Darkest Hour CYOA 6

"It's nothing." - you smiled - "You're safe and it's all that matters."
She tried to back away, but you were faster and embraced her in a tight hug. Last Word was shaking and you were sure that when you let her go she will collapse in an instant.
"Shhh." - you whispered, as filly continued to cry - "It's over now. It's all over. You're safe now."
"It was horrible." - she muttered, looking away from you - "When they entered... silent, creepy. Then one of them said something, I-I don't remember what and after that everypony began to panic. A-and then..."
Then Last Word burst into tears. You caressed her mane until she calmed down again.
"W-why?" - she finally sobbed, looking straight into your eyes - "Why did you do that? Why did you k-kill them all?"

Your actions?

>>29177962
because we could not afford any chance of the stolen plans getting out
im really sorry you had to see that

>>29177962
>PTSD

>>29177969

"It was necessary." - you quietly replied - "Their actions could lead to many more ponies being killed in the future."
"Look, I'm really sorry that you had seen it - but this is entirely their fault. They knew that they were acting against the crown and so... the judgement came."
Last Word began to sob again and you continued to caress her mane, unsure of what to do next.

"Oh, hey! At least you are not wounded!" - cheerfully yelled Gust, darting inside the room. You noted that her armor too was covered by blood - "It turned out that traitors had an unaccounted tonnel straight to the surface, so some pegasi escaped. Hop on my back and I'll deliver you straight to the airships!"
"Wait, why there? And why me and not Arcane?"
"Where else the could go? And between us, I doubt that group at the surface managed to intercept them. Concerning Arcane - some bastard escaping throgh his position got crossbow with him. He got a bolt in his leg - thanks Nightmare that bones are intact, but he is unable to fight for now. So, are you going?"
"P-please..." - suddenly begged Last Word - "Don't leave me with them..."

Your actions?

>>29178095
fuck this is a tough decision

tell gust she will have to go on her own we need to stay here with word

Why not ask Last to stay with Arcane for now?

>>29178133
oh yeah that works
>>29178110
i take this back hop on gusts back after we take word to arcane

>>29178133
>>29178143

"Hey, you will not be alone. Arcane will stay with you until we return, okay?" - you leaned towards the filly and smiled.
"O-okay." - she muttered - "Please, be careful."
"Good. Gust, lead us to Arcane and then to the tonnel."

You trotted through the rebels' hideout, trying not to look too much at the sights of slaughter. It looked like most Nightbringers had already left, though some remained to search the base.
"Oh, you are back!" - greeted you Arcane, rising his left forehoof in the air with help of his telekinesis - "You looked out of yourself a couple of minutes ago, Rime. Is everything all right?"
"Not quite." - you shook your head - "But I'll be fine. Can you stay with Last Word while we will be chasing traitors?"
"Sure." - he shrugged - "And, well, just in case if you missed - Argent Dawn said that we are free to go now."
"I-I missed it?"
"Well, with a blank stare you had back then I'm pretty sure that you did." - he shrugged again - "Don't take this so seriously. Think about it just like about another battle."
"Just how do you manage to stay so unfazed?" - you asked, rising your eyebrow.
"I had seen my home reduced to dust twice. If you think that it's bloodbath then you have no imagination or experience." - he smirked - "You really need to hurry if you want to catch those traitors."
"All right. And where is that tonnel?"
"Right here." - he replied, directing his wounded forehoof at the hole in the wall, which was covered by some kind of tapestry before judging by shreds on the floor.

You quickly said farewells and then you and Gust soared in the skies of the Cloudsdale.
While both moon and sun hang in the sky, they were not able to reach their peak positions, thus leaving Equestria in a state of perpetual twilight. Once in a while celestial bodies jerked a bit in the sky, returning to their respective positions shortly after - probably a sign of Celestia's and Lady Nightmare's struggle for dominance in the sky.
1/2

>>29178307
2/2

"Here... we are..." - said Gust, panting heavily, as soon as you were high enough to see the majesty of 'Nemesis' - "To the engines we go?"
"Sure." - you succinctly replied.
As you were approacing the engines of the gargantuan zeppelin, you noticed a couple ascended pegasi slakingly flying along it's bulk.
"If they were assigned to guard 'Nemesis', they sure are not taking their duty seriosuly." - hissed Gust - "I can dart straight to the engines and they will not even hear me."
You glanced at the engines again and noticed an opened maintenance gateway - a sure sign that someone had entered it.

Your actions?

>>29178312
alert the guards about the intruders

then head for the engine room

>>29178319

"We still need to alert them and we could use some help." - you said to the Gust - "So can you please fly towards them?"
"Yeah, ma'am." - she grunted and soared towards the ascended pegasi.

"Hey, you two!" - you yelled and pegasi clad in purple armor, mare and stallion, with surprising speed darted towards you.
"And what is the meaning of this?" - inquired mare, supposedly senior.
"You know that patrol duty isn't your average stroll? Someone had entered the zeppelin while you were fooling around!"
"And how are you going to prove it?" - she gave you a sceptical look.
"W-what? There is an open door there!"
Mare lazily glanced at the door and replied:
"This is a worst distraction in my lifetime."
"What in the name of Luna's buttocks you are talking about?"
"I shall indulge your curiosity." - she sighed - "If we would pass by the door and notice that it's open then we would obviously raise the alarm. And here you come, disguised as Night Guard and I bet your next phrase will be 'Hey, since we are both guards let's investigate what's inside', am I right?"

Your actions?

>>29178414
gust is a fucking ascended you idiot how do you expect somebody to disguise as that

do our weapons or armor still have blood on them if so point out that we clearly just came from a battle.

if they attack us retreat to the church

>>29178435

"Look at my wings and tell me how am I supposed to be Solar." - hissed Gust.
"Well, maybe that unicorn on your back changed your appearance or used some mind-control spell on you."
"I have an ice pyramid as my cutiemark." - you said, clapping your flank with one of your forehooves - "And even if we were disguised there would be no point in covering ourselves in blood."
"I guess you are right." - she nodded in agreement - "Then why are you covered in blood?"
"Because we fought with damn traitors!" - yelled Gust - "Who are now trying to blow Nemesis you were supposed to protect!"
"Ah, I remember. Nightbringers were going on a witch hunt. But you are not Nightbringers." - she tilted her head.
"Look, our squad was nearby, so they just told us to help them and then to spread the tale of their deeds." - you began losing patience - "And since they have no pegasi in their ranks we were sent to follow traitors."
"Of course." - she smirked - "Incompetent peasants. Well, congratulations - you have persuaded me. Lead the way."

