[MLP:FIM] The Clock and the Mirror (IC)

OOC thread is here.




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We are what we believe we are.
C.S. Lewis

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Just as quickly as the throbbing pain in your head came, it vanished.
You tremble for a moment, still sitting in an up-right position, as your warm bed has now be replaced by an icy flagstone floor. The sound of laboured huffing and crackling electricity fills your ears. You open your eyes, shaded by your sweating hands, and a dim green light filters in between your fingers along with the outline of two four-legged creatures before you.
You suck in the damp, warm air. The heavy stink of cleaning fluids and pharmaceuticals fill your nostrils.

You pull your hands away from your face and slowly look around the room.
To either side of you there lay other people, arranged in a semi-circle around the unicorn. All of them where the same gender and were likewise slowly getting to their feet. Taking a moment to count, you noticed that there where 6 of you in total. Strangely, you notice that they are wearing some kind of golden jewellery around their necks. Although for some strange reason, it seems to be on back-to-front. In a moment of empathic curiosity, you reach up and notice that you're wearing one too!
Taking a look down where you lay you notice a massive, white, glowing dodecagram etched into the flagstones, large enough to contain your prone form. You look back over to the others and you can see a similar symbol for all of them.

Finally blinking into focus you look up at the figures before you.

You blink once more as you look again. There was no denying it, the two creatures before you was a Unicorn and a Griffon.

Although the lights may be playing tricks on you, you think that you can work out the unicorn to be of light blue color. His black mane was ragged and poorly maintained, although the fatigued look on his face and heaving breath did little to help his appearance. The horn upon his head glowed green as brilliantly as a light blob although it was beginning to die down in intensity.
The griffon standing next to the Unicorn was a proud, if battle scarred creature. Dressed in some kind of chain hauberk with an unrecognisable heraldry, his dark brown feathers ruffed somewhat but his face otherwise showed no emotion. He looked over you and the others with a piercing gaze from his single right eye. His other eye was gone, likely from fire if the featherless scaring around face was anything to show.

Finally, the unicorn's features soften and slowly change from lethargy to ecstasy.

“I did it.” He mumbled, almost disbelievingly. You feel a jolt of shock as the creature began speaking perfect English. The impossibility of such an action followed soon after, throat variation, accents, all of it professed the sheer madness of what you where seeing. Yet, the creature did not stop.

“Gram, I DID IT!” He crowed once more, getting up on his hind feet and hugging the griffon next to him. The bird-lion creature did his best to remain stoic but the bemused look on his face and flapping wings as the pony all but fell on top of him did little to keep his pride. In perhaps a mixture of triumph and relief the unicorn begins to laugh into his compatriot’s feathered hide.

“Vital Chord, compose yourself. Are you sure that these are the ones?” 'Gram' asked the pony, gently peeling the over-zealous creature off of him.
“Oh yes! Of course! These are the ones the Elements resonated with!” 'Vital's' head bobbed up and down rapidly enough that you could have sworn you heard his skull rattling. Only from this angle can you see the mark on his back flank, a picture of, what you can only assume to be, Earth as though it where a ball of yarn.
Vital closed his jaw, as though trying to maintain an ounce of seriousness before he burst out again.
“I DID IT! I defeated Celesta’s wards! Do you know that this means, Gram? I've defeated the work of one of the most powerful magic users in the Known world!!”

“Indeed. Vital, you know what is required of you. Please ensure that our guests are taken care of.” Gram took a look back over you all, stoically taking in your every feature. With a flap his wings expanded out and he walked over to a nearby balcony.
The face on the pony behind fell slightly at the sight of the Griffion leaving.
“Oh, you must go so soon? I had a bottle of Apple-acres Cider set aside incase we managed-... erm, WHEN we succeeded.”

Gram turns and gives what must approximate to a smile before giving out a barking chuckle. “Have a glass with the guards, they've been a little on edge recently. You and I? We'll pick up a fresh one when we march to Ponyville.” With that promise the Griffon flapped off into the night sky, his flight seemingly unimpeded by his armor.

Vital Chord hung his head for a moment before turning towards you all, a smile slowly returning to his face.
“Oh, forgive my manners! You've all been so quiet while I've been gabbing on. Are you all feeling alright? No aches or pains?” Although joyful, the concern on his face and in his voice seemed genuine as he trotted towards you all.



