RAKASHAE PROJECT
(GMed ever so sloppily by Blu)

This one ain't done yet...



 	Lastly stared intently at the fire. "Come on, you can make it go out!" Ember
 encouraged her. "This is a switch, Ember! Usually I am helping you, not the other
 way around." "Yeah..." Lastly sighed as the fire continued to flicker.  "Its easy!"
 Ember cried, as she stared at the fire. The fire flickered twice and then went out.
 She gave Lastly a look as if to say,"See?" Lastly rolled her eyes, and  started 
leave  the room. Just then they heard a rumbling. The two ponies stood in fear. 
Suddenly, a ali roo crashed through the ceiling of Star Manor.  He stood tranfixed
in front of the two shaking ponies. "Is it Blu?" Ember asked. "No, you silly girl!
 Its an ali roo, though!" Lastly replied. 

	Lance shook his head and dusted off his outfit. He looked at the ponies 
studiously.
	"Um. Hello..." he looked at the two ponies. These were the creatures that 
Blu and Trixxy were so infatuated with? He grinned. They were kind of cute.
 	"Well. Yes, I am an Aliroo. My name is Lance O'Ryan. There's been a 
problem...Uh..." he had no idea what the authority was here, "...Take me to your 
leader? I need to talk to the authority."
	"Well, Lastly is the leader, basically," Ember replied, staring at the ali 
roo.  Lastly tossed her silver mane. "Yes, I am the leader of Star Manor. I am 
Lastly," she eloquently said.  Lastly is an amazing unicorn and she's older," 
Ember  explained. Blushing, Lastly turned to the fireplace. "We were just trying
 to work on fire powers for Lastly. I have fire power and she has sound, but we 
are teaching each other," Ember hesitated. "And Lastly is currently available,"
 she went on. Lastly's eyes grew big as she raised her hoof. "You sill girl
 pony!" she cried as she playfully hit Ember. "Yes, what she said is true,"
 Lastly blushed. The two ponies huddled away from Lance. "What? You were 
looking at him, so I read your mind," Ember's eyes sparkled as she talked.
 Lastly looked at the little pony. She did love her, even though they annoyed
 each other some times. She wished she had family, though. She once had a 
mom, but her mom was always on the move. One day while her mom was traveling,
 she became lost and Lastly never saw her again. Ember was so close to 
Lastly that they became like sisters.

	Lance looked around himself. So this was Star Manor.
	"So, Lastly," he said, addressing the unicorn, "You are the leader 
of PonyLand?" She seemed too young to be leader of all of Pony Land. 
Perhaps he had not made himself clear? Oh. "Would this be Dream Castle? 
Blu told me that that is where Queen Majesty lives. I need to talk to 
Majesty, whomever that would be."
	He looked at the mess he had made in the Manor, and took a minute 
to repair it with a spell he had saved. He looked at the ponies, who 
seemed to be exchanging girl-looks. Blu and Trixxy did that a lot, it 
always befuddled him. He hoped that Blu was doing okay back at HQ.
	Lance decided that a more archaic form of dress would be fitting 
here, so he conjured back his Elite Four cape and popped back his Star 
Team jacket. He looked back at the ponies, Ember and Lastly, and waited
 for an answer.
	"Sorry, I guess I did not make myself clear enough," Lastly explained to 
the confused ali roo.  "I am Lastly, that's true, but I am the leader of 
the ponies of Star Manor. Queen Majesty is the ruler of Ponyland. Star 
Manor is part of Ponyland, though."  "My mom is Queen, but is gone. She
 is North Star, Queen of Star Manor," Ember interjected, before Lastly 
could go on. "North Star and Knight Light, Queen and King of Star Manor, 
are on a trip and are not expected back for awhile," Lastly explained. 
The two ponies looked at Lance. Ember tossed her white mane.  Eyes glowing,
 she morphed into a dark blue pegasus with aqua hair. Lastly smiled. 
"She is showing you what her sister, one of three Princesses of Star 
Manor,looks like. She shifted into what Sweet Star looks like," Lastly
 continued.  Ember continued to morph for the interested ali roo. Before
 them now stood a baby pegasus, pink with purple hair. The compass on her
 side glittered slightly. "I now in the form of my youngest sister, Baby 
Northstar," Ember said. 'I am the last Princess, and I am the same age as
 Sweet Star.  Lastly looked at Ember with sparkling green-blue eyes. 
"She can morph too," Ember told Lance.
	They could shapeshift? These ponies were becoming more interesting.
 But he did have other matters to attend to.
	"Lastly, since you seem to be taking care of Star Manor whilst 
Northstar is away, could you please escort me to where I can talk to 
Queen Majesty? There have been some...Troubles that I need to discuss 
with her immedeatly."
	He tried to look calm and collected, but he was sure his face 
betrayed some apprehension. For all he knew, Pony Land could have been 
where the Drahls had opened the portal. 
	"If you give me the coordinates we can transport there," he took 
his transporter from his belt and opened half of the said portal. "It is
 quite important, I'd like to get there as soon as possible."
	"No need! I can open a portal to transport us directly there," 
Lastly told the ali roo. "Yep! She can! And I can explain our powers and 
stuff as she opens it," Ember added. "I am Ember, Princess of Star Manor,
 and all the ponies here have powers. I have: fire power, morphing, I can
 control water and waves and make light appear anywhere, Ember said. "Lastly 
opens portals and causes sounds, mind reads, morphs like me, other stuff," 
Ember went on, talking a mile a minute to the bewildered ali roo.  "Silly 
girl! We are ready to go?" Lastly called.  "Yes, let me just make sure we 
have our objects," Ember said, rolling her eyes at Lastly's newest thing 
to call her. "We each have two magical objects," Lastly explained. The ali 
roo and ponies stepped into the glowing portal. "I warn you, your magic may
 not work the way you want it now that you are here," Ember told Lance.
Within minutes, the ponies were outside Dream Castle. 
	So this was Dream Castle? 
	It was a huge, pink castle. Pink. Lance laughed, not an easy 
thing considering his main job here. They approached the draw bridge, 
which didn't seem to have the capability to raise. The royal retainers 
were no where to be found. In fact, NO one was to be found. Lance 
worried, and he made his way to the throne room, wondering Ember and 
Lastly were following him. It wasn't hard, all the pink carpets seemed 
to lead to the throne room.
	As he arrived there, he saw something that he had only seem in 
the holodeck: A Fire Drahl. It's back was turned, and it was following 
another Fire Drahl into a portal. Lance choked, and dashed forward, 
grabbing it by its tail and yanking it out of the portal. As the dark 
portal closed, he glimpsed another pony struggling to get free. She 
was white with a blue mane, but it appeared she didn't make it, 
because when the portal collapsed, Lance was left holding a hissing 
Fire Drahl. The only thing left in the room was a glistening silver 
crown and a lock of blue mane.

