But all is not well in Hoofington (A MLP FiM Rp, 3 slots open, PM GM if interested.)

[DragonofDecay86]

Shadow pushed himself away from Gearwork with a low hiss and a shake of his head. Shadow didn't know what had come over him, but he always refused magical treatment and had never once used it on himself. Shadow in fact preferred to do everything in as normal a way as possible, and only used his magic when he had little other choice. Shadow left Drama's house, his ribs still sore despite the healing Gearwork had used on him. Shadow noticed that the other's had started migrating over to the book store, which he believed was where Bookworm lived. Midnight believed that they would need a base of operations, but Shadow didn't feel in the mood to head over there right away.

"I'll catch up with you, I've got stuff I need to do first." Shadow called back to whoever was in earshot, not really caring which of the ponies heard him.

The wings Shadow had used earlier in the day were now slung over his back, and they needed to be repaired and hung back up where they usually belonged. It took only a few minutes for Shadow to make it to his workshop from Drama's house. His workshop wasn't very extravagant, just a little one-story place that housed a furnace and a few racks for everything Shadow managed to create. There was of course a basement, which was where Shadow stored the different minerals and ores that he used in his work, but that was sealed tight by magic and could only be opened by Shadow himself.

Shadow opened the doors to his smithy, and pulled his wings off his back to set them up on their normal stand. The doors to Shadow's smithy closed with the help of Shadow's magic, and they barred themselves with an iron bar that settled itself across two iron clasps that locked the iron bar into place. It was simply so no filly walked in while he was distracted and got themselves hurt.

Shadow then opened up the vent for the furnace and lit it up, letting the smoke drift lazily up the chimney and out into the morning sky. Shadow then grabbed one of the unfinished wings from yesterday and started hammering it down into an iron bar since the others clearly hadn't needed his help as badly as they had portrayed yesterday. Shadow just sighed and kept to his work.

 

[Orinon]

It wasn't long before a caravan pulled by magic entered the town of Hoofington.
A light blue Pegasus, her mane was had to see do to a pointed hat with stars but she took it off when she arrived at Midnight's Observatory , they also saw she was wearing a light purple cape similar to Midnight's.
"Midnight" the unicorn called out seeing him
"Oh I missed you so much teacher."
"I've missed you too Trixie."

 

[Korak the Mad]

I apologize that I haven't written anything for about a week. I got sick and had to stay home where I don't have the internet.

Gearwork looked at the light blue unicorn with a look of annoyance. He had heard stories of this unicorn traveling across Equestria, boasting how she was the most magical unicorn across the land. 'Such arrogance,' Gearwork thought 'If I had an apprentice, I would make sure that they would show some humility. I could not work with such an arrogant pony.' He then thought 'Well, that would normally be the case, but these are unusual circumstances, so I guess I'll have swallow any hostility towards her.'

He walked over to Midnight and introduced himself to Trixie all the while keeping an eye her. He had a feeling that she would do something that would result in disaster, if he didn't watch her. As soon as he got near her, he saw the expression on her her face, it was one of joy in seeing her teacher, but there was something else, he couldn't quite place it, but the look unnerved him a little. "Hello. I am Gearwork. It's nice to meet the apprentice of Midnight." As he said this he put his right hoof to his left shoulder and bowed slightly. It was his way of greeting anypony.

 

[hiei82]

Bookworm was hard at work clearing tables of papers, stowing notes, and generally cleaning. If they were going to be planning their next move here, they would need plenty of room to work. Fortuitously, the ability to fly made cleaning a mush easier task. About half an hour of work later, the work area was perfect - though her private writing room was still a disaster zone. She had also grabbed as many books on ancient Equestria and magic as she could, placing them within easy reach of the tables - you never know what will come in handy after all. In addition, she placed a large map of Equestria on the table. It was hardly a perfect map - covered in notes about all sorts of stories she had written, but it was at least accurate enough for any planning purposes they might need.

wiping off her glasses, she flew back downstairs to the bookstore that made up the lower level, and opened it up to her new writing inspiration, inviting them up when they were ready.

 

[Orinon]

Midnight decided that Trixie should meet the group.
"let's go see if Bookworm needs any help, I got the books I needed, Trixie My legs are quite sore would you mind?"
"Not at all." she said she the took Midnight's bag and carried it on the shoulders.
"Well Trixie I've learned what you've done with the knowledge I taught you, I taught you of power few Unicorns have ever dreamed of having and I learned that You've used it to boast."
Trixie hung her head
"I'm sorry Midnight."
"Sorry doesn't help when you inspire fools to go looking for a monster that I told you should never be mentioned b name."
Gearworks was noticing something strange, Midnight's voice was getting more power, The Magic had caused his voice to amplify. it wasn't very loud but it was getting loud and despite the lower volume it almost felt like he was shouting at her.
Trixie hung her head.
"I just wanted to be great like you."
"Trixie I only use my power when I need to."
Midnight then softened.
"But you came when I called so you have learned to trust your instincts perhaps you were just misguided in what true power is."
they then arrived at Bookworm's place
"Wow this place looks great, Meet my Apprentice, Her Name is Trixie."

