Scope's Quarters
Scope's promotion has come with an added bonus: Larger quarters! It's more like a spacious apartment now but he's still kept things simple and rather spartan without any sign of flair, as noticed by a single dark blue couch in the living room with a wooden table infront of it and a few lanterns here and there. The kitchen's fully stocked however, stuffed full of various fruits and vegetables with all the ameneties and what looks to be a well-used blender on the counter. The bedroom? Well, he's upgraded from a twin bed which is about as soft as the floor to a king sized matteress which is almost as soft as a cloud.
[ Obvious Exits: None! ]
[ Players: Scope ]
Ahhh, his day off. And Scope's decided to spend it by taking a looooong and well deserved nap, sprawled out on the bed with the covers half on and half off his large orange body. Lying on his back he quietly snoozes, broad chest rising and falling with his gentle breathing.
Luna appears in the room completely silently, albeit with a flash of blue light. That might disturb a sleeper, but there's not much time. Her wing hooks under the edge of your bed, and she yanks upwards, flipping it over on top of you! There's the immediate *crunch* as her magic rips a chunk of your ceiling out, and she booms, "DIE SWIFTLY AND IN PAIN!"
You're joined at your side by a rather dishevled-looking orange and red unicorn a few seconds later, standing there with a glass of ice water hovering infront of his lips. "You know.. I paid some pretty good bits for that bed.. Good thing it's still under warranty." *siiiiiip* "So.. how can I help you this evening, your highness?"
Luna nods solemnly at your appearance. "Excellent," she approves, "Good reflexes and a cool head. Those are two difficult traits to train." Her outstretched wing gives a wave around the room, and up at the square of ceiling marble, and she explains blandly, "Thou asked for warrior training. We are pleased to say it needs not begin at the first lesson. Perhaps merely the second lesson." That, finally, results in a roguish grin.
Taking another sip he lets out a low chuckle, nodding. "Alright, lemme get my armor on real quick and I'll be ready to go." An aura appears around his horn as he collects the pieces of armor, slipping it onto his body as his coat & mane shift back to the grey & white of the royal guardpony, blinking now-amber eyes and glancing aside to the night princess.
Luna shakes her head, smirking in skepticism as you put on the armor. She drops the chunk of marble onto the floor, balancing a hoof on it as she observes, "Testing thy reflexes was of value. There is no further utility in destroying thy bedroom. The halls of the palace are a perfect place to train a unicorn in combat, but not until we are certain thee present no threat to the servants. Come!" And with that, as soon as your last piece of armor is in place, everything flashes blue and she yanks you along with her on a long range teleport.
Road to Canterlot
This is a dirt road linking Ponyville, Canterlot, and the Everfree Forest. The striking spires of Canterlot Mountain loom not too far away, drawing the eye. Wildflowers grow amid the grass, and a few small trees sway some distance off. You'd think the sky might be broad and clear in a place like this, but as it happens, the pegasus city of Cloudsdale is drifting overhead.
[ Obvious Exits: To <C>anterlot, To <Po>nyville, <W>hitetail Wood ]
[ <Up> to Cloudsdale, To the <E>verfree Forest ]
Scope has arrived.
Ohhhh boy that always gets him, being teleported by somepony other than himself. x.x Giving his head a quick shake his eyes dart around briefly to get his surroundings, "Mmmf. I don't think I'll ever get used to that. So.. disorienting."
Luna barely acknowledges, "Indeed." Stepping past you, she walks down the night time path in no hurry. Her head turns this way and that, looking around the spring fields on either side as she asks, "What powers are thee used to using, guard? We have seen thee use shields of raw magic and those beams that burn matter into dust - they rather seem to be thy specialty."
"Overall?", he ponders, ears flicking as he considers just what he's got in his arsenal. "The beams, the pulses, the.. I dunno what to call them, I guess a fireball. They're all basically the same magic, just with different strengths. Otherwise I don't have much else when it comes to combat magic, haven't really needed anything more."
