darkSpyro

Southern Star slowly made her way down the staircase, Flash Photography close behind her, with Starsong hovering downwards beside them.

The two ponies and the deer soon made it to the bottom and Flash Photography immediately pulled out a map and a book, making them hover in front of her with her magic. "So, where's the entrance to Tartarus, Astrello?" She held the map near the prince. "I've forgotten where it is. In a forest? In a cave? If it's far for here, that should be okay. We can walk half of the way today, then rest somewhere during the night, and then walk the next half during the next day."
Supercell nudged Flash Photography in a way to tell her to stop talking. "Chill."

Starsong landed and looked up, waiting for Arlon.

Starsong, Supercell and Southern Star stayed silent, unable to answer. Flash Photography, however, spoke up. "I have heard about Tirek," she replied, a hoof placed on her chin. "There was a page or two about him and his brother in an old book in the Canterlot library. I don't know any of the others, though." She glanced at Prince Astrello, waiting for him to answer Ideas's question.

OOC: Hold on, we're not in the Everfree Forest yet. The group just reached the bottom of the mountain that Canterlot sits on. And where did this elemental come from?

The three ponies and the one deer seemed to have ignored the elemental and the alicorns talking about Tartarus. Instead, they were crowded around the map Flash Photography was holding up.
"Okay, so the Everfree Forest..." Flash Photography broke off as she trailed a hoof across a route on the map that led to the forest from their current location. "Well, it doesn't look too far away. We could probably get there this afternoon. And instead of going through Ponyville, we could go around it. The mist creatures might be in the town."
Starsong nodded. "Especially since Princess Twilight's castle was destroyed recently."

Flash Photography froze and slowly lowered the map, staring at Arlon. "How..?"
Starsong, Supercell and Southern Star followed the gaze of the white unicorn, wearing the same expression as her.

The three ponies and the one deer had sat down, watching the discussion between the alicorns with a mixed expression of surprise and confusion on their faces.

Flash Photography cleared her throat and stood up. "Should we get going?" she asked as she raised the map up in front of her with her magic again.
The two pegasus ponies and the deer also stood up.

"Interesting." Flash Photography murmured, glancing at Arlon. She rolled up the map with her magic and followed Prince Astrello.
Starsong followed behind the group slowly. She suddenly felt a shiver run up her spine and she zipped around. There was nothing there behind her, except for the mountain cliff face and normal morning mist, slowly drifting along the ground. She turned around and trotted after the group.

The world grew darker as Celestia's sun disappeared behind the dark clouds that covered the sky. "I like the colour grey, of course, but this is too much," Supercell murmured, crossing her arms as she hovered above the ground, watching dark mist swirl around the hills in the distance.

The group reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, looking in for a moment before continuing.

Flash Photography stopped for a moment and returned the books and maps, that she had been holding up with her magic, into her saddlebags, fastened the straps firmly, and trotted after the group.
Supercell stopped hovering and landed beside Starsong, deciding it was safer to walk.

Southern Star walked alongside Prince Astrello, feeling safe next to him. She stopped briefly to toss her galaxy mane over her back so she could see where she was walking and also not trip over her own mane, and then continued walking.

The group walked deeper and deeper into the Everfree Forest. And as they did, it became darker and darker. The forest was dense, and no light from the sky was coming through.
"I can hardly see anything," Supercell murmured.
"I can create some light for us." Flash Photography replied, and a small ball of light appeared on the top of her horn. "That should be better."
"Thanks Flash-" Starsong broke off as she walked into Southern Star, who had stopped in her tracks. "Southern Star? Why did you stop?" She peered around the deer, and her eyes widened.

A large mass of nightmare mist floated a few metres in front of the group, with multiple mist creatures with glowing yellow eyes at the back, and a large mist creature at the front, as big as a alicorn, with glowing red eyes, grinning evilly at them. "Hello again, ponies."

The mist creature blinked, surprised, not expecting that kind of reaction from one of the alicorns.
Starsong covered her mouth with a hoof, trying not to giggle, while Supercell and Flash Photography both glared at the mist. Southern Star bounded back behind Prince Astrello.

"So, you are all going to Tatarus, hm?" The larger mist creature said, titling his head and choosing to ignore Arlon's comment.
"How do you know?" Supercell retorted, flicking her tail angrily.
"Because we heard you at the bottom of the Canterlot mountain. And even if we did not know, we would have guessed, since you are near the entrance." The mist creature replied.
Supercell narrowed her eyes.
The mist creature grinned and continued. "I am not exactly sure why you are going to Tartarus, but you have taken the fun out of it for us. We were planning to take you to Tartarus anyway!" The mist creatures behind the leader rose up, creating a high mist wall behind him, trying to intimidate the ponies. "But since you are here, we would be happy to do the rest of the journey for you!"

