993/The Span

The Span
Date of Scene:	18 November 2014
Location:	Galianda
Synopsis:	Galianda has appeared. The curious few arrive and see something wholly unexpected.
Thanks to:	To Assassin, for providing the set.
Cast of Characters:	Deelel, Staren, 411, 642, 626, 627, 628, 630

---

Assassin (614) has posed:
     GALIANDA
     THE GREAT SPAN

     The World Gate opens onto impossibility. Otherworldly travellers who step forth onto the greatest edifice Galianda has ever known are immediately greeted with the staggering visage of the clockwork world. The massive continents hang, suspended, around the massive mechanical core, connected to the center of the world by arching arms. They tick in orbit around the core, moving vast and impossible clockwork gears around as they float through the void.

     One, an impossible mountain, off which glass buildings seem to grow like flowers. Another, a massive desert, glass domes sparkling in a light not entirely derived from the sun. Here, the jutting ice of a glacier. To the side, just coming into view, a roiling stormcloud.

     Across all the continents, a massive bridge, an impossible magitechnical edifice, stretches. It twists and turns and moves with the movement of the clockwork core. The scale of it is so vast as to be unimaginable; it literally stretches out towards even the moon itself, hovering a fairly massive distance away from the continents. The bridge wraps around the whole world like an impossibly huge belt. Over it, travellers pass; above and below it, airships, sleek and modern wood-and-steel mechanisms, soar.

     High, high above, further even than the moon, a great fire in the shape of a bird lights the way. It is slowly sinking beyond the core's horizon. It will be evening soon, on this part of the planet.

Staren has posed:
    Staren steps out of the warpgate and... stops, eyes staring wide as he looks all around, just trying to take in details. "Oh my gosh." He looks from the core to one continent to another. "This is amazing..."

    Eventually, he looks up, gasping at the traffic and the moon... and then... He frowns slightly, and pulls on his goggles.

    "...The sun is a giant BIRD what the heck..." But he's smiling, in wonder. Somehow, this all works. The crazyness of it all just means there are wonderful new things to learn about...

    And it just looks damn cool, too!

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight Sparkle steps through after Staren, and her eyes widen similarly, her mouth dropping open with awe. "...a...a gigantic phoenix perhaps...?" is all she can think to murmur as she watches the bird flying through the sky, then she looks at the Great Span, then at the gears, then at the gap into which she cannot see. She suddenly feels...very small. Much moreso than she ever has on Equestria, even when up in Cloudsdale looking down on the world below.

     She giggles after that, then smiles happily at Staren. "This is wonderous! Even with all our magical advancement on Equestria, we don't have anything like this! Even Celestia and Luna would have trouble building something like this!"

Deelel has posed:
Staren isn't the only one to exit the warp gate and just kinda stare at everything.

"These worlds keep getting more alien and look? I thought something was exploding the first time I saw the sun. Seriously having a sun is down right creepy!"

The program makes a face at Staren for a moment and pulls down he cloak's hood.

"This really is omething we don't see many worlds like this."

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
Visitors from another world. Well, he isn't gonna miss /this/, especially given it's their club's fault they're here in the first place.

Kamon is standing by the warpgate when people start to filter through. He looks pretty much human, except for the bits of metal sticking out of his face in places like scars. He's got his hands in his coat pockets, watching them curiously as they come through and marvel. "It's, uh... it's kind of awesome, yeah," he says in agreement.

"Welcome to Galianda," Kamon says, spreading his arms out. "This is the Great Span. It goes /everywhere/. Well... almost," he appends, a touch sheepishly.

Staren has posed:
    When Twilight speaks to him on the wonder of the world, Staren turns around and hugs her. "Twilight! Good to see you again!" Then he turns towards Kamon, nodding to Deelel in passing.

    "I'm Staren, researcher of problems for the Union." He extends a hand to shake. Then looks curious. "'Almost'?" He cocks his head to the side curiously.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Excitement about the Warp Gate has yet to really die down. There are a fair number of rubberneckers milling around it but strategically placed haste lamps make loitering upon the Span difficult to do. Few have ventured out into the multiverse beyond so far, most of whom were members of enterprising Ramuha corportions. Of those even fewer yet that were not salesmen or headhunters were members Alexander Academy. Union contact had been sowed...in the name of a new school club.

    Standing next to Kamon is Kyra, who also looks remarkably human, if very, very pale. At first glance it almost seems like she too has metal in her but this turns out to be a number of piercings in her ears and nose. Both of her hands are stuffed inside the front pocket of the hoodie she wears.

    "Glad you guys could make it." She adds with a grin, quite openly and unabashedly eyeing up the trio. Twilight easily receives the most attention as Kyra breaks away from her fellow classmate to walk around her. "...whoah."

    "What, your sun isn't a bird? What is it, then?" Kyra lifts an eyebrow at Staren, rocking back on her heels.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel has a bit of a strange digital warble to her voice as she replies to the local whom has come to greet them.

"Greetings and this is the great span? I will keep that in mind."

She seems friendly enough as she gives Kamon a grin and looks him over She pauses looking intently at his face. She's clearly spottd metal where in her experiance? It's bad for organic to have metal in them unless it's cyberentics. She does not comment on it as she introduces her self.

"My world doesn't even have a sun actually and my ID err name is Deelel."

