[MLP] Roleplaying is Magic IC: The Broken Road.

[One Tin Soldier]

Grease Spot trotted out of the train car, carrying one last collection of supplies to be loaded onto the sled. "I thought it was best to load as much as we can onto the sled. We don't know for sure what kinds of food or water we'll find out there."

She purposefully placed the bags onto the sled, trying to arrange them so that they wouldn't fall off later. Once she was satisfied with the balance, she walked around to the front of the sled, beginning to fasten the makeshift harness.

"Everypony double check what you're bringing. If you're not sure whether or not something will be useful, bring it. We can always dump weight if you bring too much, but we don't want to come back if we don't have to."

For her part, Grease had brought all of the usual tools her saddlebags contained. Her suggestion about weight was partially a justification not to leave any of her tools behind. Every single one of them had been useful to her in the past, and she couldn't bear to just leave them behind, especially if they might be useful in the future.

The same saddlebags also contained the Ambassador's journal, protected from harm and sight in a large, clean pocket. Once Rinda had taken over watching over him, Grease had returned to her original sleeper cabin to rest and retrieve anything she might have left there. Between the heat and the general stress of the situation, she had quickly abandoned the idea of sleep, choosing instead to read through the journal. She felt a little guilty about reading before asking him, but it was a welcome distraction from thinking about home, and the insight into his character could help calm him down if he woke up in a panic like before.

The large suitcase that she had carried on to the train the night before, on the other hoof, remained in the train with most of its contents. It had been filled with a variety of Hearth's Warming presents for her family. While they were the practical sort of gift that she usually gave (with the exception of a bottle of joke wine for Berry), none of them would be of any remote use away from civilization, so she left them behind. Getting back in one piece will have to be gift enough.

[Balmas]

Dive Bomb's eyes narrowed as he stared after the fleeing stone, and he made as if to start after it. However, the earth pony spoke too soon, and he winced. Science, or... What were these ponies to him right now? Friends? Companions? Aides in survival?

He shrugged, looking longingly at the glowing group of stones. "West seems like the logical direction," he said. After thinking about it in between faulty naps, he'd come to a conclusion. "It has shelter, and possibly water farther on." Water was truly the crucial thing; with only two days water, he'd even considered visiting the local sand lizard. But, if they could make that water stretch, maybe they'd make the other oasis. It meant that he'd have less time than he liked to do archaeology, but he could make that sacrifice for survival. And hey, the ruins would still be here should he come back.

However, those stones were still very tempting. Maybe if he could grab all the stones together, they'd all stay together? "One minute," he said, giving in and trotting away from the assembled ponies. He returned a minute later, carrying the group of stones in his arms, before dropping it to the ground.

[BlasTech]

Sure enough, no sooner had Dive Bomb dropped the stones on the ground then they started rolling back towards where he'd taken them from. Like a group of large, dust coloured bugs, they returned to their nest, piling back on top of one another in the process.

When they came to a stop, the light purple glow that they'd had vanished and they looked as they once had; a pile of ordinary rocks about the size of a pony's midsection. After a moment they began to glow again, except this time the colour was an angry red. The glow was not uniform either, it appeared on only some of the rocks, snaking and twisting along the sides like slug-trails, or perhaps some ancient cuneiform script.

[One Tin Soldier]

Grease froze in the middle of securing the harness, her thoughts interrupted by the results of Dive Bomb's experiment.

"Dive Bomb, what's that?" she asked, her voice carefully measured.

[Ravian]

Soot sprang up from her spot in the shade of the train. "Finally!" she shouted as she sook a bit of sand from her coat "Sweet Celestia I thought I was going to go insane staring at sand all day." she trotted over to where Crown Cork was sketching his sunset. "Let's go Corky." she looked over his shoulder at the sketch "Nice," she said obviously impressed "This going on a bottlecap when we get back?" if we get back... the pessimistic voice in her head reminded her before she pushed it back to the corner where it had been hiding.

