The Future At Hoof

The stallion raised a black hoof to his eye level and inspected it, marveling at how well it had developed. Hearing his prodigy's inquiry, he closed his eyes and conjured a black magical essence to his dark gray horn and performed a very small spell. It caused a cloak of black to materialize and strap itself around his muscular form, while a hood erected itself over his head, through which his shadowy mane continued to burn. "It is I, my dear." He replied in a voice as smooth as silk while slowly, sensually parting his still flame-sprouting eyes. "But you can call me Dreadsteed."

As soon as she saw the cloak fix itself to him, Onyx already recognized her long-term teacher. She had never seen him without the article of clothing before, and boy, did she regret it. While he was older than her, it wasn't by much- at least in appearance. Then again, way back when, he did seem to relate to her much more easily than some of the other instructors- could it have been due to their age relation?  Wait- did he just tell her his name?!

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Well, Miss Pariah, it seems you've accomplished a task different to your original, what a surprise; a dark leader of a cult manipulating his subjects to do his bidding unwillingly."

Both their heads turned in sync to the unicorn, and they bore the same scowl. As their anger grew, the storm started to pick up again- the Windigos above had picked up on the hatred instantly. "He really is a bothersome specimen." Dreadsteed announced as he took a stance beside Onyx. "I'd say you have no idea, but you've been with me this entire time and have seen so for yourself.." She grumbled back to him. He chuckled and placed an arm around her back, drawing her closer to him. "And I am in your debt for not only carrying my essence, but aiding in my rebirth." At this, she flushed a deep shade of red.

Getting more serious, Dreadsteed directed his gaze to Switchblade. "Now, how about we get rid of this meddlesome stallion, hmm? Together.." Her eyes widened, their flames brightening. Killing was never something the mare cared for, nor did she truly wish ill to the target in question. But, still...if he was going to constantly get in the way of her objective, something had to be done. "What's the plan?"

She stared back at Switchblade as he started walking away and shouted through the thick howl of the storm. "BUT AREN'T WE ALREADY HAIRY? ANY MORE HAIR WOULD MAKE US GIANT PUFF BALLS... ALTHOUGH, BEING A GIANT PUFF BALL WOULD BE AWESOME!! IS THAT AN OPTION? *GASP!* YOU HAVE SECRET FUR GROWING FORMULA AND DIDN'T TELL US?!?"

Upon seeing every pony's face grow cold, she knew it was her chance to right things! She giggled and happily bounced right up to the trio and popped up right in beside Switchblade, completely ignoring his warning, and Dreadsteed. "HEHEHE, HIYA! MY NAME IS DOODLE BUG! IT'S SO NICE TO MEET YOU!! OOOOOH BOY, YOU'RE SO HANDSOME!!!" She then nudged Onyx playfully and said, "You're so lucky! Your colt friend is soooo handsome!! Soo, how'd you two meet? TELL ME TELL ME!!" She then began bouncing excitedly around Dread and Onyx while showing off her boundless energy!

"Now, all we have to do is fix those horrible frowns, I hate it when my friends are sad!" She said as her expression fell but instantly shot back up "Come on now! Show me some similes!!! Do da doo da do da do do, do da dotty do! Doodle's gonna make you smile even if you don't know how to! Every pony means a lot and every pony should care! NOW LET'S GO OUT WITH A FLARE!" She sang making goofy faces and doing a little goofy dance in attempt to make every pony's expression lighten up a bit. She then sat down in the snow with a huge, confident grin beside Switchblade.

"Say, I don't think I got your names! Would you mind telling me pretty please?"

Switchblade panicked, thoughts racing through his mind; 'what if they try to hurt Doodle, no, they wouldn't do that, or at least she wouldn't.' he thought to himself, he then started looking at Dreadsteed when his eyes widened in shock "No, it can't be you, can it? Please say you're not who I think you are." he said warily, trying to see any details through the storm. "Wait, what are you doing?" he asked Doodle, watching her playing around "What's she doing? Does she know you?" he shouted to the pair ahead of him.

"It's simple, we merely- Dreadsteed almost winced when the Pegasus appeared out of thin air and positioned herself but a cold breath away from him. Almost. Instead, the stallion retained a stoney face and waited out the energetic mare's rambling, the only sound he made in return came from the crackling of the purple flames from his eyes. He cast his gaze to his prodigy as she was nudged and quirked a brow, curious as to why the Pegasus hadn't been reduced to ashes by then. Calmly, he refocused his sights onto Switchblade, to whom he gave a most sinister smirk.

