MLP - Age of Exploration (D&D 5e Custom System)

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver Cyan Hide
Expellix's ears twitched in mild annoyance, giving Nightmare Moon the most deadpan stare in existence when she flicked his nose. His muzzle even scrunched up slightly, nose twitching. "This 'little thing' has a name and it's 'I'll-kick-your-ass-again-if-you-call-me-that-one-more-time.' I know, quite the mouthful. I will find you, and you'll get my axes up your masochistic ass." He grumbled.

He crossed his arms and watched Starlight Glimmer walk and Nightmare Moon... float away. His ears were up straight, swiveled in their direction, trying to hear anything, but there was just nothing to hear. Magic was apparently preventing the others from listening at all. It was probably particularly aimed at him more than anybody else, as he would still quite clearly hear from this distance.

When she returned, he hopped over, prodding her foreleg. "Don't keep us in the dark, Starlight. What's the deal she's making?"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Assailant Avedon GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof
Expellix was beginning to annoy Nightmare Moon. Considering she could kill all of them if she really wanted, and was the only chance of actually bringing Trixie back to life, that probably wasn't the best idea. She addressed him directly this time. "Your disrespectful tone and desire to find out about our personal deal is becoming something of a nuisance, little one. Begone!"

With that command, the group would find themselves being tossed through space, and deposited right outside the mouth of the cave. A shimmering wall of darkness was now covering the mouth of the cave, barring entry. It was giving off an incredible amount of cold and the adventurers would get the feeling that touching this wall could really hurt. But... they could try.

Starlight Glimmer was not with them, however.

Cyan Hide
Now that the peasants were out of the way, Nightmare Moon could address Starlight with actual words rather than telepathy. "Remember the deal, Starlight."

With that being said, Nightmare Moon turned into a cloud of smoke, and disappeared down Trixie's throat. A split second later Trixie's wounds disappeared and the mare sat upright coughing intensely, her eyes shining blue for a moment and her irises going cat-like... before that went away and Trixie's eyes looked regular again. "Ow... what the hay happened here?? I feel like I got hit by your giant flank..."

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dumbledoof Dreamweaver


Starlight didn't answer the rabbit. She looked at him with heavy, guilty eyes, and sighed. A few seconds later Nightmare Moon whisked them away. Everyone but Starlight, Nightmare and Trixie was gone, with no sign of them. Then, Nightmare Moon talked to her, reminding her of the deal. "Oh, I remember. I don't think I'm ever going to forget this moment no matter how hard I try. Now bring her back!" she barked in reply.

When Nightmare entered Trixie's body, and Starlight could see the changes to her eyes, Starlight panicked, her mind going to many different worst case scenarios in the split second. Luckily, a few seconds later, Trixie came back, and from her comment, it was definitely Trixie. Starlight just stared at the cyan pony as her eyes started to tear up, before tackle-hugging Trixie to the ground. She immediately started sobbing unintelligibly.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Assailant Avedon Cyan Hide GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof
"Oooo...kaaayyyy..." Trixie patted her marefriends back gently and looked confused as all Tartarus. "... What happened, Star? I remember getting hit by something, then I woke up here." She looked herself over and noticed that she had a distinctive lack of scars... and then smiled happily at Starlight. "You learned how to heal, didn't you?? Just for me! Awe!" Trixie hugged even tighter!

But then it was time to go. Noticing that nobody was actually around, Trixie made her way for the entrance of the cave. They had probably just went on ahead while she recovered from the healing, right? There was a lot of pieces that she was attempting to put together right now... Starlight might have to start lying to her. "So, we defeated Nightmare Moon I assume? Judging by the dead dragon." She said while motioning over to its corpse. Actually she tore a few dozen of its massive scales off and teleported them to their house. Those would sell for a fortune.

Soon enough the group was back together, and they had one final job to do; sort through the dragons treasure horde! All in all, everyone got some incredibly potent items with Trixie herself coming out with an artifact of a staff. She had yet to understand how to use it, but already she knew this thing was an absolute life changing item.

"... So, shall we go see Princess Luna and inform her of our success?" Trixie asked after she was sure everyone had gathered some items for themselves. They each found 1 potent item, and a ton of bits. Trixie and Starlight alone were over 10,000 bits total!