	He realized belatedly his hand was burning. He let go of the 
firey drahl, flinging it across the room, and layed a small healing 
spell on his singed hand. He glared at it, reaching out to it with his 
thoughts and freezing it in place. It struggled weakly under his 
gaze.
	The fire drahl was a slithering, snake-like thing. It had a 
narrow head and leathery wings. It smoked as he held it in mid air, 
coming close to mind control. But Lance hadn't mastered mind control 
yet, he could merely stun it. The drahl began to smoke, then steam. 
Puffs of vapor and smoke began emitting from its ears and under its 
scales. It screamed, and exploded. Buts of burning matter flew about 
the room, and tiny embers and shards of burning scales caught the room 
on fire.
	"EMBER!" He called, "I believe your magic could be of use 
now!"
	He hoped she was in ear shot. As he waited for a reply, he 
began furiously conjuring water to throw on the flames.

	Ember's ears pricked up as she and Lastly were in the castle's music
room, one of their favorite places to visit. She cocked her head
sideways.  She stood motionless, as Lastly stared at her from Majesty's
podium. Was that fire? Lastly turned to Ember. "What's wrong, Ember? What
do you hear?" she asked. Lastly knew Ember, and when the little pony was
acting like this, something must be wrong. Ember didnt answer, but
instead took off galloping. When she reached the Throne Room, she stopped
dead in her tracks.   Lastly was close behind, staring at the fire. Ember
tossed her mane and stared at the fire intently, until it went out.
"Whew," she sighed. ''Oh, my goodness!' Lastly cried. 
"I have to teach you this magic of fire, Lance and Lastly. Say that has a
nice ring to it! Lance and Lastly," Ember said. Lastly rolled her eyes,
that little pony was always trying to set her up. Still, the ali roo
*was* cute. But she couldnt think about that now. She had to help the ali
roo and Ember. What now? she thought. What now? Across the room, Ember
was reading Lastly's mind. "I don't know what to do, Lastly. I'm scared,"
she sent to Lastly telepathically. "I know. I understand. But we have to
fight," Lastly sent back. "Oh my gosh! That's Majesty's crown!" Ember
cried. She wondered, did the creatures take Majesty? Looking into Lance's
eyes, she knew the answer. 
Northy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rainribbon/Deionæra, the Lady
Mystagic!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    "'Ey now! Get yer claws outta my shirt before I tear 'em out! I'M
WARNING YOU!!" a voice shouted from where the portal had been. Another
voice, an odd reptilian one, shouted something faintly. "Who's the prisoner
now, hm? But you should know I don't take prisoners. Go back to your slimy
snake-friends and tell 'em that the next time I catch one of you at my
back, I won't be quite so merciful. Take this! I like my 'friends' to leave
with a little souvenir!" An inhuman yell echoed around the room as a bright
light swirled around the room. The vortex was opening up again a few feet
above the floor....
    "Don't shove me! It was just a little scratch and you deserved it, so
don't you--Ayaaah!!" CRASH! A rather undignified heap of shocking blue hair
and metal hit the floor. "That's tact for ya. Not big on words, that guy.
I've had better conversations with sand fleas." Deionæra stood up and shook
herself off, wiping off a Japanese sword with a cloth. She looked around.
"So where....Hey!" She caught sight of Lastly, Ember, and an aliroo
standing nearby. "I'm back in Ponyland and I didn't even get to use that
wand!" Deionæra snapped her fingers. "Gotta check my skills. Be with ya in
a sec." She closed her eyes and then opened them again. "Oh, yeah, I saw
Majesty on my way in, but I was rather preoccupied, I'm afraid." She closed
her eyes again. Not that it was necessary, but it helped her concentrate. 
	Lance wiped his hand on the sleeve of his shirt, the human skin didn't 
peel off so he was satisfied with the spell. He would have called it a Burn 
Heal, but it wasn't the same in Pony Land. He looked at the newcomer, a human.
 A human from a portal? He lightly sensed her aura, searching for the easily 
recognized Aliroo aura, and found none. But he did sense the magical ambience
 of a D-hopper. She couldn't be human, the dimensional matter that followed 
her was too intense for a normal human to stand.
	The room was burned, although not irripairably so. He layed the remainder
 of his repair spell to fix it.
	He hadn't even been here an hour, he had already had to use his entire 
stock of repair spells and had let the enemy take the queen of Pony Land. Blu
 was going to have a fit. Speaking of which, he had to go and tell her he had
 found the exit from planet Rakashae. He cleared his throat.
	"Excuse me," he said. He retreated to an unoccupied portion of the room
 and accessed the communications facility of his TDT. He numbered Blu's 
computer. She wasn't answering, so he left a message.
	"Blu, I found the exit. The Drahls took the Queen on Pony Land." He felt
 odd saying it. "I'm going to coninue to track the portals; I didn't have enough
 time to track it last time." He shut the link and turned back to the creatures
 in the room.
	"I'm going to be searching the local area for portals to track them. We 
need the exact portal numbers to be able to cancel them out...I'll need help. 
It may be dangerous, but if you're coming, lets go." He aimed his TDT at the 
nearest wall and opened a thin portal that led outside. Call him lazy, or call
 him efficient, he had to get the identity of the portals.
    "Wait for me!!" Rainribbon raced across the room. "I'm coming too! I
sensed some cool stuff happening! What's going on?" She looked at Deionæra
and nearly tripped, although that wouldn't be uncommon for her anyways.
"DEIONÆRA!! You're here too!" She galloped up to the girl and almost
knocked her over with an affectionate push of her head. "You got my tape
recorder??"
    Deionæra laughed. "Right here in my pack," she grinned, shifting the
backpack. "So you're coming with us?" 
    "How could I miss an adventure?!" Rainribbon gushed happily. 
    "Well, our friend aliroo has opened up a portal, so let's go on,"
Deionæra reached back with her left hand and drew her sword. Then she
looked into her pack and took out a small shield. "Unfortunately, this is
really more of a decoration than an actual shield, but at least the sword
is real," she explained. "When I got pulled into that wierd portal with Mr.
Scaly, I was looking around the antique shop of this fellow named Duncan
McLeod. I was experimenting with these two things and wearing the sheath
when I got zapped. I don't think Duncan's gonna be happy." She grinned. As
a career thief, she enjoyed getting a deal in any way she could, but this
time she hadn't had to do a thing. She stepped forward cautiously, holding
the sword at the ready. Rainribbon followed eagerly, trying to bite at the
swirling vortex on her way in. Deionæra wondered where they would end up,
and who or what they would encounter there. Rainribbon wondered what
chocolate-covered grape bubble gum would taste like.
 	"We have to save Majesty and fix the portals!" Lastly cried. 
	Ember shook her mane. "If we are traveling far, I have to shift to 
something different. I can not go a long time as an earth, on this voyage.
"So, what are you saying? We have to go all over Ponyland?" Lastly asked, 
her eyes growing big. Ember looked at Lance, she already knew the answer. 
"Yes,' she answered. "Lastly, maybe you could shift too?"
"No, I am happy here. I can shift later if we need to," Lastly replied. 
"But our magic may not always work the way we want it to, thats what I am 
saying," Ember told her. The others watched as Ember shifted. Tossing her 
white mane, she began the transformation. Eyes shimmering, her symbol 
changed first. Ember changed into a pure white uni, like Lastly, but with 
gold hair. Her symbol was an ember, burning brightly. "Lets go!" she cried,
 shaking her golden hair out of her eyes. 
"No matter what you wear or shift into, your hair always stays the same. 
Thick and tosseled! Weird!" Lastly said, noticing the stares of the others.
 "Sorry, its just I want her hair!"she explained. Lance was probably thinking, 
"Stupid girl!" Little did she know, that....
	...He was grinning inside at the ponies. He had come here to be
objective, but it was hard when one of them wasn't a pony, one of them
seemed to be constantly thinking about food, and one who was trying to
set him up with the last.

