Darkest Hour CYOA 5

>>29139049
>>29138973
>>29139347


"And how much time will this spell take?"
"The spell itself does not require any specific preparations. But you can never know how much time will you spend in the dreams of a pony getting the information you need. Usually ten minutes or so are enough."
"Well, then to the church we go." - you shrugged - "Though I don't think that that Sharp guy will be so unwilling to cooperate when we return."
"Never underestimate willpower of a zealot." - Arcane replied - "You will be surprised how much one can endure when he believes in the righteousness of his deeds."

"I hope you have returned with good news?" - greeted you Long Night when you entered the church.
"Unfortunately you are wrong, reverend. We require assistance in the interrogation of one of the heretics. I assume that there should be a pony in the ranks of Nightbringers who is up to the task."
"Your assumption is correct." - he smiled - "I will ask chaplain Pure Belief to assist you. I think you and lieutenant Dawn will return here at the same time, so you will be able to tell him everything you have learnt."

Long Night trotted inside the internal premise of the church and returned after a couple of minutes, followed by earth pony mare, wearing armor of the Nightbringers, though instead of the helmet she wore a skull mask.
"My name is Pure Belief." - she greeted you with a nod of her head - "Is there anything I should know about this heretic?"

Your actions?

>>29144729
He called us starspawn during the interogation so he may have some familiarity with star magic will that be a problem.

While you are in there see if he performed any acts of sabotage on the engines he was working on before his capture.

>>29144723
Something about her makes me think of Nyx

>>29144729
The bastard doesn't even care about his family, thinks that their fates are decided by him. Wonder how he'll feel if he knew his wife and son won't be harmed.

>>29144752
>>29144812

"Well, he's not the type who cares about his family. And I suppose he has some experience with star magic."
"It shouldn't be a problem. Anything else?"
"Yes, apart from getting info about his associates, can you check if he had performed any acts of sabotage on the engines he was working on before he was captured?"
"Of course. Now lead the way."

As you walked to the labor camp you could see that many passerbys were eyeing your group warily, though you were not sure if that was because of Gust or chaplain.
You entered the labor camp without any hindrance from the local guards and then walked to the dungeon.
"Greetings ma'am." - unicorn guard saluted, when your group approached the door - "Sharp Dvider proved to be quite a stubborn fellow and he still refuses to cooperate with us."
"Your service is no longer required." - answered chaplain - "I will take care of him."
"Uh, sure, ma'am. Come inside." - guard replied and opened the door.

Divider was stretched on the strappado and panting heavily, burn marks all over his body.
"You." - he quietly hissed when he noticed earth pony mare slowly moving towards him - "You'll get nothing from me, scum."
Pure Belief only snorted in reply. Then she suddenly unhooked the mace from her armor and smacked the old stallion in the head.
"W-wha! You could kill him!" - you screamed in disbelief.
"Don't worry." - she said, not even turning her head towards you - "He is just unconscious. I know my job."
Then she began to chant. As eerie words left her throat, an aura of starlight appeared around both her and heretic's head. Tendrils of eldritch energy stretched from both auras towards each other and when they connected chaplain fell silent.
After about five minutes both auras suddenly dissapeared and Pure Belief silently went towards the exit.

Your actions?

>>29144943
Remark that they really should have put him to sleep in a less risky way.
Then follow pure belief

>>29144961

"Look, I know that he is heretic and traitor, but you really should have used some less risky method to put him to sleep."
"And you should refrain from criticizing work of other ponies you are unable to perform yourself." - she replied, still not even bothering to look at you.

You decided agains continuing the conversation and silently followed the mare back to the church. The sermon had recently finished and lieutenant Dawn was already waiting for you inside the church.
"I've discovered where and when heretics' next meeting is going to be concluded." - reported Belief.
"Great job, chaplain." - replied Dawn and turned towards you with a familiar smile on his face - "I think I should thank you for initiating this investigation. Without your help we would not be able to find out the location of their hideout - well, we could start mass interrogations, but it realy is not the right thing to do in this situation. Now if you don't have any questions, I would humbly offer you to leave - we have an important operation to discuss."

Your reply?

>>29145173
Lets just go our work here is done and the less we have to listen to the nightbringers prattle on the better and we still need to find a present for last word
Lets go get her a pretty dress
Tell gust you are sorry she never got to torture anybody in the end.

