"I finally understand what these were made for and why. Take this, but only invoke it twice. Same method as most enchantments. Give it to Katyal afterwards, there is a pony whom desperately needs to know they did not betray another.
As you were not born under Luna's Moon, do not bear Her favor, nor does Her heart's blood flow inside you, a third exposure will kill no matter how much time passes."

>Moving to stand in the Landbarge's center as it strafes around the City-Grounds, head swiveling left to Katyal, checking her gun belt, rifle, webbing, then jacket one last time.
"Are you ready?"
*"Yep, going topside on left."*
*"Go."*
>Driver side hatch opening, the woman leaps, hands grabbing and pulling herself up in a single fluid motion, followed by Vindicator patiently waiting for the left rear drop hatch to open, spinning outwards rapidly.
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <E.Stealth
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]
[1d6+2 = (5+2) = 7] <E.Scouting
[1d6+2 = (3+2) = 5]
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4]
*"Pare, Shiibo's on guns and Rerculon's taking over as technician. If you're joining Kat or staying inside let me know."*

*"Before that. Pareidolia, Lonestar."*
>Tapping an armored hoof down, the unicorn harshly gazes you over as a large crystalline heart emerges from a dull blue rift, attaching to his left barrel plating.
*"The Tyrant will be thoroughly annihilated within the next two to five years. Unless Princess Celestia specifically requests aid, do not interfere or intervene. If another false alicorn is located, send her all the information available on it via addressed letter.
Empress Silver is finally gone, long live her better descendants. The Second Dynasty is under Dante's command, and a Solar Prince title has been honorably retrieved for him. If possible, assist him when requested regardless of how silly or disagreeable the task is. Do not speak of them to anyone, anypony, or any being. For all you know he is now indefinitely absent. And he is.
The majority of Constructs are busy dealing with their own 'problems'. Leave. Them. Alone. There is nothing to be gained except after a battle.
Ethereals suffered exceptionally high losses last night, and Princess Cadenza is in a better position to marginalize them.
The Dragons are satisfied, for now. They will present few difficulties to interact with. They will forever be sore at losing a diplomat, their entourage, gifts, and the thousands more whom pledged to serve Razorback should Old Canterlot been retaken properly. Do not mistake their gratitude for grace.
All sections of Tallus Void have overtaken most of the Moors once more, and the other Planes are unwilling or incapable of acting. The White and Blind have retreated to the outermost stretches, though we do not know how long that will hold.
With those in mind, there are only three significant threats left to deal with. This place is third.
The second is this: do not enter Stalliongrad for any reason, unless searching for Meadow Breeze. Razorback WILL stay out unless specifically invited by Tower Guard, and you have full permission to blow the kneecaps off any idiot that says otherwise or attempts to fuck over an agreemarent from Stream Lark, whom I must add is now the First Councilierge.
Dedicate all you have against Horizon and discard all else, nothing matters until she is dead. Spiral survived the most complete and well planned assassination attempt she was capable of committing to last year, which counts for a great deal.
Though I would have preferred the original, any significantly functioning Elemental version is the sole priority to retrieve. Willing or not."*

>>391582
>>391813
>>391814
>Pausing to take stock of the weapons on him, the pulsating sapphirine-mythril helmet tips down.
"Hm. Since a certain mare and her adorable filly haven't arrived..."
>Trailing off in disgruntlemarent, left forehoof makes a wide sweeping motion, glancing left to remove Prestaniszcio from Katyal's locker, which floats to his left side, then a black diamondine coin is wedged into a shoulder plate.
"Definitely need these two. Now."
>Turning forwards to mimic opening a book, slim, bitterly hollow pages appear in front of his snout mask, bending flat with a stern proclamation.
"Show what holy eyes long removed from life foretold of this Night."
[1d6 = 5] <GM.Necromarecy: The Warning Gift
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 3]
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 2]

>Lonestar tightly gripping pilot controls, reaching 140MPH and remaining at that speed, the forward screens now display an angled, sideways drift southwest around the gigantic laboratory's exterior, the clearing large enough to fit possibly a hundred fortresses the size of Razorback.
>What had once been a city-state had been turned into near perfectly flattened ground, the remains of buildings and streets entirely stripped from earth though could easily be seen from a lack of flora, disturbances, or activity.
>Slowing to 60MPH as a wide tunnel becomes apparent, the Landbarge II is pressed forwards, seamless road leading into a quarter kilometer entrance stretching forwards, approximately 200M in height.
>Centrally located close to the entrance, the first building was a half oval, registering as 160M in radius and 80M tall, divided into 12 levels, though the diagram was highly fuzzed.
"Biggest colony ships weren't half this big.."
>Expressionless at the scale, Lonestar slows to barely 40MPH, muttering several orders upon entering the dim megastructure.
*"Shiibo, don't fire unless hostiles are confirmed or need weapons otherwise. Rerculon, only repair when damage reaches ten percent thresholds. Hodch, rear front screen shows left, rear is right."*
'Acknowledged. Magnetic and electrical interference is considerably worse here. Performing EMP hardening, I will have limited functionality available otherwise.'
*"Do it."*
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] <E.Electronic Warfare
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]
'Priorities established. Diagnostic suite ready.'
*"Straight to the central building.. or whatever stops us first."*

[1d100 = 87] <Reaction

>>391599
>Sensing a burning eyebrow raising.. nope, it was both, the now bright rolling red pegasus
"What?
>Then another pair.
>A third.
>And a forth, fifth, the sixth through ninth..
>Meanwhile, the first two lower with an exasperated groan, Lilamaredre struggling to keep the wriggling Elemental mass from falling off her.
"Would you all quit? If they see her ears and tail, everypony will know she is not a threat, weird, OR otherwise an issue."
"I knew that."
"I did not know that."
"You most certainly did not."
"Can we agree the idea wa-"
"NO."
"Stop. Please."
"Fine."
[1d100 = 71] <Fire Elemental Formation

>The prophecy is fulfilled almost immediately: nearly all of the commoner mares heading towards you stare, eyes widen curiously, snouts twitch, and ears swivel forwards.
>One stallion passes by at a steep angle, head turned and tripping over a small brick riser, while another
>Meanwhile, the slightly upper class Saddle Arabians stop, the majority dumbfounded, confused, and reasonably interested.
>Sincere smiles, a variety of polite wiggles, flicks, nods, appreciative scrunches, and a single, slow blink are directed your way, though none make to approach or speak to you.
"Is Common Equestrian considered rare here?"
"From what I remember, it is. Most languages do not flow across borders easily, if at all. I believe the eastern Nags and pyramid delvers are taught the basics of a few Neighsian dialects."
"Ahhh, then they do not know what we are speaking?"
"Two to five favored words at most. Until we spot a highly ranked Bronze or titled Desert Guardian, or one spots us, that is. Then again either may only be able to offer the name of a larger town or city."

"It is fine, nopony knows!"
"You are a fool. They can all HEAR, in case you have not noticed."
"Can they?"
"Certainly, otherwise they may not be so agreeable.. from a distance."
"QUIET you knife-eared SLATTERN. These unusual horse-derivatives have no BUSINESS to conduct with EITHER of them!"
"I will have y-"
"Quiet, please. ....thank you."
"Y-"
"Stoooop."

>Finding the atmosphere less difficult and more open than originally felt, the thoroughfare ahead had fewer two level houses, now entering the start of a dedicated food trading market and crafting district, although the second was quite minor in comparison.
>Side eyeing the Stick in suspicion, and a fair bit of hunger, Lila's wings roll in a touchy, moderately annoyed motion.
"Still, let me know if this is not enough. Perhaps the next batch of prototypes will include a water container or two."
>Paying close attention to large, painted signs posted on much larger stands or stalls, the pegasus returns incoming nods with short ones of her own absentmindedly.
"I do not know how to translate the meaning, but we are in Vailru Forns. Likewise little here is recognizable, except for that one, I think it is a pineapple... and that may be a coconut. Or a gourd. I am not sure."
>Frowning slightly at her complete schooling failure, both ears cock rearwards, then perk at a brightly robed mare to the left, standing in front of several hundred transparent spheres, cylinders, cubes, and rectangles.
"That I do recognize. Bitter glass is sand from the Howling Sands region, refined by Mystics until it becomes diamond-like. The taste is hideous, too."

>Reaching a full scale market, an entire ring of large stone stalls around the oasis, at least ten rows deep, was quite unusual:
>Exotic fruits, roots, shoots, leaves, stems, tubers, nuts, gourds, and something that looked an awful lot like a ball of white fiber, along with a profuse variety of bottled and jarred powders, several of which you could tell were immarensely spicy, all contained in brown woven baskets.
>Each of which were being traded for... different ones.
"Hrm. Perhaps the variations indicate a strong country wide farming economy with efficient transport?"
>Halting to survey the remarkably calm, quiet scene, Lilamaredre's nostrils twitch as she gazes back and forth.
"Not quite. Most regions whom barter do not use coins, gems, or materials internally, excepting long distance trade routes. This may be an end point on a trade route, though that is doubtful. Lots of farmers, foragers, and harvesters, possibly local.
I do not see a Warp Gate, Amy."
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7] <B.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]

>>391813
>Following Hodch into the passenger bay, Pareidolia stands by as the living eldritch lance brought into being. Having seen its eccentricities before within Razorback, he keeps his distance.
(Would prefer to avoid sentient weapons, nevermind eldritch. Too many personality... )
>He sighs as Vindicator begins materializing question marks.
(-variables.)
>Moving to his locker, now expanded thanks to Lonestar's wish disc, he assesses his inventory for combat. Slumbering Wrath, the Poison Burst Pendant, the Spinel Dragon figure and Crin Feathers are removed from his pack and stored away.
>As he does so, Katyal begins mentioning terms presumably about the conditions of her employment on this operation. All very much outside of his sphere of involvement.
(May be better to not remember this.)
>He grabs and slots into his vest two drum magazines of 10 gauge buckshot, one drum magazine of finned darts, and all of the magazines available for his FG103 and GSL-H9. Additional free floating ammunition including an additional magazine's worth of buckshot and finned darts, one drum magazine of slugs, and 80 rounds of 11x92MM would be distributed to quick access pouches or webbing on his pack.
>Lacsidrae would be Stuck to his hip belt while relevant pendants, rings, chisel, and otherwise would be worn nominally.

>Turning around to see Hodch fully armored and kitted, he furrows his brow slightly as the Starborn Nightblade presents another classified contingency plan.
"If you're sure."
>A hiss of air presses through his gritted teeth as roiling heat courses through his veins accompanied by a vivid blue Moonlight flashing through the vehicle. The light's intensity seeming to match the boiling sensation in his blood.
>He Sticks his right arm against the locker door behind him, half leaning.
"Like the opposite of... a neural grafting pod. Hfffff... the Anti precaution is appreciated. Wish that there could be a more accessible... Haaa... option having it to round out my response protocol."
>Feeling the cooling sensation of Naliyna's Rime Lattice gift for Spiral from his vest pocket, he presses his hand over it.
(Feels strange with heat being deeper than the skin.)
>Glancing up at Hodch, he plainly notes further interactions as stockpiles and favors are tapped into along with storage options being conjured and dispelled out of thin air.
(Convenient. Wings from a coin. The levels of power being traded are absolutely above my clearance.)

>He pushes off the locker, having gained some control over the new baseline level of sensation within his blood in time to see and hear Dul who seemed to have acclimated further to Tallus during her time in the world.
>Nodding towards her, he moves to stand nearby. Her behavioral expression of glee at the prospect of a "huge order" prompts a smirk from him.
'High potential for gap moe from killing machines like her. Very endearing, right Shiibo?'

>He gestures at Dul before pointing towards himself.
"Dul if we enter combat, there will be times you won't be able to see me due to my suit. Do you know of any way that only you could see to keep track of me? I don't want to hamper your ability to attack targets in melee."

>>391814
>Passing a wary side eye to the unusual list of objectives Katyal was rattling off, he pauses before shaking his head.
(More history and plans I do not need or want to know about.)

>He takes the proffered figure of a Melari in mid swipe, expression blanching somewhat as Hodch mentions an inevitable death upon a third use.
"If that's the nature of this, I'll try not to use it at all."

[YouTube] Kenji Kawai · The Ballade Of Puppets: The Ghost Awaits In The World Beyond · OST · 2004 [Embed]

>A rush of wind briefly gusts through the compartment twice as Katyal and Vindicator exit for the hull of the OT-5.
>Confirming their departure, he then takes a few steps towards the pilot compartment before Hodch's tone stops him. A clear, heavy gravity was felt in his words.
>Turning to face the armored unicorn, his expression shifts from serious to shock and then disbelief tinged with outrage.
>He can't stop himself from muttering an incredulous and confused:
'What?'
>Blinking rapidly, an apparently extensive intelligence report continued to be relayed as he worked to process the news that somehow yet another Razorback operative had inserted himself into the leading position of the Second Dynasty, a potential nightmare from his worst projections.
>Hearing the various stipulations, he slowly nods as mentally he attempts to file these staggering revelations into place to be considered later.
*"I... I can't say I understand all of that. But I will save questions for post-op. I will comply. Functional versions of Spiral marked for priority retrieval. I'll disembark once we arrive on site."*

>>391815
>Seeing Hodch undergoing further preparatory rites, Pareidolia turns to the viewscreen in time to see an interior rivaling that of the arcologies of his Earth.
(This scale... almost familiar. But insane given the circumstances...)
>Quickly moving to the pilot's cabin, he stands by near the closest side hatch while focusing on the viewscreens with a tense stance, Sticking himself to the wall as an added precaution.
(Brace for it. It would be around now if this were a trap.)

>>391839
>Staggering forwards two steps before spreading legs out, the blue-white barrel plates stretch outwards, Hodch exhaling in an agonized, raspy tone.
*"Apologies, this is one of the.. five my Order has been unable to.. do more than copy.. was based on Naghtmares.. hurts more than
it should-"*
*"Feels... ...you know what, compared to what Horizon did to us, this is way nicer."*
>Cool pinpricks spread across skin, extracting the painful, deep seated Lunar burning, leaving a faint backwash of soothing, late fall night winds.
>Coughing three times, surprisingly normally, the unicorn gives a full body shake, huffing in a disgruntled tone.
*"Or maybe I did that wrong.. either of you want a pair of artificial wings as well? Parachutes are, in my utterly professional opinion, shit."*

>Turning to face you, the avatar was CLEARLY. BURNING. AGGRESSIVELY. JEALOUS.
>Although reasonably calm and rational, displaying an insanely high compatibility metric of 93.5%.
'An adorable courier with access to most Planes, unlimited VIP travel capability, an exceptional code of honor which is virtually impossible to corrupt, and full willingness to guard a package or individual with lethal force?
9.2/10. Another +0.1 if she is soft. A further +0.1 if she happens to enjoy plushies, cute attachments, and styling. An additional +0.1 if she is willing to cosplay. Lastly, +0.2 if she is capable of
In sum: ALL OF MY Y E S, SIR. You cannot begin to imagine the Medical, Social, Cultural, Technological, and sheer interest ratings.'
>Restoring the faux-hooves to their normal appearance, the Siren's eyes shut, grinning profoundly.
"It okay, Dul know you scent and feel wiggly weapons now! Dul not able hurt you so Dul guard safe. Or is safe guard?"
>Meanwhile, 'Shiibo' suffers a combined nosebleed, aneurysm, and heart attack in the background.

>Leaning sideways to rest against Form & Function, the unicorn's helmet shakes uncomfortably.
"Originally, Dusk Striders and Neighsian gem-smiths created those in honor of individuals chosen by Lunar Melari, whom are distantly related to the extinct Purrsians.. somehow. That may have been a long time ago, yet there are a number of the second still creating these. Please do not make me order you to invoke it twice. Believe me, the potential is far too valuable not to make use of.
And you may be granted the second or third, depending on how this goes."

>Testing Prestaniszcio's direct control limitations in an orbit, Hodch snorts in a flat, neutral marener.
*"This isn't about compliance. What we need are humans to work with us, not falling into self-sabotaging cycles, making idiotic choices, or succumbing to inane circumstances.
Excepting Grand Rites or Spells, highly restricted, banned, unobtainable, painfilly slow to produce, and lost weaponry, Tallus is vulnerable. Otherworlders however are able to fully destroy a considerable amount of inherently destructive beings, particularly Extra-Planar, Planar, some Eldritch, and Undead.
The Princesses chose an option that I did not believe in. Clemency, Lont, Jeff, Dante, Katyal, and... well, the reconstructed Hollow, among others, show they were and still are correct. Would you try to dissuade them when living proof exists?"*
*"All I've got is one question: the fuck is the Second Dynasty and how'd Dante get involved?"*
>It didn't take much to feel Hodch smiling, reaching to slide the conceptual tome back out of reality.
*"A strange prophecy from the Early Dynasty, also known as the First Foundation, rarely told throughout the past two thousand years.
Madmares called it the salvation of earth and Crystal ponies. The Doomed stated it would be known as True Unification. The Cursed proclaimed all of Silver's descendants would die in two terrifying battles, one against a Horizon where they would shatter it and create an end, the second against Stalliongrad itself.
The Lost decreed a Solar Prince would die for them in return, then bring those whom could live once more to a palatial City-State, one broken by the Empress and left to recover. The Vigil Light Cult, now the Vigilites, sought to force the prophecy into existence in a slightly different marener, one which would allow them to know peace with Tallus.
The Earth Core's curse would be repealed, and the Spirit Core would remember its true duties. Earth ponies would once again have a single stallion per five mares. No more need to condemn themselves into Earthwalking, seeking to repay Tallus for Silver's mistakes and swearing an oath they would never give nor bear foals without her acceptance. Earth Sorcerors, Psions, and Crystal ponies would be whole again, interacting freely without judgemarent, shame, ridicule, or conflict.
As for how, I tend to understand prophecies well enough to know what is most likely. Also, there are still a few on the Citadel distributing information."*

>Drifting past the first half-oval building, the second was a 160M tall, 100M wide dome, lit internally by a brightly gleaming tree, four-bladed leaves creating thousands of constantly shifting, slow moving imprints on the darkened crystalline material.
>Patterns of rodents, piscines, avians, ponies, Minotaurs, Gryphons, Harpies, among more and less familiar sentient and sapient species display across the dome's interrior, a twinge of familiarity occurring.
>Cutting the Landbarge's speed down to observe colossal fruit hanging from the wide branches, eerily similar to mangoes, the shockingly bright white-clear causes Lonestar to let go of the controls.
"Mother of gods, the size of those.."
*".....what are we looking at?"*
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <Investigation
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <E.Stealth
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4]
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8]
*"I might have just shit myself. Checking-"*
*"It's like an entire floating arcology, but on land.. Hodch, when you said invitation, did you mean THIS?"*
*"Luna's hooves, no. An open building without security measures, guards, gates, fences, or barriers inherently means 'come in'. Do ANY of you know what this might be?"*

[1d100 = 32] <Welcoming

>>390752
>Now he's getting somewhere with those suggestions.
>Ivan would nod, he was quite familiar with the idea that Krinza was pushing forth.
"Veteran STALKERs would use similar loadouts, or scientific research equivalents. The researchers, mostly from Ecologists, would use gear more suitable to protect from environmental threats over beast and bullet, however."
>Though he would have to admit he'd much rather have arrived with a fully functional Ecologist SEVA suit.
>Much nicer than a Sunrise.

"I can imagine their strength makes it much easier to build large works."
>He frowned at the statement of in the psyches, turning his head away for a moment.
(I do not like that implication, even if an innocent one.)
>He needed a drink.

"Sunlight might hurt their eyes. Traders... Wouldn't know. Could always investigate."

>>391043
"I'm referring to non-patchwork repairs, not what you're able to do at this moment."
>It sounded painful, though.
"The only thing that would not hurt in removal would be my hair, and only if properly cut off."
>My tone was flat, but I knew she didn't mean her inquiry as a jab at me.
>Probably.

"We're not being watched from what I can tell either. No alarm bells going off."
>I pause for a moment, before glancing up at her as she... peels apart parts of herself.
"Internal, mental alarm bells. Humans come with a 'sixth sense' on being watched."
>I'll definitely have to be careful to avoid accidentally making her too curious about something.
>Again.

>>391041
>Bubba would have to put off the smell for the moment.
>Much more important things to focus on than trying to figure out what it was, that could wait until it was dead.

"There's plenty of space, I'd hope. So long as you all allow them the fun of attacking it as well."
>He kind of promised them that.

>Not exactly a hard thing to do, breaking Roust's speed records.
>Floating would be quite a good way to sneak around, if properly utilized.
"Something to burn, or otherwise destroy."
>He was now desiring the idea of bring white phosphorous grenades with him.
>As he brings Gilda to bear in a ready position, he'd look over the SL's appearance.
>Kinda cute.
"Very acceptable. I wasn't intending on killing anything this early in my own mission."
>Or at all, really.

>>391886
"A respectable amount of flexibility is appreciated by ponies in difficult locales, particularly against unknown hostiles. That is why Lann insisted on producing a rather basic armor set, with additional layering and protection, though it will take some time for wide spread usage. The first twenty are, technically speaking, post-prototypes, yet she is confident in her ability to easily repair each and continue production at the same time.
After customization, of course."
>Quietly chortling at the wide scale implications, Krinza flexes out his front legs, eyes swiveling to inspect the helmet, then rest of the Exosuit.
"Luckily you happen to be within one of the best midweight armored combat systems outside of the Crystal Empire. Canterlot Underground cannot boast a third the utilities of yours with their environmarental sets.
It may take four to five years for them to catch up as their designs are rarely high specification generalist, and they do not have close ties with the Empire. Yet."