    Deionæra and Rainribbon stepped out of the portal, one armed with sword
and more-or-less shield, one armed with absolutely nothing except a big
grin. Deionæra looked around for the others and didn't see them yet. She
hoped nothing had happened to them on the way. Maybe she shouldn't have
gone in so soon.
    "Cool!" Rainribbon looked around. "D'ya think there's anything to eat
here?" She began nosing around hungrily.
    Deionæra laughed. "To you, Rainribbon, ANYTHING is food!" She balanced
her sword and stepped forward. It was really darn dark here. Where were
they? she wondered, also asking where the aliroo and the ponies were. And
where was poor Majesty?

	Lance stepped out of the destination end of the portal, just outside 
the castle. The rest followed, and he turned to also see a new pony. This was 
too many unnamed people.
	"Perhaps this would be as good a time as ever to make our introductions," 
he said, "My name is Lance, and as you have probably guessed, I'm an Aliroo." 
There probably weren't many humans dressed in PokéWorld clothes in Pony Land. 
"I'm here to search out portals from a dark planet named Rakashae. The planet
 had been under quarantine until lately, when they broke past our barriers. 
I was here..." he wasn't going to tell them Blu had sent him to protect Pony
 Land. Although a few of the ponies present had a pretty good amount of 
psychic power (for a planet in the D-7) and could probably sense his underlaying
 mission, "To search for portals. It seems we have hit the jackpot. The Drahls
 are using this planet as a gateway, so we have to find out how to track them.
 Every bit of help is appreciated, and I suppose that knowing who and what 
each other are would be beneficial." 
	"I sure do hate to interrupt...but WE HAVE TO GET GOING!"
Ember yelled. Lastly looked at her, usually the pony wasn't that 
outspoken, she sure was growing up. Lastly smiled, "She's right," she 
said. "We have to get going" The troop gathered their stuff and set 
out.
On the way, Lastly's horn glowed if she sensed portals. She blushed 
when she thought she saw Lance looking at her. SMACK! Ember hit Lastly 
on the head, trying to knock some sense into her.