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At the moment you are sorted left to right in a semi-circle before Vital in the order of your acceptance list (so InsaneCat is opposite Mandalayain). Around your necks are the elements of harmony corresponding to your chosen (or assigned) pony. This is also true for Talos, although the tiara is hanging upside down in a rather awkward position around your neck. Strangely, the jewel of all the pendent are stuck on the nape of your neck and thus are effectively on backwards.
A word of advice players, not all is as it seems.
Gentlemen, start your RPing!

A fat, out of shape, 6'2ish man wearing bluejeans, a pair of glasses and a green shirt gaped, his mouth working like it was chewing a piece of gum before the griffin eventually left and the unicorn asked his question. "What-" He started to swear before something seemed to make him feel less like doing something so harsh. "What just happened?"

Looking around he tried to take it all in and process the current events.

I will be frank, I'm hardly the sort of person to accept "Pulled in through a portal for long and ominous adventure" as the kind of thing that happens to me. Between wrestling with a broken toe, a lack of available work hours, and that I had taken a few painkillers before trying to nod off, the normal "What the FUCK is this?!" Reaction had been blunted long enough for me to process it all.

So, instead, I fell back to my ingrained response--trained from several months of intense call-in tech support work--to being addressed by a stranger, non-committal courtesy.

"I've been better, I've been a lot worse though" I yawned, blinking a few times as I got the sleep out of my eyes, before pushing my glasses up with both hands. There was some babbling and other talk beforehand...

But I can't rightly say I was paying attention to it either.

"So, what can I... do... Wait a second..."

I blink then, as the neurons in my brain finally start firing in sequence.

"... Hold on a second, where is this place?" I said, finally recognizing that I was not, in fact, in bed talking to something, but actually on a cold stone floor. "And who are..."

I finally notice the one talking.

"... Wait, are you a Griffon?" I asked incredulously.

"No, he's a pony, the griffon just left." I pointed out before breaking into an uncontrollable giggle at that.

I blink again, and look More closely. "... And of course, I'm blind... I'm not very good with mornings"

I take my glasses off and rub them off--focusing on the one who was actually still here... Then I rub them off again, because my shirt tends to just make smudges worse.

After finally managing to get it a little more viewable, I get them back on and look... And stare the horse-thing in the eye for a moment.

"... Welp" I say, biting into one of my fingers for a moment, then shaking it out, and looking again. Still here.

"So, I wasn't really following... What exactly happened?"

I blink.
'You have got to be kidding me.'
I blink again.
'You have GOT to be kidding me'
I blink third time.
'Yup. I'm still here. Unicorn still here. Others are still here. Time to "Keep Calm and RAGE AT ROB" or something... Ok, fuck this i didn't even get to sleep this time and have no strength to rage'
I sigh.

"I hate this kind of shit. Especially in the morning." I mutter.

I stand up and... 'Oh god my back!' ...bend backwards feeling and hearing my bones getting in right place. I straighten a moment later.

"Ohhh... That's better." 'Now, lets get to business.' "Why i'm here again?" I say looking at unicorn.

Taking a better look around the room you're in, you can safely assume that you're in some kind of laboratory judging from the numerous alchemical devices and blueprints plaster across desks and walls. Diagrams of mechanical devices, the outline of the star below you and a bisection of a unicorn horn are among the pictures. However, the most eye catching part of the one of the sheets of blueprints is the unmistakable outline of the a human being, male in particular.
There seems to be only be two exits from the domed stone room, a solid-looking metal/wood door just behind Vital and a balcony over to the left from where Gram flew.

With a few of you standing you have a better gauge of this creature's height. Although an equine, the creature before you seems to be quite short. The crest of it's head only reaching up to the middle of your chest.

As you speak Vital Chord seems to almost savour your responses. His head gently bobbing and eyes keenly focused, taking in every word as though it was sage advice from a renowned philosopher.
"Yes, yes, yes, of course! Please, take a moment to gather your strength. I don't know the complete toll such a magical exercise might take on another pony let alone a Human Being!" The pony rears up on his hind legs as he speaks those last words, his front legs waving in the air with barely contained excitement. Although 'standing', the pony seemed to have gained barely half a foot in height.

