Ponyville Square
#=#=#=#=#=# PONYVILLE SQUARE #=#=#=#=#=#
At the heart of Ponyville stands a proud and massive pavillion known as Town Hall. Around it lies the town square, a well-kept ring decorated with tall banners and the occasional picturesque bush. A fountain sits before the entrance to the hall with a joyous, reared-up earth pony statue as its ornament. Various municipal officials have pitched colorful, conical tents in the square from which they run their operations. The town square is lined along one side by a stream crossed by a broad stone bridge, while on its other sides it's surrounded by a combination of commercial establishments and some of the oldest houses in Ponyville. The mood here is generally cheerful but officious.
No conventional entrance for the Princess of the Night, not on this of all nights. Spiders swarm out of the fields, and bats from the sky, converging together at high speed into a mass of darkness in Ponyville Square. In seconds the darkness crumbles like flakes of ash drifting away, leaving only a few fleeing bats and spiders... and Princess Luna, with Firefly on her right side and Scope on the left. "
WE ARE HERE!" she shouts. Her right wing flicks at Firefly. "We require a stormcloud, compressed and angry and powerful." Her left wing flicks at Scope, then at the noble statue of Mayor Mare in the middle of the Square. "That is unnecessary. Destroy it, but leave the base intact."
Autumn_Breeze toddles in, oddly pumpkinless.
Firefly is as she usually is, keeping station just behind and to the right of her Princess. Upon arrival she veers off and circles the statue as her and Scope are given instructions. She glances to Scope, then with a roar of thunder she veers upwards, slamming her wings back and going hard vertical, beginning to spiral as storm clouds began to swirl overhead, the winds increasing as lighting raced across the skies, and then she vanishes into the heard of the rapidly growing thunderheads, leaving the sounds of thunder to shake the trees.
There's a slight delay in the unicorn's actions as he at first looks disoriented at suddenly being in Ponvyille, where moments before he was relaxing in his quarters in front of the fire with a nice science fiction novel hovering in front of him. ...He's in his guard colors and Lunar Knight uniform as well, so he lets out a sigh and mutter of "..m'not even supposed to be here today." But with a causal grunt the stallion takes aim, a tear-drop shaped pulse of energy firing from his horn and rendering the staute of the mayor to atoms.
Autumn_Breeze plumps herself down and waits patiently, yawning.
What pony would miss a spectacular show of princessly power and pride than the entrance of the princess of the night? Certainly not the Great and Powerful Trixie! She stands in awe and majesty, and some of that is even directed at Luna.
Nitro_Nine stands in the shadows, her eyes glowing malevolently. Soon. SOON She will conquer... *sniffsniff* ooooh. Her plans of world domination derailed, she heads over to Sugarcube corner for a smackerel of something, coming back with a berry pie floating alongside her, jam smeared on one corner of her mouth. A little snowstorm hovers over her.
Luna nods approvingly to Scope. "Excellent. Now, Lunar Knight, fetch us a tree, as large as thou can lift and bring swiftly." Stepping up onto the smoking base the statue used to rest on, she flaps her wings once and hovers slowly up into the air. One forehoof raised, wings extended, she Royal Canterlot Voices so loud that her voice makes Ponyville rock. "
BEHOLD, OUR SUBJECTS, THE RISING OF THE MOON ON THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR!" As her hoof lifts, behind her the moon lifts, huge and full, with the silhouette of an alicorn cast upon it in black. The high volume artillary barrage isn't over, either. "
AS THIS YEAR CELESTIA BROKE TRADITION AND CHOSE TO SHARE HER SOLSTICE, SO WE SHALL BREAK TRADITION FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. TONIGHT, WE FAVOR PONYVILLE WITH A SPECTACLE. WE SHALL PERFORM A GREAT MAGIC IN HONOR OF OUR SISTER PRINCESSES AND THE HARMONY BETWEEN US."
Though primarily a resident of Canterlot, for working at the palace now, Mimic heard there was some to-do's occurring in Ponyville this evening and so made her way there. The former Imperial unicorn watches the storm brew with the entry of the lunar princess, ears and eyes turned on the trio as Luna speaks. With the rising of the moon, the gleam of the crystal pony becomes evident but she remains standing alone at the edge of the square.