>>29145173
Um, guess you guys have everything covered? Sure we can't help in anything else?

Can we just report that we left everything to them? I don't think general Perturbation will like that.

>>29145217
I suppose we should tell general perturbation they dismissed us.
She clearly does not trust them.

We should also mention the taking whole familys for the actions of a single member.

Then if after we report to perturbation she no longer needs us
>>29145193

>>29145193
>>29145217
>>29145240

"So, I guess you have everything covered? You're sure we can't help in anything else?"
"Oh, you have nothing to worry about." - Argent Dawn continued to smile.
"Uh, then good luck in your witchhunt, I suppose?"
"May Moon watch over you." - was his reply.

When you left the church Gust just stopped near it's doors and began staring at you.
"Uh, sorry that you never got to torture anypony?" - you shifted under her gaze.
"Arcane, remind me why did we let her talk to an important pony again?" - she replied turning her head towards the armored unicorn.
"Heh, maybe because then we will be able to punish her again?"
"Hey, come on!" - you yelled, blushing heavily - "It's not like I have some kind of authority over them! We still can tell lady Perturbation that they just dismissed us, right?"
"I wonder how will you fuck up this time, sweetie." - grinned your marefriend - "So let's go to the castle."


"How typical of them." - groaned Perturbation after you described the current situation - "Now they will just charge inside their hideout and burn everything to the ground, not even caring about covering emergency exits."
"Maybe you could just demand the information from them? Surely they would comply to the Lunar General?" - you meekly suggested.
"Your blatant flattery would get you nowhere even if I held you responsible for it. Anyway, back to the topic. I suspect that rebels are gathering tonight - it's obvious that they didn't cease their operations when one of them was captured and since they have Nemesis' schematics they need to work out their own plans ASAP. They are probably preparing to start a riot in the labor camp to divert our attention, so I'll put some of my troops there. And I guess I'll tell Grim Phoenix to put his flyers at alert."
"And what about us, ma'am?"
"I guess you should rest now. I have a mission for you in two nights, if you forgot."
"Of course no, ma'am!"
"Dismissed then."
1/2

>>29145405
2/2


"Well, it went better than expected." - said Gust when you approached your home - "So, uh, maybe we could, you know..."
"Nah, I'm going to get a pretty dress for Last Word now, so have fun without me." - you replied, opening the door.
Wait. Why wasn't it locked?
"Arcane, did you lock the door when you left?" - you asked, sweat appearing on your forehead.
"Why, yes. I am a responsible stallion after all."
Shit.
"Hey! Last Word! Are you sleeping? Tell me you are sleeping!" - you yelled, dashing into the house and running into her room.
There was nopony there and a broken window clearly indicated that Last Word didn't leave voluntarily.

Your actions?

>>29145410
Panic internally and externally.
Shit, how long has it been since Arcane saw her?
Gust, since you're the fastest, report this to general Perturbation while we search the area for clues. Does Arcane has any fancy magic to help in this investigation?

>>29145410
Check for a trail maybe word or the kidnapper cut themselves on the broken window
If that fails search the room for any sort of clue keep an eye out for her diadam if thats still here then at least we know she was not flown away.

If no diadam or trail is found send gust to search the shipyards arcane to try and get the nightbringers to reveal the location of the merting they are ambushing while we search the tipsy turnip

Dont raise any alarms she is still meant to be a secret.

If her diadam is still here send gust to the labor camp instead

>>29145458
>>29145466

"All right. Don't panic, Frosty. Don't panic. Don't-"
"Hey, what's wrong? Did I forget to lock the door?" - asked clearly confused Arcane.
"-panic! Aaaah!" - you yelled and began frantically searching for Word's diadem.
You heard Gust whispering something behind your back, but you couldn't care less now.
Well, the diadem was not here, as well as any obvious tracks, so there still was a slight chance that abductors don't know that Last Word is Hollow.
Your panic levels dropped to the margin where you became able to not just ran around and scream incoherently, but actually issue commands:
"Arcane, when did you left the house?"
"Four hours ago, I guess. Maybe a little more."
"Great. Or rather terrible, nevermind. So here is the plan: Gust - you go to the wharfs, Arcane - try to convince these damn zealots to give us the locaton of that meeting and I will search in 'The Tipsy Turnip'..."
"Hold your horses, lass." - Gust put her hoof on your shoulder - "Take a deep breath and tell me what the fuck should I search for? A group of suspicious ponies with Celestia's portraits? That's a terrible idea."
"Look, I..." - you tried to explain yourself, but she just silenced you with a kiss.
"We fucked up, yes." - she whispered - "But running around the city will not help. I think that our best bet is to ask these Nightbringers for help - I mean, rebels' lair is the first place they would take Word to, right?"

