/q/ - Quest

>>722969
Celestia grumbles from within his plush. Frustrated with his own failure of grabbing the changeling. Like missing a huge object or something he thinks. So he decides to push himself up, that shouldn't be hard.

[1d10] Recover

Roll #1 7 = 7

>>722969
Cit hums to the tune idly for a moment.

"Oh! Yeah, that's perfect! Say, have you ever heard of crystals growing on objects? Last time we were at this place some of my buddies got splashed with this weird liquid that made them grow. One of them blocked it with his shield, and a few crystals sprouted there. Took it around to a few people I know, but they weren't much help."

"Say. Where are we going now anyway?" It dawns on her that she has no clue what's happening right now. For some reason she isn't worried by it, though.

>>722969
The image of Falling fades away after it repeats the spell, to no avail. Falling isn't too upset, her initial cure on Tempest far better than she expected and should be good for a long while.

She looks back to Tempest as he starts to speak, peering into the room and the silhouette behind him. This time, choosing not to speak as the hope hangs around them, Falling slowly steps into the room without a word, looking at the figure inside.

>>722969
"Such a terrible curse, hardened to crystal in only years.."

"My master intends to journey into the fog." she states "Are there means to protect ourselves from a similar fate?" she asks, pointing to the body of Zephyr.

>>722969
Em sighs. "Welp," she says. "I tried. A bunch of times." She chucks the glowing orb at the already burning changeling.

[1d10]

Roll #1 10 = 10

>>722970
Celly scrambles to his soft, plushy feet.

>>722977
Gray #1, already burning and rolling around in a slowly spreading pile of flaming straw, is doused with another serving of liquid fire. It lets out a screech as its flesh begins to melt, which tapers to a gurgle and then one last smoking hiss, its charred remains all contorted and bubbling. The fire begins to fill the small chamber with sweet black smoke.

Gray #2 throws itself at Celestia, attempting to tackle the plush to the ground.

Grapple [1d10]

Gray#3, eyeballing the black rod, jumps at the prisoner-changeling, who is standing there with the weapon held across her chest tightly with both arms. She is frozen to the spot with terror.

Jumping Attack [1d10]

>>722972
Jasper listens as Cit speaks. "Crystals growing on objects? We've recently made breakthroughs with low-power visae and a few particular plants, but nothing inanimate… that would fly in the face of current vis theory. Is it possible there was organic matter on the surface, or perhaps small creatures you didn't notice?"

As Cit asks where they are going, the elevator lurches to a stop, there is a polite ringing of a bell, and the door slides open into a magnificent penthouse. Stone finished floors, clear crystal tabletops, leather sofas, bookshelves packed full of tomes and scrolls. A clear window from floor to ceiling separates the soft blue lighting from the darkness of night outside.

"My place," Jasper says happily, popping out of the cramped chamber and into his spacious abode like a cork from a bottle. He scurries into the back room, calling over his shoulder, "I'll be just a minute, only have to get changed!"

Starfish worms her way out of the elevator, rubbing her side where she was pinched into the wall. "Phew." Looking around her, she gives a soft whistle. "Who knew a nerd like that could pull digs like this?"

>>722973
Tempest follows Falling in.
The dark room has a musty smell, tinged with something else, an almost burning smell. The silhouette on the bed is a crystal mass, and it takes a moment to realize it is the rough figure of a pegasus sitting upright, wings engorged with glittering gems and laying on the pillows behind it.
"Zephyr," whispers Tempest. His voice breaks the silence in the room. He reaches his crystalline hoof out to touch gently his brother's shoulder, his cheek, then lets his foreleg fall heavy to his side with a quiet sigh.

>>722975
"Yes. Terrible to have, terrible to watch. Altogether shitty, if you ask me."

He nods, not looking at Zephyr. "We here in Horizon have been living with the fog for a long time. There are precautions one can take. Fogsuits these days are completely effective, if used correctly. I wouldn't want to live down there, but my friend Starfish makes a living by delving the deep for treasures. I was hoping she'd be around…" He looks distracted for a moment, but returns to Jiandao. "Into the fog, eh? You gals sure do get up to all kinds of things."

Roll #1 5 = 5 / Roll #2 7 = 7

>>722979
Celestia decides to fight fire with fire, but not literally as fire is too spooky. He jumps at the changeling going to tackle him once more trying to grappple a changeling within his ever failing hugs.