Luna blasts Ponyville with the gale force power of the Royal Canterlot Voice. "
BEHOLD, OUR SUBJECTS, THE RISING OF THE MOON ON THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR!" As she says this the moon rises from the horizon, huge and full, with the silhouette of an alicorn in black upon its face. Then there's another round of sonic assault. "
AS THIS YEAR CELESTIA BROKE TRADITION AND CHOSE TO SHARE HER SOLSTICE, SO WE SHALL BREAK TRADITION FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. TONIGHT, WE FAVOR PONYVILLE WITH A SPECTACLE. WE SHALL PERFORM A GREAT MAGIC IN HONOR OF OUR SISTER PRINCESSES AND THE HARMONY BETWEEN US." (Public-pose)
Trixie loses her hat in the first volly of volume, and her cape next with a little shriek. Her mane is blown back flat against her skull and she has to plod doggedly forward just to stay in place. Such power!
Firefly is out of sight high in the rising storm overhead, pulling it in tighter, closer, to keep most of the skies clear, the storm cell beginning to spin slightly, thunder increasing as the flickers of light within it intensify, the storm cell now a raging supercell and growing rapidly as she emerges from it, racing around it's perimeter to contain the building power.
Nitro_Nine remains in place, unruffled... Mostly. There's a glint of red and black beneath her dress as the wind blows her garment into disarray, though she swiftly recovers.
Autumn_Breeze's mane and tail streams out behind her, buffeted by the gale force of Luna's words!
Luna's voice rolls a few pumpkins into a rough circle around Autumn Breeze as well. Just a completely random side effect, really.
Aaaaaaand.. poof, in a flash of gold Scope's no longer in the vicinity, starting the "Great Tree Hunt of the Year of the Royal Reunion". Who knows where he is, probably somewhere in the Everfree or perhaps going through the royal gardens of Canterlot, nopony kno-- Oh wait, here he is. He returns in another flash of gold and held within his magic is.. a SHRUBBERY! ... Oh, wait, that's the wrong tree. With yet ANOTHER flash of gold a mighty sequoia appears, hovering above the Princess & the armored unicorn.
Autumn_Breeze brightens a little bit at the pumpkins. She loves pumpkins.
Tweed_Patches comes trotting up the Whitetail wood road just in time to be staggered by the force of the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE. She sets her teeth, ears laying back as he leans into the force of the gale - then just as quickly topples over as it passes. He stays there on the ground in a tangle of legs for a good few seconds before offering, "I say!"
Luna does not directly acknowledge her assistants and their efforts, but she's beaming with delight as she settles down onto her hooves facing the gathering audience. Her eyes are literally beaming, white light shining from them and putting pale circles on the ground wherever her gaze wanders. She drops the Royal Canterlot Voice down to merely painfully loud. "
OUR SUBJECTS. IT IS A TRUISM AMONG UNICORN MAGES OF THY TIMES THAT MAGIC CAN ONLY BE MADE BY THAT WHICH LIVES. WHILE IT IS SO THAT ALL THAT THEE THINK OF AS SPELLS MUST BE FORMED BY A LIVING BEING, ONCE THE SPELL EXISTS IT MAY BE PERPETUATED BY THE INANIMATE. TONIGHT, WE SHALL PERFORM THIS FEAT, THE CREATION OF A MAJOR ARTIFACT HOUSING A SPELL OF POWER."
It is *this* that Marble comes home to Ponyville to hear. Something about creating an artifact of great power? "... O... O-Oh dear..."
Firefly is still racing around the now highly unstable supercell, keeping the lightning and winds contained for now. She was flying around it like an electron around an atom, her back to the cloud, one wing to the sky, one to the ground. Here she folds one wing in, going into a wild spiral as she races around the cell, her extended wing scooping smaller balls of cloud out and into the air around the larger one, the smaller storm cells flaring as they circled the massive cell, the Squire whipping in and between them alternately, keeping them all in check as she uses the smaller cells to help amplify the larger one, glancing down as Scope returns with...egads, now THAT was a tree.
Mimic lifts her chin with a faint narrowing of her eyes at the words of the princess. An artifact spell? How interesting. Her ears pin forward like satellite dishes, eyes looking attentively between Luna and the sequoia. She remains where she is, though, watchful and silent with the moon caught in her coat.
After a discreet toss of the shrubbery (much to the chagrin of some passing nobles with coconuts), Scope's attention now settles fully on the tree above and shifts it's position forward just a little so it aligns with the blue alicorn's horn. Closing his eyes to concentrate he sets the tree into a slow spin, starting to rotate it much like a helicopter's blade although at a much slower pace.