Your reply?

>>29145642
Your right gust
If they had just told us what they found we could go straight there but your right.
Run to the church

>>29145642
Right, let's go there now.

>>29145670
>>29145707

"Yeah, right, right. You're right. We need to hurry though."
"Great. Just don't panic, okay? We need to have our heads clear if we wont to handle this shit."

Then you rushed to the church. Prayer hall was empty and you slowly walked towards pulpit, a little bit hesitant to move inside.
"So, in case we're really going to break into their inner sanctum and they are not going to kill us on spot because of that, how are we going to convince them to help us?" - asked Gust.

Your plan?

>>29145863
Not sure if they know about Last Word being a hollow.
Can we just go in and be like: Please help! A little filly important to us has been kidnapped(foalnapped?)?

>>29145914
Better yet say its a filly important to lady nightmare.
If they ask for clarification we will have to explain shes a hollow though

>>29145925
Oh and mention its probably the same group that stole the plans

>>29145925
>>29145930
Good idea.

Sorry for not being able to finish this session with a prompt, so I guess you have some more time to discuss your plan.

And thanks for staying with me for so long!

>>29144723
fast bump

Bumpity

>>29145863
It might help appease them a little if we appear to be religious try and find a statue or something to subtly but obviously bow to when you go in.

>>29139029
>Basically armored zeppelins. I will probably make a sketch
Hype

File: vengeful_spirit.jpg (1MB, 2560x1920px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 2560x1920px

>>29150575

>>29150952
Neat

>>29150952
Well armored zeplin with an imperial bow

>>29145914
>>29145925
>>29145930
>>29145946

"You will not like it."
"It's not like we have any other options." - sighed Gust - "Just leave bullshitting to us, okay?"
"Sure." - you smiled and moved deeper inside the church.

As you walked through the corridors of the church, you could hear many muffled voices coming from one of the rooms. You opened the door and were noticed ten Nightbringers there, five of them were wearing skull masks.
"I guess" - greeted you Argent Dawn with a familiar smile on his face - "You have a really good reason to break inside the church?"
"Well, kinda. You see, there is a filly to Lady Nightmare and she was kidnapped by rebels. So can we please get the location of their hideout or at least help you in assaulting it?"
"Putting aside the fact that we have literally no reason to trust you, answer two questions" - retorted Pure Belief - "One. If you are really speaking the truth then why don't you just give us her description so we could find her? Two. Judging by your pleas I can suggest that you were the one responsible for that filly. You broke inside our church, confessed into failing to protect a pony important to Lady Nightmare. Why do you expect us to help you and not, for example, tell general Perturbation about your incompetence, because she is obviously the mare you are running errands for?"

Your reply?

>>29151776
No reason to trust us you say
Do you think lady nightmare just picked names out of a hat to chose which pegasi to ascend

>>29151776
She wouldn't have even been kidnapped had you lot actually made sure nothing sensitive is in the house, but no, because of you all, some random stallion broke in, raped us, then came back later to take her away while we're cleaning up your messes!
Well... the only reason she was kidnapped was because we're ordered to go investigate heretic activities and the house you assigned us to wasn't really protected?

