Penumbra, Lux, Terra (Private)

Sugary kept staring cautiously at the little duo the more they stayed with him, mostly since he wasn't used to seeing them both away from Umbra for too long. At least he thought he got an answer of sorts from them regarding Umbra, so instead he was just left with odd and quiet otherwordly company.

What really surprised him was the bone golem moving towards his tools. He thought for a moment if he should stop the marrow one, but instead actually got something he needed at the time. He took the tools, one by one, and gave them back when needed as he kept the light maintenance. "..... Thank you. You're quite perceptive... Wanna help me out some more today?" He'd also look over to the furry one, and cock a brow as even he could tell the other golem didn't look too amused to be there. "Same offer goes to you, unless you wanna volunteer to make brunch? Cookies are nice, but they ain't gonna carry us the whole day." He was ready to lead the bone golem to some more maintenance chores, but first he'd see how they both reacted to him.

Slowly did the furry golem turn towards the giant, him looking him up and down, thinking to itself what that thing were thinking of itself, a mighty warrior volunteering to cook for it? PAH!... PAH! It thought for itself as it turned around on the heel once more, arms laid over cross in spite.

Or... maybe... it could maybe make something to eat for the one that had created it... The little mighty warrior sighing without a sound as it turned around once more, this time to go over to the giant brown blob. It were not going to do it fully willingly... But how could it defy this giant thing and still make some food, aha, a thought hitting the clay creature. It jumping at the giant as to attack, spreading its body out as it had done before when it had blinding the big thing, this time just going after the big brutes pouch, it taking a few bits before it took off to buy some fresh groceries. If it had to cook had it to be done properly.

---

Seeing its twin act wildly as it always did shrugged the marrow one at the Caramel Sage as if to apologize for its behaviour, before nodding at the Caramel Sage. The Mistress of the Night had no need for it, so it could just as well help out here.

For the most part, Sugary just watched as the furry golem paced back and forth seemingly vexed at him. There was a light feeling of tension in the air, but he hardly felt much hostility as it were. Instead, he got a surprise as it suddenly hopped from up close right at his Inventory, magically stole some of his Bits, and ran off as he removed a bit of the mud left on him. "Ugh!? What the heck was that for, you little thief!?" Before he thought to go after it to see what was up, the marrow golem held his attention, and thought that a few bits weren't worth changing the maintenance routine. "... Oh, fine... Let's keep getting the ship prepped... You seem to be the only one here actually wanting to not make things harder on me..."

And with that, he'd lead the little one around, talking to it from time to time about the ship, its walls and enchantments, the reason for its shape, and eventually reached the bridge again to make the final adjustments as he saw out the window from time to time while observing the levers and gauges to see how the motors outside reacted. He'd also be on the lookout for Umbra on the deck to see how her mood was doing. "... I really wish I knew how to understand her like you two seem to do..."

It were not hard for Sugary to find Umbra from the helm of the bridge, her standing right there in the open, doing something that looked very much like yoga.

She did not see him at first, her being deeply immersed into her workout. Mister Voice had always spoken highly about how a sound body led to a sound mind, and with that a sound soul, and she had to agree with the teaching, she had it much better now that she strained the flexibility of her body. It was first when she went from one difficult pose to another, her going from standing one one foot, pushing herself up as far as she could on her toes, with her leg, arms and head pointing towards each of the worlds corners, and then falling for over, only to catch herself in the fall and stand on her hands that she saw him standing inside.

She wanted to go in to him, and then not, and she wanted to complete all of the remaining exercises, and then not, and ended up compromising, her completing this last position before tumbling over and ending up on her legs, her clothing not having moved the slightest at all.

She stood perhaps a bit longer before the door to the bridge than needed, her taking a deep breath and sighing, lifting a hand to knock on the door as her bone clad golem opened it before her. With the door now open, and her little servant there before her took she her lifted hand down to it, and placed it once more on her shoulder. "I do not hope that they have been bothering you too much. While my will are their command do they still have a will of their own, wacky little thing," her scratching the golem in its feathery plume, it seemingly like it, as she went over to him, stopping a few steps behind him.

Sugary would watch with curiosity as Umbra performed her Yoga in peace. He found it humorous though, as her recent attitude towards him made him think there was a contrast between the peaceful focus she put on her exercise, and how her mood would turn sharp as a dagger towards him at times.