	Lance grinned as he set off in a direction. As an Aliroo and as a 
Psychic he was able to find distortions in the magic content of the land.
 He honed in on a sort of rift. As they neared the area, a negatively 
colored patch became visible. Where the grass was supposed to be green,
 it was read. The sky behind the semitransparent patch was yellow, the 
clouds black. He poked at it with a finger. As his flesh passed through
 the two-dimensional area, it began to shudder uncontrollably. He yanked
 his hand out of the discoloration painfully. His normally pale white skin
 was a dark purple, and slowly returned to normal. He wondered rhetorically
 if this was a clue, then recorded the information in his TDT, and looked 
ahead.
	"Alright. This discoloration patch has matter from the Rakashae 
dimension in it. I believe that it is a lead. Which may seem obvious," he
 added, "But the Drahls are uncannily clever and we don't want to 
underestimate them. I would also prefer if we speed up, I think that a separate
 form would be good." He shimmered a whitish golden color and reappeared as
 a lean griffin, all white with gold accents and dark brown wing tips. He 
looked to the lady that had come through the portal. The Alicorn was Rainribbon,
 and the other's name was something along the lines of Deenara. He could easily
 read thoughts, but ever since he was young and announced psychically advanced,
 he had been taught to keep his thoughts to himself. 
	"M'Lady," he said, with as much composure as was possible when hovering 
about the ground, "I'm not sure as to what your talents include, but this task
 would be best completed if the group of us were able to move around quickly..."
    Deionæra grinned at Lance's charming way of speaking. "Ayup," she
agreed. "I'm quick, but I'll admit that four legs can outdo my two any
day!" She shifted into the now-familiar alicorn pony form. Her backpack now
hung around her neck and was balanced between her wings. She was still deep
green-blue, but this time her mood-features were curious cerulean--she was
eager to explore this new place they were in. She tested out her wings by
flying around the group and landed again, looking a bit strained.
"Shapeshifting skills aren't that powerful this time around," Deionæra
explained. "I'm pushing myself."
    "If it gets too tiring, maybe you could try a form that's well within
your limits?" Rainribbon suggested, trying to lick the portal Lance had
just tested.
    "I will," Deionæra answered. "But for now, this shape will do. I rather
like it myself." Her eyes flashed impishly. 
    Rainribbon took a closer look at the girl/pony and snickered. Her
symbol was the Triforce like last time, but this time, superimposed over
it, was the image of an aliroo in archaic armor. 
    Deionæra restrained a giggle. She hoped Lance wouldn't take it the
wrong way if he noticed her symbol. It was in her nature to make fun of
everyone and everything, and she didn't mean any offense. The aliroo had
just made himself the first target of the adventure with his speaking
style. She pranced forward happily, lightheartedly daring the others to
look. "Let's get it on!" she exclaimed. "Are we going to start this thing,
or what?"
	"You don't give me much choice," Lance said, bird-grinning. He quested 
into the air about fifteen feet above the ground. He glanced ahead, surveying 
the scene for more discoloration patches. After five samples, his TDT should
 be able to calculate a pattern by analyzing the magic content, location and
 date of each portal. He spied a blotchy area up ahead, and took off to 
investigate, motioning for the others to follow.
    Deionæra trotted around looking, but she had no idea what she was
looking for. Rainribbon was on a quest of her own, looking for 
something
edible in this between-world. Until Lance finished his research, 
though,
all they could do was wait.
    Something tickled Deionæra's senses and she stopped where she was.
Rainribbon did too, her tongue hanging out where she had been about to 
lick
the air again. "Hey, guys, did you--" But Deionæra was interrupted in
midsentence as....

 Lastly cried out, "There's a portal!" Ember and Lastly took off galloping 
towards the portal. Pretty soon, Lastly's horn was so bright they could hardly
 stand it. 
 Lance started off towards the portal, ready to fight whatever would come
out. He armed his TDT with a minor stun spell, and aimed it,
simultaneously taking the readings of the portal.
 The portal swirled and a craggy black head peeked out. It had fiery
eyes, and a snake's forked tongue. Before Lance could stun it, it flapped
out on huge, black, leathery wings, and landed to Lance's left.
 "Thiss iss Pony Land?" It asked, walking slowly towards Lance. It looked
at the ponies, monitoring their reaction. "I ssee poniess, thiss musst be
the right playss..." It turned back to Lance.


Another being stepped throught the portal, shaking her wings irritably. She
glanced around her and her eyes widened. "Great Dragons!" she exclaimed. She
turned to Lance and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you? What place is this that
I have been brought to?" she demanded. Her tail twitched as she saw the
ponies. Seeing that they were no immediate threat, she folded her wings
along her back. "I am Stormwing, and I would like to know what this place is
. . . "
	"I do say! This is Ponyland! You have never heard of it?" Ember cried. 
Lastly rolled her eyes. Poor little naive pony, she thought. "Yes, this 
Ponyland. I am Lastly, and this is Ember," she said. "I'll let the others 
introduce themselves" Good idea! I would hate for you to get the names wrong,
 LASTLY,'' Ember teased. The little pony shook her mane. Her eyes began to 
glow as her tail twitched. She morphed into a dragon, like Stormwing. 
"I have never been a dragon before!" she exclaimed. Ember was one gorgeous
 dragon. Dark purple with a white chest and purple wings, she towered over 
Lastly. Her eyes were the same deep blue. 
	"What shall we do now?" Ember wondered aloud as she shifted back to her
 previous pony form.

Watching as the others stood stunned, Lastly reared up. Her white horn 
glowed. "Cover your ears!!" Ember told the pack, demonstrating as she 
spoke. Suddenly, a huge sonic boom was heard. 

The black dragon looked to the sky, searching for the source of the sound, but
 didn't seem to panic. All the while Lance looked at it, wondering why it 
seemed like something he'd seen before...

Ember grinned, "She's 
using her sound control," she laughed, watching the brave unicorn send 
sound after sound battling against the Drahl. Ember watched the 
others, gathering her courage, she ran towards to Lastly and the evil 
Drahl. Her eyes like fire, she hurled fireballs at the unsuspecting 
Drahl. The others looked on as,..

