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

[TheAmishPirate]

Crown had hardly recovered his breath when the ominous ripping sound cut across the desert, and he whirled about to face the ledge. Flying faster than he could possibly imagine, the sled barrelled down the slope towards... "Miss Spot! Watch out!" he cried, rushing to her aid. Whether that would be to stand by her side and catch the sled, or to push her out of the way would depend entirely on her reaction.

[One Tin Soldier]

Time seemed to slow down for the denim-blue mare. The sled containing their valuable supplies raced down the slope towards her, threatening to run her down. She heard Crown's shout, just as she thought Can't let it get away.

In another situation, she might have time to let Cork know exactly what she planned to do, and how he could help. Under the circumstances, all she could do was shout "Stop!" as she lunged forward, aiming her front hooves for the front of the sled while digging the rear ones into the sand, bracing for the imminent impact.

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Going to try stopping the sled with brute force. And spending a Willpower to make the effort not futile.
Body 4 + Extra Talent (Strong) 1 + Willpower 11 + 1 Harmony bonus - 2 for insecure footing (total of 16), rolled twice for Strong Talent
13+15=28
1+15=16 Well that was a close one. Good thing getting a 1 on the second roll doesn't matter.
Grease is now at 10 Willpower.

The front bar of the sled slammed into her hooves. She immediately felt herself forced back, the sand underneath her slipping away and preventing her from maintaining her position. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, focusing on keeping her back legs braced against the sand so she wouldn't lose her balance. Just as the abrasive sand started to feel painful, the sled ground to a halt.

She opened her eyes again, returning all four hooves. To her mild surprise, she saw Crown Cork next to her, braced against the sled. It seemed that he had managed to decipher her monosyllabic instruction, and not get run over in the process. Impressive, given how tired the unathletic colt looked just a minute ago.

"I got it!" she shouted back up the slope, where the others stood and hovered.

[TheAmishPirate]

The sweaty, disheveled Crown Cork looked down in utter shock and disbelief. Somehow, he had ended up next to Miss Spot, and their runaway sled had ended up in his hooves. The young businesspony started chuckling uncontrollably. "Well...would you look at that!" He shook his head, shaking with laughter. "I suppose you never quite know what you can do until you try, eh?"

[Balmas]

No! The world danced before the Pegasus's eyes, earth and sky switching places until it was only possible to tell up by which was shinier. The stars blushed as a stream of soft "ponyfeathers" traced his trajectory through the night air.

Okay. First step? Don't panic. He reached the arc's apex, and began to whimper softly as the moon spun lazily between his hooves. Check!

Spread your limbs to reduce rotational velocity. The horizon's tango slowed to a waltz as his body formed a black 'X' against the starry night. Down is... up! Up is bad!

Those feathery limbs, his most precious possessions, now shot out to remind the world of the regular condition. The moon regained its place above him, and he hovered there, blinking at the still spinning stars. Would someone please stop the world? I'd like to get off.

Once Dive Bomb could fly straight, he flew down, aghast at all the supplies that had been scattered in the sled's toboggan towards destruction. The remains of the harness streamed behind him as he landed, breathing heavily. "Is... Haaaah everypony... hooo alright?" Hacking a bit, he looked around to see if he could spot the griffoness.

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I'm going to assume there's no check to regain control.

[One Tin Soldier]

A small grin appeared on Grease's face, a result of the remaining adrenaline and Cork's giddy relief. "That's the spirit," she said, cheerful despite having to come out between panting breaths.

"We're fine!" she called out to Dive Bomb. "Bring down that harness, I'll see if I can reattach it!"

[Balmas]

Dive Bomb nodded, shucking the harness at her feet. "Sorry it broke," he said, mixed feelings giving him pause. Sadness at seeing his work fail, gladness and relief that noone got hurt, a bit of frustration that he couldn't help more... He turned and set about making himself useful by bringing all the lost supplies he could find back to the cart.