[Balmas]

Why did she have to ask that question? Dive Bomb hemmed and hawwed as he prodded at the now glowing red stones, before looking back at her. "Don't know," he said, gritting his teeth. "I wish I could study them more. Maybe a side-effect of the teleportation spell that got us here?" Oh, he was definitely coming back. This place was too interesting to leave be.

He sighed with frustration. Why couldn't he just stay here and study? Everything was so new, so interesting! Hay, why did he have a bloody dictionary on his flank if not to record knowledge? Why wouldn't the world cooperate, for once?

It wasn't based off the stones position in relation to each other, he could see that. They were drawn to that location, but why? He moved over and shoved a red-glowing stone to the side so he could start digging beneath the rock formation.

[BlasTech]

This time, the rock resisted being moved. It pushed back against Dive Bomb with surprising strength, attempting to return to its original position.

[DC 10 strength check to push it away again]

As it did so, noise blared out from the rock-pile. Harsh and flat, it echoed off the nearby dunes like an old megaphone:

"Waarskuwing. Waarskuwing. Enige verdere pogings om toegang te kry tot hierdie eenheid sal 'n vyandige reaksie aangaan."

The words, they were undoubtably words, accompanied a strobing of the red script on the rock pile. The sound faded, and the rock pile settled back to its normal glow. Everything was still once more, particularly since everyone else on the dune had frozen in place at the sudden and unexpected shattering of the nightime peace.

"What. The. Hay. Was. That?" Said Rinda, turning to look over towards Dive Bomb.

[One Tin Soldier]

Grease stared even harder at the pile, her mouth hanging open. That can't be a remnant of the teleport spell, she thought. Can it? Whatever it was, I didn't recognize the language.

Spoiler

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Mind check to identify just what the hay is going on here.
Mind 5 + Magical Theory 3 (if applicable)
10+5=15, 18 if Magical Theory is applicable.

"What in the name of Celestia's unshorn fetlocks..."

[BlasTech]

It was clear something magical was going on here. But what exactly it was, could not be determined from where Grease Spot stood.

Was the script a message? Rune paths? Animated rock?. There's only so much you can make out without going in for a look with tools. Still, there was something vaguely familiar about it all.

[A mind check might be possible, but not from where you're standing. Also you need to give me a bit more to go on than just "find out what the hay is going on" before I can properly set up a task check here Magical theory would be applicable though.]

[Balmas]

"By the great storm formations of Orion..." What the hay was that? Dive Bomb gingerly removed his hoof; something strange was at work. Well, stranger than being sent hundreds of miles out of their way by a giant flaming teleport spell. His hoof seemed alright; it was just a weird rock. The notebook came out, seemingly from nowhere, and he attempted to record what he had heard: "Waarskewing, enige..."

With that done, he stared at the offending pile of rocks, cracked his neck and the joints of his forelimbs, and dove in. His wings beat furiously as he strove to get the rocks out of the way.

Spoiler

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Body check +3

(1d20+3)[17]

[One Tin Soldier]

Unable to determine anything from where she stood, Grease removed the harness and approached the pile of rocks. Now that she was closer, she could see the strange patterns of the magic swirling around the rocks. They almost seemed to resemble writing of some sort, and given the strange message it had given that might even be the case. Though what that message might be was lost to her.

She watched in curiosity and worry as the colt dove into the pile. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish? That magic might be dangerous."

[Balmas]

"There may be something attracting the rocks to this spot," he explained around a mouthful of sand. "I intend to see if there's anything under here. I have to know what is going on. I have to know!"

[BlasTech]

Dive Bomb's hooves hit something solid. Brushing the last of the desert away, he looked down with bated breath as the sands revealed ... another rock.

A different rock.

Whereas the others did not look out of place in the desert environment, this one was worn smooth and marbled, like a river stone, with small rivulets of red light. There was only a moment for Grease and Dive Bomb to exult in the thrill of their new discovery before the red coloured magics flared again.