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Kyra. "It's a massive sphere of burning gas, a 1.4-million-kilometer-wide natural fusion reactor. So massive that on most worlds in the Void, the planets revolve around their sun because of its gravity."

    Staren stares off into space for a moment. "Nope, we're not in Cyber Core, so this is really..." he trails off, looking out at the worldplates.

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
Kamon shakes Staren's hand. He's strong. "Hi. Kamon Lionward, like I, uh, said on the radio. Student." He is obviously trying not to stare at Twilight; she's obviously /crazy/ non-human, but also intelligent, so... not a madpony. He smiles at Deelel.

"It, uh, doesn't go to Odin. Too risky, with the nightmare golems that spawn there," Kamon supplies. "Gotta fly in and out, through the magnetic storms."

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight rears up on her hindlegs to give Staren a warm hug before noticing the others here. "Oh! Hello! I am Twilight Sparkle. It is nice to meet you!" the little purple pony says, smiling kindly. She is indeed not a madpony. But she is cute and cuddly looking, and well-groomed. Yes, obviously intelligent. "If I may ask, how long did it take for these marvels to be built? And...is that truly a living bird serving as your sun?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods as if this obviously makes sense. Naturally-spawning nightmare golems and flying through magnetic storms makes as much sense as anything else. He looks back at Kamon, then reaches up and pushes his goggles up to his forehead, then thinks twice about it and drops them to hang around his neck. "Odin... Titan... Hmm." He looks between the natives. "In Earth mythology, the Titans were some of the first gods of one pantheon... and Odin is the head god of another. ...On some worlds, he's real."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Having a giant fusion reactor sitting around in a void seems pretty dangerous." Kyra comments as she tries to wrap her mind around this whole 'alternate sun' thing. Judging by the look on her face, she's really trying to work it out-especially the chemical reaction side of the equation.

    "Oh, my bad, I haven't introduced myself either. I'm Kyra Hyral. Also a student." Her eyes widen just a little when Twilight Sparkle rears up-a motion she has seen before in the dreaded MADPONY-but the fight or flight feeling passes quickly when she realizes it's just to hug Staren. "...that's kind of adorable..." she mutters before clearing her throat.

    "The Span? Well, uh...I'm not entirely sure but it's been..what, a couple hundred years since it was made so it can be travelled on efficiently? The plates themselves were born from the First Gods, which bare their names. It's actually pretty interesting that some of the names are the same." She shrugs, "...and then I turned on that Union channel earlier and heard a long discussion on gaming so maybe some things don't change no matter what world you're on."

Xion (630) has posed:
    There is a perfectly good warpgate that would allow someone passage into this new multiversal entrant, which had just recently been established.

    The black-coated-and-hooded girl that bursts through a tear in space does not use that. Instead, she looks left and right, coiled like a spring, hands out in a mock kungfu 'come at me' pose.

    She pauses, slowly, scanning the area again.

    Then, she 'sneaks' (more like exaggeratedly walks over to Twiling Sparkle and kneels down, before whispering...

    "You're not a heartless, are you? I... just wanna be sure."

    Then, looking kind of confused, the hooded girl stands up, scratching her head through the hood of her coat.

    "Wow, this place sure is bright. Nice bird! So... No heartless? Monsters of darkness? World-ending black yellow-eyed guys? No? Huh... Wow, awesome!"

    She visually relaxes, stretching her hands over her head. "So... Where's this?"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "Good to meet you and ah I see I had the comm off.

"Or he's a roaving angry pissed off force of nature."

She's seen the reports about Odin at this point. She's looking at Kyura for a moment and smirks for a moment.

"It's the most common nature of stats I found in the multivese and good to meet you.

"I think I heard of maybe one world remotely like this..."

Xion shows up she pauses for a moment looks at the hooded girl for a moment.

"Heartless?"

She tilts her head and pauses a memory of things she saw in her last trip with a certain time troll pops up in her head? No she couldn't be talking about those things, sides they were not real, right? She dismissed the idea and looks to the locals it's their world they should have the chance to give the new arrival the information.

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
"I think they only finished it, one-hundred-percent, in the last century?" Kamon adds to Kyra's explanation. "It's been a long project, though... I dunno when it was really started." He scratches his head. "Well... Titan is singular. He's one of the First Gods. Shiva, Ifrit, Titan," he ticks them off on his fingers, "Ramuh, Leviathan, Odin and Bahamut. One for each plate." He points out at the enormous continents, affixed to the clockwork core. "I mean, that's what they are, except Chocobo."

AND THEN SUDDENLY A XION. Kamon is abruptly tense, grasping a strap next to his backpack's and ready to swing it off. It's attached to the plain-looking katana he's got there. When she... sort of fails at sneaking, he relaxes. "Um... the Great Span, by the new World Gate," Kamon says, a little hesitantly. He pauses a second.

"Did... did you get Detention Zone'd? I hear a guy from Professor Mister Greene's advanced black magic class ended up on Leviathan after he got D-Zoned."

Staren has posed:
    "It's not like people are going to wander into the sun. It's so far away from Earth that /light/ takes eight and a half minutes to get between them."

