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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

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Mr Zoat said:
making her gaps in horror like that.
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'gasp in'

Mr Zoat said:
forefinger against her right them and appears next
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Remove 'them'

Mr Zoat said:
"Sunset, did you ever have a problem with Earth's orbital mechanics?"

"No, not really? Ah, Luna
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That may be because orbital mechanics aren't really something you focus on, while they're pretty much Luna's job.

Mr Zoat said:
rest on mine her head is definitely pointed
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'rest of her head'

Mr Zoat said:
That, we are informed, in pony heresy."
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'is pony'

Mr Zoat said:
"Though… Maybe… Don't pick Starlight Glimmer. That pony… I think she might have problems."

Luna tilts her head back to look at me again.

"Neigh. Really
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No shit Captain Obvious.
 
Sunset. Can't you just teach the little ponies curse words from Earth? Or talk about the history of human medicine? Or… Fine, fine. You are an alicorn now. That means you need to stumble your way into your own apprentice, who will reflect some parts of your behavior in surprising ways.

Perhaps you'll take a non-pony though.
 
Mr Zoat said:
Sunset avoids my gaze.

"Sunset."

"Look, Earth's full of strange ideas! I just got a few books on political theory and gave them to the Equestrian library service! I'm sure nopony is going to do anything crazy."
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I am now manually imagining Equestria Girls-style Sunset, but she's dressed up like Fidel Castro.

Complete with the beard, cap, and cigar.
 
Mr Zoat said:
7th October 2012
16:57 GMT -7

Luna freezes, her terrified exhalation immediately drawing my attention! I crouch slightly, staring around to try and spot-

There's nothing there, Lantern Grayven.
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Well, nothing that reads as a threat. So it's something Earth has that Equestria doesn't. And I doubt she's such a fainting filly that seeing a plane in the air would have her panicking...

-whatever it is that's… Yes, I don't either, but something's making her gaps in horror like that. Relaxing slightly, I walk cautiously towards her.

"Luna?"
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Best to move slowly. Equines don't deal well with quick movements or loud noises, whatever their form...

She shakily raises her right arm, pointing into the… Sky. At the clearly visible moon in the day sky.

"Ah."
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Ah... Oh, the madness. I imagine this would only occur on Equestrian by accident, or if Luna was feeling a bit vexed by her sister.

I walk around behind her, wrap my right arm around her chest and my left hand over her eyes like a living blinker.

"It's alright, it's alright. It's meant to do that."
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Hmm... Would this be a bad time to cop a feel? :D Just to shock her out of her surprised state. It's not like her slap would hurt him, after all.

"Daddy?" Sarah trots walks over with her ball. "What's wrong with Princess Luna?"

"She's had a bit of a shock, but she'll be fine in a moment. Why don't you go and play with Clare while she recovers?"
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Oh, don't think we didn't notice that little moment of self-correction, Renegade. I guess there's a few words he avoids using, even in his inner monologue, since he met the Ponies, unless they're actually appropriate...

Sarah walks closer, then reaches up to pat Luna on the left thigh with her right hand before turning and running towards her sister. Through my right arm I feel Luna's breathing rate drop down to something more like her resting rate as she leans back into me.

"Feeling better?"
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Ah, small children. Such a calming influence.

"The moon is raised!"

"Earth orbits its star, while its moon orbits the Earth. As a result there are times when both are visible from the ground at one point. Did you..? Not see it before?"
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It's not all that scary, you know. Unless you're living in a reality where the Moon isn't natural...

"Neigh, We did not!"

Sarah jogs past her sister and tugs on Sunset's sleeve. Sunset looks down, Sarah points to us and Sunset follows the gesture with her eyes. She blinks, clicks her right forefinger against her right them and appears next to us in a cloud of glitter.
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Ah, the little girl has the right idea. Get the other pony-girl to help.

"What's up with Luna? Or are you getting into public hobbling?"

"She saw the moon."
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...And no, I am not going to link to that. :oops: Think a 'Bondage play' thing...

Sunset frowns, then shades her eyes as she looks up into the sky. "Huh."

"Sunset, did you ever have a problem with Earth's orbital mechanics?"
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Does it matter to her Magical Research? No? Then why would it? :p

"No, not really? Ah, Luna? You know it's meant to do that, right?"

I feel it as Luna regains control of herself, breathing in deeply and holding it before slowly breathing out. And in, and out.
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Yes, the desire to not be seen as foolish in front of a peer is probably a strong motivator.

