revenance_rpg | Elementary, my dear ponies

Entry tags:

Elementary, my dear ponies

Who: Soma and very, very open - preferably everyone who wants to help search for the elements.
What: The game is afoot, but it's not a foot, it's jewelry.
Where: Equestria, round and about (Library first)
When: A day or two after this and this
Warnings: Probable violence, possible language, and all the general character-specific warnings. May as well go ahead and say this one's party style, no posting order, since the idea is for everyone to split up.

Soma was finally used to the new world. He could hover, he could soar, he could even do a barrel roll, and weather manipulation was much easier than he had first thought now that he had an actual idea how it worked. And he'd even regained a couple of his normal abilities - namely, the ones that had worked with his Giant Bat form before, plus Black Panther. They were a little different, admittedly - most had been scaled to fit his new form, for example, and Bat had given him something like a sonar sense - but they were familiar all the same, and that made him feel much more at ease.

In the same vein, he'd acquired a new weapon from the Moogles; a nondescript katana, well made but entirely devoid of enchantment, much like the ones he'd found in the castle and subsequently sold to Hammer. He could live with that; it was short enough he could use it in this form, and that was what really mattered to him. It gave him something he could use without relying on his souls or the poorly understood magic of this world. And he had Yoko now, too; the Peepsta Hoo was a welcome addition to his team.

He'd asked for everyone to gather outside of the library tree, since that was where the Elements had been taken from. He had confidence in this group's capabilities, but there were far too few of them likely to be able to use the Elements present. If it came down to a big fight, well... they were going to need all the firepower they could get.

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No dice (or Elements) were to be found in the cabinets. There were straps of leather and various tools for repairing farm equipment, as well as hammers and nails for fixing fencing, but nothing remotely royal or magical looking. Overturning a bucket with one hoof, Carolina stepped in and out of the empty stalls; freshly made, waiting for their occupants to come home, it made the fur of her coat crawl. (Which was an interesting sensation, to say the least.)

"No luck here," she announced finally as she emerged from the last, just in time to Amaterasu making use again of that paintbrush and canvas. It was strange enough to see magic as it was, but seeing it again was fascinating.

Carolina trotted over immediately in the wake of plant and wolf, circling where the vine had materalised and disappeared from, before staring up at where Ammy had been deposited in the hayloft. She shook her head in wonder. "How did you even learn how to do that?"

Little luck was being had by Lela either, but she wasn't about to limit herself to one side of the barn! There were four, after all! This idea lasted as long as it took to climb onto, tip over and fall into a barrel, a meof! of surprised muffed by the lid falling shut behind her.

Ammy sniffed around the hayloft as much as she could, tossing aside bits of hay here and there. Still, there was nothing about that even came close to a royal element. These things did look like necklaces, right? Ammy looked up when she heard Carolina call...so nothing over there, either. She barked back once, just to indicate she'd also had no luck.

Since it didn't look like there was anything up here, either, she went ahead and jumped back down to ground level. She pulled out a piece of paper, and painted an answer for Carolina's question:

She learned the brushstrokes for vine from Tsutagami, one of the floral gods.

Lucky was starting to get pretty frustrated with the lack of any good shiny things, save farming tools, and she at least knew not to take those. She let out a long meow of disappointment, although got distracted when she heard the other Necho Cat fall into a barrel. She wandered back over and tapped on the barrel's side. Hey, come on, this was no time to play around!

Carolina shied to the side, making room for Ammy to jump down safely, before circling around to watch the wooden wolf paint.

From her quizzical expression, it was likely clear that she had no idea what she was looking at. "A..badger?" Or was it a monkey? It seemed to have a hat.. And juggling plates?

Where ever Amaterasu was from, it seemed likely to be as weird as Ponyville.

There was a muffled reply from inside the barrel. Lela couldn't make the lid move! Help!!

Erk, apparently Carolina didn't quite get it. Did they not have those kinds of monkeys from where she was? Or maybe the divine markings were throwing her off. Ammy shook her head no, and then sat down and attempted to clap her front two paws together as if she were using cymbals. She didn't exactly succeed, however, and the results sent some sticks and leaves flying everywhere. Luckily, they eventually found their way back to her.