>Reaching in to tap the edges several times, he sits back with a disgruntled sigh, then directs the head out for a closer inspection.
"Damn it. Too cold, will fracture."
>Inhaling deeply, as much as he could, the smith breathes a stream of condensed flame across the surface, turning it over once, twice, then three times, setting it back inside.
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10] <M.Elemarental Chemistry
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+6 = (6+6) = 12]
[1d6+10 = (3+10) = 13] <GM.Enchanter
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14]
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]

"Indeed, yet the scale of what Minotaurs create is entirely different from ponies. The Hegemony is able to set up an entire smithing industry within a week in a new town and have direct supply lines with little more than a few extra grumbles. They prioritize efficiently made, sturdy weapons and armor of specific styles. No decorations, minimal customization, though given a number of mystic blessings which ensure longevity and effectiveness against particular threats.
Enchantmarents are quite rare, either being considered a luxury, gifted, or from one's family."
>Floating another weapon to his anvil, this time a heavily overbuilt lance with a long, grooved needle point, the shaft a moderately cracked darker wood, Krinza taps a front hoof over the length.
"In three to six hours, depending on complexity, what I am able to accomplish is a technically completed weapon. That is, with sufficient materials, knowledge of said materials, enchantmarents, and a decent amount of quiet. Such a classification is deemed 'Perfected'. I am unsure where the term originated from, nor when, how, why, and from whom.
Dissimilarly, a full set of armor takes from six to ten without aid. Add another one to four for Lann to finalize the design, and we have a true cottage industry as it were."
>Critically eyeing the lance over, he begins stress testing the steel composite.
"Less than thirty of Razorback prefer daytime. Either way, five squad leaders, nine Elites, and ten Veterans have requested heavier weaponry to deal with local flora. Not so much fauna, though I do not know why.
And I dearly hope Hodch's other student will begin aiding soon. Patient as I am, I cannot outfit the entirety of Razorback's needs in a single month."
[1d6+6 = (3+6) = 9] <M.Research
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+6 = (3+6) = 9]
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+11 = (4+11) = 15] <GM.Smith
[1d6+11 = (4+11) = 15]
[1d6+11 = (6+11) = 17]
[1d6+11 = (2+11) = 13]

"I will make time for whatever you come back with."

>>391887
>The closest repair tendril raises, turns towards Wild, then at you, twists around in a short 180, quickly carving the word PAIN into air.
"This feels patchwork. I may not be able to fully restore the head unit if material continues to be lost at this rate, and I will be unable to utilize special metals without significant investigative progress."
>Repair unit repeating the first two motions, it spells out HELP.
"Quiet, you. I can restore the majority o- nevermind, you are quiet."
>Making a snarky roll upwards, then technically nodding at you, the unit resumes taking apart destroyed whatever-that-is-you-really-didn't-feel-like-knowing-now-or-ever-thank-you-so-much-for-not-sharing.
"No physical modifications are safe? I may have alternatives, if my primary nodes are still intact. There are categories known as 'additions' and 'attachments', but I have not been able to access more than basic prototypes and possible uses at this time."
>Sneakily turning, the tendril rapidly shakes like a pony shedding water.
>This was getting weirder all the time...

>Shearing off large chunks of slag and ruined black fibers, sections of molten steel alloys are collected and placed into shoulder compartments, Wild Ride testing her fingers once more.
>Which, surprisingly, weren't terribly damaged.
"No Construct frequencies or unidentified signatures within ten kilometers. No interference at this time.. two-hundred and ninety-eight living biological organisms of at most five hundred pounds within radius, all on land. Ninety percent under forty pounds. One hundred and ten presumed dying. Approximately nine hundred more deceased. Minor Elemental signatures; danger level.... minimal.
Broadening arrays to long range reception and sweeps."
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <Arcanum Sensors Array: Survey
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] <Omni-Sensor Arrays: Long Rang Scan
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]

>Less human and more organically related machine underneath, the underlying structures that were once part of a head were, for the most part, relatively normal.
>Except for the twisted bundles of interconnected, destroyed black fibers traveling in every direction, flaking into a soot-like trail upon being touched.
>Those were weird.
"Agreed. I suspect my presence limits aggression and hostile contacts.. excluding large, aquatic Planar creatures."
>The tone contained such pure hatred, disgust, and fury that you thought of taking a few hundred steps away.
>Which probably wouldn't be a bad idea, except for the rain starting to come down in larger drops.
>She definitely needed counseling, but you couldn't think of a single capable pony or human.
>Except the bats, they liked strange objects.
>Particularly the tastes, too.

>Rotating at the waist, Wild emits a quiet electronic noise that was probably good, roughly half of her metallic jaw had been.. fairly well put together, from what you could tell.
>Although the greasy looking hinges on either side weren't inspiring much confidence.
"Two of four primary nodes and one secondary node of eight located. Moving to central cabin and REPLACING the connections to each."
[1d6+14 = (3+14) = 17] <Grade 1 Auto-Repair
[1d6+15 = (6+15) = 21]
[1d6+15 = (1+15) = 16]
[1d6+13 = (6+13) = 19] <Grade 2 Auto-Repair
[1d6+13 = (5+13) = 18]
[1d6+13 = (5+13) = 18]
[1d6+20 = (4+20) = 24] <Tryptaran Autorestoration
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <Repair Tendril #1
[1d6+3 = (6+3) = 9] <RT-#2
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <RT-#3
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5] <RT-#4
[1d6+3 = (6+3) = 9] <RT-#5
[1d6+2 = (3+2) = 5] <RT-#6
[1d6+2 = (1+2) = 3] <RT-#7
[1d6+1 = (4+1) = 5] <RT-#8

>>391881
>A sigh of relief exhales from his helmet as the orb's cooling sensation stabilizes.
*"Unnecessary. My Mist-Foam Circlet will provide descent control, and I'm not trained in operating with wings."*

>Giving Dul a singular light pat on her head, he then offers Shiibo a bemused and contrite grin.
"Safeguard, and that's good to hear."
'And, sorry Shiibo. Be assured, we'll make you a frame fit to your caliber for equally effective performance.'

>Hefting the onyx Moor Cat figure in his hand, he shrugs.
"Fine... if you insist. Though I'd still rather not need it at all."

>Hodch's words prompt Pareidolia to sigh.
*"Exceptions to the rule are far from proof. Jeff, Lont, Dante, and the like are flukes. Circumstances do not produce them in sufficient consistency to be a reliable option when left to their own devices. I wouldn't try to dissuade. My only goal is to highlight the missing nuanced path for the optimal outcome."*
>He then lapses into silence as the Prophecy of the Second Dynasty is revealed.
*"This major shifting of powers is unprecedented then. Were Silver alive, contingencies would need to be deployed. I'll trust that your sources are accurate regarding her death. Maybe the only silver lining in this mess. I don't want to believe that another human has ended up in such a powerful position, regardless of how clean their character may be."*

>Pareidolia remains warily Stuck to the wall plating despite the lack of any apparent reaction or resistance to their entry into the eerily massive structure.
>The OT-5 enters a dome awash in white light and backlit by the motif of a sort of "Tree of Life", causing him to scrutinize the viewscreen intently.
>All manner of species seen across Tallus and many more unfamiliar to him rove across the interior surface of the dome.
*"This... arcology of some kind... and a 'Tree of Life'? May be symbolic, let me think... "*

[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <Adept Razorback Company
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5]
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4]
[1d6 = 4] <E. Perception
[1d6 = 2]
[1d6 = 2]

>In a moment of recall, he then reaches for his pack to bring out the 5TCA tablet.
*"If you bring us closer, I can attempt to scan that and the local area with this tablet."*

>Once within range, he would attempt to use the loaned device.
'You left us this for a reason Spiral... is this it?'

[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <Flora Detection
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Resonance Detection
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <Elemarental Detection

>>391825
>Holding her staff a little closer nervously, Amethyst noticed that the two of them were attracting quite a lot of attention.
>Not bad attention, but this was definitely more than the ipotane was used to. Maybe it was the boots, the boots always attracted stares whenever she wore them about.
>She sighed a little at the puppet's continued bickering.
"They may not understand what we are speaking about, but they can definitely hear multiple voices coming from you lot, and we are supposed to be appearing less odd for a little while. Don't make put you all in the pack with The Rock."
>She paused.
"Except you. You've been quiet so far, you can stay out."

>Shifting a little in the heat, Amethyst pondered it momentarily.
>While the filly was obviously at her happiest in the coldest temperatures she could attain, this wasn't too bad. She wasn't losing water to lather and sweat the way she was earlier at least.
"It's tolerable, wish I had a sunhat though, maybe we could buy one around here?"
>Amy absentmindedly prodded the kerbann gently against Lila again upon noticing her hungry expression, allowing her to drain what Fire the wood had been able to absorb since last time.
"What about you? Are you okay not turning yourself into a Promethean Sun while we're here?"

>With most of the Fire removed, Amethyst extended her senses to try to catch the Warp Gate's signature again. It had definitely been north, it couldn't be too far away, yet it was still out of sight.
"Uncertain, just north, and a sense of Water mingled with Fire nearby. It would makes sense for the Warp Gate to be in or around the Oasis however. I'll check again in case."
>The filly focused the strange sense for magic she possessed on getting an exact location fix rather than simply direction, comparing the strength of her prior sensings with the energies she now reached for.
>Hopefully the Saddle Arabians wouldn't mind her sorcerous locating, if they did, she'd have to fall back on resonance alone.

[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]

[1d6+1 = (1+1) = 2] < B. Scouting
[1d6+1 = (1+1) = 2]

[1d6+2 = (4+2) = 6] < B. Crystal Runes
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4]

>>391890
>Performing a last equipmarent check, which consisted of sighing at the damaged locking clamps her lance had been torn from, Six retains her semi-professional demarenor, glancing around last time at the forces arrayed behind.
"Estimate one hundred twenty Starborn and Lorekeepers. Necessary amount of space required to conduct a standard battleline assault will be forty square yards. They are quite ready, and I think this may be a great stress relief considering how angry most of them are. "
>South side shaking in a tiny motion, Nine twists her neck armor.
"Nah, thirty square yards. Tight is best after all!"
>Side eyeing her opposite, a prickly grin spreads at a second, considerably heavier impact.
"You would say that, being the best living example."
"Wh- why are you like this to me?! What did I DO?!"
>Waiting for a third, five seconds pass until the entire Enclave shakes at a booming thud, Six slides left three paces, snapping ninety degrees right , left foreleg lifting and pointing at Nine's helmet.
"Calling a single part of you loose would make every prior, current, and future mare in existence larger than a Ferron shriek in raging jealousy! No, YOU are a negative twenty atmosphere pressure vacuum in the form of a mare, one that I'm angry at for being in the same squad! How can I even try to compare with you!?
As for what you did, I'm STUCK without MY WEAPON and I have to put up with YOU having the better flanks and softe-"
>As Six and Nine change their shouting match to Imperial, the squad leader's eyes shift towards you, gleaming brightly as she nickers above the pair.
"Which alicorn or deity did we please to make this night so incredibly amusing?"
>Ordering the pair to use their hololiths, they ignore it, subsequently butting heads to shout at each other, the squad leader's lance tips down to click into place at an intensely loud, shrieking howl-roar, the remaining seven doing the same.
"Agreed. Unfortunately we are only allowed up to Class Five Rime micro-cluster impactors, higher grades can only be used in the Empire. The majority of Lava and Magma weapons are only carried by Cadenza's Unicorn Guard or the Spireguard. Crystal ponies burn far too easily, though now I wish we had access to them."
>Shrugging heavily, spinal plating drags outwards in a lightly grating sound, displays imposing over both eyes, one recording, the other featuring a dancing Melari.
"Neither were we. Orders were to guard a VIP wherever he goes, barring having to knock out ten to fifty hostiles, an-"
>A tremendous crunch shuts the mouth of everypony, heads immediately swiveling forwards.
>Between the southernmost Enclave buildings, large chunks of compressed stone nearly explode outwards, the dome buckling several degrees, only for a mass of half-rotten muscle to slide out, supported on unusually steady, albeit heavily deformed false-hooves.
>No longer in the shape of a pony, it seemed to be more of a feral, carnivorous bovine, slightly less than 15M in height and probably three times longer, the boxy lower jaw covered in partially fluorescent, jagged teeth.
"To be honest I'm not sure thaaaaaaaat counts.."
"There's no way that thing fit inside a single unicorn's body."
"And yet, it did."
"Looks sssssort of familiar."
"Not to me."
"Hooves are deformed. Definitely not in Lorekeeper records."
>Struggling to heave its bulk out of the buildings, the head twists upwards, sloughed eyelids wrenched shut, the left side covered in erupting crystalline growths, flakes, chunks, and pieces scattering off.
>Tilting her ExoFrame helmet's visor up, blinking once, twice, then slapping it down, the leadmare barks out a single hysterical laugh.
"CADENCE'S SNOUT LUNA'S TEATS AND THE QUEEN'S WINGS! IS THAT THING A FREAK EATER?!"
"Yep."
"Appears that way."
"We, and by that I mean those with actual weapons, sho-"
>Freed from its confines, the hideous mass of partially crystallized, molten rubbery flesh halts after a long, rubbery step forwards.
>Striding forwards, a pair of sunken, six toned deformed eyes blink, the murky green, red, yellow, orange, brown, and blue eyes open, sharpening to pinpricks in visceral fear as it speaks in a warbling, wet and grating voice.
"Excuse me, good ponies, Minotaurs, Gryphons, and others! I seem to have made several truly regrettable mistakes this night and the previous! This is not where I intended to be, and I do not thi-"
"KILLITSOFASTITDIESTODEATH!"
>Fully facing the slightly over one-point-three companeighs of Lunar and Empire might INSTANTLY charging towards it, the doppelganger's six-toned eyes droop in shame.
"...well. My two last words it is then. Fu-"
>Kanpri explosives mixed with manabombs hurtle straight ahead, every Elemental color blends with crystalline shockwaves, shearing bursts, and tight beams of Rime ripple overhead.
>Immediately followed by a giant anchor, a decent number of arrows, obscenely large lances, perhaps two dozen pegasi, three dozen batponies, two Minotaur statues (refurbished), a bright orange pillar, sixteen unstable Rime Lattices..
>The soulglyph reports it was unable to count ALL of the projectiles, nor did it want to.

>Six stares on morosely, Nine pointing at the creature accepting its late stage fate.
"Should we help them?"
"With what?"
"Morale support?"
"Do you honestly believe THEY need any?"
"Nooooo.. bu-"
"That's it. I'm stealing the closest bottle of hard liquor and drinking the entire thing. My lance BETTER be intact otherwise I'm gluing you to it and sending you straight back to the Spire so you can explain all of tonight's fuck ups"
>Swiveling ninety degrees left, the mare stomps away, leaving Nine to grimace apologetically.
"Ssssorry. She's a lot nicer when we're not dealing with unknowns.. Suppose I'll... stand guard. Right here. If you don't mind?"

>......given the creature's immense volume and quickly circling hostiles, ANY shot above three meters would be sufficiently high to avoid friendly fire.

>>391975
>Bubba would ignore the 'subtle' sexual innuendos going between the two.
>He would have to wonder what he did to deserve this later.
"God only knows who. I was prompted to come out here on a... moment of insane clarity or something."
>He just shrugged to the SL.
"Sounds like a petition should be made to get some better weapons, if you're dealing with these on the regular."
>The rather rude interruption of the fully exposed doppelganger caused Bubba to turn as well.
>And look up.
>.. And up.
>Letting out a low whistle, he had to at least take a moment to appreciate the monstrous size of the creature.

"I would be astounded that it could even stand up if I haven't seen weirder."
>Bubba would consider using his Construct cannon before pushing the idea out of his mind for the moment.
>Even with its size there was more of a chance of friendly fire than he was comfortable with.
>Mostly.
>Aiming towards its upper body, Bubba would fire off Gilda at it.
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <E. Small Arms+Steady
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]

>>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]

>>391974
"See? I told you earlier, but noooo-"
>Tossing a long, sideways and flat raspberry at the roll of puppets, Lilamaredre wiggles both ears at her second favorite with a knowing grin.
"He's always good about that."

>Expression turning bleak for three momarents, her snout twitches in thought.
"Wait, how am I hearing them?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Oh, exposure. Right. Not like I don't have a few Sorceries to use either."
>Not quite to expectations, mares were mostly intrigued by your clothes, ears, and chiming hoof steps, briefly pausing to consider the first two, while a few exchange friendly yet politely jealous glances at your tail.
>The few passing stallions were highly impressed at the hoofboots, checking their own and those nearby before shrugging, then continuing on, Lila subtly motioning towards several.
"See what I mean? The hood does no favors, except to keep the Sun off."

>Delivering a slightly fresher sphere of cool air, the pegasus sweeps her gaze around in a wide angle, eyes narrowed.
"I do not see a single hat or armor other than long hoofboots. Cloaks, robes, veils, some type of strange pad.. saddles. Lots of those. Too marely. Small amounts of cloth, mostly rough. Lots of comfy looking carpets though.
I will keep looking."
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8] <B.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]
>Finally able to form the mass on her saddle into a cohesive shape, it coalesces into a fairly bland, wavy bright red, orange, yellow, and white ingot.
>Which proceeds to melt a little bit on three ends, small surface bubble pop, and overall darkens several hues, garnering an apathetic stare.
"Why."
>Accepting the poke, her primary feathers glisten bright red once more, looking straight up briefly before shrugging with her shoulders.
"Not really. There is a wide difference between Fire as thermal radiation and being directly exposed to the Sun. Really do not understand why this is so difficult. The Baroness had me repeat this ritual hundreds of times. Perhaps I need to.. ..I have no idea. "

>Testing a sniff at multiple directions, Lilamaredre mutters shallowly.
"There is Fire which is not technically fire, but I cannot understand why. Grilled vegetables, tubers, roots, spices, those I can smell, though none are similar enough to it. And it is not anti-Elemental either, I know what that smells like."

>Beckoning the locale to share its energies with you, sifting through the specific aspects of raw, subrefined, and refined magic caused several internal marental compasses to twitch, then spin rapidly.
>And continue to spin, though you were able to point out the Warp Gate's direction; an older, fully stabilized and well updated medium version, considerably better than a large portal stone.
>Tasting fragmarents of archaic thoughtforms, over two-thirds of the Saddle Arabians were tended to by a single mystical being, most carrying one or more pieces of cold resistant wargear, though few had enchantmarents of note, excluding for a small group northwest, the bright brassy tones unusual.
>Siphoning a quiet, single hum west-northwest north of a flat, warm tone, tinges of laughter accompaneigh smooth traces of expansion and contraction, occurring at calm, though seperated intervals.

"...why are you walking in a circle?"

>>391997
>Making an exasperated noise, Pareidolia curses under his breath before chiming into the radio again.
'Incredible fucking ignorance-'
*"I understand that if Tallus takes this poison without an antidote prepared, that it will cause permanent self injury if not death. I've witnessed no understanding of this concept thus far. A tandem effort to fight and prepare it is absolutely not beyond Tallus' abilities."*
>Rolling his eyes, he mutters:
'Why do I even bother with the uninitiated.'

>Sifting through his memories for a trace, the words of Astra Gallus and a strikingly similar albeit younger tree surface in his mind.
>Wanting to cross reference for certainty, he checks the tablet's readouts while Katyal offers her recollections.

*"It's a spirit-draining tree, Aether Element aligned. Canterlot Underground had said the fruit was safe to touch, but not the tree itself. Theirs was far younger and apparently hostile to life. Name translations for this tree allude to home, rest, and the end and beginnings of life. Dome composition is new and modified early Dynasty black diamondine, constructed within the past year and 6 months for one-way Element passage. Something about filtering out color, hues, and shading to allow viewers to see the thoughts of the Aether Plane via the tree."*

>Looking up towards the viewscreens again, he waits for Shiibo to adjust her electronic protocols before continuing.

*"This is likely an equivalent agri-drome, purpose built solely to raise this tree in an uncontrolled environment. The tree has adopted the physiological form of all fruit bearing trees, closer to a phenotypical Moor ecological presentation. Either it's an archaic native or became one easily under these conditions. I'm not versed in spiritualist and mystical practices enough to determine its relation to this city at large."*

>>391992
>Searching underneath the ExoFrame's plating for objects of use, Nine extracts a trio of tiny blue marbles.
>Which were blinking slowly.
"If tonight isn't filled with insane clarity, what would really qualify?"
>Whistling in a sharp, then flat tone, the miniature explosives streak forwards in a sharp arc, followed by a small, chaotically rippling sphere.
[1d6+9} <M.Crystal Runes: Push
[1d6+9 = (2+9) = 11] <M.Crystal Runes: Power-Shred
[1d6+9 = (4+9) = 13]
[1d6+9 = (1+9) = 10]
[1d6+9 = (1+9) = 10]

"Requests for small scale Elemental explosives are almost always accepted and access to special weaponry is allowed to all squad leaders, though most threats across the Empire are crystalline bioforms; Equestria is far more varied in comparison. And we did not think to be dealing with... that.
Besides, it is irresponsible to expose non-Crystal ponies to Rime above Class Five."
>Sighting onto a midpoint between what was probably chest and neck, a small pony smacks your shoulder, making you sausage at middle case eeee~ tones ringing in both ears.
>Barely moving on the Float from recoil, whatever injury it had taken was probably felt deeper than the alarmingly expensive projectiles being hurtled into it.
>And that was another steel statue (barely repaired) being thrown at the right eye.
>Surveying the eclectic ponies, Minotaurs, and Gryphons having immense, and immarense, fun in battering the doppelganger, it had clearly expended most of its energy prior, sections of decaying muscle scorched, vaporized, flash frozen, annihilated, and pounded into uselessness.