Luna steps down off of the platform that used to hold the town's statue. As she does, her head twists and looks up at the tree spinning like a baton. She laughs, but it's a tiny, dim sound compared to the volume she's been unleashing. She's not done, either. "
FOR THIS SPELL WE SHALL REND TIME ITSELF. TO KEEP IT FROM FADING, WE SHALL TRICK IT INTO BELIEVING IT IS ANCHORED ALWAYS TO A LIVING CASTER - AND NOT JUST ANY CASTER, BUT A PRINCESS." Turning to face the dais, her eyes and horn flare like beacons. The twirling tree stops abruptly, seized in the blue light grip of Luna's power. She lowers her horn, and a blue beam blasts out and into the tree. Lines of blue flicker along the trunk, and the gripping magic sinks in, until the tree itself is giving off a blue glow. "
ALL THE POWER OF LIFE OF AN EARTH PONY. ALL THE MYSTICAL POWER OF A UNICORN. ALL OF THE ELEMENTAL FURY OF A PEGASUS." Once every inch of the tree is glowing, she looks up at her assistants, and barks, "Firefly! Lightning! ALL of it! Lunar Knight! Burn the tree. Leave not even ash."
"W-what?!" come a familiar squeak from the audience.
More used to explosions and loud noises inside the Magic Research Centre, Nimble steps out to seeming chaos. With a massive storm thundering overhead, a massive glowing tree hovering above the square, and the Princess in the centre of it all, Nimble's thought is that the end of the world had come to Ponyville. A split second later, he is prostrated before the Princess, hoping to be spared.
Firefly is banking away from the assortment of storm cells high above, when out of nowhere a blast of lighting strikes the top of one of the thatched houses around the Square, setting it afire. Amid the blasted thatch stands Firefly, putting the fire out with a hoof, then lifting her head and snapping her wings out to the sides, eyes closed, then suddenly at Luna's command, she leaps up and opens her eyes, looking at the spinning sequoia, slamming her wings towards it. This is accompanied by a blinding flash from the skies as all of the small storm cells begin to shoot lighthing into the larger one, making it flare and erupt violently before it too flares as bright as the summer sun, and with a shrieking hiss of light and heat, one of the most powerful lighting bolts she has eve crafted slams earthwards, slamming into the sequoia with a force that knocks leaves from most other trees around the square, breaking several windows in as the shockwave blows outwards.
"I-is this wise? IS this going to be a registered artifact? Is there paperwork for this?" Marble is panicking now, flailing his hooves and sputtering in a panic.
Autumn_Breeze tumbtumbletumbles backwards in the shockwave, pumpkins rolling along beside her like tumbleweeds. Rawhide!
Sensors locked, phasers locked!
FIRE! Luna's blue beam is joined by a beam of gold, a constant stream of magic firing upwards from the tip of the unicorn's horn and melding with the lunar alicorn's magic, causing it now to give off a bright white glow not unlike that of a small star. It brings a confusing sense of daylight to the area along with a feeling of rapidly increasing heat, becoming uncomfortable within moments and continuing.
Soarin watches the brilliant display from above...far, far above. Well out of the way. He knows where it's best to watch performances like this from.
Trixie is in the blast zone, a distance unsafe for spectators. She digs her head into the ground, rump in the air... which start to sunburn.
Tweed_Patches picks himself up, his eyes big as dinner plates as he watches the show. He blinks a few times, rubs his eyes with his hooves, then puts on his glasses, repeating, "I say!" as he wades into the outer fringe of the crowd, hopping up now and again to get a better look at the princess, "What luck!" Offered to nopony in particular. Then to whoever's nearby, "I've never had such a jolly welco---" Whatever else he has to say is lost in the blast, as he's sent sprawling again.
Bardigan is also watching on from an unsafe distance, braving the wind and noise, a pair of dark goggles the only thing between him and optical evisceration. "... Sweet."
Autumn_Breeze ends up sprawled among a pile of pumpkins, tiny pumpkins circling her head.
The tree burns, consumed by lightning and golden radiance, held in the beam of blue power from Luna's horn. It doesn't take long for the tree to be gone - or at least, the wood and leaves and substance. The blue net that sank into the tree remains, tracing out its shape exactly. Lightning crackles up and down its length, and gold glimmers along the lines of its web. The beam pouring out of Luna's horn brightens, and the shell of magic shaped like a tree shrinks, closing in on itself, compressing into a phantom crystal of blue and white and gold roughly the size and shape of Luna herself. Her voice is rich and honeyed with satisfaction as she booms, "
SO WE CREATE A FAKE LIVING THING, BUT THE MASK MUST BE PAINTED TO BE CONVINCING. Firefly! Cut me. Draw blood."