 

[Dreamweaver]

Assailant Cyan Hide Andrita GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof Redfork2000
Princess Luna stood before the assembled ponies, pacing slowly in front of her throne as she looked down on them. To her side was a white stallion, who stood a few inches taller than Luna herself. His fur was pristine white and his mane and tail were black, with a slight gray streak through it. On his head was a long and straight horn, while at his sides were a pair of feathered wings which he was rustling nervously.

That stallion was also looking down on the assembled ponies, but his eyes didn't have the curiosity that Luna's did; his had worry in them, especially when he looked over Applebloom. "... Luna, surely there must be another option. They are but children, unready for s-" he was silenced as Luna held her hoof up. "Do not let your carnal relations with Applebloom cloud your judgement, Solar. These heroes show the most potential, and you know I cannot face this myself." Luna responded, causing Lucian to tighten his lips a bit and nod. It wasn't his place to question a deity, but... he felt bad about this.

Luna turned to the group again. "What we have here, is a group of extraordinary ponies who simply need some guidance and training. Applebloom, the sister of an Element of Harmony and a mare who's already shown a natural inclination towards hoof combat, though Lucian here already knew that. Platinum Rose, an ex-bandit who is attempting to change her ways, and is one of the few ponies able to effectively use the new firearms that Starstreak develops. Aurelion, the daughter of a brilliant hippogriff and bat pony, who has inherited their latent magical powers herself and shows great magical aptitude. And finally Wind Whistler, who has come from far away lands to help us."

Luna pointed to each of them in turn as she quickly introduced them. Then she moved on! "Now then. What do any of you know about demons?" She asked, causing the alicorn stallion behind her to let out a little growl of disgust. The group would get the feeling that him and demons didn't exactly get along.

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver Cyan Hide Dumbledoof Redfork2000 Andrita

Applebloom had convinced Lucian to let her come along, mostly because she wanted to get out and experience the world much like her had, and find her place in the world, somewhere other than a farm. She'd look at him, still not used to his new appearance, but just happy to see him standing there. Of course, she was also super nervous because Princess Luna was standing right there! She was standing stock still, only her eyes darting between Princess Luna and Lucian, trying to get an idea of how they felt. She already knew how Lucian felt.

At the mention of demons, Applebloom watched as Lucian seethed angrily, and frowned a slight bit, before returning her neutral expression. She'd look up at Princess Luna, and slowly raise her hoof, "Are... Ah was told they were evil an'... An'... Uhm..." She'd mumble, looking down, starting to get a little worried, "Fed off'a the energy of ponies?" She'd add, still not entirely sure of herself on the matter. She never really asked Lucian about it, knowing it was a sore subject.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Aurelion Sol still wasn't extremely sure about this. While Aurelia had given her permission, and Starstreak tentatively gave permission for this, she didn't know about it. There was a lot of talk about how dangerous these sort of 'Quests' or whatever were. Seeing the way Starstreak reacted to it meant that it was probably a lot more dangerous than she had first thought. They had prepped her with some stuff to protect her out there. Half Plate armor, a shield, and while she was offered a weapon... it wouldn't be very useful. She had claws and could shapeshift! They still made her take a dagger.

Now she was here right in front of Princess Luna herself. She had seen them often enough before, whenever they occasionally were both at her mom's workplace, and was less nervous in her presence than the others. She hadn't really talked to them much... Luna always seemed to be so busy! She flushed slightly at Luna's praise.

The mention of demons... Aurelion shrugged. "Um... they're... some evil things that come from Tartarus, right?"

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver


Wind Whistler had always heard stories about the civilised majesty of Equestria. It was a whole nation in harmony. They had towns, cities, glass, electricity, factories in the sky and castles built on the sides of mountains. It was a far cry from home. Dream Valley was a semi-ironic name. It was a very beautiful place, but the country on all sides was as hostile as it could get, and travelling anywhere was a perilous journey. Wind Whisler's first time on a train was to get to here. Everywhere she looked and everything she did had some sense of wonder.

Now, she was face to face with not only Luna, one of the Princesses of Equestria, but the mare in charge of raising the moon for the entire world! It was awe-inspiring, and Wind Whistler couldn't shake the nerves as she stood in this assembled group of ponies. They all likely had their reasons for coming here, as Wind Whistler did hers. There was a white stallion besides Luna, who she assumed must be some sort of military authority.

The Princess asked the group what they knew about Demons. Wind Whistler had to think about this before answering.

