"Well I'll be a changeling's uncle"

[Lance]

November 24

The alleyway certainly looked empty. as far as most ponies could tell, anyone around could assume they're alone, except for the cloaked unicorn setting the scene with this post. He was on his way to the only entrance to the undermarket he knew, donning the new cloak he bought for himself quite recently. he had to keep his identity secret, for now. with the ploy he's going for, he had to starting playing his cards with more thought, and safety. He trotted without making much noise, but then, unaware of the events further ahead.

[Starlight Charmer]

After hearing tales of an abandoned building said to hold....Stuff, as the rumors never told of what, as if only to pique her curiosity. Now here she was, at the base of the structure, ready to go scavenging with a few apples and the off chance of wasting her time, and, getting caught from the noise she'd probably make. Taking a whiff of the old brimstone, she scrunches her nose, and shudders. 

Stepping into the building, she squints to see her surroundings. An old water basin lay at the other end of the room, with half of it broken from....Something... A mirror hang over that, cracked and tilted, and giving more of a sense of foreboding. At the right-hoof side of the room, lay a staircase, with the words "LOOK AT US" Written in blood right next to it. Two skeletons lay hugging below that, in the eternal embrace of death.The left side contained a hole in the ceiling, and the pile of the rubble from it. As if like a cake,a corpse of a rotting unicorn sat on top of it, intestines strewn across the mound. 
 
Why, this looks like a cheery place. Where shall I start with first.....

Slowly trotting over to the rubble, she steps in a red puddle, which she took for as fresh blood. Ooh boy...Something....Or someone, has been busy here, not too long ago.... How fun... Wiping her hoof on the tattered carpet, Star gently levitates bits and pieces of the debris out of the way, and searches for what hopefully will be worth it.

[Tisis Antony]

A feather drifted from high up on the rafters as a griffon popped his head out. He saw the glow of the magic and the horn that made it. A second griffon head popped over the rafter, and they both looked down at Starlight below. The two watched Star move the rubble with her magic, and became more curious then frightful over a matter of moments.

"Hey- who is that?" one yelled down to Star.

[Starlight Charmer]

Backpedaling from the debris, and the hole, Star morphs into a random passerby she had noticed on the road to this depressing structure that she now finds herself accompanied with the griffons that patrol the city. Gently floating the biggest shard of the broken mirror to her face, she admires the blue mane, set with a yellow headband, that suited the pale-white that had been chosen out of sheer chance. Shaking her head from side to side, to get used to the feeling of this new skin, Star trots over to the ceiling collapse and gives her best smile as she looks up at the griffons. 

In a voice filled with honey and milk, she responds. "Oh, nobody special. You can call me....Io. Quite a pleasure to meet you, really."

[Tisis Antony]

The two griffons came down in great bounds from the hole in the ceiling.. They weren't Guerrillas, and in fact smelled like some of hundreds of homeless that haunted the city in this area. One of them was severely scarred all along the entire left half of his body, and the other could have been handsome had he not been bedraggled and smelt like piss.

"I doubt it, miss," the un-scarred one said flatly. He had a disdainful expression on his face and didn't quite like the look of Star's appearance. "Say that again- who are you?- because I sorta couldn't really hear you and my head is all groggy right now."

[Starlight Charmer]

Scrunching her nose up a bit at the smell, she slowly takes a few steps back from the guards, accidentally slipping on the carpet, falling into the blood puddle with a thunk and revealing a glowing pentagram from underneath a ripped bit of fabric, which landed next to her without a sound. Well then....My luck seems to be running like a river... tilting her head in the opposite direction of the griffons, as to face her back, she shudders as her pupils shrink, noticing the large, and thankfully not her blood stain on her back, which slowly dripped down her legs. So I now have to worry about two griffons, most likely some demon from the pits of tartarus, and not tripping over my own hooves. What fun.

