Adventures in Equestria IC.

[Lycan 01]

"Thank you," Godwyn says with a solemn nod to the raven as it departs. "And, er, good luck with the family emergency? My condolences to the family in question, I suppose..." he mutters uncertainly as she takes her leave, presuming that she's going off to perform her duties.

Once she leaves, the griffon slumps a bit, and sighs. "Well. This has been... interesting. To say the least." He raises a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his beak between two talons as he closes his eyes in thought. "Well, I suppose we'll need to figure out where to start. Blood should be easy enough, yes. Poison Joke from the Everfree would likely also bring us to an unspoiled spring, no doubt. Might bump into a turtle dove along the way..." he mutters, pensive and thoughtful.

He then looks up at the mention of musical requests from the ghosts, expression flat and deadpan. "Oh right, ghosts. That's a thing. I have no preferences." Poor Godwyn. He's having to deal with a lot of paradigm shifts...

[Deme]

"A turtledove?"

She considered the possibility that what he meant was the similarly-named creature that was a turtle with bird wings -- she liked those, actually -- and returned to the more practical idea of it being a literal turtledove. Either way... Maybe she could be useful?

She checks her memory to see if Turtledoves live in this climate.

Spoiler

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(1d20+19)[26] for that.

[Mystic Muse]

As mentioned, you're all standing in what looks like Castle Canterlot, though, there are a few minor details changed.

First of all, Canterlot is ALWAYS bustling, at pretty much every hour of the day. There is NO ONE here, except for you three, and Anacra.

Second, there are a few aesthetic differences. The flags, rather than being the Equestrian flag, feature a unicorn horn at the top, pegasus wings mid-flight beneath the horn, and two hooves striking the ground beneath the wings. Looking at Anacra, it appears her country's flag was basically just a cut and paste of her cutie mark.

In addition, the windows, rather than being stained glass versions of significant people from Equestrian history, appear to all be based on old fairy tales involving angels, demons, and dragons, the sort that are told as bedtime stories for little foals. Not a single window has the same being in it twice.

Finally, at the front, above the throne, there are three windows, each with...well, what it is, you're not sure. Probably something old and unimportant.


Anacra is gazing out of the right-hoof balcony at a lowering sunset. She looks shockingly normal, basically like Celestia or Luna, albeit a bit larger, likely due to being significantly older.

"For what very little it's worth, while I still have the presence of mind to do so, I'd like to apologize. I'm sorry for dragging the three of you into this. I'm sorry this whole mess is happening, because I was too weak to do what needed to be done. Most of all though, I'm sorry that everything I had within me wasn't quite enough."

[Deme]

Foxglove paused and considered this. She had never known many foal's tales but those she invented herself, so the windows and their contents are pretty much meaningless to her. Still, somehow, it was easier to look at them then the...relative stranger. Still, the sorrow in her voice was too moving to the little mare, who approached the looming figure.

"...I understand....Um....Uh... But please ... Remember, it exists."

She muttered vaguely.

"...Maybe not 'exists' 'exists,' but exists."

[Benson]

Gearstride glanced around her surroundings in surprise though did her best to look cool about. "Hey hey...don't beat yourself up.." She said Anacra with a little smile. "We all mess stuff up but...ya just gotta get back in the horseshoes and...Mmm...durn it...I was going somewhere with this, somewhere metaphorey....But anyways. Yes, don't beat yourself up...and...well.....It is less dragged us into and more teleported into it hahaha...Kidding. Anyways,....yea....I forget what I was going to say, I am kinda mind derped what with our new surroundings that showed up hahah."

[Mystic Muse]

Gearstride glanced around her surroundings in surprise though did her best to look cool about. "Hey hey...don't beat yourself up.." She said Anacra with a little smile. "We all mess stuff up but...ya just gotta get back in the horseshoes and...Mmm...durn it...I was going somewhere with this, somewhere metaphorey....But anyways. Yes, don't beat yourself up...and...well.....It is less dragged us into and more teleported into it hahaha...Kidding. Anyways,....yea....I forget what I was going to say, I am kinda mind derped what with our new surroundings that showed up hahah."

"My old castle. In a lot of ways, I truly hated this place. It helped bring order to the land, at least for a time, but it in almost every way represented something I never wanted. And yet, now, it's one of the few comforts I have left. It's at least something I can remember where I was able to help people."

