Parallel Equestria (IC)

[Dudeons]

It is a crisp October evening in Equestria. At this hour, most ponies would be at home spending time with their families, perhaps making preparations to celebrate Nightmare Night only a few weeks away. Not far off, the sinister sight of Broken Saddle Mountain looms over the town. The mountain itself is tall and foreboding, surrounded by an evergreen forest at the bottom. A long split down the middle that almost splits it into two mountains, with a smaller plateau at the bottom of the split. This chasm is what inspired the name, as the mountain resembles a saddle cracked down the middle. According to the townsfolk, the mountain is home to monsters of all sorts as well as the strange deer Cerveus. Both subjects are spoken of in fear, and thus the mountain is avoided unless absolutely necessary.

However, rules were made to be broken, and that is what a select few members of the younger crowd have done, just now arriving at the foot of the mountain. Insects fill the peaceful night with noise as a few animals scurry about in the trees and bushes. Broken Saddle Mountain stands before you. No sign of monsters. Yet.

[Reality Glitch]

"Can someone explain why everyone cityside thinks this this is a terrible idea? I've never quite understood."

[Ascension]

"Aaagh!"

Homespun lets out a squeal of fright and tries to jump behind a bush for cover, only managing to unceremoniously fall into the bush herself. Here she is, at the foot of a cursed mountain, which is supposed to be deserted but for monsters and one seriously creepy deer, and what does she find but...

"A dragon!"

And there, lurking over in that shadow, is that...

"A diamond dog!"

This isn't what she was expecting at all! Those stories about the monsters were supposed to just be old mares' tales!

"Okay, I want you to think before you come a-any closer!" she warns, "I'm not carrying any jewels, so you don't have anything to gain... a-and you don't know what the hooves of a McHooves are capable of! My grandpappy could wrestle a griffon to the ground with one leg tied behind his back!"

Of course, that was when he was in his prime, and Homespun is hardly her grandpappy, but hopefully these ruffians won't think that far...

[Reality Glitch]

((OOC: Due to the nature of F.A.E. and Fate Core I assume that the characters all knew each other before hand. I put such histories in the OOC thread if you'd like to look it over and/or object to what I've written. I'll edit this post if you'd like something changed.))

Glitch turns around to see Homespun awkwardly flop'd on a nearby bush. "Homespun! Haven't seen you in while. Need help getting out of there?" He approaches and stretches out a hand for the capsized filly.

[Ascension]

Homespun eyes widen as the shadow grows closer, and blinks in astonishment as the specter of a fearsome dragon resolves itself into... a decidedly less than fearsome dragon. She blushes, embarrassed to have failed to recognize one of her best customers.

"Oh, ah, I'll be alright, Glitch," she assures him, extricating herself from the bush.

"You could warn a body before you walk up on her out in these woods, though! Gave me quite a fright!"

She brushes away the leaves clinging to her scarf, and runs a hoof quickly through her mane, before realizing she has another question.

"What are you doing out here, anyway? Don't you know Broken Saddle Mountain's haunted?"

Glitch, of course, could just as easily ask her the same question.

[Reality Glitch]

"Because I've heard the stories, but am skeptical about their validity. If you'd never met a dragon before, what would think upon first meeting me? It's that kind of misunderstanding I want to clear up."

[igordragonian]

Ruff is brown coated diamond pup, with one black pointy ear. Both of them are folded most of the time. His muzzle, more pointy kind.(most diamond dogs seemed to have flat muzzle). He wore a tradional collar with a diamond, and tradional red vest with pockets filled with tools and everything he had. He was quite wide shouldered for a pup, and narrow waisted.

Ruff face pawed himself with a groan. The local pony festival made him feel a total alien.. He couldn't handle it, and came here to think about his family. Only an annoyed groan from him, has acknowledged the presence of the others. Should he go?
Hmph. Those silly colorful kids, might need saving...