[Lance]

Quiet streets don't normally make noise, but this one did. so, Lance could only assume that it wasn't just a quiet street anymore, hearing a "thud" from a building ahead. shrugging it off as probably another pony using the old buildings as a home, he didn't pay it much thought. But... why in the downtown area? this just happens to be the general area of griffbutt-HQ, heck, the very place he shouldn't be walking through, with griffon patrols likely centralized here. for all he knew, would've been griffons right around the corner, and he'd find himself in trouble if he was caught poking around where he shouldn't. He was pretty much next to the building, now, and tried to resist the urge to check it out and keep walking, though with hesitant hooves.

[Tisis Antony]

One griffon tried to cut off Cogs, leaping around and stepping on the pentagram that he hadn't seen. As his foot directly contacted the center and in a literal instant, the Griffon was no more, disappearing in an explosion of smoke, gore, and feathers. When the haze cleared, a small mound of flesh had been ruined and no longer even began to appear like it once belonged to a griffon.

The other griffon shrieked in anguish and lunged at IoStar

[Starlight Charmer]

Terrified at what she just witnessed, and quite revolted at the result,Star tried to hold back her lunch. Well, that solves one problem.....I think I should cover it up after... Emitting a large EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!, she curls up into a ball and covers her neck in an attempt to protect herself from the assailant, with only her own thoughts to comfort her.

[Lance]

That broke it, the explosion already made Scintillance stop in his place, but the the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW was what made Lance turn around and run... fast... in the very direction he shouldn't go. but he stopped himself for a moment, Pike's words ringing through his head, "Sorry, Lance. I don't want to take anymore chances and neither should you"... "My advice would be to keep yourself unknown. And hidden." and in a moment of talking to himself, Lance exclaimed yeah, Pike, that's why I got the cloak. "just be careful, don't let them see your face, or just, cast that blinding lightspell you're so fond of, don't be seen. "wait, you're not pike, you're just me talking to myself!" DO IT LIGHTBULB! "whoah, ok, ok, got it, blinding lightspell."

making a note to have his head checked, he picked up speed and almost reached the building, then cast a glamour spell that pretty much caused his face to turn into a giant flashlight under the hood that covered it, and light literally leaks from  everywhere under his cloak. to look at scintillance, one might as well stare at the sun. or a flashlight. but as a great GM once said, "those weren't invented yet" so a sun seems more appropriate.

Turning the corner to the room Star and the remaining griffon were in, Lance stood at the door way, taking a moment to view the scene; a disgusting fleshbag of meat, a mare, and a griffon on top of her. He could only wonder what in Celestia's name is going on here. but, He assumed it was more or less no good. that, or the absolute WIERDEST FETISHES EVER going on here. whatever. he could sort things out after getting the griffon off of the mare. Scintillance got up on two hind hooves, and made a turning motion, conjuring the Aegis in a "held" position in his hooves while doing so, and "tossing" it at the griphon with a telekinetic force. really, the turning was all for show, but Scintillance found it a lot more fun. "paws off the  mare, flanker!"

[Tisis Antony]

The griffon wasn't having any of this shit. Three tours of duty, nineteen confirmed kills, and four of them were sorcerers like this. Today was just another day to him.

He snarled, and twisted off the mare in a single motion, and smoothly transitioned in a coiled form. He waited and pounced, bounding underneath the spin of the shield and smoothly leaping into an attack, talons raised, and poised to kill. He let loose a wicked snarl and roared into the face of the living lightbulb.

[Lance]

Seeing the Griffon crouch already warned Scintillance that something was up,  and had already had himself prepared to dodge to the right when the Griffon pounced. not very gracefully, but he rolled back onto his hooves, feeling his grip on the Aegis falter; he needed that thing in his sights, fast, and pulled his shield back to him, hoping to hit the griffon from behind on the way, and be used as a proper shield on arrival. "pick a fight with a random griffy, maybe not the best idea."

[Tisis Antony]

He roared, and was clunked alongside the head with the returning Aegis, a fact that pissed him off moreso. He glared at Scintillance and weighed his options in the moments he had. The pony had the advantage right now, a fact the griffon couldn't ignore. He decided he'd do the smart thing and retreat for now.

The griffon took off, leaving a trail of feathers in the wind.

