MLPFEMTORPG -- But when the thread needed them most, they vanished

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>>29801774
Post sheets

>>29801777

https://pastebin.com/igZqP3w1

>>29801774
https://pastebin.com/R0AXr1UU

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3MB, 840x430px

>>29801777
https://pastebin.com/p1dtY3qj

>>29801777
https://pastebin.com/RaZG8KLM

Pryce 3/5 (9/5)
Flaming 3/3 (8/7)
Amy 4/5 (7/5)
Flow 3/2 (11/5)
Observer 4/6 (7/6)
Shei 5/2 (8/5)
>All will be at full H/W when morning comes

Last time on HQ...

The party rested after the near-deadly battle with the Abaddon Metatron. Little Journey, whom they met in Mudi's cartoon world, and whom they know is a supporter of Buiwong, invited Flaming, Amy, Flow and their group into a small, warm cabin, warded from demons. There, Renee was able to treat Flaming in warmth and safety, instead of the frigid chill of Vizsla's icy pocket dimension. Meanwhile, Shei investigated the core of Miracle, and attempted to undo the encryptions and wards that sealed away its secrets.

Pryce, not trusting Little Journey when he came to the airship, preferred to stay inside the ship, which was crowded outside by innumerable demons.

Meanwhile, Vizsla had gone out to the Birdcage to look for Mirror Image, or what remained of her, following Metatron's devastating attack.

(1/2)

>>29801782
"Not enough to topple a minotaur's annoyance threshold!" she laughs. But, as you cling to her back, she stays steady, until she rolls onto the floor, acting as though you got her for real.

>>29801798
"Whoa! Easy there, we'd best be cautious not to break anything in this cabin now, we don't even know to whom it belongs!" Rus says.

"Oh. That's a shame," Mocha says. Despite her nonchalance, there's an inkling of hurt in her voice.

>>29801911
"Such paranoia's likely for the best," River admits, slightly disappointed. Your frog hops off his lilypad and lands on your shoulder, then settles down and shuts his eyes.

>>29801782
>>29801798
The letter-ringed Dark Corridor opens once again, and this time, Wireframe and Observer enter. At the far end of the Corridor, you see Blessings, Busta and Box peering in in suspicion. When they see you, Box and Busta come down the corridor as well.

"Wow! You're alive!" Box exclaims. "Find any new stuff for me to carry?"

"Hey, could you decide if you're coming or not?" LJ shouts down the corridor at Blessings. "Maintaining these is a little hard!"

Blessings slinks away from the entrance.

"Oh, don't mind her," Busta says. "She's just guarding our airship."

>>29801815
Your consciousness wavered as Renee gently moved you off the couch in the main room and took you down a hallway to a back room within the cabin to a room with many rows of beds separated by curtains. When she set you down, she gave you a potion which numbed your body, enabling her to set about repairing the worst of the damage to your body with no pain, only light tingling.

Most of the curtains in the room have been drawn back, showing that many of the beds have personal effects laying around them-- clothes, tomes, armor, weapons, etc.. Besides the door to the hall through which you entered, there's a second door on the eastern wall.

Renee sings airily to herself as she dresses the worst of your wounds with healing water.

>>29801957
"After all this demon and angel nonsense, someplace normal like this airship is a welcome change of place for the night."
Pryce glances down as his frog hops onto him to sleep.
"And there's familiar faces too at least, don't need to worry about anypony else lashing out."

>>29801777
https://pastebin.com/YJFusUgn

>>29801957
Flaming blinks her eyes lazily as she lays about on the bed, feeling the numbness grow along her body and rendering her mostly unable to move her legs as Renee gets to work. She blows a small puff of air out of her mouth towards her hair, looking around at the many items collected along the beds. She looks at Renee as she sings, mumbling,

"I don't like it here, Renee. Too many spiders..." she looks up, pitiful look in her eyes as she asks, "And I'm... what's the pony saying? A squatting water fowl. Am I gonna take a lot longer?" She asks as though she hadn't just come back from the brink of death.

>>29801957

"Hey!" Amy says excitedly as everyone enters the cabin. She leaps up off the ground and rushes over to them.

"Box! How's the pony we saved?" she asks Box, poking him in the lip of his lid repeatedly.

"And, Busta!" she says, suddenly leaping up and spinning midair to look toward him. "I'm happy to see you lived through all that chaos! I think that means you're getting stronger," she says supportively.

>>29801957
Flow scoffs and puts away the claymore.
"Eh...I suppose you have a point."
He nods to Vice and he sits next to him, to begin cleaning his weapons. They silently acknowledge Box and Busta as they enter.

Trapper on the other hand, with his naturally suave sense, regrows his head and gets up.
>>"B-but tha' don make I'm not kinda i-interested, eh?"

>>29761158
>>29801957
>Replying to post from last game
>>You amble down to the training yard you've been to so many times before, and are refreshed by the salt of the sea's breeze. The island of Lanziaros has been under Mariposan control for ten years now and although the knights use it for vacationing, Chorazin has been adamant on converting it into a brutal training ground.

>>As you head to the center of the yard, you see Chorazin - a pink-coated pony with a wavy mane of alternating red and white stripes. Like all mariposan mares she is quite tall. She raises her saber, and rows of magic knives launch at a batch of trainees, zapping them on impact should they fail to dodge or block them using the training yard's obstacles. The batch of trainees fails to evade the onslaught and end up scorched, complaining that the general is unfair. When you greet her, she turns and gives you her usual pale glare.