"Why you are here... why you are... oh yes! That will be made clear in but a moment but right now you all need to rest. I have some quarters set aside (ohIhopethey'renotlumpy) for you all." He explains, his front legs moving animatedly before quickly mumbling under his breath with a concerned expression. The expression vanishes almost as suddenly as it appeared and one of his hooves pitching forward to point out the symbol beneath each of you.
"While it may be redundant to say it, what with the shield and all, I need you to remain in that marked circle that you're in. The magic of this world may well be doing it's best to reject you right now and I can't say what that might do to you. So, just say there for a few minutes for the seals to fully do their work and I'll call in the servants to serve you some water and get you some rest." With that he falls back to the floor with two sharp clops of hooves contacting with stone. A somewhat satisfied expression on his face.


Alectai, for some reason your toe begins to flare up in pain. The feeling was steady at first, but is it now rapidly beginning to feel as though you hadn't taken your painkillers at all.

"So I see..." I commented as I stoood up slowly, getting a feel for the place as best I could. Normally, upon being pulled from who knows where to who knows where and with no clue as to why you were here, a person might have caused to be worried.

I was not.

Strange that.

I couldn't really remember much ether only the very vauge idea that I had done all this before. So, instead of panicking, I did the logical thing and focused on the unicorn.

"I am assuming you have some plan as to how to get us out of here? If the natural magic is trying to reject us, I imagine it would not be pleasent were these shields to fail."

"What will happen if we get "Rejected"? Will we go back home or end dead?" I say crouching and putting my hand near lines of that seal.

Alex watched as the battle scared griffin flew away, leaning forward with an incredulous look on his face as his mind processed what just happened in front of him.

...What...the...hell’s going on...is that a pony? And a griffin? he thought to himself, mind reeling. Strangely though, a small part of him noted that he wasn’t freaked out by this nearly as much as he should be. Ok...calm down...panicking won’t do me any good, I need to figure out what’s going on. he thought as he silently processed the scene that just played out before the group, trying to gather as much information as he could while the others talked.

Ok, if that pony and griffin were any indications, we’re probably in Equestria....or something like that....You’d think I’d be more freaked out by that....Anyway, looks like there’s six of us, and we all seem to be wearing...wait... He looked down at the necklace around his neck and peeled it back a bit to see the design on the front, before quickly letting go when the pointy end jabbing into his skin started causing some pain. ...We’re wearing the Elements of Harmony....ok, this is really starting to get weird...and I’m wearing Generosity for some reason... he let out a small ‘Heh’. Well, someone has a sense of humor.....Anyway, what else...that unicorn said something about breaking Celestia’s wards, which means the Princess probably didn’t just lend them to him for whatever freaky magical ritual he just did...and that griffin mentioned marching on Ponyville... Alex quickly put all the information he had together. ...It looks like those two, and whoever they work for, are planning on invading Equestria, and they probably mean to use the Elements against their previous owners in some way, probably through us as we seem to all be wearing them.....And now this is starting to sound a bit ridiculous, like I’m in some kind of weird fan-fic.

Alex looked up at the unicorn as the other talked to him. He looked like a nice enough guy...or buck...whatever, but at this point, he couldn’t really be sure of anything, especially if his suspicions were correct. For the moment, obfuscating stupidity was probably his best option...or at least ignorance.

He slowly got up, noticing that he was still wearing his pajamas, checkered pants in different shades of teal and a t-shirt with the Hyrule symbol from the Legend of Zelda games. “Couldn’t of gave us a chance to change...” he mumbled to himself before he fixed his gaze on the unicorn. “I hope you have a good reason for taking us from our homes.” he said, crossing his arms as he looked down at him. “Also, what the heck are these things?” He waved a hand over the necklace around his neck. He of course knew what they actually were, but questions led to more information, and he didn’t want to let on how much he knew at this point.

I frown, and make sure to sit cross-legged on my spot, putting some pressure to straighten the toe out again--I was about a week into the healing process, enough that I could get around at a decent percentage of my usual speed, but shoes were a nightmare.

Hopefully the tape I had would last for a while, especially if this was going to be one of those long-term things.