    Staren ahs and nods again as it's explained that the gods became the worldplates. He'll just accept that as true for now. He looks along the span "A couple hundred years, huh?" He looks back to Kyra. "Yeah, there are a lot of common things that are shared between some worlds in some form or another. Worlds that are similar to 'Earth' in the 20th or 21st century of the AD calendar are probably among the most common in this sector, but the only constant you can /really/ count on is that the natural inhabitants, however strange they may look..." he twitches his ears and lashes his tail once, then glances to Twilight, "...people just like humans in mind, if not in body," he looks back to Kyra, "are everywhere in this sector. Or perhaps it's better to say that humans are one example of many intelligent species with a shared psychology?"

    Xion arrives. Staren looks at her, starts to shake his head. No heartless he-- wait. He looks at Kamon curiously, as if to ask: /is/ that a type of monster they have here?

    Staren mutters to himself. "Shiva, the destroyer... Efreet, a fire imp or genie... Leviathan, the great sea monster... Bahamut, the dragon?" Staren blinks. "Wait, chocobo? Like, a large bird people ride around on? Those are a thing on a few worlds where people never domesticated horses for that purpose."

Xion (630) has posed:
    "Detention Zone'd?" Xion asks, looking mildly confused.

    ~Flaaashbaaaaack~

    Saix: "Okay, Xion. This is very important. Remember. Just act... natural, and say whatever will make people either trust you or ignore you. Your job is to hunt Heartless. Remember that. Okay? Are you even listening?

    Also, more long minutes of Saix consternation before and after.

    ~END Flaaaashbaaaack~

    "... Yes. Yes, I was... that." She says, with TOTAL seriousness. "I also was told to find heartless. And beat them up! Well, if I can. We're all still unsure."

    She then smiles very honestly-looking at Kamon, beaming at him with her HOOD DOWN and her EMO ADVENTURER set to MAXIMUM.

    She rocks back and forth on her feet, before looking at Staren. "Wow! Those sure are fantastical animals. Have you heard of heartless before? I'm supposed to find them. It's very important!"

    It seems that Xion has totally forgotten her previous conversation. She also beams a big happy smile at Staren.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight blinks in surprise as Xion appears and asks a rather curious question. "Heartless? I..not that I am aware." she says, looking Xion over curiously. "My friends and I have plenty of heart." she adds, smiling. "I am Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?" she says before listening to the explanation about this world.

     With nothing to really add to the conversation at this point, Twilight continues to examine her surroundings. Aircraft, land vehicles...all sorts of mechanical things are moving about the Great Span.

Xion (630) has posed:
    To Twilight Sparkle, Xion turns her BEAMING smile at the female pony, before nodding. "I'm... That's a secret! I think? Sorry, can't tell you. Or maybe I can? Let me check on that. Okay? Sorry!" She admits.

    She doesn't SOUND sorry, though. She sounds happy. Really happy.

    Almost TOO happy.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Xion. He has this vague sense that she belongs in Sburb, hunting imps. He slowly shakes his head. "Not a monster called 'heartless' specifically, however, there have been occurances of monsters created when a sort of metaphorical 'heart' is removed by a person... But you sound like you're looking for a very specific monster, and I haven't heard of anything quite like that. If you want to hunt monsters though, there are plenty of places in the Multiverse you can do that." Beat. "Find a guy named Arthur Lowell. He'll hook you up. Or maybe be able to tell other people to keep an eye out for Heartless and call you."

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
Honestly, with a talking MADPONY here, Deelel being glowy and Xion being teleporty are kind of small gil in comparison. Kamon is glad they're on home turf, even if it's not /actually/ turf; he might be overwhelmed, otherwise.

"Chocobos? Uh, some really rich folk might still keep them, but people mostly use summon matrices to get fake ones --" He looks back at Xion, blinking. "Um, I've never heard of those. Sorry."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Sounds about right." Kyra concurs with Kamon, "And they're always looking for ways to make the Great Span even faster." As if almost on queue, as Kyra speaks the immediate area darkens slightly as a large airship passes overhead.

    Xion is immediately inspected though Kyra seems pretty...unconvinced that she's a student of some kind-at least not of Alexander Academy, "You from E4...?" she ventures, assuming that Xion's suspiciously good mood clearly derives from overxposure to high mangnetic fields or whatever it is they have at that weirdo school.

    "Anyway, how about we walk to Ramuh? We're getting some looks." Kyra's tone is casual, perhaps too casual given just how much staring the extraversal visitors are attracting. Though that might be the very reason that Kyra seems to be so interested in moving now. "We can go to Ramuh, it's a bit closer than Chocobo."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is just being friendly really, she looks at Xion again for a moment kinda staring at the teleporting and shrugs it off. She pauses at the mention of Chocbos for a moment.

"Large birds often used as mounts on one world I'm aware of an likely others. Also there's one fast food chain for them too from another world."

Kalm Fried Chocobo.

"That sounds like a plan to me. though humm I don't have enough bikes for everyone..."

Staren has posed:
    Staren smiles and waves to the people staring at them.