>>"Good, you're here," she says. "Go stand over there, and demonstrate to these new recruits how to really duck and weave in a live combat scenario while I shoot at you."

"Question?" Shei-Sher raises his hoof, with the prim and proper mannerisms of his new Mariposan identity "Do we have to use knives?" As he asks he ambles leisurely to the center of the yard.

>>29801995
The frog starts to snore a little as he sleeps. "How long have you had that?" River asks, cocking her head as she walks over to check on Volkama.

Zjetya glances at River, then taps your shoulder. "I... hope you aren't too tired to read that music scroll?" she asks, a little hesitance in her voice.

>>29802015
Shei had delved into the memories contained within Miracle's core, but when his astral link with the orb had been complete, he found himself experiencing the memories through the eyes, body and even memory of a Mariposan stallion knight.

>>29802158
"We always use knives, Sir Corazon. What prompts this... question?" General Chorazin gawks at you for a moment. Strings of golden text appear and fizzle at the boundary of her body, and you see other clusters of golden text at the edges of other objects and ponies in the memory. She then rubs an eye and clears her throat. She trots down to the other side of the training circle, and then raises her saber. A cloud of blue, magic knives manifests before her. As she swings the saber down, the knives fly at you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtTVtJevr3E

Roll dodge twice, which are counted as one instant action altogether

>>29802030
Renee turns her head in confusion. "Perhaps I gave you too strong a dose? Ah! A sitting duck, that's what you meant. Dear, for goodness' sake, have you forgotten your need to sleep? When was bedtime for buffalo of your tribe? In Hearthome the curfew was always sundown, and we were asleep long before the night's candles had dwindled."

(1/2)

>>29802077
Box opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue, which extends to carry out the yellow unicorn, formerly a Farm. The pony is only dimly conscious with eyes half lidded, but lifeless.

Busta taps his forelimbs together as he surveys the Farm with an odd bit of hunger. "Ah... the thing is, I was... kinda sorta on the ship the whole time. F-figured it needed another guard around... well, I did end up reading plenty of books, though! So, I guess that made my brain stronger. If I have a brain."

>>29802088
"'Tis a shame though, I was hoping to get to best you finally after hearing tell of all your feats of strength," Rus says. She leans in and whispers, "Pray tell, I'm beginning to suspect this Little Journey may serve a god of spiders."

A spider crawls over her hoof in a race to the kitchen. "Just a suspicion," Rus says. "Rumors abound in Ecclesia of the sight of you during the Rapture. What was your relationship to that fallen god, Buiwong?"

---

>For those in the cabin
Spitshine comes down the Dark Corridor next, accompanied by a young doe, not much older than Spitshine, and a stout, middle aged Mariposan stallion who carries a filly-sized bundle of blankets in his arms. After eyeing you suspiciously, the stallion and the doe make for the back rooms.

"Hey, everyone," Spitshine says. "Kinda... found Sugar? Sugar, you want to..." he turns to talk to the doe, but she's already gone to the back rooms.

>>29802202

"Hey!" Amy says, patting Busta on the back (perhaps a bit too hard). "Good thinking with guarding the ship. Things are crazy. Always nice to have someone thinking ahead. And, if you can read books, your brain is already stronger than mine," she laughs. "So, OBVIOUSLY, you have one!"

She looks between Busta and the farm. "No eating," Amy says to him in a more grim tone.

She then observes the farm in a more concerned manner. "Is he going to be okay? Does he need anything?" she asks no on in particular.

>Then, Spitshine comes in

"SHINY!" Amy shouts excitedly, getting distracted from what she's doing. In a single leap, she reaches his position and gives him a hug.

"I was so worried!" she says, not letting him go. "All you guys were missing for so long and everything got so bad!"

She suddenly lets Spitshine go and looks at him. "And, you found Sugar!? That's awe...some...?" she looks around to see Sugar leaving. "Is she alright...?" she asks with a concerned tone.

>>29802199
Flaming winces, "Ah! Darn it that does make more sense. What I said was dumb." She shakes her head, laying her head back down on the pillow as she tries to wiggle her legs about. "My tribe fell and rose with the sun. When the owl luring the sun dragon had passed over the horizon, we all settled down and I would usually be made to get to sleep... a few hours after that. Then we'd rise before the owl returned from the opposite way."

She gives a yawn, "That's the best part about being on my own though. No one telling me when to go to sleep. I've gotten to stay up as late as I want." She puts her head into the pillow, getting awfully comfy as she looks around the room, eyes listing slightly as she's tended to. "I wonder how many others come through here... are they all weird spider pony things like that weirdo that greeted us?"

>>29802199
"Well.." He ganders off to the side "It is my day off."

[1d10]
[1d10]
Shei-Sher moves sidesteps and jumps through the yard, elegantly almost like a dance. Never flinching his eyes away from the daggers as he does so. The movements come to him so familiarly. He is sure he's done this a thousand times before. "You know Chorazin, many of the knights enjoy this island as a breath of fresh air from the regiment within city walls. And though some activity is good for sport and keeping troops sharp. There isn't need to fixate on such things here."

>>29802199
"He's only been around for a few days now, but he did first first pop up months ago back when we went to Vadahara. Not sure how, but he climbed right out of my bracelet from a mis-casted conjure spell."

