Adventures in Equestria IC.

[Deme]

"Wow, I haven't had cocoa in forever..." Foxglove may be getting distracted from the part where Godwyn actually leaves by thinking about the fact that she hasn't had cocoa -- or, really, drinks besides water and maybe some tea -- for a considerable amount of time.

"I'll look forward to it. Or back, because I'll be thinking about this."

[Lycan 01]

The trio enjoy a bit more (no doubt quirky) conversation as the fire crackles into the night, until they all eventually retire.

The next morning, Gowdyn is gone. A small letter has been left where his bedroll lay the night before, as well as one of his grey feathers. The letter is short - well wishes for the pair of mares in their endeavor, and apology for leaving before they awoke so both parties could hasten off onto their respect world-saving tasks. The feather, it seems, is a memento for them to keep of him, until they meet again.

It seems the Paladin is well on his way to go play the hero, as usual...

[Mystic Muse]

Eventually, the group comes to the town they're supposed to, likely some horse pun I can't think of because it's 6 AM, I should be sleeping, and I'm bad with horse puns anyway.

Regardless, it's a fairly nice little town, with everyone using their talents...to a bit of an absurd degree in fact. Some ponies are practically making plantlife grow with every step they take, pegasi are arguing in the sky about what the weather should be like today, and Unicorns are arguing on the placement of things, a few potted plants and other such things inevitably getting broken as they argue about where to put them.

There are also fliers for a festival happening tomorrow, which is probably the source of some of this conflict, and there appears to be no one actually leading them to get everything going correctly. Normally there'd be a mayor in charge, but they seem to be nowhere around.

Of course, this is soon all drowned out by a commotion from the building at the center of the town, the library.

The library is a fairly old looking place, made out of brick and stone, and looking almost like a fortress, as compared to Twilight's tree library. It even gives off a bit of a castle aesthetic, and has been decorated as one. Though, oddly, rather than the Equestrian flag, there's one with a custom design on it, that doesn't appear to be the town flag either.

Now, for the aforementioned commotion.


"Leave no white plume as a token of the lie your soul has spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!"...It sounds like it's the same person shouting, but coming from somewhere else. Not far off, just not from the same place.

"Take thy face from out my heart!" The voice says a third time, again oddly seeming to come from a different area.

"AND TAKE YOUR FORM FROM OFF MY DOOR!"

...Either someone is having fun reciting Edgar Allan Poe (Poorly), or they're going for a very overdramatic kicking out of someone they don't like.

The group, and Lucky, should go investigate. The group because it's apparently their destination, and Lucky because the voice is a mare. What reason does he really need beyond that?

[Lycan 01]

Lucky Break, charming rogue, bounty hunter extraordinaire, handsome scoundrel...

...and currently incarcerated idiot.

As Gear and Foxglove enter the town, they'll notice a stallion sitting in a metal cage outside the sheriff's office, or whatever law enforcement establishment they have. Clad in a white shirt and black vest, he's reclining on his rump, with a black desperado hat pulled down over his face to keep the sun out of his eyes. Looks like he's trying to nap.

However, when he hears them passing by, a feathery wing unfurls from behind his back to lift the hat. The brown stallion studies them with a pair of bright blue eyes for a moment, before he suddenly leans forward in the cage and cracks an awkward grin. "Heeeeeey there~" he croons uncertainly. "You mares ain't from around here, are ya?" he asks, voice sporting a rather obvious Southern twang. Must be from the Badlands.

"Name's Lucky Break," he says with a nod of his head, and a tip of his hat. "And, well, I'll be honest. I'm kinda stuck here because of a bit of a legal misunderstanding. Buuuuut if you two lovely gals help me out a bit, I'd be willin' to return the favor. Pleeeeeeease?" he asks, giving them the puppy-dog eyes.

What a dork.

[Benson]

Gearstride had been minding herself for the most part when she and Foxglove got into town, enjoying the nice change of atmosphere and being in a setting she was more comfortable in. Taking in the smells of civilizaaaation, mmmm manure, and checking out the local sights and by local sights more like checking out the cute mares and stallions this place had to offer.

So when Lucky made his presence known to the mares walking past, she cocked her head his direction and smirked after hearing his spiel.