Lucky walked back over to the barrel...uh oh, looked like Lela had encountered a problem. How'd she get stuck, anyway? Lucky jumped up to the top of the barrel, and tried to scratch at the lid. How would you even open this thing?

Ammy glanced over to where the Necho Cats were messing with the barrel. Just what was going on now?

They didn't have those sorts of monkeys in her time, at least. Many many species had become extinct by the twenty-sixth century, and the drawing definitely didn't remind her of the Brutes in service to the Covenant. Still, Carolina had seen some very old toys made in that fashion when she had been a very tiny child, during the one trip to Earth that she remembered..

She shook her head slightly, discarding memory, just in time to rear back slightly at Ammy's pantomime. To say it looked bizarre would have been accurate. And probably impolite. "...You don't say," she said dryly once the wolf had pulled herself together, before looking at the picture again. "You're really good, you know." At drawing. For a wolf. She certainly couldn't imagine that level of success with no hands.

It won't ooooopen, whined the frootz cat, claws scrabbling on the lid. I fell in and it closed and and aaaaaaa--- Between her leaning and Lucky's balancing act, the barrel began to tip to one side.

Ammy wasn't sure if Carolina got the idea or not, but that was about as well as she could explain "one of three monkey gods who play instruments and are in charge of growing things." It didn't seem like her world had much contact with animals or gods, anyway.

She wagged her tail at the compliment. Not as good as some people who spent their whole life studying the brush -people like the poncles- but it was more her job to make nature itself look beautiful than what was on the canvas, anyway.

Ammy wandered over to the barrel that seemed to be the source of frustration. She barked at Lucky: careful, you're going to knock something over!

Lucky didn't seem to be concerned about that, and she kept pawing at the barrel's lid. However, their combined efforts tilted the barrel over...and sent it rolling into a large stack of crates.

Given that humanity had struggled to near extinction due to the Covenant's very religious war with intent to cleanse their race from the stars, gods weren't high on the to-know list for Carolina. And the spirits were, quite honestly, the closest to animals she'd had since she was a child. War didn't leave much time for getting back in touch with nature.

The tailwag looked strange for a wolf made of leaves and bark, but Carolina managed a careful smile in return anyway. But before she could say anything else, the noise from the cats had turned her head, and drawn (heh) her search companion away.

The crash and roll of the barrel set her ears back, especially Lela's shriek of protest as her 'cage' carried her away, and the mare strode over to examine both the cracked wooden crates and the stuck lid. "Are you all right?" was directed to both spirits, one hoof sharply kicking at the barrel lid, before she paused at the sound of hissing.

And the nebulous materialisation of nightmares. Carolina glared. "So much for peace and quiet."

Ammy was all set to help the Necho Cats out of the mess they'd gotten themselves into (really, when wasn't that the norm?) when she smelled that telltale stench of darkness that Nightmares gave. She jumped back and began growling at them. Of course things couldn't be that simple when they were just trying to find some treasures!

Lucky came scrambling back to her side as a couple of Juggle Pups, Woeflowers and Kyroos came jumping out to fight. She barked at her Spirit to stay close and fight long-range if necessary...these things could be a real problem! And besides all that, Lucky wasn't one of her strongest fighters.

As for herself, Ammy had learned since being here that being made of wood put her at a disadvantage for taking hits...she she sought to put as much distance between herself and the enemies as possible. She used her tundra beads rather than her solar flare, and snarled as she threw the beads around her neck like a whip at the Nightmares. The beads struck two Kyroos across the sides multiple times, leaving them stumbling and nearly freezing from the blows.

Dax hissed annoyance at the interruption to their rather pleasantly boring search patterns, waddling to stand close (but not too close) to the wood wolf thing. He could shoot fire from here and stay out of trouble, and that'd keep at least the Kyroos at bay while Lela freed herself from her would-be prison barrel.

Ammy might have had reservations about leaping into the fray, but from the aggressive stance that Carolina took, and the come-at-me-bro lift of one leg that pawed the air, the aqua ponylancer had no such reservations. The Woeflowers would be troublesome, if they were anything like their more cheery counterparts, so instead she sprang forwards into a charge and slammed bodily into one of the Kyroos that the timberwolf had disabled, rearing to better strike with her hooves.