>>29151798
>>29151804

"You know, the only reason she was kidnapped was because we were ordered to investigate heretic activities and the house you assigned us to wasn't really protected!"
"If that filly was really important to our Lady then you should've left at least one pony to ensure her safety!"
"Miss Belief." - coughed Arcane, drawing attention to himself - "She was clearly important enough to be kidnapped by rebels. And I had placed wards around the house. Powerful wards, mind you. These ...rebels had proven themselves quite resourceful and I suppose you can not deny the fact that you too had fucked up with even not searching the houses of the heretics."
As chaplain was looking for words to retort with, Argent Dawn trotted towards her and put his hoof on her shoulder:
"Shhh, calm down, chaplain. I've a reason to trust them. After all, I was the one who suggested that private Gust should be ascended."
"You what?!" - exclaimed both Gust and Belief.
"Believe me, I had perfectly valid reasons for this suggestion, but this is the topic for another discussion."
"I... do not doubt your wisdom, lieutenant, but I still need to see something to prove their words. I suggest that I should look into... what was her name?"
"Private Frosty Rime." - replied Dawn - "You want to look into her dreams?"
"Yes." - she eagerly nodded - "It should be enough to see where her loyalties truly lay."
"Well, it's not for me to decide." - said Dawn, turning towards you - "So, miss Rime, if you wish to get our help then you should comply to chaplain Belief's demands."

Your actions?

>>29151889
Do it
We have nothing to hide

>>29151889
Fine, this won't take long, will it?

>>29151899
>>29151905


"That's fine. I've nothing to hide."
"Then I'll get started, if no one objects." -said belied and trotted towards you. And then you remembered one tiny detail...
"Wait! Not the - " - you yelled, trying to avoid the imminent strike, but chaplain had proved herself surprisingly fast - in a matter of seconds she managed to grab her mace, shorten the distance between you two enough to strike you down and, well, strike you down.
Accompanied by indignant screams of your companions, you fainted.


You found yourself freely floating in some kind of white void.
"Welcome to the realm of dreams." - you heard Beleief's voice from behind.
"Why did you do that? I am not a damn heretic, I am a Night Guard like you!" - you turned towards the source of the soubd, pointing one of your foreehooves at it accusatory.
"I don't see any reason not to." - shrugged armored mare in floating in front of you - "It's not like I could damage something inside your head, huh?"
"Hey, that was pretty rude!"
"Now maybe you should show me something to prove your sincerity?" - she tilted her head, completely ignoring your last remark - "Just concentrate on the moment of your memory you want to convince me with. And believe me, I am skilled enough to see if you will try to lie."
"Fine." - you snorted and cocnentrated on the night when you were ordered to escort Last Word to Prosperity, mindful to avoid the fact that she was a Hollow. It was not really a lie, so you were pretty sure that you could get away with it.

"You know..." - Pure Belief muttered, after you had finished the show with reading the written order to your squadmates - "There are still some things that just don't add up. I need to see your fight with that thief."
1/2

>>29152035
2/2

"W-what!?" - you yelled, as blush began creeping up on your face.
"Heh. Got you." - she snorted, as the space around you slwoly began to take shape of the bedroom on the second floor of that damned confiscated house.
"N-no! Wait! You - you can't just look at this!" - you screamed, shutting your eyes and trying to drive away that vision. Alas, it was to no avail, and you were forced to refresh in your memory the most humiliating minutes of your life.
You couldn't really read the facial expression of the chaplain behind the skull mask, but you were pretty sure that she will force you to explain yourself after this vision ends.

What are you going to do?

>>29152040
Man, we gotta relive that moment again? Why do these things happen to us...

Try not to break down and explain what happened that day.Tell her Gust 'punished' us for what we did when we reached the city, and then that stallion broke in, and raped us while we're tied up.
Can we hug something? or be hugged by Gust again?

>>29152057

"I-I can explain it! You see, me and Gust - we, uh, we had sex and well, she decided to be a little kinky so she 'punished' me and left the house and then that thief came and... and..."
You couldn't help but bursted into tears. As you floated into the void, crying about your misery, you felt that something was touching your head. You raised your teary eyes to see that vision of your humiliation had dissipated back to the void and chaplain was absently petting your mane.
"Y-you... you don't hate me for that?" - you whispered, unable to believe that this mare was able to perform such acts of compassion.
"While your actions disgust me and I find that you are in a dire need of reeducation, you are still a loyal servant of Lady Nightmare and thus it is my duty as a chaplain to help you with your psychological problems." - she replied, looking down at your sobbing figure.
"I see..." - you muttered, avoiding her gaze - "Can-can you hug me? Please?"
She silently shrugged and embraced you in a tight hug. Surprisingly her armor was warm and rather pleasant to the touch - perhaps because of some peculiar feature of the dream realm.