1/2

>>29178722
2/2

While Gust was flying to the door, you leaned to her ear and whispered:
"What's wrong with her?"
"She is one of the Perfect Scions, that's what." - she spat on the ground - "A living proof to the fact that nobility should abolished. Self-obsessed pricks. At least they are minority in the Night Guard."
"Well, they must be really good if they were ascended." - you muttered.
"At least they are brave enough to actually fight. Lady Nightmare doesn't care about one's birth, so I bet most nobles sided with Celestia. And that's for the better, if you ask me. Now get off me - there is solid ground for you." - she said the moment she flew through the door.
You jumped to the floor and unhooked your glaive, while Gust stretched her back.
"Well, it doesn't look like an ambush." - announced ascended mare - "And it picked my interest."
"That's great." - you replied - "Now maybe we will proceed to the engines?"
"It is a valid target for rebels." - she nodded, oblivious to your sarcasm and you moved inside the zeppelin

"Well, there are some rebels, that's for sure." - muttered guardsmare.
You and Gust still were struggling to find words to reply with, while ascended stallion silently trotted towards corpses of two more Scions, lying near the closed door to engine room, and closed their eyes.
Then he examined the door and turned towards your group:
"Door is locked from the inside, but they left keys there." - he picked up a key ring from one Scion - "They will be alerted if we try to break through."
"We can try to circumvent the room and enter from the other side... - suggested Gust."
"And give rebels a perfect opportunity to escape. No, thank you." - replied ascended mare with a smirk.
"With all due respect, if we enter the room now we will give them a perfect opportunity to send some bolts through our necks." - retorted stallion, pointing at crossbow bolts sticking from the bodies.

Your actions?

>>29178738
stack the corpses in front of the door to try and slow down any avenue of escape then sneak round the back entrance

>>29179105
>stack bodies against the door
>guy opens the door
>bodies fall on him
>let the bodies hit the floor starts playing

>>29179220
oh yeah of course door may open inwards
>>29179105
do this if the door opens towards us

if it opens away from us is the door made of wood if so smash a hole in it to fire through

otherwise we will have to sneak in the back way and just move really fast

bumpity

Pre work bump

>>29181344
Breaktime bump

>>29179242
actually if its a metal door could we freeze it shut

>>29183758
i know for a fact this works very well with big industrial sliding doors.

keep the freezer closed for to long at work and it becomes a pain in the arse to open it again.

10

motivational bump
How do the door look like exactly? Are they metal, can we tell if they open sideways, towards us or the other way?

yo

I'm losing hope.

Warlock we love you come back.

"I could probably freeze it, so they will not be able to escape." - you suggested, after looking at the metal door - "Shame we don't know if it opens in or out."
"And can you do it silently?" - asked guardsmare - "When you will start freezing it, they will probably escape through the second exit and a bunch of rebels flying through the zeppelin is the last thing we need now."
"Don't you have more patrols inside to stop them?"
"We have, but rebels still have the element of surprise since they are attacking from the inside, so it's not like patrols have a chance. It would be much easier if the corridors were not narrow even for two ponies - we could increase the size of patrol groups." - she sighed - "Do you have any estimations concerning number of rebels there?"
"Four or five pegasi." - Gust replied - "I guess if we attack from one direction, we can try to drive them through another one. Then we will have an element of surprise."
"If they will be so rash to be scared by only two ponies." - guardsmare retorted - "I would order one of us to fly and ask for reinforcements, but I doubt that you will be able to hold the ground if rebels will try to escape."
"You know, we have shown much more proffesionalism than you." - snapped Gust.
"In menial tasks? I would never doubt it. We are soldiers of Her Majesty, not some watchponies."

Your actions?

>>29192177
how long would it take to get to the other side

>>29192177
>>29192192
Send one of the nobles for reinforcements anyway, so we could potentially cover both exits even if patrols inside get fucked. Is zeppelin already filled with hydrogen or your zeppelins doesn't work like that? That's pretty important in case of some desperate guy with a match. As for the freezing, does it really make a sound? I've never actually cared before, but now it will come in handy.

>>29192177
Could we use magic to levitate one of the corpses convincingly so they will blow there arrows on it when we open the door.
If possible stand out of sight while we do so but if there is no room just stand back and keep your head down to make yourself less noticeable.
Then once they fire charge in before they can reload.

>>29192192
>>29192226
>>29192227

"All right, how much damage do you think they can cause? Can they explode the whole ship?"
"Please, these zeppelins are able to endure dragonfire! Not for long, of course, but the point is that the worst thing they can do is completely break the engines which will result in a big delay. Don't ask me how big, but higher-ups are going to be pissed, that's for sure."
"That's good. Now, much time do we need to get to the other side of the engine room?"
"Why do you think I know? If we'll not lose our way - and we should not if we follow signs - I suspect no more than a couple of minutes. So you can you freeze it silently?"
"It's not even the matter of sound." - said stallion - "The door itself is soundproof - not soundproof enough to hide the sound of working engines, but enough to hide the conversation from behind, else they would have already escaped. I just think that there should be some visible signs of door being freezed - rime, for example. And since there are at least four of them they probably had assigned at least one pony to guard the doors and alert them."
"We just can't sit there " - hissed mare - "We need a plan. Or more troops. Preferrably both."
"If you'll allow, I will look for other patrols. They should listen to one of the Scions more willingly."
"All right, sure." - mare nodded, irritation obvious in her voice. Stallion saluted, turned around and ran towards the exit.
"I can go to one door and freeze it, while you can break through another one. You can use corpses to block incoming bolts." - you suggested.
"That will leave us two to fight five rebels. If they were all civvies - then sure, but something tells me that at least half of them are Solars. Though I like the idea with corpses. The point is - when reinforcements arrive rebels could have already done irrepairable damage."
"So we have two questions." - announced Gust - "Are we waiting or breaking in and if breaking in, then who will go where?"

Your actions?

>>29192333
Wait for reinforcements
More chance of damage to the engine but we would be unlikely to be able to beat them on our own and we dont want to risk there escape.
I will wait here you go around the other side.

>>29192355
Seconding this.

>>29192355
>>29192370
And thirding.

>>29192355
>>29192370

"You two go to the second door. We just can't let them escape."
"Well, it's better than nothing." - mare shrugged - "Give us two minutes, that should be enough. After that, when reinforcements arrive just break in. In case second door will be locked from inside and there would be no keys for us - tell one of the guards to fly towards it and let us in. If it would be opened, though I doubt that would be the case, you'd still better alert us somehow - perhaps by opening the door. Sure, we have enhanced hearing since ascension, but it's just in case we will not be able to notice if you'd already broke in."
"Got it." - you nodded - "Godspeed."

After a couple of minutes you heard hoofsteps behind your back. You turned around and noticed three ascended pegasi in Scions' armor, all stallions.
"So what's the current situation?" - asked the one familiar to you - "I had already filled them in."
"Others left to the second exit." - you replied - "I will enter first and use a corpse t cover us from bolts. One of you should also open the second door and let others in."
"Corpses, huh?" - muttered one of the newly arrived guards. Then he walked towards the door and looked at the bodies of his comrades.
"Take that bastard." - he suggested, pointing with his hoof at one of the corpses - "I'll count it in repayment of his card debt."

Do you want to say/do anything before breaking in?

>>29192427
>>29192425
Well, should've paid more attention to the thread instead on reading about spontaneous human combustion. Rime is a gambler, so I'm pretty sure she would object, even if with a grunt or something, imagining what could possibly happen to her body in the future. But we have a task to do. Grab whichever body is close and start the party. Can we use our telekinesis instead of hooves? The rebels could be closer than we think.

>>29192427
Jokeingly ask if he thinks he could convince the ponys we owe gambling money to to count our death as a debt repaid.
then start the assault

>>29192427
Make sure we have an icycle charged ready to cast the moment we go in.

>>29192508
But then I'm not sure if we could use tk to hold the body in the air.