The ground rumbled, the entire dune shook.

"Uh ... guys?" said Igneous, from back near the train. "Are dunes supposed to do that?"

The rock began to move. Dive Bomb and Grease had a few moments to scramble back as it broke free from the ground, sand streaming off in midnight waterfalls.

"Forget the dune, are rocks meant to do that?!" Iggy continued.

More rocks floated free on the same red-purple magic - swirling around the larger river rock, settling into position beneath it in four long limbs. The original rock pile flared to life, floating up above, forming the head. It looked almost equine, but the proportions were off. The nose too long, the snout too thin.

Twin pinpricks of red light, like a pair of nightmare fireflies, snapped into existence at the front of the not-pony face. Now fully assembled, and just shy of twice their height, the rocks towered over Grease and Dive Bomb.

"Hou die dief" The rock-monster growled, its voice a proclamation of doom, those angry red eyes looking down in disapproval.

[DC15 courage check to resist 3 points of courage damage, -2 penalty for night time. Save limits to one. Dive Bomb and Grease Spot are at an additional -2 penalty due to proximity.]

[Cinematic mode is engaged.]

EDIT: @v: Hah, ninja'd by the rock-monster!

[One Tin Soldier]

The mare glanced back toward the assembled creatures and supplies. They really did need to get going. There was only so far they could walk in a night, and they needed to get moving. She considered telling Dive Bomb to forget it and get moving.

...But, on the other hoof, the pegasus seemed really determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, and would likely resist any attempts to force him to leave before he was done. It would be fastest and most effective to just help him with his investigation.

Besides, it was interesting, and whatever information it had to offer might be useful. After all, it wasn't there for no reason.

"So you think there's something under the sand here?"

* * * * *

Spoiler

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Courage 8, -4 penalty for night and closeness
15+8-4=19
Grease is now at 7 Courage.

Just she moved to assist Dive Bomb in his digging, the ground shook under her hooves. She scrambled back away from the disruption as the rocks formed themselves into the vaguely equine shape. Its glowing red eyes stared down at her from above, striking fear in her heart. And then it spoke.

She may not have understood the words, but the meaning wasn't difficult to guess at.

"Move!" she yelled at Dive Bomb, bumping him with her shoulder before running past him, up the dune and away from the group with the supplies and the injured gryphon.

[Balmas]

Well, fat lot of good that did you! Look at the fancy rocks, you said! They might be magic! Of course it's bloody magic! The analytical part of Dive Bomb's mind warred with the sarcastic, sensible part much in the same way that instincts varied between Flight-or-flight-even-faster. Right now, Flight-even-faster was winning.

Look, just shut up, both of you! He needed his powers of perception right now.

"...Yes, I think there might be something under the sand there." He cringed, staring up at into the glowing, red eyes. His wings flared and locked in fright.

Spoiler

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Roll to resist stupidity: +6 courage, -2 darkness, -2 proximity.

(1d20+2)[17]

What do you mean, Save limits to one? Like, no rerolls, or only +1 bonus?

Also, how dare you make a trap that he couldn't resist? Well done, you.

The pegasus gulped, and followed the earth pony mare. "I'm sorry!" he cried, pausing to stuff his notebook in his bag before tearing off behind her.

[TheAmishPirate]

Soot sprang up from her spot in the shade of the train. "Finally!" she shouted as she sook a bit of sand from her coat "Sweet Celestia I thought I was going to go insane staring at sand all day." she trotted over to where Crown Cork was sketching his sunset. "Let's go Corky." she looked over his shoulder at the sketch "Nice," she said obviously impressed "This going on a bottlecap when we get back?" if we get back... the pessimistic voice in her head reminded her before she pushed it back to the corner where it had been hiding.