"Oh my oh my, what do we have here, a cute little bird locked in a cage." She leaned against the bars after closing in on the distance, she was unaffected by the puppy dog eyes being an occasional wielder, but he still was very cute. "A favor eh?" She waggled her brows. "Well you did ask nicely and you are cute." She stroked her chin in feigned thought.

"I suppose so."

[Deme]

Foxglove'd been particularly quiet that morning; rather, she'd only muttered the occasional non-sequitor, and when spoken to, nodded. She'd seemed a little lost in thought, and drifted into town with only a little nod to remind Tweedle to wait outside the limits -- and that, Fox-glove had to prompt her about with a little yap.

She almost walked past Lucky despite being spoken to, except that Gearstride did stop, reminding her to, well, pay attention. So she did. Legal trouble? Foxglove's face scrunched with concern.

"...I'm sorry...I don't think I can keep my balance in that pose, so...I wouldn't be any good."

[Lycan 01]

The stallion grins a bit at Gearstride stopping to help him. "Oh, really? You'll me out? Great!"

He then turns to stare at Foxglove, looking a bit caught off guard. He blinks a few times. "Er... pose? No, Miss, I ain't askin' ya to pose. And I a certainly ain't trying to impose or anything," he says with a sheepish grin of apology. "I just need, y'know, a little help. Some ponies to vouch for me, and maybe convince the mayor I ain't... uh..." He fidgets a bit, averting his gaze. "That I ain't a a hitstallion trying to assassinate her, like she seemed to think. Not my fault I got hit by lightning and crashed through her window the other day..." he grumbles.

[Mystic Muse]

Meanwhile, the visitor leaves the library.

"Alright, alright, sorry to bother you. Have a nice day, madam Unity." She says as she leaves. She comes across the group and...did you three hear wrong? In addition to having no white plumage, the mare is a unicorn, and not even white. She's a mare whose mane and coat look practically golden, with sky blue eyes.

"...Been a while since I've seen a pony in a cage like this. What happened here?" she asks the group.

Spoiler: Foxglove the fox

Show

Something is off about this mare. She looks like a common pony, but she smells wrong for that. If the whole 'white plume' thing didn't spoil it, she's pretty clearly under an illusion spell. Though, who would have reason to hide her identity here, one can only guess.

[Benson]

"Well then cutie," She gave Lucky a playful wink, leaning close against the bars. "I'll try to see what I can do, maybe then afterwards you and I--" Gearstride quickly turned her head at the sudden sound of a new pone's voice. She quickly huffed into her hoof to check her breath, good to go!


"Oh my......who do we have here?....Sweet pony princesses this town sure has a lot of cuties~ Quite the golden treat. If you were a member of that Apple family, you would be Golden De-li-cious~" Nailed it.

[Deme]

"Oh, you don't need me to go 'Objection'?"
That was the boredest sounding objection ever, but she did try a dramatic forehoof point. True to her word, she wobbles and falls forward.
It's from her position in the dirt she sees this mare approach. Foxglove the fox immediately sniffs at her and starts growling and screeching barks.

"...Uhuh... I see..." Foxglove tilted her head back, listening to her fox's aggravated barking. It's not like she doesn't understand her precious friend...But what it means, that she does not understand.
"We don't know about him... We also...Don't know about you. Or the library. Do you know?" She stared at the mare, or, well, at the underside of the mare's face, with a quiet intensity.

[Mystic Muse]

"Oh my......who do we have here?....Sweet pony princesses this town sure has a lot of cuties~ Quite the golden treat. If you were a member of that Apple family, you would be Golden De-li-cious~" Nailed it.

She gives a mild giggle at Gearstride's flirtation. "Thank you, but I'm not really looking for a relationship, or anything of the sort." She says.

Sorry Gearstride. Swing and a miss. No HPK here.

None for you either Lucky, don't even try.

"Oh, you don't need me to go 'Objection'?"
That was the boredest sounding objection ever, but she did try a dramatic forehoof point. True to her word, she wobbles and falls forward.
It's from her position in the dirt she sees this mare approach. Foxglove the fox immediately sniffs at her and starts growling and screeching barks.

"...Uhuh... I see..." Foxglove tilted her head back, listening to her fox's aggravated barking. It's not like she doesn't understand her precious friend...But what it means, that she does not understand.
"We don't know about him... We also...Don't know about you. Or the library. Do you know?" She stared at the mare, or, well, at the underside of the mare's face, with a quiet intensity.