    Staren looks around, trying to guess which one is Ramuh. "Uhh... those all look /really/ far away. Won't walking take a long time?" Staren blinks, suddenly remembering Agartha. "Or... does it not work that way..." he starts looking around for any actual pedestrians on the Great Span, to see if they seem to be walking normally.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight blinks a few times at Xion. The pony appears a bit unnerved by her attitude. This is beyond Pinkie Pie happiness. This is crazy Pinkie happiness. "Um...well, is there something I can call you that isn't your name but is an appropriate nickname?" she asks Xion. As the suggestion is made to change locations, Twilight looks around at the people looking at them and ends up blushing a bit. She isn't used to attention. She doesn't know how to deal with it beyond avoid it. "Ah...yes. Please, lead the way."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "If it was normal walking, sure, Staren. We don't have to worry about that because of the haste lamps." There are definitely other people walking along the Span. Every single one of them appears to be human though they come with many skin tones and hair colors-and sizes. There are some easily reaching seven feet tall.

As they start along, those magic sensitive will definitely feel the time magic upon them. While, physically, they feel like they're walking the background starts to speed by as if they were moving much faster. While they do, Kyra circles around to the back of the group to bring up the rear.

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
There are pedestrians. There's a lot of pedestrians.

"C'mon." Kamon turns and heads out onto the enormous bridge. The lamps glow as they move past. They approach very quickly, the storming plate in the distance gradually getting bigger and bigger. "So... I'm, uh, not sure how well you're gonna get received," Kamon says, looking to Twilight. "There aren't any... non-humans, or anything."

Staren has posed:
    Staren notes the human population, seems fairly standard for Earth as far as he can tell -- And then the haste lamps take effect. "Ooh, that's interesting. Does it only apply to walking, or does it apply to vehicles too? What about skating, or flying?"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     As Twilight walks along, again awed by the mixture of technology and magic, she doesn't even notice the looks coming her way anymore. She is too busy enjoying the magically-enhanced walk! But, when she hears that her appearance could be problematic, she blinks. "Is the local government trying to limit exposure to the Multiverse? If so, I do have a spell that allows me to become human for about a day."

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
"Well, no... but the only intelligent races are types of Hume," he explains, "and, uh... you look... kind of like a particular, really mean kind of monster." Kamon rubs the back of his neck a little as he walks. "You should be fine while you're with us, but people might mistake you for 'em at first, so don't wander off, okay?"

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion looks off far into the distance, potentially off towards Ramuh. Or, possibly to the entirely wrong direction. Then, she's corrected. So she starts off with Kamon! To Kyra, she shrugs. "Uhh... Yes! No? Something!" She offers, before giving a mildly forced sounding laugh.

    "Oh, uh..."

    "I'm... Fourteen! The number. That's my number. Okay? That should work!" She offers to Twilight far belatedly, as if she had checked out for a while, and is only now checking back in.

    "Wow. Why don't you just use the Corridors? It'd be way faster! But this is nice... Oh! Wait. Sorry. It's because they're super dark and dangerous. Ummm..."

    She leans over to Kamon. "What's E4?"

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
Kamon looks at Xion for a long moment. E4? He shrugs.

"'cuz I'm not a... Dark Knight?" he says, hazarding a guess. "I don't do the dark-and-creepy thing. Sorry."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "A number curious. That's not a commeon and wait no there's no gates here and I'm not a teleporter don't make me get my light cycle out I'll just out strip all of you on a full out straight away like this.

"Eh she's not like most Dark Knights I know. Gaffgarion's not ... anything like this or any other dark knight I ever seen."

Xion (630) has posed:
    "Oh... Yeah, the coat helps with the Dark-And-Creepy-Thing. I wouldn't go so far as to call it 'knight', though. That's a title! I'm not really landed!" She jokes, laughing easily. It's all this awkward blend of total straightfaced honesty and really... weird... forced-ness.

    "I do a lot of things! But sometimes... mostly... dark and creepy."

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight nods at Kamon's advice, then resumes enjoying her walk toward Ramuh. "Fourteen? Is that a random number, or are there at least thirteen others like you?" Twilight asks Xion as they move along. When the seemingly young girl mentions dark and creepy, Twilight smiles softly. "My friend Pinkie Pie says in order to deal with dark and creepy, all you have to do is laugh. Of course, that only applies if the source of the creepiness is not actually trying to kill you."

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight adds, "Then, Pinkie laughs while fighting." She shakes her head and giggles a bit.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Well...yeah, they kind of are trying to limit exposure right now. It's more like they're trying to get people acclimated gradually so there aren't any accidents. We're mostly Humes so if we suddenly get, I don't know, ogre dignitaries from another world we run the risk of someone well.."

    Kyra waffles a little. She feels a little bad bringing it up to Twilight, clearly, but Kamon beats her to the punch and in a way more direct way. "Hopefully this is something that's not gonna be a problem forever. Maybe. I don't know. Hume stupidity is a forever problem."

    The girl sidesteps a little so she walks next to Twilight for a few seconds. "Not that I wouldn't mind seeing you cast magic, though. Extraversal magic! How /exciting/!"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "E4's another school here in this world. They're very...eeeh. Different? You struck me as one of their types." Kyra finally explains.

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
"I guess that's true," Kamon replies awkwardly to Xion, not sure about anything she's saying at this point. "Most of the Knights I know don't have land either, Dark or not. Why's it dark and creepy," he asks, apparently curious.

