In The Kingdom Of Hope [Concluded]

Continued from:
http://www.fimfiction.net/group/199152/oc-roleplay/thread/36688/gamein-the-kingdom-of-hope#page/20


The guard sighed at Sugary. He could see stallion's view rather easily, but the system was there for a reason; even if said reason was hidden to those like him. "I understand what you are saying, but we're all jumping through the same hoops right now so I'd learn to suck it up. The heat ain't going nowhere in any hurry." The guard looked at the identification thrust in front of him. He looked to the other guards and shared a silent conversation with their eyes, their spokespony getting return glances. Before speaking up with a smile. "I don't really care who you are. That's not a order I'm legally bound to recognise.so you can complain to whoever you want, I'm in no wrong. In fact, thanks to the," the guard mock coughed. "Magic of bureaucracy, it doesn't matter if my boss, my boss's boss, my boss's boss's boss, or even Celestia walked up. No papers, no entry.". The guard yawned rather loudly, and rather rudely.     

"Some say Crissis, I say easy pay," one of the other guards shrugged. 

"And I don't think you staying here will be required, though you're free to loiter where you wish," The third  guard said, opening the door with the intention of walking inside. It was an oppurtunity if there was one, but it  would also blow any chance of a peaceful way past the guards. "That's still legal. For now." 

Whether or not, be it by blind luck or clever deduction, Lampshade had chosen the right path remained to be seen. Another flight of stairs was there if they wished to keep climbing,  though on this floor there were rooms that looked of an even size and spacing. They all had something on or around the door, most of them highlighting a name, likely the one who owned the room.

Isabelle pouted and sighed quietly. Her eyes lit up as she thought of something and she took her I.D back, sliding it into her umbrella. Giggling, she raised a hoof and ice exploded across the ground, catching all three guards before coating them in a thick layer. Walking forward, she picked up the three guardcicles and placed them together, before freezing them together. Panting slightly, she opened the door fully and glanced at the group. "Dear me. Those poor fools thought I was asking to be let in. They'll unfreeze in twenty minutes or so... I think. You may wish to hurry up and get inside. I'll remain here and hold off any guards who come to investigate." Walking past the group, she sat down and opened a small novel. "Whatever it is you need to find, I recommend you do it quickly. And don't touch anything you shouldn't." Giggling to herself, she relaxed against the wall and started reading.

((By the way, Cho... Since there was a moment in the story were Sugary and Mittere had intercourse with detail, this thread should be placed on the NSFW section instead if there is any chance of that happening again. The possibility of gore is even more reason to do so if there was a chance for it to present itself eventually in greater detail.))

Sugary had now gotten himself into quite the predicament. He had taken a gamble, and it looked like it was about to go awry. Extra guards were already on the way, time was running short, and backing off would just leave Eagle and Lamp, and Diurnae to deal with everything on their own inside without them being able to lend any sort of assistance should the extra security arrive and their appearance had been made known to these three guards, made possibly even more oddly memorable by Isabelle's papers that hadn't made a dent in the guards behavior towards them in general for walking in.

He considered the situation as the seconds passed by from the moment he had been told to 'suck it up' up till now. Summer had actually asked him to take a direct approach as an option and action to take despite her constant effort to keep a low profile for so long, to which he had agreed to unquestioningly and confidently, trusting her to be well prepared for immediate failure as well... but as far as he was concerned, there was seemingly no benefit whatsoever to getting rejected at all, and waiting on the guard to check the list meant more pressure on them than necessary and further loss of time they did not have. For starters, they didn't even know if there were even more guards inside, though it was likely since a large institution such as this one was would require more careful monitoring. Was she doing this to buy time for the others inside? Was she doing this to increase the success of the mission with more force and less discretion? Or was she simply letting others take action to the best of their abilities as a whole in her place as she was clearly not lacking in power, knowledge, or drive to succeed... But now was not the time to ask her as the guards were moving, and she had merely kept watching rather quietly from behind, leaving him to ponder one last thing on his own before coming to a decision. He once again had to question if this was a test of his own morality and dedication to the cause... and so he chose dedication under pressure and went all in... all in her name; All in the hope that she would make everything better once she got what she wanted, because that was what really mattered in the end... unless an alternative showed itself.