When you had finally calmed down, Belief broke her spell and you once again found yourself in the real world.
"I have no reason to doubt her motivations now." - she calmly said to the Nightbringers - "You can tell her about our plans, if you want, lieutenant."
"I'm glad to hear it." - Dawn smiled - "We've an armory here, so if you want to upgrade your gear for this assault - feel free to use it. After that I will tell you about our plan."

Your actons?

>>29152337
Didn't some of our stuff broke, replace them at that armoury and see if there are long ranged weapons we're good at, would be good to have them.

>>29152337
Also, nuzzle Gust for no reason when they aren't around.

>>29152405

It would certainly be good to have some kind of ranged weapon... if you were trained to use one. All these crossbows are usually left for earth ponies, and, well, for pegasi sometimes. Military doctrine of the Night Guard insisted that unicorns should hone their special talents instead of learning the wide array of spells. While adaptability was held in a high regard, higher-ups preferred to analyze Discord's spawns before the engagements and send against them squads of ponies with the most efficient skill-set to deal with them.
So you couldn't say you were really good even with a spear, not to mention ranged weapons.
Well, you could use a sword too, but real, metal swords should be much more heavy than their ice counterparts, right?

"Well, I as you can see" - you poked at the hole in your armor - "I could use something better for now."
"I'm afraid that you might find out armor too heavy for your liking, though you are free to try it." - replied Dawn pensively - "And anything for your comrades?"
"Nah, I am perfectly ready to kick some heretical ass" - replied Gust and then quickly added - "sir."
Arcane just silently shook his head.

Your actions?

>>29152514
Might as well just stick to a spear and/or glaive then.
Mobility is more important, so we'll keep our armour for now.

Holy shit. I final got caught up with current events. There way a whole lot of stupid going on.

Wait who are the nightbrigers again? They're a bunch of civilians who are extreme zealotsports and fanatics that worship Luna or something?

>>29152514
So long as we don't come across anymore hollows at close range, we should continue training how to throw thing - such as spears and ice spikes - really fucking hard. Like terminal velocity.

>>29152514
Maybe another Spear, and several spikes we can fling at people.

>>29152405
We have a horn. That's all the range we need Daddy-O.

>>29152670
But hollows.

>>29152514
So if conjuring ice spikes / spears requires more magic then just throwing things at terminal velocity, I say we take a bunch of pointy things.

>>29152646
Nah. A Night Guard regiment who are extreme zealotsports who hang around civilians. Essentially they are the military of the Church of Moon. They were so cool during the war with Discord that they deserved to design their armor for themselves (instead of using generic Night Guard one) and their leader is Lunar General.

>>29152688
Which is why we would stay well away from them and snipe them with couches.

>>29152693
AAAAAHHHHH. Ok. That's pretty dope.

>>29152514
"We've an armory here, so if you want to upgrade your gear for this assault - feel free to use it."
Why don't we ask to check out the armour. See if theres anything that strikes our fancy.

>>29152514
We could replace or sharpen our glaive.

>practice spamming ice spears at people.

I'm still kind of salty about how my bowling ball sized ice ball idea wasn't an ideal solution to deal with those earth ponies in heavy armor.

>>29152566
>>29152666
>>29152690
>>29152713
>>29152724

"Well, do you have some spears or javelins there?"
"Of course." - Dawn nodded - "I will show you the way."

When you walked inside the armory, Nightbringers dedication to the maces became obvious. Sure, there were some axes and polearms, but most of their arsenal consisted of different variatons of maces. Surprisingly, there were little to no hammers.
You took a whetstone - because you would probably need to sharpen your glaive after the battle and three javelins - because you couldn't hook more to your armor and you wanted to keep the glaive for now.

As soon as you and Argent Dawn returned from the armory, the lieutenant began explaining his plan to you:
"There is not really a small rebel cell, but rather an underground church. According to intel we got from that heretic, there are approximately a hundred ponies frequenting these meetings. While many of them are just waywards souls, we suspect that at least five of them are Solar Guards who escaped the Cloudsdale purge. We got that number because we had seen only five pegasi and it pegasi don't usually visit the Lower City, though there should be some earth ponies and unicorns among the ranks of escaped Solars too.
They were probably hiding in the sewers since the purge, and the sewers are the exact, well, district of the city, where the heretics gather. There is a some kind of chamber, which the builders of the city probably used as housing or storage. It is connecting two otherwise completely separate tonnels. We will split in five groups, ten guards in each. Two groups will move from the both ends of one tonnel, forcing the rebels to run away to the second one, while other two will guard both ends of the second tonnel, effectively blocking the fleeing scum. Fifth group will patrol the area above the meeting place - just in case.
Now, where do you think your talents would be the most useful?"