"You may remove your hand. We are not some dumb beast who forgets what it saw the moment its sight is obscured."

I tighten my right arm slightly. I'd tilt my head to press into her hair if she weren't far too short for that to work in this shape. "So hobbling is off the menu?"
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...And that can be taken so many ways. But I think you can guess exactly which way he wants it taken... :oops: Or rather, her taken.

"Public hobbling is most certainly 'off the menu' in whatever form We happen to occupy."

I open the fingers of my left hand, uncovering her eyes while still leaving my palm against the side of her head. Though her formerly pointing arm has flopped down to rest on mine her head is definitely pointed upwards to stare at the moon.
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...That's not a no to private hobbling, or other stuff like it... :sneaky:

"The moon is in the sky."

I nod. "It certainly is. Sunset, why didn't you have a problem with Earth's orbital mechanics?"
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And a beautiful sight it can be, depending on conditions. Though it's never so large as video games would have you believe.

She shrugs. "I'd been on Earth for a while before I even noticed, and nothing particularly terrible had happened. I guess it just signified… Y'know…" She shrugs against, this time a little more awkwardly. "Celestia not watching over me."

"Has Twilight said anything about it?"
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...Would she have even bothered to look at the sky? I mean, she is something of a shut-in at times.

"I don't think she's noticed. She's more interested in our technology and magic than anything else.."

Luna's breathing is almost completely back to normal now-.
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:cool: Not quite the heavy breathing you want her to be doing, eh, Grayven?

"Luna, moon of my skies, perhaps-"

She tilts her head back so that she can look up at me. "That was terrible."
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Hey, there are worse ways he could have put that. ;) And lewder fanart generally does give her a fine 'moon' indeed.

"-if you don't stare at it?"

"We will recover Ourself. It was simply a shock."
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I mean, Grayven, haven't you ever seen something you didn't expect before? I'm sure there's something in this universe that could produce a reaction like that. What about that last visit from Him? Or where you too paralysed with fear to be shocked?

"Had you really not seen it before today? You've been out and about on Earth several times."

"But for the most part We were inside, or the sky was overcast, or your moon not on display, or Our attention directed elsewhere. And then your filly Sarah tossed the ball high and there was a strange moon in the sky."
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Ah... Yes, I suppose that could be a surprise... :eek: Wait, you were playing catch with the kids? How sweet!

I nod. "A moon that didn't respond to your magic. I could see how that would be disconcerting, though I must say that I'm glad this happened while you are in human form and not as a pony."

She hesitates for a moment.
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...Yes, a very good thing, indeed. The DC Universe's orbital physics are robust, but not that robust...

"You worry that in Our discomfiture We may have reached for it. We… Do not think that would have worked."

"Hopefully not, but if you threw out enough magic there might be other effects, even if the moon didn't start dancing to your tune. But hey! Good work on not falling over. It took Sunset a lot longer to get the hang of that."
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I mean, how big is Wilson's Moon, actually? Because I doubt it's 10k Kilometres around, nor weighs about 7.3x1022 ​Kilograms (That's 22 zero's, people. That's a lot.) Discord, you got some 'splainin' to do...

"Did not."

"You were making 'my hands are hooves' gestures when you kidnapped Twilight Sparkle."
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It was quite cute, you know.

"That's not the same as standing up!"

"That is sufficient." Luna raises her right hand. "You may consider us sufficiently distracted from the shoddy construction of the local universe."
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Hey, now! The Source put a lot of work into things. You know how hard it is to co-ordinate all these things whizzing about without colliding by accident? ...No, making them collide on purpose is something else entirely.

"This system runs fine unless someone introduced a solar mass into the system. Yours falls apart if someone puts two ponies in a vine pod. If anything, you and Celestia should try and make your system work like this one."

"That, we are informed, in pony heresy."
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And usually, the few times an object of a mass large enough to actually mess with orbital physics, like Mageddon or Solaris, has entered the system, they've usually had space wedgies in place to prevent throwing things off-track.

Sunset shrugs. "Probably. But there's something about the idea of making Celestia unemployed that really appeals to me."

I give her a mild frown. "You are aware that she'd still be Princess Regnant, right? All it would mean is that she could have a lie in."
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In fact, she'd probably thank you for it. Do you know how much of a pain it would be, having to rise before dawn every day for over a thousand years?