[BlasTech]

"Ugh, what a day ... night, I mean" Rinda groaned, alighting next to the others and rubbing a thoroughly bruised beak.

"Nice catch." She added, grudgingly, as she saw the success of Grease's efforts. "I don't think we lost anything major back there, so lets get going. I can't see either of the rock heads down there anymore, so we have a bit of catching up to do."

It was true, the reassuring blue glow had vanished and the only trace of Igenous was a long groove in the sand that trailed off into the night.

[Balmas]

Dropping a small bottle--miraculously intact--of water on the sleigh, Dive Bomb wiped the taste of sand from his mouth. "If someone else can manage the ambassador's stretcher, I can fly ahead and try to spot Rocky."

He nosed around the series of cardboard tubes in his left saddlebag, and withdrew with a thinner tube, purple in the moonlight. "This is a slightly modified firework; it burns slowly, with an intense red fire. If you can see me, and I can see it, we can follow it."

Holding the flare far from his muzzle--and everything else, for that matter,--he eyed the path the armor had cut. "If you follow the divot, you should find Igneous just fine."

[One Tin Soldier]

"Thanks," Grease said in reply to Rinda.

She tied the snapped ropes back together, returning the sled to a usable state. After giving them experimental tugs to make sure they would hold, she put the harness back on.

"It's going to be a real pain getting this up the other side," she said. "I think we might not be able to keep up with the automaton much longer, especially once we stop to rest."

[TheAmishPirate]

Cork warily eyed the stretcher. True, he would've liked nothing more than to aid his fine feathered friend, but there was the matter of his nearly being wiped out. It just wouldn't do for the group to have to ferry the Ambassador and their leader across the desert, now would it? "Soot? Would you please assist Miss Rinda with the stretcher?" In the meanwhile, he'd help gather up any supplies that had dropped off near their location.

"You make an excellent point, Miss Spot, but may I direct your attention to the sand?" The young businesspony pointed out the no-doubt enormous tracks leading off into the distance. "True, while it would be ideal to follow close behind our automaton, I can't imagine us losing its trail that easily."

[Ravian]

Soot's gasp as the sled fell towards Grease Spot quickly turned to a brief cheer as the mare caught the sled in its plummet.
"Nice job!" she shouted in approval.
Still, she thought to herself it seems whenever I turn my back these ponies end up blowing something up, dropping something, or getting themselves killed in new and inventive ways. Honestly they're just as bad as the foals. she stopped as the memories started coming back up. I hope they're okay...
Soot was so glad of the distraction offered by Cork that she didn't even cross her mind to wonder why he didn't volunteer himself.
"Sure, no problem." she said as she went over to Rinda and the stretcher. "Hey." she greeted the griffon simply. She didn't dislike griffons, but there was something about the whole half-ferocious feline half-bird of prey all-carnivorus predator thing that meant she generally avoided the griffon neighborhoods in Manehatten and prefered her contact with their inhabitants short.

This clearly wouldn't be possible right now so she told her prey instincts to calm down and tried making small talk "So... how about that..." she paused, realizing that there was little common ground to be shared between a unicorn thief and a griffon bodyguard. "Uh.. anyone seen where Iggy got off to?" she quickly posed the question to the group.

[One Tin Soldier]

"He's somewhere off that way," Grease said, pointing a hoof in the direction of the trail Igneous left behind, before turning her attention to Crown Cork.

"I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully it doesn't stop leaving tracks behind it any time soon."

[Balmas]

"So, we're going after Igneous, then?" The green colt put the flare in the sand, to more easily speak. "And then following the path of the guard thing?" It was a good plan, assuming they could then find the guard. And splitting up could be less than optimal. Maybe leave a flare for the others?

[TheAmishPirate]

"Really, I hardly expect it to sprout rock wings and take to the skies," Crown laughed his airy laugh. "But indeed; let's hurry to catch up with our good friend the guard." With the supplies almost fully gathered up, the mocha earth pony took up a position behind the sled, watching to make sure nothing else would fall off or otherwise break.