Kid Pryce walks back into the barracks, hopping onto a bed and sprawling out.
>"He's got the right idea," He responds with a yawn to the snoring frog, "I'm too tired to even wait for Shei."

Pryce looks over as Zjetya taps him.
"I'm not that tired yet, but I'm not sure how good I'll sound."
>"Make it a lullaby, think we could all use something nice to sleep too."

>>29802202
Flow chuckles as he wipes some stains off of the Spinsaw.
"Yeah, keep dreaming, kiddo."
He pauses after Rus talks about LJ and the spider god.

"You're gonna have to ask one of the others about that, my memory is kinda hazy." he says flatly.

>>29802253
Busta wipes some drool from the corner of his mouth. "Actually, it'll be better to let him wither, just a little bit. Since the gem was causing his body to rapidly heal, he'd be better off without anything for a while so his body can get back to its normal rhythm. Otherwise, there could be backlash and withdrawal."

Spitshine frowns. "We found her in the Birdcage. She had been captured by Mudi, but then when Mudi brought her and the rest of her village's residents to the Mind Vimana, the whole Vimana was lifted into the sky by the angels. Then, when Miracle took over, a lot of the village's residents gave themselves up to become angels. She was afraid they'd come after her next, so she and the old craftspony over there hid in a crumbled emissary, where they almost starved." He sighs. "I... really really wanna do something for her, but she won't open up to me, won't stop shivering.

"As for the old pony, that's his daughter he's carrying," he continues. "She got turned into a demon, and he's not taking it so well. Especially 'cause... well, you remember that clockwork pony in the Witchbone jungle? The daughter's the one that sent it, trying to find Sugar. She's had a crush on Sugar too."

>>29802294
"I've no idea, the drider is the only resident I've seen thus far besides Little Journey," Renee says. "But I imagine, if this cabin belongs to the spider god, he'll have amassed whatever he can from what little remains of mortalkind."

(1/2)

>>29802308
You weave through the familiar patterns of flying knives with ease.

"That attitude's a bit unlike you!" Chorazin shouts, and you see her squinting at you. [1d10+2] "The sea breeze is a poor excuse for growing flabby. Metal rusts in the ocean air, but our bodies cannot if we're to maintain our border with those greedy Rumelians!"

Chorazin flicks and twists her saber as a conductor's baton in 7/8 time, and in compliance with her conducting, lines of blue swords rush up out of the ground, advancing toward you. (Roll dodge twice again.)

>>29802088
>>29802365
After a moment of quietly sizing up Trapper, Mocha chuckles, though it's hard to determine what she's laughing at. She struts back to the kitchen.

Rus snorts. "One of these days, goo pony, I'll wrestle you to the ground and take that hat."

>>29802311
You start to read over the scroll, and learn more of the tale of the migrating tribe of goo ponies, while Zjetya patiently sits beside you and listens. Eventually, River goes to sleep, in a bed beside the unconscious Volkama.

>timeskip to morning available

>>29802407
Trapper blinks and scratches his head as Mocha leaves.
>>"Was it somethin I said?..."

"Yeah, sure," he says sarcastically, "I won't go down easily, bud."
Flow raises an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? I gave it back a while ago."
>ready to skip

>>29802403
Flaming lies her head against the pillow again, looking at her wrappings as she gives a small yawn, the fatigue from the past several hours of almost non-stop demon fighting beginning to take its toll on her stamina. "I wonder if there are any of my clans' belongings here... or something about the princesses..." she mumbles, remembering Vir-can's warning back at the Tower. "If Little Journey is here he might have given Buiwong some of our belongings." She yawns,

"Renee.... I'm going to close my eyes for a bit. Keep an eye out for that buffalo or that drider thing. After you finish wake me up I have to... *yawn* get moving on finding Pryce and Observer helping with Metatron." She closes her eyes, beginning to rest.
>ready to skip

>>29802403

Amy nods at Busta's suggestion. "That makes sense. It's what I would do."

Then, she listens to Spitshine with a concerned frown. But, her frown momentarily turns into a smile as she says, "Open up with a joke."

With that piece of potentially awful advice, she turns and walks over to the old pony with the demon daughter. "Howdy," she says upbeat but quietly. "My name's Amy. We haven't met, but I heard about your daughter... I just want to say... It's not the end of the world. I'm half demon, and I've been that way my whole life. And, I haven't turned out THAT bad," she giggles nervously.

There's an awkward silence, then she sighs. "If there's anything I can do to help, please ask. You're not alone."

>ready to time skip after response from old pony

>>29802407
Kid Pryce falls asleep early into the reading, though for the little colt anything would have put him out this late.

Pryce sets the scroll down once he finishes, looking rather drowsy.
"Didn't expect a song to be so cultural, reminds me," Pryce yawns, stretching slightly through his soreness, "of the readings we did in the Church. Sorry, guess I was later than I thought."
He turns his head over to Zjetya at his bedside.
"We can do the singing portion tomorrow. Hopefully we can... leave soon..."
Pryce's head falls to his pillow, exhaustion finally reaching him as he dozes out mid sentence.
>Timeskip

>>29802407
[1d10]
[1d10]

"Neigh, the ocean is rejuvenating. Like the crab that scuttles back to the silky floor. We knight's need a retreat to shed our shell. We come back refreshed. Our exterior ready to become more like a fortress than it once was."