The Drahl rolled to the side, dodging the fireballs. They would come close,
 but he always seemed to be out of the way as the fire came. He stood on all
 fours, crouched on the ground, watching Ember and waiting for the next 
attack. When she threw a fireball, he seemed to predict where it would come,
 and dodged each. But every time she attacked, he didn't fight back, but 
rather stood his ground. He seemed wary, watching the other creatures with
 intense, burning eyes and judging them. 


Stormwing narrowed her eyes as she watched the Drahl. She wondered why it
had not attacked yet, and she bared her teeth. "Coward," she muttered.
Stormwing stood up on her hind legs and swished her tail eagerly. She almost
smiled as she sized it up. She had fought worse...and won. This puny thing
should be no problem. "Let's see how you like this, lizard!" she shouted at
it, catching its attention. Stormwing began gathering ki (her life force) in
her hands, forming a small ball of energy. With a roar she threw it. The ki
ball shot forward in a blaze of white light, straight toward the Drahl.
Stormwing sat back on her haunches and sheilded her eyes.


 Lance watched, interested, as Stormwing did something. He wasn't sure
what it was exactly. Seemed like summoning energy. He's have to ask
later, he was always trying to learn new magic. Something still nagged at
his brain. Where had he seen a black drahl before? Stormwing geared up to
throw the power. At this moment Lance realized what it was! It was a
Shadow Drahl! But weren't they extinct? There was no time. He gasped as
the Drahl turned about to see what the light was, and his claw snagged in
a lump of grass. He stumbled slightly and un-hooked his talon. The delay
was enough; The ki ball shot towards him, and Lance dashed forward in an
attempt to block the energy. He hoped his system could cope with it; they
couldn't loose a Shadow Drahl.
 He caught the ki ball in the shoulder. The blast knocked him backwards
into the Shadow Drahl. It hurt. Bad. After realizing he had collided with
the Drahl, he began to stand up. But his head pounded violently and he
dropped to the ground. He lost the control on shape-change and changed
back to Aliroo-form just before blacking out.
 The Shadow Drahl's eyes widened as Lance became a shuddering heap of
Aliroo fur and feathers. The Drahl paused, looking closer, then stood
over the Aliroo protectivly. It crouched, daring anyone to come closer.
It's head darted from the ponies to the dragon, as if calculating. It
spread its wings as a sort of sheild, and it's barbed tail whipped back
and forth.
 "Friend, or Foe?? I will defend and protect thiss Aliroo to the my
death, as my ssworn allegiansse obligess me to, and ass I wissh it." The
Drahl glared at the group, defiance and challenge flickering in his eyes.



Stormwing's mouth dropped open. She stared at the Aliroo and Drahl in utter
disbelief. She dropped her arms to her side and caught her breath, still
staring at them. She had the feeling she had missed something important. Ah
well, that happens in life. However, she cursed Lance for intefering in the
fight. That Drahl would be dust by now if he hadn't gotten in the way . . .
but then again, Lance seemed to be in pain from her blast. "Hey," she
whispered to Rainribbon, "will he be ok?" Stormwing hated to see innocent
beings suffer, especially if she was at fault . . .


	Lance's head pounded, but his Aliroo stamina kicked in and he opened 
his eyes. How long had he been out? The sun was down. 
	-No, wait. He looked up and saw the leathery under surface. He was 
under the Drahl! He struggled, and managed to roll onto his stomach. The 
drahl moved to the side to make way, but seemed to hover over him. Well, 
at least he wasn't dead. If he hadn't been from True Space he'd be dead. 
He heard Stormwing say something about innocent bystanders and had to grin.
 The drahl leaned in.
	"Aliroo, be they friend or foe?" It whispered.
	"Friend, friend," Lance muttered, regaining strength, "Don't attack 
them." He raised his voice to the best of his ability, "No one attack 
anyone else."
	He managed to stand, and took in the scene. His shoulder throbbed 
dully where it had been hit. he glanced to the Shadow Drahl to see if it
 was hurt. Apparently it was not. Lance looked to the ponies to see what
 had transpired while he was out. 
	"Stormwing..." He coughed, shaking his head and trying to rid it 
of the throbbing. He wavered, and stumbled. The Shadow Drahl caught him 
with it's tail until he regained his balance, "...You gotta teach me how
 to do that."


Stormwing forced a smile. "Sure thing," she answered. "You've gotta be
pretty strong to survive that blast -- I'd enjoy training you to control
your ki." She watched the Drahl for a moment, flicking her tail warily.
"Huh, you're lucky, you know that?" she told it. "We'll finish this fight
later . . . "
	Sighing, Lastly shook her mane. "We have to get going now!" 
she cried. Ember and Lastly set off again, and looked towards the 
others. Ember sat down in defeat, "We're never going to find all the 
portals and save Majesty!" she wailed. Lastly put her white hoof on 
Ember's shoulder, "Yes, we will. Everything is going to turn out all 
right," she soothed to the sobbing pony. " I just dont know if I can 
go on," Ember said. Looking back at the others, she wiped her eyes and 
stood up, embarassed. 

	Lance glanced to SearSky, signaling. The Black Dragon's eyes blazed,
 and the shadows flickering about the ground converged. They began to swirl,
 and soon a rotating portal appeared.
	"Thiss portal leadss to Aliroo HeadQuarterss...I'm ssure you wissh to
 tell the High Counssil before prosseeding to Rakasshae..." SearSky hissed.
	"Yes." Lance looked to Ember, who was not having a fun time. He reached
 out with his mind, lending her a bit of strength mentally. *You can do it,
 little one,* he sent. "Those of you who wish to stay are welcome, but we
 will need all the help we can get," he said out loud. "You can trust SearSky.
 If you don't trust him," he added, stepping halfway through the Shadow 
Portal, "Then trust me." 
	He jumps the rest of the way through, leaving the ponies to their
 own decision.

