MLP: Dawn of the Rebellion [IC/Started/Not Accepting]

[Grunt Issun]

Wonder smiled. The group's reactions had reassured him. "Alright, well, we'll tell you" Wonder decided.
He sat down on one of the beds. "We're, well, somewhat of a resistance to Shadow Wing. Most of us were dragged into it though, and our leader left us, so we've sort of just been carrying on without. To be honest, I'm not sure why we are. But that doesn't really matter. We've been travelling around a bit, but we've never really been in any civilization for a while. We stayed at a temple, the past few days, but no civilization" Wonder explained.

"A resistance eh? That sounds pretty sweet, actually" Sly mused. He turned to Crescent. "And yeah, that's right. I'm a criminal. A thief, actually. You might think I'm stupid for trusting this information to absolute strangers, but if I didn't know I could trust you..." he started explaining, tapping his horn, "Then you'd never have stepped hoof into my alley"

"Now. There's a few things you should know about this town. It's big, there's tons to do, so have fun with that, but it's also plauged with Shadow Wing guards"

[Dementuo]

Crescent nodded at Sly. "[i][color=#0000cd]Hm, so I see. Then we thank you for your hospitality.[/color][/i]" he said, giving a short bow of his head. "[i][color=#0000cd]Now, if this place is as enemy-ridden as you say that it is, then that makes things difficult for our group...[/color][/i]" Crescent now turned his head towards Wonder. "[i][color=#0000cd]...If I am correct in my logic, which I almost always am, then our foe, this 'Shadow Wing' character, knows of all of our identities... except for my dear sister's. That being said, I believe that we shall need a way of concealing our presence. And with our main method of transportation rendered currently unusable... We will not be able to leave this city for some time, a day at the absolute least.[/color][/i]" Crescent explained, laying out the situation, if only for his own sake. "[i][color=#0000cd]And if we cannot find a way to make our existence unknown, then she will have to go out into the city alone... Though that is an option I would prefer to avoid.[/color][/i]"

[Grunt Issun]

Sly thought for a while. "Well... I guess I could probably help you guys along with disguises. I'm not good with shielding others, though, so it'd be paper-thin. If someone tried to see through it, they would, but as long as no one has any reason to believe you're not who you look like, you'll be fine" Sly explained. He walked over to Wonder and placed his horn near his head. "Here, allow me to demonstrate"

Sly slowly dragged his horn through the air around Wonder's body, changing his coat color into a pale yellow. He hovered his horn above his mane, causing it and his tail to turn Cornflower Blue. Finally, he tapped Wonder on the head. His muzzle became more boxed off, his eyes shrunk slightly, and became more slanted, his eyes lost their shine, and became a deep blue. "There we go. Impressive, hm?" Sly said, motioning to Wonder's new look. Wonder quickly checked a mirror, and saw what he looked like.

"Wow... that's really amazing, Sly" Wonder muttered

"Thank you, thank you, yes, I'm pretty amazing" he said, smiling smugly. His horn glowed with a white aura, and Wonder's glamour shimmered away. "So whadya say? Care for a makeover, everypony?"

[Dementuo]

Crescent shook his head slowly at Sly, reaching his hoof out to his left. "[i][color=#0000cd]Ah, I think I will pass on that particular offer. I believe I can conceal my own presence well enough.[/color][/i]" he said, his old brown coat appearing in his extended hoof. He wrapped in around himself, the hood shadowing his face, a portion of his mane drooping out the side. "[i][color=#0000cd]However, the rest of our group would certainly appreciate the help.[/color][/i]" he added, turning to leave.
Meanwhile, Morning had found a book about Equestrian history from ancient times, and was deeply engrossed in it, completely oblivious to what was happening around her.

[CMRenji]

Blazer walked up to Sly after seeing him change Wonder's appearance. "That was truly incredible, Sly! I guess unicorn magic is as diverse as I imagined it was." She slid her hoof through her hair a bit. "Well... I guess I'm ready for a makeover myself."

She wandered near the corner and began comically crying while patting her hair. "Just please make sure there's a nice shade of red somewhere on me. I mean, me without red is like a tree without bark; Just unnatural." She stood up and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry if I seem demanding, but I just really do love all things red you see." She said chuckling.