[1d10+1] Suppress

Suppress: recharge 1 after letting go, weapon; Renders target helpless. After success, can keep taking automatic actions to keep the target pinned. If this action is not taken, the target gets up.

Grappler: passive; Trained in melee and close quarters combat, you overpower foes easily in such situations. You have +1 to all rolls when making non-combat actions to grapple, subdue, restrain, or in any way preventing a target from moving with your own body. You can apply this bonus in combat to remove an enemy from combat without killing them, but only when they’re the only enemy in their zone and helpless, or on very low health.

Roll #1 9 + 1 = 10

>>722979
She shrugs. "Maybe? Everything happened so fast, I can't… can't remember how it all went down really. All I know is, there were crystals on his gear. That's not normal. Though not much is when we're talking about visae, so what do I know."

She blinks at the sight of the place. "…Wow," is all she can bring herself to say. "Didn't expect to see anything like this in the Fog." KC seems impressed, exiting the elevator last and daintily wiping his feet on the mat before entering. Both of them make themselves comfortable wherever they can, waiting patiently for Jasper to get ready.
[1d10] Perception if necessary

Roll #1 10 = 10

>>722979
Falling steps forward, silent at seeing this pegasus, Zephyr, entirely crystalline. It's even worse than the pony she saw on the bridge. She's unsure if she can even help, before she only was able to make them think clearly. But, she doesn't show it, knowing situations like these from her books is where the hero is supposed to stay confident or stoic and save the day. And with how well she cleansed Tempest, she is sure she can do something to help Zephyr.
Falling steps forward to the edge of the bed. Her horn glows bronze, her magic surrounding the mas of crystal as she tries again to cure this crystal infliction.
>Mend [1d10]

Roll #1 7 = 7

>>722979
Em places one hoof to her catylist and aims it at the smoldering corpse. "You rude meanies brought this on yourselves. I was nothing but polite to you."

[1d10] Raise dead

Roll #1 8 = 8

>>722979
"Fogsuit.. Perhaps she may be willing to sell a few?"

>>722980
As the gray changeling is in the air Celestia masterfully pivots his weight to intercept and throw it to the ground, pinning it under his plushy frame. Gray#2 is suppressed.

>>722983
The still-burning corpse of gray#1 shudders, shaking bits of its extremities off as ash as it lumbers to its hooves ungracefully. One of its eyes has melted, but the other looks out from charred and bubbly blackened flesh. It is no longer on fire, but doesn't look great regardless, to be honest.
(Em has control of minion: 8/1)

Gray#3 lands a devastating blow to the completely unprepared prisoner, knocking her down and sending the black rod skittering across the floor, which is increasingly covered in burning straw.
Gray#3 scrambles for the weapon.
Gimme Gimme Gimme [1d10]

The prisoner looks hurt and confused by being tackled so roughly. She is cowering away from the guard even as he ignores her for the weapon she dropped.

>>722981
"Crystals on his gear would not be normal, no. Hmm. Well, maybe this survey will offer some interesting observations."

The penthouse is marvelous and spotless, except for the clutter of books here and there. Cit can see that, although the outside is dark, they are actually above the fog level, probably by some 20 stories. There appears to be a small, sleek airship hovering outside the clear pane, next to some sort of rail-free balcony, or perhaps just a mini-dock. Starfish wanders over to it and slides a glass door back, letting in a gust of cool night air.
She shoots a devilish look at Cit and KC and wanders out onto the balcony.
The sofas are quite comfy, and there is a small assortment of magazines on one of the coffee tables.

"Almost ready!" Jasper calls from a room down a short hall.

>>722982
The crystal mound that used to be Tempest's brother glows from within, the same bronze light of Falling's catalyst. The light grows, flutters weakly, and one or two crystals shrink a bit. This small performance completely exhausts the magic of the spell, and they are left in darkness once again.

There is a silence that hangs heavy in the room. Tempest slowly walks to the door and exits.

>>722984
Golden laughs. "If she tries, I'll pop her a good one. That mare has more fogsuits than she knows what to do with. Not to mention she can patch em up in a jiffy, too." He shakes his head in admiration. "She's been at this a long time. Used to be a mechanic for the underground racers, you believe that?
Half the time she'd go down and salvage what was left of the boats that couldn't hang." He laughs again, though the subject matter seems dark.