Foxglove paused and considered this. She had never known many foal's tales but those she invented herself, so the windows and their contents are pretty much meaningless to her. Still, somehow, it was easier to look at them then the...relative stranger. Still, the sorrow in her voice was too moving to the little mare, who approached the looming figure.

"...I understand....Um....Uh... But please ... Remember, it exists."

She muttered vaguely.

"...Maybe not 'exists' 'exists,' but exists."

"...I have dealt with many, many different beings over my lifetime. Not once have I ever had any less idea what they were talking about, than I do right now. I suppose I could just read your mind...but then I'd be breaking one of the few rules I have left that I haven't violated."

[Deme]

Foxglove shrunk back a bit.

"Sorry... Sorry..."

Normally, that'd be the end of it. But this was...important. Foxglove had always understood this -- at the core of her philosophy, if you could call it that, was that this was a thing to be shared. The more someone needed it, the harder it had to be shared. Someone being sorry at their weakness, with so little time... someone feeling they let down the whole world just by not being good enough... Well, that was someone who needed it maybe even more than Foxglove. Her eyes focused on a specific point -- on Anacra's specific point -- her expression gentle and full of gravity, her voice an spring flower, delicate and shining white and new in the freshly-minted sun. And she explained it.

"The world where you can be happy with others... The world where you are embraced in peace... The world where everything you think of as weak, where all the things you couldn't be -- they don't matter. The idea of 'good enough,' 'was enough,' 'did enough,' simply does not exist, because you are, there. You're forgiven, because you deserve to be forgiven -- you've always deserved to be forgiven, because that is what it means to be forgiven. That world...It exists." And for a moment, it shown in her eyes. A world of blooming foxgloves, a field in the soul, wide as the eye could see, bathed in birdsong and a gentle rain of light.

She took a deep breath. Perhaps she knew what she was about to say -- perhaps she had always known, this tiny little believer for a faith which existed only in her heart. "It exists. And I will bring you there. You must...You must remember."

It was, without having ever used the exact words, an oath before a goddess, binding and to Foxglove, absolutely sacred.

[Mystic Muse]

"...You know, as a goddess, I can see into the future. Not all gods would be capable of it, but I can see everything related to magic well in advance. This doesn't mean there's pre-destination...I just can see the ripples actions related to magic will cause. This even extends to myself, and I know how each and every one of my responses to that offer will turn out...and there's not a single result that doesn't absolutely terrify me." she confesses.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn watches Anacra warily, his bound tensed like a wound spring. It's easy to see he's on edge, but he holds his tongue for a time, letting Foxglove do much of the talking. As she speaks, he seems to relax a little, his gaze drifting over the unicorn, as one feathery eyebrow raises slightly. He watches and listens with a look in his eyes akin to a mixture of confusion, and awe. She speaks with a power and understanding that one would expect from an ancient sage or oracle, not a random unicorn who likes to run around the woods with hydras and foxes.

After a moment, Godwyn turns his gaze back to Anacra, and stiffens slightly. "You seem to surprise me every time we meet, through one way or another. Admittedly, it is good to see you in such lucid and hospitable demeanor. Given the information we've become privy to, it certain helps to put things into better perspective. I won't pretend to understand the situation as a whole, but I'm not quite as utterly bewildered as I was before."

He tilts his head slightly, gaze focused on the goddess before him. His beak curls into a faint, wry smirk of bemusement. "Miss Foxglove has a certain knack for catching one of guard with her insight, or making them think in manners they are not accustomed. I find it rather charming, in a way. Though I am not entirely sure why her words terrify you so. Is it because of the things you see that may come to be? Or the things you foresight doesn't show? Unknowns in the stead of knowns, an unfamiliar territory for one such as yourself?"

[Mystic Muse]

"Ever since I was a little girl, I've considered the whole world a book, with each individual person having a story within. Some short, some long, some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. Everyone has the ability to change what sort of story they're in, and that's the greatest gift that anyone can ever have. The ability to choose is the most important thing to everyone, because it's what makes each person unique.