[Lance]

Lance was half confused when the griffon turned tail and thread. he's only been in one fight before, and that was an unfair 4V2 fight where the griffons literally flung themselves at him, one by one getting killed, but by his ally's hooves, not his own. perhaps they all assumed that he was the easy target, which left Shade open to strike them all down. that, and his insane light magic pretty much blinded the whole patrol.

but, matter at hoof first. He softened his glamour-glow enough so he could be looked at without yelling "MY EYESSS" if one would be unserious, but enough for his chocolate brown coat to alter its color under his magical aura of yellow-gamboge. He went to check on the mare, offering his best smile to assure that everything's alright, "Is everything alright?" asking stupid questions was his specialty.

[Starlight Charmer]

Slowly pulling her hooves away from her face, Star looks around the room for a hint of what just happened, other than the shrieks and other noises that had occured while she was covering her face. uncurling from her current position, Star sits up much like a cat would, and focuses her attention on the unicorn in front of her, and starts absorbing visual details of this individual much like a sponge does to water. Scratching the back of her head due to an itch of familiarity of the origins from this stallion, but were unclear as to what. Shaking her head, she finally realizes she was asked a question and responds.

"Why, uhh... Yes, quite really. And just out of curiosity, do I know you?"

[Lance]

"know me?" Scintillance sat down, mimicking Lo/Star's position and gave a look over the white mare before him. But, nothing seemed familiar about her, at all.  Save for her use of words, reminiscent to Canterlot speech, which kind of inspired Scintillance to subconsciously use his old Canterlot accent. "Well as far as I can tell, I'm quite certain I've never met you before. Maybe some time ago in Canterlot, I guess, small world and all. Scintillance looked behind him to the entrance to the room, and a realization came over him; he's been spotted in a fight practically nearby griffon HQ, and the very griffon he fought just took off; everything says he's bound to see more, searching for him specifically. "Best we get out of here before that griffy comes back, He would't just take off like that without something harsh on his mind, we shouldn't linger. Lance got back onto  his hooves, before asking, "What's your name, by the way?"

[Starlight Charmer]

Having been in a trance-like state in focusing on the origins of the unicorn in front of her, it finally dawned on her that there was most likely to be backup on the way, which made her lose focus of her disguise, but not noticing it. Shaking her head again, she giggles a little, and gives a quick kiss on the cheek. "Eh, it's probably something silly. Now, as you stated before, I think we should best be going. Lest the same happens, but with smarter and more capable griffons." Giggling again, she continues. "Oh, and the name's Star, short for Starlight~." Kissing his other cheek, she looks on her back, and finally realizes that she lost her form, causing her to pale.

[Lance]

Scintillance was quite stunned after seeing the mare change into a changeling; bad history with those in his foalhood. he was further stunned AND blushing when she suddenly kissed his cheek; being the Stallion that he is, random displays of affection normally kinda freak him out, it was hard enough for him to bear Shade and Scrappy being a couple, and having this happen to him personally was just... downright awkward. His blush was further reddened by the second kiss, and it was all just too much for him.

after a few moments of awkward silence, Lance finally straggled away from the mare, stammering his words, and then bursting in a monolougue of fast-spoken words "ch-changeling! you're a changeling!? I could've sworn you were all blown away at the battle for Canterlot! I just... how could any of you set foot in Equestrian ground after that! or maybe... you're not the only one... maybe you're all replacing everypony with changelings in one massive and unlikely plot-twisting secret war and leave every pony in Equestria guessing so you're never caught! anypony could be a changeling, Shade could be a changeling, Scrapper could be a changeling, I could be a changeling!" Lances' eyes widened as he said that last statement. "I COULD BE A CHANGELING!? please tell me I'm not a changeling!" This would be the second plot twist he's had all day. seriously, two in one day? he could barely manage finding out that Skylight could be alive. he addressed the changeling as he shook her by the shoulders.

[Starlight Charmer]

Giggling at the stallion's theatrics, she gazes at the familiar unicorn features one more, when it finally hit her as to why this individual looked so familiar. "I now remember why you look so familiar....By any slim chance, do you know my dad, Luminous Charmer?" Shaking her head again, she gets up. "And no, I don't think everybody is a changeling. A lot of us died off due to the raids. And who were those two you mentioned?" As an afterthought, she added. "And what is your name?"