Roll #1 5 = 5

>>722985
She examines one of the magazines out of boredom, then both she and KC join Starfish on the balcony. "Nice place, huh?" she comments. "A bit posh for my liking, but I wouldn't mind something like this, someday."

>>722985
Em places her hoof to the amulet and reloads a spell.
[1d22]
"You! Smokey! Get that guy!" She points at the changeling attacking the prisoner. The corpse lumbers forward and attacks.
[1d10]

She steps up to the suppressed changeling, kneels down, and tilts her head. "Man. You guys are kinda ugly. Real skinny and stuff. Weird." She shrugs. "Guess it's a good thing you were mean. Dodged a bullet there."

Roll #1 7 = 7 / Roll #2 8 = 8

>>722985
Celestia is elated to finally have the pony within his grasp. So happy in fact he can't but curl around the changeling with his tentacles and squeeze tightly. Might be too tightly.


Slam: recharge 1; Crush an enemy with your body, dealing damage. Crits on 9+.

[1d10] Slam

Roll #1 5 = 5

>>722987
[7:Astral Projection]

Em stands back up and walks past Celestia and the grappled changeling. "Hey, you two, you coming? The smoke is burning my eyes." She points to the zombie. "Smokey, you stay here and fight the two other meanies, kay?"

>>722985
Falling's face droops as her spell fails to remove more than a couple of crystals, barely at that. She looks back as Tempest leaves the room, no doubt heartbroken. She looks back to Zephyr. She has only just met these ponies, she came here to find her own friend, and yet she can't help but feel that she has to try everything to help them. Tempest said the healers they contacted said his state was a lost cause, but she managed to reverse the effects, not miraculously but through her own magic.
Her gaze sinks into the crystal formation surrounding and protruding from Zephyr. She has to try everything, especially if she's the only pony who can. Her horn glows again, a bit more brightly this time. The bronze glow around her horn flows almost like sand, her earrings glowing a bit as well. She hasn't practiced this spell much, she's never had much to use it on, but it has to be worth a try. The flowing sands of her spell circle Zephyr, attempting to turn back the clock.
>Hourglass [1d10]

Roll #1 7 = 7

>>722985
"Ah, excellent. Would she still be near the race? Perhaps we could speak with her once we've reached the track."

>>722986
The magazine Cit randomly selects is a specialty edition of a popular airship-modders rag. The cover features a pair of racers back to back, in front of their respective crafts. On the left is the handsome pegasus known as Swift Bolt; on the right, a lean-looking diamond dog known as Marble Mark.

The balcony is refreshing, for those not afraid of heights. Starfish is dancing along the edge, looking all around. "This is neat! A whole new vantage point of the city." She points downward, somewhere toward the central spire. By the night lights, Cit and KC can make out the lush greenery surrounding it. "That's where Zeph's entrance was," she comments. "Somewhere in the middle of that level. See look, you can see the floor of that layer is kinda thicker than the others."

>>722987
>>722989
Gray#3 misses the weapon, goes to try for it again and gets clobbered by the cindered corpse of his erstwhile comrade. The clumsy attack of the animated dead is not enough to knock him over, but it is enough to distract him from both the prisoner and the weapon. The two, one living and one dead, grapple each other in the rising flames.

>>722988
Celestia reaches his tentacles out and around the small gray funny pony and hugs it very, very tightly. The funny pony makes a little squeak and a couple pops as it struggles to free itself.

Escape Celly's Eldritch Snuggle [1d10]

The prisoner, watching the change in events, tries to scramble to her hooves in order to follow Em out of the burning room.

Recovery [1d10]

>>722990
Although Falling is certain she's cast the spell correctly, there doesn't appear to be any effect, not even the bronze glow from within the crystals. After a moment, she feels the magic fade without effect. Zephyr must be well and truly gone.

>>722991
"You know," Golden gnaws his lip a little. "I'm not sure where she is. We were supposed to hang out tonight, s'kinda why I grabbed the car. Sort of a date night, know what I mean?" He winks at Jiandao.

"Of course I'm going to take you ladies where you need to go first. You're still trying to go to the races? Gotta find the car that took your friend, right? Gotta tip that it's on top of the Spire tonight? Well, we can head that way whenever you're ready, ladies, but I have to say, you might not find exactly what you're expecting there."