[Grunt Issun]

Sly nodded, "Alright, if you say so" he shrugged, looking at the blue one. He then chuckled for a moment. "Heh heh. It occurs to me that I don't even know any of your names. Of course, in a minute, that won't matter, because you can't go by your real names in public. Which means you're still Canvas" he said, pointing to the one with the brush cutie mark, "You're still Wildifre" he said, pointing to the one with the fireworks cutie mark. "And you're still Tempest" he said, pointing at the one with the tornado cutie mark.

"Ah, so 'Wildfire', you're up first, eh?" he noted. He heaved an over the top sigh, "Figures, it's always the cute ones that act like this" he muttered, barely trying to mask it, allowing everyone to hear. "Well, whatever" he shrugged. Once again, his horn lit up, and he dragged it by 'Wildfire'. Her coat turned from orange to a medium blue. Focusing on her mane, he transformed it into something of a mullet, auburn in color. "There, is THAT red enough for you?"

Wonder stepped forward, "Well, um, I may as well... My name's Wonder Brush" he told Sly. Sly's horn glowed, and Wonder's yellow and blue Glamour returned.

"No, you're Canvas" Sly reminded him. Sly's bright red coat, and flowing stark white mane returned. "And I'm Peppermint Dash" he explained. "You just call me Peppermint, though, because we're close friends, remember?"

"Oh... right"

[DL]

Storm glaced at Sly. He frowned a bit at the comment Sly made about Honepot.

He wanted to say something, but decided it was too troublesome, after a small sigh.

Instead, he brushed the hair in front of his face behind his ear, leaving only a few strands in front of his face. This caused his eyes to get a bit more gleam to them, due to there being no hair covering half his face. He walked around a bit, looking up. Then, he bucked a certain nearby tree, and a round fruit fell from it. He caught it, and split it by smashing it on a rock. He kept one of the halves, and threw the other aside. The half he kept, had a dark blue liquid inside. It was thick and gooey. He grabbed some with his hoof, and slid it around his cutie mark, turning it from a green tornado to a dark blue wave-like drawing. The fruit's juice quickly dried and hardened on his fur, making it look like part of Storm's actual coat.

He licked his other hoof a bit, and slowly swept it on his eyebrows, making them a bit shiny, and more smooth. He blinked a couple of times. After sliding a tiny purple-petaled flowered between his head and ear, he turned to the other, with a seductive smile.

"Hiya, guys," Storm said, with a small giggle, in a voice that actually sounded convincingly female. "Nice to meet you. You can just call me Aquamarine Wind, or Windy for short."

He got out of the wind-pose, and sighed. [i]Take that, "Sly"...hehe...[/i]

[Grunt Issun]

Sly stared at Storm for a bit, then burst out laughing, unable to control himself. "Y-You- You turned yourself- in- into a Mare! GAHAHAH! Oh, sweet Celestia, that is too funny! Ah, I don't know whether to laugh at you or laugh WITH you, Windy, my girl!" Sly shouted, still laughing uncontrollably.

Honeypot sat up with a moan, and a struggle, to see what Sly was talking about, and to see where this knew voice had come from. Suddenly, she too started laughing, which nearly made her sides burst into a bunch of guts and blood, so she managed to catch herself, and lower it down to a giggle, but even that hurt. "Storm, you're so ridiculous!" she giggled. "Or are you just being competitive?" she teased, sticking out her tongue.

Sly turned around, "Oh, I forgot about you, cutie" he realized, again, calling her cute, which she ignored, "Figured you'd just gone to sleep - which you really should, I know about this stuff - but if you're feeling good enough to laugh, fine by me" he said, "Now, let's see, what to do for you..." he muttered. He walked over to her, and stretched over her while she was still lying down. His horn glowed white as usual, and he slowly wiped it around her body, transforming her coat from a deep brown, to a light silver, and her mane to a Stark White. Her mane also straightened out, as opposed to being curly, and flowed longer than before. Her eyes changed into a very shiny, deep orange, which sparkled brighter than before.

She looked herself over and giggled, "Hm hm, I actually look a lot like Ginny now" she noticed.

[DL]

Storm scoffed, and raised his head, walking past Sly. As he did so, he let his tail wag once upward, almost brushing Sly's snout.

