Dr. Whooves and the Reality War

Angry Hurt and Inquisitive

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 06:14:15 GMT

Ako scrambled along the tops of shelves, getting away from the majority of crowds easily as it was hard to track her over the tops of shelves. Once she found an easy way up onto the second floor, by way of a rather heavy-duty tapestry that looked rather new and now looked a bit torn, the swordsgryphon clambered up over onto an empty balcony. Ako looked to her right and left, then spun around, looking for anypony nearby with her sword still drawn.

'Empty... perfect... that crowd was terrible...'

Lowering her guard, Ako gulps and touches her slung wings gently. She yelps softly at the pain, and tears swell up a bit before she can will them away.

'Ah... ack... my poor wings... that run didn't do anything good for them...'

Shivering just a little as she regains her bearings, Ako blinks, remembering the signal.

'Retreat to higher ground... second floor, green door?'

Carefully rewrapping her sword in the cloth Hualpa had brought it in, the tawny gryphon very carefully slides it into one of her splints, grunting a little as she jostles her injury, managing to hold in another yelp. Once the sword is stowed, she starts wandering around the second floor, looking for a green door, and wondering why there seemed to be nopony around.

- - - - - - - -

It took her a few minutes to find it, finally opening the worn green door carefully and peering in. There didn't seem to be anypony in the room, no lights either besides the windows overlooking some part of the city outside. After determining it was safe to come in, Ako wearily stepped in and shut the door, already starting to regret trying to 'sheathe' her newly reacquired sword in her wing's cast. She proceeded to carefully remove it, wincing yet again as the movement jostled her shattered limbs.

After removing it, she started to look for a place to sit down.

'This is the place... right? Maybe there's someone here that know of the calls we used...?'

That was about when she saw the gryphonian corner, a small corner of the room with furniture she recognized, as well as scrolls that looked like those in the style she'd grown up with. Ako stumbled over, setting her wrapped sword on the small table, looking amazed.

'This... why is this here? Why have things from my homeland...?'

Once she had laid down on a small set of cushions for guests, Ako spotted a book on the table, bookmarked in several places. The cover read: 'The Myths and Legends of the Gryphonian Lands'.

It only took a few cautious turns of pages to get the gryphon lost in her old favorite pastime.

comments

Questions?

Wed, 11 Feb 2015 20:19:24 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

The Diamond Dog nodded, mouth set in a frown of contemplation.
"One wonders if the Doctor might not rush into this because it is an obvious trap."

Cain spared one last concerned glance at the space above the bookshelves that Ako had recently departed, then turned to lumber after the other travelers.

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Signals

Sun, 08 Feb 2015 03:35:38 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

Ako ignored the blue pony's calls from below. Even if she had been inclined to listen she was now too invested in her actions to 'back down', as it were. In the midst of trying to figure out where exactly she could retreat to from her precarious position, her ears caught an improbably set of sounds: birdcalls from species that neither would have resided in this monstrosity of a city, nor near each other.

In moments her old training had come back, the coded signals used to disguise troop dispersal when facing he occasional untrained band of mercenaries or skirmishing with the odd band of ponies from the far south. She frowned at the thought, but was distracted when the calls began again. The message was clear: retreat to higher ground. Second... floor (the usage was odd, but comprehensible), door of green... room?

As much as it might annoy her to take advice from an unseen source with no explanations given, anything seemed better than remaining in her current predicament. And if some fool wished to stage an ambush, a grin curled on her beak, that would give her an excuse to vent some of her frustrations on a worthy target.

Scribble groaned in frustration as the griffoness took to the air without a backward glance, disappearing into the stacks. 'Because this isn't already an impossible enough task we've been set.'

"Um, excuse me?" A random pony repeated, for what was probably the third time, not quite touching the blue stallion's shoulder.

Scribble glanced back. "Yes?" He didn't have the energy to startle at the interruption.

"Uh, somepony asked me to give you this note, just now."

The writing pony took the crumpled piece of paper, and then caught the departing pony, "Wait, when did the pony ask you to do that?"

"Just. Now. Like I said."

Scribble shrugged, not bothering to ask for a description he wasn't going to get a straight answer about in any case. Instead he examined the hastily scrawled note:

Please wait five minutes and then proceed to the Green Room (second floor, specializing in world history).
RB

He turned the note over, to make sure there wasn't anything on the other side. "Uh, okay?" Scribble muttered to nopony in particular, only to realize he had the attention of a xeno-changeling and diamond dog. The loud unicorn seemed to have wandered off inexplicably.

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Unrecognisable

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 23:36:30 GMT

Posted by: anarchyarcher

"I hate this place!" Ako hisses, her eyes meeting Scribble's. "Quiet? I can't imagine that anyone can read over this! I can't even hear myself think!"

She waves her empty clawed hand around, gesturing around at the quieted patrons gathered around their booths and idols. Her other foreleg switches around in an opposite pattern to keep herself upright, sending her blade in an arc behind her.