He cocked a brow towards her mildly as she then spotted him for a change, and so his brows would curiously arch further as she seemed to struggle between looking and not looking at him. By the time she was done deciding to move about, he had a light smile as he spoke to the golem ext to him. "... Guess I got nothing to worry about... Let's finish up here, shall we?"

Once Umbra herself had joined them, he'd be looking over to the map once more as she spoke from behind him. Smiling, he spoke softly to her along with a light chuckle. "Heh... This one has behaved well and been a fine little helper, but the other one took some of my bits and ran off. I was wondering if you knew why... Aside from that, I'm glad you decided to join us here." He'd turn around, and stare right at her as he kept talking. "... You sure you're alright with going anywhere from here? That feathered friend of yours pointed to the Crystal Empire on the map, but if you've come up with a destination of your own, I'd like to hear it now... Other than that, feel free to ask me about the Empire if you know nothing about it. I'll do my best to brief you on it in advance if you're interested."

Why was it that he absolutely should blabber on and on when she wanted to say something utmost important, but then again, maybe was his waterfall of words a good thing so she could think things trough, her ending up doing something of her free will that she hadn't often done before.

Lifting her hand laid she a finger on his lips to hush him, the touch being cold but not uncomfortable. "I do not care what part of the world that I end up in Sugary, but that was not what I came in here to talk about," her pulling her finger away, coughing into her hand now that she had silenced him, a slight blush on her cheeks over her wild action. "I came to say sorry, and before you speak, no you are not fully forgiven. I know that I have wronged you, but you should also know that you have wronged me. It is not out of spite that I don't tell you more about myself, it is out of safety, mine as well as yours."

Seeing as this would take some time looked Umbra around, seeing a stool at the mapping table that she took. "I have heard your wishes, and I feel that they are said with good intentions, so I do plan to share more with you. But each ting at their own time. We have only been in each others company for less than 3 whole days, and you have already gotten more tales of my past than others have in months. I am not like other ponies, it would do you good to remember that."

Sugary had nearly gone cross-eyed when Umbra shushed him as he looked right at her finger, feeling the cool touch of it on his lips with tentative curiosity. Being left with mildly puckered lips and a dumb look while standing still, he stayed quiet and listened to her.

When she was done saying her piece, he looked like he had several things to say as well, but ultimately relaxed his expression and sighed mildly as he leaned on the map table. "... Alright... That's all the least I could ask for, I guess... Will you at least tell me, since we got time before we leave, why it was that you seemed so... conflicted about being called pretty before? Like... really, what's up with that? Now, don't get me wrong, if it has to do with your past, just say so and we can drop it..."

Finally a simple question that she didn't need to think too long about, or an answer that she needed to twist so it fitted both her and the truth. "Because things, like art are pretty, not people." Her seeming to really and honestly mean it, her eyes wandering over the maps and tools strewn over the table before her.

"And since we are taking ourselves some time for questions, why did you act the way you did when I cleaned your ear. Yes it was a joke, yes some find those rather pleasing, but I do not feel like it was that kind of pleasing that you talked about, your jumping leg giving me hints at that." Her face again telling that she was telling the truth, really not knowing what kind of pleasure that she had sent trough Sugary's body. Her eyes locked on him as she asked the question, genuine curious and wanting an answer, having found a mystery at her feet to solve.

((Chit chat.))

Sugary was about to speak more about the 'pretty' issue, but Umbra kept going before he could get a word in yet. As it were though, his muzzle scrunched up mildly as well as his face turned a light shade of red as she brought up the thing about his ears. He fiddled mildly distraught in place with his arm. "H-Hey, no fair! I wanted to talk more about the pretty thing first... Ugh... It's just... Let's just say it feels really really good when my ears get... treated well like that... You surprised me a lot too doing that all of a sudden, so I was... kinda forced into it... I mean, it wasn't bad or anything... Er... J-Just think of it as a... as a weak spot, okay? Don't go telling anyone else about it..."

Umbra could not stifle her giggle before it was too late, her hand reaching her lips to silence the bubbling laughter. "Ahem... That was not nice of me," she did not know exactly what it was that had triggered the it, her not being easy to laughter normally, but seeing the else so stoic and masculine stallion sit so nervous and stumbling over the words as a colt that had to speak in front of the whole class. "No one said that I were fair, and if you for the future have a need to talk about another question before you can find the right words to answer a question, then do be my guest. Lets return to your subject then before we go to mine, because I could neither find head or tail in what it was you just said, so you can be sure that I won't tell others about it."

