(The Sign-Ups are Here.) The days are far too hot... the nights are far too cold. In this broken land, the only shelter to be found is what others have made. Ruined buildings and broken roads scatter the lands. Squatters rest and eat whatever scraps they can still find. For days, for months, how long has it been since the destruction? No one truely remembers, but the estimation is "about four months ago." The land in some places still sizzles and shifts from the raw energy which scorched it not too long ago... Iron Gate... a new form of civilization. In a field of flat land lies the city which surrounds itself with walls made up of broken cars, metal sheets, barbed wire, and metal fances. The name is after the symbol in the center of town. A single still-standing iron gate that at one time opened a pathway into someone's back yard. Now, it only gently creeks in the wind as it swings lightly on its rusting hinges. "Well, you're in luck, pony," the diamond dog said to Severed Heart. "We could use someone like you. King Midas has been askin' for it, I think. Ah, just have a seat over there at the side." He motions to some old school chairs that must've been recovered by one of their scavenging teams. They were dirty, and each one had something broken about it. The diamond dog stood up and went to the door and began talking to one of the guards outside of the door, speaking in a gruff manner that was typical of the diamond dog dialect.
Severed smiled and nodded politely as she made he way to the seats, although she didn't sit. Instead, she kneeled on the ground nearby and hung her head in reverence. She mumbled, [size=-3]"Great Sandro, Lord of the Dead and keeper of my ancestors…”[/size] As she spoke, a PDA appeared before her and her words typed themselves onto the small, white screen. [size=-3]”Today, I reached the Iron Gate.”[/size] She glanced around, taking note of her surroundings and grimacing slightly. [size=-3]”It’s not nearly as impressive as I thought it would be. I always imagined that the gate would be…bigger. But by my estimation, it’s not much taller than I am, and it would certainly be no match for the Diamond Dogs that guard it. Even now, it whines in pain as it swings to and fro in the breeze that has since picked up since my arrival.”[/size] She sighed and closed her journal. She wasn’t feeling inspired to write to Sandro today. Perhaps the Deity of Death could allow her to be tardy just this once… She opened her Sudoku program and began plugging in numbers. The puzzle had been bothering her for some time now.
The diamond dog shortly returned and muttered a bit, then had a seat behind the desk again. "Someone should be here soon to talk to you." He was hoping she'd be escorted there, instead of them coming here... but such was not his luck. He went back to... writing. About five minutes passed, according to the puzzle timer, when a raddish-red colt came in. He appeared to be wearing a bent piece of metal as a head-band. It had a pressed-on Benz symbol. He looked at Severed with ice blue eyes. "Ah, you must be her." His eyes roam along her for a few moments as he grins. "I was told you're a ritualist? Or was I wrong, and you're just a free spell user?"
Severed glanced up at the colt who addressed her. She shuddered slightly, as she felt his eyes crawl over her. She wasn’t used to being examined. ”I am,” she replied simply. She picked up her PDA and used her magic to place it in her saddlebag. “I can be whatever is needed of me, in the name of Sandro.” She shook a few stray strands from her face, then stared at the colt. ”And who are you? Seems you know about me, yet I know nothing about you.”
"Well, they called me Primstone before the whole... disaster. Here they just call me Mediator. Come with me, I'll tell you on the way." As he leads Severed out of the guard station, a few more wandering ponies go in. "I used to do a lot for the media in Guardia... but while I was here filming, everything went to buck. Ah, but that's boring. Tell me a bit about your talents... like what sort of rituals have you practiced?" Meanwhile... The diamond dog held his forehead as he scribbled on the papers. Three new ponies sat around the old classroom chairs as he scribbled. Then, it hit him! Heartburn was ALSO a magic pony! He stood all of a sudden, knocking his chair back onto the floor and pointed at her. "Magic pony, did you see the other two ponies leave before you came in? You should go see if you can catch up with them!" Then he turned and got his chair back up, settling it into place with a grumble.
Heartburn jumped a bit as the diamond dog yelled at her. "I- I don't- what?" She straightened herself and smiled at the dog. "I mean, yes. Thank you" She turned and trotted slowly out the door and turned to look in either direction. One way, she saw two ponies just barely making the distance. Losing all her composure, Heartburn took off at a gallop after them.
"...but if you don't perform the ritual just right, you end up with nothing more than a mess of organs and an empty Aspect Stone..." Severed had calmed down slightly as she told Mediator about her talents. She had been in the middle of relaying a particularly interesting story about one of the first rituals she performed when she heard somepony galloping up behind them. She quickly turned, her horn glowing a dark purple color. "Wha-" Before releasing a Dread Bolt on the new arrival, she quickly realized that she had come from the entrance and regained her composure. "My apologies. Seems I'm still a little jumpy from the trek here." "I'm Severed Heart. You are...?"
Heartburn released her mediocre crimson shield and cleared her throat. "My name is Heartburn. That diamond dog in there told me to come catch up with you. Seems I will be coming with you." She blew some of her mane out of her face before continuing. "A pleasure to meet you."
Primstone the Mediator looked Heartburn over and nods. "I see. You must be another ritualist or free flow spell user. We're off to King Midas' place right now, actually. He's been waiting for someone of your talents. Just not sure which kind we gotta use, heh." The largest standing building is noticible beyond a few other houses. There are a few guards wandering around; diamond dogs who are equipped with aspect rifles it appears. The tall building itself, however, looks like it used to be some form of office building. The diamond dog clears his throat and stood up, scratching under his chin. "Okay pony ladies, welcome to Iron Gate. We got a sharehouse for both of ya, since we don't have the room for everyone to have their own home. Once your skill sheet gets back to the captain, I'm sure we'll have something for you to do to earn your stay." He marked the papers he was writing on with some crayon and stood up, stepping to the door and saying something in diamond dog.