 

[hiei82]

"Wow this place looks great, Meet my Apprentice, Her Name is Trixie."

The sound drew Bookworm from her thoughts. She looked up and turned quickly from her book - 50 shades of neigh - causing her to crash haphazardly on the ground, her legs tangles on a table post. Again, looking up from the ground, she tilted her head in confusion. A second later she understood and, still on the floor, responded. "Hello Trixie! Pleasure to meet you!" She offered her a wing as a greeting - her front hooves were still entangled by the table.

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry, couldn't resist the book reference, no matter how bad a joke it is ^_^

 

[Orinon]

Trixie raised her hoof, she touched the tip of Bookworms wing.
"Charmed. do you, do you want some help?"
"Oh um, well that would be nice." bookworm admitted the two unicorns helped Bookworm untangle herself.
"SO I see you have a matching cape as your Teacher."
she said noting the lavender cape with blue and yellow stars.
"Ah yes Well when Trixie told me she wanted to see the world and travel I gave her that as a memento, I later learned a bit of her power had gone to her head, I would have called her back but She isn't a child and likely learned her lesson, besides I will need to her help to help me open up an old tunnel I had sealed off by magic, the on we had used for Practice.
"What for Midnight?" asked Gearworks intrigued.
"Last Time I had shouted I hadn't taken the time to practice, traditionally ancient unicorns would shout inside a cave letting the raw power of there voices bounce back to them over time they were able to take on the brunt of this force with this tolerance gained you were ready to shout words of power."
He shook his head he was rambling again.
"I'm sorry forgive me, I got carried away."

 

[Korak the Mad]

Gearwork was intrigued by what Midnight said about the ancient unicorn practices of the shout. 'Intriguing and dangerous' Gearwork thought 'A unicorn could cause a cave-in on themselves if the walls were unstable enough.'

"I'm sorry. Forgive me, I got carried away" Midnight said. Gearwork looked at him and said "You're not rambling right now. What you said was something that we needed to know and you did not go off on a tangent about something else. You don't need to be forgiven, you didn't do anything that needs forgiving right now." Gearwork then headed over to where Bookworm fell and started to pick up some of the books that were knocked to the floor when she tripped. He started stacking the books back on the table and hoped that he didn't mess up the way Bookworm kept them in order, though he most likely did.

When he was done he headed back over to Midnight and Trixie, who were leaving Bookworm's house. Gearwork noticed that Trixie didn't seem as arrogant as he would have expected. She also seemed a little more restrained than most ponies would be when they were trying to be on their best behavior at social gatherings. He did hear about the event in Ponyville, where 2 young colts unleashed an Ursa Minor upon the town just to see her defeat it, after she bragged about defeating an adult Ursa. When faced with the task of defeating it, she was forced to admit that she made the whole story up. Lucky for her, Princess Celestia's pupil was there to help send the creature back to where it lived. Anypony would restrain themselves after an event such as that.

 

[Korak the Mad]

As Gearwork followed Midnight and Trixie, he let his mind wander. He thought about how his ancestors were able to create armor that could face such a powerful opponent, unless the armor was powered by the Elements of Harmony. Everypony knew the six elements, which were based on positive personality traits. Gearwork started thinking that maybe there were other elements besides those six, maybe ones based positive mental states.

He started thinking of examples that could be attributed to Midnight, himself, and the others who helped stop the storm. 'Wisdom, would perfectly fit Midnight' Gearwork thought to himself 'Bookworm would be Knowledge, no pun intended. I think that Creativity or Imagination would fit Drama. I don't know much about Shadow, since he just moved here, so I don't know what his element would be. I know my element would be the Element of Invention. I also don't know what Speedie's would be, as well as Windsock's.' Gearwork then realized that Windsock should have been back by now. 'I hope he's okay, I hope he was able to deliver his messages to Cloudsdale and Canterlot.'