His posture remained looking the same, his expression under the helmet remained the same, but his actions that would follow be completely different from the bluff he had attempted as he spoke to the guards in an even tone while making the Mana flow from within him to use magic as quickly as possible, and keep the guards from reacting quickly once he unleashed it. "You are correct on one thing. The heat isn't going anywhere in a hurry. It's only gonna get worse. You can suck it up if you want, but frankly, I refuse to do so..." And as soon as he finished speaking, the very first thing he did was to flare his horn and... watch as Isabelle froze them in place effortlessly just as he was about to disable them himself as quickly, carefully and efficiently as possible instead.

Once she was done, he sighed and relaxed and went back to normal, and turned to face the others. "... Let's get going." And with that, he loyally moved back to Summer's side. He'd ask her what he needed to know in due time.

"Okay, now what..?"

"We go up, of course." Lampshade ignored the rooms, while Eye took more time and observed each door carefully. Many of the plaques seemed like names of important ponies were upon them, and she made a mental note to remember most, if not all of them.

"Remind me why we're going up," she said, hovering up the stairs, trailing behind Lampshade.

"You already know why, don't you? Just keep an eye and an ear open... I doubt we're really alone." His voice dropped low and weak, and if Eye wasn't used to him doing so, she probably wouldn't have caught it. Lampshade's steps fell silent on the staircase without even slowing him down, and he resumed conversation as normal, talking mostly to himself about the practicality of building a wooden mountain.

It put Eye on edge when Lampshade uttered those words in that low voice. For all her hunting and wilderness expertise, Lampshade somehow had better awareness than her, though they both agreed that his non - magical twin beat both of them in that category. Almost every time his voice dropped as such, there was indeed company, that mostly was hostile, to the point she began dreading that style of speech. She hoped that this was one of those times that he was wrong.

They arrived at the next floor, tense and playacting at being completely casual. Lampshade put on the casual air cleanly enough that it seemed natural, though Eye was rigid to some extent.

"They are made of pure magic and are simply energy. So, you should be fine." He said as he led One move into his cell. The cuffs vanished when Blade closed the cell and locked it. "Yes, it's rather old, but that shouldn't be much of a problem for somepony your age." He made a small smile at the bad joke. But, the thought of the fangs and the bad react to light reminded him of the vampony stories when he was a colt, but those weren't real were they. The stallion pushed the idea aside. It wasn't necessary to think about this now since there were more important things to do deal with.

"Now, I need to go. Can I trust you to stay here until I return? And not to cause any trouble for these guards." He gave One a quizzical glance. While he wasn't sure that One could keep his word or that the guards could stop him either, but he had to go and aid in the capture of the others. Blade gestured for some of the guards over and told them to keep watch over One until he returned.

One smiled softly. "Of course I'm not going to break out. That would be just plain old terrible manners. I'm glad you finally understand my predicament. However, if you could summon the Princess with all due haste, there is much we must discuss, and such a short amount of time to do it in." With that, he walked to the corner of his cell and lay down, eyes closed. "Within fifteen minutes or so would be ideal~"

He chuckled at a thought and looked up. "Though I can't promise about not causing trouble. That would be no fun at all."

"It is quite alright, Mr Market," Mittere said in comfort, having noticed the signs of Sugary's tenseness. It was rather easy to see he had been ready to spring into action, a resort a too nice for his own good stallion did not do easily. "I can understand your reluctance for more active approaches. I imagine you do feel of sense of kinship with these ponies. Any guard in the path could have quite easily have been you. If you wish to only serve defensively in the future you need only ask. I'd be no less grateful for the help. You also give me one more thing to look forward to when we are done." 