Luna stops and nods, frowning back at you. Not deeply, just solemnly. "That is unsurprising. A strong unicorn is the greatest weapon of war in Equestria. Pegasi are famous for their warriors, but the greatest pegasi know what they fear most - a unicorn, who needs not use his body to strike. Alas, it means that few unicorns properly learn the art of a battle mage. They do not feel they need it. Their gimmicks suffice." Turning to look away from you, her horn glashes, and dirt geysers into the air out in the field, accompanied by a roll of thunder.
"Well, that's the th--" As the earth rumbles his eyes dart about, blinking a little as the geysers begin to erupt outside. "Ah, I see. .. Haven't really even thought of using the elements around me, just what I have in my arsenal. I certainly have a lot to learn.." The stallion swallows, looking a little sheepish now as he moves to stand up beside you once more. "Hoo boy."
Luna waves a wing, hooves dancing as she turns in a circle to face you. "Thy spells are impressive, but they are like a kick with thy hind hooves - powerful, slow, and easy to see coming. The same way, a strong unicorn can turn aside most any attack with a shield of her will, but these spells are exhausting. Thy simplest power, to move an object with thy thoughts, is the most devious and terrible. Come." She flashes blue, reappearing a dozen yards down the path. "Try thy burning beam at me."
Scope quietly listens to the night princess as she speaks, taking in every word like a sponge. .. Of course, he uses telekenesis all the time for general use, why not fling a boulder at somepony in battle? He starts to speak up but the night princess telports a sport distance away and orders him to fire at her. o.o .. "Oookay." He steps back and sets himself, a pinpoint of light appearing on the tip of his horn before a focused beam of green energy lashes out and zips down the hallway towards the princess of the night.
Luna doesn't move. Instead, the ground in front of her does. The path erupts, dirt fountaining out and into the path of your beam. It's immediately turned to ash, but more dirt pours out, and more, and chunks of rock. Meanwhile, from behind that mess, Luna asks, "Which of us is working harder, think thee? Who will tire first?"
The beam abruptly stops and there's a sudden flash of green from behind the geysers, the unicorn initiating a quick teleport and reappearing beside you. "Beeep.", he fires once more, but this time it's a little low-powered teardrop shaped pulse of energy which aims at your shoulder.
Luna has an answer for that, too. As you flash into place and lower your horn, a hoof-sized rock shoots out of the hole she's made in the path, flying right up at your chin from straight beneath it.
*WHAM*, the rock slams right against his chin and sends him staggering back with stars in his eyes, knocking him enough that he's forced to flop on his rump and get his bearings straight and those little flying Celestias & Lunas circling his head vanish. "Ow."
Luna comments primly, "That is what thee get for trying to be clever. Thy instinct is actually not poor - the ability to teleport in combat is truly wonderful, but had I wanted to teach thee a different lesson, I would not even have needed magic. Teleport beside her like that, and Firefly's wing would chop thee in half." Take a few steps forward, she spins around abruptly so she can give you a cold, direct stare. "In fact, take that lesson to heart. Thy great advantage over a non-unicorn is that they can strike only within their reach. THY reach is as far as thee can see."
Scope mutters, reaching up a hoof to rub under his chin as his amber eyes lock onto yours. "Right. The other option was to launch a magic fireball and zip it around the geysers, but I chose to try to be funny. Learned my lesson with that one." Letting out a sigh the stallion gives himself a shake, rolling his shoulders and getting back up to his hooves. "My apologies, your majesty."
Luna waves the tip of her wing dismissively. "Training in violence is painful, and it is difficult to keep thy emotions steady - and as we say, thy instinct was excellent. Against another unicorn, it can be devastating, although deeply risky. Teleport just before thou fire, and it is difficult indeed to block thy most destructive magics." Raising an eyebrow, she inquires, "Will thee be able to continue?"