Your reply?

And that's it for today, choose your answer carefully.

Fug i fell asleep last night.
Oh well looks like all i really missed was choosing equipment upgrades
I thought i was caught up on my sleep but i guess not.

>>29154366
Bump

>>29154366
Probably not a big deal that i missed the equipment upgrade anyway we will probably have another chance later and we got largly the same results as i would have voted for.

>>29154375
What
Why on earth did you bump in reply to a post that was just made.

>>29153122
I will block a tunnel they will try and escape from if they come my way i will freeze the ground in front of them to trip them up so they have even less chance of escape
Gust should take one of the first attack tunnels
Arcane should take the tunnel opisiote me.

>>29154491
Bump

>>29154491
Also we should mention shes a hollow so if you see your spells fail keep an eye out although she may still have her aura suppresing diadam.
Its meant to be a secret but we cannot risk her getting killed

>>29156088
Mentioning that Last Word is a hollow may actually be pretty important to this operation.

>>29157545
Bump

Everyone, I am terribly sorry, but I'm unable to run today due to some personal shit.
Also, tell me if you want or do not want me to run tomorrow.

>>29158200
Oh well i hope your personal stuff turns out well.
See you tomorow

>>29158221
Bamf

>>29158766
Amf

Bump for daring rescues.

>>29160982
Bump

>>29161598
Bump

Its gonna be nice to fight some hopefuly unarmored enemys again.
Its a great setup we get a nice challenge when fighting armored enemys and then every now and again get to pierce a punch of unarmored ponys with icycles

>>29162818
It's gonna be fun to beat on some under equipped ponies.

So should we go with lethal or non lethal?

>>29162858
I dont think we could keep this from being a bloodbath even if we wanted to.
Lethal of course although if we get the chance maybe try and take the thief alive we did promise gust after all.

>>29163032
Yes, but Lost's safety is more important then Gust turning the thief into a punching bag.

>>29163106
Yeah only take him alive if there is no risk.

>>29163149
Cave all their skulls in and save Lost bump

Holy shit you guys are fucking brutal.

>>29164192
If you ask me we're not brutal enough. We need to get our revenge on our rapist.

>>29164245
what about slippery slope, moral event horizon and all that shit?

>>29164245
Forget the rape he got in the way of our gift shopping.

>>29164266
Also stole the plans
The rape while bad was the least of his crimes

>>29164248
We have some morals
We refused to sacrifice gust for incredible power and we restrict our looting of our defeted enemys to equipment and leave money and any personal effects behind.

>>29164282
Well, some are better than none whatsoever, I'll give you that. But I don't want Gust and Rime to turn all evil, even if we lack evil characters in CYOAs. Hence my concern.

>>29164292
Can you say that nightbringers are evil?

>>29164302
Yeah, kinda.

In the end what matters is we are probably better then the solars

>>29164346
>probably

>>29164364
Well that speculation is half the fun of the quest

>>29164370
Can't argue with that one.

>>29154491
>>29156088
>>29157545

"Me and Arcane will join the groups blocking the escape to the traitors, while Gust will accompany one of the squads directly assaulting the hideout. Oh, and inform your troops to be on lookout for that filly - beige coat, violet mane and grey eyes. She may also wear a silver diadem."
"And her cutiemark?"
"Unicorn's head with a broken horn. You won't miss her."
"Well..." - replied Nightbringers' lieutenant - "I think I see why she is important to our lady. Unicorns with anti-magic talents are prety rare."
"Yeah. Exactly." - you muttered - "So don't be shocked if your spells will not work around her - she has yet to learn to control her abilities."
"We will inform our troops." - nodded Dawn - "We will be moving to the sewers in two hours. And I believe that I should not remind you about secrecy of this operation. Rendezvous near the church's entrance, until then - dismissed."
You saluted and quickly left the room.