Mittere then began to walk into the school, stopping to share some words with Isabelle. "A fine initiative," was all she said to her. Having a rear guard brought her some piece of mind, though it was ultimately useless, seeing as she had no lingering doubts to begin with. 

Zephyr had managed to get the area mostly clear. Maybe he had played on the trust ponies had that Celestia would do something, even if he had doubts himself. His dad would hate him if he did anything to jeopardise his career. Besides, he was doing a service to the citizens by getting them away from these dangerous ponies away from them. As much as he wanted to prove himself and teach these ponies what happens when they mess with the guard, he was given a very clear order that had no chance of misinterpretation, so he was forced into talking with them first. That didn't mean he would let himself be duped like some rookie pacifist though. He had talked the biggest and most intimidating of the guards into escorting him in his search of the school grounds. This kind of demonstrated the best reason to join early, he was bossing around ponies that were notably older and more experienced than him. They were about to near the gate. 
   
On the third level of the building, the stairs seemed to cease. These stairs had led them up to just a door. For the small percentage of ponies who actually went to the school it seemed like a waste of time to have a stairway dedicated to oneself rather having to go down a hall as a normal pony would. Coming out of this one door, was pony, a unicorn naturally. They currently had their back to the to Lampshade and Eye was currently in the process of locking the door. 

"Forty-nine and a half," one of the guards said to One, wanting to take in the confused face before he shed any real light on the situation. He seemed to be rather pleased by the seemingly nonsensical number he had just spouted. 

One chuckled and looked up again. "Is that how long it's going to take her to get here, or how many brain cells you have?" He asked innocently. "I mean, either would work I reckon."

Isabelle's ears perked up as she heard approaching hoofbeats. Closing the gate, she walked out a little bit and waved to the approaching guards. "Hello there, how are you today~?" She purred, secretly summoning some magic, just in case.

(Something's wrong - I've been trying to post this reply for hours and it just doesn't. Trying again...)

Lampshade cleared his throat and quickly put on his best mix of scared, nervous and confused as he approached the pony. "Um, excuse me sir - or, um... uh, I'm sorry if I was wrong, I can't tell much from here... ha ha ha... Um, anyway, the, uh, guys downstairs - oh, wait, let me start over... so, anyway, we're new here... this is actually our first day, and instead of helping us get our bearings, the guys downstairs simply told us 'go to the coordinator's office' and sent us on our way! When we asked where it was they just pointed up and shooed us... is this the office? We've been going straight up for some time and I don't really think we can go up any further."

Eye, knowing that she couldn't stay in character quite as well thus making her speaking a bit of a risk, simply opted to nod nervously. She was already uneasy as it was, and at least that helped her nervousness look more believable.

Sugary felt somewhat more at ease at Summer's words, though for as long as the situation remained as it was, he'd always be somewhat on edge given that they had forced their way in. "Being your Bodyguard would be preferable for me. I feel we have a better shot at this with you safe and alive... But I already said I'd fight in your place too, so don't shy out on that order if need be."

As they went further in, he noticed a list not too far off from where the entrance was. He picked it up and had a closer look as he kept by her side. "Hm... I think this might be the list they spoke about. Think there's any names and titles here worth remembering later on?" said he as he moved the papers over for Summer to see discretely, but then his tone turned a little more teasing. "... Or we could just take it for the sake of messing with them. See how serious they take their Magic of Bureaucracy after this..."

Despite the dry humor, he was still very much in alert as they were now inside a possibly well patrolled institute if the entrance was that stubborn. And even if it wasn't, it was best to be ready to knock a guard silly if any showed up... Or, in the off chance, pretend to have been allowed to enter if no one else inside had caught wind of the outside events yet. As a precautionary act, he returned the spear into the Inventory Bag, and replaced it with another shield instead so as to appear less threatening and more of a hired guard on strict duty... He also hoped that Isabelle would attempt to barricade the door with her magic since, where it not for the fact that she had taken the liberty to actually wait outside herself, he'd have sealed the doors himself by now.