Firefly is once more standing on that rooftop, head low as she stares at the sequoia, wings outstretched to the skies, pinions spread wide. Static electricity was arcing among her feathers as she held this stance, preventing the lightning bolt from fading, keeping it going as one steady discharge until such time as her Princess commanded otherwise, the heat from this extended blast combining with the other magics. Upon Luna's mark, she shakes her head and closes her wings, and the lighting bolt vanishes in a peal of thunder that rattles china in Canterlot. Without hesitation she launches downwards, towards Luna, she races lower and turns sideways and braces herself, banking into Luna physically, slamming and ripping one of her wings across Luna's shoulder hard, slashing her before banking off to spin and pull back up, coming to a hover near another rooftop.
With all the explosions and commotion coming from the square, Maple bursts from his home (which is a street over from the square) and gallops with much urgency the short distance down the street, leaping and gliding over the odd obstacle and around the corner to the square, the faint lick of smoke from the lightning struck roof only adding to the urgency in which he presses himself. Rounding the corner he scrabbles to a halt to see the display of Luna and the.. burning? tree? His chest pounds still, the adrenaline still kicking in. He stares wide-eyed for a moment before muttering to himself. "Oh... right..." he says to himself, remembering the anniversary of the solstice.
Nimble_Hooves is pressed further to the ground by the shockwave, but can't help glancing up at the growing fireball above. This is the end of Ponyville, surely... but even still he cannot look away. It is beautiful. Oh well, there are worse ways to go.
PUB >> As the night waxes strongest, Princess Luna is also proud to say that the skies will be clear around Ponyville for the next two weeks, since Firefly just used up all the region's storm cloud potential in one giant lightning bolt.
Soarin watches with a bright smile on his face, but his ears perk forwards as the Princess requests one of her vassals to cut her?! This was new! Even in the most wild of shows the Wonderbolts themselves had never done anything to draw blood in a show before...well there was that seven pony pileup at the Wonderbolt Grand Prix last year but that wasn't something planned, and he was fairly certain everypony involved had been intending to keep their red stuff IN their bodies.
Tweed_Patches perks his ears as he hears the magic words. 'Draw Blood.' Oh yes. This is the
OLD stuff, the
GOOD stuff. Again he scrambles to his feet, again he fixes his glasses, and out from his pocket comes a stub of pencil and a notebook. Seeing this in practice is SO much more exciting than reading theory!
Even with Luna's order, Scope's first instinct was to turn his horn upon the inbound attacker. However.. Luna yanked him out of a cozy night off which he was enjoying, so.. yeah, it was easy fighting off THAT instinct for once. His task done for the moment, the armored stallion dips his head in a regal bow and takes a couple steps back to stand at the alicorn's hip, standing at ease until he's called upon again.
Blood magic. Mimic knows that well. It's older than her, by sure, but she's well versed in it. A faint gleam of violet-green seems to come to her eyes, but the crystal unicorn remains unmoving and even unblinking as she watches. It's as if she was hesitant to even blink, lest she miss something.
Luna's shoulder splashes red, as if Firefly's slicing feathers were sharp like knives - which they are, thanks to Luna's less than gentle training regimen for her squire. The Princess's cheek twitches just slightly as she's cut. Turning her head, she touches her horn to the wound, and Luna's blood crawls up her horn, flowing out along the blue beam to merge with the crystal figure of magic and lightning Luna still holds in check. The wound is left scabbed over, and in seconds Luna's beacon eyes return to her creation. The air ripples around it, and a brightly lit sculptor's workshop peeks into view long enough for a granite statue to drop out of it onto the platform where the old statue USED to sit. This is also right where the crystal princess floats, and the two merge, the magic sinking into the statue until it disappears - and the light of Luna's horn and eyes go out. Light show over. For the moment. Stretching out her wings, Luna twists, working kinks out of her neck and shoulders. "
THE FIRST HALF IS DONE. THE ARTIFACT AWAITS ITS SPELL. NEXT WE SHALL BEGIN THE REAL MAGIC." She looks up at her assistants again. "I cannot predict what happens next. The spell I shall cast shall get right up the nose of every spirit and shade and being of magic that believes that it and not I controls the turning of the heavens. We may face whining winter shades or an invasion by the windigos and the Kobold herself. Firefly, thou are on offense. Scope, shield the bystanders."