And this is a situation with only two choices. The first, is I choose to accept your offer for friendship and redemption. To try and bring myself back from the brink. In doing so, I would be forsaking my ideals, because everything I am states that I should die for what I have done, my aspects have done, and what we all plan to do. I may be insane, but for me personally, that's not an excuse. As far as I'm concerned, you are always responsible for the things you create, and the things I've created have done terrible things. The fact that I do not want my plan to succeed is

The second is, I refuse. I willingly step over the brink, once and for all, so I can finally know peace when I am inevitably destroyed at the end of this story. Because, I am essentially living in a heroic fantasy. You three are the heroes, along with a few others, and I'm the villain. And in heroic fantasy, there tend to be only two things that can happen to a villain for the story to result in a happy ending. The villain has to be redeemed, or they have to die once and for all.

So, my choices are between a philosophical death, and a literal one. There is no containing me any more. The seal on my prison may simply break in a few years even without the requirement behind the final seal.

So, I'm going to trust in the wisdom of Icarus, and the wisdom of mortals one last time. Imagine for a moment you're the ones writing this story...what would you have me choose?" She monologues, and asks the group.

After this, she kind of slumps down.

[Deme]

Foxglove considered this, but from the get-go, the premise of this all was pretty faulty. Foxglove assumed herself to not be the hero in a heroic fantasy, like, ever -- up to and including now. For one, she assumed her life, genre-wise, to be some sort of semi-surrealist agenre blend, thank you very much. Maybe a little post-modern, kinda meta. For second, she was not, in her own opinion, hero material.

And then there was this.

"...You're not the villain. Since I heard about this... What I've been thinking is... 'That's someone who needs help.' 'That's someone who's suffering.' I'm a very little pony. I can't imagine the whole world -- it doesn't fit in my head. Or it fits too much and other worlds get in. Something like that. I can just imagine one person who's very sad and very hurt, and I said I was gonna help her...That's not the villain..." She rambled, before turning her eyes back to Anacra. "That's the damsel in distress. So if you've got the power to say I'm a hero, then I have the power to say you're the princess in the tower..."

Her eyes widened for a moment. "Oh, but, um...Someone else'll have to marry you. Or at least with the kissing. Sorry. I'm just not sure I..." She looked at Gearstride pleadingly.

[Mystic Muse]

"If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't planning on marrying or kissing anyone anyway. I already have a husband...He's dead, but as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't change anything...haven't taken my ring off even once since I married him...things might have gone differently if I could just have brought him and my daughter back." she responds.


"...Very well Foxglove. I will concede to being your damsel in distress, and attempt to let you and your group save me....there are...a few possibilities for this to end without me dying I suppose...though they're all rather...frightening to contemplate.

You'd pretty much either have to find a way to bring my husband back from the dead, or...well...there's one solution, but it's taking a very very big gamble...probably easier than finding a way to bring someone back from the dead though." She says.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn works his beak thoughtfully. "Well, I for one am willing to hear what this other alternative is. As far as I am concerned, nothing is off the table. While I have no doubts that this will all entail some great degree of challenge or arduous effort, it is, to be blunt, a worthy price to pay. Your happiness and lucidity are of great import and value, not only for your own sake, but, well..." He cracks a wry little smile. "You certainly make for better company when you're not slamming me into walls or threatening the world."

[Mystic Muse]

"The alternative...you raise me to an overdeity. I would no longer just be the goddess of magic. I would be magic. Able to change it to suit my whims, shut it down for those who would abuse it, things like that...and a clarity of vision far beyond what any being I've ever heard of has...short of truly divine beings of course. If there are any truly divine beings, I would be able to be kept in check by them, and in fact would have to report directly to them.

I believe it has been done before...by who I don't know. I found a log of knowledge a long time ago with the details on the requirements, and process to become the varying levels of deity. The first level, quasi-deity is the easiest. From there, there are a multitude of ways to have your power grow...I've reached the rank just below overdeity without any real help, but overdeity requires others to reach, and is the highest a mortal can ever become. In order for that to happen...

You would need to create at least 2 more gods and get them to worship me.

So, I guess the question comes down to, do you find the idea of creating 2 more gods, or bringing somebody back from the dead to be less doable?"

[Deme]

Foxglove listened to this thoughtfully. At the end of the day, ideas like 'doable' didn't mean anything, they slid off of her mind like water off a duck's back.

"Hmmm...Which would make you happier? Or, well...Happier might not be the right word... Ummm... More like something is blooming, somewhere warm and crisp and clear?"

She offered, as a way of trying to explain what she really meant -- though, she supposed she already had.