"And apparently none of you can hear me either," She hisses, glaring at the group behind Scribble before falling back down onto three legs, sword held to one side. "So I think I'll just solve this problem myself!"

Then, after crouching briefly, Ako jumps onto a nearby bookcase. She lands on it about halfway up, out of reach. Then she starts to climb.

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Making noise

Sun, 01 Feb 2015 23:37:41 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

And with flash of golden light the two ponies vanished. "Crap, crap, crap!" The unicorn snapped her head up from the scope, slinging the rifle to the side and swearing under her breath. 'One alicorn, two alicorn, three alicorn...'

There was just the slightest puff of wind before the hissing pop heralding the arrival of a teleportation sphere. Sharp Shot was already leaping for the floor below when the pegasus, not fully materialized, lunged after her, hooves still glowing as he grabbed her back legs and slammed her head into a joist in the shelves.

Sharp Wit let the murder's unconscious body drop to the floor before landing next to it. Golden jumped down, catching a lower shelf to ease his descent. The pair eyed the unconscious shooter, eyes flicking from the long range rifle to the dark gray packs distributed along her belt and webbing.

"A professional. Should I take that as a compliment?" The unicorn stallion made a noise halfway between a cough and a laugh.

The gray pegasus frowned, "They had no idea we would be here, it wasn't especially for you." The inspector frowned, his eyes repeatedly drawn back to the rifle, which fired a far larger caliber of ammo than what the autopsy would –

"–should be able to walk through it, pace by pace." Agent noise nodded, not quite daring to be optimistic about their chances. "Even a complex spell can be considered a collection of simpler cantrips working in..." She trailed off, noticing where the kelpie's gaze had turned.

Agents Ops and Lining carried the unmoving body of a cybernetically integrated eohippus.

Riptide didn't trust herself to speak just yet, so she instead speared the black stallion with a glare of inquiry.

Black Ops withered under the Deep Queen's gaze. "Sniper shot, to the head. It was instant." He frowned when all that happened was the kelpie's brows furrowed. "A sniper, you know, long distance covert gunner–"

"Guns." Riptide snarled. "It's always 'guns' with you ponies."

The silver stallion cleared his throat, "She, uh... she died protecting the old guy. Um, if that makes any diff–"

The sharp retort of gunfire interrupted the pegasus's stammered speech.

The kelpie's eyes narrowed further. "Put her somewhere comfortable, I doubt she's going to be up and moving any time soon."

The dark furred stallion started to open his mouth and quickly slammed it back shut, nodding sharply to Riptide "Ma'am." For once Silver Lining moved without having to be asked as they brought the body fully into the Starswirl the Bearded Wing.

"Any time soon?" The pegasus mouthed in confusion after the kelpie had made her exit. All he got was a shrug in response. Agent Lining shook his head, "Man, time travel is really annoying."

Sharp Wit wondered what it said about him as a pony that he was learning to suppress his reactions when it was possible someone had just killed his partner/mentor. Sure enough, the shot had only taken Golden Scales in the leg, and not near any arteries or other vulnerable tissue. The elder pony didn't seem to recognize the good fortune of his wounding.

"Hades in Tartarus, Grubber, not only are you a complete slimeball, you are also –oww– one hay of a lousy shot!"

Money Grubber stared in disbelief at the firearm in his hoof before turning to smack one of his goons. "Whadd'ya waiting for? Get them!"

The mooks, to their credit, moved as soon as ordered to. Unfortunately, two of them immediately started sliding backward, blue tentales wrapped about their barrels, eyes widening as they turned to look at the furious armored creature advancing down the hallway.

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A hush settles

Sun, 01 Feb 2015 03:54:58 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

There was no hypothetical observer to notice the elderly pegasus ambling through the throng of cautious onlookers. The pony-folk carefully pushed aside barely even registered the intrusion.

The stallion paused some ten paces away, at the edge of the clearing, to watch the blue pony approach the griffoness. They seemed to know each other, her chest stopped heaving quite so much, the mad look in her eyes retreated, even if it was only for the moment. And then the young stallion opened his mouth, and the elder pony had to resist clapping a hoof over his own face.

"Ako...? You need to calm down... This is a library." He stated, as though that helped matters. "What's going on?"

Finally, the old pony caught the eye of one of the security personnel who were trying to move in without setting off the sword-wielding predator. The security captain eyed the elder, raising an eyebrow. The pegasus shook his head, held up a hoof in a warding gesture. The security specialist frowned, but nodded nonetheless.

The pegasus with the maroon-faded to a rusty pink coat and naturally silver/ashy mane waited, watching, breath held. 'Might as well give the lady a chance to reply, but this is all wrong.'

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Ignored

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 04:57:58 GMT

Posted by: anarchyarcher

Ako grimaces as Cain half-pulls her along, the diamond dog too busy avoiding the crowds to pay attention to the gryphon. She wriggles out of his grip as he talks to some pompous pony, gasping softly as her wings catch for a moment. As she takes a few steps back and starts falling behind the diamond dog and the others, the gryphon nearly gets run over by a stampede of smaller equines rushing off to another part of the library. Ako gets jostled, spun around and knocked over.