[[Paused]]

Roll #1 3 = 3 / Roll #2 9 = 9

>>722992
Last time in Horizon…

>>722986
As Starfish points out the destination, Cit and KC become aware of the figure of Jasper, fully clad in a fancy-looking fogsuit. He holds his helmet, a much nicer model than any of theirs, at his side, as he joins the trio on the precipice.
"There, hmm? In the GD? Interesting choice. I do know that AB owns the district, along with half the rest of the city. I wouldn't be surprised if they have hidden caches, or laboratories, or whatever they are, stashed all around the city. Wherever you least expect it, eh?"

Starfish eyes his getup, a mix of admiration and jealousy giving way to condescension as she struggles with her ego. "Nice fogsuit, nerd."

>>722989
>>722988
Em stands near the exit of the chamber which is quickly filling with smoke. Celestia, in the center of the room, is currently squeezing the life out of the remaining gray. The other two grays are wrestling in the flames, one living and struggling with the pain of burning to death, the other (having already experienced the same) trying in its inanimate way to expedite the process.

The prisoner-changeling is hot on Em's heels to exit the room. She says nothing but her eyes reflect her panicked state.

>>722990
Falling stands alone in a darkened bedroom, near the crystallized body of a pegasus known as Zephyr. She has failed to restore life to his jagged form, and Tempest has left the room to rejoin Golden and Jiandao.

>>722991
Golden sees the effect his words have on the kirin, a sly smile creeping across his face.
"You didn't think that the SECRET races would be so easy to locate, did you?"

>>723588
Celestia continues to squeeze very tightly, believing Em has the gray thing coming at her already handled by the display of taking care of the other ones. With that damned fire she seems fond of.

Grappler: passive; Trained in melee and close quarters combat, you overpower foes easily in such situations. You have +1 to all rolls when making non-combat actions to grapple, subdue, restrain, or in any way preventing a target from moving with your own body. You can apply this bonus in combat to remove an enemy from combat without killing them, but only when they’re the only enemy in their zone and helpless, or on very low health.

[1d10+1] Remover from combat

Roll #1 7 + 1 = 8

>>723589
Em rolls her eyes. "Come on," she says. "Lets go, before you burn too!" She points at the changeling ex-con. "The weirdo gets it."

"You, Crispy," Em yells to the zombie. "I'm getting bored! Just pull him into the fire and hold him there!"

[1d10] Disco Inferno

Em pulls out a couple of small vials and tries to fill them with healing energy.
[1d10]Distil Life

Roll #1 4 = 4 / Roll #2 9 = 9

https://pastebin.com/r1CUq1UN

>>723588
>>722992
Falling stares at the crystallized body, her magic having failed. While it likely was beyond her skill, if he did truly pass this morning, she still feels sorrow in being unable to help. She lowers her head, turning and heading back into the main room with the others.
"I'm sorry."
She says to Tempest after she enters in a low tone.

>>723588
At this, the kirin nods.
"True, we did not. It is quite fortunate then that we found the pony to take us there, time was not on our side, this late into the kidnapping."

>>723588
KC leans on the railing a little as he admires the view, only to stop when he realizes he's in danger of breaking the whole thing.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Cit chimes in. "I mean, I'm not the best with directions, but that area looks kind of familiar." KC nods in assent, seemingly recognizing the area. "Wonder why they picked the Garden District of all places."

She looks over Jasper's suit. "Oh wow. That is a nice suit," she agrees. The sarcasm seems to have gone over her head.

She looks over to Starfish. "So, is it just gonna be the four of us then? Or should we check if any of the rest of the gang wanna come? …Though they probably won't…"

>>723589
Celestia has applied the big hug. It appears her new friend has stopped struggling, accepting meekly his fate of being squeezed. In fact, he appears to not be doing much at all. His colorless eyes are open but unseeing, rolling listlessly in their sockets independent of each other. He must be sleepy.

(Gray #2 is out for the count.)

>>723590
Smokey does not audibly respond to Em's command, but continues its attempts to drag gray#3 into the flames. They are suitably entangled, neither one of them able to escape the conflagration.

The ex-con gets it, alright. She is almost shoving Em out the exit, so desperate is she to escape the smokey death-pit of her former cell chamber.