He allows Kyra to experiment with extraversal magic, because /that's/ a good idea.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
There is a rumble of thunder in the distance, as a thundercloud seems to detatch from the distant storms of Ramuh. It sails across the sky, pieces of it gradually skidding off as a majestic ship crests out of it like a wave. The craft is sleek and ornate, based on ancient styles reminiscent of Far Eastern ships on various Earths. A fleaming energy sail billows in the stormwind, carring yhe ship forward along with thrumming magitek engines. An arrwy of spires is mounted to a horseshoe-like attachment, crackling constantly with Jacob's Ladders, and sizzling beam projectors seem to stand at the ready to deal with threats.

The ship bears the logo of the Murasame Family, and atop the foredeck stands a man in a midnight blue suit, his arms folded as he looks into the distance.

Without speaking or any apparent signals, the ship comes to a halt near the group on the Great Span, and the man turns to look upon the group. "Hyral. Lionward." He pauses, studying Staren and Twilight for a moment. "Ah... Visitors. The unexpected arrives as lightning."

He gestures with his hand and bows slightly. "I am Souji Murasame, of the Murasame Zaibatsu. Welcome to the world of Galianda. I trust Hyral and Lionward have been able to impart the basic knowledge of our world?"

Xion (630) has posed:
    "It's not a random number. It's my number. I'm number fourteen! Of... ... ... It's a secret!" She explains. Looking around, her hands seem to twitch, as she sees... Things. To do. But she restrains herself.

    "I've got a mission. A mission to stop the heartless!"

    Then, to Kamon, she looks at him with a curous look. "Well, look at me!" She plucks at her dark robe. "Dark."

    "And I guess creepy! Yeah."

    She mouths 'creepy' like it's some new and wonderous word.

    And then MURASAME SOUJI of the WEEB CLAN arrives.

    As she does, she strikes a battle-ready pose. "Are you... A heartless?" The Hooded Girl 'Fourteen' wonders, before...

    "Wait, no, you're just a person. Sorry! I'm looking for Heartless! And these people are very nice. I think!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives a curious look at the mobile cloud. "Is that normal?" He points at it, and then... hey, airship! That's cool. Staren looks at Souji, then at Kamon and Kyra. "Friend of yours?" He looks back at Souji. "I guess, some of it? I'm sure there's tons more basic information we haven't covered. Mostly we've been covering super preliminary geography. Did you know on most worlds you can't walk to the moon, and the sun isn't shaped like a bird?"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel Says "So this would be a problem for me visiting given I'm not human /at/ all. Also nothing wrong with a name that's a number right? It's not so strange to see it where I'm frum to be perfecly honest."

She looks to the new arrival and bows slightly at him.

"Greetings, Hume. I'm Deelel."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    The mobile cloud seems to be regarded by Kyra with little surprise. "Figured he would be along eventually." Is all that's really offered before Souji flies in on his fancy, fancy airship to make his extra impressive show of an entrance. The white mage seems completely unsurprised by this behavior-up until the point where the airship actually slows.

    It only strikes Kyra that Souji's probably just as curious about their visitors as they are. "Hello Murasame. Off to explore some brave new worlds?"

    "He's our classmate too." Kyra asides to Staren.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight eyerolls lightly and giggles softly at Fourteen's response. "I see. Well, I know all too well that secrets should be kept." she says as she continues trotting along merrily. Then to Kyra, she smiles. "I would be happy to demonstrate my magic for you. It isn't often someone actually wants to see my magic. Other than my special somepo-...somebody, Staren." she says, smiling brightly toward him.

     As the airship appears, Twilight is once again awed. So many amazing spectacles here! As Souji introduces himself, Twilight bows her head respectfully, then smiles. "I am Twilight Sparkle. It is nice to meet you."

Staren has posed:
    Staren smiles as Twilight mentions him, then looks concerned. "Really? You're like, the third most powerful mage on your planet and nobody cares?" Staren thinks about this. "...I guess I've never /seen/ anybody make a big deal about it, and Ponyville doesn't seem to particularly care that much about magic, but... Really? As much as I like hanging around you, I'm only there a pretty small percentage of the time -- I just figured you dealt with magic business when I wasn't around." Beat. "Man, you know what? Maybe you should, like, do magic demonstrations for the foals in school. Get more ponies interested in it. Like those chemistry demonstrations that always have at least one explosion." Beat. "...You could do science demonstrations, too. .../I/ could do science demonstrations."

Kamon Lionward (628) has posed:
Kamon mutters something like 'no, not really' in Staren's direction.

He got kind of awkwardly quiet when Souji showed up. How strange.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji glances over to Xion for a moment. His expression is measuring, but it appears that he is witholding judgement for the moment. "I possess a heart." He replies. "Please, describe to me these 'heartless' you seek." Staren's response causes Souji to nod. "Assuming that all worlds would be like ours is foolishness. We will have much to learn about what lies beyond the gate that has opened."

Deelel then addressed him, and he inclines his head. "A pleasure, Deelel." The greeting from Twilight causes Souji only a moment of pause before he inclines his head once more. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Twilight Sparkle. To be the third greatest mage as he claims is no small feat. Mastery is its own reward."

He glances back over to Staren. "So you are a scientist?" He inquires. "Are you contracted to an organization or are you indepenent?"

Souji's behavior is graceful, but businesslike. It seems clear that he doesn't let his emotions get in the way of his work. It might remind Xion of some people, who knows!