"Rejection?" I asked. "I'm guessing since it's a passive thing, that it's not going to be precise enough to actually send us back home, and..."

I think about the implications of this. "... I think you might want to explain the situation a bit" I asked. "We've got time, and considering you're using what's apparently Vaguely Sinister magic to break the local rules and call us, I doubt it's something we should be kept in the dark about."

I shake my head as I stand, mind buzzing as I try and determine what happened to me. "All right. What do I know? I'm not in my room. There was a gryphon in the room wearing armor and speaking. There is a rather small Unicorn in front of me, also speaking. There are occult symbols covering the area." I muse, before taking note of the jewelry I am wearing. "And I also seem to be wearing...The Element of Honesty? Interesting choice. So, given the information, what is the likely suspect? Summoning. They summoned us, for some reason.

I pause, eyes narrowing as I review the conversation thus far. "Wait. Marching on Ponyville? Add that with the mention of Celestia's wards, and the fact they have the Elements of Harmory... Potential theft of the Elements, and a brewing war? But then why summon us? Humans would be near helpless in this setting given that we cannot match the native creatures abilities... Unlikely to be our technological base. It would take too long, and too much to set up. Perhaps we will follow different rules than natives?"

I fully stand, stretching slightly, and examine the others, trying to calculate their reactions. "Odd. No one seems as worried as they should be...And neither am I. A mental effect from the summoning? Or another enchantment layered to keep us from panicking, and make us docile?"

"The plan then for now should be... Stay silent, listen, and watch for further effects on all of those in this group. Determine if they can be trusted, or if they are useful. For the natives, listen, wait, and watch. Determine threat level, and see what is going on before acting. My first instinct is to assist Equestria, but given that I do not know if this world is canon, that could be a mistake." I think, sorting out my starting plan.

I stand silently in the circle, my arms folded, doing my best to study and memorize the runes and patterns, listening to the others in the room.

I started to process things, reworking over the conversation. We had been brought here, the others were wearing familiar jewelery in a very odd way and touching my neck I found that I was too, though given the fact that it was below my chin I couldn't see what it was.

At least it wasn't as uncomfortable as how the main headdress attached to the guy two spaces to my left looked. I guessed that made him our 'Twilight' and de facto leader?

I definitely didn't want to be repelled as it didn't sound pleasant so I stayed seated.

"So.. most people know me as Asmodemus, Asmo for short. Good to meet you Vital Chord, that is your name, right?" I saw no reason to use my real name, remembering various literature about the fae and True Names and he seemed to be kind of a fanboy of us. And getting an introduction quickly allowed for sorting out who was who.

Alex raised an eyebrow as 'Asmodemus' said his 'Name'.

Asmodemus? Isn't that a guy on Space Battles? .....Weird....I hope this isn't like one of those games on the BROB Forums....

Vital looks back over to you with something of a sheepish expression.
"Well... this had never been done before. The shields I put up weren't strictly necessary to the ritual but I did them as a precaution none the less. The will shut down once the wards that brought you here can fully... well... I suppose 'Anchor' is the best way to describe it." He tries to inject some enthusiasm into his voice but all the while he doesn't quite meet your eyes.

The pony plants his flank into the uncomfortable cobblestones, crossing his hind-legs and puts a hoof to his face.
"Well this is all theortical, frankly. All I know is that when the world rejects you it may be simply that. The world bounces you away from here. That's why I'm trying to anchor you all down so it doesn't get the chance. I used the Elements of Harmony to find you... I'm not sure if the Elements will be able to find your home." He face contorts into a grimace at the the thought as he rattles off the explanation.

Sitting back, you focus on the pony for a moment. All a sudden you feel as though Vital becomes... simplier, easier to understand. You hear a voice whisper in your head.

He knows nothing of human thought, he will believe what you say. He respects you and wants to trust you. He will do what you wish.

You feel a strange sensation flow through you as your eyes take a moment to mentally focus on the out of sight Element of Generosity. Words and concepts pop into your mind.

Element of Generosity:
Gold-titainum alloy base. Amethyst gemstone, 500 carat. Barter for 10 pairs of high quality tailored clothing or 40 pairs of high quality untailored clothing. True value likely to be priceless.

As you sit back down on the harsh cobblestones you can feel the pain from your toe quickly begin to subside. For a moment there it seemed like it was hurting as much as when you had just broken it.