>>723592
Golden sighs. "You have your hearts in the right places, but damned if you two aren't naive as they come. Look, I wouldn't normally do this, but you helped my friend out. That place the spook at the bar told you about? Yeah, that's not the meeting place. Unless the ponies you're trying to meet are heavily armed and ready to make you disappear."

>>723591
Tempest doesn't respond at first, but after a moment, lowers his head, still not looking directly at Falling. "It's fine." His voice does not betray emotion, but he says nothing more.

The silence in the room sits heavy.

>>723593
The balcony/pier wobbles slightly due to KC's bulk shifting positions. It's more solid than it looks, though. Jasper appears unconcerned by the slight swaying motion. Starfish lets out a slight whoop and tries to set the whole contraption to swaying to no avail. After a few moments, she gives up the ghost, pouting.

Starfish looks at Cit, then does a quick count of everyone present, pointing at Cit, KC, Jasper and herself in turn. "One, two, three four… Oh, shit!!" she exclaims, suddenly distressed. "Tonight is date night! Golden is gonna kill me!" She launches a sharp glance in a totally different direction from the GD focal point of their previous conversation. Cit recognizes this as the general direction of the hideout.

Starfish looks distraught. Jasper looks confused. The moon reflects off the sleek carapace of the airship docked beside them.

>>723594
Celestia does a little tentacle shrug seeing the gray thing finally relax. He decides to follow along with the little one and Em. Dragging along the gray behind himself. Like a child would a teddy bear. Celestia rather learn from Mini's mistakes on losing one's toys. Who would have thought the doll was behind the celestial plates.

>>723594
Falling is unsure what to say. The momentum of her tracking down Diamond has been broken by this unexpected funeral. All she can think about no is how if she only knew earlier, or if she could rewind time in a scale of days, she could've helped Zephyr.
He horn lights in the silence, a bronze glow covering Tempest's leg that the crystals remain on, attempting to cleanse the last of the infection from him.
>Mend [1d10]

Roll #1 7 = 7

>>723594
Cit looks worried. KC looks like KC. "So what are you gonna do?" she asks, unsure of how to go about this.

>>723594
Em tucks away her healing potiona[3 new, 1 from before], and continues down the hall. "Hey!" she shouts at the changeling booking it out if the room. "You were supposed to show me to the-" she sighs and kicks at the ground. "Heck." She looks around to see if anyone else is showing up or if they have time to explore a little more.
[1d10]Look with your special eyes

Roll #1 3 = 3

>>723594
There's a pregnant pause, a shimmer of emotion beneath her eyes, before quickly stifling it.

"To knowingly lead strangers into waiting danger.." she trails off, eyes closed for a moment, before looking back.

"Your warning is most welcome. Again we are in your debt." she finishes, bowing slightly.

"This land continues to confuse, such cruelty is near customary here."

>>723595
Celestia drags the unconscious gray mini-changeling behind him as he ambles to the exit, following the two friendly changelings who lead the way. Funny ponies have a funny way of leaving a room, all on fire.

>>723598
The changeling is not far into the dark tunnel leading downward before pausing to look backward over her shoulder. It seems she is making sure the other two are following her. She makes wordless gestures to reinforce this impression, then turns to hurry into the darkness, away from the heat and the smoke.

>>723596
Tempest turns to her as she starts to recast her time/healing magic. Anticipating the effect, he holds his foreleg up as the bronze glow envelops it wholly. The crystalline growths begin to evaporate, shrinking back into his skin. He closes his eyes as most of the crystals shrink to nothing, the spell's effect tapering off and becoming imperceptibly slow. He is left with a small patch of gem-growth around his cannon.

Incredulously, he stretches and flexes his forehoof. Where there had been solid crystal, now there is supple cobalt horseflesh, rippling with muscle and healthy as you please. His eyes, wide with disbelief, brim with tears.

"I don't believe it. I can't."

He blinks back tears for a moment, and then a look of anger begins to spread across his face.

"What the absolute…" Tears begin to stream down his face, contorted in rage. In one motion, he crosses Falling into the bedroom-cum-mortuary, loudly slamming the door behind him.

There is another heavy silence afterwards.

