Adventures in Equestria IC.

[Mystic Muse]

Gearstride found herself grinning as she adjusted her hat. "Why...hello there cutie pie...." Gearstride walked up to the unicorn.

"Hello, and good evening, Gearstride."

Spoiler: Gearstride

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She gives a kind smile to Gearstride.

Spoiler: For Godwyn

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...Huh. Apparently, Gearstride is into Griffins.

Spoiler: Foxglove

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All you see is a stately raven of the saintly days of Yore. He has perched and sat. And nothing more.

[Benson]

"What's your name? Or are you content with 'Cutie pie' heheh..." Gearstride lazily grinned and turned her charm on. There was a little voice of common sense in the back of her mind trying to shove it way through, but Gearstride was apparently quite thick headed to take notice of the weirdness of this unicorn just showing up from out of nowhere.

[Mystic Muse]

"I'm content with it. I've certainly been called worse. Though, it may confuse your friends, given how they see me."


"If you would prefer a proper name, that's quite easy. My given name, though I've been given many others over the years, is 'Piety.'"


No one has to bother making sense motive checks against her. You are incapable of failing against her. She's not lying one bit.

[Benson]

Gearderp


"Piety?...Hauh...a little....different but in a cool way, yea," Gearstride derpily smiled all self assured and then suddenly furrowed her brows in that 'wait a moment' look.

"What?...How they see you?...But...what?" She just gave another flat 'what'.

[Mystic Muse]

"Go ahead, Godwyn, Foxglove, tell your friend how it is you two see me." She says.

Meanwhile, she just lays there on the ground. If she were a threat, she's certainly not presenting herself as such. Heck, she seems more like somebody who's bored and wants someone to hang out with.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn narrows his eyes warily. He seems oddly guarded. "I've been seeing a lot more griffons lately than one would expect to see in this neck of the woods..." he idly observes.

[Mystic Muse]

Godwyn narrows his eyes warily. He seems oddly guarded. "I've been seeing a lot more griffons lately than one would expect to see in this neck of the woods..." he idly observes.

"The family of griffins you encountered were completely legitimate griffons, of that I can assure you." She promises, resting her head and closing her eyes like she's going to take a nap.

Spoiler: Foxglove

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The Raven sits on a perch and closes its eyes.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn's eyes narrow further, his feathers ruffling uneasily. "And if they are legitimate griffons, then what does that make you, Miss Piety?"

[Benson]

"...So he he sees a griffon?...Hmm...well I see a cute unicorn...are you some weird shade of shapeshifter?...or is this just some simple wacky magic hijinks?" Gear questioned and mosied on down and sat near her.

[Mystic Muse]

"...So he he sees a griffon?...Hmm...well I see a cute unicorn...are you some weird shade of shapeshifter?...or is this just some simple wacky magic hijinks?" Gear questioned and mosied on down and sat near her.

"Simple wacky magic hijinks. Albeit not easy magical hijinks." She says.

Godwyn's eyes narrow further, his feathers ruffling uneasily. "And if they are legitimate griffons, then what does that make you, Miss Piety?"

"Well, honestly? I'm a goddess who occasionally decides she should visit mortals because she occasionally enjoys the experience of being 'human'* to a point. Because, despite how important my job is, for me, it's relatively simple to make it continue on properly without anything going wrong, and just have a drink with people she considers friends." She says.

"....So....wait...D-"

"Yes, Death is real, and right in front of you, and no, I'm not here to end the world. I'm here to thank these two mares, and this griffin for restoring proper order to the castle." She opens one of her two eyes to gaze at Godwyn. "And just for the record Mr. Paladin, you look an awful lot like Icarus." She says before closing her eye again.

Well, apparently Death DOESN'T have better things to do than go hang out with random mortals. Or rather, she does, and is just capable of taking care of them simultaneously.

((I decided the group would react better to meeting Death than the alternative I had in mind, and she actually does have reason to be here.))

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn just opens and closes his beak a few times, trying to figure out a proper response to that. Perhaps it would be better if somebody more charismatic and good with words were to speak first, like Gearstride or Foxglove. Though Godwyn would probably prefer it be Foxglove, as Gearstride getting flirty with mortality made manifest might be more than a little awkward...