At least they could work well enough together this way, with Carolina taking the front and her attacking from the rear. Ammy continued to keep her distance, throwing her whip of beads at the Nightmares over and over.

She noticed that some of the Woeflowers were circling around them to attack, though. Those could be a real problem, especially if they used their blinding or confusing magic. Ammy decided to use some fancy brushwork for these enemies: she paused time just as Dax was using fire spells, and 'borrowed' some of it by painting a line of fire from there to the Woeflowers. Once she resumed time, an extra line of fire branched off and hit two of the Woeflowers hard in the middle.

In the meanwhile, Konohana warped back down from the hayloft to contribute herself. She kept herself rooted, but threw up root spikes under the feet of one particularly unlucky juggle pup.

Whoa whoa WHOA, what are his flames doing? Dax stared, slightly agog, before turning to grin at the timberwolf with pleasant dream eater glee. Do that again!

It was remarkable how much leverage a single kick could manage. Several nightmares were sent sailing out of their attack patterns and paths as Carolina swung about, lashing out with front and rear hooves. The kicks were solid, befitting an earth pony's physique, and coupled with her speed and precision, trying to stay out of her range was proving difficult for the shadows.

Not that she was getting out of this unscathed: her armor was slowly streaked with scratch marks and a few scorched areas from spells she had no means to deflect. At her side, now free of her trap, Lela yeowled and loosed a swathe of silver musical 'bombs', pushing back the wave before they could pass Carolina and reach Ammy.

The numbers weren't increasing and no reinforcements were on the rise, but the pack here were definitely stronger than the average sort found in Traverse Town.

Carolina was definitely doing a number on all of these things with her kicks and stomps! It seemed like they were working together pretty well. Ammy kept on her toes, whipping anything that strayed too far away from Carolina's range. She may as well help out Carolina with some other targets, too...she paused time again, and painted a line of ice from her Tundra Beads to some Juggle Pups sliding towards the pony. Once time resumed, they froze on the spot, making them easy targets...although they wouldn't stay frozen too long.

She noted Dax's excitement about his redirected fire spell, and barked back: he'd have to make more fire for her to do it again! While she could create her own fire, it usually resulted in an enormous moving fireball rather than a focused stream, and she didn't want to risk burning the barn (or herself) down.

Since arriving in the dream, Carolina was a lot less rusty at working (willingly) with others, and that certainly helped here where her partner wasn't capable of regular conversation.

She did leap aside as the air changed, the shift in temperature something she seemed much more alert to as a pony. But when it became clear that she was not the target - and the effect on their intended target was visible indeed! - Carolina found herself smirking.

They didn't have to be frozen long: she was more than fast enough to make up for lost time. One particularly vicious kick separated one pup's head from its shoulders, leaving the body to disintergrate into spirit pieces once the ice released it.

Dax chuckled, an odd sound for a lizard, before he began to cough up more fireballs, mindful to go after the creatures on the outskirts of the fight. All the better to scatter them, in case they mobbed his person!

Yikes, that was quite a kick. Those Nightmares wouldn't try that again!

Although a few still thought they could try some other nasty moves. One of the last Juggle Pups left produced a huge die, and tried to roll it onto Konohana. Ammy took care of that with another brush technique: a quick Power Slash sent the die back at the Juggle Pup, completely knocking it off of its feet.

Once Dax fired off another series of fireballs, she again paused time and redirected some of the fire from them to scorch a series of frogs that attempted to leap around her beads and Carolina's kicks.

It looked like they had almost cleared all of the Nightmares out of the barn...probably good, since she was burning through her ink quickly.

Kicking the crap out of things was very much what Carolina did best, and being an equine made her no less competent at such things. That said, the armor she worse was certainly taking the brunt of things, and there were clear signs of a limp as she backed off from the fireballs that Ammy was redirecting.

When, finally, the last had fallen, she remained standing, waiting in case a new surge of darkness decided to pop out of the shadows beside the barn.

"Well. We found trouble, but that's about it." How irritating.

Ammy breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head once all the Nightmares were gone. That was definitely irritating! Here they were trying to find something important, and they got sidetracked by all of these Dream Eaters.