>>29192514
oh yeah your right

>>29192445
>>29192456
>>29192508

"Is it a standard practice to count one's death as a way to repay debt?" - you asked with a hint of sarcasm - "I'm not sure if it's an acceptable way."
"Well, if he had died while trying to save my hide then I would be in debt to him." - stallion grinned - "Don't wory, unicorn, it's not in our custom to worry about bodies of the fallen, especially if they can still serve the living. You just have to deal with it."

You silently levitated the keys from the body and inserted them in the door, at the same time raising the corpse with telekinesis. It was hard, though the fact that you have to carry it only for a couple of meters calmed you down.
You yanked the door open and shoved the corpse inside the gateway, only to lose control over it as the crossbow bolt pierced it's neck.
"Charge!" - you yelled, conjuring an icicle and rushing inside the engine room, jumping over the body.

The room was pretty spacious and filled with big mechanisms, higher than a pony, connected by wide pipes,
There were four pegasi inside, or at least that much you could see. One of them, a stallion with metal prostheses instead of his forehooves, wings and right half of his face, was lying on one of the mechanisms and recharging his crossbow.
Another one crossbowpony lied on the engine part near the second exit and now was turning towards you, while two more pegasi wearing cloaks stood over one of the engines in the middle of the room and were digging inside it. Their weapons, if they had any, were hidden beneath their cloaks.

Your actions?

>>29192537
The one reloading is potentially less dangerous for now, since reloading a crossbow takes some time. Icycle the fuck out of the one turning towards us. Hopefully, Scions will take care of the reloading one. Prepare to dodge.

I know this part will sound kinda stupid, so disregard it, but I'm tempted to order starting the zeppelin, so engines could potentially mince the two cloaked guys.

>>29192545
Oh God this post was all over the place.

>>29192537
Attack the Pegasus with the still loaded crossbow send a few bolts at his sides and above so if he tries to dodge he still gets hit
then do the same with the reloading pegasus

check they were both defeated then move on to the cloaked Pegasus

how close are the other 2 ponys if they are standing next to each other send a blade to slice through them both otherwise just send a few bolts at them.

>>29192545
>>29192561

You quickly made a couple of steps ahead to give some space for your allies and launched an icicle at second crossbowpony. She emitted a faint scream, as your icicle hit her and with a wide grin you launched two more iciles at her and mare fell on the floor, dropping her weapon.
"Perfection or death!" - you heard Scions' battlecry behind you and three ascended pegasi flew over your head, brandishing their weapons of choise, which, to your surprise, turned out to be swords.
One of the Scions charged at the prosthetised pony and swung his sword at him, but the blade bounced harmlessly off his metal limb. Second one flew towards cloaked figures, which too took off into the air, while third darted to the second door.

Your actions?

>>29192598
Spear the invalid motherfucker. Two of us should be enough to get him, assuming we will attack from his sides or back. If we kill him with first strike, assume defensive position ready do dodge/roll away, we still don't know what weapons the cloaked possess. If we won't get him, do the same but be focused on him, preferably dive for some cover just in case.

>>29192598
we dont know what the prosthetic pony has in those arms having met battering ram we know how dangerous such things can be
focus on the fake leg pony

>>29192610
>>29192614
This.

>>29192610
>>29192614
>>29192628

You levitated your glaive, directing it at a prosthetic warrior. As Scion and rebel were too close to each other, you were forced to delay your attack not to hurt your ally. That proved crucial, as rebel managed to score a successeful hit at Scion's chest and sent ascended pegasus plumetting to the floor.
You directed the glaive at invalid's side, but he blocked it with his wing. Then took off in the air, probably preparing to throw his bulk at you.
Second Scion was engaged in fight with cloaked pegasi, whose weapons turned out to be a sword and a spear, while third one had reached the door and was struggling to open it.

Your actions?

>>29192672
we need to get that other door open
get over there and magic it open.

>>29192672
help open the door

>>29192672
>>29192678
Preferably dodge before we will get hammered by a weight of full metal pony. Maybe he'll hit the ground hard enough to be dazed.

>>29192678
>>29192723
>>29192724

You rolled from pegasus' estimated landing point and began to backing away to the door. Invalid landed on his forehooves with surprising grace and turned towards you, but not before he threw a quick glance at Scion, slowly scrambling back to his feet.
Well, it was obvious that you wouldn't make it even to the middle of the room before he could catch you. You looked arround to assess the situation:
Three pegasi in the middle of the room continued their battle. You noted that traitor with spear mostly did nothing, from time to time clumsily attacking the Scion, who himself had a pretty hard time against a traitor armed with sword.
It turned out that your attempts to help open the door were futile, as third guardspony managed to let Gust and another Scion into the room.

"You will pay for Iron Mane." - hissed prosthetic pegasus, preparing for charge.

Your actions?

>>29192787
Freeze the ground in front of him to trip him up

Unless he is in the air in which case dodge underneath him and slice at him from below with your glaive

>>29192787
>>29192801
He already landed, but it does not say he can' instantly fly back again. I say try to freeze his hooves more than ground in front of him. Or his wings. Then we could strike. Let's taunt him or something so he would be focused on us and not the Scion behind.

>>29192849
good idea

>>29192801
>>29192849
>>29192855

"Iron Mane? Who is Iron Mane? Your boyfriend?"
"Quit mocking him, you impudent bitch!" - he roared, stopping in his tracks.
"Got you." - you grinned, as your horn flashed and ice began crawling up on his forehooves.
He only harrumphed and in an instant ice covering his artificial limbs shattered.
"Is it the best you can do?" - he inquired, still not moving an inch.
You silently smiled, watching Scion taking off in the air behind his back...

And your smile turned into a mask of horror when invalid suddenly raised on his hindlegs, stepped back and grabbed the Scion by his neck in the mid-air with his forelimbs.
With an audible 'crack' Scion's neck broke and stallion threw his lifeless body on the floor.
"Got you." - he grinned, raising his wings and preparing to take off - "Now let's get serious."

Your actions?

>>29192921
Oh shit nigger.

His agility is terrifying. Can we telekinetically disrupt his movement just a little bit, making him more vulnerable Also this can serve as a test if his limbs aren't made from antimagical unobtainium.

>>29192921
fight on the defensive try and parry his atacks important thing is that we hold him off long enough for some others to get to bear on him

>>29192935
>>29192983

You lit up your horn once again and tried to push his artificial wings back with your telekinesis.
"Flesh is weak." - he smirked, rising from the ground despite your best efforts - "We have learnt it long ago."
Then he threw himself at you, putting his forehooves forward. You leaned to the engine and tried to him with your glaive. With an awful screech glaive's blade scratched his forelimb, leaving only a superficial cut.
"Deal with your weakness and embrace death." - grinned stallion, throwing your weapon away and turning towards you, as you tried to press yourself into the engine.
"How can you talk about your superiority when Lord Phoenix just decapitated your mud-born general?" - you heard a familiar voice coming from above.
Distracted, guardspony turned his head towards Gust, who was diving at him, pointing her glaive at his forehead. He stepped back, covering his non-metal part of face with a forehoof, thus getting only another scratch on it, and growled:
"Your rotten lot is only good at backstabbing."
"That's called tactics, moron." - she retorted, landing near you - "I'm surprised that you have yet to learn the meaning of this word."

Your actions?

