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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Grayven is a complete troll. He likes to argue goe the sake of it or just to rile people up. He cant resist getting reactions out of people. He did it to Robin and KF plenty early on, and it was part of what tortured him when he was anti-lifed.

Unfortunately that experience didnt break him out of it completely. True to habit he still slips back into it when someone pisses him off. Or if he is bored.

I actually think that the Sheeda ordeal has definitely caused him to regress a bit.
I mean to the degree and frequency he's been doing it since the Sheeda arc (I'm glad you noticed the same time of being more frequent) which seems like when he was relying on his divinity more.

Paul and the other versions do it too, but Grayven post Sheeda does it with nearly every single conversation.
 
I mean to the degree and frequency he's been doing it since the Sheeda arc (I'm glad you noticed the same time of being more frequent) which seems like when he was relying on his divinity more.

Paul and the other versions do it too, but Grayven post Sheeda does it with nearly every single conversation.

Yeah, when he was in Sheeda land he was using his divine nature more than ever, so it makes sense.
 
Workhorse (supplementary, Renegade Option)
27th September 2012
08:14 GMT -7


"In here."

The ziggurat we just climbed up is… Actually kind of unimpressive. There are no vine-covered houses abandoned due to some natural disaster surrounding it, no piles of dust where the people failed to outrun a pyroclastic flow. It's just kind of there, far enough up the valley wall to plant itself over a spring whose waters flow into the Basin proper but not so far up as to be easily visible.

Parts of the stonework have clearly been corroded by time, but in other places I see where someone has been making repairs. Not poor quality by any means, but noticeably of a different age to the slabs around it.

The fires in the braziers are obviously fairly recent, given that several large cats are curled up around them.

"Those are Ahuizotl's cats!"

I glance at Rainbow Dash, then at the diminutive example of felix catus currently licking its rear left leg. It raises its head for a moment to look at me, then returns industriously to its licking.

"Good show. Ah, Chief Grain Store, I've been wondering. You've got all these marvellous stone buildings, but you live in small huts. What's up with that?"

"Many generations ago, we began expanding outside of the Basin into lands where it was easier to farm. Then there was a civil war, and most of the survivors decided to make their homes in the new lands. And… Honestly, living in a home that is filled with death traps is not a pleasant way to spend time."

Rainbow Dash squints. "Why don't you just, y'know, turn them off?"

"They wouldn't be very good traps if you could just 'turn them off'. And even if you could, you would end up walking half way down a corridor and then thinking to yourself, 'Did I remember to turn it off this morning?'. And then you'd turn it off but you did turn it off that morning and now you've turned it on."

One of his bodyguards nods sombrely.

"And then there is the seepage. They were great buildings in their day, but only a few people would want to live there now."

I frown. "Okay, but if everyone else left, why are you still here?"

"These are some of the greatest monuments our people ever created. We still live here so that we can protect them and maintain them. Each tribe spends a year here on rotation, and tend their own lands the rest of the time."

"How many of you ponies are there?"

"Why would I tell you?"

Makes sense. Despite what modern Equestrian myth-making would have its citizens believe, there's no obvious reason why all of the ponies fleeing Ponyland would have gone in the same direction.

Grain Store trots up the steps to the small room at the top and knocks his left forehoof against the stone.

"Guardian Ahuizotl! Guests!"

The curtain serving as the chamber door is pulled aside in an instant, and the large black and blue baboon-looking creature stands proudly in the doorway.

Except that his left eye isn't quite focusing. And his tail-hand has a plaster cast with several decorative hoofprints on it. And while his fur covers it up fairly well, I can see patches of stuck-together fur where he's been cut and the wound has scabbed over. And his stance is lopsided where he's trying not to put too much weight on his left hand.

Whatever he is, he clearly doesn't come with accelerated healing.

He grins, taking a deep breath, presumably preparing to launch into some great villainous diatribe. Those are always fun, and I've been on both sides in my day. Then he sees something and deflates slightly.

"Chief Grain Store. Why are our 'guests' not tied up?"

"Because they're guests. Not… 'Guests'."

"Oh. Well, what do they-?" He blinks, then walks past Grain Store and towards myself and Rainbow Dash. "What do you want?"

I smile. "It has been brought to my attention that far from being a respectable archaeologist, Daring Do is in fact a serial antiquities thief who should face the full force of the law. I was interested to see if you would be willing to provide testimony for the investigators and eventually in court."