With a spell accomodating Sir Corazon, Shei emits a magic that puts the knife throwing to a momentary halt.
>SPELLBREAKER: recharge 2, spell, ranged; nullify a spell or magic effect
[1d10]

Shei-Sher steps forward to Chorazin. "It's time to rest Chorazin."

>>29802683
>>29802407
>Also ready for timeskip of course

>>29802515
You notice that the old pony looks a bit like Pryce, but the resemblance is mostly superficial. He guards the blanket carefully, but through an open fold you see that the filly-sized demon within resembles a twisted set of armor, with many joints welded shut. The older pony steps between you and her. "I appreciate the words, but don't come near us," he says. "We don't need platitudes right now... we just need rest."

>>29802480
Renee pats your head and nods. "Sleep well, little cow."

>>29802471
Rus blinks in confusion. "For true? Well, I thought you'd only put it off to the side! Well, could you ask for it back? I'm keen to take something from you, and nothing makes a better battle trophy than a hat."

Trapper notices Mocha poking her head out sideways from the kitchen's doorway at him, fascinated.

>>29802533
The barracks are filled with froggy snores.

>>29802683
You push through the magic, and Chorazin steps back as you approach. "Hey! Get out! You're not supposed to see any of this!" she shouts. "Geeeet...!" her voice takes on a metallic timbre, similar to the effect of Miracle's voice. The golden letters appearing all over the scene sweep toward her, gathering around to block your approach.

As quickly as you entered the memory, you are pushed back out, with the orb still intact before you. The effort saps the last of your strength, and within short time you fall asleep on the floor of the ship's washroom.

>>29802515
>>29802480
>>29802471
>>29802533
With the severe injuries and exhaustion of the previous day, you sleep long and deep, experiencing no interruption as the violence and chaos of the day revisits you in strange dreams. When you awake, though your minds are cleared, your hearts are heavy. It feels neither emotional nor physical, but something in between, as though you were being watched by someone ruthless and judgmental, and it feels as though clumps of something heavy are building in your chests.

(1/2)

>>29802515
>>29802480
>>29802471
You awake to the smell of a kind of stew and something fried, and the scent of pumpkins. Whether in the beds, on the couch, etc, you see that everyone has come to the small cabin besides Shei, Pryce, Blessings Zjetya, River Spring and Volkama. Everyone else is there. But, Mocha and Little Journey are nowhere to be seen. Renee is still asleep, curled up next to Flow. The lack of injuries anywhere on your body suggests that Renee was up all night restoring your wounds.

>>29802533
When you awake, you see that most of the party, except for Zjetya, River Spring, Volkama and Blessings is gone. Blessings is up first with dark-rimmed eyes, as she struggles to make some kind of stew out of the ship's provisions.

>>29802683
You awake on the floor of the bathroom, to the smell of someone crafting an unusual stew. The core still rests before you, intact, but now a gold aura swirls within.

>>29802741
Flow opens his eyes slowly as the smell of food enters his nostrils, and the rest of his body. He squints as he looks around, his eyes resting on Renee as his mind gets going.

He smiles and pats Renee on the head until his higher functions turn on, and his eyes go wide open.
"Oh piss, what happened last evening?"

Vice and Trapper get up at the same time as Flow, and they yawn as the smell of food hits their nostrils too.
>"How unfortunate that we have no stomachs, otherwise I'd be excited..."
>>"Hoh, I'm jus' excited that that spider lass looked at me!"
Trapper grins as he leans on the back of the couch the goos occupy.
>"I certainly hope you don't follow in Sir Amor's footsteps, Trapper."
>>"I take that as a compliment laddie."

>>29802729
Flaming's nostrils flair open as she smells the stew boiling over from the kitchen, her eyes hazy as she tries to remember the dreams she had just experienced, knowing them to be full of turmoil but feeling only a slight weight in her chest from the experience. The smell of food brings her further into the world of the waking, the buffalo looking around as she sees her wounds having been fully covered, and then to Renee as she sleeps besides Flow.

She steps out of her bed, stretching and popping her joints as she blinks herself awake, only aching slightly from her injuries as she's lured by the delicious scent of food. She looks around and spots Wireframe sleeping nearby, indicating that some contact must have been made with Pryce's side. Putting aside her questions of where Shei, Pryce, Mocha and LJ may have gone for the moment, she sniffs around for the pumpkin scent, feeling the rumbling in her stomach compel her. "Foood.... foooooood...." she says in increasingly loud moans in the form of 'moos'.
[1d10] Half-awake buffalo seeks out the stew

>>29802729
>>29802741
Pryce's eyes slowly open as he gets up, body feeling heavy from being worn out the day prior, but lacking any pain now at least.
"Ugh, I think I feel even worse..."
>"Nah, you're just out of shape."
Kid Pryce comments as he sits in his bed, holding the frog in his hoof. Pryce looks around the empty cabin, a bit of worry running through his chest with only two others left, but given they're all fine the others must have woken and moved to other rooms.
"What are you doing up so early?" Pryce whispers to not disturb River or Zjetya.
>"Trying to think of a name for our little frog friend. This is harder than I thought it'd be."
Pryce lies his head back down, staring at the ceiling.
"Did you see the others?"
>"Only Blessings. Oh!" Kid quickly coves his mouth, "Oh, she might know a name. You keep lying around, no need to trouble yourself."