>>29193152
We'll thank her for saving our sorry ass later. So yeah, this is some hard fucking metal. We need to brainstorm a neat way to dispose of this pegasus. To arms, players. My idea is that our next hits should be landed on the places where flesh meets whatever his artificial parts are made of. But we still need to expose him somehow. Gust is agile, maybe she could stab him? Or can we tk our glaive towards him from behind?

Anons, talk. I don't want us dead.

>>29193152
Push into the attack try and move our blade in behind him somehow

File: 2.0.jpg (1MB, 2560x1920px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 2560x1920px

That's it for today, thanks everyone for participating!

Also, have a redesigned dreadnought poner.

>>29193303
Looks better than your first sketch imo, more functional. Thanks for running now I can go to bed.

good night bump

>>29193152
Conjure an ice blade to attack him from behind

>>29193303
Its nice but theres also something nice about the first one.
Maybe they could be difrent models.
Then again i think i am the only one who liked the first one.

This one does have the advantage of seeming like it could move its flamethrower a lot better.

>>29192921
thats one terrifying horse

>>29197695
I know right?

>>29193185
>>29193211
>>29195387


"Hey, Gust, can you distract him for a moment?" - you said, lighting up your horn. While you pulled your polearm towards you, you mostly used it as a distraction to conjure an ice blade behind his back.
"You know, I don't want to be strangled!" - she retorted, flying above him and brandishing her glaive.
With a snort stallion darted into the air and you pushed the blade through his hindlegs. He screamt and turned in the midair. Then he folded his wings, thus shattering against them and landed on his forehooves. Gust darted towards him and directed her spear to his face, using the distraction, but stallion ducked and rolled away from her.
You could see blood dripping on the floor - wound you have inflicted upon him should be pretty serious.
Stallion jerked back on his legs, using his metal limbs as support, fleshy part of his face twisted in a grimace of pain and hate. Gust decided not to press the attack and hung in the air above him.

You used this brief break to look at remaining traitors. Four pegasi were fighting in the middle of the engine room. A moments after you looked at them, sword-wielding traitor managed to decapitate one of the Scions, followed by a scream of glee from the one armed with a spear.
That was not good.

Your actions?

>>29199159
No time to finish this guy off
Slash at one of his wings to hopefully cripple him and rush over to help the main bulk of the fight.

>>29199178
Oh wait nevermind i thought he was more wounded then he was at first.
Keep up the attack on prosphetic pony go for his wings.

>>29199159
Keep attacking this guy but the moment he is crippled rush to help the main group dont bother finishing him off every second counts.

>>29199228
This. Incapacitate the invalid, then rush to help your comrades.

>>29199185
>>29199228
>>29199264

Your and Gust's eyes met and a second later your companion charged at the prosthetic pony, while you directed the glaive at his wings.
Stallion leaned his back to one of the engines, raised his wings to cover his sides and decided to concentrate on Gust, thus managing to wrestle glaive out of her hooves and forcing her to retreat to the air.
The seconds Gust managed to get for you you spent trying to saw off one of his wings, though as he shook them frantically you were unable to inflict upon them something more damaging than relatively deep cuts.

"Damn, Iron!" - you heard a familiar feminine voice coming from the middle of the room - "We need to hurry!"
You and Gust turned to the source of the sound, which turned out to be a sword-wielding pegasus, who had cornered the last Scion and was preparing to finish him, while spear-wielding one was hovering near her.
"S-she can't be alive..." - muttered Gust in utter shock - "She was suppsoed to be dead! Captain Spoils told that she was dead!"

Your actions?

>>29199293
Send bolts of ice at the sword wielder.
We can worry about who is and is not dead after everybody we dont like in the room is dead.

>>29199293
Can we make icesplosion? Like, a fuckton of little icycles spreading in every direction really fast?

>>29199293
Try and save the guy
If we fail its time to retreat especialy if gust is saying this is one of the dauntless 4.

If we can do it quickly freeze the door shut behind us as we retreat.

>>29199338
It will take some time if you want to make them really sharp - else it's effect would be like one of a hailstone. Plus there is a chance that you may wound the remaining Scion, if enemy will manage to avoid your attack.

>>29199365
Maybe we could use the hailstorm version as a distraction, but we would need a signal. Don't know if just shouting "now!" and counting for the best outcome is a valid option.

If not, just do the really sharp ones while doing some small talk to delay the inevitable.

>>29199379
There are three enemies whom you can try to talk to and whom you can choose as targets for your spell. Be more specific, please.

>>29199384
I meant explosion as explosion. It goes in every direction, no?

But we could potentially change my previous plan to talking to the cripple, but actually target the supposedly dead dauntless. I really need some help on this one, anons.

>>29199384
Hes talking about a self centered area of affect
Im not sure what he is talking about with a distraction though.
>>29199397
No need to go throwing wide spells when there are allies we want to avoid hitting.

>>29199397
Well, it would also hit you and Gust. And you would need even more time to conjure enough pointy bits for a satisfactory density of pointy bits if you want to use them to deal damage and not to distract your enemies.

>>29199408
Also i think warlock is talking more like something akin to shotgun pellets

>>29199411
And if it is indeed that dont do it hitting an ally would be bad.

>>29199411
If he is, we could do this, shoot multiple pellets into the pegasus or invalid. I was talking about something like a grenade spreading from us, as a distraction, but an ice slug may actually be way better.

>>29199442
Distraction to do what.
I feel like you are only describing half your plan.

And i doubt the pellets would be better then our usual icycles anyway.

>>29199457
Distraction to turn the tables. Scion could tackle the pegasus, Gust and us could fuck up the prosthetics guy. I should really stop posting when sick.

>>29199311
>>29199351
>>29199397
>>29199442
>>29199507

"Gust, concentrate!" - you snapped at your companion and then turned to the wounded stallion:
"You think you stand a chance against us two?" - you grinned, lighting up your horn - "With the amount of limbs you lost before I wonder why your comrades decided to heal you again and again instead of just letting such useless piece of shit die."
"Now listen up, bonehead..." - he roared, but was interrupted by the swordsmare:
"Just finish them, you old fart! Their reinforcements are inbound!"
"As I said before - no chance." - you tragically sighed and then suddenly yelled:"Take cover!"
To your immense relief Gust followed your command and as soon as she descended below engines you launched dozens of small icicles at the two traitors.

1/2

>>29199675
2/2

Nothing went according to plan. Sure, your iciles hit the rebels, but they probably had some kind of armor beneath their cloaks or their endurance was miraculous. Either way, when the remaining Scion tried to tackle the swordsmare, she turned in mid-air and hit him in the face with her hindlegs and guardspony fell on one of the machines.
"Iron, can you fly?" - she asked, soaring towards the first exit, followed by spear-wielding pony.
Gritting his teeth, prosthetic stallion took off in the air. You began lighting up your horn once again, but he threw Gust's glaive at you and you were forced to duck and roll, and so your concentration broke. Then he darted to the iron door, blood dripping from a deep cut on his right hindleg.
As soon as swordsmare became sure that her comrade is able to escape, she darted into the corridor with incredibly high speed, leaving only a faint blur behind. Mere moments later you heard screams of pain and shock coming from the corridor. Prosthetic guard followed his supposed leader, while spearpony halted near the gateway:
"You know..." - he smirked - "If I knew you were one of them, I would've killed you. You're a really lucky whore, huh?"
"Now what are you talking about, bastard?!" - bellowed Gust, who have finally managed to pick her glaive up and return to the air.
"Adieu!" - was his only reply, as he too darted inside the corridor. Gust quickly followed, but then stopped near the gateway, probably halted by self-preservation instinct.