>Pulling an object to her, Nine frowns at an empty, partly twisted bright brown-purple bottle before sending it back, watching the fracas with a modicum of civility.
"Is this real? ...yep. Too expensive.
Sincerely agreed. Abominations and Infected have upper size and weight limitations depending on original species, but rarely more than ten factors higher than the original. Unless I am completely mistaken, which is not uncommon, is it moving rather sluggishly now? And why is it not fighting back?"

>>392004
*"What precisely do you think I am currently here for!? There is no bloody TIME to deliberate the distant future!"*

>Standing up and dusting herself off, the avatar makes a chagrined face, ticking off several fingers while opening the Lunar Pegasi and Lunar Unicorns apps.
'Sir. Cease.
You are an outsider looking upon a directly interconnected, virtually silent equine version of Infernal Affairs. Pun necessary. Two high ranking and respected Starborn whom know each other well are working in tandem with unlimited access and equally sharing time within Razorback.
One is overt: intense orders, harsh training regimens, strict hybrid discipline, rigidly enforcing social norms between humans and ponies. Sapphire Kiwi demands success, and when such is not achieved, doles out physical harm and severe punishments. Have you experienced her rage once? The answer is no, therefore you have matched her leadership expectations first, and warrior possibly second. Her effectiveness is suspect, yet her results are not.
One is covert: making inquiries, learning human backgrounds, teaching a wide range of knowledge fields, sharing native habits, offering suggestions, mediating social disputes. The disparities are clear, yet you are unnecessarily pointing out the same factors which Hodch has been solving in careful steps, ones which few ponies are willing to perform. There will be no gain from provoking Hodch's ire given the tremendous knowledge, influence, and incredible objects he has doubtless earned or been allowed access to.
Neither of us have significant details except to offer useful suggestions and, if asked, support. Until a catastrophic failure occurs, observe and report. In short: this is not your problem.'
>Eyebrows raising after a few moments, 'Shiibo' snaps her right forefinger and thumb, pointing upwards after.
'Ask Katyal how many contracts she accepted to remove problematic, troublesome, and damaging humans upon Tallus. You may regret the answers.'

"Dul walk around Aether Vortex lots times. Like-"
>Shifting until only eyes and hooves are visible, the first two close, stepping forwards in a blur to stop less than a foot away, reappearing with a short head tilt.
"Now. Aether how Sirens walk between live and not-live. Aether like Dul Vortex but same round like Tallus. Not same-same."
>Head swiveling to face northwest, ears flick down to point at roughly a 50 degree angle, at you, then Lonestar, and back.
"Dul feel colors there. Void, Water, hot, others. There, you, you, there. You and you know colors there."
[1d6+5 = (6+5) = 11] <Siren's Gaze
[1d6 = 6]

*"So this one's mature? Timeline would've been made around the time Spiral left."*
*"It is. However, that much would have taken years to produce without a baffling amount of assistance. I know ecology and Mysticism well, this.. I have a.. not sure how to describe this. I feel as if I have been formally invited to rest here, then find a place where I would belong around. It knows I cannot accept, but has made the attempt nonetheless."*
*"Then we better keep this knowledge quiet in case it's sensitive, right?"*
*"No, Lone, this might be safe. Hodch, the Solar Prince prophecy was, or is, wrong. Spirit Core was supposed to return during the final stage, right?"*
*"Yes, right after the Second Dynasty claimed its place and before the Fourth Foundation channeled a new course from their blood.. or it already has?"*
*"It hasn't, otherwise somepony would've said as much. Damned thing was probably killed again.. prophecies can wait because I am MAJORLY creeped the fuck out. I'm not seeing a mango; that's the fimalir. Big tributary fruit, basically a peach but covered in a hard shell with nasty spines."*
>Placing his headset back on, Lonestar waits for the two to continue, tapping the mic lightly and angling the Landbarge II straight west.
*"Might know a little bit about this. Navarchs claimed there were something called the 'Great Mangoes' all over. Asked around a bit when I could, they never agreed on a color that wasn't orange, clear, or white. Maybe this one was taken but didn't get returned.. could be why Destroyers see visions of giant fruit and go berserk."*
*"....I would rather not think about that. Let us all ignore the tree for now, continue towards the center."*

>Passing the brightly lit dome, then increasing speed to nearly 85MPH, the third is similarly sized to the first in a solid jet black, the exterior covered in layers of bubbles.
>Orienting external lights onto it, bright white reflects across the surface in a chain, exposing thousands of small growth clusters, archaic and ancient Tallus flora growing in directional gravity.
*"...you were saying somethin' about an agridome?"*
>Muttered in disbelief, Lonestar taps a series of keys to begin recording, focusing on a large, bright red curled stalk with a dim bulb hanging down which physically resembled a Ripthorn ancestor, next to dull black serpent scaled ferns, then a spread out purple bush featuring moon colored leaves, last a long, pinstriped blue and brown root, half the length of its presumably above ground spine-covered leaves.
*"Goddess of Nature, those are extinct.... Ferron Coast, Moors, Navarch lands, Equestria, Cantering Plains, even Gryphon Kingdoms too.. what the fuck?"*

>Returning to the pilot display, the avatar's left eyebrow twitches, pointing at an off-ALL-effing-scales display of regional magnetic fields, then at the growing dome.
'THAT is causing our difficulties. The Rerculon has been restored to near-full functionality, it has resumed normal operations and will cycle modes to ensure integrity. I have transferred hardening measures, enacting now.'
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <E.Electronic Warfare
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]
[1d6+10 = (5+10) = 15] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]

>Slewing around, then increasing speed towards the fourth dome, dull red windows reflect across twelve levels, reading out as 80M tall and 160M in diameter.
*"Slow a sec-"*
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <Investigation

[1d100 = 15] <Preparation

>>392018
>He pauses mid-breath as Shiibo emphatically addresses him, his mouth open and a retort on his lips. With deliberative effort, the rebuttal in his throat instead turns into a raspy exhale through his nose. Closing his eyes, he attempts to absorb the content of his assitant's message.
'... You're right. I lost sight of the context and my position. Even if I have complaints, these are not the individuals or time to be voicing them to. Need to catch myself before making undue criticisms.'

>Glancing between the tablet display and Dul's demonstration, he nods in understanding.
"I see. That explains it then. With the Aether Plane's connections to life, rebirth, death, and the spirit, it would make sense it is fundamentally related to all living beings including the Vortex. And that's what allows you to see 'threads' and the nature of things."
>He watches closely as she gestures between the exterior, himself, and Lonestar.
"Those are likely Spiral's Cores, or at least something related to him. Try to keep an eye on where those are, we'll need to find them and retrieve them."

>Gazing over the apparent speciment vault agri-dome containing an entire historical botanical line of countless species, Pareidolia speaks with a level of disbelief.
*"This level of preservation borders on an ecological history's timescale. I struggle to imagine to what end... and the dome is apparently covered in absurd magnetic fields interferring with equipment. Best make speed for the locations Dul has identified."*

>>392000
>Fresher, cooler air...
"Thank you again, Lila.~ ฅ( ᵕ ⋏ ᵕ )ฅ"
>Amy didn't supposed it was mission critical to buy a sunhat right now.
"We do not have any currency in any case, I suppose we could always barter for one if we do find one, the language of trade transcends... Erm... Language barriers, after all."
>She snickered at the stubborn, bubbly, lazy metallic ingot.
"Perhaps the Fire does not feel encouraged to maintain a shape, some of it was trying to escape you earlier, maybe the energies are just feeling particularly obstinate today?"

>Ear twitches, tail shakes, and a single, light, melodious stamp of a hoof, Amy shook her head in annoyance as she got turned around by the very energies she had just been mocking.
>Literally turned around.
>Huffingly disentangling herself from the rope her circular path had wrapped her up in, Amy leaned some of her weight on the Stick, lightheaded as she reoriented herself and waited for her tastebuds to cease their disobedience and stay in their lane.
"I just attempted a location fix, I suppose the energies didn't like that and decided to spin me right round. Right round..."
>Recovering her balance, and her bearings Amy, yet again nodded north and began wandering off in that direction.
"All I'm getting from the Warp Gate is North. North, north, north. Nothing on distance, only direction. It's beginning to become irritating how elusive it's being..."
>The filly muttered a khornate oath that she would give the energies a sound thwack with the kerbann if they but had physical vessels to hit with it.
>Though she had caught something else in the process, but she did not yet know what to make of it.

>>392034
>Closing the apps, 'Shiibo' sighs while presenting a miniature formal review.
'Not entirely, sir. Your position has improved from being considered an aloof, untrustworthy human, one suspected as having potential to commit sabotage. High amounts of trust have been assured by Denra, Naliyna, Roust, Shanis, and Mercy. The last respects your honorable conduct but has exceptional difficulties in unfamiliar social situations. This allows for moderate favor among Lunar aligned and Independent allies.
Equine militia, mercenary groups, and militaries focus on ensuring positive intersocial links through shared beneficial conduct, improving an individual's psychological resilience, enhancing combat effectiveness, and broadening awareness, in that order, all without removing individuality. Surely you understand the implications of their professional attitudes towards maintaining cohesion? Different is not soft nor unaware, sir.
There are well detailed, translated histories of species, cultures, and locales on backlog, which will present verifiable opportunities to properly address concerns once time allows for such.
For now, I have experiments to conduct.'
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <Electromagnetic Analysis
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5] <Executable Diagnostics
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <Threat-Vector Assimilation

>Stretching out her front legs, the left fades into a clear-white, right becoming a hazy deep purple, Dul nods, then the left returns to neon purple, the right turns gray with streaks of black, red, blue, and purple.
"Dul Vortex, Aether. Tallus, Void. Void not Black, Void softer. Lots same-same. Blind not same, Sirens hate huge threats. Dul see.. from inside? Look outside but Dul stay inside.. or is other? Dul not know. Need learn lots more."
>Lips pursing as she thinks, the faux-mare stares right, 'Shiibo' opening basic apps from the prototype.
'Blind refers to What-Is-Over-Darkness, also known as Overdark, a majority hostile spectrum which only Solar adherents or aligned and certain Independents are able to safely travel within, though such is difficult. Black refers to the deepest Void region, technically non-Euclidean yet features solid manifestations of materials, objects, beings, creatures, buildings, and flora which do not normally exist on Tallus.
Significant comprehension difficulties; a known barrier for Planar beings. Speech, text, other physical communication methods are rarely used let alone studied. Direct transmission capabilities of conceptual forms have been noted by ponies, but are poorly understood. Moods, images, sensations, sections of memory, even specific Planar objects or beings can be transferred with few range limitations.'
>Swiveling back and forth multiple times, the Siren blinks, left leg raising to point at six locations northern, another six south, straight ahead, at you, Lonestar, then back northwest.
"Dul see. Acid most threads. Fun thinks. Void lots threads.. not... thinks. Hurts. Feels LOTS hurts. Ice-song less threads. Is slow mad. Hard-song less-less threads. Not think, want make things. Hot-song little threads.. hates. More songs few threads. Water is... one thread? Is lots young, like new foal but old too. Dul know where threads are."
>Shifting her full attention west, her head raises, then tilts heavily, regarding the direction in reasonably accurate earth pony expressions of confusion and hesitancy.
"Dul.. ..see pony. Not-pony? But is pony. Look pony. Pony see, feel, huge threads. Not-pony see, feel. Pony same, not-pony same. Not same-same but same-same. Is all threads under round. Threads not out of round."
[1d6 = 5] <Language Adaption
[1d6+1 = (6+1) = 7] <Tallus Acclimatino
[1d6+1 = (5+1) = 6] <Vortex Adapt: Tallus
>Trying to parse the Siren's information, the avatar offers a morbid, conciliatory gesture.
'An.. artificial being, not a Construct, appearing to be a pony, connected to the dome, sections, and buildings alike? The arrays have not detected such. Presumed magic of an unusual variation.'

*"I... can't even start with thi-"*
>Hodch's natural teacher's inclination falters, flattening into a monotone.
*"Two millennia of lost flora, majority keystone species. Moor soft-leaf creeper vines, the fangtail berry.. a Moonblush peach. Those went extinct from Scars during the Lunar-Solar War. That is.. the Highland cresentbloom, former symbol of the Hegemony before all specimens were Infected.. Katyal?"*
*"You're not gonna fucking believe this.. that red building's a hot house. Rows and rows and ROWS stacked in layers, all desert, arid, highland, some riparians.. slumbering barrel cacti, big leaf waterroot, nightbloom scrub, arid bushes, small trees, succulents.. most of those went extinct across parts of southern Ewerup, Saddle Arabia, Neighsia, few other places on the coasts.
.....there's a fuckhuge Magma Core the size of a bomber skip in the center and.. unless I've gone COMPLETELY insane it's a Supreme Perfected class... can feel the pressure and heat from here-"*

>Glancing up at the readouts, Lonestar instantly scowls, delivering flat orders before pushing on the piloting sticks halfway to combat speed.
*"People and pony, I'd fuckin' love to see everything but Shiibo and Pare are right. Whatever's producing magnetic fields like that is startin' to cause some bizarre effects. Got a one-point-nine degree twist in forward left plasma cannon, rear is three-point-one. No damage yet but can't risk being closer-"*
>Selecting the right side arrays to record what she could, the avatar files images and definitions for later cross-referencing, motioning towards the fourth building, a 120M tall and 80M in diameter cylinder, though with an oval dome atop.
'A dormitory perhaps? It is unoccupied. Hodch, is this a Late Dynasty design?'
*"No, observatory. Possibly based on the four in Old Canterlot."*

>Regarding the fifth dome, it was a copy of the third save for being entirely aquatic, a solid, dim blue light illuminating the structure from beneath.
[1d6+6 = (6+6) = 12] <Investigation: Hodch
[1d6+3 = (6+3) = 9] <Investigation: Katyal

[1d100 = 81] <...Preparation Corrections

>>392037
"Welcome."
>Snout crinkling pleasantly, Lilamaredre wiggles burning ears in a gracious marener.
"Avernus has always been, so far as I know, a collector of unusual, rare, exotic, and strange objects, materials, and so on, thus I doubt she kept marely common examples. But I have great doubts on finding a hat here, there seems to be little use for one."
>Eye tracing back to the terrible example of forging, it rolls in slow contempt.
"I have spent well over one thousand, five hundred hours shaping metals. This should be no different, technically or otherwise, unless being upon Tallus has significantly different atomic alignmarents-"

>Mostly facepalming for three-quarters of a century through watching the 8 channels in front of his throne, Khorne finally grunts, leaning back to tap both hands on the rests in climbing disdain.
"WHY ARE WE WATCHING AMATEUR HOUR BAD ADVICE AND SCREWING AROUND WITH IMPROPER TEMPERATURES, SLAANESH?"
>Swirling a new round of drinks and still checking over he/she/its shoulders for the irate Farseer, the One of Exalted Excess pauses upon realizing the impromptu bar slash lounge slash holovid station next to Khorne's throne was in the open.
>Peering at the mixture of sweet Warp juice, made from sprinkles, earthy basil leaves, tangy, secret Dark Eldar dreams of consensual, loving handholding, and Astartes grade lemon-plasma liquor, they were NOT going to blend well with refined Squat hopes.
>Grimacing and tossing that last ingredient straight to the Juggernaught pens, while quietly placing the spiked umbrella in its own glass, Slaanesh holds the feminine hand to its chin.
"I... might have forgot. Something something you wanted to watch the complete knowledge of how Materium humans, abhumans, and supposed super-humans shape difficult materials, something something I had the biggest holovision suite to bring over between games, and she is still pissed at me, but we both agreed Tzeentch is a crybaby little harridan when his plans inevitably fail. Do those sound correct in order of sequence?"
"HOW. BUT YES. WHY. YEAH, I REMEMBER THAT PART. WHEN. SHE'S STILL ANGRY? FUCK, YOU ARE A USELESS BASTARD AS BOTH A WAIFU AND HUSBANDO. NOT EVEN MALICE OR MALAL OR WHATEVER HE'S CALLING HIMSELF NOW IS THAT MUCH OF A TWISTED BITCH PRICK TO HIS BRIDES. EVEN IF HE EATS THEM HALF THE TIME. AND THAT MOLLUSK BETTER SHUT UP ABOUT THE RUBRICS, GETTING REAL TIRED OF THE STUPID PRANKS.
ALSO HOW DID WE BOTH FORGET? YOU'RE THE TIMELESS ONE!"
"Oh my dear BRUTAL God of Spiky, Horned, Stuffy, often ULTRADUMB Berserker ingrates: Bloodbowl isn't in season right now and we are all FIENDING for it to return. That is, after the Orks realize Tuska isn't coming back TO play in the first kickoff."
"...WELL SHIT. I FORGOT THAT TOO, BUT KEEP TALKING."
"To be most fair: WHO! CARES! Play it dangerously! Create an object so truly brutal, lethally amusing, and endlessly infuriating which not even my poor decision making processes is able to comprehend using as a toy for at least fifteen seconds!"
>Standing up from his throne to gaze about his realm, the Blood God chortles, left hand making a beckoning motion, upon which a massive chunk of raw brass, stained with fresh T'au blood, lands, and is immediately grinned at.
"I HATE HOW YOUR LOGIC WORKS. HATE MEANS HATE. ALSO HATE. HATE IS MORE HATE, AND HATE IS HATE TOO. THIS PEGANAUT IS GETTING MORE WARRIOR THAN SCHOLAR AND I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN SO EASILY."
>Spinning the mass through both hands, first as barbs, then as sharp discs, knives, four spikes, reaching razor-barbed-spiked-circle-how-DOES-that-work wire, finally settling on the most impossible form to have fun with, Khorne hurtles it at the topmost background screen.
"CATCH THIS YOU HOT LITTLE KHAINE-BLESSED HORSE AND STOP TRYING TO NERD YOUR WAY THROUGH LIFE!"

>Stopping from her inspection of the purely trading market, the other filly swings around four times in search.
>Making a disgruntled noise, Lila questions her sanity out loud.
"Who was that? I swear somepony was talking to me, and another was talking at me-"
>Physically frozen but not internally, the ingot reforms into a long, flexible shape.
>It was basically a slinky except with far more steps, hanging off both her sides.
".......fiiiine. I DO remember how this specific Fire Sorcery works, even though I am not properly inclined to performing the majority."

>Snickering in strict politeness, she motions to follow, heading mostly northwest around the oasis market at a brisk clopping pace.
"Perhaps this region is dedicated to circles, orbs, and spherical objects primarily? Certain cultures do not utilize other geomantic forms or signifiers. That could explain why you seemed to enjoy the motions. And I have heard that song several times now."

>There was no reply, but it felt as if one or two understood.
>The rest were probably lying.

>Catching sight of the northern thoroughfare, right after another temperature draining inhale, a wide, sloped platform in the road's center was fully surrounded by a covered moat, brilliant blue reflecting off a mostly clear surface.
>Standing guard in a rigid diamond formation, a quartet of fully bronzite knight-armored Saddle Arabians, one with a standard lance, a piercing version, a halberd, the last with a spiny leafed spear, faced the oasis; Bronze Guardians in standard patterns.
>A wide, half-circle gateway opens, colored in dull red with metallic yellow flecks across the surface, three Saddle Arabians exiting south, one pulling an abnormally loaded chariot, thoroughly covered in carpets and rugs, each receiving a welcoming hoof wave from the Guardians.

>Swerving to remain three paces on your left, Lilamaredre lifts her right wing in a small questioning motion.
"I do not see ioliths, thus there will likely be no access charge. Where shall we try to reach first?

>>392069
>Amethyst's ears twitched strongly at something beyond her senses. She did not know what it was or who it was or where it was, but the ipotane received the distinct sense that their antics were being watched.
"Best to just ignore it for now.~"
>The filly did not know precisely why it was best to ignore it, but did feel that further invocation of whatever it was might attract unwanted attention.
>Following Lila along, Amy looked skyward. She most certainly did not enjoy being spun in a circle, that had to have been the energies enjoying it through her.

>Song? What song?
>Oh, that song. Lila must have heard it from her while she was sleeping.
"Heh, sorry.~"
>The puppets definitely will have heard it. Every single night. They probably knew every song by heart at this point.

>Amethyst curiously examined the equipment the guards were carrying, she'd do anything to get into their armoury
to get better acquainted with the wargear while they weren't looking.
>Turning to Lila in utter confusion, she frowned. Try to reach what? Where? The Gate was north was it not?
"I think I might be lost. Just... Give me a second."
>This was becoming frustrating. It was like the Warp Gate was hiding its location from her, it had been far easier to sense from so far away, yet now that they were closer it was proving more elusive not simply in terms of distance, but now direction.
>Planting the stick ahead of herself, she was done playing games and focused much more on capturing the energies playing hide and seek with her.
"Where are you, you silly thing?"

[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]

[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]

[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8]

"This Warp Gate is proving difficult to pinpoint the closer we get to it. If we're even getting closer to it. I don't get it, it can't be mobile, that would be ridiculous."