1/2

>>29164748
2/2

You walked through the corridors of the church. On your way back Gust was suspiciously eyeing the surroundings and as soon as she became sure that no one could hear her, she whispered to Arcane:
"Hey, so did that guy knew about Hollows or not?"
"I'd rather say no. Information about them participating in the assault on my homecity should be classified and since refugees are still on the way to the Cloudsdale they are unable to spread the rumors about them. Though again, I doubt that it would be the case since most ponies who entered the range of the Hollows' aura are now dead."
"So that means that there are unicorns whose magical talent is antimagic? That's somehow even weirder than Hollows."
"Well, yes, but it's not really antimagic per se. Rather it is an ability to control the arcane energy to such extend that you can disrupt spells of other unicorns. And that reminds me. Had any of you two even thought that despite the fact that Last Word negates everything magical around herself she still has a cutiemark?"
"Ehh... no?" - you and Gust replied in unison.
"Because of that fact I think that her, well, problem is not that she has no soul, but rather something you could name 'anti-soul'. And it is in the style of a certain chaos god."
"Wait, hadn't you told me that Hollow's aura negates all magic? Even chaos-based one?" - you tilted your head.
"Again, creating a thing that you have no power over is such an absurd idea that it perfectly fits Discord's style. It's only a hypothesis though. So, what are we going to do before this operation?"

Your actions?

>>29164756
Combat practice
Spend the time in the leadup to the assult practicing our icycle shooting, ice blade control and polearm movements

We can worry about last words origins later

>>29164786
This, plus maybe unwind a little, telling yourself everything will be perfectly fine.

>>29164786
>>29164792

"I guess we could use some warm-up before the battle." - you sighed - "And I kinda need to calm down and blow off some steam."
"Good idea." - replied Arcane - "I guess that these Nightbringers have some sort of training room at lower levels of the church."
"Lower levels? Please." - snorted Gust - "Maybe you will say that they live there?"
"I am almost sure. Where else would they be quartered?"
"Guys, stop bickering! Let's just return and ask them if we can use their training ground or if they even have any." - you suggested.
"Fine." - shrugged Gust - "It's not like living below the church is the craziest thing they have done."

First Nightbringer you met on your way back confirmed Arcane's assumptions and was even kind enough to show you the way to the training room.
Ten guards in full armor were already there, some sparring, while others practiced their skills individually.

Do you want to train alone, or maybe you want to ask someone to be your sparring partner?

>>29164892
Get a sparing partner if we can learn more about how they fight we can work alongside them better.

>>29164898

You thought that it would be good to spar with one of the Nightbringers, so you trotted towards the training guards.
"Looking for a partner?" - called you a unicorn stallion wearing a skull mask.
"Uh, yes." - you nodded - "It would be great if you could spar with me for a bit. Name is Frosty Rime by the way."
"First Behest." - he introduced himself - "Guess you are the one who'll join our squad down there?"
"You should know better." - you shrugged - "So, is telekinesis allowed or can we only use our hooves?"
"Why not both?" - he grinned - "Show me the best you got. Follow me, I will show you the training weapons."

1/2

>>29165113

2/2
You picked up a quarterstaff, while Behest chose a mace.
He turned out to be a formidable opponent. During the fight stallion barely moved, using weight of his weapon to deflect your attacks and then directing his mace towards you using his telekinesis while you struggled to retake control over your weapon. While you managed to score some lucky hits due to your agility, you were pretty much exhausting yourself and you got the impression that Behest didn't fight at his full strength.
"Your style will not work against armored targets." - he commented after you've finished sparring - "No sane pony will give you enough time to look for vulnerable spots in his armor. And if they will try to shorten the distance you are in trouble. You should either concentrate on directing your weapons behind the backs of your comrades or in close quarters combat. I doubt that combining these two styles will help you survive on the battlefield."
"Thanks. And I have a question for you - why do you disregard mobility so much?"
"Well, for starters it's the role of pegasi to be swift. Then in big battles you can't hope to get enough room for maneuvers. And finally - heavy armor has proven itself superior when we fought against chaotic abominations. You can't avoid their attacks forever and many of them had acidic blood, or poison, or something like that, so if you were wounded - you were doomed. I once fought against some giant flower which could spit poisonous thorns. You can imagine how well they pierced metal. Plus it was pretty easy to outrun most of them even in such armor. Now you should probably rest for a while - we are moving soon."