Ahuizotl stares at me for a moment. Then he blinks in confusion.

"What do you want?"

Ah, concussion. I nod, and a purple ray drone materialises behind him and shoots him with a purple healing beam. Grain Store takes a step back in surprise, but Ahuizotl himself blinks and starts to stand up a little straighter. Then he focuses on us.

"The blue one! You dare to face me?!"

"Ah, yeah, look, I've…"

"To the piranha pit!"

Grain Store shakes his head. "We don't have one. It was in the Fortress, and..."

"Oh. Crocodile pit?"

Miss Dash flies up to hover in front of him. "No pits! Look, it… It sounds like Daring Do was basically just stealing a bunch of stuff from your old buildings or whatever-" Ahuizotl's mouth falls open slightly and he stares at Miss Dash. "-but I still wanna know why you threatened everypony with eight hundred years of scorching heat."

Ahuizotl twists his head to the side.

"If I could actually bring about eight hundred years of scorching heat, don't you think I'd have done it by now?"

"Wait. So you-? It wouldn't have brought about eight hundred years-."

"No! I just had a great idea. What if rather than stealing all of the Tenochtitlan Basin's greatest treasures, I just make up a story about a fake one, make a pile of rings out of cheap stone and paint it gold and then put it somewhere where I can trap her! If she didn't take the bait then I wouldn't really lose anything, if she did then maybe I finally get her. At worst, she gets a worthless fake."

Miss Dash blinks in confusion.

"But… The whole Fortress collapsed."

"Yes." He nods sadly. "Seepage. It's very bad. The ancient ponies who lived in these lands built many remarkable buildings but knew basically nothing about drainage."

"So they couldn't control the sun?"

"Of course not. How would a-? They were made of chalk. I'm surprised they didn't fall apart when you picked them up."

Miss Dash opens her mouth to complain, then drops to stand on the stone surface of the ziggurat. Perhaps not entirely clear what she would be complaining about.

I take a step closer. "Mister Ahuizotl, would you be willing to detail all of Daring Do's thefts? I intend to lean on the Equestrian government to charge her criminally for her actions. Would you be prepared to testify?"

"She will be put in prison?"

"Yes, and the artefacts she stole will be returned and I imagine that Princess Celestia will want to establish some sort of regular government contact to prevent this sort of thing from happening again."

"Will there be piranha in this prison?"

"Probably not."

"Crocodiles?"

"No. No crocodiles. But how long has a crocodile actually been able to keep hold of her?"

Ahuizotl mutters to himself indecisively for a moment.

"I will testify. But can I be there when she is arrested?"

I nod. "I believe that we can make that happen."
 
Last edited:
They wouldn't be very good traps if you could just 'turn them off'. And even if you could, you would end up walking half way down a corridor and then thinking to yourself, 'Did I remember to turn it off this morning?'. And then you'd turn it off but you did turn it off that morning and now you've turned it on."

One of his bodyguards nods sombrely.

I'm getting the feeling that they've done that before.

How many of you ponies are there?"

'your ponies'

Gran Store takes a step back in surprise

'Grain Store'

If I could actually bring about eight hundred years of scorching heat, don't you think I'd have done it by now

Not unless you didn't want to do it before, or somehow couldn't do it before.

wouldn't really lost anything,

'really lose'

ponies who lived in these lands build many remarkable

'built'

"Will there be piranha in this prison?"

"Probably not."

"Crocodiles?"

"No. No crocodiles

Not unless they're sapient and are either prisoners or work there.
 
"No! I just had a great idea. What if rather than stealing all of the Tenochtitlan Basin's greatest treasures, I just make up a story about a fake one, make a pile of rings out of cheap stone and paint it gold and then put it somewhere where I can trap her! If she didn't take the bait then I wouldn't really lose anything, if she did then maybe I finally get her. At worst, she gets a worthless fake."
Yea... That's not what happened at all...



I nod. "I believe that we can make that happen."
Just as long as you also bring them in for false imprisonment and attempted murder.
 
27th September 2012
08:14 GMT -7


"In here."