Blade paused for a moment. "Forty-nine and half?" He asked with a confused look and dismissed One's comment. While, the guard seemed to be fine with the number he randomly spout out. Blade's attention from the entire situation from earlier was now focused on the reason why had said that number. "Is that the cell number or something...?"

"Oh, but Mr Market," Mittere said, playing along. It was rather hard to tell, and she did genuinely look at the list, trying to find anything that was worth her committing to her memory. She had never been in the building herself, but she made a point to learn about it. That small piece of information she dug up helped found the escape plan. "The magic of bureaucracy is such serious business. We would do well to not to ourselves fall victim to such a thing. I fear even I am Ill prepared for such things." With that, Mittere began to walk, rather fast and with a destination in mind.

"Look up," the guard said, skimming over One's obvious attempt to elicit a response from him. Maybe he actually thought he was being funny, that was hard with him being in there and while he was looking in. "The ceiling tiles. That's how many there are. Why don't you ask me how I know that?" It was a null question, he had the intention of telling One exactly how he found out regardless, but getting him interested would be a small bit more fun. Of course, should a princess choose to grace their presence he'd have to drop what he was doing, though he had no idea as to how likely that would be. 

"You can go now. I can handle this gentlecolt, you should move on to more important endeavours. Trying to get this pony's audience with the princess perhaps? You could jus ignore the old fool too," the guard said to Blade, smiling sweetly at One after saying the last part.  

"Pretty terrible all things considered," Zephyr answered shaking his head at the mare, who didn't seem tense at all. Not one of the ponies he was looking for it seemed. "But with days being as hot, long and hard as they are, you can't really complain." He readjusted himself to the point of why he was here. "Have you not heard miss? We're clearing out the area for security reasons. Celestia knows some of the public's opinion and isn't taking any chances. If the opportunity isn't there then no pony can do anything rash." 

The pony, a unicorn naturally, turned around. It seemed he was somewhat unsurprised to hear voices behind him. This section of this floor was pretty quiet after all. "That sounds like it could be something of a problem. I was just about to go do something, but it wasn't all that pressing. You can come into my room and we could sort this out if you like?" The pony asked nicely, if with a hint of annoyance, placing the key back into the lock. "So are you looking for the upper or lower school coordinator?" they asked as the door gave a click. "If you want enrol your child then you've just missed the window."

Isabelle giggled and shook her head. "Oh dear. Celestia wants me to clear out? Well I better then... Oh wait, no I won't. My orders come from on high, so I think they outweigh dear old Celestia. Stupid bitch she is, bringing the sun unbearably close to the planet. If I'm perfectly honest, I want to tear her throat out. But I can't do that either, that would be rude after all." She gestured to the gate, and ice surrounded it, shielding the area. "Now then..." She vanished and reappeared behind the group. "Shall we begin?"

One chuckled and shook his head. "I don't particularly care. As for my audience with the Princess, I believe she is already on her way here. Whilst you may not have summoned her, I most certainly have. You can go see, if you want. And finally..." He stepped up to the gate and grinned in, fangs on full display. "You better not tempt me... If you still don't believe me, or she's ignoring the summons... tell her the bird of Hermes has arrived."

[Alucard references for the win.]

"Um... okay, I guess... but I think I explained ourselves wrong. We're actually, um, new maintenance staff, and for some weird reason, the old - or rather, older - uh, I mean the guys who've been working here longer - sent us here and said 'wait for further instructions'. They didn't say which office though, and we're afraid they haven't exactly been the most helpful of ponies... probably annoyed by the heat or something, ha ha..." Lampshade pseudo - nervously stepped into the small room, followed by a truly - nervous Eagle Eye.