[Inspector Valin]

Bunnies scamper out of the bushes and small birds take hasty flight as a pale-coated pegasus ambles past through the bushes. They know all too well what's to come, and look up at the overly loud pegarocker with frantic eyes. The last thing these animals need is an impromptu Gale Force concert. Humming to herself, the young pegarocker proceeds to amble up Broken Saddle Mountain, cheerily oblivious to both the animals, and the small gathering in the area closer to the path. As ever, her mind's off in its own little world of music and theme. Broken Saddle Mountain, with the sun going down, just a few weeks before Nightmare Night? Couldn't be better.

[igordragonian]

Ruff perked one ear. He sighed.
He wanted to explain to them, it's not a place for a little ponies... but he would just scare them, if he'l talk to them.. probably.
Ruff groaned, and pointed at the sky where he has spotted the pegarocker

[Reality Glitch]

Ruff groaned, and pointed at the sky where he has spotted the pegarocker

Glitch notices Ruff pointing and looks up to see Gale Force. "Yep. I see her. HEY GALE!!!!" He waves to get her attention.

[Ascension]

Homespun winces a little. That shout to try to get Gale Force's attention was almost as loud as the pegasus herself. In the event that there are, indeed, monsters somewhere on Broken Saddle Mountain, and not just a wagonload of ponies (and assorted friends) trekking up it for Celestia-only-knows what reasons, she hopes that they aren't attracted by noise.

"Right, well, it's been nice seeing all y'all, but maybe I should get moving on now to someplace less spooky... and less crowded."

Homespun points a hoof in a direction which may or may not actually be the right way back to town, and starts cautiously easing that way.

"I'm just going to leave you here... and head off alone... through the haunted woods... back toward civilization... okay?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Obviously I'm not actually leaving the group. I could easily scare Homespun back to the group just for safety in numbers, or she could bump into Elmsley as she tries to leave and get drawn back in that way.

[Gaius]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Good notions, both! Why not roll them together?

Before Homespun has a chance to get far, the clip-clop of galloping hooves emerges from the woods. Shortly thereafter, they are followed by the sight of an intimidating figure in shadow. Even more shortly thereafter, this turns out to be the much less intimidating Elmsley Flourish.

The gray colt slows to a stop, practically panting. "Note... to self," he mumbles between breaths, "Pack... less... junk." He does indeed have a sizeable pack on him for a little guy -- which no doubt played into the worrisome shadows he cast. Though it doesn't look like it's all that full, really.

Regardless, Elmsley simply stands there a bit, trying to catch his breath. He isn't much looking around, and doesn't appear to have notice anyone else. However, the donkey's ears are perked and alert, as though trained on something from back the way he came.

[Reality Glitch]

"I'm just going to leave you here... and head off alone... through the haunted woods... back toward civilization... okay?"

"Wait up a second. It was my understanding that the five of us were going up here together." He turn to look at the on coming shadow. "Speaking of number five."

However, the donkey's ears are perked and alert, as though trained on something from back the way he came.

Glitch's eyes glisten as he puts his hands on his cheeks. "Huh! I didn't know you'd be here." He gets down on all fours to reach Elmsley's eye level. "I'm a big fan of your show."

[igordragonian]

What is this place turned to? Into a kinder pony garden?!
Ruff groaned, and tried to find a shadow to hide at, but staying close to watch over them

[Inspector Valin]

"Huh?"

Gale turns her head at the sound of her name. Somepony was calling to her, out in the distance. Looked like a group of someponies actually. The Pegarocker waves a hoof back, grinning, before turning around and continuing to trot merrily up the mountain. She starts to sing a little as she goes, with a tone that was... quiet for Gale at least. "We bring our friends! Across! That da-aa-ngerous space-time/To the end! I! Will stand by your side like I'm..."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

As far as I can tell, Dudeons never said we'd planned to walk up together. And... well, I rather love the idea of Gale being too self centered here. She's in a good mood, pretty oblivious to the wider world. If some more level headed soul wants to try and catch up, well, that's fine. But you're all currently a bit distracted, no?

[Ascension]

"Ack!"