"I don't know about him...as for me, I'm not really anyone of consequence. As for the library, I don't know a lot but I'm worried. The owner is probably the second most paranoid person I've ever met. Something also seems incredibly off about her, but she chased me out of there before I could question her about it. I'll probably just be heading back home in the next few days, since it doesn't seem as if there's much I can do here." The mare says.

Spoiler: Foxglove the fox

Show

The mare is a very good liar, but she's definitely lying about not being someone of consequence. In fact, she smells like she's from Canterlot. Specifically, upper class Canterlot.

[Lycan 01]

"Paranoid? Psh," Lucky scoffs, sitting down and looking a bit disgruntled inside his cage. "I'm in this cage because she thinks I'm an assassin," he huffs. "Seriously, I'm a bounty hunter, not a killer or thug. My professional is a respectable one, thank you very much," he says, crossing his forehooves and looking rather grumpy now. "But noooooo, crash through one window, and suddenly you're accused of being a contract killer, and locked up in a cage until your trial, which will be held 'eventually.' So yes, you could say she's paranoid. Just a wee bit," he says bitterly, narrowing his eyes in bitterness. Bitter.

[Deme]

"Hmmm....But it's not paranoia if he's right, right? Um, not about windows or bounty-hunters, but about off being with people you think are off because they seem to think something's off about you, but you can keep pulling a switch, and it just stays off, right?"

This was the most she'd spoken all day, delivered at a slightly nervous mumble. She remained where she was -- that is, the ground -- and instead sort of look up at the clear blue sky....
At least until Foxglove -- the fox, that is -- screamed. It was a disconcertingly pony-like sound, like someone being attacked. Foxglove staggered to her feet as Fox-glove started to pull, resolvedly, at her mane.

"Ooh, I wish you hadn't done that... No, no, it's OK. It's...It's fine. She... She probably has nothing to do with what about Canterlot makes me sad, OK?"

In the distance, a familiar loose-footed lumbering begins to sound out...

[Lycan 01]

Lucky looks a bit bewildered and concerned as Foxglove observes about off-ness. "Off? What's off?" He looks around his cage, shifting uncertainly. "I ain't fibbin' or anything, if that's what you're thinking. Honestly, I-"

And then the shriek. Followed by something about Canterlot, and... thunder in the distance...

Lucky stiffens, body tensing. "Hey, uh, anypony wanna tell me what that sound is?" he mutters, nervously glancing around his cage again, this time double-checking for structural weak points. "Because if it's somethin' I need to worry about, I may just go ahead and try my luck with the cage myself. I'd rather not be in a box while everything's on fire or something..." he mumbles with a restless flick of his tail.

[Mystic Muse]

"Hmmm....But it's not paranoia if he's right, right? Um, not about windows or bounty-hunters, but about off being with people you think are off because they seem to think something's off about you, but you can keep pulling a switch, and it just stays off, right?"

This was the most she'd spoken all day, delivered at a slightly nervous mumble. She remained where she was -- that is, the ground -- and instead sort of look up at the clear blue sky....
At least until Foxglove -- the fox, that is -- screamed. It was a disconcertingly pony-like sound, like someone being attacked. Foxglove staggered to her feet as Fox-glove started to pull, resolvedly, at her mane.

"Ooh, I wish you hadn't done that... No, no, it's OK. It's...It's fine. She... She probably has nothing to do with what about Canterlot makes me sad, OK?"

In the distance, a familiar loose-footed lumbering begins to sound out...

And something rather odd happens as a result. The sad-placer begins speaking sylvan, the language of animals.

"Look, I'm not trying to hurt you or your friends, and I'm sorry if that's the impression I gave."

She then speaks in plain pony language. "...Please tell me that hydra at the edge of town is your friend and that I don't have to try and defend a town today."

Lucky looks a bit bewildered and concerned as Foxglove observes about off-ness. "Off? What's off?" He looks around his cage, shifting uncertainly. "I ain't fibbin' or anything, if that's what you're thinking. Honestly, I-"

And then the shriek. Followed by something about Canterlot, and... thunder in the distance...