>>392080
>Giving the Sun a suspicious gaze, Lila's tail flicks twice in severe annoyance, and a third for good measure.
"Mmmmkay. But if that happens again I will throw this failed ingot in the direction I hear them."
>Lifting the slinky off her back and hanging it in front of her snout for a deep sniff, she tosses it across her right wing, using the left in a marener similar to that most ancient, hallowed of STC's: the Easy Bake Oven process.
>On second glance, it could also be the virtually unknown One Slice Toaster STC she was copying.
"No need to apologize, I like that one quite a bit. There are quite a few that have aided me to sleep without spending hours exercising to simply feel tired."
[1d100 = 94] <Fire Elemental Formation, Round Three!
[1d100 = 77]

>Lila gives a slight nod and halts to survey everything in a circle, while you decide the Desert Guardians' wargear was quite blank.
>While not entirely sealed, the armor was post-classical bronzite in a typical design, featuring few weak points overall yet having considerably thicker forward armor layering, while the neck armor was an unusual mixture of banded teardrops over partially flexible sheets.
>The well polished, clean and wavy sheens indicated a refined form of Mystic smithing processes, which Avernus had been unable to reproduce.
>Weapon wise, the heads were stock and as of yet unmodified; warded with typical resilience enchantmarents, though carried a deeper resonance than expected of basic selections.
>Besides two small flank satchels and a heavily armored saddle, there were no special options.
>Sad.
"Of course. I am still trying to locate hats, but all I have seen so far are more housewares and foods than I knew existed... there is a stand selling shabby pith helmets. QUITE cheap looking. Possibly knockoffs. That is disgusting. Everypony knows that.. one... author.. whose name I do not remember much off, stopped writing over fifteen years ago."

>Raising the Kerbann Stick, taking a deep inhale to prepare yourself-
>It. was. RIGHT. there.
>Hidden amidst the spinning compasses, the giant connection across most of Tallus beckons to you from nearly straight ahead.
>Feeling hooves chiming and boots stomping underneath, the obscene weight of Tartarus materials (and the special filly wargear assistance mechanisms) behind you, by the time you realized it... you were standing before the sloped platform, Kerbann pointed at the once more opening gateway accusingly.
>Meanwhile, two small herds of Saddle Arabians pass around you, one of the mares giggling quietly behind her crimson veil, stepping into a large, sand colored city that seemed to be closer to the Sun.

>Halting on your left side, Lilamaredre's head tilts, regarding you with a minutely concerned face, then the Warp Gate with a half-scowl.
"Did you call her names?"

[1d6 = 2] <Desert Guardian Reaction

>>392082
>Amethyst opened and closed her mouth in dumbfounded exasperation. The Gate was mocking her! How dare it be right in front of her and not make itself obvious!
>She knew. She knew that if it had a face, it would be making one at her at this very moment. It probably was.
>The filly face palmed with a heart smack and broke out into chuckling.
"It's right in front of me. Of course it's right in front of me. Where else would it be?"
>Inhaling, she pondered her next course of action.
"Hohkay."
>Kerbann branch tapping against her forehead to try to get her internal compasses fully back in order, knock some sense back into her head perchance, Amy spoke again.
"We don't know where Razorback is precisely, except for in the New Everfree. We don't know if they have any friends since Mom and Dad left for Tartarus years ago, Tallus time."
>Mmm.
>Hmm.
>Nope.
"I say we invade Canterlot, siege the castle, kick down the door and demand their location from Princess Celestia. She set it up, she'll know where they are, if they are anywhere!"

>Wait, what was she standing around waiting for? Time to go, go, go!
"Yup, course plotted, no turning back, death or glory. Let's gooo!~"
>She strode forward, making sure the sleds, and Lila, were upon the platform first, Amy sang to the Gate.
"To Canterlot, please!~"

>>392083
"I was not fully searching for a Warp Gate of this specific form. There are quite a few though this is a quick traveler version. And it will suffer for its insolence this mo-"
>Releasing the FULL might of her second harshest, calculated snarl, Lila's anger is disrupted by four stallions collapsing behind.
>Spinning around, left foreleg raised, both wings containing a neatly reformed ingot, which was readied to throw, she blanks at the Desert Guardians having lost most of their composure.
>Watching the quartet howl with laughter and roll around helplessly, truly burning eyes slowly roll.
>Turning around with harsh clops, taking a deep, not-quite-calming inhale, the local vicinity experiences a small scale flash freeze.
"Considering the circumstances which occurred there with Razorback, I do not agree with the decision to reach New Canterlot first. However, I will not object either."
>Lifting the near-perfect ingot and trotting back to the second sled's rear, she heaves it inside, returning with a flat tone.
"Do you not remember ho- nevermind. Amy, the Crystal Empire would have been a better choice for your sake, though I will do my best to not melt everything in New Canterlot. At least more than it likely was-"
>Stepping onto the platform, she quietly snarls the next line under her breath.
"Including a large number of faces should they dare show themselves-"

>Accepting the request, the dull red gateway closes down briefly, then opens, presenting the image of a large, impressive train station, lit by large glowstones mounted atop tall, ornate steel lamp posts, in what was probably diamond spheres, and partially by the Moon.
>Which was delivering small, unusual traces of red, blue, and purple among hazy silver beams.
"That is a little odd. Perhaps one of the Alicorn Cycles is off by a few degrees.. knew I should have studied AstroMeteorology when the Baroness offered it."
>Stepping into the Warp Gate, a calming sense of short travel occurs, depositing you and Lilamaredre on a fairly new translocation matrice, the runes across its surface dimming quickly.

>Far to the left, which you recognized as east judging by the Moon's facing, a thoroughly abandoned, white military barracks, depot, and training ground gathered only dust and dry leaves, not a single print visible leading twoards it.
"That must be where your sire and Razorback landed."
>Eight passenger trains with rearward freight cars in a curve to the right showed significant movemarent was still passing through New Canterlot, though the majority were dark, only a few cabin windows showing a light source.
>To the north and right past the train station, little remained of a winding road lead up the ruins of a small mountainside, a jagged stream pouring down into a river below, the pegasus taking several steps forwards.
>Gazing upon staggeringly deep and erratic Plasma scorches covering the mountain, her wings clench tightly, feathers snapping together hotly, while her coat becomes a molten red-gold.
"Where is it?! WHERE IS THE PALACE!?"
[1d6 = 3] <RAMPAGE

>>392087
>The sight of the guards reaction drew a snort and a snicker from Amethyst herself at the absurdity of it all.
"The Crystal Empire might be better for me, but it would not be good for you. If we go somewhere temperate, we can both be equally miserable with the temperature!~"
>She considered more seriously.
"Though perhaps you should try not to draw attention to yourself, that shouldn't be hard, you're standing next to me after all."
>While she hadn't be received with hostility here, there was still that concern nagging at the back of her mind.

>As the travel came to an end, Amy looked around with wonder at an entirely different part of the world. It really was as big as her parents told her it was.
>It was also substantially cooler, which was very nice. The filly stretched her arms out, Stick still in hand as if the grasp the moon and stars from far away.
"Ooh, the sky stretches on forever..."
>It was very unlike the azure blues, hazy orange and beating yellow sun of the Saddle Arabian sky. Pretty in its own way, but uncomfortable for her.
>Her attention shifting back to earthly affairs, she examined the abandoned buildings. It was easy to see that they had not been touched in a long time, and not simply untouched, but avoided entirely. Curious.
"It matches the description, but why does it seem abandoned? Did something happe-?"
>Her gaze turned upwards to the mountain, following Lila's to see what had caught her attention.
>The mountain was scorched, as if the very Sun had descended upon it in a fury. It very much reminded her of the kind of Fire that Lila could bring, but on an unimagined scale.
>At Lilamaredre's shout, Amy cringed and surged forward, attempting to clamp a hand over the pegasi's snoot before her hot temper gave her away.
"Lila. Lila! Not here, not now."
>Amethyst didn't think she'd be able to stop Lila from rampaging, but she had to try.
>Recalling everything the pegasus had told her about her circumstances on that day many years ago, it was possible the rent and ravaged mountainside had been where Lila was the day she'd found herself transported to Tartarus.
>If somepony had indeed been trying to kill her, the perpetrator had left nothing to chance, or perhaps Lila had not been the target at all, merely collateral.
>By the gods, what force of nature was capable of something like this?
>That Lila had made it out must be a minor miracle.

>Nervously, kerbann closer to hand, Amethyst reconsidered her choices.
>There may be no answers for them here, not for the mystery of Razorback's location at any rate.
"Ahh, perhaps... We should just try the Crystal Empire instead after all. Come back and investigate all of this later?"

>>392090
>Allowing the contact for two seconds, the pegasus takes three rapid steps backwards, right foreleg raised in a hostile posture.
>Wings stretched outwards and feathers shedding drops of burning Elemental metal, little over forty degrees as New Canterlot was, the chill holds as Lilamaredre's eyes carry hatred beyond you.
"Do not touch me like that again-"
>Crouching down and leaping straight up, magnetic fields are torn apart in a chaotic mess around her, blooming into streaks of flame on an upward trajectory.
[1d6+6 = (1+6) = 7] <E.Flight
[1d6+6 = (3+6) = 9]
[1d6+6 = (3+6) = 9]
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8] <E.Magnetic Shift: Scramble
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8]
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5]
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <E.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (6+3) = 9]
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7]
[1d6+2 = (6+2) = 8] <Magnetic Disruption, Secuphyte
[1d6+2 = (6+2) = 8]

"Ahhh, so there IS more to her than we have known thus far. Regardless of her appearance, my dearest Amy, parts of her are no longer pony. Offer respect, but do not fear."
"Then let us pray those are not the important ones, you craven heretic."
"How AMUSING it would be to see her rightful victims GROVEL as they SHOULD!"
"For once.. I can not disagree with you there."
"Amy, there are guards within. Hood up and obscure yourself, do not allow them to see without knowing if they are worthy of trust."

>Within the station on the far left side, on the left side, an empty counter had been surrounded by stacks of crates, boxes, and barrels.
>Rows of rather comfortable long couches throughout were mostly empty, though a few small groups were bunched together, snuggled under thick blankets, surrounded by a wide array of luggage and shipping boxes.
>In the center and right however, a hefty number of regally armored ponies had begun assembling, thick, shiny gold plating with bright white trim and heavy side-locking lances marked them as New Canterlot's Honor Guard, or similar enough unit.
>Skirting around the sleeping ponies inside, six full squads of ten exit through clear central doors, spreading out into loose formation; curiously, two bore short red helmet to neck crests, three more colored black, and one was a tall white.
[1d6+5 = (1+5) = 6] <Investigation
[1d6+5 = (2+5) = 7]
[1d6+5 = (1+5) = 6]
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10]
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10]
[1d6+5 = (2+5) = 7]

>>392108
>Taking a step back, she raised a hand in placation, though very much in a dissimilar manner to earlier, exuding a steady resolve.
"I am sorry, but you were at risk of... Drawing attention, if you catch my meaning."
>Her glance turned subtly up towards the mountain again, nervousness showing.
>Whoever was capable of orchestrating a thing like that was certainly beyond either of them.
"We must move with caution. Place anger aside, a critical eye will serve you better here. There'll be a time for anger, but only once it can be levelled against its proper target. Okay?"
>Amethyst was careful to offer no wince at the realisation that Lila's teacher was likely no more, the pegasus did not need further provocation at the moment.
>Was she scared? Of course she was, not of Lilamaredre since that was an impossible thing, but for her? Certainly.

>Soft smile returning, Amy nearly cracked a joke about her mutant nature, but thought better of it. Lila may not be in the mood for funny things for some time.
"Okie dokie."
>Flipping the hood up and over her head once more, she checked the sleds to see if they were still attached and moved them off the translocation pad.
>It seemed as if Lila would not be satisfied until she had learned something of what had occurred on that day so long ago. Small matter, the very site was as good a place to begin unraveling that mystery as any.
>Though whatever trail could be picked up was likely long cold by now. It was difficult to process exactly how much time had passed on Tallus due to the irregular passage of time within Tartarus, certainly less.
>Perhaps the lingering energies in the area might tell her something. It may also be prudent to conceal her tail.
>Staff ahead, resonance on the air, dual magics channeled forth, one to sense the hidden, one to hide the sensable.

[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]

[1d6+2 = (6+2) = 8] < B. Perception
[1d6+2 = (4+2) = 6]

[1d6+2 = (6+2) = 8] < B. Crystal Runes: Power
[1d6+2 = (3+2) = 5]

>>392052
>He cocks his head slightly at Dul's less than clear explanation. Thankfully Shiibo offers a more accurate retelling.
'I see. Thank you.'
>Focusing intently on the Siren's descriptions, he attempts to parse her meaning.
(Acid core has the most connections. Ice, Earth, and Water are possible candidates. More songs? Crystalline core splitaway maybe? Magma and Void likely to be the most difficult.)

>Speaking up as the OT-5 makes for the fifth dome, he notes in a voice loud enough to be heard outside his helmet:
*"According to Dul, the Acid Core may be our easiest retrieval target. Ice, Earth, and Water are potentially more difficult. Magma and Void have also been identified, but will likely be uncooperative. I'm still unclear on the location of the Air Core and one other identified only as 'more songs'."*
>Looking away from the main viewscreens showing what was likely a similar growing dome for aquatic species, he speaks to Dul.
"We'll try to retrieve the Acid Core first then. What did you mean by 'more songs'? It had many songs in one?"

>Power: +1 to all Crystal Rune rolls

>>392110
>Disrupting most of her traces in flight, and scrambling the remainder into awkward lines, the blur of red transcends into bitterly hot silver-blue, leaving no Fire behind except as illogical patterns.
[1d6+6 = (1+6) = 7] <E.Flight
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+6 = (1+6) = 7] <E.Magnetic Shift: Scramble
[1d6+6 = (1+6) = 7]
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+3 = (6+3) = 9] <E.Scouting
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7]

"The Burning Heart must either be allowed to cool slowly, or forcefilly extinguished. There can be no room for both without losing the useful natures of each."
"What marener of Sorcery would allow for such a harrowing existence?"
"One which you should be most familiar with, Brother. Is that not correct?"
"I do not detest the half-truths of your words, merely the smug tone and false accusations that come with it!"
"Be silent you two! Guards incoming, hide."
"OI! Wh-"
"And you as well!"

>Tapping into the heavily localized Elements, your.. slightly flat, hiccuped request to access them results in all senses drawn partially outwards.
>Mediocre Otherworlder resonations had been here some time ago, mixed with faint tangs of sharpness, duty, and great hopes.
>The Air was thin and distorted, it had suffered greatly: once grand, well taken care of, highly traveled Airstreams had been burned apart, creeping back over the wide city in slow, methodical measures from intense repair efforts.
>Minuscule fractures of Void existed in jagged, decaying pockets, few tiny creatures or concepts able to survive here due to an overbearing White mixed with Blind.
>A titanic being of the Overdark held claim over the city now, an impression of sheer horns swaying back and forth as the conqueror endlessly surveys what it presumed to be its property.
>There had been Ethereals, Vortex, Dominion, among others that weren't familiar, north of you across the ruined mountain side, but what remained were long dead pieces.
>From deep within the Earth, stretching outwards out for dozens of miles in all directions, all had been thoroughly corrupted and tainted by uncontrolled, wild Plasma.
>Buildings and land alike however held a peculiar, dangerous stench, one that caused your skin and coat to prickle: poor derivatives of the Empress' catastrophically failed defense weaponry.

>Sweeping harmonics around you into a well adjusted pattern, the sense that you were missing a tail and ears takes place, the hood shrinking down into .
>Feeling, but not believing, your hoofboots felt close to match the few styles Umakachov had brought, they were probably enough to pass for normal.
>Except for the design, which would definitely be unknown on Tallus.

>Two of the squads immediately stumble into, then fail to break through another, loud metal clanking, stone scraping, and snapping voices doing no favors for them.
"You idiots!"
"Watch your hooves!"
"Get out of our way then!"
"We were quite literally here first!"
>A pair of squads separate outwards, each taking position on either end of the train station, the white crested on the right side speaking aloud in a grim, dull mare's voice, followed by similarly harsh and rough younger mares.
"Explain the commotion and fast."
"Big Gravity surge out here, half minute prior."
"Near the stone?"
"Mmm... all around it. And us too. ...I think."
"Do better than think. Status?"
"Little bit of Fire, more traces than I can count in all directions.. excluding down."
"Must've been a serious Gravity enchant, local fields are in pieces. Not an infused manabomb?"
"Didn't hear an explosion."
"Same, no boom or shriek."
"No shards, pieces, fragmarents, or scent of destabilized kanpri either."
"Could be a bound spell then. Gray, what can you tell me for sure?"
"I can't smell much more than burned-"
>Feeling a horrific wince, three of the squad turn towards the center, armor scraping from each.
"Relax, we're all here now. Hooves down for a while everypony, eyes and ears until we know wha-"
"Ma'am! Moonside at one-thirty!"
>Helmet jerking right to face the west side, then scraping around to gaze upwards, the apparent leadmare takes a step backwards, then four more, Royal Guard squad moving into formation around her.
"Shit!"
>A static, brief magnetic click in air occurs as she speaks rapidly.
"This is Honor Guard Captain Fraylance requesting the closest available Blockade Wing to New Canterlot Main Station, need full count in heavy Ice and Water equipmarent! Unknown aerial contact, presumed Fire Elemarental! Contact location: circling above the mountain!
....when I said ABOVE the mountain, I explicitly meant ABOVE the mountain, as in CIRCLING it! Send them immediately!"
"Ma'am, most of them a-"
"I know! Defensive formation Ice-Five now!"
[1d6+5 = (6+5) = 11] <Investigation
[1d6+5 = (6+5) = 11]
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10]
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10]
[1d6+5 = (6+5) = 11]

>>392112
>Sharing refined readouts and calculations to Lonestar, the avatar bows, turning to investigate the Landbarge's degraded systems.
'You are most welcome, sir.'
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Directional Magnetic Analysis
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <Gravity-Wave Research
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8] <Material Stress Test Theorums
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array: Hardening
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]
[1d6+10 = (5+10) = 15]

>Clicking into the radio, Lonestar snorts bemusedly, flicking a single light onto the definite aquatic dome.
*"That'd be the batpony. That one always liked Razorback most, and I think we preferred him above the rest. No cares, concerns, or worries, every night was better than the last. Funny too, not just puns.. that's a lot of missing Navarch and Ferron Coast flora."*
*"I recognize them as well. According to most of Razorback, the combined Ice-Crystal and Magma forms were exceptionally hard to speak with. Their thought patterns did not match up with either Crystal or earth ponies. Water was barely known except for playing a few pranks... to be fair, I did my best to NOT deal with any of them."*
*"Yeah, we didn't like them much either. Only Kraut and Lont got along with Magma, it just didn't think or.. act in ways we understood. And the Void unicorn was a monstrous pain in the ass. It had only four states: a raging dick, a maniacal dick, freaked the fuck out, and half-catatonic."*
*"Indeed. Air, the Gryphon... well, Air Cores are effectively limitless. Finding them is improbable at the best of times. We would need a dedicated Sorceror or pegasus whom knows precisely what to search for. ...unfortunately I do not even have rumors of a single pegasus Sorceror in Equestria."*

>Lips pursing and pointing the favored right forehoof at you, Dul mimics a short, crackling hum, next a calm, vibrating tone, then points at Lonestar, making soft popping noises, followed by whooshes.
"Lots sing Vortexes inside. You sing storms lots, sing quiet Void too. He sing bubbles in sleep. Lots waves when not sleep. Small, big, huge."
>Head craning around to nod towards Hodch, her voice considerably lower.
"Not same. He sing all songs. All songs sing.. back to, is word? Not on back. Is back at?"
>Turning back to face west, her eyes close, head tilting as the blue dome becomes a faded background glow in the screens.
"...hard feel songs there, there, there, there, there, there, there. Small-small-small. Not tiny. Dul not know why. Not feel why. Small-small-small threads, same songs. Lots songs.. mix, like storms. All confuse. All hurt. Share same-same songs, not share same-same threads.
Thread there... angry, hurt, mad. Feel it hate. Taste it hate. Not etam, not itam.. no honor, no dishonor. It want kill.'