The ziggurat we just climbed up is… Actually kind of unimpressive. There are no vine-covered houses abandoned due to some natural disaster surrounding it, no piles of dust where the people failed to outrun a pyroclastic flow. It's just kind of there, far enough up the valley wall to plant itself over a spring whose waters flow into the Basin proper but not so far up as to be easily visible.
It's amazing how different a 'lost city'-type location can seem when it's not actually lost, isn't it? At least those that remain today in our world are generally being cared for now... Or at least not being damaged any further by tourism and thievery...

Parts of the stonework have clearly been corroded by time, but in other places I see where someone has been making repairs. Not poor quality by any means, but noticeably of a different age to the slabs around it.

The fires in the braziers are obviously fairly recent, given that several large cats are curled up around them.
It must have taken quite the horepower to bring fresh stones in. Still, Earth Ponies are anything but weak.

"Those are Ahuizotl's cats!"

I glance at Rainbow Dash, then at the diminutive example of felix catus currently licking its rear left leg. It raises its head for a moment to look at me, then returns industriously to its licking.
Ah, such a classically feline reaction. 'Is it food? No? Then go away, I is grooming.'

"Good show. Ah, Chief Grain Store, I've been wondering. You've got all these marvellous stone buildings, but you live in small huts. What's up with that?"

"Many generations ago, we began expanding outside of the Basin into lands where it was easier to farm. Then there was a civil war, and most of the survivors decided to make their homes in the new lands. And… Honestly, living in a home that is filled with death traps is not a pleasant way to spend time."
It would certainly be a very nervous habitation, certainly...

Rainbow Dash squints. "Why don't you just, y'know, turn them off?"

"They wouldn't be very good traps if you could just 'turn them off'. And even if you could, you would end up walking half way down a corridor and then thinking to yourself, 'Did I remember to turn it off this morning?'. And then you'd turn it off but you did turn it off that morning and now you've turned it on."

One of his bodyguards nods sombrely.
Heh, experience speaks, eh?

"And then there is the seepage. They were great buildings in their day, but only a few people would want to live there now."

I frown. "Okay, but if everyone else left, why are you still here?"
Let me guess, they're caretakers?

"These are some of the greatest monuments our people ever created. We still live here so that we can protect them and maintain them. Each tribe spends a year here on rotation, and tend their own lands the rest of the time."

"How many of you ponies are there?"

"Why would I tell you?"
Dude's got a point. He doesn't know you from Adam. Though it would be interesting to learn there are dozens of tribes, all in a loose confederation.

Makes sense. Despite what modern Equestrian myth-making would have its citizens believe, there's no obvious reason why all of the ponies fleeing Ponyland would have gone in the same direction.

Grain Store trots up the steps to the small room at the top and knocks his left forehoof against the stone.
Which begs the question, are there other such splinter groups out there? How many of the other pony nations we've heard of were once such a group? Saddle Arabia, for example? The Zebra lands of Farasi, that Zecora came from?

"Guardian Ahuizotl! Guests!"

The curtain serving as the chamber door is pulled aside in an instant, and the large black and blue baboon-looking creature stands proudly in the doorway.
It's amazing how diverse the sophont species of 'Wilson' can be...

Except that his left eye isn't quite focusing. And his tail-hand has a plaster cast with several decorative hoofprints on it. And while his fur covers it up fairly well, I can see patches of stuck-together fur where he's been cut and the wound has scabbed over. And his stance is lopsided where he's trying not to put too much weight on his left hand.

Whatever he is, he clearly doesn't come with accelerated healing.
Well, there's a possible way to curry favour: healing time!

He grins, taking a deep breath, presumably preparing to launch into some great villainous diatribe. Those are always fun, and I've been on both side in my day. Then he sees something and deflates slightly.

"Chief Grain Store. Why are our 'guests' not tied up?"
Aw, he probably had lots of pent-up monologuing to get out of his system...

"Because they're guests. Not… 'Guests'."

"Oh. Well, what do they-?" He blinks, then walks passed Grain Store and towards myself and Rainbow Dash. "What do you want?"
The subtle, gear-gnashing shift between 'gloating captor' and 'patient diplomat'... Always amusing to see.

I smile. "It has been brought to my attention that far from being a respectable archaeologist, Daring Do is in fact a serial antiquities thief who should face the full force of the law. I was interested to see if you would be willing to provide testimony for the investigators and eventually in court."

Ahuizotl stares at me for a moment. Then he blinks in confusion.
No, you are not dreaming, my boy. Someone actually wants to hear your side of things.

"What do you want?"