To her credit, Eye somehow managed to harness her nervousness as well, playing off Lampshade and the unicorn's chatter in an attempt to stall. They had no idea where Mittere and Sugary were, or which office they were supposed to head to, and if they left this place, it was possible that they would not meet them. "S - sorry about the bother, but if you don't mind, may I a - ask about the enrollment procedure? See, I have a little d - daughter that I'm planning on enrolling next year - it's why I applied for w - work here - but I'm not quite sure if this school works differently from the one back in our small village..."

Lampshade and Eye exchanged a most fleeting glance, which was more than enough to convey what they needed to. Lampshade, still ready with the bottle in his sleeve, let his eyes wander and observe the room, while Eye would take the attention of the unicorn.

Blade glanced over the guard with concern of know he knew about meeting with the diarchy, but that quickly fades when he remembered he and One were talking about it only recently. As one showed his fangs Blade was tempted to force feed them to One. "Sir, if you are visited by the royal sisters, then good for you. If not then you'll have to wait for me to get from trying to catch your associates since I doubt they'll come in as easily as you." He said as he turned to leave. Hopefully, Blade could still see Celestia after this was over.

Since there had been no sign of any immediate threats so far as he, Summer, Spring, and Ashen walked along, he could afford to keep a semi-casual decorum as he tried to spot any possible rooms that seemed either well guarded, or well locked. "Personally, I'd like to see any of those guards actually try to tell Celestia that she can't enter the very school she founded after essentially giving them their jobs as well just because of one error... But that aside... Can you by any chance feel if the relic is nearby or far? If it has special properties, it might stand out even when it can't be seen. Thing is, I can't make out one magical object from another in here since this place is obviously full of them... Also, do you want to hold onto the list?" He extended his arm a little more towards her as a sign for her to take it for herself and read at her own leisure.

"The persons themselves are not my real priority. Feel free to dump it on one of the others though if you foresee a need to keep. I do not though," Mittere admitted. She was also unsure as to how the guards would react to Celestia as they were either highly committed or taking any excuse to have an easy time and not have to talk with anypony. 

As they walked through the quieter side of the school, one particular noise could be heard. Two voices, loud and exasperated, going at it at the same time. Though Mittere couldn't make out what was being said, she felt compelled to travel toward the noise. "Though I certainly could locate it with a spell,  where is the fun to be had in that?" She asked as she walked. 

Zephyr was angered by the comment. He also felt a very small pang of betrayal that this pony hadn't been as cooperative as she first seemed. "You honestly think she'd endanger everypony like this? She's the only pony I trust to fix this," he said, letting his trust shine through in the stress of his voice. Some things were constant, and if Celestia couldn't do anything and didn't have any plan, he didn't really know what he'd be able to trust aside from his own ass. 

In response to Isabelle's disappearance, Zephyr huanced forward slightly, readying himself for some quick movement. He also extended his wings, ready to fly. The guards adopted similar levels of readyness, the two Unicorns being the first to get ready. The rules of engagement were rather cloudy at the moment, but the moment one of then felt the line was merrily skipped over, the rest would join in. "It would be a great shame to hit a pretty thing like you," Zephyr said with a tone of feigned regret. "But if you don't comply, well, we're going to have to show how the big boys do battle."

The guard gave One a very unimpressed look. "Oh? Know the princess do you?" It was a rather mocking tone, the guard certainly not believing very strongly. "Wouldn't mind telling how close you were than." It was less of a question and more of a demand, though it would be very hard for him to make an adequate threat.  

The stallion moved behind a desk and took a seat, gesturing for Lampshade and Eye to sit down across from him. "You have to have been sent to me or the upper co-ordinator. Unless you were sent to Celestia's office," As the unicorn said that a small smile came to his face. They were probably being played with, it wouldn't be fair or right to intervene with what was going on in such a manner. 