"Wrong, alicorn!" The mist creature hissed. "We only have a few select prisons and base camps in the underworld. Our other base camps are dotted around Equestria. It would be tiresome to take all the ponies we have captured into the underworld."
"They've probably killed some ponies too.." Flash Photography said under her breath.
"You are the only group left trying to stop us, and you are not half bad. So we decided to take you to the deepest underworld base we have." The mist creature grinned. "You won't last long there."
"He doesn't know why we're going to Tartarus." Supercell muttered.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Starsong questioned.
"I don't even know why we're going to Tartatus." Southern Star murmured.

While they two groups faced each other, no one noticed a lone trail of mist, that had come from the large mass, creep up on the group from behind. It suddenly wrapped itself around Southern Star's leg and harshly pulled her away from behind Prince Astrello, dragging her towards the large mass and then holding her high in the air. She screamed and tried to kick the mist holding her with her other leg, but was unable to.
"Southern Star!" Starsong cried.
"Let her go!" Flash Photography demanded. taking a step forward, her horn glowing, ready to attack.
"No." The mist creature replied simply.
"Uh, guys?" Supercell said, looking around.
More mist appeared from the sides of the pathway the group had been walking along, drifting down tree trunks and appearing through bushes.

"You and your light." The mist creatured hissed, glaring the shining prince. "Well, you know what, prince? Light can't shine without darkness!" A few mist creatures dived towards Astrello.
The mist was now holding Southern Star with both legs, so she was unable to free herself. "They're stronger than they were before!" Southern Star cried from high in the air. "Be careful!" She felt the mist began to creep around her body, and she knew that if it continued, she would be put to sleep and have a nightmare.

Most of the mass of mist was able to dodge Arlon's fire, yet some smaller mist creatures got burned and seemed to dissolve into nothing. A few mist creatures charged towards him, aiming to attack his legs and knock him over.

Starsong looked around, seeing that the group, except for Southern Star, were getting ready for battle. But she was unable to do anything. She had never fought in her life, and wouldn't know how to start. She stood back, behind Flash Photography and Supercell, hoping the battle wouldn't last long and the others could defeat the mass of mist.

OOC: Wyrstel, you really do need to tone down Astrello's power. He has become way too powerful at this stage. And I do not approve and will not allow you roleplaying the Everfree Forest and making the trees talk and sink in the ground.

I can also not allow him to merge with the heaven's above, or at least, not at this very moment.
Because if the mist is defeated right now, then this roleplay will have no other purpose.
I suppose if Astrello does this power thing he's planning to do near the end, it would be okay, BUT ONLY if it fits in with the end of the story. And most of the ground, and sky, has been taken over by the mist, so the merging with the heavens would be hard to do right now.

And even though everypony is supposed to be captured, I'll allow Zecora and her brother to be around, but I don't want them to exactly interact with the group. One or two more posts with them speaking is fine.

But please do tone down Prince Astrello's power.
I can understand that he is upset/mad/in pain that his sisters are missing, and that he's unleashing his anger and such, but further in the story when we're about to find the princesses would probably be a good time for what he's doing right now.

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The mist creatures who had targeted Arlon were stopped by the shield that Ideas had brought up. They swirled around his shield, unable to find a way in to attack.
The leader mist creature paused, hearing Arlon's question, but didn't respond. He wasn't completely sure as to what would happen after all of this. All he wanted was revenge on the Elements of Harmony, and to feel victorious about defeating them, which he pretty much had done, just by separating the mane 6. He shrugged in reply, launching a large arrow of mist at the alicorn, which smacked into his shield, attempting to break it, but it stayed intact.

The leader mist creature was then distracted by Prince Astrello rising into the sky above the forest, shining brighter than a star as he did. "Tone down your light, will you?" He hissed, glancing up at him. Sensing he was charging some sort of attack, which he was guessing was some sort of starlight beam, he raised the mist wall higher, making it lean over so it was above them, and it was ready for impact. A few mist creatures flew out from under the mist wall and charged at the shining alicorn.

Flash Photography and Supercell were currently fighting off the mist that charged at them, as they had no other way to defend themselves. "I wish I knew a simple shield spell," the white unicorn murmured, firing light beams.

The mist creature's glowing eyes had set back on the group on the ground, and he noticed the blue pegasus at the back, looking scared and unable to defeat herself. He grinned and send a trail of mist towards her. It slipped past the two other ponies and reached her.
One skill the mist had developed while on Equestria was how to mind read, but only if they were close to someone. And the mist trail just did that, sending the thoughts of Starsong back to the leader. It then suddenly grabbed her leg and pulled her harshly forward, knocking over the other two in the process.
The mist creature took Starsong from the mist trail, holding her by the waist. "Ah, and what do we have here, hm?" He asked, grinning evilly.
"Let me go!"Starsong cried, struggling.
"Do not struggle. It will only make me tighten my grip." The mist said in a sweet tone.
Starsong slowly stopped, but her breathing quickened, as she felt extremely uncomfortable being held by the mist creature.
"So, little pegasus, your thoughts are rather interesting.."
"Thoughts?" Starsong breathed.