Dropped.
A stone statue of Princess Twilight Sparkle- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Carved in detail from purple-tinged granite, this is a statue of Princess Twilight Sparkle - almost. The statue Twilight stands just a bit taller, on longer legs than the real princess. Her horn is perhaps a few inches longer, and sharply pointed. Her straight mane hangs low, with her bangs covering one eye and tiny six pointed stars engraved into the locks. Her tail trails on the ground with the same length, and the statue wears full princess regalia that Twilight hardly ever puts on. Fancy shoes cover her hooves, a crown curves around her horn, and her shoulders are fitted with a yoke emblazoned with the stars of her cutie mark.
Captured in stone, this even more Princessly Twilight rears up on her hind legs, huge wings spread for balance. On stretched out forelegs, she holds a fiery globe of the sun on her right hoof, and a crescent moon on the left, smiling down at them with a regal gentleness much more at home on Celestia's features.
The statue portrays a true princess in one more detail. Stand close to it, and the sky turns pink and purple, with the sun and moon both barely peeking over the horizon. The earliest stars glimmer up high, because within these few steps it is always twilight.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Soarin rises to his hooves, now that the light and thunder is over, and begins winging his way down, to perch on a roof top, much, much closer to the action now.
Trixie's jaw drops.
"That poor tree," whispers the soft yellow voice.
Tweed_Patches opens his eyes a little wider, if that's even possible, and begins taking notes furiously, muttering to herself, "Not the technique in Rosenhoof at all ... thalmaturgic homunculi? ... perhaps in the mutus liber..."
Firefly has circled about and taking a stance on another building, nodding to Luna as she receives her new orders. She flares her wings out, wincing visible for a moment, turning them and hovering up, at the ready, eyes alert and ears even moreso. She revs her wings up, at the ready. What but bled her Princess could rend a wendigo into confetti.
Bardigan sloooowly removes his goggles, still staring intently at the new statute. The fur around his eyes is charred black with soot.
Firing a number of his "torpedoes" into the air like flares, the energy projectiles lazily sail overhead before coming to a halt over top various parts of the crowd surrounding the stage. With a flash, the entire area (save for those silly enough to be airborne during this show, along with himself & the princess) is surrounded by a faint dome of gold, looking to those above like someone just laid a giant glowing doughnut on the town square (Mmmmm, magic doughnut.) It fades after a moment, though if somepony tried to land in the square or attempted to take off they'd smack against it.
It's at this time that a squat quadruped, bulky with fur and adorned in a black vest and charcoal scarf, lumbers close from the direction of Saddle Lake. At a distance, even those who know her may not recognize Clara the Diamond Dog. She does not carry her trusty pickaxe tonight, but her familiar smell may give her away. Her pace grows slower as the obvious evidence of strong magic unfolds at the nearby town square.
Maplewing is about to turn back towarada his house, his first instinct to fetch his cart with this many ponies mulling around, even if they are distracted by the show, but the waves of magic and the princess's declarations draw his attention too and pull him toward the crowd to watch wide eyed and in awe.
Nimble_Hooves braces for the end, which does not come... yet, anyway. After realizing this, he slowly gets to his hooves, and marvels at the new statue. Then his attention is pulled to the Princess and her assistants. Something is happening, and Nimble is not sure is he wants to be around when it does.
A few moments later, after those fireworks are launched, comes a smoking, barreling, squealing ebony and ivory ball from the sky, crashing down into the ground in a smoldering crater. After a few moments, Diamond lurches from the pit in a smoldering heap, and coughs up a bluish little cloud of smoke. "...I dink...dat was a no fly zone..."
Angel peeks from Fluttershy's mane, eating carrot popcorn.
Autumn_Breeze's eyes widen in horror. Luna's warnings weren't enough! She was prepared for terrible evil, but not... Angel!
Soarin is perhaps one of the few ponies foolish enough to be above the protective dome of Scope's magic. Hey! He's a Wonderbolt! Whattya want? He knows three things, Pie, Going Fast, and taking orders. Magic junk is a little outside his skill set.