"My name is still Crown Cork, thank you very much," the young businesspony replied huffily. Hearing his pet name coming from such a filly was...disturbing at best. How had she divined that same, loving title his special somepony had seen fit to bestow upon him? Regardless, the praise was an effective and quick balm to his dignity. "Yes, I do believe this would go well with a dark, cherry soda. Perhaps with a sprinkling of vanilla, or some other twinkling flavor. Of course, I do have to paint it later." And paint he would; should the memory dare to fade, he could always look up and see the stars here.

***************************************

The joy of discover; only such a fundamental thrill because of the inherant risk. Would the cave contain priceless jewels, or a fierce dragon? Would the path lead home, or would you remain lost in the woods? For every roll of the die, there was always that faint chance for disaster.

Today, Lady Luck had chosen to hide her face from them.

Crown stared into the creatures eyes, wanting desperately to run, but some thrilling horror gripped his attention. Who in their lifetime would see such a creature angry? Fewer if you do not hurry! his brain struggled to push him to act.

Spoiler

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Rolling +6 Courage with - 2 for nighttime:
Roll: (1d20+4)[15]

He now has 5 Courage

A last, titanic effort pushed his fascination aside long enough to move his legs. He started to canter off, hoping to follow Miss Spot, but alas, such an action would take him too close to the behemoth. Instead, he cantered off in a different direction, away from the train, the supplies, and the wounded griffon. He shouted, "Flyers! Take to the skies to spot each other once the danger is passed! Be well!" He only wished he could direct the ponies further, but time was not on their side.

[Ravian]

Soot worked to steady herself as the dune shook beneath them. She turned towards Dive Bomb and Grease Spot "Why is it that you two are always the ones making things shake?!" she watched in horror as the rock creature began to assemble "What in Tartarus?" she could only whisper as the thing glared at them.

Spoiler

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Courage 7 - 2 nighttime = 5
(1d20+5)[8]

(Soot now has 4 courage)

(since that's the end of the reactive check, Soot's going to make her active check)
As if as some sort of reflex, Soot's fight or flight instincts kicked in, wisely selected flight and attempted to wink the unicorn out of sight.

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Sneak in the shadows spell
(1d20+7)[27]

The instincts apparently knew what they were doing as Soot appeared to cease existing as the illusion wrapped around her like a security blanket. The filly breathed heavily for several moments before regaining some amount of composure.
Huge monster thing. Gotta run. But, the others. So?! Monster! No gotta help.
Soot fearfully began to sneak towards the creature, trying to circle around it.

[BlasTech]

The two guards reacted quickly, but in very different fashions. With a sweep of powerful wings, Rinda took to the air and was soon lost in the starlit ocean of the night sky.

Igneous, meanwhile, took the opportunity to provide a sterling demonstration of an Equestrian guard's courage ... by bolting down the far side of the dune, screaming like a little filly.

The rocks turned in place, red eyes sweeping over the train, tracking the sound of the screams. It seemed to freeze for a moment, considering the sight in front of it, before the stone visage swivelled to follow Dive Bomb and Grease as they fled up sandy slopes.

"Hou de dief!" it repeated, raising a foreleg towards the fleeing ponies.

A pair of stones shot away from its leg on a blaze of blue magic. Like a pair of bola, they twirled away from the rock creature and towards the Pegasus and the Earth Pony.

[DC 15 fortitude check to avoid 3 damage. Save limits to one. DB and Grease only need to make this check, all others have a free action. Thanks to the natural 20 crit on her spell, Soot can approach the creature without the need for another check.]

[Balmas]

Mind racing almost as fast as his wings, Dive Bomb soared over the dunes. Hou de dief? What is that supposed to mean? He mentally rolled over the list of cultures he'd heard of to see if any of them sounded familiar. Maybe it's a friendly greeting? He looked back, and the sight of two glowing blue rocks pursuing them lent more wings to his flight. Definitely not friendly.

Juking and weaving, he attempted to dodge the rocks.

