A Nightmare's Legends Returns

"Right." Vision stumbled slightly on his hooves. "Right. Let's go, then. No sense in waiting." He paused momentarily to secure his balance. "Though I might be dead weight for a while... or at least not at my best."

Ignoring the talk-down Rain just strode on, he didn't come here to impress, he came to get paid, and to stop this... Nightmare. He was good at what he did, and didn't mind any bad talk of it, he had dished out enough to take it back. He looked to Vision, "Do you need healing aid?" He pulls out another flask, this contains a couple of small vials. He murmurs before finding a red one, "It's yours if you need it... I only have this and one more." He said walking towards Vision, his flask water floating the vial towards him.

The scythe-wielding unicorn grinned at the group in front of him. "So, what are ya fellas doing here? It's dangerous out here, you know..." he says, sarcastically. "Attacking the thestrals like that... you're basically asking to get yourself killed..." He continued, looking at the group with his hood-covered eyes. He then remembers about the basic conversation rules "..Oh, and just what may your names be, my dear ponies~?" He asks, keeping the slightly-creepy grin on his face.

Vision shook his head at Rain. "I'm fine. Just tired, is all. Don't worry about me." He turned to the scythe-wielding unicorn. "I'm Vision. You would be...?"

"Vision..." the hooded unicorn repeats silently. "Vision.. what a nice name, fits you perfectly." He silently murmurs. "As for my name? I don't have an official one. I go by many nicknames.. Scythe... Death.. Hero.. Saviour.. Killer.. Scythe again... but my cutie mark is a spinning scythe, so I suppose my name might aswell be 'Scythe Spin.' " he says, chuckling.

Ruby looked at Scythe as he said his nicknames. "It's better to die while having a goal then to just die without a goal. I am Runic Ruby, and can you tell me what you are doing out here alone? Or...following us?" She asked Scythe trotting a bit closer to him. She took a glance back at the others, wondering why they were being so quiet. She turned back towards Scythe, waiting for his answer.

Shard was silent while the first introductions were being discussed between the group and this newcomer. She didn't trust Scythe's grin, and any pony who at least claimed to have earned nicknames such as 'Death', 'Killer', and 'Scythe' didn't exactly place very high on her trust. She'd seen and held darkness, and she despised it, to think that a pony would seem to enjoy it was just an all new level of distrust for the newcomer.

Shard then turned back to Rain hoping to get a few words in with the pony who could make her a lot more useful. Calmly trotting over to the pony, Shard cleared her throat before speaking. "Excuse thee, Rain was it? Thou had a question for thee, how often can thee make that ice?"

"Out here alone? I'm not alone, if ya haven't noticed." Scythe said,nudging the scythe on his back. "She has quite a personality, if I may say so. And no," he looks at the rest of the group. "I am not following you. I just somehow managed to find you gals here. But once again, what are you doing out here... in a group?" Scythe asked, taking the grin off his mostly-hidden face.

"I don't see why that would matter to you." Vision cut in. "You were just wandering around, weren't you? Perhaps you should go back to... doing whatever it is that you were doing. Don't let us distract you from it."

"Oh if only I could..~" Scythe said, looking back at Vision. "But these lunar guards are just annoying..." he added, looking at the rest of the group again. "If you tell me what are you up to, we could gladly join in." Scythe said.

"Uh huh." Vision looked away from him and turned to the others. "None of you can seriously be thinking of letting him join, right?" He hissed in a whisper. "Other than the standard literary trope of a scythe being assigned to a suitable sinister soul - that's a huge telltale sign, mind you - there's the sheer absurdity of letting somepony we just met join our mission. We don't even know if he's trustworthy yet!"

Harun could break that confidence in a second, sending something else spinning the pony's way that he'd be hard pressed to stop. He wanted to express that to exceedingly confident pony’s face but shook his head slightly. He was still tense and coming down from the conflicted he justified to himself, they were not nice thoughts to be having about a pony. Why did that confidence get to him?

“Trope? I like that word. I didn’t think it was one actually used in conversation though,” Harun mused before giving his real answer. “If we let him tag along I want to be behind him.” This was partly a practical reason and partly a personal one. He had a fast effective and ready to method of hitting him from a distance, he also got to be soothed by thought there was an off chance he could take a guilt free shot at the pony. “I’m not sure I am qualified to give Equestrian state secrets out, so I guess it’s another pony’s call.” Harun rolled his shoulders back, looking at Scythe as though he was being sized up for something...the easily agitated part of him hoped a coffin.

Ruby looked at Vision and Harun as they said their thoughts about Scythe. "You...do have a good point, Vision...But we really shouldn't say anything about our mission. We don't know if he's with Nightmare, or just a random pony on neither side." She looked at the ground and awkwardly pawed at it. She really didn't know how to feel about this pony. He could be good and might help them get past Nightmare's defenses, but he might also be bad and might back stab them in a second. She just let the others talk it out and stayed off to the side.

"But...What if he is trustworthy? True he's a little...creepy with his tone of voice, but what if he can help us? He can get help us get past the thestrals." She said, quietly. She didn't want to get judged for her suggestion, but still just wanted the others to talk it out.

"If thou's gauging whether or not to let this other tag along based on how we did against two scouts, then we may need his assistance," Shard chimed in quietly as she thought back to how her own control over the ice and crystals was questionable at best. Thine magic certainly had a taste for blood, and she was fighting it every step of the way.