At least none of them had gotten close enough to knock her to pieces. However, it looked like Carolina had gotten hurt some, considering she was limping. Once Ammy was sure that they'd cleared the barn of enemies, she barked to Konohana: Carolina is hurt! Go cast some healing magic on her.

The Wheeflower flittered over to do just that, as Lucky ventured out a little more.

The rush of cool magic easing her injuries wasn't a sensasion that Carolina was used to. And of course, having Tobin to provide that sort of back-up only worked when that spirit had been summoned to lend his aid. As it was, the mare's heavy breathing lessened, and her leg relaxed as the pain faded, weight distributed more evenly. Lela mewed in thanks to the Wheeflower, while Dax merely sat and twitched his tail happily. They all did good here!

"Thanks," Carolina said after a moment's hesitation, unused to kindness of that nature. Then she looked back at the scattered pieces of defeated nightmares. She couldn't see any random objects that didn't look like traditional battle spoilers. "Guess we need to fight something bigger to trigger those items." Or get emotional. Or whatever the requirement was.

A gold light flashes brightly and comes to settle on Amaterasu's neck. When it fades, a golden choker remains in its place, set with a pink stone in the shape of the sun. The Element of Kindness has been found.

Ammy sighed, but still wagged her tail, glad that they'd gotten out of this okay. It was kind of frustrating that they hadn't found the element, but that just meant they had to figure out some other way of getting it. And she trusted Carolina and others here to be smart about that.

And then all that changed in a bright flash of light.

Ammy was not expecting the sudden choker appearing on her neck (although it had to cling pretty tight to keep from slipping off all the various sticks and branches). She yelped in surprise and turned around in a circle, trying to view the object even though it was on her neck. Was this what they were looking for all along?! How'd they even get it?

Speak and what should appear but one of the very items they're looking for. The bright light had both Carolina and her spirits spinning about, the mare immediately on alert, and she watched in astonishment as the glow formed around Amaterasu's stick-formed neck.

"Stand still," she commanded, tone sharp with impatience born at least partially from concern as Carolina stepped closer to the wolf, who seemed to be all but chasing her tail in panic. But there was no denying the gleam of the stone at Ammy's throat, and the red maned mare looked most nonplussed. "It's a pink...star? No, Sun. Odd." Green eyes glanced up. "Does it hurt?"

Ammy stopped her circles long enough for Carolina to look closer at the object around her neck.

At the question, Ammy shook her head no. It was more startling than anything. Her ears perked up at the description, though. The sun was her signature brush! ...Even if she hadn't been able to use it since arriving at this dream realm.

Lucky was doing an excited dance around the two of them. Look, look, they'd found the shiny thing! He was good at finding them after all!

"...It's pretty." The comment is somewhat offhand, mare tilting her head the opposite way to Ammy's almost instinctively. It might have looked rather comedic had they had an audience. "Let's hope it's as useful as that flash of light seems to imply it might be." The last thing any of them needed was a useless bauble.

Yaaaaay, we found the thing! meowed Lela, leaping around and up and over Lucky as the other cat danced. CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!

You two are loud, grumbled Dax through a mouthful of spirit cookies. No one else was tidying up, after all, so it was worth tucking in.

It might indeed have looked comedic, although unfortunately they had no one around to appreciate it. Ammy nodded back. They'd gone through a lot of work to find this thing, even if they hadn't found it in the way expected. But if it was important, then it was good to have it now!

Lucky was happy to dance with Lela Yes, we did! Look how shiny it is! And mastergod gets to keep it!

Konohana quietly elected to join Dax in picking up the spoils, although it was more to gather materials for Ammy than to just eat the leftover treats.

Fortunately! You mean, fortunately! Carolina wasn't particularly fond of being at the center of something set up for someone else's amusement - this entire dream charade aside.

But they had worked hard to locate the gem, even if Carolina wasn't certain as to the cause of its appearance. "Dax," she called sharply, not even looking over one shoulder to where the scapegrace lizard was nomming on snacks. "Save some for the others." She tossed her head at Ammy, indicating the items. "Lets get cleaned up, then we'll let the others know what we found."

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Elementary, my dear ponies

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Good place to stop?

Wrap is good!