The unicorn nods slowly at Alex's words, beginning to chew the corner of his lip as though weighing up his options to tell you something. He seems to almost flinch as Alectai speaks, halting himself before returning to thought with a slightly more desperate expression. As you speak you seem to be able to break down what little mental barriers he had left. With a quick lick of his lips he banishes the look of consternation of his face and stands up once more. He nods with a certain finality to it.

"Yes. My name is Vital Chord. I am a proud to be a scientist, one of the few in this world. This is an honour to met you Asmodemus." He responded without a hint of irony or sarcasm, taking a bow as only a quadruped could.

"Very well, you all seem to be lucid enough and if you wish it then I will not withhold answers from you. You have all been... taken from your homes because my people desperately need your help. We would not have done so unless we had no other option. My people are subjugated in other strength of arm and mind by an twin pair of immortal dictators who ensures their rule by staggering magical might and force of personality. They believes they knows what is best for my people by strangling them creatively and artistically. By their will alone they claims they can raise the sun and the moon." He tells you with an earnest expression on his face, in the depths of his eyes you can see bitterness and fear as he speaks of the dictators.

"However... if you wish for someone to hate for the heinous crime of stealing you away from your lives. Do not hate my people, hate me. I was the one to suggest this course of action. Because I know that the Elements could bring the heroes we need to stop them." Vital said, admitting guilt with a clearly numb expression on his face.

I carefully keep my features blank as I hear the whisper. "Indeed? That is useful information. However, and a bit more importantly, who, or what, are you? I mentally reply to the voice, as I continue to examine the area, focusing more deeply on the magic circles and wards.

"Vital Chord. I hold no hatred of you." I speak for the first time, voice cultured and refined, polite and soft. "It seems you have taken great care in our summoning. From your words, your people are in a unfortunate, to say the least, situation. But I must ask, what is it exactly, that you wish of us?" I inquire. "You say you seek heroes. Am I to take it, that you wish for us to remove these dictators from their position of ruler-ship then, in a manner most likely involving battle?"

"Asmo? Seriously?" I say, giving a bit of a Look at that point. "Really? That's like being summoned by vegans and calling yourself Carnivore."

I shake my head then. "Name's Colin, I'm not exactly sure why I, of all people, am here, in a place like this, but if--as you put it, it's indiscriminate..."

I sigh, and settle down a bit again. "Right, so, immortal dictators of unstoppable might and nearly unstoppable resources, your best bet was to summon--from what I can gather, beings from outside the world who--as I'm guessing by all of your precautions that you're taking--are supposed to be operating outside the rules of this world... Is that Really the most well-thought plan? You're just as likely to get a gribbly that bears a great hate for all that lives, breathes, or is otherwise ambulatory then people capable of something resembling rational thought."

I shook my head. "Whatever, we're here now, and since the idea of having to charge through the swarm of angry creatures that are undoubtedly prepared if any of us try to pull a runner doesn't appeal... I think I'll need more information--what Possible help could we be against said super-beings? Abstract Thought and moderately good long-range endurance only goes so far after all."

"I don't hate you." I reassure him with a smile.

"I also have questions if you don't mind.

What exactly do these rulers do to stifle your people?

What things do they do to prevent growth?

Do your people as a whole desire to be freed?

Who exactly is the griffin that just left and what is his relationship to all of this?"

"....Weird....." he muttered.

....I think the Element may be giving me some sort of identifying ability....I wonder what else it's doing....I'll have to investigate later....

...That almost sounds likes one of those idiotic 'Grimdark' stories that I always glare at while silently wishing Ion Cannon related death on the authors...Although even if it isn't true, this guy certainly believes it anyway. Alex thought with a frown. As much as I hate to consider it though, this may very well be an universe distinct from the one from the show, where Celestia and Luna are insane despots....Or maybe the two dictators he's referred to ever-so-vaguely aren't the princesses at all....We really need more information before we can make any reasonable conclusions.

"Don't worry, I really don't hate you either. Heck, if I was in your position, I'd probably do the same thing too.....Well, maybe I'd try to build a giant laser cannon first, but...." he shook his head. "Anyway, I'm going off topic. But we really need more information if we're going to be taking down evil despots. For starters, what are the names of these dictators? It's always nice to know your enemy's name....And....actually, Asmodemus over there pretty much asked all my other questions....My name's Alex, by the way."