[Lance]

It's like... Celestia was  messing with him at every turn. he DID get a second plot twist in one day. He took a large swallow, as  he realized the absurdness of the moment. And yet... it made a lot of sense. "the other two... are unimportant, for now... but... Luminous Charmer... he... disappeared, a while ago... he had a brother named Handsome Charmer, who had a son name Scintillance..." Lance paused, looked at Starlight in the eye. a mixed look of horror and surprise had taken a firm hold of his gaze before finishing, "Starlight... my name is Scintillance DiCanterlot Charmer..."

[Tisis Antony]

The two heard a growl behind them. The fleshy pile of meat had began quivering in it's corner of the room, gradually taking up shape and form. A fleshy being rose up from the mass, and tore a hole in it's face. It began to scream from it's improvised mouth. One arm reached and and another, pulling itself free from where it had been cemented to the floor boards. A glowing pentagram shone across it's back.

The beast roared and starting trudging forwards at the two.

[Lance]

Lance was suddenly a very different pony, as soon as he saw the fleshy thing. his eyes burst aglow  to the point that they were practically blinding orbs of light, and his whole body had a radiating aura far brighter than it was even in the fight with the griffon. if Star hadn't looked away, well, that's likely quite the sun-spot on her poor eyes. he had lived through the absolute WORST nightmare of his life not too long ago. and this? absolutely not, he's had a whole monologue done about these undead. he's done. he's absolutely DONE with necromantic horror shows. And if this fleshbag thinks it can screw with him, it's screwed over. not one more word came from Lance over than an over-shouted NO. before he conjured the Martyr, and gave an intense downward swipe at the thing.

[Starlight Charmer]

Crawling away from the monster, and making sure to stop permanent blindness by closing her eyes, Star feels her way to behind Scintillance and huddles there, terrified and revolted from the demonic...Thing in front of Scintillance. Slightly opening her eyes bit-by-bit in order to get used to the bright light, Star focuses on the flesh-monster, and starts tossing pieces of rubbish at it, Attempting to be remotely useful, instead of a constant damsel-in-distress. "This is definitely not in my field of work, Unlike giving away apples to the needy, or helping the poor civilians. Not this horrid nightmare ripped straight from a young filly's nightmares."

[Tisis Antony]

The monster cleaved in two, but the two fleshy halves reformed in split seconds. It didn't even have eyes, much less senses. Gooey, flesh tendons creeped out and latched onto Scint's Martyr, trying to drag the light conjuration into its fleshy folds.

The rocks and such plopped against it's soupy flesh, and passed into it's body, before being forcefully expelled from some bit of sagging skin near it's torso. The slash mark left a little line done the half of the amorphous beast, and long, vine-like bits of sinew leapt out, grabbing onto Scint's extremities and releasing acid to start dissolving him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" it screamed into the air, without any sense of place nor tact.

[Lance]

Lance wasn't too happy about the thing pulling at his Martyr. even less happy when the sinew-things grabbed hold of him. and then he started "grrrr"ing in agony as the acid-things started burning into his hoof. without thinking, Scintillance simply dissolved the Martyr within the flesh-thing, and re-conjured it above himself, bringing it down over the sinew-vines, hoping to cut them, free himself of their grasp, and back away from the monstrosity.

[Tisis Antony]

The creature lost some balance as its grasp on Scint vanished. The severed tendrils retracted back into its fleshy girth, and its balance shifted back. It stood there for several moments, just gathering its wits before it once again began to walk slowly forwards towards the two...

[Lance]

Lance had to stop himself from wildly smacking the thing with the Martyr again; logic says being in a small enclosed room with that thing was a horrible idea, as long as it's deadly at close range. Now he might not have been too fond if the newly discovered changeling in the room, but that doesn't mean he'd leave anything with it while he could help it. backing away pretty quickly, Lance started pushing Star away. Yes with his flank, stop staring. short notice plan, ok? "Out out out out OUT!