"Well as I'm sure you know," The stallion said with a smile. "We take pride in our students as well as our teaching personnel. I'm assuming your daughter is a rather bright child that meets some of our criteria for entry? There is also the case of entry papers to ensure that they have the universal aptitude to be considered gifted, as well as an additional exam in the area of study.  We understand this can be a little daunting for some children though, and it is rather easy to pass if you are secure enough in your talent." 

One chuckled briefly, before nodding slowly and sitting down. "I Would hope I know them. As for how I know, and how close we were, I'd say we were pretty damn close..." He trailed off for a second, his eyes growing wistful and flashing a deep violet, before returning to their usual red. "We were... are engaged. Princess Luna that is." He tapped his chin. "Hmm... I might actually have..." He reached into one of the pockets and smiled. "I do." He pulled out a dark blue feather, shimmering in the light. Magic gently radiated of it, and One smiled gently. "There's your proof."

Isabelle giggled and stepped up to him, nuzzling his cheek. "Aww, that's adorable." She stepped back, and shrugged off her dress. Whilst it had not removed from her beauty, without the dress it was clear how sleek and svelte she was. She licked her lips and slid between the stallions, tail flicking their snouts. "It will be a shame to hurt you. You're kinda cute it your own way." Without warning, a knife appeared under Zephyr's snout. "Surrender before I'm forced to hurt you."

Blade practically ran out the building as he made his way over to the school. For some reason he could just feel something was going wrong. He didn't know why, but the feeling was there. Everything could possibly go wrong now and Blade doubted he could fix any problem whether it be One pissing off the guard or the rebellion resisting arrest. The stallion barely had made it out the door without bumping his head against it.

The heat caused the stallion to pause for a moment to deal with the change between inside and outside. It helped him snap out of it his panic. These problems wouldn't be solved by worrying and with that thought in his mind he used his magic to create a platform under his hooves and shoot him the sky. Soon, he was racing across the sky to reach the school as quickly as he could.

Once, he reached the school he would slow down and land a few feet away from the nearest guard with a small thud. Zephyr probably had already sent in a group to search. Now, he had to play catch up with the situation. Hopefully, he could get caught up quickly.

Sugary nods and puts the list away in his Inventory, just in case. He did, however, make a slight frown from within the helmet. "Madam Mittere... I was under the impression that we were in a hurry. Any means to locate what we need faster is more than welcome, so why delay? I'm all for spicing up a day, but now might not be the best time. Please reconsider..."

He too heard the sounds, though the reason he was eager to go in the direction of it had more to do with following Summer rather than the voices themselves. He was, however, curious to know if they were discussing something relevant to their interests or not as he kept alert still.

Lampshade let the faintest smile cross his features for a split second before he returned to sitting in one chair as uncomfortably and nervously as he could, eyeing every minute detail of the room. At the very least, he managed to think up a few escape routes, as well as the most probable hiding spots of any piece of precious metal, however unlikely it was that the metal was placed in this room. He had to work to keep his amusement hidden - it was rare for Eye to rise up and improvise, as that job usually fell to him while she took to the planning instead.

Meanwhile, Eye felt slightly elated, having managed to not rely on Lampshade to bail her out because of failed improvisation. Sure, she was basing her story on her sister instead of absolutely nothing like he usually did, but still, it counted. Feeling the metaphorical wind in her sails, she pulled out of her coat a picture of her sister, a white filly with a gray mane. She gave another small glance to Lampshade, turning his attention to the door for a bit.

"Um, I'm not exactly sure... she's a bit different." Eye smiled as she handed it to the stallion. "She is capable of all the basic stuff - I think - like floating things around and somehow making charcoal out of soft cider... but she's more of the, uh, how do you say it? A - a - uh..? Not quite sure what it's called. All I know is she just has this sort of affinity for modifying things and messing them up. Last I remember she managed to turn my bed into grape jelly."