"I don't need any magic to disguise myself. That's all...dear," he said with a slight smirk, and walked over to Honeypot. He looked her up and down, noticing her body's changes due to Sly's magic.

"You really should rest...it's been a bit rough for us lately." he said, then leaned closer to Honeypot and switched to his normal voice, muttering: "Oh and...if that guy ever calls you 'cutie' again, I hope I have your permission to hoof him in the face."


Sniffy and Dawn, who had traveled with the group to where they were, but stayed fairly silent, stood still, a few yards from the group, as they saw Sly disguising everypony.

Sniffy gulped. [i]Um...okay, so they're disguising themselves to hide from Lord Shadow Wing...they're my friends. So I can't reveal them, that would be bad...but but, if I don't, Lord Shadow Wing will be man when he finds out, but...but then my friends will be mad if I....but...I can't go against Lord Shadow Wing...they're planning to do something against him...so...I...ah, no...come on. Think. Think. Breathe. Think and breathe. Yes. Okay. Good. No, no. Think and breathe. Breathe! Aaaah...okay. Phew. I...think I...can.........[/i]

"Dawn, what should I dooooo?" Sniffy said, looking at Dawn with watery eyes.

Dawn merely cocked her head. "About what?"

"The world's coming apart, don't ask me that!" Sniffy replied, beginning to walk in circles.

"Sniffy...I know where you are coming from."

"Y-you do?"

"Yes. I too, feel Sly should be our castle's new Jester. I don't much like Feather Stuffings anymore. He rather bores me."

Sniffy sighed. "It must be good to have such a simplistic mind..."

[Grunt Issun]

Honeypot smirked at Storm for a moment, "Hm hm? You feeling a bit jealous, Storm?" she teased in a hushed tone. "But, I suppose you can, why not?" she decided, "...cutie" she added, smirking again. "But" she began, raising her voice to a normal level, "You're right. I really should rest, shouldn't I? Heh, maybe I should get Decora to look at this gash... she's a bit of a jerk, but she was able to heal Morning..." Honeypot muttered, "Oh whatever" she grunted, lying back down in a comfortable position.

"Hey, if you think that disguise will be fine, then that's fine by me. So, next order of business - Anyone have any requests?" Sly asked "There's got to be something here in this town for you guys to do, and I can show you around" he explained. "How about you, Canvas? Wildfire? Windy? Cloak dude? Weird-Markings Mare?". As he scanned around the room, he noticed two more mares who were away from the group. "Yo! You two! You want disguises as well?"

[CMRenji]

Blazer looked at her new appearance, noting her reddish mane. [i]"Shoot, I wanted crimson... well, I should really be grateful."[/i] She looked at Sly with a smile and nodded. "Yeah, this looks fine Sly. We really appreciate all of your help."

She trotted towards Wonder with donning her new coat. "You look.. well, nice Wonder. Do I look..." She stared at her blue coat for a second. "er... nice as well?"

Blazer looked off for a moment. [i]"WHY IS MY COAT SO UN-RED?" [/i]She said in her mind.

[Grunt Issun]

When Blazer posed the question about her appearance, Wonder's face turned the same color as his fire. He looked up and away for a moment, and began scratching the back of his head. In truth, to him, she still looked as perfect as ever, but he knew that she probably thought she wasn't red enough, given her request, and the way she was speaking and acting. He took a big gulp, then looked back at her, "Uh, th-thanks... You look- er- great!" he answered [i]'You idiot, don't make it so obvious!' [/i]the voice in his head scolded "Well- I mean- y'know- Well- You look nice!" he reworded, [i]'You sound too enthusiastic!' [/i]his conscience shouted, but he knew it was too late. He had already made a fool out of himself in front of Blazer, as usual, and there was no way to get out it without embarrassing himself further, so he just stood there, blushing visibly, and looking very awkward.

