[IC] STOMP Super Spooktacular Special!

[CoffeeHorse]

Misty's lower lip trembles. She nods to Amber, urging her to continue what they'd come all this way for, and takes off like a rocket down the hall.

Spoiler

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

She blasts through the open doorway to the Conservatory...

---

Amber watched with a pained expression as Misty sped down the hallway. She took a resolving breath, then stepped into the library to seek out the spellbook.

---

Spoiler

For the moment is seemed that the Mask was in control as Rasophae watches as the little one approaches, a wide grin spreading across the mare's face. She gasps and squrims as you suddenly wrap yourself around her and lean in closer and Whsipers to her, leaving the vengeful entity confused as the little chanling pulls awya and shifts into a different form before her.

It was the that the little bug made her grand gesture... a move that wouldn't be forgotten by anyone for a long time to come. The mansion rings out as Maple nova and the lovesplosion errupts from her body, waves of it radatign off of her and through the manor as Night Cap and his crew make theri way to where they heard Maple. Though it was only Misty that got to see exactly what went on the the conservatory that night, the door burstign open right as the little changeling focuses all that positive energy onto the foe before her.

"What are you... I will not let you!" Rasophae roars out as she staggers back and stomps towards the little bugg slowly trying to fight the repeated wavs of love and postibve feeligns crash over her Each step gained is several pushed back as the entity struggles and then is sent flying across the room as the power overwhelms her. When the light show is over, the dark pony lays in a crater looking battered and bruised, and seems to barely be moving.

Spoiler

It seems like a long moment before the pony moves, getting to their hooves shakily. Though when the smoke clears the visage that is standing there is Rhapsody, looking a bit more ragged, the mask hanging down around her neck and the stab wound still there... bleeding slightly as an aura of dark manage still keeps the worst of it at bay. She huffs and pants

I'm awake I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life
Here, right here
Right now, right now
Stand my ground and never back down
I know what I believe inside
I'm awake and I'm alive

Her voice was soft and weak as she feels her strength returning to her.

I'm at war with myself cause I
Ain't never gonna sell my soul
I've already made up my mind
No matter what I can't be bought or sold

I'm awake I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life
Here, right here
Right now, right now
Stand my ground and never back down
I know what I believe inside
I'm awake and I'm alive

She she shakes her head and looks around, the world coming into focus around her as for the first time in what feels like months her head is clear and she can think without the angry little voice feeding off of all her negative thoughts. Her purples eyes get drawn to the figure in the middle of the room. "Maple?"

Spoiler

---

Maple's wings weren't moving, yet she knew she was in the air, wave upon wave of emotion just poured from her like somepony had bucked the valve open on a water main. then something else happened the energy went white, it felt like her magic changeling fire all over and she couldn't see - it was as bright and warm as anything she could even think to compare it to...and then some. then suddenly she was standing on the floor again... Rhapsody was singing ... not the mask, not Rasophae... just Rhapsody and it made Maple soo very happy to see her friend again.

when she reached out to see if she really was really real and really Rhapsody... it took a moment of pause for Maple to notice it was a longer leg she was reaching out with... and she was kind of looking down a little ...at Rhapsody?

She wasn't even sure if she'd only heard her name once before she began to panic a little and look around the room ... quickly seeing Misty in the doorway ...

"Yes, ..um, hello."

---

Static started in a sprint towards Rhapsody...

[She's not a hugger. She may slug ya.]


...but stopped short. "Rhapsody! It's really you? You're in control again?" He hesitated to ask if she was okay, because to look at her, she still seemed very far from okay. But the fact that she was in control was much much better.

He started in for a hug again.

[She's gonna slug ya!]

He fidgeted before giving her a quick hug and dodging back out of striking distance. "Buck, it's good to see you again!"

He then caught sight of..."Maple? That...is that...you?"

---

 

[CoffeeHorse]

"uhm... lets just um...Focus on helping Rhapsody." Maple says. a wink of light on her horn turns her back to her small self in mid-sentence -while she fidgets and doesn't look any pony in the eyes.

---

Scarlet sidded to a landing behind everypony else and... had no idea what to do. Whatever Maple had so recklessly done, seemed to have knocked ‘Rasophar’ down and released Rhapsody. At least for now. It also seemed to have had an effect on Maple herself that she seemed to want ignore.

Either way, Rhapsody was back!

Still, he hung back s9nce a) there wasn’t anything medically he could do to help and b) there were many other ponies who needed to see Rhapsody before him.

---

Okay, that sort of worked, job well done Maple... now slowly get out of this room... NO DON'T TURN AROUND! don't draw any attention to yourself, just back up slowly ... there you go, that hardly even looked like you moved... good job, not this time I want you to actually start backing up- and remember you can't fool me because we are us and I know you better than you think I do ..so ...