Your actions?

>>29199684
fuck, check the wounded

>>29199688

"Hey, Gust, calm down. We can't stop them now."
"Yeah." - she muttered, staring in the corridor - "At least we had delayed them enough. So that bastard was..."
"Let's talk about it later, okay? For no can you check if that Scion there is dead or just unconscious?" - you answered with a hint of irritation.
"Sure, sure, ma'am." - she replied and flew to inspect the possible survivor.
"Broken jaw, unconscious." - she stated after abrief examination - "Maybe a brain concussion, but it's not for me to tell. Hope that second wave of reinforcements will arrive soon, because I am not going to carry you both."

Your actions?

>>29199769
Check the engine for damage

>>29199769
Are there auctualy any reinforcements coming.

>>29199780
>>29199829


"Well, that's relatively good news. It would be great to check the engines. If only I knew how they are supposed to work."
"For all it's worth they could just place some bomb there." - Gust shrugged - "But I doubt it will explode any time soon, if it exists, of course." - she added hastily - "Else they would have tried to escape as soon as we entered the room. Still if I were you I wouldn't touch the engines. Let's leave it to certified engineers, huh?"
"Well, you have a point." - you nodded - "So, are there actu-"
You stopped in mid-sentence as you noticed hoofsteps coming from the corridor. Soon four Night Guard pegasi emerged into the engine room, two of them were wearing Scions' armor.
"Now explain what just happened there." - demanded one of the Scions - "Because you are in a really... delicate situation."

Your actions?

>>29199854
Some solars escaped from a nightbringer raid and came up here.

>>29199854
Warn them that the enemy is frighteningly agile.

>>29199854
We got utterly fucked because you lazy fucking noble bastards arrived too late for it to even matter anymore.

Of course we won't say that loud, sadly. Stand at attention, briefly explain what happened, describe the rebels. Is that Scion mare still here? She could confirm our testimony.

>>29200034
>>29200062
>>29200098

"There was a group of rebels in the Lower City, sir." - you reported, quickly standing at attention - "Nightbringers attacked their hideout and we were sent to catch the ones who escaped. We fere followed by one of your patrols. Rebels locked themselves in the engine room, so one of yours called for reinforcements. Then, well, it turned out that half of them ...served in the guard before and were pretty skilled opponents."
"How many of them were there?" - Scion continued questioning you.
"Four of them, sir."
"We counted three rebels escaping. And yes, they are surprisingly fast." - he wistfully noddded - "Care to explain how did you deduce that they serve in the guard before?"
"Well, one of them had half of his body made of metal, so he should have been at least a lieutenant in Iron Hooves." - suddenly replied Gust - "And the second one was a traitorous Night Guard captain, Laurel Guardian."
"You... are you sure?" - Scion looked taken aback - "Wasn't she killed?"
"Was her body ever found? I think no. Anyway that bitch is alive and kicking, so you should warn your comrades about her."
"Yes... of course, if your story turns out to be genuine."
"Look, there is one of your comrades here." - you pointed at a fainted pegasus - "Just ask her when she will wake up, she will confirm what we told."
Scion looked at your cutiemark and then flew to the wounded mare.
"Believable." - he nodded after checking her pulse - "You wouldn't have left her alive. All right then, you are free to go. You can pursue the rebels, or do whatever thing you are supposed to do."

Your actions?

>>29200382
Report to the Lady Perturbation, unless this was already taken care of. I suppose if they've seen fleeing rebels, then the Guard in the city is warned, yes? Better be sure.

Current session is finished, thanks everyone for participating!

>>29200486
Thanks for entertaining us, sorry about the whole explosion confusion.

10

>>29201702

bmup

>>29200408

"Thanks, sir." - you nodded, trying to hide your irritation - "Gust, follow me."
You both went towards the maintenance exit. Near it three dead Scions lying in the corridor, their heads almost separated from the bodies.
"Gross." - you muttered - "So, can you carry me to the castle? We need to report to Lady Perturbation."
"Flying straight to the castle would be bad idea with the city on high alert. I will try to land near the inner wall, okay?"
"Sure." - you replied, climbing on her back.
"Hold on tight!" - she yelled and dived to the ground. You couldn't help but scream, as surface was approaching with incredible speed.
"Th-that was horrible." - you whispered, falling to the ground when Gust finally landed.
"Oh, come on, it couldn't be that bad." - she giggled - "So shall I drag you all the way to the castle?"
You moaned something incoherent and slowly raised back on your hooves.
"That's better." - Gust said contentedly - "Now to the castle we go!"

Local guards seemingly still had the order to let you in, so after a couple of minutes you were walking through the castle's corridors, accompanied by a guardspony from the Steel Regiment.
Soon you reached a familiar door and your guide silently opened it, inviting you to enter.
General Perturbation looked tired or really annoyed, you couldn't say for sure, so you just stood at attention, awaiting her command.
"Judging by the commotion in the city traitors were at least partially successful." - said Perturbation instead of greeting - "So, what news did you bring?"

What are you going to tell her?

>>29206113
We have attacked the rebel hideout, killing most of the traitors and saving Last, but there are some ponies among them who are way more skilled than a bunch of heretical civilians. They went to Nemesis and tried to disrupt the engines or whatever. Following our duty we engaged them with help of Scions, but still four of them were better, we've only managed to eliminate a single enemy. The ones I remember the most are: extremely agile pony with prosthetics replacing some parts of his body. He just caught one Scion and snapped his neck, and our weapons were only scratching the metal his artificial parts were made of. Second, one of the Dauntless Four, Laurel Guardian. Yes, she's alive and she's still somewhere out there. To sum everything up, our mission was a partial success.

>>29206146

On an unrelated note, perhaps I was too vague when describing your first report to the general, but since there was a suggestion that you shouldn't tell her about kidnapping of Last Word, you, well, didn't tell her about it, so Rime has no reason to mention the filly now.

>>29206239
Ok. Must've missed that, thanks.

>>29206146

"We have attacked the rebel hideout, killing most of the traitors and saving Last, but there were some ponies among them who turned out to be way more skilled than civilians. Four of them escaped to surface-"
"And how did they manage to escape? Don't tell me that you just stepped aside and let them go."
"They used a tonnel which was not on map that Nightbringers used, ma'am."
"Of course. No idea about how one should wage war in the city, no understanding of urban planning. Was it so hard for them to assume that there is an unaccounted passage? Anyway, go on."
"So escapees flied to the Nemesis and tried to mess with engines. Following our duty we engaged them with help of local Guards assigned to protect the zeppelin, Perfect Scions, but still four of them were too strong for us - we've only managed to eliminate a single enemy. There were two of the rebels worth mentioning - extremely agile pony with prosthetics replacing some parts of his body."
"Iron Hooves." - Perturbation muttered - "Of course some of them escaped the purge. Go on."
"He just caught one Scion and snapped his neck -"
"I know too well what Mane's subordinates are capable of. Must've been at least lieutenant though. And the second one?"
"One of the Dauntless Four, Laurel Guardian."
"She survived? Stars above, Lady Nightmare will furious. Though I wonder what was she doing here. If I were in her shoes, I would try to reach the Castle of Two Sisters ASAP." - she sighed - "But that's no concern of yours. Given the circumstances, you did well. You still have a day off after that. What happened with your Lunar Mage by the way?"
"Got a crossbow bolt in his leg. I hope he will be fine before the mission you prepared for us, ma'am."
"I hope too. Also, you fought by the Scions' side, right? I hope you understood their fighting style a bit. The assignment I prepared for you will be a joint mission. I will brief you two nights later, until then dismissed. You need to rest before it."