Sunset avoids my gaze.

"Sunset."
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:confused: ...Oh, god. What did she do?

"Look, Earth's full of strange ideas! I just got a few books on political theory and gave them to the Equestrian library service! I'm sure nopony is going to do anything crazy."

"Thou art trying to depose us?"
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...Sunset has no genre savvy or pattern recognition, does she? Does she not remember the Cutie Mark Lecture? Some Ponies are not entirely stable.

"No. I'm trying to get other ponies to depose Celestia!" She shrugs. "You're fine. You can stay."

"And Sister was wondering if We would like Our own student. Between thyself and Twilight Sparkle, we are unsure that Equestia would survive."
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Smart lady. Though I'm sure there are some colts and fillies out there who might benefit from your knowledge... Why, you could found a school of oneiromancy! It's even got a pun in the 'neigh-me'! :V

"Just because we don't do what you want, that doesn't mean that we don't do amazing things. Just, y'know, don't spend years lying to us and make sure you actually teach us things. It's not complicated."

Ah…
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Good advice. The sad fact of personal experience. I'm sure any students you take in future will do fine...

"Though… Maybe… Don't pick Starlight Glimmer. That pony… I think she might have problems."

Luna tilts her head back to look at me again.

"Neigh. Really?"
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To quote Cable: "You've never needed a crystal ball to predict the obvious, have you?" But seriously, Starlight doesn't have issues, so much as the entire newsstand.

Now that, I did not see coming. I'd assumed Grayven had quietly given her a look at the Solar System's setup offscreen at some point. :p I guess he forgot, what with all that teasing he had on the docket. Still, as he said, it's probably good timing that it happened now. The Moon's already gotten enough attention and fiddling with in the Paragon's timeline. :V
Doccer said:
Hobbling?
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In pony terms: A Hobble. I'm sure you can connect to dots involving a human-form version...
 
There's probably some fuckery where the sun and moon Celestia and Luna deal with aren't anywhere near as large as our own. If nothing else, the admittedly not particularly canon comics once had them lasso the moon then climb the rope to reach it. And it didn't take them a particularly long time, or tire them out, to reach it.
 
Workhorse (part 16)
  • Threadmarks
    • 10th October 2012
    02:12 GMT

    Drift left, slight descent, meet eyes, nod and switch hands…

    I don't know about Thanagar itself, but it turns out that Havania has ballroom dancing.

    Proceed and wheel, drift back and switch hands again…

    Aerial ballroom dancing, which includes quite a lot of precise wing movements as well as motions of the arms and legs.

    Hold your partner close and rise, rotating in synchronicity as you stare into their eyes…

    And the third place couple drop out, prompting Jade and I to bow our heads and press our foreheads together as we drop out to avoid a clearly tainted victory. Because while there's no actual rule against airborne aliens taking part in what isn't strictly a competitive event, they're flying by precisely controlling their wings and Nth metal nodes while we're using a power ring and kinetic belt respectively. While it wasn't easier for us to match our motions than it was for the rest of the… Um, flock? It didn't get progressively more tiring as it did for them.

    We touch down at the edge of the circle marking out the area for the 'dance-duel', linking arms as we head for one of the chaise lounges around the edge of the room. The third place couple are flaking out near by, friends or admirers commiserating them as they fan them with their wings. The man makes a play of it, spreading his arms and wings, loosening his jacket and panting to lose accumulated heat as quickly as possible to the laughter of the observers.

    The woman wilts a little more quietly, right hand clenching in frustration. Though a quick flash of empathic vision shows that she's mildly frustrated at coming close to winning and not quite getting there, rather than as part of some long-running grudge. Long running serious grudge, perhaps I should say.

    The winners descend into the centre of the room, leaning on each other though trying to make it look like they could carry on all evening if they had to. A collective cry goes up, and everyone around the edge of the room makes an arms raised hands together gesture of salute, the younger couples keeping their arms raised for several seconds while the older participants drop it almost immediately. Bleez herself heads into the centre of the room with a ceremonial chalice which she hands to the victors, the woman taking a small drink before passing it to the man, who takes another small drink before passing it back.

    I don't really know what any of that's about, but it's fascinating to watch.

    Bleez leans in to say something to the victors, glancing our way and nodding her head to the side. That's our signal, then.

