My Little Pony - Dark magic

Falsetto turned and left. Roan looked at the colt and said "guess where he's headed"

[The colt puts his forehead against his hoof with a groan]

"If you REALLY want to die, just follow the train tracks off to the west, you'll eventually reach what used to be Appleloosa's station...wear noseplugs, though, the smell of death and smoke reaches at least 100 metres away from the town's border."

Tuxedo thanked the colt and said "you needn't worry about us" as they left Roan said "we don't plan on dying"

Breaking from his train of thought, he looked at Roan, "Why the heck is he so impatient?"

Not waiting for an answer, he followed after Falsetto.

((If need be, Geo can tell the sparse plants in the desert to bring up water, but he will have to rest afterwards, less plant -> More energy he has to use to communicate))

[The trek is long and difficult, and barely so much as a few stray, dead bushes decorate the landscape.

Soon, the sand turns into harder stone, and the tracks turn towards Appleloosa. The town is clearly in disrepair, a few buildings still emit smoke and one even falls to the side with a loud *thud* as the group looks to it. The sun is finally up in full, it's heat beating down on the group.]

Geo panted, "Too damn hot." He discarded the cloak, this place looked deserted enough that he wouldn't need it anyways.

Tuxedo kept his breath even and his steps careful. Falsetto looked around, irritated at the lack of clues.

[The streets are littered with rubble from the nearby buildings, the nearby windows have all been shattered, and even a few glowing, magical glyphs adorn certain sections of the ground. The apple farm that used to exist just to the south has become a barren, ash-laden space of rocky land, not a tree left.

The glyphs start to become more and more common as the street moves up a hill, becoming incredibly dense just outside what would likely be the remains of City Hall.

The unicorns, however, feel a small magical energy dissipating from both City Hall and the glyphs, the latter of which having what would seem to be a more destructive sort of magic.]

Geo gulped when he felt the destructive magic, opposite to his, "I really don't like the feel of this place..." He muttered.

His gaze was drawn to the destroyed city hall, "Something's up... I can feel it..."

"We cannot turn back," Tuxedo replied "this a light rain compared to the storm the princess will rain down upon us"

"I know that... But it still doesn't stop me from being apprehensive..." Geo said rather flatly as he steeled himself against the magic.

((Geo is based in "creation magic," so the "destruction magic" in the glyphs is making him wary and a bit sick...))

[The glyphs don't act up whatsoever as Geo passes them, though the crackling destruction magic seems to be waiting in anticipation.

Closer examination may reveal more about the glyphs, yet the strange magic seems as if it's waiting for such a thing.]

Tuxedo, figuring there wasn't much else to do, examined one of the glyphs

[The glyph bore many symbols seemingly etched into the rock it rested on, all of them weren't any of the familiar sort. None of them were Equine in design, nor were they archaic, or even magical symbols in unicorn magic.

Though you hadn't set hoof within the glyph just yet, the seemingly sentient magic was let loose, a large torrent of flame rising swiftly upwards towards Tuxedo, an almost Equine visage appearing within the fire, bearing a snarl.

The unicorns could sense that while this was technically magic, it seemed like only half of it could have been conjured by a unicorn. The rest of it, though, is a bit more mysterious.]

Tuxedo managed to doge most of the flames, though his flank had a nasty burn and his tail and mane were singed. Roan went to Tuxedo's side, ready to defend him, and yelled "what the hell was that?!"

Geo jumped back in terror, "What in the name of..!" He yelled.

Galloping over to Tuxedo and Roan, his horn started to glow as he prepared his magic, despite how little it could probably do.

[A light chuckle emanates from the City Hall, still a fair distance away. From just above the dilapidated building, the burning form of a mare's head, shoulders, and burning mane appears. It looks down to where the glyph went off with a wicked grin]

"Ah, it seems one of my traps went off, yet I still sense that there's still at least one of you walking~," the apparition spoke loudly, it's voice seemingly empowered by magic instead of any biological means. "Tread lightly, little ponies, if you ever wish to reach my home. I'll tell you what, whoever sets hoof within this place first has the honor of being the first to try and stab me through the heart, and the last to set hoof in here...gets an apple, I suppose. Approach me if you dare, ponies~." With that last sentence, the form dissipates into smoke.