[If we're all set, think we're ready to head out again?]

[BlasTech]

"Who knows, might be better in the long run." Rinda replied, not really specifying which of the two absentees she was talking about.

"C'mon, they can't have gotten far." she continued, tucking herself back into her harness and leading them off down the slope.

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

Maybe they could. Rinda amended, mentally, after they'd walked a good portion of the way down the slope.

The odd shape of the dunes only looked like a shallow half-bowl from a long distance away. When you were in it, it was more like a gigantic amphitheatre of sand; its wings stretching away into the night. It took them a good quarter hour to walk down to the base where the ground levelled out again. Beyond them, the desert stretched out in front of them in a flat line, straight as an arrow. Dunes loomed in the darkness, rising on either side of the path that was dotted with the occasional slab of half buried rock.

The tracks had been easy to follow until now, a long narrow groove in the sand that tracked side by side with the deep divots of the rock creature. At the base, Iggy's sleigh ride had evidently petered out as, after a small circle of disturbed sand, his trail had reverted to normal hoofprints.

But while the rock monster's tracks could be seen stretching off into the night, Iggy's hoof prints ended abruptly. They walked right up to one of the nearby flagstones, but did not continue on the other side.

In the meantime, Dive Bomb flew ahead, searching for signs of their guide or their companion. It didn't take long before he could see the blue glow again. Swooping low, he was greeted with the reassuring sight of the rock monster plodding along. It actually raised its head and regarded the pegasus for a moment before resuming its walk through the valley.

[@ Amish; oh really now, you thought it would be that easy did you? ]

[TheAmishPirate]

[Of course not, I just figured we might as well start to get a move on, so it can get interrupted faster. ]

Downhill slopes; sweet, merciful downhill slopes. The welcome relief for the weary traveler. Crown Cork chose to conveniently forget about the uphill slope on the other side. They followed Igneous' trail, snaking deeper into the canyon, until...

Well, this certainly was peculiar, wasn't it? Crown lapped the rock a few times to ensure he hadn't miscalculated, but no, there was indeed no trace of their royal guard. "Igneous? Igneous, are you there?" he called out into the night.

If there was no response, then there really was only one sensible course of action; if a pony had approached a rock on one side, and there were no tracks indicating their departure, then it stood to reason that something had happened to the pony while he was atop the rock. Elementary, my dear Trotson. Crown enjoyed a silent laugh at his own cleverness. "Miss Rinda? Do pop up and see if there is anything atop this rock? If there is to be a clue anywhere, then I believe it is to be found up there."

[BlasTech]

Rolling her eyes, Rinda shucked the stretcher off her back and flapped up above the boulder. It looked exactly like any of the other dozen or three that littered the valley they were now in; dull grey, probably a sandy yellow in the sunlight and about a pony length in height. The only difference between this and its bretheren was that it jutted up and out of the sand as opposed to being buried, with only the odd facing visible at ground level.

It was a simple matter to fly over the thing and Rinda reported what she saw back to the others. Or rather, what she didn't see; there were no markings, no chips in the rock, no signs of passage and definitely no brainless guardpony sitting on top.

"Coulda told you as much from the ground" she grumbled.

Completing her visual inspection, she dropped back to the sand next to the stretcher - waiting for the rest of them to figure out the next steps.

[One Tin Soldier]

Grease scanned the desert around her, not seeing any sign of Igneous. "Strange," she said. "If there's nowhere he could have gone after reaching this rock..." She tapped a hoof against the side experimentally.

[Ravian]

"Where could he have gone?" Soot wondered aloud. She glanced about the empty expanse "Hold on a second, maybe I can find him with my magic." she began to focus her magic, willing a golden light to shine around sentient beings in her mind's eye

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Detect Life mind 4+ level 1
(1d20+5)[7]
((Well unless he's cleverly hidden a few feet away I've got nothing))

[Balmas]

Dive Bomb hovered, staring at the strange magical amalgamation. It had noticed him; was it possible it remembered? There was one sure way to find out, and in the absence of particularly equine life-forms, Dive Bomb felt secure enough to grin at the prospect: Questions, and lots of them.