Sugary scoffed mildly as Umbra laughed at his expense, but then his ears drooped a bit as she now expected him to answer her question. Again. More clearly it seemed. The blush on his face seemed to grow a bit brighter as he coughed and tried to focus on the topic of her being pretty and try to regain composure. "T-That's not... Oh, never mind, I guess I can try answering more clearly later... As for the whole being pretty... It's not just objects that can get called as such, just so you know. I wasn't joking when I called you pretty, I really meant it..." He sighed mildly, and continued, looking at her with sincere eyes. "You're a lovely looking mare, whether you wanna believe it or not... Ugly is the LAST word I would use to describe you right now... Do you understand what I mean?"

With a concentrated and confused look on her face shook she her head, the words still not really making sense for the mare no matter how she tried to look at them. "I am sorry, but I can't say that I do." Umbra looking down at herself, her hands running down her body over the fabric. "Its just an average ordinary equine body of the female gender, there are a myriad of them throughout the lands, a surprising high number if one were to think on the details. No this..." here did Umbra stop her body inspection, her hands just having run over the small bumps there were her breasts as if it was nothing at all, only to go into one of the folds of the clothing.

"Yes this is pretty, one of a kind, special and stand out compared to its peers," Umbra holding an old book in her hand, or rather a tome, it clearly being a book of magic from the runes there were on the cover, the cover itself made out of a leathery dark blue material that looked a bit like reptilian scales, but way way way too big to be any ordinary reptilian. "It have more information than any other book that I know made about its subject, and all of its knowledge are pleasing and/or appealing in a delicate and/or graceful way." Her saying the last words as if she had red them right out of the dusty looking book.

"Is that how you found my touch to your ear pleasing Sugary?" Her looking directly into his eyes with curiosity, her having found a connection and understanding as she had uttered the words. "As when I am reading my books?"

Sugary probably eyed Umbra a bit too intently as she touched herself for a moment in self-observation, mildly flicking his tail even before he composed himself in trying to keep focused on the fact she was explaining her views. Her explanation on the book and the analogy helped him for the topic though, even if it was immediately followed by more talk about his ears as he kept blushing mildly, twiddling his thumbs. "Er... Not quite... I can find reading a good book pleasurably fulfilling... Where as with my ears... It's more... a base pleasure... As in, just pleasure for the sake of it... Um... Anyway!" He then raised one finger and wiggling it mildly as he kept the other topic going. "That thing about the book being pretty... Yes, you could think of unique things as beautiful... But then some can consider many books to be beautiful. Some can consider many... um... flowers to be beautiful. I just happen to think there's many beautiful mares, and you got a beautiful body!" He seemed a bit proud of himself with the analogies as he smiled, but then mildly scrunched his muzzle at his choice of words. "Probably sounded better in my head, but maybe now she gets it...?"

Looking down at herself once more hold she the book to her body, her gentle touch almost seeming caressing over the old leather, her hands having more feelings in them now when she were handling this inanimate object than she had touching her own body. "Beautiful, see that is an adjective that I can understand the use of, possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind." her again having the voice as if she was resisting from a dictionary, what she actually also were, her reading up from a book conjured up inside her mind.

"So when you look at my body do you get the feeling of eating sweets while reading a good fictional book without any educational purpose... I think that I can get my head behind that, although I still can't see what there are so special about this body. But as the saying goes, you learn something new each day, and the day are not over just yet." Her lifting the book to her lips, whispering something in her own tongue, it having a melancholic tone to it, her closing her eyes, sighing as she hid the book there were too big to hide on her person in the folds of her clothing once more.

"With that out of the way, unless you have more to add to the subject, you mentioned the Crystal Empire? I have read a few old scrolls about the country, it being a frozen desert as far as the eye can see, the land being clad in frost and snow. The Crystal desert killing with coldness instead of the heat of the Zebracan one. That is still true, yes?" the mare having her eyes on the map laying beside her instead of him for once, giving Sugary a breather to find himself as she were looking for details on the map to tell her more of the cold lands they were going to.