He was doing the classic "whirling death Scint" thing with the martyr to keep the thingy from sending any more of those tendrils from launching out. on his fourth step going backwards, Lance flinched as he pressed the slight-burned hoof into the ground, and started limping on three legs from then on. if uninterrupted he'd keep pushing Star out until the two are outside of the building.

[Starlight Charmer]

Tapping Scintillance's shoulder, she whispers to him. "Try something else. Because you're only making the situation worse with that thing." Striking a slightly intimidating stance at the monster to attempt to make herself more fearsome, Star starts levitating more rocks and other things at the monster. So...Most likely reinforcements, this thing, and nothing works. What fun. Star slowly tries to circle the beast, also in hopes that she isn't noticed, by however this.....thing "Sees" things.

[Tisis Antony]

The beast stopped approaching Lance and began following Star, as she was now the nearest source of flesh. As it turned, not pivoting, but twisting with brutal snaps of its constituent skeletal structure, it became clear that the thing was still being powered by the pentagram on its back, which was glowing brighter the closer that Starlight approached.

A foursome of griffons hit the ground outside, in full combat armament. They didn't fully grasp the scene that was before them, but the leader among them yelled. "Stand down and prepare for arrest!"

[Lance]

Since Star moved un-announced, Lance could only stare in horror at the insane changeling. If she though she could sneak around anything she was dead wrong, and insane. but, as the Pentagon started gloing brighter, it caught Scint's attention, and he recalled an old lesson about some enchantments requiring a "centre" point of magic; either a crystal to activate and maintain it, or... that glyph. and then the griffons outside... this wasn't turning out a happy day for Scint. the changeling cousin, the griffbutts, the meat bagster... he called out "look, I'd love to kick your feathered cans back north or get my own flank in jail, but dangit I've got something a little bigger on my mind, ok? so gimme a few moments and I'll be right with you.

realizing that he should be keeping his secrecy, he re-intensified his glamour spell, and brought the Martyr down on the flesh thing again; this time aiming at the pentagram, and hoping Star's little unintended distraction worked.

[Starlight Charmer]

Noticing that the monster's glowing pentagram was brighter from this, Star attempts to leap behind the creature, but fails miserably as she falls face-first into the floor, in a very awkward position. Paling to make a ghost look black, she hears the guards outside, causing her to shudder with fear and a tinge of anger. Oh boy. Reinforcements. What fun. How will we get out of this. Shaking her head, she tries to get up, only to fall once again on her face.

[Tisis Antony]

The Griffons noticed the Flesh Golem, and looked on, before nodding to eachother. "Boys, it appears we got some culty going-ons here." Several more griffons arrived, and the filed into the building past Scint. "All at once, we rush the cult-y abomination and kill it!"

"For the Tsar!" the griffons yelled, charging the creature with their swords and spears. It was a well intentioned but poorly thought out plan, as the charge merely gave the Flesh Golem more flesh to assimilate. One griffon fell to it's grasp, then another, until the entire party was consumed one by one by the massive hulk of flesh and bone.

The Flesh Golem now was about seven times the size and weight of a griffon, and its back pressed against the ceiling, forcing it to stoop over. It had difficulty moving, but sent out snaking tendrils of tendon across the floor, creeping towards the nearest flesh to it.

[Lance]

Lance watched in horror as all of the griffons were just absorbed by the flesh thing. his eyes even teared up, slightly. They... were alive. and each of them dead. they had families. they had lives. they had friends. they were as real as he was. and now they're as gone as he just might be, and as gone as... as Star might soon be. he couldn't let that happen, changeling or not, she might be the last surviving member of the family, other than himself. keep the martyr at read to slice at tendrils reaching too close, Lance rushed over and grabbed Starlight by the tail, "OUT. No arguments!" he needed a plan. directly attacking this monster obviously wasn't working.

[Tisis Antony]

The golem watched as it's query slipped away. As they moved further from him, the light on its pentagram dimmed slightly, making it slightly listless and slow. By the time they left the building, he'd appeared to have become dormant, until it managed to crack open the ceiling that was pinning it. And then, just like that, it burst from the wall of the building with a mighty swing of its arm(?), before sizing up the night before it.