    Looking where Lance had gone, Ember and Lastly stood. They swallowed
 hard and linked hooves, as they leapt into the portal, they stared at 
the others, wondering,"What now?"
    Deionæra didn't hesitate. She shifted to a more manageable form, which
turned out to be her human one with large faerie wings, and flew through
the portal. "You coming, Rainribbon?" she called behind her as she went.
The long mane of hair that trailed behind her was an excited chartreuse. 
    Rainribbon tossed her mane happily. "You bet!" she exclaimed, darting
into the vortex. "Will they serve lunch on the flight?"
	Sticking her head out the portal, Lastly asked the others if they 
were coming and there she waited......
Stormwing fidgeted with her tail as she watched the others go through the
portal. "Aya! I know I'm going to regret this!" She closed her eyes and
leapt through.


	Lance stepped through the portal. He stepped out into the silver 
sunlight of Starstreak Island, home of Alliance HQ. The soil was an 
almost metallic silver; fine grains of silver soil. The light that 
filtered through the magic silver dust in the air was faintly blue, 
telling him that it was near dusk. The Alliance building was up ahead.
 Something was different, however. How come they hadn't been challenged 
when they opened the portal? The magic and technological barriers should 
have interrogated them...
	He turned back to see the rest of the group come through. Good. 
He located approximately where the DNA scanning forcefield would be. 
He came to where it should be, and passed through without the buzz of 
the field.
	"This is bad," he whispered quietly. He advanced to the gates of
 HQ, a majestic silver building. He was not met by any obstacles, and 
the doors opened without even a voice recognition test. Before entering,
 he swept the building psychically. Not a trace...Wait, there was 
something. There was a shock of the universal emotion of fear hovering 
about the building. There was also a chaotic medley of anger, and 
something else... A dark sense of triumph.
	"There's something in there," he said out loud to the group, 
"Something strong and evil."
	Without wasting another minute, he entered the building. 


	Lastly followed behind him, looking about. She seemed so 
confident, Ember thought. Ember was nervous and timid. What if someone 
came after them? She'd have to fight, maybe. She thought. What was the 
form that she felt confident in? She would assume the form of a Slayer 
pony(foreshadowing, I might say...). She had to act quickly, Lance and 
Lastly were in the building and were probably waiting for her.  
She changed into a light blue uni, with fire as her symbol. At least 
as a uni, she could wink better. Scampering after the other two, she 
went into the building...Where were all the workers and stuff? It was 
empty of anyone except the three of them. Lastly stood before Lance, 
her eyes big. "What's going on?' she asked, sensing a strange 
prescence. Ember came beside her," Yeah! Can this place be any more 
vague?" she asked. Lastly had to laugh at that. She turned to Ember, 
being careful not to hit anything accidently.

	A four-beat cadence came in, and Lance turned quickly to see what
 it was. 
	"I believe I may be of ssome asssisstansse," SearSky rasped, and 
grinning a dragon-grin.
	"Probably," Lance agreed. He turned to Lastly. "I'm sensing life
 here, but it sure as Dark isn't Aliroo. I hope you're ready to fight 
or fly." He considered, "Or both." He grinned uneasily, trying to lighten
 the mood. He'd never been great at it, he always left that part of 
reassurance to Blu. Speaking of whom... He searched for her aura in 
the building. Even though she was a near null in psyche, she had an 
unmistakable aura of leadership. 
	"What'ss wrong?" SearSky asked.
	"Blu... Trix.. Neither of them are here," Lance said. They came 
to the end of the lobby hall. A pair of steel doors blocked the way to
 the main lobby. Lance could feel something not-right on the other side
 of that door. He was afraid to see what it was, and yet... If the 
Council had been taken as he was beginning to think, it was his duty 
as the last Aliroo on Starstreak Island...
	He stood near the door, looking back to see who was there.


    Deionæra and Rainribbon edged closer to Lance. "What is it?" Deionæra
whispered to Lance. She probed gently with her mind, but with that cloud
hanging inside her head and blocking her telepathy, she couldn't tell much.
She growled softly. Still in her faerie form, she fluttered her wings
anxiously. As an afterhought, she elongated her ears until they were as
long and pointy as any Hylian's. Hylians had hightened hearing with their
large ears, and if she couldn't hear mentally, she could at least improve
her senses physically. Deionæra pressed an ear to the door. Beyond she
could hear scuffling sounds and --was that wind or whispering? She wasn't
sure. She caught Rainribbon's attention (not an easy task) and had
Rainribbon help her boost her own telepathy so that she could relay what
she'd heard to the others without making a sound. She moved away from the
door and looked expectantly at Lance and SearSky. This seemed to be more
their territory than hers....
	"Huh. Nothing like a good welcoming party," Stormwing said, sniffing the
air. Her eyes widened and she looked around. "What in the name of kami -- ?"
She looked sharply at Lancer. "You smell that?" she asked him. She narrowed
her eyes and ran her tongue along her teeth. "I know that smell." She bared
her teeth and grinned at the others. "Maybe this trip will be worth it after
all."
	Lance grinned, despite the scenario.
	"Alright then. I'm gonna open the doors. Be prepared..."
	Lance kicked the doors. They swung inwards.
	Inside was a moderatly sized lobby. And a small group of Drahls. 
Lance counted them; Five Fire Drahls, two Electric and one Ice. They 
were seated, or in the case of the Electric ones, hovering near the 
ceiling. Lance watched in horror as a portal closed in the far wall. 
The Drahls were waiting for them, and they had just finished their 
dirty work.
    "Ah, smeg!" Deionæra burst out as they entered. "Missed her 
again!" The tip of Majesty's (betcha forgot her, hm? =) tail disappeared 
through the portal. The she saw what had Lance in shock. "Ohhhh...." she 
trailed off. 
    "Are they okay?" Rainribbon asked. She looked at the group of 
Aliroos unconcious on the floor. Apparantly fire, ice, and electricity REALLY
didn't mix. She felt her hair start to bristle from all the 
electricity in the room. Then she felt Deionæra bristle at something else.
    "Back off!" Deionæra cried, bringing up her shield. Rainribbon 
looked where Deionæra was facing and jumped. All thoughts of nibbling on 
Lance's tail vanished. For the moment, anyways. =)


OOC: I'll take a moment to describe the Drahls for your
 viewing/listening/strategical planning pleasure...