Sugary was glad that, at the very least, Umbra finally understood how he viewed her. He also admired how she hid her belongings away, and hoped to get more on that eventually. With the topic changing to the traveling, the case about beauty being concluded, and the matter of his ears now seemingly over, he shook his head and gave her the same gentle look a teacher gives to a student that got a wrong answer. "That's not quite accurate... At least, not anymore from my understanding of what happened in the past... There is much of the territory that's still cold to be sure, but the location of the imperial city itself is... well, like an oasis in a desert. The location is a beautiful and pristine place to visit that now bustles with life and activity. Much of the surrounding land is covered in grass even... It's the magic of its citizens that keeps that place special... Why do you ask?"

Taking her hand into the same fold in her cloths as she had hid her tome just before, pulled Umbra a rather old looking papyrus scroll out, her throwing it onto the table where it half unrolled to show its dirty brown colour, whatever there had been written on it in ages past being almost unreadable. "Because this were the newest piece of information that I had about that area," the mare sighing as she poked the scroll so it began to roll over the table, the feathered golem running hastily after it so it wouldn't reach the end of the table and got damaged.

"So I do guess that I need to take you up on the little briefing that you offered me just before. To be honest do you not need to be that detailed if you don't wish to, pony affairs are not what I use most energy on. And there are properly a lot of things that I need to see before I can properly understand them."

Sugary cocked his brow as he look at the papyrus scroll carefully. He thought it looked very antiquated for a map, which made him question a few things about Umbra. "Yeah... That map definitely looks outdated... and very aged..."

He'd lean once more on the table, and spoke while stroking his chin, looking at her curiously. "Not many details, huh? Well, that's fine too, best you see it for yourself anyway... The Crystal Empire really lives up to its name with the large Crystal Castle at the center of the city adorning and looking over from up high. It's hard to miss from afar. Much of the town itself is also really nice architecture, definitely better built than what you see on this town. All the colorful stonework is sure to please the eyes. The ponies themselves... They have an odd look to them, as if they were crystal-like in form in some days, and opaque looking the rest of the time... I'm not exactly sure how to describe them to be honest, but that's sure to get your attention. Aside from that, and the open field of grass I mentioned before, they do have a lot of commodities. For a place that was frozen in time, they've been catching up pretty well on how to be hospitable. The citizens sure are open to hearing about the world from others and learning things as well as sharing what they got. A proper train station was actually finally built within the city limits for that matter, so it's definitely visited often. Nice place, really... By the way, there's something else I've been meaning to ask... Do you know how old you are, or how much time you remember going by?" To the dead, and undead, time was a trivial thing sometimes. With her confession as a Lich, he would not be surprised if she was older than he suspected the scroll she brought out to be...

Ponies there were crystal like... She had seen and heard of many creatures that had elemental affinities or abilities to camouflage with their homes, but ponies with those skills, that was a first. So when Sugary asked about her age were she taken aback, her being in deep thoughts about which magical phenomena that could lay behind that. "I do not know much about pony customs, but is it not rather rude to outright ask a mare about her age?" her saying the first thing that came up in her mind instead of actually thinking about the real answer.

How old were she... she herself did actually not know, her youth having been much different than others had been. A myriad of ways to count her age presented themselves to her, from when her physical body had been born, from when she had been formed, when she first had been given control over her magic, when Mister Voice went silent, but none of them seemed like the right one. The mares shoulders falling a bit down, her ears laying low and her eyes following her fingers that fiddled with themselves, their dance first stopping when her golem laid a hand on hers.

She had never really thought about how she actually were lacking an age, spirits and demons measuring lives up in different measurements. She had begun feeling so alive, almost normal around Sugary with how he treated her differently than all the zebras had, but now were she once more reminded about how different she were...

Sugary lightly rolled his eyes about the mare age courtesy. He did have a more respectable view of her manners in that sense though. In fact, it was at that point that he actually realized just how polite and well mannered she had been. Extreme at times, but a true lady at heart from what he could tell.

So it struck a chord with him when she looked like she didn't like the question, and he had seen the little lady fret over enough problems already as the golem tended to her. He sighed, moved up close, and gently held her by the shoulders, still well aware of her conditions about touching. "Before you say anything, Umbra, I know... But I need you to look at me. We agreed above all else to stay in the present and look to the future, right...? Besides, this just means your age stays always stays secret, don't it?" He had intended to add a humorous tone at the end, even smiling a bit for encouragement. He just didn't want her to keep feeling bad about many of her circumstances.

As before went she stiff as he touched her, the mare snapping after air in a fit of outrage, her nails cutting into the palms of her hands and the runes on her arm growing darker still, lightning sparking around, hairs standing on end... Until Sugary spoke, her still sitting rather stiff when she turned her head upwards and looked at him as asked.