"I know of little factual information about Demons that isn't rumour or legend, and even those sources are contradictory. I am however familiar with the legends and stories."

 

[Dreamweaver]

Assailant Cyan Hide Andrita GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof Redfork2000
Luna nodded a bit at all of their guesses, and shrugged her shoulders. "You are all not far off. Tartarus itself is not a plane of existence, but is rather one of the nine layers of the Abyss; the bottom layer. Tartarus is where we imprison the most evil of creatures, such as Lord Tirek. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth layers are ruled over by Demon Lords. They are little more than demons who have attained a slight amount of divinity. These layers are also the home of demons; the most evil of creatures in existence. They will attack anything they see, including each other; it is this conflict that keeps their immeasurable numbers down. If they were to stop fighting..."

She let that idea hang there. The demons being at each others throats is really what is stopping them from destroying the world.

That was all well and good, a brief explanation, but Luna wasn't here to discuss the Abyss. "I called you all here because of something important which has come to my attention, and I need a strike force." She tapped a hoof to her cheek, obviously thinking over what she was going to say next... before just sighing. "It has come to my attention that the Demon Lords are actually... working together, to summon what I believe might be the precursor of a full assault on Equestria. Have any of you ever heard of the Tarrasque?"

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver

Applebloom was certainly starting to think about how much of a mistake this was, but she was pretty much past the point of no return. They were hoof picked for this, she could step down. She'd listen closely, making sure to mentally note down everything that she thought was important. The talk of demons was sending chills down Applebloom's spine, and she worried what would happen if they ran into one.

Applebloom would raise a brow at the mention of a 'Tarrasque', "Ah ain't never heard of one of those." She'd say, frowning. She knew it wasn't a good thing, considering demons apparently needed it for some invasion.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Tartarus did not sound like a very fun place to be. She was really starting to have second thoughts about all of this... adventuring sounded cool and all, but when your first adventure is descending in the bowels of the Abyss, that was... not pleasant sounding. None of this was turning out to be what she expected. Didn't most adventurers deal with bandits and stuff before going into Tartarus to start taking down demon lords? Or, hell, do anything even fighting related? This was waaaay above that.

Plus, they could end the world if they wanted to. In fact, it seemed the demons were planning on it with a... Tarrasque.

"Tarrasque? I've heard it's just an old pony's tale." Aurelion spoke up. There was a bit of confusion in her voice. "Something about them being the 'end of the world'. You're not trying to say it's real, are you?"

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver


Wind Whistler listened intently. She didn't know that Tartarus was a part of something bigger. Then again, she had only heard of it in song, as the place the entire city of Tambelon was sent to. Mention of Tirek piqued her curiosity. There was a derelict castle near Dream Valley called 'Midnight Castle', where Tirek was once said to live with his brother, but she had not heard much about him or why he was so bad. The mission seemed grave, and heavy, and logic clearly dictated that a small band of novice adventurers weren't being assembled to fight massive hordes of demons and demon lords. At least not yet, and not while the Princess undoubtedly had more elite soldiers at her disposal. Their mission would likely be more covert, and less dangerous. That said, Wind Whistler had never heard of the Tarrasque before, and shook her head at Luna's question as she awaited an explanation.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Assailant Cyan Hide Andrita GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof Redfork2000
Luna hadn't really expected any of them to know what the Tarrasque was, and nodded her head at Aurelion explanation of the creature. "The 'end of the world' is... one way to put it, yes." Luna shook her head and wandered back, taking a seat on her throne. Lucian stood at her side and ruffled his feathers a bit. After a moment Luna spoke up again, "... The Tarrasque was one of the first creatures that Celestia and myself created, right after ascending. We figured that if we just put our powers together, we could create an intelligent and controllable beast to help protect Equestria. A creature with our regenerative properties, a carapace that reflects spells, and the ability to shoot spikes from its tail."

She rubbed her eyes a bit tiredly. "It was like a child, and very cute at first. The size of a foal; I really got attached to the thing. Its intelligence was not what we wanted, being barely smarted than a dog, but it was small and cute. A month later I woke up to find it the size of me. I didn't think much of it. A week later I awoke to find it the size of a small cabin. We tried magically stunting its growth, to no effect. A few hours later and it was the size of a church. As it grew it became more and more hungry, eventually devouring a good portion of the countryside."