Staren has posed:
    Staren is /slightly/ disappointed that Souji shows no look of incredulity or surprise when told that elsewhere the sun is not shaped like a bird. Alas.

    Staren nods. "I'm Staren, researcher of problems for the Union. I mean, I can help other people too, but if you're looking to fill full-time positions, I don't think I can do that. Actually, my specialty was combat robotics engineering, but in encountering the multiverse I've branched out... studied magic and stuff, whatever there was... there's a lot to figure out! I hope that one day I'll figure out the underlying rules of reality and use that knowledge to make stuff to help people!" He frowns and mutters to himself, "Findings so far are kind of troubling, though..."

    Staren blinks. "So, who are you, anyway?"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight actually seems confused by Staren's little rant. "Well...I am not sure I am the third most powerful. There may be other, more powerful mages out there." she says, though she smiles soon afterword. "It is sweet of you to be upset about it, though. And I suppose minor demonstrations would be alright. But, I wouldn't want to upset anyone. Most unicorns have to focus on a certain area of magic use. To display my unrestricted magic could be offensive to those ponies who cannot move beyond their specialty."

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion... Slutes. "Oh! And I'm xi-... I mean Fourteen! That's my number. Sorry, my name is a secret. I think! I'll get back to you on that!"

    She just kind of stands there, then, when Souji talks to other people. She adjusts her hood a little bit, making sure her face remains Mostly Covered. Then she sort of... Stares off into the distance. Two blue shining eyes covered in darkness kind of glaze over as she just tunes out of the world.

    Then...

    "He's Souji Murasame, of the Murasame Zaibatsu!" She parrots to Staren, almost automatically.

    Then she's grinning at everyone else, again. "So! A Heartless is like a normal person, except, it's just the Heart. And it's evil and black and a monster, so you need to kill them. Specially! With a Key-blade." As she speaks, she casually outstretches her hand, and with a sworl of pale light, the Kingdom Ke-I mean, Heart's Desire forms. (It's literally the design Kingdom Key with a different keychain).

    "Like this! And when they die... Uh... I dunno! I was told to hunt them, though. To 'Test Me Out' or something?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Xion, then facepalms. "Shit, he /did/ say that, didn't he?" He looks back to Souji. "I'm sorry. I'm just... distracted today, I guess." He waves a hand to indicate the EXCITING ENTIRELY NEW WORLD.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji listens to Staren's response carefully. His expression does not change, but there is a tinge in his voice, a shading in tone as he replies simply. "A pity. Should you decide to seek out productive and satisfying employment, we will be waiting." He smiles thinly as he is asked who he is just after he introduced himself.

Xion then fills Souji in, and he listens to the commentary. "A new type of monster, then." He states. For those who have vision sharp enough to notice such things, one of the lenses of his glasses is flickering through a series of small pictures of creatures and data sheets, presumably with relevant information on the creatures shown. "I will be sure to notify my security teams to be on the lookout for these creatures, and this... Key-blade." He comments, and then watches as Xion creates her Keyblade. "What information do you have on the Key-blade? Are these weapons available for manufacture or purchase?" He asks, a tone of dubiousness entering his voice.

Staren's convession of distraction causes Souji to give the faintest of smiles. "Beware distraction. Such things can be lethal in this world."

Finally, Twilight mentions offending others, and he actually fully turns towards Twilight Sparkle. "To not accept your ability and use it to its fullest would be a far greater insult to those people. All beings are not created equal. There are differences in education, in behavior, in talent, genetics, personality, and pure effort that can determine the difference between success and failure. Do not be worried that your talents might offend others to exercise to their limits. It is only by seeking out those limits that you can learn how best to use your abilities and expand upon them. Those who would criticize you, hate you, or fear you for such a thing are being held back by their inability to dedicate themselves, and seek out a channel to blame for their own failures. If you wish to improve, to truly become great, do not be concerned with such matters. Such detritus only harms you in the end for the satisfaction of those who are too burdened with their flaws to rise up."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is taking note of Souji so he's fairly well to do in the nature of business for a moment and nods to xion and pauses for a moment.

"Just the heart? I assume it's not the organ that some life forms have and key-blade?"

She pauses looking intenly at the weapon for a moment.

"You said they were black with yellow eyes? I ... had a vision of creatures like that they ... seemed to hunger for me. I wonder ... if it was a for warning about these heartless?"

She nods to Souji

"Pay attention to your surroundings or you might end up cubed."

Deelel pauses for a moment.

"A curious out look on life."

Staren has posed:
    Oh man, that was embarassing. Staren can't believe he just did that. Uuuuugh. After a moment though, the 'who cares? This is some rich kid, you don't need his validation' part of his mind slips into place. Especially when Souji insinuates that his present work helping people and unraveling the secrets of the multiverse isn't productive and satisfying.

    The info on heartless is kind of intyeresting, but right now it's less interesting than this new world.