"Ah! H.. hey! Watch-..."

She gets up, disoriented and confused as she tries to find the others. Before she can do anything else, another group of ponies rush by her flanks, hitting her tail and causing Ako to yelp and spin around.

"Stop that! I..."

A unicorn mare behind the gryphon then squeals loudly, rushing a writer elsewhere for autographs. Ako grimaces, then scowls, then growls. She pulls out her returned sword from its wrapping, swinging it blindly around her to clear a space. It misses ponies by inches, slicing apart one colt's rather long tail and cutting another pony's book in half.

"SHUT UP!" The swordsgryphon bellows into the air, shaking the building with the volume of her voice amplified by the opera implant. The walls reverberate, causing the sound to deafen nearly everyone in the room, an unnatural silence falling as the raging gryphon glares about the room, standing on her hind legs with one clawed hand holding her repaired sword and the other clenching at air.

comments

Talk...

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 07:59:21 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

"Well I don't know, who the hay are you?" Hualpa frowned at the red unicorn. "Are they still picking up people from random points in time and dropping them off elsewhere?"

"Hua..." Atoc muttered.

The yellow furred llama switched her glare to her brother for a long moment. "Fine. Fine, fine, fine." With her jaw set resolutely, she turned her head to examine the passing bookshelves.

"I think you're talking about Brad Rayberry, Mr. ..." Stompson left the sentence hanging, question implied.

"Oh, are you looking for mister–" a nearby pony stared, before several ponies raced past, headed for the library entrance.

"...like they just stepped out of the Eqs Files."
"...swore one of them is dressed as Faux Smoulder."
"...to get an autograph before they're completely mobbed."

Atoc waited until another few pockets of ponies and assorted other quadrupeds ran past before approaching the red stallion. "We were, um ... that is... " he eyed Hunter, but the blue unicorn seemed to be very amused by the sight of two perplexed suit-clad ponies at the library entrance surrounded by screaming and cheering quadrupeds.

"Our village was... destroyed, and ... um, Ako and her friends... well, there wasn't really anywhere around we could go to. So we... uh, went with them. And then later we met this zebra who had plenty of room and was willing to take care of. Oh. Uh, we were just kids when our village was destroyed, more than a thousand years ago, if you catch my drift." The reddish llama rambled.

It was at this point that Cain realized the random pony who had previously spoken was still following them, and in fact seemed to have continued talking – without waiting to see if anyone was paying any attention. "...couse his best work, in my opinion, was 'A Rose for Equinity', but tastes will of course," the gangly stallion sniffed, adjusting a pair of worn and tape-repaired spectacles, "...differ." He looked up at the the diamond dog, who was still negotiating the building designed for ponies, while avoiding the continuing trickle of ponies toward the door, providing support to the broken griffon, and trying desperately not to step on anypony.

"One supposes that would have been very interesting, had self been paying attention. Apologies, did pony indicate where author Rayberry was currently positioned?"

"Oh, he's probably just finishing up a speech in the reading room about the Equestrian Space Program." The pony pointed a hoof toward a set of double doors, above which was a large banner displaying the author's name and a message of a similar topic.

"Nation of Equestria has a program for the exploration of Space?" Cain's head tilted.

The pony looked wistful, "Not yet, but maybe someday..."

Behind the pony, Stompson rotated his hoof vertically around the side of his head while lolling his tongue and crossing his eyes. The technician resolutely ignored his antics.

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...click...

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 05:46:47 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

The slide mechanism pulled back smoothly, placing the ammunition was like poetry. Sharp Shot lined up the scope as she prepared the punctuation.

Primeval frowned.
[Anomalous readings detected]
[Querry: Nature?]
[Report: Anomalous reading is anomalous, no further inference is currently possible]

Golden Scales frowned. "Hey, Sh... 'Inspector," He began. "That friend of yours looks little odd, is she–"

"Primeval is an eohipus, and Riptide is a kelpie." The dark gray pegasus interrupted, ears flicking in annoyance. 'Why does he always have to ask unrelated questions while I'm trying to concentrate?'

"That's not what I–" the unicorn's response was interrupted by the report of a gun firing.

The gunmare took her time, lining up a perfect kill. Best to start with the old one, he was starting to look a little cautious – bad news for a pony in her line of work.

"Nn–"

The lavender proto pony's irises shrank so quickly they seemed to disappear.
[High velocity object detected, inbound, from the area of the anomaly]
[Query: Trajectory?]
[Calculating... most probable course leads to lethal impact with pony: Golden Scales]
[Alert: priority order, activate psionic focus]
[Warning: use may cause residual damage]
[Override: Priority 1, Protect Herd]
[Psionic Lens Activated, attempting kinetic inversion]

"–nno... ?" Sharp paused, heart rate elevated, and tilted his head to stare at the small cylindrical object suspended in the air.