Do you want to talk to anypony before moving to the sewers?

>>29165118
Thank him for his advice and rest up for the battle

>>29165118
Attacking from the second line seems the best choice

>>29165121
>>29165153

"Thanks for advice, sir. I think I will stick to the second line then."
"You're welcome. We are going to fight side by side after all."

You spent remaining time resting before the battle. After that you followed Nightbringers to the gates of the church.
Argent Dawn then assigned you and your companions to assist his squads.
As Behest assumed, you ended up in the squad with him.
"Allow me to introduce you sergeant Dutiful Sword" - stallion smiled, nodding towards armored earth pony mare.
"And who is in charge out of you?" - you inquired.
"We both." - replied sergeant - "My duty is to lead their bodies, while Behest guides their souls."
"I understand that such system must be confusing." - added unicorn - "But if it is easier for you, then Sword outranks me."
"Got it." - you nodded.
After saying farewells five groups trotted to their respective points of entry to the sewers.

The sewer tonnels were pretty wide and dark, so three unicorns in Sword's squad, including Behest, lit up their horns. You soon followed their example.
After an hour-long journey knee-deep in sewage Sword raised her forehoof, ordering the squad to stop.
"Their watchponies are further." - she whispered - "Let's not alert them too early."
Then squad formed two rows, five ponies in each. You joined the unicorns in the second row, while sergeant took position in the center of the first one.
Then you extinguished your horns and began to wait.

Fortunately, you were forced to stay silent and unmoving for ten minutes tops until you heard terrified screams coming from the tonnel. Soon you heard the sound of hooves spla
"Halt!" - bellowed Sword and unicorns lit their horns again, this time much more brighter. Heretics trying to escape were effectively blinded and stopped in their tracks, shocked by the fact that their path to freedom was blocked.
1/2

>>29165494
2/2

You used their delay to take a good look at them and pick up some valuable targets. There were about fifteen of them and to your surprise they all looked like civilians, judging by their cutiemarks and the fact that none of them carried any weapons.
"In fealty to the Nightmare Moon, our undying lady, and by the grace of the Moon I declare you heretics." - solemnly spoke Behest, while heretics trembled in fear and confusion - "I hereby sign your death warrant and consign your souls to oblivion. You may proceed, sergeant."
"Thanks, chaplain." - she grinned in reply - "Kill them."

Your actions?

>>29165502
Kill them
Freeze the ground near them to prevent escape first then send icycles at them

>>29165513
Also dont make the mistake of assuming they are harmless you never know what they might have up there sleeve dont be careless.

>>29165502
They kill civillians?
Kill them all, not like we can disobey... >>29165513 is probably the best course of actions

>>29165547
They might be civilans but they seem to be up to no good

>>29165513
>>29165543
>>29165547

You thought that you would meet some Solar Guards, or at least well-organised rebels and not a bunch of civilians. Sure, they were traitors and heretics, but this onslaught just felt wrong.
You began freezing water around them, preventing them from escape, while Nightbringers began slowly advancing towards the heretics. Their reaction was pretty obvious - they tried to run back. Many of them fell on the ground thus making themselves an easy target for your icicles.
Nightbringers advanced relentlessly, each swing of their maces finished a life of a heretic. They cried, they pleaded, they prayed to Celestia but their end was only swift death. You closed your eyes for a moment, as everything inside you revolted against such display of slaughter...

---

"Rime? Frosty? What's wrong with you?" - you suddenly heard Last Word's voice.
You opened your eyes, shook your head and looked around - you couldn't remember how you ended up in that room. Blood and corpses were everywhere and some Nightbringers were searching the room.
Then you looked down and noticed a frightened filly with a silver diadem on her head.
Her coat was covered in blood.
"F-frosty, please, answer me!" - she begged with a shaking voice.

Your actions?

Sorry everyone, but I need to go - my relatives wait for me.
Happy New Year everyone and thanks for participating!


Also, did any of you get that reference?

>>29165685
Nothing now that i know your safe
Hug her and dont let go until you are made to let go

>>29165708
Happy new year warlock enjoy your family.

No i did not see the refrence this time.