Homespun abruptly reverses the direction of her retreat as Elmsley's shadow looms, his bulging pack and donkey ears forming a frightful silhouette. She's scampering away, and just about to shout a warning to Glitch (and even to that shifty diamond dog lingering in the shadows) when the moonlight breaks through the trees and reveals the latest monster to be none other than Vanhoover's preeminent donkey showman.

"Okay, that's it!" she declares, still panting from the unintentional scare, "I'm proposing a new rule! Nopony should be wandering around these woods at night without a flashlight! Y'all are like to give me a heart attack out here."

She pushes her headscarf back, wipes the sweat from her brow, and lets out a long breath, trying to release all her tension.

"That said, it's good to see a friendly face out here, Elmsley. What brings you up to Broken Saddle Mountain? Seems like it must be the night for it, considering the crowd."

[Reality Glitch]

"I knew I forgot something. No flashlight when one is afraid of the dark is a terrible irony."

[Dudeons]

Gale Force

Walking up the cliff, you find that the incline is surprisingly accommodating at the lower half of the mountain. The maze of evergreens starts to thin out as you go up, although they are still present. It starts to get foggy as you go up, no doubt the result of runoff from the self-forming clouds that the mountain was infamous for. As you are walking, you hear faint sounds of something walking close behind you. From the sound of it, its a bipedal creature.

Everyone Else

As you discuss amongst yourself, anyone looking at the mountain will catch glimpse of a small green entity through the trees. It seems to be following Gale Force up the mountain.

[Inspector Valin]

Gale was frowning, mulling over potential damage to her guitar from these stupid self forming clouds. That was when she heard the beat; ba-dum, ba-dum. B-dum, ba-dum. Coming from somewhere behind her, lower down the mountain. Hrm. Two hooves. A biped?

The young Pegasus was lost in thought for a second, but then grins widely. I guess even the legendary giant bunnies of Broken Saddle Mountain are curious about my music! Were their legendary giant bunnies up here? Was that a thing? Well, what else could be moving like that? Satisfied, Gale withdraws her gituar from her back, giving it a few experimental twangs accompanied by older lyrics. "But days keep winding on and on/as time keeps turning. Rejuvin-ate, accelerate, because it's ne-eh-ver too late/to do what seems im-possi-ble/and leave them swirling!" Satisfied that the visitor must have had enough of a taste of her music for the moment, gale replaces the giuar on her back, and resumes trotting up the mountain, muttering to herself. "Burning? Churning? E...earning?"

[igordragonian]

Ruff has narrowed his eyes, and perked his ears.
He growled, and walked fast on four, (but made sure not walk fast enough to startle who ever is following Gale Force.
Ruff waved his paw, trying to gesture that Gale Force should hurry and join the group

[Ascension]

Homespun is puzzled by the sight of the diamond dog going into alert mode, without any explanation.

"He don't talk much, does he?" she murmurs, but then she follows his line of sight and notices the green... thing. Her eyebrows jump straight off her head.

"GAAAAAALE!" she hollers, just about loud enough to wake the dead, "IT'S THE MOOOONSTER!"

[Reality Glitch]

"HEY! Wait for me!" Glitch offers Elmsley a ride and after he accepts/refuses takes flight to catch up with the others.

[Gaius]

((Sorry for the slow response. x_x Been a busier week for me than hoped))

Homespun's startled reaction is the first to draw Elmsley's attention. Then, moments after he spots a familiar friend, he spots an unfamiliar dragon. A dragon who seems very interested in him. The donkey's eyes widen as he attempts to form some sort of coherent response. "Haw?" Fortunately, a particular word from the dragon chases away any alarm and grounds him. '... Fan...?' Though it does inflate his head a bit.

At once, clearing his throat and dipping into performance tricks to hide exhaustion during longer shows, the little magician looks far less out of breath and far more composed. He won't catch his breath any quicker, but Elmsley's big on presentation. "Ah, thanks!" he says, giving the dragon a big smile. "Always awesome running into a fan."

Keeping his snickering at Homespun's outburst to a minimum (and wondering if he did pack a flashlight), Elmsley gives her a friendly nod in greeting. Gale then turns his head as she belts out some more lyrics. "Wow, you aren't kidding." The donkey spots the shadowed diamond dog at this point, but judges him by the company he keeps: Homespun is alright by virtue of experience and his draconic fan is alright by virtue of being his fan. He chuckles. "Who's next? Starstruck and Springtime gonna jump out of the bushes or something?"