"We tried fighting it. We couldn't. It couldn't hurt us, but we also couldn't hurt it; it was made from us and seemed to be unaffected by our attacks. We had to call on a group of heroes to defeat the creature, and they ended up not only defeating it but also disintegrating it. Which was great, for about a minute... then it regenerated from the dust and kept attacking. We were forced to hit it with the Elements of Harmony, and banish it to the Sun where it still sits."

''The real issue here is that it doesn't appear to stop growing, and it is growing faster and faster the larger it gets. It might very well swallow the planet if it has enough time to grow. We must stop the Demon Lords from summoning this creature, and if we can't do that, then we must defeat it for good this time. Harmony tells me that a Wish spell should do the trick, but only after knocking the creature unconscious."

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Knowledge of the tarrasque actually existing was shocking. Of course, she had only ever heard—what she presumably thought—were fairy tales. A creature that was powerful enough to be the end of the world, should it ever be released. Which was... correct, from Luna's story. It would become large enough to devour the entire planet eventually, if it was ever released from its prison within the Sun. That was a little bit terrifying.

The princesses couldn't fight it. It seemed to be mutual, a battle that neither side could ever win, which was... odd in of itself to think about. Probably the most pointless fight in all of Equestria just because of that.

"So... we have to go out and stop a bunch of Demon Lords, who are endlessly fighting in the Abyss, from summoning the Tarrasque back to Equestria so that it can eat everybody?" Aurelion recapped, mentally taking that all in. It was a little bit more than she had ever intended on fighting... sure, get some world experience, visit far away and cool places. "I'm... not sure I'm ready for that. I'm not even sure if the Parental Units would be okay with that!" The Parental Units being Starstreak and Aurelia.

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver

Applebloom was listening closely, a little shocked by the story. She'd been leaning forward, her ears pointed ahead, so that she could hear Luna speak fine at their distance. She was nodding along slowly, taking in all the information, and was going to speak, but couldn't really find words. The thing was real, and it was the end game for everything. If not even Celestia and Luna could take it out, what chance did they have? At least they were hopefully going to train first. Or... She'd shudder, thinking of a way this was about to go down.

She'd look over at Aurelion, hearing her speak, and would just nod, before looking at Luna, "This is gonna be real dangerous... W- will we have help?" She'd ask, clearly a little worried about the idea of going head first into this without back up. She was positive they'd be dead quick as.... something. She'd shrug her shoulders at her own thought, before blushing, realising she'd done it.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

This story only affirmed Wind Whistler's suspicious that this was not the task force for directly combating the Tarrasque, but would rather be performing easier yet just as important missions in order to facilitate the defeat of the Tarrasque. That said, Wind Whistler still had a flicker of doubt and worry that she wished to eliminate.

"We won't be fighting this being ourselves, or even the demon lords, right? This party, I assume, has been assembled for a different task related to this matter."

 

[Dreamweaver]

Cyan Hide GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof
At the mention of them fighting the demon lords, Luna let out a bright laugh. "Ha! Yes, you'll all be fighting the demon lords." Luna said sarcastically before just shaking her head. "Look at you all! I said you have potential, not that you've amounted to anything yet. I know a bunny and a show-mare who could single-hoofedly kill you all. No, you aren't ready for that. But like I said... there is potential here."

Luna leaned back against her throne, and motioned to Lucian who then stepped forward. "I am to accompany you on a journey across Equestria, and help you find missions to test your powers. As we fight, your powers will grow. When the time is right I will take us to the Abyss so that we might attempt to stop the demon lords. But... that is not for a very long time. A year, at least." The alicorn stallion summarized, before stepping back to the side of Luna's throne.

Luna once again spoke up. "So that's it. Journey with Lucian here," she motioned over to the alicorn. "Travel around Equestria, helping out when you can. When the time is right and you are up to the task, we will confront the Demon Lords."

Luna stood up and walked to the group. "Anypony who does not wish to see this through, leave now. There will be no judgement from anypony in this room."

 

[GeneralTyrus]

Dreamweaver

Hearing the fact that they would probably end up fighting Demon Lords, if they lived long enough to fight through to that, Applebloom shrunk slightly, and she was a big mare! Only two inches shorter than Big Mac! She'd look at Luna, listening still, feeling a bit grim about the entire situation. How were they supposed to get better? She was positive now that they'd have some kind of guidance, and she'd look at Lucian as he stepped forward, smiling hopefully.

When he stated he'd be accompanying them, she immediately felt so much better, and let out a sigh. She was sure she could at least handle this if Lucian was there!

