revenance_rpg | ❆ Three ❆ Winter Games

Entry tags:

❆ Three ❆ Winter Games

Characters: Jack & Open
Content: Jack's bored. Time to troll people and/or snowy fun.
Location: Around Traverse Town
Time: Night
Warnings: Pranks.

Jack hopped to his feet, tapping his staff along the roof as he paced. Very little headway had been made on the keyhole as far as he could tell. Things had died down since the exploration of the mansion and Jack was beginning to grow a little tired of the whole "staying in one place" thing. He blew some of his bangs out of his face and turned on his heel to face Snowball and March who were following him. "I think it's time I did a little winter weather service, don't you think?"

He didn't wait for a response. Jack smirked and dove off the roof with a shout of joy. He'd coat all the railings in ice and slide down them, along with the stairs. He'd find the biggest hill he could and turn it into the perfect sledding hill. Lastly, he would freeze the fountain again but this time bury it in snow and get a proper snowball fight started. He could wan't to see people sliding around without thinking or even dropping a snowball or two down someone's shirt or a pile of snow on someone's head.

The question then became, was one of the victims going to be you?

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Ziva hadn't been able to sleep again, so she'd decided to go wandering around. She hoped that walking around a bit would help tire her out so she could get at least an hour or two before having to be awake again. Abby and Fluffy were with her, as always, although the bat had decided he would nap on top of the panda's head until any Nightmares attacked. A sudden drop if Abby attacked something would wake him up.

"Clock tower or out to Twilight Town?" She asked the panda. She was the only creature around at this point to give an opinion.

Jack landed on a nearby rooftop. He peered down and smiled to himself. Perfect, she was heading right towards him. Jack blew into his hands and the snow crystallized and shaped itself instantly. He waited a few seconds more for her to get in position and then dropped the snowball.

"Oh my," Celestia said, as she prodded the ice-coated stairs with a hoof. "I didn't realize anypony here could change the seasons... somepony is going to fall, though."

The pony princess summoned her magic, and a warm beam of light shone from her horn to melt away the ice on the staircase. Leaving her perfectly undefended from a cheap snowball attack...

Jack hadn't been counting on Luna's sister showing up. He frowned slightly as his work was melted away. Besides, he'd put a pile of snow at the bottom of the stairs for a reason. Jack considered his options and then scooped up some snow. Celestia might not have fallen for the stairs but a good snowball fight could still be had. He jumped out from his hiding space at the bottom of the stairs and tossed the snowball effortlessly.

The snowball splattered across her flank, and her head jerked up as she let out an "Oh!" with an unusual note, far from her typical calm tones.

She turned to face him, a smile growing on her face with some measure of wickedness behind it. "So that's how it is, then."

Her horn shone again, and a clump of snow lifted into the air, shaped itself into a ball, then flew at him in return.

He laughed. No need to answer, the response should be fairly clear without him verbalizing it. Jack had seen Luna in action enough to know what the glowing horn meant and he was able to nimbly dodge the snowball.

"Gonna have to do better than that." He sprung forward, scooped up more snow, and tossed it fast pitch at Celestia.

Celestia quickly turned, lifting and spreading one of those amazingly large wings to shield herself from impact, and at the same time met his challenge by lifting three balls of snow at once. She hurled them in a spread, then quickly pumped her wings to dodge sideways several feet.

Jack could find gratification in her grin; she rarely had the opportunity to have such playful fun.

He tucked and rolled, managing to dodge two of the balls. However the third snowball caught him in the shoulder, exploding into find powder and getting all over his sweater. It didn't seem to bother him at all, at least as far as the cold went.

Jack jumped into the air and flung down more snow, hoping to catch her off guard with an aerial assault. Hey, just because SHE could fly didn't mean she was used to getting attacked from above by a guy without wings.

She'd be the first to admit she didn't know everything humans were capable of -- but flying, she had not even suspected was on the list. The snow caught her straight in the face, and she staggered backwards in surprise, shaking it off herself.