Spoiler

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So, this could be really good or really bad. If I recall correctly, I took a point of fortitude damage caring for the griffon ambassador, which dropped me to three. Hooboy.

(1d20+3)[13]

Dive Bomb is now at zero fortitude and is sidelined.

Dive Bomb grunted as he felt a solid impact at the base of his neck. As his eyes glazed over and his wings faltered, he had just enough time to think, Sorry, Bolt... Then, the rapidly approaching dune wiped away his thoughts.

[TheAmishPirate]

Behind him, the creature rumbled with the voice of a landslide. But the tide of stone receded; the creature wasn't coming for him. Crown glanced to his left and right, and found himself all alone. He had a few precious seconds to think without risk of getting eaten or crushed.

The original plan had failed beyond any shadow of a doubt with the splitting up of the group. Without the two fliers, there would be no way to find each other again. They couldn't wander too far from the train, but they couldn't stay near this monster. They couldn't fight it, so, naturally, they had to placate the beast. But what could a giant beast of rocks possibly want? Then, like a sunbeam through the clouds, inspiration alighted upon him.

"But of course! More rocks!" he exclaimed to the air.

A nice, big rock would surely make amends for Dive Bomb's repeated poking! Brilliant! If it was particularly well-colored, the creature could use it as a new chest-piece. It'd just be like getting a new fancy saddle, who could say no to that? Now he just needed to find an ideal specimen of granite to drag back to the train...

[Crown will be looking for a rock that he can lift/push/otherwise move back to the train. If it helps, he can use his suncloak to wrap around the rock and pull it behind him.]

[One Tin Soldier]

Spoiler

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Fortitude 7
7+6=13
Grease is now at 4 Fortitude (and 7 Courage).

A flying rock struck Grease Spot on the side, causing her to gasp in pain. She looked back to see the behemoth lowering its foreleg, clearly the source of the projectiles. She also saw Dive Bomb collapsed on the ground behind her, another rock lying at his side. She wheeled back towards him and rushed to his side.

"Come on!" she yelled, picking his head up off of the sand. "Come on, get up! It's almost on us!"

Spoiler

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Spending a point of willpower to restore 4 Fortitude to Dive Bomb. (Generosity allows the better of Body and Heart for Second Wind.)

[Ravian]

Soot winced as the two rocks struck Dive Bomb and Grease Spot. Her first instinct was to rush out to them, but this rock-thing seemed the more pressing threat. Hold out a little longer. I'm going to see what I can do about this thing. cautiously she snuck up close to the stone monster, thankful that her spell seemed to be effectively shrouding her from its gaze. What does thing want anyway? Is it guarding something? she studied the creature's movements, hoping to glean some sort of purpose to its actions, whether it was trying to drive ponies away, simply kill them, or what.

Spoiler

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Heart check to try and read its body language to pick out some sort of intent to the creature's actions. Heart 3 + Willpower 6
(1d20+9)[28]
Sensitive trait (1d20+9)[23]

[BlasTech]

The creature lowered its foreleg, apparently satisfied with the results of the magical assault. Shifting its considerable weight in the sand, it began to lumber up the slope to where Dive Bomb lay prone.

[DC 10 body check for Dive Bomb and Grease to outrun its reach. You can sacrifice a point of energy to automatically pass.]

There were several rocks of small to middling size around the train for Cork to locate, but the largest ones seemed to only be in the area around where the creature had emerged. Some of the pieces were of similar colouration and texture to the river-rock that made up its central body, but their jagged edges suggested that they had broken off as it emerged.

A dark blur shot out of the sky as Rinda launched her assault. It was a textbook swooping attack, a strike with beak and talon following the achievement of surprise and height over the enemy.

Unfortunately for her, the monster slipped at just the moment when she would have connected with its head, causing the gryphoness to miss her mark and go barrelling off into the night once more. A startled squawk, followed by a heavy, sandy thud, suggested that her landing had not been as textbook as her previous move.