A bit taken back, Onyx looked at where she had been touched then back to the Pegasus. The blush that had developed worsened, making her pull her hood closer to her face. "Doodle Bug..was it?" The unicorn cleared her throat, hoping her voice hadn't cracked. "Listen, you aren't safe here. Please, let me teleport you to the Crystal Empire."

"She won't be safe there either." Dreadsteed interrupted, his eyes never leaving the other stallion. "Not for long, anyways." "What do you mean?" Onyx slipped out from under his arm and distanced herself a few paces. Unphased, he raised his neck up to look over the Pegasus. "The Empire will belong to us again. Only this time, it'll have no chance of restoring peace again. She shook her head. "I don't want anypony to suffer. Not again." He turned his head and met her eyes. "Those who comply will be spared, I assure you, my dear. But for there to be order, there must first be force.

The mare sighed out a cloud of condensation again. "It can't be like the way I read about." Onyx stated, recalling the tales at the library. Having been cursed to a frozen state, she had not witnessed the atrocities of the Empire first-hoof. "No slaves. No torture. For a kingdom to stand and prosper, the citizens must love their rulers. Otherwise, they're bound to rebel." She looked across the snow to Switchblade. "Get her out of here. And you- leave us be. This is your one and only warning." At the threat, her own eyes' flames gave a quick but meaningful burst.

Doodle instantly shut up, pinning her ears firmly against her head and backed off of the two. These two meant business and no amount of happy smiles will fix that. Her once happy expression fell into bottomless pit of sadness. "I-I'm sorry..." She then trotted over to Switchblade and nudged him, pointing up towards the sky. "There are some seriously angry Windigos up there... Do you really think we should just leave?"

((Sorry for the extremely short post XS))

Switchblade looked at Doodle and nodded, teleporting both of them just far enough away that they couldn't be seen, he looked at her "I don't know about you, but I'm not leaving now. Need to see this through to the end." he smiled "Whaddya say, Miss Doodle, want to tag along? Just remember that I can't promise your safety, but your help will be important."

Dreadsteed stroked his chin in deep thought. He had never seen his student act so..justly before. It was quite disturbing. "Then what exactly do you propose?" He inquired with a raised brow. "Do you honestly believe we would be free to practice our magic without being persecuted?" He began to slowly walk around the mare in circles. "I've seen how others have looked at you, even during this era. You had hoped that since so much time has passed and the minds of ponies evolved that dark magic would no longer be considered taboo. But nothing has changed, nor will it ever. Our magic will always be forbidden."

Onyx bowed her head as she absorbed the truth. "There is so much more to dark magic than evil workings." She said more to herself than anypony. "But it's done so much damage in the past, that no pony's willing to see it." Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned. "But I believe I can show them the good. That it can be used for protection instead of harm." Her eyes moved up just in time to see Switchblade teleport himself and the Pegasus away. Hopefully, they would remain just that.

The stallion stopped beside her and sighed. "I can tell you're going to be persistent on this." He chuckled a deep, charming chuckle. "Very well." Dreadsteed moved to her front and raised Onyx's head with a hoof so they were eye-to-eye. "We'll try things your way first. But when that fails, as I know it will..It's my way." She did not appreciate the tone in his voice- it was very ominous- but she nodded in agreement. At least he was giving her a chance.

"Now that that's settled, there's still the matter of that guard. He's already seen too much, and he'll only get in the way in the future." Seething with hatred, the blizzard manifested once again, but twice as strong as before. He intentionally fed the Windigos above, knowing that it would require a lot of magic to not be subdued by them. And while that meant that he and Onyx both needed to cast protective barriers around themselves, Switchblade would have to watch out for the more exposed Pegasus, thus they would have more strength to spare..

Doodle shivered as the energy from the teleportation spell sent shockwaves through her spine and made both her mane, tail and feathers stand up on end making her look much bigger than she was. "Whhhooooaaa!!" She said shaking out the fluffiness, "Please warn me if you're gonna do that." She said smoothing out her feathers, mane, and tail. "But heck yeah I'm with you! Lez do dis!" She said stomping the earth with her front hooves in determination.

(( https://mlp-fim-oc-rp.rpg-board.net/t3219-sorry-i-have-badly-burnt-dried-my-hands Sorry >.<))

((It's fine, take as much time off as you need))
Switchblade smiled "Sorry, I'm rather used to being around ponies who are used to teleportation, I forget what it does to ponies who don't teleport often." he said. He then drew his scimitar and smiled "Good; you're my only defence against the Windigos; you're cheerfulness drains their energy, they have no hatred to feed on and they leave us alone." he explained.