Kid climbs out of bed, heading off to the kitchen where Blessings cooks.
"...Was I really like that?"
Pryce mumbles to himself as he continues lying there as his kid self runs off.

>"Hey Blessings, know any good names?"
Kid asks her as he walks into the kitchen.

>>29802741
Shei-Sher's eyes open. There's a cramp on his shoulder for sleeping on his side. He shifts position and lies there a while more just resting. Until the scent of breakfrast reaches the bathroom. Though it's tempting he doesn't want to leave the bathroom before his work is finished. Weakly, he gathers himself back up.

He thinks to himself as he stares at the swirling gold within the core, this part of Miracle is still fixated. If I don't put her to rest before absorbing her. I risk moderate possession.
Shei-Sher dives back into the core of Miracle.

>ASTRAL PROJECTION: spell;
[1d10+1]

>>29802741

Amy's eyes jolt awake as she smells food. She immediately hops out of bed and starts sniffing in the direction of the food, like a dog on the hunt. She follows its scent to its destination.

>>29802812
>>29802864
>>29802792
Much like the rest of the cabin, the kitchen is a very old bit of architecture in the style of traditional Accorsian buildings. Cinders burn in a medieval fireplace with pots and pans hanging from a rack above. In a cauldron you see a kind of slow-boiled stew that smells of pumpkin, and on a stone tray adjacent you see many rows of flat pancake-like food, but they are a deeper, orangeish brown and smell like potatoes.

Beside the tray of food is a slip of parchment held down with a stone. Additionally, through the cabin's windows, you notice that it's still dark outside. However, your internal sense of time tells you that it should be around mid-morning now.

>>29802837
When you attempt to dive into the memories again, your consciousness returns to that voidlike space you first entered. Only this time, the rings refuse to yield their secrets when you approach.

"Found out my trick? Congratulations," Chorazin's voice, again lacking Miracle's timbre, asks. A force shunts you forward, as if launched out of a cannon, and then you hit a flat, unseen wall. You continually fall through the void, and hear things shift as three other walls box you in. You now fall down a narrow shaft endlessly. "Go ahead. Absorb me. See how well that'll work out for you, genius. I'd override you in a second."

>>29802829
Blessings looks like she's about to cry, but only because the cauldron of stew before her is some horrible red mess of vegetables and fruits that smells dubious. "Failure. That's a good name. Awful Cook. That should've been mine," she says, more to herself than Kid Pryce.

>>29802917

Amy begins to drool as she discovers the stew. She nearly plunges her head into it before she realizes that would be rude. She frantically looks around for a bowl to put the stew in, or someone to serve it for her.

She notices the parchment. She pokes it with her hoof, then says loudly to anyone nearby:

>>29802812
>>29802792

"Can somebody read this to me!?"

>>29802917
Flow groans as he sits beside Renee and the goos.
"Damnit, why can't I remember?!"

Vice and Trapper both go to the kitchen and admire the scenery before them, and spot the stew.
>"Ah, stew! At least there's something we can have for nourishment."
>>"Aye laddie! A good breakfast is the foundation for a good life, or some bollocks like that, let's just eat!"
The chipper Trapper goes to get some stew while Vice reads what's written on the parchment.

>>29802917
>>29802864
>>29802792
Flaming spots Amy as she arises, and suddenly breaks into a trot towards the kitchen, "This way, it's coming from this way."

She skids to a stop as they come across the pumpkin stew, sniffing the air greedily as she looks towards the potato pancakes with drooling lips. "Oooooh...."

She is about to leap for a plate and bowl, before spotting the parchment, deciding to adhere Amy's request to grab at the note in her teeth, "I can't read pony script either. Trapper, Vice?" She asks the two goos, "Come read this so we can eat!"

>>29802936
>>29802955
>"No need to be so pushy, you two, I'm on it!"

>>29802917
The speed at which Shei is hurled around is bewildering. Everytime he knocks into an unseen object in the void it's like his entire being was a bone being swatted with a wooden bat. Like living inside a head-ache.

"Dammit Chorazin!" Shei-Sher cries out his voice bearing much pain. "I am here to rectify your mistake! I can give you absolution but you first need to know peace! We can help everyone.. who's turned." It becomes difficult to talk as his descent accelerates.

[1d10] Convincing

>>29802966
"Read faster, I'm starving!" Flaming whines, looking to go grab bowls for herself / Amy / everyone as he reads.

>>29802917
Kid looks up at Blessings, frowning at her displeasure and self-loathing.
>("Wait here.") He whispers to his frog, setting him on the counter.

Kid pushes a stool over next to Blessings and hops up on it, looking down at the stew.
>"You're not a failure, this looks great!"
He says to cheer her up, grabbing a spoon and trying a taste of it to show her how good it tastes.


Pryce finally pulls himself from bed, the pillow and sheets a bit of a mess from the grime of the fights and escapes he went though the day prior. He takes them in his magic, back to a steady cast now that he's rested. He takes them down to put them with the rest of the dirty laundry, and finds an open bathroom to clean himself off as well.

>>29802955

"Shortyhorns!" Amy suddenly shouts, distracted from her desire for food. She grabs Flaming and hugs her tightly. "Are you feeling better?" she asks. Though if the answer is "no", then her hug may not be the best idea.

>>29802966

"I'm not being pushy!" Amy says as she continues to squeeze Flaming.