Your actions?

Damn, disregard >>29206314 , I fucked up.

>>29206146

"We have attacked the rebel hideout, killing most of the traitors, but there were ponies among them who turned out to be way more skilled than civilians. Four of them escaped to surface -"
"And how did they manage to escape? Don't tell me that you just stepped aside and let them go."
"They used a tonnel which Nightbringers didn't know about, ma'am."
"Of course. No idea about how one should wage war in the city, no understanding of urban planning. Was it so hard for them to assume that there is an unaccounted passage? Anyway, go on."
"So rebels flew to the Nemesis and tried to mess with engines. We followed and engaged them with help of Perfect Scions assigned to protect the zeppelin, traitors were too strong for us - we've only managed to eliminate a single enemy. There were two of the rebels worth mentioning - extremely agile pony with prosthetics replacing some parts of his body."
"Iron Hooves." - Perturbation muttered - "Of course some of them escaped the purge. Go on."
"He just caught one Scion and snapped his neck -"
"I know too well what Mane's subordinates are capable of. Must've been at least lieutenant though. And the second one?"
"One of the Dauntless Four, Laurel Guardian."
"She survived? Stars above, Lady Nightmare will furious. Though I wonder what was she doing here. If I were in her shoes, I would try to reach the Castle of Two Sisters ASAP." - she sighed - "But that's no concern of yours. Given the circumstances, you did well. You still have a day off after that. What happened with your Lunar Mage by the way?"
"Got a crossbow bolt in his leg. I hope he will be fine before the mission you prepared for us, ma'am."
"I hope too. Also, you fought by the Scions' side, right? I hope you understood their fighting style a bit. The assignment I prepared for you will be a joint mission. I will brief you two nights later, until then dismissed. You need to rest before it."

Your actions?

>>29206371
>"I hope you understood their fighting style a bit."
Being useless doesn't count as a fighting style, thou. Anyway, salute, thank the General for appreciation, and go visit Last, she must be scared, to say the least. Take her for a stroll, go visit Arcane, then we'll see.

You can always delete the previous one. Also, is it the earlier start today the reason I'm the only poster so far?

>>29206378

"Thanks, ma'am!" - you saluted and marched out of the room.

"You know, Gust, being useless doesn't count as a fighting style, don't you think?" - you said to your companion when you left the castle.
"Hey, maybe they are self-obsessed pricks, but that doesn't mean they are not good fighters. Hell, they may be best suited for the civil war with all that duelling practice they had in their noble circles."
"The question of their usefulness remains open."
"Do you really think that a couple of privates stood a chance against a captain? And against such distinguished captain as Laurel? She was at Nightmare's side since she began her crusade against Discord, so you can imagine how much combat experience she has."
"Well, you have a point."
"Yes, and it is that while you think they are useless, every last one of them could kick our asses with ease."
"All right, all right, I got it. So, let's go home ?"
"Yeah, I bet Arcane and Word are already waiting for us."

"We are home!" - you proclaimed, opening the door of your temporary housing.
"Shuh." - you heard Arcane's voice from the living room - "She's sleeping."
You and Gust trotted to the source of the voice. Stallion was sitting on a sofa, his forehoof bandaged, while Last Word was peacefully sleeping on his lap. Arcane's armor stood nearby, held by unicorn's telekinesis.
"Nightbringers' medic said that I will be fine soon. So, is Nemesis safe?"
"Well, sort of." - you said and then told Arcane about the engagement in the engine room.

"You're lucky that you made out alive out of there." - he said after you finished your tale - "Did Lady Perturbation tell you about the assignment she prepared for us?"
"Only that it would be a joint mission with Scions."
"Weird. If she wants to send us, and escpecially Last Word, somewhere, then there is obviously something arcane involved, so I have completely no idea how Scions could be of any help in that field. What do you think about it?"

Your actions?

>>29206523
I don't really think they will happen to help us, but Gust here believes in their experience, so let us assume all will be well. Maybe they are supposed to escort defend the filly or something. Now let's wait for Last to wake up, greet her cheerily and ask if she'd like to take a walk. Eat something, inquire about Scions to know them as well as Gust does.

Okay, time to go. Merry Christmas.

>>29206523
Maybe they are there to create a distraction while we sneak in to do something?

>>29206571
>>29206578

"Well, maybe they are going to act as distraction while we do ...something?"
"Then why don't we use some rank and file guards instead?" - asked Gust - "Also, I am going to have a shower. Or even a bath. We really reek of slaughter now."
"Yeah, good idea..." - you shuddered, trying to drive away thoughts about the engagement in the sewers - "So, is there something left of the previous owners' purveyance?"
"There were some apples in the kitchen." - replied Arcane.
"I'll fetch 'em." - promised Gust, leaving the room.
"Thanks. So, Arcane, can you tell me about these Scions? History, personalities, military doctrine?"
"After their founding they fought alongside Nocturnal Dragons in several major battles. They also often fought against cultists - maybe it was not the case where you grew up, but actually many ponies openly worshipped or served Discord. Many so-called nobles continued to rule 'in his name', ruling over something - I can't really call it a state - in the central regions of Equestria. Some of them, while not defying the chaos god, managed to survive under his sphere of influence. The fact that he really cared about his servants or enemies helped them a lot. Some of the nobles joined Celestial Siblings almost instantly and formed Perfect Scions and Celestial Horsheshoes for Lady Nightmare and Celestia respectively.
1/2

>>29206752
2/2
Then many nobles swore their allegiance to the princesses as we reconquered more and more land - Celestia mostly accepted their oaths, while Lady Luna turned all of them away. But I digress. So, Scions mostly fought against other nobles and their lackeys. You may think that this makes them the most suited regiment for the civil war and you will be wrong. There is a big gap between how nobles fight and how states fight. Now we have massive armies clashing in the open fields or struggling to capture a city and they mostly fought in small skirmishes. I wouldn't even call it a skirmish - rather dozens of duels. No tactics, no plans, just individual skill. And Scions were pretty damn good at it - did you know that their battlecry is 'Perfection or death!'?
"Yeah, I heard it back at Nemesis."
"Well, then you got a flair of how they regard themselves. Each battle is a challenge for them, a competition, a test. They will go for the biggest monster and will not stop until it's dead. They will never accept help, but would gladly offer it - not because they think they are better than you, though of course they think so - no, they will do it to test themselves."
"They are truly a bunch of narcissists, huh?"
"Pretty much." - said Gust, returning to the room, helding a plate with two apples on one of her forehhoves - "Help yourself and I am off to the bathroom."
"Thanks." - nodded Arcane, levitating the plate towards the sofa - "So while they are arrogant beyond any doubt, they are formiddable warriors. Not soldiers, mind you. Anything else you want to know?"