"It sounds like being magic and doing what you want to do as magic... That sounds like it'd hurt a whole bunch.... Cut, cut, cut cut, cut..."

[Mystic Muse]

"It wouldn't actually...or maybe it would...but it's like cutting away diseased flesh so the rest of the body can be healthy. There are some types of magic no one should EVER need to be able to cast...if you really do save me, that's what I'll do. I promise not to touch anything with a legitimate use, even if it can be used for harm. But there is just some magic that should not exist." She says, and pauses for a moment.

"Godwyn, I'm calling in the favor you owe me, before the aspect uses it for something bad. You are leaving this group and pursuing the separation of Broken Scale from Chrysalis yourself. I should be able to keep my aspects from trying to harm any portion of your group, at least until only the worst is left. After that, unfortunately, your group will have to find a way to deal with her.

I wish I could simply force her to accept a challenge from you, and back down once you succeed, but unfortunately, I don't have that sort of control over them in my current state."

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn starts to open his beak in protests, before closing it and look over at Foxglove and Gearstride. He studies them for a moment, before looking back at Anacra and giving a small sigh. "Very well," he nods. "I shall perform this favor. Miss Foxglove and Miss Gearstride are both very capable; while I do not enjoy the thought of leaving them alone in their endeavors, I believe they can handle themselves well enough in my absence."

He gives a shrug of his shoulders. "I will begin my quest post haste, and without protest. And agreement is an agreement."

[Benson]

"Wait...like right now right now yer leavin'?" Gear asked in utter confusion about the situation the three were thrust into. A lot of it went over her head being a simple mare with simple pleasures and simple wants, but, really, here was a chance at some sweet glory. Anyways!

Gearstride trotted over to Godwyn and gave him a hug. "Well...nonetheless..though we only knew eachother a short while, you were pretty cool, you were pretty cool ya me."

[Mystic Muse]

"Good. Thank you, Godwyn..." She says, as the environment around them changes. Instead of a castle, it's been turned into a fairly standard looking house.

"Don't worry, you'll meet again...you'll have to. Eventually, one of the aspects will head to the Badlands. For right now, there are more pressing matters." She says.

"You could use allies...there's an odd mare in a nearby town who could help you with any research needs, at a price. Better than trying to trek all the way to Ponyville or Canterlot for information though. Warning, she's very...odd. And not necessarily in a good way, like Foxglove."

She turns around and looks directly at Foxglove, practically staring into her soul. As she does, her horn glows, and envelops Foxglove in a strange aura, before fading.

"This, sadly, is the only help I can give, and it may never even come up...good luck on your quest, because I'm not sure how much more I can help you." she says.

The room then changes again, looking like the center of the Everfree Forest.

"...If you have any questions or requests, you better ask them now...I'm not sure how much longer I'll be lucid today, and I won't be able to contact you again."

[Deme]

Foxglove did not consider herself odd in a good way -- she didn't really consider herself as anything in a good way, but she also was never sure how it was she was odd.

Still, she had something more important to focus on, for the moment. And that was something she had never really done this way -- saying goodbye to someone she... Well, that could tolerate her for a couple of days, which was impressive.

Her head bowed, and she did not quite have the nerve to look Godwyn in the eye. Still, she sort of sidled up and said, in a low voice,

"...Bring an umbrella. It's very important, for adventuring on your own."


Of course, if there was anything Anacra could know about the current situation, she would have said it, right? About the big questions, anyway...Of course, Foxglove always has questions. As she meandered to the topic of questions, she remembered that there were some very mean ones people always asked.

"Do you know why no one knows about the annual secret wood chucking competition the woodchucks hold?"

[Benson]

"Oooh oooh oooh....I got a request!" Gearstride then eagerly tapped her cheek. "I would request a cheek smooch because you know....Kiss of Death jokes and puns, ya know the whole shabang. Plus bragging rights."

Priorities.

[Mystic Muse]

"Oooh oooh oooh....I got a request!" Gearstride then eagerly tapped her cheek. "I would request a cheek smooch because you know....Kiss of Death jokes and puns, ya know the whole shabang. Plus bragging rights."

Priorities.

"...Very well. I'll humor you." She says, blowing Gearstride a kiss that lands on her cheek. Sorry Gear, that's as much as you get.

Foxglove did not consider herself odd in a good way -- she didn't really consider herself as anything in a good way, but she also was never sure how it was she was odd.