---

Maple's wings weren't moving, yet she knew she was in the air, wave upon wave of emotion just poured from her like somepony had bucked the valve open on a water main. then something else happened the energy went white, it felt like her magic changeling fire all over and she couldn't see - it was as bright and warm as anything she could even think to compare it to...and then some. then suddenly she was standing on the floor again... Rhapsody was singing ... not the mask, not Rasophae... just Rhapsody and it made Maple soo very happy to see her friend again.

when she reached out to see if she really was really real and really Rhapsody... it took a moment of pause for Maple to notice it was a longer leg she was reaching out with... and she was kind of looking down a little ...at Rhapsody?

She wasn't even sure if she'd only heard her name once before she began to panic a little and look around the room ... quickly seeing Misty in the doorway ...

"Yes, ..um, hello."

"I think I like you better like that... least you look less... evil now." Yes, Rhapsody still didn't care for Changelings, and Maple's new form looked much more majestic and a far cry from the evil soul stealing bugs.

Static started in a sprint towards Rhapsody...

[She's not a hugger. She may slug ya.]


...but stopped short. "Rhapsody! It's really you? You're in control again?" He hesitated to ask if she was okay, because to look at her, she still seemed very far from okay. But the fact that she was in control was much much better.

He started in for a hug again.

[She's gonna slug ya!]

He fidgeted before giving her a quick hug and dodging back out of striking distance. "Buck, it's good to see you again!"

He then caught sight of..."Maple? That...is that...you?"

"uhm... lets just um...Focus on helping Rhapsody." Maple says. a wink of light on her horn turns her back to her small self in mid-sentence -while she fidgets and doesn't look any pony in the eyes.

Green Night Cap slides to a halt.

He pays little attention to Maple, not that surprised to see her in a different form. It must be a life form she's seen somewhere. But it's not what's important right now. What's important right now is-

"Socks? Is it gone?"

He sees the knife wound. That much, at least, is not gone.

"Let's get you some first ai-"

She already died once. It isn't first.​

"Er, second? Aid of some numbered order or another."

She looks to Static and Night Cap as they arrive, both of them asking similar first questions. "Sorta, kinda..." She replies and shakes her head. "I can still feel it... but the voice is gone... Its not feeding and ramping up all my worst aspects... I can think normally now... for however long this lasts... but I doubt it's permanent solution..." She says glancing down to the mask as it hangs around her neck. "Its at least unconscious for now... It feeds on hate and anger so powerful positive emotions seem to have weakened it greatly to the point ot retreat and needing to recover. So we still got to get this bucking thing off of me or I'll likely revert when it recovers..."

She does accept Static's hug, maybe she's too exhausted from the ordeal, maybe its the left over positivity from the lovesplosion, or maybe She's more of a hugger then she lets on... "I'm not sure that's gonna do much help while this mask is on..." She says looking to Night Cap. "It's keeping the wound from getting worse, but I think it's also prevent it from getting better as well..."

Scarlet sidded to a landing behind everypony else and... had no idea what to do. Whatever Maple had so recklessly done, seemed to have knocked ‘Rasophar’ down and released Rhapsody. At least for now. It also seemed to have had an effect on Maple herself that she seemed to want ignore.

Either way, Rhapsody was back!

Still, he hung back s9nce a) there wasn’t anything medically he could do to help and b) there were many other ponies who needed to see Rhapsody before him.

Okay, that sort of worked, job well done Maple... now slowly get out of this room... NO DON'T TURN AROUND! don't draw any attention to yourself, just back up slowly ... there you go, that hardly even looked like you moved... good job, now this time I want you to actually start backing up- and remember you can't fool me because we are us and I know you better than you think I do ..so ...

The final member of Night Cap's group shows up, the Mistress of Lore that had been following them. "So, this is the kind of company you keep." She sneers looking to Maple as she changes before her eyes. "If I'd knowing you employed monsters then I never would have dealt with you lot in the first place, you clearly can't handle this ordeal because you're to soft if you let something like that in your ranks. It should be squashed like the bug it is, not coddled like its a real pony." She raises a hoof and with a chant fires off a fireball at Maple... Only for it to be intercepted.

"Sorry, I can't let you do that Mistress." Swift Tart says, suddenly in front of male, using a golden aura to disperse the fireball. "You should know better that some monsters are worth the effort." He says looking sternly at her.

Before anyone else can reply, Rhapsody looks up... "Wait... I know that voice." She says softly and looks over to the Mistress of Lore. "Mom?"

---

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Rhapsody's mom just tried to murder me... out of room, please Maple was okay with being obvious about leaving now.

---

Scarlet teetch ground as the ‘Mistress’ of Lore turned up and immediately started spitting accusations of incompetance and—what the buck?