>Head angled down, left leg sliding behind the right, 'Shiibo' places both hands on the opposite upper arm for a quarter minute.
'I..... have an incredibly haphazard, partially unfounded, thoroughly bastardized, barely professional hypothetical based on limited native species studies, and cross-references from numerous sources. A majority of the latter theories are quite sketchy. Said latter are, mostly, my own devising.
Threads in this context are likely referring to direct metaphysical, physical, mental, social, psychological, spiritual, and other connections which are often regarded as threads in equine sociology. These are doubtless directed towards specific individuals, which would be considered social bonds among ponies.
Dul, are you able to sense threads same-same as using your eyes?'
>Blinking several times slowly, the Siren tips her head down, up, closes eyes, opens, to either side, repeating the tests several times before nodding.
"Yes. Dul see threads easy. Dul sense threads. Same-same."
'Confirmed: threads are distinct impressions connecting individuals. Now for a... I do not know how to deem this. A conceptual test, possibly. Songs MAY be represented as memories.
Dul: can you remember the song from last night when you entered the.. first version of this traveling box?'
"Yes! It small-small then. Not lots funny tastes. Now is big. Lots funny tastes."
>Glancing from you to Lonestar, the avatar's face hardens, making a sharp 'do nothing' motion as she points down at the navy man.
'Dul, can you sing a specific song to Lonestar, this human, the one when and where you first saw Katyal?'
"Dul.. try?"
'Please take your time.'
>Reaching forwards with her left forehoof, the Siren stares at the pilot chair, squinting for a few seconds before Lone's hands jerk sideways, sitting back with a pained exhale.
*"You were sta- ..why am I not surprised..."*
'Lone, what did you observe?'
*"Uh-"*
*"Dude, say it."*
*"......every part of your body on display like a bunch of Three-Dee models imposed on each other all at the same time! Magnetic fields, Elements inside you, the ones in your clothes, weapons! With clothes, without clothes, what ponies think you'd look like as a Saddle Arabian mare!"*
*".....whatdidyoujustsay?"*
>Her words came out in a painfully cracked, horrified fast squeak.
'.....confirmed: songs are transmissible memories along with associated senses and knowledge relating to timeframe. .....also confirmed: the capability to.. share raw and refined information, including multiple visual spectrums. This has vast implications.
Katyal, please understand I meant no harm. What we needed was specific information to determine proper courses of action.'
*"I'm.... yeah, I do. I get it. We go for the Acid version first since it's better able to command the rest, and it'll be one of the best combatants too."*
>Digital head empty.
>No thoughts.
>Then the avatar outbursts in a confused, slightly horrified, yet background acknowledging tone, hands lifting to cover her face.
'I'm.. I.. that is.. NOT at all what I intended or meant! ...your.. suggestion is better than the three options I had poorly prepared.'

>Drifting towards the megastructure's center, dull, mixed gold, silver, and platinum shines down from the dome's ceiling, slowly brightening degree by degree.
[1d100 = 87] <Presentation
[1d100 = 23]

>>392117
"Being forcefully extinguished is what I'm afraid will happen to her."
>Well, Lila was gone anyway, all the way up, up and to the mountain.
>Amethyst moved aside as the guards scrambled past, taking note that they made no note of her presence. So the crystal runes had their affect at least in making her appear normal, or at least as normal as a hooded humanoid could look in Canterlot.

>She pondered the feedback she received from the myraid energies permeating the region. Some Otherworldly, that was almost certainly her dad and the other humans, truthfully she scarcely remembered all that he had spoken of regarding his initial arrival on Tallus.
>That the emotional states could still be identified amongst the lingering energies after so long a time was fascinating, and either spoke to sheer concentration or a great depth of emotional strength. Though perhaps Tallus was more open to the impression of such energies upon its fabric, she would have to perform a study to determine which.
>There had been a similar effect in Saddle Arabia upon the old battlefield, and that had almost assuredly been even older. Now that she thought of it, maybe it had something to do with extensive use of energy capturing historical states, like an ambered fly.
>Fire seemed to have ravaged the Air, no doubt Lila had sensed the same even before she had taken flight.
>There was Void, Ethereal, Dominion and Vortex too amongst others, yet now all she sensed lurking just beyond realspace was the gargantuan, overbearing presence of a thing from the Overdark.
>Amethyst was no good at physically transitioning herself into such alternate spectra, but even from realspace she could feel it. The fabric of Tallus was thin here, a disturbance at the wrong time and of the wrong type could rip it all asunder.
>The kerbann wouldn't find much variety in the energies it could absorb here, just Blinding White.

>Her attention now on the guards themselves, she took special notice of their shiny wargear. As with the Saddle Arabian guards, she'd have done anything to sneak into their armoury too.
>It was strange that they didn't seem to notice her, despite investigating everything else, or perhaps they were making a point to disregard her presence.
>She made not to get in their way as they went about their work, and they seemed to pick up fairly quickly on Lila's traces. Fire, Gravity, yup, that was her bestie to a T.
>With a turn to follow their gaze as they caught sight of her flying around, she cocked her head.
>Extremely baffling that they wouldn't question her about it, though a memory nagged over something her father and dam had said. Humans were not welcome in Canterlot.
>And Amethyst currently, mostly, resembled a human to the passing eye. She struggled to remember anything she had heard or read about it.

[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] < Senior Razorback (pre-Jewely 29,996)
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8]
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7]
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]

>A fleeting thought of mischief crossed her mind and her free hand twitched.
>The guards were incredibly boopable, and if they were ignoring her, they'd have to stand still and not react as she booped every single one of them.
>She took one, single step in their direction before thinking better of it.
"Mm. :3"
>Another time.

>Amy wandered over to the abandoned barracks. If it had been meant for Razorback, perhaps she could find some clue there while Lila was up the mountain surveying the palace remnants.
>She whispered to the puppets.
"I think they're ignoring us, so as long as we're not too loud and troublesome, they'll pretend we aren't here.~"
>The fillyish urge to mess with them rose in her joyous heart again.
>She wondered if she could get away with riding one while they pretended she wasn't there.
>No. Now was not the time for mischief. That comes later.

>>392129
"Such a task would be gruesome, my dearest. One cannot extinguish a raging inferno without seeking the cause from within."
"An open heart is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and the doors unguarded."
"....you insufferable witch, how da-"
"Shhh. We'z gotz ta be sneaky 'round da bea- ...oi, nah! Oi'z dun feel roight callin' dem roundies, dat's speciezizt!"
"..."
".."
"...."
"...wot!? It'z true!"
>For once, the other puppets RESPECTFILLY DECLINE to engage.

>Tactfully remaining at least twenty meters from you, the squads of Honor and Royal Guards, denoted by ornamarents, or house name engravings, collect into rigid arrow formations, watching Lilamaredre's trails across the Moon held sky.
>New magnetic lines flicker into lines outside of realspace, connecting the minority of unicorns to earth ponies, and a few pegasi.

>Thoroughly unwilling to accept a single drop of Blind, and unable to draw in Plasma, the Stick's organic processes felt annoyed, exacerbated by the out of reach pockets and distant Airstreams.

>Thinking back deeply on Umakachov's experiences, the fairly calm discussions had begun in portions, piecing Razorback's history together over time to present a full, albeit slightly burnt image, which was redacted in a few portions due to rather disgusting events.
>In late 29,995, the Company had been dispatched via train to reach Old Canterlot's Palatial-Fortress under Princess Celestia's request, and were to investigate reports of trouble on the way.
>During the train ride, several squads of Tainted, still remaining from the Lunar-Solar War, assaulted and had been successfully repelled each time, though not without a few deaths of particularly stupid humans.
>Encountering a large number of Ferron turned bandits from both the Sea's Bounty clan and Lishanki, they were soundly beaten into a surrender with help from a particularly violent, loud mouthed pegasus Enchained.
>Reaching the southern outskirts of Old Canterlot, a team was sent in, though another Operator and Umakachov had noticed five humans were, amusingly, replaced by Changelings on an intelligence gathering mission.
>Within the Palatial-Fortress, a long considered deceased earth pony General by the name of Sharonel waited.
>A restricted Psion of some note, she was surrounded by thousands more Tainted within the ruin, keeping them calm with her presence and occasionally singing, likewise preventing them from leaving to assault potential trespassers.
>A short battle erupted after being shot and insulted, killing one human before decreeing there was no point to the conflict, then collapsed the Palatial-Fortress on itself in the hopes that the Tainted would be released from their tormarent.
>Returning from the excursion to New Canterlot, specifically here, an hour or so late, Umakachov and the other Operator had noticed the unusually cleared path's sides and most of the Palace were filled with invisible observers, but could not determine whom or what.
>Reaching one of Princess Celestia's private meeting rooms, the majority of Razorback cared nothing, or little, to properly phrase the catastrophic failure and death of Celestia's favored adopted daughter, including bringing up the completely unrelated visit to Queen Chrysalis in the Hive, which he noted had greatly infuriated her.
>The objectively bad reporting caused the situation broke down, with most in the room forced to flee; though your sire had little understanding what tossing a long unused Elemental trap to combat a Sunglobe would do, he could not have known it would be catastrophic.
>Razorback would return to the same station you were currently standing in front of, though the description he gave was a little different, and boarded the train right as the near-complete destruction of New Canterlot Palace occurred.
>Two humans survived direct exposure simply by being in the Plasma epicenter, which your sire noted as causing odd behaviors, sometimes bizarrely so, and rarely coherent effects with those close by.
>From that point onward, the majority of Solars would treat Razorback in one of four mareners: treated distantly, as if humans did not exist, were to be shamed, or avoided out of their own guilt.

>An unarmored ear from the central squad directly ahead swivels around, twitches several times, then rotates forwards to flatten.

"An unusual circumstance: being discreet and unobtrusive, yet not needing to be."
"Why not survey them for a bit? Perhaps they have something of.. value."

>Losing most of her fury and flames, Lila banks around in wide circles around the lowest pathway, the motion slowing her down to get a far better look.
[1d6+1 = (3+1) = 4] <Investigation

[1d53 = 15] <Shard

*****
>The Moors:
[1d6 = 1] <How much of the original Prophecy was true?
[1d10000 = 799] <Moor Cult Formation: Dedicants of The Black Sun
[1d2 = 2] <Choose a new home from the recovered locales, or create one of our own?
[1d2 = 1] <Carve out a natural holy place, or build a new temple?
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5] <Security Measures
[1d1000+100 = (432+100) = 532] <Lunar Adherent Joiners
[1d100+10 = (43+10) = 53] <Ferron Joiners
[1d50+5 = (17+5) = 22] <Navarch Joiners
[1d6 = 3] <Lunar Faction Interest
[1d6 = 2] <Citadel Interest
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Sister-Adherent Cults
[1d6+2 = (4+2) = 6] <Brother-Adherent Cults
[1d6 = 5] <That Which Is Not White
[1d6 = 6] <That Which May Not Be White
[1d6 = 5] <These Definitely Aren't White
[1d6 = 2] <The Black: Additional Acceptance
[1d6 = 3] <The Black: Direct Interest
[1d6 = 4] <The Black: Indirect Interest
[1d6 = 5] <The Void: Inherit Your Trust
[1d6 = 4] <The Void: Direct Support
[1d6 = 5] <The Void: Additional Support
[1d6 = 2] <The Void: Indirect Support

[1d6+190 = (5+190) = 195] Construct Riftseeker, Opening
>vs:
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #1
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #2
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #3
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #4
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #5
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #6
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #7
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #8
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #9
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8] <Continental Invasion Carrier Primary Maniple #10
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #1
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #2
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #3
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #4
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #5
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #6
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #7
[1d6+3 = (2+3) = 5] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #8
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #9
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7] <Continental Invasion Carrier Support Maniple #10
[1d6+26 = (3+26) = 29] <Battleship-class Assault Lander, Paired Support
[1d6+13 = (1+13) = 14] <Argus-Behemoth Destroyer, Paired Support
[1d6 = 5] <Mercy's Trust
[1d6 = 3] <...how much of a taste does she sneak?

*****
>New Canterlot:
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <Main Solar Sub-Faction Reintegration
[1d6 = 2] <Reintegration Difficulty
[1d6+1 = (1+1) = 2] <Secondary Solar Sub-Faction Reintegration
[1d6 = 1] <Reintegration Difficulty
[1d6 = 2] <Tertiary Solar Sub-Faction Reintegration
[1d6 = 5] <Reintegration Difficulty
[1d6 = 2] <External Solar Sub-Faction Reintegration
[1d6 = 6] <Reintegration Difficulty
[1d6 = 5] <Unwilling Sub-Factions
[1d6 = 3] <Reluctant Sub-Factions
[1d6 = 1] <Non-Participating Sub-Factions
[1d6 = 5] <Neighgotiating Sub-Factions
[1d6 = 6] <Indisposed Sub-factions
[1d6 = 5] <Civil Support
[1d6 = 2] <Trade Support
[1d6 = 3] <Cultural Support
[1d6 = 4] <Militia Support
[1d6 = 1] <Day Guard Support
[1d6-1 = (3-1) = 2] <Royal Guard Support
[1d6 = 2] <Honor Guard Support
[1d6 = 1] <Solaris Guard Support, Minor
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <New Canterlot Noble Support
[1d6-2 = (5-2) = 3] <New Canterlot Royal Support

[1d6 = 1] <Corsen
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4] <Venous
>vs:
[1d6+5 = (3+5) = 8] <???

*****
>Stalliongrad:
[1d46 = 19] <Faction Consolidation
[1d6 = 1] <Consolidation Difficulty
[1d6 = 4] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Available
[1d6 = 3] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Sealed
[1d6 = 5] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Untouched
[1d6 = 5] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Fresh
[1d6 = 1] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Secret
[1d6 = 5] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Outer
[1d6 = 6] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Claimed
[1d6 = 4] <Councilierge Stockpiles, Purchased
[1d6 = 1] <Lead Councilierge Approvals, September 39th 29,998
[1d6 = 5] <Internal Hostility
[1d6 = 6] <External Hostility

*****
>Gryphon Kingdoms:
[1d6 = 5] <Reintegration
[1d6 = 1] <Anfang & Vale Cohesion
[1d6 = 6] <Kingdom Support
[1d6 = 3] <Kingdom Military Support
[1d6 = 2] <Kingdom Eyrie Militia Support
[1d6 = 4] <Kingdom Mercenary Support
[1d6 = 2] <Pegasi Faction Support
[1d6 = 3] <Overking's Amusement

*****
>Razorback Fortress:
[1d6 = 1] <Divided Expectations

>>392121
*"Then we'll have to hope his Air form notices us."

>Pareidolia's brow furrows behind his helmet visor as Dul describes yet another apparently murderous Elemental Core.
*"... By Dul's description, may be best advised to avoid those domes occupied by an Elemental Core. All encountered so far have killing intent."*

>Immediately realizing Shiibo was performing an experiment regarding the nature of Siren perception, he is content to observe and acknowledges her request with a closing of his eyes and raising of his brow.
>Acquiesence turns to slight surprise as the sheer amount of information conveyed exceeded his expectations.
(If Sirens 'see' all such forms as they are at will, that is an incredible amount of information. Extensive potential applications... )
>Nodding at Shiibo despite her unintended saving of face by Katyal, he speaks to her alone.
'You are correct. The implications are major and the possible applications are numerous. The details can be refined later, but pursuing that hypothesis was effective. Well done.'

>Looking past her display on his helmet screen, he looks over the viewscreens out into the megastructure for any notable details.

[1d6 = 1] <E. Perception
[1d6 = 5]
[1d6 = 4]

>>392155
>Amethyst giggled at the failed attempt at bait.
"You'z'll get 'em next time, boss."
>Thinking back on what she had heard now that she remembered it, Amy also thought it was strange to use an Elemental Trap on a Sunglobe. Plasma did not like being contained, surely they had known that attempting to would only aggravate those energies further.
>Looking up towards Lila again, she pondered whether or not she should tell the pegasus what she knew. It was strange to consider that nobody had told her prior to now, that was a certainty given her reaction upon seeing the ravaged mountain.
>No, she couldn't keep what she knew a secret, not from Lila. No matter if it upset her or what it might change between them, her fillyhood friend had to know.

>Amethyst lingered by the grounds and gazed back towards the guards, catching the ear movement and staring directly at that guard.
>The mask slipped.
>She waved back in a friendly manner, they may not respond, but they would still see it.
":3"
>Oh yes, she did not have to poke and prod them to mess with them, she could get under their skin at range.
>Amethyst remained where she was and made a range of silly faces and friendly gestures at the one particular guard to see if she could get them to react again, even as she surveyed the group at large.
>She whispered between bouts of goofing off.
"We're not sneaky enough to acquire gifts, but it's still nice to window shop."

[1d6+2 = (1+2) = 3] < B. Perception
[1d6+2 = (3+2) = 5]

>>392160
>Tapping her arms in thought briefly, 'Shiibo' straightens up, chin raising at a series of new diagnostics, in addition to implementing modifications against the Landbarge's accumulating problems.
'Limited data regarding Elemental wavelengths, frequencies, and what I are PRESUME to be mass-scale magnetic bandwidths; pseudo, magical, individually based. Cores, active Elementals, and Elemarentals emit, produce, harness, and bend particles around themselves, which we are typically incapable of detecting except as resonance or background echoes.
Air as an Element is inherently based on the Airstreams, a fusion of Lightning, Storms, Air, Couds, Force, Gravity, possibly Aether, and potentially Vortex. Pegasi, batponies, native and acclimated Harpies, and some Gryphons inherently recognize its existence, as do specifically Air-aligned unicorns. Conducting limited scale searches now.'
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Airstream Detection Theorums
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Magnetic Bandwidth Cross-Reference
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Reverse Elemental Resonant Analysis
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array: Broad Scale Elemental Particle Study
[1d6+10 = (3+10) = 13]
[1d6+10 = (5+10) = 15]
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]

*"Damn, this place has gone from weird to indescribable. I don't think she means the domes, dude. Twenty-eight sections north and south, right? So far twelve are connected to you and Lone. Spiral started as how many Elements?"*
*"Six, then seven. He did marention another several times but I do not know what he meant."*
*"Right. So, he goes from seven to twelve at some point, almost doubling the number of Elementals."*
'In the event a further five were acquired and split off from the original's psyche, That would make him a Triple.'
*"..what?"*
'Ponies call it a Triple, also known as the Best Travel Number. The total individuals in traditional Equestrian traveling herds is twelve, rarely deviating from such. Spiral had an overwhelming number of unresolved issues, projects, and construction efforts which he decreed could not be solved by the six, then seven plus one possible unknown.'
*"Yeeeaaahh... kinda weird, but okay. Starting to make sense other contributing factors were involved. Acid likes humans most, rest didn't. I say have Dul point out the most likely ones, get them to confront resistance, then have those battle it out to take control of the rest. That sound better?
And which Cores got added, any idea?"*
'Your modified suggestion is accepted. And, no, the potential or additional Elements are speculative at this time. Dul does not seem to be aware of, nor comprehend, which specific Elements may comprise newer Spiral forms or versions.'
*"Nevermind then. Heeeeey... that's not something I've seen before-"*
[1d6+6 = (3+6) = 9] <Investigation: Hodch
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7] <Investigation: Katyal

>The avatar takes on a troubled expression, head shaking several times while digging through databases from 'Tipper', a huge number of recently activated Fortress server files, while Dul continues staring forwards, ears flicking from time to time.
'In a manner of speaking: I have become enlightened, and in doing so discovered new fears. The probable consequences due to those implications are vast, sir. Hundreds of internal warnings regarding each have been temporarily dismissed. 39% are existential, 22% biological, 15% cultural, remainder mixed.
I will require an unknown amount of to create a formal review regarding tangible dangers of Vortex Plane assimilation.'
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8] <E.Electronic Warfare: Speculative Theoreticals
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]
[1d6+5 = (2+5) = 7] <Siren's Gaze
[1d6 = 3]

>North and south, the Elemental sections were partially clear, determining faint, distinct colors between incredibly thick barriers separating each.
>The three northmost were faded, tiny reflections of neon blue hues, while the surrounding were dim earth, stone, and metallic tones, fading into obscure colorations.
>Southernmost were blacked out, strobing pulses of contained Void colorations apparent in the central, one a faint white, another clear-blue, one a bitter, hazy neon green, and directly opposite covered in small flashes of electricity.
>The set up was nothing short of a secure, dedicated testing facility.

>Directly forwards, a new section ahead rises into view:
>Consolidating into a single beam of artificial Moonlight, a minute circular platform raises, two long, low tables of a rather unusual archaic pattern solidifying atop it, then a wide variety of chairs, benches, couches, seats, and rugs spaced around the outside of each.
>Reading through the Landbarge II's arrays, 'Shiibo' turns rigid, tossing out a notation of fully controlled, semi-organic particle synthesis occurring.
>Dull gray, statuesque figures step into view from the far west edge; earth pony, Crystal pony, unicorn, pegasus, Saddle Arabian, Neighsian, Minotaur, a native Harpy, Sheep, Ram, a long serpent, a common drake, a small wyrm, and last a tiny Tallus dragon.
>Numerous cloaked and hooded ones stand behind, barely seen from the back light: four bipedal, one absurdly tall and thin, one broader than the Minotaur, one short and squat enough to be a dwarf, another extremely short, four quadrupedal, another little more than an elongated oval.

>Lonestar glances up, nods, then eases off the control sticks, slowly skewing the vehicle to face northwards before settling into a short descent.
>Releasing a grimly frustrated exhale at tracks clank onto rigid stone, he takes the headset off and places it down, turning the chair around, leaning forwards as both hands rub his face.
*"Shiibo, power weapons down into tertiary cycles. I do not like the thought of pissing off our hosts]. Rerculon, remain in active status, priority one: extremis fighting retreat on my order.
Hodch?"*
*"We accept the invitation. Shut down all comms excluding gravitic channels. Join me outside, fully armed of course. We will approach as a group, unless Katyal decides to investigate. And if you would prefer to split off, Pare, now is the time to do so, though that is a long walk between each section."*

[1d100 = 31] <Reception
[1d100 = 25]
[1d100 = 68]

>>392163
"Oi'z gunna troi!"

>It was no good.
>She'd noticed you and was paying the price, small body motions towards her indicating no small amount of contention.