"You are going to have to explain how you're doing that to me, when we're done," she said as she took to the air herself, gathering snow from the ground to fling upwards at him in an attack from a hopefully-unexpected direction.

Jack winced with a smile when it actually hit her in the face. He hadn't expected to take her by THAT much surprise. "Guess Luna didn't mention that."

Luna hadn't seemed as surprised when he'd flown, but they'd met a little differently too. He chuckled, "Sure, I can try." Even after 300 years Jack didn't understand everything he was able to do. Most of it was taken for granted and even with his memories back a lot of it was still just magic more or less. The snow hit him and he laughed, pulling a flip in the air. He then used his staff and attempted to redirect the snow at Celestia.

Celestia had formed her own opinions of human capabilities in her time here, and while she would be the first to admit they were incomplete, flying remained an avenue she hadn't expected.

Golden light flickered around her, deflecting the snow in its own turn. Her horn shone even after the shield faded, as behind Jack, the moisture in the air condensed into a snowball, which launched itself at him as soon as it formed.

Thump!

The snowball hit him square in the back of the head. He whirled around, at first thinking they had a new contender. But, when he saw no one new, he realized it was Celestia using her magic to attack him from behind. "Haha, and here I thought I might have the advantage." Jack rubbed the back of his head to get the snow out and waved his staff across the air again. Snow formed in midair from the moisture and he flung it forward. He didn't even bother to turn it into a ball though, just sending a wave of snow at the flying pony.

She lifted her wings straight up and dropped, catching herself a dozen feet down with a powerful beat of her wings. "Old age and treachery will beat youth and skill every time, or so the saying goes," she said, as with a flare of golden light she began to collect snow in a ball above her horn. Snow leaped out of the air and off the ground to join the collection, rapidly increasing its size from reasonable to massive as she lowered her head, aiming at him with a grin. She didn't fire it yet, though -- she was waiting for the perfect moment.

"You must be pretty old then because I have a few centuries on most people here," Jack replied with a laugh. He didn't mean it as an insult, most of the other Guardians he knew were even older than himself. "And as for treachery..."

Jack let out a whistle and from a rooftop a blur of blue bunny motion could be seen launching itself at Celestia. March's ears held twin snowballs as she practically flew up to hit the alicorn. Hoping that March would serve as a distraction Jack dropped back out of the sky and went to hide in some concealing shadows around the buildings.

Well, this turn of events didn't interrupt Celestia's plan at all. In fact, they fed into it quite nicely. As March flew at Celestia and Jack dove for cover, the alicorn -- disappeared, in a flare of golden light.

The teleport wasn't subtle, coming with both a sound and a flash as it deposited her directly in front of the fleeing Jack -- but it was quick.

"As for treachery?" she said with a smile, then hurled the immense ball of snow at him.

"Crud."

That was all he was able to get out before he took the huge snowball head on. It sent him spiraling a bit with the immensity of it. He hadn't anticipated that at all. He'd hope the ambush would work but apparently she really was a few steps ahead of him in the treachery department.

He quickly corrected his flight and shook off the snow. "Okay...so...that didn't go as planned." He tapped the side of head as if to get snow out of he ears, but it was mostly a joke.

"It really could have only worked out for one of us, after all," Celestia said brightly -- reveling in the enjoyment of the game, rather than her victory. "And it won't work out nearly so well for me again, now that you've seen that."

"I don't think I've ever lost a snowball fight before." It's hard to tell if he's baffled or upset. But, Jack being Jack, he shakes it off rather nicely and pins on his usual smirk. "Yeah, right, can't pull the same tricks twice otherwise it's no fun." He had a feeling Celestia would think of other ways to win a fight if she had to. She struck him as very creative in that regard.