Scope tests out his lower jaw and chin to make sure nothing's seriously hurt, save for what's sure to be a bruise in the morning and his bruised pride there's actually no other damage. "Yeah, I'm good. Just wondering why I didn't think of things like this in the first place when they're right there in plain sight.. I guess I just thought I wouldn't need them."
Luna's head leans to the side, and she asks mildly, "How many unicorns do? Thy strength is tremendous. Brute force has gotten thee through most tests. Thou cannot afford the day when it is insufficient. Now, let us take this same lesson further. We will try to do it more gently." Again, she doesn't seem to do anything, but it takes hardly a flicker of magic for what comes next. A pebble jumps out of the dirt, tossed at the back of your head, followed by another from your left side, and another from your right. For several seconds they keep coming, none of them thrown harder than a spitball, but leaping at you from every direction.
Eyes darting from rock to rock his upper horn ridge begins to glow a solid green before smaller, less powerful beams zip out in all directions towards the incoming rocks. He's basically using his beam capability as a point-defense laser, the focused energy impacting the projectiles and reducing them to much smaller pieces which fall harmlessly to the ground beside him, including the couple that come up from behind him.
Luna grins cheerfully. "A cute spell. We approve of thy desire to defend yourself, but we hope thou learned the lesson in the process." She extends her wing towards you, then swings it around in a wide circle to point behind herself. "Thou have an ability a non-unicorn would die for - and have died from. They can only attack from where they are. THOU may stand in front and attack from behind, or from any direction." A momentary pause, and she raises her voice, becoming more solemn and formal. "These are but the basics. We should give thee the rest of the night to consider them, and how they may change thy fighting, but before we do one more lesson. Shall we show thee the power thou might just aspire to?"
The stallion's ears go flat as he seems a little disappointed with himself, but he gives a quiet nod in reply to the Night Princess before taking a couple steps away just in case the demonstration involves something involving a strike out towards HIM. "If you believe I've deserved the privilege to see it, sure."
Luna's horn flares. The attack doesn't come from anywhere. There's nothing to dodge or deflect. Instead of grabbing a rock, Luna's grip takes hold of you, clamping down on every inch of your body, mummifying you in a hold as tough as iron. It only even lets you breathe because it doesn't press in tighter when your chest shrinks from exhaling. "This is the most devastating power we know," she explains, "We could, in the blink of an eye, reduce thee to pulp. It is hard. Very hard. Hard to get a grip on a moving target, hard to focus the force to hold something as strong as a pony's body, hard to resist their magic fighting to get out. We do not know if thou may ever master it, but that is not why we show it." The grip lets go as suddenly as it appeared, and she concludes, "We merely wish thee to think about what a cruel and unfair advantage thy powers give thee, with only a little cunning and ruthlessness."
"Glrgh!", that's the only sound the stallion can make as he's suddenly.. well, paralyzed, unable to move anything at all save for (as mentioned before) the movement of his chest and the shifting of his suddenly terrified, paniced eyes. Once the hold is released Scope quickly skitters away from the princess in pure, absolute fear of her. It's to the point where he loses his balance and winds up on his rump once more but that doesn't stop him, instead scootscootscooting across the ground to get away as fast as he can before impacting a large boulder.
Luna's tail lashes once, hard. It's visible mostly as a violent billow in the galaxy floating in the air behind her. Her voice isn't encouraging or harsh, just clipped and businesslike as she answers your terror, "Excellent. We will leave thee to think about thy power, and about why thou cannot be content that thou are strong enough. If thee wish more training, come to us." And with that she flashes blue, and is gone.
As soon as she's gone he stops his trembling like a newborn foal, eyes narrowing in a sudden flash of anger as he lashes out with his horn. A bright sphere launches from the tip of his horn to one of the nearby fallen trees, the magical torpedo spiralling through the air before impacting the side of the tree and causing it to explode outwards and send little pieces of burning timber flying every which way. "Good job, Sunflare. Acting like a terrified little foal infront of the princess.. Now she's just sitting back and laughing at you.", he snarls to himself, shaking his head as his horn glows bright once more and he vanishes in a flash of green.