    I scan the room and the castle beyond, and the grounds beyond that. No infiltrators that I can detect, no obvious red flags amongst the staff -other than her mother, who put in a token appearance and retired early after introducing Bleez to an unusually tall fellow from the local defence force- and no sign of electronic monitoring beyond the internal security mechanisms. Jade and I went through the place before the party but it wasn't impossible that someone could have snuck something in.

    With the event over and the participants mostly recovered, the guests begin to circulate once more. A few head outside to take advantage of the castle's gardens. The flowers there certainly look nice, and I'm sure that the arrangements are in exquisite taste, but the whole things smells decidedly… Off, to a human nose.

    I nod back to Bleez, then arm in arm Jade and I walk out of the dance room and head deeper into the castle.

    "That was a change of pace."

    "Are you interested in formal dancing?"

    "No, but I think I could live with doing it every now and then."

    "Noted."

    "And that doesn't mean 'once a month' or 'twice a year'."

    "Also noted." … "So, three times a year?"

    She's facing away from me so I miss what is probably an eye roll, but I do spot the slight hitch in her breathing.

    "I'll tell you when."

    "I feel this is a very stereotypical conversation."

    "So you want an exact figure."

    "I don't need an exact figure, but it might be helpful in getting you what you want if I know what it is."

    "I thought you always know what I want."

    "Only if I make a point of looking, and I know it makes you uncomfortable."

    We slow to a stop just in front of a large portrait of… Yes, Bleez's family when she was younger. Her father stands tall and proud while her mother plays… Something, with her in the foreground. Her father's sidearm is the only piece of advanced technology on obvious display.

    "Interesting that they still do paintings."

    "They probably keep the holograms somewhere private."

    "Lex Luthor has a hallway lined with photographs on the way to his apartment."

    She glances at me. "Spying on the opposition?"

    "He invited me to dinner once. Me and a few others."

    "When was that?"

    "The week after I joined with the Ophidian." I sigh quietly. "Back when I still thought that he could be talked around."

    "Aiming high."

    "Aimed high. Really thought I could get through to him." I shrug. "Not to be. So do you want to know about it if there's ballroom dancing somewhere we happen to be?"

    "Yes, let's go with that."

    "Excuse me!"

    Jade and I uncouple and turn, the tall Thanagarian apparently having gotten away from his handler. Kran Kral is apparently 'a noble officer with good prospects'. And he's certainly tall. He's actually a little taller than me, and noticeably broader. According to local files he's from one of the newer colonies, first generation born there.

    "Yes? How can we help?"

    "You both dance well for people who haven't seen a Thanagarian dance until recently. Was it really just today?"

    "Princess Bleez was kind enough to lend us her dance instructor."

    "And it's not really the same when you're not using your own wings. Didn't feel like taking part yourself?"

    He wing-shrugs. "The Princess Regnant intimated that Princess Bleez would be my date. That… That doesn't appear to be happening, and in any case as the hostess it would be impolite for her to take part."

    "As I understand it, Bleez's ideas about what Bleez wants and her mother's ideas about what Bleez wants are distant acquaintances at best. If you actually want to pursue a relationship with her then I suggest not seeking her mother's favour."

    "Oh." He frowns. "I hadn't realised. I…" He shrugs again, looking slightly awkward. "I actually intended to ask if you were involved with her. And when you intended to break it off. But if you're not, then I suppose that I only have my own poor reconnaissance to blame."

    "This is Jade, my fiancée."

    Jade nods. "Hello."

    "Oh." He makes a submissive gesture with his wings. "I apologise. That is what I get for relying on rumours."

    "Bleez is an interesting woman, but…" I shake my head. "I don't think it would work. Really, if you're serious, she's the one you need to talk to."
     
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    • Michael Vonica said:
    They planned to get married after the war calms down. I guess that means that they're practically engaged.
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    Also, there was that conversation with her mother where he mentioned being engaged for a few years... but I may be remembering a conversation Renegade had.
     
    Vaermina said:
    It never ceases to amuse me that Paragon missed recruiting Lex Luthor solely because he was too stupid to read between the lines of what Luthor was telling him.
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    He was genuinely tempted by what OL was offering, but he missed out due to his rampant paranoia over the SI's orange light powers potentially influencing him.

    Side note, I am now rooting for this thanagarian dude. Feels like a genuine sort. And as a first generation from one of the newer colonies, he might be more amenable to Bleez's reforms than someone born and bred in the seat of Thanagar's power.
     
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