For his part, the elderly stallion seemed as perplexed from his perspective. The bullet had stopped inches from his chest. A quick glance showed that the weird lavender mare in the silvery getup was staring intently at the projectile with an expression he recognized. "Good work, lady. Thanks." He nodded, absently, eyes flickering over the stacks looking for

Sharp Shot swore under her breath, quickly but deliberately reloading. How the hornless pony had noticed her shot, let alone stopped the bullet with what didn't look like any magic she'd ever seen was beside the point. Shot has just enough time to find out if this mysterious mare could stop two bullets in a row...

The Inspector shook his head, "Everypony get behind cover n–"

Bang

[Warning: second projectile dete–

Sharp With stood, helping Golden Scales back onto his hooves. 'I... I did it. Paradox be damned, I actually...' his train of thought derailed as he glanced up to see Primeval falling to the floor, a look of vague surprise tinged with annoyance frozen on her face, with a single red spot in the middle of her forehead.

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Touchy Subject

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:10:25 GMT

Posted by: anarchyarcher

Ako winces with Atoc's rather blunt question, a twinge of pain going through her wings. She stumbles to a stop, looking at Hua with a hint of pleading in her eyes.

"Hualpa... could you do that thing now...? I can't... can't stand this..."

The injured swordsgryphon gestures at her wing-slings, turning enough so the llama mare can reach them. Ako glances at Atoc,her drooping slightly.

"Atoc, I got a lot of bones shattered in my wings... enough that they were so damaged that it would be a miracle to put them back together..."

She sighs, closing her eyes.

"The medical staff said I had only a 20% chance to be able to fly like I used to... and anything less than that..."

The warbird looks like she's barely staving off depression, loosing some of what makes her, well, her.

comments

T...ock

Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:52:12 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

The 'reporter' nodded emphatically, slapping Scribble on the back. "Finally, somepony is talking something that resembles sense!" He grinned, waggling his eyebrows, "Let's go find one of the most successful fiction writers in recent history and tell him your bizarre story that lacks any physical evidence in order to obtain some weird thing he was willing to pay what was probably a lot of bits, am I right?"

As the crowd of mixed personages filed into the libarary, Hualpa bit her lip as she tried to remain as far from either side of the hallway while also simultaneously trying not to make eye contact with Ako while attempting to keep what she likely imagined was surreptitious watch on the griffon. Dusty voices whispered into her ears from the multitude of tomes housed withing the compound, and the llama shuddered involuntarily.

One the other side of the griffon, Cain tried to offer as much support as he could, though his ears twitched and his nose seemed to move of its own accord. The smells, the movement, the knowledge stored in this place... the drafty halls and hard white surfaces reminded him of 'home' at the same time the pressing multitude of ponydom and the outlandish costumes, loud conversations, and general level of cheer were alien to him.

The red furred llama's cheeks puffed as he waited, impatiently, for anyone else to bring up the subject. Nopony, griffon, llama, or shape-shifter did. He let the breath go and stopped when they were in the common area. "What do you mean you might never fly again?" He asked, the touches of both concern and exasperation raising the pitch of his voice.

The blue pegasus held the wireless communication device gingerly. "Yes, they just went right in." he paused, listening as his ears twitched, betraying his agitation. "No, sir, they'd been standing still for like five minutes and then they just suddenly...." he sighed nodding, "Of course sir. But we were... no, but... but it's a really really public pla–" He reactively jerked the device away from his head as the voice coming out became a staticky squawk of nearly incoherent rage. Eventually it subsided and he reluctantly placed it near his head again. "... yes, ok. I understand, sir. Protocol Blarq is in effect."

Blue Streak grinned. "Boss says to forget about keeping public exposure minimal." The smile widened, "We get to use all the toys."

Golden Dawn sighed. "What about her M–"

"Well, we can stick to the non-lethal gear, to start with, I guess." The pegasus shrugged. "But c'mon, we get to save the world here... I think that's worth a royal tantrum, don't you?"

The goldenrod unicorn adjusted her sunglasses and kept her opinion to herself.

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... Ickt ...

Fri, 02 Jan 2015 06:11:18 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

Sharp Wit groaned, barking orders to the agents, and then turned to the distracted cyborg, "Primeval, come with us."

[begin calculating probability of successful vent–]
[override, primary priority: preservation of the herd]
[override acknowledged]

"Very well." The lavender eohippus stood and trotted after the departing assemblage. Catching sight of the door, she frowned. "Qu... a moment, Sharp Wit. How will we pass the barrier?"

The Inspector snorted amusedly, "Don't think so linearly, Prim, we couldn't leave before because we wanted to take the book with us."

Primeval blinked, "And the gateway can now tell that we do not?"

One by one the ponies filed out what otherwise appeared to be a solid brick wall. Sharp's expression softened slightly, "Obviously. It's just magic, it doesn't require over-thinking. Spells always follow their own internal logic, with little to no regard for physics."