Ah, concussion. I nod, and a purple ray drone materialises behind him and shoots him with a purple healing beam. Gran Store takes a step back in surprise, but Ahuizotl himself blinks and starts to stand up a little straighter. Then he focuses on us.
Oooh... Well, that explains a bit. Now, can we start over from the 'Welcome, Guests!' line, please? :p

"The blue one! You dare to face me?!"

"Ah, yeah, look, I've…"
Oh, yeah. Should have expected that reaction.

"To the piranha pit!"

Grain Store shakes his head. "We don't have one. It was in the Fortress, and..."
...I hope the piranhas made it out safely. Then again, they got in there somehow...

"Oh. Crocodile pit?"

Miss Dash flies up to hover in front of him. "No pits! Look, it… It sounds like Daring Do was basically just stealing a bunch of stuff from your old buildings or whatever-" Ahuizotl's mouth falls open slightly and he stares at Miss Dash. "-but I still wanna know why you threatened everypony with eight hundred years of scorching heat."
Hmm... Stunned shock, or the build-up to apoplectic rage? You decide!

Ahuizotl twists his head to the side.

"If I could actually bring about eight hundred years of scorching heat, don't you think I'd have done it by now?"
:confused: ...Wait, what?

"Wait. So you-? It wouldn't have brought about eight hundred years-."

"No! I just had a great idea. What if rather than stealing all of the Tenochtitlan Basin's greatest treasures, I just make up a story about a fake one, make a pile of rings out of cheap stone and paint it gold and then put it somewhere where I can trap her! If she didn't take the bait then I wouldn't really lost anything, if she did then maybe I finally get her. At worst, she gets a worthless fake."
...Well, so much for getting Celestia a gift of a few days off. Still, remarkably clever for the old fellow.

Miss Dash blinks in confusion.

"But… The whole Fortress collapsed."

"Yes." He nods sadly. "Seepage. It's very bad. The ancient ponies who lived in these lands build many remarkable buildings but knew basically nothing about drainage."
Fun fact: Tenochtitlan, for which their location is named, was built in an island in a swampy lake. Naturally, the weight of the larger structures caused gradual subsidence and collapses, so it isn't that far-fetched here either.

"So they couldn't control the sun?"

"Of course not. How would a-? They were made of chalk. I'm surprised they didn't fall apart when you picked them up."
...Well, that answers the question of how they could fly with them. :p

Miss Dash opens her mouth to complain, then drops to stand on the stone surface of the ziggurat. Perhaps not entirely clear what she would be complaining about.

I take a step closer. "Mister Ahuizotl, would you be willing to detail all of Daring Do's thefts? I intent to lean on the Equestrian government to charge her criminally for her actions. Would you be prepared to testify?"
Good idea. Change the subject, before Rainbow Dash has a total Blue Screen of Death moment.

"She will be put in prison?"

"Yes, and the artefacts she stole will be returned and I imagine that Princess Celestia will want to establish some sort of regular government contact to prevent this sort of thing from happening again."
I pity the diplomats who gets stuck working this area. Sweltering heat and balmy humidity, an ever-changing parade of tribal chiefs, unfriendly wildlife... :p Never mind the mosquitoes!

"Will there be piranha in this prison?"

"Probably not."
Only as pets, maybe? Unless the warden has dreams of Bond Villainy?

"Crocodiles?"

"No. No crocodiles. But how long has a crocodile actually been able to keep hold of her?"
He has a point. Heroic Archaeologists like that tend to be slippery devils.

Ahuizotl mutter to himself indecisively for a moment.

"I will testify. But can I be there when she is arrested?"

I nod. "I believe that we can make that happen."
Wonder if they can arrange for it to be done on his birthday? :V Because that would be one hell of a gift!

Well, that went... Surprisingly well. I suppose he could have pointed out to Ahuizotl that Dash was basically an elite mook for Daring Do... x3 Imagine the Mane Six' reactions to being considered henchponies? Pity about the whole 'controlling the sun' idea not panning out, but there's always other ancient super-weapons that can be turned to good. At any rate, back to OL tomorrow. Wonder what he's been up to...
 
Just as long as you also bring them in for false imprisonment and attempted murder.

Sigh... They're not in Equestria, so talking of 'false' imprisonment implies that you deny their government any legitimacy. That's a slippery slope.