"Sugary... Would you please unhand me, this instant, thank you very much in advance," her tense back slowly beginning to unwind and her actually sitting normally once more before Sugary hands had left her shoulders. The mares chest still jumping a bit quicker up and down when she spoke, the slight shake in her voice almost unnoticeable. "Now that we are asking more questions... It is not that odd not knowing your age, is it?"

If there was a record for how fast a stallion would let go of a mare, Sugary was probably beating the record as he swiftly got the message. "Well, at least she's not sad!" Granted, he could have done things differently, but she seemed to be getting sad too often as far as he could tell, so better to keep her energetic at least... even if he was risking getting his face clawed off.

With a sheepish stare, he crossed his arms and stepped back a bit to give her some space. "Er, of course... It's not common... But not unheard of either... You know... We could always just make up a number if it bothers you that much. My mother and grandmother didn't like it all that much when I said their ages out loud as a foal, but that didn't mean they hated it either. It never stopped them from stating how old they felt they were. Younger or older still, it was always about their mood... So, how about it? You look spry and young and full of energy. You barely look like an adult mare even. 20 seems good." He then kneeled down right next to the golem and spoke to it, as if asking for a second opinion. "She looks great for whatever her age is, right?"

He had just touched her without permission, so now was it her turn, a finger running slowly around the edge of his ear. "I think that what you just did would be called flattery by most, but I am sorry Sugary. While its effect on other mares is to flatter them, making them giggle and blush does it not have any effect on me." His lighter tone had not flown fully over her head, else would she not have allowed herself to do such a thing, a tilted smile even playing on her lips.

While talking were fine and dandy had Umbra slowly gotten a bit too much of the inactivity, her taking the map in one hand, and helped him up from his kneeling position with her other, taking the lead towards the rudder and the other controls. "With that being said, how old are you Sugary?" the sounds of cooking sneaking out form the kitchen and out to them both, soon to be followed of the delectable smell of it.

If Umbra tensed up when touched, then Sugary shuddered like putty melting at her soft touch to his ear, making him flick his tail in small bounces as she helped him up. He'd give her a mixture of a scowl and a scrunched nose while he blushed beet red. "I-I thought we agreed y-you woul-... Geh... N-Nevermind..." He simply could not tell her off when they had both broken their vows in some way or other, but at least it was more about some personal matters and getting used to each other than anything supremely harmful.

Struggling to keep his composure, he was graciously distracted by the smell of good food and Umbra being close to the controls of his ship. "Hm... I won't take back what I said either way. And if you must know my age, it's 33... By the way, it smells like the little mischief maker is back and cooking... Also, are you looking for something at the controls? Careful with those, last thing I want is to knock off someone's rooftop... again..." The last word was spoken very quietly. Certainly a past mistake.

"Yes, we agreed. And then did you, and then did I. Letting go of one of the seals and hurting you would be overdoing it just a little bit, so I thought that that punishment would be more fitting," her heeding his warning, although she hadn't any plans of taking the controls, to fiddle around with a magical artefact without knowing it fully had she done one time to many to want to do it again.

It was not hard for Umbra to see how much love and passion that had been laid into the creation of the vessel, all of the parts of brass as well of wood made with small delicate details, and of those were no lack of abundance. With a delicate hand, as if she were touching a shy animal, run she one over the controls, taking them in before leaning herself up against the big window overlooking the ship. "Take us away captain, and lets try not to knock any rooftops off this time around," her looking at what he did, taking each detail in before speaking up once more as they left for the horizon. "I think that I am 33 as well then."

((Up and away!))

Still feeling flustered over the ear touch, Sugary had no problem blushing still after Umbra chose to think of his age as her own after declaring they take off. He joyfully approached the controls, and lightly urged for her to make way so he could finally get the ship going. "Aye aye, Miss! For now, we bid farewell to Zebrica. Next destination, the Crystal Empire!"

The weather was fair as the main engine began to rumble and whistle, magitech output rising quickly as the motors for acceleration began to spin quickly, and energy coursed through the ship and creating a stable field within itself, defying wind resistance; Even the little chef below would hardly feel much movement thanks to it as he worked. At first, the Black Mambo kept the same altitude is it moved out from the town limits in a steady speed, but once the limits were passed, the ship would rise in height effortlessly as it accelerated further. And so, the magical ship soared once more over the land...