Your actions?

>>29206759
Ask Arcane for information about the Iron Hooves? Do they all have prosthetics? Are they all frighteningly agile?

>>29206804

"Yeah, these Iron Hooves guys. Do they all have prosthetics?"
"Well, as far as I know every lieutenant has some. Many of the sergeants too. The higher is your rank and the better you act on the battlefield the more augmentations of better quality you get."
"So if that stallion at Nemesis was extremely agile that means..."
"Lieutenant, or maybe even a captain. Though probably former, since you said he was a pegasus. Funny fact - they have only earth ponies in their ranks, as well as Steel Regiment."
"W-wha? But he had wings!"
"Quiet, you. Filly is sleeping. Iron Hooves' engineers somehow managed to create not mere prosthesis, but artificial wings. To use such is counted one of the greatest honors in their ranks, but their numbers were limited even before their decimation. I don't think that more than hundred escaped. Probably far, far less."
"So, what's the story behind their obsession with artificial limbs?"
"General Iron Mane - their commander - was, well, kind of a hero of his homeland in the northern mountains. He oversaw the protection of the local settlements and personally fought many Discord's spawns. One of them was a giant wyrm composed of some kind of metal. Mane managed to lure him into a deep cavern and drown him in magma. It's melted, well, flesh fused to Mane's forehooves in process, but he managed to survive and even mecame stronger, due to to the fact that he had forehooves literally made of metal, which was surprisingly light, by the way. So, time passed, Celestia found him, he swore allegiance to her - usual stuff - and he gathered his best warriors to follow Celestia and help free the Equestria. They were earth ponies and by a weird stroke of luck they had managed to save a secret of creating prosthesises from times before Discord. So Iron Hooves were more reckless than other guards, because you could always get a nice metal leg instead of the one you lost.
1/2

>>29207394
2/2
You see, many of the Iron Hooves viewed getting their limbs changed to artificial ones as a sign of respect, of affinity with their leader.
And as time passed their skills in creating prosthesis rapidly increased - because of rapidly increasing demand, ans so increased quality of artificial limbs, to the point that they became much better than natural ones. Some ponies in the ranks of Iron Hooves even cut their own limbs to receive prosthesises instead and become stronger, but such practice was quickly stopped by the general himself. You want another funny fact? Iron Mane actually frowned upon his subordinates' reliance on augmetics, looking at it as on an 'easy way'. Because why do you need to exhaust yourself with workouts when you can just have an super-strong limb?"
"Yet he did nothing about it?"
"And what could he do besides talking to them? Leave his subordinates invalids? He would lose not only many skilled warriors if he refused to give them prosthesises, but he would also lose respect of all his regiment. So, that's the whole story behind Iron Hooves. Anything else you are interested in?"

Your actions?

And that's it for today, hope that there will be a little bit more players tomorrow.

>>29207417
Not really, but I've learned so much today, Arcane. Show gratitude. Then do some idle chit chat until Last wakes up. We really need to do something nice for her before she'll get kidnapped or sacrificed again.

Thanks for running, Warlock.

>>29207436
Yeah i had to miss this session sadly

>>29200493
Speaking of spells i wonder if they will have anything in the books they managed to save from prosperity for us.
It would probably take more time to learn a new spell then whats left of this war but who knows what we might fight after celestia falls

>>29208939
You have the point. We could search for more icespells in any magic books we could lay our hooves on, not necessarily from Prosperity, but it wouldn't hurt.

>>29207417
Lol Ferrus Manus pony

>>29209798
We're kinda like Horus heretics already, but w/e

>>29209815
This quest is kind of like the horus hersey but unlike horus luna was right.

>>29209955
>
>>
>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>29209967
Are you implying that horus was right or that luna was wrong

>>29210381
Take a wild guess, lad.

>>29210441
well

>>29210441
Im going to guess luna
Although really the question with luna is not so much was she right about celestia as was she lying about celestia

If she was telling the truth about what celestia wanted the only remotly ok thing was wanting to adjust the day/night cycle everything else was an obvious attempt to usurp power from luna and become sole ruler

If she was lying about celestia then we are fucked once this is over (i even have my speech ready)

So far i am going to with she was telling the truth celestia really did turn into a tyrant (although the betrayal has sent luna a little insane just not enough to be worse then celestia)

>>29212235
*so far i am going to go with

Princess luna is not a liar but nightmare moon might be bump

>>29207417
Say thanks for the information.

>>29208770
>We really need to do something nice for her
Im till in favour of the pretty dress.
Then she can attract a nice colt she deserves that happiness.
Probably still a little traumatised though so best wait until tomorow (well as close as there is to a tomorow) to take her clothes shopping.

>>29213785
*still in favor

>>29208770
>>29208939
>>29209116
>>29213778
>>29213785

"Thanks, but no. It's really surprising that you know so much." - you said, levitating an apple form the plate.
"Well, Lunar Magi rarely fought as integral unit. Mostly we were sent to assist different regiments in escpecially dire situations, so I fought side by side with many different Night Guards."
"Wait, you said that you were one of the first Lunar Magi, right? Then why are you still private?"
"Since there were only a hundred of us and mortality rate was pretty low due to our, well, superior skills, so I didn't get much chances to get a promotion. Of course, we've suffered heavy casualties now..." - his voice trailed.
"You know, I will probably take Gust for a shopping when she wakes up." - you quickly tried to change the topic.
"Tomorrow. Well, you know what I mean. Anyway - not now, she deserved her rest." - replied Arcane, idly stroking her mane.
"Yeah, you're right. By the way, do you think other Lunar Magi have managed to save some books concerning cryomancy?"
"I hope that there would be something for you. If our assingment will take more than a week, then when we'll return there sure will be copies of saved tomes. I suppose refugees will arrive around the same time we'll depart, so don't forget to return keys to Long Night."
"Hey, why do you think I will forget something important like that?"
"I am just careful." - he shrugged - "So if I were you, I wouldn't bother with finding new books until we return from our next mission."
"All right, bath is free, I am off to bed!" - proclaimed Gust, walking to the second floor - "I left my armor there on purpose by the way."
Filly budged in her sleep, muttering something inaudible and Arcane began to caress her with renewed speed.
"You two really need to be more quiet." - he said with a grin, and you left to the bathroom with blushing heavily.
1/2

>>29214368
2/2

After cleaning both your body and wargear you pondered on your plans for the remainder of this day, or rather night.
Sure, you were tired, but maybe there was something else you wanted to do before going to sleep?

>>29214372
Lets just sleep
We want to wake up nice and refreshed

>>29214372
Tell gust there are no hard feelings about last night and go to sleep.

>>29214381
>>29214460

Well, it was not like you had any pressing matters, so you decided to go to bed.
On your way to the second floor you peeked in the living room - Last Word was still sleeping on Arcane's lap. Calmed by such display, you went upstairs to cuddle with Gust.
"Hey." - you said to your half-asleep marefriend when you climbed on the bed - "I just want you to know... that I've hard feelings about last night, okay?"
"That's great." - she grinned in reply and embraced you in a tight hug - "Sleep well."