>>29803004
Flaming gasps for air as she's suddenly thrust into a hug, her bandages starting to feel extra tender as she grips her, "AAACH! A-Amy, too tight, too tight!"

She looks down, wincing, "R-renee looked after me all night last night, I think my wounds have all closed up, but that can change if you don't hug softer...!"

>>29802936
>>29802954
>>29802955
While Wireframe starts to set out bowls and plates, Trapper reads the parchment aloud. It reads, in full:

"Situation gone from hairy to hairier out here. You are safe right where you are, but demon lords have identified what's going on. When ready, ring the bell."

It's signed by Mocha, but the 'a' at the end has spider legs and so doesn't look like much of an 'a'.

"A bell, huh? I think I found it out here," Busta says, pointing to a small reading-desk in the corner of the main room. Atop the desk is a small brass bell with two smaller chimes tied to the handle with thread.

.>>29802954
Renee blinks and mumbles awake. "Huh? Remember what, dear? It's not a danger, is it?" she asks as she sits up and kisses you.

>>29802980
"I'm quite comfortable as I am. What do you mean, help? You can't break someone else's Pact. Are you even aware of what a Pact is? Tell me if I'm going too fast for you. I can slow it down for a savage's pace. Or you could just get out, and I won't have to do anything that you'll regret."

>>29802991
The taste is an unpleasant mishmash of sweet and sour, but the tastes fight with one another instead of complementing, and so the whole thing is ultimately kind of tasteless.

Blessings smooths out her mane. "Well, it's technically better than things I've cooked in the past. I don't make dishes, I just eat whatever I find in the field. Oh, by the way: That buffalo came by this morning. He wants us to come to the demon lords' palace to hear the lords' assessment of the current situation outside, and says we won't be harmed."

When you go to the wash room to use the raincloud shower, you find Shei there, zoning out in front of a circular orb with a golden aura swirling rapidly inside. A metal band circles around the outside of the orb, which is etched with runes.

>>29803032

Amy lets her go, potentially dropping her suddenly. "Sorry," she laughs.

>>29803037

"This sounds bad..." Amy mutters as she sits down at the table. "What if we just don't ring the bell?"

>>29803097
Flaming winces, rubbing at he wounds as she falls to the ground. "It's okay... ah... sorry if I worried you Amy, but Renee did a great job. For a buffalo who had what that... thing, did to me? I feel fine. Still kinda stings though, but I think I'm healing quick."

>>29803037
Flaming nods to the changeling in thanks as she sets out the bowls and plates, listening to Trapper read out the message as Flaming suddenly understands Mocha's meaning.

"H-hairier... Metatron! He's still destroying Vitral right as I'm here stuffing my face..." she looks down, wincing as she looks to her bowl full of pumpkin stew and potato pancake. "There's no time to wait. I-I have to eat as quickly as possible and then get out there to help again, there's got to be something we can do." She says in assurance as she gets to work scarfing down her food in more of a hurry than she should given her injuries.

>>29803097
"Wmmmf havmmmf tmmfm rimmmg it." Flaming says between mouths full of pancakes and pumpkin stew, worfing down her food like a starved calf.

>>29803037
> Are you even aware of what a Pact is?
"Vaguely.." He utters

>Or you could just get out, and I won't have to do anything that you'll regret."
"Never." said with resolve "When I first peeked- into your soul I promised I would stay until the very end.. And I will stay until there is an end."

Shei-Sher bears with the acceleration for a moment, gathering his scattered thoughts before speaking again "I've seen it, the woven work of transformation, the pattern is clear as day but something very comprehensive is missing. The other half of the sphere lies with you, the circle can transcend the finite square and let our great work be done Chorazin. it is possible have faith!"

>>29803124
>>29803037
oh forgot
>SPELLBREAKER: recharge 2, spell, ranged; nullify a spell or magic effect

Shei-Sher strains his mind to align his focus and reorient himself stably within the void.
[1d10] to stop falling

>>29803037
Vice sighs as he sets the parchment down.
>"No rest for the weary, eh?"

Trapper slurps up his portion of the stew happily.
>>"So fookin what, we go down there and kick some ass!"

Flow rubs his hooves nervously, and avoids Renee's gaze.
"Like...did we, y'know?"
He loses the blue in his cheeks as he speaks meekly.

>>29803114

Amy stares at Flaming after she says her gibberish. "What?"

>>29803037
Kid Pryce keeps a pleasant face, or tries to with the fighting tastes in his mouth.
>"Its still good..." He says after he swallows, "You shouldn't be hard on yourself with this stuff, specially with food. Its hard to get it too look right, but it can always be a Blessing in disguise."
He says with a chuckle, giving her a shoulder nudge.

>"Demon lords? Oooo... I don't think the big guy will like that. Is that were the others went?"
He asks, absentmindedly taking another scoop of the stew.


Pryce looks down at the zoned out goat hogging the bathroom, sighing as he shuts the door and going to question what he is doing.
Pryce heads back up to the barracks, a strange empty feeling sitting inside him. The sky was falling the night before, but now they're seemingly fine. He feels he should be doing something, but there's nothing aside from finding the others. But he can't leave those still here alone.
For once in a long time, he has no idea what to do next.

>>29803151
Flaming quickly swallows the large chunk of food in her mouth, gasping for air, "We HAVE to ring the bell as soon as we finish eating, the Metatron isn't going to wait around for us while he destroys Vitral. I don't know what yet but, i know we can figure out something to help."