He leaped forward to dive between the MoL and Maple. While he, sadly, understood her reaction to Maples changeling nature. Her abrupt magical attack was a step too far. Rashness of action will only get you so far though. Thus, Scarlet breathes a (hopefully unheard) sigh of relief as Swift Tart intercedes. Anger, frustration and a healthy dose of disdain for this incomparably stuck up pony boiled up inside of him.

And then...

Mom?

He just, stared. First at Rhapsody, then at the MoL. As if his opinion of her could sink no lower.

[colo=#ff0000]”Sweet merciful Luna. You have got to be Kidding Me! “[/color]

---

Scarlet teetch ground as the ‘Mistress’ of Lore turned up and immediately started spitting accusations of incompetance and—what the buck?

He leaped forward to dive between the MoL and Maple. While he, sadly, understood her reaction to Maples changeling nature. Her abrupt magical attack was a step too far. Rashness of action will only get you so far though. Thus, Scarlet breathes a (hopefully unheard) sigh of relief as Swift Tart intercedes. Anger, frustration and a healthy dose of disdain for this incomparably stuck up pony boiled up inside of him.

And then...

Mom?

He just, stared. First at Rhapsody, then at the MoL. As if his opinion of her could sink no lower.

[colo=#ff0000]”Sweet merciful Luna. You have got to be Kidding Me!“[/color]

---

Scarlet teetch ground as the ‘Mistress’ of Lore turned up and immediately started spitting accusations of incompetance and—what the buck?

He leaped forward to dive between the MoL and Maple. While he, sadly, understood her reaction to Maples changeling nature. Her abrupt magical attack was a step too far. Rashness of action will only get you so far though. Thus, Scarlet breathes a (hopefully unheard) sigh of relief as Swift Tart intercedes. Anger, frustration and a healthy dose of disdain for this incomparably stuck up pony boiled up inside of him.

And then...

Mom?

He just, stared. First at Rhapsody, then at the MoL. As if his opinion of her could sink no lower.

[colo=#ff0000]”Sweet merciful Luna. You have got to be Kidding Me!“[/color]

---

Scarlet teetch ground as the ‘Mistress’ of Lore turned up and immediately started spitting accusations of incompetance and—what the buck?

He leaped forward to dive between the MoL and Maple. While he, sadly, understood her reaction to Maples changeling nature. Her abrupt magical attack was a step too far. Rashness of action will only get you so far though. Thus, Scarlet breathes a (hopefully unheard) sigh of relief as Swift Tart intercedes. Anger, frustration and a healthy dose of disdain for this incomparably stuck up pony boiled up inside of him.

And then...

Mom?

He just, stared. First at Rhapsody, then at the MoL. As if his opinion of her could sink no lower.

[colo=#ff0000]”Sweet merciful Luna. You have got to be Kidding Me!“[/color]

---

Scarlet teetch ground as the ‘Mistress’ of Lore turned up and immediately started spitting accusations of incompetance and—what the buck?

He leaped forward to dive between the MoL and Maple. While he, sadly, understood her reaction to Maples changeling nature. Her abrupt magical attack was a step too far. Rashness of action will only get you so far though. Thus, Scarlet breathes a (hopefully unheard) sigh of relief as Swift Tart intercedes. Anger, frustration and a healthy dose of disdain for this incomparably stuck up pony boiled up inside of him.

And then...

Mom?

He just, stared. First at Rhapsody, then at the MoL. As if his opinion of her could sink no lower.

”Sweet merciful Luna. You have got to be Kidding Me!“

---

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Like Scarlet, Static was about to jump in front of the fireball before Swift Tart took care of things. He wanted to curse out the MoL for the fireball. Boy oh boy did he ever want to curse her out. Maple had proven herself too many times, to say nothing of what she did for Rhapsody NOT TEN SECONDS AGO!!!!

But with Rhapsody's statement that positive energy was what was keeping the mask at bay...

"Positive energy, positive energy, positive energy...MOM???" Static looks between Rhapsody and MoL. His eyes full of shock, which then narrowed into slivers. "Trying to keep the energy positive here for the sake of your daughter...but I will say that 'monster' just saved your daughters life!"

---

”i only see one monster here. And she’s the mare who got everypony into this bucking situation in the first bucking place!”

Though his tone was low and steady, the disdain was clear.

Starting a slow ten count, Scarlet then tried to squash his bad mood.

---

Throughout this all, Misty has been standing, statue-like, just past the doorway, with her jaw hanging open.

We're sorry. Misty.exe has encountered an error and needs to close. If the problem persists after restart, please contact your system administrator.

---

"Are you okay Misty?" Maple asks... looking around for anything that might help.

