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Post by Javelin Razorwing on Dec 22, 2014 22:23:49 GMT -5
Javelin was glad to see that she had been correct about the identity of the familiar pony. As much as meeting new and interesting creatures pleased her, it was always enjoyable to reconnect with a friend after a long absence. Cloud Atlas approached her and gave her a hug, which she reciprocated.
“Yeah, it’s great to see you.” Javelin smiled at her friend. “I’ve been better. I joined up with the military, they send me and my battalion to go run some Dogs out of Fillydelphia and I come home to this.” Javelin gestured to the ruins of Canterlot and sighed. “So, what’s new with you? Other than you being in Canterlot and helping with the cleanup effort?” Javelin paused for a moment. Her eyes widened as she realized the implications of what Cloud’s presence in the city may mean. “Wait! Were you here when Blackmane attacked? Are you alright? Is your family okay?”
A moment later Lucky waved at both of the mares. His face bore a question plain enough that it did not need to be asked. “Oh right, Lucky. Umm, Lucky this is Cloud Atlas, an old friend of mine from my academy days.” Javelin gestured to Cloud. “Cloud, this is Lucky Charm. I met him just this morning.” Javelin frowned at Lucky. “You know, I assumed you were a new arrival, but I don’t recall where you said you came from.”
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Post by Cloud Atlas on Dec 26, 2014 9:52:14 GMT -5
"Tell me about it. Kicking flank and taking names in this new war, then all of a sudden our capital's in ruins," she shrugged. "We're holding out just fine, and my family's safe. Luna pulled some amazing magic, teleported everypony to safety at the last second. It was a deus ex machina alright, but I'm not complaining." Cloud smiled fondly at her friend's concern. Her old academy pals were her second family, that's for sure, and Javelin was the first one she'd seen around in months.
"Nice to meet you, Lucky Charm," she offered the green stallion a hoof once Javelin had introduced him, he looked nice enough. She was about to ask where he was from when javelin beat her to the punch, she shrugged. "Anyways, what are you guys up to? I'm practically on my break right now so anything I could help with?" She addressed the group before turning her attention back to Lucky.
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Post by Lucky Charm on Dec 27, 2014 10:04:43 GMT -5
Before they reached earshot of the two mares, Lucky muttered back to Dusk Wing "Guards can't tell a thief on sight, but they know guilty behavior. Act natural." Honestly, Dusk was his own worst enemy here. He kept acting like any authority figure would immediately sniff him out for a troublemaker, and if he kept dodging them like that then he'd be right. But if he would just act like an innocent pony they'd have no reason to suspect he wasn't one. Lucky had learned that in Baltimare.
He shook Cloud Atlas' hoof cheerfully, glad to already be making new friends on this journey. It was going much better than his last one. "We're just in, actually. Been on the road for a while, it comes with the adventuring career, and we just came back from the Griffon Kingdom." He paused. "Well, I guess it's not really a kingdom now- eh, you know the place.
"Anyway, I'm from Ponyville originally-" Lucky couldn't quite keep a pained expression from his face when he mentioned his hometown, but he pressed on despite the hitch in his voice. "-but that was years ago. These are my friends Dusk Wing and Julius Softpaw." He nodded to his companions in turn.
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Dusk Wing
Disciple Pony
You can always trust me to be untrustworthy.
Posts: 64
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Post by Dusk Wing on Jan 4, 2015 22:19:15 GMT -5
Dusk let out a small sigh. He knew Julius and Lucky had a point. "You're right. I'm just being paranoid." He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before following after his friends. "Though, the guards aren't my biggest concern." He muttered irritatedly under his breath.
"Cloud Atlas, hmm?" Dusk questioned, regaining his usual cheerfulness, or at least a really good act. He walked up to the new mare and offer out his hoof. "Pleasure. As Lucky just said, I am Dusk Wing. I was born and raised here in Canterlot, though I've lived in Manehattan for the past few years." Motioning at the debris surrounding them "A real shame what happened here. Though, you said Luna teleported everyone to safety?"
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Post by Julius Softpaw on Jan 5, 2015 20:10:49 GMT -5
Once the rest of his little group had introduced themselves to this new pony, Julius stepped up. Bowing just as he did for Javelin, he flared his wings and lifted the grey Pegasus's (Pegasi's?) hoof to his beak.
"Grüße, Frau. Julius Softpaw of The Hollow, at your service." Straightening from his bow he reached under his wing to make sure the pistol was still secure as he looked around. "Truly a shame, Dusk. And we will do what we can to help rebuild, won't we, my friends?"
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Post by Javelin Razorwing on Jan 14, 2015 23:33:51 GMT -5
"Well, I was just taking these three to work," Javelin told Cloud.
"Ponyville, huh? A horrible thing, what happened to that town. Hopefully you can rebuild after the war," Javelin smiled softly at Lucky. Then rolled her eyes at Julius giving his overly formal greeting. Her eyes widened in interest when Dusk mentioned he had lived in Manehatten. She would have to ask about what he knew about the situation there later.