Still, she had something more important to focus on, for the moment. And that was something she had never really done this way -- saying goodbye to someone she... Well, that could tolerate her for a couple of days, which was impressive.

Her head bowed, and she did not quite have the nerve to look Godwyn in the eye. Still, she sort of sidled up and said, in a low voice,

"...Bring an umbrella. It's very important, for adventuring on your own."


Of course, if there was anything Anacra could know about the current situation, she would have said it, right? About the big questions, anyway...Of course, Foxglove always has questions. As she meandered to the topic of questions, she remembered that there were some very mean ones people always asked.

"Do you know why no one knows about the annual secret wood chucking competition the woodchucks hold?"

"Well, if more people knew, it would no longer be a secret." She says, before her eyes glaze over, becoming a glowing blue. It looks a bit like the way one's eyes glow when using dark magic, but tailored to Anacra specifically. Her body then begins warping and distorting. She then looks at...something. You don't quite get a good look at it before the dream ends, but she says to it.

"I WILL BREAK YOU."

And that's when the dream ends, and everyone wakes up. Not a particularly nice note to leave on, but that's what happens when dealing with an insane goddess.

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn wakes up, and sits up with a scowl.

...he then sets about wordlessly preparing a small campfire, and brewing up some hot cocoa from his supplies. Enough for himself and his traveling companions; he has a feeling they won't be able to go back to sleep, either, and he would like to provide them some comfort and solace, if possible.

[Mystic Muse]

A crow appears in their camp, with glowing teal eyes.

"The mistress is willing to break her rules and bring the mortal back, this one time, but not without you putting in the required effort. You will have to find and go to her very first temple if you want to see her again."

It flies off shortly thereafter. Well, now they have a bit of a direction for their goal, if nothing else.

Time to go to the new town and meet Lucky, and relevant NPCs, or stick around in the castle a while longer?

[Benson]

"Well this has been quite a....something...I know there is a word for it....overwhelming?...No..not that ain't it......eye opener?...Mmm...close enough," Gearstride said after a few moments. She wanly smiled at Godwyn and his cocoa and campfire making-ness.

"Gonna miss ya, ya know? You were an alright feller for the short time we knew each other." She went over and patted him heartily on the back. Then the crow thing happened. "I don't know if I will get used to that heh...you know...the talking crows of mystery and all."

[Deme]

"Really, it's non-talking crows that are mysterious," Foxglove muttered. "Who knows what they're planning?"

She watched the direction the bird had flown off in for a moment of silence. The ending of the dream, the calling of the dead...To find the first temple... Why did everyone use crows in this world?

And then, there was the other matter. And here, face to face with her obstacle, she hesitated.

"Um. Please." She could not ask him not to go. She was not even, not entirely, sure of if they were friends or whatever, but this was probably the closest she had come to having, you know, talking-type friends in a long time. She did not know what to say when your friends were walking out, maybe never to return. So she looked up at Godwyn, steeled her resolve, and said, "Make sure you remember to pack a ball of yarn, so you can lay it behind you in the maze."

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn smiles wanly at Gearstride's back-patting and heartfelt remarks. "Thank you. I have enjoyed your company was well, clashing as our personalities and approaches may at times be."

When the crow arrives, Godwyn narrows his eyes a bit, warily watching it take its leave. "So, another quest to pursue. My my, we all seem quite adept at accruing them..."

It is Foxglove, however, who catches him most off guard. He blinks a few times, surprised by her resolve and steely expression, the fierce focus and determination she seems to feel for his well-being. After a moment, his expression softens, and his beak curls into a faint, relaxed smirk. "But of course, Miss Foxglove. And I shall endeavor to find a nice hue of yarn which matches your mane or fur, so that it may be as though you are the one keeping me upon my path, and preventing me from losing my way. Your guidance, as always, shall be cherished."

[Deme]

"The name of the color's wysteria."

She answered, her eyes darting briefly downwards towards her mane, with a faint and sad little smile.

[Benson]

"Who knows, maybe we will see each other again in our journeys and we will definitely have to do some story swapping, actually no wait, we should totally make a promise that we will see each other again after this, alright?"

[Lycan 01]

Godwyn smiles wanly. "We shall indeed see each other again. And there will be a swapping of stories, and a sipping of cocoa. I promise." His smile grows a bit more wan, as though lost in thought. "Paladin's honor."