The silver-suited quadrupen frowned, but nodded, trotting up to the gateway. It didn't so much vanish as simply ceased to exist between one moment and the next. Her frown deepened but she crossed the threshold.

Money Grubber ran a hoof down a particularly stubborn hoof, scowling. 'Of all the places to run into the fuzz, it had to be here?'
Movement to his left caught the rotund pony's eye. An almost comically thin tan unicorn with thick glasses made to move forward until the crime boss interposed a hoof. "Hold on, where do you think you're going, senora?"

Sharp Shot backed up quickly, as though she was loath to be touched by Grubber. "My contract is to take care of unforeseen difficulties. I believe this qualifies."

The well dressed stallion chuckled, running a hoof through his thinning mane. "That is indeed your job, but you're not going to be worth anything if you step into whatever nonsense the kid and the old man have planned." He grinned, noticing he had the gun-mare's interest. "I do my homework, many of these wings are magically sealed against theft and in some cases even ... 'unauthorized' entry."

The unicorn shrugged, "I am not interested in the minutia, if you don't want me to go to where the targets are, what should I be doing?"

Money Grubber's smile verged on a sneer, which was it's default. "Just find somewhere nice and comfortable with a good view of the main hallway. I figure you'll know when the time comes."

The feather drew a loop in the air, seeming to undulate slightly as it darted forward.

"That was... very good." Agent Noise commented.

Riptide let the comment sit for a moment, "Ok, it was good, but... ?"

The white unicorn started, "Huh? Oh, no, it was perfect. I was just contemplating why you... um... why you made the feather ripple like that?"

The kelpie's head turned to glance at the gray tuft. "Huh? Oh, it just made sense. Swimming... and..." her eyebrows raised, "Is that really going to be a problem?"

The Torchwhoof agent shook her head, "Oh no no no... everypony's magic has its own quirks."

Several moments passed in silence; the Deep Queen tried to be patient as long as she could. "Ok...what's next?"

White Noise looked up again. "That... um. You've learned the basics... I really don't know what else–"

Riptide sighed, "Look, you're kinda quiet, I get that. But this is working... more or less. We need to keep going. What's the next thing I need to learn before I even have a shot at using this spell?" She held up Starswirl's book.

Another moment of silence passed as a slow smile grew on the unicorn's muzzle. The Kelpie wasn't quite sure what she was looking at until Riptide realized she had levitated the book to make her point.

The agent cleared her throat, "I think this is about as ready as I can get you. We'll go through the incantation step by step, and I'll try to explain what it should feel like..."

comments

tock...

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 21:10:05 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

Hualpa's eyes narrowed as the gryphon jerked and shuddered. Muttering under her breath about 'equestrian medicine' she advanced upon the griffon and dog. She paused when Ako caught sight of her and simultaneously tried to shy away, take an aggressive posture, and winced from the contradicting actions.

The llama sighed, "Look, your wings are bothering you, right? Equestrians don't seem to understand that different winged animals have different ligatures..." she noted the blank looks she recieved and sighed, "A griffon wing isn't a pegasus wing writ large, a sling meant for a pony isn't quite right for you. I can fix it, a little, if you let me."

Meanwhile Atok frowned for his own reasons as he looked at the blue stallion. "R-really, the Doctor isn't here? And..." the llama's eyes flicked over the greatly reduced group of travelers, "...as well as Sharp Wit, Caine, and the ... purple one?" The adolescent ran a hoof over his forehead, "That's not... I don't... what?"

Hunter looked over the group with an odd sort of grin, "Hey, not that standing here like a fifth leg isn't entertaining, but it looks like there are a pair of ponies who are trying to be nonchalant while staring at us." The unicorn performed what was probably the worst covert head-jerk-as-pointing in history. Oddly enough, a blue pegasus stallion and goldenrod unicorn mare near the street corner responded by trying to duck behind a streetlamp.

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Study Sessions (Part 5)

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 20:52:26 GMT

Posted by: sharpwit

Golden and Harness were both dragged to see none other than Money Grubber himself- a fat, well-dressed stallion who nevertheless exuded an aura of greasiness. "Well, if it isn't my old friend, Golden Scales," the stallion wheezed, a grin across his face. "Tell me boy, how have you been keeping up lately?"
"Well, no thanks to you, Don Grubber," Golden spit out, eyeing the older unicorn with discuss. "I have to say, I knew you were a disgusting excuse for a stallion before, but teaming up with the changelings- that's treason under Equestrian law!
Money Grubber shrugged. "Eh, you call it treason, I call it business. But then again, it doesn't really matter what I call it, does it?" The sleazy smile melted off the Don's face as he turned to the large brown unicorn that had captured the pair earlier. Uccidete i bastardi. Ho la sensazione che troveremo le informazioni necessarie al più presto.
Golden grinned at his captors. "Non oggi, le borse di grasso!" he crowed before lighting up his horn. Before anyone could react, a flash of gold filled the room, momentarily blinding everyone in its range. By the time the Don and his lackies could open their eyes again, the detective and the Captain had escaped.
Money Grubber, realizing what had happened, slammed his hoof to the ground in rage. "Trovarli, idioti!" he bellowed to the stallions, who nodded quickly before galloping through the halls. The Don then turned to the changelings, who were still rubbing the light out of their eyes. "And you bugs keep searching for that book! That mistress of yours will have everyone's head if she doesn't get what she wants!" he ordered harshly. The changelings resentfully nodded before returning to search for the library. Don Grubber sighed before wiping his forehead with an embroidered handkerchief. "Così il ragazzo imparato l'italiano..." he muttered to himself. "Fantastico."

