The disappearances had gone on for at least two months now. Everypony knew about it; it’s not like the royalty were keeping it a secret anymore, especially since the earth pony reporter, Mary Sue, broke the story wide open. Everypony knew the story by now: Late at night, at least ten or fifteen ponies would rise from their beds, clouds, dens, or what have you, and immediately begin (sleep)walking toward Ragnarok. There was not a pony alive who was immune to the “Walking Nightmare”, and the only way to stop it was to not go to sleep. Luna, in an attempt to help her subjects stave off sleep, tasked herself with keeping the sun high in the sky, which came with its own set of problems, which are too numerous to list here. But that was only half of the story. While the general population was unaware of why the sleepwalkers were heading into the land of the Windigoes, Luna was only too aware of its purpose: Her estranged sister, Constella, was raising an army. As if that wasn’t bad enough, what truly cowed the Princess of the Night was that her eldest sister, Celestia may be among Constella’s ranks. Luna sighed as she looked over the ponies gathered before her: a small, cloaked unicorn who only identified herself as Pickpear, Steel Heart, the elder brother of Fireheart, who had been sent on the previous mission, Night Time, a local messenger, Intrude Cranuim, a mysterious unicorn of unknown origin, Rashall Firemane, the Prince of Eldar, Mary Sue, the investigative reporter, and a foal alicorn named Little Sunshine. They appeared to be as motley of a crew as the previous party that she had sent, likely to their deaths. If these ponies failed, what then? Would she have to go face Constella on her own? She dreaded the very thought of it. Her older sister had always scared her a little , even before this apparent corruption. She shook her head and glanced out over the ponies assembled before her again. ”Greetings. Thou hast all been assembled here because Our advisors had reason to believe that thou art of sound minds and bodies. Thou art hearty and stalwart souls, fit for this kind of quest. Unfortunately, this is the first time that We have met thee in person. Please, step forward and tell Us all who thou are and why thou hast volunteered for this quest. Know, ye the dangers that thou choose to undertake by accepting the mission to recover the Elements of Harmony and stopping Our elder sister’s plans?
Pickpear took a deep breath and approached. Her hooves shook a little as she got closer to the Princess, and she had to pause for a moment. Then steeled herself to close the distance and kneel before Luna. With a soft white glow about her horn, she levitated a black backed card with a golden insignia inprinted upon it. "P... Princess. It is a pl-pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She swallowed hard, her voice shaken and nervous. “The M... The Master is not available, but I have come to be at your... disposal... for reasons you already know.” She stayed kneeled and closed her eyes, imagining herself somewhere else. Imagining she was dusting off an old relic or something... something other than standing before a member of royalty. Her voice became much softer, shaking less. "I assure you Princess... dispite my appearance, I am very capable. Danger is not what I fear."
Steel heart was next he bowed and stepped forward pulling a small amulet out of his saddlebag. "your highness, this is why I have the ability to do this quest. This was once my sisters named fireheart, my only sister and now my lost sister. I have not slept since her quest and I shall not sleep until we are reunited. The reason I have been able to stay awake is mainly a lot of coffee from the staff room of celestias school for the gifted where I teach defensive spells and the cakes caffeine cupcakes. Now I Have a hunch that firehearts amulet is the key to freeing her". He stood up tall, stepped back and waited for lunas response bracing himself for the royal canterlot voice. (last time Luna went to the school and gave a speech to the entire school she scared the he'll out of the first years).
Night Time looked from his feet to the Princess who had adressed the group and asked for an introduction. "Hello Princess Luna, my name is Night Time, messenger. As soon as I heard what had happened I managed to find out somepony... Important to me, had gone missing with the group. An old friend. Once I heard the news I immediatly, with only a brief second of calculations, decided that I must take it upon myself to help in this matter of importance!" He rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "I know a bit of magic and I can handle myself a fair bit..." He shrank down a bit before sighing. He had a habit of ignoring his mind and just letting the stupid part of him talk.
Rashall Stood back in the shadows his hood from his camoline cloack drawn down low to hide his facial features on exception of his spectral blue eyes. He simply nodded though the threat seemed contained in Equestria Rashall knew that it could quickly spiral out of control and he was here to ensure that this didn't spill over into his homeland of Nekar. Being himself Rashall remain quiet seeing as he knew no pony in the room.
Little Sunshine's knees trembled as she nervously looked over the other ponies in the room. Her mother's words came to her mind again and again, refusing to discontinue haunting her. They'll take you away! Non-royal alicorns shouldn't exist! They'll do horrible things to you! Sunshine could almost cry. A few tears did actually well up in the pits of her eyes, but her fear kept them in check. The rest of the ponies had gone silent, and she was sure they all hadn't introduced themselves yet. One of them being...me... Sunshine took a deep breath of air and a gulp. She couldn't actually bring herself to look at the Princess directly, so she stared at the tiled floor and whispered "My mother named me Little Sunshine. The message we received s-said I had to come here. I'll do whatever I can, P-Princess." By the end, Little Sunshine was nearly at the end of her wits. She could begin bawling at any moment. But why me? She thought to herself.