Lucky stiffens, body tensing. "Hey, uh, anypony wanna tell me what that sound is?" he mutters, nervously glancing around his cage again, this time double-checking for structural weak points. "Because if it's somethin' I need to worry about, I may just go ahead and try my luck with the cage myself. I'd rather not be in a box while everything's on fire or something..." he mumbles with a restless flick of his tail.

"...Depends on how worried you are about a baby hydra." The sad-placer says.

[Benson]

"The lovely Foxglove the pony here can answer that bit about the hydra.......but still we oughta go make sure no one ends up getting hurt," Gear frowned and she started to fiddle with her leg brace looking device.

"But first........we gotta get handsome here out, and I have just the idea how," She devilishly grinned and held out her leg brace device in front of her and sang a few arcane sounding words. It whirred and came to life as she shoved what looked to be butter that she yoinked from hammerspace into a slot. Suddenly a yellow magical-ish aura shot out at Lucky. The pegasus would find himself soaked with a greasy buttery feeling, his mane and coat slick with it.

"Delicious."

[Lycan 01]

"Hydra?" Lucky tilts his head curiously. "Well if it's just a baby, that shouldn't be problematic. After all, how much trouble can an itty bitty baby be?" he asks with a lazy, crooked smile.

And then he gets buttered.

"Oh, oh jeez!" he whines, clearly utterly disgusted and horrified as he looks down at himself and the substance covering him. "What is this? W-what-" He tries to flap his wings and shake the stuff off his feathers, but it seems to just make it worse. "Is this butter? All I smell is butter!" he laments, looking and sounding rather inglorious. "Why did you-"

He immediately loses his balance, hits the floor of the cage, and is sent gliding straight towards the bars. "Gaaah!" With a loud, cartoony "pop" he zips right between the metal... and continues down the street, horrified screaming in his wake.

Rather inglorious indeed.

[Deme]

And something rather odd happens as a result. The sad-placer begins speaking sylvan, the language of animals.

"Look, I'm not trying to hurt you or your friends, and I'm sorry if that's the impression I gave."

She then speaks in plain pony language. "...Please tell me that hydra at the edge of town is your friend and that I don't have to try and defend a town today."

"...Depends on how worried you are about a baby hydra." The sad-placer says.

Fox-glove the Fox just growled in response. When someone's telling you something, but you know they haven't been truthful, there's not much point in trusting it when you're a paranoid fox who views himself as monitoring the safety of a naive little space cadet and a literal baby.

"....Sorry; he's like this sometimes. But, you mean Tweedle? He's just my precious little baby, like a sweet little copper pumpkin."

Foxglove said, perking up at a chance to talk about Tweedle.

"At most, he has some teething troubles -- you know, like a puppy -- but I've got him out of chewing stuff that moves."

She looked over at the whole action of getting Lucky un-stuck.

"Even if they're pre-seasoned. Don't worry. He wouldn't hurt a --"

This is when Tweedle comes thundering down the road, coming to save the day. Or so he thought; that scream had been a call for him to come and use some muscle.
...But he didn't account for a slicked-up pony slicking up the road.

He crashed into Lucky, knocking both pony and hyrda off their standing appendages, and continuing skidding, likely in a screaming mess, towards the other ponies in this group. Certainly, he knocked into Foxglove and Fox-glove, and added them to the rolling pile of doom (Though it looks, if you freeze-framed it, like one of Tweedle's heads scooped her up onto his back, wherever that was). It may have gotten more, and certainly had the opportunity to roll into every character in the scene (at player/gm's discretion).... And kept skidding and rolling and slicking about, leaving a buttery trail that only came to a stop at...

((I'll leave this for Mystic Muse to decide))

[Mystic Muse]

Tweedle indeed goes barreling right into the sad-placer, who gets caught up in the makeshift game of Katamari damacy.

And they go right into the library. Not merely into the wall, or even through the library, right in the center. Almost comedically in fact, as the whole ball of people gets plopped right in the middle without breaking anything.

And, well, obviously the illusion is dispelled now, since I'm fairly certain getting tackled by a hydra counts as interacting with it.

And caught in the pile is....oh. Well, it's a really good thing she's giggling and not angry.

"Well, that was suprisingly fun." Celestia says.

Who IS angry on the other hand is the mayor. A dark blue unicorn with a lighter blue mane and a cutie mark that is essentially the three musketeers joined rapier "All for one and one for all" thing.