You woke up alone - but thankfully not incapacitated. You heard familiar voices coming from below, so in hopes of getting some kind of breakfast you trotted downstairs.
Your companions were sitiing at the table, enjoying some kind of apple salad.
"Ah, you're finally awake." - greeted you Arcane when you entered the kitchen - "It turned out that Word has quite a talent for making cofee. You should definetely try it."
"Sure." - you replied, levitating a steaming cup from the table and taking a careful sip.
It was ...surprisingly good.
"Huh, it's really great." - you smiled - "Where did you learnt how to make it?"
"I-I just followed the manual on the container." - filly replied, avoiding your gaze - "It can't be that good."

Your actions?

>>29214544
Ask word if she wants to come clothes shoping
We can buy her a pretty dress and the colts will be all over her

>>29214544
Well its either you or that manufacturer deserves more praise then it gets

>>29214562
>>29214637

"Well its either you, or that manufacturer deserves more praise then it gets. Either way thanks for the coffee. By the way, you want to go shopping after the breakfast?"
"Eh? Shopping?"
"Well, I think we can buy you a pretty dress! You'll look fabulous!"
"I-...t-thanks, but..." - she stammered.
"Oh, come on, every colt in the city will be all over you!"
"You know, you are not the mare to say such things." - grinned Arcane - "Out of us three I look like the best role model for her."
"You... you..." - you struggled to find some suitable words to reply with, while both Gust and Word bursted out laughing.
"Yeah, literally the worst." - replied your marefriend, who managed to deal with her fit of laughter first - "But seriously, Word, take the chance. It's like you steal a dress, but guards will not try to beat you up for that!"
Word almost instantly fell silent and her ears dropped.
"Hey, relax, I'm just teasing." - she waved her hoof dismissively - "You're not really offended, huh?"

Your actions?

That's it for today, sorry for delays and short session.

>>29215271
Lift her chin up with our hoof delicately. It's all safe. It's nothing like stealing but paying for things. Maybe guards will even smile at Last!

Thanks for running.

>>29215271
Hey i might be a sexual devient but i can still apreciate romance.

Bump while i sleep

>>29216173

You trotted towards the filly and lifted her chin up with your hoof.
"Hey, look at me and remember. Everything is okay, you're not a criminal now. You've nothing to worry about now. Who knows, maybe other guards will even smile at you!"
"Yeah, and in case you are offended, I am sorry. Really." - Gust tried to apologise - "It's not like I have something against your former lifestyle - well, actually I have, but that's not the point."
"You're only making it worse, you know?" - chimed in Arcane.
"Argh, I mean that I understand that it was hard time for you and what you did was justified, but since we're here we are going to look after you - stars above, I'm horrible at apologies."
"Well, at least you apologised..." - whispered Word - "I-I'm not angry with you and I want all of you to know that I'm sorry for what I've done too."
"Hey, we are not going to put you in a jail or anything like that, so relax! Anyway, if I were you, I would go with Frosty and have some fun." - pegasus smiled in reply.
"Yeah, I - I will try to have fun..." - filly muttered.
"That's the spirit!" - you ruffled her mane - "Now, let's go. Shopping awaits!"

But before you leave for the shopping there is a decision to make.
You want to avoid the situation when Last Word sees a dress, falls in love with it and asks you to buy it and it turns out that you are not able to afford it, so you should probably choose budget for the gift now and you should probably not visit too expensive shops.
So, how many (approximately) bits are you willing to spend?

>>29222809
I say up to 30 bits, which should be below half of our current funds. I could spend more, but we still have debts to pay.

>>29222809
Do we still have that spare money
40 bits

>>29222827
>>29222836

"All right, since we are still on tight budget, try to find something for about thirty bits, okay?" - you said to filly when you left the house.
"Only thirty? Uh, well, if you say so..."
"Well... maybe fourty, but don't count on it too much." - you sighed.
Then you set out on your journey through the streets of Lower City, until you managed to locate a tailor's shop.

"Ah, welcome, dear customers, how can I help you?" - you were greeted by a venerable earth pony mare.
"Greetings. You see, I am looking for a dress for ...my sister. Something nice, and, well, simple."
"I see." - mare thoughtfully nodded - "Come closer, little one. What's your name?"
Filly gave you a worried look, but you only nodded silently and she unsteadily walked towards the salesmare:
"M-my name is Last Word, ma'am."
"That's a nice name, dear." - she smiled - "Now wait here, I'll fetch something of your size."

After a minute mare returned to the room, levitating a bunch of dresses.
"That blue one." - Word hesitantly pointed at one of the garments - "How much?"
"35 bits, dear." - an old mare smiled - "If you don't like anything in particular, we can make a dress according to your wishes."
"Uh, can it be purple?" - filly suggested - "And maybe with some gold-ish trim?"
"Hmm. I see, it would definetely suit your coat. It will be about 50 bits, yes. Of course, you will have to wait for a couple of days. You'll have to pay after it will be ready, of course. So, should I take measurements?" - she turned towards you.

Well, you can probablyafford to order to make a dress for Word. Who knows, maybe you will manage to get some more bits by the time the dress will be over?

>>29223048
We could always loot some bodies when we'll get the chance. Filly's feelings and well-being are worth these 50 bits, even if it will hurt our budget.

>>29223064

"Sure. So, it will take about two days, right? I mean - there is a chance that I will not be able to take it on time, so I will probably ask my friend to get, if you'll allow, of course."
"Oh, don't worry about that." - mare smiled - "Your friend should just tell me filly's name - I will remember it."
"That's great! I'll try not to be late of course."

After tailormare had taken the required measurements, you and Word left the boutique, the latter with a wide smile on her face.
"Thanks Frosty, you're the best!" - she proclaimed, hugging your leg.
"Oh, come on, that was nothing." - you petted her mane with a quiet sigh. Well, you surely were not the best role model for her. You're going to spoil her with this pace, for Nightmare's sake!

Anyway, it was not even time to have a lunch - so what are you going to do now?

>>29223210
Why not wander the city with her for now, go sight seeing for a bit.

>>29223210
Is there a park in Cloudsdale? We could take her to the park, watch birds and share happy stories to uplift the mood. She's still a kid, so we may tell her about some stupid shit we did when we were young.

>>29223341
>>29223348

"So, what do you think about walking around Cloudsdale for a bit? There should probably be some park there."
"Sounds good!" - she eagerly nodded.
You wandred around the city until you had finally found some abandoned church with a small garden. It's doors and windows were barred and all holy symbols had been removed, so it looked a little creepy in the twilight, in which Equestria was plunged since the beginning of the war.
You quickly found a bench there and spent next couple of hours entertaining Last Word with stories of your youthful stupidity. Filly was mostly listening, but she also told some funny moments from her life. Well, relatively funny. It were mostly stories about her not-so-lawful adventures, but you couldn't really judge her - it was nearly impossible to get on the ponies' right side with her special talent.
After your supply of stories has dried up you both just sat on the bench and contemplated the peaceful scenery for a while, submerging in your own thoughts.

"Hey, Frosty." - she suddenly asked you.
"Mhm?"
"What're we all going to do after the war? There are almost no Discrod's beasts left and well, I'm sure that there would be almost no criminals after a couple of years of peace. So where do you think will guardsponies go?"

Your actions?
___

Sorry again for short session, but I have some problems that need my attention, so I'll probably have to skip a couple of sessions soon. I will alert you in advance, of course.
Thanks for sticking with me for so long!

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