Mary steps forwards, the duster coat swinging around her hooves. Her mane was in a bun, locked in place with enourmous pins the size of chopsticks. She looked so high and mighty with that grin while bowing. "I doubt I need the introduction, much less explain why I'm here! But, I am here to keep the public informed as the front line reporter. It is my swarn duty as a reporter to show how our princess is willing throw the floor open to anypony. Its wonderful to see amaturism celebrated so." The coy flyttering of the eyelashes at the rest of the group capped the thin vale nicely.
Intrude bowed her head in a quick but respectful bow. "Greetings, Princess Luna. I'm Intrude Cranium. I am willing to face the danger in this quest. I.. need to be on this quest." she said quietly, in a smooth, cool voice. However, no one could deny that there was an edge of anxiety in her voice.
Luna narrowed her eyes at the black card that was presented to her. She knew the symbol that was displayed and frankly, it left a bad taste in her mouth whenever she saw it. She took a breath and replied, ”The fact that your Master has deigned to even show interest in our plight shows that we face dire times indeed. Thy assistance is welcomed, Lady Pickpear. Luna bowed her head solemnly at Steel Heart. Thou hast my sincerest apologies, Sir Steel Heart. It was Us who sent Dane Fireheart to her apparent doom, and for that We cannot be forgiven. We appreciate thy ingenuity and resourcefulness during these dire times. Please see that thy sister returns safely.” ”We have all lost somepony important to Us, Sir Night Time. We appreciate thy willingness to cast aside thy fears and join in this quest. We sincerely hope that thy friend is able to return with thee safely. Tell Us, what was the friend’s name?” Luna knelt down in front of Little Sunshine. ”Thy name dost not seem familiar to Us. Are thou not a member of the Royal Family, little one? Thou needst not be afraid, thou art among friends in this place.” Luna cast a glance toward the figure toward the side of the room who hadn’t introduced himself. She surmised that this must be Lord of Nekar, Rashall Firemane. Her horn glowed with dark blue energy as she projected her thoughts to him: Thou need not introduce thyself if thou wishest. Just know that thou hast Our appreciation for answering Our summons. Luna sighed and shook her head when Mary Sue introduced herself. After the debacle involving a photo of her sister pigging out on cake, Luna had little love for “reporters” as they were called now. She cleared her throat and replied, ”Yes…t’is wonderful, Lady Crier…” ”We thank thee for thy service, Lady Intrude.” Luna than turned to the rest of the group. ”A great peril threatens our nation of Equestria. Our estranged sister, Constella, now stands at the old Unicornian capitol of Dream Castle. It is there that she gathers an army of Dreamers for an unknown purpose. We believe that she has designs to invade Canterlot and take this throne for herself. We cannot let that happen! If Constella is able to take Equestria, then We can reasonably believe that she will attempt to take the rest of the world, as well. We have been hesitant for far too long, and many have suffered because of Our fear and indecision. We are fearful no longer! The time has come to take back what is rightfully ours: Our friends and our families!” The princess took a breath and continued. ”Regrettably, We will not be able to go with thee, but know that I desperately wish to join you. It is for this reason, that We will devote a great amount of our time and power to assisting you all from afar.” Just then, a young, bespectacled unicorn stallion stepped out from Luna’s side and approached the adventurers. As he stepped in front of each one, he drew a piece of parchment from his saddlebags and a dark blue quill. He levitated each quill and piece of parchment to each pony in turn. Spoiler: Roll Perception (Mind) Steelheart: 16 + 3 = 19 Night Time: Natural 20 Intrude Cranium: 10 + 2 = 12 Rashall Firemane:16 + 2 = 18 Mary Sue: 6 + 3 = 9 Little Sunshine: 14 + 3 = 17 When he got to Pickpear, Steel Heart, Night Time, Rashall, and Little Sunshine noticed that he seemed to nod at her. Night Time would’ve recognized it as some kind of “code” or something. Like they were both members of the same group. Maybe the one featured on the card. When the unicorn had finished his task and everyone received 1 Dark Blue Quill and 1 Piece of Parchment, he returned to his place beside Luna. ”Thank thee, Quilliam.” Luna faced the group again and stated, ”These quills are from Our own wings, and thus have a special connexion to Us. When thou writest upon thy parchment that thou hast received, it will transcribe thy words into our mind, essentially allowing thee to communicate with Us. Worry not about acquiring ink, as the quills need none. The words will disappear from the parchment when thou hast finished scribing upon its surface. The quills will only work with the parchment that thou hast been given; even Our magic has limits. Quilliam raised his hoof to his mouth and coughed slightly. Luna glanced at him for a moment, before a realization hit her. She chuckled, ”We have not forgotten, Young Master Quilliam.” She turned to the group. ”Please don’t lose them. Quilliam would like at least one for his collection.” Quilliam smiled an nodded. ”Now, our time is short, and we should not tarry any longer. If nopony has any questions, then we shall transport thee all to the border of Ragnarok. To go any further into Constella’s territory is to risk detection. When thou enters her kingdom, We will do our best from the palace to protect thee from her sight.”