>>29803166

Amy has a miniature panic attack at the mention of Metatron. "Wh-what can WE do?" she stutters quietly.

>>29803097
>>29803114
"My guess is we'll just stay here, where it's nice and safe, if we don't ring it," Busta says. "Pretty good reason to not right the bell, if you ask me."

>>29803124
Your interminable fall comes to an end, as your downward descent smooths out, as though you ended up on a slide. The sliding breaks your fall, and you eventually come to a halt. You're stuck within the void still, but the walls are gone, and you feel soft, spring texture beneath your hooves, although you can see nothing below you. The smell of wet grass is in your mind.

"If you're rambling about what I think you're rambling about, give up now," Chorazin's voice continues. "I'm warning you right now that this bastardized occultism will break you. Not even that cheap, juryrigged metal you grafted onto your horns can insulate a mortal's mind, body or soul from the fallout of tampering with the Gez of an angel's soul. Anyway, I'll break it to you. Almost all my power had withered up when I plucked my core out of myself. I'm basically a brain in a jar right now. But it's more than enough to drown you if you try to absorb it. Nor is it enough to break a Pact, OR mitigate what comes after you break one."

>>29803153
"It sounded like the others haven't come around yet, but I'm sure they'll be out here soon. They're not the kind to let trouble go uninvestigated," Blessings says, glad that KP likes the stew.

>>29803149
"No!" she squawks. "No, no no no no. Nothing of the sort! For heaven's sake, we don't even have any private places we could have done such a thing in." Renee sits up and looks at the party, eating. "Not that offense is my intent, you know, nor to comment on any skill you might... I think I'll just stop talking, ehehehe."

You hear Spitshine laugh from his bed. "Mares."

>>29803211

"I agree with Busta!" Amy speaks up between slow bites. She doesn't have an appetite.

>>29803179
Flaming pauses, munching on a piece of pancake slowly as she tries to think. "We... we start by making sure the demon counts are going to do their jobs, and see if Vizsla found Mirror Image so we know the angels will work with them in keeping the mortals safe too. Then we can ask Mirror if anything can send the Metatron back, maybe Shei and Observer can think of something?"

>>29803211
She shakes her head, "Nope. I am a warrior, and I can only hide to lick my wounds for so long. If there are ponies out there working, a Climbing Fire can work twice as hard." She moves over to the bell after taking a long slurp of her pumpkin soup, "It wouldn't hurt to at least get an idea of what's going on out there."

She moves to ring the bell, but pauses as she hears Spitshine laughing at Renee. "Spitshine! You're okay!" She says in glee, running up to bonk heads with the colt. "Did ya find Sugar?" She looks at Renee, "And Renee, thank you. Thanks to you my wounds are starting to close up." She perks up an ear, "What's wrong though? Did Flow say something mean just now?"

>>29803233

"Well, if they know what to do, they can handle it," Amy says belligerently.

>>29803211
Flow breaths a sigh of relief.
"Oh man, I was worried there for a second...erm..."
He things of something to bring up that'll save him from the awkwardness of his question.
"W-wanna go eat?"
He glares at Spitshine.
"Oi! Whatd'you know about mares, kiddo?"

Vice drinks up some of his stew before turning to Trapper.
>"Say, d'you think the others are okay? It's been quite some time now since we've been together."
>>"Well laddie, if'n Hope n' the bitch are alive, I can't see why not."

>>29803233
"Nothing! I said nothing, capiche?!"

>>29803211
Shei-Sher stumbles through the void. Holding his head with a hoof as he walks. As Chorazin goes on Shei-Sher eventually tires of hearing of how many ways it might fail.
"This knowledge is more valuable than myself!" He shouts "And it's more valuable than you! But you have my sympathies. During our communion I realized what you were, it's incredible and inspiring how something like a pony can become such a magnificent angel. And at the same time it's all very humbling. And it's in part the reason I fought for your preservation. You are an aristocrat of the soul. I respect you for it. But you're dead and the only way left for you to serve this world is to surrender to me. I might die, but if I do it was in service to the Great Work. So leave that for me to worry about."

[1d10] convincing

>>29803211
>"Yea, that's how we got pulled out to this city to start with. Kinda makes you wonder where it can go from here, it was pretty crazy last night."
Kid takes a third bite.
>"Did you have a rough night? You're looking a little tired."
He comments, noticing the rings around her eyes.


Pryce looks out the window, his thoughts lingering for a moment before he turns to head to the kitchen. Maybe some food will help his head focus, and he should be keeping an eye on himself.


"Things alright in here?" Pryce asks Blessings and Kid as he enters.
>"Yea, we're great. Oh! Here, have some, gotta have a good breakfast to start your day!"
Kid says floating over a spoon of the stew to him. Pryce looks at it tentatively before tasting the sample.
"Its... interesting."

>>29803238
"But what if they need help? I can help!" Flaming says, looking down. "I'd do anything to help save this place."

>>29803240
Flaming looks up at Flow, perking up an ear, "That probably means you said SOMETHING. Are you makin' fun of Renee?" She snorts, "Because I owe her BIG right now, buster."

>>29803289

Amy sighs. "I guess if they need help..."