Sharp growled as he plucked yet another feather from his wings, spitting it out comically at the table. "If you ladies don't finish soon, I'll go bald," he quipped before going back to his pacing.
Suddenly, a golden flash filled the room, revealing Golden Scales and Captain Harness had teleported into the entrance. "Sharp, we've got trouble," the detective called. "Money Grubber's here, and he's made a pact with the changelings! They're looking for a book of some sort!"
Sharp groaned. "Just what we needed, that fat old stallion making deals with bugs." He turned to the Torchwhoof agents and Primeval. "Alrighty then, new plan. Agents, make sure nobody gets in the Starswirl wing until Agent White and Riptide are ready. Primeval, come with us."

comments

...tick

Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:28:35 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

Agent Noise frowned, trying her best to straighten out the mangled feather before giving up and putting it with the other two. "I... I'm sorry, this is the most basic unicorn exercise I know of. If you can't feel the flow of magic then nothing I can tell you will be of any–"

The kelpie, who had been laying her head against a comfortable table looked up. "Flow? You never said anything about currents."

The white pony stopped in mid step. "Ah– I didn't?" She glanced into blank space, running the conversations of the last ten minutes through her head. "No... how in Equestria..." the unicorn shook her head. "Yes, flow, currents of magic, are fundamental to unicorn magic and to the spells of ponykind in general."

Riptide frowned but decided to let the oversight slide. "As frustrating as this has been... can we try it one more time, and this time don't skip on anything even remotely related to water, ok?"

White Noise noded once, sharply. She turned to glance at the pegasi... only to notice that the lighter gray pony seemed to be missing. Shrugging she turned to the remaining, darker stallion. "Um, Inspector?"

Sharp Wit turned a baleful look upon the torchwhoof agent, already aware what was coming. "Yes?"

"We, well that is I... uhhh..." Agent Noise winced, "we need another of your feathers, please, sir, if you would?" she spat the request out.

"C'mon Sharpie, take one for the team, right?" Riptide grinned, getting far more enjoyment out of the predicament than was strictly polite.

The Inspector sighed and used his teeth to pluck another small feather from his eiderdown, which he hoped he could do without.

comments

Sharp Outburst, Instant Regrets

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:37:03 GMT

Posted by: anarchyarcher

"I... I knew it had to be something like that!" Ako blurted angrily as her good-humored self disappeared once more, upset at being talked down to by Hualpa. She fell quiet after her outburst, as her tone made it back to her ears. The swordsgryphon slumps slightly, looking a bit ashamed of herself.

"S.. sorry..." She sighs, laying down the sword in front of her. After a few deep breaths - with a twinge of pain from her wings - Ako tried to change the topic as she looked down at the ground. "D... did the letter say anything else...? We... we're kinda... trapped here... without the Doctor... and our last time in this area of time didn't go too well..."

Glancing over at Hunter Stompson, Ako says softly:

"No, Torchwhoof certainly is not any sort of upstanding government agency... at least that's what it seemed from how angry Princess Sparkle was at them last time..."

The swordsgryphon's attitude old attitude was gone, and back was the shattered bird that didn't understand how her life was falling apart around her. As she sat on her hindquarters slumped over slightly, her body language made clear to the two llamas that she wasn't doing too well at the moment. She nearly fell over sideways as her vision blurred momentarily, at which she scooted over to lean against Cain-9, forgetting she had planned to hide her injuries from the llamas.

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...Tock

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:12:19 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

Hualpa blinked a few times. "You're a time traveler, how can you not already understand what–"

"Hua..." Atoc frowned.

The gold-furred llama shrugged. "The broken pieces of your sword end up back in the paws of the blacksmith who originally forged the sword." She glanced at her brother who nodded, making a circling motion with his hoof. "...aaand for whatever reason the griff decided to reforge the sword, um, again."

Llamas and griffon blinked. Nobody said anything for several moments. Ako sighed, "And after that?"

"After that, the... uh 'second' incarnation of the sword traveled forward in time the hard way." Hulapa grumbled, her mood souring.

Atoc winced, "What my sister means is that the sword ended up in the possession of someone else, and was handed down from soldier to warrior to sellsword through history. It was delivered to us, with directions, some five or six years ago."

"It had been in Ponyville longer than that, though." Hulapa mentioned, seemingly in spite of herself.