She seemed to relax a lot when she saw Quill there, and gave him a knowing nod in return. She carefully bundled the quill and parchment together in the right side pocket of the black shroud she wore. When the dark fabric fluttered its corner in the direction of Luna, Pickpear gave a surprised and inquisitive look at it, and quickly stomped on the corner, keeping it in place. Her ears pinned back and she looked back at Luna nervously. She swallowed and stood upright, keeping a part of the shroud underhoof for now. "Do we have any information on the construction of Dream Castle itself? Or some helpful history that I could maybe... glance over?"
Night Time pushed his glasses up on his nose before twitching, then, anti-climaticly, sneezing. "My bad. Also, ready." He then remembered the Princesses question. "Oh yes! My friends name was Dark Shine." He said, before allowing himself to go into a train of thought. The Quill pony Seemed to know that what was it... Pickpear was it? Anyway, maybe they know eachother? It was induitably a code of some sort, maybe, a group? I dont know, but it probably does not concern me so I'll leave it till this stuff has stopped.
Rashall simply nods again he had been raised up not to bow or to receive bows from anypony even though he himself was a prince. He knew that if all were treated as equal then the chances of getting along were improved though ever so slightly. "Great a reporter what's she doing here?" Muses Rashall to himself.
"of course your highness and quilliam the quills safe with me". He had already stored the paper and quill and his saddlebag bowed and trotted off. Standing in-between rashall and sunshine.
Little Sunshine held the strange quill and parchment in her hoof hesitantly. She had nowhere to put them, and after that remark involving her heritage a moment ago, she wasn't sure she wanted to speak to the Princess any more. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to speak to her new group of friends. Friends... Little Sunshine suddenly felt a small tinge of hope. Even if it wasn't the likeliest of circumstances, perhaps this would mark the beginning of her gaining friends! Making friends would prove that she could make a life for herself! She glanced at the pony who had just wandered over and was instantly shot down by his intimidation. The colt stood nearly twice as tall as her, and his eyes had a look of cold determination implanted deep within them. She wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out, but there were no holes. She was trapped. Without a single word, Little Sunshine shuffled backwards a bit and tried to look as small as possible.
Intrude put the quill and parchment in her saddlebag. Quietly, she walked over to Little Sunshine, the quivering mare, and gave her a kind smile.
steel noticed sunshine become scared "sunshine, is it. Don't be scared. We are all friends here. Oh and I won't bite I'm not a diamond dog". He tried to be friendly to the small alicorn and tried to encourage the others to help boost her reassurance. "Im scared too my little sister is lost. But I'm not going to let that stop me it just makes me work harder and be more determined". He let off a small reassuring smile. He didn't have a sister and it seemed she hadnt had a brother to look up to so he made it his duty to be the big brother she never had.
Intrude looked up at Robin with a small smile. "I'm worried about my little brother, Bolt. He's just a baby, and his cutie mark is to go at supersonic speeds. I'm scared on what is happening to him." She turned to Little Sunshine. "Not one of us isn't scared. We're all terrified."
"I suppose, although I have my own too. It might get lost somewhere." She said, looking at the magical objects in front of her. She really wasn't sure what exactly she was going to do with any of this stuff but freebies are freebies. She picks them up with her mouth, putting them in an inside coat pocket. With a courteous nod of her head to the Princess, Mary back away to look over the shoulders of the group. "Awww...Poppet, I think we might have to find you some crayons. Or better yet, you can make some psychic pictures for the Princess with your new quill and leave this to the bigger ponies." She coos to Little Sunshine, continuing to saunter forwards from the group, heading for the door, tail swishing from side to side as she trots on by.
Intrude's eyes flashed and her horn glowed. She sent a command into Mary's mind. Blank. Nothing. Oblivion. Intrude walked up to her. "Be nicer.. Won't you please?" she whispered. With a stomp, all of Mary's thoughts came rushing back. However, there was something else. A itch in the back of her mind.
Steel got annoyed at Mary sue after that comment to sunshine. "she's scared but with proper respect and encouragement she'll come out of her shell. I prefer silver typewriter anyway" (a mare on Mary sues rival newspaper)