Snowfire was on the ground of his room, doing pushups. "Two-thousand nine-hundred fourty-seven" he counted. "Two-thousand nine-hundred fourty-eight. Two-thousand nine-hundred fourty-nine..." suddenly, he collapsed. "Damn it, what's wrong?" he swore, slamming his right forehoof against the floor. "Gr... Like I need to ask" he groaned. He picked himself up, and walked over to his desk. "I'm so pathetic" he muttered, retrieving a laptop computer that Delta had given him. He booted it up, and was greeted with a logo of Delta's face, before he was brought to his desktop, which contained a picture of himself. It's not narcissistic, Snowfire told himself, I just like ponies to know who's computer this is... as if more than all of ten ponies have these things. He booted up Pegaskype, and checked his Contacts list, and saw that Sniffy was offline. "Damn it, she's not even on" Snowfire swore. He clicked her profile, and entered the text box. He began typing. "Sniffy, respond when you get back on. I want to ta" he stopped mid writing. He held down backspace, and rewrote the last part, "Send me a status report". He sent the message.

He walked away from the laptop, and dropped onto his bed, "Gah, I'm supposed to be a hardened soldier, and I'm letting myself get distracted because of a little bit of worry!" he scolded himself, "Stupid... brain. Or soul, or heart, or whatever the crap governs this stuff. I'm not a scientist. Maybe I'll ask Delta"

[Dementuo]

Morning raised her head from another book she had been reading, and looked over the stack of already-read books she had made in front of her. "[i]Aww...[/i]" she whispered at the short exchange of words she witnessed between Blazer and Wonder. "[i]They do look rather cute together, heehee.[/i]" she thought, giggling. She set her book down and came up to the rest of the group, looking over at Sly. "[i]It was Sly, right? I have a bit of a request.[/i]" she said to the group's new friend. "[i]Do you know any place around here that sells a drink called 'Sake'? I've been looking for it everywhere, since I left my old hometown... I heard a rumor some time ago that there was a place in here that sold it.[/i]" She asked, looking at him with earnest eyes.

[CMRenji]

Blazer looked as Wonder's face grew more and more rose colored. [i]"Oh no... don't feel like that Wonder." [/i]She pondered for a moment, then looked at her coat again. "Wonder, I think we both look just fine. Besides, these are just silly disguises."

All of a sudden, Blazer got a twitching sensation.[i] "I... feel a disturbance... like... somepony is doing more push-ups than me..."[/i] She stared intensely at nothing in particular. [i]"I'm comin' for you... you son of a-"[/i] She looked back at Wonder. "Oh, um, sorry, I just- I was just daydreaming again." She said with a smile.[i] "Now he thinks you look like an idiot!"[/i] Her conscience yelled. She tried to keep herself from blushing.

[Grunt Issun]

Wonder laughed nervously, "Uh... yeah. You're right. Just silly disguises" he agreed.

Sly glanced over to them, "Hey, I'll have you know that I worked hard on those. It took me, like, a few seconds to think of those color schemes!" Sly called, defending his work. He then turned to face Morning. "Sake?" he repeated, "That's that... um... Rice Beer stuff, right?" he questioned. "Well, yeah, I think there's a Casino in town that serves it" Sly replied. "You want me to show you? Here, it's this way" he offered. However, before he walked back through the false panel, he glanced back, "Oh, and are you sure that you'll be fine with no disguise?"

Wonder backed up a bit, feeling slightly nervous, when he heard Sly describe Sake as 'Rice Beer'. "Oh. Alcohol. Fancy that" he muttered weakly, his voice cracking as he said it.

[Dementuo]

"[i]Oh, that would be lovely![/i]" Morning said with joy clear in her voice. "[i]But, um, the proper term is 'Sake'. 'Beer' isn't even a word.[/i]" she corrected, a smile spread across her face. "[i]Now then, you said it was just this way, right?[/i]" she said, pointing at the false panel. At Sly's last comment, she merely nodded. "[i]I'll be fine. My brother is right, no one knows who I am yet. So, I should be just fine on my own.[/i]" she explained, nodding again. "[i]Oh, and Wonder...[/i]" she said, turning around to face him. "[i]...Don't worry! Sake isn't alchoholic, at least not really. I had it three meals a day when I was just a child, and look how I've turned out! Just fine, right?[/i]" she said, a reassuring grin on her face.

[Grunt Issun]

Wonder shuffled in his place. "Right... perfectly fine..." he muttered. Wonder was not exactly eager to have any sort of run in with anything alcoholic. He knew that Morning was probably wrong. Given her personality, and how she normally acts. Sly seemed to know his stuff, as well. Wonder suddenly gulped very loudly, without realizing it.