"I do have a little experience controlling the weather as well. Not much, but --" She spread her wings to full extension, which was actually an alarming amount of spread indeed. "In Equestria, pegasi are responsible for the weather. Manufacturing and moving clouds, providing rainbows and snowflakes, scheduling storms. As an alicorn I have the ability to do that as well. I've dabbled a few times here and there, to better understand the process." Which, if you added up the times over her life, was a fair amount of 'dabbling' indeed. "So I know my way around snow a little better than most."

Jack nodded in understanding as Celestia explained her world. He can't remember if Luna had said something similar or not, but he had remembered her explaining her love for snow and winter. "Mother Nature takes care of most of that. Although I handle the winter bits where I can and Bunny is usually in charge of bringing in Spring time." He'd heard of Mother Nature more so than actually seeing her and, of course, he'd seen her work. She handles the bigger weather patterns and Bunny and Jack were usually just left to their own devices.

"I should add that while pegasi control the weather, unicorns control the seasons with their magic. If you bring both winter and winter weather, then you certainly hold an interesting role."

She dipped a wing to sweep the longest primaries through the snow on the ground, thoughtfully. The more she learned about humans, the stranger she found them, if all the more intriguing.

"That's me, I guess. I was kinda given the role by the Man in the Moon." Of course, he'd only found out his larger purpose before coming here. Her explanation of how the pony world worked though was rather interesting. He'd be curious to go there one day.

"So do you have both jobs then? Since you're a unicorn and a pegasus? Sounds like a lot of work to me."

Celestia went very still; though her expression didn't change, nevertheless every inch of her body showed a peculiar tension.

"I'm sorry, could you explain that? The Man in the Moon."

She'll get to his question but this was very, very important.

How to explain Manny. Jack could see that Celestia was...surprised? He wasn't sure what emotion, curious definitely. Luna had been pretty curious about the entity as well.

"He doesn't say much so this is mostly stuff I've heard from the others and from what little he's told me. He lives in the moon and watches over the dreams of children. He's also in charge of the Guardians who are the ones that actually go out and fight any Nightmares and he chooses them too...he chose me a long time ago though I didn't really realize that's what was happening at the time."

Curious was not quite the word, but it would do. Celestia still wasn't sure what to make of this new revelation, but Jack's description sounded benign enough...

"I see. Thank you. To answer your question, my duty is to raise the sun each day, as my sister does the moon."

"Right. I think she told me something about that once. She also helps ponies in their dreams, yeah?" Jack had experienced that first hand when she'd popped into one of his dreams.

"Yes, that is part of her duties as well, although she can help anypony -- any one, not simply ponies alone." Celestia glanced over her shoulder in the direction of their apartment, a little frown crossing her features. "Here, where bad dreams seem to be the rule, I worry about how much she CAN do."

He sighed. He'd been grateful for her help but he could understand Celestia's concern. Jack considered the lunar-themed pony to be a pretty close friend. He didn't want to see her over work herself as he suspected she did. "I'd like to help her, but dreams are really Sandy's department. I may be able to fight Pitch before he causes bad dreams, but I don't think I can fight actual dreams when a person is having them." He was still the only sort-of, unofficial guardian here. He felt kind of useless having already discovered his purpose in life but having no way to actually DO anything with it.

"If things get worse, I may have to have a talk with her about helping." That was a talk that she didn't want to have, because it would be rough at best...

"You have dealt with a personified force of bad dreams, before?"

If it helped him feel better, Celestia had really needed that burst of fun.

"Do you think you can do the same thing as Luna?"

He was starting to get the sense that Celestia was tied to daytime stuff which didn't typically include dreaming. Although he supposed they could get by on a technicality with "day dreams." But, he also didn't fully understand how unicorn magic worked so there was that.

"Dealing. I...kind of wound up here before I could help finish dealing with him. But yeah, Pitch is trying to take all the belief way from children: their hopes, dreams, and wonder. It wasn't looking very good for the other Guardians..." He trailed off. It was still hard to talk about just because it meant admitting that he'd screwed up and that his friends were in trouble.