"I told you to get out of my library Celestia!" She says.

And then....a pegasus appears who is identical in pretty much every way. "And I suppose it's time to do more to the assassin than just put him in time out."

And last, an earth pony appears who is likewise identical, minus the horn or wings.

"...So, two mares, an assassin, a princess, and a hydra tumble into a library. When did my life become the start of a bad joke?" She asks.

The library itself...wow, this is the most barren library ever. There's hardly a book on the shelves or a piece of furniture anywhere in here. It looks like it's all been packed up and ready to be moved elsewhere. Which is a shame because it's a very well put together looking library, fairly old, and lots of space. There are two floors, and all of wood in the shelves looks like it was put together by a loving craftsman.

[Lycan 01]

Lucky opens his eyes. Everything is so colorful. Why is it so colorful? Ponies are talking. The mayor. The mayors. And-

The stallion realizes why everything is so colorful. He's on Celestia's back, with his face buried in her ethereal mane, a kaleidoscope of hues swirling around his head.

"This is how I die," he deadpans to himself.

[Benson]

and Gearstride just happily pranced following the trail of shocked bystander pony faces all the way to the library.

"Ladidida~ This couldn't have worked out better if I do say so," The olive pone smiled to herself and with a hop, skip, and a jump entered to face the mess in the library.

She stopped in her tracks seeing Celestia. Dang...the princess is so hot... And then her eyes fell on Lucky. That lucky bastard.

"Why if I had a camera, I would take a snapshot of this beautiful bundle."

[Deme]

Foxglove looked at all this from the relatively comfortable position sitting safely on top of Tweedle's back. She steps down, shapes herself off, and looks at Gear with a vaguely worried expression.

"No, it's backwards. Or .... We'll have to start over, unless this is a sort of hanged colt thing. ...Sorry, Ma'am. Very sorry."

Foxglove added that last to the princess, in a small voice. She stepped off her Hydra, who shook himself off with a generally apologetic air, sending drops of butter flying. She looked around and got slightly bug-eyed, a difficult task for someone with already round eyes, but in this case involved actually opening them all the way.

"...Oh, oh, this is too many. If all of you... are one of you... And one of you... well, that's the same... But... Um... One at a time, please? I...I'm not good at being ganged up on... you have to get in line behind the Princess and... And you're not his mom."

[Mystic Muse]

"Don't worry about it dear, it's no trouble." Celestia says, giving a comforting motherly smile. Unfortunately her expression is about to change

"A count of trespassing for each of you, two counts of attempted murder from the assassin, destruction of public property for the hydra...meh, too much work to punish all of you. I'll settle for just the assassin. I'm executing you at sundown." the unicorn says.

This makes Celestia...well, she pretty harmlessly brushes Lucky off of her. Stands up, and stares the librarian straight in the eyes


"You. Do not. Have the authority. To kill him."

"Actually, I've done the paperwork, and the town is considered a micronation separate from Equestria, so yeah I do." the pegasus responds.

"You are allowed to run your town however you wish, within reason. But I refuse to allow this. And if I have to fight you to prevent it, I will."


"...FINE THEN. GET OUT OF MY LIBRARY. I want all of you, and everyone else in this town gone by tomorrow. Whether they choose to recognize it or not, I DO have the authority to do that." the earth pony responds. If everyone isn't gone soon... she says, before they all say at once "Very. Bad. Things. Will. Happen."

The party might notice a weird smell, other than just the butter. Foxglove and Gearstride might recognize it. Lucky too, depending on just what his luck is like.

Depending on how good the group is at reading faces, they may notice something about the Librarian's expression as well.

[Lycan 01]

Lucky is brushed off! He flops to the floor like a limp ragdoll, and makes an amusing squeaky-toy noise. He just lays there on his back, watching the whole scene with his hooves folded in atop his chest, expression flat. His eyes lull from side to side, watching the back-and-forth banter.

Finally, at the end, he simply raises a hoof so that he may speak in turn. "Does that order to leave include me?" he deadpans flatly, not sure how else to tactfully inquire as to his current legal conundrum.

[Mystic Muse]

"Yes, yes, fine fine, just get out NOW, and if you ever step hoof in my library again, I don't care what Celestia says, I will purge you BY FIRE." She says, still furious.