Sly paused for a second, and then chuckled, at hearing Morning claim that beer isn't a real word. "Ah, my dear, I see that you aren't from Equestria, are you?" he assumed. He then went on to lead Morning outside, and around town for a minute, looking as casual as you possibly can walking with a Mare with weird red markings and pitch black eyes. After a minute, he came across a large, colorful building, with flashing lights, designated as a Casino. "Well, this is the place" Sly announced, looking at it. "Quite the casino, actually. Sly stepped to the side and motioned with his forleg towards the door. "Would you like to accompany me inside?" he asked, trying to sound polite. After a moment, he entered. The opening room was nothing special. There was a bored looking Earth Pony behind a desk, and some chairs. The carpet was a deep red, as were the walls. There was a purple set of double doors in the back of the room leading to the main part of the Casino.

Honeypot suddenly shot up in her bed, straining her wound, but she didn't care for the time being. "Beer? Did someone say beer?!" she demanded. She quickly looked around the room, "Where is it? Come on, someone! I KNOW I heard it!"

[CMRenji]

Blazer paused for a moment, standing in utter silence after hearing the word "beer" echo through the room.

"Beer? Did somepony say beer?" She thought.

"BEER? BEEEER?! BEEEEEEER! BEEEEER!" She shouted in her mind.

She jolted towards Honeypot. "Honeypot, did you say 'beer'? What beer? Where is it? Help me find it!" She yelled ecstatically. She opened up the door and looked in the distance to see a casino. "HONEYPOT, I FOUND THE SOURCE!"

[Grunt Issun]

Wonder jumped back in shock when Blazer started flipping out as Honeypot did when beer was mentioned. Wonder slowly walked over to her, "B-Blazer?" he began, "Are... are you even old enough to drink?!" he asked, shock still in his voice. He placed a hoof against the side of his head like he had a headache. "Ah, actually, can we not talk about beer? I don't exactly... Well... er..." he muttered, "Well... I sorta... don't have fond memories... so to speak" he explained. He shuffled in place, staying completely silent, and staring at his hooves. Suddenly, he looked back up quickly, "Well, I mean, there was this-" he blurted, but stopped himself "Er- Nevermind. It's... not important. Trust me. You wouldn't be interested"

Honeypot sighed contentedly. "Ah, that's good... I think some alcohol is just what I need around now..." she muttered, lying back in her bed, closing her eyes.

[Dementuo]

Crescent sighed, and motioned towards the direction of the casino. "[i][color=#0000cd]Come. Regardless of your choice, Wonder, you will accompany the rest and go there, just as I will.[/color][/i]" He said, stepping through the false panel. "[i][color=#0000cd]If anything, go to ensure that we do not all lose our heads.[/color][/i]"
Morning looked around at all the fancy flashing lights in amazement. "[i]Wooooooow... This is beautiful... It looks nothing like anything I've ever seen before...[/i]" she said in awe. She glanced over at Sly then. "[i]So, um, where exactly do we go now?[/i]"

[CMRenji]

"Well Wonder, it MAY in a TECHNICAL sense be illegal for me to drink, but I'm mature enough to handle a few drinks. 'Few' being a variable number between 5 and 19."

She trotted back inside and stood next to Wonder. "I'll stop talking about it Wonder, but I really want to go to that casino. So if you do come with us there, maybe those not so fond memories will replaced with some nicer ones." She said attempting to cheer him up.

"Anyway, I'm gonna head there now." She looked at the casino with passionate eyes. [i]"Booze, momma's comin' for ya."[/i]

[Grunt Issun]

Wonder's jaw dropped in shock at Blazer's blatant admittance that what she was about to do was illegal. "B-Blazer!" he yelped, "I- You-... Gah..." he groaned, again holding his head with his forehoof. Even worse, she seemed to imply that she had drunk before. Of course, Wonder had to admit, he had drunk underage before as well. He didn't want to. And he still regretted it afterwords.

----

It was some three years ago, at the temple, during some celebration, when Wonder was only fifteen. Because it was a celebration, Dippy offered Wonder some beer. Wonder refused, knowing that it wasn't exactly legal. The other monks insisted, saying it was a celebration, and that they were to secluded to be affected by a little law like that. Wonder was still hesitant, but before he could say no again, Dippy had already poured Wonder a mug.