Luna takes a few deep breaths. Her stretched out wings stay stretched, extended so far that they curl slightly forwards. "I have ne'er found raising the sun comfortable," she mutters to herself. Then she rears up, forelegs raised much like the statue Twilight's. Luna's horn shines brightly blue, but this is clearly not the outpouring of raw power from before. Instead, her face twists into a scowl of concentration. The sky distorts. Pink and purple flicker across it like an aurora, and the moon is clearly well up... but it is also just rising, peeking slightly over the horizon, while on the exact opposite side a sliver of the golden sun rises to match it. And, as she predicted, something does not like it. At all. The stars swim, constellations shifting in their place. One of those constellations falls from the sky, and with a blue shell tracing the arachnid shape around it,
Scorpio falls onto the dome with his stinger stabbing down at the princess.
Fluttershy slips a little bunny parka over Angel. There, sweetie. Don't catch cold now.
Firefly takes off in a blast of wind, vaulting upwards and banking around. She'd never fought a constellation before. Still, while its attention as focused on Luna within the dome, she snap rolls and banks towards it from above and one side, accelerating wildly until with a snap of a wing she whips sideways to drive all four hooves into the side of its head, not sure if it was solid, magic, or what to expect. She was going to find out by Luna. >
Angel noses Fluttershy and shares a carrot while they watch the show above.
Clara unfolds her lanky knees and looks over to the crater, no longer as impressed as the first sixteen times she witnessed this spectacle. She lopes to the emerging Diamond Dancer and extends an arm, taking the filly in her grasp if she's permitted to, patting in response to the hug. She may or may not have words, but before she can deliver them she is distracted by the ^real^ spectacle. The sky is misbehaving in numerous ways, and the air feels alive and wrong. Clara inhales slowly, rising to her hind legs and raising her nose. Her ears first flatten, then rise inquisitively. When the scorpion falls to the dome, she winces and crouches slightly, staring at it.Tweed_Patches squints at his notes as the light dims, frowning around the pencil in his mouth until he looks up and sees the cause. The sunset makes him smile, and settling back onto his haunches he starts to clap his forehooves together, crying out around the pencil stub, "Oh! Brava! BRAV--" And then the sky falls, and he curses, savagely, hitting the ground for the third time this evening, covering his head with his forelegs, "Star's garters!"
Upon impact the dome becomes visible again, glowing under each of the Star Scorpion's legs. .. Well, that's unexpected for sure, and when the stinger comes close it's rejected by another force field which Scope just raised to protect the Princess, along with taking aim at the creature with his horn and ready to fire if Firefly is unsuccessful.
Diamond_Dancer gives a little groan and tilts her head to the left, knocking against her skull with a hoof to propel dirt out of her ear. "Clara? Ok, So, I'm flyin along, mindin' my own business and den dare was an explosion, and now I'm on da ground. Also. Da sky seems ta be freakin out. Is dis somedin I need to be worried about, cause I'm haff way dare. "The little filly squeaks.
Wings deployed! Full speed the other way! Soarin maybe a member of the Wonderbolts, who may be a division of the Equestrian Military. Hey! He'll fight a giant greed grown dragon! He'll take on a Hydra if asked! But he is NOT one of these super powered ponies, and barring a royal decree he is NOT, NOT, NOT...fighting the freaking sky okay?!
<OOC> Firefly ROFLS
<OOC> Autumn_Breeze says, "I WILL NOT FIGHT THE SKY Soarin 2013"
<OOC> Soarin says, "lol"
<OOC> Clara says, "o/~ You can't fight the sky, okay?? o/~"
<OOC> Angel giggles.
<OOC> Diamond_Dancer says, "He's not gonna do it!"
<OOC> Tweed_Patches says, "I fought the sky, and the sky won!"
<OOC> Diamond_Dancer says, "Now I can just imagine Princess Luna saying "NEXT, BLOW UP THE OCEAN!""
The constellation appears to be physical, as solid as its cousin the Ursa Major, and nearly as huge. It clearly feels the impact when Firefly hits it, retreating a step with a shuffle of eight legs, its body rocking. What it doesn't seem to be is hurt, but who can tell what hurts a constellation? Unlike the Great Bear, the Scorpion has no voice, and remains silent as it raises its stinger and stabs it over and over at Firefly. Its real attention remains on Luna, as
Scorpio's huge claws dig at the shield, exherting its considerable strength to try to crack its way through Scope's shield. Luna pays none of this any attention. Her wings are shaking visibly, and the fake aurora, glimpses of sunset-lit clouds, ripples across the sky. Slowly, those colors fade. She sun and moon at the edges of the sky disappear. Night resumes, even if there's a
Scorpio-shaped hole in the stars. This clearly isn't true everywhere, because a wide circle of ground around Luna is lit with gentle, pink-tinged sunlight. As Luna scowls, the circle shrinks, closing in bit by bit around her and the statue.