[Benson]

Well Godwyn, who is to say that Gearstride hasn't flirted with Death before? Taking into consideration the dangerous shenanigans she likely got herself into in her past. Wink.

"Hot dang, Death, really right before us...hoowee....this is cool AND I got to hit on Death. No regrets." The derp mare grinned still sitting next to Death and raised both her brows in amusement. "So cool. Yo." She tilted her chin up.

Anyways.

"Though...not too uh...a word I am thinking...but...What are you doing here?...What do we owe this special occasion for cuti..err I mean Death, ?" Gearstride curiously tilted her head.

[Deme]

"...You're welcome. Do you like what we did with the windows? ... I wasn't sure about the pattern, and my glass-cutting is poor. But some of the glass was just so lovely..."

Said Foxglove, nonchalantly. Of course Death was real; what was realer? Well, maybe bunnies, but she'd met bunnies that weren't real at all.

"...The glass is probably real."

She said, contemplating the difficulties of getting stained glass windows into this place.

"But is the person Miss Amaranth was talking about, the one who made this room, real? We keep meeting things that are and aren't real."

[Mystic Muse]

"...You're welcome. Do you like what we did with the windows? ... I wasn't sure about the pattern, and my glass-cutting is poor. But some of the glass was just so lovely..."

Said Foxglove, nonchalantly. Of course Death was real; what was realer? Well, maybe bunnies, but she'd met bunnies that weren't real at all.

"...The glass is probably real."

She said, contemplating the difficulties of getting stained glass windows into this place.

"But is the person Miss Amaranth was talking about, the one who made this room, real? We keep meeting things that are and aren't real."

"Yes, she is. The glass is beautiful, thank you Foxglove. And don't worry, I take no offense at you having no desire to be a priestess of mine." The raven says. "I don't actually get any benefit out of worship...I do however hear your prayers, and thank you for them." She says, with the closest thing a raven can manage to a smile.

Well Godwyn, who is to say that Gearstride hasn't flirted with Death before? Taking into consideration the dangerous shenanigans she likely got herself into in her past. Wink.

"Hot dang, Death, really right before us...hoowee....this is cool AND I got to hit on Death. No regrets." The derp mare grinned still sitting next to Death and raised both her brows in amusement. "So cool. Yo." She tilted her chin up.

Anyways.

"Though...not too uh...a word I am thinking...but...What are you doing here?...What do we owe this special occasion for cuti..err I mean Death, ?" Gearstride curiously tilted her head.

"Well, it seems that, given that you've done something for me, that is restoring order to the castle, I should do the same in return. Within reason of course. And call me Death if you want. I don't really have an 'original' name after all, so one is as good as the next." She tells the party. "Never really thought about what I'd call myself, given the opportunity..."

"As for what's real and what's not real, allow me to clear that all up.

Anacra, Aurora, and their mother Aurora are all real, and still alive. Aurora is trying to help fix her sister and is on your side, Anacra is actually trying to fix herself before she does something stupid, and their mother is the real villain in all of this. However, Anacra's insane aspects still want to destroy magic, in a misguided attempt to fix what has gone wrong. So, her aspects still must be destroyed. However, this is easier than it would normally be, because some part of Anacra realizes this is insane and stupid, and she wants to be stopped.

Broken Scale and Queen Chrysalis are real, though they're entirely different people. If you want Broken Scale back, you're going to have to separate the two, though this can be done before, or after you try to redeem Chrysalis.

None of the other people who claim to be Anacra's children are real. They exist, yes, but they aren't real ponies. Anacra's mind didn't break all at once, it took some time. Before it did, she tried about ten different times to make substitutes for Broken Scale...it didn't work, because as good as they are at being facsimiles of real people, Anacra couldn't actually grant them a soul. So, unfortunately, Silent Night is just a golem. A very pony-like golem, but a golem nonetheless. After she finally realized it wouldn't work, she specifically asked her sister to be sealed away before she did any real damage.

Discord really died, but for gods, being killed, if you aren't killed in a very particular way, is less death and more a hard reset. He'll reincarnate in a few weeks, but will remember none of their previous life, and will be significantly nicer this time around. Also, he died several weeks before your adventure began, completely painlessly.