"I see...." I said slowly, mind working quickly. Of course, with no prior knowledge of the magic base, it would be hard to reach an exact conclusion, but from what I had so far learned, the natural magical field was trying to reject us, perhaps the same way that a body's natural defence would with a virus? I'd need to look into that. But for now, there were more important matters.

"Well, your shields seem to be doing their jobs for now, so I can hardly complain. I do however hope that these wards anchor quickly for I do not know how long they will last. I suppose I should be worried or surprised to find myself suddenly summoned to a strnage place but for some reasons, all I can dredge up is a profound sense that all of this is very familiar to me. So, I hope to quickly aquant myself with this place. I assume, you summoned us for a reason?"

I settle back to observe the unicorn's reaction.

"Indeed?" Elements of Harmony, eh? I thought to myself. I could use that information, but first I need to know more. "By the sound of them, they need to find a very specific bearer? How do you know that we are the correct ones?"

"In that case, since you have told us your name it is only polite that I inform you of mine as well. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you my real name, for reasons that will be revealed in time, so for now you may call me Talos."

"You need our help to fight these two then, I take it? An interesting puzzle. If the two beings have such power, fighting them directly would be no easy feat. And the sheer magical might of these things would be quite impressive..."

Especially if they are who I think they are.

"What would you expect us to do to fight them?"

"Hate is a strong word and one that I do not invoke lightly. So no, I do not hate you. I don't even mildly dislike you. Whether that changes or not will of course depend on how you and those you associate with act towards me and my friends here, but suffice it to say that at the moment, hate is quite far from my mind."

Your mental reply goes unanswered and seems to make no more response. Even as you focus on the magic circles you can glean no further insight from them. However, you do notice that while they all seem to be glowing brightly, the one around Talo's feet has almost completely entirely faded away.

“Colin, Alex, Asmodeus, Talos and erm...” Vital mentally notes, a bob of the head as he counts off whose name belongs to who. He looks over to InsaneCat and Mandaylian with a slight look of consternation before turning back to Talos. His mood seems to slowly brighten once more now you've shared your feelings with him.

“You... all have very good questions, I hope that I can better explain it in due time. As for your familiarity I can't even begin to describe what that might caused by. I barely understand what could be considered normal for a human being.

“What I do know that, while you all may not believe it, you have been chosen by the Elements of Harmony for a reason. This summoning was not at random and if you do not think that you are able to help us, then I believe you to be wrong. I have heard stories of your people and I know that you are renown for your progression and capabilities. I have full confidence that the Elements have not steered us wrong.

“The twin rulers, Celestia and Luna, while grievously misguided, I would not truly be able to call them evil. They are products of their time and, whether knowingly or not, are far too restrictive on the use of magic. Sadly, my people do not realise what they might grasp if they throw off these restrictions. Imagine! Transportation between worlds, exploration across the stars! Immortality for all, not just two! That is the future that I want. The future that we deserve. My goal is not to fight them but to convince them how wrong they are. The Griffon Kingdom requisitioned this summoning so that you may make this war a blood-less one, it is a war of ideology-!”

Suddenly, the voice whispers into Mandalayain's ear again.
He is deceiving himself. The war will not be blood-less. The Griffons want you to fight.


Vital is cut off from his monologue by a distant glassy crunch, followed by the sounds of shouting, bird-like squawks and claws and hooves on stone. He turns to the face the noise emanating up from the reinforced wooden door.

The sound of a scrambling unlatching of locks from the other side of the door, a decidedly suspicious arrangement, before one side of the the massive wooden door was shoved open a crack, just large enough to squeeze through. Through the crack, the stony face of an armoured griffon poked through.
“Master Chord, we where compromised. Retrieve your belongings, we leave now.” A guttural, nordic voice came from the griffon's beak. A clawed hand poked through the hole and threw a small satchel at the blue pony, who telekinetically caught it with a green light. A confused look spread across Vital's face.

The unicorn's eyes widened, looking at the satchel for a moment before looking back, his hoof shot out into a point. “W-we need more time! The anchors aren't complete!”