At this point, Wonder realized, it would be plain rude to not drink it. And so, he slowly lifted his mug, and took a sip. He almost instantly felt like spitting it out. To him, it tasted absolutely vile. Dippy and the others were watching him, however, so he forcefully gulped down the disgusting drink. Dippy grinned at him, "So, how was it, Wonder?" he asked.

Wonder attempted a smile, "It was... erm... alright" he lied.

Dippy nudged him, "Well, go on then, have another drink!"

Wonder paused, then reluctantly picked up the mug again, and took another sip. He tried smiling again, but he couldn't. Not because he couldn't fake it, but because he noticed that the light of the world was fading. As the last of the light dimmed out, he fell forward, and his face smashed into the table they were all at.

The next morning, Wonder had a massive headache, felt sick to his stomach, and refused to leave his room, having an massive aversion to both light and sound, both of which the outside provided ample amounts of. After that, Wonder never wanted to have anything to do with alcohol again.

----

Wonder turned to Crescent, then. "Really? I... have to?" he asked. He hung his head in defeat, "Okay. Fine. I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" he groaned. Keeping his head hung, he followed the rest of the group to the casino.


Honeypot looked up again, "Aww, they're all leaving already!" she whined. She glanced over to Storm, who was still there. "Sweetie, can you help me up and then bring me over there, with the rest of the group?" she asked, putting on her cutest, sweetest smile.


Sly smiled at Morning, a little bit amused. "Why, we go inside, my dear" he explained, and lead her further inside the Casino. Inside, there were rows and rows of slot machines taking up the majority of the room. At one end, several tables were set up for various card games such as Blackjack. In yet another area, there was a regular bar, where several ponies were drinking. All around, the entire area was very colorful, and very loud. "So, what do you think? Would you like to get a drink first?"

[DL]

"S-sweetie, huh...?" Storm muttered, blushing slightly, looking away. "Umm...I...oh right, help. Okay. Right..."

He helped her up, bushing some of her mane away from her face. "Let's go. Or we'll get left behind."

[i]Though...it surprises me that she would be interested in a casino. Huh... she's still hurt, but...I guess if I keep a close eye on her, it'll be fine...[/i]



"Do you hear that, Dawn? We get to go to a casino! Don't you think that'll be fun?" Sniffy asked, then looked at Sly. "We'd love to go"

"Sniffy...what is a casino?"

"It's..."

Sniffy caught herself. She had never been to a casino herself. She knew what they were about more or less from reading, but...


"It's...a place where people go to have fun~"

"...What is 'Fun', Sniffy? Another animal? I want one..."

[Dementuo]

"[i]Amazing... It's so pretty...[/i]" Morning looked around the casino in awe, taking in the flashing lights and various loud noises. She looked over at Sly for a moment, her attention immediately shifting to the bar at the other end of the casino. "[i]Um, um, um, umumum, yes, yesyes, o-o-of course. A drink sounds... lovely.[/i]" She stuttered, her mind swimming in the dozens of new experiences.

Crescent looked back at Wonder. "[i][color=#0000cd]Of course you have to. After all... It is the duty of her and myself to keep watch over you all, after you agreed to help us with our quest. It would not be right of us to allow our group to separate.[/color][/i]" He said, chuckling a bit.

[Grunt Issun]

Honeypot smiled at Storm, "Yes. Sweetie" she repeated, then frowned, suddenly. "Or... Do you not like me calling you that?" she questioned. She hummed for a moment, as if deep in thought. "If it bothers you, I'll stop" she began, "I thought it'd be fine, with where we are, but... I suppose you're not used to it yet. Maybe it'd help if you started doing it too" she suggested. "Either way, let's catch up" she said, then went with Storm down to the casino with the rest of the group.

Sly nodded, and walked over to the bar. "Get the mare what she wants" he told the bartender. He turned to Morning, "I can pay. I've got a lot of money. A lot" he explained. "Meanwhile, though, I'm going to be checking out the Blackjack tables. If our friends ask, just tell them that" he called back, as he trotted away.

Wonder entered the Casino's main area with everypony else. "It's so bright in here" he muttered, suddenly shielding his eyes, "All the flashing lights. I know I never went in here on my first visit"
He scanned the area, and then hung his head again. [i]'Hmm... Looks like there's nothing much to do. I guess I just have to keep Blazer company'[/i]