"...We should probably just leave." Celestia helpfully suggests, putting her illusion back on.

[Deme]

The pony's tone tugged at her; it sounded like nothing so much as a cornered, frightened animal. The sort that bites, yes... But not the sort that bites because it wants to hurt. Foxglove turned to leave, ushering out Tweedle with a delicate tap from her nose... And then, at the last second, turned around.

"These bad things that are going to happen, and everypony in town needs to get out for..."

She lifted her head and looked at the various and sundry librarians or people exactly like the librarian, or what-have-you...

"What will happen to you? You're in this town, too, right? So... I want to make sure you get out."

[Mystic Muse]

Foxglove can take a look around, and notice something. Almost all the books are gone...but basically nothing else is. The librarian clearly lives here, and there's still furniture, some books, and other things one would expect to be packed up if she were leaving. Which leaves one of two possibilities.

Either the librarian has no intention of getting out because she's the one who's going to cause the bad thing to happen...

Or she feels there's some reason someone needs to stay behind.

"...I'm sorry. I can't leave." the unicorn says.

"What's wrong? Maybe we can help." Celestia offers, knowing full well it probably won't do any good.

"Oh no. Nononononononono. I would rather die than accept your help." the pegasus says.

Celestia simply hangs her head and sighs. "Very well, if you insist." She says, being the first to walk out. She's well aware she's not wanted, and her presence isn't helping.

[Deme]

Foxglove put back her ears, and took a deep breath. The fact of the matter was, this pony was scared, and -- even if they didn't want it -- probably did need help. Because you need help when you're scared.

"Oh, if that's how it is... Then I have to stay and help you...."

Because helping people who were frightened or hurt -- that was what kept her dream alive. And her dream was the only way she could have worth. Foxglove tilted her head, and tried to think of what it was. What could be so scary to a pony? ...Well, this pony was probably not afraid of having to provide a sensible answer. She seemed to have that under control. What about alternate dimensions where there was no air? Well... Actually, now that she thought about it, there were a lot of things to be scared of. She shrunk back as they all sort of barraged her at once.

"... If we hurry, we can make a floatational device that can have buoyancy inside jello. Then we'll just float to the top."

She said at last.

[Mystic Muse]

Nononono. You have to get out of here. That won't help. That can't help. That...Jello won't stop it." the Earth pony says. We need fire. Lots and lots of fire." the pegasus says.


Of course, they don't seem to want to reveal WHAT it is she apparently needs to stop.

[Lycan 01]

Lucky blinks a few times. Deeply confused, not just by the librarian/mayor, but by the other ponies, and the Princess, and the whole situation in general. The only thing he really understood, really, was that something was... awry. Something was wrong. Beyond him being an "assassin," beyond the conflict with the ruler of Equestria, beyond a bizarre case of talking to yourself, the mare(s?) in front of him had a problem. Something that worried them - scared them even - more than they were willing to admit. For all intents and purposes, Lucky should have just gotten up and left while he could. Instead...

The stallion very slowly, carefully, sits up. He reaches up, cautiously, and removes his hat, which he then holds in front of him with his hooves, in a humble gesture of courtesy and respect. A pair of meek blue eyes peer out from beneath his shaggy (and somewhat buttery) mane, and he cracks a timid little smile.

"Ma'am? I... know we got off on the wrong hoof. And I understand yer mistrust for me, and impatience, and disdain, and... well y'know," he mutters, shrugging and averting his gaze a bit. He then looks back at her, gaze alternating between the trio, as he gives another sheepish little smile. "But... I'd like to try to make it up to you, if possible? If'n you be needin' help with something, I'd be more than willin' to lend a hoof? Especially if it's something dangerous. Which, as fretful as yer actin', and since you said it needs lots of fire to be fixed... I'm guessin' it is something dangerous. I don't mind stickin' my neck out for ya, both to make up fer our past misgivings, and because it's not right to leave ya like this with whatever's got you so worried. And besides, if something goes wrong, I'm probably the most expendable pony you've got available," he says, flashing a crooked, knowing smile.

"So," he shrugs, once again smiling meekly, "If'n you'll accept it, I'd like to help..."

If the librarian/mayor(s) scrutinize the dolt stallion, they'll find that... he seems genuinely honest. Those bright blue eyes hold no traces of deception. Just... humble, genuine desire to help.