Ice Drahl: This huge drahl is compact and near see through. It's icy hard,
 and has bright blue eyes. It has a short tail, a rounded head, and hoof-
like feet. It's a tad taller than a pony.

Electric Drahl: These Drahls are medium sized; and look more like birds 
than drahls. They have huge wings, and nonexistant forearms. Their tails
 are long and clubbed, and they buzz with open electricity. 

Fire Drahl: The Fire Drahl is tiny, about the size of a raven. It's blood 
red, with pointed wings and sharp claws. Tiny bursts of flame come from 
it's horns.

All are dangerous, and I'll leave most of the combat to you guys ^.^ Just
 keep in mind: Touch the Drahls at your own risk...

--


Before anyone had any time to do anything (¬_¬), the nearest Fire Drahl 
spat a small flame of fire. Then it laughed in a high pitched voice.
	"Ha! Zeh Aliroozeh haveh come back to fight uzeh! Andah vat haveh 
ve hear?"
	It darted to where Ember stood, faster than anyone could see.
	"Fellah Drahlzeh... Ve haveh a ponie!" He laughed again and eyed 
Ember, taking no notice of the others. "A baby ponie!"
	The Ice Drahl grinned.
	"What SHALL we do wi' them, do ye suppose, Fyrkctin?" She said to
 him, "Do ye suppose Shaedrygyn belikest them as slaves, or pets?"
	"I zayah kill zem," Fyrkctin replied, nearing Ember. "Ziseh one 
izah Aliroozeh, Shaedrygn zey kill Aliroozeh on zight...."
	The first Electric Drahl spoke up. Or down, since he was flying.
	"She say berrid of Alirroo allies, as well," he said, rrolling his 
R's. "I starrt..." He swooped down a level or two, opened his beak-like 
mouth, and shot a bolt of electricity towards the group...
	
    "I SAID, back off!!" Deionæra leaped forward with shield up and 
sword out. "Or didn't you hear me the first time? Maybe you should get your 
ears checked!" She slowed as she drew near where Fyrkctin was taunting 
Ember. "Or maybe I should save you the trouble and cut them off?" She swung 
her sword experimentally and made a face. "You coulda picked one with 
better balance, y'know," she chided herself. "But it's too late now." She 
swung out at the Drahl....(OOC: Get ta work, Blu! ;)

*Yes'm!! ::P*

	Fyrkctin looped up faster than Deionæra's sword could reach the air 
he was hovering in. However, he didn't take into account his long, 
sinnewy tail, which got cut off at the tip and fell to the floor, burning 
a hole.
	"Dark!" He swore, holding his tail with his tiny foreclaws as it 
spurted lava, "Brothahs,  methinkzeh zat ve haveh ah liveh one!" Three
 other Fires grinned evilly and darted down to join Fyrkctin.
	"Your tailah haz been amputatedah," one chided.
	"I notizedah that, you eediot!" Fyrkctin shot back. He turned to
 Deionæra and shot a cautious plume of fire.
    "That's right," Deion=E6ra growled back at the Drahls. "I'm alive, 
and I intend to stay that way, y'got that?" Then, as the flame darted her 
way, she added, "Hey, now!" jumping back and raising her shield. She felt 
the heat around her and prayed that the shield would hold up, but the 
metal on both the sword and the shield were growing uncomfortably hot. The 
little bugger could sure turn up the heat. Annoyed, Deion=E6ra decided to 
take a chance and surprise the Dralhs; they were probably expecting her to 
stay on the floor and hide until the fire went away. "Just goes to show what 
they know about me...." she muttered, blinking sweat from her eyes. She 
tensed, then leaped forward into the flames, swinging her sword and yelling a
nonsensical battle cry....

Two of the Fires get out of the way, but Fyrkctin didn't....  
*squish* Deionæra's sword slices cleanly. The sword starts to burn,
 however, as the lava-like insides of the Drahl leak out onto the blade...
	(( "Cursesah -- curses! Oh, vatah verls, vatah verld..." 
(OOC: Sorry, couldn't resist) ))
	"*Ayaah!" Deionæra dropped the sword quickly as the heat started to burn
her hand. She glared at it a moment, then she wrapped her hand in a fold of
her shirt and cautiously picked it up. "Owowowowowow," she hissed, quickly
sheating the sword until it had a chance to cool down. Now her back was
getting hot from the heat leaking through the sheath...."Guess I just can't
win," she sighed, looking at the remaining Drahls carefully. She shifted
her shield from her arm to her back, where it was finally cooling down to a
more tolerable level. "It doesn't look like I'm going to get far like this,
so...." Deionæra shifted to a small winged dragonlike form, complete with
thick fire-resistant scales and long talons. The heat of the sheath and
sword dwindled away as her skin thickened, but she wasn't too sure how the
scales would handle direct contact with lava. "Who needs a heat pump when
ya got these guys?" she smiled, leaping at another Fire Drahl....