 

[Orinon]

Midnight meanwhile was about to enter the caves with Trixie.
"Midnight, are you certain it's happening?"
"I wish it wasn't but I saw it with my own eyes, they have returned Trixie and they won't be satisfied until they have taken Equestria, All of Equestria."
Midnight shuddered, he had seen the signs they were subtle at first but he didn't want to believe it, he didn't want to think the ancient tribes would return.
"But, Midnight You told me that they're leader was born even before Equestria was founded, how could a tribe hold such a grudge?"
"I saw her myself, Dark eclipse lives still."
"No, that can't be true, that would make her older than Celestia.
"I know it means the legends are true, that she found the secret of immortality. and if that's true then so did the other tribes. That's why I need your help, I taught you everything everything except this, you need to listen."
Then the sound of Midnight Voice echoed through the cave, Trixie and Midnight were forced to hear the sound bounce back at them. it wasn't an easy task but they kept there for at least a whole hour.

 

[Korak the Mad]

Gearwork stood outside the cave where Midnight and Trixie were training. He didn't want to be a distraction for them, and he also wanted to stand guard over the cave if a cave-in did start to occur, it was very unlikely, but still possible. Even though Midnight and Trixie were deep within the cave Gearwork could still slightly hear them, he always had extremely heightened hearing. Even though, the volume was less than that of a low whisper, Gearwork could still make out what they said.

'Dark Eclipse.' Gearwork thought, 'That was the leader's name that was said from the group of ancient pegasi tribe.' Gearwork attention grew when he heard that Dark eclipse must have found the secret of immortality, and if she found it, so did the other tribes.

'So, it would seem that we might not have one ancient tribe wanting to destroy us, but possibly three. If that is true then we must prepare ourselves. Those sets of ancient armor underneath Canterlot may help us some but not entirely.' Gearwork thought to himself, 'I'm glad I started making blueprints of newer armor based on what he saw, for everyone in our group.' He remembered seeing 4 sets of armor, 2 of which had an opening in the helm where a unicorn's horn would be, while the other 2 didn't have that. The armor also lacked wings, so the ponies using it would be grounded. Gearwork made blueprints of newer armor, made for all types of ponies, including pegasi. He also made modifications that anypony using the armor could fly. He kept what the power source would be, those stones of power, the unrefined version of the elements of harmony. He took out of his saddlebag the stone that landed near him after he healed Midnight. He still couldn't believe that he actually created the thing. The stone glowed with an orangish silver light, and radiated an immense power to it.

Gearwork decided that while Midnight and Trixie trained he would start working on the armor, but he also felt that he shouldn't leave the entrance of the cave unguarded. 'I'll just teleport to my workshop and grab the things I need and teleport right back.' With that Gearwork put the stone back in his saddlebag and teleported to his workshop to get the supplies.

When he arrived he noticed that his workshop was in complete disarray, it looked as though somepony or something was looking for something very specific, and trashed the place looking for it. He put a hoof on his chest and felt the ancient family heirloom that he always carried. He pulled it out from under his clothes and looked at the ancient piece of machinery, "This must be what whoever came in and trashed the place." Gearwork said to himself. He then started to grab pieces of metal and gemstones and started to put them in his saddlebags. He also grabbed a piece of headgear that had a scope on one side with multiple magnifying lenses to it that could be adjusted for different magnifications. It would completely cover the right eye of the wearer, but the scope could be moved up so the wearer wouldn't need to remove the entire piece of headgear.

Gearwork's attention shifted to the back room of his workshop, when he suddenly heard a small rustling of paper emanating from there. Gearwork silently moved to where the noise came from, his horn glowing in case he needed to defend himself. What he found, absolutely mortified him. It was Coo, his pet/assisstant, the large grey owl was crumpled and barely alive on the floor. Gearwork remembered that Coo had come back to his workshop after everypony left Drama's house and headed over to Midnight's observatory the day before. Whoever was in Gearwork's workshop was there just recently, and Coo must have tried to defend the place. There was blood and feathers near where Coo was laying. The owl looked at Gearwork with an apologetic look in his eyes and hooted weakly. Gearwork telepathically lifted the owl gently and put the owl on his back. Gearwork knew that if he didn't heal the bird quickly he would not only lose a pet, but also a friend as well. Gearwork looked around and grabbed four large emeralds on the table near him. Gearwork then teleported himself and Coo back to the entrance of the cave where Midnight and Trixie were.

When he arrived he immediately put the owl gently on the ground and started to heal the owl. While he was healing his pet, he noticed that there was slight residual magical energy from the wounds that Coo sustained. Gearwork immediately realized that Coo wasn't attacked by a pegasus or earth pony, but a unicorn. Gearwork didn't know who would break into his workshop, looking for the amulet that Gearwork always wore, and try to kill his pet, unless it was a unicorn from the ancient tribes. After a few minutes of using the emeralds to heal Coo, Gearwork finally stopped. The owl hooted greatfully that he was healed, but he still was laying on the ground, that was when Gearwork noticed that the owl had both of it's talons were clentched tightly. The owl must have recognized whoever broke in to the workshop and grabbed a piece of hair of the unicorn that attacked him, and made sure that Gearwork know as well.