"Is jy goed?" the creature muttered, looking in the direction Rinda had disappeared. It seemed to weigh its options for a moment before resuming its trek up the dune towards the other two ponies.

[Poor Rinda, rolled a 1 on her attack roll. Ravian, the information Soot was able to glean will be sent via PM]

[Balmas]

Dive Bomb groaned, nursing his neck. Had he just... What happened? The world blurred into focus, revealing the urgent eyes of the older mare... Grease Spot? Yeah, that was her name. Agh, his face hurt... why'd he crash?

Thump.

The severity of their situation returned, along with the sandy sound of rocks rumbling towards them. Eyes wide, he stared at the approaching beast and stated the obvious: "Move!" Putting his advice into practice, he took to the air once more in an effort to escape the grasping claws.

Spoiler

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Body +3.

(1d20+3)[18]

Sure, he felt rotten about leaving the earth pony down there; after all, she couldn't fly like he, but she seemed tough and fast. He winced as the griffoness' battlecry buried itself in the sand.

Wait a minute... He rubbed his ears. Did that thing just ask, "Is she dead?" Did this thing speak Equestrian? But that didn't explain what it had been speaking earlier... Eyes darting left and right, he took in the field and hesitated a moment before diving towards the griffoness. She might need some help.

[TheAmishPirate]

Really? Grab more of the same rocks?

Preposterous! What, next he'll go and pick himself out a coffee-colored saddle, all the better to blend perfectly with his coat and be completely invisible! No, a good rock for this creature must complement the colors of its body, all the better to make its visage truly "pop". Add that little bit of extra flair, no?

On the plus side, with a good specimen of the creature's natural color here, he didn't have to work his imagination too hard. After finding the ideal rock, in both color and ability for him to drag, he'd wrap his suncloak around it to make a makeshift harness and tug it towards the creature.

[Okay, I'm rolling two checks here. One to select a rock of middling size with awesome coloration, and then another to start dragging it.

For the first roll, I'm adding in his Job and Skill for Painting. Because he's learned all about selecting colors that go well together through his work there. Doesn't matter if it's Heart or Mind, they're the same. +2 Job + 4 Skill + 3 Primary stat = +9

For the second, I think it's just a straight Body check. +2 there.

Any other modifiers I should know about?]

[BlasTech]

The night-time desert stretched before Cork as he began to search for the one perfect rock to win the affection of the rock monster.

[DC 15 mind check to find a big lovely rock in the valley next to the train, -2 penalty due to it being night time.]

[DC 10 body check to pull it up to the train area. You can roll both because technically looking for the rock was your action last turn.]

[TheAmishPirate]

The night-time desert stretched before Cork as he began to search for the one perfect rock to win the affection of the rock monster.

[DC 15 mind check to find a big lovely rock in the valley next to the train, -2 penalty due to it being night time.]

[DC 10 body check to pull it up to the train area. You can roll both because technically looking for the rock was your action last turn.]

Surely, this plan could not fail!

Spoiler

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Search roll, +7 total: (1d20+7)[14]

Drag roll, +2 total: (1d20+2)[11]

[One Tin Soldier]

With Dive Bomb up and moving once more, Grease once more began to follow her own advice. Especially now that she saw the behemoth advancing towards her.

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Body 4
2+4=6 Ouch. I suppose I'll have to lose that point of Energy to get out of reach, bringing her down to 8 Energy.

Unfortunately, it seemed that stopping to yell while fleeing wasn't all that beneficial for one's lungs. She was breathing hard by the time she reached the top of the dune, sweat pouring off of her.

She glanced back, and determined that she had gotten far enough away that she could slow down and take stock of the situation. Dive Bomb was flying through the air out of the monster's reach and Crown Cork was running through the sand, doing something that she couldn't quite pick out in the darkness. Highwind was still unconscious with the gear. Rinda she had heard crash land nearby, though she couldn't tell where. And Igneous and Soot were nowhere to be seen.