The mist creature suddenly grabbed one of her tucked wing and pulled it out, examining it. "A pegasus...who wants to be a unicorn!"
Starsong froze.
Flash Photography and Supercell had stood back up, and stopped their attacks, hearing what the mist creature had said. "What?" The white unicorn tilted her head.
"You want to help your friends, don't you? But you cannot do anything! All you have is wings, with no battling skills and no helpful talent in this kind of situation. You could say you are the most pathetic member of this group!"
"Stop it!" Southern Star cried from in the air.
"You wish that you could be a unicorn so you would be able to use magic. I have never heard of this sort of thought from a pegasus. But you know, Starsong..." He paused. "I can always help you make that wish come true!"
The mist creature grabbed the base of Starsong's wing and pulled, very hard.
A high pitched scream echoed around the forest.
Southern Star gasped.
"Starsong!" Flash Photography screamed.

As the shield burst, the mist creatures floating around it were blown back by the force, and then they dissolved into thin air.

The mist creature stopped pulling Starsong's wing, hearing Arlon's scream, and was suddenly slashed in half without time to react. He yelled and hissed, literally being split into two masses of mist, and flames from Arlon began to burn the tips of his mist body. He let go to Starsong and the blue pegasus dropped to the ground, just conscious, mist already beginning to creep up on her.
"Starsong!" Flash Photography. She wanted to get closer but didn't dare, especially if Arlon hadn't finished slashing at the mist just yet.

"You fool!" The mist creature was only able to merge his head and shoulders back together, but not the rest of his body. He launched another set of arrows towards Arlon, a set towards Flash Photography, which she destroyed with light beams, and another large set towards Astrello to keep him occupied up in the sky.

A few mist creatures darted forward to protect the leader from Prince Astrello, but the prince charged through them, blinding and burning them and making them dissolve into thin air. The leader tried to dodge, but his should was hit by Astrello's light and he flew backwards in the mist wall behind him. He growled and yelled some strange words, and a large claw-like mist formation flew towards Astrello. As it did, the mist creature let go of Southern Star, and threw her high into the air.

More arrows darted towards Arlon, but Flash Photography quickly jumped in front of him and destroyed as many as she got with light beams, but missed one as it hit her shoulder. She hissed in pain and then zipped around. "Arlon!" she called. "Arlon, please! You have to get up!"

The mist had completely engulfed Starsong at this point, and Supercell knew she had to save her. She dived into the mist and saw the body of blue pegasus on the ground, almost completely covered with mist. She zoomed towards her, picked her up as quickly as she could, and flew out of the mist. She landed a few metres away and gently placed Starsong on the ground.
Starsong slowly opened her eyes and looked up. "Supercell..th-thank you.."
"I couldn't just leave you in there." Supercell replied. She hesitated before speaking again. "Is your wing alright?"
Starsong turned her head. Her wing had certainly looked like it had been pulled. Some of the feathers were stretched out or bent, and small trickles of blood ran down the side of her body from the base of her wing. "It's still intact," she croaked.
Supercell nodded and then turned around to watch the mist, ready for its next move.

"No!" The mist creature screamed. The ball of starfire slammed into him and into the mist wall behind him. Some of the mist creatures hissed in pain and others disappeared completely. "You have not seen the last of us!" Two large yellow eyes suddenly appeared in a ball of mist that had formed above the mass of mist, and before the group could reply, the mass of mist split it two. One flew off through the forest, and other flew further into the forest and through the Tartarus entrance, down to their base in the underworld.

"Ah! Wh-what?" Southern Star turned her head, seeing wings sprout from her back. "Wings?" She tried to control them and was able to, spreading them out and gliding down to the ground. She landed by Prince Astrello and the wings vanished. "Oh, I think he is unconscious."
Supercell trotted over to Prince Astrello and Southern Star. "It seems he is, yeah."

Flash Photography glanced back. "The mist is gone." She looked back at Arlon. "Arlon...is...is there anything I could do to help?"
Starsong looked over, seeing Arlon in pain, and crawled over to him. "Arlon! Arlon...you...you saved me...along with Supercell..."

"Mhm." Starsong replied quietly. She looked back at her damaged wing. She couldn't move it or feel it, and thought it must be numb or some nerves were damaged. She then turned back to Arlon, hoping he was okay.

Flash Photography grabbed the arrow in her shoulder and pulled it out. She threw it on the ground and destroyed it with a small light beam. "Well," the white unicorn began. "I don't think we can go into the underworld after what just happened. I think we should rest."
Starsong glanced up at her. "You want to rest here? In the Everfree Forest? But there are timberwolves and other creatures that come out during the night. We could get attacked."
Flash Photography shrugged. "I don't know where else we could stay. Unless we go back to Ponyville and find an abandoned house to stay in for the night."

"But Arlon..." Starsong paused and she stood up, rather shakily, still in shock from her left wing almost being torn off. "You're injured. So am I. And Prince Astrello seems to be unconscious."
"I think I'm the only one who's not injured." Supercell turned her head, inspecting her body for scratches or cuts of any type of injury.
"Arlon is right...and wrong." Flash Photography spoke up. "We should rest, but, the sooner we go down there, the better."