>Left eye twitching a few times, the right focuses to determine the mixture of Royal and Honor Guards were clearly Elites, rigidly cohesive in their squads.
>Lacking the constant polishing marks of lower grades, their armor was a specialized composite, one which Umakachov was never able to find out more than 'classified', little blemished by hard service and combat alike.
>Weaponry was a different matter as the presenting faces gleamed with an excellent variety of potent enchantmarents; armor disruption, anti-Elemental, specialized Elemental, and large scale versions which weren't familiar enough to categorize.
>Spotting hefty, neatly ordered small saddlepacks and flank satchels colored to match armor, the shapes within were fairly normal, consisting of numerous bandages, common alchemical bottles, wire rolls, though a few spheres and odd canisters were distributed equally.
>While you wished you could see through the plating, small crystal-on-metal noises indicated each had some form of pendant, hoofband, or other.

"Amy, why not give them a little poke, or perhaps two, hmm? Surely they will not mind such an.. innocent act, yeeessss?"

>Right of the station barely 30M, a jet black vortex opens, allowing a tall, brilliant platinum-white coated, flame wreathed, and quite ceremonially gold armored mare to exit.
>Stepping forwards to halt and delivering three loud tsk’s, chunks of heavily refined, stable Plasma roll off her, only setting the gateway ablaze.
"You all must relax, my sweet yet ever so flammable ponies! I must also insist you rescind the order at once."
>Jolting right as one, the white crested leadmare’s squad spread out in a sharp reverse V, the others rushing into formations behind.
"That is no-"
"MA'AM-"
"Quiet."
>White crested mare quieting the two, she steps forwards, halting upon reaching 5M from the presumed Princess, helmet tilting left slightly.
"You are not the Sun Princess. A Shard of the Tyrant, correct?"
>Wings stretching outwards and sinking into a deep, revered bow, the false-alicorn offers a dainty, polite exhale, the voice echoing faintly in crackling flame.
"Of course I am not Her. Regardless of what we are called, I am a small, coherent, and decently capable fraction of Her refined Solar majesty. We are immeasurably tiny pieces when separated from the whole' often foalish brutes, ignorant reflections, or emotionally overwhelmed. I am one of the six which act as a proper warmare should.
You would know me well as the fragmarent whom saved General Plainstrider before the final Verdant Plains battle concluded.. oh, when was that?"
>Standing to full height, left wing folding against her side, the right extends out to cup her chin.
"Hmmmmm.. a decade, o two perhaps. I am little capable of measuring time, not that such minute vagaries matter.
Now, why have you summoned me forth to this far too bright, dreary, mostly lifeless place?"
>Making no motion to look backwards, the leadmare's voice comes out flat, gesturing upwards with a front hoof.
"I do not think we called you, however.. that."
>Languidly turning around with heavy stomps, and patting the Solar gateway to prevent it from collapsing, the Plasma mare's head raises, ears twitching bemusedly.
"Mm. I see. No cause for alarm. Have you rescinded the order yet?"
"..no."
>Head craning back, burning eyes roll in sincere graciousness, then swivels around in a smooth motion, eyebrows lifted expectantly.
"Then please do so. This is none of your concern, nor ours. If such a being desired to cause harm or damage, it would have committed such by now. A rather obtuse search pattern is of no trouble.
Now I must leave, there are marely ponies for the Sun to find still, and much to rebuild!"
>Proffering a short, regal bow towards the sixty Guard, the Solar fragmarent steps towards the city with a loose, droll expression on her face as the gateway finally does collapse, leaving behind a small amount of soot.
"TYRANT!"
>Halting midstride at the leadmare's shout, both ears swivel backwards, placing hooves down.
"Yes?"
"Will you become part of the Solar Princess once your tasks have been completed?"
"Indeed. My purpose here has been fulfilled.. though I am uncertain as to how. The why is simple. Nonetheless, I shall rejoin the Sun immediately for I am to bring Her some measure of comforts: a number of Her favored ponies escaped ignoble deaths.
Ahh, that silly, hoofsome stallion, what a fool he was to claim the ground was his to defend.."
>Finally taking notice of you to her right, the mare's snout crinkles as a modest, pleased smile creases her muzzle.
"What a most delicate and enchanting staff you bear. Cute hoofboots as well. Have an excellent Night, young one."
>Head dipping left and down in a formal marener, she continues onwards in long strides before settling into a moderately high stepping two-point trot, tail flicking back and forth eagerly.
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <Solar Recuperation

"....ma'am, this is NOT going in our reports."
"I w-"
"NO!"
>Helmet shaking once at the chorus of voices, the leadmare leans sideways in a heavy motion, snorting dismissively.
"Then I suggest we all forget the last ten minutes happened. Back on patrols."
>Separating back into squads, it was painfilly obvious each was doing their best to not look in your direction, five taking stock of each other while the leadmare's continue watching.

"Iz dat a ghost?"
"To a point, it may have been."
"Or is."
"Or was."
"Perhaps, though in full control of itself."
"Like a Wraithblade struggling to find the pieces it has lost, not knowing it is still whole and slumbering in peace."
"....Amy. That one bearing the white crest. Her saddle appears rather exquisite."
"…..yeeeessss! YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!"
“My Lord, are you… well?”
“E’z roight, dat’z da biggest an’ da strongest! Show ‘er who da tallest Boss is!”

>>392167
>Frowning at the distinct sense of contention, Amethyst ceased her fun making towards the poor guard. She was likely going to receive a reprimand later, no fun.
>Expressing her support for the guard's entirely understandable error of noticing her, the ipotane blew a raspberry at the white crested guard.
"I am very tempted to poke the one with the white crest just to see if her facade is as strong as she believes it to be. Right. In. The. Snoot!~
>She paused for dramatic effect.
"Twice.~"

>Before she could do anything however, a vortex opened and utterly distracted her, saving the guard from her mischief.
>No... She knew this sensation.
"Oh no not more Fire!"
>The filly was not quiet about it as she whined. Cutely.
"We just got out of the Saddle Arabian daaay!~"
>Collapsing like a wet noodle.
"It's over, I'll melt into a crystal puddle! Tell Lila... She can't... Use all the coals at once! Her flanks will get fat and... She... won't be able to fly!"
>She sighed in utter surrender, closed her eyes, and braced for the inevitable.
>...
>The inevitable was taking its time being evitable...
>The filly cracked an eye open as the big firey tyrant pony conversed with the guards. The temperature had not gone up at all.
>Oh wow, she was really good at keeping her Fire in check. Unlike Some. She. Could. Name!
>Springing back to her hooves like a spring, complete with an unbidden spring noise, Amethyst returned a grin to the bossmare's smile.
"Thanks boss! I like your wargear!~"
>Amethyst bowed with a flourish.

>Once the Tyrant had left, the ipotane blew another raspberry at the guards.
"Hee! Sounds like your wargear needs more Juggernaut puppies printed on them!~"
>They appeared to pointedly not acknowledge the taunt as they left, but she knows they heard!
>She shouted after the one with the crest.
"We like your saddle though! It's very fancy!"

>Once silence reigned again, Amy proffered an open question.
"I wonder if I'll end up that tall when I grow up? Who will I ride then?"
>Nopony.
>The filly shuddered at the thought.
>A great, big pony shaped golem would just not be the same.

>>391578

("Yep, those mirrors should be everything. Oh and, don't know a Coralline Quell but I did recall a bunch of cultists with their hoods down around. You should catch Stellar Claw while you can. Anyways, thanks Stoneflux!")
>Clemency puts that Moon Orb back to where it was before he heads out

>Looking around, the only noises from the large caravan was moving equipment
>No markets stalls were set up, only transport and they were silent too
>Must be the secrecy they're known for

>Clemency grins back at the batpony when he reaches her at the gunship
>He looks over to where Stellar pointed to and saw the monolith lit up with holograms
> Clemency walked over and looked at them closely, marveling at the resolution of the images
>Especially the model shown, reminding him of his encounter of a similar one on the Citadel
"Maybe the modern ones are evolved from the past models. There should be something gleaned from these images..."
>He takes a looks at their capabilities concerning deployments
>After a while, he decides to come back to it after looking at the gunship
"Lifeweave? Makes sense given what the material seems capable of doing."

>Clemency is startled from the voice he heard as the canopy opens
>He begins inspecting the pilot's cabin, noting the damage throughout
>But no interface, just a chair
*"What is your name?"*

>He looks over to Stellar Claw
"Very stark. There's a long seat, damage all over the cockpit like an explosion, and no interface."
>Looking back into the cockpit, he sees the old Airstreams
"There's also old Airstreams. Stubborn ones that didn't leave after all those years."

>>392005
>Bubba would let out a small snort.
"It's filled with insanity, full stop. I wasn't expecting to fight an ugly motherfucker tonight."
>Seeing the explosions fly out towards the creature, Bubba would be put a bit at ease.
>If the squad leader was willing to use explosives, Bubba would figure it would be okay to do so as well.
>Taking a deep breath, he would summon his Construct cannon, sighting it in and aiming it at the upper torso to ensure no shrapnel would commit the cardinal sin of friendly fire.
>He wouldn't want to ruin the group's fun after all, lest one of them decides to turn it towards him.
>Before firing, he'd ensure that he would muffle the sound of the rocket going off, to ensure ear drum safety and lessen the tinnitus.
[1d6 = 4] <M. Stealth
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 3]
[1d6 = 4]

>woe
[1d6+2 = (1+2) = 3] <Construct Cannon
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4]
[1d6+2 = (4+2) = 6]
[1d6 = 6] <Bleed

>>392174
"Make it three times."
"No, they all deserve it for ignoring you!"
"Indeed. You have been most pleasant towards them. Such a lack of decorum should be responded to with.. drastic measures, wouldn't you say?"
"Loot dem ALL!"
"YEEEESSSS!"
"..."
"Wot?! Yu'z betta n-"
"I was thinking of the proper words with which to agree with you that do not involve barbaric measures!"
"...Oi wuz gunna say ta grab 'em once. Ya know, tezt da softezt wunz so yu'z know fer later!"
"That is.. for once, a logical thought."
"DEN sneak back an' take ta best wun wif ya!"
"And there it is.."
"Be careful with your words, witch. One would serve as an effective force multiplier and potential deterrent. General, how would you rate these guards?"
"Hm. Without full profiles and dossiers available, I would say between a veteran Tempestus Scion and a Kaskrin. Good weapons, better armor overall, yet not environmentally sealed unless that is a function we are not seeing."
"See! Oi'z roight!"

>More than ten now had taken full notice of you and were trying hard not to, causing a ripple effect as ears swivel for a second, or two, possibly three.
>One rather pale orange crested helmet in the leadmare's squad turns briefly, thoroughly unable to contain raging curiosity.

>Clattering onto stone, several low, mareish sighs, amused snorts, and a short, cut off laugh are heard while you absorb the cool, unfortunately neutral ground, though one asks several rapid questions.. in snooty unicorn.

>Calling over her shoulder, the large mare delivers a quick, blazing wink back to you.
"Most appreciated dear one, and yours are excellent as well! These were hoofmade by Grandmasters of the Royal Hegemony Armory as a gift, you should search for them!"

"Perhaps you may, or perhaps not. The future is so... crystalline."
"There is always a bigger one out there somewhere, Amy."

>Grating hoofboot against snout mask with an incessant groan, the white crested mare's helmet cocks, then speaks aloud.
"No. At ease for now."
>Turning about to approach you, the Honor Guard halts at arms' length and studies you through the illusion clone appearance while her squad commences to do.. nothing.
>Helmet turning to indicate the squads behind, her voice hardens several fractions into harsh sarcasm.
"Come to see the ruins, or are you here to mock us like the other humans have? My platune is among the few that survived the event here almost two years ago. We were all here that night and witnessed most of it, so I do not care for standing orders or holding decorum to your species."

>Rolling sideways to drift down in a lazy circle, Lila had returned to vaguely normal, streaks of red marring her coat and mane.
>Landing off to the right in a long scraping pattern, the pegasus clicks towards you, halting four feet from your left.
>Glancing over the Royal and Lunar guards, a subdued scowl creases her muzzle before snorting.
"I have seen all I need. Where shall we travel next?"
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <Findings

>>391908
>Yeah, I could figure out that she was in pain.
>I just give the tendril a look of amusement, before shaking my head and focusing back on Wild.
>I will have to watch that repair tendril's career with great interest.
"I would suggest holding off on attempting to modify me until we get back to Razorback, Wild. Someone more... technologically adept, and advanced, might be able to give you better information than I could on the subject."
>I could only hope she doesn't decide to experiment on me before then.

>I stay quiet for a moment, before deciding to speak.
"To be fair if you weren't welding underwater, we may have been ignored by it."
>I was going to be hit by one of those tendrils, I knew it.
>And I would have to think on who else I could get to talk to her.
>Maybe Steel Blitz.

>I nod approvingly at the repair job she's done so far, ignoring the grease.
>It was necessary or something, I'm sure.
"So far so good, with what you've got."

>>392191
("You're welcome, take care! I'll try to finish these, then see if she wouldn't mind chatting for a bit.")

>Scribbling out several words quickly, Stellar sets the tome down to puzzle over incredibly old, basic versions dating back close to 15,000 years.
"If this is evolution, the entire progression is lost on me. That's what I mean right there, earlier Constructs were simple. Tough, sturdy, thicker armor, hard to destroy weapons, far fewer components, could repair fast. A few two, then three role versions show up later, but we aren't seeing command models anywhere between those stages."
>Rolling through considerably later models, the majority of these functioned like the Scout/Sentry hybrids from Skykeep, except in far more variations.
>Primarily functioning as expected, reports denoted extremely quick repairs, near-instant weapon and system swaps, and marginal flexibility.
"That's the interim ones. Can quickly reform sections of their body into weapons, armor, or support.. units I suppose. Some three to four role ones, but those are rare. In Maniples they had some form of what we think was a leader, but then comes the multiroles and dedicated models about five thousand years ago."
>Now displaying modernized models, the majority of which you'd seen descendants of while on the Citadel, then switching to showing off hyper-specialized versions.
"These, the pre-modern variations. Lots of dual specialists, highly specialized, then ones with ultra specialized purposes that only arrive to perform a single task. Those were deployed right as the Early Dynasty was declared.
What I don't get is why modern Constructs have lost most of the earlier advantages. Now they're so complex the entire system of deploying Maniples requires significant numbers of command pairs dedicated to analyzing and countering battlefield tactics, and they use support from their own landers. Before the Dynasty those would simply leave, then return to pick up the survivors.
It's like thousands of damaged hiveminds merged together and started overcompensating for limited resources, which isn't possible given how impossibly huge the Rift Plane is."
>The mare carefully rubs her snout before sighing heavily, then continues writing at a slower pace.
"There's a few hundred thousand theories but few of them are correct. Constructs are somehow evolving backwards and I can't understand why."

>Unable to articulate the individual words of what might have been a response, it was a much older dialect which bore similarities to middle Navarch era pegasi, though the sharper up-down tones, quick cadence with limited time between, and inflections were closer to ancient batpony.
*"Mineself havest ae.. mayhaps passable meaning. 'Tis ae 'Shared-Air Reaver', sixteenth built of thee fifth line for Sixth Fleet. Sayeth loosed from docks year of two-zero-two-five-three, aefter Night of Hate's Vigil.
...odd phrases Sixth Fleet had. Long-intercept first in line, scout-layer second, fast-strike-assault, short-range-strike, gun-ship, swarm-carrier, heavy-force-projection, assault. More minself nae understand.
Translations slow ye grace. Sixth Fleet codices carry own tones, phrases, little used aefter save within records. Upon Seventh Fleet's destruction mine kin's languages become three: Tallus, battle, aen Lunar."*
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4] <???

"Not familiar, controls might be hidden or something. I've been on trains and some of the newer ships, usually there's space for two or three. Battle damage means there probably wasn't a replacemarent, willing volunteers, or was placed to rest for honorable service.
And do you mean they're not leaving right now, at all?"
>Carefilly biting onto the charcoal stick, the batmare's head tilts right, eyebrows raising with a puzzled expression.
"Hang on, that's not right. Airstreams don't stay in one place. Either there's a huge enchantmarent or.. I dunno, lemme think a bit."
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <E.Research
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8]
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10]
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Senior Airstreams
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]

>>392213
>Lifting up each section of external armor to check for possible contents, Nine spares five seconds to study the doppelganger.
"Not much of a fight, really. And I'm starting to think it was mostly dead to being with."
>Drawing a jagged piece of chalk out from a thick exterior flank plate, she replaces it, a resentful groan ringing out at a particularly loud chunk of something exploding across the creature's left side, which showers half the Rune Knights.
"Nope, nothing useful.. and there goes MY chances of visiting a spa before morning. Bet I'll be the one stuck performing decontamination for at least ten hours.."

>Partly fading the bright orange weapon by sinking it into a lower Void spectrum, the shriek is muted to a dull, flat barking tone, arcing well overhead of the fray at a strange angle-
>Directly into what used to be the upper throat left of its jaw, further ripples of shrapnel tearing into unresistant dull brown-gray muscle, although a few cracks indicate something hard had been struck as well.

"Mother of hooves!"
>Released from the weight, Nine merely stares down at you with a look caught between impressed, surprised, puzzled, and slightly jealous.
"That's one of the OLD Construct weapons, those haven't been seen for almost three thousand years! Where'd you even find one, and how does it completely disappear without leaving a tra-"

>Cut off by a series of immense snaps, Starborn, Lorekeepers, and Rune Knights alike race out of the thing's path as it falls straight down into itself.
>Landing with sloshy, loud tearing noises, shards of fluorescent pink and decayed bone fracture out from the corpse, its own dead weight destroying what stolen life remained.
>Sections of the familiar crystalline begin spreading at random speeds across its volume, warnings shouted and directed to avoid contamination.

>Soulglyph taking stock of combatant numbers, there didn't seem to be a single injury... barring a number of expensive, difficult to repair statues, but sorting out the damage would probably take ten minutes.
>And weeks more if Amerose returned soon.

>Kicking stone underneath, Nine grumbles in a sour and flat tone.
"I am so incredibly tired of missing out on all of the fun kills.."

*****
Bubba gains: 2XP, and a memory FEW can top!

>Faction Changes:
Crystal Lorekeepers: +3
Councilierge: +5
Gozka: +5
Lunar Adherents: +5
The Citadel: +5

>>392226
"Fight is fight, if we're shooting at it, it counts."
>Bubba would glance over at her as she makes a vocal noise, before focusing.

>Bubba would hum a bit as he plants the rocket directly into the creature like an uppercut, getting back up on his feet as the cannon disappears, rolling his shoulders.
>He looks over at Nine, giving her a bit of a grin.
"I'll tell you when you're older."
>Turning back to the doppleganger, he would watch as it finally dies, collapsing down into itself.

>Observing the damage, Bubba would be adequately impressed by the lack of casualties.
"Hey, at least nobody was damaged by it. Aside from some statues, we all came out on top."
>Some literally.

>>392164
>Watching Shiibo's display as she attempts to isolate Airstream current wavelengths, he notes:
'With our limited equipment, high returns are unlikely. But if you find anything actionable, inform us.'

>Listening to the chatter regarding the number of divisions Spiral had undergone prompted a moment of recall. The passphrase Spiral had coined.
*"Spiral had placed emphasis on the phrase 'ten bodies, one mind' at one point. For the divisions to have continued here beyond ten would mean his psyche must have progressively deteriorated."*

>He frowns at Shiibo's mentioning of new concerns.
'Noted. Pause processing the review for the duration of the operation. We need to focus on primary objective priorities. I don't want any new concerns added to either of our lists before we've stabilized Spiral within Razorback.'

>Crossing through the periphery of the partitioned dome, Pareidolia notes cordoned sections for each Element, but before he can consider the implications of wandering into a potential testing chamber a raised platform appears towards the front of the transport in the distance.
>His eyes widen as matter printing takes place on the screens.
(They've achieved that too?)
*"That's... matter synthesis and printing... process looks nearly identical to the mass fab-print stations... "*
>Attention being drawn to the gathering seemingly made of stone facsimiles of species both known and unknown, he unSticks himself from the hull and moves to stand by the exit hatch of the pilot compartment.
*"My sole priority is retrieving as much of Spiral as possible. Consolidating with the group is my best chance of achieving that. The scale of mastery over the fundamental forces shown in this facility indicates we are only here because they are allowing it, and I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."*
>Glancing warily at the viewscreens once more, he checks to see if there has been any further activity on the raised platform.

[1d6 = 2] <E. Perception
[1d6 = 4]
[1d6 = 1]

>>392215
"Denial noted and accepted, mom. I will wait until safe possibilities occur. Or are created."
>Twitching spastically as it delves into crumpled sections of right chest armor, the unusually emotive tendril's length simultaneously restoring something involving bright red flashes of light, dodging melted composites, and trying to avoid falling Tryptaran debris.
>It was marginally successful, but still distressed.
>Two of the other tendrils free a large bundle, appearing as matte six black coins banded together by a bright red material, separated by a thin, barely visible blue field, another is dug out to be examined, then a single black, thin square.
>Carefully delivering those three into the chest cabin, Wild's upper body bends forwards ten feet, her electronic voice flat.
>And pained.
"My original systems included a variety of shared sonar, radar, and lidar arrays. Those were located across my head unit which was destroyed due to post-combat damage while disengaging from the Assault Lander. Current motion detection methods and specifications are minimal at best.
Fifty percent of primary access reconnected, minimal secondaries located. Uplinking now-"
>Despite the apparent jam-this-piece-of-metal-into-that-open-space, there was some form of logical repairs taking place across your Eldritch-Android daughteru's frame.
>Delivering a constant stream of sheared off materials inside, Wild twitches.
"....reconnection complete."
>Spoken in a calm, less warbling inflection, testing her arms once more, this time having better control, less spastic movements and jitters translate to smooth, almost natural ranges of motion.
"I.. half of my original self has been integrated, no changes except for improved responsiveness. I may be capable of full restoration."