Star and Scintillance were still by far the closest biomass to it, even though they were some distance away. It plodded at an incredibly slow pace, almost shuffling along towards the two.

[Lance]

Lances' heart made a brief jump when those walls gave way to the Flesh monster. His mind swirled with what tactics he could possibly use on it, but... nothing was too clear. He could lead it towards the Griffon's HQ... have it take out a large number of enemies before handling it himself... and who knows, maybe the griffons' would have better luck than he di-NO. only a monster thinks of sacrificing another's life like that, and only a coward throws such responsibility. and he was neither. well, maybe some of the latter, but not now. besides, such an endeavor would likely allow the creature to absorb more mass and become a much larger threat, pun intended.

There was still that glowing symbol in mind. maybe if he could separate the symbol from the flesh, it would cut some kind of connection that held the thing together... a risky plan, and highly unlikely to work, but... possible. if he were to remove it, he'd need a clear shot with the Martyr to slice clean, and... to be in a close enough range to grab the flesh the symbol glowed on with his magical grip. He didn't like it, but it looked like the most reasonable choice.

Lance turned to Starlight, "I need you to get as far from here as you can, just... just don't let that thing touch you. also, cover your eyes. he then back up slightly, and burst his Glamour spell again, causing a highly noticeable "flash" of light before it dimmed to a slightly-less-painful-but-bearable-brightness, and shouted at the flesh golem "Let's try this again, how about you try to kill me this time, how does that sound, Fatty!? he then proceeded to run away, hoping the creature gave chase. he didn't go far, however, simply up a nearby building, probably reaching the open-top long before the creature even reached half across the street.

Scintillance moved to the edge of the two story building's square roof, and conjured his Martyr, preparing to 'throw' it, and quietly hoping he was right about how fast the monster was.

[Starlight Charmer]

Facehoofing, she dashes to the building where Lance currently was in, and leaps through the doorway. Gazing upward, she shouts. "Enough of the terrible insults. if you're going to do it, do it right." Turning her head to the doorway, she spouts cheesy one-liners at the monster. Bounding up the steps two at a time, she reaches the top of the building, and hides behind Scintillance. Levitating a book from a pile of rubble she glanced at downstairs, titled "The Adventures of Hucklepony Finn". She nonchalantly flicks open the cover and starts reading.

[Tisis Antony]

Though Scint and Starlight tried to lead the creature away, it wasn't too bright- it was in fact, far too stupid to fool. It had its imperative; the fundamental urging of its existence pulled it to the nearest meat. Not the nearest meat it knew of, but the nearest meat it could feel. It had a meat sense, of sorts- no eyes, no ears, no senses of any kind, but a compulsion to flesh. It sent out magical radar of sorts, and it was picking something up- a nagging sense to its right, a feeling that hungered it and drove it towards a different building.

It just so happened that two fillies were peaking out that window- it was way past their bedtime, and way past any sane-ponies bedtime, but they had to see for themselves the Griffon Gaurds- and after that, they had to see the source of the bang. That is how they came to behold the sight- an hulk of bent shoulders and stooped knees, of streaming red gore looming out of the building. Naturally they screamed, and ran back into their home on the second floor.

The beast turned on its ankles- the fillies were the nearest source of meat. That was all it knew. That was all that compelled it. It slowly began marching across the street, it's pentagram ablaze with light and a smoldering fire. It was the fire of gluttony- of hunger. It was the glow of ruin.

[Lance]

when Lance saw the dogmeat reject wasn't following him after all, he was pretty downed. but when he heard two fillies... this day night was just getting worse and worse. Lance intended to conjure the Avian and hope to pierce it into the monster; a risky tactic, only worth it because he didn't have too much to lose when he could jump off... now it was too much of a risk.

He still conjured the Avian, though, and glided over to the building with the fillies, flying in through the window, not too close to the meat monster, and not quite the room with the fillies. same building though. He then galloped, and prayed to the mighty GM gods that he's landed somewhere he could reach the fillies quickly. such prayers included "...DANGIT DANGIT DANGIT DANGIT DANGIT DANGIT DANGIT..."

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