>>723599
>>723596 also

Respectfully, Golden breaks the silence after several moments.
"Y-es, well. Welcome to Horizon, where confusion, chaos and cruelty reign. I wouldn't bother looking for any overarching meaning here; we're all just trying to survive. Sorry about Tempest." He shakes his head sadly. "I can't imagine what he's going through." He turns to Falling. "Thank you for your help. I know he's not exactly… appreciative." He casts a meaningful look at the closed door as he begins to pull the conversation towards the common area. "I've never lost a brother, so I don't know, but I assume it sucks."

>>723597
Starfish is engaged in actively smacking her own forehead with a hoof. "Damn damn damn! I can't believe I forgot again!! I'm such a jerk!"
Jasper, eyebrows furrowed, tilts his head at Starfish. "Previous engagement? Do you need to go?"

Starfish, head cradled in hands, looks up. "Um, maybe. I really can't miss it, to be honest. I missed the last two already…" She chews at her lip. "Maybe I should just pop in and see what Golden is up to. Maybe he forgot too." She looks to Cit. "You think?" She sighs, looking to Jasper. "But we really need to do this tonight, right?"

Jasper nods reluctantly. "Affirmative. Doctor Gallow keeps us on a rather tight schedule, I'm afraid."

>>723600
She purses her lips. "If you and Golden have other plans, maybe it could just be the three of us?" she suggests. "We should go check it out first at any rate." She looks over to Jasper. "Er, you don't mind tagging along for this, do you? I mean you don't have to."

>>723600
Watching Tempest rush into the bedroom, Jiandao briefly lowers her head, in respect to his brother's passing.

"He has much to consider. Perhaps it is best we leave him to mourn, and return to our journey to the secret race."

>>723600
"Oh. Neat. I thought she was just gonna-" Em whirls a hoof around a little. "Poof. Come on. She clearly knows where she's going!" Em follows her down the hall.

>>723600
Falling takes a step back as Tempest crosses past her into the bedroom, shocked in silence.

She turns to Golden after he speaks up, still looking remorseful.
"If I knew earlier… I could've done something to help," She mutters, still a bit lost in what happened, "I-I'm sorry. I must sound like I'm overstepping myself into your lives. I've never had a time where my magic could've helped like this. Well, aside from the other day."

>>723603
Celestia himself did not know where he was going, so he thought it best to ask someone who did. Whoever said Celestia knows where is quite wrong. He should inform them that he didn't. Celestia taps on Em. "Where are we going?" Celestia asks of the changeling. Alongside the questions. Celestia uses his peeper to gaze around the darkened tunnels while tryin to keep up.

[1d10] Perception

Roll #1 4 = 4

>>723605
Em points at the changeling. "We're following her."

>>723601
Starfish and Jasper share a look, then both turn back to Cit and KC. Starfish raises an eyebrow to the group. "Would that be… okay? I really need to see Golden. Things have been kinda …weird …for a few weeks now, actually."

Jasper looks at the three others. "That… would be amenable to me. How do you feel, Citrine? And KC of course." He offers a small bow of courtesy.

>>723602
Golden bows his head as well in solidarity.

>>723604
Golden listens to her speak, and as she falters over apologies, steps towards her, arms open for an embrace. "No, no. You're amazing. I can't believe what you've done for Tempest." He shakes his head in admiration. "I've seen some healing magic before, but nothing like that. It's like… you've turned the hourglass upside down. Given Tempest more time. I know he seemed upset, but I'm sure he's grateful."

Listening to her continue, he blinks. "The other day?"

>>723603
>>723605
Celestia and Em follow along behind the tall green changeling mare, away from the smoking cell, keeping up as best they can. Obviously the dark does not bother her as she scurries heedlessly through burrowed hallways, confidently choosing a direction at each intersection.

Em is aware of a fading pheromone trail which they crisscross several times, sometimes following and sometimes ignoring. Whatever this prisoner-changeling is being guided by, it is not the trail of the Hive.

She leads the two into darkness. It feels like forever as they tread over jagged, treacherous crystal. The tunnels become rougher, less defined. Walking becomes more difficult. Still, the ex-con pushes on, only slowing as needed to ensure that the other two are still following her. Down, down they go. Celestia and Em begin to feel a cool breeze, and perhaps the sound of water.

Finally, the increasingly oppressive walls of the underground tunnel open up, and the two realize they have entered a cavern of sorts. The unknown changeling pauses near the entrance and takes a deep sniff. The air is cool, damp, smells of moss. All is dark, and despite their eyes becoming accustomed to the blackness, it is impossible to tell the dimensions of the room visually.