((Sickness sucks. School sucks more though. So close to graduation..))

Dreadsteed snorted in amusement. Did this foal truly believe that a mere blade would be of any use against his might? Such arrogance. "I really would prefer to make this long and painful, but there is so much I want to do now that I've been reborn.." He drummed his chin with a hoof while pondering the many ways he could dispose of his foe. "Ah, I've got it. This should be mildly amusing, at least.." He lowered his head and pointed his horn to the ground, then conjured a magical essence that burned through the snow, which hissed as it morphed into steam.

Onyx squinted through the storm. Their opposition was faint, but she could detect their presence through her magic with relative ease. Something that stood out and caught her a bit off guard, however, was Switchblade's weapon. It took a mere second to recognize the aura that permeated it, to which she gasped. "That blade is enchanted- and with powerful runes at that." She turned her head to her partner. "We shouldn't get close." She warned, all while keeping her tone even and calm.

The stallion simply rolled his eyes as his spell manifested as a larger cloud of steam, though no further snow had been sacrificed. "I'm not going to attack his body. I prefer to damage the mind.." His conjured cloud rampaged through the blizzard and fanned out, expanding to a mass that made it difficult to evade. Its intention was to enshroud the unicorn and pegasus, and should it seep onto their fur, its true nature would be birthed. The spell was meant to trick the mind into seeing illusions of their greatest fears, manifested with such life-like qualities that all the senses would be affected.

"You were always a wonder with those." Onyx remarked with a small grin as she cast some magic of her own to erect a protective barrier around herself and Dreadsteed. "You've become adept at them as well. I just wish you would show that talent more." He complimented in return and gave her a playful nudge. She blushed back and turned with him to face towards the Crystal Empire, which they began to slowly trek towards side-by-side.

Doodle Bug gleefully hopped around until the world around her just dropped into a pitch black. "Whoa, Switchblade? Are you there??" She then leapt into the air as the snow and ice slowly became like needles in her hide. "Uh... Miss Pariah? Swichblade? Dreadsteed?? Oh no..." Only a single light from the heavens lowered upon a scene where every pony was dead with huge frowns upon their faces. The wind swirled with echo of "This is all your fault! Look at what she did! Such a talentless mare, she's got nothing to live for! Ha, I'll bet she won't even make it out of this icy soup of death! NO wonder her parents ABANDONED her in the middle of White Tail!"

Doodle fell to the frozen ground and let out a loud scream as the spirits of the ones fallen suddenly surrounded her. "NO! NO! You aren't real! YOU AREN'T REAL!!" She covered her face with her hooves as a very familiar song flowed through her head. "Together let the light shine!" With that, she began to sing! "Oh-whoa-oh-oh-ooo-ah! Together let the light shine! I'll be by your side making everything al-always all right! Oh-whoa-oh-oh-ooo-ah-ooo, Never let those demons get you down, no no no! Never let those fears leave you behiiiind!" Doodle then smiled as she closed her eyes and let the power of the song drive her fears away! She then belted, "SAY IT ALL I'LL SAY I WILL, LET THE STORM AROUND US FILL - ALL OUR HEARTS FOREVER WILL BE TOTALLY SATIATED WITH OUR HOPE! BRAVE THE STORM I KNOW YOU WILL, BECAUSE YOUR HEARTS WILL FOREVER FILL  WITH THE JOY AND LAUGHTER THAT I KNOW YOU HAVE BURIED DEEP INSIDE! SING WITH ME AND LET OUT YOUR PRIIIIIIDE!"

She then smiled and giggled at the scene in front of her allowing the song to echo through the thickness of the wind!

Switchblade shuddered, his world descending into darkness, suddenly he smiled "Big mistake." he said, straightening up and staring forwards, his armor and blade glowing brighter than the snow "You think you can trick me with your cheap illusions? Do you not realise that I live in my own nightmare every day of my life. However, I'm not alone in this; I'm never alone in my endeavours, can you say the same? Can you!?" he yelled, upon hearing Doodle's song, he smiled, sending out a searing pulse of light that dissipated the darkness around them.

When his face was able to be seen, it was a terror inducing face; his face had gone beyond the highest form of hatred, surpassing what most thought would be possible "You can attack me, attempt to kill me; psychologically and physically torture me, and maim me. But you NEVER, EVER, harm an innocent!" he shouted, his power once again surging as he walked towards the pair.