>>29803233
"I already went to check on her, but she's still asleep," Spitshine says, rubbing his head with pain. "She saw a lot of shit in the Birdcage. She and the rest of her village had been captured by Mudi, but the angels ambushed Mudi... well, long story short, the villagers ended up in the Birdcage, and most of them ended up submitting themselves to become angels, and... well, she saw one ascend. I was surprised she was able to sleep at all after I heard what she said about it."

>>29803240
Spitshine only laughs snidely and throws up his shoulders in a shrug. Renee sticks out a tongue at the colt, and then smiles at your offer of food, or rather, drink. "First food I've had since yesterday morning, so don't be surprised if I filch some of yours."

>>29803258
Chorazin cackles derisively. "Pay attention: Angels are not so easily subdued as demons. An angel is not dead until its core is destroyed. Go ahead. Break my core if that will justify this to you. I survived the first waves of the demons after the Rapture. I survived after I was transformed against my will. I survived even after giving up on my own city-state and breaking the connection to Miracle, the only vehicle I had of, if not protecting Vitral, then destroying it with dignity. You've won! You've won, you've won! I can't do anything anymore! You took all I had and crushed it, all for your precious demons, all for your crocodile tears. And now you want to drown in the deepest, most primal energy of an angel's soul. You'll kill yourself by taking the last little bit I still have for a noble veneer you cower behind to justify your own ambition! Well, do it! Kill yourself!"

>>29803287
"I was up most of the night on watch, with River," Blessings says. "We talked quite a bit, rather helpful it was, but then she suckered me into taking the last watch of the night, so... not much sleep for me. Ha. Haha. Here," she says, passing some loaves of slightly-old bread. At least that'll put some flavor into it."

>>29803318
Shei-Sher covers his eyes with a hoof and looks down "My word please don't mention it, I'm so embarassed. I really didn't mean to cry. It was just the metal on my horns and Mirror Image's conviction flowing through me. It was all very bewildering." Shei-Sher lets go a deep sigh "So then it's really beyond both of our control. Well then.. what must be done must be done." Shei-Sher bobs his head with dissatisfaction as he says the words. He turns around and walks away as if there was a direction to walk away in and wags his hoof at the black sky, directed at Chorazin "but for the record, as you're strangling me with your essence know that it wasn't solely for the demons. It was for all of us. This.." He wags both hooves in the air, regarding everything so far "It was for all of us."

Shei-Sher walks away, dejecting himself from the experience and back into the bathroom.

>>29803318
Kid takes his loaf, nibbling away at it.
>"I'm surprised you didn't go out wit this guy reading all night."
"It was one scroll, not all night."
>"It was boooring though, I thought you'd be singing."

"You could get some rest now. We're up, and the others are out, so you don't need to worry about standing guard."
>"Yea, you deserve it for making breakfast. Oh, we should bring it out to the others! We could have breakfast in bed while we wait around."
Kid says excitedly, already hopping off his stool to grab some bowls to carry out.

>>29803289
Flow sighs and shakes his head.
"I-it's an adult thing, alright?"

>>29803318
Flow chuckles at Spitshine's response, and goes to eat with Renee.
"Well, I don't eat much anyways, so..."
He turns his head to Spitshine once more.
"Speaking of mares, you met Sugar n' all that good stuff. She happy t'see you, or was all that other stuff you mentioned getting to her that badly?"

>>29803301
Flaming pauses, picking up on her unusual lack of enthusiasm, "Amy... I'm sorry. I-I still don't know what all he did while I was out but, I know it must have been bad."

>>29803381
Flaming shakes her head, well remembering the LAST time 'adult things' happened with the goos. "Ugh! Say no more, oooogh..."

>>29803318
Flaming looks down at her dish, "They... turned into angels?" Flaming gulps.

"We... might have saw them. While we were in the Birdcage. A lot of angels helped us fight Miracle. Or fought WITH Miracle." She looks towards the bedrooms, "I hope she'll be okay. I know what all happened out there isn't easy. And I only saw some of it." She rests her hoof on Spitshine's, "You got her out of there though. She's safe now, right?"

As she finishes up her plate, she moves to ring the bell, turning to ask everyone, "Did Mocha happen to say EXACTLY what will happen when I ring this? I thought it might just bring Vizsla here or something but, I don't want it to just teleport us all out or something like that either."

>>29803376
Blessings gladly drops down in one of the barracks beds and pulls up the blanket over herself.

>>29803375
"And now you're going to ruin a good thing. Take it if it pleases your ambition, you body-slave. I'll survive this. I'll survive no matter who or what I have to step over. I'll see this world to the end as it's delivered into the Abyss. Fake angel or not, I'm not going to let the sun set on Vitral before the end. Even if I'm the last person who will know it for what it was. A fake angel I was, but a tool of the gods nonetheless. Steal whatever's left here and put it to whatever your ambition demands of you. If the drink doesn't kill you, you'll wish it did when you see what happens when you break another's Pact. Now go. Go and drown in the wrath of gods."

You return your soul to your body.

>>29803395
>>29803381
"She hardly recognized me when I saw her, and I don't have the balls to wake her up this early.," Spitshine says. "Guess I can't blame her for not recognizing me. We only spoke a few times. Dad was always in such a rush to go and bring in more slaves that we only got a few chances to talk... maybe I should bring those up to her. Bond over the slave trade business? That's real romantic."

Spitshine frowns at Flaming. "You're gonna get picky now? I have no idea where this cabin is, so it's the bell or nothin', sister."

>Paused