The Chaos of Equestria

Ferrous stepped back from a small stream of blood on the ground flowing from the bobcat that Dusk had drove a blade into. He began to feel slightly light-headed from the sight of the blood, but he tried to retain his composure as he looked around to see if there was anymore bobcats.

(Dusk, you completely aimed at the wrong location...)

Linguz wrote:A bobcat scrambles out of the burning brush on fire and dies several meters away. Following the crash of the jar, Dusk hears something directly behind and above him, a sound that made him think that it was leaping somewhere... at him maybe? The rest of the group gets distracted by a third bobcat rushing across the trail to get on the other side of them.

(I never stated that there was a bobcat in the clearing and then you followed up by godmoding all our characters to look shocked. Please refrain from killing enemies that don't exist and controlling our characters, even if it's just our emotions and reactions. The reason I stated that you thought it was leaping at you was so you understood that it was trying to attack you. I'll play along with it this one time. Also, we were on a trail away from said clearing.)

As the second bobcat died, the third ran away deeper into the forest. The growling and all other sounds stop and do not start for another several minutes is what tells you that.

Gizmo looks over the group. "Let's get out of here before we meet up with any other creature, shall we?" He began to make his way further away from the clearing that was far behind them. Within the hour, the group stumbles out of the forest onto a plain. In the direction that they're headed, one can see a thin beam of light emanating from a far away structure. "That's our first destination. We have to stop the beam which powers the shield around their leader's hall."

(Sorry. I misread portions of what was written there and thought you were referring to the sound of the jar crashing. As for the "godmoding", the reactions were of shock but not specific to any kind of shock, so it was very open to indiviual interperitation, and I mixed up "trail" and "clearing". Big whoop. Don't get your shorts in a knot because of a few mistakes, nobody's perfect. I would appreciate if I weren't being targeted for judgement, I get more than enough of that in real life.)

Dusk followed along, looking at the spire of light coming from the generator.

As Ferrous walked with everpony he turned to look at Gizmo.

"So the beam of light is powering the shield?", he asked, pondering what would happen if you bypassed the generator and just blocked the beam of light.

(@Shadefire: Sorry, but there was nobody else who missed it so I have to make it a point. If I did not take you, the first one to commit an error, and instead took the second person, they would see it as me favoring you and not caring about your mistakes.)

Gizmo pondered Ferrous's question for a second before answering, "Yes and no. The beam of light is transferring the energy from the generator to the center, what used to be Canterlot, which then uses that energy to power the shield. We need to stop the generator to weaken the shield, and then when all four are down, the shield will vanish."

Melody followed Gizmo and started to slowly discharge the ball of music she had created for combat for her own enjoyment while they traveled. "What kind of idiot places the power source outside the defense?"
---
Toaster's toaster remained piping hot for several minutes after spitting flames - so he quickly reached into his saddlebags and jammed bread into his kitchen appliance to take advantage of the situation. He continued to munch on toast even now, an hour later. "The smart kind of villain! Ruling the world wouldn't be no fun unless someone tried to fight back and no one would fight back if they knew that there was no way in at all! Plus raising the stakes makes any game better."

Ferrous continued walking along.
"How many generators are there?" He asked, "And wouldn't the enemy know of our presence as soon as we take down the first?"

"There are four generators, according to Gizmo," said Dusk, turning to Ferrous as he walked along. [i]"As for your second question, if we take the generator out quickly and without being noticed, we won't have to worry about pursuit."

Gizmo answered their questions in turn, "The kind of idiot who uses the life force of the world to power his shield. The generators need to be placed far from the castle so they can leech life from the world and send it over."

He turned to look at Sky Cloud. "You're with us. As for the reason that you crash landed, I have no idea."

He nodded at Dusk's response of the generators. "They'll know of our presence the moment we make the first strike. They won't know where we'll strike next, though. All that will mean is increased caution which can be used to help us. The longer they stay awake watching for us, the more tired they'll get."

He finally glanced over at Dusk. "As for your final comment, I doubt we'll be able to take it out quickly or without being noticed. We'll just have to remove pursuers as they come."

He spoke louder, to the entire group, "Any other questions?"

Ferrous raised his hoof.
"One last question," he said, "Well not really a question. When there is one generator left, they'll know where we'll strike. Which means they could set an ambush there. It's not an immediate concern, but still."

Gizmo put a hoof to his chin to think about Ferrous's concern. After a minute, he looked up. "I'll have to think about it. I'm not sure what we'll have or even who we'll be left with when we get to that point, so I can't really make a plan there yet." He looked forward and pulled out a single screw, aiming it at the generator in the distance. "But for now, we should try to get there without incident. Sneak in if possible and get to the center as fast as possible." He put away the drill and took off towards the generator.

Ferrous began following Gizmo, but, as is usually the case, he hit a rock right when he began forward, causing him to not only land flat on his face but to flip over onto his back.

Sky looked over to Ferrous and walked over to help him up. "Are you ok?"