She addressed her companions. "Alright guys, here's the drill. When you show up to work, you sign in with one of the supervisor's aides. He or she will write down your name and species and assign you to a team. The leader of your team will be communicating with the white tent and the other team leaders to make sure things get done in an orderly and safe manner. At the end of the shift, you will get a receipt from the white tent. Don't lose it. Food rationing is in effect right now, since most farms in Equestria aren't producing. We have to ship in supplies from the Griffons and the colonies just to stay fed. That receipt will make sure you are given the supplies you need. A working, producing pony is higher on the list than a foal or an old mare, I'm afraid. Any questions?" Javelin looked each of the newcomers in the eyes as she spoke.
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Post by Cloud Atlas on Jan 18, 2015 12:17:35 GMT -5
Cloud returned everyone's hooves and claws in kind and chuckled at Julius's formality. So, adventurers, was it? She always had a hunch that Javelin would end up doing something like it sooner or later. The draw of traveling and exploring the world would no doubt capture her eyes once her military career was up. Cloud on the other hoof still wasn't sure if she'd want to leave the guard anyways. Serving Equestria was a role and tradition that had been passed down for generations, one that she wanted to uphold for better or worse. "It's nice to meet you all. Dusk, Julius." She respectfully nodded in their direction before picking up on Dusk's question. "Yeah, Luna teleported pretty much all the citizens into the crystal caves moments before the Sky Titan leveled the place. No idea how she did it so quickly with so many ponies, but she saved practically everypony's lives. That's our princess alright." She shrugged and let Javelin take over, doling out the same basic instructions Cloud herself had given and received earlier that day. As a member of the current guard, she had no extra sign in forms to fill, but she'd still get a ration card at the end of the day. "I'll just come with you if that's alright," she told Javelin. "I gotta get back to work soon anyhow, and having friends to talk to might make it go a little quicker for everypony."
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Post by Lucky Charm on Jan 22, 2015 11:29:17 GMT -5
Lucky nodded as Javelin explained the situation. Made sense to him. The rationing was unfortunate, but that was war - there just wasn't enough to go around, so they had to make tough decisions about who got what. At least they seemed to bring enough in for everyone to get something. Still, hearing how they'd survived was awe-inspiring. Even for Princess Luna, teleporting literally every pony in Canterlot into the caves at once? It seemed almost impossible, but that was alicorn power for you. He couldn't help but smile.
"Seems pretty straightforward to me," Lucky answered when asked if he had questions. "Guess my only question is which way to the aides? Oh, actually, what do you figure is the chance we'll all be on the same team?" He gestured with his wing to his Julius, Dusk, Cloud and Javelin, indicating he meant all of them. "It'd be good to get a chance to get to know each other better." Only after he said this did he realize how it could sound like flirting, but Lucky decided not to stumble into trying to clear it up and thus dig himself even deeper. Better to just take the mistake in stride and go on as if it hadn't happened.
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Dusk Wing
Disciple Pony
You can always trust me to be untrustworthy.
Posts: 64
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Post by Dusk Wing on Jan 30, 2015 16:19:04 GMT -5
Dusk smiled and nodded at the answer Cloud Atlas gave to his question. "Well that's good. There are too many dead as a result of this war without the destruction of an entire city populace." He shot a glance at Javelin in order to gauge her reaction. Certainly she had seen right through his fib and could at least guess he was a thief.
"Sounds rather straight forward." Dusk responded after hearing Javelin's instructions. However, upon hearing Lucky's comment, he was barely able to suppress a smirk. "Not exactly the best choice of words, my friend. But keep trying. Maybe you'll get Lucky." He muttered in an aside to the green pegasus, trying to keep the mares from overhearing.
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Post by Julius Softpaw on Feb 4, 2015 23:14:28 GMT -5
Having nothing else to do, Julius sat down on a nearby piece of rubble and proceeded to sharpen his belt knife as he often did when bored. He wasn't surprised in the least to hear about the food rationing. Nor was he particularly upset, since his line of work often meant whole weeks living on nothing but stale bread and water, if that.
Only once the rest of the group had answered her question did Julius look up to Javelin "None from me, Fräulein Razorwing. However, I do agree with Lucky's sentiment that we stick together. We seem to be a rather effective team."
