SPIKE! Poor guy! Dark Shine wished he could tell Rifter but sadly, could not. "So... You must be the Dragon? Greetings. You look upset, are you alright?" Rifter smiled, folding his wings down and scratching his neck with his talons.
Power Surge let off another shriek of laughter. 'Damn, I'll have to find a way to get that fixed...' Jhera thought. Out loud, Power said "What, this little shrimp is the dragon? He's just so," Power grabbed spike and gave him a noogie, "...SMALL!" He let go of Spike, who was now partially disgruntled. He noticed that other ponies were greeting Spike as well...all at the same time. "Ah, I suppose you shouldn't be meeting us all at once! My name is Power Surge, for future reference.
Rexar bared his teeth at a few choice ponies as he boarded the train. Don't they know no one messes with a Diamond Dog? Let alone two? Quill boarded the train and first spied a very worried Spike. He suddenly felt as if he had a rock in his stomach. He fought the feeling, thinking to himself, Keep calm. It's not real... Nonetheless, Rexar crouched near the baby dragon in order to appear less threatening. "Name's Rexar. Ain't noby gonna mess with you when we're around."
Spike stood and brushed himself off. At first, he glared at Power, but his expression faded quickly, replaced with sadness. He let everyone get whatever it was they were going to do to him out. He shrugged lightly, indifferently, as he almost mumbled; "My name's Spike." His green eyes drift to Rifter and he wove a dismissive hand. "No... I'm not alright, and there's nothing that can be done to fix it." He sighed heavily and went into the main car of the train, pushing himself up into a seat. He folded his hands in his lap and looked down, kicking his feet at the edge. "Nice to meet you all..." he says in a rather depressed tone. Outside, the guards usher the rest of the group through. One of them stops at the on-ramp. "Let's get this moving to Gallopmere. I'll signal the conductor."
Tex nodded to himself at the guard's words. That was good; he was sure they couldn't waste any time getting there. After glancing worriedly at Spike, he settled back for the ride.
Power hopped onto the table, raising a hoof in the air. "To Gallopmere!" He shouted as if he were adressing subjects beneath a throne. "Tonight, we leave for victory!" He hopped down from the table and trotted around the car. "Oh, after we're done collecting the Elements of Harmony and whatnot, you know what we should have? A party! I haven't had a party since-" more memories of Power's parents flooded in, and Jhera shuddered. "Uhh...yeah! A party! Who's with me?"
Norm simply didn't raised his head while entering the cart. He sat at one of the tables near a window to get a little light on him. He didn't listened to Power's rambling of a party, because for J, parties were a bad thing. For a strange reason, whenever he goes to parties, it always ends up wrong for him. He noticed Spike sad but didn't know how to cheer him up a bit, so he went back to his book.
Rifter patted the little dragon on the head, gently. "If you want to talk, feel free. I will listen." He smiled.
Daress had went with the group silently, considering the various aspects of the quest before them. The boundless energy that some characters portrayed were hopeful, but she wondered about the self control of the diamond dogs. Aurora felt an easy comfort in this side of Daress's mind; she was an over-analyzer herself. she was concerned for the health of the young purple dragon; no creature could grow well and flourish when weighted under such a depression. She wondered the creature's age, but she would wait til a better time to approach him. The dragonslayer made her way to an empty seat, forcing her heavy plates into a position that she could sit comfortably in. The white pegasus gazed outside the window of the train, thinking about all the lore that revolved around the element of Kindness.
Arc trots down the carriage, away from the group surrounding the baby dragon. As they held their fascination with the depressed creature all while Arc wondered behind them to inspect the carriages. You see, Tyro had been checking through what Arc knew and remembered. It was an awkward and largely fruitless process, all the while he walked down to the station. He got snippets of half remembered faces and names, sure, but nothing useful. A flash of a birthday party there, a half forgotten whisper of a school crush Tyro didn't remember adding and the odd instance of chasing after pegasi across roof tops. The secondary memory only really appeared to work when the time came for something to trigger it, like an author letting slip more details about a character when the time was necessary. Trying to get responses out of the memory seemed like trying to fix an amnesiac mind if this was a movie. All visual cues and then a wave of images. But there was one thing that popped up. Arc had the compulsion to check the train, just to make sure he knew where everything was and that there were no surprises waiting. Tyro was silently pleased while he trotted up and down the carriages, glancing around cautiously; either Arc was just paranoid or maybe he learnt from the cave of yellow blobs. This could get interesting as that game hasn't finished yet... Tyro chortles in his head. He'd been pulling that trick out of necessity for a long while. Arc pauses before spotting Daress sitting and staring out on the platform. "Hey! You said you knew about these element things?" Arc ventures, "Could you fill me in? I ain't got much of a clue past some uber-powerful necklace. We've gotta find them soon, after all."