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Tick...

Tue, 02 Dec 2014 20:49:34 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

The golden unicorn groaned theatrically in frustration, straining to keep a straight face. "Curses." he droned in monotone. "You have clev-er-ly snuck up on us, and we are now completely helpless." He grunted as the navy blue pegasus jabbed a feather in his side, frowning.

Golden Scales rolled his eyes. "Look, we surrender already. Now take us to your leader."

The lead changeling made to speak, but was interrupted.

"No, not your bug-boss, take me to the creep in the leisure suit." The unicorn drawled. "You tell Grubber that you've caught Golden Scales and I guarantee he's going to insist on seeing me, if only to gloat." He spat the words, eyeing the pegasus balefully.

The changeling stared at the ponies for a moment, feeling utterly confused. Eventually he decided this was above his station to decide and gestured for his underlings to tie up and carry the two stallions.

As they were dragged away, Golden Scales gave Jack Harness another hard look, "Are you absolutely sure this is a good idea?"

"Look, I know a guy who does this all the time, and it usually works for him."

"Usually?" Golden felt the first tremors of an ulcer coming on.

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Block and a Hard Place

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 12:58:35 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

Sharp Wit glared at the Kelpie for a moment before drawing in a deep breath. "Look, my problems aren't the issue right now. You need to learn that spell as quickly as possible, I fear we have very little time before our presence here becomes disastrous."

Riptide started at the pegasus for several longs seconds before replying, "I may not be able to learn the spell at all. You don't seem to realize that from my perspective I've only had a horn for about a day... and I'm still getting the hang of ocean magic, which should be natural to me."

"Not familiar with temporal magic you say?" Sharp's eyes widened ludicrously. "Why, in that case, a unicorn who doesn't know how to use time magic either should be the perfect tutor, you'll have so much in common!" The dark gray stallion turned to address the Torchwhoof Agents. "Agent Noise, it is desperately important to the future of Canterlot and perhaps the entire nation of Equestria that you help her Majesty here learn this spell."

White noise opened her mouth to –

"Ah, ah, ahh, failure is not an option." the Inspector chastised.

The white pony looked at Black Ops, who quickly gestured that the Inspector effectively had the highest rank in the room. White Noise scrunched her muzzle for a moment, then sighed and turned to face Riptide. "R-right, so, what level of familiarity do you have with Clover/Swirl Channeling techniques?"

The Kelpie stared blankly at the unicorn.

White Nosie tried again, "Dweomercraft?" No response, "Relative Symbolism?" Nothing, "... cantrips?" The Kelpie blinked, then continued staring. The agent sighed and lowered her head. "I guess we can try a crash course from the ground up..."

Golden Scale wiped his forehead and leaned against a windowsill, "I'm getting kinda old to be planning attrition campaigns..." he glanced out the window to get another measure of their enemies and stopped, staring at five well-dressed ponies accompanying the chitinous invaders. "Buck me over a barrel..." he muttered.

Jack chuckled, "Slow down, we just met.", but one look told him the unicorn was honestly disturbed. Looking out the window, the blue pegasus made out the ponies... or changelings in disguise when none of their allies were, which seemed unlikely. "Friends of yours?"

That elicited a bark of bitter laughter, "Something like that. You're looking at the head of Canterlot's largest crime organization." the old pony shook his head. "Somehow, I'm not surprised to see Money Grubber switching sides like the first rat off the ship."

"Any idea what he's here for?" Captain Harnes frowned.

"No, but I'll tell you one thing, our job just got a whole lot harder."

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The division of labor.

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 16:18:16 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

"Damn, this is too soon!" Sharp Wit cursed.

"I... I don't understand, how did they follow us?" White Noise frowned.

"Sweetheart, I kinda doubt you're specifically on the menu... not that they'll let any of us go when they find out this place isn't empty." Golden muttered, eyeing the rows and rows of bookshelves, sculptures, chairs, and unlit chandeliers. "You guys have some sorta' plan that obviously doesn't involve me, so go do it, I'll buy you some time."

"Absolutely not!" Sharp all but shouted.

"Hey, you're the one who didn't want me slowin' ya down... also, if you keep shouting, they're going to notice us..." the unicorn stallion's voice trailed off as he glanced out the window.

'Arrgh!' The dark gray pegasus moaned inwardly. 'Plans not working out quite right?' the dark voice purred. '...nothing I can't handle.' Sharp sighed. "Riptide, we can't use you until we have the right spell, so can I count on you to do what I know you're going to go do anyway?"

The kelpie rolled her eyes.

"And, Captain Harness, can you keep that old fool from getting in anypony's way?" 'Ah, campaigning for prom queen, I see.' 'Not. Now...'

The blue stallion nodded, though his expression made clear that there was going to be a conversation about this later.

The former EIS agent couldn't care less. 'If there is an afterwards in which I can apologize for this, I will be deliriously happy – even if Gold never talks to me again, it will still be worth it.'