Touching down softly on the cool dust, he tucked away the flare and cleared his throat. <"May I ask you some questions?">

[TheAmishPirate]

Nothing on top? Crown huffed irritably. What good was coming up with clever ideas if they didn't work? But not to worry; he would soon get to the bottom of this! While his associates examined the rock and performed some odd feats of magic, Crown opted to examine where the tracks ended. Perhaps he could put his imagination to the test yet again, and deduce what had happened here. Igneous clearly walked up to this rock...and then what? Crown went to examine the last set of faint hoof-prints. Perhaps if they were pressed in deeper by a sudden leap, or dragged forward towards the rock as their guard climbed, it'd let him know for sure that he had indeed scaled this miniature monolith.

[If you need a roll, I suppose I could do Mind + Painting? Making use of his imagination to figure out what might've happened?]

[BlasTech]

Nothing on top? Crown huffed irritably. What good was coming up with clever ideas if they didn't work? But not to worry; he would soon get to the bottom of this! While his associates examined the rock and performed some odd feats of magic, Crown opted to examine where the tracks ended. Perhaps he could put his imagination to the test yet again, and deduce what had happened here. Igneous clearly walked up to this rock...and then what? Crown went to examine the last set of faint hoof-prints. Perhaps if they were pressed in deeper by a sudden leap, or dragged forward towards the rock as their guard climbed, it'd let him know for sure that he had indeed scaled this miniature monolith.

[If you need a roll, I suppose I could do Mind + Painting? Making use of his imagination to figure out what might've happened?]

Looking at the facts; there was a set of hoofprints leading up, and none leading away. Unless the unicorn had practiced in self-levitation, which was possible, then he must have walked up to the rock and ...

Then what?

The funny thing about imagination, is that it can sometimes behave like a gas, expanding to fill the space which facts or the senses abandon. Just ask a foal, sitting in the dark, what lies just beyond her sight; it could be anything from unspeakable monsters to a magical land of adventure and fantasy.

Maybe Igneous had become one with his namesake, merging with it like some mystical family reunion? Perhaps he had vanished, claimed by some ravenous desert worm? Or maybe, just maybe, he had never existed to begin with, instead being some collective figment of their imagination, brought on by stress and the harsh desert climate.

For that matter, how did Crown Cork know that he really existed?

"Where could he have gone?" Soot wondered aloud. She glanced about the empty expanse "Hold on a second, maybe I can find him with my magic." she began to focus her magic, willing a golden light to shine around sentient beings in her mind's eye

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Detect Life mind 4+ level 1
[roll0]
((Well unless he's cleverly hidden a few feet away I've got nothing))

Soot, meanwhile, wasted none of her time on pointless musings. Instead choosing to cut the metaphorical knot and getting straight to a method of locating their wayward guard. Her horn glowed with yellow light, a solitary star in the sand as she cast her life detection spell.

Unfortunately, the flows of magic once again forsook the filly and her spell sputtered into nothingness right in front of her. For the moment, she could do little more than cross her eyes to glare at her traitorous horn.

Grease scanned the desert around her, not seeing any sign of Igneous. "Strange," she said. "If there's nowhere he could have gone after reaching this rock..." She tapped a hoof against the side experimentally.

The rock accepted the experimental hoofbump with little outward change to its stony expression. As she lowered her hoof back to the grass below, it seemed as if her entire experiment had been for naught. It was rather disappointing in light of a--

-all tha--
--------t had
happened----------
...

...

...

The sun was bright today.

The breeze was cool.

The air, awash with the fragrance of wildflowers.