"But thee also agrees, trust should be something that one earns as the mission continues, until then thee will also be keeping an eye on it," Shard continued in her hushed voice.

Rain would have scoffed if he knew he wouldn't get injured from the pretty mare, "Ice? Hehe, my water isn't magical, it's-" he stopped as a tendril of water smacked him upside the head, "Ok ok! It's magical, it's the "heart" of a water elemental. And was bonded to my mind from a gypsy, who enchanted the flask to bind the water to me. It doesn't require magic to use, thus can be used for as long as I want, for whatever purpose I want."

He looked to the rest, and without any whispering said aloud, "Let him prove it."

"Prove it?" Vision turned to Rain, still whispering. "How? It's impossible to involve him in this mission without letting him at least know some of the details. And even some might be too much. What do you suggest for this test of trust?"

"Indeed, what?" Scythe said, leaning on his scythe as if he needed support standing. "Just what may I do to prove that I am not evil~?" He said and released a partially-insane slightly higher-pitched chuckle. "Perhaps kill some Lunars? Gally really loves their blood..." He said rather silently, yet loud enough to be heard by all of them. "Or perhaps show you the way through these damned woods... But then again, you already know the path, or so I would believe..." Scythe added, looking at every single pony in the group, giving most attention to Ruby, who was the closest to him.

Rain continues to talk out loud, annoyed slightly they can't just ask him directly, "At least tell him we... Aren't friends with the Lunars, and we need a way through this Light forsaken woods. Map or no map, somepony who actually knows there way around here is going to be a lot more helpful than a freaking piece of parchment."

He stands at full height and looks back to Scythe, "And you, I would suppose you could tag along, granted everypony else agrees, but as for the Lunars." He walks closer, "No killing, we are crippling only."

He turns back to the group, "All in favor?"

Vision frowned. "Crippling only? There's a very, very fine line between crippling and outright killing." He sighed in resignation. "But I'm not going to stand in everypony's way. If we're all in favour... I guess I'll be too. But I'll just say this now," he warned, "this is probably a bad idea."

Shard nodded at Rain's suggestion. "Thee agrees to let this Scythe at least lead us through, and crippling or incapacitating thine enemies is certainly preferable to the latter," she said once more looking towards the pony in question. With her vote cast, Shard went back to calming herself and reigning in control over her power. The small crystal spear along her armor shortened until it wouldn't encumber her despite the vegetation they'd likely be going through and with an adjustment of her reflective sun glasses, she was ready to continue onward.

Ruby scooted away from Scythe and closer to the group. She slightly glared at Scythe as he suggested killing thestrals. "For you information, I have friends who were lunar guards and I'd rather them no die to a pony like you." She said to him, turning her head away.

"Yes...Cripple. That seems fair enough. Some thestrals are innocent, dragged into all of this...." She said, looking up at the sky. The sight of the half day and half night amused her slightly. The transition from Celestia's sun to Luna's moon was beautiful. She didn't want it to stay that way forever though, but she still liked the sight. They all were relatively close to Nightmare's side of Equestria.

"We're all able bodied navigators and fighters, Harun said. He was rather aware he was going to get out democracied by the group consensus, given what had been said so far. "I wish to abstain from any voting." He took a small step back to illustrate the point.  

Harun personally thought that crippling a pony in these woods, if they had  no friend to help them, was tantamount to killing them. He was being a pessimist though, and despite that, he was very much in support of the idea of avoiding outright bloodshed. His opinion would likely not get properly heard, so he forced a weak smile and began to focus more on the group's surroundings. Why was he in such a foul mood? Harun didn't know, but he knew it wasn't healthy, so he'd just avoid the matters that irked him as best he could. 

Scythe grinned, pulled his scythe out of the ground and made a few steps towards the group. He released another chuckle, filled with insanity. "Heheheee... We would've been useless as a leader through the woods... I can only guess where the location you ponies wish to visit... or should I say, attack... raid... I have no idea what your goal is, since you're being so secretive about it... But as for no killing the lunars..." He says as he makes a few steps closer to Ruby and puts the large scythe on his back. "If that is your wish, then..." he continued, being only a few steps away from Ruby. As he was finally only half a meter away from her, he suddenly kneeled down in front of her, a slight grin coming onto his covered face. "... I shall not kill them." He finishes and releases another insane chuckle, still kneeling.

Ruby shied away with a quiet yelp. She put up a small dark purple shield around herself as she laid on the ground, scared for the life of her. She was visibly sharking. She looked down at the ground below her, closing her eyes. Boring. Let me take hold for a little while. Hehe. Don't you-...Buck you to Tartarus...

Ruby's coat became a slightly darker shade then before as she stood up. She got rid of her shield and smirked at Scythe. She shook her body a little bit and drew her knife from it's spot on her shoulder. "Hehe. And what location would that be?~ And you better not kill a thestral." She press her knife against Scythe's neck, with a low growl.

Even though none could see it behind her glasses, Shard quirked an eyebrow at Ruby's sudden change in demeanor. Appears as though thyself is not the only one struggling with a demon, Shard thought to herself as she watched the display. While not taking any offensive or defensive actions, she was more than ready to spring into a fray should it break out. The crystals along her armor re-arranging themselves for her advantage despite the diminished look they gave to the suit.