The ghosts in this castle, as well as the castle itself are real. If someone is a good person, I allow them to stay on Earth as a ghost for some time before eventually pulling them up to Heaven where they belong. If they wish to be a ghost that is. I'd suggest joining in on their merriment before heading on your way.

You've actually destroyed one of Anacra's aspects already. Before being sealed away, she put a few contingencies into place. She put a place in 8 different robots to hold fractured pieces of her mind, in case they got out, because the robots would be less dangerous and troublesome than the pieces of her mind having a proper physical form. Only three actually became inhabited, including Amaranth. Enough of anacra's mind is restored that she'll be lucid for a full month before resuming her insane plan.

Now, all that having been said, I can clear up anything else that's happened up to this point, if you wish. This was all free of charge. I can also give suggestions for what to ask for, if you can't think of anything.

Oh, and the glass is real."

[Benson]

Gearstride blinked at the end of the exposition history lesson. Her expression one big giant 'wat'.

She sheepishly glanced off to the side with an open mouth awkward smile. "Yea....I am trying to wrap my head around this....This is very different from...stuff I am...used...to knowing?" She was uncertain of her own words. Gear then looked at the other two for support.

[Mystic Muse]

"I do very much apologize for dumping all of this on your group at once. I have a very vested interest in this turning out a certain way, and as such, felt you three should be aware of what you're getting into. Besides which, your group is uniquely suited to this job. If you were not willing, it would not be the end of the world, literally or figuratively, but I know for a fact your group has a far better chance of making this end well than any other on the planet." The goddess of Death says, attempting to offer some encouragement to the group.

[Deme]

"Huh. Like finding pieces of glass..."

Foxglove considered this. She considered this, and pondered, and her eyes floated about the room, settling across the books and dust, and then eventually, Amaranth.

"...How exactly does one find pieces of glass, all the right color -- it is one thing to cut them down to a good size, to fit so pretty in the broken window, but...
You'd need to start by knowing how to find the pieces."

This metaphor certainly seemed an odd one, but she seemed resolute in her concern about... What was probably not, from the slight furrow of her brow, actually stained glass windows.

[Mystic Muse]

A map appears right in front of them.


"This will show you the way to each of Anacra's mind shards, and the vessels. It will automatically update itself with the location of each mind shard, no matter how hard they try to hide. Is that sufficient for finding the shards of glass?" the goddess asks. "There's going to be a family emergency in about ten minutes, so I would like to finish this up and get going soon." She says.

[Benson]

"Oh!....So treasure hunt....This is what I understand. Well more like scavenger treasure hunt....well...you got the perfect mare for the job then," Gearstride proudly touted and puffed her chest and put on a rogueish smile.

[Mystic Muse]

"Heh. Sorry, I can't give you an actual treasure hunt, but the only artifact I know of capable of dealing with a situation like this is too risky. Which isn't to say I don't know how it would end, but I prefer encouraging mortals to use their own abilities to solve their problems when possible. Miracles, as most mortals understand them, are only used in quite dire situations, and only when necessary." She says.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn finally gives a long sigh, a taloned hand pressed against his forehead. "Alright. I think I've got most of this figured out. Or at least I'm relatively close to being on the same page..." he mutters, closing his eyes in exasperation. "This is all rather over my head, but I suppose I don't have much choice in the matter. Not much of a Paladin if I just walk away from something like this."

He gives a shake of his head, before fixing Death with a flat, direct stare. "Alright. Here's my question. Broken Scale - how do I save her?" he asks bluntly, going straight for his biggest concern. Anacra is a big problem, sure, but that's a problem that seems destined to be worked out one way or another. Broken Scale and Chryssalis, though, is a much bigger variable, with much less certainty and much more room for error. And, as a Paladin, something he can't ignore.

[Mystic Muse]

"There are a few ways, all of which would work to some degree or another. It's up to you to choose which course of action is best of course.

The first solution is the simplest. You find a method of destroying Queen Chrysalis and freeing Broken Scale. There are a multitude of ways to do this, but considering you're a paladin, I doubt that's what you're looking for. The easiest would be draining her of magic, since changelings are innately magical beings, and can't exist without it.

The next, and much harder possibility, is finding the ingredients to an elixir that is capable of purging the changeling mutation from her body, and splitting Chrysalis and Broken Scale into two separate people. There exist no spells to do this, and I would be breaking my own rules for a reason that isn't quite good enough if I were to create one to give to you.