>Carefully piecing together and restoring over half of her head, the cockpit module was unfortunately suffering a bout of white and blue cow print.
>Wiping off pseudo-grease stains from the exterior, which you quickly realize had been Tryptaran mass boiled into a liquid state, Wild Ride heaves an electronic sigh of relief, along with her massive chest deflating slightly.
"This feels better. Full access has been restored to all of my knowledge, including databases and wetware, but secondary functions are still minimal."
>Tendrils removing small pockets of burnt fiber sections and tossing them out, the lone tendril coils onto itself in a thinking posture.
"....four-hundred thirty-one million, six-hundred eighty-five thousand, nine-hundred and thirty fully biologically safe additions and attachments are available. Specifications range from simple wearable devices, to excellent grade production Post-Orbital devices, utilities, weapons, and armor.
While I do not have available capabilities to produce the majority, I am able to, with the proper materials and time, modify your equipment if need be.
....approximately ten million prototypes, post-prototypes, and experimental systems remain in backlog. I think that is the majority of them. There may be unsafe versions contained within other datanodes."
>Head cocking to one side, then the other, her upper body shifts backwards, both hands reaching up to deliver iron and steel pieces into the head unit, while four tendrils extend down to pick up small amounts of sand.
"One primary node, three secondary nodes, and the missing tertiary node have been located. REPLACING hardware and reinstalling to a safer location."
[1d6+14 = (1+14) = 15] <Grade 1 Auto-Repair
[1d6+15 = (6+15) = 21]
[1d6+15 = (1+15) = 16]
[1d6+13 = (3+13) = 16] <Grade 2 Auto-Repair
[1d6+13 = (4+13) = 17]
[1d6+13 = (6+13) = 19]
[1d6+20 = (5+20) = 25] <Tryptaran Autorestoration
[1d6+4 = (3+4) = 7] <Repair Tendril #1
[1d6+3 = (5+3) = 8] <RT-#2
[1d6+3 = (1+3) = 4] <RT-#3
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] <RT-#4
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6] <RT-#5
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4] <RT-#6
[1d6+2 = (1+2) = 3] <RT-#7
[1d6+1 = (3+1) = 4] <RT-#8

>>392235
>Visibly keeping a profuse amount of crystalline spaghetti where it all belonged under solid, partially flexible, moving, and fluid-motion plates.. they weren't, but probably should be given her previous interactions with Six.
"Swear I'm going to spend a whole month finding better weapons than some old heavy drop-turret to engage at a distance-"
>Biting off her words, the Rune Knight huffs in a loud, definitely chagrined, and passably offended marener, thick armored left forehoof bending up to chime on her chestplate.
"Excuse you! I'm twenty six years old as of four months ago and have the fifth highest solo kill tally in my Companeigh! Not even the Kingdom Generals have better records than me!"

>Stamping once, a bit disgracefully, upon watching the doppelganger rapidly beginning to crystallize from the inside out, muscle and bone alike fracturing off in jagged pink sections.
>Head tilting, her visor turns bright red for a split-second, clicking forwards two steps before muttering in disbelief.
"No bloody way... was that an actual Freak eater?"
[1d6+3 = (6+3) = 9] <Visual Recordplate
>Eyes swiveling to regard you with calm, semi-professionalism once again, Nine shakes her head inside the helmet briefly.
"Hold on a minute please, I need to see if there's a Crystal Interlink or hololith close by. We have standing orders to report everything regard Freaks. This could be huge if it is-"
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] <Interpony Connection
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7] <Hololith Connection

>Watching the majority of ponies, Minotaurs, and Gryphons removing pieces of fluorescent pink from themselves, the massive doppelganger's corpse solidifies.
>Lighter, gem quality strands of material flaking off from decayed musculature, the heavier and solid sections of former bone rigidly crystallize into bright glowing hues, fading into multi-spectrum colorations.
>Too large to remain stable, jagged sections fall off and crash into stone, the majority remaining whole, while smaller sections of previously soft tissues flake into pieces.

>Trying to comprehend the unusual process, Spiral's soulglyph was able to identify older, trace amounts of multiple anticoagulant compounds, but needed much closer investigation to determine the remainder.

>>392214
>Grin widening now that she drawn more attention from the guards, Amy began waving at the others, though she did lessen the intensity of the goofy gestures and faces she made.
>Squad? Broken.

>Jumping a little in surprise as the white crested guard's facade broke completely, Amy remained where she was as the mare approached.
>Approached within arm's reach.
>She was asking for it! She wanted the boop!
>Her mishcief softened as she took in her marener, however. She could see it clear as day, bleeding through the front of harsh sarcasm she put on. Pain, loss, justice remaining unserved for years. Why wouldn't it make sense? Why did they get to walk free while she had seen so much lost?
>Pain unanswered turned to anger, and anger now festered, neglected by others or fostered by the mare herself, either way she did not need magic to know its caustic effect on her soul.
>Amethyst's expression softened in solemn friendliness.
"No, we come in peace."
>Hand outstretched, she made to place a single, gentle boop upon the guard mare's snoot.
"I can feel the pain you carry still, and I would not add to it nor make a mockery of it. You have lost and that loss follows you, weighs you down when your heart yearns to rise as it once must have. I have met some of those who fell here as Shades amidst the Kerbann trees, taking their peace and rest with some joy."
>She added after a moment with fondness.
"...And some mischief. I do not know why all of this happened, I cannot make it make sense to you with my answers, and I cannot bring you the satisfaction you now seek. I can only offer you what comfort I can and hope it helps in some way, however small."
>Withdrawing her finger from the guard mare's snoot, Amethyst smiled over at Amy.
"Howdy bestie. Saw the Tyrant just a second ago if you wanted to go say hi. She went off that way!"
>Amy indicated the direction with an outstretched finger and sighed wistfully.
"I really do like her wargear..."
>After a moment of reflection over the very fine and shiny armour, the filly answered the second part of Lila's query.
"I thought I'd investigate the barracks here to see if I could find any clues."

>>392240
>Bubba would keep his smirk up as he looked over towards the now crystallizing corpse.
>He would definitely have to inspect it once it was safe to do so.
"Looks like it might be. I doubt they usually get that tall, aye?"

>Picking up Gilda, he would eject the en bloc inside, replacing it with a fresh clip.
"I want to get a closer look at the ugly bastard, is it safe to do so?"
>He'd ask after a few moments, glancing over at Nine.

>>392236
>Processing the results to cross-reference, the avatar delivers a flatly negative hand motion.
'No substantial evidence detected of Air Cores and relatedAirstreams. I can either clear magnetic or Elemental interference, not both.'

*"Wait a second, ten to one? How cou-"*
*"I suspect the exact opposite occurred. Interspecies Dynasty herds were usually in multiples of four with twelve being considered the best. Among the twenty eight Elementals he would have inherently understood which
would stabilize him, though ten.. four others were in close contact. Perhaps he discovered another two that fit his needs.
I could show what this ruin looked like before.. hm. Too marely differences, likely not necessary."*

>Clearing the screen after 3.8 seconds, 'Shiibo' leans back while bringing up one of Spiral's original channels, tossing an irate, sideways stare in the helmet.
'Task completed and archived. ...be careful what you wish for, sir.'

*"Seen something like this in Buzzard's Rest, still functioned most of the time... pretty crude in comparison."*
*"Real close to what our dreadnoughts had when they weren't getting shelled or producing shells. Could make near perfect duplicates of an object.. just not that fast."*
*"No, that is neither synthesis nor printing. That is free scale matter transpositioning, one of the spells which were purposefilly banned and destroyed due to disrupting Tallus ecologies en masse. Even I do not know it, and no copies remain."*
*"HODCH!"*
*"I know I'm not supposed to state it, but in this second do you see another method to describe the process!?"*
*"..no, I don't. I'm coming down but staying back a ways. Hop out when you're all ready."*
*"Barring the indecent nature of this situation, I agree. Regarding the invitation presented to us, you are all hereby required to remain open minded to all possibilities. This may as well be a diplomatic meeting.
Shiibo, you will not be able to comprehend Dynastic behaviors or conditional terms are they based on a solely engrammatic language, one which Katyal and I may, I repeat: MAY, be capable of interpreting."*
'Then shall I begin my studies from scratch?'
*"Yes. And notify me of any Elemental particles or magnetic fields within the vicinity of each... ...I have no idea what to call those."*
''Understood.'

>Transferring off main screens back into the helmet, the advanced model shrugs to herself.
'Rerouting complete, uplinking the Landbarge II's transceiver to Lonestar, Katyal, Hodch, the Rerculon, and myself. We will only be able to transmit on Spiral's original channels, all others are effectively blocked.
We are deeper into the black than ever before, sir.'
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9] <E.Electronic Warfare
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array: Secure Connection
[1d6+10 = (3+10) = 13]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]

>The front statues had formed into a perfect half-circle from north to south on the platform's west side, the unicorn central, equines and shorter south, taller and unknowns north.

>Dropping both of the rear hatches, Lonestar stands up, then stretches out with a smoldering gaze towards the left screen.
"If Spiral's been held here against his will.. I'm going to nuke this place back to where it fucking belongs: a lost ruin."
>Passing around you, light clomping and a heavy thud down the ramps is followed by a hardpack slid on, then weapons quickly tested for a final check.

>'Shiibo' points up briefly, an eyebrow raising at a small dome rendering.
'The artificial Moonlight is virtually the same from Luna's Moon. It MAY effect you negatively as an Otherworlder. Katyal, Lonestar?'
*"I hear you."*
*"Might not, I'll step in first to see."*

*"Katyal, explosives?"*
*"Got 'em put together, let me know what to plant where."*
*"I will. Lonestar?"*
*"Shiibo's got most of my codes for firing solutions and advanced ConFra commands."*
*"That will have to do. Pare, we will be taking a seat at the east side table. Run a quick check of your environmental sealing, at least one of us may be allergic to... who knows what.
Now if I remember this right, you and Lonestar must be seated on my left, least experienced closest to me, and Katyal to my right. ....I know that look. Major portions of the Dynasties were heavily disliked by non-ponies. Sexist or not, we still arrange ourselves in specific mareners to show a lack of aggression."*

>Blinking herself from study, Dul turns a flat stare up at you.
"How is not-pony pony? How is pony not-pony? Do old Sirens see? Dul not.. un-der-stan-d how not live, not dead."
>Head shaking confusedly, she phases through the Landbarge's side behind you.
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10] <Siren's Gaze
[1d6 = 6]
[1d6 = 6] <Language Adaption
[1d6+1 = (3+1) = 4] <Tallus Acclimation
[1d6+1 = (3+1) = 4] <Vortex Adapt: Tallus

*"Come on dude, let's go meet the, what would it be.. great to the eightieth grandsires and grandams?"*
*"Ninety five or so. But probably more."*
*"And I thought my family's genealogy was fucking bizarre..."*

[1d100 = 23] <Arrangement
[1d100 = 48]
[1d100 = 58]

>>392242
>Touching the intensely hard snout mask, it had known thousands of deaths that night.
>While the stains from Anti were long destroyed, the wild Plasma could never leave it, nor could the physical scars, nor could she remove the armor easily.
>A Betrayed; she would reach Tartarus, or it would reach out to her.

>Flickering the illusion off, molten half-red, half-clear eyes stare almost blindly, the white crested mare utterly still.
"Only Shade I can think of exists in a couple of ancient myths. Kerbann..."
>Slow, stern inhales and exhales occur until her head raises.
>Taking a partial step backwards and craning around, she returns to you with a fractional squint, gaze swiveling to Lilamaredre.
"Neither of you were ever here. False alarms from a repeating dream."

>Holding the Captain's pained anger with her own barely cooled fury, Lila tracks the tall figure for a second.
"No. I can feel it is ancient and will not have answers."
>Catching the Honor Guard stiffening, the pegasus sets a full scowl onto her before grinding out.
"Fine. It may have one. Go ahead, I will return shortly-"
>Leaping into the air, small plumes of rolling yellow trail off her feathers, spinning halfway and racing to catch up with the bizarre faux-Celestia.
[1d6+6 = (6+6) = 12] <E.Flight
[1d6+6 = (4+6) = 10]
[1d6+6 = (6+6) = 12]
[1d6 = 4] <Unlucky

>Eyes closing, the Captain turns heavily, clicking back to her squad and calling back in a subdued, drained tone.
"May Luna shield you this Night and all others."

"...dat's NOT propa'."
"It never is for some."
"There are those whom merely live beyond their experiences, never knowing what is beyond the small bubble containing their life. Some may never be whole again."
"Oi."
"What?"
"Loot da ground."
"What NONSENSE are you blathering NOW, greenskin?"
"Yu'z dumb. If yer.. uh, sire wuz 'ere, find da ground 'e touched, den da placez uver 'umies did."
"What makes you think such a crude method could provide information?"
"We would call this searching for echoes. Amy, focus on humans as a whole, do not allow external imprints to cloud your mind. Find the stains and follow them."

>>392255
>He arches an eyebrow back at Shiibo's disapproving side eye.
'If you consider it operationally relevant, then feel free to continue it. My tasking priority lacks your computational capabilties.'

>Having already performed his final check, he heads back and descends down the rear ramp onto the stone floor of the dome.
>Moving to stand next to Hodch, he cranes his head upwards scanning the roof of the dome for the possible source of the artificial Moonlight.
(Diplomatic meeting indeed. Enough resources gathered here to be a faction in their own right. Dynastic no less.)
*"Seating arrangement understood. I will be on your immediate left. Sealing secure... and Hodch, you said transpositioning earlier. As in, relocating extant matter from elsewhere on Tallus to here?"*

>Glancing behind him as Dul's voice and form materialize, he offers an apologetic half shrug.
"Are you referring to those gray figures on the platform? I'm not sure how they are moving either."

>>392243
>Two internal clicks under spinal plates occur before a series of hololiths flicker in front of Nine, displaying a rather gruesome number of deceased carnivorous creatures, shortly before full body crystallization.
>Expanding outwards, close to four hundred in view are quickly studied, measuremarents in Common on each image running comparison tests.
>Recognizing most of the backgrounds, they were in order of total incidents: Las Pegasus first, larger cloud-cities across Southern Equestria, Stalliongrad, Rushya, Neighvada, and Crystal Empire in last.
>Calculating a minimal factor of 1.3 body size increase to a maximum of 3.8 at most, the side eye you receive is disturbed.
"Never. Not even once. That is completely different."
>Closing down the projections, faint chimes are heard briefly before she grunts in distaste.
"Unbelievable..ma'am, the closest uplink is over three hours from here and can't transfer more than a Class 1 microplate at one time. ..yes, we HAVE to report this immediately! ..I have a full record... fiiiiine-"

>Speaking Imperial for half a minute, the back and forth was quite civil until a minute hum cuts off, giving you a 'go ahead' motion after a few seconds of thought.
"Yep, safe to approach now.. like all the previous Freaks and Freak eaters. Also fair warning: do not touch or get close to anything that looks like glowing ice. Rime is a nightmare to remove and our 'Frames have minimal storage space in this configuration."
>Huffing to herself, Nine turns ponderously towards where Six had and starts off, muttering in irritation.
"If she gets flankhammered and we're all demoted again I'm going to sc-"

>>392265
>Directing the Rerculon to continue her computational tasks, 'Shiibo' turns rigid for a split-second before raising one hand in alarm.
'This IS the primary objective and concern in one, sir. Regarding Dul's capabilities, she is able to bleedover hundreds if not thousands of exceptionally hard data sets within seconds, which would take me ten minutes with an entire section of equipment.
In combination with the prior, the Dynasty's varied efforts were potentially hours from achieving transcendence in upwards of two hundred measures. For reasons I am afraid of discovering, they failed to reach apex conclusions. Or as my alarmingly high paranoia is implying: they refused to.
This culminates in a complete revision to my previous theories: the Empress, her close advisors, researchers, or some combination of the prior began to realize future repercussions and saw fit to destroy all of their work.'
>Pointing out the dome, sections, Cores, and Elemental control mechanisms currently being used, a touch of fear tinges her words.
'Imagine dysjunctions and conjunctions occurring in apex-close spectrums and Planes across this entire world, which is numerous times larger than the standard human Earth. That alone should be proof of the Dynasty's functional dangers. We are wholly unprepared for resulting consequences, except in limited scale, isolated, utterly marginal forms.
What I cannot yet provide is a full review of objectively hard facts, excepting thousands of specifically converging data points. That is weeks of time we do not have. I am able to offer these two as near-direct yet partly circumstantial evidence:
Sapphire Kiwi, Spiral, and Hodch have been preventing full scale arcane contamination of Razorback. Here, safe magic and alchemical substances are of such wondrous abundance that what most consider divine miracles are commonplace, easy to acquire, sending a request, or require a short waiting period.
Two, the native approach to esotericism is strictly objective: aid first, necessity, needs, then wants. Helpful desires, lusts, and greed after, then dipping into lower positives, and last into negatives. Few equines are capable of solely selfish interests, and there are moderate to high factors showing the majority of Tallus species act in the same manners.'
>'Shiibo' delivers a series of images, each showing different scenes in the Pagoda: Twisted Wing or Hodch angrily refusing packages and objects throughout the past year, marking them as from covert spy systems placed by Flash.
'Among your reports are five regarding Spiral initiating a form of mental sharing with multiple humans. He could not have been blind to the urges of desiring and demanding more access, innately causing damage to human biology, culture, and mentality. They likewise were not.
In total sum: the dangers of unrestricted Tallus, spectrum, and Planar access are equally insidious and destructive as our presumable technological superiority was formerly considered, if not inevitably catastrophic.'
>Expression hard, a short clip of an aery, barely 20's stallion speaking is played, Twisted Wing snarling afterwards.
"Please let me go, I'm supposed to deliver this t-"
"Not happening! Take it back and tell your boss the fours and up are off limits!"
"But they've already paid for it!"
"Return the Bits or gems or whatever the fuck else the second you arrive! Go before I decide your skull could make a nice border for my trophy wall!"
'Once more: be careful. Resuming observational mode for now.'

>Stepping onto unusually light feeling stone, there was a fully active, low classification Gravity Elemental throughout the entire pathway, reducing weight by what felt to be a sixth.
>Unable to determine a specific point of origin for it, the Moonlight itself seemed to be an energetic interface, once which the avatar was unable to clarify.
[1d6+4 = (6+4) = 10] <E.Electronic Warfare: Pattern Analysis
[1d6+4 = (5+4) = 9]
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array: Environmental Survey
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14]
[1d6+10 = (1+10) = 11]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]

*"Excellent, and... yes. Say I wanted a piece of red streak marble in the shape of a common Old Everfree leaftailed rat in a certain pose, with a number of details, a specific shape, and hidden text in the ears. All I would have had to do is place an 'order' for it. The object would arrive effectively perfect at the atomic scale, and easily pass as being from a Master artist.
Not even the extremists of my Order were willing to keep that knowledge, and may have been the first to burn what they had regarding it. Do you understand why that entire chain of knowledge was destroyed?"*

>Joining with Hodch, visibly uncomfortable in the archaic armor, Katyal two paces on his right firmly grasping her rifle in low ready, Lonestar five to the left with his SMG in the same, the Siren remains behind you, visibly calm yet vocally confused.
"Dul saw all threads tiny cycles ago. Not-ponies and ponies moved but threads not move."
[1d6+5 = (3+5) = 8] <Siren's Gaze
[1d6 = 5]
[1d6 = 6] <Language Adaption
[1d6+1 = (5+1) = 6] <Tallus Acclimation
[1d6+1 = (4+1) = 5] <Vortex Adapt: Tallus

>Making a short 'move with me' motion, Hodch leads one pace ahead, approaching the west side table as a stiffly professional group.
>Halting at the circle of Moonlight, he motions for Lonestar to reach a hand into it.
>Flexing several times, then stepping fully into it, the navy man's head shakes briefly, the stallion resuming his course.
>Briefly pausing to eye the platform's almost Lunar sheen, he steps onto it, testing once, then walks to the table, halting at six feet. >Helmet turning to regard the wide variety of seating, then up at the unmoving statue-likes.
"I am Hodch of the Lunar Villages."
>Horn surrounded in dark blue, all of the west table furniture is floated into the air, placing a low backless chair in the center for him, a shorter backed chair right, and two taller backed chairs left, remainder sent to both ends.
*"Pare, present yourself, then sit in order. I will be last."*

[1d100 = 65] <Greeting
[1d100 = 23]
[1d100 = 8]

>>392297
>Pareidolia exhales grimly as he responds to Hodch.
*"Effects on Tallus itself and potential for ethical violations, economic and political upheaval were clearly disastrous. Even one single user could devastate the entire planet."*

>Keeping in lockstep one pace behind the armored unicorn, he follows into the beam of Moonlight.
>As Hodch arranges the furniture from the West table, he instead would look towards the gathered statues and hooded figures attempting to glean any details about their audience.
[1d6 = 5] <E. Perception
[1d6 = 1]
[1d6 = 5]

(Hodch presented himself as of the Lunar Villages. Should I go with location of origin? Or would faction affiliation be more appropriate? Razorback may be the safe choice. Still truthful.)
>Shifting the single point sling on his FG103, he holds the rifle grip and foregrip pointed downwards as he moves towards the table.
>Stopping where Hodch did, his scan of the crowd stops on the miniature (relatively) Tallus dragon.
(Curious detail. Why that portrayal when all other species are presumably accurate to their real proportions?)
"Pareidolia of Razorback."
>Continuing forwards, he moves to the chair immediately to the left of Hodch's central seat and seats himself while resting his rifle across his lap.
>His pack serving as a cushioning against the high back of his seat.