"Well, what the hay are the rest of you standing around for? Let's get moving."

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Making the connection

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 12:00:08 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

He looked at his sister, brows furrowed. "What, now you have reservations?"

"Sh– shut up." Hualpa stuck her tongue out. "I'm just saying... maybe this isn't a good time to distract ~~her~~... them."

"Oh for goodness sake, if you're scared, give it to me and I'll–" Atoc quickly drew his hoof back. He was fairly sure she wouldn't have really bitten him, but why tempt fate?

"If you're going to be a butt about it, we'll go ahead and do it now." The brown llama rolled her eyes. "And for the record I am not scared."

Snif, snif-snif, sniiiff. The diamond dog's nose snuffled and snorted as he turned his head too a fro, ears perked and eyes wide. 'So one was not mistaken...'

Caine Nine glanced down at the warrior griffon. "Err, it would be highly advisable for you to ... assume as relaxed a posture as you are able to?"

"What do you..." Ako's voice trailed off as two cloaked figures of differing height approached them.

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Readings, part I

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 10:42:45 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

[Error: anomalous timespace readings registered]
[Query: conclusions?]
[Insufficient processor time available]

Primeval stood still, blinking as she seemed to stare off into space.

[Override: delay emotional simulation re-calibration. Load last known good configuration]
[Query: save destabilizing information?]
[Affirmative: quarantine until calibration is complete]

"Uh, lady, are you ok?" Silver Lining waved a hoof in front of the silver-suited proto-pony. He glanced at the others. "Seriously, doesn't this freak any of the rest of you out – like even a little?"

[Warning: behavior has been tagged anomalous]
[Initiating face-saving protocol]

"Aaah!" the purple eohippus shrieked.

"What–whoa!" The light gray pegasus backpedaled. "What the heck was that?"

"Oh," Primeval blinked at the ponies staring at her. "I was... um... distracted?"

"Distracted by what?" Primeval questioned, frowning.

"By..." [Initial analysis complete] "by ... what appears to be a temporal resonance."

"Wher... that is, when?" The Inspector inquired.

"Approximately twelve years forward in time..." The cyborg frowned, it was very difficult to specify information in the future. "There are other traces, but I am unable to determine their precise temporal orientation or origin at this time."

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Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:05:06 GMT

Posted by: multaekappae

The Canterlot Royal Library was an imposing structure, three stories tall, spanning some ten city blocks, surmounted by a sturdy brick wall, and built to a scale that dwarfed the average pony build. The front courtyard area was populated by fanciful topiary sculptures meant to convey various genres of writing or specific famous works... or at least that was what the gardeners claimed, it was rather difficult to tell if one was looking at a treatise on the nature of humility or a proof of Ponythagoras's Theorem.

The imposing main hall branched off into a labyrinthine sequence of ever more obscure (and restricted) wings.

It felt odd simply walking through the gap in the broken gate, but White Noise's spell seemed to be working... so far. There were signs of struggle, including several craters in the garden... Sharp Wit had to remind himself that, despite appearances, things would indeed get better. The pegasus mused for a moment, 'is this how the Doctor feels when he runs into an event he can't interfere with?' 'Your weakness sickens me, don't ever compare yourself to that Coward.'

"Are you alright?" Primeval asked, peering at the pegasus.

Sharp had nearly leapt out of his feathers, the proto-pony had been silent for so long he'd almost forgotten she was here. 'Wishing for some other female companionship, are we?' 'Shut up, shut up, shut up!' "...I'm fine, thank you for your concern." The inspector snapped.

"Good." The cyborg nodded, seemingly satisfied, before trotting up to the rest of the group.
[calibrations continuing, unable to gauge veracity]

Sharp Wit took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Alright, focus." he muttered, catching up to the others. "Alright people, we are looking for the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, which is normally protected by a 'Don't Notice Me' spell..." his gaze unconsciously drifted toward agent White, who nodded. "...Though, for several reasons, I don't think that will be an issue today. In case I have to spell it out for you: nopony wander off, stay away from the windows, and for Celestia's sake don't damage anything you don't have to. No, really, the library was established in trust to Princess Celestia, these books are all technically her property." He enjoyed the look of bewildered concern that reminder seemed to impress on most of the group... his companions the obvious exceptions.

"Oh... so you can get here normally." Hunter Stompson muttered in what was probably as close to an apology as he could make.

Scribble looked up from his musings, noticing Ako still carefully picking her way along while Cain seemed to regard her as an unbalanced three legged table made from porcelain.

'Third Annual Canerlot Writer's Expo, Today Only!' Proclaimed a jaunty banner over the doorway. A trickle of ponies passed in and out of the doors more or less continuously, and a gentle susurrus of conversation poured forth.

This is it, Champ. Once you go in there you won't have any time to spare for notes... if you're going to use the pen, you'd better do it now.
'...why would you think that anything you say would make me do what you suggest?'
Heh heh heh... how do you know which course of action I want you to take?

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