<OOC> Bardigan says, ""SOARIN'. GO PUNCH THAT WAVE IN THE FACE.""
<OOC> Autumn_Breeze cackles at DD.
<OOC> Luna believes Diamond Dancer has put her hoof on why Firefly serves Luna so happily.
<OOC> Marble_Memory says, "So... I stepped away... is this the same ceremony where Luna crants gifts?"
<OOC> Autumn_Breeze says, "Yes, where here 'gifts' means 'giant scorpions from the skies.'"
Nimble_Hooves shrinks back as the stars themselves come to life and attack. Okay, so it really is the end of Ponyville, except it seems the Princess is defending instead of bringing the destruction. Something stirs inside him. He wants to help, but what good could he do against that?
<OOC> Bardigan says, "Deep down, it's what everypony wants."
Good, the pegasus was successful.. but it doesn't look like any true damage was done to the creature which has frickin Antares in it's body and part of the galaxy within it's pedipalps.
SHOOT IT. So he does, striking the stellar creature with a barrage of horn laser blasts, followed up with a flurry of torpedoes which happens to hit Antares once or twice along with M4. Screw you, M4, Omega Centauri's a much cooler globular cluster. >:c Puh, even M13 makes you look like an OPEN cluster! HA!
Firefly's kickoff is diverted as she wheels sideways around the swoosh of that stinger as it went past, being clipped in the shoulder but not by the tip thankfully, just the thick bulb part. She is next feeling the imact upon the dome and she flies at a forced angle into it. BOOONGGGG!!! bouncing along it a few times. Bong Bong clunk....skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. sliding down it to the ground, She shakes her head, glaring up. "Oh, you wanna play rough?! BRING IT!" and takes off again, this time moving at high speed, circling, back towards the scorpion. "SCOPE! Brace the dome in three!" as she dips low along the dome's surface, her wings seeming to become invisible as she pumps them insanely fast, the whining sound akin to a jet engine spinning up. Scope, she hopes, knows what's coming. She explodes forward, diving beneath the scorpion, then reverses her wings directly between it and the dome...the very air looking suddenly like slow motion liquid silver before it violently explodes outwards. >>>THUD<<<
Clara watches the aerial battle with glum amazement. Or is it grim amazement? With half her face wrapped in a scarf on top of her generous allocation of winter fur, it's hard to tell. She no longer holds Diamond Dancer, but stands with one paw resting on her neck, gazing upward. The squire, the guard, the Wonderbolt. The constellation, the uninvited twilight. The princess and the statue. "ThiIs is no eEasy niIght," she murmurs. "But thaAt is whY I have CoOmme." She spares a look down at her self-styled ward. "If you truUst youR nIight PrinceSs, then there is litTle to fEear," she answers. "JoOIn me if you lIike." Then she strides forward toward the crowd assembled around Luna, still watching the battle, but apparently largely unafraid.The forcefield shudders under the concussive wave but it holds, although it does cause the unicorn to grimace from the strain along with trying to remain standing tall from the shockwave which slams into himself and the princess beside him. .. He's ok!
This latest shockwave, rocking everything within the dome even as the air itself turns to silver and flies like agitated torrents in the wake of the tumult, finally wakes up Derpy, who was napping peacefully on a cloud. She looks back and forth in mild surprise, peeks over the edge, and gapes hugely at the sight far below. What is happening??
Diamond_Dancer's flexes her wings, and draws in a deep breath. She's feeling a surge of youthful energy rush through her watching the aerial spectacle unfold and now there's a giant monster too?! What's going on? WHO CARES THIS IS FREAKIN AWESOME! And there she goes- blasting off like a rocket into the sky, trailing her silvery contrail behind her. What's she going to do? The thing she does best- Cannon fodder! Maybe she can get it's attention so Fire Fly can find an opening. She HAS been working closely with Firefly to prefect a new manuver for combat situations, but they are lacking gunpowder, A priest, and the fourty seven thousand MP to pull it off! So for now- she'll just play the role of distraction.
Soarin is taking evasive manevours as well as trying to gain distance, then it happens, the super powered pegasus hits the big angry bit of the sky with something that makes the super powered Unicorn wince...Soarin doesn't have a snowballs chance in Tartarus. Or more specifically, the shockwave hits him right where his tail meets his rump, and he is propelled at insane speeds THROUGH City hall. No not the windows...the walls. His cheeks pulled back in a horribly distorted manner and making little flapping sounds in accompaniment to the repeated and muffled, "Ow...ow...ow...ow." that seem to punctuate each impact with drywall.