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Post by Javelin Razorwing on Feb 6, 2015 4:11:40 GMT -5
"That might be arranged..." Javelin said cautiously. Lucky hadn't spoken in a flirtatious tone, but from his face she could tell he was kicking himself for saying something he regretted. He wasn't piping up to try to correct his imagined mistake either, which was new to Javelin. Most ponies who thought they had stepped over a line would have stammered for her forgiveness, whether they had offended or not. "Follow me." Javelin led the group to the tent and began conversing with the pony handling paperwork at the moment. The mare pushed a slip of paper towards Javelin. A courier had brought it by about ten minutes before and had told the clerk to show it to any military personnel who showed up for their work shift that morning. The paper was a memorandum from the High Commander that all military forces were to muster for immediate redeployment. She read through the paper several more times, noting the official stamp. With a sigh, Javelin looked up from the paper and turned to her new companions. "Listen, I've got to head out. I'm being deployed again." She turned to Cloud Atlas. "I look forward to seeing you again, Cloud. We should definitely stay in touch." She quickly gave her friend another hug. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you guys like this," she said to the trio of adventurers. "But duty calls. Cloud will guide you from here." Javelin glanced to Cloud to make sure she was alright with that arrangement. "I wish the three of you luck in your endeavors. Who knows, maybe we will run into each other again someday?" With a smile and a wave, the young soldier flew off to meet up with her squad and prepare for the challenges of war.
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Post by Cloud Atlas on Feb 7, 2015 17:21:34 GMT -5
Cloud stifled a laugh. It was long overdue for Javelin and her to start having that effect on the stallions. Better late than never, she supposed. She snuck a glance over her shoulder, Lucky's scrunched expression drawing another light chuckle out of her. "It's not like there's very much organization team-wise. We can all get put in the same group no problem." She turned back forward and walked alongside Javelin to the registrar's tent. She eyed the paper that was hoofed to Javelin curiously, her curiosity getting the better of her when Javelin's eyebrow creased as she read it over repeatedly.
Cloud grabbed the paper when Javelin was done, reading it "Memorandum from the office of the High Commander..." she mumbled, "mandates the swift and immediate redeployment of all active and standing combat units to Fillydelphia... Javelin..." She looked up to her friend. Cloud didn't get her cutie mark for nothing, but even then It was obvious. The princess was gathering her full military might in one place. Something very big was about to happen. Her astonishment was quashed as Javelin reassured her. She smiled, "So, you and the army get to have all the fun this time, eh?" She patted Javelin on the shoulder as she turned to leave. "Be safe, Javelin." Cloud waved as her friend flew away.
She signed explosively and turned back to her new troupe of friends. "Well, that's fun. The guard is instructed to stay, so here I am. If anything, a lot of spots for work just opened up. We still need to get you all checked in, so just fill out one of these forms here-" she gestured to a stack of papers at the forefront of the clutter, "-and meet me outside. We'll wait until everypony's ready before we head out."
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Post by Lucky Charm on Feb 10, 2015 4:52:22 GMT -5
As great as it was to find someone else here appreciated a good name pun, Dusk's comment was not helping anything. "Please don't make this worse," Lucky mumbled, probably too low for anyone to hear as he was busy fighting a creeping blush. At that point he thought he would've been glad for any distraction, but the one that arrived proved him wrong.
Apparently, according to a slip of paper, Javelin would not be staying with them. If practically the whole military was getting called out to Fillydelphia (didn't they already win there?) then he probably wasn't the only one disappointed. "Heading out, huh?" He said. "Sorry to hear it. Stay safe out there, okay? Don't make this a sad story." The traveler smiled and waved as she left, then turned back to the paperwork he apparently had to fill out. At least it wasn't math. "Okay," he muttered, "doesn't look too complicated. Should have this done in no time."
Ten minutes later (he had a lot of past work experience - he'd ended up having to leave half of it out for concision) Lucky had the form filled out and met Cloud outside the tent. "Well, that was harder than it looked," he remarked. "Where to now?"
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Post by Julius Softpaw on Mar 12, 2015 21:17:43 GMT -5
Julius directed a smile towards Javelin, bowing slightly in her direction. "You will stay safe, ja? I hear those Diamond Dogs are becoming more and more vicious of late."
Following Lucky's example, Julius grabbed his paperwork. Several minutes later, after taking up another form to list the entirety of his experiences, and he was done. The writing on the forms smooth and neat. " I was never one for writing, but let no one say that Julius Softpaw has a messy paw!"
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Post by Cloud Atlas on Mar 22, 2015 12:47:56 GMT -5
Cloud nodded to Lucky and Juluis as the exited the tent. She looked past them with a bit of trepidation. "Dusk still wrestling with his paperwork?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Oh well, we've got a few minutes to spare. If he's not out by then, he can find us on the roster," without looking, she tapped a large scheduling board with an extensive spreadsheet on the post near the tent's entrance. She turned back to her two friends.
"No doubt you all got acquainted with Javelin on your trek here, but I joined a little too late for real introductions." She settled down on her haunches. "So what's your story," addressing the two of them, "Residents? Tourists? Refugees? Now's not exactly the most stable of times to be in Equestria, but hey, I want to know where to start looking should you ever owe me money." She chuckled light-heartedly. Smalltalk wasn't her strong suit, but she knew how to make friends.
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