Midnight and Trixie were walking out of the cave when they saw Gearwork taking the pieces of hair that Coo had grabbed from his attacker. They walked over to see had happened, and Gearwork explained what had happened and then showed them the pieces of hair that Coo grabbed. Both Gearwork and Midnight recognized the hair the hair immediately.

The pieces were two different colors. There was a very dark green piece and an equally dark blue piece.

 

[hiei82]

Bookworm, seeing the others leave, decided to take a different route - searching her vast library for everything she had on the lost tribes. After all, if she was going to write a story, it would require some research, right? Flying around the store, she gathered every scrap of paper related to pre-Celestia Equestria. The search took over an hour of flying around - giving her reason to change her organization system in the future.

Aside from the mythological stories of the past, she found very little. She found a few copies of old maps, a handful of tales about working together, and even a play about the famous story. but other then unsubstantiated rumor, she found little to help her cause. Leaving the maps out - as they would be the most useful of all she had found, she started to put her books away, disappointed. It was while doing this, the idea came to her mind - the list!

Bookworm shot up the stairs - which she wondered she even had - and into her personal possessions. digging through boxes and bags, she eventually found what she was looking for; a thick, leather bound book, filled with but one piece of information.

The list of books in the Canterlot Royal Library. Bookworm dug into the book, searching for any sign that might aid her. Several hours passed, with no aid to be found. Then, she reached the E's, and her search was complete. Element's and Armor - a record of magical artifacts of Equestria's past Bookworm smiled, and sighed in relief - she had found what she needed, now only one task remained.

There was little choice now: she would need to go to a better library; she would need to go to Canterlot.

Spoiler: OOC

I'm going to leave the contents of the book up to @Korak The Mad and @Orion as I have no idea where you are taking this plot

 

[Orinon]

Midnight and Trixie eventually couldn't take any more of the shouting, it drained away ones strength just listening to it. however Midnight and Trixie left the cave feeling like they had accomplished something, they were on the way to handling the power of a shout.
"Lets go home and get some rest, the effects should be mild." Midnight said though he was dizzy.
Gearworks with his acute hearing also heard the shouting, he too was feeling a bit weak, not as much but a little wobbly around the knees.

 

[Korak the Mad]

When Midnight came out of the cave, with Trixie, he saw Gearwork shaking. The sound had disturbed him a little bit, because he wasn't used to such noise. He was also shaken up when he saw the pony hair that his owl had grabbed when a pony had broken into his workshop and almost killed the bird who was defending it. He recognized it as soon as he saw it. It was Mossmane's, the young unicorn that had helped them free all the enslaved unicorns on the platform during the storm.

He knew there was something off about Mossmane when he first freed her, she recovered far too quickly than a pony her age should have recovered when he removed her harness. She also spoke with a voice that sounded like it came from an elderly mare instead of a young filly. It was also incredibly strange that she also knew the language that Gearwork and the others in town spoke. Based on what Midnight had said, the unicorns from the ancient tribe, spoke telepathically, instead of vocally, and how she knew the language so well for a pony who looked so young, there were only two answers: She actually came from the Equestria, that Celestia and Luna ruled, or that she was much older than she appeared. From what he heard Midnight say about the ancient tribes unlocking the secret of immortality, he was inclined to believe the latter choice, that Mossmane was much older than she looked.

As he headed back home to clean up his workshop after the break in by Mossmane, when he bumped into Bookworm, who had a saddlebag full of materials and some food in it. She looked like she was about to head out of town for a few days, and based on what had happened in the last few days, he pretty much knew where she was going, he actually was planning on going there as well. The Canterlot Royal Archives, the best library in all of Equestria, it held many ancient tomes that held many secrets, and most likely a book that would help them be able to figure out what was happening. "Bookworm," Gearwork asked "You're planning on going to the Canterlot royal archives, I presume?"

 

[hiei82]

Bookworm stared at Gearwork for a short while, marveling at his ability to predict her. "How does he know?!?!" she wondered, her eyes wide. In truth, given her name (Bookworm), her saddle bags stocked with supplies, and the book containing a list of the books within the Canterlot Archive, it was all too obvious what she was doing. That fact escaped Bookworm of course, leaving her amazed Gearwork's ability.