    He looks to Twilight following Souji's little speech. "If somepony wants to use magic and can't... There would still be the option of learning magic from other worlds, right? And there might even be a way to get people access to magic. Aren't there magic items? Maybe there are even unconventional ways to use earth pony or pegasus magic... I never thought about all this. Maybe one of the future yous already knows? Couldn't hurt to ask about it." Although, he's admittedly not sure that Grim Future Twilight would part with such secrets for fear they might be used to empower people who would rise against her, and the magic of the /other/ future world is probably completely different.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight giggles softly at Xion catching Staren in his error. Then...she blinks in surprise at getting a lecture. After which she is smiling again. "You misunderstand, Souji. I do not deny my abilities. I simply feel I should not display them simply for the sake of displaying them. No one likes a show-off. I study quite diligently to improve my magical skills, and I am well aware that not everyone is born with the same level of talent. It is when one falls into the category of 'showboating', as Applejack calls it, that one risks alienating others. And that is something I wish to avoid. As a defender of my world, I cannot and do not hesitate to use my most powerful magics when the situation calls for it. That lesson was taught to me long ago when a troublesome pony called Trixie came to Ponyville."

     Twilight paushes a moment, raising a hoof to her chin as she thinks. "The only times I have been criticized or mocked concerning my magic were times when I was facing an opponent who already disliked me, or was too arrogant to admit that their magic did not rival mine. It isn't that anyone in my world dislikes my magic. It is just that there is no need or any requests to show it off."

     Staren goes off into thinking about things again, and Twilight smiles warmly before approaching him. "I should return to Equestria." she says to the group, then gives Staren a hug with her forelegs before turning to wave a hoof goodbye to the others. "It was nice to meet you all!" She then turns to gallop back down the Great Span toward the warp gate.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
"I see." Is all Souji says in reply to Twilight. "Then I am mistaken. My apologies." He gives another small bow."Perhaps we will have the opportunity to see your potential in the future. Farewell."

"Does her homeland not possess any kind of schooling to teach such things?" Souji asks of Staren. "Surely a land which values and respects such ability would seek to foster a greater amount of it." He says simply. Don't worry, Staren. Souji surely didn't insinuate that in response to you insinuating he was an ignorant backwater hick.

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion falls into that almost stasis-like silence once more, as other people speak, before coming animate - figuratively and almost literally - again.

    She gives a few test swipes of Heart's Desire, the incredibly shittily designed weapon akin to a fancy piece of lead piping with a shitty handle and some key motifs making it even more useless as a weapon.

    It's not even good at piping.

    "Uhh... Somepony? Somepony..." Xion seems very confused with this word. "What's a somepony? Or is it Some Pony?"

    She waves goodbye to Twilight cheerily, helpfully opening a portal to the CORRIDORS OF DARKNESS which are insanely unwelcoming and practically teeming with ultimate black darkness.

    There's also the normal portal. Over there.

    "Anyway, the Keyblade is a weapon of... uh... the heart? I'm not really sure. Anyway, I have one, and a few other people do, and its our jobs to stop the heartless! They're unique and you can't take them away from their users, really. Also you can't weild them unless you're a keyblade weilder. Which... I guess... I am? It's kind of fuzzy. Just like everything else. Hey, is that an airship?"

    Xion hops up, into the air, and... double jumps up onto the deck of Souji's ship, her keyblade sworling back into nonexistance as she does so.

    If anyone was watching her, the second jump was her launching off a gray, flat, zipperlike trampoline object. Then she just sort of... starts wandering in. Even if he says no. "Ooh, I'd love to be an airship engineer today, that'd be... fun, right?"

    She pauses, on deck, waiting for confirmation. "Right? Fun's the right one, not... yeah I'm pretty sure it's fun."

    She beams at everyone. The smile is both entirely genuine and insanely fake.

Staren has posed:
    Staren scratches his head. "She's got a point. Most ponies can use only a very limited amount of magic. While I'm sure there are others like her that can use a wider variety of magic, they're rarer. I wasn't thinking about that when I suggested that maybe more foals need to be inspired to become magicians. However... It's a bit weird. In her world... Sometime in childhood, people /always/ figure out what their special talent is, and almost always they are happy to do that. Noone's ever jealous because they can't fly like a pegasus, or use magic like a unicorn. So maybe it's possible, that if young children were inspired to take interest in science and magic, that you'd get more ponies who find special talents in those areas... Or maybe it's the other way around, and the ones who take interest are the ones who would have eventually found their talents lied there eventually. I haven't really gotten a good chance to study it. I can't really ethically set up a controlled experiment to screw with people's destiny."

    Although, now that he thinks about it, there are a few who break the pattern. Luna was once unhappy with her lot, Jinxel and Bramble were rejected by society, and the palace gardener apparently never /found/ a talent. He'd forgotten about that guy. What does it mean? Augh, there are so many mysteries in the Multiverse...

    Like what is 14 going on about? ANd why is her name 14? That's kind of ominous. But... he can't ignore this new world to focus on that, right now.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "...a strange verbal tick he's picked up don't mind it and I see most curious and I see there's few weapons kike that. I know how it is to be fuzzy, it's ... not natural for one of my kind. I had to make due with it. Different cultures if I'd just stayed where I was I'd be a dead end gladiator in a bastards illegal death pits."

She pauses for a moment and peers at Staren.

"So says the man whose a demi god of myth on one world."

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks a bit flustered at Deelel. "I only, like, /just/ found out about that! Besides, I'm a really /minor/ demigod. Like, in their videogames I'm always that guy that gives you the airship, or I can be summoned for some kind of super-analysis ability or intelligence buff spell. I'm not, like, the god kids. What does that have to do with mucking about with people's destinies, anyway?"