A thought crossed her head - back home, there was little chance for her sister, Iris, to pursue magical study. Her home was populated mostly by pegasi, and while they accepted her unicorn sister, they couldn't help her with her abilities. "Um, I don't exactly have much knowledge of how unicorns work - how are her abilities? Do you think she can make it here..?"

"Mr Market," Mittere began, pressing herself against a wall ahead if her, keeping pinned and close. "Questioning my choice at this stage will not change it." Despite the reason she had given previously, her personal enjoyment and satisfaction had little to with the matter. She could discuss this later however, when she wasn't focussing her efforts. "I only ever take whatever course of action is best." She hoped that this gave Sugary some comfort, though without showing any weakness or inability. Her face frowned as she listened in further, shuffling along to the door and quietly opening it. 

The room revealed itself to be a kind of study. At the far end of the room, a unicorn Ashen was familiar with and a griffon could be seen stood in front of a blackboard that had seen enough use that it was going white from all the chalk that had been expended on it. 

"A sign test wouldn't help here. Qualitative data isn't very helpful when you're trying to come up with a number," The unicorn stallion said to his companion. They really needed more minds on this, but they were wrapper up in the main project as opposed to this little addendum. "When was the last time you slept?" He asked with concern some concern. 

"Nononononono shut up. Give it here; I have an idea," the griffon snapped, taking the chalk. The answer to that question was definitely too long ago. "If you want to get rid of that nasty power, we can just logarithms in base....looks like it would fit into sixteen. So now we've brought the power down, we need to find the number that fits into the less than or equal to-" 

"You're assuming it's going to be the same every time," the pony countered camly. "And we only have one try unless you can just magic something up from thin air."

The comment on thin air sparked something in Mittere's mind. Rumination. She couldn't quite make something from thin air, but it was possible to get more of the same. Possible didn't mean she could do it, or that it was a good idea to do so. Doing it wrong, even doing it right, could be extremely dangerous. The idea itself was worthy of the detour.

"Everything we have is assumption right now. Now let the smart one talk," the griffon asserted. 

"The smart one?" The unicorn asked in an offended way. Was this griffon really so full of his own self importance. 

The griffon sighed, shaking his head slightly. "If you really want me to admit it, you're good. There are however, tiers of greatness," he explained in a calm and not at all patronising way. Not intentionally condescending anyway.  

"I got my degree from a highly prestigious institution in a subject far more relevant than yours!" 

"That hardly matters in this instance," Rune retorted. Mittere had since stepped in the room and began to walk closer, looking over the paper in the room for something she could use. There were a few mugs that were empty, an empty syringe next to them. From the smell she picked up, she could take a guess as to what was in mug, and from that assumption the syringe. "I am a scientist; I can do math!"   

"Had it occurred to you that, in your childish attempts to be the first to resolve the crisis, that you were making oversights well beneath you?"  Mittere suggested, suppressing both a sigh and a laugh. While it was fun to watch the smart act immature, it was ultimately unproductive to why she was here. 

The gray coated unicorn turned around, seeing a strange group of strange ponies, and his brother was among them. 

The griffon, who had still not turned around gave a short chuckle before giving a cursory backhanded wave to the ponies behind him. "That's a cute theory Miss, but I think I would know if I was wro-" He paused and a scowl came to his face. He wasn't very good at remebering faces and voices, but he knew he had never met this pony in his life.  

"Can we be of some help to you?" Ashen's brother asked. The griffon kept his back turned from the group, still attempting to work.

"Heh," was guard said as he looked over the feather. There was certainly a possibility it could be genuine. He did see his demeanour change slightly in response to the question. "What if I said I've tapped that once or twice myself? Nothing serious," he admitted with a shrug. "just a little fun. Why do you think I'm here? Nopony to talk to about my little antics. Nopony credible anyway." The guard smiled as he looked at One, curious to see how his claim of escapades would go down. 