When Luna offered everyone a chance to leave, she'd cast a glance around with her eyes, before looking back up at Luna. She wasn't leaving, not know that she knew she'd be learning from Lucian. She'd look to the others, before looking at Luna, smiling, bowing her head.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver GeneralTyrus
Aurelion Sol let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, relief flooding her. So they weren't going to be fighting Demon Lords... yet. That was very good, it meant they had time to really figure this out and grow more accustomed to adventuring. The knowledge that a bunny, of all things, could kill them all... that was actually an amusing thought. She giggled at the thought of. A big black bunny with red eyes came to her mind, claws several inches long, fanged—

She had to stop her train of thought she noticed she was actually morphing. It had only gotten as far as being a black bunny. Aurelion grinned meekly, turning back to normal quickly, flushing with embarrassment. "That's... much better than going off to fight demon lords." She said quietly.

Since she wasn't going to have to worry about it for at least a year... she didn't move. Instead, she went to go sit next to Applebloom. She wanted to make her parents proud. "I'm in." She said resolutely.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

Despite not being told the exact details of their first quest, the general description of their task was close to what she assumed. Wind Whistler nodded and raised her head before replying. "I will join this quest. However, I do have one question; Why us? You have just told us that you have stronger ponies at your disposal. Training us seems...illogical."

 

[Dreamweaver]

Cyan Hide GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof
Luna looked over at Wind Whistler and smiled a bit. "Why would I train a group of ponies who barely need my guidance? Starlight Glimmer, Expellix, Trixie... these are ponies who do not need me to guide them. But your group, while showing potential, is lacking skill at the moment. When you are ready to attack the Demon Lords, the other heroes will join you... if they wish, of course. Either way, Lucian here will be going with you."

Finally, Rose piped up. "I'm going! I guess. Kinda have a kid to worry about. Is this gonna pay?" to which Luna nodded her head a bit. "Any items and treasure you find are yours to keep. This isn't the Adventurer's Guild, so the Crown will not be taking a cut. Whatever you find, you keep. If anypony tells you otherwise, send them here." Rose perked up considerably. "Great! I love money. This sounds awesome."

Luna looked at each member of the little party, and then nodded her head. "You all have my respect. This road will be dangerous, but the fate of the world may very well depend on you all. For now, there is a problem within Canterlot itself that you can deal with which should be a good introduction test of your abilities. I have bought a house for you all to live and train in, Lucian will escort you there."

With that, Luna waved them out of the throne room and Lucian stepped towards them!

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

Wind Whistler nodded. The plan as now starting to make logical sense. This group wasn't the last hope. It wasn't the plan A. If she were a ruler, and had to face such an impending crisis with a small number of ponies capable of making a difference, she too would gather some ponies who show promise and train them up. That's right. This group was the backup. It was the plan B. The news that they would keep whatever they found was welcome news. Wind Whistler had no great love of money, but rare artifacts were another matter entirely. Wind Whistler had few questions left, and those she did have, even Lucian may not know. The group had just been told that there was a problem in Canterlot, which would be their first task. So, the pegasus fell into rank as the group headed out the throne room.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Aurelion didn't know who this Expellix, Starlight Glimmer, or Trixie was, but they sounded important if Princess Luna knew them by name, and also personally. Apparently they were good enough that they did not need the assistance of the princess at all. They were probably all off doing their own things in the world... maybe they were like the Elements of Harmony! All together working to save the world from one disaster at a time, yadda yadda. That seemed logical to her!

Suppose now was the time for heroes, and they each were chosen this time around. This would be an interesting experience! She didn't really feel like hero material, but if the fate of the world possibly hinged on them, who was she to say 'no'?

So, a problem within Canterlot! Nice and close, and hopefully something they could actually deal with! Maybes he would be able to get some more experience in with her shapeshifting. Whenever she did it around other ponies, they just looked at her weird, or they plain scared. "What do we have to do?" She asked, a small bit of excitement bubbling up inside of her, making itself known in her voice!

 

[Dreamweaver]

Cyan Hide GeneralTyrus Dumbledoof
As the group walked, Lucian stopped in front of the throne room doors and looked back at them. He knew that the entire throne room was sealed by some very powerful magic so he took the time to explain things now. "Your first mission is to stop a drug cartel. I'll explain more when we get to the base." He said, before beginning to move out... he stopped and looked at them again though. "Rule number 1; do not speak about your missions in public. Our enemies are many, and powerful. Any one of those ponies out there could be a demon in disguise, and one little slip up from any of you gives them a glimpse into our plans. Keep mission talk for the wilderness, or base camp."