Grease looked at the rock monster, wracking her brain for any idea of what this thing was or how it could be stopped.

Spoiler

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Mind check to see if she has any idea what this might be, outside of the obvious. (i.e. it's a magic rock monster) Magical Theory could be relevant if it's a deliberately created magical construct.
Mind 5, Magical Theory 3 if it matters
6+5=11, 14 with Magical Theory.

[Ravian]

Soot watched the creatures movements. Somewhat understanding but still perplexed. It seems to want to get rid of Dive Bomb and Grease Spot. Maybe... she channeled energy through her horn, trying to dim the lights around the stone creature This would be easier if the flicking thing wasn't a rock... perhaps if the thing couldn't see them it would stop throwing rocks.

Spoiler

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Lights out spell around the rock thing
(1d20+4)[10]
(crap that probably failed didn't it? That'll bring Soot down to 5 willpower

[BlasTech]

Magical light gathered around Soot's horn, for a moment the flows of ley energy began to coalesce and form the basis of the spell to douse light around the rock monster.

But then the magic surged; sparks shot from the tip of her horn, causing the filly's eyes to widen in shock. She had to fight to rein in the wild, primal forces that had slipped free from her mental grasp before they could do any serious damage to herself or those around her.

Eventually, the light subsided and, panting, Soot was able to breathe easily once again. Until she saw that the monster was looking right at her.

"Magiese aanranding bespeur, oneffektief. prioriteit drie teiken aangewys." it rumbled, after a moment's thought.

[Yup, spell failure cost Soot a point of willpower. In addition, DC 10 courage check to avoid two points of courage damage. Save negates fully]

******************

The rock monster's attention was soon back on the two fleeing ponies. Panting, Grease Spot hauled herself up to the top of the dune while, in the valley below, Dive Bomb alighted next to the gryphoness as she pulled her dazed head out of the sand.

The monster paused for a moment, the runic trails on its river-stone body flowing with ethereal light as it glanced between the earth pony and the pegasus. The sight of those trails caught Grease Spot's eye; vaguely reminiscent of the magical rune-paths and circuitry in most modern equestrian machines.

But the similarities were only there in the way that letters and numbers are both lines on paper. The flowing, swirling patterns on the river-stone were strange enough to her eyes that the repair pony could not say for sure whether that meant this was a magical construct or some other kind of magivascular creature. Maybe if she could get closer ...

[Partial success on the DC15 knowledge check to divine what this is. Grease has suspicions but can't say for sure it isn't alive, or how to take it out.]

******************

For its part, the rock creature appeared to make a decision. Powerful legs tensed beneath its body as it launched itself into the air. The sound of it hitting the down slope of the dune was like the breaking of a wave on the shore - a rushing whoosh of sand and gravel as it slid down into the valley where Dive Bomb and Rinda were located.

The pegasus and the gryphoness looked up, to see the monster only a handful of meters away, levelling a foreleg at them. The rocks at the hooftip glowed again with a dangerous blue light.

But the monster didn't fire, instead growling again in its strange and foreign tongue.

"Stop dit net daar, dief, of weer afgedank word. Benadeel nie die grifon."

No matter the tongue, it was clearly a threat. For her part, Rinda tensed, eyes wide with fright, before gathering her legs beneath her - ready to leap into the attack once again.

[DC 15 courage check for DB to avoid 3 points of courage damage, save limits to one.]

******************

Meanwhile, on the far side of the dune, one member of the party was facing a truly devastating conundrum.

Cork couldn't find a rock.

Or rather, he couldn't find the perfect rock. Sure there were plenty of decent rocks, maybe even some nice rocks ... hay, there were one or two he might even have deigned to describe as good.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, in this Celestia-forsaken valley was just the right type of rock to match that creature's exotic complexion.

[As discussed, only partial success on this one too. Cork will have to make do with a rock that is only "good enough"]