"Adorable is a quality easily attributed to yourself," Zephyr said to the mare who had a knife uncomfortably close to him. "Now, Miss, It may, seem as though you have the drop on me. But who does this for a living? I see only two ways this can go. You're either going to end up a murderer or dead. Maybe both. Three ways," Zephyr laughed slightly. This was supposed to be a serious moment, but the fact thought of a menage a trois crossed his mind was very telling of his maturity. 

The other guards had mixed feelings about this pony, though they shared a uniform lack care for Zephyr. Were he not related to whom he was, the guards would happily act even at the risk of harm to one of their own, but they remained tense and ready to move, making no sudden movements. 

"That's an interesting talent," The unicorn said, frowning in concentration as he looked at the photo. There was a faint desire to smile, but he'd soon enough colts and fillies in his time for the effect to have dulled. "One that should not go  unregulated. It seems like a promising start, though the tests will have the final say. We've just implemented a new system actually that makes it more about assessing the individual as opposed to how they fare against the average." He could have gone off on a tangent about the statistics behind the move and what the new system meant, though that likely wouldn't interest these ponies. "Even if she doesn't make it, we always encourage retries and have a relationship with several other magical colleges."  

One smiled, and with little effort, he ripped the bars off in a screech of tortured metal. Dropping the ruined metal to one side, he stepped forward out of the prison. "If that were true my friend, I would tear your throat out where you stand, before you had time to blink. I would then allow myself the pleasure of turning you into a lowly vampire and then I would proceed to torture you for eternity." He smiled and stepped back into his cell, before picking up the metal and forming it back into shape, as if nothing had happened. "Think on that." He turned and sat down, inwardly cursing that he had wasted so much energy in his attempt to scare the stallion.

Isabelle chuckled and drew the blade across his throat lightly, drawing blood, but doing little else. "Does that hurt big boy?" Giggling she turned his head with a hoof and kissed him on the lips. "I can make the pain go away of course, make it so you never feel pain again..." She purred and nuzzled his wound. "Or I can make you scream in agony for years~ And dear, prison holds no fear for me. No prison could hold me, nor is any sentence long enough."

"Very well, Madam Mittere..." Sugary listened in carefully on the conversation between the stallion and the griffon while pondering on what Summer had said. She was correct in that she was calling the shots, so all he could do was to follow her pace as she was all he had to rely upon for this particular situation... He also wished this would all be over and done with so that he could actually pursue a normal relationship with her and not be in this rollercoaster of emotions between questionable work, and being with her on a personal level.

While they had been addressed by the stallion, Sugary was more attentive to Rune who had not yet turned around. He was unsure as to why, but given the circumstances, he was on the alert and watched him to make sure he didn't do anything drastic should he turn towards them later. Seeing that Summer had not answered the stallions last question, he was left to assume that she was leaving it up to him once more to respond, though he was unsure as to why. Then again, he had already lied once, he could do it again just fine so long as it meant getting what they came for. "Actually, we're here to help with the research... Or rather, she is." He pointed to Summer and continued. "I'm just here to provide extra security..." For now, he'd wait on Summer to make her move. He had done his part.

Lampshade found his eyes glued to the clock, unsure how to proceed. Perhaps they should have discussed a timeline of sorts to stick to back in the planning phase, he mused as the arms of the clock moved slowly along their course. Eye had the situation under control for the moment, yet he was ready to step in the moment things got out of hoof.

Eye, on the other hand, simply went on with her discussion as the stallion had made no sign of impatience or needing to leave. "That's nice... when would the next testing be? See, um, we live very far up north, and it'd be a long trip to get her, and even longer to bring her here... oh, I have so much to prepare for - what about lodgings? Is there a dormitory or anything? Oh, sorry, but I'm getting a bit off - topic now, aren't I..."

She scratched her head in half - genuine panic, somehow suddenly terrified at the prospect of getting her sister back from the village, and getting on the wrong side of this pony. At the moment, she didn't care about the mission - Lampshade took care of that part.