>>723607
Celestia reaches out to try and feel out the room itself along the walls. Seeing if it is more cave or special cave, or whatever cave changelings make. He just bets it is a cave. Can't go wrong with caves. Except when you do go wrong with them.

[1d10] Perception

Roll #1 10 = 10

>>723607
Falling looks up, still a bit shaken to go for the embrace.
"I met a pony the other day, and he was all covered in crystals too, a lot worse than Tempest was. It was the first time I ever saw a pony like that. He was going on about something, but when I tried to help him, it only calmed him down, it didn't cure him like I did now."

>>723607
"I mean… it's kind of out of left field, innit," she shrugs. "But do what you have to. Hell, maybe Golden will want to come along. Not much of a date though, is it. Hm."

"Sure, why not," says Cit. "Don't think our place is too far from here. We'll just swing by, see what the situation is with Golden, see how Tempest and Zeph are doing, then we can go from there and see what happens. KC's got a good head on his shoulders, I'm sure he can lead us to the spot." KC nods vigorously, looking proud of himself. Cit gives him an encouraging smile.

>>723607
"Finally!" Em says. "I was starting to think we were going to end up trapped in there forever, just wandering the halls and having those creeps yell at us for some reason. Let's get out out of here already!"

She squints through the darkness. If this lady knows where she's going surely a fellow buge can see too.
[1d10]Percept

Roll #1 7 = 7

>>723609
"Hmm.. Perhaps there is a limit to your magic, before the crystals grow too numerous to reverse?"

>>723612
"I only got to try one spell before guards came, but that does seem to be the case. My magic didn't even affect Zephyr at all."

>>723613
"Still, to have an effect as that on the crystals will be of great use, traveling through the fog as Master Border intends."

>>723614
"Border wants to go down into the fog?"

>>723615
"Indeed. He intends to begin work on a structure within the fog, and has hired me to protect Him and his allies."

"Has he not mentioned his plans to you?" she asks, tilting her head.

>>723608
Celestia, dragging the gray by the hindleg bumping over the rocky terrain, tries to grok the room with his gooey sensibilities. Vision cannot cut through the inky blackness; the sound of bubbling water is faintly audible. As he concentrates, however, the eldritch goo-pony becomes aware of life in the chamber. The three changelings with him are bright/loud obstructions to more distant signals, but he realizes there are more beings in the darkness. Perhaps three or four distant shapes curl around each other at the far edge of what Celestia realizes is the edge of the cavern.

>>723611
It's really, really dark. Em feels like they can sense the presence of Celestia and their captive, as well as the former prisoner. Beyond that, all she can tell is that there is a big dark cavern with water flowing maybe, somewhere in the distance.

>>723609
>>723611
Gray number two is stirring, not quite awake but certainly on their way.

>>723609
Golden, giving up on the hug, listens to Falling carefully. "So, worse than Tempest, eh? I've seen many pones crust up, mainly slower. Mostly, the gems eat you up from the inside first. By the time you see em on the surface, you're already boned, know what I mean?" He takes a long look at Tempest and Zephyr's door. "What they have… had…" he shakes his head, obviously still working on it. "What they got," he continues after a moment of head-shaking, "was something different. Fog sickness takes. I dunno. Years maybe. This took less than a week." He shrugs. "Like I said, there was… an incident." He has a face like he wants to say more, but stops himself with a swallow and a nod.

>>723612
>>723614
Golden shrugs. "If you gotta go, you gotta go. You know?" He almost allows himself a chuckle at his own joke while he watches for a reaction.

>>723610
A single tear from her left eye mars Starfish's perfect makeup, cutting a black river down her cheek. "I can't lose Golden," she states simply. Her right eye drops its own dark cable, destined to meet its counterpoint somewhere upon her chin. "I can't."

Jasper rolls his eyes. "This all seems a bit melodramatic. Can't we visit your domicile first, confirm your dinner plans (or lack thereof), then continue forth?"

Starfish turns on Jasper, all fire and fury. "Melodramatic??!"

Jasper again rolls his eyes, turns toward Cit and KC. "Honestly. I might prefer a less… congested survey."

Starfish looks pissed.

[[paused.]]