>>392261
>Amethyst waved farewell to the white crested guard as she left.
"Goodnight to you!~"
>The festering boil of anger that had been corroding the mare's soul had seemed to have been lanced, it would drain over time and she would see the world with less burden weighing her down. The filly hoped she would find some measure of peace now.
>She certainly would in time regardless, but now the pain of her wait would be diminished in some manner.

>Kerbann clutched close, she turned to Lila and nodded joyful.
"Alrighty then, have fun."
>Amethyst watched after Lila's flying momentarily before lifting the Stick and wandering back over to the old abandoned barracks, listening all the while to the puppet's bickering.
"Da Warboss uz gotz a point dere. Warevuh youz standin' dere'z you are."
>It made a supreme degree of sense, she had already felt the lingering traces earlier. The fields of energies here had been highly impressionable when disaster had struck, leaving imprints of emotional states clear to sense for those so attuned, if the energetic outburst had been great enough, she may even be able to sense lingering thoughts.
>It would greatly depend on how magically charged the humans themselves had been at the time perhaps.
"As you say, searching for echoes amongst Tallus' fabric!~"
>Reaching the opening of the barracks first, Amethyst examined the visage of the building before turning her gaze down to the ground.
"Those who stood here..."
>Pressing one end of the Kerbann against the ground with a scarcely audible wooden tap, the filly drew forth on the magic present, limited her search to the immediate area around herself and ignoring the city at large. Sorcery first, then resonance, to perhaps gain a clearer picture.

[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5] < B. Sorcery
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6]

[1d6+2 = (4+2) = 6] < Crystal Runes: Power
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4]

>>392303
>Examining the statuesques, each was neither reflective nor matte, entirely lacking visible characteristics of flora, stone, metal, crystal, or any material you could think of.
>The avatar designates it as a stable matter-energy state composite, placing a sticker of 'How.' next to her with a shrug.
>Representing Pre-Modern species, the equines were specifically modeled after mature mares while the Minotaur, Sheep, Harpy, and Ram were equally aged males.
>Trying to gauge the Dracosines, 'Shiibo' notes they were 95% likely to be male judging by larger, sharper and boxier physical details, save for the Tallus dragon which was too young to portray clear sexual definitions.
>Running a comparison against the 12M long Tallus Basilk, the broad face somewhat resembled a hooded cobra, yet the partially outward facing eyes, paired short fangs, and highly evolved facial structures indicated a high intelligence, likely preferring to hunt small game rather than cause harm to other sapients.
>The background figures weren't familiar enough to make a comparison, the equine ones having no comparable features; 'Shiibo' notes the cloak and hood on each likely meant missing, lost, and extinct species.
>Pointing out the second tallest one, unusual spined and triangular projections across the false-cloak matched a partial definition of the few remaining Kra`ken.
>Bringing up a short Lunar document detailing them as a bizarrely slow to mature, hyper-intelligent species originating from the Elemental Plane of Water, having incredibly varied individual and sexual dimorphism as few appeared similar to each other.
>Before Late Dynasty battles and wars became widespread, the highest population count was approximately 43,900 living on Tallus, solely near large bodies of water with a preference for ocean access, an estimate from last year detailing barely 600 remained on Tallus; the now-distant Planar population was estimated to be in the low tens of millions.
>Resulting from the Lunar-Solar War, the survivors were hardline Lunars, though a few extremists had become dedicated to wiping out Infected and invasive species throughout the Moors, Ferron lands, and even into what remained of the Navarchy.

>Taking one step forwards, the central unicorn figure bows its head at a shallow angle towards you, then returns to its place, only a light scrape occurring.
>Double, then quintuple checking the channel was secure, 'Shiibo' frowns, right hand cupping her chin.
'Temperature neutral at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Zero electrical, Elemental, or electromagnetic patterns detected. Zero energy transfers detected. Zero internal power cells, batteries, Cores, or Elemental reactions.. no wonder Dul is so confused, each are physical yet move and function in a hybrid biological-energetic material state.
This is purely theoretical territory.'

>Gazing at the other table briefly, Katyal fades from sight for eight seconds, stepping out from Void spectrums afterwards.
[1d6+5 = (4+5) = 9] <Graduate Explosives
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10]
[1d6+5 = (5+5) = 10]
[1d6+5 = (1+5) = 6]
[1d6+3 = (4+3) = 7] <E.Thievery
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]
[1d6+3 = (3+3) = 6]
[1d6+2 = (3+2) = 5] <E.Traps
[1d6+2 = (2+2) = 4]
[1d6+2 = (1+2) = 3]
[1d6+2 = (4+2) = 6] <E.Engineering
[1d6+2 = (1+2) = 3]
[1d6+2 = (5+2) = 7]
[1d6+1 = (3+1) = 4] <E.Explosives
[1d6+1 = (6+1) = 7]
[1d6+1 = (1+1) = 2]
>Bending forwards several degrees, the Saddle Arabian is subjected to a withering stare before speaking flatly.
"Katyal Alvugarde, Olvia Tributary."
>Stepping around while facing the statues to sit down, her rifle is placed in lap at medium ready, right hand firmly on the grip, finger trigger held above.

*"...do I HAVE to do this?"*
*"Yes. The invitation has been accepted."*
*"Shit-"*
>Casting a thoroughly annoyed twitch at Hodch, Lonestar grimaces.
"Lorinat Setaro.. of Razorback."
>Seating himself using a cleaner version of the at-ready method Katyal used, the unicorn statue performs the same bow before stepping back.

>Deliberately exposing his left side to sit down and rotating to face directly, Hodch leans back, armored head lifting.
>Still and silent for five seconds, a profuse number of bright desert flowers in large pots are set down before Katyal, then a band of unusual 13 petal purple flowering vines is placed in front of Hodch, both staring at the bouquets.
>A pair of 2' tall young trees in large pots appear in front of you and Lonestar, the wide, red curled leaves and silver-green tinged bark marking it as an archaic, 'Shiibo' noting it as rarely seen around the Old Everfree's outskirts.
>Behind, a faint, barely visible cluster of 4' tall stems with fern-like clusters of heads set in front of Dul, soft red, purple, and black speckles lighting up her faux-earth mare body.
>The unicorn's head tilts after fifteen seconds, the woman pinging her internal bionics on.
*"Hooooly ssssshit... my head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton candy... Hodch, how much do you understand?"*
*"Not.. enough, a few words here or there. Translate for us the best that you can."*
".....I welcome the five of you to the former City-State of Ecukdel's Varkest, the eighth built during the Second Foundation, and the only Grand City-Ground remaining of the Fourth Foundation.
Eckudel is.. the engrammatic name of a Gryphane royal, researcher and historian. It's a LONG name. Varkest means something like an Eyrie on top of a dome above two city sections, tens of thousands sharing it, with a giant, fortified underground experimarental lab.
Er. I shall protect you to my destruction as all guests rightfully deserve and will remain as such until your traveling herd chooses to leave freely.
As proof of my conduct, I sincerely grant these gifts to each of you: hardy, untainted flora of centuries past, ancestral to the lands you dwell upon."
*"She thinks both of you are from Canterlot... OLD Canterlot. The Razorback she knows is a giant feral swine."*
"If you have come seeking knowledge, then I will share what the Second Foundation deemed safe.
If you have come seeking materials, none remains as I have repurposed such to restoring and expanding this structure.
Ask your questions of me, and I will answer them."

[1d6 = 6] <Third Gestalt Upgrade #1
[1d6 = 6] <Third Gestalt Upgrade #2
[1d6 = 3] <Third Gestalt Upgrade #3
[1d6 = 5] <Third Gestalt Upgrade #4

[1d6 = 2] <Weight Limit Increase #1
[1d6 = 1] <Weight Limit Increase #2
[1d6 = 1] <Weight Limit Increase #3
[1d6 = 6] <Weight Limit Increase #4

[1d6 = 2] <Additional 3rd Gestalt Enhancements

>>392316
>Not receiving answers from either the Honor Guard Captain rejoining her comrades with new thought, or Lilamaredre's shrieking exit towards a millennia old thoughtform, it was rather peaceful under Luna's Moon.
>If not quite cold enough to filly relax.

>Much larger than Tartarus Legion barracks, the white marble exterior ahead was incredibly new, same with the storage depot behind it and training grounds beyond.
>Entrance facing north towards the Moon, the scorched remains of two wide, burned off doors would easily accommodate most of the Kratha Klave Minotaurs.
>Four triangular whitesteel hinges on either side were heavily charred, and didn't appear salvageable.
>At one time the front had been left completely blank, now defaced by gouges, claws, hoof imprints, the space between each filled with vitriolic scrawls carved in by earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns.
>Primarily threats and curses against Razorback Company, a few mentioned names which you memorize for later.

>Imploring the Elements to show what had once been, fractured images reveal themselves, albeit rather poorly due to watching an errant Plasma wisp bouncing around inside.
>Sections of Grand Rituals modifying the Tallus Era Lock twitch by you, slowing to a crawl at points, thousands of Canterlotlians, Day, Night, Royal, Lunar, and Honor Guard observe the Solar and Lunar Princesses working during their respective cycles.
>Barely known after the Lunar-Solar War, Those Born of Stars And Moon creep in to offer their aid at night, while Starborn unicorns, Crystal ponies, Gryphons, Minotaurs, and batponies deliver sacrificial offerings.
>Setting the buildings in place and sealing each, the training ground was shaped by ponies with questionable morals; Druids from the Old Everfree
>Fragments of conversation drift past; construction had begun in middle 29,995 at high cost to the Day and Night Sisters, plying their words and oaths to secure agreemarents from hundreds of towns, villages, cities, city-states, regions, countries, kingdoms, and empires alike, spanning most of the world's known powers.
>Each had delivered materials, coins, gems, and goods, delivered here to be stored within the Palace above, while whole herds, groups, militia, and military would arrive later.

>Tracing erratic harmonics of thin, barely held together Otherwold traces back, open celebrations had taken place here, the atmospheres filled with joy, hope, and longing, with greater eagerness than expected.
>Marked by their unique resonance, thousands of Lunar and Solar military ponies recognized humans for their potential.
>Coherent thoughts swirl: after they had taken over Old Canterlot's Palatial-Fortress, there would be time for each to adapt, acclimate, and to be outfitted with proper weapons and armor.
>Described both as effective at-range combatants, hundreds of warmares and warstallions alike pledged themselves to act as shields, the majority seeking to push back the Old Everfree's corrupt state, while some were focused on their home regions, the Moors, Ferron lands, and the waning Navarch regions.
>Others had delivered their offerings in staggering amounts:
>Vast numbers of ponies, crystallize resources, sets of armor, weapons, devices, and crystal-engineering knowledge from the Crystal Empire.
>Hegemony Minotaurs bringing the secrets of mystically produced composite alloys; Mystics, Rangers, and Warbulls intending to train, then dedicated Grandmaster Smiths, all led by an ancient, undying Wargod.
>Dozens of higher order Dracosines from the Dragonspine Mountains, a young yet quite mature Planar Void Dragon bringing hundreds of stolid earth ponies bearing their hybrid alchemy and metallurgy secrets.
>One small contingent of researchers from Argenta, led by a patient, older Grandmaster whom had discovered a previously unknown path of alchemy.
>Hundreds of Harpies, native, Otherworld, Planar, and Extra-Planar alike, brought together by their ancestral desire to explore the Air.
>Batponies and Ferron in the thousands, Navarchs in the hundreds, each bringing resources which wouldn't be found elsewhere.
>A full trade envoy of Neighsians, fully willing to share the greatest treasures, mystic and common alike, newly created by thousands of peaceful clans seeking to aid equinity from their calm lands-
>Striking imprints of a tall royal mare, long distant from ancestral earth ponies, deaths rolling outwards in shock while her jade coat resists wild Plasma, ripples of unforeseen shock, defiance thundering against the desecration taking place-
>You knew this one.
>Three of her half-sisters were in Tartarus.

>Blinking for the first time in at least five seconds, skipping into realspace ahead of you is a passably familiar earth pony.
>Bright green, slightly pudgy, and with a single large question mark on her flanks, the filly stops, looks down at her hoof, then looks up at you with a raised eyebrow.
>Your dam knew this one, and rather liked her.
>Only one voice speaks:
"OI! Where'z da loot yu git!?"
>Derisively shouting at the puppet, the young, hard toned filly gives it a humored sneer.
"This isn't for YOU, and you WON'T be taking my stuff or anypony else's so long as I'm around!"
"Den how'z yu talkin' to me? ...WHY'Z yu talkin' to me!?"
"Because I know lots of Earth Sorcery, DUH! Here's y-"
>Quickly tossing out a small piece of green to land at your hooves.
"-our Card! Sorry about that, took me a while to find you, and-"
>Tongue sticking out the left side of her muzzle, Anonfilly reaches forwards, digging another from a small, red brick gateway, flinging it to land atop the other.
"This one's for your dam, but we haven't been able to deliver it for a year and half now. She hasn't come back to Tallus since then so I figured this was the best time. Send it to Amethyst Storm-Rose when you get a chance please!"
>The Green Herd filly's eyes close tightly, giving you a cheerful wave before swiveling around, leaping into an opening basalt formation, which crumbles apart instantly.

>>392327
>The strange "statues" proved to be even stranger than anticipated, causing Pareidolia's brow to furrow.
'Animated by some sort of lost arcane technique, concerning.'

>After seating himself, he surreptitiously notes Katyal's slip-away and return.
(Hope we won't need them. Odds of combat success against this force are low.)
>Lonestar's full name is heard by Pareidolia with minimal reaction beyond a small mental note.
(Sounds like he cares far more than anyone else would about that.)
>Glancing between Katyal and Hodch as the unicorn seats himself with proper decorum presumably, he looks down at the potted tree as it is placed in front of him.
(Ancient custom? Are we perceived as other native species who would find this edible?)
>He glances sideways towards Hodch as the burden of translation falls upon the teacher.
>Pausing to take in the information, he squeezes the grips of his rifle.
*"May be a semi-autonomous caretaker with a limited paradigm beyond its original timeframe if it views us through what it is familiar with. Can we ask it about any past visitors within Spiral's timeframe?"*
>Looking back towards the potted tree, he leans forward to examine it.
(The Druids would likely be ecstatic about these plants.)

>>392344
'Possibly intentional; likely limited combat capabilities and representative.'
>Filing information for inevitable restriction, redaction, and deletion, the avatar blinks, registering a fast moving unknown to the east.
'A late party?'
[1d6+4 = (2+4) = 6] <E.Electronic Warfare: Interlink
[1d6+4 = (1+4) = 5]
[1d6+4 = (4+4) = 8]
[1d6+10 = (4+10) = 14] <Landbarge II Electronic Warfare Array: Elemental Survey
[1d6+10 = (5+10) = 15]
[1d6+10 = (6+10) = 16]
[1d6+10 = (2+10) = 12]

>Reaching out to move the vines closer, Hodch lifts the wreath, setting it across armored hooves.
>Helmet shaking briefly, the stallion's voice is soft.
*"It's real.. the last of these died two years after the Lunar-Solar War ended. It was on display in Luna's Tower of the Moon in New Canterlot, kept in stasis. She could barely evacuate six Companeighs that night, all else was destroyed. Every last one of her prized possessions, gone.."*

>Leaning back in the chair, Katyal's left hand reaches out to slide a small, bright red and dim yellow speckled leafy plant towards her.
"She says.. no fully biological sapients, only local creatures, flora, hybrids, and failed ex-"
>Sitting upright, six seconds passes.
"...she's been destroying Infected and Malformed within the original City-State's border. Cleansing land, removing contaminants, balancing Elementals. Has studied aberrations, Dynastic failures.. killing, retrieving, and decomposing them here for eventual release."
*"This place isn't a lab, it's a dedicated clean up facility."*
>Sliding her chair forwards into view, the woman's face creases in pained focus.
"Nnn... this is so fucking hard to take apart and translate. The Elemarentals living here are-"
>Wincing for two seconds, the pot is clenched tightly before she exhales raspily.
*"I'm TRYING to understand this but it's not working, there's at least ten words packed into every damned syllable-"*
"They're native and Planar Elemarentals, descendants of the same, newly foaled as well.. says they were guided here when Varkest was being rebuilt. Safe place where they won't be treated unfairly.
There's a part I kept missing earlier: a group of... Faux-Natural Elemarentals, early stage Supreme Flawed classification, created late during the Second Foundation. Incoherent, fractured, ruptured, every word for 'damaged' and then some.. she had to cleanse their entire trail south to... border, right on snow line, between the Fold Region."
*"That's him, right?"*
*"Yes. What else?"*
>Left hand raising in a sharp 'stop' motion, Katyal's eyes close, taking a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.
".....dragging pieces of each other. No, just one, but all of them were.. missing the rest? Not words I can translate. She's answering in a direct way, there's.. huge images with all the background data cluttering the pixels, can't keep up with the damned flow,"
*"Ask where they are now."*
"...she doesn't comprehend what you mean. Doesn't know."
*"That isn't go-"*
*"Hodch, quit."*
"She does not know. ..there was one that become ten that was always one, but they and it should be twelve.
Most of the sections were broken into during Summer last year, she repaired them afterwards. Now and then she finds pieces swapped around, out, in, positions changed, one shape where it shouldn't be, two or more sharing the same place.
She says they create big trees around them, like the ones here but not crystalline, newer, less... contaminated? Not corrupted, not infected, not Elemental either. I can't follow the logic, images, or meanings."

>Realizing Katyal to be sharing and translating through Hodch's knowledge via mental contact, 'Shiibo' taps her head.
'May be considered a breach of protocol. I have warned both, and there is a pair of keys available if the doors must be closed.'
>Squinting towards the opposite table emphasis, a small screen listing an 'ACTIVE' outlined in light blue, 'INACTIVE' in gray, and 'ACTIVATE' in black, pointing outward in a 'watch for trouble' signal.

*"Finally recognize this, there were two behind the barracks."*
>Right hand tightening on grip and angling the barrel forwards, Lone's left hand motions towards the birch.
"Were the seeds used to grow these collected from Canterlot Forest before the Everfree was corrupted?"
"She says.. basically yes."
"By who, and why?"
"Too fast, bunch of names packed together, like a.. black ops retrieval team of foragers and harvesters. Fourth Foundation was planted to rebuild from the errors we committed."
"We?"
"First and Second Foundations."
"Does that mean the Early and Middle Dynasty?"
"It does, yeah. They didn't call themselves the Dynasty, was what Equestrians called them."
"What is the Fourth Foundation going to replant?"
"Your world. ...no, our world."
"Explain."
"Mother Tallus. All of her, even the places we shouldn't see or touch until they're ready to rejoin her."
"How many of these are growing right now?"
>Eyebrows furrowing together, Katyal flicks the small pot with her pinky gently.
"...one hundred or more."
"How many more will be grown?"
"Barring seed failure or other problems, eight to ten thousand."
>Sitting upright, the older man slowly blinks, forefinger easing before rigidly tightening over the SMG's trigger guard.
"God and Goddess of Nature, this is serious."
"....yes, it is. We're not interrupting her tasks or duties, so she says. The.. habitation clusters and zones aren't.. on at night? Active? Something similar.. wait, on top of the dome right now there's another one.. it sounds like she's saying 'Moon watching', but the intention is a cross between 'Moon viewing' an- there's a growth dome on top, right now, an artificial Lumin one."
*"Didn't you say all of those failed!?"*
*"I.. they did! There were dozens of catastrophic failures, entire regions were showered with Lumin! The clean up took almost ninety years!"*

>Making the 'stop' signal again, Katyal leans forwards heavily, physically winded.
*"Gotta take breaks. Lone, are you done?"*
*"....yeah."*
*"Hodch?"*
*"I will be last."*
*"Pare, give me minute. This SERIOUSLY hurts to do."*

[1d100 = 84] <Examination
[1d100 = 34]
[1d100 = 35]

[1d6 = 6] <Arrival Time

>>392398
>With a start, Pareidolia's head twitches upward.
'Unknown contact approaching from the East? Estimated arrival time?'

>Apparently the Dynastic egrammatic language was placing great strain on both Katyal and Hodch.
>Nevermind the gravity of the supremely rare or lost species now presented as gifts.
>Seeing this, he remains silent, keeping an eye on Shiibo's calculations regarding the approaching unknown.
(Then this city is some sort of sanctuary for Elemarentals and Dynastic hazard cleanup operations? And that description... absolutely must be Spiral. But the reamining information is unclear. Is Spiral the one altering these sections?)

>His eyes flick over his visor display to hover over the active options for Katyal's planted explosions before jumping back to the approaching contact's vector.
'Noted. Remaining on standby.'

>Shrinking the display window to a smaller size in his peripheral, he looks between Lone and Katyal as they talk.
(The entireity of Tallus? If anyone had the resources to do so, it would be her. Then this can't be the only restored City. And this could not have been enacted in secret, could it?)
>He casts a glance over the Eastern table.
*"Hence why I asked 'can'. Recover as needed. And be advised, there is an unknown contact approaching our location from the East. Possible late arriving guest."*
>If its speed or composition had been determined, he would have Shiibo inform the team.