Following that it would not be Murder but Execution... of a foreign national, which complicates the issue, granted. The lack of trial somewhat bothers my delicate modern sensibilities too.

On the other hand, from Azuihotl's testimony, Daring Do could offer a defense of 'intent to thwart evil plot(s) of the accuser, based on information provided by said accuser'. I could see the Equestrian justice system having precedents on that. :D
 
Sigh... They're not in Equestria, so talking of 'false' imprisonment implies that you deny their government any legitimacy. That's a slippery slope.

Following that it would not be Murder but Execution... of a foreign national, which complicates the issue, granted. The lack of trial somewhat bothers my delicate modern sensibilities too.

On the other hand, from Azuihotl's testimony, Daring Do could offer a defense of 'intent to thwart evil plot(s) of the accuser, based on information provided by said accuser'. I could see the Equestrian justice system having precedents on that. :D
There are enough ambiguities that if Daring Do lawyers up quickly she might be able to get all charges dismissed. But she would have to lawyer up quickly.
 
The lack of trial somewhat bothers my delicate modern sensibilities too.
I'm usually inclined to agree, but if the monarch in charge of judging and sentencing for a crime is an active participant in trying to thwart your crime... It's kind of like jumping across the bench to try to stab the judge in your trial. Yeah, Guilty.
 
This was a real sudden turn about on Derring-do. I'm really not sure if he is just playing a sympathetic ear with Azhoul and the town to get info, or really believes what he is saying. Good writing?
 
The one flaw in her scheme: writing a best-selling book series detailing her crimes.
All the books detailing how he was doing something horrible to somebody without good reason beyond general villainous reasons like he can hit people with 800 years unrelenting heat so he shall?
The ponies believing the seepage is one thing. But how do you explain Daring Do knowing the fortress would fall precisely as the last largest ring was removed? Almost like she did her research on a real artifact that only Ahxiotal would be old enough to know about.
If it was fake, then that was great timing on the seepage part, given he left her to die after pulling a rope that released water into the building...from what looks like a small drainage tunnel meant to let the water in. Seepage so bad the engineering team built tunnels to make it worse.
Ya know? Pulling that rope to let the water in a building with terrible seepage...if I didn't know better I'd think it's like he didn't care about preservation of his people's culture or something.

Edit: :eek: or he could be lying? Lying to his people and others. Yeah might be that.
 
Once again, twisting the setting beyond recognition so the SI can be 'correct'.

I intend to lean on the Equestrian government to charge her criminally for her actions.
Why should equestria care about alleged crimes that occur in what is apparently a foreign country? A foreign country that cannot even be bothered to announce its existence and that 'warns' people they are entering its territory with lethal traps.
 
Once again, twisting the setting beyond recognition so the SI can be 'correct'.

Very true.

Why should equestria care about alleged crimes that occur in what is apparently a foreign country? A foreign country that cannot even be bothered to announce its existence and that 'warns' people they are entering its territory with lethal traps.

They may care about it since it could be possible that their laws could be against an individual stealing from others, even if it happened in another country.

It's also possible that Daring Do gave the artifacts to people in Equestria and their laws forbid trafficking in stolen goods.

Plus they may just want to have good diplomatic relations with them that they'd be willing to hand over someone that stole something from them.
 
The one flaw in her scheme: writing a best-selling book series detailing her crimes.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

So she'll need to print out a new edition with that on the cover quickly AND lawyer up quickly.

Not looking good for her
 
At least is not puppy kicking?

Also... no criminal charges for homicide attempts?
If someone habitually breaks into your property and steals from you can you be charged with attempted murder to get them to stop? Also, I don't know pony laws regarding theft/assault so it could be a crime.
 
Thank you, corrected.
Can we hear from Warhammer Fantasy Paul? I miss the adventures in converting druchi and Brettonian peasants to the Orange and nation building...
I'll try and come up with something.
If someone habitually breaks into your property and steals from you can you be charged with attempted murder to get them to stop? Also, I don't know pony laws regarding theft/assault so it could be a crime.
I'm honestly not sure that Equestria has precedence as part of its legal system. When you consider the apparently arbitrary differences between the treatment of Discord and Starlight on one hand and Cozy Glow on the other, I'm of the opinion that rulings might be made on a case by case basis.
 
Mr Zoat, is Supergirl 666 still being kept on Earth 16, or has she been brought home now that the demonic influence on the planet has been removed?
 

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