    Rainribbon edged toward the Ice Drahl. "I bet you taste like a
snow-cone," she mused, grinning. "Wanna find out?" She leaped
forward....and promptly missed her target. (OOC: See, Blu, you didn't 
even have to GM that one! Rainribbon's such a screwup she saved ya the 
trouble!) "That sucked," she grumbled, shaking herself off. She looked at the 
Ice Drahl (who she thought was now staring back at her in amazement--don't 
we all....=) Then she felt her mane and tail prickle again and looked up. 
"Oh, shoot!!" she exclaimed, seeing the bolt come flying down towards them 
all. She quickly spread her wings, trying to get out of the way....
	She makes it out with time to spare. The only creature without time 
to move is Ember. Before the bolt hits, SearSky turns and puts his wing 
in the way, absorbing the shock. Before anyone can ask if he's hurt, his 
eyes flicker an electric yellow, and an electric aura seems to creep along 
his scales. He turns on the flying electric drahl.
	"Zarren?" He asks, recognizing the Electric Drahl.
	"SearrSky. How nice to see you," Zarren cackles. He prepares for 
another thunderbolt, this time aiming for SearSky.
    "That coulda hurt," Rainribbon grinned as she landed and shook 
herself off. "Who turned on the heat?" She looked across the room where 
Deion=E6ra was kneeling in a miniature inferno, and wondered if she could fly 
over and pull the girl out. But that line of thinking was abandoned as 
Deion=E6ra jumped up suddenly in her own desperate ambush. "Way ta go, Lady! Yeah 
ha!" Rainribbon cheered. Then she looked at SearSky, who seemed to be 
crackling with electricity. "Guess they don't need me," she mused, then, "Ah, 
heck with it!" the pony decided, spreading her wings again. She lowered her
alicorn and charged the Electric Drahl in the air. She didn't care if 
it was a dumb move or not; she was having fun either way!

	SearSky is about to protest.. But Rainribbon makes it! She comes 
down. As soon as she makes contact with the flying Drahl's back, her 
head pounds as she absorbs a good deal of the open electricity. She 
looses concsiousness momentarily. Her weight bears down on the drahl,
 and it heads for thr ground... 
	When it touches the ground, all the electricity immedeatly is 
grounded and dissapears. Zarren is not happy. Meanwhile, SearSky 
comes close, still glowing a tad....
	"Don't ever attack another Drahl, Zarren, it'ss jusst sstupid." 
SearSky comes closer, cautiously, to see if Rainribbon is okay. Which 
she is, she's just coming to. Zarren shakes her off and stands up. 
His normal yellow green colored scales are now a dull brown.
	"Currse you, SearrSky," Zarren says, walking over Rainribbon 
towards SearSky, leaving his back open...
	He swings his huge tail around, towards SearSky.

    Rainribbon shook her mane in confusion. "What a ride!" Then she ducked
back down to the floor as Zarren stepped over her. "Hey, what do I look
like, a throw rug?" she called up hotly. Then she came up with another
idea. (OOC: This is assuming that when you say, "walk over Rainribbon," you
mean it literally, Blu =) "Didn't work last time," but I got a much better
target this time," Rainribbon thought to herself, thrusting her alicorn up
at Zarren's belly....



***

	Meanwhile... Lance has dodged the first lightening bolt, and is 
holding the fifth Fire stunned in the air. He drives hard at it's 
brain with his psyche...Willing it to blast the Ice with fire. 
	*If only I had studied more mind control...* he thought feverishly.
	Suddenly, the Fire lurched forward, spitting a smalltonque of flame
 at the Ice Drahl. The Ice, enraged at it's weakened tail, turned on the 
Fire with a blast of frozen air. The Fire melted the ice on contact, and 
Lance, suprised that the tad of mind control had worked, loosened the 
mental grip on the Fire. The Fire, who was upset, dove straight the 
largest creature in the room. Which happened to be Stormwing the 
Dragon.
	Stormwing spread her wings and hissed in surprise. "You want to take me on?"
she snarled at the Fire. "You've got about ten seconds left to live -- use
them wisely!"  She bared her teeth and yelled out, "Silent Death!" As she
let the blast rip from her hands, she wondered if it'd have any effect on
fire...
	The Fire Drahl swerved out of the way when Stormwing yelled. 
Yet... Nothing happened. He spurted a small tongue of flame and 
swooped in again, this time blowing a semi-steady stream of fire that 
flung about wildly...
	Laughing, Lastly stared at the fire. "You forgot that Ember can 
control fire," she chided. Ember shook her white mane. "I don't think 
my magic is the same, here," she told the unicorn. Shaking her mane, 
Ember stared at the fire. Her eyes glowed and she was motionless. 
Drawing her breath, Lastly's eyes had a flicker of worry. Forgetting 
the others, Ember stared into the fire, her every ounce of being 
concentrated. Her light blue eyes were dark and mirrored only the 
fire. Breaking out of her trance, Ember sighed. 
	"I cannot control it!" she cried. But she went on trying, until the 
fire started to die. Then breathing heavily, she managed to let the 
fire die down gradually till there was nothing left but ashes. 
Exhauasted, the little pony collapsed. Her form lay motionless on the 
floor. Hysterical, Lastly ran towards her. "She is strong. not weak. 
She has never ever collasped before, is she all right?" she cried to 
the others...........
	By this time Lance turns his attention to the Ice Drahl. It's 
big and strong-looking. Lance shifts to the form of a Hippocampus 
(This one here's half griffon half horse) form, looking pretty much
 the same color-wise. He stuns the Ice Drahl, then turns and kicks it. 
Hard. It collides with the wall, but shakes it's head and gets to it'd 
feet. Then it snorts, and without a word begins pawing the ground 
with it's hoof-like claws...