Daress eyes Arc suspiciously, but she nods to him respectfully. After all, they were all on the same team together, and it was best that they were all as knowledgeable about the case as they could be. Adjusting her seat, she cleared her throat. "Of course, friend. The elements each represent a powerful ideal; this particular one being kindness. They hold unimaginable power, but only when unlocked by a pony's soul who best lives by that ideal. Kindness was once held by the pegasus Fluttershy, a pony reknowned for her charity and sweetness. She had an affinity for all kinds of strange creatures, so I'm wondering if we will be challenged by any wild monsters on our way to retrieve it."
Rexar, who had remained crouched by Spike, tapped the butt of his spear on the floor. Having heard the conversation between Daress and Arc, he chimed in, "I'd bet my right hoo- paw...that we'll see all sorts of wild beasties. But killin' them ain't exactly an expression of kindness. Are you sayin' that we gotta be nice to something that wants to possibly eat us?"
Norm heard what Rexar said and answered "Of course Rexar, if one want to use the element of kindness to it's full potential, the one that will be chosen must be kind, no matter who the creature is." J, not knowing how the words came out thought "Woah, did i just talked very elegantly? Creepy."
Power thought a moment. "So, who here's the kindest? Oh, we could totally turn this into a game! Like a tournament! We could whack each other with...pillows! Whomever is the kindest with the pillows..." he trailed off. "Oh, what am I saying, fighting won't determine kindness, it only determines who obtains the most enjoyment out of beating the hay out of other ponies!" He let out a small giggle. "What do you all reckon?"
"I reckon it's a good question." Rexar touched his finger (which was still kind of a wierd sensation, having four digits that could operate independently of one another) to his nose and delcared, "Not it."
Daress's face screwed together in thought. "You all have a very good point. But we are still getting ahead of ourselves; perhaps there is no beast awaiting us. Princess Luna didn't go into much detail about how we are to get the element itself, so perhaps its as much as a mystery to her as to us." The pegasus pulled her dragon-horned helmet to brush her long mane from her eyes. Deep inside, Aurora smiled in glee. The heavy armor and elegant pegasus made her feel like royalty.
Rifter stretched his wings out, letting out a loose squawk, as he enjoyed the feel of, loosened feathers. He had kept quiet, waiting his turn, for the perfect moment. "Surely that is not the best you could think of? I mean, a tournemet over who's what? I am sorry, but I shall not partake in such for now."
Tex had no delusions about himself; he wasn't the kindest pony (or griffon, or whatever) here, not by a long shot. As such, he kept his mouth shut. Which he probably would have done anyways...
The train begins to move, and the sound of the rumbling along the metal tracks is heard. Out the windows, the scene of Canterlot disappearing in the distance is visible and the evening glow of the moon washing over the plains gives you the calming sensation that Luna has blessed you on this task. At least in one way or another. A tan pony comes through the cart and mentions; "Gonna be a few hours. I'm sure ya'll be tired after meetin' at night, and nobody's used this tunnel at this hour in years. Anyway, feel free ta use the beds." He eyes one of the diamond dogs and says, "Those that can fit 'em." Don't mind him, he's been stuck here forever. Heh... Ah, but let's see if we can't add any excitement into this ride, hmm? As the train nears the mountain, it enters into a grey stone tunnel. The rattling of the tracks grows louder and the steel practically screams as the carriage goes dark from the lights suddenly going out. A flash occurs in the carriage everyone is in, as a translucent white pony with missing eyes appears before everyone. It wails in a ghastly unearthly sound as a dark purple circle of runes appears on the floor around it. It addresses nopony in particular with a deep, sinister voice. "Your bravery is admirable, Blackwash. To return to me after so many years. How do you think it is to live in eternal torment?" It pauses. "It's horrible." A sinister cackle rushes through the air as the spirit's image is pulled towards the front of the train. "Oh conductor~!" The lights in the train come on again, and the tan pony who was there, is gone!