"I could never do it with the skill and ease that she does. But I am capable of the magics involved, of that there is no question. In ordinary circumstances it would never be necessary... but I do worry about my sister, especially since she has nopony to soothe her own dreams."

Taking hopes, dreams, and wonder from children. A part of Celestia grew angry at the very thought, but another wondered how it was even possible. "It is very difficult to truly steal such things. Damage them, perhaps even break them, in the short term, but anypony who has a heart left will find those things again."

Soothe her own dreams. Jack hadn't even considered it, but Celestia was right, Luna was probably having nightmares just like everyone else. It wasn't like Spirits or anyone was immune to them from what he had experienced. "I'm guessing whatever magic is involved...I wouldn't be able to help in anyway, right?" He only knew winter, snow, ice and the like. Again, dreams were Sandy's department.

He considered Celestia's words and nodded, "I'm hoping that's the case." He shook his head, "No, I'm positive we can get the kids to believe again. We just need something to spark their imagination I think. If even just one kid is left believing then that's enough."

"The magic to walk into dreams is a very complicated spell that requires a great deal of power and skill to perform. Even I do not know it; my sister is the only one who does. But as for helping in any way, what greater help could anypony ask for than to have friends who care about them, and make their days happier?"

Help, after all, was not always a matter of stepping in to directly solving the problem. Help came in many different forms.

Jack looked down at his feet for a moment. He wanted to do more than that, but Celestia did have a a point. Finally he looked up and nodded, apparently now determined to do what he COULD for Luna instead of just thinking about what he WISHED he could do. "You're right. If you see her before I do let her know that I'll be there if she needs me."

"And for that, you have my gratitude." Celestia bowed to him, her sentiments deeply heartfelt. Luna needed friends and people she could count on, and here she had them. Celestia's gratitude went deeper than they could know, or without knowing the tale of Nightmare Moon, understand.

Rarity had opted to do a bit of late-night shopping. There was a Moogle nearby, after all, and he did have a few things in stock that most fabric stores didn't. As it turned out, jewels were considered very precious on some worlds, and it had taken a bit of work for Rarity to barter a handful of them from the Moogle for what she considered a fair price. She'd have to use these carefully, especially if she couldn't find someplace with a cache of jewels she could dig up for herself.

She was a bit too busy planning ahead to look where she was going or to notice Spike's warning squeak. She simply walked onto the iced-over stairs, immediately lost her footing, and tumbled end over end down the stairs, shrieking all the while and landing in a disheveled heap at the bottom with the contents of her saddlebags scattered everywhere. She got her hooves under her, wincing and complaining all the while. "Why is there ice on the stairs? I didn't think they had seasons here! It isn't even cold outside! Ugh, somepony ought to put up a warning." She collected her scattered items with her magic, tucking them back into her saddlebags as Spike rolled easily down the stairs, landing at her feet and squeaking in concern. "I'm quite alright," she reassured him. "Just a little sore, that's all. And...displeased. That's a good word for it."

"What? Is it my fault she missed the snow at the bottom?" Jack winced as Snowball smacked him upside the head again with a squeak of protest. "Look she's--ow--fine--ow." Snowball continued to bat him upside his head and finally Jack swatted back. He glared at Snowball for a momement before sighing, "Fine, fine. I'll go apologize. You're just going to get me in trouble though." Snowball huffed and nudged him towards rarity. In her opinion Jack DESERVED to get in trouble for the iced stairs. That was a little TOO much.

Jack jumped over and landed near Rarity, leaning down to start picking up some of the items. Suddenly, from above, a large snowball dropped on Jack's head. The impact startled him more than the cold and he looked up to find Snowball the Komory Bat chuckling and laughing at him. She seemed to be saying: yeah Jack, that served you right. Jack just frowned at her again.

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❆ Three ❆ Winter Games

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sorry this is so late ;__;

S'ok!

Re: S'ok!

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