“You have ten seconds.”
The guard's beak didn't move.
The griffon's eyes widened before two birdlike-hands pulled him back into the hallway, a white cloth smothering it's beak. The exact span of time passed and the same guard was shoved into the room, falling to the ground in a feathery slump but otherwise still breathing.

The doors of the lab where suddenly flung open from the force of two powerful bucks. A griffon and two stallions, one with black coat and armour and one white with white coat and armour standing on either side of him.
Dressed in a dark-grey armour, the Griffon strode forward, stepping over the now unconscious guard. A proud and regal creature, it's dark brown feathers where sleeked down. His keen eyes swept the room before signalling the two stallions beside him, each moved two either side of the room.

“I am Excelsior, captain of Her Royal Majesties special forces, Eclipse.” The Griffon introduced himself, standing before the blue unicorn.
“Vital Chord, you are under arrest for 6 counts of breaching the celestial wards and kidnapping. Did you really think that we would not notice this?”

"True enough" I agree, before finally brushing the back of my neck, noticing the... Object I was currently wearing. I can't really say I was a big fan of gold, a bit gaudy in my opinion--but then again, I also tended to favor earth-tones, as you might guess from my brown button-shirt and jeans. Decent enough for cold weather, given the winter we were having back home.

Elements of Harmony. Wonderful, I'm now carrying a device of great power, at least if the name and what little I knew about the story from my occasional glimpses were any indication. I wonder which one this was?

"Okay, I'm going to hold you up there." I say, both hands going up at that point. "Immortality? Not nearly all it's cracked up to be if the stories are anything. It only tends to work for beings that are like that naturally, it's a matter of how the mind works. Us mere mortals getting that? That's Not something to strive for. The rest though, I can't really debate, though indiscriminate transport isn't usually very proper either."

"No, of course it'd be noticed" I thought, looking down at the glow around mine... Probably be nice if that picked up soon, this was probably going to smash in a hurry, and I'd very much prefer to have the option of "Not being bounced somewhere entirely random" if this goes wrong--not the least being that I'm wearing a precious artefact native to this place, and I'd rather not have a reputation as a thief, accidental or not.

"But arrive this soon? Through what was either heavily secluded, or incredibly secure? Someone's playing politics or exploiting teleportation. That kind of reaction time isn't normal."

Ah, good, the stallion had good intentions, ones that possibly might be correct. With time and questioning he could likely be persuaded to a fight via persuasion instead of conquest. I truly doubted the sisters would turn to violence if the opposing party did not first do so.

If this was based on canon that is.

"Optional immortality where you can die at your own choice and will however is something to strive for in my opinion. It's a matter of opinion."

"I urge you to not be violent with him. He truly believes he's been doing the right thing, trying to achieve a noble goal. Though I believe more peaceful methods of persuasion would be better than the path he's been taking.

Would you mind telling us what you know of this situation and your orders? We're not going anywhere out of this circle anytime soon so you know." I continue being seated with a resigned but calm expressio.

'Well Fuck. This doesn't look like war of ideology to me...
The anchors aren't ready and we don't know what will happen if we step outside runes...
...No one want to die....
What to do? What to do?
Fight? Run? Both?
Stay and listen. Gather information. - Yup that will work best for now.'

I stand up and chuckle to myself looking at 'Element' before looking at this special forces guy.

'Eclipse huh? Solar or Lunar? Let's wait and see...'

I quirk one eyebrow as I add another SBer name to the list.

"Odd... Then again, he does have the Element of Magic, and I have no idea how they are going to work..." I ponder as I turn y attention back to the others in the room.

"To introduce myself or not? I would be polite, and I do so detest bad manners. However...There is at least SBer I have not identified, and I am still within a magic circle... No, I shall have to remain rude slightly longer."

"From your phrasing, humans are not native to this plane. So how do you know about us?"

"Indeed." I mentally note to the voice. "Do you believe your allies wish for the same thing, Vital Chord?"

"Well. This could be a problem. He seems to be telling the truth about the anchors, and I have no real desire to be spread across the multi-verse. And I should really be more panicked than I am right now..."

"Well, it worked once..." I think, before I focus on the three newcomers, trying to gain information on them, as I did on Vital Chord.