The last, and hardest, is the former, followed by finding a way to change the base nature of Chrysalis so that she doesn't have to exist as a parasite. If you change the nature of the queen, the other changelings will follow.

So, paladin, how far out of the way are you and your group willing to go to save and heal a ruined race?"

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn ponders thoughtfully for a moment, before cracking a mirthless smile. "Well I suppose I wouldn't be much of a Paladin if I weren't willing to go as far as I can, and give as much as I may personally do so. And on a more literal level, I suppose I'm willing to go quite far, since I doubt that elixir will be readily available without some sort of daunting journey or odyssey," he muses wryly.

[Mystic Muse]

"Well, what kind of adventure would it be if I just gave you everything? Might as well add the ingredients to the map for where you can find them though." A few specific dots appear on the map, along with three that appear to be moving. The ingredient markers are clearly distinguishable from the aspect/container markers.

"Now, here's the list." She says, handing the list of ingredients off to Godwyn.

"And, if you have nothing else you need, I'll be off." she says, her form for all 3 of them turning into a rather large raven, about twice as big as it should be, rather than what she was before. There's a 'o' mark on its forehead, and its wings have feather patterns in the shape of eyes.

The ingredients list, for the record

Ingredients mixture list
Poison Joke from the Everfree Forest
A Black Lotus Blossom
Water from an unspoiled spring
An olive branch
A donation of unicorn blood
A feather from a turtle dove

Elixir Catalyst

Breath from a Great Wyrm dragon.

There's a sub-note about how there is a fourth not listed on the map, but if you want to seek him out, you're required to find him yourself. The names on the map are Flametongue, Eingefroren, and Nex. The fourth's name is...Well, either the goddess of Death is trolling you, or she's listing as a 4th option a being that there's been no record of for ages, and what records there are are unreliable at best, so if they ever did exist, they should long since be dead by now.

The name, when translated from Draconic, has several very unsubtle definitions in common. "Unbeatable", "Insurmountable.", "Invincible"...Really, it's probably better if Godwyn doesn't try and find a Great Wyrm dragon who clearly doesn't want to be found, if he even exists.

But, then again, you're adventurers. If you didn't do things you shouldn't do, you'd be out of a job!

[Deme]

"...Alright.... Take care. Keep up the good work."

She nodded, almost thoughtlessly, as she looked at the death goddess. Her head listed off to one side, and for a moment, she seemed to smile, very subtlely.

"Yes. Good work...I guess we've got good work to do, too."

And ghosts to listen to, apparently.

[Benson]

"Treasure hunt, scavenger hunt, same difference," Gear smirked and said aloud as he looked over the shoulder of whoever had the ingredient list. "Well at least a donation of unicorn blood will be easy...we just need a vial, eh Foxglove?" She grinned at the unicorn.

[Deme]

Foxglove was at first taken-aback, since it wasn't, even in this very odd context of talking to others regularly, often that Gear talked to her, per se. Her eyes widened, and for a moment, the only thing she could put together was nodding gently, the map she was levitating bobbing in time.


She eventually said, with a wan smile,
"O-oh...Yes... I mean... It's not hard to find a unicorn, so it...shouldn't be..."


Fox-glove lowered his head to the floor and placed his paws over his muzzle.

[Mystic Muse]

The Raven flies away, likely heading off to deal with the family emergency. Which could be anything from having to deal with troublesome angels, to angels complaining that their party sucks and she needs to help liven it up. Yes, that has happened, despite the fact that, well, she's death.

Meanwhile, they hear a loud booming voice that's presumably one of the ghosts.

"That was a magnificent rendition! What say you all to another?"

Anybody have a song they want to suggest?

[Benson]

Gearstride grinned and playfully nudged Foxglove with her hoof. "Well, I was referring to you since, you are a unicorn."

"Oooh...a song request?....Hmmm...how about...ooh...something chamber pop-ish?"

[Deme]

"Oh, right. That's a thing..."

She said, looking a little embarrassed....But then recovered at Gearstride's question.

"Chamber pop? Like...Make the whole chamber collapse in a quick rush, like bubblegum bubbles breaking? I don't think the walls are very elastic..."