White clouds dotted the sky above the grassy fields that now surrounded them. The paved road upon which they stood was pleasantly warm, heated by the gentle presence of the yellow orb above. It was so utterly the opposite of everything that they'd experienced lately that it took most of the party a few moments to regain their mental balance. In the meantime, a pair of bluejays flitted past overhead, their tuneful warbles adding to this picturesque summer's day.

The four of them stood in the roadway for a moment, blinking tears from their eyes as their night vision was thoroughly ruined.

In the next field down the road, an earth brown pegasus looked up from where he had been tilling the ground. Tucking the hoe back under his wing he gave a wave to the newcomers.

"'Lo there, travellers. What news from afar?" he called, his voice deep yet friendly.

Dive Bomb hovered, staring at the strange magical amalgamation. It had noticed him; was it possible it remembered? There was one sure way to find out, and in the absence of particularly equine life-forms, Dive Bomb felt secure enough to grin at the prospect: Questions, and lots of them.

Touching down softly on the cool dust, he tucked away the flare and cleared his throat. <"May I ask you some questions?">

The rock monster glanced up at Dive Bomb again, the runic patterns on its body swirling as it processed the request. As it turned back to its plodding path, the mighty construct uttered a single word.

<Speak.>

[Balmas]

The pegasus grinned, resisting the urge to squeal gleefully. He carefully transferred the flare to a wingtip, balancing it carefully in the primaries so it wouldn't burn anything. After all, he needed to be able to write in his notebook <"What are you?"> he began, looking the thing over. <"Where are we? Where are you headed? Do you know how to get to Equestria?">

[BlasTech]

The pegasus grinned, resisting the urge to squeal gleefully. He carefully transferred the flare to a wingtip, balancing it carefully in the primaries so it wouldn't burn anything. After all, he needed to be able to write in his notebook <"What are you?"> he began, looking the thing over. <"Where are we? Where are you headed? Do you know how to get to Equestria?">

The golem whirred for a moment, not halting in its plodding walk as it gave its first answer.

<Speak.>

...

<Slower.>

...

<One by one.>

[Balmas]

Sighing, the pegasus flipped through his notebook. They were heading west, but to where? He turned, and, forcing himself to enunciate, asked, "Where are we in relation to Equestria?"

[BlasTech]

The golem whirred, before its body gave off a small discharge of magical sparks.

<Error. Reference not found.>

[Balmas]

Alright then, no Equestria. His earlier theory was confirmed, at least partially. He trotted a few steps forward, examining the golem more carefully. At least, that's what it looked like, though he supposed it could have been a type of spirit of the rock. Like Discord, maybe?

He looked behind them, examining the evidence of the plodding creature's passage. The hoofsteps trailed behind them like a trail of ants, the only evidence of life in this barren land. Perhaps twenty feet back, there started a second set of hoofprints. Hopefully his friends-- He paused midthought and examined the word in his mind, turning it over and deciding that he liked it. Hopefully they'd turn up soon. If nothing else, they should be able to track him by following the tracks in the sand.

So, next question then. If not in Equestria... <Where is this place?>

[BlasTech]

This time the creature didn't even bother turning.

<This place is ...>

...

<here> it replied, unhelpfully.

[Balmas]

Dive Bomb grunted; well, that was about as useful as saying that they weren't somewhere else. Okay, this thing seemed very literal-minded; he could do literal minded questions. But first... He transferred the flare to a hoof and flew up, waving it for his friends to see; the red glow dropped away around him, staining his mane a muted purple in the dull light of night. He squinted, hoping for some sight of them. From up here, he could see all the way to the site of the disastrous run-away sled. But... where were the pastel dots that represented his friends?

Moderately perturbed, he flew back down and tump'd down next to the golem for another round of hope-fully useful questions. "<What can you tell me about the person on whose authority you act?>"

[One Tin Soldier]

Grease Spot stood on the road, stunned. It took her several moments to process her surroundings, once her eyes had adjusted to the sudden brightness. This was certainly nowhere near the desert they had just been in. In fact, it looked like... Equestria. There was even another pony there!

"Where are we?" she asked the stallion, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.