With that, Lucian pushed open the throne room doors and led the group out. As he walked his wings disappeared and he shrunk down considerably, looking just slightly smaller than Big Mac, a few inches taller than Applebloom herself. He didn't like the mortals seeing him as an alicorn, since 'male alicorns' wasn't something widely known about. He would rather not cause a scene.

Things were very quiet as the group walked towards base camp. Nopody in Canterlot knew who any of them were besides Lucian, and even he went rather unrecognized. Soon enough the group were coming to a house, right beside the castle and surrounded by a stone wall. It was a three story home with a basement, and was large enough to easily house all four of them. It was a special building that was protected from scrying and divination magic, and would serve as their base of operations.

Once they were inside, Lucian closed the door and locked it. A gain purple glow emanated from the walls as the lock was set and he turned to them. "Locking the door completes the spell. While the spell is active no entity on Equestria besides Harmony knows what is being said or done here. Always lock the door. Now then... onto the mission."

He led them back to what appeared to be a debriefing room. There was a board there that he could project his magic on in the shape of a map, and a table with 5 chairs around it. He sat in one, and from his horn sprung a map of Canterlot that hit the board. One of the buildings on the map lit up. "Right here is where one branch of the Demon's Claw operates. It's a rather nasty gang in Canterlot that has its hooves in... just about everything. Racial trafficking, drug dealing, arms dealing..."

He shook his head and let out a little growl. "They bring in other races from outside, saying they will give them a good life and then forcing them into prostitution. Tonight I have heard that a shipment of griffons is coming in. Go there in the cover of night, and kill all of the Demon's Claw. Kill them, kill the drivers who brought them, and destroy their weapons, set the griffons free. I don't want a single one of these cowards getting out alive, do you understand me?"

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Aurelion followed Lucian out towards the front gates of the throne room, excitement still tingling inside of her, but she at least tried to hide it. It was a little bit embarrassing when everybody else knew you were kinda looking forward to this! Until he told them of their first mission. A... drug cartel? She didn't even know those things existed in Canterlot. The city always seemed so nice and peaceful that hardly anything ever seemed to be wrong or out of the ordinary. It was where the Princesses lived! Luna, Celestia, Silvanus, Salacia... even the other Princesses like Asa, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle were here often!

It really showed that there was always a lot more going on than what could be seen by the normal eye. Guess she was going to have to start paying far more attention to her surroundings than ever. Also, yes, no talking about it in public. Eavesdroppers and all that. It was also quite the sight when she saw that Lucian seemed to shapeshift into a... smaller form of himself, without wings. "Woah, you can do that too?" She said in wonder. Cool!

Nopony really knew who she was. Starstreak may be somewhat well known among the people, as she is found working out in the open occasionally on some project within Canterlot, but her daughter? Not so much. She had a sort of strange distinction between being a bat pony and a hippogriff, but that was it. Aurelion never really did a whole lot out in the middle of the city. Fetching things for her mothers occasionally did happen, but even that was rather contained to a few specific things that weren't very far.

Once they were at the base, she eyed it up and down. It certainly didn't look like much... which was probably a good thing! Being as inconspicuous as possible seemed to be the general theme around here. "Always lock the door... got it." She mumbled, watching the glow go about the walls. Interesting.

Lucian caught her attention again when he once more began explaining to them their mission, the map coming up right in front of them. She momentarily gaped at it, shocked, but that quickly fell when she realized it had happened at all. This was all so weird and cool!

That wasn't important! Demon's Claw, yes, the drug cartel. Gang. They were dealing in a whole bunch of things; drugs, racial trafficking, arms, all of that nasty stuff. She made a mental note of the building that Lucian highlighted, putting that into her memory. Luckily, she had a pretty good one. A shipment of griffons was coming in from the outside tonight. Kill the ponies, the drivers, and anybody else, set the griffons free. That... didn't sound like it would be too bad.

"Uh... yeah, got it! Kill the Demon's Claw ponies, all of them, and then set the griffons free. What do we do after? Come back here?" Aurelion nodded her head, staring Lucian down. "And what happens if things go wrong? Hypothetically."