Heartburn's muzzle scrunched up. "Free flow spell user? I'll have you know, I'm an accomplished doctor, not some ruffian spellcaster!" Heartburn let out a small 'hmph!' before saying "By the way, you have neglected to introduce yourself. I simply cannot approach King Midas without even knowing the names of the ponies I'm travelling with! What do they call you up here?"
Primstone rolled his eyes. "They call me Mediator around here. I sorta work as an inbetween for you and Midas, you might say. I think they only like me 'cause I can speak in diamond dog." He chuckled lightly. "Ah, but that's all from another time and place. So you're a doctor huh? I assume you use some magic too, right?"
"Well, I certainly wouldn't call it 'free form,'" Heartburn replied. "But I know a spell or two that comes in handy around here." She smiled mischeviously. "Of course, I can't reveal everything I know at this point, now can I? That would simply ruin the surprise!"
"This had better not take too long. Although I can't think of what could be taking you so long." Mary grumbles, huffing as she crosses her legs in her seat. "If there's nothing for me, I'd prefer you just say and I'll go some place else. I don't want my time wasted." She looks around the dilapidated room. Could they not have salvaged some reading material?
"No, they've been calling it Free Flow, since you're using energy freely flowing through the air. Something like that." Primrose looked at the office building before you. A large diamond dog with scraps of metal for armor guards the door with a rifle that has a battery stone in the side of it. "Mattock, I've a pair of ritualists here I'm taking to talk to King Midas." Mattock grunted, as his jaw jutted out a little, his large teeth sticking up out from his lower lip. "Wait here. I check." He growled and turned around, walking into the building for a few moments. Primrose sighed gently. "You know, before the cataclysm I never thought I'd be working for Diamond Dogs, y'know?" Meanwhile... The diamond dog chuckled and looked back at Mary. "Why, you got somewhere to be? Ain't much to say about keepin' dates anymore, ya know?"
Severed suddenly felt slightly awkward, hearing this seemingly hard pony, Mediator, sigh softly. She trheid her level best to say something, anything, that made her feel less awkward. "Ponies thought a lot of things before the cataclysm, Mediator. I, um...There was a time when I didn't even consider serving a deity of death." Catching her blasphemy before it had gone too far, she quickly clamped her mouth shut. Now she felt even more awkward...
A guard finally came back to the waiting shack and handed off a paper to the diamond dog. He looked at it in curiosity for a bit and said something to the guard in their dialect. The response made him sigh with a growl. He looked at Mary and Inferno and shrugged. "Well, let's see. Inferno, is it? We've been experiencing some uh... threats from Paradise, so the King was looking for someone who could handle the land mines in our storage locker. Looks like you're up. Mary, you're just going to be covering her for now, make sure nothing happens while she's setting up defenses." He nodded and looked down at the paper. "For the tasks, you are offered a joint home near the armory by the center of town, and one part of rations a piece. Think you can handle that?" Meanwhile... Primrose chuckled nervously. Right, Sandro and such, he about forgot that small talk wasn't exactly meant to be. After a few more moments of awkward, Mattock came back out and waved the group in. Primrose lead the trot into the office building that had been mostly hollowed out. Sitting upon an executive office chair was a shorter than average diamond dog. He had a golden crown upon his head, but the plush center parts had been burnt and charred out. He was wearing a long, lavish blue scarf and a white office shirt, along with a pair of black khakis. He addressed Primrose in a shrill voice, (if any of you ponies know Veigar from LoL, that's this guy's voice,) "Are these the ritualists I've been looking for?!" Primrose smiled and puffed out his chest a little. "Yes, my king. That is what I have been told by Grutus, the city signer." King Midas looked at Primrose with a leery eye, then shrieked: "It would be unlike Grutus to fail me! Tell me, ponies, what are your names?!"
Inferno nodded. "Do I look like I cant? This should be fun. What exactly am I going to be working with? What sort of mines?" There was passion in her eyes.
Heartburn took a short step forward, so as to present herself but not get very much closer to the diamond dog. He really has the most dreadful voice, she thought to herself as she stopped. Heartburn took a moment to clear her throat before saying "My name is Heartburn, your grace." Heartburn made an awkward bow born from lack of practice. She had only met a leader of this rank once before, and when she left he was trying to have her imprisoned.
Severed winced at the sound of the diamond dog's voice. It reminded her of a teacher she had before the cataclysm. it was the kind of voice that could haunt one's nightmares for a long, long, time. She gathered herself, then calmly replied, "I am known by the name 'Severed Heart'." She bowed gracefully.
The king let out a shrill cackle, one which sent shivers down your spines. "I shall call you the Two Hearts! Hah! Hah! Haaaa~! Perfect!" He snapped his fingers and looked at one of the diamond dog guards in the room. "The list!" The guard acknowledged the order and pulled out a piece of paper, bringing it over to the king. The king nods with a smirk. "Okay ponies! Can either of you perform the Aspect Binding ritual?!" Meanwhile... The diamond dog furrowed his brows. "Not sure exactly what type. Anti-infantry I think. The master of the armory will fill you in." At that time, a muscularly built draft pony came in. He was blue with dark sunglasses and a whistle hanging around his neck. His mane was cut short, and he certaintly looked like a pony who may've once been in the military. "Ladies! I'm Driller, and I'll be taking care of you from here on. So say goodbye to the nice doggy." The two of them shot looks at each other, obviously not a well-kept professional relationship.