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji squints at the opening of the Corridor, but he says nothing. It seems like he has dismissed the possibilities of keyblades already. "There are positions for trained engineers available." Souji replies to Xion. "Please do not board unless invited to do so, however." He turns away, clearly expecting Xion to take the hint and leave.

He might be disappointed.

"A destiny is only as good as the person who follows it. But I suppose if they do not deserve the effort, you do not need to lend them your assistance."

Staren has posed:
    Staren turns back to Souji and blinks. "Okay, I guess I /am/ totally cool with meddling with destinies to, like, /save/ people. A destiny of living under a tyrant or dying early or destitute sucks. But the ponies don't /need/ the help, at least not as much as some other people. Maybe not many of them share the same kind of ambitions I would, but they have their own, and they seem to be happy."

    Staren stifles a yawn. "Man... I dunno how long your day is here, but it's getting late. I kinda..." He looks toward Ramuh, "Didn't think I'd be stopping to talk for this long. I'll have to see Ramuh another time. Nice meeting you," a handshake is offered, and then he turns to Xion and offers the same, "And you. Good luck finding those Heartless. That's some... interesting tricks you can do."

    Staren stretches, and then... Orange energy wings manifest on his back, like stylized insect wings. They are't actually quite /touching/ his back. They flutter, and he hovers a bit off the ground. "See you around." He offers a brief wave to the group before flying just above the road, back towards the warpgate.

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion stands on the deck, rummaging around in her pockets for a few moments as Staren and Souji and Deelel trade words. Then, she exclaims, proudly. "Ha-HA! My parts goggles!"

    She then pulls down her hood, turned away (revealing her short cut black hair), pulls on a pair of blast goggles, and then pulls up her hood again. Then she gives Souji a big double thumbs up.

    "Got my parts goggles. Okay! Now I'm ready."

    Then she just sort of wanders into the Airship. Souji probably wants to deal with that.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji watches Staren go. "What an unreasonably idyllic place." Souji comments to no one in particular, and then turns towards Xion as she begins trying to get belowdecks.

Souji has already informed the onboard security that an unauthorized person is attempting to gain entrance. A pair of Murasame Security guards are in the doorway. "No admittance." One of them grunts.

"You will have to submit a job application like the others. Additionally, this airship does not work the same way as the others." Souji adds from behind Xion.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks at Staren with a goofy grin on her face.

"True."

Given she's basicallyt the goddess of cyberspace she's keeping quiet.

"It's curious givne how humes and other racesw see it. Mine's always born for a purpose."

she looks at Xion and can't help but laugh about the goggles it was amusing to her.

"He gets like that he's kinda of got his heads in the clouds."

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion looks at the guards. She isn't sad, or crestfallen, or anything.

    This is because she doesn't know what any of those things mean.

    Instead, she just walks right up to them, and starts very calmly taking off her goggles. "... Oh! Right, I'm supposed to say things. Please let me in to your amazing airship, so I may parts-things!" She requests, quite chipperly.

    Turning back to Souji, she beams from behind her goggles and hood. "I'm very good. At everything! I have many skills. Like Parts! And Maths! And... Wires! Ooh, well, it's easier to say what I don't have sills in."

    She puts her hands on her hips, beaming. "Which is nothing! Erm, that I know of. I've got lots. So... I'm really certain I could find something and fix it! Maybe. What's a job application?"

    She wracks her head for a solution, but since the problem is not in front of her, she's got nothing.

    "Also, do you have the ability to summon friends too? That was very fast!" She comments, about the Goonsquad.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
"... Of course." After all this, Xion might see Souji betray the slightest sense of frustration or impatience in a slow exhalation. "A job application is a form that you complete that lists your skills and abilities. You send it to our corporate departments, and we will see if we can make use of your apparently... voluminous talents."

To the last question, Souji simply replies, "I have a radio."

Xion (630) has posed:
    "Oh. Well... That makes sense." Xion offers, seeming to come down off her emotive high. Or, rather, finally hit a snag. So she sort of lightly smiles without any fakeness, and nods. "So... You want me to sign some papers, to see your stuff. Also to work for you? Well, that may be an issue. I'm... busy." 'Fourteen' explains, before nodding. "But I have a lot of skills! They're mine and at the same time they're not. I'm trying to find what /I'm/ good at, you see. And do the whole heartless-stopping thing. It's my mission!"

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
This Fourteen person is exceptionally confusing. "There are no Heartless here to my knowledge." Souji replies. "If that changes you can be notified through a method of your choice."

The Ame-no-Torfune draws closer to the Great Span. "In the meantime, please disembark. I have to continue on to Alexander Academy and I am in danger of running behind schedule." He froens faintly. "I do not run behind schedule."

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion nods solemnly. "Oh! I'm sorry. I don't want you to have to deny what you are on account of me." She replies, before hopping off the Intensely-Weeb-Name to land on the Great Span in a crouch, standing back up and waving at Souji Murasame. "Maybe next time you can tell me about Dark Knights. I'm apparently one!" She grins, before there is a sworl of darkness about her, and she is consumed by it and gone.

    She leaves not a trace! Poof.