---

Library:

Luckily for Amber as she explored the room, she found nothing waiting to ambush or jump her like in the Conservatory, maybe Maple's action had scared the spookies away for the time being?

Conservatory:

Rhapsody huffs heavily as she looks to Night Cap. "For once, I agree with you." She states stamps a hood on the ground, making the floor shiver a bit, as its clear she's not up to full strength. "What the bucking hay is wrong with you?" She growls as she lumbers towards the Mistress of Lore, still seeming to be weak and strained from her recent ordeals, her eyes glaring daggers into the other mare. Everyone's reaction seemed to mirror her own... though for Rhapsody it was much worse. This was somepony she thought dead, she thought she failed to protect, and was now standing right in front of her as if nothing had happened. Rhapsody was quiet frankly, pissed.

"I am doing what you can't it seems!" The Mistress of Lore replies as the hood falls down revealing the visage of Shadewing, her yellow and white hair curled around her face as the mare looks ghastly and gaunt, bright colors seeming to be faded and older as her purple eyes seem glassy as she glares to the ponies that seem to be protecting Maple. She turns toward the changeling as the creature tries to slink away like the cowardly beast it is, only for it to find another victim. "I will eliminate all you vile beasts from the face of Equestria myself if I have to!" But before she can get off another shot she's tackled by Rhapsody. "What do you think you are doing?!"

"My job." Rhapsody huffs as she gets back to her hooves.

"Now now, Ladies. There is no need for you to fight. I think enough darkness has crossed this manor tonight." Swift Tart says as he walks towards the pair and looks to Rhapsody. "Rest." Swift Tart states to the Dark mare and she slumps to the floor. "That's one down." They muses to themselves and looks to the Mistress and grins softly. "There's not much I can do against you like this, my power is too restricted... but I've been preparing this little trick for some time..." The piebald says Claps both hooves together before stamping the ground. "Restrain." Shadows seem to coil around the mistress and bind her to the spot. "I respect you for surviving what you went through, but you've always been a bit... extreme for my tastes, Mistress." They says and looks to the room. "Now before any of the rest of you get any ideas... allow me to explain everything I know... First off Rhapsody is fine, I just hit her with a modified sleep spell to take the fight out of her. She's still conscious and aware of us."

Rhapsody huffs softly as she looks to the Butler, but currently feels her body to heavy to move. "Yeah, I'm alright..." Clearly not happy at the forced down time.

"Now, This." They say pointing to Shadewing. "Is what someone looks like that's been drained of all their love looks like. She's hard, bitter, cold, and cares only about what is important to her. And what is important to her is LORE. The League of Restraining Evil. This has all been set up by her to see if any of you would be fitting additions to the team she was creating." Swifty says and takes a deep breath. "I am complicit in this, as I work for her as something of a guard dog in her eyes. She has gained a lot more control over me then I would prefer.. I found her after the invasion and took her to safety, and helped her recover as much as I could. Since then I have been trying to help her regain her passion, love, and drives for things other then... pretty much the complete extermination of anything she considers evil. I knew her daughters would be here, and I had greatly hoped that her seeing them again would awaken... Something in her." The piebald says wearily. "Not sure that is working..."

"Don't be so modest, you should have been able to stop this before it got this far." Shadewing states making Swift Tart glower.

"Ethereal beings are beyond much of my power when you're limiting me so much! It taken all that I have, and more to keep everypony as safe as they are. These ponies have done much more then they should have this night, and you're not going to ruin what little victories they've had so far!"

---

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Static glares at the Mistress of Lore. "Two daughters lost, a third just this side of death, countless guests either scared out of their wits or dead, an malevolent evil force on the loose...all to give us a job interview?" Static huffs. "Not interested! I have a job already. And right now it's to save your daughters collective asses. You on the other hoof, can quite frankly I would say you could go to Tartarus. But if you could bring this fate upon your own daughters and only care about this clandestine group of yours...you're half there already!"

---

Amber quickly returned to the shelves and her mental catalogue of the room, hoping to find the spell book as efficiently as possible and return to the Conservatory and Maple without losing too much time.

Spoiler

---

Library:

In the relative peace and quiet of the room, Amber finds that her search is quick and fruitful, as knowing what she is looking for, its not as hard to find as she thought it would be. An older creepy looking book , bound in almost rubbery like material that just doesn't feel or look right. The quicker you were done with this the better it seems.

Spoiler

---

Amber looked the book over askance, but slipped it into her saddlebag and allowed herself a brief smile of success before heading back into the Hall.

---

Maple was kind of distracted, worrying over Misty. So she wasn't entirely paying attention when she answered back.

"I'm a little busy with the jobs I have already, but I'm sure Ms. Swift Iron would let me help Destroy evil for awhile - while I'm still suspended from giving tours."

---