Selena: (Not seeing anyone who she recognized) As I thought. (Goes back inside the ship and sits down somewhere)
"Alright, babe. Whatever it is, I know you'll male the right choice..." Raven gave her side a quick nuzzle. "Raven, baby." Serana had a seat next to her biological daughter. "Know you can't stay forever, but you wanna take a quick little walk around, do some catchin' up?" "Yeah, I kinda do." Raven stood up. "Wanna come with, you two, or..?"
Nightshade shrugged. "Yeah. 'Bout time you met Summer anyway." ******************************************* Silver shook his head at Rep. "I defend this world, but it is not my place to decide its fate."
Raven nodded. "Unique opportunity, huh?" "Alright, gals, this way." Serana started leading them outside the ship. "So my baby's a rockstar. Tell me all about that." ~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile, Clover decided to ask the group, "This vessel's cloaking device. How reliable is it?"
Nightshade nodded. "What's to say? She single-hoofedly brought metal into the manestream. She's sold out stadiums." She grinned. "And it doesn't hurt her rep that Luna and Celestia are both fans." ********************************************************************************* Blackout looked at the various improvements that had been made to the Kobayashi Maru since Nightshade had refitted and renamed her the Pequod. He recognized the black anvil logo of his father's company on much of the tech, and his aunt's cutie mark, which she used as her own personal logo, on the more complex pieces of equipment. "Very."
"Call me a fan, too," said Serana. "Her instrumentation? Flawless." "My stuff sells here?" Raven questioned. "Better than beer at a lawnmower rally, baby. Oh, sorry, sweetie, we ain't said a word to you. Summer?" ~~~~~~~~~~ "I'm correct to assume it also masks scent, then?"
Rep: Neither is it ours. Merely, we wish to help. When, in rare circumstances we forge a bond with a civilization or on exceedingly rarer occasions, individuals, we do as much as possible to ensure that civilization or individual is well, protected and taken care of for as long as possible. We cannot change their fates past a certain degree, in some cases we can delay an end, and do not try to push our boundaries. Selena: (leaves the airship and walks around, waiting for something)
Summer looked surprised. "I... I'm not sure what to say. This is all a bit strange, honestly." ************************************************************************ "It's... possible," Blackout replied. "I don't know the specifications. But this tech was built by my father and aunt, and they're the best in Equestria."
"I'm Raven." The metal bat reached her hoof out to her. "Has Nighty told you about... you know, things?" ~~~~~~~ "Mmh." Clover nodded. "If you would show me the mechanism, I could check." "You can do that?" Maya questioned. "Yes, darling." "How?" "I've been down here for a thousand years," she explained. "Many engineers pass through. I've learned many crafts beyond... being a wealthy pig with no empathy." She looked down, in shame.
Summer shook Raven's hoof. "You mean like how you're living with my marefriend?" She paused, suddenly thoughtful. "Actually, now that I think of it, we never officially broke up." She turned to Nightshade in mock seriousness. "Hey, Shady, I think we should see other ponies. This whole long-distance thing isn't working out. I feel like we haven't talked in years." Nightshade smiled at the joke, but flinched visibly. *************************************************************** Blackout nodded. The devices his father and aunt built were often too complex for many engineers to even understand. This would give him a good idea as to Clover's abilities. "The switch to activate the cloak is next to the wheel. I'm not sure where the device itself is, this is Shady's ship."
Raven snickered softly. "Yeah, sorry. Guess I stole your girl. What can I say, I'm a ladies mare." ~~~~~~~~~~ "I can sense the signal with my horn, possibly track the device that way. One moment, dear." Clover trotted over to the wheel and flipped the switch for the cloaking device, leaving it on for five seconds while she tracked the source, and then turned it back off. Navaja gave Asmodeus a slight nudge, speaking softly. "Amigo. She may have done horrible things. But she is decent to look at, no?" Asmo shrugged lightly. "I haven't seen her yet. Nightshade's probably prettier anyway."
Summer shrugged. "I honestly think she's more upset about all this than I am," she said, speaking to Raven. "I mean, yeah. Of course I wish this hadn't happened. But such is the way of Chaos." She grinned. "On a happier topic, how about we all go out for lunch? I know a little cafe in the Silversburgh district that makes the best soup and sandwich combos" She glanced at Nightshade. "Just, uh... don't mention to anyone there who your dad is." **************************************************************** Blackout was impressed. For a pony who'd been dead for centuries, she was remarkably adept at using advanced modern magitech. "Did you find out what you needed to know?"
"Wait a minute." Raven couldn't help but chuckle. "You guys have a whole neighborhood named after Silver?" "Got one named after that hybrid, too," Serana added. "In the south side, always the most eventful part o' town. Guess he went ahead and took on a job under the table, 'bout a hundred catbirds wound up down here at once, made their own little place. That reminds me. Shady! Keep that green fool under control!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It will do its job," Clover replied.
Summer snorted. "'Neighborhood' is a bit of an understatement. You'll see when we get there." They continued north towards a large, well-developed part of the city. They were starting to see a larger variety of species, including a large number of cattle, and several brightly-colored changelings wearing antiquated outfits. Nightshade shrugged off Raven's comment. "He's a Night Guard now. He's still a bit wild, but at least now we can aim him at the stuff we want destroyed." She thought for a moment. "The, uh... griffon massacre wasn't recent, was it? Like, in the last few years?"
Rep: (Flickering fully into being in the bar, and a glow seems to leave him, leaving his appearance muted, and sitting down with Silver) So, I, and I mean I as in the Council has turned their attention elsewhere, would like to talk with you about a couple of the battles you fought out there with the Apophii.
"Last year," Serana clarified. "Homie heard they were smugglin' fillies around, an' well... he didn't dig that one bit. Skin from bone, Hellraiser kinda deal..." She shuddered at the thought, disturbed. "Not that they didn't have it comin'. But damn." "Holy crow." Raven looked around, eyes wide. "These all from Silver?" Serana nodded. "Every one, baby. He likes killin' cows like cows like dodgin' calf support."
"Last year..." Nightshade sighed. "Damn. I wish he'd said something to me about it. Would have been good training for the new recruits." Apophis' attack had killed more than half of Silver's Night Guard's. Blackout had been working to bring their numbers back up, but recruitment was difficult. ************************************************************************* "We're here," Summer announced. "Cafe's on the next block. Nice little changeling couple runs the place." A large metal sign, rusty with age and painted over many times, announced: SILVER'S BOROUGH Est 31CE Pop 1,000,000 ***************************************************************************** Silver nodded. "I had wondered when I would hear from the Council. It struck me as odd that a galactic war would go unnoticed."
Rep: (Sighs) I wouldn't go as far as to say unnoticed, more of, not watchdogged. They couldn't and didn't keep a hawk's eye on it through the whole thing, because that would take forever, being able to switch timelines. More of, they looked in from time to time, helping if they could. Darkwalker, says his back still hurts, and his splines, which look a bit like knives when unempowered, are still being repaired.
