Dark Shine smiled. "Well you do. We have Rarity waiting outside in a scarf right now. I can always get her if you wish."
The Diamond Dog cowed and drew back a bit. "That...that might not be-" Suddenly, Butch rushed past his companion, shoving him to the side. "Miss Rarity is here?! That's better than the Boss! Lemme see!"
Dark Shine stepped in front of the big dog, almost getting knocked over. "She said that if either of you bother her, she will begin to complain immediatly." He kept the smile, but he began to sweat a little bit. Only a tiny bit, but still a bit. He was having to make a lot of excuses.
Keeping close to the group, he continues to keep a close eye on the equine shapes and the howling wind they seem to cause. As they start to encroach closer, the winds noticeably pick up. Fortunately, the fire spell remains lit to provide some necessary warmth. Not noticing that the group has stopped, he keeps moving until he bumps into Jhera. "O-oh, my apologies. I was keeping a watch on the figures moving in on us. They seem to be making the wind and cold more extreme the closer they get." Overhearing Fireheart mention the old feudal flags and recognizing what Jhera just acquired, his eyes go wide. "U-um... I could try to retrieve the pegasi flag. I'm excellent at dodging obstacles... but we might want to hurry if we're going to try for it before 'they' get too close." When he says the word "they," he points a hoof up at the equine figures in the clouds.
Entropy glanced dubiously at Darkshine as he attempted to use trickery to get the Diamond Dogs to talk. It seemed like it was working, but it could fall apart the moment anypony made a mistake. Deciding not to say anything about it, he merely spoke to the Diamond Dogs once more: "State your business here. I am a Royal Equestrian Guard, and I am on an official task for the Princesses." He WAS a Royal Guard, and he had taken Luna's request as an order. Therefore, it was official business.
The smaller Diamond Dog glanced up at Entropy. "Whaddya think we're doin' here?" He then jerked his thumb at Pink Fizz. "The obnoxious pony got it right. We're diggin' for 'shinies'." He tapped his foot. "But I might ask what your pony Princess wants that's way out here?"
"sounds good meet us at the mountain, lightning when youve checked the old pegasi city, then we check on the old unicorn place together. It looks like the only place with all the buildings still standing."
Spoiler: Roll Pathfinding for Fireheart, Jhera, and Lightning Natural 20 Off in the distance, but seemingly a good ways away and floating high in the clouds is the ancient pegasus city of Squall Fortress, which also happens to be neatly labeled on your map.
"Royal Affairs are not freely dispersed to just anyone," said Entropy. "Is there a particular reason you're all the way out here in this frozen wasteland, when there are plenty of gems back in Equestria?"
"Well, La Di Da..." The Diamond Dog sighs. "If ya must know, Boss had a dream about some really special gems. Said they were magical or some such. Why he thinks there's out here is beyond me. I think he's gone a little loco if ya know what I mean." He chuckles nervously and adds, "Don't, uh, tell the Boss we said that, alright?"
Dark Shine continued to smile. Thanks to Entropy, the cards were all aces from here on out. He looked over, Entropy must have a plan, it was his job from that point for a while.
Alarm bells went off in Entropy's head. Is he talking about the Elements?! That can't be...Luna just sent us off mere minutes ago! His face remained a serious mask, however. "Well. Good luck with your gem hunting. Don't catch a cold or anything." Entropy shivered; he would do well to follow his own advice. It was COLD. "Well, Fizz and Shine, shall we continue on our mission?"
Dark Shine tapped his chin, then motioned the others out of basic earshot of the dogs. "First things first, get over here. We have to duiscuss some stuff before our next step."
Dark Shine whispered. "For a start, where did the others go? And on another note, I suspect there is something down there. But first, we must find the others." He smiles, then shrugs in confusion of the missing team.
"I thought I heard them talking about going off to explore something...but what would be down there? I mean, maybe the Diamond Dog boss is crazy like they said."
Dark Shine shook his head. "I know they are goofballs sometimes... But still, no reason to say, there is not something down there. Even if they are completley oblivious, there is the chance of something important. But, like I said, we need to find the others first."
Jhera quickly looked up to see that all the other ponies had abandoned him to his own thoughts. 'Well, buck.' he thought angrily as he got back up and looked into the snow. Hoofprints went off in every direction, so he just chose a path and walked along it to go see if he could catch up.
Seeing Jhera, he hurried after him, calling back to Dark Shine and Fizz, "Come on! Maybe we can check this out later..."
"hey jhera, over here" the warm orange glow of firehearts glow marked her location to jhera. "just waiting for lightning to return from the old pegasi city. I cant join him as i have no wings. anyway after he returns were heading towards the old unicorns kingdom looks like thats the only place with all buildings intact".