The two ponies paused in unison and craned their necks around to look behind them. Onyx's ears perked up as they filled with song, while Dreadsteed's pulled back and lowered with anger. He snarled, his shadowed mane flaring and flickering to his burning rage. "He mocks me, does he?" As the stallion turned to face the others, he noticed how the blizzard around them was weakening. "It seems that pegasus is more trouble than she realizes." The mare commented, having also taken note of the lameness of the storm. "The Windigos can't feed when there's that much optimism around." Her eyes narrowed with irritation. "And that stallion's enchantments don't help either."

Noticing Switchblade approach, Onyx stepped forward herself, wishing to protect her Master. Magic flared around her horn in a bright red hue, with which she drew several symbols into the air before her, each one representing and ancient and archaic rune. When finished, the essence was used to conjure several red crystals, all of which matched the ones hidden on her rump that made up her Cutie Mark. Throwing her head upward, they scattered, though not without organization. She created a circular formation across a vast distance- so much so, that no two crystals could be seen within the same zone. As for their purpose? Well, that insight was not to be shed just yet.

Dreadsteed knew though, and he grinned. "That pegasus is currently his weakness. He noted with a curious tilt of his head. Stomping a hoof through the snow to the ice beneath, he conjured a puddle of shadows. Rather than to expand, however, the substance imploded until it disappeared completely- that is, until it resurfaced right beneath the flight-capable mare. Should it be successful, the puddle would swallow her whole and close, shifting her into a temporary alternate dimension of nothing but darkness. Within, no sound could be heard, nor any smells scented- it was a complete void.

Meanwhile, Onyx spread out her legs and summoned shadows of her own, which took the shape of flickering unicorns. They remained two-dimensional beside her, but where their eyes were came a ghastly red glow, and they even snorted in an animated manner. "I will defend him to the end, know this! I will not allow you to hurt him or ruin my plans!" Rearing up onto her hind legs, when she came back down and stomped the ground, the two shadows detached and began galloping to the left and right (one to each direction). "This is your only warning!"

Doodle noted the tone of Switchblade and her eyes got wide with fear. She bolted into the nearest snowdrift. "Whoa calm down! You'll only feed the Windigos! Remember, be happy! Now let's see a smile! Don't worry about me! I've dealt with so much worse than this and I'm sure you have too but right now isn't the time to be spent considering the bad when there's so much good going for you! Come on now! Smile! Smile! Everything is gonna be ok!" Doodle gave him a confident smile and returned her attention back to the two in front of her.

Doodle was too busy sticking out her tongue at the two unicorns ahead of her to notice the dark pools of energy creep underneath her until she was sinking. "Nah, nah, nah, nah, na-uh, hey! Are you guys getting bigger or... ah no! That's me!" She giggled as she was sucked down and pulled into the world of emptiness. She continued to giggle and laugh as she floated through the empty void, marveling at it's emptiness. She then let out a huge gasp as her eyes lit up with full glee! "Oh my gosh! This place is AMAZING!! ECHO, ECHO!!" She giggled louder as she attempted to sail through the darkness doing loop-de-loops and twirls she couldn't do in reality. "JUST LOOP-DE-LOOP AND TWIRL, AND YOUR TRICKS ARE READY TO GO!!!"

As she continued to explore this new world, she began to wonder what was happening above ground. She looked up but only saw vast emptiness. She pulled up her red scarf which would be weighing her down without this vast weightlessness. She tossed the big, red, frozen thing tighter around her neck until the end slapped her in the face with a hilarious "Thwap!" "Oww..." She said pulling the ice shards out of her mane.

((Sorry Zephyr, you said there was little to nothingness in the void so I expected it to take liberties on Gravity and echoes too. ^.^' If this isn't right, I'll change it!))

Switchblade smiled "You're right, Doodle. Calm." he said, the light remaining but his face entering a more collected manner, he turned seeing Doodle getting pulled into the void, sadness as he realised he couldn't get to her in time. He turned back, watching the protection incantations "You know that I can strike you down without being near you, right?" he asked "But anyway, back to my train of thought; I remember exploring a ruin in the everfree forest, a few months ago, and I remember teaming up with a mare to help her find a second half of her pendent so that she would gain enough power to prove that dark magic wasn't evil. I then remember a cultist arriving at my door, and becoming very angry over the loss of a journal. And finally I find myself face to face with a monster, and I can't help but think back to the mare in the castle, and wonder whether she would have let somepony torture an innocent to attempt to get somepony out the way instead of directly facing them, I wonder what she would think about her goals, and when she would realise that she had gone too fa. But most of all, I wonder what she would do if she saw what she had become. I'm begging you; don't make my mistake; I've spent my life atoning for it, and will never forget it." he said, not with anger in his voice, but sorrow.

((I miss this RP so much T_T))

[[I know.]]