They might not, but the distant figure Elmsley notices might have its own ideas. Before he can say anything, the canine creeps off after it and Homespun sounds the alarm to Gale (to his ears' chagrin). The little donkey feels his mane spike a bit at a sudden sinking feeling. "Right, so if there are monsters out here, then... That means I really was just running from..." He still hasn't heard anything in a while, but turns a nervous look back the way he came.

Before Elmsley can dwell on this, the dragon offers him a ride. He thinks about this a moment. On the one hoof, he's sure his mom distinctly told him not to take rides from strange dragons. On another hoof, "Yes!" Still being short of breath and worried about another monster jumping out to bite him on the flank barely factored into it. Unless he and his pack prove too cumbersome for Glitch to take wing, the donkey eagerly prepares for a flight on Air Draconic. If they do, Elmsley sighs in regret before hoofing it after everyone.

[Reality Glitch]

Upon taking off, Glitch almost strikes the ground again, but manages to keep airborne. "*huff* *huff* I haven't carried this much *huff* *huff* since my parents kicked me out *huff* *huff* and I had to move here. *huff* *huff*"

[Gaius]

Elmsley winces a bit as his ears droop, partly from having forgotten his bag and partly from the familial revelation. "Oh, jeez! I'm sorry." Knowing how unequipped he is to tackle one of those topics, he tries to at least lend a hoof with the other. "Uh, thanks again, but I should walk. Speed's kinda important, right? No sense slowing down both of us." Should Glitch slow (presuming he even got much speed going), the donkey carefully disembarks. "Maybe when I'm a little less... overburdened." He gives a little smile.

He then remembers the dragon's remark a moment ago. "Ah! Although..." The magician does a little rummaging through his bag. Most of its contents were left over from a recent performance, plus whatever he hurriedly threw in before slipping off to the Mountain. Should Elmsley find a flashlight or two in there, he offers one to the dragon. Either way, he tries to hurry up after the pegasus and the mystery creeper.

[Reality Glitch]

"Not a problem, I can keep top speed. I'll just to not move my wings at all for a couple minutes afterwards. The exhaustion isn't full-body like running." As Elmsley hands him a flashlight, "Oh! Thank you! Now I don't need to waste energy of fire."

[Dudeons]

As the group rushes up the mountain, the green figure seems to pay little attention to you. Getting closer to it, Elmley and Glitch's flashlights reveal that the figure is about as tall as Homespun and the green color comes from a hooded cloak that it's wearing. The stance implies that it is bipedal, although its legs are not visible. In fact, the creature seems to take care not to expose any part of itself, keeping its back to the flashlight beams and the cloak carefully wrapped about itself. The creature murmurs to itself, the voice conveying a masculine, somewhat childish tone.

"Hmmm... Five in number? Perhaps..." he murmurs, "What business do you have on Broken Saddle Mountain?"

[Gaius]

Elmsley is surprised when he notices the cloak. The voice further suggests that this may not be the slathering monster they might have feared. Not that he's ready to sing kumbaya with it yet: ominous whispers don't exactly build trust. Squinting into the illuminated bits of him, the magician tries (without success) to suss out what this creature might be.

Still, Elmsley being Elmsley, he's not about to let little things like justifiable wariness and ignorance of a stranger get in his way. The donkey is as curious as a cat. "Oh, nothing special, just... applied studies is all," he answers, waving it off with a hoof. "That 'five in number' thing sounds a lot more interesting. What's that about?"

[Reality Glitch]

"That 'five in number' thing sounds a lot more interesting. What's that about?"

Speaking to Elmsely, "He means the five of us." Glitch then speack to the hooded figure, "I'm just here becasue I'm following everyone else."

[igordragonian]

Ruff frowned. As answer he has puffed forward his chest, fisted his paws.

Giving the stranger clear message:"NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS!"
And added a growl to mark this message