Scorpio has problems. Too much attention trying to get at Luna means he's not really defending himself against Firefly and Scope. In fact, Scope's blasts are downright upsetting it, his precise targeting of stars making it dance in pain and let go of the dome. Letting go of the dome is not the right thing to do when Firefly hits and lets off her shockwave, and Scorpio goes tumbling upwards. Underneath the dome, the audience barely feel a shiver, and nothing threatens Clara as she walks forward. As she does, the circle of twilight shrinks ahead of her footsteps, until it stops, a few yards around the new statue. Tilting her horn forward, Luna touches the tip to the tip of the statue's horn, and pink and purple and blue light drain into the statue and disappear. The glow of Luna's horn fades, and she sits back hard upon the ground, looks up... and scowls in disgust. "Cease acting like a foal, Scorpio!" She doesn't seem to do anything, but as the constellation rises into the heavens it freezes, its stars merely stars and the blue aura gone.
There's a loooooong pause afterward, which is broken by the shield collapsing and Scope glancing aside towards the night princess. "WELP, I could use a drink!" Aaaaand poof, the unicorn teleports out somewhere. Probably a bar, but most likely a smoothie shop.
Tweed_Patches slowly peeks out from under his hooves and stares at what's going on, his pencil stub falling from his mouth. He might have crossed himself, if that was a thing, but it's not, "Moon and sun preserve us..." He rubs his eyes rapidly, and stares some more.
Tweed_Patches reaches into his coat then and produces a thermos. He unscrews the top pours himself a cuppa into the lid, his hoof shaking perceptibly.
Nettleglum slowly and distinctly rises up like a bad toadstool from the ground next to several of the spectator ponies, such as Tweed Patches. She offers gift postcards of the Solstice event, personalized by Princess Luna, before lurching into an open sewer main and vanishing with a damp splortch that sounds like a bag of jellyfish hurled at a corrugated tin roof. ._.
Trixie unplugs her head from the little hole she hastily dug for herserlf to huddle in and watches like a ground squirrel. Is it over?
Angel ooohs and gets a card. No, two, one for Fluttershy as well.
Luna rotates first her left shoulder, then her right. Her wings flap a couple of times. When she turns to address the cloud, the Royal Canterlot Voice is downright anemic, merely a resonant bellow and a faint breeze gusting around the Square. "
REMEMBER THIS, PONIES. SUCH IS THE POWER OF THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE. SO TURNS THE SEASONS, AND THE TRUE BEGINNING OF THE NEW YEAR. AND SO, AT THE HEIGHT OF OUR POWER, WE EXPEND IT ALL TO SHOW LOVE TO THOSE WHO THE FOOLISH WOULD VIEW AS RIVALS. THAT IS HARMONY." Another pained flap of her right wing, and she adds, "
ALSO, QUITE A LIGHT SHOW. THE STATUE IS A GIFT TO PONYVILLE AND ITS NEW RULER. ENJOY IT. WE SHALL BE AT NETTLEGLUM'S HOME WITH A CAULDRON OF THAT ICY COLD GOO SHE MAKES OVER OUR HEAD." And with that, and a flash of blue light of course, Luna disappears.
Fluttershy ooohs. Hers has a Scorpio on it! Adorable.
Tweed_Patches looks around, sipping his tea, and just about chokes at the Nettleglomulous apperition that lurks so close at hand. But no. He saves himself at the last minute. A spit take is SO much more dignified!
Tweed_Patches clears her throat and straightens bow tie. Did anypony see th -- oh! Postcards!
Clara walks directly up to the violet circle, stopping at its very edge. She is on two legs now. The Diamond Dog reaches up to pull down her charcoal scarf, exposing her grim face. She does not bow. Instead, she regards Scope with a wary, respectful eye, and then turns to the night princess herself. But just as Clara is about to speak, Luna's bellow echoes through and past her, causing her to wince and close her eyes. She cringes, rising only when the announcement is done. And when she looks again, she catches only the flash of light that indicates the night usurper's ignominious escape. Clara's upper lip curls back, and she emits a low growl.Firefly is just laying on the dome, wings splayed at her sides, panting hard, having watched the scorpion go home at a royal command. She's never faced a celestial thingie before. It was exhilarating to say the least, even she she was rather ineffective against it. At least Scope's well placed attacks riled it good, and that made her grin.