"Yup! I found out about a book that might help us. But... how did you know?" she said, ending with a question as her Canterlot Library card fell from her hoof - another of the many obvious hints that escaped the young author.

 

[Orinon]

Midnight and Trixie heard this, Trixie made a simple offer
"If we need any faster transport My carriage could work for to our advantage"
"Aw you've worked on that spell that allows you to conjure a phantasmal horse then?"
Trixie smiled but was determined to not seem like she was boasting.

 

[Korak the Mad]

Gearwork quickly teleported to his workshop, and grabbed a few supplies that figured he would need, such as more pieces of metal, and a few scrolls with the blueprints of the armor. Just as he was locking up he remembered something and quickly grabbed a large bag of different gemstones. If he was headed to Canterlot, he figured he might as stop by and see his mother who had a jewelry store there. He teleported back to where the others were and saw that they had grabbed supplies as well. They looked at the large bag of gems, a little puzzled of why he was carrying so many. "I'm planning on stopping at my mother's jewelry store after we arrive." Gearwork explained, "When I moved here I promised her that whenever I visit, I would give her a bag of gemstones so she can create jewelry with them."

As Gearwork waited for Trixie to cast her spell, he saw Coo fly by and realized that if something were to happen to the owl again, he might not be there to save him. He waved for the owl and Coo landed on one of the mechanical wings that Gearwork was wearing. Trixie quickly looked at the bird and then went back to her spell. "I'm not leaving him here, since what recently happened, also he could be a messenger if we need to get together quickly." Gearwork said "He also could keep watch and give us a warning if something were to happen in Canterlot."

He watched as Trixie finished her spell, and saw a bluish grey mist form in front of her caravan, and it form into the shape of a large horse. 'Interesting spell' Gearwork thought as he and the others climbed in. Just as he and the others got comfortable, the caravan took off. It moved at an incredible speed, was at least five times the speed of a sprinting pony, if not faster.

As they were moving towards Canterlot, Gearwork was looking out of one the windows in Trixie's caravan when he thought he saw a pony standing on a cliff in the distance watching them, he blinked and when he looked back there was nothing there. "I'm pretty sure we're be watched." Gearwork said "I thought I saw a pony standing on a cliff, but when I looked back it was gone."

 

[Orinon]

Midnight thought about this for a while.
"hmmm was it a unicorn by chance? It could be the tribe we saved they likely are very grateful for our help."
Trixie meanwhile was a bit tired from casting a complex spell
"I need a rest That spell normally doesn't affect me this much I guess listening to that shouting-"
"Don't feel ashamed Trixie I'm shaken up to, honestly My magic isn't working that well right now." midnight admitted
then he noticed Gearworks unease when he mentioned the unicorn tribe
"Is something wrong?"

 

[hiei82]

Bookworm was listening to the conversation intently; by which I mean reading Looking for Alascolt. She always read when she had things to think about. She had thousands of books to sift through when they got to Canterlot, which meant she needed to put together a way to find it. For all the power and intelligence of the many Unicorns, Pegisi, and Ponies, the Canterlot library was never the most organized of libraries. It wasn't really their fault - the decimal system hadn't been invented when the library was started and now it was too big for anyone to really make any headway into organizing it properly.

Thinking it through, the book would be in either the History section, the Magic section, or maybe the Mythology section. That meant they would need to search each section carefully. Then of course came the part where they would need to explain why they needed the book - the Canterlot librarians were always noisy like that. If they told them the truth, they would have to explain everything again to Celestia and worse, if they lied, they might take away her library card - a fate worse then death.

All-in-all, it was going to be a rough day.

 

[Korak the Mad]

Gearwork shuddered somewhat when Midnight mentioned the unicorn tribe, and how grateful they were for the group's help. "Is something wrong?" Midnight asked after he saw Gearwork shudder. "I think they were happy with us freeing them." Gearwork said "But I don't think we should trust them entirely, especially Mossmane."

Midnight looked a little confused when Gearwork said that, so he told them about finding Coo near death, after be attacked by a unicorn. He then pulled out the pieces of hair that Coo grabbed before being struck down by a magical attack. He then asked Midnight "Didn't you find it strange that a unicorn from the tribe could speak like us? How about her voice, it didn't sound like it came from a young unicorn, now did it?" Gearwork shook his head "Sorry if I seemed a little agitated about talking about it. It's just I almost lost a close friend because of her. By the way, what I saw on the cliff looked more like an earth pony than a unicorn or pegasus."

Gearwork was quiet for a moment, before asking "When we get to Canterlot, what should we tell the princess, or does that seem like a bad idea? We have to tell them something, otherwise I don't know if they'll let us into the ancient archives."