Geo looked at the other, "What the hell was that?"

He looked over at the city hall and gulped, his nerves betraying him.

[The magical energy around the group crackles in anticipation, awaiting any sort of movement from the group, each of them seemingly *wishing* for somepony to step within it's confines to trigger the magical discharge.

A different sort of energy, however, comes from the City Hall now. This one is more of the Illusion magic, the school that involved things ranging from changing pony behaviour, to cloaking, to conveying messages, beckoning to any magic user within a certain radius.]

Geo looked around carefully. Closing his eyes, he let a magical tendril snake it's way through the ground trying to find the source of the illusion magics within the ruins of the city hall. He really didn't trust himself to move at this point.

[The magical tendril itself made it's way up towards the City hall, the destructive magic along the way quivering as it approaches. Sure enough, a few of the glyphs are set off again, their forms bursting upwards into flames, the glyphs disappearing as the fire dissipates.

The source of the illusion magic is hard to discern from this distance, but it was certainly coming from what would've been the lobby of the building and, curiously, didn't seem like it would be used offensively. In fact, it seemed very much like the unicorn spell meant to convey a message.]

Tuxedo walked slowly, keeping an eye out for traps. Roan kept to the sky, he figured there might be something prepared for flyers, but at the moment he was better off in the air and less likely to set off a trap. Falsetto stayed close to Geo. Being an earth pony made life simple, but also meant he was close to useless in these situations.

[Sure enough, the group makes it to the City Hall without further incident.

Just outside the barely-standing front door, the smell of an Equine corpse assaults the senses of the ponies.]

Taking in the stench Roan groaned "ok, now, is that really necessary?" Tuxedo was slightly unnerved by the scent, but of all the ponies that should have a reaction, Falsetto walked forward as if he smelled nothing.

Geo followed the group towards the city hall, when the smell of the corpse assaulted his sinuses, he gagged slightly, "Really..."

Seeing Falsetto not reacting in the slightest made Geo wonder, one, about his sanity, and two, Falsetto's past.

Tuxedo looked at Falsetto and said "riiiight, this is new to me. Falsetto, you should probably react to burning flesh" Falsetto nodded and faked a disgusted face.

((Waiting on DM))

(Sorry, was busy trying to get Fruity Loops to work...now I'm confused as to what to do, so I'll look up a tutorial later)

[The room inside is just as one would expect, at least in terms of architecture. The building is clearly breaking apart, a hole now exists in the roof, and rotten apple cores are scattered here and there on the floor. On the left lays the corpse of a black mare, her crimson hair already starting to lose it's colour, one hoof on what looks like a journal and the other...sprawled over the back of a strange looking creature next to her.

The creature doesn't seem to have a coat, in fact it seems hairless, short of the strange-looking light-blue material atop it's head, likely it's mane. It's legs seem riddled with holes and strange shapes, two insectoid wings are attached to it's sides, and a strange crooked horn-like object protrudes from it's forehead. Unlike the black mare, however, this creature seems alive. It's torso moves up and down slowly and periodically, likely sleeping.

To the right lays another, larger glyph, this one of the Illusion magic that was sensed earlier.]

Geo squinted at the two figures, "What in the name of..." He muttered, something told him that something was up or maybe it was the glyph messing with him.

"Wait...Is that a changeling?" He wondered aloud, he had seen an image of one in one of his books.

((I wasn't sure if this was pre or post-wedding, so I came up with a compromise.))

Falsetto turned to Geo and gave a quizzical look.

"I can't remember much from my books, but changelings are strange creatures that are somewhat related to Equestrians. Their magic generally revolves around illusions, manipulation and trickery... That's all I can remember." Geo hung his head, it had been so long since he last read a good book.